When is an attack perceived as terrorism? Anecdotally, violent events in the media are more often labeled terrorism when the perpetrator is Muslim. The media has profound effects on the public’s perception of issues such as terrorism. However, public views on labeling terrorism have not been tested empirically. This research aims to explore how the public perceives a violent event depending on the context. Using a 2 (Muslim vs. Christian perpetrator) x2 (male vs. female perpetrator) x2 (unknown vs. political motive) experimental design, participants were presented with varying conditions of an attack. They were asked to report their perceptions of the attack and perpetrator, as well as their attitudes towards different policies. Findings show that attacks with Muslim perpetrators were more likely to be labeled terrorism, and the terrorism label is correlated with support for policies negatively affecting Muslims.

This thesis is about climate change attitudes in Alberta, Canada. It applies a bivariate logistic analysis to the data gathered from a random stratified sampling survey held in Alberta in 2008. It finds that belief in the anthropogenic climate change and Conservative political ideology factors have a high predictive probability on an individuals willingness to pay a tax that addresses the negative effects of climate change. The subjects of individual capacity and reflexivity are examined in the light of these results and suggestions for future researchers are made. It thus offers insights on how to find human potentials within society that can help to cope with the idea of climate change. / Rural Sociology

No description available.

Demonstrations that ageing and life-span can be manipulated in model animal species have increased hopes that the length of the human life-span may also be dramatically extended. The possibility of human life-span extension has provoked debate amongst bioethicists. Proponents of life-extension cite the benefits of a longer and healthier life. Opponents argue that these technologies: violate human nature; may not necessarily increase the quality of life; and, they will lead to overpopulation and social strife that outweighs any benefits to individuals. Others see problems of equity and justice in access to any potential life-extension technologies. The attitudes of members of the public have largely been neglected in ethical and policy discussions of human life-extension. In the absence of empirical evidence on public attitudes, proponents and opponents have assumed either widespread public enthusiasm for life-extension or strong opposition because of concerns about its moral acceptability or its adverse social consequences. All agree that public attitudes could be a powerful facilitator or a major obstacle to the development of life-extending technologies. The goal of this thesis is to characterise public attitudes towards life-extension and describe factors that influence these views. It examines the following questions: (1) What is the prevalence of public support for (or opposition to) life-extension research? (2) How much interest is there among the public in using a technology that could increase life-span by slowing ageing? (3) What issues are important to members of the public in forming their attitudes? (4) What ethical issues, if any, do members of the public identify? (5) Are these ethical and moral issues the same ones expressed by ethicists and social scientists? (6) How do these ethical attitudes affect their overall interest in, or support for, life-extension? (7) How are attitudes towards life-extension related to demographic characteristics such as age, gender, education, and religious beliefs? Three empirical studies were designed using a mixed methodology to answer these questions. Study 1 (focus groups) and Study 2 (individual interviews) were qualitative investigations of public attitudes towards life-extension. The results of these two studies informed the design of Study 3 - a quantitative survey of attitudes towards life-extension via telephone interviews with 605 adult members of the Australian public. Participants in Study 3 were presented with a vignette outlining the prospect of a life-extension pharmaceutical that could increase life-span to 150 years by slowing the ageing process. They were then asked to express their level of agreement with a series of statements about ethical, social and personal implications of life-extension, and their overall support and interest in using such a technology. All three studies found mixed public attitudes towards the development and use of life-extension technologies. Participants in Studies 1 and 2 were concerned about whether life-extension would be accompanied by good quality of life. Studies 1 and 2 also suggested that participants were concerned about social and ethical issues that included: the potential impact on society; whether life-extension was “natural”; and whether access to life-extension technologies would be fair and equitable. Study 3 confirmed the diversity of public views identified in the qualitative phase. While 65% supported such research, only 35% said that they would use a life-extension technology if one became available. Men were more supportive of research and more disposed to use life-extension technologies than women. 58% of participants expressed ethical or moral concerns about life-extension technologies. When asked to weigh up the potential benefits and negatives that they identified as important, almost half (48%) said that life-extension technologies would do more harm than good to society, and 40% thought that taking a life-extension pharmaceutical would do them more harm than good personally. Study 3 also showed that valid scales could be constructed to assess the strength of concerns about social and ethical issues. These scales were: personal benefits/negatives; social benefits/negatives; and natural concerns. Higher levels of support for using and developing life-extension technologies were associated with higher levels of perceived personal and societal benefits from life-extension. Participants who had more ethical concerns, and perceived more personal and social negatives were less likely to support or express an interest in using life-extension technologies. Perceptions of personal and social benefits, and having concerns about the “naturalness” of life-extension were the best predictors of support or interest in using life-extension technologies. This thesis shows that public attitudes towards life-extension are more varied than some ethicists have assumed. While there are substantial minorities who were clearly “pro” or “con”, many members of the public are concerned about ethical and social issues. It would be unwise for researchers of life-extension not to take account of public attitudes and concerns if they hope to foster public support for their work.

Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) in the form of wave, tidal and offshore wind has emerged as a potentially major component of strategies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and combat climate change. One factor influencing the implementation of MRE technologies is acceptance by people living near developments. This study investigated (i) attitudes towards MRE in small island communities as likely host communities for MRE developments; (ii) the underlying factors and values shaping these attitudes; (iii) how communities viewed MRE with regard to their place attachments; (iv) the inclusion of communities attitudes into MRE decision-making; and (v) contributions to policy and practice of MRE development. Data were collected using a mixed-methods approach, employing questionnaire surveys and interviews in three case study communities: 1) the Orkney Islands in Scotland which have considerable experience with MRE; 2) the Shetland Islands, also a Scottish community but with somewhat less experience; and 3) the Isles of Scilly, an English community with limited MRE experience. These study sites provided an opportunity to examine attitudes towards MRE in areas with different levels of MRE experience and differing government administrations and consenting procedures, thus offering novel insights into how local contexts shape attitudes towards MRE. The theoretical position adopted was place attachment, and the study made steps towards understanding how place attachment processes operate when people evaluate MRE development locally. Processes of place attachment were found to be based on a continuous flow of interactions between people and places based on an evaluation of what happens in specific local contexts and how these are valued against sets of local priorities and preferences. The study found generally positive attitudes towards MRE, and identified local context, place-based values and the perceived effects of MRE as dominant in shaping support. The study thus found two important contributors that shaped attitudes: (i) local references and influences through which people observed issues, including socio-historical references, relational factors, and pragmatic factors, and (ii) local values, through which MRE was evaluated, which were established by residents based on evaluations of local characteristics, and how they related to strategies to maintain the long-term community continuity, and whether they were considered to be a threat, and therefore, a priority for continuity or for change. Based on these factors, a heuristic model was developed to visualise how attitudes towards MRE developed based on local contexts. Although complex interplays of local factors were observed, support for MRE development was largely based on its perceived local socio-economic benefits and perceptions of minimal environmental disruption. To incorporate local attitudes into decision-making, a place-based approach instead of a technology-based approach was advocated in which community priorities becomes the first focal point of siting processes. This approach is based both on the identified importance of local context for engaging the community and on ensuring appropriate siting based on engagement processes in which communities are appropriately represented and processes are tailored to local circumstances. An added important benefit from such an approach is that it allows for the inclusion of local knowledge and expertise in MRE siting.

Police militarization is a critical contemporary issue in the criminal justice field; however, only a minor amount of research exists on this issue. Almost no research exists on public attitudes toward police militarization, which is very important given the social context. A contextual literature review covers a brief history of American police with emphasis on key events leading to modern police militarization, such as the Munich Incident and Columbine. Also covered are research topics that help outline the need for research on public attitudes in this field, such as the amount and use of PPUs by Peter Kraska and the idea of role convergence. Google Docs was used to generate and disseminate an electronic survey to a random sample of ETSU students. Statistical findings show that, while militarization does play a significant role in public confidence in the police, positive public attitudes and fear of the police play a much more significant role.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(エネルギー科学) / 甲第24974号 / エネ博第470号 / 新制||エネ||88(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院エネルギー科学研究科エネルギー社会・環境科学専攻 / (主査)教授 MCLELLAN Benjamin, 教授 下田 宏, 教授 吉田 純 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Energy Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Public opinion regarding crime-related issues is a challenging matter for researchers and politicians alike. An ill-informed public with regards to crime, punishment and other aspects of the criminal justice system leads to discontent and demands for harsher policies to strengthen public safety. Politicians harness public opinion to secure votes, and this can result in punitive policies that are founded on erroneous beliefs. The objective of this study is to look more deeply into people’s attitudes towards crime and punishment, and to consider why Greek people hold the views that they do and how these views are constructed. A multi-method approach was adopted for the implementation of this study. Quantitative methods were used to map the scope of attitudes towards crime and punishment in Greece. Qualitative methods were then appropriate to analyse and explore how attitudes are constructed and investigate specific factors in more depth. Greek culture was found to be one of the core issues, and in this context the Greek Orthodox faith and the traditional tight Greek family unit indicate that the stronger are the Greek people’s adherence to their traditional religious and family values, the less punitive are their attitudes towards crime and punishment. However, factors such as the media, attitudes towards immigrants and the contemporary political scene were found to cause distorted perceptions, leading to lack of confidence in the Greek criminal justice system.

The overall purpose of the study was to examine the aesthetic impacts of wind farm obstruction lighting. The research problems investigated in this study were; aviation safety regulations for wind farm obstruction lighting in different countries, obstruction lighting technology, and the public attitudes towards wind farming. The research was designed taking into account the research problems, questions, and the researcher experience. Hence, mixed method approach was employed to collect as much, and as diverse data as possible. The sample was drawn focusing wind energy project developers, operators, and the owners. Seeking to build a detailed narrative, a web-based survey was conducted to gather the thoughts, and opinions of the sample population, in addition, to a thorough literature review conducted earlier. The key findings of this study are that the lighting system should be efficient to operate in terms of technology with least aesthetic impacts. Out-dated wind farm obstruction lighting systems are annoying, and contributes to overall aesthetic impacts that triggers nagetive attitudes towards wind farming. In addition, for wind farms near any aerodrome, infrared integrated into light emitting diodes obstruction lighting have minimal aesthetic impacts. Whereas, the radar-activated obstruction lighting is a better choice for wind farms further away from aerodromes. The study argued that understanding the affecting components of attitudes would give various stakeholders a realistic understanding about attitudes towards wind farming. This study concludes that the optimization of lighting angle, intensity, color, and luminance will help reducing the aesthetic impacts under the prevailing regulations, and mapping affective components of attitudes will help in better understanding the public support towards wind farming.

A mail survey of randomly selected stratified U.S. households assessed general attitudes toward wildlife and specific concerns about wildlife damage management and the federal Animal Damage Control program. Respondents strongly supported federal government's role in ensuring public safety , engaging in public education, and continuing research into nonlethal control methods. Weaker support was found for lethal control of predators and crop depredators, and financial compensation for losses due to wildlife activities was generally opposed. Lethal methods of control were generally considered to be inhumane and nonlethal methods humane. When asked to rank the importance of factors to be considered when selecting management methods, II human safety ranked highest followed by animal suffering, effectiveness, environmental impacts, severity of problem, and ability to target the specific problem animal. The lowest ranked factor was public opinion. Considered as a whole, results suggest that U.S. citizens want a role in wildlife damage policy formation but respect wildlife professionals ' judgment in specific management situations. This study also assessed attitudes and beliefs about wildlife damage management (WDM) activities and federal government agencies ' roles in carrying out those activities. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine if variables such as environmental attitude, wildlife experience, and sociodemographic characteristics explained levels of support for WDM activities and the importance of the federal government's role . Respondents generally support WDM operations. Differences in respondents' general environmental attitudes and enjoyment of hunting accounted for most of the variation in their attitudes toward WDM practices. Independent variables that most influenced perceived importance of federal involvement in WDM were sex , age, education, and general environmental attitudes.