Fung Chi Tim. / Thesis (M.Sc.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53). / Abstract / Chapter I. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- Objective --- p.4 / Chapter III. --- Methodology / Decision Methodology --- p.6 / Sensitivity Analysis and Re-iteration --- p.14 / Ease of use of the system --- p.22 / Chapter IV. --- Test Result --- p.26 / Chapter V. --- Future Research Direction --- p.28 / Chapter VI. --- Conclusion --- p.32 / Chapter VII. --- Appendix A Description of System --- p.35 / Chapter VIII. --- Appendix B User's Guide --- p.44 / Figures --- p.50 / References --- p.53

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1991. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-74). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-129). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

This study examines the changes of family life and relationships in urban China with reference to the filial piety and intimacy theories as well as the individualization thesis. It takes housing consumption as an entry point and focuses on the intergenerational relations in one-child families. It adopts qualitative research methods to explore consumption practices and the meanings attached to these actions and events for these families. I conducted in-depth interviews with 22 families (middle-aged parents and/or adult children) and ethnographic observation in Guangzhou during the period of 2010 and 2011. This study examines the meanings attached to housing consumption from the perspective of these urban families. It shows how parents use money to express their love/care and to define their children’s filial obligations. It also demonstrates how parents use their grey money to secure a better future for both generations. It also illustrates the process of consumption to show differentiated family strategies for achieving collective well-being. It also presents their power dynamics and varied ways that parents and children negotiate and handle conflicts for individual goals. It examines the specific socioeconomic context regarding numerous risks and abundant opportunities that are faced by these families. This study thereby enables us to see more clearly the interactions between the state, the market and family dynamics in modern China. It is argued that urban Chinese parents who play an active and leading role in housing consumption use their money to purchase intimacy with only children. Their desires are socially constructed by their life experiences since the Mao era and by their children’s struggles in a marketized economy. Thus this study challenges the victimized image of Chinese parents and refines the over-simplified exchange logic of parental investment in the market economy. Their desires and agency as middle-aged people with only children in a rapid socioeconomic transformation have to be addressed. It notes the rise of new filial individuals among only children in the individualization of Chinese society. They are not the uncivil individuals as portrayed by scholars and the media, but rather the dutiful ones who have a heightened filial sense and also engage in new filial practices. Their ideas of filial piety are less about life-debt (due to parents’ giving them life and raising them up), obedience (to parents) and moral obligations. It is more about money-debt (due to parental investment in housing and other financing projects), exchange of material assistance and emotional bonds. This study thus helps develop a new way of understanding filial piety among young Chinese and reconsider the impacts of individualization on family relations and on the younger generation. The study shows a visible trend of refamiliation with cooperation, conflicts and negotiations involved. By stressing the necessity of collective decision-making between this two-generation collective in housing consumption, these parents and children are building up a negotiable intimacy that reconfirms the vital importance of family intimacy over conjugal intimacy. It thus develops a new model of exploring housing consumption in urban China and helps redefine the Western concept of intimacy. / published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

In the next 20 years, the nation must accommodate the largest number of potential homebuyers in its history. To provide a basis for homebuyer education, the purpose of this study was to identify problems related to the homebuying process. A random sample of 250 buyers of residential property in Fort Collins, Colorado, during 1978 was obtained. A questionnaire, developed following Dillman's Total Design Method for mail surveys, presented 66 potential difficulties ordered according to six steps in the homebuying process. After indicating all difficulties encountered during search, purchase, and first year of occupancy, respondents listed the two considered most important, their consequences, perceived causes, and consumer recourse. A response rate of 80.4% was achieved, of which, 153 were eligible owner-occupants who had made a new purchase. All but two difficulties received a frequency of at least one; and eight difficulties were added by respondents. The most frequent problems, reported by 20% or more of the buyers, were: utility costs much higher than expected or estimated, activities foregone since purchase, mechanical system problems, repairs or adjustments necessary before or soon after purchase, delayed closing, overlapping payments on two residences, problematic telephone installation, and required costs or activities different from the previous residence. The mean total number of difficulties reported was 7.16. Subjects listed 47 and 44 items, respectively, as most and second most important difficulties. By combining frequencies for importance items, weighting those for the most important problem, the composite rank order of importance was: foregone activities, high utility costs, overlapping payments, mechanical problems, financial bind, delayed closing, and structural conditions or defects. Financial and personal consequences were more often associated with the important difficulties than legal consequences. Most frequent avenues of consumer recourse taken or planned were personal complaints to the source of the problem and to relatives or friends. Perceived causes of the important problems varied. Frequency distribution comparisons between sample groups, categorized by 15 buyer, search, and purchase characteristics, generally showed similarities on the most frequent difficulties. However, lists of most important difficulties varied in both content and rank order between groups. Mean comparison tests revealed significant differences (p<.01 and .05) in total number of difficulties on the variables: purchase experience, income level, and age of structure. Major conclusions were 1) The wide ranges and lack of congruence between the difficulties frequently reported and those considered most important, suggest that to attract the attention of a majority of affected buyers, homebuyer education efforts must be comprehensive, yet personally focussed; 2) Although some problems seem likely to be experienced by many owners, the potential for encountering certain difficulties appears to relate to certain characteristics, and populations most in need of education for self-protection are: first-time and lower-than-average income buyers, in-migrants, and those purchasing newly constructed homes and/or at prices less than $60,000; 3) Since the bulk of frequent and important difficulties were detected in move-in and occupancy stages, and were related to financial consequences, timing of purchase or move, and quality or condition of the unit, educational content should emphasize these areas. / Ph. D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis aims to identify the motivating factors driving consumers home purchase decisions from the consumer's point of view. Although there is an abundance of past real estate research, dating back as far as the 1920's, the factors shaping consumers home choice have not been fully explored. Past research has tended to assume that homebuyers arrive at a decision following a logical and rational decision making process. These studies have also tended to focus on utilitarian or economic factors shaping home choice. Although past research has unquestionably added to the understanding of home purchase behaviour, the focus on utilitarian and economic factors does not explain decisions that are underpinned by deep-seated motives. The present thesis extends past research by exploring the less tangible, non-economic aspects of home choice in order to provide a fuller story of why and how people consume homes. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the unsolicited motives underlying consumers' home choices, therefore, a qualitative technique known as ZMET was employed. Based on the notion of unconscious thoughts, ZMET uses visual images gathered and/or generated by consumers to elicit and probe the metaphors that represent their thoughts and feelings. For the present study, 14 consumers who had recently placed an offer on a home took part in the ZMET interview. The present methodology extends past property research which has predominantly taken a quantitative approach. The findings of the study provide a rich insight into the motivations behind consumer home choice. Firstly, it reveals that the pre-purchase checklists used by many homebuyers and real estate agents are inaccurate representation of consumer home choice, and explains why this is so. Secondly, it demonstrates the influence of twenty four motives, including three central constructs (space, nature and views) on consumer home choice and highlights the fact that autobiographical memories underpins many of the motives to impact on choice. Thirdly, it provides a model mapping out the interaction between utilitarian and hedonic motives, which evokes a network of feelings, sensations and emotions that shape consumer home choice. In doing so, the research provides theoretical insight into the link between the rational information-processing model and the experiential view of hedonic consumption in home purchases. This study has shown that a specific set of utilitarian and deep-seated hedonic factors interrelate to culminate upon one's home choice. The findings in this study maintain that while utilitarian factors are significant determinants of home choice, in themselves, they do not always tell the whole story. This new knowledge of how and why homebuyers chose what they did is valuable to practitioners in predicting accurate property demands and value. Real estate agents can-sell more effectively by matching a property to a homebuyer's hedonic needs. The information in this study also helps homebuyers understand that their home choice is guided by internal images and deep-seated motives derived from many years of past experience but more importantly, they can decide if these motives justify the price they pay for the property. Finally, the model gives future researchers a new framework to access meanings necessary for understanding homebuyer choice and allows a closer examination of the mechanics of these influences on the housing market and its demands.

No description available.

Thesis (M. Hous. M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-81).