Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Housing In Kibera's Soweto East Informal Settlement, Kenya: A Socio-Technical Evaluation, Tiernan Brennan

Masters

In 2003, the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme (KENSUP) was launched in partnership with UN-Habitat and the Government of Kenya (GoK) to improve the livelihoods of people in Kenya by 2020 through the provision of improved shelter, infrastructure, land tenure and income generation. Kibera is an informal settlement in Kenya where varying housing typologies and traditional vernacular-style designs coexist with modern housing units. Soweto East was one of eighteen villages located in Kibera selected for KENSUP’s first major housing development initiative. Soweto East was selected from a screening of several housing projects that could be subjected to a socio-technical (STE). The …

A Qualitative Functional Analysis Of Academic Procrastination Among Irish Undergraduate Students, Gráinne Carthy

Masters

Academic procrastination involves the needless postponement of academic tasks at the expense of one’s academic goals. Informed by the principles of Acceptance Commitment Therapy, this study explored students’ experiences of academic procrastination in an Irish undergraduate sample. Over two studies, semi structured interviews were used to explore the common scenarios in which students tended to procrastinate, and also the scenarios which by contrast tended to motivate relatively immediate academic engagement. Study 1 involved interviewing twelve participants who had been recruited from online lectures. After noting the potential for self-selection bias in this recruitment strategy, study 2 specifically recruited seven participants …

Is The Irish Immigration Policy Delivering The Best For Its Economy Through Its Non-Eu Dependent Immigrants. An Empirical Study, Pai M.J Arjun

Masters

The Emerald Isle is fast becoming the next big hotspot for highly skilled migrants aspiring to relocate to the last English-speaking nation within the European Union [EU]. The transition from the state of being an emigrant country to an immigrant nation poses complex opportunities for the country, its people, and the immigrants who relocate in making Ireland their home. Despite a consistent inflow of skilled immigrants migrating into the country since the last few decades, policy reforms adopted in Ireland towards dependent immigrants remain reactive, lacks the backing of studies in evaluating the utilization of available skilled dependent immigrants in …

Public Perceptions Of Hydrogen As An Energy Vector And Aid To Decarbonisation In The Republic Of Ireland, Colm Delaney

Masters

In the face of global commitments to decarbonise society by 2050, there is growing excitement surrounding the potential of hydrogen to emerge as a solution to many decarbonisation challenges. A transition to hydrogen as an energy vector in place of fossil fuels such as natural gas will require a significant transformation of existing energy policy, infrastructure, and regulations. While the technical aspects of a potential transition to hydrogen as an energy vector are undergoing large scale research, much of which is moving into the trial phase, it is widely presumed that a transition would be met with the widespread acceptance …

Exploring The Role Of Irish Local Authorities In Tourism Development: A Senior Management Perspective On Tourism Development In Cork County Council, Monica Moisuc

Masters

In an Irish context, the government's engagement in tourism and its role in developing the sector is acknowledged across most Irish government publications. However, despite efforts made to highlight the major role of the government in tourism, the number of studies that seek to understand how Irish local governments are engaging in tourism is limited. In an attempt to fill this knowledge gap, this study brings a new contribution to the current relevant literature by exploring the role of the government in developing tourism within a local Irish context.

Using a qualitative case-study approach, the particular entity under investigation is …

Gender Difference When Processing Death By Suicide: Attitudes Amongst Third Level Students Aged 18-25 Attending Cork Institute Of Technology And College Support Professionals, Sandra Conroy

Masters

Rationale behind research: Survivors of suicide/ suicide bereaved face unique challenges in their grief, resulting in a greater risk of conditions such as complicated grief, PTSD and suicidal ideation developing (Young, Iglewicz, Glorioso, Lanouette, Seay, llapakurti & Zisook, 2012). In dealing with or 'processing' the loss of a loved one by suicide, Wertheimer details that, "suicidal thoughts are not uncommon during the early months of bereavement" (1991: 178). The incidence of young men dying by suicide is notably higher than that of women in this country; a stubborn gender difference persists in Ireland with males representing on average 80% of …

Designing Museums For Participation, Collaboration And Social Interaction, Martin Mccarthy

Masters

This thesis documents the design and development of novel interactive experiences that explored concepts aimed to enhance the visitor experience to Cork Butter Museum, Cork, Ireland.

The context to the work is that in recent years, museums and cultural institutions are increasingly motivated to apply creative strategies to engage visitors who come for recreational, social and sometimes educative purposes. Novel museum exhibits designed to cater for such needs often involves the integration of new media technologies in response to rising expectations visitors have with regards to being actively engaged during their visit. This often requires a higher level of participation …

Formations Of The Sikh Community In Ireland, Satwinder Singh

Masters

This dissertation examines the formation of the Sikh community in Ireland by providing a brief historical account of the migration of Sikhs to Ireland, as well as by offering a discussion of the key challenges faced in Ireland by Sikh migrants along with their responses to these particular socio-cultural and political contexts in attempting to forge a ‘community’ in Ireland. The research draws extensively upon an oral history and photography project entitled A Sikh Face in Ireland that was commissioned by, and carried out through, the Forum on Migration and Communications (FOMACS) between 2007-2010. The interviews I conducted during this …

The Impact Of The Arts On Traveller Education; An Exploratory Study, Bernadette Fagan

Masters

The aim of this study was to explore the impact that the Arts, (that is the study of visual art, drama, music, dance, creative writing, film and video expression), have on the educational process within Irish Traveller Educational Centres whose students are widely recognised as the most highly marginalised group within Irish society (Ireland, 1995; MacGreil, 1996; Zappone, 2002). Art programmes appear to induce a ‘flow’ state, as identified by Csikszentmihalyi, that he defines as a state of optimal awareness in which the subject becomes lost in the action of the moment and results in a heightened integration and differentiation …

Exploration Of The Reputation Of The Nightclub Industry In Ireland, Anthony Friel

Masters

The purpose of the exploration was to research the reputation and public relations practised within the nightclub industry. This is achieved through exploring the public relations practices of the Irish Nightclub Industry Association (INIA) and individual nightclubs. The specific areas examined are public relations as a management function, communications, relationship management, an understanding of publics, issue management and crisis management. Reputation and the reputation management process are also assessed. These areas of practice combined give an understanding of how the nightclub industry’s reputation can be explored. Publics affected by the nightclub industry give their opinion on these practices by the …

The Transition To Adulthood And Independence: A Study Of Young People Leaving Residential Care, Mary Kilkenny

Masters

The transition to adulthood is difficult for most young people. It is a time when young people make important decisions about their lives including their future education, career and living arrangements. Most young people have strong family and social networks to support them in these decisions. However, young people leaving residential care are often expected to make this transition abruptly and at a young age with no family or social networks to support them. The leaving and aftercare supports provided by the State are often not sufficient to provide for the needs of these young people leaving them at risk …

Transferring Knowledge And Life Experience Between Generations: The Potential Of Community Based Intergenerational Projects, Cathrina Murphy

Masters

In recent decades we have seen a trend towards greater age segregation in society. Changes in society such as family functions being assumed by age-specific institutions, changing family structures, the emergence of the beanpole family, increased longevity, increased geographical mobility, migration patterns and a shift from an industrial to a knowledge society are associated with a degree of disconnection among the generations. There is some research evidence to suggest that intergenerational projects can help reconnect the generations allowing for the transfer of knowledge and life experience and creating a greater understanding and tolerance between the generations. Although, small-scale intergenerational projects …

The Press And Democracy Building: Journalism Education And Training In Eastern And South-Eastern Europe During Transition, Michael Foley

Masters

Media assistance to the former communist countries of Eastern Europe from 1989 became an important part of the transformation of that part of Europe from a socialist command economy to a democratic, liberal market economy. The media was seen as an important ideological weapon of the previous regimes and so was to be transformed in order to change society. The exact amount of media aid is unknown, so much of it was hidden under such headings as aid to civil society and democracy building, but it is known to account for hundreds of millions of euro. Most was spent on …

A Qualitative Study Of Young Women Involved In Prostitution In Dublin, Siobhán Quinlan Cooke

Masters

This study evolved from a lack of research in Ireland into the incidence of young people involved in prostitution. In this research 22 young women involved in prostitution were interviewed and the results of these interviews were presented using qualitative analysis of descriptive data. The participants were aged between 17 and 26 years, with a mean age of 21 years. The age at initiation into prostitution ranged from 12 to 21 years of age, with a mean age of 17 years. Eleven participants became involved in prostitution before they were 18 years of age. The results were divided into four …

Early Childhood Staff's Understandings And Practices Of Parent Involvement In Private Early Childhood Services: An Exploratory Study, Maria Mcdermott

Masters

In modem Western society growing numbers of parents are employed in the labour market and while they work, parents and early years practitioners (EYPs) share responsibility for raising children. Attention to the quality of children's and families' experiences in these settings is increasing rapidly (Walsh, 2003; OECD, 2006). Parent involvement, has been identified as an indicator of quality, and the benefits that accrue from this involvement for children, parents and EYPs have been widely reported. Most parents are interested and want to be involved in their children's development, learning and education but how EYPs view parent involvement is an important …

Heritage Awareness In County Wicklow., Anne Dagg

Masters

This research project investigated the community’s current level of heritage awareness in County Wicklow. The study was initiated by Wicklow County Council and the Heritage Council in response to objective 1, action 1.2 of the County Wicklow heritage plan 2004-2008, which pointed to the need to undertake a study to determine public attitudes towards heritage and to gauge the current level of awareness about heritage in the county. The findings of this research are being used on an ongoing basis by the Wicklow County Council and the Wicklow Heritage Forum to inform the decision making process concerning the direction and …

A Study On The Use Of Ontologies To Represent Collective Knowledge, John Mcauley

Masters

The development of ontologies has become an area of considerable research interest over the past number of years. Domain ontologies are often developed to represent a shared understanding that in turn indicates cooperative effort by a user community. However, the structure and form that an ontology takes is predicated both on the approach of the developer and the cooperation of the user community. A shift has taken place in recent years from the use of highly specialised and expressive ontologies to simpler knowledge models, progressively developed by community contribution. It is within this context that this thesis investigates the use …

Making Sense Of Men's Workout Practices: The Body, Age And Identity, Andrew Dunne

Masters

Background: Within sociology it is generally accepted that the body has become an object or “project” that is worked on and transformed as a central part of self-identity (Baudrillard 1998; Corrigan 1997; Featherstone 1991; Giddens 1991; Turner 1995, 1992; Shilling 2003). An alternative to such arguments, Leder (1990) conceptualizes the body as an “absent presence”. He argues that, while the body plays a central role in shaping our experience of the world, we are frequently oblivious to our own bodies. For Leder, bodywork is sporadic. He contends that specific social and/or physiological experiences cause the body to “dys-appear”, or enter …

Two Tribes Go To War: An Examination Of Social Interactions At Irish Football Games, Niamh Kirwan

Masters

research is to explore social life and interaction in sporting space. Despite the growing interest in the field of sport consumption, the experiences of supporters have not been adequately theorised. Studies acknowledging the sport supporter tend to focus supporters as lone individuals or as rigid groups of homogenous individuals that fit into a typology. In this study, I examine the distinct ways in which supporters in small groups interact in the sporting space through mutual relationships and interdependent social networks. Maffesoli (1996) is the original proponent in the study of tribal consumption groups. Maffesoli’s (1996) work has not been used …

Just Bring Yourself, Denise Lyons

Masters

The social care worker receives a comprehensive education through the combination of theoretical knowledge and practice training. The effective worker integrates this knowledge and experience into planned practice that meets the diverse needs of each service user. As well as honed skills and integrated knowledge, the graduate also brings their values, beliefs, socialisation influences and personality traits with them to work. The practice of social care involves working with vulnerable people, and having an understanding of how these “self characteristics” may influence the relationship is essential. According to Garfat, McElwee and Charles (2005: 108), “the social care practitioner is in …

The National Game And Irish Society: The Gaa As A Cultural Brand, Aine Carroll

Masters

The link between brands and culture is well documented (McCracken, 1986; Ritson and Elliott, 1999). However the purposeful creation of brands related to culture is less evident (Vincent, 2002; Holt, 2004). It is this lack of theoretical understanding of cultural brands that drives this study. The objective of this study is to investigate the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) as an iconic brand within the socio-economic context of Ireland. The literature has been divided into two chapters, the first is an overview of consumer culture as the context within which brands have taken on great importance, in the construction of self …

To Evaluate The Effects Of The Introduction Of A Smoke-Free Environment On The Lung Function Of Bar Workers In Dublin, Michele Agnew

Masters

It has long been recognised that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) causes respiratory and cardio-vascular disease. A ban, prohibiting smoking in the workplace, was sanctioned by the Irish government and came into effect on 29 March, 2004. Bar staff were an ideal group to study the health effects of the introduction of this ban. Methods Workers were recruited through their Trade Union, Mandate, and 81 participated in the pre-ban phase of testing between September 2003 and March 2004. They attend the Respiratory Laboratory in St. James’s Hospital and underwent lung function tests and measurement of exhaled carbon monoxide (CO). …

An Investigation Into The Use Of Brands In Young Adult Females' Drinking Rituals, Kieran Joseph Tucker

Masters

Recent studies and media commentary have highlighted a dramatic increase in alcohol consumption amongst young people in Ireland. Of particular concern is the extent of heavy, episodic drinking motivated by a desire for intoxication, or binge drinking. Various possible reasons for this have been identified, among them marketing activity and the glamorising of drink culture. The majority of studies into binge drinking define the phenomenon by volume measures of consumption alone and ignore the socio-cultural context in which alcohol is consumed. Drinking behaviours can be seen to be symptomatic of highly formalised and symbolically meaningful consumption patterns. As a ritual …

An Exploration Of The Policy And Practice Of Custodial Remands For Children Under 16 Years In Ireland, Sarah Anderson

Masters

Juvenile justice in Ireland is at a time of transition. The recently enacted Children Act, 2001 is the first piece of legislative change in almost a century and once fully implemented will provide for much needed change. However, at the time of this study juvenile justice in Ireland was still legislated for by the Children Act, 1908 and there was increasing concern that the needs and rights of children in conflict with the law were not being met. There was very little in the way of empirical evidence however, to validate these claims. This study examines the entire population (N=68) …

A Study Of The Impact Of The Child Care (Pre-School Services) Regulations (1996) On The Quality Of Early Childhood Services In Ireland: The Iea Preprimay Project Revisited, Mary O'Kane

Masters

In 1996, the first legislative control over early education services in Ireland came into place in the form of the Child Care (Pre-School Services) Regulations. The research hypothesis of this study was that the implementation of the Regulations had an impact on quality of early childhood care and education (ECCE) services in Ireland. It was also acknowledged at the outset that other related factors, such as increased level of investment and improved levels of training, may have affected quality of provision. Baseline data, gathered in 1994 and 1995 as part of the cross-national IEA Preprimary Project in which Ireland took …

Policy And Programme Responses To Urban Social Exclusion 1990-2000 : A Selective European Cross Country Comparative Study, Caren Gallagher

Masters

Historically, poverty has been a deeply embedded reality within society, its nature and extent altering, over time, in response to shifts in socio-economic conditions, political ideology and value system. Poverty, as part of the human conditions, still remains intractable problem in both developed and developing nations and regions. This study is concerned, in particular, with urban poverty in an E.U. context. The overall aim of the research is to consider whether urban social exclusion is amenable to public policy intervention. A comparative study approach is used to explore the various approaches to partnership and anti-poverty policy in the selected countries …

Parents As Partners In Early Childhood Services In Ireland: An Exploratory Study, Shirley Martin

Masters

The aim of the study is to explore parents’ relationships with early years service providers. A further aspect of the study was to elicit the views of parents and staff on services in relation to parent-staff partnerships. True partnership requires parents and professionals to have a relationship characterised by openness and mutual respect. As the demand for childcare is growing it is becoming apparent that there is a gap in research in relation to parents and childcare in Ireland. Parents are one of the main stakeholders in childcare and it is important to understand parents’ views and expectations of childcare …

Icts As An Aid To Inclusivity?: Barriers To Benefits For Adult Learners In The Ennis Information Age Town, Anna Greenhalgh

Masters

The subject of this thesis is the potential role of ICTs as a means of addressing social exclusion. ICTs have been recognised for their double-edged promise: while they may open opportunities in work, education and social practices, their benefits may be inaccessible to disadvantaged members of society. This subject is explored by means of a case study of adult learners who have been exposed to a ‘social experiment’ involving technological endowment of an Irish community: the Ennis Information Age Town project. This large-scale private sector initiative, which ran between 1997 and 2002, has the potential to inform future ICT projects …

Exploring Training To Equip Early Years Professionals For Addressing The Issue Of Diversity In Their Work: A Qualitative Study Of The Diploma In Early Childhood Care And Education At The Technological University Dublin, Miranda Cooke

Masters

Diversity is increasingly a theme for publ ic discussion in Ireland to-day due to the rapidly changing socia and cultural structure of Irish society. These changes have important implications for providers of early years services particularly as it has been recognised that the rol e of the early years professional is crucial in promoti ng equality. Research highlights the negative attitudes chi ldren can learn at a very young age. However, there is an absence of research both in Ireland and internationally regarding training models for addressing diversity with early years students. This study aims to contribute to the development …

Rail Stations As Locations For Commercial Property Development: The Implications For Dublin, Mark Adamson

Masters

Throughout Europe there are many examples of the redevelopment of rail stations to include significant commercial development as well as the rebuilding of the stations themselves. In Ireland such development is in its infancy with the only major mixed station/commercial development to date being the concourse and office development at Connolly Station in Dublin. The potential of stations for commercial development may be limited by their location, the limited extent and capacity of the rail network and the attitude of the property industry to these locations. However, the potential of these locations in Dublin City may be about to change. …