Levels of sociality vary depending on the costs and benefits associated with grouping behavior. Grouping species form either ephemeral aggregations due to resource availability, or structured groups based on familiarity of individuals. Because there are different costs and benefits associated with different types of groups, it is important to understand more about group structure before making predictions about specific behaviors. Female Hippopotamus amphibius are known to aggregate in the wild but the true nature of their grouping behavior is still not understood. My objective was to determine if captive female hippos form either ephemeral aggregations or social groups. Behavioral data, using continuous focal animal sampling and scan sampling, were collected on a group of nine captive female hippos housed at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park. The behavioral data were used to analyze interactions between hippos, association patterns for kin and non-kin as well as familiarity, dominance hierarchy, and habitat preferences. My results support the hypothesis that hippos are forming social groups due to the attraction to particular individuals. There were more associations between kin than non-kin and also between individuals that have been together longer. Captive female hippos were also found to exhibit dominance patterns within the group. The results from this study may aid in the general understanding of hippopotamus behavior and aid in the captive management of hippos. Using my results as a starting point, research can begin looking at grouping patterns and its costs and benefits of sociality in wild hippopotamus populations.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

Resumé My diploma thesis focuses on the slang of watermen. Slang is considered as a non-literary layer of national language, containing specific words that are used in common, especially informal, communication of people who share the same occupations or interests. The first part introduces the theoretical definitions of slang by prominent Czech linguists and the second part describes the aspects of slang. The third part gives us the characteristic of waterman slang from more points of view - setting, specific activity and collectivity. The fourth part focuses on the creation of words in waterman slang and the fifth part describes its specificity from the language point of view, including the distribution and productivity of individual onomasiological approaches. The last part contains a list of waterman slang words in alphabetical order with their grammar characteristic, meanings, synonyms (if possible) and the way how the word was formed.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1990.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1990. / Also available in print.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1990.

Modern organisations are facing many challenges that are threatening their survival. These challenges come in the form of social, political, economic and rapid ongoing technological change. As organisations search for appropriate designs for the nineties and beyond, clear schools of thought have developed, vehemently supporting either the organic or mechanistic approach. While these debates rage on, several critical considerations are being ignored. One such consideration is the effect of organisational design on organisational climate, utilisation of power and group cohesiveness. This research sets out to explore this consideration. Various questionnaires were utilized to measure employees' perceptions of climate, power utilisation and group cohesiveness within organistic and mechanistic orientated organisations. A systematic research and design process was undertaken within two business units of a large financial organisation, from which the sample for the study was drawn. Statistical analyses revealed that organisational design does have a significant effect on job satisfaction, work group support and employee support. The employees which perceived the organisation to be more mechanistically inclined reported higher levels of employee empowerment; workgroup support and job satisfaction than their counterparts who perceived the organisation as more organistically inclined. / Psychology / M.A. (Industrial Psychology)