<p>This project aims to investigate the impact of culture on the results of established methods of usability testing. The production and use of technologically advanced information and communication applications are no longer restricted to the Western world, and there are indications that usability testing procedures developed for use in, e.g., Europe or the US do not give reliable results in countries such as India, China or Malaysia. This project is an in-depth investigation of the cultural specifics that go into usability test situations in three countries: Denmark, India and China. In a second phase we want to explore possible developments of the testing methods in order to avoid cultural bias and produce comparable results across countries of the world</p> / This research is a part of project of Culturalusability. http://culturalusability.cbs.dk/

<p>This thesis discusses the recent change in EU’s immigration policy. EU’s restrictive policies may be changed by the two proposals, COM(2007)637 and COM(2007)638, presented in October 2007. These proposals were formed during a process in which representatives from the African Union (AU) were present in discussions about migration. Using official documents from EU and AU, we study this inter-regional interaction process with the English School theories of “international society” and with a Social Constructivist ontological model describing the relationship between agents, structure and institutions/regimes. We find that the proposal changes the trans-regional migration regime, and by extension the structure and the trans-regional world order. This will probably lead to an increase in the number of African labour immigrants in the EU, which may enlarge the trans-regional “world society” and, in turn, the inter-regional “international society”.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed November 17, 2009). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Southern California.

Aim: Banks’ settlement of handling cash and the technological developments of our payment services, leaves us guessing at the outlooks of consumers’ payment systems. One of the new payment options arising from this development is mobile payment. With access to internet, mobile payment can take over the role as the primary method of payment, as it can be used on any occasion. Questions are raised about which factors that are affecting the future users’ attitude to use mobile payment, and if the service can be a threat to the traditional card payments. Method: This study is based on a quantitative method by the means of a survey design. Questionnaires are used in order to collect a considerable amount of data. A deductive approach is used to formulate hypotheses from existing theory, which is tested with various statistic methods. Result &amp; Conclusions: The study results display a significant relationship between the users’ attitude to start using mobile payment and compatibility and usefulness. The variable that showed no significant relationship was ease of use. The results also showed that the method of card payment is accepted and is therefore main competitor for mobile payment. Suggestions for future research: To investigate which factors future users value between the variables compatibility and usefulness is a possible suggestion for future research. When these two were found to have a relationship with attitude, it can affect the future users’ acceptance to mobile payment. It would also be interesting to examine a merchant’s perspective to identify who intends to offer such services. This is an important aspect, as the study results showed that the respondents had lower response rates regarding whether mobile payment could be associated with the availability for use in the market. Contribution of the thesis: The study highlights future users’ acceptance of mobile payment and which factors that can be driving for increased spread. The result can provide ideas on what incentives are neccessary to be focused on, to get more of the younger generation to develop a positive attitude towards this service and then apply it. The study results also provide an insight for card companies, as they seek knowledge whether the mobile payment is a threat in the current situation.

This dissertation is structured in the form of two empirical essays, each investigating one type of irrational decision caused by mental accounting. The first essay, titled "Managing the Cost of Multiple Debt Accounts: A Behavioral Perspective", explores why many people pay off credit cards' with the lowest rate first when rationally speaking they should repay the debt with the highest rate most quickly. This essay suggests that irrationality emerges when people seek to close `mental accounts' associated with their credit cards and reduce the total number of outstanding loans rather than decrease the amount of total debt among all credit cards. Consumers want to be debt free. If they can get rid of debt, on even one credit card, they feel a sense of accomplishment which psychologically helps them manage remainder of their debt better. The second essay, titled "Saving by Overspending", explores consumers' over-expenditure and indulgent consumption when they make prepayments in the form of time, effort, or money toward a consumption goal. This essay proposes that people subconsciously try to get their prepayments' worth, but in fact they may be spending their money irrationally. In addition, contrary to common knowledge, this essay suggests that when a prepayment is unanticipated, the loss of self-control is often more prominent when prepayments are made with behavioral resources (e.g., time or effort) than equivalent monetary resources.

The level of university students' financial literacy has been discussed in Congress, opinion pieces in the media and the increasing level of student debt has been used to suggest their financial illiteracy. This study investigated the financial literacy of graduating university seniors by comparing their financial literacy level with their debt level. The difference in financial literacy levels of business majors, minors and non-business majors was assessed. The relationship between graduating university seniors' financial literacy level and their credit card and student loan debt was also reviewed. Gender, employment status, ethnicity, family income and college major were similarly examined to see if they were predictors of financial literacy levels and debt levels. Although financial literacy is frequently discussed in the national arena there is no clear definition of financial literacy; this ambiguity has led to multiple definitions. In this study, financial literacy was defined as "an individual's ability to obtain, understand, and evaluate the relevant information necessary to make decisions with an awareness of the likely financial consequences" (Mason & Wilson, 2000). The Jump$tart questionnaire (Mandell, 2004) was used to calculate participants' financial literacy level. The study found that the majority of the students had a high level of financial literacy with an average financial literacy score of 72.56% and with students majoring in business performing significantly better than non-business students. The use of debt level as an indicator of financial literacy level was found to be incorrect. No relationship was identified between financial literacy level and credit card debt or student loan debt. The study also found that demographic factors could not be used to predict financial literacy level and debt level. It was found that the majority of participants learned about managing money either on their own or at home from family members. More than half of the participants expressed an interest in taking a personal finance class but less than 20% were aware that this course was offered at their university. More effective methods are recommended to ensure that students become more aware such courses being offered on campus.

In this thesis, we propose a ubiquitous and interoperable device based on the smart card architecture to meet the challenges of privacy, trust, and security for traditional and emerging technologies like personal computers, smart phones and tablets. Such a device is referred as User Centric Tamper-Resistant Device (UCTD). To support the smart card architecture for the UCTD initiative, we propose the delegation of smart card ownership from a stringent centralised authority (i.e. the card issuer) to users. This delegation mandated the review of existing smart card mechanisms and their adequate modifications/improvements. Since the inception of smart card technology, the most prevalent ownership model in the smart card industry has been the Issuer Centric Smart Card Ownership Model (ICOM). The ICOM has no doubt played a pivotal role in the proliferation of the technology into various segments of modern life. However, it has been a barrier to the convergence of different services on a smart card. In addition, it might be considered as a hurdle to the adaption of smart card technology into a general-purpose security device. To avoid these issues, we propose citizen ownership of smart cards, referred as the User Centric Smart Card Ownership Model (UCOM). Contrary to the ICOM, it gives the power of decision to install or delete an application on a smart card to its user. The ownership of corresponding applications remains with their respective application providers along with the choice to lease their application to a card or not. In addition, based on the UCOM framework, we also proposed the Coopetitive Architecture for Smart Cards (CASC) that merges the centralised control of card issuers with the provision of application choice to the card user. In the core of the thesis, we analyse the suitability of the existing smart card architectures for the UCOM. This leads to the proposal of three major contributions spanning the smart card architecture, the application management framework, and the execution environment. Furthermore, we propose protocols for the application installation mechanism and the application sharing mechanism (i.e. smart card firewall). In addition to this, we propose a framework for backing-up, migrating, and restoring the smart card contents. Finally, we provide the test implementation results of the proposed protocols along with their performance measures. The protocols are then compared in terms of features and performance with existing smart cards and internet protocols. In order to provide a more detailed analysis of proposed protocols and for the sake of completeness, we performed mechanical formal analysis using the CasperFDR.

The concept and practice of watershed management have evolved since the early twentieth century and continue to change. Contemporary watershed management, as a means to improve environmental, social, and economic well-being, is generally accepted world-wide and is gaining popularity. Recognition of the ever-changing, complex, conflicting, and unpredictable nature of the forces that influence ecological and human systems has given rise to concepts and principles related to ecological or watershed health, sustainability, and good governance. Numerous terms have emerged to describe and explain contemporary watershed management processes that incorporate these concepts and principles, including ‘integrated’ and ‘sustainable’ watershed management. While there is growing consensus that integrated or sustainable watershed management should be practiced, there is little agreement on what these two terms mean and how they differ. The rational comprehensive or synoptic model is a widely-accepted normative framework to guide watershed management processes. This model presumes a ‘top-down’ linear, systematic, and logical sequence of steps characterized by complete knowledge of the issues and consequences of actions and dominated by rational decision making – circumstances that rarely happen in real life. Implementation gaps between theory and practice exist because of persistent and common challenges relating to complexity, conflict, uncertainty, and change in human and ecological systems. Failure to account for these factors has restricted the utility of this model for guiding watershed management processes, prompting questions about how the model might be adjusted to incorporate concepts and principles associated with watershed health, sustainability, and good governance. In response to the need to demonstrate progress towards watershed health and sustainability, a growing number of watershed organizations in Canada are pioneering the development of indicator-based assessment reports. The actual versus anticipated outcomes of watershed indicator reports and their existing and potential role in the watershed management process have not been systematically assessed or compared. A review of academic and professional literature and a mixed methods research approach comparing 13 case studies from 7 provinces across Canada were used to explore these knowledge gaps. A more in-depth investigation of two of the case studies, the Fraser Basin Council and the Humber Watershed Alliance, was also completed. Contextual factors influencing the practice of watershed management and the process used for developing watershed report cards are identified through an analysis of available documents. This information is supplemented with opinions gathered from 109 in-depth and semi-structured interviews/questionnaires. In addition, informants provided viewpoints regarding the usefulness, effectiveness, benefits, and value of watershed report cards, along with ideas about how they can be improved. This study concludes that while sustainable watershed management (SWM) and integrated watershed management (IWM) are closely aligned concepts, the distinguishing factor is scope. The primary goal of SWM is environmental, social, and economic sustainability within a watershed unit, whereas the central focus of IWM is the protection and/or restoration of water and land resources within a watershed to sustain human well-being. In Canada, IWM rather than SWM is generally pursued. Nevertheless, sustainability is an ultimate goal of IWM. Sustainability principles are acknowledged, valued, and applied. This study concludes that IWM can play a significant role in supporting a broad sustainability agenda. This study contributes to a growing body of knowledge seeking to enrich the theory of watershed management and improve and streamline practice. To improve the utility of the rational comprehensive model for guiding contemporary watershed management, modifications are presented which include separate phases for visioning and learning and couch the process within an overall conceptual framework that balances management, research, and monitoring activities. These adjustments reflect the concepts of integration, collaboration, and shared learning and acknowledge the shift away from ‘command and control’ bureaucratic processes to collaborative ‘middle ground’ polycentric governance structures. Rather than focusing strictly on a sequence of steps and a prescribed process, the consideration of a series of context-specific questions is advocated to help scope and streamline processes to match stakeholder capacity, address issues of greatest concern, and sustain interest and enthusiasm. However, concerted effort is required to counteract competing and entrenched socio-political and economic doctrines and traditions. Monitoring, evaluating, and reporting are key components in the IWM process. Study findings reveal that watershed report cards in Canada are a fledgling tool and no standard approach exists. Each case-study watershed organization has a unique approach to selecting, organizing, and presenting indicators. As a result, report card styles and formats vary. Despite a general consensus that watershed report cards are worthwhile, expectations often exceed outcomes, and common traits which challenge their effectiveness exist. The usefulness and effectiveness of watershed report cards are hampered by several common shortfalls: (1) universal lack of consistent, spatially-specific, and timely data, (2) inconsistent measures and indicators between successive watershed reports, (3) ambiguous or non-existent goals, objectives, targets, and benchmarks, and (4) messages that are unclear, difficult to understand, or fail to resonate with the target audiences. The ‘lessons learned’ from an assessment of the attributes and perceived benefits of watershed report cards parallel those discovered for community indicator initiatives. Building on this research, recommendations for improvement include (1) focus on stakeholder issues of prime concern, (2) use consistent measures and indicators, (3) limit the number of indicators and simplify report card styles and formats, (4) select spatially explicit, temporally relevant, and science-based indicators and measures, (5) explain and illustrate major cause-effect linkages, (6) use the report card process to build a constituency of support, (7) incorporate marketing and outreach activities, and (8) introduce performance measures to assess efficiency and how well collective practice demonstrates sustainability principles. This study concludes that opportunities exist for improving watershed report cards and boosting their multi-purpose role as a predominant planning, assessment, advocacy, communication, learning, and research tool in support of IWM, and ultimately, sustainability.

This thesis examines the role of racialized practices in the discourses and processes that alter place identity. Drawing on ethnography from the East Village of Buckhead, a once vibrant nightlife district in Atlanta, I examine how discourses of danger, colorblindness, and the race card have been employed to “whitewash” the discussions about the redevelopment of the Village. In effect, the business and civic elite of Atlanta (and Buckhead) deployed racialized conceptualizations of group identity. In particular, they utilized “public safety” discourses to influence the Atlanta city government to support the redevelopment effort. This led to the elimination of the establishments that attracted African American partygoers in large numbers. Using interviews with government agents, night club operators, and Buckhead civic and business leaders, combined with archival analysis of newspaper accounts, I implemented a hybrid content-discourse analysis to explore the ways in which the discourses of race and place concerning the East Village changed between 2000 and 2008.