Browsing by Subject "decision making"
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Item Cellular mechanisms of decision making in Aplysia californicaDickinson, Kathy JanItem Delegation in Tourism Decision Making: Toward an Understanding of the Role of Social Surrogate(2014-07-30) Stone, Matthew JohnTourism is often a group-based activity, but tourism decision-making research has primarily focused on individual decision making and who makes decisions in families. However, there are numerous situations in which individuals do not make decisions for themselves, effectively delegating decisions such as where to visit, stay, or eat to others in their travel party, called ?social surrogates.? Unlike traditional surrogates described by prior researchers, social surrogates are not part of a formal business relationship and often participate in consumption. The purpose of this study was to investigate delegation of decisions to social surrogates and to determine which attributes lead to delegation. A nationwide web-based survey (n=404) found that decision delegation to social surrogates frequently occurred in travel environments. The study also revealed that there are two separate factors comprising decision delegation: the desire to defer a decision and the desire to make a choice (?choose?). Two structural equation models were tested. The first model found that decision-making style affected decision delegation. Additionally, results provided evidence that desire to defer decisions and desire to make a choice are not clear opposites, but are separate components of decision delegation. A second model revealed that high purchase involvement, desire to control others, relinquishing control, and propensity to make risky decisions led to the desire to choose. A desire to relinquish control led to deferring decisions, as did low purchase involvement. Decision delegation also was found to be more likely in situations in which the decision-maker felt that others had more relative experience and expertise. Decision delegation to social surrogates was found to be common in tourism. Results suggest it would be incorrect to assume that individuals make all of their decisions, so all customers may not be of equal importance to tourism marketers. Some individuals may have little to no role in choice (as they defer decisions), while others (social surrogates) may hold great influence over others (by making decisions). Results suggest that individuals may defer about half of restaurant and activity decisions in tourism. Thus, identifying who actually made the decision may be an important prerequisite to understanding tourism consumer behavior.Item Discretion: appreciation between management and the line officer(Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT), 2014) Krueger, JohnItem Examing the Nonroutine Acts of Emergency Workers and How They Become Routine(2011-10-21) McDonald, Camille M.The purpose of this study is to determine how nonroutine acts performed by iii trained emergency workers developed into routine emergency acts and skills. I will be specifically looking for concepts that are common throughout the different types of emergency workers that will be interviewed. The data is gathered from focus groups that were recruited from classes on campus. In particular the results depict some very common techniques used in training that allowed the workers to feel confident about their role in emergencies. These tended to include repetition of "classroom training, "but more importantly from the viewpoint of the workers, repetition of simulated emergencies. The development of autonomy in decision making was an important facet for workers whose work "territory" was varied; however, autonomy was rarely stressed for those in relatively constant surroundings such as pools. Several commonalities were found throughout each field. These included interruptions, self-efficacy, the use of judgment and tacit knowledge. Many of the participants also expressed the same sentiment towards their feelings of the training and its efficiency. Some research will also show attempts to change policy and training within emergency workers in order to improve job performance and enhance the safety of the public as well. I will include a small statistical appendix that looks at the satisfaction level of evacuees who fled to Houston, Texas when Hurricane Katrina hit. Five specific factors were examined and regressed to determine satisfaction levels. Only two factors showed any type of significance. As the discussion will indicate, certain previous factors, before the hurricane hit, are believed to be the cause of these particular results.Item Gains and losses in the eyes of the beholder: a comparative study of foreign policy decision making under risk(Texas A&M University, 2006-04-12) Yang, YiProspect theory is a descriptive model of individual decision-making under risk (Kahneman and Tversky 1979). The central tenet of prospect theory posits that the risk orientation of decision-makers is affected by the gains vs. losses domains in which they are situated. Individuals are predicted to be risk-averse in the domain of gains and risk seeking in the domain of losses. Although prospect theory made significant contributions to decision theory, it has important limitations. Foremost, as noted by Levy (1997a), prospect theory is not a complete theory of decision-making. Like rational choice theory, prospect theory attempts to explain choices or outcomes, not the processes through which those choices come about (Abelson and Levi 1985, 235). In response to this limitation of prospect theory, this dissertation intends to address the following set of puzzles: Do gains vs. losses domains affect the decision processes in foreign policy decision making? If so, in what way will decision strategies change? That is, what strategies are most likely to be employed when the decision maker is in the domain of gains? And, in contrast, what strategies are the most likely to be utilized when the decision maker is in the domain of losses? To address these questions, I develop and extend prospect theory to account for the impact of gains vs. losses domains on decision strategy selections by decision makers under risk. A set of testable hypotheses are then derived. To render a robust test of these hypotheses, I employ a cross-national experimental research design, utilizing American subjects first and then replicating the same experiment with subjects in mainland China. In terms of research instrument, I utilize the computerized decision process tracer ?? the Decision Board Platform. Specifically, the ??moves?? of decision makers are recorded by the Decision Board and then used to identify choices and to infer specific decision strategies. Statistical analysis of the experimental results demonstrates support for the major hypotheses. A decision maker in the domain of gains is more likely to employ a holistic, alternative-based, compensatory, and maximizing decision strategy than is a decision maker in the domain of losses.Item "I'm the Decider": Understanding Foreign Policy Decisions in America(2010-07-14) Snideman, Samuel S.Scholars have long been interested in how presidents make decisions in foreign policy. Often, the theories about foreign policy decision making focus on the choice to use or not use one particular foreign policy tool. Many studies often ignore or underplay the importance of domestic politics to foreign policy decisions. In this thesis, I ask how do American presidents choose which foreign policy tool to use in a given situation? I propose a domestic politics-based explanation, relying on presidential ideology, performance of the domestic economy, divided government, and the electoral clock. I use a simultaneous equations framework to model the choice between using "sticks" (i.e. military force and economic sanctions) and "carrots" (economic aid and military aid). The results provide qualified support for the domestic politics theory. Domestic politics matters for some types of foreign policy decisions but not for others. Presidential ideology and domestic economic performance condition presidential decisions to use force. Election timing is also important; presidents choose to use less politically costly foreign policy tools late in their term. The results also demonstrate that there is a connection between the decision to use military force and to use economic sanctions.Item Intuitive decision process training for tactical team leaders(Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT), 2013) Holt, RyanItem Law enforcement and restrictive use of force policies(Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT), 2015) Neyland V., Mayo WilliamsItem Understanding Participation in Wildlife Conservation Programs on Private Lands(2010-01-14) Sorice, Michael G.One major lesson derived from the implementation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) over the past 30 years is that direct regulation is not the only nor the optimal way to protect endangered species on working lands because of an undue burden imposed on private landowners. The role of a voluntary conservation program is to rearrange incentives so that society bears the cost rather than the landowner. Employing a survey research methodology, I used theories of reasoned action and random choice to explore landowners? stated preferences for conservation programs. I found landowners? stated interest in compensation programs to be moderate at best. For those willing to consider programs involving endangered species, associating land management requirements for species conservation with direct benefits to the landowner is important, but perhaps not as important as ensuring that the program provides adequate financial incentives, consideration of the term of the program, and a level of certainty regarding the landowner?s future obligations under the ESA. Landowners are not a homogenous group. I identified two classes of landowners according to preferences for program structure. One group was highly sensitive to program structure, aside from financial incentives, while the other was likely to participate if adequately compensated with financial and technical assistance. These differences related to opinions on endangered species protection and dependence on their land for income. Voluntary incentive programs increasingly are a popular tool to maintain and enhance conservation; however, these programs are only successful insofar as landowners choose to enroll. This research demonstrates that improving recovery efforts on private lands requires program administrators to have a more complete understanding of landowners? views on endangered species and conservation programs in general, as well as their motivations for owning and operating their land. By doing so, programs with broader appeal and greater efficacy can be designed and implemented.