Cheung Kin Hang. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-97). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction / Divergent meanings of trust and institution --- p.1 / Research questions --- p.1 / Structure of thesis --- p.3 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Trust and Bounded Rationality / Meaning and the four key elements of trust --- p.5 / Plausible loss due to lack of certainty --- p.7 / Positive expectation by a trusting party --- p.8 / Relevance to human interaction --- p.9 / Intentionality --- p.10 / Trust and Rationality --- p.13 / Herbert Simon's bounded rationality --- p.13 / "Bounded rationality, use of authority, and trust" --- p.18 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Theory of Institution / Institutionalisms in Politics and Exchange of Insights --- p.23 / Understanding of North's Works --- p.25 / North's understanding of human rationality and economic performance --- p.25 / "Core idea, major traits of institution and its relationship with actors" --- p.30 / Learning and Accumulation of Experiences --- p.38 / Plasticity of human brain --- p.44 / Path dependence and change of institution --- p.47 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Trust and Institution / Divergent understandings of relationship of trust and institution --- p.54 / At the neural level: institutionalized experience and neural systems for trust --- p.57 / At interpersonal and organizational level: reciprocal trust and impacts of empowerment --- p.62 / At organizational and macro-social level: deprivation experience and social violence --- p.68 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- Conclusion --- p.73 / References --- p.76

Lo Ka Man Jenny. / Thesis submitted in: November 2005. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-68). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.3 / Chapter 1. --- The karaoke industry in Hong Kong --- p.4 / Chapter 2. --- Karaoke as a means of communication --- p.10 / Chapter 3. --- The social products of karaoke --- p.13 / Chapter 4. --- The conceptual framework --- p.15 / Chapter 5. --- Research design --- p.20 / Chapter 6. --- Findings and analysis --- p.26 / Chapter 6.1 --- The socializers --- p.26 / Chapter 6.2 --- The visitors --- p.35 / Chapter 6.3 --- The genuine performers --- p.39 / Chapter 6.4 --- The shy performers --- p.53 / Chapter 7. --- Conclusion --- p.65 / Chapter 8. --- References --- p.67 / Chapter 9. --- Appendix --- p.69

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries / Department: Sociology.

范麗珠. / 論文(博士)--香港中文大學, 2000. / 參考文獻 (p. 228-239) / 中英文摘要. / Available also through the Internet via Dissertations & theses @ Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Fan Lizhu. / Lun wen (bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2000. / Can kao wen xian (p. 228-239) / Zhong Ying wen zhai yao.

This dissertation is an ethnographic study of a New York City-based third-sector organization focused on what it calls "food justice." This study concentrates on how this organization, that I call Food Rights, has built a broad multi-sector network made up of a varied set of constituents and collaborators aiming to develop and promote an alternative food system for New York City (NYC). This network model has allowed Food Rights to leverage capacity in order to reach thousands of New Yorkers who participate in many different aspects of the local food system (LFS) that correspond to its programming. These include Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), urban agriculture, emergency food, policy and advocacy efforts, and community food education. This dissertation explores the ways that Food Rights navigates the contested space of civil society and the third-sector realm through its LFS efforts--a geography where Food Rights constituents feel they have a say in how local food is grown, distributed, purchased, and prepared. It also considers the complex challenges presented by the burgeoning LFS movement in NYC. This study reveals weak contact points in Food Rights network design as well as organizational strengths that could assist it and other LFS-focused NGOs in addressing the many challenges associated with the social changes that have lead to the spatial, ideological, and material shifts that are transforming the NYC landscape into "a new ontology of food."

塗爾幹的機械團結理論和有機團結理論假設了同步一致性/互補配合性的儀式表演可以提升群體內的團結感。已有的心理學研究通過實驗發現同步一致性的群體表演促進了群體內的合作行為。本研究在上述實驗的基礎上，進一步檢驗了互補配合性促進群體內團結感的假說，并對二者的結果進行了比較。在實驗中，100名參加者以4人為一組被隨機分配到“同步一致擊鼓“、“互補配合擊鼓“和“非協調擊鼓“(控制組)三個實驗條件下；進而報告其信任感、同組歸屬感和愉悦感水平；最後參加一個標準化的、包含五輪決策任務的公共物品博弈。實驗結果表明，互補配合性的擊鼓表演與同步一致性的擊鼓表演都能促進人們在公共物品博弈中的合作行為。 / The Durkheimian theory of mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity hypothesized that synchrony/complementarity promotes social solidarity. Previous psychological experiments suggested that synchronous ritual performance improves the level of cooperation among group members. This study replicated their experimental design while further testing the complementaritysolidarity hypothesis to make a comparative analysis. In this experiment, 100 participants in groups of four were first randomly allocated to one of three conditions: synchronous drumming, complementary drumming, and asynchronous drumming (control); then they self-reported on questions about in-group trust, same-group feeling, and happiness; and finally, they played a five-round standardised public good game. The experimental result revealed that both the complementary and the synchronous drumming promoted cooperative behaviour in a social dilemma situation. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Liu, Yue. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 38-39). / Abstracts also in Chinese; appendixes in Chinese. / Introduction --- p.1 / Literature review --- p.3 / Social solidarity as a solution to the problem of social order --- p.3 / Ritual performance and social solidarity --- p.4 / Synchronous ritual and mechanical solidarity --- p.6 / Complementary ritual and organic solidarity --- p.10 / Method and hypotheses --- p.12 / Participants --- p.12 / Materials --- p.13 / Design --- p.14 / Procedure --- p.17 / Result and analysis --- p.19 / Discussion --- p.23 / Appendix --- p.25 / Chapter Appendix 1. --- Recruitment message and application sheet --- p.25 / Chapter Appendix 2. --- Consent form --- p.26 / Chapter Appendix 3. --- Instruction for subjects --- p.27 / Chapter Appendix 4. --- Evaluation questionnaire for the drumbeat task --- p.31 / Chapter Appendix 5. --- End questionnaire --- p.33 / Chapter Table 1. --- T-test result for synchronous vs. asynchronous condition (one-tailed) --- p.35 / Chapter Table 2. --- T-test result for complementary vs. asynchronous condition (one-tailed) --- p.36 / Chapter Table 3. --- T-test result for experimental vs. control condition (one-tailed) --- p.37 / References --- p.38

This study sets out to develop a sociological approach to art and literature which views art as a socially situated knowledge and which at the same time preserves an independent and unique sphere of activity for art that enables it to offer life opportunities of a different nature from those of the established social order. To fulfill this task two complementary studies were carried out; a theoretical investigation and an empirical research. First, this critically examines existing theories in the sociology of knowledge and art and focuses on the problem of the 'social determination of art and literature.' This examination is based in the consideration of art as an element in the knowledge sphere and the sociology of art as a branch of the sociology of knowledge. A critique of the notion of the 'social determination of art' leads to a set of hypotheses which are tested in the field. The question of great art problematises the 'social determination' hypotheses. Secondly, an empirical study of Australian playwrights is carried out which examines the hypotheses derived from the theoretical investigation. The empirical methods of this study is a survey, using a mail questionnaire, supported by interviews with professionals in Australian drama. This is combined with a documentary study of the socio-economic conditions of Australia during the last 25 years, together with content analysis of plays written by Australian playwrights during the same period. The results of the empirical investigation support the proposed hypotheses showing that while social conditions effect contemporary artistic works, this effect is not uniform when comparing 'first rate' of 'great art' with other artistic creations. This questions the concept of the social determination of art explored in the thesis, and at the same time questions the extent and scope of such a determination. Finally, the conclusion of the thesis is that sociology is relevant in the analysis of artistic works so long as it is concerned with the social dimension of art. It is concluded that the aesthetic knowledge of the artist, which determines the quality of artistic works, is independent from social forces. Although art bears the mark of contemporary social conditions, it is not a product of these conditions. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Guided by the emerging interest in gender of siblings as one important sociological component in American family studies, the major objective of this study was to examine the effect of sex composition of siblings on women's levels of educational attainment in the Japanese setting. The present study hypothesized that the presence of brothers poses women a greater obstacle to a high level of educational attainment than the presence of sisters. For the purpose of gaining more depth in understanding Japanese women's education, this study also investigated other factors which differentiate the patterns of educational attainment between men and women. Two major methods were employed for the exploration. First, in order to examine the effect of sibling gender, this study analyzed quantitative data obtained from a sample of 518 young women. Second, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 15 mothers and 15 young women individually. In the interviews, in addition to several issues surrounding women's education, the mothers were asked their experiences about their children's education whereas the young women were asked their own educational experiences. The quantitative results identified gender of siblings as one important family characteristic in explaining women's levels of educational attainment. While providing some support for the quantitative findings, the qualitative data revealed the importance of other factors including parental attitudes toward gender role ideology and the notion of an appropriate marriage age. Implications of the findings for future research are discussed. / Graduation date: 1996

Fashion is ubiquitous, and it plays a significant role in the contemporary global market, in the creative industries and in urban social space. In the realms of art, history, philosophy and cultural studies, however, fashion is often regarded as a subaltern, peripheral or even unorthodox topic. Hence, this study aimed at remapping the relationships among the interdisciplinary and conflicting notions of fashion, determining which and how fashion theories are applicable to the real fashion industry in a specific place at a particular time, apprehending the nuanced mechanisms involved, and seeking to create a substantial case for the social construction of fashion. In general, the research investigated how the global fashion industry and the print media in Hong Kong appropriate, negotiate and re-create ideas of fashion. The research questioned how and why fashion media personnel represent certain luxury brands as fashionable through textual and visual signs, how they learn and improvise their ideas of fashion at the outset, and how they adapt and negotiate fashion’s meanings. The presentation will be in three parts. First, the literature on interdisciplinary fashion theories, the fashion business and case studies will be reviewed to explain the delicate and unobserved process of fashion communication. An empirical study of fashion marketers’ and media personnel’s perceptions, and their creation and negotiation of fashion meanings will be presented. This involved participant observation and in-depth interviews in two different but highly connected fields: as a fashion reporter in the editorial team of a Hong Kong fashion magazine; and as a marketing assistant in the PR and marketing team of a British luxury accessory brand. The rapport built through the fieldwork facilitated thirty-six in-depth interviews with Hong Kong and mainland Chinese fashion media personnel, including the editors, copywriters, advertising sales managers, graphic designers and photographers of twelve publications; Asian fashion bloggers, marketing personnel from global fashion conglomerates, fashion distributors and consultants from across the Asia-Pacific region. The results demonstrate the complex construction and negotiation of fashion culture(s) in Hong Kong and mainland China (in relation to the West) on the personal, organizational, industry and national levels. Whether and how far Western fashion theories can be applied to Asia’s fashion industry and media business is discussed. The results of this interdisciplinary study elucidate the evolution of the fashion media and fashion meanings in Hong Kong and mainland China since the 1980s, unveiling the unique and little-understood apparatus of Asia’s fashion industry in the global context. The “four myths of fashion” theorized by the researcher explain the conflicting imaginaries and hybridized patterns of fashion—It is at once mainstream and niche; is manifested officially and personally; is preset yet negotiable; is at once commercial and creative; comprises both Western and Asian elements; is communicated both top-down and bottom-up; is uprising or decaying at the same time; goes premium and mass in chorus. They also lead readers to look through the simultaneously constraining and enabling nature of fashion—the fashion simulacra—in the postmodern capitalist world in realistic social setting. / published_or_final_version / Sociology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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