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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Promoting public understanding of science'

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Published: 4 June 2021
Last updated: 13 February 2022

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1

Du, Plessis Paulina Carolina. "The effects of an outreach programme on the public understanding of science, engineering and technology." Diss., Pretoria : [s.n.], 2007. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-11122007-075644/.

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2

Oliver, Emma. "Effective teaching strategies for promoting conceptual understanding in secondary science education." Online pdf file accessible through the World Wide Web, 2007. http://archives.evergreen.edu/masterstheses/Accession89-10MIT/Oliver_Emma%20MITthesis%202007.pdf.

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3

Nilsen, Per. "Opening the Black Box of Community-Based Injury Prevention Programmes : Towards Improved Understanding of Factors that Influence Programme Effectiveness." Doctoral thesis, Linköping : Univ, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-7001.

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4

Lawlor, Andrea. "Understanding public policy through mass media." Thesis, McGill University, 2014. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=121392.

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Media have both direct and indirect influences on policy, and can, at various times, serve as a contributor to policy, a conduit of policy information, and a mirror to the policy process. Although the scholarly literature acknowledges media's role in the policy process, particularly their ability to affect policymakers directly, systematically push policy alternatives, or influence public opinion, the literature often omits a critical role for media: reflecting the policy process. Mass media are the public's largest source of information on policy, yet the volume and tone of media reporting on policy over time, not to mention what we can learn about public policy through media data, are often overlooked. This dissertation examines how we can use media as a tool to better understand the complexity of public policy narratives, framing and change. It also suggests an approach to using media data as a tool to examine the relationships between policy actors and domains. Using automated content analysis of over 25-years of comparative media data, this dissertation consists of three articles: each makes a contribution to the policy literature, namely in the areas of pension policy, immigration policy, and the literature on issue ownership. When taken together, these articles make a broader contribution to the field's understanding of how framing, language and narrative impact the public's understanding of many facets of the policy process. Results demonstrate the value of understanding media's role as a mirror. Additionally, the approach used can be considered a contribution to the methodological toolkit available to policy and political communications scholars to assist them in better understanding the complex relationships between policy and media.
Les médias ont des effets directs et indirects sur les politiques. À différents moments, les médias peuvent participer à la création et à la diffusion de politiques, tout comme ils peuvent éclaircir le processus d'élaboration de ces politiques. Le rôle des médias dans ce processus, surtout par rapport à leur capacité d'influer sur les décideurs de façon directe, d'avancer systématiquement des politiques de rechange ou d'influencer l'opinion publique, est reconnu dans la littérature spécialisée. Toutefois, on y aborde rarement un autre rôle fondamental des médias, qui est celui de nous faire comprendre le processus de création de politiques. Pour le public, les médias de masse constituent la principale source d'information sur les politiques, mais le volume et le ton des rapports médiatiques à ce sujet au fil du temps – sans oublier les apprentissages sur les politiques publiques que nous pouvons tirer des données des médias – sont souvent négligés. La présente dissertation traite de l'utilisation des médias comme outils pour approfondir notre compréhension du récit, de la formulation et de la modification des politiques publiques. Elle propose également une approche pour appliquer des données médiatiques à l'examen des rapports entre acteurs politiques et domaines. La présente étude s'appuie sur une analyse de contenu automatisée de données comparatives des médias, couvrant une période de plus de 25 ans. Chacune des trois grandes sections de l'analyse apporte une contribution à la littérature spécialisée, en explorant les politiques en matière de pension et d'immigration, ainsi que la question de l'adhésion aux politiques. Dans son ensemble, l'étude renseigne sur la portée de l'expression, du langage et du récit sur la compréhension populaire des nombreux aspects du processus d'élaboration de politiques. Les résultats de l'analyse soulignent l'importance de comprendre le rôle des médias dans la traduction de ce processus. De plus, les chercheurs qui s'intéressent aux politiques et à la communication politique peuvent utiliser l'approche méthodologique proposée pour étudier les rapports complexes entre les politiques et les médias.
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5

Phelps, Shannon. "Understanding and Promoting Parent-Child Sexual Health Communication." UKnowledge, 2017. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/edsc_etds/31.

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Parent-child sexual health communication (PCSHC) can have a positive impact on adolescents’ sexual health choices, outcomes, and capabilities for communicating with others about sexual health. Many parents are hesitant and feel unprepared for and uncomfortable with communicating about sexual health with their children. Other parental factors as well as child factors can impact the quality, frequency, coverage, and effectiveness of PCSHC. Some adolescent sexual health outcomes have improved, however, teen birth rates in the United States are elevated compared to other developed countries and half of all sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnoses are made to adolescents and emerging adults. This emphasizes the importance of PCSHC as a protective factor for children and opportunity for them to develop understanding and skills for good sexual health decision-making. While challenging to recruit and retain participants, parent sex education programming designed to promote PCSHC can instill a sense of parental necessity and responsibility, and equip parents with knowledge and skills to confidently and successfully engage their children. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) provided the framework for this mixed methods study designed to learn more about PCSHC, differences in PCSHC based on gender of children, parental beliefs about PCSHC, intentions for and actual engagement in PCSHC. Included in the literature review for this study is a systematic review of literature focused on parent education programming designed to improve PCSHC. Parents of children in grades 4 – 11 completed a pencil/paper or an electronic Qualtrics baseline survey containing questions about their perceptions of and engagement in PCSHC. The quantitative data collection instrument included items measuring TPB constructs of behavioral, normative, and control beliefs, intentions for and actual engagement in PCSHC and condom use instruction delivery, communication openness, communication ability, sexual health topics discussed with children, and respondents’ demographics Many of the respondents (N = 205) were residents of the program target community, Winchester/Clark County, Kentucky, and were eligible to participate in parent programming, as were all residents that were parents of children in grades 4 – 11. The program, I’ll Have a Side of Sex Education, was designed as a six-week series of 50 minute lunch time sessions with the intention to improve parents’ sense of comfort, confidence, and skills in communicating with their children in general, and particularly about sexual health. Of the 205 parents who completed the baseline survey, 50 enrolled in and attended some or all of one of five offerings of the six-week parent education series and were invited to complete a post-program and six-week follow up surveys. Post-program data were collected with a paper- pencil survey and six-week follow up data were collected with a Qualtrics survey. The systematic review of parent sex education literature provided insight into components of programming related to successful program delivery and positive parental outcomes. The systematic analysis of the baseline data including examining PCSHC factors from the parental perspective and how these related to the gender of children and determining the usefulness of the TPB constructs for understanding PCSHC Results of Chi-square tests of mean differences showed a significant difference in parents actually providing their children with instructions for correct condom usage, χ2(2, N = 203) = 6.96, p = 0.03, and MANOVA results revealed the degree to which parents address certain sexual health topics with their children related to the gender of their children. Results of logistic regression showed behavioral beliefs having the greatest predictive power of parents’ intentions to give condom use instructions (p < 0.01) and actual delivery of condom use instructions (p = 0.04) and engagement in PCSHC, generally (p = 0.03). The current study contributes to the greater body of literature addressing parental and child factors related the promotion, delivery, and effectiveness of PCSHC and parent education programming designed to improve the quality, frequency, and impact of PCSHC. Its findings expand our understanding of how gender of children and parental beliefs relate to PCSHC and lend themselves to the consideration of the greater social influences impacting parents’ ability and motivation to engage their children in communication about sexual health. Differences in communication based on gender of children signal to a double standard in the messaging about sexual health and behaviors related to gender and these discrepancies leave adolescents and emerging adults, both males and females, vulnerable at worst to poor sexual health choices and outcomes and at least to being undereducated about sexual health topics. Although these findings give little support for the overall TPB model contributing to the understanding of parental intentions and behavior related PCSHC, the relationship between behavioral beliefs informed by attitudes about the value of PCSHC and parental intentions and behaviors does provide insight to health promoters and educators. Assessing parental attitudes toward PCSHC and tailoring messages and educational opportunities that may improve these attitudes and motivate parents to engage in and seek support for effective PCSHC holds promise. The piloting of a parent education program adapted from a previously evaluated parent sex education programming and the summative evaluation offered by participants gives support for efforts on the part of health promotion and education professionals to invest time, energy, and resources into program design and delivery and recruitment and retention of parents.
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6

Yadala, Bhavya Sree. "Understanding Participants’ Feedback from Workshop Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in Computational Science and Engineering." Youngstown State University / OhioLINK, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1620987134533065.

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7

Schiefer, Julia [Verfasser], and Kerstin [Akademischer Betreuer] Oschatz. "Promoting and Measuring Elementary School Children's Understanding of Science / Julia Schiefer ; Betreuer: Kerstin Oschatz." Tübingen : Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen, 2017. http://d-nb.info/1199616192/34.

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8

Wardell, Claire Amanda. "Facts, fictions and futures : towards a cultural understanding of the public understanding of science." Thesis, Goldsmiths College (University of London), 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.395672.

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9

Wilson, Sharlene. "Understanding Presidential Voting Motivation by Factors of Agency." ScholarWorks, 2015. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/427.

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The President of the United States sets the tone for policy and has significant power in adopting and implementing policy. Despite this acknowledged power, prior studies, have not examined whether or not agency theory is predictive of voting in U.S. presidential elections. Agency theory is important in the scope of voting behavior as it identifies the relationships which support significance in practicing the activity. This correlational study examined the statistical impact of personal agency, social agency, and sociocultural agency on predictive voting behavior. This study used secondary data originally collected between 1956 and 2008 by the American National Election Study through a multistage probability design that yielded a survey of 28,000 individuals. A single, combined model was created from variables measuring personal, social, and sociocultural agency on the dependent variable of voting to test which type of agency had the highest predictive power on voting. The outcome of a logistic regression analysis demonstrated that sociocultural and personal agency, but not social agency, were statistically powerful predictors of voting (p < .05). These findings suggest that an individual's personal perceptions and cultural status influence their likelihood to vote, but that their social units do not. These findings suggest that efforts to increase turnout by members of sociocultural groups that are less likely to vote should focus on increasing personal agency. This study promotes positive social change by empowering the design of more effective get-out-the-vote campaigns to increase voter participation, especially among the underrepresented.
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10

Li, William (William Pui Lum). "Language technologies for understanding law, politics, and public policy." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103673.

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Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2016.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-209).
This thesis focuses on the development of machine learning and natural language processing methods and their application to large, text-based open government datasets. We focus on models that uncover patterns and insights by inferring the origins of legal and political texts, with a particular emphasis on identifying text reuse and text similarity in these document collections. First, we present an authorship attribution model on unsigned U.S. Supreme Court opinions, offering insights into the authorship of important cases and the dynamics of Supreme Court decision-making. Second, we apply software engineering metrics to analyze the complexity of the United States Code of Laws, thereby illustrating the structure and evolution of the U.S. Code over the past century. Third, we trace policy trajectories of legislative bills in the United States Congress, enabling us to visualize the contents of four key bills during the Financial Crisis. These applications on diverse open government datasets reveal that text reuse occurs widely in legal and political texts: similar ideas often repeat in the same corpus, different historical versions of documents are usually quite similar, or legitimate reasons for copying or borrowing text may exist. Motivated by this observation, we present a novel statistical text model, Probabilistic Text Reuse (PTR), for finding repeated passages of text in large document collections. We illustrate the utility of PTR by finding template ideas, less-common voices, and insights into document structure in a large collection of public comments on regulations proposed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on net neutrality. These techniques aim to help citizens better understand political processes and help governments better understand political speech.
by William P. Li.
Ph. D.
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11

Gwon, Misook. "Measuring and Understanding Public Opinion on Human Evolution." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1353342586.

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12

Maralack, Bernado Canon Theodore. "Public understanding of science : (a case study of a coloured community)." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/53564.

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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2003.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: While the importance of science and technology for society has long been recognised, it has taken on ever increasing importance in the present century. As a result this study, government (The year of Science and Technology - 1998), and other initiatives by concerned bodies efforts are directed to better inform the public about the nature and role of science and technology. It aimed to make citizens both better informed and better able to adapt to the many changes that science and technology have brought, and will continue to bring, to their lives. Despite these efforts many citizens remain ill informed about the scientific advances, and how technology affects their lives. As a result, most members of the public are unable to form substantiated judgements about matters involving science and technology. It is essential that ways are find to improve the public understands of science and technology. This study discusses the results of an empirical survey which was conducted in a coloured community in Paarl. The thesis summarises the results of the survey on these issues. It presents data on the public's understanding of science and technology and lists efforts that have been made to improve the understanding of science and technology. The study describes efforts to make information on science and technology more readily available to the public. Finally, it proposed measures that various actors might usefully take to improve public understanding of science and technology.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die belangrikheid van wetenskap en tegnologie vir die samelewing word reeds 'n geruime tyd erken, en het veraloor die laaste eeu toegeneem. Hieruit spruit die poging van hierdie studie, die regering (die Jaar van Wetenskap en Tegnologie 1998), en ander inisiatiewe deur belanghebbende organisasies om die algemene publiek in te lig rakende die rol van wetenskap en tegnologie. Dit poog om die algemene publiek in te lig oor, en in staat te stelom aan te pas by die veranderinge wat wetenskap en tegnologie reeds meegebring het, en nog sal meebring in hulle daaglikse lewe. Ten spyte van hierdie pogings is verskeie lede van die publiek steeds oningelig rakende wetenskaplike veranderinge en die wyses waarop tegnologie hulle lewens beïnvloed. Gevolglik is 'n groot gedeelte van die algemene publiek nie in staat om ingeligte oordele te kan maak met betrekking tot wetenskap- en tegnologieverwante aangeleenthede nie. Dit is dus essensieel dat maniere gevind word om die algemene publiek se persepsie van wetenskap en tegnologie te verbeter. Hierdie studie bespreek die resultate van 'n empiriese opname wat onder 'n bruin gemeenskap in Paarlonderneem is. Dit bevat resultate oor die algemene publiek se persepsies van wetenskap en tegnologie, en gee 'n aanduiding van die pogings wat aangewend is om hierdie persepsie te verbeter. Die studie beskryf ook die pogings wat aangewend is om inligting rakende wetenskap en tegnologie meer beskikbaar te maak vir die algemene publiek. Ten slotte, word maniere voorgestel waarop die verskeie rolspelers strategiee geimplementeer kan word vir die uitbouing van die algemene publiek se persepsie van wetenskap en tegnologie.
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13

Lee, Da Hyun. "Relational Approaches to US International Cultural Engagement: Promoting National Good and Mutual Understanding through Cooperative Cultural Exchange." The Ohio State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1385737907.

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14

Muppalla, RoopTeja. "A Twitter-based Study for Understanding Public Reaction on Zika Virus." Wright State University / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright151994467953523.

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15

Swannack-Nunn, Susan. "Promoting economic development in poor countries : the role of developed country public investment corporations." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9811.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science; and, Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1998.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 373-387).
by Susan Swannack-Nunn.
Ph.D.
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16

Hagström, Åsa. "Understanding Certificate Revocation." Licentiate thesis, Linköping University, Linköping University, Department of Electrical Engineering, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-5477.

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Correct certificate revocation practices are essential to each public-key infrastructure. While there exist a number of protocols to achieve revocation in PKI systems, there has been very little work on the theory behind it: Which different types of revocation can be identified? What is the intended effect of a specific revocation type to the knowledge base of each entity?

As a first step towards a methodology for the development of reliable models, we present a graph-based formalism for specification and reasoning about the distribution and revocation of public keys and certificates. The model is an abstract generalization of existing PKIs and distributed in nature; each entity can issue certificates for public keys that they have confidence in, and distribute or revoke these to and from other entities.

Each entity has its own public-key base and can derive new knowledge by combining this knowledge with certificates signed with known keys. Each statement that is deduced or quoted within the system derives its support from original knowledge formed outside the system. When such original knowledge is removed, all statements that depended upon it are removed as well. Cyclic support is avoided through the use of support sets.

We define different revocation reasons and show how they can be modelled as specific actions. Revocation by removal, by inactivation, and by negation are all included. By policy, negative statements are the strongest, and positive are the weakest. Collisions are avoided by removing the weaker statement and, when necessary, its support.

Graph transformation rules are the chosen formalism. Rules are either interactive changes that can be applied by entities, or automatically applied deductions that keep the system sound and complete after the application of an interactive rule.

We show that the proposed model is sound and complete with respect to our definition of a valid state.


Report code: LIU-TEK-LIC-2006:1
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17

Wallace, Rick L., and Nakia J. Woodward. "Consumer Health Information: Promoting Partners in Collaboration Between Medical & Public Libraries." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2007. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/8772.

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18

Amorese, Valentina. "From public understanding of GMOs to scientists’ understanding of public opinion : a case study of the listening capacity of scientists in the UK and Italy." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2010. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/250/.

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Genetically modified organisms have been accompanied by hopes and concerns regarding the potential of this technology to reshape agricultural practices, our environment and the food we eat. The controversy surrounding GMOs raised questions regarding the present and future relationship between science and society. This thesis contributes to this debate by exploring GM scientists’ thoughts about public opinion and its influence on their work. I contend that how scientists listen to public opinion is mediated by national context, which I explore through a comparison of the United Kingdom and Italy. Within the public understanding of science, and social studies of science more generally, the listening capacity of scientists has largely been ignored. Asking if, how and under what conditions GM scientists listen to public opinion on GMOs, I address this gap in the literature. A mixed method approach is used to answer these questions. This combines descriptive statistics with a range of qualitative methods, including narrative analysis, case study and situational analysis. This methodological approach is meant to bridge qualitative and quantitative methodologies, historically polarised within PUS scholarship. This thesis is structured by my own changing understanding of the listening process. Initially, I assumed a stimulus-­‐response model of scientists’ listening, in which the public talks and scientists respond. Following my data collection and analysis, I developed a new model for listening that includes three moments: hearing public opinion, interpreting it, and responding to it. Using this model, I identify two typical patterns in GM scientists’ listening process. Both of these patterns are associated with the ‘deficit model’, which scientists used differently according to their national contexts. Drawing on Jasanoff’s (2005) concept of civic epistemology, I contend that these patterns are indicative of scientists’ civic epistemologies, which are informed by a number of different factors.
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19

Humffray, Jennifer Jane, and n/a. "Early childhood science education : the study of young children's understanding of forces." University of Canberra. Teacher Education, 2000. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20060731.131000.

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This study sought to investigate young children's understandings of the science concept forces. A government preschool in the A.C.T. was the setting for the study. The research methodology consisted of pre and post interviews conducted before and after a teaching sequence using an interactive approach to teaching science (Biddulph and Osbome 1984). Interviews were audio taped, work samples were kept and lessons and discussions were audio taped during the teaching sequence. This study examined three factors associated with young children's understandings of the science concept forces. First, it documented young children's understandings prior to any formal teaching in this area. It was found that most children did hold views about the areas of forces such as pushes and pulls, inertia, friction and gravity. Some of these views are generally recognised by the scientific community as being scientifically correct answers. Second, this study sought to reveal if these prior views were changed or reached a higher conceptual level after the experience of a three week interactive teaching sequence on forces. It was found that in all cases changes in language indicating higher level understandings, the use of scientific terms and more detailed responses indicated that it was possible and relevant at the early childhood level to teach the concepts of forces. A third aspect of this study sought to identify teaching strategies which would effectively teach forces to very young children. It became clear in this study that as young children already have views about the concepts of forces it is possible to build on these views with correct scientific knowledge and thus empower the young child in an area of science which research has indicated may cause problems for older learners. It is therefore proposed that early childhood is a crucial time for teaching correct science concepts in the area of forces. This thesis has shown that young children, particularly those 4-5 years old, have already formed views of forces, some scientifically correct and it is proposed that building on this existing knowledge will empower the child in later learning in the areas of physics and mechanics.
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20

Knazko, Jana. "Understanding government Web communication strategy as applied within the Public Health Agency of Canada." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/27698.

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The research examines the components that make up the Web communication strategy of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). The thesis focuses on the extent to which PHAC's Web site reflects its mandate and implements the Government of Canada's public policies that regulate its Web presence. The Web communication strategy is analyzed from the perspective of Johnson's conceptualization model which separates a discourse into the stages of production, text, and context. The methodology employs content analysis and interviews to illustrate to which extent the democratic rights of the public were taken into account when the Web strategy was elaborated and how the public and PHAC stakeholders benefit from the implementation of this strategy. The research finds that although the general public is considered to be an important audience segment of the PHAC Web site, the emphasis of Web policy is to reinforce health care, education, and government sector stakeholder relationships. Keywords. public health agency, health Web site, Web analytics, communications policy, e-communications, accessibility, stakeholders, government Web.
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21

Nilsson, Maria. "Promoting health in adolescents : preventing the use of tobacco." Doctoral thesis, Umeå universitet, Epidemiologi och folkhälsovetenskap, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-21239.

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There is a robust evidence base for the negative health effects from smoking. Smoking is linked to severe morbidity and to mortality, and kills up to half of its regular users. Tobacco use and production also bring other negative consequences such as economic loss for countries, poverty for individuals, child labour, deforestation and other environmental problems in tobacco growing countries.  A combination of comprehensive interventions at different levels is needed to curb the tobacco epidemic. Tobacco control strategies at national levels in the western world often include components of information/education, taxation, legislative measures and influencing public opinion. Two approaches have dominated at the meso and micro levels: cessation support for tobacco users and prevention activities to support young people refraining from tobacco use. Smoking uptake is a complex process that includes factors at the societal level as well as social and individual characteristics.  At national level, taxation and legislation can contribute to a societal norm opposing tobacco and creating a context for primary prevention aimed at tobacco free youth.  There is no magic bullet in primary prevention.  At the meso and micro levels, a continued development of knowledge on the underlying mechanisms and primary prevention methods is essential to prevent young people from starting to use tobacco.  The overall aim of this thesis was to gain knowledge about factors that influence young people’s use of tobacco and of preventive mechanisms.  The specific aims included to study the relation between Tobacco Free Duo, an intervention program targeting youth in Västerbotten County, and tobacco use prevalence.  A specific interest was to explore the role adults can play in supporting young people to refrain from tobacco use.  The thesis is based on four studies with three separate sets of data, two were quantitative and one was qualitative. The studies were conducted among adolescents (aged 13-15 yr) in Västerbotten County and on national level in Sweden (aged 13, 15 and 17 yr).  Tobacco Free Duo is a school-based community intervention that started in 1993. An essential component of the intervention was to involve adults in supporting adolescents to stay tobacco free. Results showed decreased smoking in adolescents among both boys and girls in the intervention area during the study period of seven years.  There was no change in a national reference group during the same time period. A bonus effect was a decrease in adult tobacco use in the intervention area. One out of four adults who supported a young person taking part in the intervention stopped using tobacco. In a qualitative assessment of young smokers, starting to smoke was described as a means of gaining control of their feelings and their situation during early adolescence. They expected adults to intervene against their smoking and claimed that close relations with caring adults could be a reason for smoking less or trying to quit smoking.  In a quantitative study that used three decades of national data, over time adolescents became more positive toward parental action on children’s smoking. The adolescents strongly supported the idea of parental action, regardless of whether or not they themselves smoked. Adolescents preferred that actions from parents were dissuading their children from smoking, not smoking themselves, and not allowing their children to smoke at home.  These results suggest that the Tobacco Free Duo program contributed to a reduction in adolescent smoking among both boys and girls.  Using a multi-faceted intervention that includes an adolescent-adult partnership can decrease adolescent smoking uptake.  Engaging adults as partners in tobacco prevention interventions that target adolescents has an important tobacco reducing bonus effect in the adults. The intervention has proven sustainable within communities.  A growing majority of adolescents support parental interventions to help them refrain from tobacco.  The findings dismiss the notion that adolescents ignore or even disdain parental practices concerning tobacco. A common and consequent norm against tobacco from both schools and parents using a supportive attitude can prevent tobacco use in young people.
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Willis, Laura Elizabeth. "Promoting Health Knowledge: The Impact of Public Relations Efforts on News Media Coverage of Health Research." The Ohio State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1397730678.

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23

Schumacher, Constance Louise. "Understanding Self-Management Decision Making in Heart Failure." ScholarWorks, 2017. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/4099.

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Heart failure patients are responsible for managing fluctuations in symptoms between exacerbations by employing treatment adherence, active monitoring, and management strategies based on expert guidelines. Despite education, delayed help seeking persists among those in the need of acute medical intervention, as evidenced by high hospital admission and readmission rates. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to explore the decision making processes undertaken by heart failure, community-dwelling individuals as they experience symptom changes. Eighteen face-to-face interviews were conducted with participants who had heart failure and received self-management education from a home care agency in Southern Ontario, Canada. Data were analyzed using iterative steps of open, axial, selective coding, and qualitative software text queries. Three process themes were identified: perceiving symptoms, normalizing symptoms, and adapting to symptoms, with an overarching theme of control and absence of consultative behaviors. The central concept revealed in this study was normalizing symptoms in heart failure which included actions taken by participants to mitigate symptom fluctuations. Daily fluctuations were assimilated into normal life resulting in desensitization of symptom recognition and a loss of functional capacity. These findings can be used to inform system changes needed to strengthen consultative patient-health professional relationships required for effective self-management problem-solving. This study leads to positive social change by explaining how self-management is practiced from the patient's perspective, which can inform practice recommendations and future research.
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Ek, Amanda. "Promoting public health by Physical activity on Prescription, with focus on organized exercise." Thesis, Nordic School of Public Health NHV, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:norden:org:diva-3118.

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Background: Insufficient physical activity is a public health problem. Nordic healthcare professionals use physical activity on prescription (PaP) to increase physical activity. Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of PaP that includes organized exercise. Method: Prospective data was obtained from four Swedish counties during fall 2009 and spring 2010. The study population comprised 98 patients whose healthcare professional prescribed PaP to prevent or treat disease. Questionnaires administered at baseline, three and six months after initiating PaP evaluated self-reported physical activity levels, adherence, factors influencing adherence, and experience of PaP. Results: Although the majority of patients receiving PaP including organized exercise are middle-age women, there are a wide distribution regarding e.g., age, socioeconomic status and reason of receiving PaP. Most participants received initial support from healthcare providers and activity organizers, and most were satisfied with the support they got. Approximately 70% participated in several activities at all measuring points. Although PaP including organized exercise increased activity levels only marginally, sedentary behavior decreased significantly. Six months after initiating PaP including organized exercise, 68% adhered to the prescribed physical activity level. Most participants deemed PaP including organized exercise a good method for becoming physically active. However, there is a need for regularly and longer support. Importantly, individualized instruction, adjusted exercise regimens, and support from other participants provide positive reinforcement. On the other hand, PaP with organized exercise imposes additional costs and decreases flexibility including both time commitment and scheduling constraints. Conclusion: Adherence levels to PaP with organized exercise are similar to those achieved by other chronic disease treatments. PaP including organized exercise can decrease sedentary behavior, an important factor in promoting public health in the Nordic countries.

ISBN 978-91-86739-16-4

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D'Amour, Lissa M., and University of Lethbridge Faculty of Education. "An illustrative phenomenographic case study : charting the landscape of "public understanding of science"." Thesis, Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Education, 2008, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10133/733.

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A cross-disciplinary literature review returns conflicting renditions on the nature of science, science’s place in society, and the public understanding of science. The phenomenon of science appears as many things to many people—a situation consistent with a phenomenographic non-dualist ontology that accepts a single, but variably experienced, real world. This study begins a process for comprehensively charting the landscape of Public Understanding of Science. In foregrounding the reflexive interplay of science and society, the resultant typography of science could, in turn, inform a mindful evolution of science curricula. In this study, a phenomenographic analysis of Public Understanding of Science journal article, “Fantastically reasonable: Ambivalence in the representation of science and technology in super-hero comics” (Locke, 2005) illustrates the phenomenographic process and provides a model for the application of phenomenographic methodology to systematically chart the nature of science as publicly experienced and understood.
x, 225 leaves ; 29 cm. --
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Hernandez, Cory D. "What do abortion policies accomplish? : understanding how abortion laws and court cases affect public opinion." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/95548.

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Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Political Science, 2014.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 114-124).
Abortion is a loaded, controversial, and divisive sociocultural and political term, concept, and debate. Yet little empirical research has been conducted to examine what effects abortion rights legislation and court cases have had on the public and our society. After analyzing a broad overview of the history of the abortion rights debate in the US, I conduct bivariate and multivariate regression analyses from 1972-2004 using NES and personally-collected data to see how these laws and court opinions in various states at the individual level influence public opinion of abortion rights and of the government. In the end, I conclude that, of the possible iterated relationships therefrom, anti-choice policies have statistically significant impacts on both how people view abortion rights and their own state governments. In doing so, I challenge extant models that describe the interaction between public opinion and policy. I also further develop the idea of Policy Overreach, where policymakers go "too far"-at least, in the eyes of the public-in setting anti-choice policies, causing the public to retaliate in various ways. Not only does this thesis answer some important questions, but also introduces new measures, concepts, questions, and data for future research into this important area of study.
by Cory D. Hernandez.
S.M.
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Alsop, Steven John. "Modelling informal learning in the public understanding of science : the case of radon gas." Thesis, University of Surrey, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.388976.

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Trubody, Ben. "'Sloppy thinking' : to what extent can philosophy contribute to the public understanding of science?" Thesis, University of Gloucestershire, 2013. http://eprints.glos.ac.uk/1063/.

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This thesis will address two questions: Does philosophy contribute to the ‘public understanding of science’ (PUoS), and if so, how? The popular public image of science is one of methodology. Science is a means for making true statements about the world, where we compare hypothesis with observation against the evidence. This then allows for a body of knowledge that guides further advancements and progress. Philosophy, however, seems to be antithetical to this. A popular notion is that philosophy is either what science was, or it deals with objects and ideas so intangible, that they have no real effect in the world. Either it is an outmoded way of doing science, or it is the preserve of armchair academics. In both cases the average person would be forgiven for thinking it had no relevance to them, and especially their ability to understand science. This thesis will look to challenge this relationship. Using hermeneutics, discourse-textual analysis and deconstruction, I present two interpretations of science and philosophy. These two interpretations I will call the ‘methodological’ and ‘historical’ approach. The ‘methodological’ approach is to understand science as a collection of principles or rules that, if followed, will produce true statements about the world. An example of such a principle that intersected both philosophy and science is ‘falsification’ as understood through the ‘problem of demarcation’ (PoD). The irrelevance of philosophy to science is fortified by the constant failure to produce fixed rules for what makes one thing scientific and another not. The ‘historical’ approach is to understand the actions of scientists as historical events. So rather than ask ‘what is science?’ we might ask, ‘what does it mean to act scientifically?’ I will argue philosophy can be of use in overcoming the antagonism between understanding a methodological question historically and a historical question methodologically. Firstly, I give an uncontroversial reading of the PoD, as argued by Karl Popper, who represents the ‘methodological’ view and oppose this to the ‘historical’ approach of Paul Feyerabend. Due to the dominance of the interpretation of science as a methodology, I argue that historical critiques, like Feyerabend’s, become nonsensical when understood as methodological substitutes. This is what I call the ‘received view’of what both Popper and Feyerabend had to say on science. Here, Popper fails to solve the PoD and Feyerabend appears to deny the method, objectivity or rationality of science. Next, using ideas inspired by Heidegger, I reverse those roles by presenting a ‘methodological’ and ‘historical’ reading of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn. I develop two types of language, which I call ‘about’ and ‘of’ language that map on to the methodological and historical distinctions. Using this method I construct two contradictory readings of the text, but unlike the Popper-Feyerabend antagonism, we see how the historical approach is the more fertile interpretation. One version, which I call the ‘strong’ reading, has Kuhn as a relativist, irrationalist or anti-science, which is important if this is the ‘received view’ of Kuhn. This reading carries political weight with ‘interest groups’ who may wish to undermine the epistemic authority of science. That same reading can be used to discredit Kuhn/ philosophy of science, and by extension philosophy as a worthwhile instrument for understanding science. The other version, which I call the ‘weak’ reading, has Kuhn as a supporter and defender of science, but it also resolves old philosophical disputes by framing the problem in a different way. This will not only problematize any notion of a dominant interpretation, but it gives good grounds why one cannot be relativist or irrationalist about ‘truth’. Thus it defends the epistemic authority of science, and also gives philosophy a valuable role in public thinking about science.
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Oliver, Carol Ann Biotechnology &amp Biomolecular Sciences Faculty of Science UNSW. "Communicating astrobiology in public: A study of scientific literacy." Publisher:University of New South Wales. Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences, 2008. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/42878.

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The majority of adults in the US and in Europe appear to be scientifically illiterate. This has not changed in more than half a century. It is unknown whether the Australian public is also scientifically illiterate because no similar testing is done here. Public scientific illiteracy remains in spite of improvements in science education, innovative approaches to public outreach, the encouraging of science communication via the mass media, and the advent of the Internet. Why is it that there has been so little change? Is school science education inadequate? Does something happen between leaving high school education and becoming an adult? Does Australia suffer from the same apparent malady? The pilot study at the heart of this thesis tests a total of 692 Year Ten (16-year-old) Australian students across ten high schools and a first year university class in 2005 and 2006, using measures applied to adults. Twenty-six percent of those tested participated in a related scientific literacy project utilising in-person visits to Macquarie University in both years. A small group of the students (64) tested in 2005 were considered the best science students in seven of the ten high schools. Results indicate that no more than 20% of even the best high school science students - on the point of being able to end their formal science education - are scientifically literate if measured by adult standards. Another pilot test among 150 first year university students supports that indication. This compares to a scientific literacy rate of 28% for the US public. This thesis finds that the scientific literacy enterprise ?? in all its forms ?? fails scrutiny. Either we believe our best science students are leaving high school scientifically illiterate or there is something fundamentally wrong in our perceptions of public scientific illiteracy. This pilot study ?? probably the first of its kind ?? indicates we cannot rely on our current perceptions of a scientifically illiterate public. It demonstrates that a paradigm shift in our thinking is required about what scientific literacy is and in our expectations of a scientifically literate adult public. In the worst case scenario, governments are pouring millions of dollars into science education and public outreach with little or no basis for understanding whether either is effective. That is illogical, even irresponsible. It also impacts on the way astrobiology ?? or any science ?? is communicated in public.
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Christian, Jennifer L. "Understanding the intersection of public opinion, media, and elite discourse on policy change." [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2009. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3380068.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Sociology, 2009.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 12, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-12, Section: A, page: 4860. Adviser: Clem Brooks.
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Dunn, Patrick J. "Understanding Health Literacy Skills of Patients With Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes." ScholarWorks, 2015. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/1259.

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Health literacy is the ability to understand and act on health information and is linked to health outcomes. It is unclear how health literacy skills are developed in patients with complex conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to gain perspectives of both patients and healthcare professionals on how health literacy skills were developed in patients with cardiovascular disease or diabetes. The research questions addressed how knowledge and skills were acquired, the role of digital tools, instructional strategies used by healthcare professionals, and how the instructional strategies of the healthcare professionals matched the learning preferences and needs of the patients. A social ecological framework was used, which underscored the importance of understanding health literacy from multiple sources. Semistructured interviews were conducted on 19 healthcare professionals and 16 patients. Emergent key themes included: (a) social support plays an important role as a learning opportunity; (b) many patients get their information from internet searches; (c) instructional strategies should be personalized, interactive, social, and relevant; and (d) patients are self-directed learners. Linking of these themes led to the development of the health literacy instructional model, which is a 3-step approach, including an emotional support, behavioral approach, and instructional strategy. Social support was the common element in all 3 phases and was perceived to be key to developing health literacy skills, resulting in the key implication for social change. Recommendations are to consider social support in the development of health literacy instructional strategies.
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Pike, Stephanie N. "BATTLING AMBIGUITY: A PUBLIC GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE GREAT ¿¿¿¿HOCKEY STICK¿¿¿¿ DEBATE." Kent State University Honors College / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1335245672.

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Kruger, Jennifer. "Applying audience research to public dialogue about science : an evaluation of commissioned research for the public understanding of biotechnology programme." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/28555.

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Inclusive public dialogue about issues of concern to science and society can democratise and widen the knowledge base for decision-making so scientific research and developments are made accountable to citizens’ priorities. This participatory model of science communication is not yet widely practiced. More research is needed into how to make such communication effective. Formative audience research can inform a communication strategy’s design to meet its objectives effectively and enhance its relevance to participants’ needs and communication preferences. However, audience research designs based on transmission models are inadequate for the participatory objectives of public dialogue. They must therefore be adapted. This dissertation proposes how audience research should be designed and conducted when the objective of communication is public dialogue about science, such as biotechnology. The methodology involves building an evaluation framework from the literature and applying this to a case of applied research. Four sub-questions are addressed. First, audience research and participatory development communication literature is reviewed to propose how audience research should be designed and conducted for public dialogue broadly. Second, literature on public engagement about science is analysed for the challenges in public dialogue about science and the implications for audience research. Third, a set of guidelines is presented for evaluating the appropriateness of audience research for public dialogue about science. Finally, these guidelines are used to evaluate a case of qualitative audience research commissioned by the Public Understanding of Biotechnology (PUB) programme, judging the appropriateness of its design to the communication objectives and extracting further lessons for audience research. The findings present a “double-dialogical” approach to audience research, where the research methods and the information elicited reflect dialogical objectives. This approach emphasises listening over telling, building relationships over interrogating targets, and optimising inclusivity and diversity in identifying participants, framing issues, and selecting channels and spaces for deliberative dialogue, wherein participation and information dissemination play complementary roles. Following these principles, audience research can build democratic foundations for public dialogue about science while recognizing the following challenges: the specialized and technical nature of science, the complexity of issues, the power of commercial interests, the need for social accountability, low motivation and interest amongst publics, and the resistance of technical experts and decision-makers towards dialogue. A framework of guidelines is offered for designing and evaluating audience research for public dialogue about science, structured around 5 interrelated elements: WHY – clarifying the objectives of communication and audience research; GENERAL – overall research design considerations; WHO – conceptualizing and investigating dialogue participants; WHAT – framing issues from multiple perspectives; and HOW – identifying spaces and channels for public dialogue. Applying the framework to the case study demonstrates the guidelines’ usefulness for evaluation purposes, grounds the study in an actual case of audience research and extracts lessons for future applications. The framework succeeds in judging the appropriateness of the study’s design for its purpose. The study contributes to the search for effective means of public engagement by proposing practical guidelines for the first steps of such a process, a methodological praxis for audience research that can be useful in scholarly and practitioner communities and can be refined and adapted for various contexts.
Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012.
Information Science
unrestricted
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Henderson-Carter, Rya S. "A Business Case for Return on Investment| Understanding Organizational Change." Thesis, Walden University, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3644831.

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Since 2010, 2,000 U. S. leaders spent $150 billion on return on investment (ROI) training, yet questions still exist on how to measure the benefits of organizational change. The purpose of this embedded single-case study was to explore how business leaders could use ROI to characterize the benefit of intervention strategies for organizational change. Stakeholder theory and Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory formed the conceptual framework for this study. A purposive sample of 20 civilian personnel managers located at a medical facility for veterans in central Texas participated in semistructured interviews. The 5 primary themes that emerged using thematic analysis were (a) training, (b) leadership, (c) communication, (d) recognition, and (e) consistency. Implications for positive social change include the possibility of organizational leaders applying these findings to develop better intervention strategies. Such interventions could improve processes for stakeholders and create an open dialogue with business leaders within the government sector.

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Shaw, Alison. "What are 'they' doing to our food? : expert and lay understandings of food risks." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.343304.

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Lundberg, Karin. "Citizens and Contemporary Science Ways to dialogue in science centre contexts." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Vetenskapskommunikation, 2005. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-2536.

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The current paper presents a study conducted at At-Bristol Science Centre, UK. It is a front-end evaluation for the “Live Science Zone” at At-Bristol, which will be built during the autumn of 2004. It will provide a facility for programmed events and shows, non-programmed investigative activities and the choice of passive or active exploration of current scientific topics. The main aim of the study is to determine characteristics of what kind of techniques to use in the Live Science Zone. The objectives are to explore what has already been done at At-Bristol, and what has been done at other science centres, and to identify successful devices. The secondary aim is mapping what sorts of topics that visitors are actually interested in debating. The methods used in the study are deep qualitative interviews with professionals working within the field of science communication in Europe and North America, and questionnaires answered by visitors to At-Bristol. The results show that there are some gaps between the intentions of the professionals and the opinions of the visitors, in terms of opportunities and willingness for dialogue in science centre activities. The most popular issue was Future and the most popular device was Film.
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Lock, S. J. "Lost in translation : discourses, boundaries and legitimacy in the public understanding of science in the UK." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2008. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1445233/.

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This thesis documents the historical development of debates around the public understanding of science in the UK from 1985 until 2005. Testimonies from key actors involved in the evolution of the recent public understanding of science arena, and an examination of documentary evidence, have been used to map out how this issue was problematised by scientists in the mid-1980s, and how it has developed into a contested field of activity, political interest and academic research. I propose that this historical period can be broadly understood in four phases each characterised by a dominant discourse of the public understanding of science. I examine how, within each phase, the various groups involved have engaged in boundary work: rhetorically constructing, and mobilising, ideas of 'science', 'the public', and the perceived 'problem' in the relationship between the two, in the pursuit of defining and legitimating themselves and these definitions of the relationship between science and public. Phase I is characterised as a rhetorical re-framing of earlier 'problems' of the public understanding of science by scientists and scientific institutions in the context of the 1980s. Phase II is dominated by the boundary work between scientists and social scientists as they contended for legitimacy and authority over competing discourses of public understanding of science and the institutionalisation of PUS activity and research. Phase III is characterised by a variety of discursive formulations of the 'problem' of PUS following the House of Lords report (2000) and a subsequent change in the rhetoric of public understanding of science to one of public engagement. Phase IV is dominated by the language of 'upstream engagement' and identifies the political interest in managing science's relationship with the public and the social scientific responses to this.
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Mohammad, Elham Ghazi. "Using the science writing heuristic approach as a tool for assessing and promoting students' conceptual understanding and perceptions in the general chemistry laboratory." [Ames, Iowa : Iowa State University], 2007.

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Koker, Mark Hampton. "Students' decisions about environmental issues and problems : an evaluation study of the Science Education for Public Understanding (SEPUP) Programme." Thesis, University of Southampton, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.362538.

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Jessen, Andrew. "Understanding Access to Essential Pharmaceuticals during a Public Health Crisis." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2006. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/political_science_theses/9.

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Despite the benefits of antiretroviral therapy in treating HIV/AIDS, government responses have varied substantially, from provisions guaranteeing nearly universal access to insufficient provisions providing almost no access. This research seeks to specifically examine primary explanations, such as economic capacity, and emerging explanations, such as the role of electoral accountability and the presence of stigma, and the coordination between the epistemic community and political leadership as potential causes for the variance in the government provision. By controlling for state economic capacity, this research furthers the importance of examining other explanations for state response in light of a public health crisis. While electoral accountability and the role of stigma had marginal impacts, the level of scientific coordination and understanding among the states political leadership had perceptible impacts. This research also tests broader aspects of the political economy such as the role of state capacity and subsequent government crisis response.
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Harris, Amanda. "Stories of Success: Understanding Academic Achievement of Hispanic Students in Science." PDXScholar, 2014. http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/1834.

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A review of the literature shows that there is much evidence to suggest the challenges facing Hispanic students in American public schools. Hispanic enrollment in K-12 public schools has increased from 6 to 19% in the last thirty years, yet schools have not made adequate adjustments to accommodate this changing population. Issues such as remedial tracking and cultural differences have led to low high school graduate rates for Hispanic students and inequities in schooling experiences (Gay, 2000). Particularly in the area of science, Hispanic students struggle with academic success (Cole & Espinoza, 2008). Despite these obstacles, some Hispanic students are academically successful (Rochin & Mello, 2007; Merisotis & Kee, 2006). This dissertation tells the stories of these Hispanic students who have been successful in science in secondary public schools. This study followed a grounded theory methodology and utilized individual interviews to collect data about Hispanics who have demonstrated achievement in the area of science. Through the analysis of these interviews, factors were identified which may have contributed to the success of these Hispanics in the field of science. Implications for future practice in public schools are also discussed.
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Maselwa, Matole Reuben. "Promoting learners' conceptual understanding of electrostatics through use of practical activities in conjunction with prior knowledge of lightning : a case study." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003600.

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The research presented in this thesis is situated within an interpretivist paradigm. Within this paradigm, a qualitative case-study research approach was adopted. This seemed most appropriate in my research project since the main focus is on elicitation of prior knowledge and incorporation of such knowledge into 'hands-on' and 'minds-on' practical activities with a view to improving conceptual development. For the purposes of this research project, I designed an interactive teaching and learning unit in electrostatics as an attempt to put into practice a learner-centred approach. This approach, in my view, is in line with the new curriculum in South Africa. The emerging central theme of this thesis is the notion of active participation by learners during teaching and learning. This study was carried out over a period of two years and involved my grade 9 learners, who participated voluntarily. The research process documented in this thesis has been conceptualised into two phases. Phase one was concerned with the elicitation of learners' prior knowledge around lightning. In phase two, learners were engaged in 'hands-on' and 'minds-on' practical activities, and key concepts were identified to ensure conceptual development. The data was collected using a variety of data collection tools, namely: focus group interviews, follow-up whole-class semi-structured interviews, worksheets, videotaped lessons and photographs. The analysis of data revealed that learners come to class with prior knowledge concerning lightning. Within this prior knowledge it was found that there were both ‘scientific’ and ‘non-scientific’ concepts. The identification of key concepts during practical activities was found to be very useful in promoting learning. However, the incorporation of prior knowledge into practical activities posed a challenge and needs further research. iv This research study also highlights some insights into some of the complexities of elicitation and incorporation of learners' prior knowledge, and conceptual development in science classrooms. It also demonstrates the challenges and possibilities during teaching and learning as well as the realities of the demands of the new curriculum and OBE in South Africa, in particular, in historically disadvantaged schools
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Bewley, Elizabeth Emma. "Informing Royal Navy people strategy : understanding career aspirations and behaviours of naval personnel." Thesis, London Metropolitan University, 2016. http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/895/.

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Following a series of imposed redundancies in the Royal Navy (RN) there was a need to understand the career desires of remaining personnel and how these interact with important organisational behaviours and turnover. Taking a social psychology perspective, this thesis addresses criticisms over the high use of non-working populations in research and provides the first empirical evidence for the utility, applicability and relevance of specific psychological theories to the RN. Chapter 2 explores the relationship between career anchors and psychological contract violation, organisational commitment and turnover. Evidence was found for the applicability and potential generalisability of civilian-based research to the RN. RN career anchor preferences were similar to some non-military organisations, and these preferences differentially influenced the variables explored. Chapter 3 presents an intervention developed to support newly appointed Career Managers to increase awareness of human resource issues, representing the first exploration of induction on later attitudes of ‘experienced newcomers’ in the RN. The induction did not influence attitudes; although time did, indicating the importance of role clarity. Chapter 4 provides a critical literature review of work-family conflict (WFC) and its influence on turnover intentions of military personnel and effects on military spouses. The expected negative relationship between WFC and turnover was found, although not consistently; types of satisfaction mediated this relationship, and WFC was linked to stress. Chapter 5 provides new empirical understanding of the interactions between ethos, organisational identity, and engagement on career motivation, perceived future opportunities and intentions to stay. Differences in these constructs were also explored between discrete RN groupings. The relationship between identity and ethos, and engagement, identity and ethos were explored to advance theoretical understanding of these constructs, finishing with an extension to Chapter 2 through revisiting career anchors. In conclusion, this thesis provides new contextual insights, interactions and relationships for academic knowledge, psychological theory and addresses a practical organisational issue within a highly regarded and inaccessible organisation. The outcomes provide the first empirical evidence of career-related behaviours within the RN, and more generally indicate the applicability of civilian based psychological theories to a military population, in particular, career anchors, ethos and focus on opportunities and their importance for people strategy decisions supporting evidence-based decision making within the workplace.
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Kiernan, Matthew D. "Identifying and understanding factors associated with failure to complete infantry training among British Army recruits." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2011. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11699/.

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BACKGROUND: Over 30% of the British Army‟s Infantry Recruits who underwent training between 1999 and 2003 failed to complete their training. Previous studies have focused predominantly on identifying the cumulative reasons for failure. There is a dearth of research investigating the effect of failure on the individual recruit and what influences their ability to pass training. AIM: The overall aims of this study were: to achieve an understanding of the role that antecedent personal, social and demographic factors play in a British Army recruit‟s ability to complete basic training; to investigate the possibility of identifying predictive factors that would identify infantry recruits who were at risk of being unable to cope with the transition to life in the British Army; and to explore the reasons given by those recruits who failed to complete basic training to develop a more comprehensive understanding of why recruits fail. METHODS: All new army recruits joining the first and second battalion between September 2002 and March 2003 were invited to take part in the study. A biographical questionnaire based on a modified version of the US Army‟s 115 item biographical questionnaire form was self-completed prior to infantry training by all those agreeing to take part in the study. Study participants were monitored weekly throughout their training and the training outcome (pass/fail) was recorded. The data was randomly split into a development dataset (two thirds) and a test dataset (one third). Independent variables were grouped into five categories (Demographic & Physical Measurement, Education, Outdoor Education, Non-Physical Activity and Conduct and Behaviour) and tested univariably and multivariably to examine their association with training outcome in the development dataset using logistic regression. The multivariable model was then used to construct a score and its sensitivity and specificity was tested using the test dataset. All those within the study who failed to complete Infantry recruit training were invited to take part in a qualitative semi-structured exit interview. These interviews were analysed using framework analysis methodology. Findings from both the quantitative and qualitative analysis were integrated to determine whether prediction of failure was practicable and to develop an increased understanding of the impact that antecedent factors and training experiences contributed to training failure. RESULTS: Of the study cohort of 999 recruits 36.2% (n=362) failed. Within the failure group 74.4% (n=269) gave reasons to suggest that this was attributable to difficulties in adapting to life in the British Army Infantry. Factors associated with higher odds of failure were: absence of female siblings (p=0.005), aggressive coping strategies (p=0.013), use of ecstasy (p=0.02), evenings per week spent at the family home (p=0.032), truancy (p=0.039), an increased number of schools attended (p=0.046) and classroom behaviour (p=0.052). The area under the curve on the test dataset was 0.58 (0.501-0.65 95% CI). Analysis of the qualitative data suggested that there was a marked difference between the socio-personal identity of recruits who failed training and the organisational identity of the British Army Infantry. Cognitive dissonance and varying extremes of stress were reported by those recruits that failed during the transition to military life. CONCLUSION: A screening tool constructed from items of the biographical questionnaire was unable to predict failure in training with sufficient accuracy to recommend its routine use for new recruits to British Army Infantry training. This study has identified that there is a lack of fit between military identity and the socio-personal identity of the infantry recruit which results in dissonance and stress during the transition into the military. It is recommended that future studies should focus on how to reduce the psychological impact of the transition into infantry training.
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Chiu, Shu-Chuan. "Understanding the adoption and diffusion of information technology related curricula multiple theoretical perspectives /." [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2007. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3297126.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, 2007.
Title from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 26, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: A, page: 0744. Adviser: Roger B. Parks.
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46

Kuipers, Benjamin Johannes. "Public Policy, discourse and risk: Framing the xenotransplantation debate in New Zealand (1998-2013)." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Political Science, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/10518.

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This thesis focuses on the evolution and framing of xenotransplantation (XTP) policy debate in New Zealand from 1998 to 2011. Its aim is providing a better understanding of both the science-society interface and the importance of issue framing policy debate in understanding of the scientific debate in New Zealand and its relationship with the public. A qualitative study, this thesis draws upon a variety of public science commentary and debate and poses the research question: How did xenotransplantation’s introduction and explanation to the New Zealand public inform its current status as a Restricted Procedure under New Zealand law; and what ethical implications arise from this public policy debate for public participation in bio-medical research in New Zealand?
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Smith, Lindsey Rachel. "The role of the TGfU pedagogical approach in promoting physical activity levels during physical education lessons and beyond." Thesis, University of Bedfordshire, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10547/134975.

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The study was designed to initially determine levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) occurring during physical education in 11-12 year olds using appropriate objective methods. Subsequently, the potential of a pedagogical method; ‘teaching games for understanding’ to increase PA levels and self determined motivation during PE lessons, and habitual physical activity during leisure time was examined. The most reliable and valid PA measurement tool for the chosen age group was the RT3 ® triaxial accelerometer. PA levels during PE lessons fell short of the recommended 50% (20 minute) criterion, with children accumulating 16.4 ± 2.3 minutes (44.9 ± 5.6%) of mean MVPA during lesson time. Seven day habitual activity monitoring revealed that time spent in MVPA on a PE day was significantly higher (P <0.05) than on a weekend day. This study also highlighted that on non PE days the lack of PE-related activity was not compensated by engagement in other activity. An investigation into the effects of a 12 week TGfU pedagogical strategy on MVPA and elements of Self Determination Theory during PE lessons revealed that boys assigned to the intervention displayed significantly higher (P <0.01) levels of MVPA, and significantly higher levels of autonomy (P < 0.05) post-intervention versus the control group. In addition, a non significant trend for an increase in habitual PA for boys assigned to the intervention lessons was revealed. No significant differences were displayed in the constructs of the TPB pre-post intervention and no significant benefits of TGfU were noted for girls. The reported increases in MVPA and levels of autonomy during PE lessons in boys using a TGfU approach are novel and promising. However it is suggested that future research incorporates such strategies in a health-promoting PE environment in addition to the traditional skills-based activities. This may have potential in enhancing MVPA during PE in girls and boys, and may promote greater transference to habitual physical activity levels. The potential for self determined environments positively impacting upon motivation and intentions to be physically active both during and outside of PE lessons warrants further exploration but over longer time periods.
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Gao, Feng. "Understanding and exploring people's food beliefs to design healthy eating applications." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2014. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/376522/.

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Wellness is a domain of growing interest in computing. Many interventions are designed to modify people’s behavior to make them healthy. But often, they ignore people’s beliefs and socioeconomic context so no sustained change are achieved. This thesis, therefore, focuses on rethinking how we can leverage people’s food beliefs to design healthy eating systems that can achieve sustained change. The thesis begins with a literature review on why healthy eating is complex and how it depends on various contexts including people’s food beliefs. Then we reflect upon current design notion of healthy eating applications and acknowledge the current designs can not address all the complex of healthy eating. Thus, we should explore the alternative design notion, which tries to leverage what people think about food. A study on diet-related topics and social interaction patterns on forums led us to the idea that crowd’s wisdom on food’s healthiness could help people to better understand food and potentially encourage them to change eating behavior. Thus, we designed and evaluated one early prototype that allows people to judge each other’s food’s healthiness by giving ratings and checking 5 predefined heuristics. The outcome of this prototype study confirmed that people like the idea of expressing own thoughts about food and like to have others’ thoughts to validate owns. We further explored exactly what kinds of food beliefs people hold via a survey study with real food pictures. And we found 8 categories of food beliefs and also validated that even experts can not reach consensus on food’s healthiness and thus there is clearly a gap between what we know from nutrition literature and how interventions are actually designed. To further leverage people’s food beliefs, we need to first capture it. We developed three simple UIs to capture such food beliefs, and evaluated the UIs from three different perspectives. We also found two patterns from the data we collect which can help us better visualize the data and identify group of people. In the end of the thesis, we discuss the thesis work and present the future works.
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Lidquist, Helene. "Collaboration between health promoting actors in a rural community - Maciene, Mozambique." Thesis, Mälardalen University, Mälardalen University, Department of Caring and Public Health Sciences, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-4273.

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In community health promotion intersectoral collaboration is essential. Important actors are the governmental health system, the civil society and Non-Governmental organisations (NGOs). The aim of this qualitative thesis was to examine what kind of cooperation existed in a rural community in Mozambique and to describe the actor’s experiences of collaboration and how it can be improved. This was done by conducting interviews. The result of the study showed that different ways of cooperation existed, intersectoral as well as side by side and intrasectoral. The extent of intersectoral collaboration was fairly loose, such as networks, alliances or partnership. All the informants were positive to collaboration, they had experienced that people had been helped and their knowledge in health issues was improved as an effect of joint efforts. The experience among the actors was that the collaboration had improved and that they had become closer together over the years. Problems to cooperation that were mentioned concerned dropouts and financial issues. The informants were unanimous that it was necessary to broaden the collaboration. They were concerned over the sustainability in the different projects as well as the sustainability in cooperation itself.


Para a promoção da saúde em comunidade a colaboração intersetorial é essencial. O sistema público de saúde, a sociedade civil e as organisações não governamentais (ONGs) são importantes agentes. O objetivo desta tese qualitativa foi examinar qual tipo de cooperação existiu em uma comunidade rural em Moçambique e descrever as experiências de colaboração dos agentes e como ela pode ser melhorada. Isto foi feito através de entrevistas. O resultado do estudo mostrou que existiram diferentes modos de colaboração: intersetorial assim como intrasetorial de forma paralela. O nível da colaboração intersetorial foi relativamente informal assim como redes de contato, alianças e parcerias. Todos os entrevistados foram positivos a colaborar e experienciaram que as pessoas tinham sido auxiliadas e que seus conhecimentos acerca de assuntos de saúde foi melhorado como resultado da união de esforços. A experiência entre os agentes foi de que a colaboração foi melhorada e que eles se tornaram mais próximos através dos anos. Problemas acerca de colaboração que foram mencionados foram devidos a desistências e questões financeiras. Os entrevistados foram unânimes sobre a necessidade de aumento do nível de colaboração. Eles estavam preocupados sobre a sustentabilidade de diferentes projetos assim como a sustentabilidade da cooperação em sí própria.

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White, Dave D. "A Discourse Analysis of Stakeholders? Understandings of Science in Salmon Recovery Policy." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/28116.

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The purposes of this study were to examine 1) understandings of science expressed in formal salmon recovery policy discourse; 2) rhetorical practices employed to justify or undermine claims about salmon policy 3); and patterns of understandings of science and associated rhetorical practices between social categories of actors. This research contributes to scholarship in public understanding of science, discourse studies, and natural resource policy. A constructivist discourse analysis was conducted using qualitative methods to analyze transcripts from over one hundred congressional hearing witnesses representing a wide diversity of stakeholder groups. Multiple coders organized discourses into analytic categories, achieving a final proportional agreement of 80% or greater for each category, at the finest scale of analysis. Stakeholders employed a collection of prototypical understandings of the nature of science, boundaries of science, and roles of science in decision-making. The process of science was described as impartial and ideal, a way to reduce uncertainty through consensus and peer-review, and subject to changing paradigms. Scientific knowledge was sometimes represented as "truth" and other times as tentative, and scientists were portrayed as independent and objective as well as captured and interest-driven. Witnesses described science as separate from and superior to politics and management. Testimony included descriptions of science?s role in developing decision alternatives, selecting among alternatives, and evaluating and legitimating alternatives. Stakeholders used these understandings of science to construct justifications to support their claims about salmon policy and undermine opposing claims. Science-based justifications included externalizing devices, construction of consensus, category entitlement, and extreme case formulations. Other justifications invoked local control, treaty rights, and local knowledge, or relied on interest management. This study has extended the theory and method of empirical discourse analysis, and produced a taxonomy of understandings that should be transferable to studies of similar policy settings. Additionally, conclusions from this study about differences between social groups in the presence, distribution, and frequency of expression of the discourses might be developed into propositions for further testing. Finally, the study has implications for communication about the role of science in collaborative natural resource decision-making processes.
Ph. D.
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