Is public health policy based on scholarly evidence? With the manifold variables that policy makers must consider, is evidence-based policy even realistic? While strategies exist to translate research into policy, a need to understand better how that can play out in real-life remains. Using interviews from informants occupying a range of positions, and considering the atmosphere created by media reports, this study examines the case of smoking privileges at East Coast Forensic Hospital. After a patient committed murder while on leave, apparently to smoke, public pressure over public safety, a relative lack of relevant scholarship, ethical considerations, and the divergent voices of stakeholders created challenging circumstances for policy makers. Through the use of case study methodology, this project identifies the kinds of information that are employed in the creation or modification of policy and offers insights concerning how the influences exerted on policy makers determine how information is employed.

Baigiamajame darbe analizuojamos Teismo nagrinėtų ginčų dėl kontinentinio šelfo delimitavimo priimtų sprendimų nuostatos, kuriose išaiškintos pagrindinės delimitavimo taisyklės. Kadangi 1958 m. Konvencija dėl kontinentinio šelfo bei 1982 m. Jūrų teisės konvencija numato tik abstrakčius kontinentinio šelfo delimitavimo principus, teismo sprendimuose pateikiamas šių principų turinys. Darbe analizuojama, kurios teisės normos yra reikšmingiausios delimituojant kontinentinį šelfą, akcentuojami jų nustatymo kriterijai, reikšmingos aplinkybės bei šių normų taikymo ypatumai. Antroje darbo dalyje nustatytos taisyklės taikomos konkrečios srities – Egėjo jūros kontinentinio šelfo delimitavimui, siekiant išsiaiškinti, kokie sunkumai kyla praktiškai įgyvendinant Teismo sprendimuose išaiškintas normas. Atsižvelgiant į iškeltą tikslą bei uždavinius, nustatyta, kad Teismas sprendimuose apibrėžė pagrindines teisės normas, reglamentuojančias kontinentinio šelfo delimitavimą. Tačiau dėl skirtingų faktinių aplinkybių, dažnai pasitaiko jų taikymo išimčių. Teismo sprendimuose pasigesta detalesnių kriterijų, kurias remiantis būtų nustatoma salų įtaka kontinentinio šelfo delimitavimui, kriterijų, kuriais vadovaujantis būtų išskiriamos pagrindinių delimitavimo taisyklių išimtys. Dėl to kyla sunkumų, kai šias teisės normas reikia pritaikyti konkrečiai situacijai. Tikėtina, kad visus šiuos neaiškumus užpildys vėlesnė Teismo praktika. / This thesis investigates provisions of Court-analysed disputes regarding continental shelf delimitation made decisions, where the main rules of delimitation are being explained. As main international conventions - 1958 Convention on the Continental Shelf and 1982 Law of the Sea Convention - cover general principles of continental shelf delimitations only, the court decisions are accompanied with the content of these principles. This work analyses which rules of law are the most important when delimitating continental shelf, emphasising criteria used to establish them, influential circumstances and peculiarities of their application. In the second part of the thesis the rules identified are being applied to a particular case of continental shelf delimitation in the Aegean Sea, aiming to determine potential problems that may arise trying to apply the court-specified rules of law in practice. With reference to the set objective and tasks it was established that the Court in its decisions has defined legal standards regulating the delimitation of the continental shelf. However, due to different factual circumstances, exceptions with regard to application thereof are rather frequent. The Court decisions were found to be lacking more detailed criteria which would serve as a basis for the determination of islands’ influence on the delimitation of the continental shelf, as well as criteria which would help to identify the exceptions to the main delimitation rules. Therefore... [to full text]

The accurate and timely referral and identification of twice-exceptional students remains a challenge. In a statewide study, the referral decisions for both special education and gifted programming evaluations made by four participant groups (i.e., general education teachers, special education teachers, gifted education teachers, and school psychologists) were compared. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of three identically described students in a vignette that differed only in the presence of a diagnostic label—autism spectrum disorder (ASD), specific learning disability (SLD), or no diagnostic label. In all, special education teachers made the most special education referrals, while gifted education teachers made the most gifted programming referrals, both regardless of the diagnostic label present. The students with diagnostic labels were recommended for special education referrals significantly more than for gifted programming, while this difference was not evident in the no diagnostic label condition. Moreover, the student with the ASD label was the most likely to be referred for evaluations for both special education and gifted programming out of all three vignette conditions. Overall findings indicated the importance of considering the referral source as well as how the presence of a diagnostic label might influence educational referral decisions, particularly in how this might influence overall multidisciplinary team decisions for these unique learners.

Inledning: Svensk e-handel är under kraftig tillväxt. Att försäljningen har ökat kraftigt beror bland annat på att privatpersoner under de senaste 10 åren blivit bekvämare med att handla på Internet. I takt med att följningen ökat, har även konkurrensen ökat. För att företag ska kunna överleva och växa sägs MCS därför vara av stor betydelse. E-handeln innebär en relativt ny situation för företagen och innebär stor osäkerhet i form av snabba beslut, hög konkurrens och pressade priser. Formella styrmedel gör att företagen snabbt kan anpassa sig efter specifika situationer och uppnå ett bättre resultat. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att kartlägga förekomsten av formella styrmedel i e-handelsföretag för att se om de används och vilken betydelse de har. Vidare är syftet att identifiera kritiska situationsfaktorer inom e-handeln och utifrån dessa analysera hur de påverkar e-handelns formella ekonomistyrning. Genom att göra detta vill vi utveckla kunskap kring relationen mellan ekonomistyrning och situationsfaktorer inom e-handeln. Metod: Utifrån fyra faktorer; tillväxt, storlek, resultat och bransch, har vi valt ut tio stycken e-handelsföretag att göra en komparativ intervjustudie på. Med varje företag har en halvstrukturerad intervju genomförts. Slutsats: Några av de situationsfaktorer som påverkar den formella ekonomistyrningen är tillväxt, hög konkurrens, snabba beslut, strategi och storlek. Vidare påverkar även de olika faktorerna till stor del varandra. Formella styrmedel som används är planering och budgetering på kort sikt, både finansiella- och icke-finansiella mått och kalkyler till viss del. Strukturen och kultur påverkar även hur dessa används och vilken betydelse de har. / Introduction: Swedish e-commerce is in rapid growth. Sales have increased substantially due to individuals in the last ten years has become more comfortable to online-shopping. As the growth increases, the competition also becomes fiercer. For companies to survive and grow MCS is of great importance. E-commerce is a relatively new situation for companies and involves uncertainty in the form of quick decisions, high competition and price pressure. Formal controls enables companies to quickly adapt to specific situations and achieve better results. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the existence of formal controls in e-commerce companies, to see if they are used and what impact they have. Furthermore, the purpose is to identify critical situation factors in e-commerce and from these analyse which impact they have on e-commerce formal controls. By doing this, we want to develop knowledge about the relationship between management control and situational factors in e-commerce. Methodology: Based on four factors; growth, size, performance and industry, we have selected ten e-commerce companies to make a comparative interview study on. With every company a semi-structured interview was conducted. Conclusion: Some of the situational factors that affect the formal controls are; growth, intense competition, rapid decisions, strategy and size. The situational factors also affect each other. Formal controls are used for planning and budgeting in the short term, both financial and non-financial measurements and also cost accounting to some extent. The structure and culture affects how they are used and what impact they have.

A recent debate has identified a description– experience gap, where the non-linear weighting function identified in prospect theory reverses when probabilities are discovered through experience rather than by description (probabilities). This thesis will explore the role of experience and probabilities theoretically and empirically. It is argued that both behaviors are compatible on a theoretical basis given a preference for the status quo, but produce opposing decision weights due to different cognitive and motivational factors. Probabilities focus a decision on the potential for rare events creating a preference for certain outcomes and reduced risk taking consistent with loss aversion. Experience overweighs customary outcomes consistent with sensitivity to a reference point or the status quo. Experience in the form of loss, however, moderates the effect of probabilities on risk taking. An experimental game of dice supports this hypothesis, suggesting ambiguity seeking in the face of loss and raising the possibility that the use of probabilities may not be always be maximizing behavior.

This research includes two areas, with the first area focusing on supermarket food purchasing decisions by consumers in China. A probit model, using consumer food survey data indicates that supermarket food purchases are related to shopping habits, supermarket and food attributes, and demographics. This information should be helpful for those businesses attempting to market food within the Chinese supermarket supply chain. The second part of the study attempts to identify and analyze non-tariff barriers for food and agriculture, with a focus on China. These can include for example, import regulations, such as food safety regulations, food standards, labeling requirements, inspections, import licenses, and SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary conditions), and they are sometimes used by food importing countries to restrict imports. These results show that there are a number of significant non-tariff barriers regarding China – Canada food trade.

Problem och syften När projekt befinner sig i extrema miljöer är betydelsen av ett fördelaktigt beslutsfattande avgörande. Om projektdeltagarna inte lyckas ta genomtänkta beslut finns det risk för att projektet misslyckas vilket involverar allvarliga konsekvenser. Med hjälp av denna studie vill vi studera beslutsfattandet i projekt i extrema miljöer: Hur påverkas beslutsfattandet av extrema miljöer? Vi har funnit att ett antal parametrar påverkar projekts förmåga att ta beslut. Vårt syfte, som är uppdelat i ett huvudsyfte och ett praktiskt syfte, handlar således om att analysera hur beslutsfattandet påverkas i extrema miljöer utifrån de tre parametrarna Grupptänk, Riskhantering och Eskalerande engagemang. I huvudsyftet ingår även att vi ämnar utveckla en modell. Vårt delsyfte innebär att vi önskar förstå beslutsfattande för att ge ett bidrag till projekt i extrema miljöer. Metod Vi har skrivit på uppdrag av forskningsgruppen TripleED som har gett oss en stor mängd kvalitativ data rörande en bergsklättringsexpedition på K2 som är att likställas med ett projekt i en extrem miljö. Vi har antagit ett hermeneutiskt perspektiv i vår studie, eftersom vi med hjälp av det sekundära materialet vill tolka och förstå (Olsson & Sörensen, 2011, s. 162) beslutsfattandet inom projekt i extrema miljöer. Trots att vi har genomfört en studie baserad på kvalitativ data strävar vi efter ett deduktivt angreppssätt eftersom vi är intresserade av att undersöka vår sociala verklighet utifrån teorier, (Bryman & Bell, 2011, s. 11,13) samtidigt som vår studie har inslag av induktion. Teorier Vi har utgått från teorier som berör Beslutsprocessen där vi har skapat vår egen modell utifrån tre olika beslutsmodeller. I kombination har vi använt oss av teorier som berör de tre parametrarna Grupptänk, Riskhantering och Eskalerande engagemang för att vidare förstå hur de påverkar beslutsfattande i extrema miljöer. Vi sammanfattar det teoretiska kapitlet med hjälp av en modell som presenterar att parametrarna påverkar beslutsfattande. Med utgångspunkt i modellen genomförde vi sedan vår empiriska undersökning för att se hur beslutsfattandet påverkas. Slutsats Vi har funnit att Beslutsprocessen är kortare än vad teorin föreslår i projekt som befinner sig i extrema situationer. När det inte finns tillräckligt med tid att ta överlagda beslut kan projektdeltagare istället behöva förbereda Beslutsprocessen vilket reducerar risken att ogenomtänkta beslut tas vid kritiska situationer. Vi har kommit fram till att de tre parametrarna har olika påverkan på beslutsfattandet i extrema miljöer och sambandet mellan dem och Beslutsprocessen har vi synliggjort i en slutgiltig modell. Vidare kunde vi även konstatera att vår slutsats uppfyller kraven för trovärdighet vilket medför att vår studie är användbar för framtida projekt.

The desire to obtain value and justify investments from the different Information Systems in place in organizations has been around for a long time. Organizations constantly theorize and implement different approaches that provide some sort of alignment between their different business objectives and Information Systems. Unfortunately, the environments in which these organizations operate are often dynamic, constantly changing with influence from external and internal factors that require continual realignment of the Information Systems with business objectives to provide value. When businesses evolve, leading to changes in business requirements, it is hard to know what direct Information System changes are needed to respond to the new requirements. Similarly, when there are changes in the Information System, it is not often easy to discern which business objectives are directly affected. Whilst the different Enterprise Architecture frameworks available today provide and propose some form of alignment, in their implementation, they do not show links between business objectives and Information Systems, i.e., indicating what Information System is directly responsible for different business objectives thereby allowing for anticipation and support of changes as the business evolves. This thesis utilizes insights from Business Intelligence and uses the User Requirements Notation (URN), which enables modeling of business processes and goals, to provide a framework that exploits links between business objectives and Information Systems. This Business Intelligence - Enabled Adaptive Enterprise Architecture framework allows for anticipating and supporting proactively the adaptation of Enterprise Architecture as and when the business evolves. The thesis also identifies and models levels within the enterprise where responses to change as the business evolves are needed and the ways the changes are presented. The tool-supported framework is evaluated against the different levels and types of changes on a realistic Enterprise Architecture at a Government of Canada department, with encouraging results.

A teacher’s understandings of literacy have an impact on the pedagogical decisions that the teacher makes. Such understandings of literacy may evolve through professional learning, experiences, and reflective practice, but this evolution is seldom documented and therefore not often considered as a systematic means for improving practice. Similarly, educators are rarely able to document the longitudinal literacy life of one learner. This autoethnographic study explores and documents how the researcher’s understandings of literacy have changed over time. The researcher is the primary participant in the study, but her daughter’s literacy learning (from early childhood into adolescence) informs the three eras of the researcher’s teaching life. These three eras are named: teacher, teacher-mother, and teacher-mother-researcher. In each era the researcher interprets her daughter’s literacy learning through the theoretical lens of literacy as social practice. The study draws upon documents, interviews, and artefacts from both the researcher’s life and from her daughter’s literacy life in order to construct stories that express the lived experience of an educator in the act of examining her own literacy theory-practice evolutionary process. Findings from this study can inform educators of the need to challenge their understandings of literacy theories in relation to their past and current literacy practices, enabling them to effectively construct their future practices.

The participation of senior nursing healthcare executives in the acquisition of electronic healthcare information system is not well understood. This is an important issue because nurses make up the majority of care-providers within the Canadian healthcare system, and thus the majority of the information systems end-users. End-user involvement in the selection and evaluation of a healthcare information system is vital to implementation success; it is very important we understand the participation of the nursing leadership making these important decisions. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore this gap in our understanding, to find ‘Nursing’s Voice’ in this process. The soft-systems methodology theoretical perspective was used to understand how this process might be improved. Senior healthcare executives with a background in nursing from each of the Health Authorities across British Columbia were recruited to participate in an online survey questionnaire. An N=11 of senior executives were invited to participate, and a response rate of 82% was achieved. The results showed that despite a lack of formal training in information technology subjects, the majority of these nursing leaders do take an active role in electronic healthcare information systems acquisition and upgrading projects along-side their health informatics colleagues; ‘Nursing’s Voice’ is clearly heard. / Graduate / 0984 / 0769 / 0569 / mcleanja@uvic.ca