abstract: This is a study that tests the New Urbanist claims that neighborhood design impacts sense of community and residential habits. Through the framework provided by New Urbanist theories, a social survey is used to examine residential perception and behavior among three fringe neighborhoods in southeast Tucson, each representing a different approach to neighborhood design: New Urbanist, traditional suburban, and a hybrid variety. The primary relationships studied are between neighborhood design and use of public space, neighborhood design and travel habits, and neighborhood design and sense of community. The findings show that the New Urbanist community does support the highest levels of sense of community and use of public space, but conclusions cannot be drawn concerning the relationship between sense of community and travel behavior, especially non-vehicular travel to public space. While these results are inconclusive concerning the direct impact of the neighborhood type on certain behaviors and perceptions, the findings support the notion that a New Urbanist design does indeed enhance social interactions and use of public space. It also offers insight into the importance of residential preferences, not as much towards walkability but towards general environmental concern. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.U.E.P. Urban and Environmental Planning 2012

This thesis examines how library patrons experience the public library as a physical place and how their emotions and opinions fit into the concept sense of community. Nine informants were selected and interviewed about their habits, experiences, preferences, opinions and emotions when visiting their respective most-used libraries. Using the theoretical framework developed by David W. McMillan and David M. Chavis for the concept sense of community as an analytical tool, the transcribed interviews have been closely studied and analysed in terms of the different criteria that make up a sense of community according to the theory. Some criteria were found to be relatively weak in the interview data, such as a shared emotional bond and strict boundary settings. Other criteria were better represented, such as a sense of personal investment, mutual influence between patron and library, a sense of belonging, fulfilment of needs, and shared values. The informants were particularly unified when discussing the importance of a public library for a local community as a place that welcomes all for free, values culture and knowledge, and provides a multitude of books and media in a calm, peaceful environment. The conclusion was drawn that public library patrons do feel a sense of community with their local library, its staff and other users, and that there’s a connection to this sense of community and the sense of being a citizen in Sweden as a whole. Physical factors such as interaction with staff and the make-up of the collection were found to be of particular importance to patrons, but other physical factors also influenced how they viewed and made use of specific public libraries.

Approximately 10% of adults living in the United States meet criteria for a Substance Use Disorder. Although 12-step groups are considered evidence-based practices for substance use problems, an understanding of the underlying mechanisms by which they facilitate recovery practices remains in its infancy. The purpose of the current study was to explore whether attachment could be considered a possible mediator of the effects of recovery practices on positive psychosocial outcomes. Participants (N = 112) were self-identified NA members from 26 U.S. states who completed an online survey assessing attachment style, psychosocial sense of community, psychological well-being, and various other recovery and psychosocial constructs. Results indicated a number of recovery-related practices emerged as significant predictors of secure attachment, over and above covariates. For example, higher levels of home group comfort were associated with increased probability of secure attachment classification (by self-report). In general, psychological sense of community did not significantly predict secure attachment, over and above covariates. Although attachment predicted psychological well-being in univariate models, it generally failed to predict psychological well-being in models that included covariates and recovery-related predictors. Theoretically, these data suggest that functional social support variables are primary recovery-related predictors implicated in NA-involvement, above and beyond other structural social support variables. This further suggests that attachment-related dimensions of 12-step interventions may be integral to recovery outcomes.

The purpose of the study was to develop a substantive theory that would provide insight into the role of the Internet in expatriate adjustment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Expatriate adjustment research has identified a number of challenges that expatriates experience when adjusting to the host country. These include spousal influence, cultural training/ understanding, fluency in the host language and the personality or emotional readiness of the expatriate. These challenges are amplified when considered in the context of the KSA, which has a large cultural distance when compared to the average Western culture and therefore, provides a setting for an interesting study. There are a limited number of studies available that consider the role of the Internet during the expatriate episode in general, but none that examine the role of the Internet on expatriate adjustment specifically. Furthermore, to the best of the researcher’s knowledge, there is no research that provides a grounded theoretical understanding of the Internet in expatriate adjustment. The research project used a Grounded Theory based approach to develop a substantive theory on the role that the Internet plays in expatriate adjustment in the KSA. The conceptual account emerged from interviewing expatriates living in Western compounds in Riyadh, the capital of the KSA. The core concern that emerged from this study is one that describes the mediating effect of the Internet. This study hypothesised that the Internet had a regulating effect on expatriates’ degree of isolation and degree of information flow which would affect both their process of adjustment and their state of adjustment. Both the expatriates’ process and state of adjustment is expressed in terms of their well-being. The theory building study presents a theoretical model, grounded in rich empirical data. The theoretical model consists of two substantive categories: degree of isolation and degree of information flow. The former explains what contributes to the feeling of isolation experienced by expatriates. It was shown that the degree of isolation is a multifaceted concept influenced by expatriates’ living space, status, social support, mobility in the KSA and state of mind. The latter substantive category, the degree of information flow, explains the extent to which information can be exchanged between expatriates and other entities, be it family, friends or the outside world in general, including communication with other expatriates in the KSA. These two substantive categories were explained through the core category which was conceptualised by using the following metaphor: “the Internet a lifeline to the real world”. Considering the lifeline properties of the Internet, the theoretical model explained how it positively effects expatriate adjustment in the KSA. It was shown that the Internet, as a mediator, had an effect when considering adjustment as a process, as a state, and as an expression of expatriate well-being. This research was guided by two key research objectives: (a) to add theoretical content to the understanding of the role that the Internet plays in expatriate adjustment, and (b) to contribute to the IS body of knowledge by producing a theory that could be applied in practice. To the researcher’s best knowledge, this study is the first in IS literature to describe the significant role and the contextual issues that surround expatriate use of the Internet in the KSA. In doing so, the study developed an understanding, grounded in rich empirical data from the substantive field of expatriates. This new understanding contributes to both IS research and practice, and provides guidance for future research. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / tm2015 / Informatics / PhD / Unrestricted

This thesis aims to analyze how members of a coworking space create a Sense of Community through the different types of social interactions that occur. Furthermore, it is investigated how the Sense of Community contributes to Word of Mouth. The authors conducted a qualitative case study of Norrsken House where members and managers of the coworking space were interviewed. The results of the study reveal that a Sense of Community is created through various interactions and occurrences. Additionally, it is stated that the creation of a Sense of Community for members is complex, where different experiences trigger different social elements. Even though there are similarities identified among the interviewed members, the evidence shows that the reality of each individual is based on previous experiences. Moreover, the authors show that the perceived Sense of Community could result in both positive and negative Word of Mouth activities between members and peers outside of the community. Based on the results, the authors elucidate how managers can design strategies to make the product offering more attractive.

Under de senaste årtiondena har ofrivillig ensamhet rapporterats i allt högre utsträckning runt om i världen, och inte minst bland stadsbor. I Sverige utgör utrikes födda en av de grupper som i högre grad än genomsnittet uppges erfara ofrivillig ensamhet i flertalet undersökningar. Den fysiska miljön spelar en viktig roll i denna fråga, eftersom faktorer såsom att bo i ett ‘underpriviligierat’ område har visat sig ha en starkare korrelation med ensamhet än vad individuella faktorer har. Det finns dessutom studier som påvisar en koppling mellan förekomsten av gemenskap, socialt kapital och ensamhet, samt den fysiska miljöns påverkan på dessa aspekter. I syfte om att studera dessa begrepp i relation till social infrastruktur och den fysiska miljön formulerades följande frågeställningar: (1) Vad finns det för social infrastruktur i Norra Djurgårdsstaden och Rinkeby, och hur upplevs och används den? Hur påverkar den fysiska miljön gemenskapen och det sociala kapitalet i områdena? (2) Hur kan den sociala infrastrukturen utvecklas för att kunna stärka gemenskapen och det sociala kapitalet bland utrikes födda i de två områdena? Semistrukturerade intervjuer, enkäter och fältobservationer utfördes i Stockholmsområdena Norra Djurgårdsstaden och Rinkeby i syfte om att svara på dessa frågor. Resultaten visar att fastän det finns ett starkt sammanlänkande socialt kapital och gemenskap i båda områdena, så finns det en brist på överbryggande socialt kapital och gemenskap i förhållande till närliggande områden. De offentliga platserna saknar mångfald beträffande användardemografi, och tillgången till arbetsplatser, fritidsaktiviteter och kulturinstitutioner ser olika ut för utrikes födda i områdena. En bättre inkludering av utrikes föddas perspektiv inom den svenska samhällsplaneringen är därför önskvärd för att kunna utveckla hälsofrämjande och inkluderande platser för olika kulturella, ekonomiska och sociala behov. / During the past decades, involuntary loneliness has been more frequently reported among urban dwellers around the world. In Sweden, immigrants constitute one of the groups that have been reporting loneliness to a greater extent than the average in various surveys. The physical environment is considered relevant in this cause, as factors such as living in a 'deprived' area have been found to have a higher correlation to loneliness than individual-level factors. Studies have additionally found an interconnection between the phenomena of sense of community, social capital and loneliness, and asserted their varying nature in different neighborhoods. With the aim of studying these concepts in relation to social infrastructure and the built environment, the following research questions were formulated: (1) What social infrastructure is there in Stockholm Royal Seaport and Rinkeby and how is it perceived and used? How does the physical environment affect the sense of community and social capital in the areas? (2) How can social infrastructure be (re)developed in order to strengthen the sense of community and social capital among foreign born people in the two areas? Semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and field observations were applied to the Stockholm neighborhoods of Rinkeby and Stockholm Royal Seaport in order to answer these questions. The key findings show that while bonding social capital and sense of community is deemed strong in both areas, there is a lack of bridging social capital and sense of community in relation to neighboring areas. The public spaces lack diversity in terms of user demographics and there are different levels of access to workplaces, leisure activities and cultural institutions for immigrants in the neighborhoods. This calls for greater exploration of the immigrant perspective in Swedish urban planning, in terms of building healthy and inclusive places for diverse cultural, economic and social needs.

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted life around the world, and the (traditional) educational system came to a screeching halt. Educational systems, including physical education teacher education, moved to remote and online teaching modalities almost overnight. This shift, coupled with the cancellation of academic conferences, resulted in many physical education teacher education faculty members feeling isolated and uncertain in their pedagogical approaches. In April 2020, the PETE Collaborative was formed. Initial meetings centered on faculty-related concerns for how to modify content and provide meaningful opportunities for preservice teachers to engage in field experiences during the pandemic. As the community grew, so did the purpose of the Collaborative, which adapted to meet the needs of the members it was established to connect. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to tell the story of the PETE Collaborative, describe its theoretical underpinnings and provide some thoughts for the future of the initiative.

The purpose of the study is to determine whether an instructor’s intentional effort to build community in his/her classroom results in a higher sense of classroom community among students. This study also examined what types of community building activities were conducted by each instructor and measured the students’ responses to each different activity. This was intended to establish a preliminary set of best practices for creating classroom community. A two-part questionnaire, including an adapted version of the Classroom Community Scale, was administered to instructors (n=5) and students (n=113) enrolled in two or four unit courses at California Polytechnic State University. These courses were designed to introduce students to their chosen majors. One-way analysis of variance, and two-proportion tests were used to determine the relationship between instructor intentions and student sense of classroom community, and the differences in student sense of classroom community between courses. Findings indicate that what course a student was in was the significant factor in determining sense of classroom community. Additionally, students accurately perceived their instructor’s intent to create classroom community.

The purpose of this non-experimental, comparative, quantitative study was to determine if there were significant differences between the perceptions of male and female community college students about the importance of sense of community (SoC) in online classes and sense of instructor presence (IP) at eight southern, public, community colleges using survey data. It was the intent of the study to determine if there were significant relationships of students’ perceptions of the presence of sense of community in online classes among factors of age, race, grade point average, cumulative credit hours, credential type, major area of study, and number of previous online courses completed. In addition, possible significant relationships of students’ perceptions of instructor presence in online classes among factors of age, race, grade point average, cumulative credit hours, credential type, major area of study, and number of previous online courses completed were analyzed. The findings provided evidence that for these community college students, demographic characteristics generally did not impact SoC nor student perception of IP. However, students’ open-ended feedback revealed multiple layers of frustration with lack of IP.

The primary purpose of this research project was to explain how Korean immigrants develop acculturation attitudes toward Korean and American culture and how these attitudes are related to their experiences within their community in America. In order to achieve this goal, this project consisted of two empirical studies. In Study 1, the model of community capacity and acculturation was tested using structural equation modeling and the model fit the data very well. The results of the hypotheses tests in Study 1 were as follows: Sense of Community, Community Provisions, and Community Engagement were positively correlated with each other. Sense of Community and Community Provisions directly influenced acculturation attitudes toward American culture. Community Capacity directly influenced acculturation attitudes toward Korean culture. Sense of community and Community Provisions had significant indirect effects on acculturation attitudes toward Korean culture. In Study 2, using structural equation modeling, the model of community adjustment was tested across three groups (INTEGRATION, ASSIMILATION, and SEPARATION) who had developed different acculturation attitudes and the model fit the data well except for ASSIMILATION. The results of the tests of the hypotheses in Study 2 were as follows: Sense of Community and Community Capacity were positively correlated with each other in all groups. Only INTEGRATION did Sense of Community directly influence Community Provisions. However, Community Capacity directly influenced community provisions in all three groups. In INTEGRATION and SEPARATION, Community Engagement directly influenced Community Provisions. Community Capacity indirectly influenced Community Provisions in both INTEGRATION and SEPARATION. Finally, I concluded that Korean immigrants experienced the process of community adjustment differently regarding acculturation attitudes. Results from these investigations explicitly reveal that the application of community capacity in research on acculturation was valuable for explaining some individual and contextual variations in acculturation. Acculturation was a complex, multi-dimensional process. Korean immigrants developed different attitudes and their attitudes impacted differently on their lives within their larger community. The theoretical concept of community capacity has much promise as a guide for future theory and research on acculturation. / Ph. D.