Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Adoption studies'

Study Aims: With adoption becoming more common in Hong Kong, the present study was conducted to gain an understanding of the opinions of Hong Kong adoptive parents regarding adoption disclosure to their child. Multiple research questions were investigated that may interest both the general public and those associated with adoption. Reasons for adoption disclosure, gender differences, and whether high or low Asian values have a significant influence were examined. Method: Fifty-four participants (18 men and 31 women) were recruited from Mother's Choice (a Hong Kong NGO). They were asked to complete a Disclosure Questionnaire, which determines the opinions and attitudes of adoptive parents on disclosure that was developed for use in this specific study, and the Asian Values Scale, which can be divided into five subscales (i.e., Collectivism, Conformity to Norms, Emotional Self-Control, Family Recognition Through Achievement, and Humility). Results: Majority of the participants reported that infertility was their main reason for the adoption and that they disclose because the child has the right to know. In addition, the majority strongly feel that disclosing will save future trauma and will not affect their relationship. The overwhelming majority of parents (94.4%, 51 out of 54) are planning to or already have disclosed the adoptive status to their child. Two participants (3.7%) are not planning to disclose and one (1.9%) did not answer. The 51 participants were then asked a follow up question regarding whether they would still disclose if it were guaranteed that their child would never find out about his/her adoptive status and ten of them changed their mind and one did not answer. Some gender differences were found and there were a few significant items where participants who responded differently on Disclosure Questionnaire items also varied on Asian values. Conclusions: This study is important to further understand Hong Kong's adoption population. Although there are limitations due to sample size and convenient sampling, this study is a beginning in the exploration of opinions of adoptive parents towards disclosure. As the majority of participants adopted due to infertility, more care and counseling should be provided targeting infertile couples to explore infertility, the possibility of adoption, and what the adoption means to them. This is especially important in Hong Kong, where infertility may be seen as culturally deviant as the purpose of marriage is to parent (Ko, 2001). With the cultural and social stigma of infertility, many couples may choose to remain secretive and thus perhaps keep a subsequent adoption secretive as well. It can be concluded that adoption disclosure is a complicated action that requires a lot of consideration and preparation. However, even with this, thoughts and feelings may continue to conflict with each other as it is a complex process.

Keywords: adoption, disclosure, Hong Kong, Asian Values Scale

Att utveckla nya produkter som fyller kunders behov är nödvändigt för att ett företag ska kunna växa och utvecklas, men att få en ny idé eller produkt anammad kan vara svårt. Diagnostikföretaget Phadia AB i Uppsala har nyligen lanserat ett nyutvecklat allergitest, ImmunoCAP™ Rapid, på primärvårdsmarknaden och planer finns på att eventuellt lansera testet på konsumentmarknaden. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur olika aspekter kan komma att påverka marknadernas mottagande av ImmunoCAP™ Rapid och därmed föreslå vad Phadia AB bör tänka på vid lanseringen av ImmunoCAP™ Rapid.

Med utgångspunkt i teori om adoptionstakt av innovationer undersöktes hur ImmunoCAP™ Rapid kan förväntas mottas av primärvården och förutsättningarna för en eventuell lansering på konsumentmarknaden. Detta gjordes genom en telefonbaserad enkätundersökning riktad mot verksamhetschefer inom primärvården, samt en kvalitativ fokusgruppsstudie riktad mot konsumenter, vilken kompletterades med en kvantitativ enkätstudie.

Resultaten från både konsumentmarknads- och primärvårdsundersökningen tyder på goda förutsättningar för ImmunoCAP™ Rapid att mottas väl, samt att en lansering på båda marknaderna kommer att inverka på varandra. Författarnas rekommendationer är följande: Då det i undersökningen framkom att beslutet om vilka allergitestmetoder som skulle finnas tillgängliga på respektive vårdcentral ofta låg centralt inom landstinget bör nyckelpersoner för inköpsbeslut inom landstingen identifieras för att underlätta den fortsatta expansionen av ImmunoCAP™ Rapid på vårdmarknaden. Vid en eventuell lansering på konsumentmarknaden bör budskapet som förmedlas till konsumenterna betona den valfrihet och lättillgänglighet som ImmunoCAP™ Rapid innebär, samt testets tillförlitlighet, då de två första var de största upplevda fördelarna och den senare egenskapen den största upplevda risken.

The adoption of online banking in Saudi Arabia is still emerging. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influenced Saudi females to adopt online banking with Saudi banks. This study answered the following research question: What are the factors that influence Saudi female users in Saudi Arabia to adopt online banking through Saudi Arabian banks? This study contributes to a gap in the literature regarding the limited studies of online banking from a Saudi female perspective. A qualitative method was used to conduct the study. A semi-structured interview was conducted to collect data from the participants. The sample consisted of 13 Saudi females who live in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The themes of this study developed by coding the transcripts via NVivo, then categorizing the responses into themes. These themes were identified according to the multiple responses from the participants repeatedly on each theme. The results provided seven main themes which influenced females to adopt online banking. Easiness and convenience were the preeminent influential themes according to the females followed by security, trust, user-friendly comfortable, and availability. The sub-themes were: (1) save time, (2) effortless, (3) easy to navigate, (4) easy to use, (5) clear options, and (6) clear to navigate. In addition, this study found that education, professional background, computer competency, and age had a significant impact on online banking adoption from Saudi females.

This is a study of popular cultural representations of international adoption and adopted Koreans in Western countries. The study is carried out from a postcolonial perspective and uses a cultural studies reading of four feature films and four popular songs as primary sources. The aim is to examine how nationalism is articulated in various ways in light of the colonial experiences in modern Korean history and recent postcolonial developments within contemporary Korean society. The principal question addressed is: What are the implications for a nation depicting itself as one extended family and which has sent away so many of its own children, and what are the reactions from a culture emphasising homogeneity when encountering and dealing with the adopted Koreans? After an introductory chapter, Chapter 2 gives the history of international adoption from Korea, and Chapter 3 is an account of the development of the adoption issue in the political discussion. Chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 analyse the cinematic and lyrical representations of adopted Koreans in four feature films and popular songs respectively. Chapter 4 considers the gendering of the colonised nation and the maternalisation of roots, drawing on theories of nationalism as a gendered discourse. Chapter 5 examines the issue of hybridity and the relationship between Koreanness and Whiteness, which are related to the notions of third space, mimicry and passing. Linked to studies of national division, reunification and family separation, Chapter 6 looks at the adopted Koreans as symbols of a fractured and fragmented nation. Chapter 7 focuses on the emergence of a global Korean community, with regards to theories of globalisation, diasporas and transnationalism. In the concluding chapter, the study argues that the Korean adoption issue can be conceptualised as an attempt at overcoming a difficult past and imagining a common future for all ethnic Koreans at a transnational level.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a Roadmap in 2008 regarding a change in the American accounting standards system. The Roadmap proposes a potential adoption from the United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The objective with the adoption is to enhance a one-set of accounting standards used in the world in order to increase comparability between public limited companies in different jurisdictions. With the adoption, the valuation of inventories for American companies will change, since the Last-In, First-Out (LIFO) method is allowed under US GAAP, but not under IFRS. A study from 2008 shows that approximately 36 per cent of American public limited companies is using LIFO. They would therefore be forced to use another inventory valuation method, such as First-In, First-Out (FIFO). The LIFO method is normally used by companies exposed to inflation and increases the cost of goods sold (COGS) and consequently lowers the net income and income tax provision. With the potential adoption, these companies would face large increases of income tax provisions, which would affect them severely.

This thesis is a review study with the objective to connect recent research with the SEC Roadmap in order to answer the following research questions: How will US companies that are using LIFO be affected by the inventory valuation change to FIFO, from an economic and accounting-based approach? What are the positive and negative aspects with a removal of LIFO regarding the IFRS adoption?

There is a clear benefit for the US companies using LIFO regarding the smaller income tax provisions. Opponents consider that LIFO will disappear with the US adoption to IFRS. At the same time, recent research considers or doubts that the LIFO method will not face its death with the adoption from US GAAP to IFRS. As a conclusion, the negative effect of removing LIFO as a consequence of this adoption, is the implementation time period, which is too optimistic. Even though, the credibility with a shift from LIFO to FIFO will grow stronger and create a more comparable business world.

Miljön har kommit allt mer i fokus de senaste åren och en bransch som är särskilt viktig är bilbranschen vilken påverkar miljön i stor utsträckning. Exempelvis den svenska regeringen har framfört en önskan om att vara helt oberoende av olja år 2020 och detta är något som uppenbarligen skulle påverka bilbranschen och tydliggör behövet av miljövänliga fordon. Dessa så kallade miljöfordon lanserades i större omfattning redan på 1990-talet men har ännu inte nått kommersiell framgång. Anledningen till detta har sannolikt att göra med olika faktorer förknippade med produkten vilka påverkar konsumenters adoption negativt. Med adoption menas den process i fem steg av Rogers (1995) som förklarar hur en konsument blir först medveten om en produkt och fram tills det att personen ifråga blir en regelbunden användare. Ett antal teorier identifierar dessa påverkande faktorer men behovet av studier som undersöker hur den enskilda konsumentens adoptionsprocess påverkas är tydligt. Detta leder till denna studies syften vilka ämnar att identifiera dessa påverkande faktorer och hur dessa faktorer i sin tur påverkar adoptionsprocessen. Den ökade förståelsen för dessa faktorer leder även till praktiska implikationer som bilföretagen kan ha användning för.

De olika faktorerna har identifierats i denna kvalitativa studie med hjälp av strukturerade intervjuer till nio olika respondenter. Studiens kunskapssyn är hermeneutisk. Den teoretiska referensramen är först uppbyggd kring adoptionsprocessen för att sedan bli mer specifikt kopplad till miljöfordon och de olika faktorer som påverkar processen. Denna referensram leder fram till en modell vilken sammanfattar ämnet.

Studien lyckas identifiera ett mängd olika faktorer vilka har påverkat konsumenters adoption av miljöfordon antingen negativt eller positivt. Dessa faktorers påverkan på adoptionsprocessens specifika delar skiljer sig nämnvärt då vissa faktorer kan få konsumenter att gå till nästa steg varav andra faktorer inte har samma stora betydelse. Med hjälp av dessa faktorer ger studien ett antal praktiska implikationer vilka kan användas av bilföretagen för att underlätta adoptionsprocessen för konsumenter.

The disruptive effects of social media are placing pressure on organizations to adopt or be left behind. There is little empirical research, however, regarding how social networking is used and experienced by adopting organizations. This dissertation is the outcome of an investigation of social media adoption and impact on businesses, and on traditional mass media, in a small and medium enterprise (SME) context. The character of social media adoption was examined, using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as the theoretical framework. Thematic analysis of the data provided insights on the approach to technology integration and led to the conclusion that social media adoption is influenced by multiple factors including the ease of use, usefulness of the technology, critical mass, and the need to simply keep up with new technology. Facebook, WhatsApp, and LinkedIn emerged as the tools of choice. The potential positive effect of social networking on SME marketing opportunities, brand profile, and customer relationship management makes social media integration imperative for organizational leaders seeking to promote their businesses, grow their customer base, and reduce costs. To reap the full benefits, businesses must develop a collaborative, all-encompassing social media strategy, engaging their community of staff, suppliers, and customers in social networks. As social media force the movement of marketing and other content to open channels, the demand for traditional mass media services will continue to fall. The implications for traditional media organizations cluster around issues of new technology integration and the development of dynamic capabilities that facilitate the identification of new revenue streams and innovative business models to deal with the disruptive challenges presented by social networks. revenue streams and innovative business models to deal with the disruptive challenges presented by social networks.

The respondents can be classified into 3 groups as follows,

users 47%, non users 37%, non awareness customers 16%.

We found that the group of users perceived more positive

toward Bualuang ibanking than the group of non users in four

aspects, relatively advantage, complexity, compability and

observability, while, trialability was not perceived as a

significant attribute facilitating the use of Bualuang ibanking.

However, in some circumstances, such as, time processing,

mental effort, frustrating, privacy and security, the attitude

toward these circumstances is positive but not divergent

between these two groups. For the non awareness customers,

there are 58% of them preferred adopting this technology in

the future and the most frequently selective duration that they

will adopt this technology is within one month.