The intent of this research was to examine variables that might influence the response rates to mailed questionnaires. The variables examined were the socioeconomic statuses of the subjects, the time of payment of a monetary incentive, and the amount of payment. Subjects were 375 residents of Cache County, Utah, selected from three levels of socioeconomic status. The subjects were selected on the basis of information they provided about their income and education levels during a telephone interview. Subjects within each level of socioeconomic status were further divided into four treatment groups and one control group. All groups were mailed the questionnaire. In addition, subjects in Group 1 were sent an enclosed $1, those in Group 2 received $2, those in Group 3 were promised $1 if they returned the completed questionnaire, those in Group 4 were similarly promised $2 if they returned a completed questionnaire, and subjects in Group 5 were neither paid nor promised any incentive. The questionnaire itself was developed with the help of Utah State University's Extension Services, who needed to survey the local population on issues pertaining to family and economic well-being. The response rate for the entire sample was 56.8%. Subjects from the high socioeconomic status group had the highest response rate, while subjects with the lowest socioeconomic status had the lowest response rate. Including the monetary incentive along with the questionnaire yielded a higher response rate than did promising an incentive for returning the questionnaire. Similarly, subjects receiving $2 had a higher response rate than those receiving $1. It was also found that the higher the socioeconomic status, the less the difference made by the time of payment of the incentive. When the cost effectiveness of the different treatments was analyzed it was found that at the higher levels of response rate, prepaying the incentive was a more efficient method, while promising the incentive proved cheaper at the lower levels of response rate.

Studies were conducted to determine the effect of externally applied growth hormones on winter rye (Secale cereale var. cougar). The rye was grown under the snow in a specially prepared tunnel on a mountain side near Logan, Utah. These plants showed a remarkable ability to grow at 0°C. Three growth hormones, kinetin, gibberellic acid (GA), and auxin (indole-3-acetic acid) were externally applied to rye seedlings growing in the tunnel. These seedlings were alter weighed, measured and tested for soluble protein content. The three hormone treatments had no significant effects on the fresh weights or shoot lengths of the rye. GA however, had a significant effect on the soluble protein content of the young shoots. Shoots treated with GA showed a marked decrease in soluble protein content. Kinetin and IAA had no significant effect on the soluble protein content of the rye.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis examines the use of media and journalistic practice for development. The study concentrates on Africa and argues that development strategies are dependent on a clear understanding of the contexts and constraints of a situation. It is argued that Africa's history and present political and socio-economic situations have contributed to the instability and poverty facing many of its nation states. It is also argued that continued dependency by African nations on richer Western nations is a problem originating from colonial imperialism and the failed dominant paradigm, recently reinvented as globalisation and global economic rationalisation. The work presents a view of communication for development which can only be achieved with an understanding of the relations between media, culture, dependency and the making of meaning.Solutions to Africa's problems may require Africans themselves undertaking development in a concept of their own 'voice' and self-representation. With this view, a model for how journalists, using media, should actively engage in development is suggested. Two case studies are presented : a study of communication dysfunction at Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya and a study of the concept of Edutainment by South Africa's Soul City's organisation. Further, selections of media programs are presented as part of the dissertation's proposed body of work. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

While research suggests that peer influence can lead to increases in undesirable behaviours of adolescents, there has been little focus on the specific mechanisms of influence. A relatively small literature examining social interactions between peers has found that the discussion of rule breaking topics by pairs of boys relates to how much problem behaviour the boys engage in. This research is limited by its reliance on a set of similar samples from a North American population base. This thesis explored the relationship between social interaction and behaviour with sample from New Zealand Aotearoa. Nine pairs of Year 10 boys were recruited primarily from two high schools. A half-hour conversation was video taped for each pair. These conversations were coded on the basis of the nature of the talk between pairs of participants following the coding system proposed by Poe, Dishion, Griesler and Andrews (1990). The coded behaviours were analysed and compared to measures of previous rule breaking behaviours. The duration of rule breaking talk was found to correlate with the level of previous rule breaking behaviour. It was not clear whether the amount of rule breaking talk was related to the amount of laughter following it. Possible explanations are discussed. While generalisations from these results are limited by an unexpectedly small sample size, they show similarity to the previous research findings. The findings, the difficulties in recruitment to the research and the implications of these for future research are discussed.

[No Abstract]

Despite soccer being arguably the world's most popular sport, Australia's national soccer competition has consistently failed to attract the prolonged mainstream support that is given to the comparable rugby league, Australian Rules football and rugby union competitions. This is a puzzling situation considering Australia's British lineage, soccer's British origins and the game's pre-eminent international status. Indeed, soccer's lowly position in Australia is paradoxical given the sport's historically dominant status in Britain and Australia's traditional adoption of Anglocentric culture. Most research into the situation has pointed to the sport's inability to shake-off the adverse effects of a lingering connection to post-World War II immigration and certain ethnic communities. Soccer has, in the eyes of many, been unable to access popular culture primarily because it has been viewed by the mainstream as 'foreign' or inherently un-Australian. The sport has clashed with traditional notions of national identity even though, historically, the Australian men's national team has received relatively strong community support. Strangely though, there has been little attention paid to the role the mass media has played in establishing, maintaining and even altering soccer's position in relation to mainstream Australian culture. While some researchers, such as Mosely and Hay, have criticised the media's coverage of violence associated with soccer at the domestic level, there has been no textual analysis of the mass media's role in soccer's marginal position in Australian popular culture. Considering that the mass media is critical to the development, reinforcement and maintenance of culture and has been implicated in shaping entire professional sporting competitions to its own ends, this is an area of considerable scholarly neglect. By undertaking a textual analysis of the mainstream newspaper coverage given to two critical periods in the history of the Australian men's soccer team it becomes clear that there is marked divergence between the media's treatment of internationally-based soccer and domestically-based soccer. This divergence in coverage has contributed to the development of two distinct mediated 'realities' of soccer, which in turn has influenced the game's ambivalent place in mainstream Australian culture. First, the media's control over the news production process has given it the ability to send textual messages that elevate soccer from its traditional cultural exclusion- and establish the national team as part of the historically dominant Anglocentric mainstream culture in Australia. This process has been inextricably linked to the increasing ethnic diversity of Australia's population and the dominant culture's efforts to maintain, despite this emerging plurality, the preeminence of a traditional Australian 'way of life'. Second, the media's messages have helped to maintain the ascendancy of the dominant culture by establishing the characteristics of modern day corporatised sport as the 'normal' expectation for soccer's development in Australia. As a result, soccer's future in Australia is deemed to be limited until it is able to conform fully to the commercialised and professionalised mode of production that defines the sport overseas.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--School of Education. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2006. / "A dissertation in counseling psychology." Advisor: Chris Brown. Typescript. Vita. Title from "catalog record" of the print edition Description based on contents viewed Nov. 9, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-105). Online version of the print edition.

<p>People with certain types of disabilities have the legal right to ask for an individual plan. The idea is that the plan should be a tool for the disabled to get more power and influence over the planned actions that involves their lives. The aim of this thesis was to study the individual circumstances of interpersonal power and influence in the work of individual plans. The study was done with a qualitative approach, where three executing officers and three individuals were interviewed. The results show that the conditions for the individual’s influence are far more complicated than at first glance. The influence depends on a number of parameters, from the executing officer’s response and inclusion of the individuals, to how the staffs of the operators receive and implement the individual plan. The shortcomings in the implementation were due to the staff having different views than the individual, representatives and executing officers on what to do and what the individual wanted. The thesis conclusions were that the individual's influence depends on the discourse about disability and the work culture prevailing in the workplace. Influence is given from the person that has the power position in the relationship.</p>