This study examines references to foods mentioned in elementary school texts used in Montreal English schools. A study of 58 language arts and math texts used in grades 1-6 revealed a total of 4,391 references to foods in words and/or pictures. A large proportion of these references were to sugar-rich foods. A higher percentage of adult females prepared foods, followed closely by adult males. Boys were shown as eating food more frequently than any other group. Eating with one's peers was far more frequent than eating with the family, while a surprising number of children depicted in texts used in grades 1-3 consumed their food alone. The results of this study suggest that, because unintended information may influence childrens' nutritional habits, more attention should be paid to concomitant messages in elementary school textbooks.

Dissertation submitted in compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Technology: Business Administration, 2008. / The aim of the study was to identify causes of churning, to find ways of managing it and to diagnose customers‟ communication needs. Furthermore the research tested the impact of messaging services on customer retention and whether these services could compensate for the declining revenue or become new cash cows for service providers. The units of analyses were young people of ages ranging from 15 to 24. This group was chosen because it was found, during the study, that they used new services more often than any other age group. The initial plan, however, was to interview the entire population of cellphone users. Stratified random sampling was used to randomly select the units of analysis. Interviews were conducted at the homes of respondents, in the streets and at a shopping centre. Causes of customer churning were found to be billing by service providers that confused customers and „better phone deals offered by the competitors‟ resulting in some of the respondents switching providers. Other aspects about which respondents complained and which therefore could cause churning are „poor network quality‟, „confusing pricing structure‟ and „long waiting on customer care line‟. The respondents indicated that their communication needs could be satisfied by services that are easy to use, a helpful customer care agent and being able to retain a number when switching a service provider. Therefore churning could be managed by removing or reducing the causes of it and attracting the customers by meeting their communications needs, which are, improving customer care service and designing services that are easy to use. The research was inconclusive on the messaging services. Of the three new messaging services that were studied, only one was extremely popular, while the other two were hardly used. Instant messaging was the second most used service to voice and SMS and it was also ranked second, in order of importance. The other two messaging services, mobile email and MMS, received low rankings from the respondents. In addition more than a quarter (27%) of the respondents had never used mobile email. The implications of these findings are that service providers should improve their customer care service and design services that are easy to use.

Code-switching is a phenomenon that exists in bilingual societies where people have the opportunity to use two or more languages to communicate. Being able to speak more than one language, bilinguals can code-switch and use their languages as resources to find better ways to convey meaning. Code-switching occurs in English classrooms in upper secondary school every day. Therefore, the aim for this paper was to investigate when and why teachers in upper secondary school code-switch when teaching L2 English. It has also looked into what language the students preferred in different classroom situations. Five teachers were interviewed and 96 students taking English 5 and 6 responded to a questionnaire. The results showed that the teachers generally tried to code-switch as little as possible but that they did code-switch in some of those situations where the students preferred either a combination of Swedish and English or only Swedish. Two of these situations were grammar instructions, where a majority of the students preferred a combination of English and Swedish, and one-to-one situations, where a majority of the students preferred Swedish. A clear majority of the students (87%) wanted their teacher to make them speak more English.

The study assessed the possible significance of Green Consumerism in South Africa. Different meanings of "green" are explained. Consumer preferences for some green products was examined. An analysis of the attitudes and actions of South African consumers to green products and services was completed in two suburbs, of Pietermaritzburg, as a case study. Though there was a significant difference in total household income between shoppers in the two suburbs there was no significant difference between their respective green expenditure. Consumers generally preferred cheaper conventional products to more expensive green products. Consumers considered price as the most important factor when making purchasing choices and the higher the price differential, the more likely consumers are to select cheaper conventional products rather than green alternatives. Public education, government intervention in the form of lower taxes or subsidies for green products and encouragement of green movements are required if Green Consumerism is to become a meaningful alternative in South Africa. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1997.

Management of a sewing machine distributorship desires information on the viability of importing and distributing electronic/computerized sewing machines in comparison to manual sewing machines for resale in Kwa-Zulu Natal. An extensive literature review on industry and competitor analysis, consumer behaviour and market segmentation was undertaken. The research instrument took the form of an interview schedule. The interview was conducted at three dealerships and the study is based on replies from the three dealers who participated. The study is concluded with recommendations, which Singerkzn may wish to consider during its strategic planning process. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

This study examines the attitudinal and behavioural dimensions of Indian consumers, in the Chatsworth area, to brand loyalty. A survey was undertaken in the designated area and data for the investigation was obtained from a sample of 237 households, drawn by means of the stratified random sampling technique. The data was qualitatively and quantitatively analysed using numerous descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. The findings indicate that Indian consumers are more brand loyal to food than to non-food products. This result reflects that the type of merchandise involved and the relative strength of brands have an important influence on brand loyalty. Furthermore, Indians are rational buyers, who evaluate the cost and benefits of products, and increasingly consider the purchases of house brands as opposed to branded products. The determinants of brand loyalty for products in general. was found to be quality, whilst the main product evalutation criteria for food items is freshness, followed by nutritional value. The majority of consumers do not base their judgement of quality on price. Finally, non-brand loyal buyers assign higher ratings to product attributes on most of the specific products studied, than brand loyal consumers. / Thesis (M.Admin.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1993.

The development of pre-conception and post-conception reproductive technologies has substantial implications and consequences for women. To better establish the impact of the eugenic and sexist traditions which support the elimination of disability/defect and the propagation of "designer babies," a survey of literature outlining the scientific, feminist, legal, cultural, and social perspectives regarding new reproductive technologies was undertaken. Three conclusions of this review are that while new reproductive technologies are not responsible for the environment which fosters bias and intolerance towards oppressed members of society, they have created eugenic demands by supporting genetic perfection; they have informally displaced women's rights to bodily autonomy in favour of the fetus' or potential future person's rights by supporting fetal personhood; and they have perpetuated sexism within the Indian community in Canada by supporting patriarchal institutions.

This dissertation project investigated fluctuations in estradiol and testosterone across the human menstrual cycle. During the part of the cycle when women are most fertile, women show stronger preferences for men with more masculine faces, and these preference changes may be related to changes in hormone levels during ovulation. The present study investigated preferences changes among women for higher testosterone men over the menstrual cycle as estradiol and testosterone in those women fluctuated. 32 women participated in this 5-week long study tracking their estradiol and testosterone levels and preferences for masculine men. Women with higher levels of estradiol preferred men who had higher levels of testosterone than women who had lower levels of estradiol. During ovulation, women were more like to find high testosterone men more attractive than other parts of the menstrual cycle. In addition to ratings of men, several other psychological tests were administered and examined for changes as a function of state and trait levels of hormones.

Most men and women are employed in occupations largely dominated by people of their own sex. Since occupational aspirations have proven to predict future labor market behavior it is of importance to study young boys’ and girls’ occupational preferences. With the use of a survey based on Swedish 15-year-old children this study examines the association between the gender composition of parent’s occupation and the gender composition of children’s most preferred occupation. Drawing from the sex-role model that emphasizes the importance of the same-sex parents in forming children’s preferences, this study has investigated whether the gender composition of mothers’ (fathers’) occupations has an impact on the gender composition of girls’ (boys’) occupational aspirations. In line with previous research, the sex-role model received support for girls. But the observed association between fathers and sons disappear upon adding control variables. It was also hypothesized that the mothers’ generation entry into high status occupation would make children more likely to also regard their opposite sex parents as a role model. However, this hypothesis did not receive support. The result for girls can be interpreted as a sign that sex-role modeling some extent can be one reason behind the persistent sex segregation in the labor market.

Shared Decision Making (SDM) in medical consultations has received significant attention in the literature over the past 10 years. Research indicates that patients’ desire both components of SDM, information sharing and behavioural involvement, to differing degrees (Flynn, Smith, & Vanness, 2006) and that matching medical care to these preferences may be associated with better patient health outcomes (Cvengros, Christensen, Cunningham, Hillis, & Kaboli, 2009). In this thesis, relationships between SDM preferences and patients’ personal characteristics (demographic factors and personality attributes) were investigated (Objective one), as well as associations between patient’s SDM preferences and the features of the health concern that they were seeking care for (Objective two). The current study used 158 Christchurch residents who were part of a longitudinal health and wellbeing study. They completed a questionnaire that measured their general SDM preferences, their demographic and personality characteristics and their preferences for SDM, given four hypothetical health complaints. These complaints varied in duration and perceived seriousness. Demographic variables and personality variables accounted for approximately the same amount of variance in participants’ general preferences for SDM, together describing 33% and 42% of the variance in information sharing and behavioural involvement. The strongest contributors were all three Health Locus of Control variables, sex and education level. Big Five personality traits and participant self-rated physical health did not account for a significant amount of variance in SDM preferences, once all variables were controlled for. In addition, the features of the health concern were marginally associated with participants’ SDM preferences for that specific consultation. Between-subjects analyses found that the duration or perceived seriousness of the health complaint were not associated with SDM preferences reported within the first scenario, once participants’ general SDM preferences were accounted for. Whereas, these two features described a significant amount of variance in participants’ information sharing preferences in the within-subjects analyses, when participants’ general SDM preferences were controlled for. Post-hoc analyses reported that chronic health complaints, that were perceived to be highly serious, elicited significantly greater preferences for information exchange than all other scenarios. No association occurred for participants’ preferences for involvement in final decision making across the four scenarios. The findings emphasise that differences occur in patients’ preferences for information sharing and behavioural involvement; both in regard to their general preferences and their specific preferences for these components of SDM within a given consultation. They also identify the central role that patients’ personality characteristics may play in determining their collaboration and involvement in healthcare; associations that are often overlooked by the SDM literature. The current findings contribute to our understanding of patient’s preferences for SDM and implications for practice and future research are discussed.