The main aim of thesis is to design a viable branding strategy for a company. The theoretical part consists of interpretation of branding and strategic brand management. The analytical part examines brand building strategy and position of the company in the market as well as its competitors and potential clients. Based on analysis, a branding strategy proposal is suggested in order to create a competitive and successful brand of the company.

This study examined the motivations of managers in a Federal government agency to participate or not participate in voluntary government-sponsored training. The researcher distributed a questionnaire, via agency electronic mail, to managers and supervisors in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The questionnaire comprised items selected from three instruments used and validated in previous adult education participation studies and provided the data for this study. Section 1 of the questionnaire addressed demographics, Section 2 addressed non-participation, and Section 3 addressed participation. Respondents rated the degree of influence or importance each item had on their decision to participate or not to participate in government-sponsored training.The data revealed the relative importance of the reasons for participation and non-participation and their relationship to the demographic variables. Cognitive interest and professional advancement were the primary motivations for participation in training. Lack of course relevance and time constraints were the primary motivations for not participating in training. There was no significant difference in motivation between men and women managers for either participation or non-participation. Other demographic variables had low to mid-range correlations with specific reasons for participation and non-participation, none of which were concentrated on a single cluster or factor. / Ed. D.

archives@tulane.edu / This study presents an analysis of otome, dating simulator games popularized throughout Japan and South Korea, specifically exploring how the fictive relationship formed between the female main character (MC) and various male non-player characters (NPCs) enables the user to adopt the role of sexual and emotional agent. By examining the degree to which player choice influences a game’s plot, character development, and the tenor of the romantic relationship formed between MC and NPC, this research will seek to contextualize otome games as a digital affinity space uniquely positioned to address female fantasy and respond to culturally informed demographic changes relating to dating, sex, and marriage in South Korea and Japan. Using examples of Korean and Japanese otome titles across multiple platforms and related trends in popular culture and media, this paper will conclude with an examination of the gendered, emotional labor necessitated by the typical otome game structure as a method of reframing the commodification of the shojo archetype from a female perspective. / 1 / Meredith Connelly

This is a study of the course offerings in machine woodworking I and II in the high schools in the state of Texas to ascertain if any deviations have been made from the state proscribed course of study to meet the individual needs of the community.

This research examines variation in the relationships between college expectations, planfulness, and intense adolescent work by socioeconomic factors using data from Add Health (n = 8,836). Results show that higher college expectations are related to higher odds of intense school-year work among lower social class youth, but lower odds of intense work among youth from higher social class backgrounds. Moreover, planful adolescents are more likely to work intensely during the school year among youth from disadvantaged neighborhoods, but less likely to work intensely among those from advantaged neighborhoods. Results also show less variability in these relationships when considering summer work.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in the United States won a significant civil rights battle when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in 2015, and a majority of Americans now support same-sex marriage and accept homosexuality (PewResearch 2016a). However, notable conflict between the LBGT community and individuals and organized religion remains, as evidenced by the United Methodist Church’s ruling in April 2017 that the recent consecration of a lesbian bishop violated church law. According to UMC doctrine, homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching” (Goodstein 2017). The choice to continue participating in religious organizations whose formal policies, structures, and doctrines challenge the overlapping identities of “Christian” and lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender is one that merits sociological inquiry. For some non-heterosexual Christians, a third identity enters the picture – that of ordained clergy. This third identity intensifies the salience of the first two; a Christian clergy person follows their religious beliefs and practices to a full-time vocation, and the increased scrutiny and expectations of clergy can shine an uncomfortable spotlight on issues of sexuality. To examine the “incompatibility” between homosexuality and Christianity, this study investigates the integration of homosexual and Christian identities at the micro level, among gay and lesbian Episcopal clergy. While such persons possess a gay or lesbian sexual identity, they also embody the institutional church as ordained clergy. Examining their processes of integrating homosexual and Christian identities provides a deeper understanding of the larger social conflict between homosexuality and Christianity; and because of their unique position vis a vis religion and sexuality, the experiences of gay and lesbian clergy can also reveal important information about the strategies and practices utilized by individuals as they attempt to transform religious institutions. This thesis asks how gay and lesbian Episcopal clergy reconcile and maintain their religious and sexual identities, and what strategies of religious agency they demonstrate as they work for a more just and inclusive church.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / In the complementary fields of Composition and Writing Center Studies, the common goal is to guide writers toward improvement in literate practices. However, the meaning of the word “improvement” has undergone radical shifts across time within both fields. It has of late shifted away from a concrete, product-oriented definition toward a non-concrete, process and person-centered nebula. In short, the field of Writing Studies has become very sure what improvement is not, while less sure what it is. Despite this uncertainty, one area of recent agreement appears to be the importance of control that writers hold in navigating within and across literate contexts, often referred to by the slippery term, agency. This pilot study seeks to utilize the voices of researchers across a spectrum of fields to more precisely define agency. This definition will be consistent with current scholarship in both Composition and Writing Center Studies and informed by related fields such as linguistics, anthropology, sociology, and philosophy. It will then utilize that definition in constructing a RAD (replicable, aggregable and data-driven) qualitative analysis of post-session interviews between researcher and writer. This method will attempt to determine possibilities and guidelines for future research. Particularly, it will provide a framework for future researchers to measure improvement in writing through a more refined definition of social agency. Through that, it will seek to support previous study which suggests as little as a single session in the Writing Center can demonstrate improvement in students’ perceptions of their own writing.

The primary aim of the research was to examine the ways in which Psychology Honours students interactionally made sense of their career choices. In addition, the research examined how these students interactionally made sense of psychology as a discipline and field of study, particularly in the context of discussions of career choices. The participants were selected for inclusion into the study (through purposive sampling) if they were currently in their psychology honours year. An interview schedule that contained open-ended questions and prompts was used to guide the focus groups. The findings showed that the participants were contextually creating meanings of career choice and psychology as seen by the acknowledged, additive or at times challenged responses, statements, descriptions etc. in the focus groups. Further research could be performed on students from other disciplines to see if the meanings of ‘psychology’ and ‘career choice’ vary or are similar across disciplines. This would provide the field of psychology with a better understanding of how it is perceived and might provide some constructs that have not been considered yet, with regards to career

No description available.

The field of bioethics originated from failures in medical research and provided a framework for medical decision-making and research ethics with the advent of its four core principles (justice, autonomy, non-maleficence, and beneficence). However, these core principles often overlook more complex issues related to health. In this thesis I take a critical look at traditional bioethics to demonstrate why more specific fields of bioethics, like public health ethics and urban bioethics, are necessary. I then look at the origins of urban bioethics to better understand the necessity for the field and the principles necessary for its implementation. Solidarity and agency are established principles of urban bioethics, and I will argue the need to add respect for community to the urban bioethics toolbox. Based on these principles; I argue the urban bioethicist has to understand the context of individuals and communities to properly apply agency, solidarity, and respect for community. The most appropriate way to build this context is through qualitative research. Qualitative research is uniquely suited for this task based on the nature of the field and the information it offers related to each of the principles of urban bioethics. / Urban Bioethics