In today’s society sustainability has become a highly discussed topic due to the increase in global average temperatures and changing ecosystems. Despite differentiating views regarding the origins of these changes, a proportion of the society have begun to adjust themselves into having more green profiles. This has led to an uprising among the number of investors who focus on making socially and responsible investments. However, on the contrary, there is still a substantial proportion of investors who do not invest in environmentally, animal and human friendly products. Which in turn may negate the pace of the ethical and sustainable development of our society. This issue leads to this study’s research question: What are the reasons or hindrances as to why students at Umeå School of Business and Economics do not invest in SRI financial products?   The main purpose of this paper is to explore why individuals at Umeå School of Business and Economics do not invest in SRI financial products. Furthermore, the paper aim to have an extra emphasis on information. In addition to the main purpose, the thesis will investigate if any links exist between investing ethically/sustainable and one’s daily behaviour. In order to explore these purposes, the authors uses past research within this area together with theoretical concepts regarding “Investment Decisions”, “Markowitz Portfolio Optimisation Model” and “Pro-Social Behaviour”. To conduct this study, the paper uses a quantitative approach with both primary and secondary data. The primary data is collected through a survey sent out to 917 students at Umeå School of Business and Economics. In order to achieve the purposes of this study, the data from non-SRI investors was used to analyse their investment behaviours.   The results of this study indicate that the majority of non-SRI investors are men. Furthermore, the findings illustrate that the expected financial return of SRI and risk when investing is significantly related to the probability of not investing in SRI. Additionally, the results point at that the demeanour of not investing in SRI products are significantly due to a lower level of knowledge concerning financial return of SRI. In conclusion, the authors argue that the attraction of capital ethical and sustainable investments can be greatly increased by educating investors in SRI products. Consequently, the increase in awareness and attraction of capital can aid solving the ethical and sustainable issues that exists today.

Multivariate statistical methods, including recent computing-intensive techniques, are explained and applied in a medical sociology context to study infant death in relation to socioeconomic risk factors of households in Sri Lankan villages. The data analyzed were collected by a team of social scientists who interviewed households in Sri Lanka during 1980-81. Researchers would like to identify characteristics (risk factors) distinguishing those households at relatively high or low risk of experiencing an infant death. Furthermore, they would like to model temporal and structural relationships among important risk factors. Similar statistical issues and analyses are relevant to many sociological and epidemiological studies. Results from such studies may be useful to health promotion or preventive medicine program planning. With respect to an outcome such as infant death, risk groups and discriminating factors or variables can be identified using a variety of statistical discriminant methods, including Fisher's parametric (normal) linear discriminant, logistic linear discrimination, and recursive partitioning (CART). The usefulness of a particular discriminant methodology may depend on distributional properties of the data (whether the variables are dichotomous, ordinal, normal, etc.,) and also on the context and objectives of the analysis. There are at least three conceptual approaches to statistical studies of risk factors. An epidemiological perspective uses the notion of relative risk. A second approach, generally referred to as classification or discriminant analysis, is to predict a dichotomous outcome, or class membership. A third approach is to estimate the probability of each outcome, or of belonging to each class. These three approaches are discussed and compared; and appropriate methods are applied to the Sri Lankan household data. Path analysis is a standard method used to investigate causal relationships among variables in the social sciences. However, the normal multiple regression assumptions under which this method is developed are very restrictive. In this thesis, limitations of path analysis are explored, and alternative loglinear techniques are considered. / Science, Faculty of / Statistics, Department of / Graduate

Sweden is one of the countries in the world where investing in mutual funds is most prevalent among the population. The supply of funds in the market has increased significantly in recent decades as well as the public debate on ethical issues. This has contributed to the development of the market for ethical funds. There is no clear definition of what an ethical fund is but generally it is a fund that takes into account factors related to social responsibility in different ways. This study analyzes the ethical funds historical performance levels in comparison with the corresponding traditional mutual funds. Three questions have been answered with the help of quantitative and qualitative analysis. A computational model has been constructed in Excel to analyze historical data from a range of ethical funds and traditional mutual funds. The results of the calculations are the basis for the quantitative portion of the analysis. These have been supplemented by external expertise. The effects, which the commodity prices have had on the yield differences between traditional and ethical funds, have also been studied. In this study, the price of oil has been chosen to illustrate these effects. It is not possible to reliably reach any general conclusions about how ethical funds as a fund category have performed in comparison with the corresponding traditional mutual funds. However, a pattern is observed, that the risk levels for the selected ethical funds, during the periods studied when the market went sharply up or down, respectively, were higher in all cases. The reason for this seems to be the diversification problems that have arisen due to the ethical constraints, something that both the underlying theory on the subject and the discussion with one of Swedbank Roburs portfolio manager’s support. The increased level of risk has contributed to the fact that ethical funds have found it harder to reach an equivalent risk-adjusted rate of return when the bull and the bear markets were examined. / Sverige är ett av de länder i världen där sparandet i fonder är som mest utbrett bland befolkningen. Utbudet av fonder på marknaden har ökat markant de senaste decennierna och i takt med att samhällsdebatten kring etiska frågor ökat, har en ny marknad vuxit fram, marknaden för etiska fonder. Det finns ingen tydlig definition på vad en etisk fond är men generellt är det fonder som tar hänsyn till faktorer kopplade till socialt ansvarstagande på olika sätt. Denna undersökning analyserar etiska fonders historiska prestationsnivåer i jämförelse med motsvarande traditionella aktiefonder. Tre frågeställningar har besvarats med hjälp av kvantitativ och kvalitativ analys. En beräkningsmodell har byggts i Excel i syfte att analysera historisk data från ett urval av etiska fonder och traditionella aktiefonder. Resultaten från beräkningarna ligger till grund för den kvantitativa delen av analysen som därefter har diskuterats med extern expertis. Råvaruprisernas effekter på skillnader i avkastning mellan traditionella och etiska fonder har också analyserats. I denna undersökning har oljepriset valts för att studera dessa effekter. Det går inte att med säkerhet komma fram till några generella slutsatser kring hur etiska fonder som fondkategori presterat i jämförelse med motsvarande traditionella aktiefonder. Dock kan ett mönster observeras under de perioder som undersökts då marknaden gått kraftigt uppåt respektive neråt, nämligen att risknivåerna för de utvalda etiska fonderna varit högre i samtliga fall. Anledningen till detta tycks vara de diversifieringsproblem som uppstått till följd av de etiska restriktionerna, något som bakomliggande teori inom ämnet och intervju med en av Swedbank Roburs förvaltare stödjer. Den ökade risknivån bidrar till att de etiska fonderna haft svårare att uppnå en likvärdig riskjusterad avkastning när den uppåtgående och den nedåtgående perioden granskats.

In 1988, Galle Fort in Sri Lanka was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO. The new historic-preservation regulatory setup that came with this designation displaced its inhabitants in their own homes. This thesis examines on how these inhabitants negotiate preservation regulations and the government’s effort to maintain a “world heritage” status based on their view. It focuses on how people adapt to the newly regulated environment and create spaces for their own daily practices. This study identifies that there are people who follow the government rules and transform themselves into subjects, while others break government rules and create the lived spaces they want. In-between are the majority of people who both become subjects of the space and also negotiate with the government rules to create their (negotiated) living environments. Although the government has more power, the people with less power have been transforming the space to meet their own needs and create a sense of place. / Department of Urban Planning

The potential for aquaculture to be integrated within a large-scale irrigation system taking a poverty-focused approach was investigated in the Mahaweli System H irrigation system of North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Using a livelihoods approach an initial situation appraisal identified the potential for aquaculture to be integrated within existing livelihoods activities. The appraisal revealed that decreasing returns from farming and fishing seasonality were major sources of household vulnerability. Using fish caught from the tank fishery, small-scale cage-based fattening of tilapia was developed with participants in an attempt to mitigate seasonal vulnerability caused by fishing seasonality. Participatory technology development was conducted with members of two communities within Mahaweli System H. Upon identifying resources and formulating a research agenda with participants, pilot trials were conducted by fisher-farmers in USG village and by a group of female cage operators in RAJ village. The study identified several constraints to sustainability of the culture system such as variable and low availability of small tilapia with which to stock cages, poor feed quality and latterly, competition for feed inputs. Despite their initial enthusiasm, women were particularly disadvantaged in this process as they were unable to catch their own fish with which to stock their cages and became dependent on men to assist them. The study showed that the cage-based fattening system was able to help meet emergency household expenses, although it was not efficient enough nor practiced on a large enough scale to contribute greatly to household security. In this manner, holding and fattening smaller tilapia is comparable with livestock holdings. Further development of cage design and feed administration improvements are needed to reduce production costs and improve the economic viability of the system.

Driven by the overarching objective of promoting reconciliation through education, this thesis strives to unpack the first national goal of education set out by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Education, which involves nation building and the establishment of a Sri Lankan identity through the promotion of social cohesion and the recognition of cultural diversity in Sri Lanka's plural society. Within education, history teaching in secondary school acts as the main focus of the research, due to the relevance of this goal to the subject of history as well as the ability of history to shape the attitudes and perceptions of youth. As such, the original contribution of this thesis is the development of an understanding of how the goal of nation building is being carried out through the Sri Lankan education system by focusing on the subject of history, which in turn facilitates an analysis of the identity politics of teaching history in a multicultural post-war society. With the intention of developing such an understanding, the study aims to answer three research questions: 1) What type of nation is being built through history education in Sri Lanka?; 2) How is the ethnic and religious diversity which characterises the Sri Lankan nation being dealt with through history education?; and 3) How are Sri Lankan youth being aided in understanding the sensitive matters which impeded the nation building exercise in the recent past and resulted in the break out of the ethnic conflict? The thesis draws on an inductive approach, using qualitative research and secondary literature. Findings are generated from field work and textbook analysis. Conducted in four different districts around the country chosen based on their ethnic and religious compositions, field work involves the conducting of interviews with youth, history teachers, curriculum developers, textbook writers and other academics. This thesis argues that an ambiguity regarding the composition of the 'Sri Lankan nation' is being created through history education, with it sometimes being characterised as a purely Sinhalese-Buddhist nation instead of a multicultural one. This is most likely because the prominent players involved in the development of the curriculum themselves appear to be conflicted about the monoethnic versus polyethnic nature of the nation, with their views filtering through to the educational materials they produce. It is evident that the history curriculum predominantly contains Sinhalese-Buddhist history, with little information being conveyed about the history of the minority groups. Tamils and Muslims are portrayed as invaders and outsiders since the national story is narrated through the perspective of the Sinhalese-Buddhist community who play the role of the protagonist. With respect to stakeholder reactions, there appears to be a contrast in the attitudes of Tamil and Muslim youth regarding the portrayal of minority history, with Tamils being vocal about their anger towards the perceived bias, but Muslims being reluctant to discuss ethnic matters, preferring to sweep them under the rug. Finally, in terms of the ethnically sensitive matters in recent history, while some are completely omitted from the history lessons, others are narrated through a majoritarian perspective or glossed over by leaving out key pieces of information. Youth are therefore largely unaware of the contentious matters that led to the breakdown of ethnic relations in the country, despite having lived through a brutal ethnic conflict. These findings indicate the failings of the nation building exercise being carried out through history education. Instead of building a strong Sri Lankan identity, this type of education is creating confusion regarding the composition of the nation and adversely affecting the sense of belonging of minority youth. It is also creating a younger generation who are unaware of their country's past troubles. The recent spate of ethnic and religious violence that shook the nation highlight the need to address these weaknesses in a timely manner, with a view to promoting reconciliation through education.

This study explores the relationship between language learning strategies and learner variables of Sri Lankan learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) with special reference to their personality types to examine what implications these associations have for the teaching of ESL in the Sri Lankan sociocultural context. In order to investigate the above, a large and representative sample of the ESL population was chosen. The sample taken for analysis comprised 886 subjects from six secondary schools which operate under the Ministry of Education in the Sri Lankan government. These subjects belonged to three distinct subcultures as demarcated by their first language (L1), Religion and Ethnicity in Sri Lanka. Data were collected using two questionnaires - a language learning strategy inventory and a personality assessment questionnaire, between April 2002 and June 2002 in Sri Lanka. Two statistical tests were used to measure the associations between the learner variables and language learning strategies: Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and Univariate Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The findings show differences in strategy use or rather the ways the three groups learn the target language indicating that these strategy choices are closely correlated to their personality type, gender and religion/ethnicity. The findings also indicate that these variables affect the strategy choices both as collective and individual forces and when working as collective forces there is a complex interplay between these variables. While this study clearly demonstrates the association between learner variables and language learning strategies, it acknowledges the possible dangers in discussing these associations in cross-cultural comparisons. It also suggests the need for more ethnographic research to further elucidate the findings obtained in the current study. Based on these findings in the current study, this thesis strongly argues that ELT pedagogy cannot be independent of the Sri Lankan sociocultural context. It is therefore strongly suggested that ELT pedagogies should: (1) develop within the socio -cultural contexts of the learners; (2) be orientated to the culture of speakers of a Sri Lankan variety of English; (3) incorporate teaching material based on rhetoric indigenous to their culture. The study also shows the complexities of ESL instruction in the Sri Lankan socio-cultural context where its history, different cultures, first languages, ethnicities and religions all make a significant contribution to the learning/teaching of the target language. The challenge for teaching ESL in Sri Lanka is even higher given that all languages come with their own cultural, historical and ethnic trappings.

Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2001. / A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts (Honours), School of Humanities, University of Western Sydney, 2001. Bibliography : leaves 69-72.

Despite ecological, anthropological, and archaeological debate surrounding their desirability as habitats for human occupation, tropical rainforests have received relatively little attention in discussions of Homo sapiens' Pleistocene dispersal. Sri Lanka has yielded some of the earliest dated fossil and material culture evidence (c. 38-35,000 cal. years BP) for our species in a modern rainforest context beyond Africa. Nevertheless, assertions in Sri Lanka, and elsewhere, regarding early human rainforest reliance have been largely based on coarse or 'off-site' palaeoenvironmental records, and the overall role of these environments in human subsistence strategies has remained uncertain. This study applies stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis to Sri Lankan human fossil, and associated faunal, tooth enamel dated to between 36-29,000 and 3,000 cal. years BP, in order to directly test human rainforest resource reliance, reconstruct a stable isotope ecology, and develop 'on-site' palaeoenvironmental records for Late Pleistocene-Holocene Sri Lankan rainforest foragers. Stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis of modern Sri Lankan primates, and stable carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen isotope analysis of modern plant samples from the Polonnaruwa Nature Sanctuary, are also performed to investigate the ecology of Sri Lankan primates on which Late Pleistocene-Holocene forager subsistence strategies were focused. The results demonstrate that Homo sapiens relied on rainforest resources in Sri Lanka from c. 36-29,000 cal. years BP until the Iron Age c. 3 cal. years BP, even when open environments, and their corresponding resources, were available. This remains the case through periods of evident environmental change at the Last Glacial Maximum and even upon the arrival of agriculture in the island's tropical forests. The primate stable isotope data prove difficult to interpret as ecological niche separation in the absence of observation data. Nonetheless, humans were evidently able to not only use but also rapidly specialise in the exploitation of South Asia's rainforests.

The thesis is a study of Ceylon's only hill-station, Nuwara Eliya. Nuwara Eliya was established in 1829 as a military sanitarium and gradually assumed the role of a seasonal resort in the second half of the century. Located at 6,280 feet elevation in the temperate hill region, Nuwara Eliya came to have an important role in the social and recreational life of the British in Ceylon. The landscape resembled that of the English countryside, which inspired the British to shape the landscape in the image of their homeland. This thesis explores the sentimental attachment that British expatriates formed for Nuwara Eliya. Based on evidence from the nineteenth century writings of expatriates arid travellers who visited the hill-station, it suggests that the Romanticism prevalent during the period had a significant influence on the manner in which expatriates perceived and interpreted the landscape of Nuwara Eliya. Romanticism alone did not account for the emergence of Nuwara Eliya as an English village. It argues that romanticism, in conjunction with the following factors, contributed to the development of the English landscape of the Nuwara Eliya. The hill-station provided an accessible locale with a temperate climate and vegetation that offered an alternative to the heat of the lowlands. The British possessed a set of ethno-medical beliefs which held that such an environment was the one to which Europeans were best suited. In addition, the recreational preferences of the British and the specific recreational and social needs of the expatriate community contributed to the development of the recreational infrastructure of Nuwara Eliya. The development of the plantation economy was a further prerequisite for the growth of the hill-station. Perhaps the most important consideration, though, was the longing British expatriates experienced for their homeland which made them desire a viable substitute for England. The study was conducted through a survey of nineteenth century travel writings of individuals who visited or resided at Nuwara Eliya. A content analysis was performed on the travel literature to determine the attributes of Nuwara Eliya that were noted in the writings and which indicated the expatriate's and traveller's perceptions of the hill-station. Subsequent to the literature analysis, fieldwork was undertaken in Sri Lanka for a three month period in 1987. Archival research, conducted at the National Archives, Colombo, involved an examination of the diaries of the Assistant Government Agent of the Nuwara Eliya District, as well as nineteenth century English-language newspapers to assess the role of the hill-station in the social life of colonial. Ceylon. Fieldwork also entailed a period of time at Nuwara Eliya to compile photographic evidence and to permit observation of the landscape and the built environment. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate