The aim of the present research was to investigate the relationships between patient safety culture within hospitals and individual factors on medical practice among physicians. A total of 240 physicians from ten different hospitals completed the Medical Practice Questionnaire, Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture, Maslach Burnout Inventory and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised- Abbreviated Form. In order to assess frequency and types of medical errors, Medical Practice Questionnaire was developed by the author. Factor analysis of this Questionnaire demonstrated the existence of four subscales named as Patient Management/Information Delivery Errors, Execution Errors, Procedure Related errors and One Source Errors. ANOVA results revealed that males conduct more Procedure Related Errors than females. In support of the hypothesis, a number of differences observed on patient safety culture between types of institutions that public hospitals received lower scores on most of the safety dimensions. Regression analysis results revealed that personality dimensions and burnout levels were significantly related to types and frequency of errors. Considering significant predictors, while the extravert participants were found to report more Patient Management/Information Delivery, Execution and Procedure Related errors, Neurotics were found to report lower levels of errors on these three dimensions. Regression analysis of burnout levels showed that depersonalization were also associated with these three error dimensions.The level of depersonalization were found to increase the frequency of Patient Management/Information Delivery, Execution and Procedure Related Errors. The research findings however, did not support the assertion in a manner that safety culture dimensions were not found to have main effects on types of errors. The limitations of the current research and implications for further research were discussed.

ABSTRACT The trend of expansion of democracy around the globe has been largely increased in the post-Cold War era due to the domestic struggles and dynamics of international system. Not only international conditions, but also democracy promotion activities of international community have influenced this trend. These activities include assistance, guidance and advice provided by the international players. In this regard, this thesis aims to highlight international dimension of democratization. This thesis analyzes the role of the European Union (EU) in the democratization process of Georgia. The EU has become an international actor, promoting democracy and human rights since the 1990s. The EU&rsquo / s contribution to the consolidation of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe through enlargement policy has been regarded valuable in the literature of democratization. In this context, this thesis chooses Georgia as a case study since Georgia / an ex-Soviet country has successfully managed to consolidate its regime change with the Rose Revolution. Besides, the Revolution has trigged the inclusion of the country and South Caucasus to the new Neighborhood Policy of the EU (ENP). This policy has welcomed in Georgia and has overlapped with the EU&rsquo / s increasing interest in the region and European orientation of Georgia. This study seeks to find out the extent to which EU can contribute democratic consolidation in Georgia within the ENP. The basic conclusion of this thesis is that the success of the ENP will depend on the limitations and deficiencies of the ENP together with the peculiarities of the region and the ability of the EU.

Since the early 1970s, regulation theory have analysed the restructuring of capitalist economies in historical time. As early studies within that political economic research were againt the structural-functionalism explicit in Marxist theories of capitalism at the time on the one hand, and the closed theoretical system of neoclassical economics on the other, regulationists soon resorted to an open-method analysis of stylised facts. Such a method is none other than a middle-range theory. This study touches upon Boyer&rsquo / s and Jessop&rsquo / s arguments on the antithetical consequences of this middle-rangeness for further as well as former theoretical research within regulation theory and their particular scheme of infl&eacute / chissement for that political economic heuristic in institutionalist and integral economic terms.

In order to determine the effects of social capital in innovative contexts, Nahapiet and Ghoshal&rsquo / s (1998) three dimensions of social capital (structural, relational and cognitive) were investigated in a business incubator located in a university science park. This thesis tries to answer five questions for the incubator context: (1) What are the antecedents of the three dimensions of social capital? (2) What are the benefits of social capital for the tenant firms? (3) How are the dimensions of social capital related to the antecedents and benefits? (4) What are the effects of being located in a university on social capital development between the firms and the host university? and (5) What is the role of the incubator management/specialists on social capital creation? The research questions were investigated in two layers: (1) Social capital development among tenant firms, and (2) Social capital development between the tenant firms and the host university. The research was designed with a multi-method approach along four steps. In the first step, the selected incubator was observed for a day. In the second stage, a pilot interview was conducted with one of the tenant firms. Next the firms were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding their demographic characteristics. In the last stage, a theoretical sample of nine selected firms&rsquo / owners were interviewed. All the collected data were analyzed following the grounded theory approach (Strauss and Corbin, 1990) and seven propositions were developed to be investigated in further research.

In this thesis, the technologies that appeared to be strategic according to the Vision 2023 Technology Foresight Project were examined in terms of how they might form up technology clusters. This thesis aims to identify technology clusters in terms of common knowledge base and to use these clusters in future scenarios as a foresight tool. In this study, Vision 2023 Delphi survey respondents&rsquo / intersecting expertise levels in different fields were accepted as indicators of common knowledge base in these fields and technology clusters were formed up in this direction. In order to attain technology clusters, the appropriateness of hierarchical and nonhierarchical clustering methods and projection techniques were examined. Taking the clusters into consideration, Ward&rsquo / s method revealed the healthiest results for our data set. Investigation of scenario building which had not been used in Turkey as a an effective foresight tool, forms the second step of this study. Scenario method was examined from a historical perspective and different approaches were investigated. Finally, using the technology clusters that were gained through Ward clustering, a scenario building study by scenario matrix was conducted as an example.

The current coginitive models of the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms focuses on the different cognitive factors. Like other nonspecific and noncognitive variables, these factors may also function as vulnerability factors. However, they have been mostly studied separately and majority of the findings in the literature come from the Western samples. Accordingly, the studies examining these factors together and the impact of the culture in these studies are sparse in number. The present study suggested a comprehensive cognitive model for OCD symptoms, including several distal and proximal vulnerability factors. It was aimed to adapt three instruments to examine the interrelationships among the vulnerability factors and OCD symptoms in different cultures. Relevant ten instruments were administered to the university students from Turkey and Canada. The analyses showed that Turkish versions of three instruments had satisfactory psychometric properties for Turkish students. These analyses also revealed some cross-cultural similarities and differences in these factors and OCD symptoms. Neuroticism, age, introversion, OCD beliefs on responsibility/threat estimation, perfectionism/certainty and thought-action fusion in likelihood dimension were found to be associated with the OCD symptoms in both Turkish and Canadian samples. The relational paths between non-specific, appraisal and control factors, and OCD symptoms were also significant in both samples. However, religiousness was only significant factor in OCD symptoms and contributed to several belief and control factors toward these symptoms, only for Turkish subjects. The analyses of the religiousness differences indicated that psychological fusion in general and in morality was more related to the religiosity for Canadian Christians. Besides, Turkish students seemed to utilize worry more for OCD symptoms / whereas, Canadian participants used self-punishment. These common and unique patterns of the relationships were discussed within relevant findings about characteristics of the religion and culture.

There is no doubt about the fact that Europe has become home for millions of ex-colonails, guest-workers, refugees, asylum-seekers. However, these new Europeans are not acknowledged to be Europeans but instead they are mostly perceived as not belonging. Being deprived of political and social rights and exposed to economic exploitation make them the European &quot / apartheid&quot / . Within this present conjunture, this thesis aims at a modest discussion on ever-rising racism in Europe. It focuses on European racism and in particular the new racism in Europe which has been on the rise since the 1970s and 1980s. It examines European new racism via three exemplary cases (France, Britain and Germany). Out of different histories, economies and out of different racisms, this thesis searches for similarities. In fact, it claims that Europe has a traditional racism which is claimed to be one of the outcomes of the European self-construction process. Therefore, the other point of focus that this thesis engages in is the process through which Europe constructs its identity. It intends to discuss what Europe is and how Europe constructs itself via its Others. It claims that Europe identifies itself on the negation of its Others. Hence, this thesis attempts to discuss the connection between racism in Europe and European self-construction/self-identification process. In other words, this thesis intends to clarify that the self-construction/self-identification of Europe, which has depended mostly on the negation of its Others, has resulted in racist-thinking and racism which has always existent in Europe despite the changes in different peroids and different contexts forming a racist tradition in Europe.

This thesis analyzes the difficulties of managing the security of an enterprise network. The problem that this thesis study deals with is the central management of a large number and variety of services that provide organization-wide network and information security. This study addresses two problem areas: how to better manage the security of a network, and how to explain the security issues to upper management better. The study proposes a Security Management System (SMS) to be used for network security management, monitoring and reporting purposes. The system is a custom made, central management solution, which combines the critical performance indicators of the security devices and presents the results via web pages.

This study aims to examine the prevalence of traumatic events among university students and to evaluate the predictive values of socio-demographic variables, trauma characteristics, attachment styles and coping styles in posttraumatic growth. 321 students from the Middle East Technical University and Hacettepe University participated in the study. A trauma checklist, Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, Relationship Scales Questionnaire, Attachment Style Questionnaire and Ways of Coping Inventory were administered. The results showed that living a disaster, death of a family member, living a serious accident or a serious health problem, a suicidal attempt or the suicide of a significant other or a friend and losing a significant other in an accident or in an act of violence are the traumas which were reported by the participants. In the regression analysis, gender, felt horror and helplessness during the traumatic event, optimistic coping style and fatalistic coping style are found to be significant predictors of posttraumatic growth. The results are discussed within the existing literature findings. The clinical implications are offered.

The purposes of this study were to examine (a) physical activity participation levels, (b) exercise stages of change levels and (c) physical activity preferences of the Middle East Technical University undergraduate students with respect to gender, residence and faculty. Participants were 953 students from 5 different faculties (496 male, and 547 female). For the data collection, International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), Physical Activity Stages of Change Questionnaire, and Physical Activity Preferences Questionnaire were used. Descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, median, percentage), and nonparametric statistical methods (Mann Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Pearson chi-square test) were used for the data analysis. According to the IPAQ, male students were more physically active than female counterparts. Students who were living in campus had higher physical activity levels, and faculty of architecture students were more sedentary compared to other faculty students (p &lt / 0.05). In general, 24.8% of the students were physically active, 59.9% of the students were moderately active, and 15.3% of them were inactive. The results on exercise stages of change revealed that male students were at upper stages as compared to the female students. Faculty of architecture students were at lower stages compared to the other faculty students (p &lt / 0.05). There was no significant differences on the stages of students who were living in and out of the campus (p &gt / 0.05). In general, students at pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance stages were 15.2%, 31.4%, 25.3%, 7.5%, and 20.6% respectively. Swimming (59.2%), walking (56.7%), cycling (36.2%) and football (30.4%) were the most frequently preferred physical activities. Dancing and tennis were preferred more with the female students while football and basketball preferred more with the male students. Physical activity preferences of students living in and out of campus were similar. In conclusion, female students, students living out of the campus and students of faculty of architecture were more at risk. Approximately 75% of the METU undergraduate students&rsquo / physical activity levels were not satisfactory for a healthy life. University physical activity facilities, extracurricular programs and the courses should be reconsidered based on the findings of this study.