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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
311

The social organisation of news interview interaction

Greatbatch, David January 1985 (has links)
This thesis describes and analyses aspects of the social organisation of British news interview interaction. After a review of the sociological literature on the British news interview in Chapter 1, and a discussion of the evolution of news interviewing in Britain in Chapter 2, Chapter 3 argues that conversation analysis provides the appropriate analytical framework for the study of all forms of naturally occurring interaction. Using the techniques of conversation analysis, the next three chapters then focus on thtee central domains of news interview conduct: the organisation of turn-taking, the organisation of topic, and the organisation of disagreement. Chapter 4 proposes (i) that the news interview turn-taking system operates through a simple form of turn-type pre-allocation, and (ii) that this accounts for a range of systematic differences between news interviews and mundane conversation. Chapter 5 first explicates same of the types of work that interviewers accomplish through the production of questions which maintain or pursue the topical focus of preceding turns and sequences. It then examines same of the procedures which interviewees recurrently use in order to shift the focus of their talk away from the topical agendas which interviewers' questions establish for their turns. Chapter 6, describes how the patterning of disagreements in news interviews differs from that of disagreements in ordinary talk. In so doing, it argues that the fact that the organisation of disagreements in news interviews differs from that in conversation is largely a product of considerations which arise due to the turn-type pre-allocated character of news interview interaction. Finally, Chapter 7 explores the relationship of same of the features described in Chapters 4-6 to the background legal, institutional and other normative constraints on news interviewer/ee conduct.
312

The Chinese in peninsular Malaysia : a study of race relations in a plural society

Ting, Chew Peh January 1976 (has links)
The present study is concerned with the problems of race relations in Peninsular Malaysia, with special reference to the Chinese community. My main thesis is that Chinese institutions and organizations, together with their values, economic and political activities tend to make interaction and integration difficult in the conflict-prone Malaysian plural society. However, despite the tremendous amount of dissensus and conflict, the society has managed to survive through the fact that the various component segments are bound together not only by political institutions, but also by their being involved in the same economic institutions. The study begins with an Introduction, which examines the main structural features of the Malayan society during the colonial period to 3erve as a background for discussion. Chapter 1 deals with the overall stratification and structure of the Chinese community. Particular attention is paid to Chinese guilds and associations which tend to perpetuate social distinctions between Chinese and Malays. Chapter 2 attempts to examine Chinese role in Malaysian economy. It tries to show the relative position of the Chinese in Malaysian economy and concludes that the Chinese are far from controlling Malaysian economy as has been alleged. Chapters 3 and 4 trace Chinese politics in pre-war and post-war Malaysia. Three main currents of influence on the Chinese during the pre-war period - Chinese secret societies, The Kuomintang and the Malayan Communist Party - are examined. For the post-war period, an attempt is made to examine Chinese participation in party politics as well as their relatively subordinate position in the Alliance Party. Chapter 5 examines Chinese education in Malaysia. Attention is focused on the various governmental efforts to devise a national education policy and its implications for Chinese education. The political significance of the education issue is also examined. Chapter 6 endeavours to analyse race relations in Malaysia, focusing on the sources of conflj o - : between Chinese and Malays. A brief account of the 1969 iial riots is also provided. Chapter 7 deals with the problems of national unity. It is argued that the Malaysian plural society is held together by political as well as economic institutions. Some deliberate attempts to foster unity are also examined. Chapter 8 attempts to examine some theoretical framework. It focuses on two major problems, namely the inadequacy of some Western theoretical models and the theory of the plural society and its relevance in Malaysia.
313

A contribution to the critical theory of organisations : (neo) human relations management theory, ideology and subjectivity

Shorthose, Jim January 1996 (has links)
This thesis contributes to the developing field of the critical theory of organisation. It presents a critical inquiry into the ideological nature of (neo)Human Relations management theory and its strategies for the management of subjectivity and organisational culture. The introductory chapters discuss the meta-theoretical grounds and contexts for the development of the thesis. Chapter 1 responds to the epistemological challenges put forward by post- Modernism highlighting the basic trajectory and underlying values of the thesis. Chapter 2 discusses the development of critical organisation theory so far, with respect to the discussions of subjectivity and culture. This includes a discussion of aspects of the work of Foucault, (neo)Marxist Theory, Labour Process Theory and critical social psychology as they have been taken up by organisational studies of subjectivity and culture. Chapter 3 clarifies the use of the concept of ideology and outlines the research strategy for the concrete study of (neo)Human Relations management as ideological. This involves a 'depth hermeneutic' research strategy, made up of the 3 components of (1) A Social Analysis, (2) A Discourse Analysis, and (3) An Interpretation of Meaning. As the 'Social Analysis' component of this 'depth hermeneutic', chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 highlights the work of Herbert Marcuse, exploring his critical social psychology; his notion of 'new forms of control'; his discussions of the relationship between culture, language and power; and his discussions of the rationalisation process leading to the rationalisation of culture and power relations. This is followed by both the 'Discourse Analysis' and 'Interpretation of Meaning' components of the 'depth hermeneutic' method. Chapter 8 offers an account of the historical emergence of the management discourses around subjectivity and culture and identifies its leading authors. Chapter 9 offers a critical interpretation of meaning of this discourse in the light of Marcuse's social analysis which highlights the ideological nature of (neo)Human Relations management.
314

Self-esteem, social comparison and discrimination : a reappraisal and development of Tajfel's social identity theory

Farsides, Thomas Lycan January 1996 (has links)
Six main empirical studies are reported. Study 1 employed the "thinkaloud" procedure in the minimal group paradigm (MGP) and concludes that social categorization is insufficient to cause social identity or intergroup discrimination, and that no theoretical explanation of minimal group behaviour is adequate to explain the variety of strategies employed within that paradigm. Study 2 employed both "Tajfel matrices" and new "allocation grids" in the MGP and concludes that two distinct forms of intergroup discrimination need to be distinguished: one which maximizes in-group profit consistent with positive in-group distinctiveness, and another which maximizes positive in-group distinctiveness by accompanying in-group profit with out-group derogation. In Study 3 subjects completed three sets of Tajfel matrices in the MGP: individually, in "sub-groups" , then again individually. Mean intergroup discriminatory behaviour polarized and mean intergroup equitable behaviour depolarized between the first and the latter two conditions. The best account of the results was concluded to be a normative one. Study 4 demonstrated that the self-esteem hypothesis within social identity theory (SIT) is best tested using a state measure of specific social identity contingent self-esteem and concludes that this hypothesis has to date been both inadequately formulated and inadequately tested. Study 5 compared predictions from SIT with those from Tesser's self-evaluation maintenance model concerning the consequences of social comparison outcomes and concludes that a modified version of the former theory is best able to account for the results obtained at both group and individual levels of comparison. Study 6 investigated a host of issues within SIT and concludes that the theory is too simplistic in respect of many of its key notions and propositions. A general discussion argues that a modified version of SIT can be developed which improves on Tajfel's "original" social identity theory by more adequately specifying the processes by which group phenomena are manifest.
315

A prosopographical analysis of society in East Central Scotland, circa 1100 to 1260, with special reference to ethnicity

Hammond, Matthew H. January 2005 (has links)
This thesis seeks to examine the Europeanizing themes of the spread of charters, the adoption of common European names and the interaction of the chivalric ‘aristocratic diaspora’ with local landholding society through the methodology of prosopography. The role of aristocratic landholders as grantor, witnesses and recipients of charters was studied, based on an analysis of the texts of over 1500 aristocratic, royal and ecclesiastical documents relating to Scotland north of Forth, dating from circa 1100 to circa 1260. The Appendix is a list of all non-royal, non-ecclesiastical (or ‘private’) charters, agreements, brieves and similar documents, catalogued herein for the first time. The results of this study are two-fold. First, the thesis involves a degree of reappraisal, in which phenomena which were seen previously as pertaining to either ‘native’ or ‘Norman’ trends are instead examined as part of a single Scottish society. Second, this thesis offers several new findings based on the prosopographical analysis of the charter material, which help to hone our understanding for how Europeanization worked in Scotland. It is now clear that, while the adoption of charters should certainly be seen as a Europeanizing trend, their use by aristocratic landholders followed several stages, none of which adhered to any ethnic bias. This study reveals the prominence of networks in spreading charter use, including one focused around Countess Ada and other related countesses, in the early stages of aristocratic charter use. Furthermore, the important component of Europeanization, whereby ‘peripheral’ peoples took up common European personal names, can be qualified in the case of Scotland north of Forth, where the society was already characterised by a diverse intermixing of Gaelic, Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon names, and where certain Gaelic names were not only maintained by ‘native’ families, but also adopted by immigrant knights. This thesis shows that the practice of using personal names as evidence for ethnicity does not hold up to close scrutiny. Moreover, the aristocratic diaspora for Scottish earls was a two-way street, and some earls and other Scottish nobles married into some of the most powerful families in western Europe. On the other hand, immigration of knights into Scotland north of Forth resulted in the creation of a new baronial class, one which also incorporated various types of ‘native’ Scottish landholder. Indeed, even in regions like the Mearns, where the king had a free hand, landholding was balanced between local and immigrant families. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, this study has verified that the notion that Scotland had ‘no institutionalised apartheid’ was not merely a legal technicality, but a fundamental characteristic of the society. Landholding patterns reveal no evidence of ethnic separation; neither does analysis of assemblies, courts, civil legal proceedings and processes of perambulation. Instead, power was exercised by a diverse aristocratic class. The nature of Europeanization in Scotland is distinct and special, and serves as a fascinating case study of an aristocratic society that was transformed, but in some ways on its own terms.
316

A theology of interconnectivity : Buber, dialogue and cyberspace

Moseley, Amanda Jane January 2015 (has links)
Relationships are a fundamental part of being human; they enable communication, a shared sense of belonging, and a means of building identity and social capital. However, the hallmarks of late modernity can be encapsulated by the themes of detraditionalisation, individualisation and globalisation, which have essentially challenged the mode and means of engaging in relationships. This thesis uses the theology of Martin Buber to demonstrate how his dialogical claims about relationships, namely the “I-It” and “I-Thou” model, can provide a new ethical dimension to communication in the technological era. This thesis argues that through co-creation in cyberspace there is a realisation of the need for a new theological understanding of interconnection. Theology can utilise the platform of technology to facilitate a re-connection in all spheres of relationality and, ultimately, to the Divine. This thesis will first outline the predicament for theology in late modernity. It will discuss how detraditionalisation has led to an emphasis on individual spirituality, as opposed to collective doctrinal beliefs. The global nature of cyberspace has facilitated the means to experiment with these alternative forms of spirituality, which has allowed theology to be commodified and has introduced a challenge to the dimension of relationships. Cyberspace presents a paradox for relationship: the medium transforms modes of relating because the self is re-configured through its contact with technology. This facilitates communication as the individual merges with the machine, resulting in models such as the cyborg. However, this can also be seen to erode the essence of humanity, as humans find themselves on the fringes of relationships. Their hybrid status means that they are no longer fully human or fully machine but become dominated by the latter. They exist on the boundary of both domains and cannot cultivate genuine relationships of the “Thou” variety. This leads to alienation from surroundings, community and the Divine. Second, the thesis will discuss how Buber’s theology can be used to re-position relationships by providing a means to reflect on different aspects of dialogue and communication. By applying Buber’s dialectic to cyberspace it will be demonstrated how interconnectivity causes individuals to re-think the notion of self-in-relation. The three spheres of relationship which Buber identified: “man with nature, man with man, man with forms of the spirit” will be re-contextualised in cyberspace to show how the medium manifests both aspects of the dialectic but allows for a greater awareness of interconnection. Buber’s insistence on the centrality of creative dialogue provides a solution to overcome this dilemma by bringing awareness of the interconnectivity of the self to all aspects of creation. It is through informed use of the medium of cyberspace that humans can re-envisage relationships characterised by a more genuine ethical dimension. These “Thou” moments begin the process of redemption; each one is part of the relationship with the “eternal Thou” and has the potential to draw the Divine down into the encounter, to re-connect with creation. This thesis is arguing for a new theology of interconnectivity that is able to redeem the potentiality of cyberspace as a medium for genuine “Thou” relationality.
317

YouTube-based programming and the Saudi youth : exploring the economic, political and cultural context of YouTube in Saudi Arabia

Daoudi, Omar January 2018 (has links)
This thesis addresses YouTube-based programming in Saudi Arabia. It focuses on the bottom-up, professionally generated content (PGC) produced by the Saudi youth exclusively for YouTube between 2010 and 2016. It explores the economic, political and cultural context of YouTube-based programming and is aimed at understanding how the programme makers operate within such a restrictive political and media environment, and the interaction between the content creators, the audiences and the Saudi government. The thesis examines the perspective of the content creators by utilizing ten semi-structured online interviews, and the view of the Saudi audience by employing seven semi-structured offline focus group interviews with twenty-nine participants in Glasgow, Scotland. The interviews were conducted and transcribed in Arabic, then translated into English. This analysis leads to the emergence of four primary themes: limited political and cultural empowerment for young Saudis offline; strong financial empowerment for the content creators; the government as the most powerful actor in the Saudi media scene; and the relevance of the content to the Saudi audience as the main driver for the popularity of YouTube-based programming. The analysis provides insights and implications for policy and practices, arguing that the concept and practices of cultural policy are humble in Saudi Arabia and that there is an urgent need for a political decision to establish a nationwide cultural policy to promote and govern the arts and culture. This policy needs to incorporate both online and offline creativity, including YouTube-based programming.
318

Children of migrant workers in urban high schools : an analysis of the dual role of education

Song, Yue January 2018 (has links)
Due to the limitations of the household registration system, rural migrants in Chinese cities are unable to access the same range of rights and benefits as urban natives. This rural-urban segregation has consequences beyond access to political and economic rights and resources; it has deepened to shape cultural and ideological perceptions. This deepening has a profound influence on the children of migrant workers who are moving to study in the city. Though nowadays children of migrant workers can study in urban public schools alongside local students, the rural-urban structural divide still exists and impedes personal and social relations between the two groups. This research investigated the difficulties and opportunities encountered by children of migrant workers after they have entered urban public schools and as the face the realities of contact with urban people. The research also discussed whether educating rural and urban students together can help children of migrant workers’ social adaptation in the city, or whether this studying together model places pressures on rural students which impede their social integration into urban communities. A ‘field-habitus’ analysis framework was used to assess rural students’ social adaptation performances in the city. Research methods including questionnaire surveys, in-depth interviews and focus groups were employed in the study. Besides rural students, urban people such as urban students and teachers whom rural students interact with in schools were investigated in the research. Moreover, to evaluate whether inclusive education in public schools has created an inclusive environment to help rural students’ social adaptation, rural students from private schools, who are receiving an exclusive education that is only for children of migrant workers, were also studied as the reference group. Based on the data analysis, the research found that rural students from public schools are generally well-adapted to their urban lives. Additionally, compared with rural students from private schools, rural students from public schools have more urbanized behaviours and lifestyles. Meanwhile, the research indicated that rural students being educated in public schools suffer from many misunderstandings and conflicts with urban students, which may bring them more pressures related to social adaptation compared with their counterparts in private schools. Rural students’ social adaptation performances were attributed to the dual functions of education, meaning that education in public schools may either improve or impede children of migrant workers’ adaptation to their lives in the city. The discussion on the role of education was mainly based on Pierre Bourdieu’s Theory of Cultural Reproduction and Inclusive Education Model. Moreover, students’ family background was also taken into consideration for a more comprehensive explanation.
319

Crossover : boundaries, hybridity, and the problem of opposing cultures

Llewellyn, Elizabeth January 2010 (has links)
Classical crossover is a term regularly used but not yet adequately defined. This thesis attempts to redress this imbalance through a study of the relationships between high and low musical cultures. Starting from the separation of highbrow and lowbrow, the concepts of genre and musical taste are considered in relation to their connections to social hierarchies, leading to an analysis of what happens when they hybridise. Sociological scholarship, cultural criticism and contemporary musicology are combined to offer insights into ways in which we can control music, and ways in which music can control us, with particular emphasis on the field of classical crossover. Case studies reflecting issues of aesthetic preference, celebrity and image, promotion and marketing, and expanding demographic access feature as part of a broader examination of the benefits and drawbacks of cross-cultural collaborations. This thesis clearly shows that generic affinity no longer defines either audience identity or social status, and that musicology's ideas of public reception, informed by social theory, are no longer relevant. It proposes that crossover indicates music that crosses boundaries of public reception, and that these boundaries can be unconsciously or deliberately manipulated. It recognises a need to keep pace with social change, and a need to reevaluate the separation of classical, popular, and non-Western cultures, both in musicology and in other humanities disciplines.
320

Gratitude and prosociality : a behavioural economics and psychometric perspective

Ma, Lawrence K. January 2017 (has links)
We feel gratitude—a positive emotion upon receiving an undeserved benefit which is attributable to the givers’ benevolent intent (Watkins, 2007, 2014). Meanwhile, indebtedness symbolises an unpleasant mental state which is also triggered by benefit receipts (Greenberg, 1980). Theories and empirical evidence in the literature have highlighted how gratitude and indebtedness each relates to prosociality (or sanctioning), and importantly, how via different routes these two constructs will elicit cooperativeness. Nonetheless, there is still a gap in the literature on how gratitude and indebtedness will contribute to prosociality and sanctioning in economic exchanges (Leung, 2011). Thus via three economic games (i.e. Experiments 1 to 3, presented in Chapters 2 to 5) I endeavour to thoroughly examine how gratitude (and indebtedness) would relate to prosociality or sanctioning in a Behavioural Economics context. In so doing I intend to combine Psychometrics and Experimental Economics in the examination of the gratitude (and indebtedness)-prosociality association. Additionally, via meta-analysing (i.e. Chapter 2) over three decades of research on the gratitude-prosociality link I intend to offer i) a comprehensive quantitative synthesis of the findings and, ii) a systematic exploration of moderators, which are both absent in the literature. The present thesis also features a series of extensive follow-up analyses on an interesting economic observation from Experiment 1— i.e. the cheap-rider problem (Cornes & Sandler, 1984). While Experiment 2 entails a more focused scrutiny (via a one-shot game) over the occurrences and motives behind cheap-riding, Experiment 3 builds on that by testing how cheap-riding may be used to enforce normative fairness in an iterated exchange context. Results of the meta-analysis revealed a moderate positive link between gratitude and prosociality. The moderator analyses showed that this link is stronger when, a) state rather than trait gratitude was measured, b) direct instead of indirect or non-reciprocal outcomes was examined, and c) benefit-triggered instead of generalized gratitude (Lambert et al., 2009) was examined. Meanwhile, results of Experiment 1 built upon the above by showing how the gratitude-reciprocity link will be subject to helper intent attribution, and how the injunctive fairness norm (Elster, 2006) could influence this attribution and thereby shaped recipients’ feeling of gratitude (or indebtedness) throughout the episode, and ultimately his/her urge to directly reciprocate. Additionally, a noticeable degree of cheap-riding was observed when unfairly treated participants were granted an avenue to sanction their helpers. The data of Experiment 2 revealed a pattern of cheap-riding that corresponded not only to that of Experiment 1 but also to the reality. Crucially, the analyses of the motives behind repayment allowed the disentanglement of the psychology between that of the cheap-riders, cooperators, and free-riders. Lastly, analyses of Experiment 3 revealed three main findings. They included, a) people’s preference for an ‘optimal’ platform for cheap-riding to better serve its norm-enforcing function, although its actual efficacy in promoting mutual compliance to normative fairness is still questionable; b) how the Relative Rank Model of Gratitude (Wood, Brown, & Maltby, 2011) will supersede the injunctive fairness norm in guiding the recipients’ benefit appraisals, experienced gratitude, and eventual direct reciprocal acts toward the helpers; and c) how gratitude and indebtedness were both predictive of more trustworthiness and generosity in an iterated, variant of Trust Game.

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