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This thesis presents a qualitative analysis of organized amateur dance participation as an example of human group life. Organized amateur dance typically occurs within a studio or school setting and is differentiated from professional dance by the lack of monetary compensation provided to performers. Consequently, this thesis considers the dance studio as an arena for pursuing hobby-based interests and activities, as well as notions of providing entertainment as entertainment in and of itself. Using a symbolic interactionist theoretical perspective in conjunction with ethnographic methodology, this thesis analyzes the centrality of performance among amateur dance participants, related to group-based definitions of competitions and recitals as the most significant aspects of their dance involvements. By envisioning competitions and recitals as instances of coordinated activity, this thesis employs Prus’ (1997: 135) conceptual model for participating in collective events as a means of highlighting the processual quality characteristic of developing performance events. Further, this thesis uses Goffman’s (1959) conceptualization of team-based dynamics as a means of illustrating how meanings about the group, the activity at hand and the event being anticipated are created, negotiated and perpetuated in a group-based setting. Data obtained from the observation of dance groups as they prepared for and engaged in competitions and recitals as well as open-ended interviews with twenty members of the amateur dance community is used to illustrate the various stages of accomplishing performance events. This analysis begins with participant experiences in initiating events and becoming involved with them, followed by a discussion on how these groups prepare for, sustain and participate in performance events. While this thesis focuses predominantly on amateur dance involvements, it also provides a transcontextual analysis of the interactionist concept of the collective event, through comparisons with research conducted on groups based on activities other than dance. Through field data and these various comparisons, this thesis finds that working toward and participating in group-based ventures encourages the development of a team- based awareness and sense of purpose among the participants of a wide variety of activities. Because having a central focus and common awareness with regard to an activity is integral to the sustained commitments and involvements of participants, this thesis finds the interactionist notion of collective events to be a central feature of human lived experience.

Software maintenance accounts for the most part of the software development cost and efforts, with its major activities focused on the detection, location, analysis and removal of defects present in the software. Although software defects can be originated, and be present, at any phase of the software development life-cycle, implementation (i.e., source code) contains more than three-fourths of the total defects. Due to the diverse nature of the defects, their detection and analysis activities have to be carried out by equally diverse tools, often necessitating the application of multiple tools for reasonable defect coverage that directly increases maintenance overhead. Unified detection tools are known to combine different specialized techniques into a single and massive core, resulting in operational difficulty and maintenance cost increment. The objective of this research was to search for a technique that can detect dissimilar defects using a simplified model and a single methodology, both of which should contribute in creating an easy-to-acquire solution. Following this goal, a ‘Supervised Automation Framework’ named FlexTax was developed for semi-automatic defect mapping and taxonomy generation, which was then applied on a large-scale real-world defect dataset to generate a comprehensive Defect Taxonomy that was verified using machine learning classifiers and manual verification. This Taxonomy, along with an extensive literature survey, was used for comprehension of the properties of different classes of defects, and for developing Defect Similarity Metrics. The Taxonomy, and the Similarity Metrics were then used to develop a defect detection model and associated techniques, collectively named Symbolic Range Tuple Analysis, or SRTA. SRTA relies on Symbolic Analysis, Path Summarization and Range Propagation to detect dissimilar classes of defects using a simplified set of operations. To verify the effectiveness of the technique, SRTA was evaluated by processing multiple real-world open-source systems, by direct comparison with three state-of-the-art tools, by a controlled experiment, by using an established Benchmark, by comparison with other tools through secondary data, and by a large-scale fault-injection experiment conducted using a Mutation-Injection Framework, which relied on the taxonomy developed earlier for the definition of mutation rules. Experimental results confirmed SRTA’s practicality, generality, scalability and accuracy, and proved SRTA’s applicability as a new Defect Detection Technique.

This thesis presents a qualitative analysis of organized amateur dance participation as an example of human group life. Organized amateur dance typically occurs within a studio or school setting and is differentiated from professional dance by the lack of monetary compensation provided to performers. Consequently, this thesis considers the dance studio as an arena for pursuing hobby-based interests and activities, as well as notions of providing entertainment as entertainment in and of itself. Using a symbolic interactionist theoretical perspective in conjunction with ethnographic methodology, this thesis analyzes the centrality of performance among amateur dance participants, related to group-based definitions of competitions and recitals as the most significant aspects of their dance involvements. By envisioning competitions and recitals as instances of coordinated activity, this thesis employs Prus’ (1997: 135) conceptual model for participating in collective events as a means of highlighting the processual quality characteristic of developing performance events. Further, this thesis uses Goffman’s (1959) conceptualization of team-based dynamics as a means of illustrating how meanings about the group, the activity at hand and the event being anticipated are created, negotiated and perpetuated in a group-based setting. Data obtained from the observation of dance groups as they prepared for and engaged in competitions and recitals as well as open-ended interviews with twenty members of the amateur dance community is used to illustrate the various stages of accomplishing performance events. This analysis begins with participant experiences in initiating events and becoming involved with them, followed by a discussion on how these groups prepare for, sustain and participate in performance events. While this thesis focuses predominantly on amateur dance involvements, it also provides a transcontextual analysis of the interactionist concept of the collective event, through comparisons with research conducted on groups based on activities other than dance. Through field data and these various comparisons, this thesis finds that working toward and participating in group-based ventures encourages the development of a team- based awareness and sense of purpose among the participants of a wide variety of activities. Because having a central focus and common awareness with regard to an activity is integral to the sustained commitments and involvements of participants, this thesis finds the interactionist notion of collective events to be a central feature of human lived experience.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Texas, August, 2009. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Inaug.-diss.--Universität zu Münster. / Lebenslauf. Autographic reproduction of type-written copy; printed t.p. "Die vorliegende arbeit is aus einer bearbeitung der preisaufgabe 'Der gegenwärtige stand des verhältnisses von logik und mathematik, mit besonderer berücksichtigung des Frege-Russellschen aufbaus der arithmetik' hervorgegangen, die die Philosophische und naturwessenschaftliche fakult ät der Imoversotät Münster i. W. ... für das studienjahr 1932-1933 gestellt hatte, und is nach zuerkennung des preises im frühjahr 1933 ... als dissertation. Issued also as Forschungen zur Logistik und Zur grundlegung der exacten wissenschafter, hrsg. von Heinrich Scholz ... hft. 1. "Literatureverzeichnis": p. 78.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Notre Dame, 2004. / Thesis directed by Michael Detlefsen and Patricia Blanchette for the Department of Philosophy. "April 2004." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-122).

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