While evidence suggests that adoptees do not differ from non-adoptees in their ability to achieve a stable sense of identity, much is still unknown about how specifically the fact of being adopted affects one's identity. The purpose of this research is to take a deeper look at the significance and meaning of being adopted to one's sense of identity through qualitative analyses of in depth interviews with adoptees. Participants were recruited from Psychology classes via the SONA system. The participants (N = 16) took part in an in-depth structured interview and completed a survey battery which included a demographic questionnaire, the Ego Identity Process Questionnaire, the Identity Distress Survey, and the Brief Symptom Index-18. Interviews were transcribed, analyzed, and coded for emerging themes using thematic analysis. The themes and their effect on adopted individuals' identity is discussed with multiple case examples.

Distress tolerance is often defined as one’s ability to tolerate and withstand negative and/or uncomfortable emotional states (Simons & Gaher, 2005; Zvolensky et al., 2001). However, after nearly two decades of research, there is still no consensus on how to best conceptualize and measure distress tolerance. A historical account of the conceptualization and measurement of distress tolerance demonstrates that the distress tolerance literature may have missed a crucial step in theory development: obtaining a thorough understanding of the concept in question (Dubin, 1969). Without adequately addressing this important step in theory development, it is likely that continued efforts to research distress tolerance will ultimately fail to progress science in a meaningful way. Thus, the goal of this study was to conduct an in-depth, mixed methods investigation into how individuals define key terms used in self-report measures of distress tolerance: “distress” and “upset,” and what (if any) intraindividual or domain-specific differences they report. Thematic analysis showed no consensus on participants’ understandings of the key terms—a finding that poses deep questions regarding its potential utility to advance knowledge in the field of psychopathology. The thematic analysis revealed important intraindividual differences in distress tolerance that can aid in future investigation.

PHARMAC, the Pharmaceutical Management Agency, manages the Pharmaceutical Schedule on behalf of the Government. The Agency is tasked with securing the best health outcomes that are reasonably achievable from pharmaceutical treatment and from within the amount of funding provided (§ 47 NZPHD Act, 2000). The Agency reports that it continues to improve New Zealanders’ access to funded medicines. In determining which pharmaceuticals to fund, PHARMAC’s Operating Policies and Procedures (OPPs) state that nine criteria guide its decision- making. The OPPs further state that PHARMAC can apply whatever weight it sees fit to the application of these criteria. I undertook a thematic analysis of 20 cases referred by PHARMAC’s principal medical advisory body, the Pharmacology and Therapeutic Advisory Committee (PTAC), to PHARMAC during the period February 2004 to November 2006 to determine whether these criteria were acknowledged in the official minutes of the respective bodies. PTAC is similarly required to take account of the abiding decision criteria. I also sought to determine whether other factors were apparent in guiding the decisions. There was evidence that PHARMAC consistently applied the decision criteria. PTAC was less assiduous in recording its application. In addition, I found that PHARMAC takes account of factors outside the stated criteria. I noted that PHARMAC takes particular account of the degree to which a decision might be publicly, politically or medically contentious in its decision-making. I also found evidence that consistency with prior decisions is another factor which PHARMAC takes into account, though does not apply routinely. This research indicates that PHARMAC does take account of its abiding decision criteria, applying health needs as well as fiscal criteria, though the weighting given each criterion is nowhere apparent in its official minutes. There remains an opportunity for evaluative research to determine whether fiscal considerations ‘outweigh’ needs considerations in PHARMACs decision-making.

AIDS Saskatoon (AS), a non-profit organization, has limited funding. Most of the funding and resources for the organization go into service provision and education/prevention activities, leaving little time for strategic planning. Essentially, organizational knowledge exists at an individual level, which causes concern in terms of sustainability, continuity, evaluation, raising funding, writing research proposals, and staff training. AS operations are largely based on tacit knowledge, or knowledge that resides within individuals, and little of it is explicit knowledge, or knowledge that can be examined by and shared with others. This problem yields the following research question: How does AIDS Saskatoon convert their tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge? This research study examines AS tacit knowledge and represents it in an explicit format with the combination of thematic analysis and an organizational model. <p>A Participatory Action Research (PAR) method is employed to gather and analyze qualitative data. The thematic analysis reveals the mental models and beliefs that are taken for granted at AS and therefore no longer articulated among the participants but simply a part of their daily practice. A metaphorical model of AS, using Nonakas theory of knowledge creation as a theoretical basis, is presented to convey some of the tacit knowledge that cannot be captured in words. <p>AS has had some challenges in their explicit knowledge documentation. This research takes one piece of their tacit knowledge and represents it explicitly through themes and image: themes articulated tacit knowledge at AS in an explicit format, and the organizational model framed the knowledge by using metaphor. <p>An important implication of this research for the larger body of knowledge management literature is that the overarching concepts in Nonakas theory of knowledge creation were applicable for a community-based organization, where most Knowledge Management literature has focused on for-profit contexts.

AIDS Saskatoon (AS), a non-profit organization, has limited funding. Most of the funding and resources for the organization go into service provision and education/prevention activities, leaving little time for strategic planning. Essentially, organizational knowledge exists at an individual level, which causes concern in terms of sustainability, continuity, evaluation, raising funding, writing research proposals, and staff training. AS operations are largely based on tacit knowledge, or knowledge that resides within individuals, and little of it is explicit knowledge, or knowledge that can be examined by and shared with others. This problem yields the following research question: How does AIDS Saskatoon convert their tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge? This research study examines AS tacit knowledge and represents it in an explicit format with the combination of thematic analysis and an organizational model. <p>A Participatory Action Research (PAR) method is employed to gather and analyze qualitative data. The thematic analysis reveals the mental models and beliefs that are taken for granted at AS and therefore no longer articulated among the participants but simply a part of their daily practice. A metaphorical model of AS, using Nonakas theory of knowledge creation as a theoretical basis, is presented to convey some of the tacit knowledge that cannot be captured in words. <p>AS has had some challenges in their explicit knowledge documentation. This research takes one piece of their tacit knowledge and represents it explicitly through themes and image: themes articulated tacit knowledge at AS in an explicit format, and the organizational model framed the knowledge by using metaphor. <p>An important implication of this research for the larger body of knowledge management literature is that the overarching concepts in Nonakas theory of knowledge creation were applicable for a community-based organization, where most Knowledge Management literature has focused on for-profit contexts.

PHARMAC, the Pharmaceutical Management Agency, manages the Pharmaceutical Schedule on behalf of the Government. The Agency is tasked with securing the best health outcomes that are reasonably achievable from pharmaceutical treatment and from within the amount of funding provided (§ 47 NZPHD Act, 2000). The Agency reports that it continues to improve New Zealanders’ access to funded medicines. In determining which pharmaceuticals to fund, PHARMAC’s Operating Policies and Procedures (OPPs) state that nine criteria guide its decision- making. The OPPs further state that PHARMAC can apply whatever weight it sees fit to the application of these criteria. I undertook a thematic analysis of 20 cases referred by PHARMAC’s principal medical advisory body, the Pharmacology and Therapeutic Advisory Committee (PTAC), to PHARMAC during the period February 2004 to November 2006 to determine whether these criteria were acknowledged in the official minutes of the respective bodies. PTAC is similarly required to take account of the abiding decision criteria. I also sought to determine whether other factors were apparent in guiding the decisions. There was evidence that PHARMAC consistently applied the decision criteria. PTAC was less assiduous in recording its application. In addition, I found that PHARMAC takes account of factors outside the stated criteria. I noted that PHARMAC takes particular account of the degree to which a decision might be publicly, politically or medically contentious in its decision-making. I also found evidence that consistency with prior decisions is another factor which PHARMAC takes into account, though does not apply routinely. This research indicates that PHARMAC does take account of its abiding decision criteria, applying health needs as well as fiscal criteria, though the weighting given each criterion is nowhere apparent in its official minutes. There remains an opportunity for evaluative research to determine whether fiscal considerations ‘outweigh’ needs considerations in PHARMACs decision-making.

This qualitative study examined retrospective client accounts of hindering experiences that occurred during therapy. In order to explore in-depth and descriptive information about client experiences of hindering events, a structured thematic analysis methodology was used that resulted in conceptual ordering (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). Data collection was conducted through face-to-face semi-structured interviews of 9 participants who had previously experienced a hindering event. Structured thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was used to distill themes from the collected data, where four major themes emerged from the data that were relevant to the research questions of the present study: 1) Identified Hindering Events, 2) Subjective Experience of the Event, 3) Response to the Event, 4) Handling/ Addressing the Event. Results from this study contribute to further understanding of client experiences of hindering events that occur in therapy. Implications for therapeutic organizations, therapists/ counsellors, and educators are discussed.

Recycling of common plastics is a practical way to limit the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, and eventually contributes to various forms of pollution. However, statistics indicate that it is not currently a normalized, prioritized behavior. A pilot study indicated that relying only on preexisting frameworks such as the Elaboration Likelihood Model to understand consumer perceptions simply does not encompass the scope of the topic. Consumer experiences with green messages, especially in the current climate of a saturated advertising market are incredibly complex. Understanding these experiences is also currently being impeded by inconsistencies in how researchers in this field operationalize (or fail to operationalize) terms that are essential to applying results. This study takes an important step in bridging the gap between these terminological inconsistencies, as well as contextualizing results for modern consumers. This study also posits that research needs to examine the foundation of these perceptions: language and meaning. A mixed-method survey was ergo used to garner information concerning how consumers define recycling, what personal and social factors influence decisions to recycle, and what design factors make a message encouraging recycling effective. Results indicate that conceptions of recycling and convenience are underdeveloped, and message design should focus on trustworthy statistics. Future researchers in this field can then apply these initial conclusions of how language is being used to future, discourse focused studies. Future advertisers and marketers can also more effectively position their products, then connect their intended audiences to that product.

Complaint handling is an effective tool for public sector governance. Effective complaint handling improves relationships between organizations and citizens by fostering trust and accountability, helps address gaps in public service delivery, and supports innovation in public service design. Despite these benefits, complaint handling practices at the local government level in British Columbia (BC) is often ad hoc, poorly designed, or non-existent. This thesis asks: what are the drivers and barriers for effectively handling complaints at the local government level in BC? The thesis argues that complaint handling occurs within a context of limited resources, which informs the drivers and barriers for effectively handling complaints. The thesis explores the drivers and barriers of complaint handling through a reflexive thematic analysis of interviews with senior-level local government administrators. The analysis revealed that operating in a context of limited resources led to the emergence of creative practices for handling complaints, including preventing complaints before they arise and handling complaints informally. Additionally, complaint handling is characterized by a tension between its private sector roots and public sector values like equality and fairness. The thesis concludes by making recommendations to improve complaint handling at the BC local government level. / Graduate

Despite budding research on parent-child discrepant perceptions of a child’s psychosocial functioning, the potential difference in individual perception of coping socialization is unclear. Further, literature suggests the onset of various impulse-control disorders occurs around middle childhood. Thus, the current study used a phenomenological approach and thematic analysis to examine perspectives of coping socialization, identify intended take away messages, and examine the perceived impact of inconsistent understanding of the interaction. Results indicated both parents and children use verbal and physical cues to understand one another during coping socialization and that their lab discussion was representative of their typical interactions. Themes emerged regarding parents’ intention to help their child develop personal values, understand the impact of emotions, and provide solution driven coping strategies. Lastly, parent-child dyads endorsed negative outcomes associated with discrepant take away messages. The current study highlights the importance of continued qualitative research in discrepant parent-child perceptions of coping socialization.