While it has been long known that the behaviour of others can influence individual behaviour, norms (the views and behaviours of others) are not generally reported as strong motivators of physical activity. Using the theory of normative social behaviour as a guiding framework, the purpose of this research was to examine if descriptive norms (the perceived prevalence of others behaviour) would be more important in predicting activity than previously suspected. A secondary purpose was to extend this examination to another health behaviour, healthy eating. Three independent studies were conducted. The first two studies examined what individuals thought motivated their physical activity (Study 1) and eating (Study 2) as well as the relationship between descriptive norms and participants own activity behaviour and healthy eating intentions. Results revealed that, despite being rated by participants as less motivating, descriptive norms were stronger predictors of activity behaviour and healthy eating intentions than other well-established non-normative reasons. It also was found that descriptive norm perceptions about a group proposed to be high in group identity (i.e., friends) was most related to physical activity behaviour and healthy eating intentions. To extend these results, a third study manipulated normative and non-normative messages to examine effects on physical activity. Participants were grouped into one of four conditions (descriptive norm, health, appearance, and control) and received motivation-based email messages specific to their condition encouraging them to be active. It was hypothesized that participants in the descriptive norm condition would experience the greatest increase in physical activity but results did not support this hypothesis, as participants across all conditions significantly increased total physical activity after receiving the messages. A secondary hypothesis examining the focal nature of the targeted behaviours was supported in that responses to normative messages were greatest with the most focal behaviour (using the stairs). Taken together, the results of the first two studies provide preliminary evidence to suggest that the relationships between both descriptive norms and physical activity and descriptive norms and healthy eating may be going undetected. In light of the results of the third study, however, future studies are needed.

Η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία αναφέρεται στη διδασκαλία του 4ου κεφαλαίου της Περιγραφικής Στατιστικής της Β’ Γυμνασίου με τη βοήθεια του Υπολογιστή. Για τον καλύτερο και πληρέστερο σχεδιασμό της διδασκαλίας δημιουργήσαμε ένα ερωτηματολόγιο το οποίο και συμπλήρωσαν 19 μαθητές της Β’ Γυμνασίου, του Ιδιωτικού Σχολείου Σωτηρχόπουλος, τη σχολική χρονιά 2012-2013, που είχαν ήδη διδαχθεί το κεφάλαιο της Περιγραφικής Στατιστικής με παραδοσιακή διδασκαλία από τον καθηγητή τους. Με το ερωτηματολόγιο θέλαμε να ελέγξουμε τι έχουν κατανοήσει οι μαθητές, τι τους δυσκόλεψε, τι θυμόντουσαν χωρίς να έχει γίνει επανάληψη σε από αυτά που είχαν διδαχθεί και πόσοι γνώριζαν το Microsoft Excel. Σύμφωνα με τα αποτελέσματα που προέκυψαν κατασκευάσαμε το σχέδιο διδασκαλίας. Το σχέδιο διδασκαλίας αναφέρεται στον τρόπο διδασκαλίας εισαγωγικών βασικών εννοιών της περιγραφικής στατιστικής (οι έννοιες του πληθυσμού, του δείγματος, της κατανομής συχνοτήτων, της κατανομής σχετικών συχνοτήτων, της μέσης τιμής και της διαμέσου, ο σχεδιασμός και η ερμηνεία ραβδογραμμάτων και κυκλικών διαγραμμάτων). Ακολουθούμε μαθητοκεντρική μέθοδο διδασκαλίας σε συνδυασμό με διδασκαλία με τη βοήθεια του Ηλεκτρονικού Υπολογιστή (χρήση λογισμικού Microsoft Office Excel 2007) με καθοδηγούμενη ανακαλυπτική προσέγγιση. Αναφέρουμε ενδεικτικά και περιληπτικά τι παρουσιάζεται σε κάθε κεφάλαιο της εργασίας: Στο 1ο κεφάλαιο αναπτύσσονται θεωρίες μάθησης με τους κύριους εκπρόσωπους τους, πιο συγκεκριμένα αναφέρονται οι συμπεριφοριστικές (Pavlov-Watson-Thorndike-Skinner), οι νεοσυμπεριφοριστικές (Gagne), οι διαλεκτικές υλιστικές (Piaget) και οι κατασκευαστικές (Bruner) θεωρίες μάθησης. Στο 2ο κεφάλαιο αναλύονται οι μέθοδοι διδασκαλίας που διακρίνονται σε δασκαλοκεντρικές, μαθητοκεντρικές, συνεργατικές ή συμμετοχικές και οι διδακτικές προσεγγίσεις που διακρίνονται σε αφηγηματικές, ανακαλυπτικές, καθοδηγούμενες ανακαλυπτικές, διαλογικές. Το 3ο κεφάλαιο αναφέρεται στην Διδασκαλία της Στατιστικής και στην ιστορική εξέλιξη της στην Ελλάδα με τα Νέα Προγράμματα Σπουδών. Παράλληλα γίνεται στη διάκριση μεταξύ των εννοιών του Στατιστικού Γραμματισμού, του Στατιστικού Συλλογισμού και της Στατιστικής Σκέψης. Το 4ο κεφάλαιο αναφέρεται στις Τεχνολογίες της Πληροφορίας και των Επικοινωνιών (ΤΠΕ), στο ρόλο και την σημαντική, καθοριστική αξία τους στη διαδικασία της διδασκαλίας και της μάθησης. Στο 5ο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζονται το ερωτηματολόγιο και το σχέδιο διδασκαλίας. / This thesis refers to the teaching of the 4th chapter of the Descriptive Statistics with the computer. For the best and most complete design of teaching, we create a questionnaire which completed from 19 students of High School, Private School Sotirchopoulos, school year 2012-2013. They had already completed the chapter of Descriptive Statistics with traditional teaching. In the questionnaire we wanted to test what students had understood, what was difficult for them, what they remembered without repetition and how many knew the Microsoft Excel. According to the results, we constructed a teaching plan.

Many scholars believe in order to have democratic legitimacy, females should be represented in governing bodies at all levels. Significant literature on female descriptive representation in the U.S. for women’s policy responsiveness confirms the importance between the percentage of females in the legislature and public policy that represents women’s interests. At the same time, there is research suggesting female representatives do not always represent women’s interests. This study examined female descriptive representation and incorporation and its effect on substantive representation of female group salient issues and answered the following research question: Does an increase in female descriptive representation, institutional mechanisms of influence, or other political conditional factors lead to better substantive representation of female group salient issues? This research project replicated Robert Preuhs’ 2006 work by studying the conditional effects of female descriptive representation in the state legislature from 1983-2002. The study is important because it turns to state level data and accounts for all mechanisms of influence, as well as conditional effects of a liberal governing coalition, to determine whether female descriptive representation exerts policy influence. Five theoretical models were presented and tested in this work: The Presence Model, the Simple Incorporation Model, the Specific Institutional Incorporation Model, The Broad Institutional Incorporation Model, and The Party as a Substantive Representative Model. The dependent variables selected were per pupil educational expenditures, percentage of children without health insurance, welfare benefits, and percentage of child support collected. An OLS model with a lagged dependent variable and panel correlated standard errors was used to estimate the coefficients for each dependent variable. Female descriptive representation and incorporation did have some influence on substantive representation with welfare benefits and percentage of child support collected. The female influence is important and increasing the number of females in the legislature will result in more policy and benefits for issues important to women in society. However, examining the issues in a different way or with different dependent variables may provide better results indicating the importance of female descriptive representation on substantive representation of female group salient issues.

This research primarily examines the trends of changing characteristics of corporate boards within New Zealand listed firms. Expressing in a quantitative framework, this research provides an insight of how board compositions have changed over the past decade, within which two major corporate governance legislative reforms have occurred. These two reforms are known as the Companies Act in 1993 and the New Zealand Corporate Governance Best Practice Code in 2003. This study aims to cover a full range of board characteristics mentioned in previous related literatures in order to give a more complete view. Sixteen variables are selected and examined: board size, board independence, multiple directorships, CEO compensation, chair and director fees, CEO duality, gender diversity, staggered board, directors' ownership, director tenure, directors' experience, committee existence, committee independence, CEO involvement on board committees, board and committee Meetings, directors' educational and industrial background. Within the above variables, board size, board independence and CEO duality receives the most attention from New Zealand investors and regulators. Tendencies of movements regarding these characteristics appear to collaborate with public expectations. Board size has decreased while independence has increased throughout the periods examined. CEO duality phenomenon sharply reduced during the periods after 2003 legislative reform. Committee independence has also grown according to the public recognition, especially for audit committees. CEO involvements on board committees are less than before. Boards within New Zealand listed firms desire more diversification of both gender and backgrounds of directors. These findings fill the gap of the evolution of corporate boards’ characteristics of New Zealand listed firms over the past decade.

Contexte : La violence subie par les femmes autochtones est reconnue comme un probl??me de sant?? publique majeur, mais les donn??es pour juger de son ampleur r??elle sont peu disponibles. Cette ??tude a pour but de documenter ce ph??nom??ne dans une communaut?? algonquine du Qu??bec. Objectifs : 1) Mesurer la pr??valence de la violence physique, sexuelle et psychologique provenant d'un partenaire intime dans une population de 116 femmes ??g??es de 15-49 ans, pour l'ann??e qui a pr??c??d?? l'??tude et pour la vie enti??re; 2) confirmer les associations entre la violence et certains facteurs de risque d??j?? identifi??s dans la litt??rature : abus sexuels pendant l'enfance, surpeuplement des logements, niveau de scolarit??, consommation d'alcool, pr??sence de violence familiale pendant l'enfance, violence physique ou sexuelle subie apr??s l'??ge de 15 ans; 3) v??rifier l'association entre la violence subie et la pr??sence de troubles psychologiques; 4) mais aussi avec l'auto??valuation de la sant?? des r??pondantes. M??thodologie : ??tude descriptive transversale ?? l'aide d'un questionnaire standardis?? et d'une m??thodologie d??velopp??e par l'OMS, administr?? par des intervieweuses d'origine autochtone sp??cialement form??es. L'association entre les variables est examin??e en utilisant des tests de Mantel-Haentzel. R??sultats et conclusion : 80,5 % (I.C. 95 % : 72,0-89,1 %) des femmes ayant eu un partenaire intime ont d??clar?? la pr??sence de violence physique ou sexuelle au moins une fois au cours de leur vie et 43,9 % (I.C. 95 % : 33,2-54,7 %) au cours de l'ann??e qui a pr??c??d?? la collecte de donn??es. Les facteurs de risque pour lesquels une association a ??t?? identifi??e avec la pr??sence de violence physique ou sexuelle sont pour la vie enti??re : l'agression de la m??re de la r??pondante par son propre partenaire intime (R.C. 2,9, I.C. 95 % 0,9-9,1, p=0,071), la violence physique provenant d'autres personnes > 15 ans (R.C. 4,1, I.C. 95 % 1,2-14,0, p=0,026) et la violence sexuelle > 15 ans subie d'autres personnes (R.C. 11,8, I.C. 95 % 1,5-94,3, p=0,020). Pour l'ann??e pr??c??dente, la consommation d'alcool par la r??pondante a ??t?? li??e ?? la pr??sence de la violence (R.C. 6,5, I.C. 95 % 1,2-24,3, p=0,006) et la violence sexuelle d'autres personnes > 15 ans (R.C. 3,6, I.C. 95 % 1,4-9,1, p=0,008). Il y a une association significative (p < 0,05), sauf pour la violence sexuelle (p=0,094), entre toutes les formes de violence subie pendant la derni??re ann??e et la pr??sence de d??tresse psychologique au cours des quatre semaines qui pr??c??dent le questionnaire. L'auto??valuation de la sant?? n'a pu ??tre associ??e ?? aucune des formes de violence mesur??e. Ces r??sultats seront utiles pour estimer la situation d'autres communaut??s aux caract??ristiques semblables et pour identifier des interventions pertinentes au milieu autochtone.

Metaphors have long shaped the way pure translation studies describe and justify the translation phenomenon by discovering and consolidating underlying principles. Ultimately, by means of metaphor, something that dwells on the interaction of two seemingly distinct things, translation theorists have obtained a better understanding of the category of translation. Human beings are gregarious, and disputes are inevitable in every society, ancient or modern, primitive or civilized. In fact, conflict is one iron law of life that mankind has had to improvise ways of resolving, from such formal ones as litigation to private ones such as self-help. We may not be able to eliminate dispute altogether, but we can, however, resolve it through creative and civilized means. Translation can be approached in a similar context, except it concerns a metaphorical dispute between cultures and/or languages—and probably on a more intangible and subtle platform. Disparate cultures, religions and languages in a clash can be brought closer to each other with skillful translation, and hence, translation is a variation of dispute resolution. That never went totally unnoticed. Over the years, countless translation metaphors have been constructed and exploited with very different results, which indicates how interdisciplinary a subject translation studies really is. Yet, apparently, translation is most often metaphorized as mediation and negotiation but rarely as arbitration or litigation, and one cannot but wonder whether this happened out of sheer coincidence or because of some misunderstanding. Thus, much as I appreciate what theorists have accomplished with translation metaphors, in regard to didactics and heuristics, my primitive observation is that translation theorists and practitioners have never made full use of metaphorization in that they might have had an incomplete idea of dispute resolution theory in general. After all, a metaphor is, ideally, meant to facilitate active learning and full integration of new knowledge, but there still remains a missing piece that is part and parcel of our metaphorization of translation. Specifically, translators have always embraced the amicable terms of negotiation and mediation, distancing themselves from non-mainstream ones such as arbitration and litigation. To that end, in my thesis, I will explore and examine translation through slightly renewed lenses, demonstrating how and why our metaphor schema and mapping should originate in dispute resolution, and why litigation, and perhaps even arbitration as dispute resolution mechanisms, would serve as good a metaphor—if not a better one—for translation. It is my resolute belief that the translator is more qualified as a judge, a respectable professional vested with immense judicial power, than as a mediator, who is but a third-party neutral facilitating dialogue between two disputants. Only in this way can metaphors do translation theory a great service by furnishing it with a renewed and objective description of translation.

A qualitative descriptive approach was undertaken to explore the experience of eight registered nurses and two hospital play specialists who care for children hospitalised with burn injuries. The research participants were recruited from a paediatric ward that offers centralised specialty care to children with burns. Collected through face-to-face interviews, the participants' stories were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim using a process for analysis informed by van Manen, (1997b).Emerging out of the data was the over-arching theme of 'passionate dedication' that shows the nurses and hospital play specialists genuine compassion and commitment to meet the needs of the children with burns. The findings of the study reveal that the participant's dedication is shaped and determined by a dynamic process that involves having professional integrity and in-depth knowledge of caring for children and burn management. The nurses and the hospital play specialists have a common understanding of what their role entails and the skills required to provide quality care and support to the children and the children's family. On a personal and professional level the participants encounter several challenges in this care context that are physically and emotionally overwhelming. Despite becoming overwhelmed the participants are revealed as being resourceful and resilient in their aptitude to find ways that enable them to cope and get through.This study supports international literature that suggests that caring for children with burns is equally rewarding, as much as it is physically and emotionally demanding. The implication in this study for the organisation is to seriously consider issues regarding productivity and efficiency of the workforce with acknowledgement that nurses and hospital play specialists cannot do this emotional work without effective systems of support in place. With the help of team leaders, managers and educators, the organisation will need to consider ways to monitor the job satisfaction of their staff. Furthermore, reinforce existing comprehensive measures, such as mentorship and clinical supervision programmes to encourage the retention and well-being of all staff, at all stages of their career on the children's burn ward.

This qualitative, descriptive study explored physiotherapists' experience of participating in peer review in public and private health services in New Zealand. Peer review is a professional activity where one health practitioner evaluates the practice of another. Accordingly, much professional effort has been expended on developing peer review systems and implementing review processes, yet the benefits of peer review are uncertain. A changing legislative environment where producing evidence of ongoing professional development is required, has provided impetus for this study given the limited research to support the use of peer review in this context. While the literature identifies competing focuses on professional development and accountability, there is lack of clarity about which model of peer review is being implemented in this country and which might serve the profession better. This study is a first step in clarifying the issues by identifying the personal, professional and organisational factors that influence health professionals' participation in peer review. The methodology consisted of a qualitative descriptive approach situated within a post positivist paradigm. Seven physiotherapists working in the New Zealand health system who had participated in a peer review process within the last 3 years participated in this study. Semi structured interviews were conducted, guided by broad questions relating to central themes identified during an extensive literature review. Interviews were then audio taped and transcribed verbatim to form the data. Transcripts were analysed by assigning content labels to units of text that seemed to encapsulate one complete thought or idea. The labelled groups were analysed into sub themes. Finally, the general themes that arose were described. Findings indicate that while peer review systems have been developed and are carried out as prescribed, therapists lack clarity about the intended outcomes. While recognising the benefits of receiving feedback on practice, many manage the review process to maintain positive working relationships and ensure their practice is favourably reviewed. The strategies they employ and the consequences of managing peer review in these ways are described. Current peer review processes in New Zealand do not provide reliable information about competence to practice. Neither do they fully achieve their potential as a professional development tool. Therefore, the professional emphasis and effort on peer review needs to be revisited. The findings highlight the need for consultation amongst individual physiotherapists, physiotherapy managers, physiotherapy professional organisations, and the registration board, to negotiate whether regulatory or professional development needs will drive peer review processes in New Zealand in the future.

The lifting associated with childcare has been linked to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in mothers (Griffin & Price, 2000; Sanders & Morse, 2005). The purpose of the current study was to investigate, for the first time through observation, the lifting of young children by mothers in the home environment to identify risk factors which might give rise to MSDs. Twenty five mothers with one or two children weighing between 9 and 15kg (n = 30) completed a self-report survey modified for the New Zealand context (The Ergonomics of Caring for Children (Sanders & Morse, 2005)). They also took part in a structured observation of lifting in the home using a checklist based on the New Zealand Manual Handling Hazard Control Record NZMHHCR (OSH & ACC, 2001). Modifications were derived from careful consultation of current literature to enable contributory factors related to the load, the mother, the environment and the task to be assessed and a rating of low, medium, or high risk to be assigned to each factor. A protocol to guide risk assessment was developed to accompany the tool. The modified observational checklist was named the OMLITH (Observing Mothers Lifting In The Home). Survey data identified the mothers as aged between 28 and 40 years, predominantly NZ European, and of average height (χ = 1.69cm) and weight (Body Mass Index = 24). The children in the sample weighed between 9 and 14.5kg and had an average age of 17months. All the mothers were either married (n=20) or living with a significant other (n=5) and their partners frequently (n=13) or always (n=12) helped with childcare. The mean time mothers spent per week on the following activities were: sleep, 6.8hrs (n=25), housework, 14.9hrs (n=25), exercise, 2.9hrs (n=22), watching television or using the home computer, 4.3hrs (n=22), hobbies, 2.2hrs (n=19), gardening or home maintenance, 2.9hrs (n=18). Thirteen of the mothers worked (3 full-time, 10 part-time) and 20 mothers used childcare services. Ratings of the physical stress associated with 50 childcare tasks showed that mothers differentiated between tasks in terms of physical stress to a significant degree (p.000), typically rating ‘Bending while carrying a child’ as almost twice as stressful as the average rating. Other categories rated significantly above the average stress rating were: ‘Use of a backpack to carry infant/child’, ‘Use of baby jogger’, ‘Carrying child on your shoulders’, ‘Standing bent over to wash child in bath or sink’, ‘Lifting child into or out of cot’, ‘Prolonged squatting or stooping while playing with child’, and ‘Placing child in car seat or removing child from car seat’. Mothers reported experiencing MSDs most commonly in the low back (n=16), and the neck, shoulder and upper back (n=8 each). Data from the 87 observations using the OMLITH showed that children were a challenging load due to their moving centre of gravity, and were often unpredictable or awkward to handle. The grip required to lift a child more often than not fell outside the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommendation. In 72.9% of tasks the child’s weight created a high risk level. The lifting tasks involved horizontal and vertical lift distances that presented a moderate to high risk level in 82.8% of situations. Lifting while twisting and side-bending was assigned a moderate to high risk level in 72.4% of tasks. Risk associated with working at an externally controlled pace; and handling children while seated or kneeling/crouching was also observed. The home environment presented risk associated with obstacles, a variety of floor surfaces and stairs or slopes. Mothers were also observed lifting in confined spaces. Individual factors identified as important considerations were: a mismatch between mothers’ strength and fitness and the lifting requirements, pain or injury, pregnancy, and fatigue. The structured checklist proved to be an appropriate tool to identify the contributory risk factors present when mothers lift in the home and to make an assessment of the level of risk. Results suggest a notable number of risk factors which might give rise to MSDs are present when mothers lift their children at home. The author concludes that further research is warranted to quantify risks, to identify prevention strategies for MSDs in this population, and to guide health providers with regard to treatment and rehabilitation of mothers with MSDs.

Thesis (M.S.) -- Central Connecticut State University, 1998. / Thesis advisor: Dr. Jeffrey McGowan. "...in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." Includes bibliographical references (leaves [78-79]).