Emotionality in environmental decisions is a function of the characteristics of the environmental planning problem, the decider, and of the situation in which decisions occur. This research examined the effects of problem and decider characteristics upon the emotionality of the decision process and upon decisions. Descriptions of a resource management problem were varied in a two by four factorial design with two writing style levels (emotional and objective) and differential emphasis of two pro-development and two pro-preservative issues. Subjects read a problem description, made and evaluated confidence in a decision, placed the decision on a 156 mm preservation-development continuum, rated their emotionality on 42 scale items, and completed an Environmental Attitude Survey. Data analysis indicated that pro-development issue emphases resulted in more development decisions and lower confidence than pro-preservation emphases. Also, negative affect, environmental concern, preservation decisions, and confidence were interrelated. Neither independent variable affected emotionality, however, possibly due to the effects of the order of experimental instruments on salience of emotional response. A second experiment was conducted with half the original problem descriptions. Emotions were made more salient by asking subjects to complete the emotion scale instrument before making or describing their decisions. Significantly more preservation decisions were made in this second experiment and confidence in decisions increased. Increased negative affect was found in the second experiment also. Three major conclusions were reached. First, emotionality is a significant predictor of environmental decisions. The weakness of its predictive power may be due to the verbal, hypothetical, experimental setting. Second, the configuration of preservation decisions, high confidence, and negative affect could be related to behavior such as environmental activism, and bears further empirical investigation. Third, environmental decisions may be highly variable and sensitive to differences in situations and informational variables. A multi-method approach to study of environmental decisions and to gathering of public input is advocated.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis focuses on the concept of informed choice in family planning and how numerical and systematic targeting aimed at raising the numbers of contraceptive acceptors fundamentally undermines this concept in highland Chiapas. The Government of Mexico’s policy aims within its Reproductive Health Programme (1995-2000) are to reduce the total fertility rate whilst promoting reproductive health services and family planning choices. Though Mexico has seen a decline in its total fertility rate attributed to increased contraceptive use in urban areas, in rural parts the rate remains high. Consequently, the rural poor, and in Chiapas overwhelmingly indigenous populations, have become a major target of the Reproductive Health Programme. Monthly targets are set for clinics and family planning services are offered systematically every time a woman attends a clinic for whatever reason. Amongst the factors which must be accounted for in assessing family planning provision in highland Chiapas are cultural differences between mestizo providers and the indigenous target groups as well as local economic and political conditions. Presently, the state of Chiapas is highly militarised and under the cloud of a low intensity war precipitated by the Zapatista uprising in 1994. The provision of any kind of health services is difficult under these situations, but more so what one considers the distrust sown between some indigenous communities and the government Who provide the health services. This thesis examines the practicalities of implementing a global policy at a local level and the constraints faced by both providers and intended recipients in the social context of Los Altos. Mindful of the care required in identification most people in this thesis (with the exception of a few well-known academics) appear under pseudonyms.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the British tourists move through a decision process in choosing Malaysia as a long-haul holiday destination. The purchase of a long-haul holiday is thought to be complex with high involvement and deliberation as well as being more expensive and bought less frequently (may be once a year). As such, a five-stage decision process is used: i) problem recognition, ii) information search, iii) evaluation of alternatives, iv) purchase decision and v) postpurchase behaviour. The research was conducted at two levels. The first level was self-administered tourists' survey questionnaire carried-out over a three-month period in Malaysia. The second level involved a British tour operators' survey which was supplemented by personal interview in order to get a better insight into the problems and potentials of Malaysia as a long-haul destination. "In search of new experience," "rest and relaxation",and "cultural attraction" were ranked as the three most important motivational factors influencing the decision to travel long-haul. Personal sources of information seemed to dominate in every stage of the decision process. Tourists evaluated Malaysia very favourably only on two tourist-attracting attributes - entertainment and shopping facilities; but these attributes were less important to them when selecting their holiday destinations. Husbands and wives were found to be in agreement on nine of the eleven subdecisions. Generally, tourists expressed high satisfaction with their holiday experience in Malaysia. Nevertheless some significant differences were found between independent and packaged tourists. Independent tourists were more satisfied with all the "product and service superiority" factors compared to the packaged tourists. With local services, independent tourists were significantly more satisfied than the packaged tourists with pleasant attitudes of the people and the personal security aspects of the "health and safety" factor. With regards to overall value for money and overall satisfaction, the independent tourists were significantly more satisfied than the packaged tourists. Comparison between destinations within the region also revealed different satisfaction levels across various dimensions. The study provides useful empirical support which enable tourism planners in making specific improvements in order to maintain and/or increase tourist satisfaction. For tourism marketers, creation of unrealistic tourist expectation through excessive promotional exaggeration should be avoided to circumvent tourist dissatisfaction.

No description available.

The purpose of this research was to examine the issues pertaining to the change to a credit based system (CBS) in its first academic year of implementation 1997/98. Through the use of a longitudinal study, interviews were administered to academic and management staff at the beginning and end of the first CBS academic year, to evaluate the expectations and the reality of the implementation of a CBS at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The findings disclosed that the faculty and its staff were prepared and reacted well to the introduction of a CBS. However, the development of this new system tended to be an amalgamation of pre-existing programmes. The overall expectations of CBS had to do more with the operational aspects of the new scheme than with the anticipated results of CBS itself. Final examinations were reintroduced to coursework-only subjects. The elective selection process was moved closer to the semester they were offered. A relationship was established between the extent of participants' previous CBS experience and ease of introduction. This finding was further significant as previous CBS knowledge resulted in frustration over the slow pace and the extent of the scheme being introduced. To ease the phasing-in process, it is recommended that staff be involved in the early stages of establishing CBS. There also appears to be a clear need for further advice, explanation and guidelines on the new grading system. The university may need to secure a centralised examination system, including an examination timetable. More training for management and staff on how to advise students is needed. A task group is suggested to standardise CBS administrative procedures university-wide. Furthermore, the university needs to encourage departments to open up their subjects and, at the same time, give their students real opportunities to take up the choices offered.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Nursing Johannesburg, 2014 / Career guidance teachers have an important role to play in the career choices of high school learners by presenting them with information on different careers so that informed decisions can be made. It follows that the amount and quality of information that such teachers have and their views or perceptions of a career may have either a positive or negative influence on learners’ choices, in this instance, nursing as a career choice. High school learners’ declining interest in nursing as a career of choice has led to questions about career guidance teachers’ knowledge regarding nursing as a career, the attributes and contemporary roles of nurses and to what extent they suggest nursing to enquiring learners. If career guidance teachers’ perceptions about nursing influence recruitment into the profession, then it is important to determine what these perceptions are and what role they play in suggesting or not suggesting nursing as a career to high school learners. The purpose of the study was to determine the perceptions of career guidance or Life Orientation (LO) teachers in influencing high school learners’ choosing or not choosing nursing as a career. The study was delimited to Life Orientation teachers of three Johannesburg districts in Gauteng. The study objectives were to determine the frequency and source of requests for nursing information directed to career guidance teachers; to explore what career guidance teachers believe are important attributes of nurses; to determine the type of student in respect of personality and academic attributes that career guidance teachers would typically refer to a nursing programme, and to determine career guidance teachers’ perceptions of the roles and responsibilities of nurses currently and in the future. Data were collected in 2011 from September to December. The results showed that Life Orientation (LO) teachers in Gauteng do not receive a high number of requests about nursing from neither learners nor parents; just over 40% receive between one to five learner requests per year. A few teachers have suggested nursing to approximately 20 learners in the past five years; experienced teachers are more likely than inexperienced ones (p=0.0139) to suggest nursing as a career; LO teachers’ age and gender have no influence on them suggesting nursing as a career. Having studied the subject Life Sciences is the most important academic variable for referral to study nursing; learners who are caring and who enjoy working with people are considered suitable for nursing; these are also ranted as the most important personality attributes, followed by being hardworking/diligent and loving. Most LO teachers (63.0%) in this study were aware that nurses’ roles have changed over time but were not knowledgeable about the extent of role change and what the roles and responsibilities of contemporary nurses are.