By approaching the book of Jonah historical-critically, it has been indicated that the book of Jonah likely dates to the Persian Period (more neutrally the post-exilic period), is a parody on the prophetic traditions, and has a unified structure. It has been proposed by some that the book of Jonah was written for the Yehudite elite, as a meant, by the author, for his audience to reflect critically on themselves. When a literary-exegetical analysis was conducted of the book of Jonah, it was indicated that the author of the book employed various literary and stylistic techniques that contributes to the unified structure of the book of Jonah. It has also been indicated that all the prayers in the book is poetry, and serves to pause the narration, and are employed to emphasise their content. The author also inverts the typical Ancient Near Eastern values in his characterisation of the role players to thwart the reader's typical expectations of each. The application of social-scientific criticism then supports the theory that the book of Jonah is indeed a parody, and that its main theme in the book of Jonah relates to the compassion and mercy of Yahweh/God which outweighs his desire to destroy the inhabitants of Nineveh and their animals, and appears to be conditional, as repentence is a requirement. / Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Ancient Languages / DLitt / Unrestricted

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory study was to explore, with former study abroad participants, their perceptions of how their experience abroad has influenced them. The results of the study provide recommendations to prospective study abroad participants and to those that develop and advise for programs. Ultimately, the recommendations inform these constituents of the challenges that occurred while abroad, how participants learned to manage the challenges, and how their attitudes have changed since returning from study abroad. The study is based on the following three assumptions: 1) Participants in the study are potentially still learning and growing from the experience; 2) Participants understand and acknowledge that one can reflect on such an experience; 3) The participants are able and feel comfortable speaking and writing about their experience and the overall influence of studying abroad. With the use of a purposive sampling strategy, data was obtained from former study abroad participants through interviews, critical incident responses, and a focus group. Eighteen participants completed the interview process and also submitted a critical incident response. The focus group was comprised of five additional individuals. The findings of the study stated: 1.) An overwhelming majority of participants described dealing with cross-cultural issues - developing relationships with locals, overcoming language barriers, and understanding values, traditions and ways of life. 2.) All participants indicated that they learned to overcome the challenges faced through conversation with others, specifically with friends and other students, local community residents, and family members. 3.) All participants said they saw an increase in their open-mindedness towards embracing new experiences and perspectives since returning from the study abroad experience. The main recommendations of the study were the following: 1.) The learning outcomes associated with study abroad experiences should be prioritized throughout the program development phase and advisement process. Reflective practice should also be incorporated in order to further a participant’s learning and development; and 2.) prospective study abroad students should have access to a variety of stakeholders and content in order to support them in the study abroad decision-making process. Finally, participants should willingly engage in the decision-making process to ensure that they are making an informed decision.

Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of . DOCTOR of EDUCATION in the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 2004. / This research focused on describing "The Place of African Renaissance in the South African Education". The motivating factor is how African cultures can be restored through education. The research is intended to explore how the present education system can direct African education when faced with challenges that the African Renaissance would usher in. There is need to grapple with the problem of how the process of educational transformation as embodied in the current Philosophy of Education can transmit African values, cultures, norms and beliefs. The relevant literature reviewed the African Renaissance idea and its conceptualization. It debated two perspectives surrounding it; philosophies underlying the African Renaissance; Afrocentricity and the notion of this ideal; the dichotomy between African Renaissance call and the present education system. African Renaissance and education were studied with particular reference to African centered Psychology, African Philosophy and African centered curriculum. The qualitative ideographic research method was used in this research. Data was collected through interviews. Conversational analysis drew full transcript and recorded conversations that were carried out. Qualitative research was relevant in that the phenomenon under study was "seen throush the eyes" of the African people, thereby rejectins the deleterious formulations of theories and concepts in advance. Throush qualitative research, the perceptions, the feelinss and the attitude of the African people about the place of African Renaissance in the South African education were critically analysed. The findinss of the study significantly revealed that there is a place for African Renaissance in the South African education. The study further found that: African Renaissance could revive self-esteem amons Africans and renew African consciousness; African Renaissance was an ideal worth striving for; important education considerations should not ostracise African cultural backgrounds; the incorporation of African Renaissance at school level demands broad-minded educators with a particular character. The study furthermore revealed critical challenges facing the South African Education system, the African traditional culture of Ubuntu hold much promise and should receive significant consideration in education for the realisation of African Renaissance; there is an essential need for reconstruction of African consciousness among African learners; African educators are not better positioned to facilitate African Renaissance; and there is dire need for the reawakening of African languages. The most significant aspects of the recommendations address the incorporation of African Renaissance in the South African education. Both the indigenous African education and Outcomes Based Education (OBE) Curriculum frameworks are recommended in good stead for incorporation. The implementation thereof demands unbiasness and apolitical objectives. There is demand for making the present curriculum relevant to the needs of the African people in South Africa. African education needs to be globally competitive, and emancipatory without losing the notion of African identity.

The purpose of the present research was to investigate whether or not there is similarity of values between American and Japanese college students. The following research hypothesis was established: There is a positive relationship between the value system of the Japanese college students and that of American college students.

Health technology assessment (HTA) frameworks appraise the value of technologies – be they drugs, devices, procedures or services – to inform policy decision-making and resource allocation amongst alternatives within publicly funded health systems. The prevailing principles and metrics by which HTA is conducted were designed with adult health conditions and treatments in mind. The evidentiary and normative dimensions of HTA frameworks may have unique repercussions for drug policy and coverage decisions in children, but their relevance to child health has received almost no critical scrutiny in either academic or policy circles. Approaches to paediatric drug coverage approval and access currently lack child-specific data on social values and priorities, a core component of HTA in most countries with public drug funding programs, including Canada. This thesis presents a mixed methods study of social values relevant to child HTA and drug policymaking in publicly funded health systems, comprised of three original scientific contributions. The first of these is a critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) of the academic literature on the moral dimensions of child health and social policymaking across a range of disciplines and policy domains. The second is a grounded theory analysis of qualitative interviews with diverse health system stakeholders on the social values and health system factors relevant to child HTA and drug funding policy in Canada. The third is a stated preference survey of the general public that assesses societal preferences for health resource allocation to children as compared to adults, to generate evidence for priority setting on health technologies within Canada’s publicly funded health system. Together, these studies yield specific knowledge about the policy landscape for child health technologies in Canada, broad conceptual insights into the normative and methodological dimensions of child HTA, and a foundational understanding of the social values relevant to drug policy decisions for children. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Drug research, development and policy have historically excluded children. One area of persistent neglect is public policy on funding for paediatric medicines. In most publicly funded health systems, including Canada’s, decisions about which drugs to cover are made through a formal process called health technology assessment (HTA). This dissertation examines the role and challenges of HTA as applied to child health technologies, with a focus on the social values that inform drug policy for children. It addresses existing gaps in knowledge through the integration of insights from: 1) a comprehensive review of the academic literature on the moral dimensions of child health and social policymaking; 2) in-depth qualitative analysis of the HTA and drug policy environments for children in Canada, employing Ontario as a case study; and 3) a survey of the Canadian public on health system resource allocation for children. Together, these studies generate a detailed picture of the Canadian policy landscape for child health technologies, insights into the fit of current HTA approaches to the realities of child health and illness, and a foundational understanding of the social values relevant to drug policy decisions for children.

En ökad urbanisering medför en större betydelse av tätortsnära skogar. Sociala värden i tätortsnära skogar påverkas av flera olika faktorer, däribland den individuella upplevelsen. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur sociala värden upplevdes av besökare och vilka sociala värden som hade utvecklingspotential vid det tätortsnära skogsområdet Djurängen i Kalmar kommun. En webbaserad enkätstudie genomfördes som behandlade besökares upplevelser, åsikter och tankar om sociala värden vid Djurängen där 76 respondenter deltog. De viktigaste slutsatserna var att sociala värden upplevdes olika och att de sociala värden som hade utvecklingspotential var belysningen på de belysta promenadslingorna samt kartor och markeringar på stigar och leder. Sociala värden som kunde indikera på utvecklingspotential var uppehållsplatser, kulturarv och pedagogiska värden. Studien visade en komplex balans mellan respondenternas upplevelse av sociala värden.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between clothing conformity and personality type according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), of a selected group of adult males. Past research indicated that the MBTI had been used in relation to many characteristics such, as creativity, management style, and conformity. Clothing conformity had been investigated in relation to group membership and self-esteem. The researcher was unable to find any research done prior to this study in which clothing conformity and the MBTI had been used to study the relationship between personality type and clothing conformity. The sample consisted of 83 fraternity men from four Greek organizations at Georgia State University. Each respondent filled out the MBTI questionnaire, a clothing conformity scale, and a demographic form. A two to the fourth factorial ANOVA was used to analyze the relationships between clothing conformity scores and various personality types. The results indicated a significant difference in clothing conformity between extraverted and introverted personality types, with extraverts being more conforming than introverts. It also indicated a tendency for judging types to be more conforming than perceiving types. Although not statistically significant, the analysis showed some interaction effect between the extraversion-introversion and the thinking feeling dimensions on clothing conformity. The conclusions from this research are that the extraverts are more conforming in their clothing behavior than introverts, that judging personality types tend to be more conforming than perceiving types, and that the interaction between extraversion-introversion and thinking-feeling shows a tendency for the dependency of one dimension on the other. / Master of Science

The issue of "family values" was at the of political debate during 1992 president campaign. In this debate conflicting views over the conceptualization and understanding of just what constitutes a "family" were presented. This thesis examines how the "traditional family" model is used by the majority of Americans to marginalize and ignore the lives and needs of those whose family life does not conform to normative definitions of family. More specifically, it examines how the lives of inner-city racial and ethnic families have become a site around which a variety of discourses of danger about the erosion of "family values" are generated. In this analysis, relationship among space, race, gender and power in contemporary American is discussed. A major will be the representation and construction of racial and gendered identities. Using the Los Angeles riots and Dan Quayle's response, I will review the political discourse employed by Bush-Quayle administration on traditional family values to discuss how family is constructed by the dominant political culture group in U.S. Following an examination of these issues, I will then focus on community responses to Quayle's speech and discuss how these discursive practices are the process by which dominant scripts of the family are contested and resisted. / Master of Science

In the past, emergence of right-wing conservative moral reform movements has resulted in profound changes for our society. Two of the most visible examples would be the 18th amendment establishing the prohibition of alcohol and the movement to destroy communism in America, McCarthyism. since the mid-1970’s, a movement in America has been gaining strength to once again morally reform America. Some of the issues now on the new right agenda are: banning abortion, getting prayer back in school, and defeating the Equal Rights Amendment. In this study, we first draw an historical comparison between the current moral reform movement and one of the past (e.q. McCarthyism). Second, we test the relative explanatory power of two different theories that attempt to account for the origins of moral reform ideas using data 1977 and 1982. / M.S.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The World Values Survey has made a significant contribution to research in the field of values and value change, but a large amount of the research has been fashioned in a manner to tap values in industrialized and western states, rendering the theoretical models of explanation less than relevant for developing nations. This study aims to advance an understanding of value change within the South African context, particularly in light of the expansive political, social and economic changes to have transpired since 1990, whilst simultaneously addressing this issue of a lack of universal theory to understand value change. Primary amongst the theoretical frameworks addressing this issue of value change has been Ronald Inglehart's theory of a shift towards increased post-materialism in economically viable democratic countries. By subjecting survey data regarding value priorities from the South African rounds of the 1991, 1995 and 2001 World Values Survey to statistical analysis, the hypothesis of a similar situation in South Africa will be tested. After evaluating whether South Africa concurs with the post-materialist shift hypothesis, a unique dimension, including pre-materialist values, will be utilized in an attempt to establish whether South Africa has undergone any value change. This dimension is employed in the analysis of the 1995 and 2001 South African data, and whilst the value shift hypothesis promulgated by Inglehart appears largely unconcurred, an overall trend away from pre-materialism towards increased mixed type value priorities, with an ever so slight increase in materialists, has become evident. Although South Africa's value configuration is displaying an increasing convergence towards more moderate value orientations, most of the dynamics of change are manifesting themselves amongst and across various population sub-groups. South Africa's values are therefore undergoing relatively dramatic fluctuations, mainly reflected when the data are disaggregated for the various population sub-groups, the results indicating that longitudinal analysis along the pre-materialist/materialist continuum continues to be a more appropriate tool for tapping South Africa's underlying values. The consequences of these findings, for democratic consolidation, future political conflict, value change determinants and the appropriateness of this model for developing countries, will be assessed in detail. Consequently, by conducting these analyses, this research essay attempts to situate a global, but still largely Western theory, in a South African and developing world context. It thereby attempts to contribute towards filling a knowledge gap concerning the direction, degree and nature of the dynamics of value change. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hoewel die Wêreld Waardestudie sedert 1981 'n noemenswaardige bydrae gemaak het tot navorsing rakende waardes en waardeverandering, was dit tot dusver hoofsaaklik gefokus op waardes van geindustrialiseerde en westerse state. Dié fokus, het die studie grootliks van sy verklarende bruikbaarheid vir ontwikkelende lande ontneem. In hierdie opdrag sal daar gepoog word om die waardeveranderinge van Suid-Afrikaners, in die lig van die politieke- en ekonomiese omwentelinge sedert 1990, te beskryf. Dit sal gedoen word tesame met die aanspreek van die kwessie rondom die gebrek aan 'n universele teorie waarmee waardeverandering verklaar kan word. Ronald Inglehart se teorie, wat 'n skuif na post-materialistiese waardes in ekonomiese lewensvatbare state postuleer, was tot dusver die mees prominente teoretiese raamwerk wat waardeveranderinge beskryf het. Deur middel van die analise van die 1991, 1995 en 2001 data van die Suid-Afrikaanse rondte van die Wêreld Waardestudie, sal daar gepoog word om dié hipotese binne die plaaslike konteks te toets. Hierna sal 'n unieke dimensie, wat prematerialistiese waardes insluit, gebruik word om vas te stelof Suid-Afrikaners enige verandering in hul waarde oriëntasies ondergaan het. Hierdie dimensie is by die 1995 en 2001 studies ingesluit, en hoewel die resultate nie heeltemalooreenstem met Inglehart se hipotese nie, was daar 'n neiging weg van pre-materialisme in die rigting van meer gemenge waarde prioriteite, sowel as 'n baie klein toename in die aantal materialiste, merkbaar. Suid- Afrikaners blyk te beweeg in die rigting van meer gematigde waarde oriëntasies, en meeste van hierdie neigings manifesteer ditselfbinne en tussen die verskeie bevolkingsgroepe. Suid-Afrikaanse waardes ondergaan dus, in relatiewe terme, dramatiese veranderinge, wat veral na vore kom wanneer data vir die onderskeie bevolking sub-groepe afsonderlik geanaliseer word. Die resultate bevestig dat longitudinale analise in terme van 'n prematerialistiese/ materialistiese kontinuum steeds die beste metode is om waardeverandering binne die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks te meet. Die implikasies van hierdie bevindinge vir demokratiese konsolidasie, toekomstige politieke konflik, waardeveranderinge, en die toepaslikheid van die modelop ontwikkelende lande, sal in detail bespreek word. Hierdie studie poog gevolglik om 'n universele, maar hoofsaaklik steeds Westerse, teorie in 'n Suid- Afrikaanse en ontwikkelende staat perspektief te plaas. Daar word gehoop dat sodanige studie sal bydra om bestaande tekortkominge rakende die rigting, graad, en aard, van waardeveranderinge aan te spreek. The financial assistance of the National Research Foundation (NRF) towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at, are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the National Research Foundation.