This thesis develops the requirements of the Cumbria Division of the MAFF to have detailed information on a number of rural topics of particular concern to the area's socia-economic advisory service. Information was generated upon the effects of road developments upon agriculture; the possibility of economic and employment growth through tourism, industry, forestry and agriculture; and upon their relationship with conservation and development control issues generally. A working conference was organised (The Whitbarrow Exercise) to review in specific terms a number of the above problems, in which representatives of the major groups active in rural policy formulation and implementation participated. The study was extended to consider these policy issues on a more prosperous agricultural estate; and in the county of Cumbria as a whole. An examination of the development and likely future impact of agricultural policy upon rural policy generally was also undertaken. All the research was set in the context of an extensive literature review. The results indicate that while state intervention to relieve those problems collectively known as rural deprivation still has an important place in modern rural policy, the scope for such intervention to be successful is limited. Opportunities for employment and wealth creation through tourism, forestry, industry and agriculture are limited for social and economic reasons; developments in these sectors can have adverse effects upon the environment; can compound existing problems; and are often resisted by local people. The lack of success of such ventures indicates continued structural change within rural communities, with some adverse effects for the less privileged members. Recognising this it is argued that fural policy seeks to adapt to, rather than attempt to fundamentally alter inevitable change, recognising that in the long term social and structural problems will resolve themselves. It is further argued that a reduction in state support for agriculture appears inevitable, and this can bring considerable conservation benefits, even in upland areas where positive links between agriculture and conservation have been found by some commentators. It is also argued that for social and economic reasons, and because of the declining importance of agricultural land, a vigorous landscape and ecological conservation policy is pursued by planning authorities and is reasonable. With regard to road developments on agricultural land, the research has shawn that although it is the norm far the agricultural community to experience severe difficulty during developments, these can be overcame by increasing the resources of professional expertise available to affected farmers. This indicates a possible important increased role for the MAFF in the development process.

The aim of this thesis was to investigate the impact of changing values and attitudes toward work and the workplace in Britain, West Germany, France and Japan. A cross-national approach was adopted in order to gain a better understanding of differences and similarities in behaviour and to identify aspects specific to each society. Although the relationship between work and leisure has been thoroughly examined and there is a growing body of literature on changes in the values associated with these two phenomena, little research has been carried out into leisure at work. Studies of work time have tended to consider it as a homogeneous block, whereas recent research suggests that more attention should be devoted to unravelling the multiple uses of time at the workplace. The present study sought to review and analyse this new approach to the study of work time, and special attention is devoted to an examination of definitions of leisure, recreation, free time and work within the context of the workplace. The cross-cultural comparative approach gave rise to several problems due to the number of countries involved and the unusual combination of factors being investigated. The main difficulties were differences in the amount and quality of literature available, the non-comparability of existing data, definitions of concepts and socio-linguistic terms, and problems over access to organizations for fieldwork. Much of the literature generalizes about patterns of behaviour and few authors isolate factors specific to particular societies. In this thesis new empirical work is therefore used to ascertain the extent to which generalizations can be made from the literature and characteristics peculiar to each of the four countries identified. White-collar employees in large, broadly comparable companies were studied using identical questionnaires in the appropriate language. Respondents selected were men and women, aged between 20-65 years and either managers or non-managers. Patterns of leisure at work were found to be broadly similar in the national contexts, but with the Japanese and the West Germans experiencing the least leisure at work, and the British and the French perceiving the most. The general trend seems to be toward convergence of attitudes regarding leisure at work in the four countries. Explanations for variations in practice were sought within the wider societal contexts of each country.

The thesis offers a comparative interdisciplinary approach to the examination of the intellectual debates about the relationship between individual and society in the GDR under Honecker. It shows that there was not only a continuum of debate between the academic disciplines, but also from the radical critics of the GDR leadership such as Robert Havemann, Rudolf Bahro and Stefan Heym through the social scientists, literary critics and legal theorists working in the academic institutions to theorists close to the GDR leadership. It also shows that the official line and policy of the ruling party itself on the question of the individual and society was not static over the period, but changed in response to internal and external pressures. Over the period 1971 - 1989 greater emphasis was placed by many intellectuals on the individual, his needs and interests. It was increasingly recognised that conflicts could exist between the individual and society in GDR socialism. Whereas the radical critics argued that these conflicts were due to features of GDR society, such as the hierarchical system of labour functions and bureaucracy, and extrapolated from this a general conflict between the political leadership and population, orthodox critics argued that conflicts existed between a specific individual and society and were largely due to external and historical factors. The internal critics also pointed to the social phenomena which were detrimental to the individual's development in the GDR, but they put forward less radical solutions. With the exception of a few radical young writers, all theorists studied in this thesis gave precedence to social interests over individual interests and so did not advocate a return to `individualistic' positions. The continuity of sometimes quite controversial discussions in the GDR academic journals and the flexibility of the official line and policy suggests that it is inappropriate to refer to GDR society under Honecker simply as totalitarian, although it did have some totalitarian features. What the thesis demonstrates is the existence of `Teiloffentlichkeiten' in which critical discussion is conducted even as the official, orthodox line is given out for public consumption in the high-circulation media.

The study examines the concept of cultural determinism in relation to the business interview, analysing differences in language use between English, French and West German native speakers. The approach is multi- and inter-disciplinary combining linguistic and business research methodologies. An analytical model based on pragmatic and speech act theory is developed to analyse language use in telephone market research interviews. The model aims to evaluate behavioural differences between English, French and West German respondents in the interview situation. The empirical research is based on a telephone survey of industrial managers, conducted in the three countries in the national language of each country. The telephone interviews are transcribed and compared across languages to discover how managers from each country use different language functions to reply to questions and requests. These differences are assessed in terms of specific cultural parameters: politeness, self-assuredness and fullness of response. Empirical and descriptive studies of national character are compared with the survey results, providing the basis for an evaluation of the relationship between management culture and national culture on a contrastive and comparative cross-cultural basis. The project conclusions focus on the implications of the findings both for business interviewing and for language teaching.

The Project arose during a period in which the World was still coming to terms with the effects and implications of the so called 'energy crisis' of 1973/74. Serck Heat Transfer is a manufacturer of heat exchangers which transfer heat between fluids of various sorts. As such the company felt that past and possible future changes in the energy situation could have an impact upon the demand for its products. The thesis represents the first attempt to examine the impact of changes in the energy situation (a major economic variable) on the long term demand for heat exchangers. The scope of the work was limited to the United Kingdom, this being the largest single market for Serek's products. The thesis analyses industrial heat exchanger markets and identifies those trends which are related to both the changing energy situation and the usage of heat exchangers. These trends have been interpreted In terms of projected values of heat exchanger demand. The projections cover the period 197S to the year 2000. Also examined in the thesis is the future energy situation both internationally and nationally and it is found that in the long term there will be increasing pressure on consumers to conserve energy through rising real prices. The possibility of a connection between energy consumption and heat exchanger demand is investigated and no significant correlation found. This appears to be because there are a number of determinants of demand besides energy related factors and also there is a wide diversity of individual markets for heat exchangers. Conclusions are that in all markets, bar one, the changing energy situation should lead to a higher level of heat exchanger demand than would otherwise be the case had the energy situation not changed. It is also pointed out that it is misleading to look at changes in one influence on the demand for a product and ignore others.

This comparative study considers the main causative factors for change in recent years in the teaching of modern languages in England and France and seeks to contribute, in a general sense, to the understanding of change in comparable institutions. In England by 1975 the teaching of modern languages in the comprehensive schools was seen to be inappropriate to the needs of children of the whole ability-range. A combination of the external factor of the Council of Europe initiative in devising a needs-based learning approach for adult learners, and the internal factor of teacher-based initiatives in developing a graded-objectives learning approach for the less-able, has reversed this situation to some extent. The study examines and evaluates this reversal, and, in addition, assesses teachers' attitudes towards, and understanding of, the changes involved. In France the imposition of `la reforme Haby' in 1977 and the creation of `le college unique' were the main external factors for change. The subsequent failure of the reform and the socialist government's support of decentralisation policies returning the initiative for renewal to schools are examined and evaluated, as are the internal factors for changes in language-teaching - `groupes de niveau' and the creation of `equipes pedagogiques'. In both countries changes in the function of examinations at 15/16 plus are examined. The final chapter compared the changes in both education systems.

The research is concerned with the measurement of residents' evaluations of the environmental quality of residential areas. The research reflects the increased attention being given to residents' values in planning decisions affecting the residential environment. The work was undertaken in co-operation with a local authority which was in the process of revising its housing strategy, and in particular the priorities for improvement action. The study critically examines the existing evidence on environmental values and their relationship to the environment and points to a number of methodological and conceptual deficiencies. The research strategy developed on the basis of the research review was constrained by the need to keep any survey methods simple so that they could easily be repeated, when necessary, by the sponsoring authority. A basic perception model was assumed, and a social survey carried out to measure residents' responses to different environmental conditions. The data was only assumed to have ordinal properties, necessitating the extensive use of non-parametric statistics. Residents' expressions of satisfaction with the component elements of the environment (ranging from convenience to upkeep and privacy) were successfully related to 'objective' measures of the environment. However the survey evidence did not justify the use of the 'objective' variables as environmental standards. A method of using the social survey data directly as an aid to decision-making is discussed. Alternative models of the derivation of overall satisfaction with the environment are tested, and the values implied by the additive model compared with residents' preferences as measured directly in the survey. Residents' overall satisfactions with the residential environment were most closely related to their satisfactions with the "Appearance" and the "Reputation" of their areas. By contrast the most important directly measured preference was "Friendliness of area". The differences point to the need to define concepts used in social research clearly in operational terms, and to take care in the use of values 'measured' by different methods.

In this thesis patterns of working hours in large-scale grocery retailing in Britain and France are compared. The research is carried out using cross-national comparative methodology, and the analysis is based on information derived from secondary sources and empirical research in large-scale grocery retailing involving employers and trade unions at industry level and case studies at outlet level. The thesis begins by comparing national patterns of working hours in Britain and France over the post-war period. Subsequently, a detailed comparison of working hours in large-scale grocery retailing in Britain and France is carried out through the analysis of secondary sources and empirical data. Emphasis is placed on analyzing part-time working hours. They are contrasted and compared at national level and explained in terms of supply and demand factors. The relationships between the structuring of, and satisfaction with, working hours and factors determining women's integration in the workforce in Britain and France are investigated. Part-time hours are then compared and contrasted in large-scale grocery retailing in the context of the analysis of working hours. The relationship between the structuring of working hours and satisfaction with them is examined in both countries through research with women part-timers in case study outlets. The cross-national comparative methodology is used to examine whether dissimilar national contexts in Britain and France have led to different patterns of working hours in large-scale grocery retailing. The principal conclusion is that significant differences are found in the length, organization and flexibility of working hours and that these differences can be attributed to dissimilar socio-economic, political, and cultural contexts in the two countries.

The work is concerned with the measurement and prediction of the environmental effects of traffic in urban situations, with a view to contributing to the development of theory and the provision of techniques in transportation planning which will allow such effects to be taken into account explicitly in the evaluation of transport proposals and projects. Its main emphasis has been on the problems of streets typical of urban areas as opposed to urban motorways on which most research has heretofore concentrated. The study has focused attention on the environmental effects measurable at the kerbside and involved the review and development of traffic and built form related models of traffic noise, pedestrian delay and atmospheric pollution. The issues of vibration, pedestrian risk and visual appearance have also been examined. The work has not only been concerned with 'objective' measures of environmental impact but also with 'subjective response' and the results of testing a series of hypotheses based psychometric approaches to stimulus/response issues are reported. The research methodology for the development of the 'objective' models was based on the regression of observed variables on simultaneously measured independent variables. The 'subjective' aspects of the study were based on a survey of pedestrian response at the kerbside. Two direct methods of measuring pedestrian annoyance were used - cross modality matching and magnitude estimation. The results of the 'objective' model development work produced a, traffic noise model in terms of L10 for non free flow conditions with a standard error of 1.4dB(A) which is approximately half that found in models to date. Extremely good fits for pedestrian delay were found with models based on the adaptation of models for 'free flow' conditions. Less progress has been made in the prediction of pedestrian response. While, in some cases, very highly significant correlations were observed, the wide range of responses relative to the range of the traffic variables on the road network made it impossible to define the correct form of the relationship between the responses and the traffic. However, in the cases where the relationships were highly significant, a log/log relationship was the closest

This thesis describes an investigation of methods by which both repetitive and non-repetitive electrical transients in an HVDC converter station may be controlled for minimum overall cost. Several methods of inrush control are proposed and studied. The preferred method, whose development is reported in this thesis, would utilize two magnetic materials, one of which is assumed to be lossless and the other has controlled eddy-current losses. Mathematical studies are performed to assess the optimum characteristics of these materials, such that inrush current is suitably controlled for a minimum saturation flux requirement. Subsequent evaluation of the cost of hardware and capitalized losses of the proposed inrush control, indicate that a cost reduction of approximately 50% is achieved, in comparison with the inrush control hardware for the Sellindge converter station. Further mathematical studies are carried out to prove the adequacy of the proposed inrush control characteristics for controlling voltage and current transients during both repetitive and non-repetitive operating conditions. The results of these proving studies indicate that no change in the proposed characteristics is required to ensure that integrity of the thyristors is maintained.