It has been stressed within social sciences that risk management has focused too much on technical solutions and in order to decrease the risks also social factors have to be taken into account, namely the way people perceive risk. Risk perception is an important research field working on these issues. The aim of the study was in the light of the diverging views between the two paradigms to understand which of the psychometric or the cultural theory paradigm that can to a larger extent explain the flood risk perception of people living in the Tisza River basin. Furthermore the aim was to understand how the gap between experts’ and the public’s view on flood risk communication can be understood as well as how the risk communication could be improved. Data was collected through a survey and interviews. The results show that risk perception can partly be explained by either paradigm. To better understand people’s risk perception studies need to be more empirically based, not treat people’s perception as something too abstract and understand the interaction between individuals, society and the environment. The gap between the public’s and experts’ views is not as large as expected. In order to improve flood risk communication, decision makers need a better understanding of citizens’ perceptions and the motivation to include public perception in flood risk management need to be based on the view that the public could have an important input into risk management.

This thesis explores how social networking sites are changing the way individuals socialize in everyday life, and how users mediate this social media. The hypothesis explored is that Facebook user’s perception of risk, when using the site, is related to how they frame the technology. Drawing on conceptual and theoretical tools from science studies and the sociologies of friendship, risk and surveillance, interview data is collected and analysed in order to identify the dynamics that structure Facebook use. It is concluded not only that, as hypothesized, participant’s awareness and perception of risk is based upon their framing of the social networking technology, but also that the framing processes arise from the technosocial hybrid nature of Facebook. That is to say, it is not exclusively based on technological possibility or on existing social practices but instead by a constant balance between the two.

This thesis explores how social networking sites are changing the way individuals socialize in everyday life, and how users mediate this social media. The hypothesis explored is that Facebook user’s perception of risk, when using the site, is related to how they frame the technology. Drawing on conceptual and theoretical tools from science studies and the sociologies of friendship, risk and surveillance, interview data is collected and analysed in order to identify the dynamics that structure Facebook use. It is concluded not only that, as hypothesized, participant’s awareness and perception of risk is based upon their framing of the social networking technology, but also that the framing processes arise from the technosocial hybrid nature of Facebook. That is to say, it is not exclusively based on technological possibility or on existing social practices but instead by a constant balance between the two.

Events are a part of every culture and community (Allen, et al., 2002; Getz, 1997; Getz, 2007; Rogers, 2003). They may differ in their purpose (celebration, education, marketing), but at the core they are a gathering of people (Goldblatt & Nelson, 2001). Economically, the event industry is an important sector of the tourism industries; in the USA it is estimated at $652 billion USD in revenues and to have created more than 1.7 million jobs in 2005 (Rutherford Silvers, 2008). Inherent within this industry are risks of varying types (financial, physical, legal, etc) that are the responsibility of the event planner to assess and manage. There are numerous proposed risk assessment and management strategies (GWU Tourism, 2007; MacLaurin & Wykes, 2003; Rutherford Silvers, 2008; Ryerson, 2008; Tarlow, 2002a), which are based on models presented in the general risk literature (Althaus, 2005; Johnson, 1993; Law, 2006; Sjoberg, 2000b; Slovic, 2000; Slovic, et al., 2004). However, there are no empirical data to support these proposed models, nor any research that has studied event planner perceptions of potential sources of risk. This study is an exploration of the socio-demographic influences of event planners on risk perception and how these support the current risk assessment and risk management strategies. A model was developed that outlined the manner in which experience, education, gender and country of residence influenced the risk concepts of “dread” and “familiarity”. These concepts then lead to risk perception that, in turn, influenced risk assessment and risk management. In order to test this model, a mixed-methods, two-stage approach was used (Creswell, 2003; Veal, 2006). In-depth interviews were used to develop a definition of risk specific to the event industry, followed by an on-line survey to measure perceptions of various risk elements and gather socio-demographic information. There was evidence to support education, experience, gender and country of residence as influencing perceptions of “dread” and “familiarity” that, in turn, directly correlated with levels of risk perception. This exploratory research has opened the way for many new facets of research in the event industry. Future research is suggested in the areas of cultural influence on risk perception, risk perception related to various event types (festivals, sports, mega-events, etc), and risk management strategies utilized by event planners.

The United States continues to be affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and now public health is faced with new challenges in mitigating the spread of the disease. African-Americans are disproportionately affected by HIV and a further understanding about the factors that influence high risk sexual behaviors needs to be continuously examined. The aim of this study was to understand and compare the the perception of HIV risk and factors associated with risk perception in high risk adult and adolescent groups. After multivariate analysis, having multiple partners was the only predictor of an increased risk perception among adults. Among adolescents, no significant relationship was found between HIV risk indicators and having an increased HIV risk perception. Both adults and adolescents appeared to underestimate their HIV risk based on their reported risk sexual behaviors. More work is necessary to help adolescents accurately assess their risk of infection.

Road traffic accidents have become ‘hidden epidemics’ across the world and have posed a substantial health and economic burden to many developing nations. In 2006, Ghana spent US$ 165 million (1.6% of GDP) on accident management. On average, five (5) people die and several others are injured on the country’s roads daily. In about 95% of road traffic crashes in the country, human factors have been implicated. Available evidence indicates that the casualty rate is on the rise in many parts of the country. However, little attempts have been made to understand the individual and situational determinants of road traffic crashes among drivers and pedestrians. Employing a qualitative research methodology, this research investigated drivers and pedestrians’ opinions about their traffic risk perception, attitudes and behaviour and their relationship with motor vehicle crashes with the overall goal of identifying and describing the proximal and distal factors of accident causation in the Manya Krobo area. Two sub-studies make up the content of the present research: The first study explored the individual and situational determinants of aberrant driving and traffic crashes among commercial drivers of passenger-carrying minibuses. Challenging working conditions, road rage behaviours, inadequate driver training, bad road infrastructure and equipment, and passenger distractions were among the reasons described for dangerous driving. Other motivations were risk-taking propensity, fatalism, and ineffective traffic law enforcement. In the second study, pedestrian road use attitudes and behaviour as well as their travel experiences in relation to pedestrian-vehicular crash involvements were investigated. The major behaviours reported to be influencing pedestrian-vehicle crashes included pedestrian-unfriendly road infrastructure, nearness of stores and supermarkets to major roads, risky pedestrian road use behaviour, aberrant driving, street hawking, parental negligence, and general disinterest in pedestrian law enforcement. Given the importance these findings may have for central government, road planners, and safety officials; discussions have been made and recommendations for accident countermeasures have been put forward. Keywords: Ghana; Pedestrians; Commercial drivers; Risk perception; Attitude; Behaviour; Streethawking; Driving apprenticeship

Events are a part of every culture and community (Allen, et al., 2002; Getz, 1997; Getz, 2007; Rogers, 2003). They may differ in their purpose (celebration, education, marketing), but at the core they are a gathering of people (Goldblatt & Nelson, 2001). Economically, the event industry is an important sector of the tourism industries; in the USA it is estimated at $652 billion USD in revenues and to have created more than 1.7 million jobs in 2005 (Rutherford Silvers, 2008). Inherent within this industry are risks of varying types (financial, physical, legal, etc) that are the responsibility of the event planner to assess and manage. There are numerous proposed risk assessment and management strategies (GWU Tourism, 2007; MacLaurin & Wykes, 2003; Rutherford Silvers, 2008; Ryerson, 2008; Tarlow, 2002a), which are based on models presented in the general risk literature (Althaus, 2005; Johnson, 1993; Law, 2006; Sjoberg, 2000b; Slovic, 2000; Slovic, et al., 2004). However, there are no empirical data to support these proposed models, nor any research that has studied event planner perceptions of potential sources of risk. This study is an exploration of the socio-demographic influences of event planners on risk perception and how these support the current risk assessment and risk management strategies. A model was developed that outlined the manner in which experience, education, gender and country of residence influenced the risk concepts of “dread” and “familiarity”. These concepts then lead to risk perception that, in turn, influenced risk assessment and risk management. In order to test this model, a mixed-methods, two-stage approach was used (Creswell, 2003; Veal, 2006). In-depth interviews were used to develop a definition of risk specific to the event industry, followed by an on-line survey to measure perceptions of various risk elements and gather socio-demographic information. There was evidence to support education, experience, gender and country of residence as influencing perceptions of “dread” and “familiarity” that, in turn, directly correlated with levels of risk perception. This exploratory research has opened the way for many new facets of research in the event industry. Future research is suggested in the areas of cultural influence on risk perception, risk perception related to various event types (festivals, sports, mega-events, etc), and risk management strategies utilized by event planners.

Ingredient branding implies that a company incorporates an additional brand into their product in order to increase consumer awareness. This has been proven to be successful in certain product categories such as computers and food. These products can be seen as low involvement and low cost products, since they are bought frequently and generally involves low risk for the consumer. Ingredient branding has never been tested on product categories that are categorised as high involvement and high cost, which is therefore the intention of this thesis. By investigating consumers’ attitudes and perception of quality, towards advertisements with and without ingredient brands, we conclude that ingredient branding does not affect consumers in high involvement and high cost product categories, nor in a positive or negative way.

Ingredient branding implies that a company incorporates an additional brand into their product in order to increase consumer awareness. This has been proven to be successful in certain product categories such as computers and food. These products can be seen as low involvement and low cost products, since they are bought frequently and generally involves low risk for the consumer. Ingredient branding has never been tested on product categories that are categorised as high involvement and high cost, which is therefore the intention of this thesis. By investigating consumers’ attitudes and perception of quality, towards advertisements with and without ingredient brands, we conclude that ingredient branding does not affect consumers in high involvement and high cost product categories, nor in a positive or negative way.

The purposes of this research are to find out consumer¡¦s perception and expectation of beef safety. Our questionnaire research is by asking people who lives in Kaohsiung city and had bough beef before to find out those factors which affect purchasing willing. Our research contents two purposes. The first is to understand the consumer¡¦s perception of import beef safety. The other is to find out the factors those affect buying willing. The total responses are 204 questionnaires. Use ANCOVA and regression statistics to analyze our data. Results showed that: (1) age is significant to the knowledge of BSE. (2) the belief of government and Prof. who has positive attitude about BSE is significant to purchasing willing. (3) percentage of relatives and friends who also eat beef is significant to purchasing willing. According to our research results, we made some suggestions to government to improve beef permit system and to promote knowledge of BSE to consumer.