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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'PhD research'
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1
McKenna, Sioux, Lynn Quinn, and Jo-Anne Vorster. "Mapping the field of Higher Education Research using PhD examination reports." Routledge, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66669.
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Pre-print<br>The PhD is the highest formal qualification and signifies a scholar’s rite of passage as a legitimate contributor of new knowledge in a field. Examiner reports make claims about what is legitimate in a thesis and what is not and thus articulate the organising principles through which participation in a field is measured. The authors analysed 39 examiners’ reports on 13 PhDs produced over a five-year period by scholars from the Higher Education Research doctoral studies programme at Rhodes University in South Africa. Drawing on aspects of Karl Maton’s Legitimation Code Theory (LCT), this study uses the dimensions of LCT:Specialisation and LCT:Semantics to explore what kinds of knowledge, skills and procedures and what kinds of knowers are validated in the field of Higher Education Research through the examination process. The study found that despite concerns in the literature about the a-theoretical nature of the Higher Education Studies field, examiners valued high-level theoretical and meta-theoretical engagement as well as methodological rigour. In addition, examiners prized the ability to demonstrate a strong ideological position, to use a clear doctoral voice, and to recognise the axiological drive of the field. The analysis showed that examiners were interested in strong contextualisation of the problem-spaces in higher education in South Africa but also commented positively on candidates’ ability to move from troubling an issue within its context to being able to abstract findings so as to contribute to the field as a whole.
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Charity, Ian. "PhD and professional doctorate : higher degrees of separation?" Thesis, Northumbria University, 2010. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/837/.
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This thesis presents an exploration of the "purpose and process" of doctoral education and has twin, equally valuable, purposes: to make an original theoretical contribution and to improve professional practice in this area. This work addresses the lack of pedagogical research into doctoral education at a time when changing perspectives are reshaping the doctoral education landscape. A number of alternatives to the traditional research PhD now exist and this has generated debate as to the specific differences between the various programmes. This research explores the purpose and process of doctoral education from the perspective of the traditional PhD and the professional doctorate and uses Northumbria University as the case study institution. This research is timely since at Northumbria new doctoral programmes are being established and existing professional doctorate programmes are undergoing significant revisions to try and provide distinctive alternatives to the PhD. The current debates regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the PhD and professional doctorates are presented and three key processes of doctoral study are critically reviewed; knowledge generation, supervision and assessment. A distinguishing feature of this research is my own position within the research setting: I am both a DBA student and a member of staff involved with the delivery of doctoral programmes. Furthermore, the product of the research itself is enmeshed with the research topic and I introduce the concept of "compounded insiderness" to describe this situation. Methodologically, this has lead to the adoption of a constructivist ontological stance coupled with an interpretivist theoretical perspective for analysis. The subjectivity of this research and my influence on the research process has been acknowledged as a central feature, demonstrated through reflexive behaviour. The research strategy is inductive in nature with data generated through twenty-two ethically conducted interviews with purposively selected participants in the doctoral research community at Northumbria University. Software has been used to store, organise and manipulate the data that were then analysed using a combination of concept driven and data driven coding structured using Nigel King's template analysis method. Student perceptions were analysed separately within PhD and professional doctorate subgroups and then compared across the two programmes whereas the staff interview data were analysed as a whole. I argue that this research is highly transparent and has the potential to be transferable to other higher education intuitions. This research makes an original theoretical contribution by concluding that, at a broad level of comparison, the taught stage of the professional doctorate separates the routes initially but once the research phase is underway, the PhD and professional doctorate at Northumbria University overlap considerably. Where differences exist, these are subtle and more likely to be related to the purpose of the programmes rather than any tangible differences that would be experienced by students in terms of process. Staff may see the programmes as "notionally different", but the interpretation of the purpose of a professional doctorate is subject to debate, particularly with regard to "making an original contribution to knowledge" and the role of theory. As a consequence, this raises serious questions regarding assessment. Professional doctorates are caught in a difficult position, since they desire to be different to a PhD and to attract different candidates, but must maintain a level of academic parity in order to be attractive. This research aims to improve professional practice at Northumbria University by raising awareness of similarities and differences between the programmes and it has already made an impact in this respect.
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Clever, David C. Clever. "T Cell-Intrinsic PHD Proteins Regulate Pulmonary Immunity." The Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1471868519.
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Ugur, Erdogmus Feray. "Research Trends In Ceit Ms And Phd. Theses In Turkey: A Content Analysis." Master's thesis, METU, 2009. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12610394/index.pdf.
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The main aim of this study is to look for trends in the instructional technology field in Turkey and to visualize general tendencies in the field in research topics, research types, and methodologies. Content analysis research design was used in this study. In this study, the unit of analysis was MS theses and PhD. theses published in instructional technology departments in Turkey, and the researcher aimed to analyze all of the population. Hence, 215 MS theses and 32 PhD. theses were analyzed in this study.
The data were categorized according to characteristics of the MS theses and PhD. theses (author, university, advisor, and publication year), research topics, research methods, sample type, sample size, data collection methods and research settings. These categories were statistically analyzed. In these statistical analyses both frequencies of these categories and fluctuations of these categories in time were analyzed.
The findings of the study indicated that most of the MS theses were published in the Middle East Technical University and most of the dissertations were published in Ankara University. In addition to this, most of the MS theses and PhD. theses used quantitative research methods, and experimental studies were the most popular type. Not surprisingly, the study results revealed that convenient sampling was the most preferred sampling method and most of the studies used 31 &ndash<br>100 subjects in their samples. Moreover, questionnaires, aptitude tests and interview schedules were the most common data gathering instruments used, and higher education was the most preferred research environment for the studies analyzed. Finally, most of the MS theses and PhD. theses focused on delivery system media formats, comparison studies and learner variables.
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Dlamini, Khosie Konkhekluhle. "Library research support for masters and PhD students at the University of Eswatini." Master's thesis, Faculty of Humanities, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/32628.
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The changing academic and technological environment coupled with evolving research practices have greatly impacted the role played by academic libraries within the institutions they serve. This has sparked a global concern amongst academic libraries to re-evaluate their services as a means to aligning themselves to this new environment. As a result, academic libraries are transforming themselves and bringing about new services, particularly focussing on how they can enhance research output by providing support to researchers. Given this context, this study seeks to ascertain the extent of research support by University of Eswatini (UNESWA) Libraries for masters and PhD students at UNESWA. To address this objective, the following critical questions were generated: What are the current services being provided by UNESWA Libraries to support masters and PhD students at the University of Eswatini?; What are the library research needs of masters and PhD students at UNESWA?; To what extent are these needs being met by UNESWA Libraries?; and, If there are library research needs of masters and PhD students at UNESWA that are not being met by UNESWA Libraries, what research support services need to be put in place to address this deficiency? Schoombee's (2014) research lifecycle adapted for library research support was used as a supporting theoretical framework to guide the study. The study adopted a convergent parallel mixed methods approach within a pragmatism paradigm and a case study design. Academic staff members and librarians at UNESWA were purposively sampled whilst a census was conducted for all masters and PhD students at UNESWA. Data was collected using a structured paper-based questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and qualitative data was analysed thematically (by content analysis). The study concludes, inter alia, that despite the various library research support services provided by UNESWA Libraries for masters and PhD students, an expanded suite of research support services to more fully meet UNESWA's masters and PhD students' library research needs, is required. The study recommends that UNESWA Libraries should utilise available technologies and incorporate additional research support services that speak to the research needs of digital age masters and PhD students.
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Wright, Jean. "Selection, supervision and the academic management of research, leading to the Degree of PhD." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 1992. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.316389.
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Singh, Nicola. "On the 'thesis by performance' : a feminist research method for the practice-based PhD." Thesis, Northumbria University, 2016. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/36132/.
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This doctoral project challenges the conventions of academic enquiry that, by default, still largely shape the procedures of practice-based PhDs. It has been submitted in the form of a ‘thesis by performance’ - a thesis that can only be realized through live readings that present knowledge production as something done in and around bodies and their contexts. The aim has been to reposition institutional and educational knowledge in an intimate, subjective relationship with the body, particularly the researchers own body. The ideas gathered together in this ‘thesis by performance’ address the body and its context using material that was sometimes appropriated, sometimes invented and sometimes autobiographically constructed. From the start, these approaches and sources were used to directly address those listening in the present, the ‘now’ in which words were spoken. An approach influenced by feminist thinkers in the arts, Kathy Acker, Chris Kraus, Katrina Palmer and Linda Stupart. The methodological development of the research has been entirely iterative – developed through the making and presenting of performance texts. Each text was presented live as part of mixed-media installations, experimenting with how language and voice can be visualised and choreographed. Consequently, the resulting ‘thesis by performance’ is a doctoral submission unimpeded by a printed script - only an introductory statement and two appendices are available outside of a live reading. In this way the process of performance can inspire new terms of reference in the field of postgraduate practice-led research entirely on its own terms.
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Isik, Tas Elvan Eda. "A Corpus-based Analysis Of Genre-specific Discourse Of Research: The Phd Thesis And The Research Article In Elt." Phd thesis, METU, 2008. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/3/12609375/index.pdf.
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Writing a research article is not an easy task for novice researchers, who begin their study as outsiders in the academic community and who must deal with both the apprenticeship in their fields and the challenge of writing in a new genre. Moreover, PhD thesis is a genre which is very frequently &ldquo<br>recontextualized&rdquo<br>as a research article by the novice researcher. The aim of this study was to conduct a contrastive analysis of the genre-specific features of introductions in a corpus of theses written in PhD programs in ELT offered by Turkish universities and in a corpus of published research articles in ELT written by expert authors of different nationalities, in order to specify the similarities and differences in the authors&rsquo<br>use of lexico-grammatical, discoursal and rhetorical features in the two corpora. The analyses included both a hand-tagged and a computerized analysis of the two corpora. Specifically, the vocabulary profiles, the readability statistics, the use of verb tenses and citations, the move-step structures and the author presence markers of the two corpora were subject to contrastive analyses. The analyses revealed that the language of the RA introductions was structurally more academic, lexically dense, and thus, more difficult to read compared to the PhDT introductions. Moreover, although the CARS Model (Swales, 2005), to a large extent described the move-step structure of the RA introductions, it could not account for the move-step structure of the PhDT introductions. With respect to these variations, proposals were made to increase the effectiveness of the target PhD programs in empowering the novice researchers in their access to the discourse community of ELT.
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Gliddon, Judith P. "The processing and interpretation of feedback by PhD candidates." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2007. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/312.
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This study takes a close look at the characteristics of the feedback received by PhD candidates and explores how they then interpret that feedback. Over 200 PhD candidates participated in the study by providing data over a six month period using a custom-built Internet-interfaced database. Each candidate completed a self-concept test both at the beginning and again at the end of this period. In between, they completed an 'e-diary' in which they recorded data about every feedback interaction that they experienced over the six months. From the data collected, the Researcher developed a model showing how feedback is processed and the effect that this process has on PhD candidates.
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Bloch, Joan R., Maureen R. Courtney, and Myra L. Clark. "Practice-based Clinical Inquiry in Nursing for DNP and PhD Research: Looking Beyond Traditional Methods." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2016. https://www.amzn.com/0826126944.
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Meticulously compiled to serve the specific needs of APRNs and nurse executives engaged in doctoral-level research, this text provides evidence-based and practice-based scholarly methods not traditionally taught in PhD or DNP programs. Building on and expanding traditional nursing research methods, the bookfocuses on both existing and evolving methods of clinical inquiry, some of which incorporate technology and knowledge from other disciplines. These are approaches that can be translated into clinical practice, providing the nursing profession with unprecedented opportunities for collaboration in improvinghealth and health care systems. Methods include quality improvement, implementation science, logic models, program planning and evaluation, patient-engaged and community participatory research, dissemination research, big data, comparative effectiveness research, secondary analysis, and systematic reviews.
Chapters provide clear guidance on why and how to use a particular method, and are consistently organized to enable a comparison and contrast of different approaches in order to select the one that best fits a particular research need. The text highlights the importance of each approach, and discusses why touse a particular method for doctoral nursing work. Chapters describe how to apply the method along with how to interpret findings and disseminate them. Thedescription of each method concludes with examples from the published literature. Practical tips for impact and success in research and program proposals increase the text value.
Key Features: Presents research methods specifically for doctoral-level evidence-based and practice-based clinical research Describes interdisciplinary health care methodologies focused on evidence-based improvement in health care Offers practical information on benefits and use of each method Provides examples of each method from published literature Written by experienced academic and practice scholars from across the United States<br>https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1137/thumbnail.jpg
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Alvarez, Ricardo. "Feast of La Tirana 2012 (Chile) : musical analysis and compositions based on field research (PhD portfolio)." Thesis, University of York, 2015. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/11967/.
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This portfolio presents the results of my doctoral research, Feast of La Tirana 2012 (Chile): Musical analysis and compositions based on field research, developed in the Music Department of The University of York from 2011 to 2015. This project is based on fieldwork developed in La Tirana, a small village located in the arid desert of Atacama, Chile, in 2012. Here, nearly two-hundred-thousand of the faithful attend the celebrations for the Virgin Carmen every 16th July, giving rise to a celebration known as ‘The Feast of La Tirana’. The aim of this research was to investigate the characteristic musical parameters and practices found in La Tirana, and to explore new creative possibilities afforded by their application in a variety of musical contexts (specifically big band composition, small and large jazz group performance, contemporary chamber music, live performance with electronics, and rule-based contemporary systems music). The research included ethnomusicological inquiry, in parallel with an ongoing dialogue with performers from La Tirana, which was principally intended to inform the creative practice (composition and performance) that is the focus of this portfolio. This supporting research resulted in two articles that additionally seek to update the musical analyses available in English and Spanish on the music of the Atacama desert. The outcome of this process is a portfolio of six practical projects and two accompanying articles.
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Zarrabi, Kazem Adl. "A Darwinian model for bio-cultural co-evolution : a Ph.D. research programme /." Roskilde : The Department of Economics & Planning, Roskilde University, 1997. http://www.rub.ruc.dk/phd/kazem_a_zarrabi/...fejl.
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Baskakova, Ekaterina <1989>. "Management Perspectives on Industrial Heritage: an Exploratory Research." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2021. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/9650/1/PhD%20dissertation%20Ekaterina%20Baskakova.pdf.
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The current research project focuses on the analysis of the critical issues of industrial heritage management in Italy and the preservation of organizational history within the reuse projects of former industrial sites.
The organizational and managerial perspective is crucial on two levels. Firstly, it is important in the analysis of the original significance of the site, and in particular its organizational history, and its conservation within the new regeneration strategy. Secondly, it is crucial at the phase of management of reuse projects and its feasibility and sustainability analysis.
Based on the analysis of the literature, a unique classification of the reuse strategies that can be implemented in order to regenerate former industrial sites has been formulated. The exploratory research thus adapts a multiple case study design. Eight Italian case studies have been chosen, one for each type of regeneration strategy.
Each case study is explored as a stand-alone entity through the analysis of the local differences and idiosyncrasies of the specific context, the factors that stood behind the choice of the reuse strategy and the way the reuse project evolved through the years. Then, the current management of each reuse project is analysed. The narration and musealization of the organizational history is investigated through the spatial dimension, the level of content and the level of expression.
Secondly, the case studies are compared through a cross-case analysis from three different perspectives: issues on the phase of preparation and implementation of the reuse projects, critical issues behind the current management of new projects and issues on the ways of preservation and narration of organizational history within the new project.
The research shows that all regeneration strategies are affected by the conflict between preservation and change, by the issue of materiality and selectivity.
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Stoppe, Sebastian, Marc Zlotowski, and Martin Schlegel. "Die Kompetenzschule ELSYS an der Research Academy Leipzig." Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, 2014. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-131310.
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Nach erfolgreicher Antragstellung wurde zum 1. Juli 2010 die Kompetenzschule ELSYS (Employability and Leadership Skills for Young Saxon Researchers) an der Research Academy Leipzig eingerichtet. Die Finanzierung der Kompetenzschule erfolgte zu 100 Prozent aus Mitteln des Europäischen Sozialfonds (ESF) gemäß der Richtlinie ESF Hochschule und Forschung des Sächsischen Staatsministeriums für Wissenschaft und Kunst (SMWK). Hierbei sollte das Ziel einer nachhaltigen Verstetigung des Projekts an der Universität verfolgt werden. Die Mittelzuweisung und Ausgabenprüfung gemäß der Förderrichtlinie erfolgten durch die Sächsische Aufbaubank (SAB).
Der Bericht umfasst die Aktivitäten und Ergebnisse des ersten Förderzeitraumes vom 1. Juli 2010 bis zum 30. Juni 2013. Es wird dargestellt, wie die Lern- und Weiterbildungsinhalte und -strategien der Kompetenzschule dazu beigetragen haben, ein umfangreiches Angebot für den Erwerb von (überfachlichen) Handlungskompetenzen für Promovierende und Postdocs nachhaltig zu entwickeln. Ergebnisse und Alleinstellungsmerkmale werden anhand des Konzepts und der Struktur der Kompetenzschule ELSYS herausgearbeitet und bewertet. Ein Konzept für den Förderzeitraum bis 2014 und darüber hinausreichende Entwicklungsstrategien werden skizziert.
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Chan, Samuel Sau-Man. "Research on operating and integrating inductive elements in dimmable electroic ballasts /." access full-text access abstract and table of contents, 2005. http://libweb.cityu.edu.hk/cgi-bin/ezdb/thesis.pl?phd-ee-b19887462a.pdf.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2005.<br>"Submitted to Department of Electronic Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-118).
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Chavez, Lozano Marco Valente <1990>. "RICORDACI: Research on the Conservation, Restoration and Diagnosis of Cinematographic Films." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2022. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/10282/1/PhD%20Thesis_Marco%20Valente%20Chavez%20Lozano_RICORDACI.pdf.
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This thesis is the result of the RICORDACI project, a three-year European-funded initiative involving the collaboration between the University of Bologna and the restoration laboratory of the Cineteca di Bologna, L'immagine Ritrovata, which aimed to develop innovative solutions and technologies for the preservation of cinematographic film heritage.
In particular, this thesis presents new analytical methodologies to exploit two types of portable miniaturized Near Infrared spectrometers working in Diffuse Reflectance over the Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) range, to study the near infrared (NIR) spectral behavior of film base materials for an accurate, non-invasive and fast characterization of the polymer type; and for films with cellulose acetate supports, they can be employed as a diagnostic tool for monitoring the Degree of substitution (DS) affected by the loss of acetyl groups. The proposed methods offer non-invasive, fast, inexpensive and simple alternatives for the characterization and diagnosis of film bases to help the strategic planning and decision-making regarding storage, digitalization and intervention of film collections.
Secondly, the thesis includes the evaluation of new green cleaning systems and solvents for the effective, fast and innocuous removal of undesired substances from degraded cinematographic films bases; these tests compared the efficiency of traditional systems and solvents against the new proposals. Firstly, the use of Deep Eutectic Solvent formulations for removing softened gelatin residues from cellulose nitrate bases; and secondly, the employment of green volatile solvents with different application methods, including the use of new electrospun nylon mats, for avoiding the dangerous use of friction for the removal of Triphenyl Phosphate blooms from the surface of cellulose acetate bases.
The results obtained will help improving the efficiency of the interventions needed before the digitalization of historical cinematographic films and will pave the way for further investigation on the use of green solvents for cleaning polymeric heritage objects.<br>Esta tesis es el resultado del proyecto RICORDACI, una iniciativa de tres años de duración financiada con fondos europeos en colaboración entre la Universidad de Bolonia y el laboratorio de restauración de la Cineteca di Bologna, L'immagine Ritrovata, cuyo objetivo fue desarrollar soluciones y tecnologías innovadoras para la conservación del patrimonio cinematográfico. En particular, esta tesis presenta el uso de dos tipos de espectrómetros portátiles miniaturizados que trabajan en reflectancia difusa en el infrarrojo de onda corta (SWIR-NIR), para estudiar los soporte de las películas, logrando así una caracterización precisa, no invasiva y rápida del tipo de polímero; y en el caso de películas en acetato de celulosa, también el diagnóstico del grado de sustitución (DS). Los métodos propuestos ofrecen alternativas no invasivas, rápidas, económicas y sencillas para la caracterización y el diagnóstico de soportes fílmicos, con el fin de ayudar a la planificación estratégica del almacenamiento, la digitalización y la intervención de las colecciones fílmicas. En segundo lugar, la tesis incluye la evaluación de nuevos sistemas de limpieza y solventes ecológicos para la eliminación eficaz, rápida e inocua de películas cinematográficas degradadas; estos tests comparan la eficacia de sistemas y disolventes tradicionales frente a las nuevas propuestas. En primer lugar, presenta el uso de formulaciones de disolventes eutécticos profundos para eliminar residuos de gelatina reblandecida de bases de nitrato de celulosa; y en segundo lugar, el empleo de disolventes volátiles verdes con diferentes métodos de aplicación, incluido el uso de nuevos tapetes de fibra de nylon electrohilado, para evitar la fricción durante la eliminación de concreciones de fosfato de trifenilo sobre soportes de acetato de celulosa. Los resultados obtenidos ayudarán a mejorar las intervenciones de las películas cinematográficas históricas y abrirán el camino a nuevas investigaciones sobre el uso de disolventes verdes para la limpieza de objetos patrimoniales poliméricos
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Jayasinghe, Upali W. "Peer review in the assessment and funding of research by the Australian Research Council." Thesis, View thesis, 2003. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/572.
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In higher education settings the peer review process is highly valued and used for evaluating the academic merits of grant proposals, journal submissions, academic promotions, monographs, text books, PhD thesis and a variety of other academic products. The purpose of this thesis was to evaluate the peer review process for awarding research grants used by the Australian Research Council (ARC) Large Grants Program and to propose strategies to address potential shortcomings of the system. This study also evaluated psychometric properties such as the reliabilities of various ratings that are part of the assessment process of the ARC Large grants Program. Data for the all grant applications submitted for the 1996 round of the Large Grants Program were provided by the ARC. In a variation to the typical peer review process, applicants were given an opportunity to nominate assessors to review their proposals. The results indicated that global ratings given by the researcher-nominated assessors were systematically higher and less reliable than those by panel-nominated external reviewers chosen by the ARC. The reliability of peer reviews is not adequate by most standards. A critical direction for future research is considering what strategies need to be put in place to improve the quality of the reviews. To improve the reliability it is recommended that researcher-nominated reviewers should not be used; that there should be more reviews per proposal and a smaller more highly selected core of reviewers should perform most of the reviews within each sub-discipline providing a greater control over error associated with individual reviewers
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Scarso, Jacek Ludwig. "Making theatre elastic : a practice-led PhD on performance research with Elastic Theatre, focusing on the body of work produced between 2005 and 2011." Thesis, London Metropolitan University, 2014. http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/690/.
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The present discussion is based on my performance research with Elastic Theatre (originally named Vocal Motions and also known as Vocal Motions Elastic Theatre), a company that I founded and have directed since 2001. A specific focus is placed on the body of work produced between 2005 and 2011, which comprises six performance outputs: Ophelia’s Song (2005-2006), Medea Made Medea (2007), The Magdalene Mysteries (2008), Medousa (2009), The Passion of Saints Sergius and Bacchus (2009) and Baroccata/Baroque Box (2010-2011). These productions have been informed by an overriding ethos, which is presented and reflected upon in the following chapters. I refer to such ethos by using the term elasticity, which I define in the Introduction, contextualising this within the broader spectrum of contemporary tendencies in performance practices, with particular reference to the notion of 'post-dramatic theatre'. This concept of elasticity is presented in relation to three aspects of my productions: respectively, the combination of performance disciplines (Chapter 1), the dramaturgical approach (Chapter 2) and the staging choices made (Chapter 3). Across these chapters, I provide a contextual overview of the aspect treated, a discussion of my methodology in relation to this, and a reflection on my findings, referring to the concept of 'liminality'. My Conclusion draws my reflections together, emphasising the original contribution that my work has represented in the field of contemporary performance. Each of my outputs is documented in the Appendices, through written, photographic and video material. The Appendices also include a chronological overview of the productions discussed, a summary/glossary of my methodological strategies and a brief presentation of the company’s history. Additional details can be found on the website: http://www.elastictheatre.com.
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Wojtewicz, Michał. "Research on the influence of grinding wheel impregnation with anti-adhesive substances on the efficiency of nickel based alloys grinding process : PhD thesis summary." Rozprawa doktorska, [s.n.], 2017. http://dlibra.tu.koszalin.pl/Content/1049.
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Morash, Karen. "An investigation into how engagement with the context and processes of collaborative devising affects the praxis of the playwright : a practice-as-research PhD." Thesis, Goldsmiths College (University of London), 2018. http://research.gold.ac.uk/23288/.
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The central research inquiry of this dissertation is how the experience of working within a collaborative context, employing the processes of devising, affects a playwright. It springs from the presentiment that the processes of devising are significantly different than traditional playwriting methodologies and have the potential to offer short and long-term benefits to both playwright and collaborators. A central focus of the dissertation is the figure of the writer-deviser as a distinctive artist with a particular skillset developed from both devising praxis and standard playwright training (which traditionally does not emphasise collaborative theatre-making). This dissertation therefore examines the historical and contemporary context of the writer-deviser in order to provide a foundation for the presentation and exegesis of my practice-as-research: a play written via the devising process and another play written as a solo playwright. The Introduction to this dissertation serves the function of presenting the central research query and associated areas for exploration. It outlines my methodological approach, placing it within the context of the discourse on performance-related practice-as-research, whilst identifying a gap within this discourse of the treatment of the playwright. Chapter One presents an overview of devising in its historical and contemporary context. The chapter also functions to identify positive aspects of devising which may aid a playwright’s development, and, alternatively, pinpoint problematic issues associated with devising. Chapter Two provides an overview of pedagogical approaches to playwright development. Original research is presented via a playwrights’ survey on training and experiences of devising. Pedagogical approaches which may aid the writer-deviser are identified, and areas of weakness revealed. Chapter Three defines the concept of the writer-deviser, incorporating challenges to the dramatic/postdramatic and text/performance binaries. This is achieved through commentary on historical and contemporary examples of writers working in a collaborative context. Chapter Four further develops the figure of the writer-deviser through a case study of Bryony Lavery, providing a close analysis of two scripts created using devising methodology, and one written as a solo playwright. Chapter Five presents the exegesis of practice-as-research section of this dissertation, with reference to the devised play The 9.21 to Shrub Hill and the non-devised play Playground, which are presented in a section entitled ‘Playscripts’. An outline of the process of both productions is provided, linked closely to the discourse of the preceding chapters of this dissertation. Based on a comparison of the two processes, findings are revealed and suggestions for other writer-deviser practitioners and devising companies are presented in a Toolkit. The conclusion reflects on the argument of the dissertation and its realization within the playscripts, and highlights areas for further investigation.
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Sartor, Chiara <1988>. "Research of predictive biomarkers to anti-CD22 antibody-drug conjugate treatment in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2022. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/10252/1/PhD%20thesis_Chiara%20Sartor_XXXIV%20ciclo.pdf.
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Background: The treatment of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) has been enriched by novel agents targeting surface markers CD19 and CD22. Inotuzumab ozogamicin (INO) is a CD22-calicheamicin conjugated monoclonal antibody approved in the setting of relapse/refractory (R/R) B-ALL able to induce a high rate of deep responses, not durable over time.
Aims: This study aims to identify predictive biomarkers to INO treatment in B- ALL by flow cytometric analysis of CD22 expression and gene expression profile.
Materials and methods: Firstly, the impact on patient outcome in 30 R/R B-ALL patients of baseline CD22 expression in terms of CD22 blast percentage and CD22 fluorescent intensity (CD22-FI) was explored. Secondly, baseline gene expression profile of 18 R/R B-ALL patient samples was analyzed. For statistical analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) patients were divided in non-responders (NR), defined as either INO-refractory or with duration of response (DoR) < 3 months, and responders (R). Gene expression results were analyzed with Ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA).
Results: In our patient set higher CD22-FI, defined as higher quartiles (Q2-Q4), correlated with better patient outcome in terms of CR rate, OS and DoR, compared to lower CD22-FI (Q1). CD22 blast percentage was less able to discriminate patients’ outcome, although a trend for better outcome in patients with CD22 ≥ 90% could be appreciated. Concerning gene expression profile, 32 genes with corrected p value <0.05 and absolute FC ≥2 were differentially expressed in NR as compared to R. IPA upstream regulator and regulator effect analysis individuated the inhibition of tumor suppressor HIPK2 as causal upstream condition of the downregulation of 6 DEGs.
Conclusions: CD22-FI integrates CD22-percentage on leukemic blasts for a more comprehensive target pre-treatment evaluation. Moreover, a unique pattern of gene expression signature based on HIPK2 downregulation was identified, providing important insights in mechanisms of resistance to INO.
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Kwan, Becky Siu Chu. "A genre analysis of literature reviews in doctoral theses /." access full-text access abstract and table of contents, 2005. http://libweb.cityu.edu.hk/cgi-bin/ezdb/thesis.pl?phd-en-b19887632a.pdf.
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Thesis (Ph.D.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2005.<br>"Submitted to Department of English and Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy" Includes bibliographical references (leaves 351-359)
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Williams, Carla L. "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to My Ph.D.: Exploring Issues Affecting Attrition and Completion in the Doctoral Program in Instructional Technology at a Major Research University." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2012. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/msit_diss/102.
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This study sought to understand why some students at Eagle University (pseudo.) complete the doctoral program in instructional technology while others do not. The study explores factors and issues affecting doctoral attrition and completion of the Ph.D. in instructional technology (IT) in the College of Education at Eagle University, a major research university with very high research activity. Participants in the study were eleven former doctoral students from Eagle University (pseudo.), six of whom met the requirements for graduation (completers) and five of whom ended the pursuit of the doctoral degree in instructional technology at EU (non-completers). A qualitative study informed by phenomenology, the purpose of the study was to explore these phenomena from the perspective of the students. Postmodernism served as the theoretical framework. Participants were interviewed using the structured interview guide developed by the researcher.
Two important findings were that only one of the eleven students knew what to expect from the program; and that completers were more likely to report that their primary motivation for pursuing the Ph.D. was for personal satisfaction. Recommendations were made based on student feedback, and included implications for students as well as implications for the university/program. Examples of advice for students were: 1) contemplate their goal(s) in pursuing the Ph.D. and consider the impact if something happened to alter that goal, and 2) seek out doctoral support groups and begin to establish relationships with current members. Two selected recommendations for the university/program were 1) develop a pre-application seminar or eLearning module to provide potential doctoral students with a realistic understanding of the program, and 2) consider developing a mentoring program that matched more experienced students or non-advisory professors to new students.
Results of the study indicated that multiple factors affected both completers and non-completers; and these factors were often similar. However, among the key factors separating completers from non-completers were the determination of the student and the quality of the advisor relationship.
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Sawicki, Malgorzata. "Research into non-traditional gilding techniques as a substitute for traditional matte water-gilding." Thesis, View thesis, 2008. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/43229.
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This thesis examines the current practice of using traditional gilding techniques for compensation of losses in gilded objects and the problems that these traditional techniques generate for conservators undertaking visual examination and technical separation of such new in-gilding from original substrates. Although, non-traditional gilding materials and techniques have been available as alternatives since the 1980s, research has, until now, been required in order to determine the working properties of such synthetic materials under the demands made of them in gilding conservation. The research presented here aims to determine which polymers are sufficiently stable and reversible to successfully compensate original matte water gilded surfaces, thereby meeting the professional standards and conservation principles required by the conservation profession. The work involved methodical assessment of several stable synthetic materials used successfully in other conservation fields. Experiments undertaken as part of the study indicate that of the numerous synthetic polymer materials available to conservators, acrylic dispersion Plextol®B500, acrylic resin Paraloid®B-72 diluted in aromatic solvents, and polyvinyl acetate resin AYAF are the potentially the most useful. In the second stage of the research, the optimum concentrations of the solutions and the methods for activating the dried films were elucidated. Experiments showed that if applied using appropriate methods, all three synthetic polymers selected can be successfully used for compensation of losses in matte water gilding. Nevertheless, of the materials currently available to conservators, Plextol®B500 applied as an acrylic dispersion was shown to be the most versatile polymer available in terms of its activation and provided best surfaces for the application of gold leaf. The final sections of this work concerned testing of the aging behaviour of surfaces formed using the three selected synthetic materials, and comparing them with the aging characteristics of gilding using the traditional method. Results of measurements made using specially prepared frames exposed to extreme variations in humidity for twelve months in two different environments revealed no significant differences between the visual characteristics of gilding either visual appearance of the non-traditional and traditional gilding. These final tests demonstrated conclusively, for the first time, that synthetic materials may be used successfully in compensation of losses in matte water gilded surfaces.
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Rambaldi, Julie <1988>. "Biomedical Research: Engineered C57BL/6 as Mouse Models for the Study of Treatments for Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), and HER2-positive cancers." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2018. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/8328/1/PhD%20thesis%20JR%20AMSdottorato.pdf.
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This thesis focuses on two engineered C57BL/6 mice models used to study treatments for Progera Syndrome and HER2-positive cancers. The first study, conducted in collaboration with the National Research Council, Institute of Molecular Genetics - Unit of Bologna, is on LmnaG609G transgenic mice homologous for the genetic cause of Progeria Syndrome. The objective was to describe the model, giving information on the housing, breeding, welfare and progression of the disease. Similarities and differences between the model and human patients were highlighted and the acquired data will be essential in programming future studies using this animal model. Following this, a preliminary study was conducted on the mice, using a treatment of all-trans retinoic acid (0.4 mg/kg) combined with low doses of rapamycin (1 mg/kg) administered twice weekly intraperitoneally, in order to evaluate whether the mice's lifespan was improved. Results comparing treated and untreated groups were not significant. However, the animal groups were small in number and only males were considered, so future research will be needed. The second study reports the use of HER2 tolerant transgenic mice to investigate the efficacy of immunotherapy with oncolytic viruses. This study was performed in collaboration with the Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, University of Bologna. The mouse demonstrated to be a reliable model since it enabled the development of implanted HER2 cancer and allowed the virus replication within the tumour. Animals did not show any side effects and the safe profile of the virus was confirmed. To date we tested the efficacy of two viruses: R-LM113 and R-LM113-mIL-12. The latter gave better results, underlining the importance of the immune system in oncology and immune competent models in oncology research.
In conclusion, we can state that both animal models considered in this thesis have demonstrated their appropriateness for testing specific therapies.<br>Questa tesi si focalizza su due modelli murini C57BL/6 geneticamente modificati per lo studio di terapie per la Sindrome Progerica e tumori HER2-positivi. La prima ricerca, in collaborazione con il Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto di Genetica Molecolare di Bologna, studia il topo transgenico LmnaG609G portatore della modificazione genetica che causa la Sindrome Progerica. L'obiettivo è stato di descrivere il modello, dando informazioni sull'allevamento, sul benessere e sulla progressione della malattia. Similitudini e differenze tra il modello animale e il paziente umano sono messe in evidenza e tutte le informazioni acquisite saranno utili per programmare studi futuri. Sul medesimo modello, è stato condotto uno studio preliminare per valutare l'efficacia del trattamento con una combinazione di acido retinoico (0.4 mg/kg) e rapamicina (1 mg/kg) somministrato intraperineo due volte a settimana nel prolungare l'aspettativa di vita. I risultati non sono stati significativi, ma data la preliminarietà dello studio saranno necessari ulteriori approfondimenti. La seconda ricerca riporta l'utilizzo di un topo transgenico reso tollerante al recettore HER2 (sovraespresso in alcuni tumori) per investigare l'efficacia di virus oncolitici in immunoterapia. Questo studio è stato condotto in collaborazione con il Dipartimento di Medicina Specialistica, Diagnostica e Sperimentale dell'Università di Bologna. Il topo si è mostrato un modello affidabile in quanto è stato in grado di sviluppare masse tumorali dopo iniezione di cellule murine trasdotte con HER2 e ha permesso al virus di replicare. Gli animali non hanno mostrato effetti indesiderati e l'alto profilo di sicurezza virale è stato confermato. Ad oggi è stata valutata l'attività di due virus: R-LM113 and R-LM113-mIL-12. Il secondo ha dato migliori risultati, sottolineando l'importanza del sistema immunitario in oncologia e l'utilizzo di modelli animali immunocompetenti.
In conclusione, si può affermare che entrambi i modelli animali si sono rivelati appropriati per testare l'efficacia di terapie mirate.
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Solina, Marica. "Investigations on aroma development in wheat and soy extrudates." Thesis, View thesis, 2001. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/525.
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The factors determining the generation of aroma in starch extrudates containing added ingredients with aroma precursors were elucidated. Analyses were performed using headspace analysis of raw materials and extrudates and subsequent analysis by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and Gas Chromatography-Olfactometry (GC-O. Study I described the volatile, amino acid and fatty acid profiles of Hydrolised vegetable protein (HVP)and Soy protein isolate (SPI). Studies II, III and IV descibed the volatiles developed from extrusion of different feedstocks under mild and extreme processing conditions. Wheat starch was chosen as the carrier.A comparison of the influence of the three different ingredients HVP, SPI and glucose, added to the starch feed, showed the formation of Strecker aldehydes and Maillard-type compounds were significantly affected by the addition of these ingredients. The work in this thesis demonstrated that the addition of ingredients such as HVP, SPI, glucose, cysteine, cysteine-HCI, modifies the aroma of wheat starch extrudates. Furthermore, it showed the changes in conditions of extrusion and pH will greatly influence the aroma profile of the products.
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Crull, Katja [Verfasser], and Siegfried [Akademischer Betreuer] Weiss. "Insights into tumor colonization of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium / Katja Crull. Hannover Medical School International PhD program “Molecular Medicine” in Hannover Biomedical Research School (HBRS). Department Molecular Immunology Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig. Betreuer: Siegfried Weiss." Hannover : Bibliothek der Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover, 2011. http://d-nb.info/1017162484/34.
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Sen, Gupta Gourab. "Autonomous agents in a dynamic collaborative environment : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD in Engineering at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand." Massey University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/811.
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The proliferation of robots in industry and every day human life is gaining momentum. After the initial few decades of employment of robots in the industry, especially the automotive assembly plants, robots are now entering the home and offices. From being pick-and-place manipulators, robots are slowly being transformed in shape and form to be more anthropomorphic. The wheeled robots are however here to stay for the foreseeable future until such time as artificial muscles, and efficient means to control them, are well developed. The next phase of development of robots will be for the service industry. Robots will cooperate with each other to accomplish collaborative tasks to aid human life. They will also collaborate with human beings to assist them in doing tasks such as lifting loads and moving objects. At the same time, with the advancement of hardware, robots are becoming very fast and are capable of being programmed with more intelligence. Coupled with this is the availability of sophisticated sensors with which the robots can perceive the real world around them. Combinations of these factors have created many challenging areas of research. Several factors affect the performance of robots in a dynamic collaborative environment. The research presented in this thesis has identified the major contributing factors, namely fast vision processing, behaviour programming, predictive movement and interception control, and precise motion control, that collectively have influence on the performance of robots which are engaged in a collaborative effort to accomplish a task. Several novel techniques have been proposed in this thesis to enhance the collective performance of collaborating robots. In many systems, vision is used as one of the sensory inputs for the robot’s perception of the environment. This thesis describes a new colour space and the use of discrete look-up-tables (LUT) for very fast and robust colour segmentation and real-time identification of objects in the robot’s work space. A distributed camera system and a stereo vision using a single camera are reported. Advanced filtering has been applied to the vision data for predictive identification of the position and orientation of moving robots and targets, and for anticipatory interception control. Collaborative tasks are generally complex and robots need to be capable of exhibiting sophisticated behaviours. This thesis has detailed the use of State Transition Based Control (STBC) methodology to build a hierarchy of complex behaviour. Behaviour of robots in a robot soccer game and features such as role selection and obstacle avoidance have been built using STBC. A novel methodology for advanced control of fast robots is detailed. The algorithm uses a combination of Triangular Targeting Algorithm (TTA) and Proximity Positioning Algorithm (PPA) to position a robot behind an object aligned with a target. Various forms of velocity profiling have been proposed and validated with substantial test results. The thesis ends by looking at future scenarios where robots and human beings will coexist and work together to do many collaborative tasks. Anthropomorphic robots will be more prevalent in future and teleoperation will gain momentum. Throughout the thesis, the engineering applicability of proposed algorithms and architectures have been emphasised by testing on real robots.
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Almendra, Rita Assoreira. "PhD Thesis. Making in the conceptual phase of design processes. A descriptive study contributing for the strategic adequacy an overall quality of design outcomes." Doctoral thesis, Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/3320.
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Tese de Doutoramento em Desenho<br>Este é um trabalho de investigação sobre processos de projecto e mais especificamente sobre a forma como a tomada de decisão pode influenciar os resultados destes em termos da sua adequação estratégica e qualidade global. O estudo incide sobre a fase conceptual dos processos de projecto e procura descrever o comportamento dos projectistas tanto ao nível do Ensino (estudantes finalistas) como ao nível das empresas. Um dos resultados previstos era a criação de um modelo descritivo que suportasse a compreensão da gestão de processos de projecto nas suas variáveis mais críticas. Este modelo descritivo deveria basear-se na identificação de parâmetros chave dos processos de design no que concerne a sua adequação estratégica e qualidade global. Em termos metodológicos trata-se de uma investigação mista com claro domínio de métodos qualitativos de investigação activa como são as experiências videogravadas de processos de projecto, tanto em situação de simulação como em situação de contexto real. Os métodos quantitativos foram também utlizados e serviram o propósito da triangulação metodológica de dados por forma a obter-se uma descrição o mais rigorosa e consistente possível dos processos de projecto e seus elementos estruturantes. A recolha de dados deu-se tanto no contexto de ensino como no contexto empresarial portugueses tendo-se efectuado experiências em que estas duas áreas de intervenção interagiram. Ademais foi feita uma comparação do desempenho de estudantes universitários Portugueses e Holandeses do Curso de Design. Esta análise almejava confirmar informação obtida em estudos anteriores e assim validar o presente estudo e também visava perceber o papel que diferentes currículos de ensino podem ter na performance dos alunos finalistas. A conclusão fundamental deste estudo é a de que a tomada de decisão a par com a gestão de informação e conhecimento e a geração de ideias são aspectos fundamentais a serem acedidos nos processos de projecto xiii Resumo quando se persegue a sua adequação estratégica e uma boa qualidade global destes. Um segundo contributo deste trabalho é a descriminação de um conjunto de parâmetros que servem a melhor compreensão dos processos de tomada de decisão no projecto. Estes parâmetros integram um modelo descritivo de tomada de decisão criado e que equaciona a tomada de decisão em três níveis distintos que são interdependentes da gestão de informação e conhecimento e da geração de ideias. O modelo criado apresenta num nível macro, respeitante à ‘mindset’ do projectista e que tem dois elementos a considerar: a) a estratégia de projecto que pode ser de três tipos: guiada pelo problema; guiada pela solução; guiada pela integração; e b) os processos cognitivos criativos que assumem dois modos de acção: o exploratório, que tem a ver com operações tais como a alteração contextual, a inferência funcional, o teste de hipóteses e, o generativo, que se relaciona com a transferência analógica, a associação, a recuperação de elementos/informação e a síntese. Num nível intermédio as decisões podem ser de três distintas naturezas: de Enquadramento (Framing), Chave (Key) e Facilitadoras (Enabler). Por fim temos o nível micro do modelo, que corresponde à operacionalização da ‘mindset’ e que compreende a estratégia da decisão e o modo de decisão. Quanto à estratégia de decisão esta pode ser: a) baseada em regras de compensação, b) baseada em regras de não compensação ou c) mista numa negociação das duas primeiras. O modo de decisão está intimamente ligado às dinâmicas de grupo e foca-se na forma como os grupos organizam o projecto e decidem.<br>This research focuses on the design process and more specifically on the way decision making can influence the design process’ outcomes in its strategic adequacy and overall quality. The study is centred on the conceptual phase of the design process and, in general, aims to describe the behaviour along the process of design students and professional Portuguese designers both at the educational and business level. It should result in a descriptive model to support the understanding of design process management in terms of its critical variables. This descriptive model is based on the identification of the key parameters of design processes concerning its strategic adequacy and overall quality. In methodological terms it is a mixed methods research with a clear dominance of qualitative methods integrating an active research where experiments either in simulated situations or in real context play a key role. Quantitative methods were also used and they served the purpose of triangulating data in order to have a more consistent and rigorous description of the design process and its main structural elements. Data gathering occurred in the education and business areas, partly separately and partly combined. Furthermore, in the field of education a comparison of the performance of both Portuguese and Dutch university students was made. That helped to validate some findings of previous studies but also to understand the role different Design curricula can have in the performance of students. The main conclusion of the study is that decision making togehter with information and knowledge management, and idea generation are the fundamental aspects to be addressed in design processes when both strategic adequacy and good quality of the design outcomes are pursued. Another important finding is that decision making is better understood through the use of a few central parameters. These parameters were used in the creation of a descriptive decision making model that equates xi Abstract decision making at three different levels that are highly dependent on information/knowledge management and Idea generation. At a macro level, which regards the mindset of the designer, we make a distinction into two elements: a) the design strategy with its three types – problem driven, solution driven and integration driven; and b) the creative cognitive processes that present two modes of action: the exploratory one that has to do with operations such as contextual shifting, functional inference and hypothesis testing; and the generative one that is related with analogical transfer, association, retrieval and synthesis. At an intermediate level we have decisions that can have a Framing, Key or Enabler nature. And finally, we have the micro level of the model, the operationalization of the mindset, where the decision strategy and the decision mode are chosen. The decision strategy presents three types of behavior: the compensatory rule based; the non compensatory rule based and the negotiated compensatory /non compensatory one and it is clearly linked with the way decisions are taken in processing information. The mode of decision is linked with group dynamics and focuses on the way teams organize themselves while working and deciding.
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Roberts, Gerard Michael O'Brien. "Action researching my practice as a facilitator of experiential learning with pastoralist farmers in central west Queensland." Thesis, Richmond, N.S.W. : School of Agriculture and Rural Development, 1997. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/203.
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My thesis document is contextualised as a three year study of my practice as a facilitator of experiential learning with pastoralist farmers in my role as an agricultural extension officer. In the study I used an action research methodology to provide change and understanding in situations in which it was too difficult to control variables. In my use of the methodology, action provided change and research provided understanding. The action research methodology also provided rigour through the spiral of its cyclic process. Within the agricultural extension context, my learning outcomes about my role in working participatively and collaboratively with pastoralists, prompted significant change in my practice of facilitation. The change enabled us as an experiential learning group facilitated by an agricultural extension officer, to provide for pastoralist participants to increasingly direct their own learning. From reflection on the project observations that led to my working more collaboratively and participatively, I theorise that improved facilitation practice can derive from personal and collaborative reflection as a part of action researching. My reflection, during the process of thesis writing allowed me to use action science to demonstrate that my improved facilitiation practice came about from enhanced congruency of theories of action of participation and collaboration. Personally, I developed a more congruent practice of participation and collaboration through action researching my practice of facilitating experiential learning with pastoralists, and by reflecting on the emergent outcomes for me as the facilitator. This thesis concludes with my consideration of whether or not my specific learning outcomes may provide a foundation for some cautious expansion of the emergent outcomes of the action research such that they may be of interest to others in extension.
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Fu, Xiao. "The influences of budgetary system in a selection of large Chinese companies in the industry of electronic household appliances." Thesis, Durham University, 2012. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3644/.
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Budgetary control has been used and researched for years by both Western academics and practitioners. In China, it is re-emerging as a tool to implement management control, but might be used in different ways both in terms of understanding and operation. The research objective of this thesis is to examine the applicability of Western theories of change in management accounting in the context of budgeting in Chinese corporations. Challenges can exist because of the differences between Western assumptions and Chinese reality. The current thesis focuses on difficulties Chinese companies encounter in practical and deeper ideological ways: firstly, Western market-based ideology conflicts with an ideology which has been shaped by central-planning for decades; secondly, difficulties stem from the different cultural context of China which emphasizes hierarchical politeness, kinship ties, trust based on personal relationships, collectivism and social harmony, diligence and individual modesty, and less developed modern legal regulatory systems – these all contribute to China’s own way of doing things. This thesis also focuses on the transition process in China. Based on the assumption that budgetary changes do not happen in isolation from other management accounting changes, this thesis discusses these changes which synchronically took place while the case-study companies were implementing budgetary systems. This thesis adopts a longitudinal and in-depth qualitative case study research design, after adjustments made during the learning experience of the pilot study. It takes an interpretive and constructive philosophical underpinning, which allows the researcher to observe and understand the process of change, as well as the differences between Chinese practices and Western theories. Findings show that certain Western management accounting theories of change and Western theories of budgeting work in the case study Chinese corporations. Management accounting theories using an interpretive approach (for example, Berry et al., 1985; Scapens and Roberts, 1993; Ahrens and Chapman, 2002) lead the researcher to interpret management accounting practices from the practitioner’s points of view, and they have provided a range of terms to explain success or failure of management accounting changes. This approach together with Scapens et al.’s Institutional theory approach in management accounting have been found especially useful, in explaining the differences between Chinese vs. Western context. Furthermore, the contingency theory approach in management accounting gives a ‘platform’ which allows the researcher to assess a wide range of possible factors and their relationships with budgetary systems in studied companies. This approach is found useful in this thesis to present changes in other management accounting perspectives. Last but not least, this thesis finds existing Western literature in technical perspective of budgetary objectives, budgetary evaluation and participation, and budgetary effectiveness useful in a different context of China. By describing the change management process, an aspect which is not addressed frequently in the research literature, this thesis argues that to sufficiently understand Chinese companies’ budgetary changes, one also needs to understand unique cultural, social-economical and religious circumstances, and to adjust literature and methodology to adapt to these circumstances. This thesis provides an empirical experience concerning these issues. This thesis contributes to the understanding of management accounting change in China, and the tension which exists when Chinese companies are moving into Western management accounting practices.
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Habibie, Hasnawaty. "Participatory action research to improve the livelihood of rural people through livestock production in South Sulawesi, Indonesia." Thesis, View thesis, 2003. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/570.
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This research was conducted within the context of smallholder livestock production and government attempts to improve this through a transfer of technology approach. Participatory action research (PAR) was used to enable action for change to emerge, while the research provided understanding and a basis for this action. Tombolo village in South Sulawesi, Indonesia was the location for this research, which first identified the problems and needs of the farmers, and then participatively developed strategies to meet these needs. Fodder security throughout the year was found to be the major constraint to cattle production. Forage technology was introduced, including fodder tree legumes and grasses, resulting in improved livestock production and many associated livelihood benefits. The introduction of these new technologies was adapted by stakeholders to local issues and needs. The extension services had previously aimed to improve livestock production through breeding and veterinary health measures, and had assumed that sufficient fodder was available for livestock. The formation of a learning group of farmers, who used group discussion to set their own agenda, was employed to identify this shortcoming, and how to sustainably overcome it. Participants were able to apply their experience and enhance their cognitive skills to find new meanings and knowledge to plan and take actions to improve their practice and situation. This thesis documents the process of change required to move from a “Transfer of Technology” approach to a “learning approach”. The research has shown that there is considerable potential for the application of PAR to rural community development in Indonesia. More specifically in Tombolo village PAR enabled farmers and extension staff to be empowered by becoming active participants in the research process and take action to improve their own practice. It helped them to analyse the situation to make the technology more appropriate, while also learning how to change the extension methods used towards one in which all stakeholders became partners in developing their situation
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Nicholls, Ruth M. "Ethics of trust and resistance : participation in indigenous research." Thesis, View abstract, 2009. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/46639.
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In negotiating research relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the question of colonisation runs deep. Often, as a gesture to counter the colonising effects of the research gaze, ‘participation’ is hailed as a methodological solution, as a means of healing and transforming power relations. In practice however, the ethical implications of research activities remain complex and contested (Cornwall, 2008, p.276). Much is written about why participatory methods offer remedial qualities of empowerment to counter colonialism in research, but there is little discussion of what happens when participatory research with Indigenous Australians does not operate as a smooth process of reclamation. Often, researchers avoid accounting for resistance to participation because this is viewed as a personal ‘failure’ to accurately represent the interests of a colonised group. The basis of these assumptions comes from a moral compulsion to alter power relations towards social justice: such logic cannot accept that ‘oppressed’ peoples would reject opportunities for empowerment. Yet, international literature (Kothari, 2001) shows that subjectivities comprising participatory research must be carefully considered when constructing research relationships. Drawing from a case study of my own participatory research experience with an Aboriginal community development organisation in Western Sydney, I consider how a non–Indigenous researcher might approach an understanding of their ethics when attempting to ‘decolonise’ their research. I reflexively investigate my own practice to offer a discussion of the ways in which researchers can understand how they come to determine what is ethical and what is not. My account begins with a description of a case study involving multiple forms of participation over a three–year period, which I explore as a series of ‘invited spaces’ (Cornwall, 2004). Drawing from my case study, I incorporate Foucault’s ethics (2005) by discussing how ethics codes create subjectivities, which not only shape the participants in the research, but also shape the kind of ‘selves’ researchers seek to become through participatory research. I consider the contingencies that have led to the construction of a remedial role for participatory methods in research involving Indigenous Australians by critically analysing the discourses within the National Health and Medical Research Council’s ethics guidelines. This research offers a multi–layered approach to reflexivity, by attending to transparency, interpersonal relationships, and a collective evaluation of the process with participants (Nicholls, 2009). Collective reflection about (re)presenting research findings to a variety of audiences highlights the importance of examining one’s own motives as crucial to ‘ethical’ practice. Researchers seeking to achieve a form of participation without resistance set themselves an impossible task. Resistance is not to be feared, but is to be expected within the mechanics of power relations amongst subjectivities within ‘communities’. Incorporating resistance into accounts of participatory research enables an ability to acknowledge ‘internal conflicts and contradictions’ (Fawcett and Hearn, 2004, p. 211) without deeming participation a failure. I argue that participation is a liminal space between trust and resistance, containing tensions and productive possibilities. By attending to one's ethics (Foucault, 2005), participatory researchers might now understand fluidity, uncertainty, and dynamism within research relationships as a rich source of reflexive work towards countering the colonising gaze.
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Masing, Anna Sulan. "From the jungle : Iban performance practice, migration and identity : a practice-based PhD based on four-years of research, culminating in this thesis and a performance piece, 'From the jungle', May 2012." Thesis, London Metropolitan University, 2013. http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/678/.
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This document provides an elaboration of the critical, contextual and methodological rationale for a practice‐based PhD research project undertaken at London Metropolitan University 2009-2013. This four‐year project was an exploration in identity, space and location. It looks at the transitions, journeys and stories of migrant women. Specifically this exploration has been developed through the language of the cultural practices of Iban women. The Iban are an indigenous group of people from Borneo, predominantly living within the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Significantly the Iban practices have migrated from the jungle, to urban areas, and globally, and inevitably the identity of these practices has developed as the locations have changed, much like the women performing them. My father is Iban and my mother white New Zealander, and I grew up in both Sarawak and New Zealand before coming to live in the UK in my 20s. My performance training has been within a Western context, both in New Zealand and the UK. This project has been a personal exploration, which has wider consequences in developing performance practice and understanding the discourses of home, belonging, migration and identity. This has led to questions around migrating Iban performance and cultural practices to a western contemporary context. These questions have been investigated through the cultural practices of the Iban pantun (chapter three), the Iban ngajat (chapter two), Iban weaving (chapter four) and the use of space in the Iban longhouse (chapter one). This project was an interdisciplinary investigation; in each chapter I pull together performance theory from western practitioners and post‐colonial feminist literature with the Iban performance practice. This project has asked the question: "Can Iban cultural and performance practices be ‘migrated’ to a contemporary western performance context in order to explore experiences of women’s migration?" My research question was central to the practice‐based research I conducted, the methodologies developed through practice as research, and are central to all the work covered in this thesis. Within this context the practice is submitted as an outcome alongside this written narrative. Additional details can be found on the website: www.fromthejungle.co.uk.
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Kieraś, Seweryn. "Research on influence of integrated method of cooling the grinding zone with cold air and centrifugal lubricating with oil aerosol on the run and results of internal cylindrical grinding process : PhD thesis summary." Rozprawa doktorska, [s.n.], 2018. http://dlibra.tu.koszalin.pl/Content/1104.
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Kiel-Chisholm, Scott. "Civil liability challenges for the law and neural interface devices: Reconceptualising the law." Thesis, The University of Queensland, 2018. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/135189/1/PhD%20Thesis%20-%20Scott%20Kiel-Chisholm.pdf.
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Neural interface devices are artificial devices that are controlled by the human mind. Neural interface systems encompass sophisticated technology that enables integration of machine with the human brain and body. The complexity of the brain and neural system is so great that full understanding of how these work is still being discovered through neuroscientific research. Interfacing with the human brain and neural system is far from perfect so the ways in which they work and the limitations of neural interface devices must be recognised when a dispute comes before a court of law.
The research hypothesis tested in this thesis is that when a person who has a neural interface device is involved in circumstances where harm to another person or another person's property occurs, the Australian law will require re evaluation and adaptation to resolve subsequent civil action. Complexity will arise because of the existence of the neural interface device and what might be regarded as a merging of mind and machine. This will make it difficult to determine factual causation and as a result, the law will need to adapt to these circumstances. Thomas Kuhn's concept of revolutionary science, involving paradigm shift, is applied to determine this hypothesis.
While doctrinal methodology is applied in the analysis of the law, policy considerations that will impact on the judicial decision making and legislative action are also discussed. Delphi Method research has been undertaken to obtain the insight of legal experts regarding the legal issues that will arise in the context of civil disputes and how the current law will address these issues. The information upon which the participants in the Delphi Method research based their responses purposely excluded malfunction of the neural interface device as the law will have most difficulty determining liability when the device does not malfunction.
In the analysis of the legal issues, scenarios have been introduced to better assess the application of the law and identify the difficulties that will require re-evaluation and adaptation of the law. While the facts that arise in disputes differ, identification of the difficulties the current law will have in resolving a dispute presented in this thesis will provide insight for future civil proceedings where the person with a neural interface device is involved. Throughout this thesis, the person with the neural interface device is regarded as a defendant in a civil proceeding. The issues involving neural interface devices are multifactorial, so while neuroscientist and engineers develop neural interface devices, lawyers, academics and politicians must consider the ethical, legal and social frameworks within which innovation can exist and thrive. This thesis concludes with recommendations, based on the legal issues identified and analysed, to assist the judiciary, the legislature and the legal profession with this new area of technological advancement.
The challenges that the melding of mind and machine through neural interface present at law are analysed throughout this thesis. This thesis seeks to provide a substantial contribution to the legal literature that is both innovative and pioneering. This new, developing field of inquiry provides the opportunity for ground breaking advances in legal analysis of the existing legal frameworks that, in particular circumstances, will require re-evaluation and adaptation.
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Clune, Stephen. "Developing sustainable literacy in industrial design education : a three year action research project enabling industrial design students to design for sustainability." Thesis, View thesis, 2009. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/41047.
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This thesis is an investigation into why Industrial Design students cannot Design for Sustainability (DfS); that is, students are unable to design in a way that can contribute in real terms to a sustainable society, economy or ecology. To proactively address the question, a three year action research project at the University of Western Sydney took place within the sustainable design stream of the undergraduate Bachelor of Design / Industrial Design program. This study examined over 400 conceptual DfS scenarios, which were the outcomes of student assessment tasks at the end of the sustainable design stream. Using content analysis, the ‘conceptual design scenarios’ were examined against progressive DfS theory to locate the effectiveness of both the theoretical and pedagogical interventions. Through the process, insight into Industrial Design Education for Sustainability was gained to inform the three key findings of the thesis: First, the definition of the unsustainable problem being worked with strongly determines the quality of the design outcome in terms of DfS (how you define is how you design). To enable Industrial Design students to design for sustainability, a sound, targeted definition of unsustainability is first required, a task that has been neglected in Industrial Design Education. Second, the role of pedagogy is equally as important as the theoretical material to which Industrial Design students are exposed. The pedagogy of deep learning and a student-centred approach to teaching was employed. These assisted both to progress students’ understanding of unsustainability and to transform their understanding into Designs for Sustainability. Third, if Industrial Design students are to be motivated and engaged in DfS, sustainability needs to be presented as more than a responsibility; students need to see clear, feasible, future vocational opportunities in DfS. Hence DfS needs to be presented as an opportunity with explicit career paths for their future vocations. The proposed future opportunities expand from the product focus of Industrial Design. The three key findings of the thesis informed the pedagogical framework for Industrial Design Education for Sustainability that is presented. To summate, the thesis argues that students can design for sustainability if an appropriate understanding of unsustainability is defined (the problem context), supported by pedagogic processes to transform this understanding into appropriate and forethoughtful design outcomes, which are seen as viable potential proposals justified for real world applications in a transformed Industrial Design practice.
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Sansak, Avorn. "Empowering women in rural development : a collaborative action research project in northern Thailand." Thesis, View thesis View thesis, 1996. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/722.
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The development policy and plans of the Thai government have emphasized economic growth aimed at 'modernising' the country, enacted through agricultural modernisation and industrialisation under the name 'rural development'. Women In Development (WID) approaches based on the modernisation model have been added to 'development' plans more recently. Examination of the effects of these WID programmes upon rural women demonstrates that poor women are disempowered by the 'top-down' rural development programmes. This study is an attempt to test collaborative action research (CAR) as a methodology to empower rural women to become the decision makers in the rural development process. CAR was carried out in Sandee Village, northern Thailand. This suggests that rural women can be empowered through continuous cycles of the collaborative learning process of planning, acting, observing and critical reflection with the researcher acting as a facilitator. Through this learning process, rural women have increased their capacity to make choices, to deal with existing constraints and to create changes. In this respect 'development' can be initiated from within.
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Jenkins, Roger J. "The adoption of discrete event simulation in manufacturing management." Thesis, Electronic version View thesis View thesis, 2002. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/204.
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The research described in this thesis is aimed to improve our knowledge of barriers to the use of OR (Operations Research) techniques in the manufacturing sector. Numerous issues have been previously identified, but the work has generally been unsystematic, or focused on the OR profession. This research is empirical, systematic, and compares a group of OR professionals to a group of manufacturing managers. The technology selected for analysis was DES (Discrete event simulation, a computer based technique for modeling complex manufacturing processes), and the companies chosen, as the focus for data collection, were based in Australia. Two major implications for practice are identified in the thesis. These two perspectives should be seen to be complementary, rather than opposing. OR professionals should place their knowledge within the mindset used by manufacturing managers, rather than attempting to displace that mindset.
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Kleinveldt, Lynn Tatum <1980>. "The role of libraries in support of academic research: A study of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the University of Bologna." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2018. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/8621/1/PhD%20Thesis%20Final%20Version%20LynnKleinveldt%2019March2018.pdf.
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The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the position of communication and science academic libraries supporting chemistry and chemical engineering research at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in South Africa, and the University of Bologna (UNIBO) in Italy. Structured interviews were conducted with a total of 42 participants which comprised of Chemistry researchers, Chemical Engineering researchers, PhD students and librarians supporting Chemistry and Chemical Engineering departments at CPUT and UNIBO. The main findings were:
• ‘Library as space’ still remain an imperative at both institutions in the digital age.
• There is a clash between the academic library promoting the Open Access movement and researchers being under pressure to publish in high impact factor journals.
• Heavy workloads and staff capacity issues in both case studies was revealed as prohibiting factors among librarians and researchers to keep up with trends.
• That the utilisation of social media and Web 2.0 tools for research is a direct result of researchers being prosumers, was found not to be the case.
• The communication gap that exists came out strongly in both case studies.
• There is a need for librarians to shift the focus more towards supporting postgraduate students with research.
Therefore the research communication framework is recommended for both higher education institutions to create a better research environment. Overall the enthusiasm revealed by librarians to keep relevant to provide state of the art research support services which speaks to the trends show promise for the future role of the academic librarian. Further qualitative research in the area of research support services across all disciplines will make a stronger contribution in the field of Library and Information Science.
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Clark, Stephanie A. "Systematics, spatial analysis and conservation genetics of Meridolum corneovirens (Pfeiffer, 1851) and related forms (Gastropoda: Camaenidae) from the Sydney region of Australia." Thesis, View thesis, 2005. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/640.
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The purpose of the present study is to examine the genetic and morphological variation found in narrow-range endemic terrestrial invertebrate species at different geographic scales, and the ramifications of this for their systematics, management and conservation. The listed endangered land snail Meridolum corneovirens and several related forms are restricted to the Sydney region, and were used to address the above issues. Morphological, anatomical, allozyme and DNA data were obtained for a total of 77 populations from across the known range of Meridolum. A particular emphasis was placed on the forms found across the Sydney region. The analysis of the different datasets, both individually and in combination indicate at least 35 taxa mostly parapatric and seven genera were represented. This includes several previously unrecognised taxa. The analysis supports the conclusion that Meridolum corneovirens belongs to a new genus. This includes several species found from eastern Sydney south along the coast to Nowra. A total of six new species and five new genera are described. The conservation and management of narrow-range endemics such as Meridolum corneovirens provide a number of challenges to conservation managers. The alternative of listing a gene pool rather than listing species separately is proposed and explore
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Emseis, Paul. "Non-classical bonding in chiral metal complexes." Thesis, View thesis, 2003. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/557.
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Intramolecular non-covalent interactions between aromatic ligands in chiral Ru(II) and Co(III) complexes have been investigated in this study. Several investigations were carried out and findings given. The results of the study, which demonstrate the significance of non-covalent interactions involving aromatic residues to the determination of the molecular conformation, serve to highlight the suitability of simple chiral metal complexes to act as models for interactions
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Wong, Victor. "A fundamental study towards improving the performance of liquid chromatographic separation." Thesis, View thesis, 2003. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/467.
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The three factors of the resolution (Rs)equation(see Equation 1.1)were explored in this thesis. During the course of the research project, an important aim was to explore separation processes that would lead to an increase in productivity without sacrificing Rs. To that end, an increase in the retention factor (k)to enhance Rs was deemed detrimental to the cycle time, hence the production rate, particularly when preparative separations are involved. Consequently the primary objectives were to (i)prepare more efficient columns and (ii)investigate new strategies in manipulating selectivity. The significance of the work contained in this thesis is highlighted in 27th International Symposium on High Performance Liquid Phase Separations and Related Techniques (HPLC 2003)held in Nice, France between 15-19 June, 2003. Many of the papers presented significantly compared to chapters contained in this research
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Panneerselvam, C. "Temporal studies of atmospheric electrical parameters close to the earth's surface." Thesis, Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, Mumbai, 2012. http://localhost:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/208.
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Talwalkar, Akshat. "Studies on the oxygen toxicity of probiotic bacteria with reference to Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium spp." Thesis, View thesis, 2003. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/629.
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Oxygen toxicity is considered significant in the poor survival of probiotic bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium spp. in yoghurts. This study investigated methods to protect these bacteria from oxygen exposure. To confirm the accuracy of the reported survival estimates of L. acidophilus or Bifidobacterium spp. in yoghurts, the reliability of several enumeration media was evaluated with different commercial yoghurts. None of the media however, was found reliable thereby casting doubts on the reported cell numbers of probiotic bacteria in yoghurts. After much research,it was found that although oxygen can be detrimental to L. acidophilus and Bifidobacterium spp.in culture broths, it may not be significant for their poor survival in yoghurts. Nevertheless, techniques such as oxidative stress stress adaption, alternative packaging materials and microencapsulation as investigated in this study, can serve as general protective techniques to help yoghurt manufacturers in maintaining the recommended numbers of probiotic bacteria in their products. This would eventually assist in the efficient delivery of probiotic health benefits to yoghurt consumers.
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Weiss, April, and april weiss@rmit edu au. "The iTour Project: A Study of the Design and Testing of Effective Online Animated Tours as a Form of Interactive Online Documentation." RMIT University. Creative Media, 2006. http://adt.lib.rmit.edu.au/adt/public/adt-VIT20060825.153207.
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The iTour Project is an empirical study of the design of online interactive animated tours (iTours), and establishes a knowledge base for technical communicators and new media designers working in this area. The key objectives of this research were to understand the features of effective iTours; to explore the processes and techniques of designing and testing effective iTours; and to establish new praxis in new media design for technical communication. Design artefacts resulted from six key activities including: (1) Sub-project 1- RMIT Multimedia Online documentation with basic animation; (2) Sub-project 2- Online @ RMIT Orientation with some iTour animation; (3) Third-party iTour analytical review to deconstruct iTours and determine key elements; (4) Sub-project 3- Online @ RMIT iTours; (5) iTour Guidelines; and (6) A second, more comprehensive third-party iTour analysis to test the Guidelines. The outcome of the research is encapsulated in a web site that binds the artefacts of design sub-projects with a set of Guidelines. These Guidelines form a conceptual, structural and operational framework for iTour designers, and draw on the knowledge established while designing and testing iTours, analysing third-party iTours, and researching comparative fields. These fields include technical communication; new media; web; usability design and testing; and, to a lesser extent, software design and testing. The Guidelines, in conjunction with the knowledge base, were developed to facilitate effective communication through iTours. Through this research, the design action case study was established as a hybrid research approach: design research and action research are blended; and knowledge is situated within, and derived from, a case study. In support of design research, the PDIOR design cycles have been specified and include these phases: plan; develop; implement; observe; and reflect. The PDIOR approach combines design research and action research in a cyclical mode to explore technical communication and new media activities. Finally, eleven principles for designing effective iTours emerged from this research project. Articulation of these principles, in addition to the Guidelines, contributes new knowledge in the field for technical communicators, new media designers and others, who wish to engage in iTour design.
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Waters, John Frederick. "Knowledge and commitment in innovation processes." Thesis, View thesis, 2004. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/530.
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This study was aimed at achieving an understanding of the role of knowledge and commitment in the process of innovation. To do that, the study confronted several intractable problems of innovation research that have created barriers to knowledge accumulation. Theoretical models were developed based on organizational knowledge and commitments and aimed at overcoming the shortcomings of the traditional research models. Theoretical models of organizational change were investigated through multiple case studies of innovation projects that compared organizations of different types and size, and change processes of both technological and administrative character. A conclusion from this research is that innovation research should learn to live with the dialectic that innovation is unrelated to knowledge or outcomes. This would help to focus research attention on the means by which knowledge is transformed into action, the central problem of the management of innovation.
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Clifton, Ross G. "An action research approach to supporting change management and associated governance strategies in a community services organisation." Thesis, View thesis, 2008. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/32874.
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An Action Research approach to supporting change management and associated governance strategies in a community services organisation. Following a report on the Civil Society in the New Millennium Project, which was based upon the responses of citizens from forty-seven Commonwealth countries, a Compact Approach involving the state, intermediary organisations and citizens was developed in 1999, as a framework to enhance civil society. A literature review indicated that there was no research in Australia, as well as internationally, that had investigated the efficacy of this formalised agreement or Compact, particularly in a practical setting. The researcher had been working in the community services sector and had an interest in supporting community services organisations to meet the impact of change, particularly in response to government policy reform agendas. The Compact Approach was identified as a model to navigate change and develop partnerships with a civil society organisation operating in environments characterised by certainty as well as uncertainty.
The researcher made himself available to a case study organisation to support change and to investigate the Compact Approach by undertaking Action Research as a participant observer. This exploratory research involved two main reference groups, board and staff, in planning, acting, observing and reflecting. A large amount of data was generated and a need was identified for it to be collated and simplified for further analysis. A new methodology was developed drawing upon the traditions of case study method and story-telling to represent the research themes of: the Compact Approach; change management; and, governance.
With the Compact Approach what was found was evidence of some degree of civil society enhancement, particularly at the individual organisation level. As the study was undertaken from an organisation’s perspective the other dimensions of civil society and government had been underrepresented. It was found that government policy of promoting the market meant that competition was overshadowing co2 operation in the case study organisation. For community services organisations the main partner is government and policy frameworks need to support partnerships and civil society beyond current contractual agreements.
Carver’s (1997) Policy Governance framework was partially implemented to assist with infrastructure development. However there was a lack of time and a commitment from the board and senior staff. Not all governance responsibilities can be met through such a framework and community organisations need to be mindful of its limitations, particularly for those connected to civil society. There were mixed results with Action Research being used as a change management tool. The dominance of power by those in ‘control’ highlighted management styles, but they also overshadowed group processes. Action Research methodology was also complemented by Stacey’s (1996) ordinary and extraordinary management framework. It was found that when applied to the Action Research cycle of planning, acting, observing and reflecting; that the process of reflecting was particularly supported by such conceptual mapping. What was also highlighted was the need for professionals to undertake ����in the field���� Action Research but also to draw upon their professional or technical expertise, using participant-observer-consultant modes. The capacity for a small community services organisation to change can be based upon levels of infrastructure, governance skills, available resources and level of development to operate at an associative level with other stakeholders. The viability of these smaller organisations is being challenged by the ‘managerialist’ business paradigms of government policy where the fabric of civil society has not been incorporated within accountability frameworks. Here there is a challenge for new frameworks such as the Compact Approach, to lead the way as formalised agreements with government, to enhance the role of civil society in the delivery of community services in countries such as Australia.
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Hunt, Maria. "Molecules in southern molecular clouds: a millimetre-wave study of dense cores." Thesis, View thesis View thesis, 2001. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/116.
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This thesis presents an observational study of molecular abundances in the dense cores of 27 prominent molecular clouds in the southern galactic plane.The molecular abundances and physical conditions in dense condensations have been derived from millimetre-wavelength observations of molecular rotational transitions.The study has produced a comprehensive data set of transition intensities and abundances for 10 different molecules in bright southern molecular clouds, and the general characteristics of emissions from these molecules such as optical depth, excitation and relative abundances are discussed. A comparison of different methods of calculating molecular hydrogen column density from observations of carbon monoxide emission is included.Both the analysis and the data collected provide an excellent starting point for further observational and theoretical studies of molecular clouds in the southern Milky Way utilising new instruments such as the millimeter-wave upgrade to the Australia Telescope Compact Array and the Attacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA).
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Cowin, Leanne S. "The self-concept of nurses and its relationship to job satisfaction." Thesis, View thesis View thesis, 2002. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/59.
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This study explores the development and rigorous testing of a new self-concept instrument designed specifically for nurses for use in a longitudinal, multicohort study on self-concept, job satisfaction and retention in nursing.The outcomes of this study are that nurses' self-concept can now be measured by a new theoretically and empirically substantiated multidimensional instrument. This will provide potential new directions for nursing research on which to build specific self-concept enhancement and retention strategies. The transitional period of student to graduate nurse can be the subject of ongoing assessment by utilising the new self-concept instrument in conjunction with a valid measure of nurses' job satisfaction. The findings of this study have raised an awareness of the importance of self-concept in the retention challenge for all nurses and in particular the newly registered graduate nurse