Dissertations / Theses: 'Social participation. Social sciences'

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Clark, W. Andrew, Peter Hriso, and Craig A. Turner. "Encouraging Student Participation In Social Entrepreneurship Opportunities." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2007. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/2498.

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Social entrepreneurs utilize the traits of commercial entrepreneurs; organizational abilities, opportunity identification, combining resources in novel ways, willingness to accept and manage risk and explosive growth or returns, to create enterprises that return high social value. As educators, we see opportunities where entrepreneurial skills can be applied to education, not-for-profit organizations, government offices and programs and philanthropic concerns and create service learning opportunities for students beyond the boundaries of the university. Many of us involved in higher education are frustrated with students who do not attend class, turn in assignments late or exhibit a lack of effort in classes where they pay tuition and receive a grade. It is a challenge, therefore, to gain the involvement of students in social entrepreneurship efforts where the reward (grade, pay or recognition) is not immediate or minimal and the trade-off (time management for their schedule) may be more fun or financially rewarding. This paper discusses the evolution for the process of enlisting student involvement in two distinct social entrepreneurship programs at our university. The first program involves linking university skill sets in the arts, digital media, technology and project management to the planning, implementation and evaluation of a regional arts and music festival held in the city where our university operates. Students involved in this social entrepreneurial venture work with community volunteers, city government officials and local business owners for a period of nine to ten months. In the first two years of sponsoring this program the strategy has evolved from enlisting the help of a student technology club (Edge Club, Digital Media) to working with a small volunteer student team (3 to 4 students). In each case, the organization or student team that worked on the project received no academic credit for the work involved beyond enhancement of their resume. Initial enthusiasm was high but tended to decline as the time horizon for finishing the project extended beyond the current semester and other activities or demands competed for the students’ participation. The second program also utilizes a student organization (Students In Free Enterprise, SIFE) to work on social entrepreneurship projects. In SIFE we have found that the students prefer projects that entail an afternoon of preparation for a short presentation, or service within a 3-4 day period. In that this group is involved in a “competition” with SIFE teams from other institutions at the end of the year, it is important that they seek projects that will differentiate themselves. The short-term projects that they prefer do little to accomplish this differentiation. The projects that truly differentiate are those that require a high degree of preparation for an event that culminates at the end of the semester, or even the following year. To that end, all students of this select team are required to create a long-term project that they will spearhead throughout the year. This leads to an escalation of commitment due to their “ownership” of that project. They are also required to assist another team member on their long-term project. Their efforts on these projects tend to be greater in that they realize that the other members will be assisting them on their project and they want to receive a conscientious effort from their teammates. This synergistic performance enhances both the number and quality of the projects. Using this method, we typically create 5 to 6 viable projects each year. Most teams that we compete with tend to have one major project per year. Using this system our university team has completed an average of 10 projects per year for presentation, of which 2 to 3 have been major projects.

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Mönefors, Berntell Agneta. "Children's voice and participation in social welfare investigations." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Tema Barn, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-133710.

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There is a principal consent both in the convention on the rights of the child, the Swedish social service act and in “Barns behov i centrum” (BBiC, similar to the British “Looking after children”, LAC) that children should participate and have an impact on matters that affect them in relation to their age and maturity. This thesis focus on how children’s voices are recorded in social welfare files and how their participation in the investigation is constructed. I have read the interviews and the social reports of ten children, conducted by social workers in a municipality in the outskirts of Stockholm. The children’s voices in the files are a secondary voice, they are the social worker’s interpretation of the interviews with the children. I have used thematic analysis in order to answer my research questions. The result shows that all children had been able to talk to the social worker and nearly all of them were informed about why there was an investigation. The children’s stories were valued as true by the social workers and they were referred as information givers. Most of them were only interviewed orally, without support from child adaptive methods. They had very limited impact on how the investigation were conducted, how their information would be used and on the choice of intervention.

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Issifu, Abdul Karim. "Women’s Participation and Social Provisions in Peace Agreements." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-413108.

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Is the inclusion of social provisions in peace agreements influenced by the participation of women, and if so, why? It is suggested that if women participate in the negotiation, the agreement is likely to broaden with social provisions. But our understanding regarding why social provisions are shaped by the participation of women is still limited as previous research rarely looked at this phenomenon. By drawing on theories suggesting women’s participation will broaden the scope of the negotiation, and theories proposing women through the agency for being at the negotiation table would push for social provisions, this study hypothesizes that if women participate, the agreements are likely to broaden with more social provisions. A content analysis of the agreements reached on Liberia 2003, Sierra Leone 1999, Côte d’Ivoire 2003 and Niger 1995, and a supplementary in-depth comparative case study presents evidence suggesting women does influence peace agreements to become more holistic with more social provisions. At the same time, this study also highlights the essence of taking other factors that shape the scope of the agreements and the presence or absence of social provisions such as the context and duration of the conflicts and the belligerent actor’ will into consideration.

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Khuluq, Lathiful. "Democracy, participation, and empowerment: poverty alleviation programs in Sleman, Yogyakarta, Indonesia." Thesis, McGill University, 2009. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=32533.

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Abstract Keywords: poverty; micro credit; good governance; international social work; Indonesia. Indonesia has experienced a shift from authoritarianism to democracy since the late 1990s. After the severe economic crisis of 1997, which ultimately forced Soeharto to relinquish power, Indonesia embarked on a more liberal and participatory form of democracy. To overcome the economic and social crisis that caused many to fall into poverty, the new government administration launched a number of poverty alleviation programs. This dissertation explores one such effort, namely, the Program Penanggulangan Kemiskinan di Perkotaan (P2KP), an extensive scheme that utilized democratic, participatory, and empowerment approaches to help the poor deal with unemployment and other problems of poverty. Using qualitative methodology, this study has explored and examined the process and outcomes of poverty alleviation programs in several villages in the southern parts of Sleman District, Yogyakarta Special Province, Indonesia, from February-May 2006. The thesis begins with a review of the literature on the factors leading to poverty, development and participation, globalization and its negative impacts, and various strategies for ending the problems of poverty, such as multiple occupations, empowerment, and human capital improvement. Findings were based on interviews, observation, and reviews of written documents concerning the P2KP poverty alleviation programs. Over 30 individuals were interviewed, ranging from government officials to facilitators and organizers of the programs, non-government activists, and the poor who benefitted or were excluded from the programs. The process of the es Résumé Mots clefs : pauvreté, micro-crédit, bonne gouvernance, travail social international, Indonésie L'Indonésie a subi un décalage de l'autoritarisme à la démocratie depuis la fin des années 90. Après la crise économique sévère de 1997, ce qui a enfin poussé Soeharto de renoncer au pouvoir, l'Indonésie s'est embarque dans une forme de démocratie plus libérale et participative. Pour surmonter la crise économique et sociale qui a jeté plusieurs dans la pauvreté, la nouvelle administration gouvernementale a lancé nombre de programmes destinés à atténuer la pauvreté. Cette dissertation vise à explorer un de ces efforts, c'est-à-dire, le Program Penanggulangan Kemiskinan di Perkotaan (P2KP), un vaste projet qui a employé des approches démocratiques, participatives et autonomisantes pour aider les démuni s à affronter la chômage et d'autres problèmes liés à la pauvreté. En employant une méthodologie qualitative, cette étude a enquêté et examiné le processus et les résultats des programmes d'atténuation de la pauvreté dans plusieurs villages du secteur sud du district de Sleman, province spéciale de Yogyakarta, Indonésie, en février-mai 2006. La dissertation commence avec une revue de la littérature sur les facteurs qui mènent à la pauvreté, le développement et la participation, la mondialisation et ses impacts négatifs, et les stratégies multiples pour mettre fin aux problèmes de la pauvreté, tels que des emplois multiples, l'autonomisation et l'amélioration de capital humain. Les résultats sont fondés sur des entrevues, l'observation et la documentation écrite par égard aux programmes d'atténuation de pauvret

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Möller, Kerstin. "Impact on participation and service for persons with deafblindness." Doctoral thesis, Örebro universitet, Hälsoakademin, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-2027.

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Persons with deafblindness experience difficulties in daily life and they experience service to sometimes barrier. The overall aim of this thesis is therefore to discover, evaluate and explain: 1. mechanisms that might have impact on participation restrictions for people who have visual and hearing impairment i.e. deafblindness and 2. mechanisms that might barrier service to these people. Service is used as an umbrella term for health care, education and certain service for persons with disabilities. Materials from multiple sources have been used: literature (Study I No 96 papers). Interviews (Study I and V) with 32 and 3 adults with deafblindness respectively. Questionnaires (Study II and III): answered by 33 and 34 adults and youth with deafblindness. Patient records (Study IV and V): records from 9 and 3 adult females with USH I respectively. Materials mostly retrospectively cover the period from 2005 and about 40–50 years. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) were consequently used as a framework to describe as well as a tool to analyze mechanisms. Further, the Ecological approach, Disability as a laminated system and Life course approach were used in order to evaluate and explain mechanisms. The conclusions that can be drawn from an ecological, laminated and life course approach are: Participation restrictions for people with deafblindness are far-reaching and are embedded in a complex process of interaction between the person with deafblindness and the environment. Services entail systematical barriers. In order to improve service it is extremely important to understand the role of participation restrictions in deafblindness. Primary activity limitation is to not see and hear enough for comprehension. Hence, not taking part in the visible and audible world is primary participation restriction. Performing activities without basic information includes risk. One important aspect of deafblindness is exposure. Persons with deafblindness require rehabilitation in a life perspective. In order to increase people’s participation and protection requirement of individually adapted support and assistive devices is necessary. ICF and the UN convention support service alterations.

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Koo, Gerald M. F. "Foreign equity participation in United States airlines." Thesis, McGill University, 1989. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=55702.

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Hagen, Daniel Edward. "Social capital and political participation in South Africa." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/20281.

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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Empirical research on the impact of membership in voluntary associations as a dimension of social capital on political participation has been conducted in a number of countries in Europe as well as North America. With the aid of quantitative analysis of survey data, these studies found that members of voluntary associations were more likely to participate both formally and informally in their country’s political processes than those who were not members. This was due to the role played by voluntary associations in the generation of human capital in the form of self-efficacy and participatory skills or values, as well as bridging social capital in the form of increased networking and trust. Existing research by Marion Keim, Cora Burnett and others have indicated that social capital, and particularly the voluntary association of sport, can have a profound societal impact on South African communities. However, no quantitative study has been conducted on the relationship between membership in voluntary associations and the level of formal political participation in the South African context. Therefore, this study applied the social capital theory as developed in the literature on European and North American studies to the South African context in order to determine whether there is a relationship between the variables of membership in voluntary associations, membership in multiple associations, membership in sports as a voluntary association and the level of formal political participation. Using quantitative methodology, a cross-section of 2006 World Values Survey data was analysed. The findings indicated that the social capital theory on political participation did not apply to the South African context in the same way as to the European or North American contexts due to explanatory differences in South Africa’s socio-political climate. Questions were then raised over whether, due to South Africa’s current political culture, membership in voluntary associations is conducive to encouraging informal channels of participation. The findings reached had implications for social capital theory by indicating its uneven application to the South African context. Moreover, the study highlighted the need for a more context-specific understanding of social capital and its impact upon South Africa’s political processes. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Empiriese navorsing oor die uitwerking van lidmaatskap aan vrywillige verenigings as 'n dimensie van maatskaplike kapitaal op politieke deelname is in 'n aantal lande in Europa asook Noord-Amerika uitgevoer. Met behulp van kwantitatiewe analise van opname-data het hierdie studies bevind dat lede van vrywillige verenigings op beide formele en informele wyse meer geneig was om aan hulle land se politieke prosesse deel te neem as diegene wat nie lede was nie. Dit kon toegeskryf word aan die rol wat vrywillige verenigings speel by die ontwikkeling van menslike kapitaal in die vorm van selfwerksaamheid en deelnemende vaardighede of waardes, asook tussentydse maatskaplike kapitaal in die vorm van groter netwerkvorming en vertroue. Bestaande navorsing deur Marion Keim, Cora Burnett en ander het daarop gedui dat maatskaplike kapitaal, en in die besonder die vrywillige verbintenis van sport, 'n diepgaande uitwerking op Suid-Afrikaanse gemeenskappe kan hê. Geen kwantitatiewe studie is egter nog oor die verhouding tussen lidmaatskap aan vrywillige verenigings en die vlak van formele politieke deelname in die Suid-Afrikaanse opset uitgevoer nie. Hierdie studie het dus die maatskaplike kapitaalteorie soos in die literatuur oor Europese en Noord-Amerikaanse studies ontwikkel, op die Suid-Afrikaanse opset toegepas ten einde te bepaal of daar 'n verhouding tussen die veranderlikes van lidmaatskap aan vrywillige verenigings, lidmaatskap aan veelvuldige verenigings, lidmaatskap aan sport as 'n vrywillige verbintenis en die vlak van formele politieke deelname bestaan. Met behulp van kwantitatiewe metodologie is 'n dwarssnit van data uit die 2006- Wêreldwaardes-peiling geanaliseer. Die bevindinge het daarop gedui dat die maatskaplike kapitaalteorie ten opsigte van politieke deelname nie op dieselfde wyse op die Suid-Afrikaanse opset as op die Europese of Noord- Amerikaanse opsette van toepassing is nie weens verklarende verskille in Suid-Afrika se sosiopolitieke klimaat. Vrae is toe gevra of lidmaatskap aan vrywillige verenigings weens Suid-Afrika se huidige politieke kultuur bevorderlik is vir die aanmoediging van informele kanale van deelname. Die bevindinge wat bereik is, het implikasies gehad vir maatskaplike kapitaalteorie deur die ongelyke aanwending op die Suid-Afrikaanse opset aan te dui. Daarbenewens het die studie die behoefte aan ’n meer konteks-spesifieke begrip van maatskaplike kapitaal en die uitwerking daarvan op Suid-Afrika se politieke prosesse beklemtoon.

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Bal, Ravtosh. "Public participation in science and technology policy: consensus conferences and social inclusion." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/44773.

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This study looks at the National Citizens' Technology Forum (NCTF), a modified version of the consensus conference, which took place in March, 2008 in six cities across the U.S. to understand how inclusive these methods of public participation are in practice. The research focused on two of these sites. Inclusion of participants was defined in terms of presence, voice and being heard. Transcripts of the audio-visual recordings of the proceedings were the main data of analysis. By focusing on the talk within these deliberative forums, the study looked at how the rules of engagement and status (ascribed and achieved) differences between participants can affect inclusion. The analysis did not reveal any substantial effects of ascribed characteristics on deliberation. Facilitation and the presence of expertise among the participants were found to influence inclusion and equality among participants. These findings suggest that organizers and facilitators of deliberative exercises have to be reflexive of their role as well as aware of the group dynamics. The results also address the larger questions within science and technology policy like the role of expertise and the public in decision making, the institutional design of participatory exercises, and their relation to the political culture and the policy process.

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Shahid, Zahraa, and Khan Sana Zubair. "Use of Social Media for Political Participation - The Pakistani Students´ Perspective." Thesis, Örebro universitet, Handelshögskolan vid Örebro universitet, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-12552.

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Glidden, Gina. "Intensity of participation among children with epilepsy: an exploratory factor analysis of child components." Thesis, McGill University, 2013. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=119358.

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Although participation has been the focus of numerous studies of children and youth with Cerebral Palsy and few other chronic health conditions, very little is known about the participation of children and youth with epilepsy. The goal of this thesis is to derive primary components from a set of theoretically-derived variables thought to be related to the intensity of participation of children and youth with epilepsy. Sixteen variables were originally identified. This study uses a database of n=506 children with epilepsy to perform an exploratory factor analysis of relevant child variables from the Qualité study, a longitudinal pan-Canadian study on outcome trajectories of children with epilepsy. Results located four principal components that together, accounted for 63.41% of the total variance: Behaviors that Facilitate Interactions with Others is made up of four child social skills variables and accounts for 32.042% of variance; Behaviors that Challenge Interactions with Others, is made up of 3 variables on child externalizing behaviours and accounts for 12.058% of variance; Anticipatory Reaction to Distressing Stimuli, is made up of variables related to submissiveness, victimisation and anxiety and accounts for 9.414% of variance and Child's Social Self, comprises variables related to social support and self perception and accounts for 8.408% of variance. Further study is required to examine the relationship and impact these components have to the participation of children and youth with epilepsy. Bien que la participation ait été étudiée comme objectif de résultat chez des enfants atteints de paralysie cérébrale ainsi que d'autres conditions chroniques de la santé, très peu est connu au sujet de l'expérience de participation des enfants atteints d'épilepsie. L'objectif de ce mémoire est de déterminer les composantes principales de variables issues de théories liées à l'intensité de la participation des enfants et des adolescents atteints d'épilepsie afin de susciter une discussion qui approfondira notre compréhension de la participation de ce groupe. Seize variables ont été identifiées. Cette étude utilise une base de données comprenant n=506 enfants atteint d'épilepsie afin d'effectuer une analyse exploratoire de facteurs des variables pertinentes liées à l'enfant issues de l'étude QUALITÉ, une étude longitudinale à travers le Canada sur les objectifs de résultat d'enfants atteints d'épilepsie. Quatre composantes principales ont été extraites des résultats, totalisant 63.41% de la variance. La composante Comportements qui facilitent les interactions avec autrui est constituée de quatre variables d'habiletés sociales chez l'enfant et représente 32,04% de la variance. La composante Comportements qui restreignent les interactions avec les autres est constituée de trois variables sur les comportements extériorisés et représente 12.05% de la variance. La composante Cycle de réaction anticipée de l'enfant à des stimuli bouleversants est constituée de variables liées à la soumission, à la victimisation et à l'anxiété et représente 9.41% de la variance. La composante L'être social de l'enfant comprend trois variables liées au soutien social et à la perception de soi et représente 8.40% de la variance. Une étude plus approfondie est nécessaire afin d'examiner la relation et l'impact de ces composantes sur la participation des enfants et des adolescents atteints d'épilepsie.

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Bailey, Wayne Derrick. "Social deprivation and widening participation : the continuing power of local culture." Thesis, University of Huddersfield, 2015. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/24267/.

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This thesis explores why a group of young people with level 3 qualifications, living within traditionally working-class communities, choose not to participate in HE. It discusses their expectations, motivations and aspirations and the social, cultural and personal factors that contribute to their decision making. The findings are drawn from a set of semi-structured interviews with 36 sixth form students. The research adapts a Bourdieuian framework and utilises a three-level methodology. Though the analysis considers the subjective points of view of the participants, with respect to their non-participation, it also pays attention to factors which appeared to have shaped and moulded decisions. Participants’ decisions appeared to be shaped by their place of study, their friends and family and, most importantly, by their parent(s) and this impacted on their aspirations and how motivated they were to participate in HE. The importance of academic-related support is evidenced throughout. It seemed to instil a sense of belonging and solidarity and was motivational. Without a guarantee of similar support, participants were not prepared to participate in HE. A particularly complex attitude to debt was also highlighted. Not incurring debt appeared to be a cultural rule, particularly when there was no guaranteed financial and employment related benefit to participation. This thesis argues that similar outlooks, backgrounds, interests, lifestyles and opportunities resulted in the adoption of shared practices, common patterns of reactions and accepted ways of doing things when it came to HE participation. This thesis helps us to understand why a particular group of young people has not been influenced in the same way as some others by the change in attitude towards HE. More specifically, it enhances our understanding of the complex, yet subtle influences that can lead young people to choose not to participate in HE.

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Missire, Gaëlle. "Women's right to political participation in post-conflict transformation." Thesis, McGill University, 2009. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=32581.

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This thesis is looking at the experience of girls and women in times of armed conflict in order to offer some solutions to increase women's participation in post-conflict transformation of society. Women and girls experience war in many different ways, but both as victims and agents of change. This latter role often goes unnoticed and women are traditionally forced to go back to traditional gender roles. Undertaking the study of some cases of African countries, the author tries to analyse the impact that women's movements for peace have had on the substantive content of peace agreements. While it is difficult for women to participate in the reconstruction of their society once the conflict ceased, it might be more efficient to include women at the very beginning of peace negotiations. Women's right to take part in the conduct of public affairs is a means as well as a reparative measure, both aiming at increasing women's political participation in a transformed post-conflict society. Ce travail de recherche s'appuie sur la condition des femmes en situation de conflit armé. L'objectif est de déterminer les failles en matière de justice transitoire, vue sous l'angle des femmes, et de proposer des éléments de solutions pour que les femmes puissent participer pleinement à la transformation de leur société au sortir d'un conflit. En temps de guerre, on ne voit souvent dans les femmes que les principales victimes de violence sexuelle et on tend à oublier le rôle très positif et constructif qu'elles jouent par ailleurs dans la transformation de leur société. C'est de ce rôle dont traite cette thèse. Généralement, dès qu'une certaine stabilité est retrouvée, les femmes se voient contraintes de reprendre leur vocation traditionnelle qui occulte alors leurs efforts pour la paix. L'argument développé ici propose d'impliquer les femmes dès le début des négociations de paix. Une étude portant sur plusieurs cas de pays africains permet de conclure que ce n'est qu'à cette condition que les femmes peuvent réellement avoir une influence sur la teneure des accords de paix, et donc l'évolution de leur société d'après conflit. Le droit des femmes à prendre part aux affaires publiques est ainsi vu comme un moyen d'assurer une meilleure représentation des femmes sur la scène politique, mais aussi comme une mesure de réparation servant le même objectif.

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Grimaldi, Gary. "Adolescents' lived experiences during treatment of cancer and impact on social participation." Thesis, NSUWorks, 2011. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_ot_student_dissertations/9.

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March 2011. "Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Occupational Therapy Department, College of Allied Health and Nursing, Nova Southeastern University." This phenomenological study was designed to understand the lived experience of adolescents being treating for cancer and the impact of their lived experience on engagement in occupations and social participation. Participants in this study included four young adolescents 17-19 years of ages attending school on a part-time basis. They were on active treatment protocols for cancer and enjoyed participating in sports or other activities with friends. In-depth structured interviews with questions to illuminate the impact of cancer treatment on social participation were completed and audio recorded. Data analysis was completed utilizing a phenomenological reduction method to determine emerging themes and significant statements. A description of the experience and its meaning were then developed from themes emerging from the perspective of the participants. The four major themes and sub themes resulting from this study were: 1. Change of Lifestyle a) Physical & Emotional Pain of Living b) School Re-entry--A Saving Grace; 2. Exploring New Occupations a) Adapting Occupations b) Awakening or Confirming Beliefs; 3. Reconnecting with Family a) Importance of Support b) A Kid Again. 4. Living with Cancer Isn't Easy a) Isolation b) Hidden Disability. The findings revealed lifestyle changes, which these adolescents needed to deal with in order to maintain a sense of routine and engagement in occupation. Changes in appearance, physical strength, and overall endurance impacted the participants' ability to engage in occupation(s) which often led to isolation among their peers. In spite of this, participants discovered new occupations that were less physically demanding but still fostered social participation with peers. The study of social participation for adolescents with cancer has implications for and can assist in developing client-centered interventions and simultaneously increase occupational therapy's understanding of these individuals during a transitional period of their lives.

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Mönefors, Berntell Agneta. "“…It’s not only about giving children a voice”- social workers accounts of child participation in social investigations." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Tema Barn, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-133713.

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There is a consensus in Sweden that children are right-bearers and shall participate in matters that affect them among legislators, the government’s instructions by Barns Behov I Centrum (BBIC) (Child’s needs in focus) and among social workers. Despite this, previous research shows that children’s participation in social investigations is limited. The aim of this study is to analyse and interpret how social worker’s describe and understand children’s participation in their daily work at a social welfare unit. It is their perception of child participation that is studied. The data consists of interviews with nine social workers investigating children of 0-12 years of age at three social welfare units in municipalities’ in the outskirts of Stockholm. The theoretical perspective of this study is childhood sociology. The social workers in this study regard children as competent enough to receive information as well as capable contributors to the investigations. Participation was viewed as a cornerstone in their work with children. Children were described as capable of communicating information and their perspective on their situation through speech, behaviour or play indicating that all children can contribute despite age. But oral communication dominates and has a higher value, showing that age and maturity has an impact on children’s participation. Restrictions by guardians, time-restraint and heavy workloads also limited children’s participation during the investigation.

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Rosdahl, Fredrik. "Elevinflytande - Pupil participation." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Lärarutbildningen (LUT), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-27745.

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Författare: Fredrik Rosdahl Titel: Elevinflytande Nyckelord: Elevinflytande, intervjuer, Lgr-11Syftet med denna undersökning är att undersöka hur eleverna på en skola upplever elevinflytande. Elevinflytande är något som alltid har intresserat mig, att få möjligheten att påverka ens utbildning och arbets-/lärningsmiljö upplever jag som något väldigt viktigt. Under min egen skolgång var det inte förrän i högstadiet och gymnasiet som elevinflytande togs på allvar av skolan. I denna undersökningen kommer jag undersöka hur elevinflytande ser ut och fungerar på en låg- och mellanstadieskola. Undersökningens syfte är att upplysa hur elever upplever att elevinflytande fungerar på deras skola.Jag har tagit del av olika teorier om elevinflytande och hur man som pedagog kan arbeta med elevinflytande i skolan. Teorier så som John Dewey "learning by doing", som betonar vikten av att låta elever vara delaktiga i sin egen utbildning och få prova sig fram för att växa till kompetenta demokratiska medborgare. Min empiri bygger på intervjuer med rektorn, personal samt elever på en skola i västra Skåne samt intervju med en lärare på en skola i norra Skåne. Min empiri bygger också på observationer utav klassråd i olika klasser samt elevrådsmöte.Resultatet av denna studien presenteras i större utsträckning i resultats kapitlet i examensarbetet. Kortfattat, så visar resultatet av denna undersökningen att de medverkande eleverna upplever en stor möjlighet att få påverka sin skola och undervisning via elevinflytande.

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Joseph, Rigaud. "Concurrent Participation in Federally-Funded Welfare Programs and Empowerment toward Economic Self-Sufficiency." FIU Digital Commons, 2017. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3363.

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The purpose of this research was to determine the odds for low-income households to become and remain economically self-sufficient as a result of participating in federallyfunded welfare programs. An evaluation in nature, this study assessed the merits and shortcomings of federally-funded welfare programs. Using the public-use version of the 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) Panel, this quasi-experimental investigation compartmentalized 4,216 low-income households into two groups: an intervention group (n = 2,436) and a comparison group (n = 1,780). Households in the intervention group received one or more federal means-tested welfare benefits for the most part of the 2008-2013 quinquennium. By contrast, those in the comparison group— although eligible for these benefits—did not receive them. Based on the premises of the theory of policy design and social construction, the culture of poverty theory, the racial classification model, and the social control thesis, the following two hypotheses were formulated: (1) Low-income households who receive one or more lower-tier federal means-tested benefits will be less likely to attain and maintain economic self-sufficiency vii than their counterparts who do not participate in federal welfare programs and (2) Lowincome households that enroll in more welfare programs will have worse self-sufficiency outcomes than their counterparts that participate in fewer programs. The survey respondents were measured repeatedly over a 56-month period to assess whether welfare receipt impacts their household income steadily beyond 150 percent of the federal poverty level, after controlling for known predictors. Findings from binomial logistic regression displayed medium effect sizes indicating that participation in public assistance did decrease the likelihood of attainment and maintenance of economic self-sufficiency among low-income American households. These findings were interpreted within the context of pre-existing differences that may have existed between the intervention group and the comparison group which were not accounted for in the multivariate analysis. Macro-implications of these findings for poverty and social welfare stakeholders were discussed.

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Raymond, Émilie. "Les discours et les pratiques de participation sociale d'aînés handicapés : exploration critique d'un carrefour peu fréquenté." Thesis, McGill University, 2014. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=123144.

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This doctoral thesis explores the theme of social participation among seniors aging with disabilities. The research had three objectives: first, understanding how people aging with disabilities see their participation in society; second, exploring their practices of social participation, and; third, comparing the notions and experiences of seniors aging with disabilities with the vision of participation that is adopted by the government of Quebec in the field of aging. A dual research methodology was developed. A case study of a group of seniors engaged in a photonovel project about aging with disabilities allowed the study of how they perceived and lived their participation in society. And a critical content analysis permitted a better understanding of how the concept of social participation is used in Quebec aging policy. The relationship between the results of these two sets of data, one anchored in the experience of a group of seniors, and the other in the discourse of a contemporary political agenda, addresses a gap in the scientific literature by problematizing the stereotypical understanding of the connection between social participation and disability. The conclusions of the thesis nourish reflections and suggest new intervention approaches in social work that are more sensitive to the diversity of aging experiences. La thèse de doctorat aborde le thème de la participation sociale des aînés vieillissant avec des incapacités physiques. Trois objectifs étaient visés par la recherche : premièrement, comprendre comment des personnes vieillissant avec des incapacités voient leur participation à la société; deuxièmement, explorer leurs pratiques de participation sociale; troisièmement, comparer ces conceptions et pratiques à la vision de la participation telle que promue dans les politiques sociales adoptées par le Gouvernement du Québec dans le domaine du vieillissement. Le concept central de la recherche est la participation sociale, telle qu'interprétée par les participants de la recherche et par les politiques sociales étudiées. Une double méthodologie de recherche a été développée. D'une part, une étude de cas a permis d'étudier comment des aînés ayant des incapacités physiques perçoivent et vivent leur participation à la société. D'autre part, une analyse critique de contenu a conduit à mieux comprendre comment des politiques québécoises sur le vieillissement utilisent la notion de participation sociale. La mise en relation des résultats de ces deux volets de recherche, respectivement ancrés dans les expériences du groupe d'aînés concernés et les discours d'un agenda politique contemporain, a mené à combler un espace vacant dans la littérature scientifique, à questionner les stéréotypes associés au lien entre participation sociale et incapacités, ainsi qu'à nourrir des réflexions et des approches d'intervention en service social plus sensibles à la diversité des vieillissements.

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Samuel, Suzanne. "Adult community learning participation and parental involvement in schooling." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2017. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/110489/.

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The argument that adult community learning (ACL) participation plays a part in influencing parents’ perceptions and practices with respect to schooling children is appealing but there is little evidence to show whether this is the case and, if so, what form it takes. Statistical studies have revealed mixed findings, ranging from no impact to some changes in behaviour when parents study at university. Yet, the mechanisms by which this process occurs are little understood. Considering the varied findings, this qualitative study aims to explore the nature and extent of ACL, and its influence on parents and children. Drawing on adult education theory and Bourdieu’s concept of ‘capital’, the study focuses on examples of parental ACL participation in Wales. Findings suggest that whilst all parents want the best for their children, some parents struggle to provide support, especially at secondary education stage. Parents typically draw upon a range of support mechanisms; they refer to the school, family and friends, the internet, work and volunteering, as well as hiring private tutors. Moreover, parents participating in multiple episodes of ACL, especially at the higher levels, draw upon and utilise their knowledge, skills, and resources to provide timely and effective support; this prevents slippage in the educational sense. Also, findings suggest that ACL participation stimulates and, in some cases, boosts children’s learning. In contrast, parents with low-level qualifications and parents who engage in fewer episodes of ACL, invariably have a far limited range of resources to call upon. Here, parents tend to rely heavily upon the school, family members, the internet, and if finances allow, private tutors. Consequently, when support is delayed or ineffective, this increases the risk of children falling behind at school. However, a solution to create a mutual mechanism of support in the home learning environment is put forward to overcome the problem.

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Foster, Matthew F. "Identity, Civic Duty and Electoral Participation| Causes of Variation in Electoral Participation." Thesis, University of Colorado at Boulder, 2018. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10825816.

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What causes variation in the turnout of an individual from election to election? Most individual level predictors of turnout can account for the propensity of an individual to vote but fail to account for changes in turnout behavior. Broad aggregate factors can account for variation in turnout trends from election to election but fail to account for changes in turnout at the individual level. In this dissertation I argue that civic duty can capture the variation that typical predictors of voter turnout cannot. Civic duty can account for variation in the turnout of high and low propensity voters, as well as distinguish why some groups turnout in one election and other groups turnout in another. The capacity of civic duty to capture such variation comes from the sensitivity of civic duty to the saliency of identities and the competing group concerns they generate. Civic duty motivates an individual to vote due to a sense of obligation that is generated by multiple group identities, with these identities either complementing each other and enhancing a sense of civic duty or conflicting with each other and diminishing such a sense. I apply and test such theory using the case of the 2017 British general election. With this case I find that civic duty can uniquely capture a sense of European identity, as well as the variation in salience of such identity that can account for the highly unexpected turnout of Millennials in 2017.

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Sheridan, Louise Ann. "Youth participation practice in North Ayrshire, Scotland from a Freirean perspective." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2018. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/9085/.

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There is a desire in policy, to encourage young people to take part in Youth Participation Practice (YPP). More insight is needed in approaches to YPP that enable meaningful and positive experiences for young people and communities. This qualitative study investigates youth participation practice in North Ayrshire Council in Scotland. Theories and principles from Paulo Freire (1996; 2000) form the framework for analysis. The study examines what young people and youth workers define the purpose of YPP to be; investigates the approaches that are used; and analyses what participants define as the benefits and outcomes of YPP for young people and communities. Through two focus groups with young people, 22 semi-structured interviews with young people, youth workers and Ruth Maguire, an elected member in North Ayrshire, themes were identified. These include the notion of young people feeling ‘connected’, being ‘enabled’ and feeling ‘transformed’ through their involvement in YPP. Freire’s notion of armed love has been interpreted and redefined as the term ‘alfirmo’, which is the act of caring for, nourishing and supporting people, while asserting belief in their ability as agents of change. This study found that ‘alfirmo’ is embodied by youth workers and noticed by young people who have taken part in YPP in North Ayrshire Council. Through the embodiment of ‘alfirmo’, young people in this study feel connected to peers and youth workers and enabled to undertake many tasks such as presenting in front of peers and adults. Through their experiences in YPP, young people expressed that they have gone through a personal transformation, with a greater sense and feeling of confidence as a key example.

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Shembilu, Allen. "IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN EDUCATION IN TANZANIA." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Sektionen för datavetenskap och kommunikation, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-3063.

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The web 2.0 technology and its associated social networks have brought tremendous effects in each day life. The effect is now reaching the educational settings due to online increasing activities. Indeed, new ways of learning have started to attract the ongoing debate for inclusion web 2.0 technologies into pedagogy. The effects of Blogs, Wikis, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Moodle, RSS feeds and other related social networking tools in the formal and informal education, is vividly seen. Educators all over the World are keen to implement them into educational practices. What benefits have so far been observed by both students and educators? This is an important question that needs to be answered thoroughly, in order to establish a new shift in educational and pedagogical thinking. Information sharing accompanied by openness and a great deal of voluntary collaboration, is what forces the exploration in this area of informatics. In Tanzania, the Ministry for Education and Vocational Training has developed a policy for Information and Communication Technology for Basic Education in July, 2007. This was done so as to integrate ICT in education after realizing its potentials in daily life. Through this policy and other initiatives supported by Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), a birth of eSchools was realized for integrating ICT in Education. The aim of this study is investigating the importance of online social networking sites in education in Tanzania. Using a quantitative method, this study includes a total of 56 participants (key informants) as a sample. All participants are students at the University of Dar es Salaam pursuing various courses. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire composed of 19 questions. The usable rate of returned responses was 61% of the anticipated responses. The responses were then collated for analysis by means of MS excel. The study was conducted in March and April, 2012 and revealed that, the online social networks is not fully utilized in Tanzania for educational purposes. Lack of wider access to technology is a big hindrance, although not a definite factor by itself. Another factor has been identified as lack of sensitization among students and educators. Furthermore, the report provides recommendations on how this technology can be fully exploited for the benefits of the students and community at large. This Thesis is all about the inclusion of new learning technologies in education. The study has been conducted in Tanzania and the population included the University students. Due to continuous growth of user generated content and the subsequent ability to share and even collaborate online, the social networking sites have emerged to be of great importance. The importance is not only in information sharing but also in education processes. On the other hand, the communities have not yet realized the great potential lying in the social networking sites in terms of education. Despite the publications and studies done elsewhere including America and Europe still much has not been done in the developing World and particularly in Tanzania. This study has concentrated on the use of the social networking sites into academic perspective putting focus on the students. +255786924648/+255719476712

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Quist, Sofie, and Elin Helgesson. "Att arbeta enligt BBIC : En kvalitativ studie om socialsekreterares upplevelser av att arbeta enligt BBIC - Barns Behov i Centrum." Thesis, Högskolan Kristianstad, Sektionen för Hälsa och Samhälle, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hkr:diva-8090.

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Children's Need In Focus (BBIC) is a processing and documentation system used in child welfare cases to investigate, plan and monitor interventions. The BBIC has had a breakthrough in Sweden and out of the country's 290 municipalities, there are 284 that use the system daily as a tool in cases involving children. The purpose of this study was to examine how social workers experience the BBIC as a working system and what strengths and weaknesses there are in the BBIC concept. We wanted our study to examine how the BBIC could possibly enhance the quality of childcare matters, but also how the BBIC could potentially increase children's participation in cases. We have performed qualitative interviews with eight social workers who work in four different municipalities where the BBIC is applied daily. The result of the interviews shows that the social workers feel there are both strengths and weaknesses in the system. It is a common opinion among the respondents that their work becomes structured and the majority thinks that the child's perspective has been strengthened as a result of the BBIC. Social workers in the study also feel that the BBIC is a comprehensive system and many of them ask for increased resources.

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Majlessi, Mohammad. "A balancing act: a framework for participation of non-state actors in the World Trade Organization." Thesis, McGill University, 2009. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=40726.

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This thesis focuses on the interaction of two categories of non-state actors, private sector corporate actors and non-governmental organizations, with states in the context of the World Trade Organization (WTO) through a lens of public international law. It builds on the premise that the notion of states as the only subjects of international law is not adequate for a modern system of global governance, as it does not reflect the realities of fast-paced globalization and increased co-operation in a world where the boundaries of the private and public are increasingly blurred. It does not necessarily provide solutions for participation of non-state actors in the WTO, but demonstrates that developments in international relations warrant more space for participation of non-state actors, and that the current system of the WTO fails to provide sufficient space for participation. The thesis argues that, for both historical and pragmatic reasons, developments in the areas of GATT and international trade law occurred outside their natural course, leading to the myth of a “self-contained” trade regime not part of public international law. The WTO, unlike its predecessor, enjoys a proper institutional framework and mandate; one can no longer use the excuse of institutional handicap for excluding it from the system of global governance. Liberalization of international trade has far-reaching consequences which are not limited to the trade arena and the WTO, its member states, and scholars of international trade law have to assume their role in the broader context of an international legal order. Non-state actors’ formal participation can contribute to striking a balance between different forces and interests at work in the area of trade liberalization and its interplay with other non-trade issues. After setting the framework for the study, the thesis outlines modes of participation of non-state actors in the creation and modification of WTO law as well as in its enfor Cette thèse examine dans une perspective de droit international public l’interaction entre, d’une part, deux catégories d’acteurs non-étatiques : les acteurs des entreprises du secteur privé et les organisations non-gouvernementales et, d’autre part, les états, dans le contexte de l’Organisation Mondiale du Commerce (OMC). Elle part du constat que de considérer les états en tant que seuls sujets du droit international ne permet pas de répondre de manière adéquate à un système moderne de gouvernance mondiale, puisque cela mène à ignorer les réalités d’une mondialisation accélérée et d’une coopération croissante dans un monde ou les limites entre le domaine privé et le domaine public sont de plus en plus estompées. Cette thèse ne fournit pas nécessairement des solutions à la participation des acteurs non-étatiques à l’OMC, mais démontre que les développements dans les relations internationales justifient l’aménagement d’une plus grande place pour la participation des acteurs non-étatiques, et que le système actuel de l’OMC échoue à ce chapitre.La thèse propose que pour des raisons de nature historique et pragmatique, les développements dans le système du GATT et du droit du commerce international sont apparus en dehors de leur contexte naturel, ce qui a mené à la création du mythe d’un régime commercial à la fois séparé et fonctionnant en dehors du cadre du droit international public. Contrairement à ses prédécesseurs, l’OMC possède un cadre institutionnel et un mandat approprié, et ne peut donc plus alléguer un quelconque handicap institutionnel qui l’exclurait du système de gouvernance mondiale. La libéralisation du commerce international a des conséquences considérables qui ne sont pas limitées au domaine du commerce et de l’OMC. Les états membres de l’OMC ainsi que leurs juristes en droit commercial doivent assumer leur rôle dans le cadre d’un ordre juridique internationa

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Asiedu, Charlotte, Kristina Byrne, and Ana Corena. "Increasing Participation in Social Enterprise : A Strategic Development Approach for the Developing World." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Sektionen för ingenjörsvetenskap, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-5767.

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Current, unsustainable practices are negatively impacting the socio-ecological systems on which humanity depends. This paper argues that social enterprise, as a market-based approach is an effective tool to help developing countries to transition toward sustainability. To gain an understanding as to how broader participation in social enterprise could be encouraged, this research investigates the motivations, enablers, challenges and incentives for professionals in developing countries to participate in social enterprise. In addition, the role of social enterprise and its limitations in moving society toward sustainability were investigated. A qualitative research design was used. The framework for strategic sustainable development (FSSD) was employed to ensure a systems perspective of sustainability was captured in this study. Findings include seven motivational factors, eight enabling factors, and twelve challenges facing social entrepreneurs; as well as seven categories of suggested incentives to increase participation. Strategic recommendations targeted toward government agencies, non-governmental and multilateral development organizations, and social enterprise incubators, were provided as guidelines to encourage participation and ensure sustainability.

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Sokhey, Anand Edward. "Motivation and the Social Information Search." The Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1250181516.

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Diaz, Clive. "A study into children and young people's participation in their Child in Care Reviews." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2018. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/113159/.

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The concept of service user participation in the delivery of services that affect them has gained momentum over the last thirty years. Children are no exception to this and those in care are subject to greater scrutiny of their lives than their peers. This study considered a key meeting for children in care – the Child in Care Review – and examined the extent to which children and young people are able to participate in these meetings and retain a level of control over their lives. The research, undertaken in one large local authority in England, explored the perspectives of children and young people, Social Workers, Independent Reviewing Officers and Senior Managers in individual qualitative interviews. The interview data was analysed thematically. The study found that young participants who reported a poor relationship with their Social Worker were more likely to feel negatively about their review and most young participants said that they found the review frustrating and stressful. The young participants were very aware of the workload pressures that Social Workers faced and how bureaucratic processes often seemed to translate in to them not receiving a good service. The Social Workers and Independent Reviewing Officers highlighted the importance of children’s participation, but in practice their commitment to the concept seemed minimal. Data would suggest some significant disconnection between Senior Managers’ views and all other participants’ perspectives on the challenges faced by social workers in terms of caseloads and workload pressures. Senior Managers reflected that little seemed to have changed in relation to children’s participation in their reviews over the last twenty-five years. The thesis concludes that as a vehicle for participation the Child in Care Review is still not working well, however the development of children chairing their own reviews offers some hope for the future. This practice could be built upon to ensure that children and young people leave Local Authority care with the best possible chance of becoming confident, stable and empowered adults.

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Eunah, Kim, and Sjövik Renate. "Media Sharing Network Functions to Enhance User Participation : A qualitative study in a media sharing network regarding user participation for social connection." Thesis, Jönköping University, JTH, Avdelningen för datateknik och informatik, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-53773.

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Soobug, Payal. "Understanding Men's Participation in Contemporary Feminist Movements." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Sociologiska institutionen, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-143288.

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Contemporary feminist movements are mixed gendered but men’s participation in them remain low. Many sociological studies have neglected to study men’s role and participation in feminist movements and focused mainly on women’s position. This thesis builds on social movement theories and previous research conducted within this field. This study aims to reveal factors that motivate men’s participation and roles played by them in contemporary feminist movements. Qualitative interviews are used for data collection. The data indicate that men’s role in feminist movements is designated to support the movements. Factors that motivated them to participate in the movements include; rational, network and political motivations.

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Gregory, Lee. "Improving health through participation : time banks as a site for co-production." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2012. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/46310/.

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Co-production is a term that has gained increased attention as governments seek out new ways for organising and delivering public services which involve citizens. One way of developing co-production is time banking, a form of community currency that has developed in the UK since the 1990s and is gaining increased policy attention with Governments in England and Wales. This research examines the relationship between time banking and co-production within health care. The starting point of the study is two-fold. First there is an interest in the claimed health benefits of time banking and its potential for service delivery. To explore these issues the research specifically examines the mechanisms which generate social capital and social networks through time bank participation to offer a more nuanced analysis of the health outcomes currently found in the literature. Building on this, action research was carried out with health service providers in the South Wales Valleys to examine the applicability of time banking, and therefore co-production to local service delivery. Second, the analysis of these health care interventions seeks to reposition time bank theory. Drawing on the social theory of time the analysis explores how time banking is co-opted into government programmes despite its radical political potential which offers an alternative to neo-liberal capitalism. Consequently the original contribution of this research is the repositioning of current time bank theory to offer a more nuanced understanding of the possible impacts upon health through time banking and a theoretical framework from which to articulate political goals with greater clarity.

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Ranabhat, Min. "Determinants of access, participation and learning outcomes at primary level in Nepal." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2014. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10018264/.

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Nepal’s national education strategies have sought equitable access and high quality education for all primary children. Progress towards Education For All (EFA) was examined through secondary data using trend analysis with regard to access, participation, equity and exclusion at primary level. Original research investigated learning outcomes in basic reading and arithmetic using an Annual Status Education Report (ASER) type survey. Quantitative methods were used to isolate factors showing high association with access and quality of education. A first analysis employed the Ordinary Least Square method with univariate and multivariate levels of estimation of student performance at school level. A second analysis applied Logistic Regression (univariate and multivariate level) to estimate the key predictor variables at an individual student level. In both analyses the models were employed at three levels of significance. Findings showed inequitable or non-inclusive enrolments and substantial disparities in access and participation particularly in ethnic minorities. There are major quality concerns: from the ASER type testing the majority of rural primary school children were unable to carry out basic number recognition and computation or simple reading in the Nepali language. This was particularly the case for girls and those from the lowest economic quintile. At school level, factors of student attendance, student teacher ratio, textbooks, and school location were statistically significant in relation to learning outcomes, however teacher training and qualifications were negative beta coefficients. At individual level, student characteristics and family factors such as gender, parental education, annual income and parental support were the most important in relation to student performance. Large disparities persist between geographic regions and underserved social groups with a disproportionate impact on girls, the poor and the most vulnerable ethnic minorities. Major hurdles remain to secure satisfactory outcomes for all in primary education in Nepal and achieve the EFA goals of universal quality primary education by 2015.

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Crowley, Suzanne. "Is anyone listening? : the impact of children's participation on policy making." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2012. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/27397/.

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This thesis examines the impact of children and young people’s participation on policy making in four settings, a youth forum and school council in Wales, UK and two examples of established participation structures in the international development context. The drive to include children as ‘policy actors’, as a legitimate group in the policy making process, has led in Wales, and in much of the UK, to the burgeoning of youth forums and school councils. But evidence of the impact of children’s public participation remains difficult to capture and little previous work has been done to evaluate the influence of children’s forums on the design, delivery and evaluation of public services. This thesis draws on theories of governance and power as well as the social construction of childhood to examine the policy influence that each of the forums had from the perspectives of the key stakeholders involved. The research makes a contribution to understanding the factors that enable or inhibit children’s ‘voice’ being turned into policy ‘influence’. Children’s forums are more likely to affect changes in public services where there is clarity about objectives; where efforts are focused on well-understood policy or practice opportunities; and where there is close integration between child participation structures and similar structures targeting other civil society groups at a local level. The importance of policy networks and the linking of the children’s resources with other influencing factors emphasises the important role of supporting adults in reflexively navigating the tensions in children’s public participation. The thesis calls into question whether anyone is really listening to children’s views and opinions in the new governance spaces of a devolved Wales and argues that more needs to be done to insist on change and support children’s claims to express their views and to have those views taken into account, in line with Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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Al, Said Faris. "The role of identification, participation and attachment in building brand equity in social networking sites." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2013. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/50853/.

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Although Social Networking Sites have become dominant in the lives of many consumers, research on virtual brand communities in the context of Social Networking Sites is scarce. This study focuses on addressing this gap by investigating how identification with the brand and the brand community, participation on official brand pages on Facebook, and attachment to the brand develop and support brand equity in the context of Social Networking Sites. Participation in virtual brand communities has been generally viewed as posting and lurking. This study has developed new participation scales to address the limited perspective of participation in the literature. In addition, this study aims to investigate the types of members of brand pages on Facebook and the nature of their participation. The author developed a model that provides a new understanding of how brand equity develops in Social Networking Sites. The study was conducted in two stages. Firstly, a pilot study was conducted that used focus groups to build new scales to measure participation in Social Networking Sites, which were tested and validated by analysing quantitative data collected from an online and offline survey. Secondly, the main study was conducted by collecting data from an online panel of 436 UK consumers. Structural equation modelling techniques were then used to assess the validity of the new proposed participation scales and to test the set of interrelationships among the proposed variables. The findings indicate that consumer identification with the brand and the community has a positive impact on participation on brand pages as well as on attachment to the brand. The findings also reveal that brand loyalty, perceived quality, willingness to pay a price premium, and word-of-mouth are all predicted by brand attachment. Finally, this study has shown that participation is a two level behaviour that is based on three member types: tourists, minglers, and fans. The model and the new participation scales proposed in this study present a new perspective on online consumer behaviour. In addition, the findings of this study have implications for understanding and building consumer-brand relationships in Social Networking Sites. Keywords: Brand Equity, Brand Identification, Brand Community Identification, Virtual Brand Community, Perceived Quality, Brand Loyalty, Word-of-Mouth, Willingness to Pay a Price Premium, Brand Attachment, Participation, Social Networking Sites, Structural Equation Modelling,fACEBOOK

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Suhonen, Riikka. "Youth civic engagement in Bhutan: Obedient citizens or social activists?" Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-23721.

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People’s participation in their own development is at the core of Communication forDevelopment. This study explores the potential and barriers for youth civic engagementespecially among the urban youth in Bhutan, a newly democratised country in theEastern Himalayas. Youth Initiative (YI), a project begun in the fall of 2013 by a groupof local youth and mentored by a local civil society organisation, the Bhutan Centre forMedia and Democracy, was chosen as the case study.The study analyses how and in which arenas youth enact their citizenship inBhutan; how young people themselves see their opportunities to participate indemocratic processes, analysing social, cultural and political factors influencing theirparticipation; whether their civic participation is critical or conforming to the existingsocial structures; how could Facebook foster democratic culture and youth civicengagement; and what is the link between youth civic engagement and social capital.Data were collected through three (3) focus group discussions with youth andnine (9) qualitative interviews with founders or steering committee members of the YI.The 19 young participants of the focus group discussions were between 17 to 28 yearsold, two of the groups consisting of YI representatives and one of unemployed youth.The interview data together with relevant textual sources were analysed through theconceptual framework of participatory democracy and social capital. Three distinctthemes could be identified through the qualitative thematic analysis: 1. Youth agency inthe public sphere; 2. Inequality and corruption; and 3. Cultural change. Particularlyinformal cultural barriers, such as respecting authorities and the lack of democraticculture to have an equal, critical dialogue in the public sphere were seen as mainobstacles for youth civic engagement in Bhutan.The findings indicate that youth civic engagement is a crucial component instrengthening social capital, particularly mutual trust across different groups andgenerations of people. The study argues that it is possible to create a space for intergenerational dialogue that encompasses and respects the diverse, but overlappingspheres of youth agency, democratic communication and social harmony.

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Gustafsson, Ebba. "Miljökonsekvensbeskrivningar: detaljplaner och social hållbarhet : En kvalitativ studie om hur sociala aspekter lyfts fram i miljökonsekvensbeskrivningar för detaljplaner." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Fakulteten för humaniora och samhällsvetenskap (from 2013), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-78914.

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Årligen genomförs tusentals miljökonsekvensbeskrivningar (MKB) i Sverige i samband med fysisk planering. Social hållbarhet utgör en grundpelare för hållbar samhällsutveckling. I mån om att uppnå det inom fysisk planering krävs metoder för att mäta, utvärdera och förutspå sociala aspekter av utformandet. Miljökonsekvensbeskrivningar besitter en särställning genom att vara den enda metoden som utifrån detta är reglerad enligt lag för att beskriva sociala konsekvenser. Tidigare forskning har riktat kritik mot miljökonsekvensbeskrivningar i form av att de snävt inkluderar sociala aspekter. Studiens syfte var att undersöka i vilken utsträckning sociala aspekter tas hänsyn till i strategiska MKB: er för detaljplaner. För att uppfylla studiens syfte har en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med deduktiv ansatts tillämpats. Ett granskningsschema användes för att analysera fem utvalda MKB-dokument i relation till tidigare forskning och teoretiskt ramverk. Det teoretiska ramverket grundas i politisk ekologi, miljörättvisa, demokrati och deltagande. Resultat bekräftar kritiken som tidigare forskning riktar mot MKB: er. Människor visades återkommande presenteras som en homogen grupp och identifierades inte utifrån olika sociala förutsättningar. Hänsynstagande till sårbara grupper varierade även inom respektive MKB. Studien visar också på att granskade MKB: er inte utvecklar i vilken utsträckning de tagit vara på det demokratiska verktyget samråd. Avslutningsvis visades det vara möjligt att dra slutsatsen om att MKB: er besitter en stor potential till att främja ett socialt hållbart samhälle. En möjlighet som medverkare i dess utformning bättre bör utnyttja. Thousands of environmental impact assessment (EIA) are implemented in Sweden every year. Social sustainability is one of three stakeholders of a sustainable society. Considering physical planning in the society required methods such as measure, evaluate and predict social aspects has been proved to be important to achieve social sustainability. EIA are today the only method that are regulated by Swedish laws with the aim to include social aspects. Previous research has criticized EIA for its narrow definition and implementation of social aspects. The aim of this study is to examine how social aspects are included in EIA: detailed development plans, to achieve this a qualitative study has been used. Five EIA documents have been analyzed against an own designed examination. The social aspects which has been found in the documents has also been analyzed through the study’s theoretical framework which includes theories as political ecology, environmental justice, participation and democracy. Main findings of this study proved to be consistent with previous research criticisms to EIA. People are observed to be presented as a homogeneous group in EIA documents and differences in social conditions and capacity are not being considered. The main findings also include that consideration about vulnerable groups could differ between the EIA documents. Another notable finding from this study is that EIA don’t show how they achieve to implement public consultation. Finally, it is possible to conclude that the EIA have a great potential to contribute to a socially sustainable society - An opportunity that EIA developers should take better use of.

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Thordin, Sofia, and Mihaela-Adriana Nițu. "Community Gardening Initiatives - Attitudes and Behaviors Towards Community Gardening Participation in Sydhavn." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-21725.

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The waterfront community of Sydhavn in Copenhagen, Denmark is architecturally praised, but also criticized for its lack of public green space. Residents in the area have self-organized a community gardening initiative to combat this lack of greenery. The thesis aims to explore this occurrence by providing an analysis of the attitudes and behaviors towards social and environmental aspects of sustainability and individual residents’ resistance or support towards community gardening initiatives. The research design is based on quantitative methods with an exploratory purpose, using an online survey methodology. The main findings show that there is an association among knowledge of sustainability concepts, sustainable attitudes and behaviors, and interest in community gardening participation in the study population. Moreover, individuals who indicate no interest in community gardening lack a desire to join in the future, although they may be encouraged to do so with more education and advertisement. Generally, the study population feels positively towards community gardening and feels there is a need for it in the area. Further research may investigate aspects such as politics and policies related to community gardening and replicate a similar study in a different sociodemographic context to see how the results differ. The results of this study have practical implications for academics, built environment practitioners, and community gardening organizers.

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Fleischacker, Michael J. "A qualitative-quantitative social science comparison of two community workshops." Virtual Press, 1997. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1061977.

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This study has contributed to two areas of growing interest and involvement: the knowledge base of public participation in community workshops for design practitioners and Muncie's White River project.Two community workshops were conducted and compared to study their processes and end results. All variables were constant between both workshops with the exception of a video, When the Wind Stops by Dianne Haak and Bernard Wilets, shown at the beginning of only one workshop. The group dynamics of the workshops were reviewed to understand their influence. It was determined that group size, persons conducting the workshops, the video, and the composition of the participants all affected the workshops' process and results.Focusing on the proposed White River Corridor Greenway, participants generated 183 ideas for increasing use and extending ownership of the river to the community. Participants produced 51 benefits, 85 potential physical development, and 47 programs and activities for improving connections to the creation and use of the river greenway. Department of Landscape Architecture

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Pearson, Olivia. "Co-producing the school? : a case study of youth participation in time banking." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2015. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/84380/.

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Co-production has attracted increasing interest from the public and voluntary sectors. It is an approach that repositions users and community members as more central to the design and delivery of public services, a practice that Bovaird (2007: 846) has described as ‘revolutionary’. A growing movement aims to embody the principles of co-production in practice is time banking (Cahn 2000a). Time banking is a community currency that operates on the reciprocal exchange of skills and services. This thesis reports on a multi-method, qualitative case study into the implementation of a time bank in a Welsh secondary school. It explores the extent to which time banking can be used as a mechanism for facilitating co-productive relationships between young people, community members and the school. Drawing on empirical data gained from ethnographic methods and a participatory approach with young people, the research follows the time bank unfolding in practice. It explores the ‘who, how and why’ of youth participation in time banking and charts the development and implementation of the time bank in question. Importantly, the thesis gives voice to young people, exploring their experiences of participation. This research makes an original contribution to generating understanding of the complexity and difficulty of undertaking youth-based time banking in institutional settings. In doing so it shows how these initiatives may benefit young people, in such a way as to extend their entitlements (Welsh Assembly Government 2002), but also how barriers are faced that may ultimately impact on potentially positive outcomes for young people. It augments current debates concerning the position of young people in society and how perceptions of young people can influence the impact of a policy. The thesis problematises the theory and practice of co-production and questions whether, in its current form, it is achievable or, indeed, desirable with young people.

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Makki, Inaya, and Oskar Bjorsing. "Hur planerar fritidspedagoger sin undervisning utifrån barns delaktighet? How does after-school teachers plan thier teaching from childrens participation?" Thesis, Malmö högskola, Lärarutbildningen (LUT), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-33729.

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Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka pedagogers syn på deras arbetssätt med barns delaktighet och inflytande. För att uppnå vårt syfte har vi använt oss av följande frågeställning:•Hur planerar fritidspedagoger sin undervisning utifrån barns delaktighet?För att undersöka arbetet så använder vi oss av kvalitativa intervjuer med fyra pedagoger på olika skolor. Alla pedagoger som vi intervjuade jobbar inom fritidsverksamheten. Vårt resultat visar att alla pedagogerna på de olika verksamheterna arbetar utifrån barnens intresse och delaktighet. Pedagogerna arbetar med barnen på olika sätt genom att låta barnen bestämma över hur deras verksamhet ska se ut, pedagogerna låter även barnen får välja vilka aktiviteter de är intresserad i att göra. Genom elevråd så får alla barnen vara med och påverka deras verksamhet, där både pojkar och flickor får vara med. Val av aktiviteter är ofta anpassade efter ålder men här kan även barnen leka tillsammans eller själva. Detta görs genom att pedagogerna dokumenterar och samtalar med barnen som sedan följs upp för att förbättra verksamhetens kvalitet.

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Jansson, Sandra. "WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN PHNOM PENH - A Minor Field Study of Women in Cambodia." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-22435.

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This study is about political participation of women in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The study will attempt to understand women’s views on the matter. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to knowledge of how Cambodian women’s participation in politics displays in relation to their educational background. To research and analyze this problem area, I have travelled to Cambodia and used semi-structured interviews as a method. Hay’s types of political participation and intersectionality have been used as theoretical framework to form questions for the interviews and to analyze the findings to uncover potential differences in participation between women of different social classes. The findings show that both interviewed groups participated in politics in various ways, but the main differences between the two educational groups of women are mostly concerning opportunities in and knowledge of politics. For all women to feel empowered, to feel like their opinions matter and to feel comfortable to express their views, education for all women is a necessity. Actions for guaranteeing women education is critical for their participation in politics and for the Cambodian society to develop. Therefore, intersectionality needs to be applied in analyses to change these structures and education for women is a prerequisite to create equal opportunities for everyone.

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Rowe, Ian. "Participation and deliberation in networked publics : the case of social network sites." Thesis, University of Kent, 2015. https://kar.kent.ac.uk/52826/.

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Online social network sites have become an important source of news and political information for many people. At the same time, these sites have transformed the way users encounter and engage with this type of content. This thesis investigates the democratic implications of this trend. Specifically, it estimates the extent to which the relationship between news consumption and political behaviour is mediated by the unique technological affordances of social network sites. It explores how, and to what extent, social network sites transform the way users encounter and engage with news content and how this, in turn, shapes their subsequent political behaviour. This thesis comprises a series of original comparative research papers. Paper 1 sets out to establish evidence of a relationship between everyday social network site use and political participation. Using nationally representative data collected by the UK Oxford Internet Institute, it establishes evidence to suggest that social network site use has the potential to increase political participation, but only when it comes to certain activities. Building on this analysis, Paper 2 estimates the extent to which social network site use indirectly influences political participation, through inadvertently exposing users to news content and information. It finds that although the everyday use of social network sites positively predicts inadvertent news and information exposure, such exposure does not translate into widespread political participation. Since a growing body of research indicates that the effects of news and information on participatory behaviour is largely channeled through interpersonal communication, Paper 3 and Paper 4 focus on the communicative processes that are typically thought to precede participation. Specifically, these papers analyse a unique set of data to investigate the extent to which social network sites shape the way users discuss the news content they consume on these sites. Paper 3 compares the deliberative quality of user comments left on social network sites with those left on news websites. Paper 4 adopts an identical methodological approach to compare the level of civility and politeness in user comments across platforms. The findings suggest that while social network sites are conducive to civil political discussion, they do not appear to encourage comments of superior deliberative quality.

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Keeling, John F. "The effects of meeting participation and outcome expectations on strength of consensus." Thesis, This resource online, 1991. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-02132009-171316/.

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Burd, Leo. "Technological initiatives for social empowerment : design experiments in technology-supported youth participation and local civic engagements." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/42171.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2007. Page 226 blank. Includes bibliographical references (p. 217-225). Never in history has the world seen so much discrepancy in wealth, power and living conditions. Believing that information and communication technologies can help address this issue, governments and funding organizations have been investing in bringing computers and internet connectivity to underserved communities. Unfortunately, many of those initiatives end up privileging the community residents who were the most visible, literate or active, leaving behind those who would need additional support and reinforcing even more the status quo. In order to foster a more democratic and participatory society, it is important to create initiatives that are more inclusive and empower individuals to control their own development. In this thesis, I propose a framework for the design and analysis of technological initiatives for social empowerment and I apply the framework in the implementation of two initiatives that focus primarily on youth participation and local civic engagement. In the Young Activists Network initiative, I worked with youth technology centers from different parts of the world organizing young people to become agents of change in the places where they live. In spite of the localized successes, the Young Activists Network approach required so much effort from our partner community organizations and volunteers that it would be virtually impossible to sustain it over time and scale it to other sites. Based on the lessons learned, I started the What's Up Lawrence project, an initiative that aimed at building a self-reinforcing, city-wide network to help young people in the organization of personally meaningful community events. (cont.) In order to support such a network, I built What's Up, a neighborhood news system that combines the power of the telephone and of the web to make it easier for young people to share information, promote community events, and find out what is happening in their region. This thesis provides a detailed description of these initiatives. It also highlights the main technical, educational and organizational elements that have to be considered in the implementation of technological initiatives for social empowerment and suggests the creation of a special organization to help in the adoption and refinement of such initiatives. by Leo Burd. Ph.D.

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Kayitare, Emmanuel. "Factors Affecting Rwandan Informal Sector Workers' Participation in Public Pension Schemes." ScholarWorks, 2016. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/2551.

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Social security is one of the key pillars of socioeconomic development in developing countries. Despite being an internationally recognized basic right and a key pillar of socioeconomic development, it does not protect the majority of the global workforce. Over 90% of workers in developing countries do not have social security coverage, the greatest percentage belonging to informal sector. In Rwanda, the national government has stepped up efforts to extend coverage to the wider population, but informal sector workers have not joined the existing pension scheme in significant numbers, and the reasons for which are unclear. Guided by Maloney's theory of voluntarism; the purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the factors affecting the level of workers' participation in informal sector in pension scheme in Rwanda. This study was designed to provide new insights into the current social security situation of informal sector workers in Rwanda and to contribute to the knowledge base on social security and the informal sector. The research questions focused on awareness, income levels, and other factors that can address the social security needs of informal sector workers. Data were collected from 22 active workers from informal sector and 5 officials from ministries and agencies who were well-versed with social security issues. Data were analyzed via Moustakas's steps of epoche, phenomenological reduction, imaginative narration, and synthesis of texture and structure. The results revealed that low incomes, lack of awareness, poor benefit design, distrust of public schemes, and frustrating laws and procedures were hindering the increased public pension coverage of informal sector workers in Rwanda. These findings will help Rwandan policy makers to promote positive social change by informing policies that enhance social protection of workers in informal sector.

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Gabriella, Johansson. "Participatory Art for Social Change? : A study of the quest for genuine participation." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Malmö högskola, Institutionen för konst, kultur och kommunikation (K3), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-36700.

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A number of theories suggest that participatory arts based approaches have the potential to contribute to development and social change. However, the nature of participation and participative approaches is multi-layered and complex, and critics have voiced concern for depicting participatory art initiatives in an oversimplified, uncriticised positivistic manner. The danger of such assumptions lay in the risk of manipulation, where non-genuine participation could contribute to the reinforcement of oppressive power structures and the dominating hegemony. This study explores the intersection of art, participation and development, and further aims to discuss the process of identifying the emancipatory possibilities and limitations of participatory art for development and social change. Using a combination of a constructivist case study approach and critical discourse analysis, two participatory art organisations are analysed with the intention to define each organisations’ understanding of the nature of participatory art, and further how this is reflected in the implementation of their work. The findings suggest that both organisations, to a certain degree, communicate an understanding of participation that reflect previous theories on genuine participation. Additionally, the findings suggest that this understanding is reflected in the practical work of the organisations.

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Hadi, Hasan Al-Yassiry Zainab. "The Political Participation of Iraqi Immigrants in Malmö-Sweden." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-23714.

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This study aimed to analyze the factors that encourage or discourage the political participation of Iraqi immigrants in their host country - Sweden. The study was conducted in Malmö city and data were gathered through ‘focus group interview’ that involved 12 Iraqi immigrants who are living in Malmö (residents non-citizens and naturalized). The participants represented a diverse sample since they belonged to multi-ethnic and religious minorities within the Iraqi community. Data were analyzed using qualitative method whereas the concepts of political integration, political participation, and belonging were applied as the theoretical framework. The participants of the study assigned diverse meanings to political participation. According to the findings the factors that encourage or discourage Iraqi immigrants in political participation in Malmö, Sweden have various shapes. The results revealed that women are less likely to vote than men, and political participation decreases with the increase in income level, age, and education. On the other hand, the culmination of social and economic disadvantages can lead immigrants to have less desire to engage in both institutionalized and non-institutionalized forms of political activities in Sweden. Although Sweden has provided its immigrants with various political rights following the Treaty of Amsterdam (Council Tampere 1999) most of the participants criticized the Swedish government for not having a formal mechanism to educate them on their rights before and after the naturalization. In sum, the findings of the current study imply that there is a negative impact on the political participation of immigrants by their past political experiences in non-democratic countries. All Iraqi participants of this study might have been affected by their previous political experiences in Iraq. It may have caused a trauma, which in turn has discouraged them in political participation even after moving to a democratic country such as Sweden.

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Talwar, Sonia. "Spatializing science and technology studies : exploring the role of GIS and interactive social research." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/755.

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This thesis is an interdisciplinary study based on the interplay between science, technology and society in order to inform the design of knowledge exploration systems. It provides a rationale for the integration of science knowledge, geographic information, with digital libraries to build knowledge and awareness about sustainability. A theoretical reconceptualization of knowledge building is provided that favours interactive engagement with information and argues against a traditional model of science production and communication that is linear and unidirectional. The elements of contextualization, classification and communication form the core of the reconceptualization. Since many information systems entrench the traditional model of science production, the three elements are considered in light of library and information science and geographic information science. The use of geographic information systems is examined to identify how they can be used as part of a social learning model for scientific, social, cultural, and environmental issues to further assist people in connecting to place and sustainability. Empirical data was collected from four case studies. One case study centred on the design and development of a web-based digital library called the Georgia Basin Digital Library, another two case studies focused on the use of part of this digital library with youth, senior and environmental groups in south-western British Columbia. The remaining case study observed a community deliberation to consider how knowledge exploration systems might support deliberation in future processes. The case study research confirms that collaborative research with communities is a fruitful way to engage with sustainability issues. Such collaborations require consideration of institutional arrangements, information collections, relationship building, technology transfer and capacity building.

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Sun, Lei. "Public participation in the urban regeneration process : a comparative study between China and the UK." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 2015. http://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/2038501/.

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The primary aim of this research is to explore how the urban regeneration policies and practices are shaped by the larger social, political and economic structures respectively in China and the UK and how individual agents involved in the regeneration process formulate their strategies and take their actions and at the same time use discourses to legitimize their actions. It further probed the lessons could be learned by both countries from each other’s success or failure in implementing the regeneration initiatives. This thesis adopts a cross-national comparative strategy and intensively referenced the Variegated Neoliberalism, Neoliberal Urbanism and Critical Urban theory when developing its theoretical framework. The comparison was conducted at three levels. At national level, the evolution of urban regeneration and public participation policies and practices in both countries are compared; at city level, the neoliberal urban policies and their impacts on the development of two selected cities, which are respectively Liverpool in the UK and Xi’an in China are compared; at the micro level, the major players’ interactions and the discourses they used to underpin their actions in two selected case studies, which are the Kensington Regeneration in Liverpool and Drum Tower Muslim District in Xi’an are examined and compared. In carrying out the study, literatures regarding the transformation of urban policies in the two countries, detailed information in relation to the two selected cities and case studies are reviewed. Around 35 semi-structured interviews have been conducted. The research results had demonstrated the suitability of the Variegated Neoliberalism in explaining how the process of neoliberalization in both China and the UK are affected by non-market elements. It is found that the stage of economic development, the degree of decentralization, the feature of politics and the degree of state intervention in economic areas had played a significant role in shaping the unique features of urban regeneration policies in the two countries. In spite of the differences, similar trends towards neoliberalization could be found in the evolution of urban regeneration policies and practices in both countries, including the elimination of public housing and low-rent accommodation, the creation of opportunities for speculative investment in real estate markets, the official discourses of urban disorder as well as the ‘entrepreneurial’ discourses and representations focused on urban revitalization and reinvestment are playing significant roles in the formation and implementation of regeneration policies in both countries. Moreover, similar tactics are used by municipal government in both countries to conquer resistances from local residents. In the research, it is also found that the discourses used by the municipal government in describing the regeneration project is heavily influenced by the Neoliberal Urbanism, which is significantly different from that used by local residents who intensively referenced concepts from the Critical Urban theory. It is suggested that the Chinese government should from its British counterpart’s experience in introducing partnerships in delivering urban regeneration programs and at the same to learn how to use the formal venues to resolve conflicts resulted in physical regeneration programs. For the British government, lessons could be learnt from China’s successful experiences in decentralization and the empowerment of municipalities.

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Robinson, George Chapman. "Managers in teams: How valuing individualism or collectivism affects their participation." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 1994. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1060879807.

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Sleight, Richard. "Citizen participation within UK pension fund responsible investment decisions." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-23381.

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Pensions funds represent the collective savings of millions of people and the decisions and actions they take can be greatly beneficial or detrimental to the global economy, society, and the lives of people around the world. The aim of this project is to investigate the possibilities of citizen participation in relation to responsible investment in UK occupational pension funds, and what the barriers and opportunities are for citizens, in this context pension holders, to participate in financial decisions made on their behalf. The research questions focus on the arguments for and against such participation, in general and in relation to using an online voting platform. Qualitative interviews with Responsible Investment Advocates are used to scope ideas around participation, and the study is grounded in a social constructionist theory of meaning. This project sits at the intersection of two fields: Responsible Investment and Participatory Communication for Social Change. The main findings of this project are that RI Advocates disagree over the necessity for such citizen participation, as a process for change and as a goal. The perceived benefits of citizen participation ranged from empowerment, accountability, power redistribution and structural change. Barriers to participation exist based upon the current investment system, with the main barrier perceived as a lack of demand from the investment industry, wider civil society, and significantly citizens. It was stated in interviews that citizen participation is a relatively ignored area within Responsible Investment, and therefore much can be learned from existing C4D research and practice.

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Hall, Alysha Ramirez. "Peer Aggression and Victimization During Adolescence: The Role of Extracurricular Activity Participation in Social Cognitions." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/612853.

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Peer aggression and victimization are currently of national concern due to their high association with maladjustment. Moreover, peer aggression and victimization can occur as different forms (overt, relational) and functions (proactive, reactive), which are usually not examined within the same model. Peer aggression and victimization within the school context can be the result of individually developed negative social cognitions. These negative cognitions, based within social information processing theory, include outcome expectancies and values for pain and suffering. In addition, positive cognitions such as perceived social competence can decrease adverse outcomes such as peer aggression and victimization. This project seeks to take previous research and expand upon it in two ways: 1) examine overt, relational, proactive, and reactive aggression and victimization as separate constructs, within the same model, in association with outcome values, expectancies, and perceived social competence; and 2) examine the potential of extracurricular activities to serve as a buffer between maladjusted cognitions and aggression and victimization. In addition, this study will examine if these relationships differ by activity type, age and gender. Participants included 371 middle and high school students. Findings point toward the importance of examining the separate functions of aggression and victimization, as outcome values and expectancies are associated specifically with higher levels of proactive aggression and victimization and reactive aggression. Activity participation, particularly activities that are not associated with the school that the participant attends, seems to be serving as a buffer against maladjusted cognitions and functions of aggression and victimization. Specifically, having high efficacy for activity participation (ability to meet expectations within activity) serves a buffer for both reactive aggression and reactive victimization. Activity participation benefits appear to not be present if the individual is only participating because their parents are forcing them to be there. No group differences were found. These findings serve to demonstrate the importance of establishing fit of activity context for youth as well as their motivation for participation. More broadly, it is important to examine functions of aggression and victimization in the same model as the forms of aggression and victimization. By better understanding the moderating role of activities, schools can potentially have a low cost intervention tool for peer aggression and victimization difficulties.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Social participation. Social sciences'

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