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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
361

An ecological analysis of voting behavior in Vancouver

Munton, Donald James January 1969 (has links)
Local elections have received little attention in the literature of political science, either as an important component of city politics, or as a source of data on voting behavior. The present exploratory study, as merely one step towards redressing this situation, attempts to identify and analyze some of the political and social cleavages that underlie electoral politics in the city of Vancouver. The phenomena investigated as dependent variables include registration, turnout, ballot spoiling, non-use of votes, referenda voting, and candidate-party voting. The independent variables are the common census-derived socioeconomic characteristics of voters such as age, sex, marital status, religion, ethnicity, education level, occupation, and income. On the basis of a review of some important related studies, a simple model is proposed that sets out a theoretical relationship between these characteristics and voting behavior. The research method employed in the study is ecological analysis which, despite some inherent limitations, provides a suitable tool for the exploration of this relationship through correlation and regression techniques. A number of hypotheses are formulated from the data, but others, obtained from existing studies, have also been tested. The main findings of the present paper are twofold. Firstly, significant and generally explicable cleavages between broad socio-economic groups are revealed with respect to each of the dependent variables. Thus, for example, it is shown that each of the political parties in the city has a more or less solid base of support in voters of a particular socio-economic level. The second general conclusion, closely tied to the first, is that each of the broad groupings has a reasonably consistent and explicable pattern of behavior. Persons in the lowest socio-economic status group, for example, tend less to register and to vote, tend more to spoil ballots and leave votes unused, and tend to oppose referenda issues, as well as tending to vote for certain candidates. From the data and subsequent analysis, a typology is put forward classifying local voter orientation as being either purposive, maintaining, or protesting in nature. Finally, in part employing this typology as an explanatory mechanism, two general hypotheses are proposed which attempt to relate patterns of voting behavior firstly, to the decision-making output of Vancouver's political system and secondly, to persistence and change in the structure of the local party system. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate
362

Small farm function : a study of small farms in Matsqui Municipality in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia

Swinnerton, Guy Stretton January 1969 (has links)
This thesis documents and analyses some of the major characteristics of the present socio-economic situation of small farms in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. To obtain a realistic appreciation of the small farm problem consideration is given to the fact that the major function of small farms is not always agricultural production. The major term of reference for the study was that the characteristics of small farms are the result of the functions the holding serves for the farm operator and his family. Small farms were identified as holdings of less than twenty-one acres and the heterogeneous functions of farm occupancy were synthesised into three levels of farm operation on the basis of working time spent on the holding, relative income obtained from farm and non-farm sources and the value of the sale of agricultural products. Three types of small farm operators were recognised: full-time, part-time and residential. The Lower Mainland was selected because it is one of the most important agricultural areas in British Columbia and the region contains a high percentage of the total number of small farms in the province. In addition, the positive relationship between urbanisation, small farms and the part-time and residential farmer was likely to be clearly represented because the area is subject to the metropolitan dominance of Vancouver. Within the Lower Mainland, Matsqui Municipality was singled out for specialized study since it is reasonably representative of the Lower Mainland's agriculture and is within commuting distance of Metropolitan Vancouver. The Real Property Appraisal Records for Matsqui Municipality were used as the sample frame and a random sample of forty farm operators completed the interview schedule. The evidence indicated that many of the small farms under study were not viable economic units, and some of their occupiers may be classed as low income families. However, the low financial returns reported by many of the small farm operators implied that their reasons for living on farms were not necessarily founded on economic considerations. Social rather than economic factors explained the respondents' higher level of satisfaction with rural than city living, whereas any dissatisfaction with living on farms was related to the lack of economic success. The three most frequently stated reasons for preferring rural living were availability of space, a better place to bring up children and a superior physical environment to that experienced in urban areas. The evidence also indicated that there was an inverse relationship between dependency on farming for a livelihood and the level of satisfaction with rural living. The three factors which were most important in accounting for the relative economic success or failure of small farms were managerial efficiency, the availability of working capital and the desire of the farmer to operate his holding as a commercially orientated business. Because the majority of full-time small farms do not adequately fulfil economic or human needs they will be phased out, whereas small farms used essentially as a place of residence or operated on a part-time basis will become increasingly common in the landscape of the Lower Mainland. This is because although they do not adequately meet the economic requirements of a modern agricultural system, they do provide their occupiers with sufficient independence to satisfy their social needs. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate
363

Comparison of long shot and earthquakes

Currie, Ralph Gordon January 1967 (has links)
The seismic signal generated by the underground nuclear explosion, Long Shot, has been compared with seismic signals of earthquake origin and found to be similar on a regional scale. Negative Long Shot magnitude residuals are associated with areas of recent tectonic activity as are late arrivals, while positive Long Shot magnitude residuals and early arrivals have been found to be associated with tectonically stable regions. These trends are coincident with those indicated by data from other seismic events. The more detailed comparison of Long Shot and earthquake magnitude residuals at Penticton and Port St. James indicates that the Long Shot residuals also reflect the location of the source. At these stations, earthquakes with distances and azimuths comparable to Long Shot exhibit magnitude residuals that are most similar to those of Long Shot. The magnitude residuals at the University of British Columbia exhibit the same dependence on source parameters although a direct comparison with Long Shot could not be made. An examination of earthquake travel time residuals at Penticton and Fort St. James also indicates the same dependence on source location. Long Shot surface waves indicate an average unified magnitude of 5.1 at Canadian stations as compared with an average unified magnitude of 6.0 from body waves at the same stations. The comparison of the power spectra of Long Shot and earthquakes at Leduc and Victoria indicates relatively more energy at high frequencies from Long Shot than from earthquakes. This variation in spectral decrement is interpreted as an effect of the different source mechanisms. The spectrum of Long Shot at Rocky Mt. House appeared to be anomalous as it had a significantly larger spectral decrement than at the other stations and was indistinguishable from the spectra of earthquakes recorded at Rocky Mt. House. The trend of the power spectra also appear to be partially determined by the crustal and upper mantle structure in the vicinity of the station. The effect of the source parameters and travel path is also indicated by a tendency for the spectral decrement to increase with increased distance to source and with increased depth. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate
364

Adoption of business practices by participants in the small business managment training programme

Bell, Gordon January 1968 (has links)
This study is an evaluation of the educational effectiveness of three courses in the Small Business Management Training Programme conducted in several districts of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. The evaluation utilizes the concept of adoption to determine the degree to which respondents have made use of the specified business skills and techniques taught within the courses. The study also attempts to measure the reaction of respondents to the courses in general, and to the instructors and course contents specifically. Data for the analysis were collected by interviewing a random sample of participants in each course from the population of participants in the Lower Mainland of B.C. There was a significant increase in the degree of adoption among respondents in all courses following participation in the programme. Gains in the degree of adoption were significant at the 1 per cent level of confidence. An analysis of adoption for each specific technique within each course indicates that the degree of adoption was not uniform among these techniques. An analysis of variance among means of adoption scores in relation to several characteristics of respondents indicated that three characteristics, namely education, the relationship of the respondent to the business, and the number of employees in the respondent's business, had a significant relationship to the degree to which respondents adopted the techniques. Differences among means were significant for the three characteristics at the 5 per cent level of confidence. The recorded scores on the three scales used to measure reactions to course, instructor, and course content respectively indicated a favourable reaction in each case and for each course. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate
365

A study of the species composition and ecology of the protoplankton of a British Columbia inlet.

Buchanan, Ronald James January 1966 (has links)
The planktonic algae and protozoa of Indian-Arm, a coastal, fjord-type inlet near Vancouver, British Columbia, was studied for a year to determine the species composition and their distribution patterns, and to investigate factors influencing these features. Several physico-chemical factors were monitered concurrently to investigate their influence upon protoplankton ecology. Light attenuation characteristics of the water were determined to learn the spatial and temporal variations of water turbidity and its relation to protoplankton. The environmental parameters investigated monthly at a series of seven stations were temperature, salinity, oxygen, Secchi disc depth, and light attenuation coefficients (alpha). These data were supplemented by the observations of earlier workers on insolation, light penetration, nutrients, and runoff. The presence of a pycnocline (sharp density gradient) in the euphotic zone substantially reduced the rate of downward transport of passive protoplankters by turbulent mixing. Four "seasons" in light penetration were recognizable. These seasons were governed by insolation and concentration of runoff-borne seston (total suspended particles) and resident seston. Intrusions of sea water, necessitated by the surface outflow of brackish water, could be traced by their relatively high turbidity. The correlation of alpha with seston in Indian Arm waters was investigated. A linear positive correlation was found but it was unsatisfactory for measuring seston with the alpha-meter because of the heterogeneous nature of the seston. Surface current patterns were studied four times (in December, January, May and July) using drift buoys, The patterns in the upper meter of water were complicated. The protoplankton studied included all sizes smaller than 500μ. Emphasis was placed upon the smaller of these (i.e. smaller than 60 μ.) because of an earlier report that less than 10% of the primary production in Indian Arm was by "net plankton". The spatial and temporal distribution of the individual taxa was studied using a total of 180 water samples and 60 net samples collected monthly at five stations. The greatest numbers of taxa and of individuals were found in the pycnocline region and immediately below it (in the top 15 m). The surface layer appeared to be selective for eurythermal and euryhaline organisms, The pycnoclinic community was predominated by heterotrophs in September to February, photoautotrophs in March to May, and a mixture of all trophic types in June to August. Significant quantities of plankton were carried into Indian Arm by sea water intrusions and could contribute to the living biota or to the pool of nutrients known to accumulate rapidly in the deep basin. Surface outflow was a major factor in the removal of protoplankton from the euphotic zone and in the replenishment of nutrients. The rate of population depletion, together with the reproductive rate determined the success of any species. The evidence indicated that the two main factors regulating protoplankton standing stock and primary production in Indian Arm were (a) runoff-induced surface outflow, and (b) insolation. The total protoplankton complement was analysed monthly, counting the number of taxa which belonged in the different categories of taxonomic classification, size, ecological importance, origin, nature of the pelagic state, natural habitat, and trophic type. The taxa were assigned to the categories by subjective and objective means, employing the literature and original observations. Over the entire year, the most richly represented taxonomic category was the class Bacillariophyceae (122 taxa) followed by the classes Dinophyceae (91, of which 70 were "Armoured"), Ciliatea (44), and Chrysophyceae (15). More than half of all taxa for the year were photoautotrophic. The second largest category was composed of pure heterotrophs. Many others were myxotrophic (capable of both autotrophic and heterotrophic acquisition of energy). Over half of all taxa were at least partly less than 60μ in size. These taxa included the most numerically abundant. The ecological importance of most taxa was considered to be "negligible". The nature of the pelagic state of most taxa was holoplanktonic, the natural habitat of most was neritic, and the origin of most was endemic (local). The records of occurrence of taxa in the water samples were analysed to detect recurrent groups by computing the index of joint occurrence for 80 taxa. The analysis revealed three major recurrent groups, containing 20 taxa in all and distinguished by seasonal occurrence or vertical distribution, as dictated by nutrition or both. The information gained during the study and from the literature was synthesized into diagrams of the probable energy cycle in the Indian Arm ecosystem. / Science, Faculty of / Botany, Department of / Graduate
366

Employment trends for women in British Columbia

Leonard, Anne Hewitt January 1966 (has links)
Employment trends for women in British Columbia were examined for the 1953 to 1965 period. A time series study showing the effects of secular, seasonal, cyclical and higher educational variables on participation rates was undertaken. Primary source data, necessary for studying the higher educational variable, was obtained from a questionnaire which was constructed and mailed to 1,000 randomly selected married women who were University of British Columbia Graduates from 1922 to 1965 inclusive. The time series analysis indicated that a composite of the variables examined influenced in varying degrees the Female Participation Rates in British Columbia during the 1953 to 1965 period. The economic and educational implications of this analysis have been discussed. Evidence has been given that an underlying, dominant secular trend exists of steadily increasing British Columbia Female Participation Rates. Married Women Graduate Participation Rates have been shown to exhibit a similar rising pattern. Correlation between the two is +.88. Although the secular trend appears to dominate, women are also shown to be affected by both seasonal and cyclical variations. There would seem to be in British Columbia a supply of women who tend to enter the Labour Force when employment opportunities are high and who leave when economic conditions are depressed. Of importance for educational and occupational counselling is the knowledge obtained that the Participation Rates for all British Columbia women have risen steadily from twenty-three to thirty-one per cent over a twelve year period and that the Participation Rates for Married Women Graduates have risen from one and a half to two and a half per cent over the same period. This knowledge implies that some form of vocational training is of vital importance to all girls. Another finding with direct application to the counselling of adolescent and adult women is the strong evidence of the practical value of a university degree. The research showed that economic cycles in British Columbia had approximately only one fourth as much effect on the employment of the Married Women University Graduates as upon the British Columbia Female Labour Force. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate
367

Economic feasibility of basic chemical manufacturing in the province of British Columbia

Dobbie, John Wright January 1965 (has links)
The requirements for an investment in a chemical manufacturing plant to be economically feasible have been investigated. The items studied included the market which exists for chemicals, the resources required to manufacture chemicals, and the finances commited to the investments in manufacturing plants. The chemical plants investigated were confined to that sector defined as basic and intermediate chemicals, further, the study was restricted to the geographic region of British Columbia. Three sources of information were pertinent to this study. These were the external trade data for the province of British Columbia, available through Victoria from the Dominion Bureau of Statistics; the growth in the forest industry, available from journals and news releases; and specific expense information, obtained or confirmed from private communication with various individuals in the industries pertinent to the study. Other miscellaneous books, publications, and unpublished materials were used as required to complete the analysis of the study. The perinent information including markets and prices (revenue), resources (expenses), and capital commitment were combined to determine rate of return on investment. Return was considered to be the principal criteria for the evaluation of the economic feasibility of a chemical manufacturing plant. The results of the study indicated that the growth of the forest industry accounted for the feasibility of chemical plants in the province in the recent past and the near term future. The chemical pulp exports especially to Japan and Europe are expected to sustain growth in pulping and bleaching chemicals. A declining per capita consumption for plywood and increased exports of this material are expected to sustain a straight line growth in plywood resin chemicals in the near term future. The possibilities for opportunities in basic aromatic chemicals, and plastics, and synthetic detergent intermediates were outlined, all of which would require market development. Resources and capital commitment were not found to be a restriction upon economic feasibility. Sulphur and petroleum are available within the province, but the majority of the mineral raw materials are imported. Technology was in each case the organization's own. Capital for the investments made in British Columbia has been provided by the routine operations of the parent organization, and funds flow from the local plants operations should sustain expansion. The return on investment for the basic chemical plants which have been established recently in British Columbia was found to be modest in the short run. Various factors contributed to reductions in rate of return including rate of incremental expansion, market structure change, price reductions, and competition. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate
368

Rural Dutch immigrants in the Lower Fraser Valley

Ginn, Edith Margaret January 1967 (has links)
The impact of immigrants on Canadian society and economy has been, and still is, a very live issue. This study focuses on the post-war Dutch immigrants in the Lower Fraser Valley, British Columbia, to examine the impact of a particular cultural group on the life and landscape of a region. The emphasis is on the agricultural Dutch immigrants because they have made the most noticeable impact in the Valley, through their close association with the dairy industry. The distribution, settlement, social characteristics and occupational selection of the Dutch immigrants were considered, to identify any pattern in the cultural geography of the Valley which has arisen from cultural differences between the Dutch immigrants and the other Valley residents. A field survey of a sample of Dutch immigrants in the Lower Fraser Valley seemed the most satisfactory method for the investigation of such a topic. Published primary and secondary sources are negligible or of limited value. For example, in the Canadian census the definition of 'Dutch' is ambiguous, resulting in the inclusion of Germans and Mennonites in the 'Dutch' classification. The study is primarily based on data acquired in 1964 through interviews with Dutch immigrants, community leaders, municipal and agricultural officers in the Valley. Telephone directories and church registers were used to select the sample. The interview included personal and social characteristics, emigration and locational motivations, the occupations and the innovations of the Dutch immigrants. The Dutch are a succession group. They acquired farms and residences where they were available. Their impact is subtle and more difficult to define than that- of a pioneering group. There is no large compact settlement with a distinctive Dutch form, or architecture, to compare with the settlement of some of the initial immigrant groups in Canada. The most spectacular impact on settlement has been the creation of Pitt Polder. Through the reclamation of marshland, the Dutch have extended the area of settlement in the Valley. The Dutch account for four per cent of the Valley population, but they form more than ten per cent of the population of those municipalities which include the major dairy regions, such as Pitt Meadows, Kent and Matsqui. The dispersed distribution of the Dutch has not prevented the development of strong social ties among that section of the immigrant group that has established Dutch churches. This suggests that if there is a sufficiently strong bond among people, religion in this case, physical proximity is not an essential prerequisite for the development of a community. The most distinctive social characteristic of the post-war Dutch immigrants is the significance of religion as a variable in their migration, location and rate of integration. The socio-religious divisions of the Netherlands society are apparent among the Dutch immigrants. The Orthodox Calvinists have shown a greater readiness to establish ethnic churches, separate schools and separate trade unions; they have the fewest contacts with Canadians; and have the slowest rate of integration. Their impact on the social geography of the Valley is the easiest to identify. It is expected that their social identity will last longer than that of the rest of the Dutch immigrant group. The casual observers' linkage of the rural Dutch immigrants with dairying has been verified. There are over four hundred Dutch dairy farmers forming a fifth of the producers in the Valley. In the post-war period dairying was an economically attractive agricultural enterprise, yet only Dutch immigrants have penetrated it to any extent, suggesting that there is a cultural preference involved in the Dutch occupational selection of dairying. Through competition and by example the Dutch dairy farmers have encouraged the adoption of intensive land use methods in Valley dairying. This contribution to dairying is an example of the value of a skilled immigrant group to the economy of an immigrant country. The rural Dutch immigrants have been distinguished by their association with dairying, but already there is an indication that this characteristic will fade. Some second generation Dutch immigrants have selected urban occupations in preference to dairying. The strength of religious ties among the Orthodox Calvinists suggests that this group will maintain their distinctiveness for the longest period as there is little pressure in Canadian society to relinquish a particular religion, compared with the trend in favour of urban occupations. The Orthodox Calvinists, rather than the dairy farmers, may be the section of the post-war Dutch immigrants to have the most marked impact on the cultural geography of the Lower Fraser Valley in the future. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate
369

An investigation of the movement of British Columbia softwood lumber to United States markets

Crowther, John William Ferguson January 1964 (has links)
This paper reports upon an investigation conducted into the movement of softwood lumber from British Columbia to the United States during the years 1955 to 1962. The principal method used in the course of the study was an examination of the briefs and statements submitted to the United States Tariff Commission during hearings held in Washington, D.C, in October 1962. In order to keep the material within the context of current events, some space was devoted to a brief summary of pertinent political and economic occurances in both the United States and Canada during the last part of 1962 and the first half of 1963. Thereafter six chapters are devoted to comparisons between forests and extraction, conversion, and distribution costs in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and in the province of British Columbia. Basically the same type of forest is found in these two regions, but the utilization and development of the areas have been different, as have been the competitive factors which have arisen in the areas. Many of the pertinent data have been put into tabular form for easy reference. The penultimate chapter summarizes the briefs and statements submitted by the interested United States lumber dealers, shippers, and producers, and by the Council of Forest Industries of British Columbia, which represented the British Columbia lumber men, at the United States Tariff Commission hearings. The conclusions reached as a result of this investigation were (1) there is a shortage of domestic softwood lumber in the United States which can best be filled by British Columbia lumber imports, (2) British Columbia lumber producers have an advantage over Pacific Northwest producers with regard to stumpage costs, (3) British Columbia lumber producers have no advantage over Pacific Northwest producers with regard to conversion costs, (4) Distribution costs greatly favour British Columbia lumber producers with regard to water-borne lumber, and slightly favour American Pacific Northwest lumber producers with regard to railborne shipments, (5) the exclusion of the Pacific Northwest lumber producers from the Puerto Rican lumber market illustrates the impact of the Jones Act restrictions on the United States lumber industry, (6) in addition to the cost advantages which the British Columbia producers have in the United States Atlantic Coast market, they enjoy intangible advantages which may be characterized as marketing techniques which have created good will for Canadian producers in the American markets, and (7) United States softwood lumber producers in the Pacific Northwest could improve their competitive position in the Domestic market by internal reforms, although they were unable to have imposed on their behalf prohibitive tariffs or quotas. Finally, several suggestions as to possible areas for internal reform are put forward. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate
370

A gravity model for the guichon creek batholith

Ager, Charles Arthur January 1972 (has links)
The Guichon Creek Batholith, located in south-central British Columbia, contains several large, low grade copper deposits of extreme economic importance. A three dimensional model for the batholith has been determined on the basis of a gravity survey conducted in 1971. In addition the gravity data has been compared with the filtered aeromagnetic maps of the batholith. A striking correlation between the spatial relationship of the mineral deposits and the core of the batholith has been discovered. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

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