<p>The future success of agriculture in arid and semi-arid areas globally will be highly dependent on the ability of farmers and agricultural systems to adapt to climate change. Most of these areas, though tremendously productive, suffer from the same limiting resource: water. As that resource becomes more scarce and availability more difficult to predict, water managers and farmers will be forced to implement new, creative solutions to water supply challenges. This anticipated exposure suggests that an improved understanding of agricultural adaptation to water stress in such areas is critical to successful outcomes in these regions under a changing climate. This work focuses specifically on the adaptation strategies employed by farmers, strategies which are determined by farmers’ assessment of their exposure and sensitivity to a stressor as well as their capacity to implement changes. This process of implementing change to limit vulnerability is broadly referred to as adaptation. </p> <p> This project focuses on the Eastern Snake Plain of southeastern Idaho as a case study in agricultural adaptation to increased water stress. The Eastern Snake Plain (ESP) is a diverse and productive agricultural basin in the inter-mountain region of the American West. The region’s primary products are potatoes, sugar beets, barley, and alfalfa, as well as a significant volume of livestock dominated by dairy cattle, and each of these products forms a significant share of the total US market for that crop. More than 74% of this agricultural land is irrigated, inextricably tying both the future of agriculture and the future of the Idaho economy to water in the state. In the mid-2000’s, legislators and water managers from across the plain came together to negotiate a new water rights settlement, now known as the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer Comprehensive Aquifer Management Plan (CAMP). The negotiations came in response to years of litigation involving groundwater and surface water conjunctive management in the region, and the resulting plan was designed to accomplish three goals: stabilize reach gains in the lower Eastern Snake Plain, replenish Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer (ESPA) levels, and ensure sustainable water resources for agricultural, industrial, and domestic users across the basin. Though the water settlement was not directly caused by climate change, it is likely that water shortages will become more frequent under climate change, and this settlement represents a simulation of just such a shortage.</p> <p>Broadly, this work and the work of collaborators hope to understand adaptation and decision-making of groundwater farmers throughout the Eastern Snake Plain as they adapt to the on-average 12.9% reduction in water availability. This thesis is divided into three primary sections (Chapters 2, 3, and 4). </p> <p>Chapter 2 investigates tradeoffs in adaptation decision making, employing semi-structured interviews to learn more about tradeoffs as a framework for understanding adaptation more broadly. In particular, the work seeks to understand the types of tradeoffs present in ESP adaptation and when and how tradeoffs are implicitly or explicitly acknowledged. Findings indicate that tradeoffs occur both at the individual and regional scale and that shifts in crop patterns and irrigation water sourcing may have important implications for adaptation policy moving forward. </p> <p>Chapter 3 employs a household survey and statistical analysis to investigate the iterative and complex relationships between exposure, adaptive capacity, sensitivity, and vulnerability. As an early attempt to examine these relationships quantitatively in the context of US agriculture and water stress, the works focuses on laying out a clear theoretical and methodological framework for continued exploration of adaptation and vulnerability in this context. Findings indicate that under-theorized components of adaptive capacity like linking capacity and exposure to simultaneous stressors may play important roles in determining farmer vulnerability in the context of policy-induced water scarcity. </p> <p>Chapter 4 is designed to investigate and develop a novel tool for exploratory work in adaptation, examining the feasibility and predictive accuracy of an agent-based model of agricultural adaptation driven by social-psychological decision-making theories and parameterized using both secondary data sources and primary fieldwork. Findings indicate that such models may have the potential to produce well-informed macro-level patterns based on theoretically-informed micro-level inputs. This has important implications for the broader agent-base modeling community, and the work concludes with a call for further collaboration between agent-based modelers and social science theorists. </p> <p>Collectively, this work seeks to inform theory on agricultural adaptation and vulnerability, as well as explore the potential role of theoretically-informed agent-based modeling in investigating such dynamics. In doing so, it lays the groundwork for future exploration of these ideas in the Eastern Snake Plain and throughout the arid American West. </p>

Thesis advisor: Andy Hargreaves / Most policies and initiatives in education travel the same, well-worn path: they are designed high above the ground by elected leaders or by public officials in departments and ministries of education. These ideas soon become projects for district-level leaders and school-level staff to implement. The process of implementation is often a challenge for local educators. When schools are asked to implement several initiatives concurrently, these difficulties can be compounded. This is especially true when schools try concurrently to include students with special needs and to meet the targets of high-stakes accountability programs (McLaughlin & Thurlow, 2003; Ramanathan, 2008). This study examined two multi-level and multi-district projects that were unique in their objective and designs. Each fostered complementary restructuring and reculturing of school districts. These two projects--Essential for Some, Good for All (ESGA) in Ontario and NH Responds (NHR) in New Hampshire--sought to facilitate greater participation and achievement for students with special needs as well as to cultivate greater collaboration between general and special educators. The dissertation is comprised of four mixed-methods case studies across the two jurisdictions, looking at two districts in each country as the units of analysis. Interviews with participants from all three levels--policy and planning, district, and school--were accompanied by effect-size analysis taken from quantitative achievement data to assess achievement gaps before and after each project. Ultimately, the study proposes a workable theory for the field of policy design and implementation that would facilitate simultaneous engagement with multiple, competing policies, in particular balancing the inclusion of students with special educational needs and mechanisms for standards-based accountability. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Thesis advisor: Lillie R. Albert / Researchers have found that as students progress through school, the importance of language grows due to the content specificity that emerges, especially in the secondary grades, and due to the preparation of these students to enter adulthood once their schooling is completed. Even as students' instruction in various content areas becomes more in-depth and specialized, so does the terminology employed in the content. It is because of this specificity and union of language and learning that English-language learners' (ELLs') ability to comprehend and produce content-area academic language is crucial to their success. When questioning the quality of instruction ELLs are receiving in mathematics, the attention logically shifts to the pedagogical abilities of their teachers. However, historically, mathematics teachers have lacked language-acquisition knowledge and strategies necessary to adequately address the needs of linguistically diverse learners. In order to authentically promote and pursue quality mathematics education for all students, teachers of mathematics must be trained in recognizing the language demands of mathematics and in applying or developing strategies to address the nuances of the language in this subject area. The research in this study contributes to this work. This dissertation documents the effects of an intervention, woven into a secondary mathematics methods course and designed to prepare mathematics teachers to support ELLs' content and language learning. The study was based on the assumption that mathematics is much more than computations, and thus, requires a shift in the how the role of the mathematics teacher is viewed. Both qualitative and quantitative empirical evidence regarding the intervention's influence on the participants' attitudes and preparedness to teach the academic language of mathematics were generated. Twenty-nine students over the course of two years took part in this research. Five students from the second year were selected for an in-depth case study based on their range of experiences with learning other languages, interactions with linguistically diverse youth, and practicum placements for the subsequent spring semester. The larger group of preservice teachers was surveyed at the beginning and end of their enrollment in the course, and their course assignments were collected. In addition, case-study participants were interviewed at the start and completion of the semester, and their practicum-office submissions were examined. A framework to encourage pupils' acquisition of mathematical academic language is proposed. Essential outcomes indicate that the intervention not only affected the participants' beliefs and attitudes towards their own preparedness for teaching ELLs in mainstream mathematics classes, but also it imparted concrete strategies for the modification of teaching and learning experiences in the preservice teachers' future practices. The results of this study correlate to existing literature regarding linguistically responsive pedagogy and extend this theory by integrating language-acquisition strategies throughout a content-methods course for the middle- and high-school levels. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

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ICT4D champions are individuals who make a decisive contribution to an ICT4D initiative by actively and enthusiastically promoting its progress through critical stages in order to mobilise resources and/or active support and cooperation from all stakeholders. Mindful of the poor performance of development projects generally, and ICT4D projects in particular, the thesis argues that the seemingly important role of key individuals, such as champions, lacks research. Based on the repeated calls for research to better understand champion-type individuals and their roles in ICT4D initiatives, the thesis claims to have identified an original and significant knowledge gap towards which it contributes. Extant literature on champions of information systems innovations shows that champions can be conceptualised in terms of three core orientations: towards results, relationships and resources. This body of literature and conceptualisations has been used in the thesis as the starting point for exploring and describing the champion phenomenon in an as yet unexplored context - ICT4D initiatives. Critical realism is the assumed philosophical position for the research undertaken in the thesis. Theoretical constructs from the model of Transformational and Transactional Leadership and Social Capital Theory are combined in a conceptual framework to guide the empirical investigations and analysis. The research draws on three ICT4D champion cases in South Africa; case data was collected through the careful combination and sequencing of multiple mixed methods: in-depth interviews, a social network analysis (SNA) survey, and semi-structured interviews with the ICT4D champions and other key initiative stakeholders. A literal replication design was followed whereby the case studies explored and described the individual champion cases and subsequently synthesised findings across the three cases. The main contribution of the thesis is a knowledge contribution; the thesis contributes fifteen empirical findings to our conceptual understanding of ICT4D champions - their origins, competencies, characteristics and motivations, and their orientations towards results, relationships and resources. The analysis has shown how ICT4D champions are similar to champions of IS innovation in some ways, but has also revealed unique aspects, such as the importance they ascribe to addressing social concerns. This, in turn, led to a number of theoretical and practical contributions, as well as a methodological and a research contribution, all emanating from the three case studies. Firstly, two inductively generated theoretical contributions are offered: i) a conceptual framework for analysing and describing the origins of ICT4D champions; ii) a hybrid and contextual model of ICT4D champions that combines a complex set of factors (personal, organisational, and external) and the orientations of champions as a means to account for the complexity of these key individuals and their roles in ICT4D initiatives. The thesis contributes to ICT4D practice by suggesting ways to identify, develop, deploy and support champions; in so doing it offers actionable guidance on how to harness the potential positive contributions of these key individuals. Furthermore, a network-based approach - such as SNA used in the thesis - are rarely, if ever, followed in conducting champion research and this is offered as a methodological contribution. Finally, ICT4D champion research is in its infancy; the exploratory approach followed in the thesis draws on literature, the empirical findings and the theoretical contributions to offer an extensive agenda for future champion research in general, and ICT4D champion research in particular.

Cancer is predominately a disease of the older population and the recent changes in the cancer field, as a result of ageing, have been rapid and remarkable. Soon as many as one in two people will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their life. Social support has been shown to have a positive effect on experiences of older people with cancer, however how social support creates a positive effect is still not clearly understood. To address this gap in knowledge, this PhD research explored older people's experiences of social support along the cancer pathway. How social support could influence firstly treatment inequality experienced by older people with cancer, and secondly the quality of life of cancer survivors, was the primary focus of the research. The complexity of the topic, that is the interplay between cancer, older people, and social support, led to integrating qualitative and quantitative methods in a mixed methods design. The first phase of the research involved analysing stories from older people who had used advocacy services to gain support. Thematic analysis methods were applied to cancer narratives to gain a better understanding of the relationship between social support and treatment decisions made by older people with cancer. An exploratory sequential design was followed and the second phase of the research was directed by the findings from the qualitative research. Bivariate and multivariate regression analysis was carried out using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing to gain greater understanding of the relationship between social support and quality of life of older people living with and beyond cancer. The qualitative findings highlighted emotional support needs relating to coping and loneliness. Although advocates were able to help in practical ways it was the emotional support provided though the act of being there that had the greatest impact. Most people reported high social support and had good quality of life (although cancer survivors on average had slightly lower quality of life compared to people without cancer). However, those who reported having low support or no support reported much poorer quality of life. The relationship was similar for both cancer survivors and older people without cancer. The findings potentially reflect complex situations (such as being a carer or not in stable accommodation) that can be adversely affected by also living with cancer. Interventions that increase social support, particularly through the act of 'being there' are likely to improve quality of life for older people living with cancer.

With the expansion of online communities, extant research in multiple disciplines has attempted to investigate its adoption and use among individuals. However, the biggest challenge encountered by managers of these communities is supplying knowledge, particularly, the willingness to share knowledge among the members. It is extremely important to maintain committed members in terms of active participation. Yet their level of participation might vary based on some social, behavioral and environmental factors that eventually affect their intentions on whether to participate actively or not, in fact some users choose to discontinue participating totally in the community. Cancers figure among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with approximately 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer related deaths in 2012. The number of new cases is expected to rise by about 70% over the next 2 decades. Among men, the 5 most common sites of cancer diagnosed in 2012 were lung, prostate, colorectal, stomach, and liver cancer. According to the world cancer report, among women the 5 most common sites diagnosed were breast, colorectal, lung, cervix, and stomach cancer. For this reason, there is an ever-increasing need to establish communities to offer empathic support to patients. Though peer support groups have been known to offer adequate support to patients with cancer and are considered to be an important complement to the formal health care system, however, practical barriers such as time, mobility and geography limit their use, this is where the online communities serve an advantage, as they have the potential to overcome barriers posed by regular offline communities. To achieve its objectives, this study mainly adopts the Social cognitive theory and two components of the social influence theory. According to the SCT, user behaviour is influenced by two factors: personal cognition and environment. Social influence model postulates that individual behaviour in a community can be affected by the social environment and three factors constitute this, they are compliance, identification and internalization. The study aims to provide insights on how and why patients diagnosed with cancer (and their relatives) seek social support using the Internet and social media. In particular, we seek to understand the motivation for joining these groups and the values derived from the community for the users both active and non-active.

Foodservice is integral to safe, adequate and satisfactory food allergy management in the hospital setting. To date, research focused on objective measures of energy and protein provision, implementation and evaluation of food allergy guidelines and assessment of process failures leading to allergen exposure. There is a lack of focus on taking a person-centred approach to understanding the barriers and enablers to optimal food allergy management. A mixed methods phenomenological approach was espoused at a tertiary acute care hospital in Melbourne, Victoria. Data collection techniques included 24-hr diet recall, foodservice satisfaction questionnaires and semi-structured qualitative interviews, all delivered by an Accredited Dietitian. Statistical and thematic analysis was conducted, followed by convergence of the results from each phase of the study. Mean energy intake indicated 64% of requirements and 81% of protein requirements were met; which included external food intake to supplement the hospital diet for around half of the patients. Most patients rated their overall food service satisfaction as ‘Good’, with food quality being the lowest rated foodservice dimension. Addressing sensory, variety and communications aspects of foodservice were focus areas identified by the study patients. These included improving bland flavours and plain appearance, restricted menu choices and automated allergen interface between systems. With a person-centred care focus, the study identified new findings on the views and attitudes of patients with a food allergy on foodservice management in hospital. Within the Food and Meal Science field, the study may be seen as an initial exploratory enquiry for future research on food allergy.

There are no large-scale outcome studies of music therapy in secure hospital settings for people who have committed serious offences. These patients have a right to expect evidence-based multi-disciplinary treatment (Duggan et al. 2006); NICE (2010). Music therapy therefore should take a form which can be integrated into the treatment pathway. A single site implementation of a mixed-methods patient preference randomised controlled trial investigated the clinical effectiveness of a manualised music therapy model called Group Cognitive Analytic Music Therapy (G-CAMT). This context-specific, time limited intervention incorporates theories from Group Analysis (Foulkes 1964) and Cognitive Analytic Therapy (Ryle and Kerr 2003). The central research question was ‘Is G-CAMT feasible and effective for offenders in a secure multi-disciplinary treatment setting?’ The research process followed the Medical Research Council framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions (Campbell et al. 2000, 2007). Twenty patients were recruited; those expressing no preference were randomised to treatment or control arms. The two music therapists and the principal investigator were masked to their allocation status. Those in the treatment arm were allocated to one of two treatment groups of five, each run individually by one of the music therapists. Each group had sixteen ninety minute weekly sessions with followup at eight weeks. Treatment and control groups received standard care. The primary measure was the Person’s Relating to Others Questionnaire (Birtchnell and Evans 2004) Secondary measures were the Basic Empathy Scale (Jolliffe and Farrington 2006a), The Multi-Scale Dissociation Inventory (Briere, 2002) and an observational measure, the Chart of Interpersonal Reactions in Closed Living Environments (Blackburn and Glasgow, 1993). Quantitative data from these measures were examined for associations with qualitative data from semi-structured interviews administered to the music therapists and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith et.al. 2009) Findings from the results of the primary measure demonstrated statistically significant (Mann Whitney U: p<.05) reductions in favour of the treatment group compared to the control, in intrusive, restrictive and possessive behaviors and helpless or self-denigrating behaviours. There were improvements over time within the treatment group in the domains of sociability and hostility (Friedman Test :p<.04). The use of a manual was shown to help the music therapists manage the risk of violence without constraining their creativity. Two years after the end of the treatment 78% of treatment participants had moved to conditions of lower security over a mean period of 19 months compared with 66% of control subjects over a mean period of 25.5 months. The thesis concludes by situating G-CAMT amongst contemporary music therapy models.

BackgroundIndividuals from low socio-economic backgrounds have higher rates of morbidity and premature mortality from cardiovascular risk factors compared to those from more affluent backgrounds.Hearty Lives Dundee is a complex intervention which aims to address this health inequality. The intervention targets cardiovascular health checks at population groups who are likely to be at high risk, but tend not to engage with traditional services. Practitioners have tried to increase engagement with the target groups through a number of strategies. These included community and workplace-based assessments, and General Practice-run health checks supported by an outreach facility. The aim of this thesis was to explore what works at increasing patient uptake of cardiovascular health checks, for what groups, in what circumstances, and why?MethodsA Realistic Evaluation was undertaken using a mixed methods approach. Routine data was extracted from the Hearty Lives database and descriptive statistics reported on patients attending the community-based opportunistic service and the GP-based service. A total of thirty semi-structured interviews and one focus group (n=5) were conducted with patient attenders and non-attenders of community and General Practice-based health checks. Seven staff from the Hearty Lives programme were also interviewed. Thematic analysis was undertaken using Ritchie and Spencer’s Framework approach.ResultsAttenders at health checks were more likely to be female and older, regardless of the setting. Uptake varied by the number and type of invitation method. Cardiovascular risk was greater in the target population presenting opportunistically but was confounded by the older age of this group.Patient engagement relied on the interaction of a number of factors which varied according to setting; accessibility, invitation method, personal circumstances, cues to action and barriers. A continuum existed from barriers to motivators to attendance depending on the presence or absence of a cue to action, e.g. family history or symptoms. The concept of preventive health checks for cardiovascular disease was not well understood as some patients did not perceive a need to attend without symptoms. Additionally, the health check was viewed as optional by many and not treated with the same seriousness as perceived ‘compulsory’ cancer screenings.DiscussionThe complex lives of the intended target population merit a range of accessible services to reduce barriers to preventive health care. The Realistic Evaluation approach provided transferable knowledge of how to effectively engage with people from different backgrounds and care utilisation preferences, which could easily inform similar NHS services.