<p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This thesis is a part of a larger collaboration between students during the spring semester of 2009. The aim was to work together in order to collect more data and allow deeper analysis in the specific area chosen by each student-group. The goal was to come up with advice for banks on how to target immigrants in Sweden.</p><p>During this process a common theoretical framework was decided on and a questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was written in English and later translated to several other languages in order to reach some of the target groups that were not fluent in English.</p><p>The chosen structure of each paper was to write it more like an article than a “traditional” master thesis.</p>

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This thesis examined factors affecting Chinese Canadians visitation to local parks and distant parks. These factors included environment identity, leisure attitudes, attitudes towards parks, level of acculturation and marginality. It was anticipated that these factors would positively predict Chinese Canadians visitation to parks. Convenience sampling of Chinese Canadians was conducted at three cities, Vancouver, Toronto and Edmonton. A self-completed questionnaire was used to collect data. The average response rate was 42%; 624 questionnaires were input into the data file. Passive activities characterized respondents participation in park-based activities. Lack of time was the most frequently reported constraint to visiting parks. Respondents suggestions for improving the park visitor experience included better and more accessible washrooms and parking lots, more entertainment facilities and more facilities for children. Respondents reported high levels of environmental identity, positive attitudes towards parks, and positive attitudes towards leisure, as well as moderate levels of acculturation. Results from multiple regression analysis revealed that only environmental identity positively predicted visits to local and distant parks.

Many thinkers argue that major differences among languages lead to major differences in experience and thought. Each speech community possibly embodies a distinct world view. The purpose of this study was to explore, through the use of proverbs, the relationship between acculturation and world views among monolingual and bilingual Chinese, with proficiency in Chinese and/or English used a proxy for level of acculturation. Data were collected through questionnaires and qualitative interviews regarding attitudes to English and Chinese proverbs. Data were analyzed by means of SPSS and modified grounded theory methodology. The statistical and qualitative findings contradicted each other: the former found a significant effect for monolingual English speakers, while the latter indicated much more mixed responses with no clear patterns related to language. Implications of findings were discussed and a “global view” was proposed to take the place of a culturally-based world view.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-99).

Thesis (MSS(Sociology))-University of Pretoria, 2006. / Abstract in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references.

The sociocultural model of eating disorders suggests that awareness of a thin physical ideal directly affects internalization of that ideal, which in turn, directly affects body dissatisfaction. The current study evaluated the general accuracy of the sociocultural model and examined the potential for ethnicity to protect against eating disorder symptomatology by moderating the relationships between awareness and internalization and between internalization and body dissatisfaction. Spanish (n = 100), Mexican American (n = 100), and Euro-American (n = 100) female participants completed various questionnaires measuring sociocultural attitudes towards appearance and body dissatisfaction. Analysis of covariance with tests of homogeneity of slope and path analysis using maximum likelihood with robust standard errors tested the two relationships by ethnic group. Results supported the sociocultural model: there was strong evidence for the mediational effect of internalization on the relationship between awareness and body dissatisfaction. Furthermore, ethnicity moderated the relationships such that both relationships were significantly stronger for Euro-American women than for Mexican American or Spanish women. Within the Mexican American group level of acculturation also moderated these relationships. Taken together, the results of this study highlight how ethnicity can protect against the development of eating disorder symptoms. Denouncing the thin ideal, minimizing appearance as an indicator of female value, and emphasizing personal traits other than appearance as determinants of worth are important in protecting against the development of body dissatisfaction and more severe eating pathology.

Background: Acquisitions are a well-known method for increasing company size and strength on the market. But to reach the targets set, more than just a positive economic calculation is required. An atmosphere that supports the company's integration is needed, for which it is of great importance for management to understand the underlying sets of values that exist in the organisation, and to take into consideration the way they might become an obstacle or a tool for a successful integration. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explain and understand how cultural change occurs and how it affects the employee, as a smaller company is bought and integrated into a larger organisation. Procedure: The analysis is based on theories on organisational culture and organisational change. Data was collected through personal interviews with five employees at Sydkraft Service Partners (SSP), but also the authors'own observations and Sydkraft's internal press material, have contributed to the knowledge of the case company. Conclusions: The culture in SPP is structured after a model based on levels of consciousness, where the visual aspects on culture (the artefacts) are considered to reflect the underlying sets of values and fundamental notions that the culture consists of. These are partly influenced by the artefacts, but can also be of a threat to the culture change process. To accomplish a successful integration, good leadership that can communicate the new set of values is required.

This study was designed to explore the acculturation experiences of military-related immigrant wives enrolled in an ESL program in a selected community college. More specifically, the purpose of the study was to understand the personal and structural forces that facilitated or hindered their acculturation process into their community of residence and whether their participation and retention in ESL classes contributed to their acculturation. Using a qualitative design with the basic interpretive paradigm, data collection consisted of face-to-face interviews with 14 immigrant military wives from 10 differing countries who were either enrolled or had been enrolled in a community college ESL program. The site chosen served a multicultural population of military spouses who enrolled in educational programs that offered English language development. The nearest ESL program, located at a community college near the military base, became an information-rich site for the study. The findings from the study highlighted the role of English language as an essential element to adjustment into the society of the United States for military immigrant wives, leading to acculturation and subsequently personal transformation. The data revealed both external and internal forces that influenced the acculturation process. External (structural) forces included community, workforce, the military, and an educational institution. The secondary forces included racial discrimination, cultural differences, and social networks within the community. Internal forces included love and care and self-efficacy. Self-efficacy was manifested through their persistence, patience, and resilience.

This thesis is a part of a larger collaboration between students during the spring semester of 2009. The aim was to work together in order to collect more data and allow deeper analysis in the specific area chosen by each student-group. The goal was to come up with advice for banks on how to target immigrants in Sweden. During this process a common theoretical framework was decided on and a questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was written in English and later translated to several other languages in order to reach some of the target groups that were not fluent in English. The chosen structure of each paper was to write it more like an article than a “traditional” master thesis.