This dissertation delves into using entropy, a fundamental concept in thermodynamics and information theory, for analyzing social dynamics. Entropy relies on a probability distribution over states, which is crucial for quantifying social systems’ complexity, unpredictability, and self-organization behavior. Through an interdisciplinary approach encompassing social physics, agent-based modeling, and sentiment analysis, the research investigates the role of entropy and its underlying probability distribution in three key areas: residential segregation, financial systems, and sentiment fluctuations in online social networks. By integrating entropy-based models that leverage the probability distribution over states, the research aims to enhance the understanding of complex social phenomena and provide practical insights for policymakers, urban planners, and social media ex- parts. The findings demonstrate the potential of entropy as a unifying framework for studying social sciences, economics, and digital social systems, highlighting the growing relevance of probability distributions in decoding patterns of social dynamics. The dissertation contributes to the theoretical basis for modeling and predicting the complexity of social networks using entropy and its associated probability distribution, with significant implications for various domains.

The purpose of the study was to find causality for poor social change in the pharmaceutical industry in South Africa. Top, middle, and lower-level management respondents, including the CEOs, were studied in 11 pharmaceutical manufacturing companies. Human resources managers selected the participants randomly in such a way as to ensure a 60%-40% split between affirmees and non-affirmees. Participants responded to three questionnaires: the leadership questionnaire to determine if effective or appropriate leadership styles were being used with the respondents given their levels of readiness (ability and willingness to do the required tasks), the organisational climate questionnaire to determine what areas of the companies needed improvement, and the social change questionnaire to determine the problematic aspects of social change within the companies. Participants completed the questionnaires during a designated 45-minute period in their respective company headquarters. A clinical psychologist was in attendance to answer any questions. Prior to participating, respondents received cover letters, and the psychologist provided detailed explanations of the study. The main findings were (a) a mismatch in leadership style in affirmee-led organisations that was normally problematic; (b) differences in existing organisations compared to desired organisations; and (c) problems in the dimensions of support and attitude toward change in the mismatch group, which was the affirmee-led organisations. The conclusion was that, although external factors should be the drivers for transformation and also affect leadership style, leaders must be able to adapt their style to fit the readiness level of their followers. In addition, a proposed model for transformation in the pharmaceutical industry, based on the findings from the study and the literature review, was presented. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2007.

Thesis (Master of Science)--University of Wisconsin. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: leaves 37-38.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1970. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Master of Arts)--University of Wisconsin. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: leaves 56-57.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Alberta. / In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education in Sociology of Education. Department of Educational Foundations. Spine title: Emancipatory adult ed & social movement theory. Also available online.

The Millennial generation is now the largest living generation. This generation has absorbed many labels, including the one of not being civically engaged. Many news sources focused on their lack of engagement throughout the 2016 election, stating that they were the key to a win in the election. Since Bernie Sanders was the first candidate to capture the attention of such a large amount of the Millennial generation, this research is designed to understand why and provide an in-depth analysis of the thoughts about Sanders from the largest living generation. The data was collected by conducting 15 in-depth interviews with Millennials, ages 18-34, who supported or voted for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primaries. During the interviews, they were asked questions about their background, their views on social issues, their thoughts on Bernie Sanders, and where they see the United States political system going forward. The final analysis was conducted using a basic thematic approach, which coded for similarities throughout each interview. After analysis 7 major themes emerged which are as follow, (a) they aren't just engaged, they are passionate, (b) political engagement through technology, (c) lost cause, (d) life experiences, (e) generational differences, (f) authenticity, and (g) all lives matter. The findings indicate that this sample of the Millennial generation is far from unengaged. They are very passionate about the lives of all Americans and Sanders spoke to them at a level in which they felt they could trust him. These findings are important for future researchers who wish to understand Millennials importance in the future of our political system.

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This thesis is about psychological constructions underpinning intentional action to improve well-being by people in a neighbourhood on the urban fringe of Bamako, Mali. There is a large deficit in the theorisation of psychological elements of agency and empowerment in the development literature. Instead empowerment is generally defined as a favourable opportunity structure, as choice or as the distribution of power. Further still, the examination of the psychological literature reveals a lack of empirical research related to non-Western contexts and development policy. In view of this, I present the results of an empirical study using the inductive mixed methods to examine the central factors contributing to initiatives people undertake to improve personal and collective well-being. Informants articulated that the psychological concepts of dusu (internal motivation) and ka da I yèrè la (self-efficacy) were most important to their purposeful agency. The empirical analysis is divided into three parts and based primarily on qualitative data, enriched by quantitative analysis. Firstly I will examine the concepts of dusu and ka da I yèrè la, which are characterised as having an instrumental and intrinsic significance to people’s purposeful agency. They were also characterised as important factors in supporting local social development initiatives. Secondly, I will show how these psychological concepts were not related to the agent’s socio-economic characteristics or decision making ability, rendering both variables weak proxies for measuring psychological agency. Instead I found that measures of intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy are more viable for evaluating psychological agency. Thirdly, however, whilst dusu and ka da I yèrè la are important to people’s agency and the social development of the neighbourhood, they cannot be viewed as a silver bullet to social development in Kalabankoro Nerekoro. Specifically, in the examination of collective purposeful agency in group work (associations), the functioning of groups is impacted by the internal dynamics within the group, causing sometimes breakdown of the group. Further still, gender and age norms as well as capability deprivation and conflicting world views all thwart the ability of associations to achieve their goals. I underline that agents cannot always succeed in the pursuit of their well-being goals, even though they demonstrate high levels of psychological agency unless structural inequality at the micro, meso and macro levels of Malian society are addressed. Through this empirical study, this thesis will contribute the closing of the gap between psychological and development literatures as well as work towards developing measures of psychological agency.

We live in an age of rapid change. The advance of science and technology, throughout history, has culminated in periods of transition when social values have had to adapt to a changed environment. Such times have proved fertile ground for the expansion of the imagination. Utopian literature offers a vast archive of information concerning the relationship between scientific and technological progress and social change. Alterations in the most basic machinery of society inspired utopian authors to write of distant and future worlds which had achieved a state of harmony and plenty. The dilemmas which writers faced were particular to their era, but there also emerged certain universal themes and questions: What is the best organisation of society? What tools would be adequate to the task? What does it mean to be human? The dividing line on these issues revolves around two opposed beliefs. Some perceived the power inherent in technology to effect the greatest improvement in the human condition. Others were convinced that the organisation of the social order must come first so as to create an environment sympathetic to perceived human needs. There are, necessarily, contradictions in such a division. They can be seen plainly in More's Utopia itself. More wanted to see new science and technique developed. But he also condemned the social consequences which inevitably flowed from the process of discovery. These consequences led More to create a utopia based on social reorganisation. In the main, the utopias of Francis Bacon, Edward Bellamy and the later H. G. Wells accepted science, while the work of William Morris, Aldous Huxley and Kurt Vonnegut rejected science in preference for a different social order. More's Utopia and Bacon's New Atlantis were written at a time when feudal, agriciTfural society wasbeeing transformed by new discoveries and techniques. In a later age, Bellamy's Looking Backward and Morris's News From Nowhere offer contrary responses to society at the height of the Industrial evolution. These four authors serve as a prelude to the main area of the thesis which centres on the twentieth century. Wells, though his first novel appeared in 1895, produced the vast bulk of his work in the current century. Huxley acts as an appropriate balance to Wells and also exemplifies the shift from utopia to dystopia. The last section of the thesis deals with the work of Kurt Vonnegut and includes an interview with that author. The twentieth century has seen the proliferation of dystopias, portraits of the disastrous consequences of the headlong pursuit of science and technology, unallied to human values. Huxley and Vonnegut crystallised the fears of a modern generation: that we create a soulless, mechanised, urban nightmare. The contemporary fascination with science in literature is merely an extension of a process with a long tradition and underlying theme. The advance of science and technology created the physical and intellectual environment for utopian authors which determined the form and content of their visions.