Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

Supporting Biosciences In The Nursing Curriculum: Development And Evaluation Of An Online Resource, Ka Gresty, Dre Cotton

School of Biomedical Sciences

Aims. The aim of this project was to develop and evaluate an online resource designed to improve the biosciences knowledge of preregistration nursing students. Background. A number of studies have identified lack of biological subject knowledge and anxiety about studying biosciences as serious problems for nursing students. The availability of a contextualized biological information resource prior to and early in their studies might help to reduce this fear and anxiety. Methods. The project used an action research approach, involving an initial analysis of the extent of the problems with biosciences encountered by our nursing students, followed by the development and …

Recent Jewish Immigrants' Communication In Postville, Iowa: A Case Study, Anna I. Levina

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

For this paper the author researched Iowa's immigration history and modern day Postville, a small town that represents a tossed salad of cultural, religious, and linguistic diversities. The author analyzed the current effect of immigration as well as the process of integration and assimilation into the small town through the eyes of its immigrants. The major emphasis is placed on Postville located in northeast Iowa. For 150 years Postville was an all-white, all-Christian farming community of 1,000 souls, most of European ancestry. Today the population of Postville has doubled and of the 2,000 people who reside in Postville almost one …

The Educational Thought And Practices Of Padre Luís Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga S. J., Justo Gallardo

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The memory of the Jesuit Luís Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga S.J. is deeply held by the people of Chile. Most are aware of his main activities in favor of the poor. More than 50 years after his death, he is undeniably remembered for his main social work, El Hogar de Cristo, the largest welfare institution in Latin America. His importance for education in Chile, however, is less well-recognized. This historical case study is intended to address this less well-known aspect of his life.

As such, the purpose of this study is to examine Padre Hurtado's influence on Chilean education in the …

Social Experiences Of African-American Female Students On A Predominantly White Campus, Guy Alexander Sims

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study examined the social experiences of African American female students at a predominantly white institution finding that in several areas of student life African American female students persisted to graduation without necessarily establishing informal social interactions within the university community. This is contrary to Vincent Tinto's posit that students who fail to make a connection with the campus community are more likely to withdraw from the institution. This study introduces the term irrelation as a descriptor of a social construct I have applied to African American female college students on the campus of a large, public, mid-western university. Irrelation …

To Read Or Not To Read: The Usefulness Of Informed Consent, Natasha E. Webb, Elizabeth D. Taylor

Modern Psychological Studies

Informed consent is an important ethical factor for medicine, psychology, and other needed disciplines. It is necessary for participants to understand an intended research project or procedure in which they plan to take part. This study examined the usefulness of informed consent by administering such a form prior to an irrelevant questionnaire. A simple task was inserted into the reading, which allowed assessment of whether participants actually read the form. Results obtained through the experiment supported the hypothesis that the majority of the participants would not read the consent form. While less than half of each sex actually read the …

Moving From Interpretivism To Critical Realism In Is Research: An Exploration And Supporting It Outsourcing Example, Philip J. Dobson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The major contribution of the thesis is to highlight the Importance of philosophical awareness in progressing research. It argues against the use of a priori theory in research and proposes that an understanding of the philosophical underpinnings of particular research approaches can provide the opportunity to be ones own guide and to work out critically one's own conception of the world. It suggests that the adoption of critical realism as the underlying philosophical base can support research in a useful and practical manner. The thesis introduces the philosophy of critical realism and uses its underlabouring role to provide new Insights …

A Study Of The Representation Of Marriage And The Family In The Film Muriel's Wedding, Zoe Chambers

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Representations of the family in the Australian popular media in recent years appear to have shifted from a traditional nuclear family form to more diverse constructions, and the family has become an institution that is more often associated with dysfunction rather than the idealised notions of caring and support. This study will examine this re-evaluation of the nuclear family through a close analysis of the film Muriel's Wedding (1994). How the discourses of gender and nationalism intersect with those of marriage and family will be studied, in an attempt to understand this reappraisal of the Australian family.

Big Boys Don't Cry : Understanding Barriers To Seeking Support For Mental Health Problems Among Adolescent Males, Amanda Miraudo

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study explored the possible barriers encountered by adolescents in developing and achieving positive mental health. Male adolescents in Perth, Western Australia were consulted in an attempt to provide insight into the motivating and inhibiting factors influencing help-seeking as a coping strategy. Barriers to seeking help for mental health problems were investigated through the inductive process of grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) to obtain a more detailed understanding of help-seeking than previous studies have provided; The study found that the coping responses most frequently enacted by the adolescent males sampled included avoidance, diversion, and private resolution. Help-seeking was far …

The Information Needs Of The Families Of Patients With Advanced Cancer In An Acute Hospital, Sue Davis

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

A diagnosis of cancer has a major impact on the family as well as the patient. The families of patients with advanced cancer have many needs. In particular, a number of researchers have identified family members' needs for information as a priority. Most of this research, however, has been undertaken in the context of Palliative Care settings. Few empirical studies have been undertaken to examine the information needs of these families in an acute hospital setting. The aim of this study is to modify an existing tool, The Family Inventory of Needs (FIN), to more precisely assess the information needs …

On Being-In-Community : A Phenomenological Explication Of The Experience Of Being-In-Community : In The Context Of The Community Building Workshop Tm And Business, Carl Holroyd

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

A call for business to introduce a humanistic workplace ethos within a supportive work community resounds throughout the western world. Scott Peck's model of community building workshops is explored as a tool for creating a business ethos centred-on human flourishing which embraces the principles of socially responsible community. The CBW provides a concrete experience of a psychological and physiological sense of deep-community. In -Peck's vernacular, this is termed as being in-community. In my research the experience of being-in-community is explicated via phenomenological analysis, which allows some of the eidetic structures of the phenomenon to come to light. The experience is …

Motivations To Volunteer In Selected Service Organisations In Australia, Sonia D. Langridge

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The contributions of volunteers assist many organisations to stretch scarce resources further in a bid to provide important services to the community. Such organisations are challenged to motivate the participation of new and continuing volunteers. Although most people in the community recognise the value and importance of volunteerism, few actually commit to participating as volunteers. This study seeks to expand the somewhat limited research on volunteers in an Australian context. The sample consisted of 361 volunteers from three service organisations in Australia-- Rotary International, Horne and Community Care (HACC), and Surf Life Saving Australia. Each of these groups fulfils an …

An Exploration Of The Influence Of The Acculturation Process On An Artist's Practice And The Implications For Education, Julie Brewin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This Creative Arts Project investigates the relationship between expression in the visual arts and the process of acculturation. The focus of the study is my personal negotiation of this process. The descriptive study is about engagement with the organic world and its past and present dialogues within the ongoing process of acculturation. I have explored the connection between nature, culture and art using a phenomenological research method. The propositions that we do not see things as they are; we see things as we are (Talmud), and that as visual artists we are the 'architects of our own experience', (Eisner, 2001) …

Street Photography: An Approach To Strangers: Casual, Close And Personal Encounters, Flavia M. Schuster

Theses : Honours

Street photographers can either camouflage or reveal their identities to the strangers they photograph. By choosing to remain anonymous, photographers often create images in which only their subjects are exposed. By unveiling their identities however, they often create images in which their interaction becomes evident in the resulting images. Casual Encounters looks at the mechanisms employed by photographers that choose to remain anonymous in contrast to the myth of the flâneur. Close Encounters looks at the mechanisms employed between strangers to deal with their daily interactions in urban environments. Personal Encounters serves to explain my own approach to the strangers …

Tauhid And Tasawwuf: Indonesian Sufism In Search Of Unity, Natasha Ryan

Theses : Honours

The Islamic principle of Tauhid (Divine Unity) is foundational to Islam and Tasawwuf, better known to us as Sufism. Within the Indonesian consciousness of Islam, Tauhid can also mirror Indonesia's national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity), its understanding of tolerance reverberating with the purity of Islam. The recent renewal of Sufism in Indonesia may provide a Sufi paradigm shift to help relieve some tension surrounding an emergent Islamist intolerance, thereby smoothing the rising waters of uncertainty flowing alongside the current Islamic resurgence. While it is generally rare for Australians to take an interest in Indonesia's mystical Islamic culture, …

How Shall We Worship?, Lilianne Douhkan

Faculty Publications

"What is the right form of worship? Is there only one correct form or style? Have worship forms changed over time? Who decides which form or format is appropriate? Setting aside personal opinions and preferences, we need to discover the answer from God's Word."

Hegemonija In Sirjenje Dominantnih Umetnostnih Praks, Curtis Carter

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Validity And Obligation In Natural Law Theory, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The relation between law and morality is a point of contention amongst legal philosophers. There are several issues: first, the extent to which law should incorporate moral standards; second, the effect of moral status on legal validity (the "validity question"); third, the effect of legal validity on the obligation created by the law (the "obedience question"). Because most positivists concede that it is desirable for law to accord with notions of justice and morals and that law often incorporates morals, the first issue features less prominently in the positivism-natural law debate. This article examines John Finnis's views on the latter …

Life After Diagnosis : The Social Experience Of Adolescents Diagnosed With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder And How They Manage Their Lives, Georgia L. Carragher

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is the most frequently diagnosed developmental disorder in school-age children in Western Australia today. It concerns and frustrates the children and adolescents who are diagnosed with the disorder, their parents, teachers and the general community. In spite of the plethora of research associated with AD/HD, dissension abounds in the community, literature and the media over its diagnosis and the best treatment and response to the disorder. Notwithstanding the body of research very little is known about adolescents' experiences, opinions, needs and problems associated with the disorder as research and treatment regimes are currently determined by adults. The research …

Public Street Surveillance: A Psychometric Study On The Perceived Social Risk, David J. Brooks

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Public street surveillance, a domain of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), has grown enormously and is becoming common place with increasing utilization in society as an all-purpose security tool. Previous authors (Ditton, 1999; Davies, 1998; Horne, 1998; Tomkins, 1998) have raised concern over social, civil and privacy issues, but there has been limited research to quantify these concerns. There are a number of core aspects that could relocate the risk perception and therefore, social support of public street surveillance. This study utilized the psychometric paradigm to quantitatively measure the social risk perception of public street surveillance. The psychometric paradigm is a …

Moral Autonomy In Organisational Decisions, Eva Evdokia Tsahuridu

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this study to investigate the morality of persons in organisations and especially the effect of organisations on the moral autonomy of persons. In addition to reviewing the literature of moral autonomy in philosophy, psychology, sociology and organisation studies and management, the thesis also examines the ontology of organisations, moral agency and the organisation as a context. Based on this knowledge, a model is developed that addresses the relations of the organisation to society and the person to the organisation in ethical decision making. From this model the thesis develops three moral decision making categories. These are: moral …

Multiply-Mediated Households : Space And Power Reflected In Everyday Media Use, Donell Joy Holloway

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study investigates how contemporary Australian families incorporate the consumption of multiple media technologies within their home environments. It uses an approach similar to David Morley's (1986) Family Television where he explored the consumption of television programs in the context of everyday family life. He viewed the household (or family) as the key to constructing understandings of the television audience; where there were gendered regimes of watching, and where program choice often reflected existing power relationships in the home. However since then (a time when most families had only one television set) the media environment of many homes has changed. …

The Role Of Stereotypes In Age Discrimination In Hiring: Evaluation And Intervention, Eyal Gringart

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

As the number of older adults grows, governments find it increasingly harder to support them through social and health care services. One solution to this problem is for older adults to remain in paid employment longer. However, older workers are discriminated against due to negative stereotyping by employers. Previous research has found that older females experienced greater discrimination than did older males. In order to address the issue of hiring discrimination against older adults a progressive two-stage research project was conducted. Using a questionnaire that was developed especially for this project, Study One explored the stereotypes held about older workers …

A Study Of Destination Attractiveness Through Tourists' Perspectives : A Focus On Chiang Mai, Thailand, Chompunoot Morachat

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study seeks to gain insights into the overall attractiveness of a destination by applying the multi-attribute Fishbein model. This approach has been carried out twice before in the international context and this dissertation contributes further to the concepts of destination attractiveness especially through the application of multi-attribute models of measurement and analysis with the context of localisation. It also adds to the body of knowledge on the understanding of tourism product preference and perceptual attitudes held by tourists from specific geographical origins to the South-East Asian region, specifically within Thailand. The study investigated (i) tourists' perceived overall attractiveness of …

A Trinitarian Ontological Approach To The Congregational Revitalization Of Loudsville United Methodist Church, John Eugene Heckman

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Decent Exposure: Evolution Of The Female Gaze, Jill Silverstein

Theses

Not Included

In The Wake Of The Gulf War: Assessing Family Spending Of Compensation Money In Sri Lanka, Michele Ruth Gamburd

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Between 1997 and 2000, the United Nations Compensation Commission delivered US$ 4000 apiece to roughly 87,000 Sri Lankan citizens who suffered displacement and loss of employment due to Iraq’s military actions in Kuwait during the Gulf War. Using qualitative ethnographic data, this essay examines eleven case studies of Kuwait returnees in the village of Naeaegama, in southern Sri Lanka. Like the majority of Sri Lankans caught in the Gulf War, these returnees are women from poor rural families who worked as domestic servants in Kuwait. The essay compares how the eleven households have spent compensation money and migrants’ remittances. Spending …

Barriers When Implementing The Continuity-Of-Care Organizational Structure In Infant And Toddler Child Care Settings, Amber E. Aguillard

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of the study was to provide descriptive information about barriers that directors encounter when they attempt to implement the continuity-of-care organizational structure in child care centers. The study focused on four research issues: 1) child care directors’ definitions of continuity of care, 2) directors’ implementations of continuity of care, 3) if the directors’ practices violate their definitions what is the directors’ perceptions of the reason(s), and 4) if the directors’ practices violate their definition what is the reasons for the violations as perceived by an outside observer. The sample consisted of 4 child care directors who direct highquality, …

The Evaluation Of A Family Literacy Program, Katrina Denise Hopkins

LSU Master's Theses

Based on the literacy need in the state of Louisiana, this project was interested in whether the Ready to Learn: Between the Lions literacy workshop could equip parents to enhance and develop their child’s literacy skills and to enhance family literacy interactions. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness and usefulness of a Ready to Learn literacy workshop in two Baton Rouge Head Start preschool centers, Banks and Southern University. Participants attended workshops once a month from January to April, lasting approximately 30 minutes each. The workshop was evaluated using a pretest/posttest instrument consisting of seven likert-type …

Louisiana Sugar: A Geohistorical Perspective, Elizabeth Vaughan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The planting of sugarcane in Louisiana’s southern parishes has persisted with stunning continuity since its introduction in the late eighteenth century. This industry, however, is an economic and agricultural anomaly. It is a relic of the sixteenth-century expansion of European capitalism in which granulated sugar, then a novel product, stimulated the Atlantic slave trade and contributed to the incorporation of the sugar-producing colonies of the Americas into an emerging European-world economy. The Louisiana sugar industry was launched in 1795 with a historic granulation from a new variety of sugarcane recently introduced into the Caribbean. From this early success, the industry …