This programme of research was concerned with an examination of the exercise behaviour change of a sample of Malay students living in five different cities in Northern England (Bradford, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Sheffield). The research methods used were a cross-sectional study (Study 1), an in-depth interview (Study 2) and a longitudinal study, divided into two parts - quantitative (Study 3A) and qualitative (Study 3B). These three studies were conducted in order to answer four main Research Questions: I. To what extent is Prochaska and DiClemente's (1983)Transtheoretical Model usefuli n examiningt he exerciseb ehaviouro f the students? A cross-sectional study (Study 1) was employed to answer the first research question. The respondents (N = 123) were drawn from two annual meetings of the Malaysian Students Societies at Leeds Metropolitan University and Leeds University. The results showed that there was a relationship between the stages of change and the processes of change, self-efficacy and decisional balance. On the basis of the findings of this initial study (Study 1), two new contributions to the field of exercise behaviour were made: a culture-specific exercise intervention programme was devised, and evidence was provided that the Transtheoretical Model is a wholly suitable vehicle for explaining the exercise behaviour of the students. 2. What factors influenced the exercise behaviour of the students? To answer the second research question, Study 2 (an in-depth interview) was employed, using 20 of the students from Study 1. Study 2 identified the factors that inhibit and those that enhance exercise participation. The nine inhibiting factors were: time constraints, attitude-related factors, lack of guidance, lack of exercise partner, lack of interest, poor weather, lack of child-care facilities, unhealthy physical condition and lack of experience. The five enhancing factors were: health and fitness, sociological factors, psychological benefits, good facilities and a history of exercise. The study also enabled the researcher to make three more contributions in the area of exercise behaviour. These were: the discovery of the "Proselytizing" stage, the fact that the Processes of Change Instrument fails to take into account "involuntary" factors and a proposal for revising the Stages of Change Instrument. 3. Is there any identifiable pattern of change in their exercise behaviour, over a period of time? Study 3A, which employeda longitudinals tudy,o ver an eight-monthp eriodw as able to provide an answer to the third research question. The respondents (N=110), Malay students newly-arrived in England, were contacted through the Malaysian Students' Societies in five different cities in Northern England (Bradford. Leeds. Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Sheffield). There were three data collection during the eight-month period of investigation (baseline, follow-up and third data collections). The results revealed that the processes of change scores increased in the Adopters groups, decreased in the Relapsers group, and remained substantially the same in the Stable Inactive and Stable Active groups. Study 3A highlighted the limitations of the Processes of Change Instruments used in earlier studies and revealed that the Marcus et al., (1996c) method of identifying Adopters and Relapsers was inadequate. It also suggested that "Stable Preparers" group should be identified as an additional group, apart from Stable Active and Stable Inactives groups. 4. What are the factors that caused the newly-arrived Malay students to relapse from exercise the over four-month period? Thirty students who were found to have relapsed, in the follow-up data collection (Study 3A) were invited to participate in this study. Of the thirty students, nineteen agreed to participate in the qualitative, longitudinal study. Study 3B revealed that weather conditions, lack of time and lack of exercise partner were among the most prominent reasons why recently-arrived students relapsed from exercising. Furthermore, the study also demonstrated that cultural and religious differences contributed to their relapse from exercise. Recommendations for future research, in this area also, are advanced.

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The objective of this research is to document sound marketing practice in Scotland's museums and galleries. This research was undertaken due to the increasing interest in marketing by museums themselves, and by those who fund museums. Before the research began there was a suspicion that the transfer of consumer goods marketing concepts to museums might be inappropriate, and that there was a lack of empirically based studies of marketing in museums. The literature review confirmed these suspicions. An explanatory approach using qualitative methods was therefore appropriate. Examples of sound museum marketing practice were identified by use of a panel of experts. The research was essentially an ethnographic study of what curators (managers) in the successful museums actually do. Whilst the techniques used are well established in many of the social sciences they are less common both in marketing and in museum studies. The research also made use of "Ethnograph" software for the analysi s of interview data, one of the first occasions this has been done in marketing research in the UK. The research revealed an inductively derived model identifying three important areas that successful museum curators have to attend to, namely, the management of the museum, the management of its reputation, and the management of its relationships with the museum's patron (funding) groups. It is this latter split that provides the key difference between museum marketing and commercial marketing. The research went on to discover how these three categories are dynamically related in a "spiral of success", and how the model can be used as a diagnostic tool to identify areas requiring attention. The other principal findings relate to the characteristics of successful curators. The research has implications for policy in areas including training, and the whole relationship between museums and those who fund them. In particular the idea that marketing will necessa is refuted.

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This programme of research contributed to the understanding of the process of fitness training adherence of elite netball players. It was designed to quantify fitness training adherence using a valid method of measurement, identify fitness training facilitators and barriers, examine the utility of social cognitive theories in predicting and explaining fitness training adherence and assess the efficacy of a theory-based intervention aimed at improving training adherence. In Chapter 2.1, the strong correlations between the diary measures and a 3-week recall measures for aerobic and strength training frequency (r = .64 and .70, p < .01, respectively) provided support for the construct validity of the diary method. Adherence was moderate for both aerobic (71 + 27%, M ± SD) and strength training (65 + 30%). Moreover, only 1 player (4%) managed to fully adhere to the recommended programme. Chapter 2.2 examined the utility of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Social Cognitive Theory in predicting aerobic training adherence. Neither of the theories significantly predicted adherence behaviour. However, within both of the theories, past training behaviour accounted for a significant unique portion of the variance in training adherence. In Chapter 2.3 a cross-case analysis of semi-structured interview data revealed that the key facilitators and barriers of fitness training behaviour could be usefully viewed within the framework of the revised Theory of Planned Behaviour. Chapter 2.4 examined the utility of Social Cognitive Theory, the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the revised Theory of Planned Behaviour in predicting fitness training adherence. The revised Theory of Planned Behaviour proved to be the best predictor of training adherence, accounting for 80% (77% adjusted) of the variance. Social Cognitive Theory and the Theory of Planned Behaviour accounted for 500/0 (41 % adjusted) and 21 % (11 % adjusted) of the variance in training adherence, respectively. Chapter 2.5 investigated the efficacy of an intervention, based on the predictions of the revised Theory of Planned Behaviour, designed to improve training adherence. Large effect sizes (0.93 - 3.80) for improvements in adherence between baseline and post-intervention were found for 13 players (760/0). A follow-up assessment over 7- weeks showed that players' training adherence remained improved.

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The thesis represents the analysis of a specific international sector, namely tourism and hotels, using perspectives drawn from international political economy (IPE). The major purpose is to illustrate the application of the emerging conceptual framework of IPE to demonstrate the value of this new approach in understanding international relationships. The central argument is that the conventional approaches of the discipline of international relations (IR) are too limited to account for change in social action at the international level and that the approach offered by new developments in IPE offers a more productive method of analysis and leads to more satisfactory explanation. A key issue in IR theory is the degree to which the conventional perspectives of the discipline are able to capture the full range of variables that influence outcomes in the international system. The new IPE attempts to resolve this issue through the concept of a set of power structures that broaden the scope of analysis beyond the restrictions imposed by traditional approaches in IR. International relationships are categorised through the structures of security, production, finance and knowledge, thus expanding the range of enquiry across a much more comprehensive spectrum of variables. A related issue is the relationship between politics and economics, which is conceptualised in the new IPE through the unifying concept of power, whether it is derived from wealth or the ability to coerce. Central to the new approach is an examination of sources of power within the structures, the use to which it is put and the outcomes that the use of power generates, within and between the structures. The empirical work was designed to demonstrate the strength of this approach through the analysis of a specific sector of the global political economy. The choice of a sector as the unit of analysis permits an examination of all key actors and relationships operating within the four structures. The case of the international hotel and tourism industry in Thailand illustrates the value of this approach by demonstrating the multicausal nature of observed outcomes and by revealing the source and relationship of multiple causal factors. The analysis thus brings out the roles played both by states and by the private sector and the way in which changes in the global financial system and, particularly, technology have generated change within the sector in varying ways and at varying times. The historical approach thus also brings out the dynamic nature of international relations as the changes within Thailand's tourism sector are described and explained through the analysis offered by the new IPE.

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No description available.