Video games and the social effects that they inflict upon society and the individual have been a highly debated subject. While studies have been made in regards to several social issues and their connection to video games, there was little research in regards to physical game gatherings like LAN-parties, as well as larger game gatherings like Dreamhack, and what the social effects of having physical contact with other people are at these gatherings. The goal with this study was to answer the question: “What are the social effects for the individual when participating in physical video game gatherings?”. This was done through a qualitative study by conducting five semi-structured interviews at the physical game gathering called Umeå Game Night that was located in the Umeå cultural center Klossen at Ålidhems Centrum. Four of the participants were male and one female. “Snowball-sampling” was used to gather the participants for the study through Game Night’s Facebook group. However, this sampling was unsuccessful when no participants were gained from it. Instead I had to take direct contact with people at the game gathering. The interviews were all done during the game gathering in their facility and were then transcribed for analysis with two types of methods; an inductive analysis that was backed up by a deductive analysis in the form of Activity Theory using Engeström’s model of Activity Theory. The results of this study showed that physical game gatherings helped to overcome some negative social effects that the participants thought surrounded online game as well as other social problems that they brought up during the interviews, like toxic behaviour, discrimination, and the feeling of not being welcome. There was an overwhelmingly positive reaction from the participants when being at the game gathering. Being able to socialize with other people proved to be the main motivation. However, even though physical game gatherings showed to improve negative social effects surrounding game, the learning process was still difficult to overcome for new players, and participating in these game gathering may even have negative results in keeping the new players interested in wanting to play as well as participate at the physical game gatherings. This was mainly because of the skill disparity between the experienced players, who were the majority at the game gathering, and the new players, who would feel potentially frustrated from seeing the experienced players being much better than themselves. However, the less experienced female participant in the study indicated that this issue may still be overcome, but more research needs to be done to see how big the issue surrounding the learning process when playing games at game gatherings actually is, and if there are ways to solve it.

« Les gens qui parlent ensemble votent ensemble ». En écrivant ces quelques mots, le sociologue britannique William Miller résumait, à la fin des années 1970, une tradition de recherche déjà ancienne : le vote, en tant qu‟expérience de groupe, se joue d‟abord dans les rapports que les citoyens ordinaires entretiennent avec ceux avec qui ils vivent quotidiennement. La recherche présentée dans cette thèse propose de réinterroger cette hypothèse par l‟intermédiaire d‟une enquête visant à saisir comment le contexte social d‟appartenance – entendu comme l‟entourage relationnel d‟un individu - structure la pratique des échanges politiques, et en quoi cette pratique peut-elle impacter les comportements électoraux individuels. L‟enquête en question a donc consisté à adapter la technique de l‟échantillonnage en boule-de-neige à la passation de questionnaires de personne à personne. Partant d‟un échantillon de base de dix personnes mobilisées à trois reprises – en 2009, 2010 et 2012 – il m‟a ainsi été possible d‟identifier des chaînes de relations grâce à la circulation de questionnaires au sein des cercles d‟interconnaissance des participants. En plus de données statistiques, l‟enquête s‟appuie sur une analyse ethnographique de la phase de construction des différents échantillons. Ce travail repose sur le postulat selon lequel les questionnaires élaborés constituent des "objets politiques", avec pour conséquence que les échanges de questionnaires au sein des populations étudiées instaurent de fait un cadre d'interactions présentant une dimension "politique". L‟étude ethnographique de la mise en oeuvre de cette passation offre ainsi l‟occasion de porter un regard original sur les moyens par lesquels des citoyens ordinaires organisent des échanges à dimension politique au sein de leurs réseaux d‟appartenance. Les résultats de cette analyse, confrontés à celle des échanges politiques plus ordinaires pratiqués au sein des contextes identifiés au cours de l‟enquête, montrent que le politique, loin d‟obéir à des logiques autonomes, prend sa source et prolonge les normes et les identités sociales produites par les groupes. La structure sociale du contexte – notamment son degré de cohésion – et sa composition en termes de ressources économiques, culturelles et politiques, déterminent le déroulement des échanges politiques et leur capacité à créer de la mobilisation et à faire en sorte que les identités collectives se traduisent en choix électoraux. / “People who talk together vote together”. By writing these few words, the British sociologist William Miller resumed, at the end of the 1970‟s, an old research tradition : voting, as a group experience, depends on the contacts that ordinary citizens maintain with those they live with everyday. The research presented in this thesis dissertation suggests questioning again this hypothesis by the mean of a survey that aims to understand how the social context of belonging – i.e. the relational surrounding of a person – shapes the practice of political exchange, and how this practice can affect individual electoral behavior. This survey consisted in an adaptation of the snowball sampling technique around the person-to-person transfer of questionnaires. Starting with a first sample of 10 people called up three times – in 2009, 2010, and 2012 – I could identify many chains of contacts by following the flow of questionnaires within circles of acquaintances of participants. Additionally with statistical data, the survey is based on an ethnographic analysis of the sampling procedure. This work is founded on the assumption that questionnaires elaborated for the survey constitute "political objects", with the consequence that the exchanges of questionnaires within the populations studied establish a setting of interactions with a political dimension. The ethnographic analysis of the elaboration of the transfer allows having an original look on the means by which ordinary citizens organize some political exchanges within the social networks they belong to. The results of this analysis, compared to the one of more ordinary exchanges practiced within social contexts identified during the survey, show that politics, far to respond to independent logics, take their origins in social norms and identities produced by groups. The social structure of context – mainly its cohesion degree – and its composition in terms of economic, cultural and political resources, determine the flow of political exchanges and their ability to create mobilization and to make possible the translation of collective identities into electoral choices.

Es evidente que la pobreza económica es uno de los problemas que presentan los países subdesarrollados, y que su reducción está relacionada con el aumento de la productividad en las PYME, dado el alto impacto que han representado a lo largo del tiempo. Muchas entidades han identificado la importancia de la agricultura en el sector económico del país. Por lo tanto, es necesario un diagnóstico en la zona. El propósito de este diagnóstico es tener una referencia del entorno desde el punto de vista general, en el que se pueden observar todas las interacciones, descripciones, particularidades y procesos existentes. En esta primera etapa del diagnóstico, se lleva a cabo utilizando un muestreo no probabilístico, que es un método común en la investigación. Uno de los muchos métodos utilizados para identificar el diagnóstico es el muestreo de bolas de nieve que permite encontrar el diagnóstico de poblaciones ocultas donde no hay manera de conocer todas las características de una población. La ventaja de utilizar este tipo de muestreo es que un solo informante inicial puede poner al investigador en contacto con otras fuentes. Además, sobre la base de los resultados obtenidos, se identificó que las causas del problema del sector de Chirimoya estaban asociadas a 3 procesos críticos que reflejaban la no productividad de este sector: proceso de gestión de planificación y control de la producción, proceso de gestión logística y proceso de gestión de la calidad. / It is evident that economic poverty is one of the problems presented by underdeveloped countries, and that their reduction is related to the increase in productivity in MSEs, given the high impact they have represented over time. Many entities have identified the importance of agriculture in the economic sector of the country. Therefore, a diagnosis is necessary in the area. The purpose of this diagnosis is to have a reference of the environment from the general point of view, in which all the interactions, descriptions, particularities and existing processes can be observed. In this first stage of the diagnosis, it is carried out using a non-probabilistic sampling, which is a common method in the investigation. One of the many methods used for identifying diagnosis is the snowball sampling that allows finding the diagnosis of hidden populations where there is no way to know all the characteristics of a population. The benefit of using this type of sampling is that a single initial informant can put the researcher in contact with other sources. Further, based on the results obtained, it was identified that the causes of the problem of the Cherimoya sector were associated to 3 critical processes that reflected the non-productivity of this sector: process of planning management and production control, process of logistic management and process of quality management. / Tesis

The food supply chain has gained impulse over the past few years induced by the rising global demand for food; therefore, much emphasis is placed upon examining this class of supply chains. It also faces constant production, storage, and distribution challenges, wherein the key link for proper operation is the farmer, who engages in the agricultural sector, heavily impacted by low crop productivity, which interfer with economic development at a national level. Consequently, it is important to assess those farmers who belong to micro and small enterprises in the agricultural sector. Due to the characteristics of the population, a nonprobability sampling technique was used to assess micro and small cocoa producers in La Convención Province, Cusco, Peru. To such end, a snowball sampling model with distance boundaries was adopted because the population is unknown and hard to reach.

Drawing on rigorous foreign, both Western and non-Western, literature, this thesis introduces sexuality and its connected spatial conceptualizations to Czech geography. In the beginning of the theoretical part, I discuss the framework under which geography studies sexuality. Then, I discuss the crucial terminology while pointing out at some changes in it. After understanding some of the major terminological issues, I delve into a description of the multiple and diverse development of sexuality related geographies. Focusing on queer geography, I delineate the queer standpoint and concentrate on understanding the spatial construction of sexuality in space while unveiling the heteronormativity of space. Using the queer approach, I implicitly deconstruct the binary of public and private space by pointing out at its spuriousness regarding the sexuality. I present a queer bar as a typical queer space while revealing the sexual closetedness of LGBTIQ people. Then I introduce the school environment as, for the time being, a typical heteronormative space and institution. In the end of the theoretical part, I discuss the queer practices of destabilizing heteronormativity both at school and in public space. In the empirical part of the thesis, I discuss the methodology of my internet based chain-referral...

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Children are at increased risk for harmful lead exposure due to their behavior and the increased percentage of lead absorption. While lead levels and the possible adverse health effects vary by age and level absorbed, the medical field agrees that lead is a persistent public health issue of the first order. Importantly, Hoosier children are at an increased risk for possible negative side effects because of the small percentage of children who are being tested; despite the AAP’s recommendation. The Health Belief Model (HBM) provided a strong and appropriate framework for guiding this formative research about parents’ perceptions of blood lead testing. This study aimed to answer two research questions based on HBM concepts and utilized both quantitative and qualitative methods to help answer them. Using snowball and convenience sampling, 14 Hoosier parents were recruited to participate in this study during the spring of 2020. Parents were recruitment from four counties across the state with known high rates of lead and/or low rates of blood lead testing among babies and small children. The findings from this study yield broad suggestions for future work within the field of communication research and specific suggestions for applied communication campaign research and clinical interventions within the state of Indiana. This study suggests we still have a long way to go as a state in addressing the dangers of lead toxicity and increasing regular testing among Hoosier children.

A catch-related attitude measurement scale is used for discerning an angler’s evaluation of catching fish in four constructs (catching something, catching numbers, catching large fish, and retaining fish) in two studies. The first study was of resident (in-state) and nonresident (out-of-state) anglers at Sardis and Grenada reservoirs and the second was of hand grabblers and rod and reel catfish anglers. In the first study at Sardis Reservoir, there were no differences in catch-related attitudes between groups. At Grenada Reservoir, there were differences between groups toward catching large fish and retaining fish. In the second study, hand grabblers had stronger attitudes toward catching large fish than rod and reel catfish anglers but rod and reel catfish anglers had stronger attitudes toward catching numbers. Knowledge of catch-related attitudes can lead to more palatable regulations that enhance angler satisfaction and ultimately retain and recruit new and lapsed anglers.

Submitted by NELSON SEBASTIAN SILVA JEREZ null (sebastiancso@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-06-03T15:45:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Diss. 1.0250 q1.1 d1.1.pdf: 1053953 bytes, checksum: dabbaf4b25b2995244595fff57e611b1 (MD5) / Rejected by Ana Paula Grisoto (grisotoana@reitoria.unesp.br), reason: Solicitamos que realize uma nova submissão seguindo a orientação abaixo: O arquivo submetido está sem a ficha catalográfica e sem folha da comissão examinadora. A versão submetida por você é considerada a versão final da dissertação/tese, portanto não poderá ocorrer qualquer alteração em seu conteúdo após a aprovação. Corrija esta informação e realize uma nova submissão contendo o arquivo correto. Agradecemos a compreensão. on 2016-06-03T19:43:44Z (GMT) / Submitted by NELSON SEBASTIAN SILVA JEREZ null (sebastiancso@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-06-04T16:26:42Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Diss. 1.0253 q1.1 d1.1 PB.pdf: 1580963 bytes, checksum: 63e1b7ed787d321740c8976c47ebe8d1 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Paula Grisoto (grisotoana@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-06-06T16:40:21Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 silvajerez_ns_me_mar.pdf: 1580963 bytes, checksum: 63e1b7ed787d321740c8976c47ebe8d1 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-06T16:40:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 silvajerez_ns_me_mar.pdf: 1580963 bytes, checksum: 63e1b7ed787d321740c8976c47ebe8d1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-05-06 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Estuda o comportamento informacional de adolescentes em seu cotidiano e identifica como eles buscam, acessam, usam e compartilham informação, proveniente ou não da Internet. Analisa a veracidade da hipótese de que esta geração é dependente da conectividade providenciada pela Internet tem fundamento. Utiliza como ferramenta metodológica survey online, com amostragem por snowball sampling para recrutamento de participantes, e uso da técnica do incidente crítico. Os resultados demonstram que os adolescentes preferem buscar informação na Internet, e que a maioria deles tem conhecimento de técnicas apropriadas para recuperar informação, sendo que a forma mais utilizada de acesso à Internet foi o computador, com o telefone celular em seguida. Entende que os adolescentes usam informação em seu cotidiano para resolver lacunas pontuais em seu conhecimento, mas não como parte de um processo contínuo de aperfeiçoamento deste, ou para tomada de decisões. O tema da maior parte das buscas se refere ao consumo cultural. Não confirma a hipótese de que os adolescentes utilizam significativamente outras pessoas como fonte de informação. Encontra que adolescentes têm em sua maioria opiniões bastante positivas sobre bibliotecas, apesar de muitos as considerarem obsoletas ou ultrapassadas perante a existência da Internet e dos meios de acesso digitais à informação. Confirma que os adolescentes não utilizam suficientemente a Internet como fonte de informação em Educação Sexual, possivelmente prejudicando esforços neste sentido. / The everyday life information behaviour of teenagers is studied, and it is identified how they seek, access, use and share information, either from the Internet or not. The idea that this generation relies on the connectivity provided by the Internet to seek information is tested to assess to what extent this is well-founded. The methodological approach combines the use of an online survey, using snowball sampling for participant recruitment and the critical incident technique. The study finds that teenagers do, indeed, prefer to seek information on the Internet, and that most of them have knowledge of appropriate information retrieval techniques, with computers being the most commonly used mode of access to the Internet, followed by smartphones. The study understands that teenagers use information in their everyday lives to address specific gaps in their knowledge, but not as part of a continuous process of building knowledge, or for decision making. It finds that the majority of searches regards cultural consumption. The hypothesis that teenagers significantly use other people as information sources was not confirmed. It was found that teenagers have mostly very positive opinions about libraries, although many think of them as obsolete or outdated given the existence of the Internet and the digital means of access to information. The study confirms that teenagers do not use the Internet enough as a Sexual Education information source, possibly hindering efforts in this direction.

Il campionamento a valanga è considerato un tipo di campionamento non probabilistico, la cui rappresentatività può essere valutata solo sulla base di considerazioni soggettive. D’altro canto esso risulta spesso il solo praticamente utilizzabile nel caso di popolazioni senza lista di campionamento. La tesi si divide in due parti. La prima, teorica, descrive alcuni tentativi proposti in letteratura di ricondurre le forme di campionamento a valanga nell’alveo dei campionamenti probabilistici; tra questi è degno di nota il Respondent Driven Sampling, un disegno campionario che dovrebbe combinare il campionamento a valanga con un modello matematico che pesa le unità estratte in modo da compensare la non casualità dell’estrazione e permettere così l’inferenza statistica. La seconda, empirica, indaga le prestazioni del RDS sia attraverso simulazioni sia con una web-survey su una comunità virtuale in Internet, di cui si conoscono la struttura delle relazioni e alcune caratteristiche demografiche per ogni individuo. Le stime RDS, calcolate a partire dai dati delle simulazioni e della web-survey, sono confrontate con i valori veri della popolazione e le potenziali fonti di distorsione (in particolare quelle relative all’assunzione di reclutamento casuale) sono analizzate. / Populations without sampling frame are inherently hard to sample by conventional sampling designs. Often the only practical methods of obtaining the sample involve following social links from some initially identified respondents to add more research participants to the sample. These kinds of link-tracing designs make the sample liable to various forms of bias and make extremely difficult to generalize the results to the population studied. This thesis is divided into two parts. The first part of the thesis describes some attempts to build a statistical theory of link-tracing designs and illustrates, deeply, the Respondent-Driven Sampling, a link-tracing sampling design that should allow researchers to make, in populations without sampling frame, asymptotically unbiased estimates under certain conditions. The second part of the thesis investigates the performance of RDS by simulating sampling from a virtual community on the Internet, which are available in both the network structure of the population and demographic traits for each individual. In addition to simulations, this thesis tests the RDS by making a web-survey of the same population. RDS estimates from simulations and web-survey are compared to true population values and potential sources of bias (in particular those related to the random recruitment assumption) are discussed.

The past two decades have witnessed significant growth in home-based work (HBW), particularly home-based business (HBB) activity and self-employment. These phenomena are attributed to factors such as flexible organization of production. While some empirical accounts on HBW and HBB activity in Canada do exist, they have mostly been conducted at the national or urban level rather than in rural areas. This thesis, therefore, places greater emphasis on rural HBBs in Saskatchewan where out-migration of people is threatening the viability and sustainability of rural and small communities. It is argued that rural sustainability largely depends on economic viability. The study area for the research includes the City of Saskatoon and the countryside surrounding this city. <p>The overall goal of this research is to contribute to the discussion of rural sustainability by considering HBBs as a potential strategy to achieve sustainability in rural areas and small communities. Therefore, the primary objectives of the dissertation are to examine the nature and degree of relationships of home business activity between rural, rural-urban fringe and urban areas, and the implications on links for sustainability of rural households and communities; to examine the relationship of HBB activity to the concept of rural entrepreneurship and business development; and to assess the contributions of rural and small town HBBs to the sustainability of households and communities in Saskatchewan. <p>A combination of the concept of sustainable community development, the von Thunen model and the competitive strategy model (i.e., cost-leadership, differentiation, focus) provide the theoretical framework of the thesis. Through snowball sampling and mail questionnaire surveys, primary data on HBBs were obtained from Saskatoon and its surrounding regions in Saskatchewan for micro-level analysis. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were employed to analyze the data. <p>Major findings of the thesis include the linkages that HBBs create among places and the impact of links on community sustainability; and the apparent spatial variations in HBBs, motivations, competitive strategies, and benefits of home businesses from the urban core to the limits of the rural hinterland. It was also found that home businesses contribute positively to the sustainability of households and communities in rural Saskatchewan. Specifically, they generate significant revenue and employment opportunities for people, while supporting local economies through their networks, purchasing and selling of goods and services locally as well as keeping managers and members of their households in rural areas and small communities for considerable number of years. Indeed home-based occupation is a vital component of the mechanisms for rural sustainability. Also, this thesis proposed a rural-urban HBB model for future social science research. <p>Major conceptual underpinnings of the research include rural-urban relations; regional and community economic development, sustainable community development; rural entrepreneurship, home-based work, home business, self-employment, competitive strategy, and the von Thunen Isolated State model.