This study was designed to explore the offers for home repair received at their door by older consumers and the decisions that were made regarding these offers. Deacon and Firebaugh's decision making process was used as the theoretical model for this study. Participants were asked questions about their experiences with door-to-door solicitations for home repair and how they made the decision to accept or reject the offer. The participants in this study were twenty-five older consumers involved in senior groups in Montgomery County, Virginia. Participants were obtained by the researcher at meetings in different parts of the county. A telephone interview was used to collect the data. Demographic data is reported using descriptive statistics. Qualitative analysis of anecdotal data was used to determine themes and patterns in the interview data. Questions about uses of the media and knowledge of the Virginia Consumer Protection Hotline were asked. The results of this study support the idea that older consumers in this county are being approached at their door by people offering them home repair services. Two of the six participants who had received an offer for home repair (specifically driveway sealing), accepted the offer. One participant was unhappy with the outcome of the repair, while the other was satisfied with the service. / Master of Science

Virginia VIEW (Vital Information for Education and Work) has provided Virginians with up-to-date-career information since 1980. This research furnished a descriptive, historical narrative of Virginia VIEW, the Virginia Career Information Delivery System (CIDS) from 1980-1995. The study included the major trends and events that led to Virginia VIEW's founding. Primary sources for this study were Virginia VIEW records contained in the Virginia VIEW archives, Virginia Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (VOICC) records, materials available from the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (NOICC), educational institutions, and private collections. Categorical sources comprised the Feasibility Study for a Career Information System for Virginia, 1979, Virginia VIEW Quarterly Reports 1980-95, Virginia VIEW Annual Reports 1991-1995, meeting proceedings, agreements of understanding, and other pertinent data. Secondary sources included data on events that demonstrated the necessity for career information development. Specific research problems consisted of finding out the answers to the following five research questions: What is the summation of the 15-year history of Virginia VIEW? How does the historical documentation reflect Virginia VIEW's mission of providing equity in career information delivery? How has the project remained faithful to, and forged on, its mission over the years? How has Virginia VIEW met the original goals and objectives as set forth in the 1979 study? How has Virginia VIEW's premise of maintaining a multi-media approach been received and recorded? What impact have various evaluation studies of Virginia VIEW had on the project? This investigation included an in-depth account of Virginia VIEW's funding, costs, products, specific services such as the Career Information Hotline and publications, workshops, information gathering, information dissemination, evaluation, comparison with other states, and project impact. Virginia VIEW's implementation proved to be an apt example of application of theory to practice and strong Federal-State cooperation. The project's mission compelled it to develop into its most effective form of service to its customers. This vitalistic force, which could be equated with clear vision of purpose, also compelled Virginia VIEW to shift and change. How these changes and shifts occurred played a vital role in this study. In summary, the results of this study showed that Virginia VIEW is a flexible, comprehensive, and accommodating career information delivery system which has the following components: microfiche and print materials, computer program, career information hotline, and a place on the world wide web. Constant project evaluation and networking with users and organizations such as the Virginia Counselors' Association ensured that the Virginia VIEW staff never lost touch with their users. In conclusion, Virginia VIEW knew its origins were in producing career information materials that would be available to the largest number of Virginia citizens. New products were added without ignoring the user demand for the older, still serviceable products. At the end of its 15-year history, Virginia VIEW can be used with paper, pencil, and microfiche reader as well as the career information hotline, the stand-alone computer program, and the Internet. A full range of career information products were available to a wide range of users. The program planners, from the start, were interested in information equity. / Ph. D.

The ‘Red Phone’, understood as a telephone connection between the Cremlin and the White House, never existed. In this paper I treat it as a hybrid object of knowledge, whose materiality is mixed with facts and fictions. When the fictitious object first appeared in literature and film it was still relatively amorphous and insignificant. Only due to an increased production of signs, symbolic attributions, narrative strategies and rhetorical figures was the notorious Cold War apparatus constituted. As a discursive object the ‘Red Phone’ in turn provides specific information on a form of knowledge characteristic of this period. The ‘Red Phone’ is closely connected to crisis situations that deal with apocalyptic scenarios. To better understand this hybrid object this paper will analyze the short story „Abraham ’59 – A nuclear Fantasy“ (Harvey Wheeler) and the novel Fail-Safe (Eugene Burdick/Harvey Wheeler) that both stage a telephone connection between Moscow and Washington, which aims at deescalating a crisis situation.

論文名稱：非典型原住民活力：傑偌•維森諾《熱線療者》中的 後印地安、喜劇與移動力 指導教授：梁一萍 教授 研究生：尤吟文 論文提要內容： 傑偌•維森諾（Gerald Vizenor）認為所謂的「印地安」（indian）是一個沒有指涉目標的空集合（absence without reference），而「原住民」（native）才是指這個文化所代表的真正的意涵。相較於其他原住民作家的作品，維森諾的寫作方式可說是獨樹一幟。在原住民文學中，許多的主題不外乎是尋找身分認同（identity）的過程、強調人與自然之間的和諧關係、表現白人社會與原住民文化之間的隔閡等等。這種思鄉式（nostalgia）的描寫方式對於維森諾來說不只是種老掉牙的（stereotypical）表現方式，更是主流文學（literature of dominance）加諸在原住民文化上的表現方式（manifest manners）。為了與主流文學抗衡，維森諾以搗蛋鬼論述（trickster discourse）的寫作技巧來顛覆原住民文學的傳統，以天馬行空的想像力及奇異怪誕的內容來表現另類的原住民作品。 《熱線療者》是維森諾在1997年的作品，書中的主人翁－－差不多部朗（Almost Browne）是本書中的搗蛋鬼，他穿越時空的限制，帶給讀者一個又一個的故事，這些故事不具有教導意義，而是表現出想像力的無限。差不多部朗曾經在許多維森諾的小說故事中呈現，在《熱線療者》一書中，他與他的姪子，也就是小說的敘述者，以插訶打諢、嘻笑怒罵的方式與政治界和學術界有了第一線接觸，他們也回到過去，目睹了原住民傳說的起源。每個小故事，不管時間地點為何，差不多部朗和他的姪子總是在場。這些故事也搭著原住民第一列火車－－納那波佐快車（Naanabozho Express），隨著列車的移動傳出去。 本文的第一章為總論，簡述維森諾生平、《熱線療者》的故事情節與維森諾自成一格的批評理論。為了表現出原住民文化以及生活的生命力、多樣性和複雜性，維森諾提出所謂的「後印地安」的觀念，指出「印地安」是一種虛擬的再現（simulated representation），只有具有想像力和生命力的「後印地安」才是真正的存在（presence），這也是第二章所討論的部分。第三章則是從喜劇出發，檢討原住民文學的悲劇犧牲性（tragic victimry）實為主流文學的表現方式，只有透過全喜劇論述（comic holotrope）才能真正了解原住民文學。第四章則聚焦於移動力（motion），直指原住民文學的不可限制性，唯有透過對於移動力的了解，原住民文學才能表現出其生命力及想像力，就像差不多部朗或是納那波佐列車一樣，永遠在宇宙間移動（always in motion）。第五章為結論，《熱線療者》是維森諾寫的最後一本有關差不多部朗的小說，在這本小說中，維森諾以另類的筆調及呈現方式將原住民文學帶到一個充滿創造力的世界，經由他的喜劇效果，《熱線療者》提供了另一個檢視原住民文學的角度（alternative, alter-native）。 / Indian, as Gerald Vizenor points out, is the absence of natives without reference to real native cultures while native is the presence of the native survivance. In the field of Native American Literature, the most common themes are the quest for identity, the harmony between nature and people and the conflict between native and white cultures. The nostalgic representation of natives depicted in these common themes, for Vizenor, is not only a stereotypical clich□ but also the manifest manners imposed on Native American Literature by the literature of dominance. In order to resist the burden imposed on Native American Literature, Vizenor, with his unique writing style, applies trickster discourse to subvert the stereotypes brought forth by the literature of dominance. With creativity and imagination, Vizenor presents alternative aspects for Native American Literature. Fascinated by the extraordinary writing style and narrative strategy, I find that the novel, Hotline Healers, illustrates Vizenor’s comprehensive viewpoints on Native American literature. Hotline Healers is Vizenor’s most recent novel which was published in 1997. In the novel, Almost Browne is a protagonist trickster who travels beyond the spatial and temporal limitations. The stories he tells with his travels are not intended to provide lessons; on the contrary, they are the true representation of native imagination. Almost Browne and his cousin, the narrator in the novel, take the first Native train, the Naanabozho Express, to give lectures in several occasions and result in several funny and hilarious encounters with politicians as well as academia. They also return to the past and witness the origins of the native folklores. Almost Browne and his cousin are omnipresent in the stories. With the moving of the Naanabozho Express, more and more stories disseminate native imagination and creativity. There are five chapters in my thesis. The first chapter, “Introduction,” summarizes the life and works of Gerald Vizenor, gives a plot summary of Hotline Healers, and introduces Vizenor’s critical conceptions on Native American Literature. In Chapter Two, I illustrate Vizenor’s view on postindian. Postindian, as Vizenor indicates, absolves the burden of stereotypical indian representations. With the idea of postindian, Vizenor focuses on the presence of natives as well as native vitality and imagination and thus subverts the culturalist stereotypical portraita of indian which is the simulated representation without reference. In Chapter Three, I concentrate on the comic effect employed by Vizenor in Hotline Healers. Comic holotrope is one of Vizenor’s writing techniques which is different from the themes of tragic victimry found in most Native American literary works. Comic holotrope presents the vitality of native culture while tragic victimry burdens Native American Literature with “manifest manners.” In Chapter Four, I explore the concept of motion in the novel. The idea of motion is not only the demonstration of the bounderlessness of Native American literary imaginatinos but also the representation of the transformative native wisdom. In the fifth chapter, I conclude that the novel, being Vizenor’s latest novel on Almost Browne, incorporates his alternative vision of tribal survivance and critical concepts of postindian, comic holotrope, and motion to elevate Native American Literature to a creative and imaginative world. The novel provides readers with an alternative point of view toward Native American Literature.

My diploma thesis deals with the evaluation of internal communication in Česká spořitelna. The first part of my work is focused on theory, emphasizing the importance of good functioning internal communication and the consequences of its deficiencies. I also apply this knowledge in the practical part, which is supplemented by the characteristics of Česká spořitelna and the important milestones of the origin of internal communication in the company. In the analytical part, I investigate the employees' satisfaction with the current situation. The paper presents proposals on how to simplify message sharing and avoid the overloading of information that is not relevant to all employees.

This thesis deals with the forms of mental hygiene and their application to crisis hotline workers. In the theoretical part the work focuses on the characteristics and specificities of telephonic crisis intervention. Methods of mental hygiene suitable for crisis hotline workers are presented too. The empirical part focuses on mapping of the forms of mental hygiene, which are provided by crisis hotlines to their workers in the Czech Republic. Individual forms of mental hygiene of crisis hotline workers were also mapped. Crisis hotline workers burnout was investigated in the empirical part of the thesis by the means of CBI - Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. It was also confirmed that greater degree of compliance with selected principles of mental hygiene by cisis hotline workers has the relationship with burnout lower incidence. Hypotheses concerning the relationship between sociodemographic data (sex, age, educational attainment, length of praktice, type of employment in the workplace and beyond) and the rate of burnout were not confirmed. The aim of the thesis was to offer possible ways of how to deal with the stress to crisis hotline workers and how they can optimally use the methods of mental hygiene, which can in practice preventively work against burnout.

在全球化與資訊通訊科技的脈絡下，各級政府之間為解決政策問題或改善政策績效而相互進行政策學習已成為趨勢。本研究應用政策趨同以及政策學習理論，分析在國內已形成顯著趨同現象的1999專線政策，並選取新北市政府為個案進行深入探討。研究結果顯示，行政區劃層級為直轄市、位於北部或中部、人口數百萬以上的縣市在1999專線上比較有採納趨同的傾向，趨同縣市在土地面積、高山地區比率、道路里程密度，行政機關公務人員數，以及歲入上也較未趨同縣市為多。在細部的服務機制和委外範圍上，各縣市仍多少有差異，較不完備之縣市則呈現人口數以及歲入較少的特徵。1999專線的趨同力量中並無中央政府的強制力介入，促成趨同的可能原因有觀念普及、政治壓力、競爭壓力、問題壓力，以及創新的認知屬性等因素導致。在政策學習分析的部分，新北市政府學習過程中的關鍵行動者為文官體系所形成的移植網絡，並以臺北市為最主要的學習對象，地理區位的接近性以及由此衍生的過往關係為雙方互動交流的有利基礎。然而新北市與臺北市之間存有結構性差異，無法全盤移植臺北市政府的經驗。本研究也發現，臺北市政府在國內1999專線的政策趨同或政策學習上扮演了重要的關鍵角色，其作為一個中介者向外國政府師法、本土化後將此政策資訊傳播給國內地方政府，成為許多地方政府的學習對象。本研究作為一初探性研究，建議未來除在學術上應豐富有關趨同及學習模式之研究外，並應將政策學習理論結合實務的管理面，建置政策知識庫以及制度化的政策學習網絡，讓地方政府的施政經驗得以保存、累積與流通應用，以作為政策知識管理和學習的有效後盾，提昇政策績效。 / Under the influence of globalization and information and communication technologies, governments at all levels get more chances to learn policy across boundaries as a way to solve policy problem or to enhance policy performance. The thesis applies policy convergence and policy learning theory to analyze the 1999 citizen hotline in Taiwan, takes New Taipei City as a case, and intends to examine the process and contributing factors for policy learning. The results show municipality, located in northern or central Taiwan with population of several million or more, tend to convergence in 1999 citizen hotline. There are some differences between convergence city and non-convergence city in land area, the ratio of total land area of alpine areas, density of the road mileage, number of public servants, and revenue. The possible reasons leading to convergence include the diffusion of concept, political pressure, the pressure of competition, the pressure of problem-solving, and the cognitive attributes of innovation. In the policy learning process of New Taipei City, the key actors are policy transfer network consist of civil servants. Taipei City is the main learning objects of New Taipei City. The proximity of geographic location and past relations is the basis for the interaction between New Taipei City and Taipei City. However, there are structural differences between the two cities; therefore, New Taipei City didn’t photocopy all the details in 1999 citizen hotline of Taipei City. This research also finds that the important role of Taipei City in the policy convergence or policy learning of 1999 citizen hotline. Taipei City, as an intermediary earned from a foreign government, localized the policy, and disseminated policy information to the domestic local governments. Based on the findings, the author suggests the government should construct policy knowledge base, and institutionalize the transfer network to improve policy performance. As an exploratory study, the author also suggests the academics could establish more appropriate convergence models by quantitative statistical analysis, or include more cities to compare models of policy learning in the future.

隨著創新時代來臨，政府透過創新的政策推動藉以滿足民眾最新的需求或與民眾產生更好的互動方式，政府部門的創新力近年來亦成提升政府服務品質的關鍵，同時透過政府間對創新政策的相互仿效，形成E.M.Rogers所提出的「創新擴散」（diffusion of innovations）效應。　　　　　　　　 臺北市政府即以美國紐約市「311專線」政策為藍本，於2005年啟用「1999專線」至2014年1月，其後有高雄市及新北市等共17個縣市陸續採用，顯見1999專線於政策擴散的效應，並直接影響各地方政府間及政府與民眾間的互動關係。因此本研究透過四個構面去分析：（1）我國1999專線政策於地方政府間擴散情形；（2）創新先驅者臺北市政府變遷代理人於傳佈各階段所扮演的角色；（3）臺北都會區創新決策過程；（4）臺北都會區創新政策擴散的後果。為探究臺北都會區從啟用至執行1999專線的情形，本研究透過文獻內容分析法、次級資料法與質化深度訪談法進行資料的統整與分析。經由創新擴散理論為架構，探析地方政府間擴散學習的效應及影響組織創新決策的過程，以作為其他縣市的參考。 　　本研究結果發現：（1）創新性分數較高多為直轄市或與創新先驅者鄰近之都會區、擴散型態呈現各式曲線分佈；（2）變遷代理人於擴散各階段扮演不同角色；（3）臺北都會區具有實施動機較高、相對優勢較高、政府網絡關係較高、組織內部資源與規模較高等創新優勢；（4）影響民眾知曉度主要為意見領袖；影響民眾滿意度主要因素為是否能滿足民眾的需求。本研究建議如下：（1）建置地方政府創新政策知識庫；（2）建立縣市創新政策交流機制；（3）建議中央鼓勵我國縣市全面實施。 / As the age of innovation comes, the government satisfies the public’s latest needs and builds a better way to interact with the public by carrying out innovative policies. Besides, innovation had played a key role in increasing governmental service quality for the past few years. Meanwhile, through mutual imitation of innovation between governments, the diffusion of innovations, pointed out by E.M.Rogers, was formed. 　　Based on New York City’s Hotline 133, Hotline 1999 was launched in Taipei by Taipei City Government in 2005, and was then adopted by totally 17 cities and counties one after another until January 2014, including Kaohsiung and New Taipei City, which showed the effect of Hotline 1999’s policy diffusion, and the significant impact to the relation between local governments and among governments and the public. Thus Hotline 1999 project was analyzed by 4 aspects in this study: 1. The diffusion condition of Hotline 1999 on local governments, 2. The roles played by Change agent of Taipei City government, as an innovation pioneer, in each stage of diffusion, 3. Innovation policy decision process in the metropolitan areas of Taipei, and 4. The consequences of the above said diffusion. To discuss the whole process of Hotline 1999 from the very beginning to implementing, the data will be complied and analyzed though document analysis, secondary data analysis, and In-Depth Interviews. Besides, through Innovation Diffusion Theory as the framework, we discuss the learning effect of local governments and the process of innovation policy decision that influenced organizations for the further reference to other cities and counties. 　　The research findings include the following: 1. Directly Controlled Cities and the metropolis that neighbor on innovators score higher in innovativeness, 2. Change Agent played different roles as problem locators and innovation satisfaction, etc, 3. Taipei’s metropolitan areas have several innovation advantages: incentive to implement, relative advantage, stronger network among governments, and abundant resources and bigger scope, and 4. Public’s awareness was raised mainly by opinion leader, and degree of satisfaction depends on whether public needs are met. The suggestions are as follows : 1. Build a knowledge base for local government innovation policies, 2. Provide a mechanism for exchange of innovation policies, and 3. Central government should encourage the entire nation to implement the project.

Over the past several years, increasing public emphasis on preventing child maltreatment has resulted in substantial changes to Florida's child abuse and neglect central registry. Many of these recent changes, aimed at preventing child maltreatment, have resulted in over one million false, unsubstantiated, and inconclusive reports of child abuse and neglect within the last decade. While the information held in reports may be useful for identifying and preventing potential child abuse or neglect, due process concerns have been raised with regards to the process of placing a person's name in a report without providing a hearing for challenging or removing inaccurate information. Focusing on Florida law, this research concentrates on: 1) the child maltreatment reporting process, 2) the procedures for maintaining reports, and 3) the accessibility of these reports in order to determine whether due process constitutional rights are protected under Florida's child abuse and neglect reporting laws. The intent of this thesis is to analyze the occurrence of unsubstantiated cases of child maltreatment, incidences of false reporting, and legal remedies available for those wrongfully accused of abusing or neglecting a child. Through the analysis of case law, federal and state statutes, available statistics, child abuse resources, and personal interviews with members of the Florida Legislature, evidence shows that due process constitutional rights are not protected under Florida's child abuse and neglect reporting laws. By raising awareness of the areas of child protection that require legal re-evaluation, this thesis aims to discover the balance between protecting children from harm and protecting adults from the severe ramifications resulting from false and improper allegations of child abuse and neglect.

在電子化政府的架構下，民眾最重要的數位意見反映管道可謂是民意電子信箱，然而近年全球許多城市開始建制市民熱線系統，讓民眾得以透過電話向政府反映意見，使整個互動介面更為接近「行動政府」的概念，而在台灣的行政系絡下，「村里長」扮演政府機關與一般民眾互動的中介角色，本研究嘗試了解電子信箱與市民熱線這兩項原意用於促進「直接民主」的意見反應管道，對於村里長的工作產生何種影響，並探討村里長使用電子信箱與市民熱線的情況，以及影響他們對這兩項管道滿意認同的變數。 本研究以台北市里長及台北市市長信箱與1999市民熱線為主要標的，透過量化與質化方法的實證資料，主要發現結果包括：(1)台北市里長較常使用市民熱線，較少使用市長信箱；(2)資訊能力、對案件的時效性要求、問題難度與複雜性將影響村里長選擇市長信箱或市民熱線進行意見反映；(3)市長信箱與市民熱線對里長的正面影響包括解決村里民問題、減少工作負擔、提昇服務時效性、減少人情壓力、可有書面或電子資料備查，作為服務表現的基礎；負面影響則包括受申訴的機會增加、村里長工作有被管道取代的危機；(4)服務品質構面的「資訊可信度」、「問題解決程度」及「易用性」，有用性構面中的「解決里民問題」與「有助工作程度」五個變數對管道的滿意度有正向的影響。 本研究根據研究發現，提出三點實務建議：(1)重視「管道問題適用性」之宣傳；(2)促進村里長與意見反映管道結合的服務綜效；(3)思考管道如何對市民產生「有用性」，以提昇公共接觸效果。 / Under the framework of E-government, e-mail is the most important response channel for citizens to interact with governments. However, many cities around the world start to build citizen hotline systems, allowing people reflect their ideas and suggestions via phone. This fact reveals the opportunities of Mobile Government. In Taiwan, Li-chiefs simultaneously reflect residents’ opinions and help delivery public services. The author tries to figure out (1) how Taipei City Mayor’s E-mail Box and 1999 Citizen Hotline affect the daily works of Li-chiefs; (2) their usage of these two response channels, and (3) what variables might affect Li-chiefs’ satisfaction toward e-mail and citizen hotlines. The study uses Taipei City Mayor’s E-mail Box and Taipei 1999 Citizen Hotline as case examples, and collects both qualitative and quantitative empirical data. The author finds that: (1) The Li-chiefs in Taipei use Taipei 1999 Citizen Hotline more frequently than City Mayor’s E-mail. (2) Information literacy, timeliness and task complexity will affect Li-chiefs’ motives to reflect suggestions via e-mail or citizen hotline. (3) Li-chiefs can use these two channels to solve problems and enhance timeliness. On the other hand, the response channels allow citizens to complain to Li-chiefs more easily, and the positions of Li-chiefs might be replaced by the two channels; and (4) information reliability, problem solving ability, ease of use, the effect of solving citizens’ problems, and helping Li-chiefs’ jobs will positively affect the satisfaction of the channels. Based on the finding, the author suggests the government should: (1) emphasize the “appropriate or right questions” when prompting the channels; (2) teach Li-chiefs how to use response channels well to create synergy; and (3) rethink how response channels produce usefulness for citizens.