As Africa faces the challenges of its renewal or renaissance, the HIV/AIDS epidemic poses the greatest potential barrier to the attainment of this vision (Makgoba, 2001 in Dorrington, Bourne, Bradshaw, Laubscher & Timaeus, 2001). The development of an HIV vaccine that is safe, effective and affordable, has been widely contemplated as a necessary supplement to already established interventions. In preparation for HIV vaccine trials in South Africa the current project aimed to assess students' understanding (knowledge and perceptions) and experiences of vaccination in general, and to explore if these were associated with demographics such as motherhood and gender. A parallel aim was to assess students' knowledge and expectations of HIV vaccination and trial participation. A sample of 33 students was recruited from university residences at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. Participants were interviewed via a semi-structured interview schedule. The data collected was then coded and analysed using content analysis, while Chi - square analysis was used to evaluate if demographics such as gender and motherhood were systematically associated with various responses. The results revealed that the vast majority of participants (97%) knew the purpose of vaccination, stating that it was to promote health and prevent illness. Most participants (67%) knew that vaccination works by mobilising the immune system (vaccination mechanism). The vast majority of participants (91%) could name at least one vaccine preventable disease. Uptake of childhood immunisation was reportedly high (88%) while adult uptake of immunisation was low (33%). A significant minority (36%) reported that they had experienced side effects but understood these to be an integral part of vaccination. Thirty percent of participants stated they were willing to participate (WTP) in a hypothetical vaccine trial, 33 % of participants were not WTP and 15% were not sure. Motivations for trial participation were reportedly influenced most by personal incentives of altruism (39%) and barriers such as perceived significant physical risk (61%). In general, knowledge and experiences of vaccination were not associated with gender or with motherhood. The results suggest that more awareness of HIV vaccine trials is needed. In this regard education should emphasise that the prospective vaccine will be preventive, that only healthy people can volunteer and that the HIV vaccine will not guarantee immunity to HIV infection. Suggestions are made for future research into motivations, barriers and incentives to facilitate an ethical process of vaccine trial participation. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Research on risk and resilience related to behaviour and poor health outcomes among young people consistently indicates the need to take greater cognisance of social and environmental factors. This is particularly true of research in developing countries. In South Africa, there is a paucity of research on these issues. This study attempts to examine risk and protective factors, as well as coping style of young South Africans at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. Environmental risk and protective factors measured were related to family, peers, and financial support. Categories of risk behaviour and poor health outcomes measured were substance use, sexual behaviour, general risk behaviour and depression. Broad-based questionnaires were sent to 2000 randomly selected students aged between 18 and 24 years old, and completed by 678 students. Results indicated that there was a trend towards gender equalisation in levels of risk and poor health outcomes- that there were significant relationships between many risk behaviours and poor health outcomes- that coping styles were correlated with risk behaviour and poor health outcomes in the expected direction (avoidance coping correlated positively and approach coping correlated negatively with risk behaviour, poor health outcomes and environmental risk factors)- and that environmental risk factors (low family, peer, and financial support) were associated with high levels of risk behaviour and poor health outcomes including sexual risks and depression. A contextual model was employed to explain the importance of environmental factors and coping styles in the promotion of health and wellbeing. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

Thesis (M.Tech.: Marketing)-Dept. of Marketing, Durban University of Technology, 2007 x, 164 leaves / According to postpurchase behaviour theory, there is a tendency for individuals to seek consistency among their cognitions (i.e., beliefs, opinions). When an inconsistency between attitudes or behaviours (dissonance) occurs, some change must be made in order to eliminate this behaviour. In the case of a discrepancy between attitudes and behaviour, it is most likely that the attitude will change to accommodate the behaviour. The objective of this study is to determine the extent of post purchase behaviour amongst tertiary students, with specific reference to the Durban University of Technology.

The context for this study is the period leading up to and the four years since the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994. It is a critical exploration of black students' responses to university discourses as they begin their degrees, and an analysis of the extent to which Critical Language Awareness can be used to facilitate a greater understanding of institutional conventions and practices. It includes a brief consideration of students' school experiences and then explores their perceptions of the university as a whole as well as of individual texts. The way in which language encodes asymmetrical power relations and is used to construct students' subjectivities within the institution is of central concern. The research methodology adopted here is critical action research. The study consists of two research cycles, a short pilot study and a longer eight week language teaching programme. This second cycle was carried out in 1991 at the University of Natal during a time marked by unprecedented political fluidity and the establishment of new institutional and social structures. The impact of these changes has been felt at every level as racial separation, uniformity and ethnic homogeneity, which were once dominant social norms, have been replaced by the movement towards an integrated social order defined by its diversity, difference, and multiplicity. Because the research process is inseparable from its socio-political context, a theoretical perspective which attempts to theorise multiplicity and contradiction has been adopted here. Insights from postmodern thought are therefore central to this work and have facilitated the interrogation and, at times, the rewriting of many aspects of critical social theory, critical pedagogy and critical action research. The immediate context for this study is Learning, Language and Logic, a first-year course whose primary aim is the acquisition of academic literacy. Over a period of four years, the two action research cycles were developed and integrated into the curriculum. The first was a short intervention during which students analysed three university texts and the second, central cycle was an eight week programme which introduced them to the central principles of Critical Language Awareness. It was designed to provide students entering the university with the opportunity to explore unfamiliar aspects of the university environment and to analyse a range of texts drawn from its discourses. The primary method of analysis of the data was Critical Discourse Analysis but a content analysis of some of the data was also undertaken. The results of this research provide a strong indication that the integration of the principles of Critical Language Awareness into a first year course in academic literacy adds a crucial dimension to students' understanding of the university environment. It provides them with linguistic insights from which they can further develop the ability to analyse their educational context, to respond critically to academic texts and to understand the roles that they can play within the university. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998.

This thesis reports on a critical literacy intervention with a grade 9 class the purpose of which was to raise awareness and change attitudes and perceptions towards gender. Texts are not neutral, and critical literacy is a way of examining a wide variety of texts in order to discern the values and ideologies behind them. In this way social inequalities and injustices are revealed and the reader is empowered to change the status quo (Janks 1993, 2001, 2010; Fairclough 1989 and 1992; Comber 2001 and others). At the same time their language and thinking skills should improve. Critical literacy is not separate from literacy, but rather an approach which raises awareness and facilitates critical engagement (Stevens and Bean 2007; Woodridge 2001). However, the ability to read effectively is important for the development of critical literacy (Sanders 1994; Hall 1998). Attitudes towards gender are socially constructed and deeply acculturated. Despite gender rights being protected under the South African Constitution (1996), and social justice issues such as gender empowerment being articulated in Curriculum 2005 this is not evident in schools where hegemonic masculinity and patriarchal attitudes manifest themselves in sexual harassment, gender violence and discrimination (Bhana 2005 and 2009; Morrell et al 2009). Changing these attitudes is difficult, but critical literacy offers an approach which can empower both boys and girls. This research used a mixed methods approach as this is flexible and allows for changes as the research progresses. Both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques have been used in order to achieve triangulation and complementarity. Triangulation verifies, while comlementarity is used to enhance, clarify and elaborate on, data collected from different sources. Thus the mixed methods research leads to greater validity and reliability than a single method. The findings of this research are threefold. The first is that a critical literacy approach is difficult to implement if learners have weak reading skills. In order to engage critically with texts learners need decoding skills and fluency (Rasinski et al. 2004; Morris and Gaffney 2011) as well as a range of skills such as the ability to draw inferences, make judgments, evaluate and analyse what they are reading. This research reveals that the learners in grade 9 do not have the requisite reading ability to engage meaningfully with critical literacy. Reading comprehension tasks are inadequately completed and they are reading at a level well below their chronological ages. Furthermore, few of them come from a background where books and reading is valued, therefore few of them read for pleasure. In addition, this deficit in reading affects their ability to decode visual texts in the form of advertisements effectively. Changing attitudes to gender is challenging as these are deeply acculturated in the school and the wider society (Morrell et al 2009). In class when the message being imparted goes against embedded cultural values the boys decline to participate; in less formal situations the boys display hegemonic masculinity indicating that they have greater power and status than girls. Although Curriculum 2005 gives a special place to social justice issues and critical literacy is one of the Language, Literacy and Communication specific outcomes, the learners in grade 9A do not appear to have meaningfully engaged with it, despite being the only group to have followed Curriculum 2005 since they entered school in grade 1. The results of this research suggest that reading is central to creative thinking and problem-solving and thus needs to be addressed across all school grades, learning areas and subjects. In addition, if gender equity is to be attained, the school and the wider community need to be involved and public role models have to be seen to lead the way. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2011.

The overall purpose of this study was to analyse the perceptions and experiences of students from disadvantaged schools regarding their academic progress at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). The study focused on the students’ material and social circumstances, their learning environment while at University, their connections to their home community, and their career aspirations. It set to answer three key research questions, namely: (1) what are the contours of disadvantage that can be discovered through investigating samples of students from disadvantaged schools at UKZN? (2) How do the ‘contours’ seem to co-occur with factors relating to academic progress? (3) What are the perceptions of students from disadvantaged schools at UKZN about their pre-university experience and the learning environment at university? The notion of disadvantage was defined using the Department of Education (DoE)’s classification of schools into the quintile system which is based on measurements of the poverty of the catchment community. Thus, this study shows that the notion of disadvantaged students in higher education can be investigated through class-based, rather than merely racially-based definitions. This study was conducted within a three-fold conceptual framework based on sustainable livelihoods approaches (SLA), social capital theory and social justice ideology. The SLA approach teaches us that livelihoods can only be understood and captured in particular contexts. This research project therefore aimed to gain a clearer understanding of such a context, in this case, the campus environment. Through the phenomenological approach of the openended questions in the interviews, this thesis taps into the perceptions of students themselves about their environment and how they cope. Social capital theory postulates five spheres: the academic, the social, the economic, the support, and the democratic. These were probed in both a survey of a sample of disadvantaged students, and by interviewing eight students. With regard to academic progress, the measurements used were the matric aggregate, the grade point average for salient years and programmes, and the time it took for students to graduate or dropout. Comparisons are made between the norm of students, the disadvantaged (those from low quintile schools), and those in the sample. The purpose of utilizing such measurements is to contribute to the social justice discourse about university education based on Taylor’s notion of Fair Equality of Opportunity (FEO), where disadvantaged students’ abilities and aspirations can best be developed and exercised, leading to the attainment of self-realization. Until disadvantaged students show academic progress that fits the norm, the contours of their disadvantage need to be continually investigated; it is hoped that the findings of this thesis will contribute to further research and concrete proposals which can be implemented to improve conditions so that students who are already disadvantaged as a result of their schooling are not further disadvantaged while at University . / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

South African nurses have accepted the challenge that was brought about by the Health Reform Policy of 1990 which opened health service centres to people of all racial and cultural groups. However, recent studies on multicultural nursing have revealed that problems have occurred when delivering care across cultural barriers. Most of these studies have approached these problems from the patients point of view, where issues of dehumanized care, labelling and discrimination have been reported. Therefore, this study was an attempt to look into these problems from the nurses point of view, by exploring the source of these problems, their effect on health care delivery and possible solutions. The researcher focussed on three critical issues, namely, lack of cultural knowledge, negative attitudes, as well as difficulty in communication. Through focus group interviews (FGI) and responses to given scenarios, student nurses who had experienced problems with culturally different patients were given a chance to reflect on their experiences, report on these experiences and recommend possible solutions to the experienced problems. The results revealed that: 1. The major source of the problems was lack of experience due to inadequate exposure to culturally diverse groups which in tum led to inappropriate decisions and actions at care delivery level. 2.Difficult perceptions and negative attitudes lead to the formation of stereotypes which block the delivery of culturally congruent care. 3 .Inability to communicate due to differences in spoken language lead to difficulty in building the trust relationship and hence inadequate care delivery. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Management Sciences: Marketing, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017. / It is widely evident that the mobile phone industry is facing rapid growth, with the increased introduction of cheaper mobile phones in South Africa intensifying competition between such companies. A number of studies have been conducted in other countries on brand preferences, but there remains a gap in knowledge with regard to the South African market. It was therefore warranted to academically research factors influencing consumer brand preferences when purchasing mobile phones, in order to understand these preferences, and what consumers consider when making such purchases. The rationale of the study was to provide new insights for local marketers into the factors consumers consider most when looking at mobile phone brands. The aim of this study was therefore to determine brand preferences for mobile phones amongst students at a selected higher educational institution in South Africa. The study adopted a quantitative research approach, where the data obtained was descriptive and cross-sectional in nature. The research population was made up of students studying at the Durban University of Technology (DUT), where convenience sampling was performed on a target population of 378 students. The sample size was selected by giving questionnaires to those students most available to the researcher. The results were then analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 24.0 software. Validity was ensured by conducting a pre-test of the questionnaire, and the study’s reliability was measured using Cronbach’s Co-efficient Alpha test. The study findings showed that brand popularity, prices, product attributes, social influences and marketing communications all affect mobile phone brand preferences amongst students. The study results also showed, however, that there were some product attributes and social influences that did not influence these preferences. Recommendations are given to industry players to increase their knowledge of these important factors, to aid with the improvement of their brands and increasing their market preference in this highly competitive industry. / M

M.Ed. (Multiculturality and Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract