Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2009. / Title from file title page. Lynn Hannan, committee chair; Galen Sevcik, Kristy Towry, Larry Brown, Tim Mitchell, committee members. Description based on contents viewed Sept. 14, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-82).

Thesis (M. Phil.)--Hong Kong Baptist University, 2001. / Thesis submitted to the Dept. of Chinese Language and Literature. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-101).

Submitted by Pós-Com Pós-Com (pos-com@ufba.br) on 2012-01-11T13:48:39Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Jan_Alyne.pdf: 8076039 bytes, checksum: edd22cf3b8094a9baeaf82d0ef39b28c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-01-11T13:48:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jan_Alyne.pdf: 8076039 bytes, checksum: edd22cf3b8094a9baeaf82d0ef39b28c (MD5) / Esta tese tem por objetivo principal discutir e propor modelos de pesquisa destinados a investigar a metáfora do agendamento através da observação e análise das propriedades, funcionalidades e construções comunicativas que caracterizam determinados sistemas e ambientes informativos da Web; mais especificamente, a tese busca fornecer instrumentos conceituais e metodológicos destinados a operacionalizar a percepção de importância dos temas,predicados e agendas entre o público/usuário de tais sistemas/ambientes informativos. Tais proposições se justificam em função de profundas mudanças e complexificações subjacentes às práticas de produção, difusão, acesso e consumo de informação através do ambiente Web. Delimitamos quatro modalidades de sistemas e ambientes informativos da Web como potenciais corpora empírico para a transposição da metáfora da agenda do público, através dos quais observaremos, analisaremos e discutiremos as potencialidades, limitações e desafios para a expansão centrífuga e centrípeta do paradigma do agenda-setting assente em bases de dados e algoritmos da Web.

This dissertation is composed of three essays examining the impact of time varying volatility on firm decision making. The first essay examines the effect of oil price volatility on price setting behavior using Producer Price Index micro data. I analyze whether two measures of price flexibility, price change frequency and dispersion, are affected by changes in oil price volatility. Heterogeneity in oil usage across industries is used to construct industry specific measures of oil price volatility. I find that price changes are more dispersed in high oil usage industries during months with high oil price volatility, however frequency of price change does not change. These results imply that aggregate price level flexibility does not fall during periods of high aggregate volatility. The second essay constructs a state-dependent pricing model with time varying oil price volatility to study if changes in aggregate volatility alter the impulse response of output to monetary policy. Firms use oil as an input to production, while oil price and oil price volatility processes are exogenous. Random menu costs enable the model to match the positive empirical relationship between oil price volatility and price change dispersion. A model simulation examines a counterfactual period of high oil price volatility and implies that increases in aggregate volatility do not substantially reduce the ability of monetary policy to stimulate output. The third essay examines the impact of time varying idiosyncratic uncertainty on investment with multiple types of capital. A model with two types of capital, short-lived equipment and long-lived structures, and nonconvex adjustment costs is constructed to examine the role of economies of scope on investment purchases. Evidence from a structural vector autoregression shows that investment in structures falls four quarters after an uncertainty shock, while investment in equipment falls within one quarter. The model with economies of scope in investment purchases is consistent with these results.

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Psicologia, 2008. / Submitted by Jaqueline Oliveira (jaqueoliveiram@gmail.com) on 2008-12-16T16:32:17Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE_2008_LarissaMedeirosMDosSantos.pdf: 2081870 bytes, checksum: 7dfda95b6d0157128868791a4209f0a3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Georgia Fernandes(georgia@bce.unb.br) on 2009-02-20T14:13:05Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE_2008_LarissaMedeirosMDosSantos.pdf: 2081870 bytes, checksum: 7dfda95b6d0157128868791a4209f0a3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2009-02-20T14:13:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE_2008_LarissaMedeirosMDosSantos.pdf: 2081870 bytes, checksum: 7dfda95b6d0157128868791a4209f0a3 (MD5) / A discussão sobre as inter-relações entre o ser humano e o seu ambiente físico tem sido ressaltada nas duas últimas décadas. Essa inter-relação é investigada por diversos ângulos, compreendendo as questões ecológicas e a relação com o ambiente como um todo. Baseado em referenciais da Psicologia do Desenvolvimento e da Psicologia Ambiental investigou-se a relação de adolescentes com o seu ambiente. A Psicologia do Desenvolvimento forneceu subsídios para a conceituação e contextualização da adolescência. A Psicologia Ambiental contribuiu com os conceitos de affordance, behavior setting e cultivação. Os objetivos específicos foram: descrever o comportamento observável de adolescentes em interação com o ambiente, caracterizar os conceitos que os jovens apresentam quanto a esta interação, verificar se a relação do jovem com o ambiente está centrada no momento atual de suas vidas ou se está ligada ao seu passado e/ou ao futuro. Participaram 180 jovens, sendo metade do Movimento Escoteiro do Distrito Federal e metade do Programa Segundo Tempo nos Esportes, com idades variando entre 11 e 18 anos. A pesquisa foi realizada em três fases: método de observação do comportamento; instrumento de conceitos ambientais e entrevistas semi-estruturadas. Os resultados indicam que as inter-relações desses jovens com o ambiente são caracterizadas por justificativas de interesse pessoal e que as affordances identificadas são relacionadas às necessidades dos participantes. Para os jovens, o passado se apresenta como belo e o futuro como destruído. Nos dois grupos, observaram-se semelhanças nas relações com o ambiente, nas justificativas ambientais, nas atribuições de responsabilidade, nas preocupações com o presente e o futuro. Os jovens do Segundo Tempo presentaram mais verbalizações quanto à sujeira e a violência. O discurso cultivado, congruente com essa fase do desenvolvimento, é o mesmo que se faz presente na mídia e nas manifestações públicas, entretanto, seus conteúdos indicam uma expectativa em relação ao comportamento do outro. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT / The discussion on the interrelations between human beings and their physical environment has been stressed in the past two decades. This inter-relationship is investigated by various angles, including environmental issues and the relationship with the environment as a whole. Based on references of Developmental Psychology and Environmental Psychology this study investigated the relationship amongst adolescents and their environment. Developmental Psychology has provided information for defining and contextualizing adolescence. Environmental Psychology has made a contribution to the concepts of affordance, behavior settings and cultivation. The specific objectives were: describing the observable behavior of adolescents interacting with the environment, characterizing the concepts that the young define regarding this interaction, verifying if the relationship between the young and the environment is centered on the current moment of their lives or if it is related to their past and/ or their future. 180 youngsters, between 11 and 18 years of age participated in this study, half of them belonging to the Scout Movement in Federal Distrito and the other half from the Programa Segundo Tempo nos Esportes, ages varying between 11 and 18 years of age. The research has been done in three stages: observational method; instrument of environmental concepts and semi-structured interviews. The results indicate that the interrelationship between these young people with the environment is characterized by personal interest justifications, and that the affordances identified are related to the needs of the participants. For these young people, the past presents itself as beautiful and the future as destroyed. It was observed in the two groups’ similarities in the relationships between them and the environment, in their environmental justifications, in their responsibility attributions, in their preoccupations with the present and the future. The young from Segundo Tempo have demonstrated more verbalizations towards the dirtiness and violence. The speech cultivated, consistent with this phase of development, is the same presents in media and public demonstrations, however, its contents indicate an expectation from youngers in relation to the conduct of another.

Recent studies show that when it comes to media exposure, men and women still face completely different conditions in how often and where they are placed in the context of news reports.   Men still stands for the vast majority of news content, and even though progress is being made it isn't going fast enough according to some and that more has to be done before we can have total equality in terms of who gets the opportunity the get their voices heard.   In this study we went in to take a closer look at how often the different sexes appears as writers on four of Swedens biggest newspapers op-ed pages. In our study we have conducted a quantitative content analysis on the op-ed pages in the for swedish papers Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter, Expressen and Svenska Dagbladet. We looked on how often any of the two sexes appeared, what subjects they were writing about and what types on news the texts were discussing.   What we found where that the op-ed pages actually where almost entirely equal in terms of who got to write, and what they were writing about. Although the analysis isn't big enough to be able to tell how the situation is across all of sweden's newspaper and media content, it still gives an interesting look on how the daily newspapers works when it comes to who gets a place at the op-ed pages.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Stephanie Lo, for the Masters of Science degree in Behavior Analysis and Therapy, presented on May 11, 2017, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: INCREASING HEALTHY FOOD CHOICES AMONG INDIVIDUALS AT A RESIDENTIAL FACILITY. MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Ryan N. Redner Obesity and being overweight are rising issues in the United States and present unique challenges for individuals with disabilities. Even though individuals with disabilities are one of the most at risk groups for overweight and obesity, research with this population is lacking. The present study sought to build on behavior analytic research targeting weight loss in individuals with disabilities. The study examined the effect of goal setting plus feedback on eating behavior, specifically caloric intake, in two adult females with comorbid psychiatric and developmental disabilities. Results were variable, with only one participant completing all phases in the study. However, the intervention (goal plus feedback) was effective in decreasing caloric intake for both participants. This study adds to the limited research currently published on weight loss interventions with individuals with disabilities. Additionally, implications for future behavior analytic interventions on eating behaviors were discussed. Keywords: disabilities, overweight, obesity, food choice, goal setting, feedback

This study explores the extent to which news media agendas relate to each other in a microblogging environment, how the Obama administration's agenda relates to them in this realm, and how these agendas align with the public's list of top policy issues in the real world. A content analysis of more than 4,600 tweets from six accounts in 2013 were ranked and compared to a list of 20 public policy priorities. Findings support previous research that found a significant relationship among traditional media agendas in print. Measures of association between news media and administration agendas show some consistency and some discrepancy. This study did not find as significant a correlation between news media and administration agendas and the public's list of top priorities. These findings suggest a substantial disconnect in Twitter between news coverage and federal-level political leadership focus in relation to the issues that matter most to citizens of the United States.

Tesis para optar al grado de Magíster en Comunicación Social / “¿Quién fija la agenda de los medios?” Desde la perspectiva de la teoría de la agenda-setting , esta es una pregunta a la que la siguiente investigación trata de responder, indagando sobre la influencia que adquieren las fuentes institucionales en la agenda de los medios, a través de la ejecución de políticas de comunicación. El principal objeto de estudio es una institución estatal del sector de Salud de Chile y su relación con los medios de comunicación y los periodistas que generalmente interactúan con ella. El acercamiento se hace desde una perspectiva cuantitativa y cualitativa, ya que se hace un análisis de las apariciones de la institución en los medios de comunicación, durante un periodo determinado, y se establece una relación, por medio de entrevistas con los actores relevantes de este posicionamiento, esto es, los periodistas encargados de cubrir las noticias relacionadas con la institución. Para poder reflexionar sobre los factores que pavimentan la influencia de la agenda institucional sobre la mediática, especial atención se ha puesto en las agencias o departamentos comunicacionales, en tanto encargados de diseñar y ejecutar las acciones de comunicación estratégica, en una dinámica de “acción y reacción”, y que en definitiva sostienen la influencia que las instituciones pueden tener sobre la agenda de los medios. A manera de propuesta sistemática se despliega una descripción en función de los variados productos y formatos, tales como conferencias de prensa, salidas a terreno, voceros, etc. y también fortalezas como aprovechar las debilidades de las prácticas periodísticas, y debilidades como la poca conexión entre las lógicas organizacionales y las mediáticas. Al considerar como una parte importante de una política pública o de una acción de carácter gubernamental el hecho de comunicarla públicamente, se hace relevante conocer los factores y herramientas que permiten influir en la agenda de los medios, y de esta manera posibilitan llegar a los públicos deseados. De esta forma la manera más eficiente de cumplir el imperativo moral de lo que hemos llamado “vender” las políticas públicas está diseñar una estrategia comunicacional basada en aspectos técnico-ciudadanos y desplegada en formatos y productos comunicacionalmente atractivos. He ahí la razón de ser de la comunicación institucional.

Access to water and sanitation is indeed a human right; however quality water and sanitation service provision should not be assumed a ‘free service’ as a result. Hence it is crucial to understand the costs involved of monopoly water service provision to enable informed decision-making on tariff determination. Namibia, is not only characterised with extreme conditions of water scarcity and skewed income distribution, with a history of free water services, but it also is prone to information asymmetry and lack of transparency (especially financial) challenges in the price-setting process. Hence, the research aim was to adapt a framework for determining price-setting processes and to investigate the potential role of an economic regulator to inform the process and policy accordingly in Namibia. In this regard, the research explores the price-setting processes of independent economic regulators in England and Wales and Zambia (as a guide to understand the dynamics and intricacies of setting and enforcing prices for utilities based on the need for sustainable cost recovery and efficient service provision) to further investigate possible improvements to the Namibian price-setting process. The research objectives were explored through descriptive and exploratory case study approaches, mainly comprising of semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. The research found that the most appropriate regulatory framework for Namibia is an intermediate framework- a hybrid regulatory body (consisting of a combination between government and independent expert panels). The research also identifies crucial operating principles, regulatory tools (with emphasis on accounting separation within financial models) and consumer involvement as major components for the Namibian price-setting process. In essence, accountability through transparency (effective information sharing and stakeholder involvement) is identified by the study to address the principal-agent challenges faced within Namibia, especially given the extreme conditions.