Exploring the interviewing of children for family law matters

This thesis examined interview practice with children in the family law context and what techniques are effective in eliciting the information sought. It offers some clarity surrounding interview techniques and processes. Findings indicate that the main features for a broad framework for child interviews in the family law context do appear to be present

Designing for cyber security risk-based decision making.

Techniques for determining and applying cyber security decisions typically follow risk- based analytical approaches where alternative options are put forward based on goals and context, and weighed in accordance to risk severity metrics. These decision making approaches are however difficult to apply in risk situations bounded by uncertainty as decision alternatives are either unknown or unclear. This problem is further compounded by the rarity of expert security decision makers and the far-reaching repercussions of un-informed decision making. The nature of operations in cyber security indicates that only a handful of systems are independent of the human operators, exposing the majority of organisations to risk from security threats and risks as a product of human decision making limitations. Addressing the problem requires considering factors contributing to risk and uncertainty during the early stages of system design, motivating the development of systems that are not only usable and secure, but that facilitate informed decision making as a central goal. The thesis investigates this by posing the question; what system design techniques should be taken into consideration to facilitate cyber security decision making during situations of risk and uncertainty? The research was approached qualitatively with interviews as the main data elicitation approach. Grounded Theory was applied to five security decision making studies to inductively elicit, model, and validate design requirements for Risk-based Decision Making in cyber security. Contributions arising from thesis work are: an identification of factors contributing to security analysts’ risk practices and understanding, a model for communicating and tracing risk rationalisation by cyber security decision makers, a conceptual model illustrating the various concepts in cyber security decision making and their relationship, and guidelines and suggested implementation techniques guiding the specification of requirements for systems deployed in cyber security Risk-based Decision Making. The thesis is validated by applying the proposed design guidelines to inform an approach used to design a charity’s secure data handling policy

Treatment Decision Making for Incapacitated Patients: Is Development and Use of a Patient Preference Predictor Feasible?

It has recently been proposed to incorporate the use of a "Patient Preference Predictor” (PPP) into the process of making treatment decisions for incapacitated patients. A PPP would predict which treatment option a given incapacitated patient would most likely prefer, based on the individual's characteristics and information on what treatment preferences are correlated with these characteristics. Including a PPP in the shared decision-making process between clinicians and surrogates has the potential to better realize important ethical goals for making treatment decisions for incapacitated patients. However, developing and implementing a PPP poses significant practical challenges. The present paper discusses these practical challenges and considers ways to address the

Consumer Behaviour at the Generic Level: Theoretical Perspectives

Suppose you had unexpectedlyreceived some money, for instance a gift ora lottery prize. What would you like to dowith the money? Why the action you choseto do is of much importance to you? Whatwould you like to achieve by that action?This is a simple illustration of the genericlevel of consumer decision making,henceforth the generic level. It is importantto note that neither money nor unexpec-tedness defines the generic level. Althoughthere are plenty of examples of receiving awindfall, gifts and lottery prizes being twoof them, the generic level also concernssituations when expectations rule. Forexample, people may expect to receive abumper bonus, an extra profit, a taxreturn, gain excessive money from a pre-vious budget, or even to inherit somevaluable assets from their beloved parents.To a certain degree, people in suchsituations must ponder of the differentways to utilize the money. The definingfeatures of the generic level concern themental processes of decision making inwhich an individual is trying to allocate aconsumer resource into different cate-gories of activities (Van Veldhoven &Groenland, 1993)

Using Experts' Beliefs to Inform Public Policy: Capturing and Using the Views of Many

Cost-effectiveness decision modelling (CEDM) is widely used to inform healthcare resource allocation, however there is often a paucity of data to quantify the level of uncertainty around model parameters. Expert elicitation has been proposed as a method for quantifying uncertainty when other sources of evidence are not available. Elicitation refers to formal processes for quantifying experts’ beliefs about uncertain quantities, typically as probability distributions. It is generally conducted with multiple experts to minimise bias and ensure representation of experts with different perspectives. In CEDM, priors are most commonly elicited from individual experts then pooled mathematically into an aggregate prior that is subsequently used in the model. When pooling priors mathematically, the investigator must decide whether to weight all experts equally or assume that some experts in the sample should be given ‘more say’. The choice of method for deriving weights for experts’ priors can affect the resulting estimates of uncertainty, yet it is not clear which method is optimal. This thesis develops an understanding of the methods for deriving weights in opinion pooling. A literature review is first conducted to identify the existing methods for deriving weights. Differences between the identified methods are then analysed and discussed in terms of how they affect the role of each method in elicitation. The developed principles are then applied in a case study, where experts’ priors on the effectiveness of a health intervention are elicited, and used to characterise parametric uncertainty in a CEDM. The findings are used to analyse and compare different methods for weighting priors, and to observe the consequences of using different methods in the decision model. The findings improve the understanding of how different weighting methods capture experts’ ‘contributions’ while the choice of methods for deriving weights is found to influence the decision generated by the model

An Exploratory Study of Patient Falls

Debate continues between the contribution of education level and clinical expertise in the nursing practice environment. Research suggests a link between Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing (BSN) nurses and positive patient outcomes such as lower mortality, decreased falls, and fewer medication errors. Purpose: To examine if there a negative correlation between patient falls and the level of nurse education at an urban hospital located in Midwest Illinois during the years 2010-2014? Methods: A retrospective crosssectional cohort analysis was conducted using data from the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) from the years 2010-2014. Sample: Inpatients aged ≥ 18 years who experienced a unintentional sudden descent, with or without injury that resulted in the patient striking the floor or object and occurred on inpatient nursing units. Results: The regression model was constructed with annual patient falls as the dependent variable and formal education and a log transformed variable for percentage of certified nurses as the independent variables. The model overall is a good fit, F (2,22) = 9.014, p = .001, adj. R2 = .40. Conclusion: Annual patient falls will decrease by increasing the number of nurses with baccalaureate degrees and/or certifications from a professional nursing board-governing body

Informed Choices in Biobanking: An Examination of Participants' Understanding and Congruence between Knowledge, Values, and Decisions

The ethical foundation of clinical research is informed consent. Biobanking has added to the complexity of the informed consent process. Biomedical research with human biospecimens often occurs without any consent or with inadequately understood consent information. Yet, the use of biospecimens in research is not without controversy. One abundant source of biospecimens for research is residual dried blood spots (rDBS) from newborn screenings. Approximately 4 million infants are born annually in the United States (U.S.) and most have mandatory newborn screening. In 2010, the state of Michigan implemented a process of written parental consent for donating newborns’ residual dried blood spots to the Michigan BioTrust for research. Thus, biobanking of newborn rDBS in Michigan presented a prime opportunity to study mothers’ level of knowledge, attitudes, values, and decision-making after a broad consent process for donating their newborn’s rDBS for research. Therefore, the purposes of this dissertation research are to a) describe the current state of the science regarding participants’ understanding of informed consent for biobanking; b) describe the influence of mothers’ knowledge (understanding of biobanking), values (personal and religious), and perceptions of the informed consent process (content and context) on their decisions to donate their newborn’s rDBS for research purposes; c) compare and contrast mothers’ knowledge of and attitudes towards biobanking, socio-demographics, and personal and religious values with their decisions (yes or no) to donate their newborn’s rDBs for research purposes and determine the proportion of informed choices. A qualitative descriptive design, a non-experimental survey, and methodological triangulation are used in this three-paper style dissertation. The first of the three papers (Chapter 2) is a systematic review to evaluate participants’ level of understanding of the information presented during the consent process for donation of biological specimens for research purposes (i.e., for biobanking or genetic epidemiological studies). Results indicated many elements of informed consent unique to biobanking were inadequately understood by potential participants. Next, semi-structured interviews (Chapter 3) were used to describe mothers’ understanding of biobanking, attitudes about rDBS research, and the influence of personal values on the decision-making process. Findings indicated that while most mothers agreed (14/20; 70%) to donate the rDBS and expressed favorable attitudes about research, most decisions (16/20; 80%) were determined to be uniformed choices due to inadequate knowledge of the Michigan BioTrust and biobanking. A non-experimental, descriptive and correlational survey was randomly distributed to 500 mothers in the state of Michigan with a newborn age 0-3 months (Chapter 4) to examine knowledge, attitudes and values, and the proportion of informed choices in a larger sample using standardized instruments. Just over half of the mothers (55%) in this study were deemed to have made an informed choice; however, knowledge scores were still low. On average, respondents were only able to correctly answer approximately 8/16 biobanking questions. With 4 million American newborns having blood spots each year there are significant policy implications to this research (Chapter 5). Three recommendations are put forth: include the ethical implications of biobanking in educational materials, enhance consenters’ knowledge about rDBS research and their communication skills for conducting informed consent processes, and move the educational content about rDBS research to the prenatal setting (Chapter 5).PHDNursingUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146015/1/eeisen_1.pd

Learners' perceptions of teachers' non-verbal behaviours in the foreign language class

This study explores the meanings that participants in a British ELT setting give to teachers' non-verbal behaviours. It is a qualitative, descriptive study of the perceived functions that gestures and other non-verbal behaviours perform in the foreign language classroom, viewed mainly from the language learners' perspective. The thesis presents the stages of the research process, from the initial development of the research questions to the discussion of the research findings that summarise and discuss the participants' views. There are two distinct research phases presented in the thesis. The pilot study explores the perceptions of 18 experienced language learners of teachers' non-verbal behaviours. The data is collected in interviews based on videotaped extracts of classroom interaction, presented to the participants in two experimental conditions, with and without sound. The findings of this initial study justify the later change of method from the experimental design to a more exploratory framework. In the main study, 22 learners explain, in interviews based on stimulated recall, their perceptions on their teachers' verbal and non-verbal behaviours as occurring within the immediate classroom context. Finally, learners' views are complemented by 20 trainee teachers' written reports of classroom observation and their opinions expressed in focus group interviews. The data for the main study were thus collected through a combination of methods, ranging from classroom direct observations and videotaped recordings, to semi-structured interviews with language learners. The research findings indicate that participants generally believe that gestures and other non-verbal behaviours playa key role in the language learning and teaching process. Learners identify three types of functions that non-verbal behaviours play in the classroom interaction: (i) cognitive, i.e. non-verbal behaviours which work as enhancers of the learning processes, (ii) emotional, i.e. non-verbal behaviours that function as reliable communicative devices of teachers' emotions and attitudes and (iii) organisational, i.e. non-verbal behaviours which serve as tools of classroom management and control. The findings suggest that learners interpret teachers' non-verbal behaviours in a functional manner and use these messages and cues in their learning and social interaction with the teacher. The trainee teachers value in a similar manner the roles that non-verbal behaviours play in the language teaching and learning. However, they seem to prioritise the cognitive and managerial functions of teachers' non-verbal behaviours over the emotional ones and do not consider the latter as important as the learners did. This study is original in relation to previous studies of language classroom interaction in that it: • describes the kinds of teachers' behaviours which all teachers and learners are familiar with, but which have seldom been foregrounded in classroom-based research; • unlike previous studies of non-verbal behaviour, investigates the perceiver's view of the others' non-verbal behaviour rather than its production; • documents these processes of perception through an innovative methodology of data collection and analysis; • explores the teachers' non-verbal behaviours as perceived by the learners themselves, suggesting that their viewpoint can be one window on the reality of language classrooms; • provides explanations and functional interpretations for the many spontaneous and apparently unimportant actions that teachers use on a routine basis; • identifies a new area which needs consideration in any future research and pedagogy of language teaching and learning

State of the Science: Implicit Bias Review 2017

The release of the 2017 State of the Science: Implicit Bias Review comes at a very important time. More than ever, Kirwan and our partners in equity work can see the importance of how we shape the narrative of race and equity in this country. For the last five years, the State of the Science has been one of the ways that we have been able to add depth to this often one-sided narrative, by pointing to the complex underpinnings of how peoples' conception of race influences our perceptions, thoughts, and relationships.This edition of the State of the Science: Implicit Bias Review was originally conceived as a way for Kirwan to get a better understanding on what was still an emerging topic. Five years ago, we could not have imagined how many of our partners would also be interested in this resource as a way to help broaden the national discussion on racial equity. Kirwan is delighted to be able to share this work with legal professionals, non-profit leaders, civil rights activists, doctors, teachers, and everyone in between.This release is a shining example of the tremendous effort and dedication of our Race and Cognition Program to living out Kirwan's mission. The positive acclaim for this publication and its impact on addressing real world inequities continues to make the Kirwan Institute proud. At such an important milestone, it is not only important to celebrate the impact of our work, but we must also look to the future to ensure that the implicit bias research will continue to help us all build a more equitable and inclusive world