In view of the recent implementation of a publicly funded rotavirus vaccination program in Ontario, we undertook studies to help guide the design of a safety evaluation of the vaccine with respect to intussusception. We used administrative data to develop and validate an algorithm for intussusception, and quantified its incidence in Ontario. We also conducted a systematic review of study designs used to evaluate post-licensure vaccine safety, and discussed each design’s strengths and weaknesses. The validated algorithm for intussusception was sensitive (89.3%) and highly specific (>99.9%). We observed the highest mean incidence (34 / 100,000) in males <1 year of age. While other designs are more robust, the inability to ascertain individual vaccination status from Ontario’s administrative data dictated our selection of an ecological design for safety evaluation of rotavirus vaccine. Data assimilated from this thesis represent a critical step toward the timely evaluation of rotavirus vaccine safety in Ontario.

Over the past two decades, the resource-based view of the firm (RBV) has emerged as one of the more influential paradigms from the field of strategic management. However, the theory has been subjected to a number of criticisms, particularly related to the use of methodologies in past research. Many RBV studies have tended to use averaged findings across broad industry samples. Approaches reliant on "averaging" methods will only uncover what is the case for the average, "representative" firm, and will not identify those unique, firm-specific assets that can result in sustained profitability. In order to examine the implications of methodological choice and the RBV, the subjective approach of Q methodology was used in a sample of music industry firms to identify a key resource set for the context of interest, identify strategic groups within the sample based on resource emphasis, and explore the ways in which managers use their resources to generate firm profits. A comparative approach examined resource outcomes by performance group, over multiple levels of analysis. The findings revealed (i) a number of relevant and new, context-specific resources from the music industry, (ii) the identification of three distinct clusters of firms that emerged from the sample based on resource preferences, firm characteristics, and managerial perceptions (iii) key resource findings that varied by level of analysis and by firm performance, and (iv) distinct processes through which the resources become valuable at the level of the firm--even when the same resources are considered. The outcomes of this thesis illustrate how methodological choice can affect findings when using the RBV to uncover important sources of advantage. Furthermore, the outcomes in this thesis point to the weaknesses of many past RBV studies that investigate the impact of resources and capabilities on firm performance, and remind scholars that a defining feature of the RBV is that its intention was to identify sources of advantage at the level of the firm. Moreover, the findings show that past RBV research using aggregated data across multi-industry samples can be misleading in its prescription to managers.

My own experiences of disjuncture sparked questions related to how practical nursing education is situated within the larger nursing disciplinary landscape. On acute care nursing units, work relationships are changing between RNs and LPNs as new collaborative care models are introduced, creating ambiguity and confusion with increasingly overlapping scopes of practice. Gaps remain in knowing how RNs and LPNs experience changes in these intra-professional team contexts, and how patient care, nursing work, and nursing education may be influenced by these new collaborative models. This has been the foundation for the journey towards graduate study and this dissertation work. In this dissertation I address the overarching research question: How are registered and practical nurses’ experiences of learning to work together being organized by educational and work contexts? This question consists of two sub-questions: 1) What are the experiences of pre-licensure health professional students and educators learning to work in intra-professional teams? and, 2) How are institutional texts organizing post-licensure nurses’ experiences of learning to practice on intra-professional teams? The first sub-question is addressed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) qualitative systematic review methodology to reveal what is currently known about how pre-licensure health professional students learn to work on intra-professional teams. The second question is approached using an institutional ethnographic analytic lens to explore how post-licensure nurses’ (RNs and LPNs) work is socially organized via educational, union, health authority, and regulatory texts and how this social organization impacts intra-professional relationships. Taking a plural approach to knowledge construction allows for a multi-perspectival view of RNs and LPNs experiences and the role of educational and work contexts in shaping how they learn to work together. Incorporating methodologies as diverse as a JBI systematic review and institutional ethnography raises methodological tensions. Each has its own philosophical assumptions, reflecting particular strengths and limitations in the production of knowledge. The challenges of employing a plural approach are explored alongside new knowledge and possibilities for exploring and understanding how best to care for patients and educate students within complex, collaborative environments. / Graduate / 2018-08-29

Magister Artium - MA / The research for this thesis started off as a long academic essay that sought to review a 1970s biography of Kenneth Kaunda.1 In its original focus, the study aimed at evaluating the work on the narrations of Kenneth Kaunda’s life from a theoretical and critical perspective. Specifically it sought to evaluate the biography for its theoretical and methodological approaches, its attention to issues of sources, archives, narrative and history. In addition, it aimed at locating the biography in relation to debates over biography and history in South Africa. As I began my research for the long essay, it soon became apparent that the biography of Kenneth Kaunda ended its narration in 1964 and yet it was published ten years later in 1974. By ending its ‘coverage’ of the narrations of Kenneth Kaunda’s life in 1964, it seemed obvious that its coverage was in many ways similar to his autobiography that was published in 1962.2 The ending of the biography’s coverage in 1964 thus seemed rather abrupt as it precluded any representations of the subject in the post 1964 period in which he had become President of Zambia. Kenneth Kaunda was resident of Zambia for nearly three decades (1964-1991) having led the ‘final’ phase of the nationalist struggle for Independence through the United National Independence Party (UNIP). Surely, I surmised, the meanings of Kenneth Kaunda’s life as nationalist leader, as presented in most of his biography, would differ from those of him as President? Upon evaluating the biography, it seemed to be a largely chronological and descriptive rather analytical account of the subject’s life. However, what made it profound to me was the ways in which it entwined the narratives of Kenneth Kaunda’s life with the events, dates 1 The biography of Kenneth Kaunda by Fergus Macpherson was the subject of the long essay. See Fergus Macpherson, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia: The Times and the Man (Lusaka: Oxford University Press, 1974). 2 Kenneth D. Kaunda, Zambia Shall Be Free: An Autobiography (London: Heinemann Educational Books td, 1962). and activities of the history of the Zambian nation. Some accounts inadvertently referred to this interconnection by referring to Kenneth Kaunda as the ‘founder of Zambia’. My exposure to various other debates around the production of history in the public domain such as through museums and national heritage sites or monuments prompted me to consider undertaking a study of the post-1964 historiography of Kenneth Kaunda. Rather than attempting to fill Kenneth Kaunda’s post-1964 historiographical gap with a chronological account of his political life, I wanted to trace the narratives of Kenneth Kaunda’s life in connection with the production of history in different domains in Zambia. This thesis thus aims at examining the political auto/biographical narrations of Kenneth Kaunda in relation to the production of nationalist history and national heritage in Zambia in the years following the country’s Independence in 1964.4 One of the key questions that this study sought to engage with was: how did the ‘representations’ of Kenneth Kaunda influence the ways in which Zambia’s post-independence nationalist history and national heritage were produced? In seeking to provide an answer to the question, the study evaluated the auto/biography of Kenneth Kaunda itself, as well as how it reflects in the history texts utilised in Zambian schools and in history in the public domain through national heritage sites or monuments and museum exhibitions. The thesis will show that in Zambia, the auto/biography of Kenneth Kaunda has acquired significance through history as school lesson and as history in the public domain, through the production of national heritage sites and museum exhibitions. / South Africa

One in nine North American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime and most will receive chemotherapy as part of their treatment. Although advances in treatment have increased survivorship, some research suggests chemotherapy results in cognitive deficits in a subset of recipients, a condition known as chemo-fog, thereby compromising quality of life. However, inconsistencies in methodology and neuropsychological assessment have complicated comparison of findings. The first objective of this thesis was to review the methodological issues with an emphasis on the quantitative techniques typically employed. A comparison of group and individual based analyses found negligible effects for both univariate and multivariate approaches while individual based analyses identified severe declines in function in a subset of participants. A standardized-regression based (SRB) approach was recommended as the method of choice. Furthermore, it was recommended that the number of tests be limited since comprehensive batteries can complicate identification due to increased risk of misclassification. Therefore, the second goal of the thesis was to evaluate the sensitivity of a reduced battery to the declines associated with chemo-fog. A comprehensive neuropsychological battery comprising 23 tests was compared to a subset of nine tests. SRB analyses demonstrated that a more selective battery was equally useful and may be appropriate for identification of chemo-fog. Given the variability in the composition of neuropsychological test batteries, the final aim of this thesis was to compare the structure of the theoretical cognitive domains with ones identified through exploratory factor analyses (principle axis factoring) to evaluate the convergence between the two. The results demonstrated there is statistical support for the conceptual framework that underlies the composition of the domains. The contributions of this thesis include providing methodological guidelines for those conducting future research in this area to ensure that results are comparable across studies and are meaningful, and evaluating the utility of a screening battery to facilitate identification of chemo-fog. In addition, it was demonstrated that despite the lack of professional guidelines informing the selection and construction of neuropsychological test batteries, there is statistical evidence to support the practice of grouping tests into domains based on theoretical grounds.

In view of the recent implementation of a publicly funded rotavirus vaccination program in Ontario, we undertook studies to help guide the design of a safety evaluation of the vaccine with respect to intussusception. We used administrative data to develop and validate an algorithm for intussusception, and quantified its incidence in Ontario. We also conducted a systematic review of study designs used to evaluate post-licensure vaccine safety, and discussed each design’s strengths and weaknesses. The validated algorithm for intussusception was sensitive (89.3%) and highly specific (>99.9%). We observed the highest mean incidence (34 / 100,000) in males <1 year of age. While other designs are more robust, the inability to ascertain individual vaccination status from Ontario’s administrative data dictated our selection of an ecological design for safety evaluation of rotavirus vaccine. Data assimilated from this thesis represent a critical step toward the timely evaluation of rotavirus vaccine safety in Ontario.

Organizational development and change (ODC) is a broad field because change occurs in all organizations, occurs at multiple organizational levels, consists of numerous interventions, and can impact multiple outcomes. Many ODC efforts attempt to examine the effectiveness of their initiatives, yet fail to account for the quality, or rigor of their methods. The purpose of this paper is to examine how methodological rigor and intervention implementation quality impact ODC outcomes. The results indicate that overall methodological rigor is not a significant predictor of organizational change outcomes; however, several individual rigor criteria exhibit predictive power. Implementation quality is a significant predictor of organizational outcomes, but in a negative direction.

Os desafios que circundam a educação nacional são incontáveis, principalmente se considerarmos as muitas áreas do conhecimento com as quais se estrutura o currículo das escolas brasileiras. Por todos os lados, docentes e discentes estão imersos em orientações variadas e muitas vezes contraditórias para a construção de conhecimentos múltiplos. O resultado desta dinâmica é um processo educacional paradoxal em sua essência e com índices de aproveitamento para os estudos nem sempre positivos. As avaliações institucionais propostas anualmente acabam por ratificar esta realidade e por revelar o quanto as propostas metodológicas efetivadas nas salas de aula por todo o país estão distantes de promover os resultados de excelência tão almejados. Neste sentido, são iminentes discussões acadêmicas das quais possam emergir sugestões de trabalho metodológico que, distantes do ideal da resolução total de problemas, possam, ao contrário inspirar novas propostas para que a educação seja, efetivamente, forma de equalização das desigualdades sociais. Em consonância com esta perspectiva colaborativa, este estudo volta seu olhar para a problemática do ensino de literatura no Ensino Médio tendo, como principal objetivo a composição de uma sugestão de atividade para a fomentação da leitura literária e com vistas à formação do leitor crítico. Com o aporte teórico deste estudo, buscou-se mostrar que o trabalho com a literatura está intimamente ligado ao ensino de estratégias de leitura, pois, diferente das tradicionais aulas de Historiografia Literária, o que se deve propor aos alunos, nesta etapa final da educação básica, é um trabalho voltado à leitura, no qual o texto artístico é o alvo de apreciação e não apenas o seu contexto, autor ou estética à qual se filia e o leitor é, ainda, motivado a lançar mão de estratégias para sua compreensão. Além da teorização, esta pesquisa conta, ainda, com dados coletados em campo a partir da aplicação de questionários em uma escola pública do Vale do Paraíba. O entrelaçamento entre os aspectos teóricos e práticos que compõem este estudo culminam com a proposição de uma sequência didática para a leitura de um poema pessoano, na qual ganham destaque as possibilidades de promover o contato com o gênero literário, apontado como alvo de dificuldades de entendimento pelos sujeitos de pesquisa, ao mesmo tempo em que se promove a mobilização para o uso de estratégias de leitura por parte do aluno/leitor. / The challenges surrounding the national education are countless, especially considering the many areas of knowledge with which the curriculum of Brazilian schools are structured. On all sides teachers and students are immersed in various orientations and often contradictory to the construction of multiple knowledge. The result of this dynamic is a paradoxical educational process in its essence and with indexes of improvement in studies not always positive. The institutional evaluations proposed each year end up ratifying this reality and revealing how the proposed methodological effect in classrooms across the country are distant from promoting the excellence so desired. In this sense, academic discussions are imminent, which may arise suggestions of methodological work that far from the ideal of full resolution of problems, can, unlike, inspire news proposals so that the education is, effectively, an equalization of social inequalities. In harmony with this collaborative approach, this study focuses the problem of teaching Literature in high school and has as main goal the composition of a suggestion of activity to promote the literacy reading and aimed at the formation of the critical reader with the theoretical contributions of this study, we sought to show that working with the literature is closely linked to teaching reading strategies because, unlike traditional Literary Historiography classes, what must be proposed to the students in this final stage of basic education, is a work aimed at the reading in which the artistic text is the target of appreciation and not just its context, author or esthetic to which it is joined and the reader is still motivated to make use of strategies for understanding. Besides theorizing, this research also counts with data collected in field from the application of questionnaires in a public school in Vale do Paraiba. The link between the theoretical and practical aspects that compose this study culminate with the proposition of a didactic sequence for reading a pessoano poem, in which possibilities are highlighted to promote contact with the literacy genre, named as the target of comprehension difficulties by the subjects of study while it promotes the mobilization for the use of reading strategic by the leaner/ reader.

Soil erosion is a major problem confronting land and water resources in many parts of the world and the spatial extent should be assessed and continually monitored. The combination of existing erosion models and remote sensing techniques within a Geographical Information System framework is commonly utilized for erosion risk assessment. In most countries, however, especially in developing countries such as South Africa, there is still an absence of standardized methodological frameworks that deliver comparable results across large areas as a baseline for regional scale monitoring. Assessment at the regional scale is often problematic due to spatial variability of the factors controlling erosion and the lack of input and validation data. Due to limitations of scale at which techniques can be applied and processes assessed, this study implemented a multi-process and multi-scale approach to support establishment of a methodological framework for South African conditions. The approach includes assessment of (i) sheet-rill erosion at a national scale based on the principles and components defined in the (Revised) Universal Soil Loss Equation, (ii) gully erosion in a large catchment located in the Eastern Cape Province by integrating eleven important factors into a GIS, and (iii) sediment migration for a research catchment near Wartburg in KwaZulu-Natal by means of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool. Case Study i illustrates that 20% (26 million ha) of South African land is classified as having a moderate to severe actual erosion risk (emphasizing sheet-rill erosion) and describes the challenges to be overcome in assessment at this scale. Case Study ii identifies severe gully erosion affecting an area of approximately 5 273 ha in the large catchment (Tsitsa valley) of the Eastern Cape Province and highlights gully factors likely to emerge as dominant between continuous gullies and discontinuous gullies. Case Study iii illustrates that a cabbage plot in the upper reaches of a research catchment near Wartburg is a significant sediment source, but is counterbalanced by sinks (river channel and farm dams) downstream. Model assumptions affecting outputs in the context of connectivity between sources and sinks are described. The factor-based nature of this multi-process and -scale approach allowed scrutiny of the role of the main factors in contributing to erosion risk. A combination of poor vegetation cover and susceptible parent material-soil associations are confirmed as the overriding factors in South Africa, and not topography and rainfall as frequently determined in the USA and Europe. A methodological framework with three hierarchical levels is then presented for South Africa. The framework illustrates the most feasible erosion assessment techniques and input datasets for which sufficient spatial information exists, and emphasizes simplicity required for application at a regional scale with proper incorporation of the most important factors. The framework is not interpreted as a single assessment technique but rather as an approach that guides the selection of appropriate techniques and datasets according to the complexity of the erosion processes and scale dependency. It is useful in determining the relative impact of different land use and management scenarios, as well as for comparative purposes under possible future climate change scenarios. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology / unrestricted

<p>My dissertation forges a response that continues and expands discussions of entrepreneurialism in the 21^st century. I seek to answer Welter and colleagues’ call to embrace the entrepreneurial diversity offered by the folks that are embedded in local communities. I argue for a reframing of entrepreneurship that acknowledges the work of everyday-entrepreneurs — people that operate in mundane contexts, beyond capitalist agendas, guided by socially aware objectives seeking to promote equity for the greater good. This undertaking is stretched across a three part study informed by feminist perspectives. Tracing the narratives belonging to women of historically marginalized identities reveals not only the exclusionary aspects of mainstream entrepreneurship, but also the innovative practices these women embody as they balance the social variables of identity politics within and across their communities. The participants of this study demonstrate entrepreneurial citizenship, a term I propose as the many ways everyday-entrepreneurs contribute to world-building and history-making for each of the different communities they belong to. Chapter one establishes the exigence for this work and provides commentary on the cultural framework from which entrepreneurship emerged. Chapter two offers a survey of the surrounding literature, and addresses how a bridging of interdisciplinary gaps helps scholars better understand everyday-entrepreneurship. Chapter three presents a case for taking an interdisciplinary approach towards diversifying entrepreneurial scholarship. Chapter four outlines the study design, methods, and methodology. In Chapter five, I present empirical observations that quantify the qualitative data collected for the study. And, finally, chapter six presents participant profiles in conjunction with case study vignettes that highlight snapshots of everyday-entrepreneurship in practice. Ultimately, this project seeks to show that there is much to be learned from the lived realities of everyday-entrepreneurs; widening discourse on entrepreneurship to include these individuals: (1) dismantles grand narratives of entrepreneurship that are intrinsically oppressive, especially for those with intersectional identities, (2) exposes interlocking forms of oppression operating within the obscure, shadowed margins of familiar spaces that render individuals invisible, (3) contributes to new models of entrepreneurial identity, and (4) diversifies entrepreneurial scholarship. </p> @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman \(Body CS\)"; panose-1:2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3 4; mso-font-alt:"Times New Roman"; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:auto; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;}@font-face {font-family:"Malgun Gothic"; panose-1:2 11 5 3 2 0 0 2 0 4; mso-font-charset:129; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1879048145 701988091 18 0 524289 0;}@font-face {font-family:"\@Malgun Gothic"; mso-font-charset:129; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1879048145 701988091 18 0 524289 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; line-height:150%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family:"Malgun Gothic"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman \(Body CS\)"; color:black; mso-themecolor:text1; mso-fareast-language:KO;}.MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-fareast-font-family:"Malgun Gothic"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman \(Body CS\)"; color:black; mso-themecolor:text1; mso-fareast-language:KO;}.MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; line-height:150%;}div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;}