Browsing by Author "Bokhorst, Frank"

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    An evaluation of an aids educational programme in industry: an exploratory study
    (1991) Van der Velde, Patricia; Bokhorst, Frank
    This study evaluates a small group educational programme on AIDS using a Solomon - Four group design. The research was conducted in 16 randomly selected Western Cape stores of a national supermarket chain. These stores were stratified into northern, central, southern· suburbs and outlying districts. Each group of 4 stores was assigned at random to either the treatment or control group of each component of the solomon - four according to their suburb stratification. 16 randomly selected weekly paid employees (8 males and a females) at each store were interviewed, by social work students, using an adapted version of the Temoshok (1987) questionnaire assessing knowledge and personal opinions about AIDS. Subjects were interviewed either pre and post education or post education only depending on which store (and hence which treatment group ) they were working in. A model to examine the probability of any subject knowing the "correct" answer to each item of the questionnaire was used in an item analysis of 16 knowledge questions and 22 personal opinion items using a BMDP logistic regression programme for binary data. Odds ratios and exact p values are reported for each item to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the educational programme and to pinpoint areas in the programme which need revision. Results indicated a significant improvement in knowledge in terms of the myths surrounding casual transmission of (HIV) AIDS and an improvement in knowledge on certain factual items. A statistically significant negative effect of education was evident in the section of the programme dealing with blood transfusions and contamination. Results also suggest a shift towards more desirable responses, on the personal opinion items of the questionnaire, towards people with AIDS particularly in those items which linked up with the educational programme. 67 subjects from the original sample who had received education were re-interviewed 2 months after the programme using all the knowledge questions and selected personal opinion items to determine what respondents had remembered or forgotten. These results suggest that the gains in knowledge were maintained on items dealing with casual transmission, and that the shifts towards more desirable responses on certain items were also maintained over the 2 month period. Recommendations for adjustments to the content of the programme are outlined.
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    Evaluating the role of Kinesiology, as an adjunct therapy, in the management of patients with Crohn's disease
    (2002) Jogee, Rasheda; Swartz, Sally; Bokhorst, Frank; Winter, Trevor
    This randomized controlled experimental study was designed to determine whether Kinesiology, as an adjunct to medical therapy, would improve the management of patients with Crohn's disease. One hundred and fifty consecutive Crohn's disease patients, attending the Gastrointestinal Clinic at Groote Schuur Hospital, were randomly assigned to a Kinesiology (n=50) and a Control Group (n=50). In order to assess the effect of physical contact, a third group who received Massage (n=50), was also included. All participants attended their monthly hospital visits and continued taking their prescribed medication.
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    Factors influencing the transfer of trained interpersonal managerial skills back into the workplace
    (1997) Wortley, Mark Elliott; Bokhorst, Frank
    This study investigated variables which influence the transfer of training, in an organisational context. Transfer of training is defined as the application of knowledge and skills, learned in a training setting, to other non-training (i.e., work) contexts. It has been estimated that considerable amounts of money and effort are wasted due to trained skills not being transferred back to the workplace. This phenomenon is a well known issue in the field of organisational training and has generated research into the question of what variables in addition to the training itself influence the transfer of training. Three key categories of variables that are cited in the literature on transfer of training were used in the current study: (a) individual (i.e., the learner/trainee) characteristics, (b) training design, and (c) transfer situation (work environment) characteristics. These three categories were used as core elements in the conceptual design of the study.
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    Hypertext navigation, goal (dis)orientation, and the role of mental models : an empirical investigation
    (2002) Ipser, Jonathan; Bokhorst, Frank
    An exploratory investigation into the capabilities of hypertext as an educational medium was conducted. To this purpose, a model was advanced in an attempt to provide a theoretical foundation for the explication of hypertext navigation and disorientation in terms of relevant user characteristics. 75 2nd year psychology students from the University of Cape Town participated in a study in order to investigate the claim that the motivational theory of goal orientation has the greatest utility in accounting for the exploitation of links within a hypertext, a necessary precondition for the development of mental models which incorporate both the conceptual and structural elements required for effective learning from, and the reduction of disorientation within, this medium. The results obtained, although compromised, provide some support for this argument. The paper concludes with a discussion of the methodological limitations of the study, as well as possible directions for future research.
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    Parental adaptation to the cerebral-palsied child : the influence of psychosocial variables
    (1998) Austin, Judith; Bokhorst, Frank
    This study examined the degree of adaptation (operationalised by means of multiple measures, namely satisfaction with family life, stress and adjustment to the child) being attained by parents of a child with cerebral palsy. Drawing on the model of stress and coping of Lazarus and Folkman (1984), the outcome variable adaptation was held to be a function of the stressor (i.e. the exceptional child) and various mediating factors, namely demographics, coping mechanisms, perceived social support and locus of control. A cross-sectional, correlational field survey was conducted in which seventy-nine parents, recruited via a school for children with cerebral palsy, completed a pencil and paper self-report questionnaire, generating both quantitative and qualitative data. Scales utilised in this study were the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale III (FACES III; Olson, Portner & Lavee, 1985), the short form of the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress (QRS-F; Friedrich, Greenberg & Crnic, 1983), the Judson Scale (Judson & Burden, 1980), the Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced Scale (COPE; Carver, Scheier & Weintraub, 1989), the Family Support Scale (FSS; Dunst, Trivette & Jenkins, 1988) and the Pearlin Mastery Scale (Pearlin & Schooler, 1978). Qualitative data were solicited by means of four open-ended questions, the responses to which were content analysed on the basis of themes identified in the literature
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    Racial attitude development in black, white and coloured South African children
    (1991) Aarons, Sallyanne; Bokhorst, Frank
    This study described the racial attitude development of South African primary school children in three racial groups. The sample consisted of black, white and coloured children from the Cape Town area. The study aimed to examine developmental patterns of own-group preference and out-group prejudice, as well as the efficacy of the Katz- Zalk Projective Prejudice Test (Katz and Zalk, 1976) in the South African context. Children of both sexes were included. Five age-groups were represented; 6 - 7 year olds, 7 - 8 year olds, 9 - 10 year olds, 10 - 11 year olds and 11 - 12 year olds. The instrument, (Katz-Zalk Projective Prejudice Test, Katz and Zalk, 1976) included slides showing black and white children in ambiguous school situations, and a corresponding questionnaire in which the subject indicated which child was the recipient or initiator of the action depicted in the slides. The test was administered to groups of approximately 30 children by a female test administrator of the same race as the subjects. The results from 416 subjects were analysed using a multivariate analysis of variance followed by univariate analyses of variance and Student Newman- Keuls follow up tests. These findings indicated the developmental pattern of own- group preference and out-group prejudice in the sample. Results from the white group showed a distinct trend, characterised by high own-group preference and high out- group prejudice. Both the preference and prejudice declined with age.