BY

My educational achievement and professional life would not have been possible had it not been the support and prayers of many people. First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Dr. David Hollister, for his invaluable assistance and guidance, which lead to the completion of this dissertation. My sincere thanks go to all the members of my dissertation committee for their incredible support during this journey: Drs. Hee Lee, Liz Lightfoot, and Katherine Fennelly. Without their tireless efforts and help, this dissertation would not have been possible. A special thanks to Dr. Terry Lum, who worked with me during the early years of my doctoral education and more importantly for igniting my interest in social capital and in the conceptualization of this dissertation. In addition, a thank you to Dr. David Gillespie for his willingness to mentor me since we first started to work an edited boo