The Accelerated Life Model is one of the most commonly used tools in the analysis of survival data which are frequently encountered in medical research and reliability studies. In these types of studies we often deal with complicated data sets for which we cannot observe the complete data set in practical situations due to censoring. Such difficulties are particularly apparent by the fact that there is little work in statistical literature on the Accelerated Life Model for complicated types of censored data sets, such as doubly censored data, interval censored data, and partly interval censored data. In this work, we use the Weighted Empirical Likelihood approach (Ren, 2001) [33] to construct tests, confidence intervals, and goodness-of-fit tests for the Accelerated Life Model in a unified way for various types of censored data. We also provide algorithms for implementation and present relevant simulation results. I began working on this problem with Dr. Jian-Jian Ren. Upon Dr. Ren’s departure from the University of Central Florida I completed this dissertation under the supervision of Dr. Marianna Pensky.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka fysiskt funktionsnedsatta individers motivation till att delta i parasport och deltagandets betydelse för deras livskvalité (QoL). I studien deltog 11 intervjupersoner med fysisk funktionsnedsättning, fem kvinnor och sex män i åldrarna 19-74 (M=32.6, SD=16.3). Samtliga deltagare hade varit aktiva i parasport minst två månader innan inledd studie. En semistrukturerad intervjuguide tillämpades. Resultatet delades in i fyra teman baserat på motivation och livskvalité; Fysik som möjlighet och svårighet, känna gemenskap, känna psykiskt välmående och parasportens villkor. Deltagarna upplevde att parasporten ökade deras livskvalité och att det var en motiverande faktor till att delta. Deltagarna uttryckte ökad fysisk funktion, mindre smärta, social gemenskap, psykiskt välmående och glädje som motiv till deltagande. ”Att se bra ut” var en rapporterad, ej tidigare beskriven, förklaring till motivation till deltagande i parasport. Barriärer som upplevdes begränsa deltagandet i parasport var brist på energi, smärt, sociala och praktiska hinder. Baserat på resultatet av studien är rekommendationerna att ytterligare ansträngningar görs för att underlätta övervinnandet av barriärerna som ligger till grund för lågt deltagande i parasport. Detta för att ge fler möjligheten att ta del av de positiva hälsofördelar parasporten kan ha på livskvalité. / The purpose of the study was to investigate physically disabled individuals motivation to participate in parasport and the importance of participation in their quality of life (QoL). In the study, 11 interviewees, five women and six men with physical disabilities aged 19-74 (M=32.6, SD=16.3) participated. All participants had been active in parasporting for at least two months within the initiated study. A semi-structured interview guide was used. The results were divided up in four themes based on motivation and quality of life; Physical activity like opportunity and difficulty, feeling of community, feeling mentally well-off and matching the conditions of the sport. The parasport participants felt that the parasport increased their quality of life and that it was a motivating factor to participate. The participants in the study expressed increased physical function, less pain, social community, mental well-being and joy as motives for participation. "Looking good" was a reported, not previously described, explanation of motivation for participating in parasport. Barriers that were perceived to limit participation in parasport were lack of energy, pain, social and practical barriers. Based on the results of this study, the recommendations are that further efforts are made to facilitate the winning of the barriers underlying low participation in parasport. In order to give more people the opportunity to take advantage of the positive health benefits that parasport can have on the quality of life.

Epileptic seizures are usually stressful episodes for individuals, not least as they are often experienced in public. Most research into epilepsy has been conducted in Western cultures, and we know little about the experiences of people with epilepsy and living in Middle Eastern countries. This study aims to examine the influence of social comparison on the perception of quality of life for people with epilepsy in Iran and in the United Kingdom. Three studies were completed. Two studies were qualitative; exploring individuals’ experiences of living with epilepsy and investigating coping strategies, respectively, (UK = 10, Iran = 10), for each study. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis. The third quantitative study was examined to determine whether social comparison dimensions, (upward negative, upward positive, downward negative, downward positive), predict quality of life in both countries, (N = 100 for each country), and a hierarchical multiple regression was used to analyse data. The first study indicated people compare themselves to others and the unpredictable nature of a seizure causes individuals to perceive negative feelings and experience anxiety, furthermore urinary incontinence attached to seizures appeared to leave people feeling ashamed and anxious. Study two revealed that whilst Iranian people used emotion-focused coping strategies, individuals from the United Kingdom applied problem-focused coping strategies. In Iran religious coping strategies were used to cope with incontinency; however positive social comparison (downward) was used as a coping strategy for incontinency in the United Kingdom. Study three found that self-esteem was the main predictor for quality of life in Iran and the United Kingdom. Whilst a seizure’s severity negatively predicts quality of life in the United Kingdom, positive social comparison (upward) accounted for quality of life in Iran. This study suggests that providing positive role models can help Iranians have a better perception for their quality of life, whereas British people potentially maximise their quality of life through seizure management.

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