Doctoral Dissertation Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

In the digital era, institutions of vocational education and training (VET) have emerged as transformational and flexible development environments; consequently, it is important to develop digital professional learning opportunities for... more

In the digital era, institutions of vocational education and training (VET) have emerged as transformational and flexible development environments; consequently, it is important to develop digital professional learning opportunities for vocational teachers who need to meet the requirements of their working lives. More research regarding such opportunities is needed in order to find new tools for planning and conducting studies on continuing professional development and to achieve and maintain the versatile competences required in vocational teachers’ demanding careers. This study aims to fill a research gap regarding advanced competence-based professional development by investigating the process of digital open badge-driven learning in the context of professional teacher education (vocational teacher education). The research question considers how digital open badges structure the gamified competence-based learning process in the continuing professional development of vocational pre- and in-service teachers. Theoretically, this study draws attention to the motivational effects of digital badging, gamification and the competence-based approach. The research aimed to explore vocational teachers’ different ideas, views and experiences of the competence-based approach to professional development of digital pedagogical competences; it also sought to investigate the structure and process of digital open badge-driven learning. The data were collected from Finnish pre- and in-service vocational teachers (n=29) in 2016 via group online interviews (n=6) and via online questionnaires in 2017 (n=329). The study draws on descriptive mixed research methodologies: qualitative content analysis, constrained correspondence analysis (CCA) and phenomenography. All of these approaches provide researchers with deep conceptual understandings and opportunities to draw new concepts and derive implications for novel educational practices. Further, the latter two studies provide a strong underpinning for further research related to the descriptive quantitative methodology and CCA. 8 • Digital Open Badge-Driven Learning – Competence-based Professional Development for Vocational Teachers The aim of the first sub-study was to reveal what motivates students in the badge-driven learning process. The study focused on mapping students’ experiences of stimulating and supportive digital open badge-driven learning, ultimately determining motivational factors affecting the digital open badge-driven learning process. The findings present a multifaceted model of recognising competence and embracing gamified learning to encourage students’ achievement orientation and intrinsic motivation. In the second sub-study, we viewed the process from the perspective of guidance and scaffolding, asking how students experience scaffolding in badge-driven learning. The results indicate that a stage model of scaffolding and instructional badging holds value in structuring the badge-driven learning process. The third study aimed to identify students who were particularly motivated by digital open badge-driven learning. The research question sought to explore what triggers learning in the badge-driven process, with results indicating similarities and differences in experiences based on the achieved skill-set level and competence-development continuum for vocational teachers. The findings also suggest the value of applying gamification and digital badging in the professional development of both pre- and in-service teachers. Based on our findings, we propose digital open badge-driven learning triggered by flexible study options that include customising studies and learning new and up-to-date competences. The final and fourth study further describes vocational pre- and in-service teachers’ experiences of the competence-based approach in digital open badge-driven learning. By explaining different aspects of the phenomenon, the study employed both constrained correspondence analysis and phenomenography to deepen our existing knowledge of digital open badge-driven learning. The results describe the impact of the competence-based approach on teachers’ professional development during the digital open badge-driven learning process. Each of the four sub-studies contribute to answering the study’s overarching research question: how do digital open badges structure the gamified competence-based learning process in the continuing professional development of vocational pre- and in-service teachers? The primary results from the various sub-studies and theoretical approaches culminate in defining digital open badge-driven learning process grounded on the badge constellation of competences. The entity of digital open badge-driven learning includes learning materials, badge criteria, instructional badging, scaffolding and peer support. This study offers insights into the process structure and layered design for applying the competence-based approach, digital open badges and…

This dissertation aims at presenting Chuck Palahniuk‟s novel Haunted as a portrait and symptom of the behavior perceived in the postmodern Western society, whose values, according to the author himself, correspond to “the opposite of the... more

This dissertation aims at presenting Chuck Palahniuk‟s novel Haunted as a portrait and symptom of the behavior perceived in the postmodern Western society, whose values, according to the author himself, correspond to “the opposite of the American Dream”. The main characteristic of such society is the individuals‟ difficulty in dealing with demands and constant changes in the individual, social and psychological spheres, a fact observed in the work of this American writer through the presence of marginal characters in a more often than not apparently unconscious search of self-acceptance or social adaptation. The reading proposed is mainly based on the writings of French theoretician Jean Baudrillard, who presents the assumption that the contemporary world is in a “post-orgy” state, haunted by three phantasies he denominates cancer, transvestitism and terrorism, which symbolize contemporary social issues related to politics, sexuality, communication and human relationships, among oth...

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my Principal Supervisor Dr Gavin Carfoot for his continuous support of my PhD study and related research, patience, motivation and immense knowledge. I would also like to thank my External... more

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my Principal Supervisor Dr Gavin Carfoot for his continuous support of my PhD study and related research, patience, motivation and immense knowledge. I would also like to thank my External Supervisor Professor Andy Arthurs for his guidance through the early stages of this research and my Assistant Supervisor Dr John Wilstead for his help towards the end. I also acknowledge the support received by the QUT Creative Industries Higher Degrees Research team who guided me successfully through the PhD administration process, and the financial assistance I received through my scholarship. My research project would not have been possible without the participation and enthusiasm shown by all case study participants. In particular I would like to thank Sunnyboys' band manager Tim Pittman, band members Peter Oxley and Richard Burgman and remastering engineer Rick O'Neil for all of their time and commitment shown towards my project. I would also like to thank Thomas Green, Darren Munt, Andrew Wass, Con Shacallis and Paul Francis for their involvement. We all shared a

Out of the new sources for financing films that emerged in the post-1990 Turkish cinema, Eurimages is the only non-domestic, supra-national one wherein support decisions are taken by the representatives of various member states. Eurimages... more

Out of the new sources for financing films that emerged in the post-1990 Turkish cinema, Eurimages is the only non-domestic, supra-national one wherein support decisions are taken by the representatives of various member states. Eurimages was established as a part of the framework of the Council of Europe in 1988 to foster co-operation amongst film professionals in the co-production and distribution of cinematographic works as well as to promote awareness and encourage the development of Europe’s cultural identity and diversity. Considering the experience of the first twenty years of Turkey’s membership of Eurimages, this research examines the contributions of a supranational cinema support fund - which demands a series of culturally sensitive criteria to be met - on a national cinema industry. In addition to the co-production, exhibition and distribution support provided by Eurimages, and its contribution to filmmaking practices, Turkish-initiative co-productions - those directed b...

Submitted to Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. [ABSTRACT: Situated at the intersection of 'deconstruction and 'feminist ethico-politics', the dissertation pursues this key question: how can one think of a ‘feminist intervention’ if no... more

Submitted to Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India.
[ABSTRACT: Situated at the intersection of 'deconstruction and 'feminist ethico-politics', the dissertation pursues this key question: how can one think of a ‘feminist intervention’ if no thought as such is able to work outside the structural closure of a language shot with the intentionality and representation that is ‘of the man’. One might argue that by positing the phallogocentric closure as the very horizon of meaning-making, ‘deconstruction’ forecloses any possibility of thinking feminism, which would be tantamount to thinking an outside while remaining in the inside of that closure, hence impossible. This dissertation proposes, on the contrary, that such a thought can be pursued through a closer understanding of a deconstructive notion of re-presentation where re-presentation both facilitates and resists change. ... ]

In this dissertation, we discuss how buyers practice purchasing strategies in an asymmetric power situation favoring suppliers, and how their purchasing strategies practiced impact their purchasing power and buyer-supplier relationships.... more

In this dissertation, we discuss how buyers practice purchasing strategies in an asymmetric power situation favoring suppliers, and how their purchasing strategies practiced impact their purchasing power and buyer-supplier relationships. Organizations enter exchange relationships to access required resources not produced internally, and are exposed to uncertainty from not being able to fully control or predict flow of resources. Consequently they become dependent on their partners. Their level of dependence indicates the influence, or leverage they might have on the partner. Thus, firms that are highly dependent on their supplier base have less leverage or lower purchasing power. This situation can be seen in several industries; e.g. in the airline industry, in purchase of oil/gas, in monopoly supply markets, or in several purchases made by humanitarian organizations. There are several forms of purchasing strategy practiced in such situations of low purchasing power. In an exploratory pre-study of vaccine procurement in the humanitarian setor, we observed that some weaker buyers had managed to influence their supply market for better purchase terms. Considering the predictions of previous research on constraint absorption of powerful partners, this influence was surprising. In general, the focus of research has been mostly on the stronger partner in an exchange relationship, and thus less is known about the weaker partners. Thus, in this dissertation, we set to understand the purchasing strategies practiced by weaker buyers, to understand how they can have more influence on their supply than perceived. To do so, first the interrelation between purchasing power and purchasing strategies was conceptualized, based on the study of multiple buyers of vaccines for developing countries. Observations from the same multiple case study were also used to explain how purchasing strategies practiced by weaker partners can impact the buyer's purchasing power. The predictions from this study were extended to a single case study where the impact of one specific purchasing strategy (cooperative purchasing) found from the multiple case study, was studies on the buyers' purchasing power. This dissertation adds to previous literature, by introducing a more complete understanding of ''purchasing power'' and its elements, by increasing the understanding of purchasing strategies by less-powerful buyers and their consequence, and by increasing the understanding of purchasing strategies and operations in the humanitarian sector.

This doctoral dissertation discusses the transmission and evolution of Bahrām Čūbīn stories in early Arabic and Persian historiography in fourteen source texts. Bahrām Čūbīn (d. 591) was a historical figure and general in the Sasanian... more

This doctoral dissertation discusses the transmission and evolution of Bahrām Čūbīn stories in early Arabic and Persian historiography in fourteen source texts. Bahrām Čūbīn (d. 591) was a historical figure and general in the Sasanian army during the reigns of Hurmuzd IV (r. 579-590) and Khusraw II (r. 591-628). The original stories were written in Middle Persian probably at the end of the 6 th century or at the beginning of the 7 th century and then translated into Arabic in the 8 th century. Both the Pahlavi versions and early Arabic translations are irretrievably lost. The extant versions are based on the Arabic translations. The corpus includes fourteen Arabic and Persian texts: Ibn Qutayba's (d. 889) Kitāb al-Maʿārif, al-Dīnawarī's (d. ca. 903) Kitāb al-Akhbār al-Ṭiwāl, Al-Yaʿqūbī's (d. ca. 905), Taʾrīkh, al-Ṭabarī's (d. 923) Taʾrīkh al-Rusul wa-l-Mulūk, al-Masʿūdī's Murūj al-Dhahab wa-Maʿādin al-Jawhar (written in 956), Balʿamī's Tārīkhnāma-yi Ṭabarī (written after 963), Al-Maqdisī's Kitāb al-Badʾ wa-l-Taʾrīkh (written 966), anonymous Nihāyat al-Arab fī Akhbār al-Furs wa-l-ʿArab (ca. 1000-1050), Firdawsī's (d. 1020) Šāhnāma, al-Ṯaʿālibī's (d. 1038) Ghurar Akhbār Mulūk al-Furs wa-Siyari-him, Gardīzī's Zayn al-Akhbār (written before 1052), Ibn al-Balkhī's Fārsnāma (written after 1126), anonymous Mujmal al-Tawārīkh wa-l-Qiṣaṣ (written after 1126), and Ibn al-Aṯīr's Kitāb al-Kāmil fī al-Taʾrīkh (written before 1233). These are the oldest extant Arabic and Persian texts including versions of the story of Bahrām Čūbīn. The findings of this dissertation include mapping the connections within the corpus, presenting textual evidence about the transmission, establishing probable lines of transmission and excluding others, and providing reasons for the diversity within the corpus. The study aims to answer the following questions: How are the texts linked together? What sources did the fourteen Arabic and Persian texts use? How were the stories of Bahrām Čūbīn transmitted? What can explain the diversity of the versions? Why did the Bahrām Čūbīn story continue to appeal to the writers? What characteristics did the stories of Bahrām Čūbīn have in the beginning? I argue that the extant versions must be based on multiple early Arabic adaptations which are based on multiple Pahlavi originals. The findings of this study deepen our understanding of the transmission of the Persian cultural and literary heritage, of which Bahrām Čūbīn stories form a part, in early Islamic historiography and bring forth many new connections and details within the corpus. The study provides lines of inquiry and material for further studies.

Cette these rend compte d’une recherche inscrite dans le programme empirique et technologique du « cours d’action », un programme d’anthropologie cognitive poursuivant conjointement (i) un but epistemique par la production de concepts sur... more

Cette these rend compte d’une recherche inscrite dans le programme empirique et technologique du « cours d’action », un programme d’anthropologie cognitive poursuivant conjointement (i) un but epistemique par la production de concepts sur l’activite humaine et (ii) un but transformatif par la conception d’aides favorisant des transformations majorantes de cette activite. La these s’inscrit plus particulierement dans un volet consacre a la videoformation des enseignants. La recherche dont elle rend compte poursuit des travaux anterieurs decrivant, analysant et modelisant l’activite des enseignants debutants afin de mieux comprendre les difficultes qu’ils rencontrent et les aider a mieux y faire face. Elle fait plus particulierement suite a ceux qui ont abouti a la conception de NeoPass@ction (neo.ens-lyon.fr), un dispositif de videoformation en ligne base sur la modelisation de l’evolution de l’activite typique des debutants du second degre dans une situation identifiee comme critiqu...

No part of this unpublished [research, project paper, dissertation, thesis] may be reproduced, copied, photocopied, transmitted, stored, in any form or by any means without prior permission of the author except as provided below: 1. Any... more

No part of this unpublished [research, project paper, dissertation, thesis] may be reproduced, copied, photocopied, transmitted, stored, in any form or by any means without prior permission of the author except as provided below: 1. Any part quoted, adapted, copied may only be used with proper acknowledgement to the author. 2. The author hereby grants INCEIF with a royalty-free license to use the author's copyright. 3. INCEIF and its library shall have the right to keep, reproduce, transmit copies (print and electronic) for academic and institutional research, teaching and reference purposes. 4. INCEIF Knowledge Management Centre has the right to store in a retrieval system, make copies (print and electronic) and supply copies of this unpublished [research, project paper, dissertation, thesis] if requested by other universities and research libraries.

In this dissertation, we discuss how buyers practice purchasing strategies in an asymmetric power situation favoring suppliers, and how their purchasing strategies practiced impact their purchasing power and buyer-supplier relationships.... more

In this dissertation, we discuss how buyers practice purchasing strategies in an asymmetric power situation favoring suppliers, and how their purchasing strategies practiced impact their purchasing power and buyer-supplier relationships. Organizations enter exchange relationships to access required resources not produced internally, and are exposed to uncertainty from not being able to fully control or predict flow of resources. Consequently they become dependent on their partners. Their level of dependence indicates the influence, or leverage they might have on the partner. Thus, firms that are highly dependent on their supplier base have less leverage or lower purchasing power. This situation can be seen in several industries; e.g. in the airline industry, in purchase of oil/gas, in monopoly supply markets, or in several purchases made by humanitarian organizations. There are several forms of purchasing strategy practiced in such situations of low purchasing power. In an exploratory pre-study of vaccine procurement in the humanitarian setor, we observed that some weaker buyers had managed to influence their supply market for better purchase terms. Considering the predictions of previous research on constraint absorption of powerful partners, this influence was surprising. In general, the focus of research has been mostly on the stronger partner in an exchange relationship, and thus less is known about the weaker partners. Thus, in this dissertation, we set to understand the purchasing strategies practiced by weaker buyers, to understand how they can have more influence on their supply than perceived. To do so, first the interrelation between purchasing power and purchasing strategies was conceptualized, based on the study of multiple buyers of vaccines for developing countries. Observations from the same multiple case study were also used to explain how purchasing strategies practiced by weaker partners can impact the buyer's purchasing power. The predictions from this study were extended to a single case study where the impact of one specific purchasing strategy (cooperative purchasing) found from the multiple case study, was studies on the buyers' purchasing power. This dissertation adds to previous literature, by introducing a more complete understanding of ''purchasing power'' and its elements, by increasing the understanding of purchasing strategies by less-powerful buyers and their consequence, and by increasing the understanding of purchasing strategies and operations in the humanitarian sector.

The rich medieval Icelandic literary record, comprised of mythology, sagas, poetry, law codes and post-medieval folklore, has provided invaluable source material for previous generations of scholars attempting to reconstruct a pagan... more

The rich medieval Icelandic literary record, comprised of mythology, sagas, poetry, law codes and post-medieval folklore, has provided invaluable source material for previous generations of scholars attempting to reconstruct a pagan Scandinavian Viking Age worldview. In modern Icelandic archaeology, however, the Icelandic literary record, apart from official documents such as censuses, has not been considered a viable source for interpretation since the early 20th century. Although the Icelandic corpus is problematic in several ways, it is a source that should be used in Icelandic archaeological interpretation, if used properly with source criticism. This dissertation aims to advance Icelandic archaeological theory by reintegrating the medieval and post-medieval Icelandic literary corpus back into archaeological interpretation. The literature can help archaeologists working in Iceland to find pagan religious themes that span time and place. Utilizing source criticism as well as interdisciplinary methods, such as animal aDNA, this work presents two case studies of often ignored grave goods. These grave goods are found in both Icelandic pagan graves as well as in the graves of the pagan Scandinavian homelands, spanning from the Stone Age up until the Middle Ages.

The learner-controlled structure of hypermedia is considered to be one of the most important strengths provided for education. However, this flexibility provided by hypermedia for learners brings about such navigation problems as... more

The learner-controlled structure of hypermedia is considered to be one of the most important strengths provided for education. However, this flexibility provided by hypermedia for learners brings about such navigation problems as disorientation, cognitive overload, distraction and loss of time. In this respect, in order for learners to cope with these problems, it is important to use metaphorical interfaces made up of metaphors as structures that provide clues to understand a new and complex concept, system or model. Thus, in the study, the purpose was to determine the effects of metaphorical interfaces on Information Technologies teacher candidates' navigation performances in educational hypermedia. This study gathering qualitative and quantitative data was designed as a mixed method research. For the qualitative dimension of the study, phenomenology was used, while the post-test control group model, one of real experimental models, was used for the quantitative dimension of the study. The participants of the study were 76 2 nd grade and 4 th grade Information Technologies teacher candidates attending the department of Computer and Instructional Technologies at the Education Faculty of Anadolu University in the Spring Term of the academic year of 2011-2012. In order to collect the data, the observation technique, focus-group interviews and the Hypermedia Navigation Performance Scale developed within the scope of the study-whose internal coefficient was found as α=.90-were applied. For the analysis of the quantitative data collected in viii Lisans ve Doktora eğitimim boyunca bilgi ve deneyimlerinden faydalandığım, derslerine katılma fırsatı bulduğum, tez çalışmamda desteklerini esirgemeyen değerli hocalarım Doç.

This dissertation would not have been possible without a number of people, places, and events to which acknowledgment is the least I can offer in thanks for all that has been brought to the support of this study. First and foremost, this... more

This dissertation would not have been possible without a number of people, places, and events to which acknowledgment is the least I can offer in thanks for all that has been brought to the support of this study. First and foremost, this work would not be possible without the Southeast Michigan Stewardship Coalition (SEMIS), and support from my committee and Eastern Michigan University (EMU), especially Dr. Rebecca Martusewicz, who has offered over a decade of mentorship as a teacher and a friend. The framework brought to this study would not have been possible without the mentorship of Dr. Martusewicz. It is through being her student that I was brought into relationship with the American Educational Studies Association (AESA), the American Educational Research

The dissertation examines the relationship between social and linguistic knowledge using a series of experiments eliciting linguistic convergence to Southern speech. I draw a terminological and theoretical distinction between previously... more

The dissertation examines the relationship between social and linguistic knowledge using a series of experiments eliciting linguistic convergence to Southern speech. I draw a terminological and theoretical distinction between previously observed input-driven convergence, in which speakers converge toward a linguistic form directly observed in the input, and expectation-driven convergence, in which speakers converge toward a linguistic form they only expect but do not observe in the immediate input. Using a novel Word Naming Game paradigm designed to elicit convergence toward expected rather than observed linguistic behavior, Experiment 1 finds experimental evidence for expectation-driven convergence, which had previously only been anecdotally observed; participants converge toward glide-weakened /ay/, a salient feature of Southern English, which they may expect but never directly observe from a Southern-accented model talker. The existence of expectation-driven convergence suggests that accounts of convergence relying on tight perception-production links where production is derived directly and automatically from the input cannot straightforwardly explain all instances of convergence. Experiment 2 investigates the perceptual underpinnings of input- and expectation-driven convergence using an auditory lexical decision task in which participants judge glide-weakened /ay/ items (e.g., bribe produced as brahb) as words or non-words. I find higher word-endorsement rates for glide-weakened /ay/ words for participants who have recently heard a Southern-accented (compared to Midland-accented) talker, even if the Southern talker never produces the /aI/vowel. Individual perception and production responses toward glide-weakened /ay/ show little evidence for strong individual perception-production links, though findings are consistent with an interpretation where perceptual shifts are a necessary (but not sufficient) precursor to production shifts. Finally, Experiment 3 uses a dialect-label manipulation version of the Word Naming Game and demonstrates that both top-down information about social categories and bottom- up acoustic cues independently contribute to expectation-driven shifts in production and perception. Further, reliance on these cues differs across dialect backgrounds, providing insights into the way sociolinguistic associations are formed and mentally represented. Taken together, findings support a model of cognition in which social and linguistic information are tightly linked.

The decision to relocate or to age in place can be a difficult one, mitigated by a variety of influencing factors such as finances, physical abilities, as well as social and instrumental support from family and others. This study focuses... more

The decision to relocate or to age in place can be a difficult one, mitigated by a variety of influencing factors such as finances, physical abilities, as well as social and instrumental support from family and others. This study focuses on the stresses of residential relocation to independent and assisted living facilities among older women living in Lexington, Kentucky. Participation entailed three semi-structured interviews as well as saliva and blood sampling over a period of 6 months, beginning within one month of the move. Measures of cortisol were used as indicators of stress reactivity. Distinct patterns of cortisol response have been identified, with those who indicated the relocation was the result of health issues or anticipated health issues showing the greatest degree of physiological stress reactivity. The majority of women reveal satisfactory psychosocial adjustment, with women indicating the move was facilitated by need for caring for ailing family showing the least amount of facility integration. Significant life events appear to be related to social integration, stress reactivity, and perceptions of facility life over the course of the first six months in residence. These results have implications for facility managers with regard to facilitation of new and prospective resident acclimation and possible interventions aimed at reducing adaptation time among those on waitlists for such facilities.

Terroir and collective reputations are two principal and interconnected elements believed to influence wine price and sales. In this dissertation, I examine the role of terroir (measurable features of the grape land) and collective... more

Terroir and collective reputations are two principal and interconnected elements believed to influence wine price and sales. In this dissertation, I examine the role of terroir (measurable features of the grape land) and collective reputation (eligibility for Vintners Quality Alliance, VQA) in determining the price, volume, and revenue of wine sales in British Columbia (BC). My research is highly relevant because this New World wine producing region is currently altering its terroir-based geographical organization and subregional collective reputation, and plans to introduce new appellations and sub-appellations. My first chapter provides an empirical overview of the BC wine industry including market structure, market shares, and regulations. My first analytical chapter on terroir consists of using hedonic regression to connect wine prices and terroir. By matching grape and wine production at a micro level, I examine how agronomic characteristics of grape land affect the price of wi...

The learner-controlled structure of hypermedia is considered to be one of the most important strengths provided for education. However, this flexibility provided by hypermedia for learners brings about such navigation problems as... more

The learner-controlled structure of hypermedia is considered to be one of the most important strengths provided for education. However, this flexibility provided by hypermedia for learners brings about such navigation problems as disorientation, cognitive overload, distraction and loss of time. In this respect, in order for learners to cope with these problems, it is important to use metaphorical interfaces made up of metaphors as structures that provide clues to understand a new and complex concept, system or model. Thus, in the study, the purpose was to determine the effects of metaphorical interfaces on Information Technologies teacher candidates' navigation performances in educational hypermedia. This study gathering qualitative and quantitative data was designed as a mixed method research. For the qualitative dimension of the study, phenomenology was used, while the post-test control group model, one of real experimental models, was used for the quantitative dimension of the study. The participants of the study were 76 2 nd grade and 4 th grade Information Technologies teacher candidates attending the department of Computer and Instructional Technologies at the Education Faculty of Anadolu University in the Spring Term of the academic year of 2011-2012. In order to collect the data, the observation technique, focus-group interviews and the Hypermedia Navigation Performance Scale developed within the scope of the study-whose internal coefficient was found as α=.90-were applied. For the analysis of the quantitative data collected in viii Lisans ve Doktora eğitimim boyunca bilgi ve deneyimlerinden faydalandığım, derslerine katılma fırsatı bulduğum, tez çalışmamda desteklerini esirgemeyen değerli hocalarım Doç.

We conduct an analysis of recent trends on the subfields of study that doctoral students in economics choose for their dissertations. By investigating data on the JEL classification codes of dissertations reported by the Journal of... more

We conduct an analysis of recent trends on the subfields of study that doctoral students in economics choose for their dissertations. By investigating data on the JEL classification codes of dissertations reported by the Journal of Economic Literature from 1991 to 2007, we find that the trends in the subfields of study of doctoral dissertations follow those of articles published at five major general-interest journals (American Economic Review, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Political Economy, Review of Economic Studies, and Review of Economics and Statistics). In particular, the co-movement pattern is salient in subfields such as Microeconomics (D), Health, Education, and Welfare (I), and Economic Development and Growth (O). Our findings suggest that the fashion exhibited in the top-notch research journals is one of the most influential factors when doctoral students choose a subfield.

Abstract: This study sought to identify emancipatory use of technology in the borderland by documenting, through individual and collective interviews, the experiences of seventh-grade educators of Virtual Middle School with a Learning... more

Abstract: This study sought to identify emancipatory use of technology in the borderland by documenting, through individual and collective interviews, the experiences of seventh-grade educators of Virtual Middle School with a Learning Laptop Initiative. The experiences ...

This dissertation explores how popular domestic beliefs regarding the meaning and value of disputed lands contribute to the protraction and resolution of international territorial conflict. Using comparative historical analysis and... more

This dissertation explores how popular domestic beliefs regarding the meaning and value of disputed lands contribute to the protraction and resolution of international territorial conflict. Using comparative historical analysis and artefactual field experiments, I find in Israel and Serbia that persistent popular unwillingness to relinquish claims to a "United Jerusalem" and "Kosovo and Metohija" have resulted from the extraordinary position of these territories in their respective national homeland narratives. These outcomes stand in stark contrast to Israel's largely popular withdrawals from the Sinai Peninsula, Southern Lebanon, and Gaza Strip, dominantly valued as strategic rather than cultural assets. They also contrast with Serbia's acquiescence to the political independence of both Bosnia and Montenegro, spaces of high concern for Serb political self-determination but relatively low territorial-cultural priority. The Golan Heights and the West Bank are also analyzed as disputed spaces wherein strategic and cultural narratives continue to contribute to conflict protraction. In doing so, I demonstrate how particular strategic and cultural narratives come to dominate public discourse over disputed spaces and, in turn, how these narratives constrain the policies states can legitimately pursue in these spaces. Ultimately, I find that popular perceptions of national identity can be as powerful a force in determining government policy as state security prerogatives.

by March, Kathryn S. All Rights Reserved PLEASE NOTE: The negative microfilm copy of this dissertation, was prepared and inspected by the school granting the degree. We are using this film without further inspection or change. If there... more

by March, Kathryn S. All Rights Reserved PLEASE NOTE: The negative microfilm copy of this dissertation, was prepared and inspected by the school granting the degree. We are using this film without further inspection or change. If there are any questions about the film content, please write directly to the school. UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

The goal of Ontario's Infant Hearing Program (IHP) is to screen all babies at birth, to identify the 3 or 4 out of 1000 babies expected to be deaf or hard of hearing from birth, and to provide supports and services to identified children... more

The goal of Ontario's Infant Hearing Program (IHP) is to screen all babies at birth, to identify the 3 or 4 out of 1000 babies expected to be deaf or hard of hearing from birth, and to provide supports and services to identified children under the age of six. Situating my research within disability studies to question normative assumptions about speech, language, and hearing, through interpretive analyses of IHP documents and parental interviews I examined how language and deafness are made meaningful through text and lived experience, and how parents come to make hearing technology and communication modality choices for their children amongst competing discourses of deafness and language. Although the identification of these few children is the IHP's justification for screenings, I found the discourse of screening constitutes these children's hearing levels as problematic and unwanted. Normative assumptions construct parental choice by presenting deafness as an unthinkable outcome of screening and spoken language services as the 'right' way to deal with this outcome. I also found the services and hearing technologies offered, and when they were offered, differed depending on whether a child has additional diagnoses and are assumed able to learn spoken language, demonstrating a hierarchy of normalization. Furthermore, the IHP's principle of fully informed choice and consent was found to narrowly reflect medical knowledges of deafness; iii comprehensive information about sign language and Deaf culture was not included. My analysis also found parents may resist medical knowledges of deafness and request alternate services as they get to know their child beyond diagnostic assumptions. These findings indicate parents and their children may be better aided by services that promote a wider variety of communication options from infancy, regardless of expected outcomes. My dissertation concludes with an exploration of ways the IHP can imagine deafness as something other than a problem. xii List of Appendices APPENDIX A-LIST OF ACRONYMS .

This dissertation explores how popular domestic beliefs regarding the meaning and value of disputed lands contribute to the protraction and resolution of international territorial conflict. Using comparative historical analysis and... more

This dissertation explores how popular domestic beliefs regarding the meaning and value of disputed lands contribute to the protraction and resolution of international territorial conflict. Using comparative historical analysis and artefactual field experiments, I find in Israel and Serbia that persistent popular unwillingness to relinquish claims to a "United Jerusalem" and "Kosovo and Metohija" have resulted from the extraordinary position of these territories in their respective national homeland narratives. These outcomes stand in stark contrast to Israel's largely popular withdrawals from the Sinai Peninsula, Southern Lebanon, and Gaza Strip, dominantly valued as strategic rather than cultural assets. They also contrast with Serbia's acquiescence to the political independence of both Bosnia and Montenegro, spaces of high concern for Serb political self-determination but relatively low territorial-cultural priority. The Golan Heights and the West Bank are also analyzed as disputed spaces wherein strategic and cultural narratives continue to contribute to conflict protraction. In doing so, I demonstrate how particular strategic and cultural narratives come to dominate public discourse over disputed spaces and, in turn, how these narratives constrain the policies states can legitimately pursue in these spaces. Ultimately, I find that popular perceptions of national identity can be as powerful a force in determining government policy as state security prerogatives.