Thesis (MDevF (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the realm of consumer behaviour research, discussions regarding materialism – commonly defined as the desire to consume – indebtedness and low-income consumerism have become almost unavoidable. This is to be expected in a society where spending patterns are constantly evolving, levels of indebtedness are steadily increasing and interest in the so-called ‘bottom of the pyramid’ consumers has been heightened. In South Africa, studies have found changes in consumption and credit usage to not only be significant, but also particularly relevant amongst low-income consumers. While this changing culture of consumption has been widely acknowledged, there has been little empirical research on consumer behaviour in South Africa and even less on low-income consumerism. For this reason a study was developed, which sought to explore the relationship between materialism and indebtedness among a sample of low-income, instalment paying consumers of South Africa’s leading catalogue retailer. Through use of a mailed self-completion survey questionnaire, consumers of the targeted retailer were asked to indicate their level of materialism, as measured using a materialism scale, and to report their level of indebtedness, measured as the number of retail store accounts held. In addition, key demographic data, consisting of the respondents’ age, gender and monthly income, was drawn from the retailer’s database. Using this data the study assessed whether (i) the sampled consumers displayed strong characteristics of materialism and (ii) whether materialism is a significant variable in predicting the sampled consumers’ propensity for incurring debt. Data analysis techniques applied in this study included tests to measure the reliability of the materialism scale as well as a variety of descriptive and inferential statistical tools, designed to identify relationships in the collected data. Using these techniques, this study found that sampled low-income consumers are indeed highly materialistic, with levels of materialism observed in this study being significantly higher than in a previous materialism study where a low-income earning consumer sample was used. Regarding levels of indebtedness, regression and correlation analysis performed suggested the presence of statistically significant relationships between consumers’ levels of indebtedness and each of the demographic variables of age and gender. However, materialism and monthly income was not found to be significant variables in determining a consumer’s level of indebtedness. While the decision to delineate this study based on the consumers of one particular retailer limits the extent to which findings can be generalised to the larger South African population, the results do provide a number of important insights, which contributes to the scant body of literature on low-income consumer behaviour in this country. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Op die navorsingsveld oor verbruikersgedrag het die gesprek rondom die voorkoms van materialisme (wat gewoonlik gedefinieer word as die behoefte om te verbruik), verbruikersdruk en die skuldlas onder lae inkomstegroepe byna onvermydelik geword. Dit is te verwagte in ’n samelewing waar bestedingspatrone voortdurend ontwikkel, skuldlasvlakke aan die groei is en die belangstelling in verbruikers op die onderste vlak van die sogenaamde piramide verskerp het. Studies in Suid-Afrika dui aan dat, onder lae inkomste verbruikers, die verskille in verbruikersgedrag en kredietgebruik nie net opvallend nie maar ook besonder ter saaklik is. Hoewel die verandering in verbruikerskultuur rondom besteding reeds wyd beskryf is, is daar nog nie veel empiriese navorsing oor verbruikersgedrag gedoen nie – en nog minder onder lae inkomstegroepe. Dit is om hierdie rede dat ’n studie ontwerp is om die verhouding tussen materialisme en skuldlas te ondersoek onder ’n steekproef van lae inkomste huurkoopverbruikers van Suid-Afrika se grootste kataloguskleinhandelaar. Daar is gebruik gemaak van ’n vraelys vir die opname, wat aan die verbruikers gepos is en deur hulle ingevul is. Verbruikers is gevra om die vlak van hul materialisme aan te dui, soos gemeet volgens die gebruik van ’n skaal of maatstaf vir materialisme; en om hul skuldlas weer te gee, gemeet aan die aantal rekeninge wat hulle by kleinhandelwinkels het. Belangrike demografiese data, soos die respondente se ouderdom, geslag en maandelikse inkomste, is verkry uit die kleinhandelaar se databasis. Hierdie data is gebruik om te bepaal, (i) of die steekproefverbruikers ’n sterk neiging tot materialisme toon, en (ii) of materialisme ’n beduidende rol speel in die voorspelbaarheid van die mate waartoe die steekproefverbruikers hulle aan skuld sal blootstel. Tegnieke wat in die studie gebruik is vir data-analise sluit toetse in wat die betroubaarheid van die maatstawwe vir materialisme meet, asook ’n aantal beskrywende en afleibare statistiese metodes wat ontwerp is om verhoudings in die versamelde data te identifiseer. Deur die gebruik van hierdie tegnieke het die studie gevind dat hierdie steekproef van lae inkomste verbruikers inderdaad hoogs materialisties is, en dat die vlakke van materialisme wat waargeneem is, beduidend hoër is as wat gevind is in ’n vorige studie onder ’n steekproef van lae-inkomste verbruikers. Met betrekking tot skuldlasverpligtinge, het die regressie- en korrelasie-analise wat gedoen is die bestaan van statisties beduidende verhoudinge tussen verbruikers se skuldlasvlakke en die demografiese veranderlikes van ouderdom en geslag aangedui. Daar is egter gevind materialisme en maandelikse inkomste is nie beduidende veranderlikes in die bepaling van ’n verbruiker se skuldlas nie. Hoewel die ontwerp van hierdie studie om verbruikers van slegs ’n enkele kleinhandelaar in te sluit ’n beperking plaas op die toepasbaarheid van die bevindinge op die wyer Suid-Afrikaanse bevolking, het die resultate ’n aantal belangrike insigte verskaf wat bydra tot die klein hoeveelheid bestaande literatuur oor lae inkomste verbruikersgedrag in die land.

This study examines how gender and the gender order used to be reproduced in “the kind of workhouses known as “arbetsstugor” in Swedish” in Karlstad and Borås 1899-1928. What ideologies and general notions of gender were expressed in their activities? I have made a comparative analysis of the workhouses in Karlstad and Borås using what is known as contextual contrasts. This method is used to test theories and hypotheses about what is locally unique or features that are shared between places. The hypothesis tested in the study is based on Hirdman's theory of gender contracts and “the law of separation” and it was formulated on the assumption that the traditionally more conservative Borås would also have a stricter policy on gender separation than the traditionally more liberal Karlstad.     This study examines how gender and the gender order used to be reproduced in “the kind of workhouses known as “arbetsstugor” in Swedish” in Karlstad and Borås 1899-1928. What ideologies and general notions of gender were expressed in their activities? I have made a comparative analysis of the workhouses in Karlstad and Borås using what is known as contextual contrasts. This method is used to test theories and hypotheses about what is locally unique or features that are shared between places. The hypothesis tested in the study is based on Hirdman's theory of gender contracts and “the law of separation” and it was formulated on the assumption that the traditionally more conservative Borås would also have a stricter policy on gender separation than the traditionally more liberal Karlstad.     This study examines how gender and the gender order used to be reproduced in “the kind of workhouses known as “arbetsstugor” in Swedish” in Karlstad and Borås 1899-1928. What ideologies and general notions of gender were expressed in their activities? I have made a comparative analysis of the workhouses in Karlstad and Borås using what is known as contextual contrasts. This method is used to test theories and hypotheses about what is locally unique or features that are shared between places. The hypothesis tested in the study is based on Hirdman's theory of gender contracts and “the law of separation” and it was formulated on the assumption that the traditionally more conservative Borås would also have a stricter policy on gender separation than the traditionally more liberal Karlstad.     This study examines how gender and the gender order used to be reproduced in “the kind of workhouses known as “arbetsstugor” in Swedish” in Karlstad and Borås 1899-1928. What ideologies and general notions of gender were expressed in their activities? I have made a comparative analysis of the workhouses in Karlstad and Borås using what is known as contextual contrasts. This method is used to test theories and hypotheses about what is locally unique or features that are shared between places. The hypothesis tested in the study is based on Hirdman's theory of gender contracts and “the law of separation” and it was formulated on the assumption that the traditionally more conservative Borås would also have a stricter policy on gender separation than the traditionally more liberal Karlstad.     This study examines how gender and the gender order used to be reproduced in “the kind of workhouses known as “arbetsstugor” in Swedish” in Karlstad and Borås 1899-1928. What ideologies and general notions of gender were expressed in their activities? I have made a comparative analysis of the workhouses in Karlstad and Borås using what is known as contextual contrasts. This method is used to test theories and hypotheses about what is locally unique or features that are shared between places. The hypothesis tested in the study is based on Hirdman's theory of gender contracts and “the law of separation” and it was formulated on the assumption that the traditionally more conservative Borås would also have a stricter policy on gender separation than the traditionally more liberal Karlstad.

In 1655 and again in 1686-1689, the Waldensians of Piedmont were massacred by the Duke of Savoy after he issued edicts forbidding the practice of their religion. The Waldensians were later followers of the medieval religious movement of the Poor of Lyons, declared heretical in 1215. The Waldensians associated with the Reformation in 1532, and thus formed a link with diverse groups of Protestants across Europe. In the periods immediately surrounding both massacres, an outpouring of publications dedicated to their plight, their history, and their religious identity appeared, a large number of which emerged in London. On both occasions, the propaganda gave rise to international sympathy and encouraged international intervention, eventually provoking the Duke to rescind the edicts that had instigated the massacres. While most contemporary scholars consider the Waldensians to have been fully absorbed into Protestantism after 1532, it is clear from the writings of both the Waldensians and their sympathizers that they considered themselves a separate entity: the inheritors of a long tradition of dissent from the Catholic Church based on their own belief in the purity of the Gospel. The Waldensian identity was based on a history of exclusion and persecution, and also on a belief that they had transmitted the true embodiment of Christianity through the centuries. The documents that were published surrounding the massacres address the legitimacy of the Waldensian identity based on centuries of practice. English and continental Protestants identified with the Waldensians, who provided ancient ties and legitimacy to their ‘new’ religion, and the Waldensians adopted that identity proudly, all the while claiming continuity. Protestants also used the Waldensians in propagandist documents, most often to justify political or religious actions and ideologies. The continuity of Waldensianism through the Reformation became crucially important for the wider umbrella of Protestantism as a legitimizing factor for the movement. This thesis investigates the claims of continuity and finds that while the Waldensians underwent a dramatic change in religious doctrine to conform to the Reformation, their belief in the continuity of their religious identity can be validated by examining religion from a socio-cultural perspective that takes aspects other than theology into consideration.

The central thesis is classical Marxian views concerning the peasant masses have been adopted regarding India; two causal factors are the Hindu Caste system and parliamentary democracy. Descriptive and analytical methodology is utilized to study classical and Indian Marxian theory and its relationship to "Marxist" practice in India. Four major elements involved are: wealthy landowners, poor and landless peasants, the Indian government, and Indian communists. Nonimplemented land reforms and recent capitalist farming compounded the problem. Attacks were launched on the Congress government by three communist parties. Government coalition has included the CPI, and has implemented agrarian reforms advocated by the CPI(M), thereby postponing possible militant communist success.

These stories, essays, and beginnings of a novel draft examine the complex, many-faceted nature of legacy; propelled by the question of how we become who we eventually become, these works seek to showcase how where we come from, and who we come from, shape us as individuals. From a variety of perspectives, my characters try to discover how they can create their own safe spaces, their own lives, while still maintaining some genuine connection to their familial roots--they try to strike a balance between how to forget, and how to remember. The prose here focuses largely on the women in the places, and from these families; how does a society that favors maleness shape a female's view of her ideas and her intellect, of her body and her control over it? The characters seek answers to these questions largely in the impoverished southwest, where the characters are always trying to do the right thing, but hardly ever in the right ways.

Title: Evaluation of actual state of children locomotor system for students of primary school. Objectives: Determine the current satus of locomotor system of children of primary school age by assessing a body posture of chosen sample of children and create compensation exercises for school and after-school physical education moments. Methods: We used the method of aspection in which we were watching deviations in body posture of different parts of body and their mutual position in sagittal and lateral view with using the test of Jaroš and Lomíček, Klein and Thomas. Results: We found out that within the chosen sample more than half participants have a correct body posture. Nevertheless, 48,5 % of participants have defective body posture. Weakening occurred primarily in the abdominal area and pelvis, in the back curve and when looking from behind a lot of participants have left to stand shoulder blades. Keywords: physical education moment, poor body posture, muscle imbalance, compensatory exercises.

The objective of this thesis is to examine the presence of the poor posture or the muscle imbalances at younger school-age children. Children do actively sports in a ski club for a long time; they also have a year training plan. Stationary functions and muscle activity in physiological position were investigated by physiotherapist who indicated some poor posture and muscle imbalances. On the basis of that examination there were recommended some compensatory exercises that can help to adjust or to eliminate detected imbalances. Recommended exercises became a part of the club training program, but the main part was practiced at home. According to the entrance and final examination of the participants we can assess the positive influence of the compensatory exercises to muscle imbalances and the children musculoskeletal system. Considering the results of the thesis we are able to proclaim that the long-term exercises can completely eliminate muscle imbalances. The contribution of this thesis has an irreplaceable importance for the work with children in the ski club.

M.A. (Social Work) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Ph.D. (Economics) / Street waste pickers are a visible group of people trying to survive under poor socio-economic conditions. They participate in the informal economy as self-employed entrepreneurs. Despite the income-earning opportunity generated by the waste that is freely available, their social and economic conditions remain poor. This study is the first national study to investigate the social and economic conditions of the street waste pickers in South Africa. The national study covers thirteen major cities in South Africa and uses a mixed method research design. A literature review on informal waste picking activities and the participation of the poor in these activities provide a basis from which the socio-economic conditions of the street waste pickers could be analysed. A theoretical overview of poverty theories, the unemployment problem, and the characteristics of the informal economy and informal recycling activities help to contextualise the street waste pickers in terms of the link that exists between poverty, unemployment, and street waste picking activities as a marginal form of informal self-employment. With this as background, qualitative and quantitative data on the socio-economic conditions of the street waste pickers was collected from the street waste pickers themselves and from the buy-back centres with whom they interact on an almost daily basis.

Research report submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Quantitative Conservation Biology at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. / The study aimed: (1) to provide baseline data on aspects of wood utilisation in a resource area and a communal area In KwaZulu, (2) to investigate the effects of this wood utilisation on the resource base, and (3) to discuss the sustainability of current wood. utilisation. Wood utilisation in this study refers to the harvesting of dead and livewood for fuelwood, building poles and fencing posts. (Abbreviation abstract) / AC2017