Audio description is considered a relatively new research field, and in South Africa it is not yet being used extensively to make visual channels accessible to blind audiences. Therefore research in this field is necessary. The literature review of this study shows that very little empirical research has been done where real audiences were tested. This study set out to test the impact of audio described film on the transportation, identification and comprehension of real audiences. The focus was on mise-en-shot elements specifically and the impact they have on the transportation, identification and comprehension of audiences. A thorough analysis of the two scenes and their audio descriptions showed that in the audio description the emphasis tends to be on the visual elements and not on the way these elements are presented (which forms part of mise-en-shot elements). The way the film is showed to the audience contributes to the film‟s meaning and the director often shows the film to the audience in a specific way to reach a certain effect or feeling in the film. If these mise-en-shot elements are not presented in the audio description of the film it, the blind audience cannot be expected to experience an equivalent effect to that of the sighted audience. In order to test the impact of mise-en-shot elements a methodology based on Bortolussi and Dixon‟s (2010) Psyconarratology was used. Immersion and transportation studies (Green and Brock, 2000 and Tal-Or & Cohen, 2010) were used to develop an experiment for the study. Two groups of respondents were tested by exposing one group to all the available channels of the film and another to only the audio description and soundtrack. The initial hypothesis of this study was that the audience exposed to the audio description and soundtrack of the film would experience less transportation, identification and comprehension due to the loss of mise-en-shot elements in the film. By using T-tests and qualitative comparisons of the responses it was found that the lack of mise-en-shot elements in the film had no statistically significant impact on the transportation of the audience. Furthermore it was found that the lack of mise-en-shot elements has an impact on the identification of the audience. The group that had access to all the channels were more able to identify with the characters. In terms of comprehension it was discovered that there were bigger differences between the two groups in the scenes were the director relied on the visual elements of the film. Thus there are opportunities for further research pertaining to the identification of the audience. Furthermore it is recommended that further research be done to include other film genres as well as alternative ways of doing audio description. South Africa as well as other countries can gain tremendously from the use of audio description to make visual channels accessible to blind audiences. To reach such a goal further research is needed in the field, not only to master the art of audio describing but to also create awareness for this aid. / Thesis (MA (Language Practice))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

This thesis argues for new theoretical and methodological approaches to the viewing and description of archival photographs. Many archivists continue to focus on photographic subject content, ignoring photographs’ contexts of creation, context of later use and the multiple ways photographs can be viewed. The thesis first charts the implications of postmodernist viewpoints on archival records generally. It then traces, in the context of the Canadian archival community, the gradual spread of a postmodernist regard for photographs specifically. The thesis then draws on the theories and methodologies of a range of other disciplines to suggest fresh approaches to the viewing and description of photographs. It applies these suggestions to a series of photograph albums held by the Archives of Manitoba. These applied suggestions reveal that photographs are richer archival sources when considered as evidence of both creator and viewer intent rather than as transparent windows onto the past.

This thesis examines records created through diplomatic activities and considers approaches to their archival description, using those created by the Canadian Department of External Affairs in the 1920s as a case study. The objective of the thesis is to explore the history of this record genre with a focus on how archivists can provide users with access to more authentic and meaningful diplomatic records. Chapter One will provide a broad overview history of the diplomatic genre as well as the place of such contextual knowledge about the creation and characteristics of these records. Chapter Two will introduce a key strategy that archives can implement to more effectively relay contextual knowledge to archival users through the function of description. Chapter Three will then introduce a case study, building upon the approach identified in Chapter Two, and based on Canada’s Department of External Affairs in the 1920s.

This thesis considers the problem of the representation of individual institutional textual records in archival research tools. While document studies in academic journals point to the value of focussed consideration of various types of records, archives do not have the resources to apply such focus to every item in their holdings, even though these convey the information sought by many researchers. Over the last century, archivists have emphasized description of groups of records, because this provides insight into the context in which documents exist and immense quantities involved left little choice. Recent developments, however, suggest the individual document should be re-visited. This thesis focuses on how formal descriptive systems might be enhanced to allow closer consideration of individual institutional textual records. It reviews the history of description, explores benefits to researchers seeking information from particular documents (e.g. the will) and explores tools created in response, such as contextual authority files.

No description available.

School-age children with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) possess valuable knowledge about themselves. They have experience and ability to offer insight about living with CF. Previous studies, exploring the perceptions of CF children, give little attention to eliciting and listening to their voices. Also, traditional data collection methods limit children from participating in research. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe how school-age children with CF see themselves in the world they live. The study utilized qualitative description methodology. Symbolic Interactionism served as the researcher’s philosophical lens. It is a perspective that seeks to understand the social world of others, as they perceive it. Photo elicitation was used as the primary data collection method. Each participant was asked to take photographs about “What it is like to be you”. Photographs were then used to stimulate and guide an audio-recorded interview and make a photo book for the child to keep. Data were analyzed using Boyatzis method of inductive thematic content analysis. Sixteen children with CF between the ages of 8 to 11 were purposively recruited from the Southeastern United States. Data saturation was achieved after 13 interviews. Rigor was maintained by a variety of ways including bracketing, peer evaluation, and member checking. Five themes emerged from the data Me Being Me, My Medicine and Treatments, My Family, My Friends and Other Key Relationships, and My World. Findings revealed that life does not revolve around CF, but instead centers on “me being me” and living a normal life. Additionally, photo elicitation empowered participants to be authors of their own stories, and promoted communication between them and the researcher. In knowing the reality of children, nurses and other multidisciplinary CF team members are better equipped to design and plan interventions that are meaningful, beneficial, and satisfying to the child and his or her parent. The results of this study demonstrate children can be active participants in research and provides opportunities to transform nursing care by developing and evaluating strategies for the delivery of care to children with CF. Recommendations for future research include expanding this study to other CF centers and including the perceptions of parents, nurses, and other CF health care providers. Additionally, because perceptions a person holds about them selves and the world change overtime, a follow-up study when participants reach adolescence and adulthood is suggested.

This thesis addresses the question of what would be a domain independent taxonomy that is capable of representing the non-functional properties of conventional, electronic and web services. We cover all forms of services, as we prefer not to make any distinction between the three forms. Conventional service descriptions, such as newspaper advertisements, are rich in detail, and it is this richness that we wish to make available to electronic and web service descriptions. In a conventional service context, when we ask a service provider for details, perhaps by phoning the service provider, we are seeking ways to assist with decision making. It is this same decision making or reasoning that we wish to be available to electronic services. Historically, services have always been distinguished according to some criteria of a service requestor. Examples are price, payment alternatives, availability and security. We are motivated to ensure that the criteria used to evaluate conventional services are also available for electronic and web services. We believe that the ability to richly and accurately describe services has significant applicability in the areas of electronic service discovery, dynamic service composition, service comparison, service optimisation, and service management. In particular, the increased level of descriptive depth will also facilitate more thorough decision-making by a service requestor. Whilst we acknowledge the importance of service functionality, this thesis is primarily concerned with the non-functional properties of services. A service is not a function alone. It is a function performed on your behalf at a cost. And the cost is not just some monetary price; it is a whole collection of limitations. This thesis is all about these. We believe that to accurately represent any service, a description requires information relating to both the functionality and the associated constraints. We consider these constraints over the functionality of the service to be non-functional properties. We believe that a service description is only complete once the non-functional aspects are also expressed. We undertook a significant analysis of services from numerous domains. From our analysis we compiled the non-functional properties into a series of 80 conceptual models that we have categorised according to availability (both temporal and locative), payment, price, discounts, obligations, rights, penalties, trust, security, and quality. Our motivation is to provide a theoretical basis for automated service discovery, comparison, selection, and substitution. The need to describe a service is analogous with labelling for goods or products. Product labelling occurs for the safety and benefit of purchasers. Why is the same labelling not afforded for the benefit of service requestors?

The problem of how to explain the fundamental nature of organisms for biology commonly falls under two causal systems, mechanistic and teleological. These systems however, fall into fundamental logical problems when put to the test. Many biologists also claim that these systems miss the essential nature of organisms. Historically one of the most important discussions of this problem occurs in Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Judgment, and this work has been chosen as the basis for an investigation of possible ways to avoid the inherent problems that occur with mechanistic and teleological explanations in current biology. By evaluating Kant’s claim, that organisms are not accurately describable by our standard causal explanations, it could be assessed in light of current discoveries whether we have the ability to develop a new causal or acausal system by which to explain organisms. From this analysis, and in agreement with Kant’s investigations of the problems of ‘design-like’ characteristics in organisms, both causal mechanistic and teleological explanations were found to be inapplicable for use in any comprehensive and accurate understanding of organisms and evolution. They are recommended at best to be considered as heuristics. Following this, an investigation of alternate methods of explanation apparently not prone to the problems of mechanistic and teleological causal explanations were characterised and assessed. This lead to the uncovering the system of extremal principles, a system that claims to be acausal and seems to have direct application to fundamental aspects of biology and evolution. This acausal system of extremal principles can for example, be used to describe the class of solitons. Types of solitons (biosolitons) exist in organisms and are important aspects of processes such as morphogenesis, DNA replication, self organization in the cytoskeleton, and locomotion to name a few. They also exhibit the properties of the quantum wave-particle fermions. It is proposed that further investigation of the system of extremal principles and their influence in biology through phenomena such as biosolitons can provide the basis for the development of a new acausal system of explanation or an extra aspect for standard causal models. This, it is concluded, will allow a potential avenue for creating a new and logically more consistent explanatory system in relation to fundamental aspects of the phenomenon of evolution, organisms and the environment.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1990. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-54). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.). / Written for the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/05/09). Includes bibliographical references.