This research project explores factors affecting sustainability initiatives within educational institutions. Using grounded theory and mixed-methods, the project evaluates the experiences and perspective of nineteen individuals involved with sustainability initiatives in schools. Twelve research participants are from one school community while the other seven are sustainability programme coordinators at a range of educational institutions. Results indicate that significant life experiences and situational factors both have an impact on an individual’s perspective on sustainability. The success of sustainability initiatives relies heavily on keen advocates for sustainability within the community and the support ascribed to sustainability by the institution. Providing engaging, hands-on experiences, supporting individuals and groups, and encouraging role modeling can foster an ethic of sustainability across the community. The outcome of this research project is a framework designed to help individuals and institutions in their efforts to support and implement sustainability initiatives. Keywords: Sustainability, education, barriers, environment

Problem: Showrooming phenomenon refers to the customer behavior of physically experiencing the product in a physical store before purchasing it from online stores. It is becoming increasingly prevalent today and has attracted the interest of academia. However, the majority of the existing studies explored this phenomenon from the perspective of retailers. The concern for different retailers’ gain and loss in showrooming process caused debate on how to define and interpret this phenomenon. Moreover, there are few existing studies that investigating this behavior from the consumers’ lens.  There seems to be a need for research focused on the customers’ showrooming experience and understand this phenomenon from their lens.   Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore what is showrooming phenomenon from customer’s perspective through investigating customers' personal showrooming experience in order to shed more light on the positive side of showrooming.   Method: Based on a social constructionism philosophy, this qualitative study utilizes a grounded theory strategy. In order to gather data through grounded theory method, in-depth interviews and a grounded analysis have been conducted. The analysis is conducted in three steps. First, in initial coding, codes and concepts are identified. Second, in axial coding, concepts are grouped into categories. Finally, in selective coding, categories are connected and grouped based on the intrinsic relationship between different categories. Also, the paradigm is built in these final step.   Conclusions: This study builds the paradigm model of showrooming phenomenon through exploring the experiences of showroomers. In the paradigm, the different conditions in the process are identified, including the core phenomenon, causal condition, contextual condition, intervening condition, action, consequences. Through building the model, this study explores the incentives and consequences of showroomers, the different influential factors during showrooming process, and the interpretations and perceptions from customer’s perspective.

The aim of this study was to produce a grounded theory to describe the experiences of international students living in the UK and studying in a British university, and to understand and explain their behavioural responses to those experiences. Eighteen postgraduate international students were interviewed at a university in the south-west of England and the data was analysed using classic grounded theory methodology. The theory proposes that international students’ two biggest concerns are in regard to their English language skills and their detachment from home students. Students felt that their language skills were inadequate and they perceived themselves to be disadvantaged because of having to operate in a second language. They felt ignored when they attempted to reach out to home students and as a result they turned to co-nationals and recreated their home environment. International students were surprised at the size of the challenge they faced when they took up their studies and had to work hard to bridge the gap that existed between their academic and sociocultural skills and those needed in the UK. International students provided emotional, practical and academic support to each other but the academic support they offered to each other was not always good quality. International students engaged in a process of identity change during their stay in the UK which reflected the multiple and changing nature of their identities and during which they gained the skills they needed to be academically successful.

Classroom teachers deal with numerous pressures in their classrooms including students’ difficulty with reading at the middle and high school levels. Often, teachers can identify the problems, but are often unable to rectify them because of a lack of understanding and support in incorporating reading as part of their content area instruction. This research was conducted to investigate the impact of a sustained, online reading professional development on the teaching practice of middle school and high school science teachers who took the 14-week course. This grounded theory research used the reflective assignment, a comprehensive, 10-week, job-embedded assignment of 62 science teachers, to generate categories and themes about the reading challenges they perceived in their own classrooms, what strategies and tools they chose to remedy those challenges, and the perceived changes they saw in their students and themselves. The theory that was derived from the data speaks to how effective, job-embedded reading professional development can impact the knowledge, motivation, and instructional practice of science teachers in the classroom

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Landfills in British Columbia are reaching capacity; this has sparked renewed efforts to curb the output of household waste. Extending previous quantitative studies, I use a qualitative grounded theory approach to explore what influences the perception of waste and activates the intention to recycle and compost. Participants from Ucluelet, British Columbia, accumulated their refuse, recyclables, and compost during a four week period; simultaneously, I interviewed them about the meanings and feelings they associated with the process. My results suggest that participants' attitudes about waste are strongly influenced by what they see. Because garbage is regularly hauled away and dumped out of sight, participants were relatively unaware of how much they produce and its environmental impact. Increasing awareness appears to be a key factor in changing waste diversion intentions; incorporating small pro-environmental changes may lead to further changes. This reaffirms previous findings that adopting one environmental behaviour can empower further change.

This research addresses the following questions: how do successful professionals cultivate boundary-spanning relationships to develop professional goods; and what lessons can be drawn from their successes? This study uses grounded theory to interpret qualitative interview data from four expert networkers to help demonstrate how successful people in various industries build relationships — and what characteristics these successful networkers have in common. Using grounded theory, five key themes emerged: uncertainty reduction, ingratiation, reciprocity, mentoring relationships and the importance of follow-up. The study of networks has a well-developed body of surrounding literature; however, the current research does little to address how individual actors successfully build the relationships upon which networks are based. Therefore, this qualitative research into the characteristics shared by successful networkers is a positive contribution to the body of knowledge concerning social network theory — and will serve as a guide for those wishing to expand their personal and business networks.

The purpose of this dissertation research was to understand the decision-making process that well older adults use when deciding whether to make a home modification. The researcher also sought to understand the views of well older adults concerning the use of home modification to prevent injury and declines in occupational performance. The researcher used the Person-Environment-Occupation (PEO) model (Law et al., 1996) from occupational therapy and occupational science as the orienting framework. A qualitative grounded theory approach based on that proposed by Strauss and Corbin (1998) was used to structure data collection and analysis. Participants were obtained using purposive and theoretical sampling and were interviewed by the researcher. The 19 participants in this study ranged in age from 65 to 89. Findings from this study include a model of the decision-making process that well older adults used to plan for their futures related to home setting and modification and also a substantive grounded theory. The Theory of Home Modification Decision-Making: Well Older Adults is proposed and explained. Central to the theory are two decision-making processes, including the conditions that influence the decisions. These findings and the theory are discussed relative to the PEO model and existing occupational therapy and gerontology literature. The information gained from this study is beneficial to occupational therapists and Certified Aging-in-Place Specialists to improve and expand their services to the well older adult population.

This study explored the current opinions of Chinese citizens on environmental sustainability in China, while inquiring about the role of the Chinese government in shaping public consciousness on environmentalism. This case study was a qualitative analysis that was informed by both grounded theory and ethnographic content analysis (ECA) conducted through fifteen open-ended interviews with Chinese citizens and content analysis of government documents and media coverage that pertain to environmentalism. During the data collection and analysis process, the researcher considered the cultural landscape of China and reflected on how the media, Chinese spirituality, and communication patterns affect the conceptualization of environmentalism by citizens. This research found that public awareness of environmental sustainability is influenced by a social hierarchy of needs, philosophical legacies, allegiance to authority, and China‟s global position. Consequently, this research uncovered the importance of cultivating cultural awareness when non-Chinese citizens approach the topic of environmentalism in China. Keywords: Chinese Government, Environmentalism, Public Opinion, Grounded Theory

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This study investigates differences between Veterans and non-Veterans with severe mental illness (SMI) regarding perceptions of their illness, themselves, and treatment. I compare patient interviews (using the Indiana Psychiatric Illness Interview, IPII) of Veterans (N=20) and non-Veterans (N=26). Modified grounded theory and qualitative coding software Atlas-TI were used to develop codebooks for each group, and these were compared for differences. I examined differences in both code frequency and meaning. Statistically, more Veterans were male, employed, married, had higher income, and had higher education. Statistical differences in code frequency included: more Veterans discussing boredom, regret/guilt/loss, and wanting to be “normal.” More non-Veterans had codes of pessimism and religion/spirituality, wanting a different future, bringing up mental health, family, future: no change, life goals, and relapse. Key differences in narrative themes included: (1) Veterans’ “military mindset”/discussion of anger as part of mental illness, (2) non-Veterans’ focus on mental-illness, (3) differing attitudes regarding stigma, (4) active versus passive attitudes toward treatment, and (5) degree of optimism regarding the future. Differences are described and then potential relationships and interactions are proposed. Veterans appear to have several protective factors (i.e., finances, employment, marriage). Additionally, Veterans’ military-mindset seems to encourage greater stigma-resistance, and thereby also facilitate Veterans being more active and optimistic toward treatment and recovery. By contrast, non-Veteran focus on mental illness may be related to increased self-stigma, passive and pessimistic attitudes. I propose that Veteran identity can serve as an additional protective factor against stigma, pessimism, and passivity. Veteran-identity may also be a useful framework clinically, to help promote active approaches to treatment (e.g., “fighting symptoms”). Further, Veterans emphasized issues relating to anger as important and part of their mental health. It may be that Veterans are more comfortable discussing mental health in the language of “anger,” given stigma. Finally, findings suggest that helping individuals in both groups engage in meaningful, non-mental illness-related life activities may help shape self-perception, and thereby responses to stigma, attitudes toward treatment, and hope for the future.