This discussion of chaos theory is concerned with two major issues. On the one hand, I explore what kind of knowledge is linked to chaos theory, and more specifically how as a science it informs the cultural discourses created by postindustrial societies. On the other hand, I probe chaos theory's potential as a model for challenging the existing conception of our world within the prevailing epistemologies of order and predictability. Both of these issues are addressed with in mind the broader framework and question concerning social relations, especially to the extent that those relations, in their spatial dimension, have become an object of scientific discourse. My approach to chaos theory is purposefully eclectic, conjoining the scientific with the social and the political. I believe that chaos theory points to a dynamic, intertextual, and multidimensional universe, and therefore, my interest lies in these connections, in bridging the various elements working together to create our contemporary, postmodern world. Science creates theories and images of nature that have been used to subordinate and control segments of the population through theories of race and sexuality. Thus, to recognize the existence of complexity and instability is to give away powerful conceptual means of political and social control, a strategy in which Western science has been an active participant.

Anthropological fieldwork conducted in two North Indian villages focused on cultural differences attributable to recent irrigation development. The study of introduced irrigation systems is distinguished from studies of traditional irrigation systems. The varieties of impacts due to irrigation development are reviewed from the literature and hypotheses formulated relating to economic change (cropping patterns, labor demand, profitability), socio-economic behavior (occupations, patron-client relations, household composition), and cultural values (modernization and traditionalization). The methodology of controlled comparison was adopted as a means of isolating the effects of canal irrigation (Bhakra canal) in the Bagar region of Northwest India. A mostly unirrigated village served as a control to measure the effects of irrigation in a "wet" village. Data on agricultural practices, labor use, occupations, household composition, and material culture were collected from a systematic sample of 40 households in each village. The primary irrigation effects have been economic: higher yields, new crops (wheat and cotton), and much higher profits. Labor demand is much higher in the irrigated village, though cropping intensity is actually lower. Residents of the drier village have diversified into non-farm work both within and outside the village. A few families have migrated out, in contrast to the wet village which has experienced a dramatic rise in population, largely from immigrants. Sociocultural measures, including jajmani relations, household composition, and religious shrines show relatively few contrasts between the villages. Both villages have undergone significant changes in the past generation, in one case due primarily to agricultural intensification, and in the other case due to economic diversification. The villages are more remarkable for their present similarities than their differences.

The study attempted to investigate the element of self-disclosure in the everyday communication transaction. More specifically, it sought to determine: (1) What is self-disclosure and how has it been defined? (2) What are the intrapersonal variables affecting the process? (3) What barriers hinder the interpersonal process of self-disclosure? (4) What, in fact, is appropriate self-disclosure within the interpersonal transaction? and (5) How can self-disclosure be facilitated to enhance the interpersonal process of communication?Although numerous theorists have attempted to define the process, the definitions have been inconsistent and somewhat vague. The study suggested that self-disclosure is not realistic in the everyday communication transaction, and attempted to illustrate how communication could be enhanced through a modified approach to self-disclosure. This approach included the utilization of a supportive climate and the giving and receiving of constructive feedback. The modified approach was illustrated through the use of the Johari Window.Further research was suggested to determine the effects of interpersonal trust and the effects of attitudes on the self-disclosing process.

The effect of streaming on students' academic self-concept and their perceptions of home environment and classroom climate was examined in a 3-year longitudinal study of a single cohort in Singapore. The subjects were 495 Secondary 1 (average age 13) students, who were streamed based on their Primary School Leaving Examination results taken at the end of Primary 6 (average age 12). The study was conducted with the use of a self-constructed questionnaire on four occasions at approximately 1-year intervals. The measures included the academic self-concept scale, made up of the students' confidence and students' effort subscales, the home environment scale, made up of the relationship with parents and academic support subscales, and the classroom climate scale, made up of the relationship with teachers, teachers' expectations and peer relationship subscales. The results revealed that the students' academic self-concept, and their perceptions of home environment and classroom climate largely declined from Secondary 1 to Secondary 3, and the declines were more pronounced for the higher-ability stream students than the lower ability stream students. In addition, the lower-ability stream students' academic self concept and their perception of classroom climate were more negative than those of their higher-ability stream counterparts immediately after streaming. Nonetheless, they were comparable if not more positive than those of their higher-ability stream counterparts three years after being streamed. Furthermore, regression analyses revealed that perceived teachers' expectations, relationship with teachers, relationship with parents and parental academic support were main predictors of students' academic self-concept. However, parental academic support tended to affect higher-ability stream students' academic self-concept more than that of their lower-ability stream counterparts, whilst teachers' expectations tended to affect the lower-ability stream students' confidence level more than that of their higher-ability stream counterparts.

Using the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS) conducted in 1987/88 and 1998/99, this thesis examines two thematic areas of non-monetary returns to education in Ghana. One of the primary aims is to find the differences in the effects of education over the decade (1987/88–1998/99), using standard and non-standard econometric analysis. In addition, the later survey year serves as a robustness check on the first. The first theme examines health status; measured as illness and its duration, as well as the use of anthropometric indicators. The study finds that parental education is positively associated with child’s reported illness and its duration. Further verification of this outcome using an instrumental variable (2SLS) approach that assumes possible endogeneity of parental education supports the results relating to maternal education in both survey years. In contrast, paternal primary education tends to reduce children’s reported illness; but this is only statistically significant in GLSS 1. These outcomes, although perverse are not uncommon in developing countries, and may be the result of systematic reporting bias. The analysis also reveals inconsistent results regarding adults’ health status between the two survey years. For example, we find that illness and its duration increase with personal education in GLSS 1, but the converse is true in GLSS 4, ceteris paribus. The mixed results of this study imply that the relationship between education and health status varies across health measures, and probably over time. Hence caution should be exercised before broad conclusions are drawn and policies made regarding these two vital socioeconomic indicators (education and health). The last theme analyses fertility in both structural and reduced form functions. The structural function involves a two-stage process. The first stage estimates the effect of education on three proximate determinants of fertility - the duration of breastfeeding, contraceptive use and age at cohabitation. The second stage subsequently models the fertility function by estimating three measures: the probability of having at least one birth; the unconditional number of births; and the number of births conditional on one having occurred, using the predicted values of the proximate determinants as inputs similar to the conventional production function. The reduced form fertility model estimates the impact of women’s education on the number of live births. The findings are that (1) education increases the use of contraception, delays age at cohabitation and shortens the duration of breastfeeding, as anticipated; (2) contraception and age at cohabitation subsequently tend to reduce the overall number of live births, though we observe an ambiguous outcome regarding breastfeeding; (3) education, in a fuller and direct way, also shows a strong negative association with fertility in both surveys; and finally (4) fertility appears to have declined over the period studied. We also find a structural shift in respect of the influence of women’s education from post-primary to primary level on fertility, ceteris paribus.

Family literacy programmes have become an increasingly popular pedagogical tool utilised by policy makers to help address the literacy needs of families with low skill competencies and who are viewed as economically and socially underachieving. Taking a comparative case study approach, in this research I consider what benefits family literacy programmes have for the literacy skills of families. Drawing on Bourdieu's habitus (1993) and field (1977) and Bourdieu, Coleman (1988) and Putnam's (2000) notions of social capital, in this research I compare family literacy programmes in selected case study areas within England, Ireland and Malta. The objectives are to establish differences and similarities in policy rationale, the characteristics of delivery and learner engagement. Predominantly qualitative in nature, the research consisted of 94 semi-structured interviews with actors involved in family literacy programmes across the three areas including coordinators, practitioners, learners, ex-learners, non-participating fathers and children's teachers. Interviews were supplemented and triangulated by a range of other data sources including a number of classroom observations. Family literacy programmes across the three areas exhibited many similarities: the content of sessions; the underlying policy rationale for offering and funding programmes; the motivation of learners for attending; benefits reported by learners; and difficulties faced by practitioners. In addition, parents attending were mainly mothers. Some differences were also found, mainly between Ireland and the other two participating areas. For example, in Ireland different types of locations were used and children were not usually present. However, the main difference was not cultural, but political, between the desired policy outcomes, and the motivation of learners. The evidence suggests that, regardless of the cultural context, there is a mismatch or at least a lack of awareness between the two, with learners predominantly motivated to attend to help their children, whilst policy objectives primarily seek to address inadequate literacy levels, as part of wider social inclusion strategies.

Personal development is the cornerstone of lifelong learning and academic and professional achievement. Co-curricular activities are good learning opportunities and support people to develop. A thorough review and examination of personal development education at HKIVE is needed so that new generations of students can more effectively learn and achieve their goals, enabling them to meet the crucial challenges of the 21st century. Initially, the researcher examined course documents to identify the key areas of personal development education. Data was collected from 134 students, eight educators and six human resource practitioners so as to understand these issues deeply. The study findings indicate that personal development opportunities at HKIVE are ineffective. The College should review existing personal development training to expand learning opportunities for students. Educators are advised to adopt innovative new learning strategies to facilitate personal development. No single training programme can cover all aspects of individual development and learning should be based on personal needs and initiated by students. Furthermore, fostering good attitudes is a key factor in developing students' motivation to learn more. Peers also form an important resource to reinforce students' self-image and self-esteem within the peer group. In addition, the new method of judging competency comprises: knowledge (Stratford, 1994), performance (Summerall, Lopez, Oehlert, 2000), outcome (Proctor, 1991), attitude and self-development. Finally, assessment issues are highly controversial and may serve formative, summative or normative purposes, subject to availability of resources and staff professionalism. This study offers new personal development teaching ideas and a practical guide for educators. Moreover, this study formulates a new learning model for competency and informal learning - critical issues for the VTC in future research and development.

Partial dissertation in compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Fine Art, Durban University of Technology, 2004. / This dissertation investigates how death as a subject matter in the work of contemporary artists living in European, American, and South African societies, relates to attitudes towards death in those societies. It examines how attitudes towards death have changed over the centuries, and how death is perceived in these societies today. It examines how the treatment of death in art today. differs from other periods because of these attitudes. Chapter One, Section One examines three major shifts in attitudes towards death In Western history, as outlined by Philippe Aries, a leading writer in the field. Chapter One, Section Two looks at death as a subject matter in Western art history, from ancient Greece to the mid-twentieth century. Categories discussed include funerary art, religious art, art and medicine, death personified, historical and analytical, personal, political art, and death and consumerism. Chapter Two, Section One examines attitudes towards death in contemporary Westernized societies, focusing on the medicalization of death, funeral rituals and disposal practices, and attitudes towards death in South Africa, specifically within the cultural framework of white, English-speaking South Africans. Chapter Two, Section Two examines death as a subject matter in the work of selected contemporary artists in America, Europe, and South Africa, and how it relates to attitudes towards death in those societies. Artists examined are Damien Hirst, Christian Boltanski, Joel-Peter Witkin, Andres Serrano, Donna Sharrett, Gerhard Richter, and Jo Ractliffe. The paper concludes by outlining the main arguments of the research and conclusions reached. / M

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This thesis explores whether a causal relationship exists between the People's Republic of China's foreign policy and in its economic policy. Specifically, it explores how China's overall economic policy has led it to become involved in countries that are considered political pariahs by many countries but that have established or potential petroleum resources to which China hopes to gain exclusive or at least first chance rights. Concentrating on those relationships, the thesis explores the extent to which Beijing has acted on the international political stage to protect those countries from international pressure and to preserve their political status quo because of China's economic ties with those countries. In three case studies focused on Iraq, Iran, and the Sudan, the thesis finds that Beijing's overall foreign policy is little affected by its economic ties with those countries. In each case, the thesis finds that China's economic ties are more important to Iraq, Iran, and the Sudan than to Beijing, and that such ties are small among overall Chinese economic concerns. Additionally, the thesis finds that Beijing defends these countries in international forums based on longstanding foreign policy considerations of upholding sovereignty and not on economic policy. / US Navy (USN) author.