Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Corpus-based quantitative and qualitative analysis'

Clinicians and researchers have reported that perceptions of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) have changed over time, while speculation has been generated related to the media portrayal of NSSI and the individuals who engage in this behaviour. However, no study to date has directly examined representations of NSSI in print media longitudinally. This dissertation's objective was to investigate the depiction of NSSI within print-based media over a 20-year period (1988 to 2007) by examining articles published in popular English-speaking magazines. The theoretical framework for the thesis draws from social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) originating in social psychology, and from cultivation theory originating in cultural and media studies (Gerbner & Gross, 1976). A mixed methods study created two samples; quantitative sample of 117 articles from a keyword search of popular magazine titles and a qualitative sample of 29 articles of NSSI-themed feature articles. The quantitative analysis indicated a significant increase in the number of articles published over time, and an increase in the variety of publications mentioning NSSI. The majority of self-injuring characters depicted were females (91.36%), with male and LGBT characters under-represented. Of the self-injuring characters depicted, 26.31% were celebrities, 22.78% had a history of abuse, 21.25% reported substance abuse, 31.25% reported depression, and 25% experienced suicidal behaviours. The qualitative study showed shifts in social perceptions. A change occurred with a reduced emphasis on NSSI as part of a mental disorder, and an increased emphasis on NSSI caused by social factors. NSSI descriptions changed from unusual and severe to common and moderate methods. A process of normalizing and minimizing NSSI behaviour arose and the metaphor of addiction was used to describe NSSI. An initial trend towards writing to increase awareness about NSSI transitioned to blaming the media for a perceived swell in NSSI rates. Articles provided limited commentary on society's role in NSSI behaviours. The current study suggests articles published about NSSI have increased with time, and that the topic of self-injury is being discussed with a broader audience. Implications of normalization and minimization of NSSI, the addiction metaphor for NSSI, self-identifying as a self-injurer, and social factors of NSSI are discussed.
Les cliniciens et les chercheurs ont rapporté que la perception quant à l'automutilation non suicidaire (NSSI) a changé au fil du temps, alors qu'il y a eu de la spéculation reliée au portrait dressé par les médias à propos de la NSSI et des individus qui se livrent à ce comportement. Cependant, aucune étude à ce jour n'a directement examiné la représentation de la NSSI dans la presse écrite de manière longitudinale. L'objectif de cette thèse était d'enquêter sur la représentation de la NSSI dans la presse écrite au cours d'une période de 20 ans (1988 à 2007) en examinant les articles publiés dans des magazines populaires de langue anglaise. Le cadre théorique de la thèse s'inspire de la théorie cognitive sociale (Bandura, 1986) provenant de la psychologie sociale et de la théorie de la culture, elle-même provenant des études culturelles et des médias (Gerbner et Gross, 1976). Une étude par méthodes mixtes a créé deux échantillons : un échantillon quantitatif de 117 articles d'une recherche par mot clé de magazines populaires et un échantillon qualitatif de 29 articles de fond ayant pour thème les NSSIs. L'analyse quantitative indique une augmentation significative du nombre d'articles publiés au fil du temps, et une augmentation de la variété des publications mentionnant la NSSI. La majorité des personnes pratiquant l'automutilation représentée étaient des femmes (91,36 %), les hommes et les LGBTs étant sous-représentés. Parmi les personnes pratiquant l'automutilation représentées, 26,31 % étaient des célébrités, 22,78 % avaient des antécédents de violence, 21,25 % ont rapporté des problèmes de toxicomanie, 31,25 % de la dépression et 25 % ont eu des comportements suicidaires. L'étude qualitative a montré des changements dans les perceptions sociales. Un changement s'est produit avec une importance moindre de la NSSI, comme faisant partie d'un trouble mental, et une importance accrue de la NSSI causée par des facteurs sociaux. Les descriptions de la NSSI ont changé passant de méthodes inhabituelles et sévères à des méthodes communes et modérées. Un processus normalisant et minimisant les comportements de la NSSI est apparu, et la métaphore de la toxicomanie a été utilisée pour décrire la NSSI. Une première tendance vers l'écriture pour accroître la sensibilisation au sujet de la NSSI s'est transformée vers un blâme des médias pour un accroissement perçu des taux de la NSSI. Les articles ont fourni des commentaires limités sur le rôle de la société dans les comportements de la NSSI. La présente étude suggère que les articles publiés sur la NSSI ont augmenté avec le temps, et que le sujet de l'automutilation rejoint dorénavant un public plus large. Les implications de la normalisation et de la minimisation des NSSIs, la métaphore de la dépendance des NSSIs, leur auto-identification comme moyen de se blesser soi-même et les facteurs sociaux des NSSIs sont examinés.

En esta investigación se ha desarrollado un método basado en el análisis de un corpus que facilita la identificación semiautomática del vocabulario especializado, combinando criterios cualitativos y cuantitativos, y en función de las variables de frecuencia, distribución, restricción y representatividad de una unidad léxica en el dominio especializado. Se ha diseñado y recopilado un corpus lingüístico especializado del inglés escrito, profesional y académico, de la Ingeniería de Telecomunicaciones (5,5 millones de palabras).El repertorio obtenido comprende las formas especializadas, con diferentes grados de especialización, estadísticamente más significativas y representativas. Entre ellas se encuentran términos puramente técnicos que no aparecerían en otro dominio, y unidades léxicas propias del lenguaje general, del académico y de otras áreas del saber que adquieren un significado especial en las telecomunicaciones.La caracterización léxica se complementa con el estudio de las relaciones sintagmáticas, mediante la exploración de los colocados contiguos, colocados significativos, combinaciones especializadas y clusters.
A corpus-based method has been developed to facilitate the semi-automatic detection of specialized vocabulary, by combining qualitative and quantitative criteria in relation to the variables of frequency, distribution, restriction and representativiness of a lexical unit in a specialized domain. The specific corpus designed and compiled for research purposes covers the academic and professional written English of Telecommunication Engineering (5.5 millions words).The obtained lexical repertoire is a list of the statistically most significant and representative specialized forms within a range of different degrees of specialization. There are both highly technical terms restricted to the domain and lexical units from the general, academic and other subject areas language, which activate a specialized meaning in telecommunications.The lexical characterization is completed with the study of sintagmatic relations by exploring adjacent collocates, significant collocates, specialized combinations and clusters.

La presente Tesis Doctoral se encuadra dentro la línea de investigación del lenguaje mediante los métodos basados en corpus, es decir, mediante análisis computacional y cuantitativo. El esencial objetivo ha sido llevar a cabo una comparación y análisis cuantitativo estructural y del léxico de dos textos específicos del género dramático: la cuarta edición en el infolio de Hamlet (1685) de Shakespeare, y la traducción al inglés de Gamlet (1787) [1748], del dramaturgo ruso Aleksandr Sumarokov, traducida del ruso por Richard Fortune en 1970. El análisis, comparación e interpretación de los resultados de los patrones estructurales y temáticos se ha dispuesto por actos, tanto en aquello que se refiere a la intra-obra (en Hamlet y Gamlet, separado), como inter-obras (entre Hamlet y Gamlet) a lo largo de los Capítulos 3º, 4º, 5º y 6º. Para desvelar los propósitos reales de Shakespeare y Sumarokov, especialmente en lo referido a las configuraciones sociales y organizativas estructurales de Hamlet y Gamlet, se utilizaron diversas aplicaciones informáticas e estadísticas. Para ello se administró el análisis cuantitativo de la distribución de los patrones de la presencia, intervención e interacción de todos los personajes, tanto los principales, como los secundarios. Para analizar y comparar las alteraciones temáticas, es decir, las diferencias cualitativas, no simplemente cuantitativas, con respecto a la conceptualización sociopolítica, religiosa, moral, familiar, filosófica y artística, entre Shakespeare y Sumarokov, se aplicaron los métodos cuantitativos y analíticos basados en la lingüística del corpus. A tal fin, se implantó la investigación de los patrones de distribución de las palabras de contenido (open-class ítems), es decir, las palabras con significado léxico, tales como sustantivos, verbos, adjetivos y adverbios, más frecuentes entre ambas obras. Los principales resultados obtenidos revelan importantes disimilitudes entre las estructuras de las obras por actos, es decir, percepciones marcadamente distintas de todos los personajes, de su relevancia en las obras y de complejidad de las relaciones sociales entre ellos. Los resultados de los patrones temáticos señalan las divergencias significativas en los contenidos básicos de ambos textos en relación con los temas más prominentes. Así pues, los resultados confirman diferencias sustanciales en los patrones estructurales y temáticos entre versión original de Hamlet y Gamlet. Resumen:
The main area of research of this PhD dissertation is the study of language by means of corpus-based techniques -in other words, by means of a computational and quantitative analysis. The aim was to carry out quantitative and qualitative structural and lexical analysis and comparison of two specific texts in the genre of drama -The Fourth Folio Edition of The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark (1685) by Shakespeare and the English translation of Gamlet (1787) [1748] by the Russian playwright Sumarokov, translated from Russian by Richard Fortune in 1970. The analysis, comparison and interpretation of data related to the structural and thematic patterns were carried out per act: intra-play (in each play, separately) and inter-plays (between Hamlet and Gamlet). Accordingly, various computational tools were applied to reveal the differences in the social and organisational structures of the plays through quantitative and qualitative analysis of the distribution patterns of the presence, intervention and interaction variables of all the characters, both main and secondary. Quantitative and analytical corpus-based methodologies were used to analyse and compare thematic alterations between the two plays -in other words, the (dis)similarities in the authors' religious, socio-political, family, moral, philosophical and artistic conceptions- identified on the basis of the most frequent content words (open-class items), particularly nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. The key findings indicate important differences between the structures of the plays per acts, that is, significant divergences in the authors' perceptions of the characters and the complexity of their relationships. Another essential finding suggests obvious distinctions between both texts' basic contents per act: intra-play and inter-plays. In general, the findings uncover wide-ranging dissimilarities in the structural and thematic patterns in Hamlet versus Gamlet.

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the effect of U.S. firms’ geographic location, whether urban or rural, on their corporate disclosure and governance practices. An “urban” firm is one that is headquartered in a large metropolitan area; whereas, a “rural” firm is one that is headquartered some distance from any metropolitan area. Specifically, the study examines whether there are different stock market reactions to urban and rural firms around key event dates relative to the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) on July 30, 2002. Also, the readability and linguistic style in the Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) section of public company’s annual reports (Form 10-K) to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are investigated to determine whether urban and rural firms communicate information differently to investors.

Background: The East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine Library has participated for several years in projects to provide rural clinicians with health information resources. Objectives: To determine whether a strategy of hand‐held devices with a best‐evidence point‐of‐care disease tool and a drug database paired with access to a medical library for full‐text articles and training to use the tools would be an affordable way to meet the information needs of rural underserved clinicians. Methods: This study is a mixed‐methods methodology. The first project was evaluated using a randomised controlled trial (RCT) methodology. The second was evaluated qualitatively using interviews and focus groups. Results: The quantitative findings discovered that clinicians equipped with a hand‐held device with evidence‐based software more frequently found answers to clinical questions, found answers more quickly, were more satisfied with information they found and use expensive resources such as continuing medical education, online databases and textbooks less than the group that did not have access to online technology. Qualitative results supported the quantitative findings. Conclusion: Librarians can implement a three‐pronged strategy of the secondary literature via a hand‐held, the primary literature via Loansome Doc and quality training to meet basic information needs of rural clinicians.

The Own Risk and Solvency Assessment, ORSA, is referred to as the heart of the regulation to be for European insurance companies - Solvency II. The aim of the ORSA process is to provide an overall and holistic view of the insurer’s risks by analyzing their current financial status and business strategy at hand. There is no predefined way to implement this process, which means that the companies are forced to develop a model themselves, as they see fit. In collaboration with a regional insurance company in Sweden we develop a structure and framework for an ORSA-model, flexible enough to be used by similar insurers yet standardized enough to overcome the issue of constrained resources within these smaller organizations. We apply a risk-factor based approach and tie together a balance sheet projection and stress testing, designed to be further developed as the individual insurer see fit. The suggested approach yields partially satisfying results and we consider the model to be particularly well-suited for assessing risk in the context of the small, non-life insurer.
Den egna risk- och solvensutvärderingen, ORSA, kallas hjärtat av det kommande regelverket för europeiska försäkringsbolag - Solvens II. Syftet med ORSA-processen är att ge en övergripande helhetsbild av försäkringsgivarens risker genom att analysera deras finansiella ställning och affärsstrategi. Det finns inget fördefinierat sätt att genomföra denna process, vilket innebär att företagen tvingas att utveckla en modell på egen hand, på ett sätt som de finner lämpligt. I samarbete med ett regionalt försäkringsbolag i Sverige utvecklar vi en struktur och en grund för en ORSA-modell. En modell som är tillräckligt flexibel för att kunna användas av liknande försäkringsgivare men samtidigt standardiserad nog att lösa problemet med begränsade resurser i dessa mindre organisationer. Vi tillämpar en riskfaktor-baserad metod, prognostiserar resultat- och balansräkning för bolaget och utför stresstester. Metoden är utformad för att utvecklas vidare av den enskilde försäkringsgivaren så som de finner lämpligt. Den föreslagna metoden ger delvis tillfredsställande resultat och vi anser att det är en grund väl lämpad att använda som utgångspunkt för att konstruera riskmätningsmetoder för små, skadeförsäkringsbolag.

This Master thesis was aimed at investigating common daylight evaluation methods related to Swedish building codes versus human perception of daylight in residential spaces. Field (interview) and simulation-based study were conducted in one of the typical 20thcentury residential, closed courtyard buildings in Stockholm.   12 residents of Kv. Väktaren 16 were interviewed and simulation models were prepared for the apartments occupied by the participants.   Resident perception of light was mostly contrary to daylight assessing values and methods of daylight factor – DF in a point (CIE overcast sky) and alternative method of window to floor area ratio – AF that are stated in Swedish standard (Boverkets byggregler BFS 2016:6).    Attractive and interesting view, access to direct sunlight and visual comfort played important role in overall occupant satisfaction level, this suggests that daylight metrics should include perception-based factors, which positively impact our health and well-being.

This study examines experiences of utilizing government assistance in the United States. It focuses on the ways in which persons participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) communicatively managed their lives in relation to their role in the program. Specifically, the research reveals that SNAP recipients are master managers. After synthesizing the pre-existing body of research concerning social assistance in the U.S. and its effects on those who utilize it, the author argues that sharing the stories of marginalized groups can serve to reduce stigma surrounding government assistance participation. Employing a Feminist Standpoint Theory sensibility to elicit such stories, the author drew out narratives gathered through qualitative interviews with current SNAP participants. Findings indicate that communicative management of SNAP participation was experienced as multi-layered and complex. Positioned to navigate the carceral environment of the SNAP program, participants adopted various disciplined communicative actions as they managed program membership, stigmatized identity, and behavioral surveillance.

A wide range of research fields have studied how emotions and behavior are affected by the physical environment. This gestalt theorist approach of experimental research as well seeks to measure emotion (using the valence-arousal scale) and micro-scale community development interactions when weighted physical environment factors are adjusted. Community development (CD) interactions at the micro-scale have received but slight attention from scholars in the CD research field and this study aims partially to investigate developing objective measures from social observations. CD interactions from recordings along with self-reported emotion through surveys in four quasi-experimental groups (where the environments were constructed based on peer-reviewed literature to cause emotional reactions) and one control group made up the data collected for this experiment. While the results of this experiment displayed apparent convincing quantitative differences in both CD interactions and emotion when the physical environment was manipulated, the results of a one-way ANOVA indicated no statistical significance to either dependent variable. The conclusions suggest limiting the physical factors of the environment to produce more precise changes as a result of the manipulated quasi environments.

Diese Arbeit bietet eine solide theoretische Grundlage zu Philanthropie und religiös motivierten Spendenaktivitäten und deren Einfluss auf Wohltätigkeitstrends, Entwicklungszusammenarbeit und einer auf dem Gedanken der sozialen Gerechtigkeit beruhenden Philanthropie. Untersucht werden dafür die Strukturen religiös motivierte Spenden, für die in der islamischen Tradition die Begriffe „zakat“, „Waqf“ oder im Plural auch „awqaf-“ oder „Sadaqa“ verwendet werden, der christliche Begriff dafür lautet „tithes“ oder „ushour“. Aufbauend auf diesem theoretischen Rahmenwerk analysiert die qualitative und quantitative Feldstudie auf nationaler Ebene, wie die ägyptische Öffentlichkeit Philanthropie, soziale Gerechtigkeit, Menschenrechte, Spenden, Freiwilligenarbeit und andere Konzepte des zivilgesellschaftlichen Engagements wahrnimmt. Um eine umfassende und repräsentative Datengrundlage zu erhalten, wurden 2000 Haushalte, 200 zivilgesellschaftliche Organisationen erfasst, sowie Spender, Empfänger, religiöse Wohltäter und andere Akteure interviewt. Die so gewonnen Erkenntnisse lassen aussagekräftige Aufschlüsse über philanthropische Trends zu. Erstmals wird so auch eine finanzielle Einschätzung und Bewertung der Aktivitäten im lokalen Wohltätigkeitsbereich möglich, die sich auf mehr als eine Billion US-Dollar beziffern lassen. Die Erhebung weist nach, dass gemessen an den Pro-Kopf-Aufwendungen die privaten Spendenaktivitäten weitaus wichtiger sind als auswärtige wirtschaftliche Hilfe für Ägypten. Das wiederum lässt Rückschlüsse zu, welche Bedeutung lokale Wohltätigkeit erlangen kann, wenn sie richtig gesteuert wird und nicht wie bislang oft im Teufelskreis von ad-hoc-Spenden oder Hilfen von Privatperson an Privatperson gefangen ist. Die Studie stellt außerdem eine Verbindung her zwischen lokalen Wohltätigkeits-Mechanismen, die meist auf religiösen und kulturellen Werten beruhen, und modernen Strukturen, wie etwa Gemeinde-Stiftungen oder Gemeinde-„waqf“, innerhalb derer die Spenden eine nachhaltige Veränderung bewirken können. Daher bietet diese Arbeit also eine umfassende wissenschaftliche Grundlage, die nicht nur ein besseres Verständnis, sondern auch den nachhaltiger Aus- und Aufbau lokaler Wohltätigkeitsstrukturen in Ägypten ermöglicht. Zentral ist dabei vor allem die Rolle lokaler, individueller Spenden, die beispielsweise für Stiftungen auf der Gemeindeebene eingesetzt, wesentlich zu einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung beitragen könnten – und das nicht nur in Ägypten, sondern in der gesamten arabischen Region. Als konkretes Ergebnis dieser Arbeit, wurde ein innovatives Modell entwickelt, dass neben den wissenschaftlichen Daten das Konzept der „waqf“ berücksichtigt. Der Wissenschaftlerin und einem engagierten Vorstand ist es auf dieser Grundlage gelungen, die Waqfeyat al Maadi Community Foundation (WMCF) zu gründen, die nicht nur ein Modell für eine Bürgerstiftung ist, sondern auch das tradierte Konzept der „waqf“ als praktikable und verbürgte Wohlstätigkeitsstruktur sinnvoll weiterentwickelt.
This work provides a solid theoretical base on philanthropy, religious giving (Islamic zakat, ‘ushour, Waqf -plural: awqaf-, Sadaqa and Christian tithes or ‘ushour), and their implications on giving trends, development work, social justice philanthropy. The field study (quantitative and qualitative) that supports the theoretical framework reflects at a national level the Egyptian public’s perceptions on philanthropy, social justice, human rights, giving and volunteering and other concepts that determine the peoples’ civic engagement. The statistics cover 2000 households, 200 Civil Society Organizations distributed all over Egypt and interviews donors, recipients, religious people and other stakeholders. The numbers reflect philanthropic trends and for the first time provide a monetary estimate of local philanthropy of over USD 1 Billion annually. The survey proves that the per capita share of philanthropy outweighs the per capita share of foreign economic assistance to Egypt, which implies the significance of local giving if properly channeled, and not as it is actually consumed in the vicious circle of ad-hoc, person to person charity. In addition, the study relates local giving mechanisms derived from religion and culture to modern actual structures, like community foundations or community waqf that could bring about sustainable change in the communities. In sum, the work provides a comprehensive scientific base to help understand- and build on local philanthropy in Egypt. It explores the role that local individual giving could play in achieving sustainable development and building a new wave of community foundations not only in Egypt but in the Arab region at large. As a tangible result of this thesis, an innovative model that revives the concept of waqf and builds on the study’s results was created by the researcher and a dedicated board of trustees who succeeded in establishing Waqfeyat al Maadi Community Foundation (WMCF) that not only introduces the community foundation model to Egypt, but revives and modernizes the waqf as a practical authentic philanthropic structure.

碩士
國立中興大學
分子生物學研究所
103
The cyclic peptide is one kind of cyclic compounds which combine of the protein and non-protein amino acids, and the carboxyl function at the C-terminus of a peptide forms a peptide bond with the N-terminal amine group a cyclic peptide is formed. A wide variety of cyclic peptides, and all has different biological functions, such as antibodies, anti-bacterial, anti-cancer, anti-immune substances, toxic substances, ion transfer regulators or protein binding inhibitor. The application of the cyclic peptide is quite diverse, for example: animal feed additive, biopesticide, surfactants, cosmetic or human drug. In the past few years, because the overuse of antibiotics, the cyclic peptides from microorganism are gradually attracted the attention of scholars. The research strategy of this experiment is based on mass analysis, using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) combine with selected reaction monitoring (SRM) to quantitative of five cyclic peptides antibiotics (polymyxin b, colistin a, colistin b, surfactin, iturin a) in a variety of matrices (bacterial, liver and milk), and combine with electron-transfer coupled with collision-induced dissociation (ET/CID) to sequence cyclic peptides, trying to join with metal chloride solution by sheath liquid, that expect to enhance the number of electric charge for cyclic peptides in the electrospray ionization method, and observe whether increases the sequence coverage of ETD, to establishment of a cyclic peptide containing such compounds ET/CID and SRM analysis platform.

碩士
國防管理學院
資源管理研究所
92
Abstract In the process of risk management, quantitative risk analysis intends to analyze possibility of occurrence, degree of impact to project, and potential trend according to the result of qualitative risk analysis by way of quantitative risk analysis. Therefore, the data and analysis in the stages of qualitative and quantitative analysis should be consistent and coherent. However, there has not been integral study implemented to the stages of qualitative and quantitative risk analysis in the current field of risk management, whether in the methodology or practical managerial procedure, especially between the qualitative risk analysis output and quantitative risk analysis input. As a result, the outcome of qualitative analysis process cannot enter to the quantitative analysis process as a quantitative analysis input. The lack of consistency and integrity between quantitative and qualitative analysis could lead to a blind spot of analyzing or miss judgment. This study build a mathematical model with fuzzy theory, which transform the input of quantitative analysis process to an input required by a quantitative analysis process after appropriate calculation and transformation, which pursues the coherence and consistency of the quantitative and qualitative risk estimations.

Text in English
Developments in Internet technology and pervasive computing over the past two and half decades have resulted in a variety of Web-based applications (WBAs) that provide products and services to online users or customers. The Internet is used not only to transfer information via the web but is increasingly used to provide electronic services including business transactions, information-delivery and social networking, as well as e-government, e-health and e-learning. For such organisations, e-service quality, usability and user experience are considered to be critical determinants of their products’ or services’ success. Many studies to model these three concepts separately have been undertaken as part of broader studies of software quality or service quality modelling. However, to the current researcher’s knowledge, none of the studies have focussed on proposing an evaluation model that integrates and combines the three of them. This research is an effort to fill that gap. The primary purpose of this mixed-methods research was to develop a conceptual integrated model for evaluating e-service quality, usability and user experience (e-SQUUX) of WBAs and then contextualise it to evaluation of a University web portal (UWP). This was undertaken using an exploratory sequential research design. During a qualitative phase, an extensive extensive systematic literature review of 264 relevant sources relating to dimensions of e-service quality, usability and user experience, was undertaken to derive an integrated conceptual e-service quality, usability and user experience (e-SQUUX) Model for evaluating WBAs. The model was then empirically refined through a sequential series of validations, thus developing various versions of the e-SQUUX Model. First, it was content validated by a set of four expert reviewers. Second, during the quantitative phase, in the context of a University web portal, a questionnaire survey was conducted that included a comprehensive pilot study with 29 partipants, prior to the main survey. The main survey data from 174 particiapants was used to determine a validated model, using Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), followed by producing a structural model, using partial least square – structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). This version consisted of the components of the final e-SQUUX Model. Consequently, the research enriches the body of knowledge on IS and HCI by providing the e-SQUUX Model as an evaluation tool. For designers, developers and managers of UWPs, the model serves as a customisable set of evaluation criteria and also provides specific recommendations for design. In line with the Exploratory sequential design of mixed methods research, the findings of the qualitative work in this research influenced the subsequent quantitative study, since the potential Likert-scale questionnaire items were derived from the definitions and meanings of the components that emanated from the qualitative phase of the study. Consequently, this research is an exemplar for developing an integrated evaluation model for specific facets or domains, and of its application in a particular context, in this case, a University web portal. Keywords: e-service quality, usability, user experience, evaluation model, integrated model, exploratory factor analysis, partial least square – structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), mixed methods research, Exploratory sequential design, quantitative study, qualitative study, validation, Web-based applications, University web portal
Information System
Ph D. (Information Systems)

Service provision in veterinary oncology in Ontario was examined using a mixed methods approach. First, an interview-based qualitative study explored the service expectations of oncology clients at a tertiary referral centre. Next, a survey-based quantitative study established an understanding of oncology service in primary care practice and investigated the treatment recommendations of practitioners for dogs diagnosed with cancer. The first study, which involved 30 individual and dyadic interviews, identified “uncertainty” (attributable to the unpredictable nature of cancer and its treatment) as an overarching psychological feature of clients’ experience. Consequently, “the communication of information” (both content and process) was the foremost service expectation. For clients, it enabled confidence in the service, the ability to make informed patient care decisions, and preparedness for the potential outcomes of those decisions; it also contributed to creating a humanistic environment, which enhanced client resiliency. Findings suggest that services can support client efforts to manage uncertainty through strategic design and delivery of service, and incorporate intentional communication strategies to support clients’ psychological fortitude in managing the cancer journey. The second study, a vignette-based survey of primary care practitioners across Ontario (N=1071) which investigated veterinarian decision-making in relation to oncology care, determined that 56% of practitioners recommended referral as their first choice of intervention, while 28% recommended palliative care, 13% in-clinic treatment, and 3% euthanasia. Recommendations were associated with patient, client and veterinarian factors. Specifically, referral and treatment were recommended for younger dogs, healthier dogs, and dogs with lymphoma versus osteosarcoma; for strongly bonded clients, and financially secure clients; and by veterinarians who graduated from a North American college, had experience with treating cancer, felt confident in the referral centre, and believed treatment was worthwhile, with variation in relation to practitioner gender and the type of medicine practiced. The human-animal bond appeared to be the primary factor associated with practitioners’ advocacy for quality of medical care for patients. Through a blend of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, this thesis contributes to the evidence upon which best practices may be built so as to enhance the quality of patient and client care in veterinary oncology.
Ontario Veterinary College Pet Trust Fund 049406 and 049854

In many international schools where English is the language of learning and teaching there are large percentages of students whose first language is not English. Many of these students may have low vocabulary levels which inhibits their chances of taking full advantage of their education. Low vocabulary levels can be a particular problem for students in mainstream classes where fluent English speaking teachers are using English to teach content areas of Mathematics, Science and History. Not only do students have to comprehend the low-frequency, academic and technical vocabulary pertaining to the subject, but they also need to know the higher frequency vocabulary that makes up general English usage. If students’ vocabulary levels fall too far below the vocabulary levels with which their teachers are speaking, then their chance of comprehending the topic is small, as is their chance of succeeding in their subjects. This study has two broad aims. Firstly, I have set out to assess the English vocabulary levels of students at an international school where English is the language of learning and teaching. The majority of students at this school do not have English as their first language. The second aim of this study is to explore the vocabulary profile of the teachers’ spoken discourse at the research school. By gaining a better understanding of the nature of teacher discourse – specifically the percentage of high, mid and low-frequency vocabulary, as well as academic vocabulary that they use – English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers will be in a stronger position to identify what the vocabulary learning task is and be able to assist students in reaching the vocabulary levels necessary to make sense of their lessons. This study revealed a large gap between the generally low vocabulary levels of ESL students and the vocabulary levels spoken by their teachers. As a result the need for explicit vocabulary instruction and learning is shown to be very important in English medium (international) schools, where there are large numbers of students whose first language is not English.
Linguistics and Modern Languages
M.A. (Applied Linguistics)