The purpose of this study was to answer the following question: What was the perceived value to planners of incorporating information from ecotourists about their perceived needs in the standard system presently being used to plan interpretation? The Ecotourist Needs Assessment (ETNA) process was proposed as an external needs assessment. To exemplify this process, an instrument called Ecotourist Needs Assessment Instrument (ETNAI) was developed to collect input from ecotourists who visited the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. A case resulted from the process. The ETNAI case was used to obtain planners' opinions about whether ETNA had value in the context of data collection and inventory in interpretive planning. The ETNAI case included developing and validating the ETNAI and providing a procedure for implementing ETNAI. Upon completion of the ETNAI case, an interview guide was developed and administered to interpretive planners. Interpretive planners were asked how they currently plan interpretation and collect information to decide interpretive topics. Other questions dealt with their feelings regarding the usefulness of the ETNA and the data collected using the ETNA. The interpretive planners described the current system and provided information about the proposed system (ETNA). Currently, decisions involving interpretation are based on three factors: 1) money, 2) mandates/missions, and/or 3) management. The interpretive planner chose outside (external) groups except during a master planning process when the general public provided input. The outside groups included: professionals, the public, and recreation providers. The current methods used to collect information were informal or considered casual. When contrasted with the proposed method, the interpretive planners felt the ETNA had value. This was reflected in their suggestions for use: As an evaluation tool after an interpretive program is given to a specific audience. As a method to assess the interpretive needs of visitors and specific audiences for interpretation. As a technique to access visitors and the public, both general and specific. As a mechanism to collect data at public meetings. As a systematic routine to develop interpretation, to provide feedback for further development, and to evaluate interpretation embedded in the site system. As a method to effectively determine the distribution of funds. / Graduation date: 1993

Introduction: La répartition de la main-d'oeuvre dentaire à travers le Canada est fortement balancée en faveur des zones urbaines, une situation qui favorise les disparités dans l'accès aux soins de santé buccodentaire. En engageant des professionnels de la santé buccodentaire dans la pratique dentaire en milieu rural, il faut d’abord comprendre leurs opinions personnelles et professionnelles, ainsi que les obstacles et les facteurs motivant leur choix de pratique. Cependant, il existe un manque des connaissances sur la perception des étudiants de soins de santé buccodentaire à l'égard de la pratique rurale. Par conséquent, nous avons voulu vérifier comment les étudiantes en médecine dentaire perçoivent la pratique dentaire en milieu rural. Méthodes: Nous avons effectué une recherche qualitative dans deux grandes facultés de médecine dentaire au Québec. Un échantillonnage intentionnel et la technique boule de neige ont été utilisé pour recruter des étudiants finissants et des résidents en médecine dentaire en tant que participants à l'étude. Des enregistrements sonores des entrevues, d’une durée de 60 à 90 minutes, semi-structurées et face à face ont été colligés jusqu’à atteinte de la saturation. Nous avons procédé à une analyse thématique pour dégager les enjeux. Cela a inclus un compte-rendu des entrevues, l’encodage des transcriptions, la présentation des données et leur interprétation. Résultats: Dix-sept entretiens (10 F et 7 M, âge: 22 à 39) ont été réalisées. Cinq grands thèmes ont émergé des entrevues: niveau des connaissances sur les inégalités de la santé buccodentaire en milieu rural, image de la ruralité, image de la pratique dentaire en milieu rural, obstacles perçus et facteurs mobilisateurs. Les étudiants ont exprimé que l'éducation dentaire, les avantages financiers, le professionnalisme, le soutien professionnel, et les médias sociaux peuvent influencer positivement leur intérêt à l’égard de la pratique dentaire en milieu rural. Conclusion : Les résultats de cette étude soutiennent la mise en place de stratégies connues pour augmenter la connaissance et la motivation des étudiants en médecine dentaire pour choisir leur profession dans une région rurale. Les acteurs des politiques éducatives ont un rôle essentiel dans la promotion de ces politiques et stratégies facilitantes. / Introduction: The distribution of dental workforce across Canada is highly skewed toward urban areas, a situation which favours disparities in oral health care access. Engaging oral health care professionals in rural dental practice necessitates understanding the personal and professional points of view of these professionals, as well as barriers and motivators in regard to the choice of practice. However, little research exists on how dental students perceive working in rural and remote areas. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the knowledge and perspectives of future Quebec dentists in regard to rural dental practice. Methods: We conducted a qualitative interpretive descriptive research study in two major Faculties of Dental Medicine in Quebec. A purposeful sampling and snowball technique were used to recruit fourth-year dental students and dental residents as study participants. Audio-recorded, 60–90 minute, face-to-face and semi-semi-structured interviews were conducted, with the number of interviews being determined by saturation. Qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic approach including interview debriefing, transcript coding, data display, and interpretation. Results: Seventeen interviews (10 F and 7 M, age: 22–39) were carried out. Five major themes emerged from the interviews: awareness on rural oral health care access, image of rurality, image of rural dental practice, perceived barriers and enablers in regard to rural dental practice. Students expressed that undergraduate dental education, financial rewards, professionalism, professional support, and social media can positively affect their perspectives on rural dental practice.Conclusion: The results of this study support the implementation of strategies that are known to increase the knowledge and motivation of dental students toward rural dental practice. Educational policy maker have an essential role in encouraging these facilitating policies and strategies.

This thesis presents a theoretical discussion of meaning creation in general, and interpretive functions of English adjectives in particular. The discussion rests on a dynamic view of meaning and interpretation, according to which there are no fixed linguistics meanings – not even for single lexemes. Instead of symbolising meaning in a more or less static and ‘eternal’ fashion, linguistic items are assumed to effect the creation of meaning and to shape meaning dynamically in the particular communicative event at hand, from some kind of underlying ‘raw material’ (also referred to as purport and schemas). It is suggested that the interpretive functions of linguistic items – that is the effects that such items have in the creation of meaning – may be approached in two main ways, namely from the formal and from the semantic point of view respectively. Effects triggered by the form of a certain item are referred to as formal interpretive functions (FIFs), and effects prompted by the meaning created for the form are referred to as semantic interpretive functions (SIFs). FIFs are claimed to be the same for all items – namely to activate, delimit and shape underlying purport and schemas – whereas SIFs are said to differ between items, and also for one and the same item on different occasions of use. It is furthermore suggested that FIFs affect the creation of meaning for the relevant item itself, whereas SIFs affect the creation of meaning for other items, on any level of conceptual organisation. For instance, a form such as tall typically activates and delimits purport and schemas to do with some kind of extension (notably in space), thereby shaping a basic word meaning tall. The meaning thus created may in turn affect other meaning in the larger context. For instance, tall, as created in default interpretation of a tall man entered the room, affects the meaning of the noun phrase a tall man as a whole, in that it specifies the interpreter’s conception of a certain something that entered a specific room. In this case, the relevant SIF is thus to specify. Other SIFs suggested for adjectives are kind identification, element identification, identity provision and stipulation. The aim of the thesis is two-fold: on the one hand to outline a suggestive theory of meaning creation and interpretive function in general, and, on the other hand, to present a theoretical discussion of adjective functions in particular, with the ultimate goal of providing a general framework from which more specific models for in-depth empirical research can be obtained.

The aim of the theses is to describe meanings, which female readers of the slash subgenre derive from it, and interpretive strategies they use to create those meanings. Slash is a type of literature that conceives or develops the same-sex romantic and sexual relationships of male characters from original media art. The subject of work study is the public of this type of literature, which is composed primarily of women. The work is based on the perspective of interpretivism and uses the concept of interpretative communities. According to this concept, meanings are being negotiated within a group of readers sharing interpretative strategies. In this work, I view slashers as an interpretive community and therefore assume that the readers' strategies and meanings will show some similarities. The technique of semi-structured interviews is used to achieve the goals of the theses. The interviews took place with nine female slashers. Data collected in this way were analyzed by the method of grounded theory.

La réalisation de ce projet a été rendue possible grâce à une bourse d’études supérieures du Canada du Conseil de recherche en sciences humaines (CRSH). / Dans ce mémoire, nous proposons une étude de la réception des albums publiés en Colombie ou par des auteurs et illustrateurs colombiens dans la période allant de 2000 à 2013. À partir de la définition de l'album qui va s'exposer, nous comprenons qu'il s'agit d'un objet culturel qui est conçu et fabriqué, qui soutient et est impliqué dans le récit et qui est partagé pendant la lecture. En ce sens, nous allons considérer non seulement les dynamiques qui le définissent, mais nous allons aussi le lier à une conception de l'enfant, de la lecture et du livre auxquels ce type d'expression artistique semble répondre. C'est à dire, à une vision esthétique du livre pour les enfants, à la lecture comme une fin en elle-même et à l'enfant lecteur comme un récepteur actif. Pour ce faire, nous allons nous servir de la notion de communautés interprétatives proposée par Stanley Fish pour inclure dans l'analyse le contexte de la médiation esthétique de lecture en Colombie comme le cadre définissant les stratégies interprétatives qui dirigent la construction du sens dans les expériences de lecture de notre corpus. / In this thesis we propose a study of reception of picturebooks published in Colombia or by Colombian authors and illustrators during the period from 2000 to 2013. From the definition of the picturebook that we will expose, we understand picturebooks as a cultural object that is designed and manufactured, which supports and is involved in the story and that is shared while reading. In this sense, we will not only consider its dynamic narratives but it will also be linked to the concept of the child, to the act of reading and the book to which this kind of artistic expression seems to respond; that is, an aesthetic vision of the children's book, the act of reading as a goal itself and the reader child as an active receptor. To do this, we will use the notion of interpretive communities proposed by Stanley Fish in order to include in the analysis the context of aesthetic reading mediation in Colombia as the framework defining the interpretive strategies that direct the construction of meaning in the experiences of reading of our corpus. / En esta tesina nos proponemos hacer un estudio de recepción de los libros-álbum publicados en Colombia o por autores e ilustradores colombianos en el periodo de 2000 a 2013. A partir de la definición del libro-álbum que expondremos, entendemos que estamos abordando un objeto cultural que se diseña y se fabrica, que soporta y se involucra en la narración y que se comparte al ser leído. En este sentido, no solo tendremos en cuenta las dinámicas narrativas que lo definen sino que lo ligaremos con una concepción del niño, de la lectura y del libro a la que este tipo de expresión artística parece responder; a saber, a una visión estética del libro infantil, de la lectura como fin en sí misma y del niño lector como receptor activo. Para ello, nos valdremos de la noción de comunidades interpretativas propuesta por Stanley Fish en miras a incluir en el análisis el contexto de la mediación estética de lectura en Colombia como el marco que define las estrategias interpretativas que dirigen la construcción de sentido durante las experiencias de lectura de nuestro corpus.

Challenging behaviour poses problems for teachers globally and yet very little research has been done with regard to the teacher-learner relationship and what challenging behaviour does to the teacher. The goal of this study was to explore teachers’ experiences of challenging behaviour within their relationships with learners that display challenging behaviour regarding teacher’s self-configuration. A qualitative approach was pursued in the form of an interpretive descriptive design in order to gain a better understanding of the teachers’ self-configuration experiences. For the purpose of this study the field theory was used as the theoretical framework, viewing teachers in their environment, specifically focusing on the teacher-learner relationship. A total of 12 teachers were purposefully selected from a school in Observatory, Johannesburg. The data were collected through in-depth interviews. Additionally, incomplete sentences were used to enrich data and to enhance trustworthiness. Triangulation was ensured by using two data collection methods to increase the credibility and validity of the results. The interviews and incomplete sentences were recorded via audio recording equipment. The recordings were then transcribed in order to identify emerging themes and subthemes. Thematic analysis was used once the data had been transcribed in order to gain meaningful information. This study revealed teachers’ self-configuration experiences in their relationships with learners with challenging behaviour and experienced their relationships with these children as a foundation for self-configuration. Teachers’ self-configuration is embedded in their different selves at school and their love and passion for teaching are reduced due to negative emotions. Experiences within the relationship escalate to the home environment and challenging behaviour causes stress for teachers. Teachers viewed challenging behaviour as behaviour that is an internal challenge for the learner, but also behaviour that is directed externally towards the teacher and other learners. Trust and respect, class size, individual attention and communication were identified elements contributing to self-configuration within the teacher-learner relationship. This study showed the importance of relationships in the school context and specifically focused on teachers’ self-configuration. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Challenging behaviour poses problems for teachers globally and yet very little research has been done with regard to the teacher-learner relationship and what challenging behaviour does to the teacher. The goal of this study was to explore teachers’ experiences of challenging behaviour within their relationships with learners that display challenging behaviour regarding teacher’s self-configuration. A qualitative approach was pursued in the form of an interpretive descriptive design in order to gain a better understanding of the teachers’ self-configuration experiences. For the purpose of this study the field theory was used as the theoretical framework, viewing teachers in their environment, specifically focusing on the teacher-learner relationship. A total of 12 teachers were purposefully selected from a school in Observatory, Johannesburg. The data were collected through in-depth interviews. Additionally, incomplete sentences were used to enrich data and to enhance trustworthiness. Triangulation was ensured by using two data collection methods to increase the credibility and validity of the results. The interviews and incomplete sentences were recorded via audio recording equipment. The recordings were then transcribed in order to identify emerging themes and subthemes. Thematic analysis was used once the data had been transcribed in order to gain meaningful information. This study revealed teachers’ self-configuration experiences in their relationships with learners with challenging behaviour and experienced their relationships with these children as a foundation for self-configuration. Teachers’ self-configuration is embedded in their different selves at school and their love and passion for teaching are reduced due to negative emotions. Experiences within the relationship escalate to the home environment and challenging behaviour causes stress for teachers. Teachers viewed challenging behaviour as behaviour that is an internal challenge for the learner, but also behaviour that is directed externally towards the teacher and other learners. Trust and respect, class size, individual attention and communication were identified elements contributing to self-configuration within the teacher-learner relationship. This study showed the importance of relationships in the school context and specifically focused on teachers’ self-configuration. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Authenticity is a positive psychological construct often described as being true to oneself, and being authentic means displaying behaviour and expressing oneself in a manner that is consistent with the true self. The aim of this research was to explore managerial experiences of authenticity in the workplace. Purposive sampling was used to select five managers to participate in the study. Data was gathered using semi-structured interviews and data analysis revealed four main themes and related sub-themes. Key findings include that managers construct authenticity as being true to oneself, and that their authenticity is facilitated by contextually appropriate behaviour, the manifestation of multiple selves and open, structured work environments. Barriers to authenticity include interpersonal judgement, limitations on self-expression, leader power and authority, organisational culture and irregular work practices. Being authentic was found to have a positive impact on intrapersonal and interpersonal relations, whilst inauthentic behaviour had negative consequences at both levels. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Every policy problem has inherent value dimensions. It is on the basis of values that a state of affairs is perceived as undesirable, and thus acknowledged as a problem. This makes the process of defining and negotiating the meaning of a problem an essentially political process. Despite this, bureaucracy and expertise have a strong, if not increasing, influence over the formation of policy problems. An objectivist knowledge view predominates within the public managerial realm, which obscures the political dimension of problem formulation, while policy problems tend to be approached as a matter of efficiency. This thesis provides an account of mechanisms that shape and constrain the way a particular policy problem is understood and addressed. It analyses how policy actors make sense of particular problems, by drawing on different discourses (scientific, institutional, popular or media). The empirical case of this thesis is the formation of public safety policy in Sweden. The understanding of the problem of unsafety within Swedish policy is shown to be intrinsically related to the research field of fear of crime. The two are mutually dependent and exert an ideational path dependency. The ideational constraints on the understanding of unsafety are further affected by the institutional setting. It is argued that the appointed institutions and the emphasis on local level have a part in fostering individualist explanations and solutions,while obviating structural interpretations of the problem. The thesis finds that when governing complex policy problems there is a need to pay closer attention to how the problem is defined and how its meaning is constrained. It is crucial to make transparent the values inherent in definitions of problems as well as in research claims. By acknowledging the entwinement of policy and research the policy formation process may become characterized by greater reflexivity, and the possibility of resolving wicked problems may enlarge.

This thesis describes methods for transforming applicative programs with the aim of improving their efficiency. The general justification for these techniques is presented via the concept of abstract interpretation. The work can be seen as providing mechanisms to optimise applicative programs for sequential von Neumann machines. The chapters address the following subjects. Chapter 1 gives an overview and gentle introduction to the following technical chapters. Chapter 2 gives an introduction to and motivation for the concept of abstract interpretation necessary for the detailed understanding of the rest of the work. It includes certain theoretical developments, of which I believe the most important is the incorporation of the concept of partial functions into our notion of abstract interpretation. This is done by associating non-standard denotations with functions just as denotational semantics gives the standard denotations. Chapter 3 gives an example of the ease with which we can talk about function objects within abstract interpretive schemes. It uses this to show how a simple language using call-by-need semantics can be augmented with a system that annotates places in a program at which call-by-value can be used without violating the call-by-need semantics. Chapter 4 extends the work of chapter 3 by showing that under some sequentiality restriction, the incorporation of call-by-value for call-by-need can be made complete in the sense that the resulting program will only possess strict functions except for the conditional. Chapter 5 is an attempt to apply the concepts of abstract interpretation to a completely different problem, that of incorporating destructive operators into an applicative program. We do this in order to increase the efficiency of implementation without violating the applicative semantics by introducing destructive operators into our language. Finally, chapter 6 contains a discussion of the implications of such techniques for real languages, and in particular presents arguments whereby applicative languages should be seen as whole systems and not merely the applicative subset of some larger language.