Perceptions

Participants' perspectives of a multi-component, group-based weight loss programme supplement for cardiac rehabilitation: A qualitative study Addressing overweight and obesity in people with cardiovascular risk factors is an important aspect of cardiac rehabilitation, but minimal implementation of targeted strategies has occurred. The aim of this study was to describe participants' perspectives of a multi-component, group-based weight loss supplement to cardiac rehabilitation programmes. Four focus groups of participants completing the intervention (n = 16) and maintenance phases (n = 19) of the Healthy Eating and Exercise Lifestyle Program (HEELP) were conducted. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analyzed using an inductive process. The overall theme of participants' responses was that HEELP helped them reprogramme their lifestyle behaviours to achieve weight loss. The programme was unique compared with other weight loss programmes because it was delivered and developed by familiar and expert health professionals who tailored the programme to participants' health status. Themes included the process of recognizing and deciding to make a commitment to managing their weight problem and feeling supported by the group and the staff to do this. Participants valued the group-based structure and the

Due to reforms in the education sector, school managers need to appreciate the new policies and laws that guide school management, namely Children's Act and Basic Education Act. Management of resources while ensuring accountability and integrity to the public is equally crucial. The reforms emanate from the Education changes brought about by the new constitution dispensation and the devolved system of Government. The managers of schools need to appreciate the new policies and laws that guide the management of schools such as: Education being a basic human right, therefore being free and compulsory and schools being disability friendly. There is also the element of participation which is important. Management of resources while ensuring accountability and Integrity to the public is equally crucial. Sessional Paper No 1 of 2005 emphasizes improving quality completion rates both at the primary and secondary school level of education (MOE: 2005). There have been reports about the literacy and academic achievement of students in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) Examination that point towards a decline in academic standards. With all these, the overall outlook of school managers has to change. This paper explores the way forward to a better understanding and management of schools in a new kind of leadership, transformational leadership, hence the need for this study. The study aimed to establish teachers' and students' perceptions on the Principals' transformational leadership in Nairobi County, Kenya and correlate these to student academic achievement. Transformational leadership among the principals in Nairobi were examined and correlated with the study dependent variable, the student academic achievement. The two research objectives that guided the study were: (1) To find out the extent to which the principals in Nairobi County exhibit transformational leadership (2) To determine the correlation between the principals' transformational leadership and student academic achievement. A mixed method approach was adopted by the study where both naturalistic and descriptive survey designs were used. Qualitative approach was utilized to gather more in-depth information from the principals and other respondents. A total of 21 eligible public secondary schools were drawn from a sampling frame of 73 schools through stratified sampling method. A total of ten teachers, ten students and the principal from each eligible school were sampled and included in the study. A total of 21 principals from each eligible school were included in the study. The total sample size was therefore four hundred and forty one (441) respondents drawn from the selected 21 public secondary schools. Questionnaires and interview guides were employed to collect data. Likert items with a 5-point response scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree were included in the questionnaire. The data was sorted out and analyzed by use of descriptive and inferential statistics. Correlations and T-test were used to examine how well the transformational leadership factors correlated with student achievement. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft's Excel and data presented using tables. The results of the study indicated that (i) there was a moderate, negative correlation between student perception towards principals' transformational leadership and student achievement, which was statistically significant (ii) there was a strong, positive correlation between teacher perception towards principals' transformational leadership and student achievement, which was statistically significant. The study recommends action plan by TSC in establishing training needs and training principals in transformational leadership.

The enhanced accessibility, affordability and capability of the Internet has created enormous possibilities in terms of designing, developing and implementing innovative teaching methods in the classroom. As existing pedagogies are revamped and new ones are added, there is a need to assess the effectiveness of these approaches from the students' perspective. For more than three decades, proven qualitative and quantitative research methods associated with learning environments research have yielded productive results for educators. This paper presents the findings of a study in which Getsmart; a teacher designed website was blended into science and physics lessons at an Australian High School. Students' perceptions of such an environment are discussed. It also highlights the differences in the perceptions of students in junior and senior years of schooling. The paper also explores the impact of teachers in such an environment. The investigation undertaken in this study also gave an indication of how effective Getsmart was as a teaching model in such environments.

Background: Medical television programs offer students fictional representations of their chosen career. This study aimed to discover undergraduate medical students' viewing of medical television programs and students' perceptions of professionalism, ethics, realism and role models in the programs. The purpose was to consider implications for teaching strategies. Methods: A medical television survey was administered to 386 undergraduate medical students across Years 1 to 4 at a university in New South Wales, Australia. The survey collected data on demographics, year of course, viewing of medical television programs, perception of programs' realism, depiction of ethics, professionalism and role models. Results: The shows watched by most students were House, Scrubs, and Grey's Anatomy, and students nominated watching 30 different medical programs in total. There was no statistical association between year of enrolment and perceptions of accuracy. The majority of students reported that friends or family members had asked them for their opinion on an ethical or medical issue presented on a program, and that they discussed ethical and medical matters with their friends. Students had high recall of ethical topics portrayed on the shows, and most believed that medical programs generally portrayed ideals of professionalism well. Conclusions: Medical programs offer considerable currency and relevance with students and may be useful in teaching strategies that engage students in ethical lessons about practising medicine.

Background: Immunisation is a cost effective public health intervention in reducing morbidity and mortality from vaccine preventable diseases worldwide. In Nigeria, childhood immunisation against poliomyelitis is still bedeviled by setbacks which are multifactorial. Objectives: The objective of the study was to determine the knowledge, attitude and perceptions of adult males towards childhood immunizations in Nigeria. Methods: The research was a descriptive crosssectional study of adult males in the Ido-Osi local government area of Ekiti state, southwest Nigeria. Multistage sampling method was used to select 320 adult males for the study, and a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data. Statistical analysis was done using the Epi Info 4. P value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: Mean age (±SD) of the respondents was 48.4±12.6 years with range of 20-95 years. About half (50.6%) of the respondents were in the age group 40-59 years. 79.7% were married while only 2 were single with about two-thirds of the married respondents in monogamous family type. 82.3% were willing to support childhood immunization. The association between respondents' religion and education, and willingness to support childhood immunization was found to be statistically significant: (x 2 =51.53; df=6; p=0.0000) and (x 2 =65.48; df=6; p=0.0000) respectively. Conclusion: The study showed that the knowledge of adult males about childhood immunization was high. The perception of childhood immunization as a means of protection from certain illnesses was also common and most men were willing to support it. The support for childhood immunization was significantly affected by religion and level of education.

Gas flaring is the burning of crude oil's associated gas. In Nigeria's Niger Delta, the flaring process is usually very close to communities and their farmlands and has been implicated in serious environmental degradation of the region. Studies have suggested links between gas flaring and health problems in the communities and others have established relationships between gas flaring and poor agricultural yields. This study explores how the people in the region perceive gas flaring and what their attitudes are toward it. Ubeji town, a community where gas flaring takes place, was selected as a case study. It was found that the residents perceive gas flaring as hazardous to health, environment, and general well-being of the community. Most residents seem to be resigned to the continued presence of gas flaring activities in the community. The study, however, raised several questions on modeling perception and attitudes toward environmental problems in areas where political tension and economic adversity are prevalent.

In exploring the quality of schools' social system, this study provides insight into in which types of schools students may encounter barriers in developing supportive teacher-student relationships because of teachers exposing low levels of trust in students. Student culture and teachability perceptions are assessed as incentives for teachers' perceptions of students' trustworthiness. Information was gathered from 2,104 teachers across a representative sample of 84 secondary schools in Flanders (Belgium). A measure for trust in students was derived from the trust scales developed by Hoy and Tschannen-Moran. Multilevel analyses reveal that teacher perceptions of students' teachability strongly predict teacher trust. This underscores the importance of teacher perceptions of students' ability to meet the expectations imposed on them with regard to the formation of trust. Additionally, we show that teacher trust is affected by the organizational school context, although the academic orientation of the student culture plays no role.

Objectives: To study if Asian ethnic groups in Hawaii today maintain folk-based beliefs about dementia, have inadequate biomedical understanding of dementia, and differ among each other regarding perceptions of dementia. Design: The study adapts and expands a 2004 survey of ethnic groups on perceptions of Alzheimer disease demonstrating that ethnic minority groups hold more folk perceptions and less biomedical perceptions of dementia than Caucasians. This study surveys particular ethnic minority family members of elders admitted to four long-term care and inpatient facilities in Hawaii. Seventy-one family members completed surveys, including 23 Chinese, 18 Filipino, and 30 Japanese participants. Elders may or may not have had the diagnosis of dementia, though an estimated half of elders in all four facilities already held the diagnosis of dementia. Results: Findings indicated that Japanese and Chinese respondents in this study held perceptions about dementia that were more consistent with current biomedical understanding compared with their Filipino counterparts (mean differences/ percent correct for Japanese: 57%, Chinese: 56% versus Filipino: 38%; F ¼ 6.39, df ¼ 2,55, p ¼ 0.003). Filipino respondents were less likely than Japanese and Chinese respondents to report that persons with dementia can develop physical and mental problems-97% of Japanese participants and 82% of Chinese participants responded correctly compared with 63% of Filipino participants (Fisher's Exact test p ¼ 0.009). With regard to folk beliefs about dementia, variation occurred with no consistent trend among the groups. Conclusions: Low levels of biomedical understanding of dementia were reflected by all three subgroups of Asians living in Hawaii with less prominence of folk beliefs compared with prior studies of ethnic minority perceptions. Education did not predict variability in dementia perceptions among the groups. Lower levels of acculturation, suggested by primary home language other than English, may correlate with a perception of dementia that is less consistent with current biomedical understanding of dementia. Persisting folk beliefs about dementia and the evident lack of biomedical understanding, particularly the belief that dementia is a normal part of aging, emphasizes the need for more culturally tailored strategies in patient education about dementia and the importance of early intervention. (Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2014; -:-e-)

Information technology (IT) has become ubiquitous over the last three decades, underpinning every aspect of daily activity. In parallel, the provision of information technology has become increasingly more service-oriented, necessitating the managed delivery of cost-effective services. During that time, one information technology service management (ITSM) framework, the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), has emerged to become widely accepted as the predominant best practice framework. This includes within the education sector where there has been a significant and sustained investment in technology since the mid-1990s. Despite this investment and the increasing adoption of best practice frameworks such as ITIL, national assessment of information and communication technology literacy (ICTL) over the last decade has not demonstrated a marked improvement. Whilst there is research into the acceptance and use of technology by teachers in schools, little academic research has been conducted into ITIL implementations in small and medium enterprises (SME), particularly in the education sector. The literature on the perceptions of users and IT staff regarding ITIL as a mode of IT support, along with any effect this has on the use of technology, is another area of paucity. Both these areas are addressed by this study, the objective of which is to investigate ITIL Service Desk implementations in independent schools in NSW with a focus on IT staff and user perceptions and acceptance of the Service Desk function and processes. Also explored are any effects on technology usage frequency in the classroom and whether any correlation exists between this and the mode of IT support. The de facto status of ITIL as the common framework for delivery of IT services, with the Service Desk as the primary entry point, is confirmed by the findings, which also reveal an endemic avoidance of the Service Desk processes along with a preference for personal interaction for IT support. The positive and negative effects of perceptions are highlighted and while the effect on technology usage frequency is not quantifiable, perceptions of its increase predominate, despite the finding that this opinion is more prevalent in organisations that state no means of measuring this. This study makes practical contributions for IT support professionals by offering insights into everyday issues and has the potential to stimulate discussion on alternate modes of IT support.

Purpose: We seek to address a research gap by exploring individual (managers and employees) perceptions of a variety of issues surrounding diversity, in the Indian context. We focus specifically on how people perceive diversity and its influence on diversity management and its effectiveness. Design: The objective is to identify broad diversity issues and understand their organizational implications. We contribute by qualitatively exploring differences in perceptions of diversity by conducting in-depth interviews with 46 managers working in different sectors. Findings: We identify six broad themes: multifarious experience, mindset versus characteristics, managerial characteristics, prudent versus human strategies, few versus many challenges, and misconceptions about diversity that are likely to be useful in theorizing diversity issues, critical to organizations. Research Limitations: This study was conducted with one executive per company. Future research should include more employees of different age, gender, hierarchy, region, and religion from the same organization to crosscheck experiences and identify variances. Practical Implications: The discussion about broad diversity issues in India, and their analysis to understand organization challenges, facilitate management in developing diversity management strategies at workplace. Originality/ Value: Although researchers have emphasized the value of diversity and equality management practices to firm performance, much of this research has been restricted to western nations. Despite its importance to organizational performance, very few studies have addressed diversity in India. This paper presents a specific approach that may be useful for top management to develop strategies to overcome challenges to diversity for
better organizational performance.

Relations qualitatives entre conditions environnementales, morphologie et organisation dans la production d'ambiances sonores par Edith Normandeau Faculté de l'aménagement Mémoire présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de Maître ès sciences appliquées (M.Sc.A.

Public participation is a key ingredient of good governance and there are many advantages of involving stakeholders in the decision-making process. The European Commission identified the lack of stakeholder involvement as one of the major weaknesses of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). As such, the 2002 Reform of the CFP aimed to improve its system of governance by increasing the involvement of stakeholders in decision-making. Over the last decade, Scottish inshore waters have seen an increase in management measures focused on involving fishers, delegating responsibilities and decentralizing management. The present document investigates commercial inshore fishers' perceptions of participation in the decision-making process and attitudes towards a new management regime -the Inshore Fisheries Groups (IFGs) -which aims to increase participation in and decentralization of inshore fisheries management. A survey was conducted, through face-to-face interviews, and ordered logistic and multiple regression models created to identify which characteristics influence fishers' perceptions and attitudes. The present analysis concluded that, 5 years subsequent to the reform of the CFP, the majority of inshore fishers perceive themselves not to be consulted or involved in the decisionmaking process. However, and despite the fact that fishers are not completely certain of the potential of the IFGs to increase their participation in the management process, they have an overall positive attitude towards their implementation.

Through a qualitative research approach, the present paper aims to explore the range and type of ‘values’ and ‘costs’ in formulating overall Consumer Value (CV) perceptions, in association with two emerging processing technologies that at the outset are neither distinctly positive nor negative in the eyes of consumers, in two culturally variant contexts, namely a Western society where technology is often met with skepticism (i.e., the UK); and a non-Western society where technology plays a reassuring role regarding concerns about food safety and quality (i.e., China). Results reveal that the most important value and cost dimensions that define CV perceptions are reasoned and utility-related, in particular ‘functional (i.e., economic) value’ and ‘performance (i.e., taste-related) cost’. Moreover, additional value and cost types of affective nature play an important role, such as ‘emotional value’, ‘(dis)trust’ and ‘(un)familiarity’. Furthermore, a number of differences emerge when CV...

In the past several years, a number of scales have been developed that elicit a patient's self-assessment of the severity of his or her voice problem. The Voice Related Quality of Life Measure (V-RQOL) assesses a patient's perception of the impact of the voice problem on quality of life. Although this tool assesses the patient's perception of the voice disorder, it may not reflect the severity of dysphonia as perceived by a clinician. The GRBAS is an auditory-perceptual scale developed in Japan and used by clinicians to categorize the voice using five descriptive perceptual parameters: overall grade or severity (G), roughness of the voice (R), breathiness (B), asthenia (A), and strain (S). The purpose of this research is to determine the relationship between the patient's perception of voice related quality of life using the V-RQOL and the clinician's perception of voice severity using the GRBAS scale. Fifty patients with a complaint of a voice disorder completed the V-RQOL prior to their examination. In addition, 45 patients without voice complaints (controls) also completed the V-RQOL. All patients and control subjects were assessed by one of the voice clinicians using the GRBAS. For 25 of the subjects, both clinicians provided GRBAS perceptual ratings. Each of the two groups, were subsequently divided into subgroups consisting of those age 66 years and under and those over 66 years of age. The results indicate that the two clinicians were highly reliable in rating severity in the normal and voice disordered groups using the GRBAS scale. The results also indicate that perceived voice severity and voice-related quality of life are related; however, the relationship is a moderate one, which suggests that factors other than those directly related to voice quality may contribute to responses on voice assessment scales completed by patients. The relationship was stronger for the subgroup under 66 years old compared with the subgroup 66 years and older.

The traditional energy supply is receiving a great pressure in the post-soviet due to the increasing demand and diminishing resources. The role of renewable energy sources is crucial for meeting the future energy demand, especially in the residential sector. Current study reviews the perception of the current decision makers on the prospects of renewable energy penetration in the Khorezm province of Uzbekistan. It was discovered that high price of the renewable energy facilities and inability to fully replace the traditional energy supply serves as a disincentive while availability of crediting and public awareness may serve as an incentive. Avenues for renewable energy penetration in the residential sector of Uzbekistan are discussed further.

Graduated or Continued (Completion I, %) Graduated, Continued, or Received GED (a) (Completion II, %) At-Risk Note. Students may be counted in more than one category. Student characteristics and program participation were assigned based on the year of a student's final status in the cohort. (a)General Educational Development certificate. (b)Students who were identified as limited English proficient (LEP) at any time while attending Texas public school. (c)Students who were identified as LEP at any time while attending Grades 9-12 in Texas public school. (d)Students who were identified as LEP in their last year in Texas public school. (e)English as a second language.

This study examined faculty members' perceptions of blended teaching from several perspectives. A total of 73 faculty members in Turkish Higher Education context participated in the study by completing an online survey that combined quantitative and qualitative approaches. Based on a data analysis, the faculty members' perceptions were sorted into six categories: (a) satisfaction with blended teaching, (b) perceived impact on the role of the faculty, (c) perceived impact on student learning, (d) perceived impact on student motivation, (e) advantages of blended teaching, and (f) disadvantages of blended teaching. Findings indicated that faculty members were likely to agree that blended teaching provides a high degree of satisfaction and that it requires more time and commitment from the faculty. The faculty members perceived that blended teaching improves student learning and, to some extent, improves motivation. The faculty members also emphasized the importance of institutional support and the use of technology to mitigate student problems. This study presents these faculty members' perceptions, which are helpful for those planning to implement a blended teaching approach, and makes suggestions for trouble-shooting and taking advantage of the opportunities in a blended environment successfully.

The purpose of this study was to explore the women’s perceptions towards branded clothing in Pakistan. Survey methodology was used to collect the data and a total of 200 women from posh localities were interviewed for their perceptions towards brand clothing. Exploratory factor analyses were used to measure the results, four major factors were extracted, Status, Traditions, Quality and Values. The findings point to various marketing implications for managers and designers of branded clothing.

Integration has become both a key policy objective related to the resettlement of refugees and other migrants, and a matter of significant public discussion. Coherent policy development and productive public debate are, however, both threatened by the fact that the concept of integration is used with widely differing meanings. Based on review of attempted definitions of the term, related literature and primary fieldwork in settings of refugee settlement in the UK, the paper identifies elements central to perceptions of what constitutes 'successful' integration. Key domains of integration are proposed related to four overall themes: achievement and access across the sectors of employment, housing, education and health; assumptions and practice regarding citizenship and rights; processes of social connection within and between groups within the community; and structural barriers to such connection related to language, culture and the local environment. A framework linking these domains is presented as a tool to foster debate and definition regarding normative conceptions of integration in resettlement settings.

Objective. Eliminating health disparities, including those that are a result of socioeconomic status (SES), is one of the overarching goals of Healthy People 2010. This article reports on the development of a new, adolescent-specific measure of subjective social status (SSS) and on initial exploratory analyses of the relationship of SSS to adolescents' physical and psychological health.

Findings in recent studies indicate that, contrary to popular fashion advice, horizontal lines do not give the impression of larger body size . However, in these studies stimuli were presented concurrently with vertical and horizontal lines, and it is unclear whether the same effect is found in the absence of such perceptual anchors. In this study, 120 naive participants interacted with a female confederate wearing a dress with vertical stripes, horizontal stripes, or no stripes. Following this, they were asked to rate the confederate's body size. Results showed that the confederate was rated as having a significantly larger body size when she was dressed in horizontal stripes than when she was wearing either vertical stripes or no stripes. There was no significant difference in body size perceptions when she was wearing vertical stripes or no stripes. The practical implications of these results are discussed.

Background: Because community pharmacists are encouraged to provide clinical services, there is a need to determine the role perceptions of both community pharmacists and general practitioners (primary care physicians). Differing role perceptions are likely to result in barriers to pharmacists expanding their roles in health care. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether community pharmacists' and general practitioner's perceptions of the role of community pharmacists may be a barrier to pharmacists increasing their role in medication management. Other potential barriers were also explored that could provide a framework for future research. Methods: A postal survey to 900 and 1000 randomly selected community pharmacists and general practitioners, respectively, elicited the perceptions of these groups toward the role of community pharmacists. Likert scales were used to quantify the results. Results: The results revealed a gap in perceptions regarding the role of the community pharmacist, with general acceptance of the technical roles but less acceptance of clinical roles by general practitioners. Barriers to increased involvement of community pharmacists in clinical services included a perceived lack of mandate, legitimacy, adequacy, and effectiveness by both groups. Also observed was a lack of readiness to change by community pharmacists. Conclusions: This study suggests that there are significant barriers to community pharmacists increasing clinical services, both from the community pharmacists themselves and from the general practitioners. Attention to change management in a complex environment will be necessary if community pharmacists are to change their role toward more clinical services.

... They cannot be bargained or traded as can capital, votes, or official positions. ... But in practice such notions are often placed in their social contexts ... preeminent in a range of &#x27;rights&#x27; movements in the twentieth century&quot; (Capek 1993:8). Inclusion into full status within the political com ...

This study examines violence against women in Ghana and how it affects and is perceived by them. It looks at violence as experienced by Ghanaian women of varying ages, socioeconomic status and professional standing. It defines domestic violence as violence intentionally perpetrated by husbands or male partners-people known to be intimate associates. Domestic violence is approached from a multidimensional perspective by examining the multiple facets of violence against women: sexual, socioeconomic , cultural, pseudo-religious and mental torture. Women's perceptions of their rights, responsibilities, duties and abuses or violations are evaluated using open-ended qualitative questions in two major cities in Ghana: Accra and Kumasi. Policy responses to domestic violence are then examined by first reviewing what provisions exist in the country's constitution to address the problem and then the specific steps the government itself has taken. Civil society's response in the form of activities by non-governmental organizations is also reviewed. Finally, the effects of domestic violence on women's health and well-being are examined and suggestions for addressing the problem are made.

The evaluation of Game User Experience is an
emergent and important field in game and HCI research
due to its direct impact on the multi-billion dollar
interactive entertainment industry. Special attention
has been given to the shooter genre. This paper
focuses on evaluation of sports games. In particular, it
presents an ongoing project that aims to assess the
utility of triangulating several quantitative methods,
including eye-tracking, psycho-physiological data and
game telemetry. This research is an on-going
collaboration between Simon Fraser University and
Electronic Arts. Results of research including the
triangulation of this data for the evaluation of the NBA
Live 10 title and evaluation of these methods by EA’s
production team will be discussed.

Human security conceptions, service quality theory, critical social theory, and humanistic and social reconstructionist conceptualization of the curriculum have been used in this study to diagnose the quality of higher education (HE) in peace and security courses offered in Kenyan universities from the perspective of the student. The discourse emanates from the Kenya Government’s recognition of HE as key in solving the challenges affecting the country’s peace and security. This conceptualization is crucial in fast-tracking security reforms and dealing with the persistent peace and security challenges which the country faces. However, delivering quality HE amidst the recent explosion in demand for University education in Kenya has been a challenge and discourses on the dwindling quality of teaching and learning (QTL) delivered to University students in the country abound. The on-going dialectic contends that quality assurance in education is customer driven and the role of the studen...

A social rules perspective was employed to identify the elements of socially appropriate responses to unfair criticism in the workplace. Women generally endorsed for themselves response strategies based on stronger obligation and softer rights components, while men endorsed responses based on stronger personal rights expression and weaker obligation components. In support of the utility of a social rules approach to operationalizing context-specific expectations, behavioral responses based on gender and status-specific rules were evaluated as more effective on task, relationship, and self-respect dimensions than were rights-only, rights-plus-empathy, or submissive strategies. Results are discussed in terms of the development of a context-specific model of interpersonal competence and implications for interpersonal skills and assertion training.

The authors measured perceptions of safety climate, motivation, and behavior at 2 time points and linked them to prior and subsequent levels of accidents over a 5-year period. A series of analyses examined the effects of top-down and bottom-up processes operating simultaneously over time. In terms of top-down effects, average levels of safety climate within groups at 1 point in time predicted subsequent changes in individual safety motivation. Individual safety motivation, in turn, was associated with subsequent changes in self-reported safety behavior. In terms of bottom-up effects, improvements in the average level of safety behavior within groups were associated with a subsequent reduction in accidents at the group level. The results contribute to an understanding of the factors influencing workplace safety and the levels and lags at which these effects operate.

Background: The risk of falls is a major cause of disability in older adults. A single fall, for the elderly, increases the risk of frequent falls and often causes an increased fear of falling again, which can become debilitating. Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to test the effects of 12 weeks of proprioceptive training on the static and dynamic balance of older adults who have experienced at least one fall without compromising consequences. Method: The sample consisted of older adults, aged 60 to 80 years, randomly divided into two groups: an experimental group, which followed a proprioceptive training protocol at a physiotherapy studio, and a control group, which did not observe any treatment. Static and dynamic balance assessment was performed pre-and post-intervention. The tests administered were the Berg Balance Test for the evaluation of static balance, and the Four-Square Step Test, for dynamic balance. A questionnaire to assess confidence and fear of falling was administered at the end of the protocol. Independent sample t-test was performed to analyze differences between groups and two-way ANOVA to test the null hypothesis of no change different over time between groups (interaction intervention × time). A Chi-Square was performed to analyze perceptions. Conclusions: The results showed that 12 weeks of proprioceptive training effectively improved dynamic and static balance in older adults. The perceptions of the experimental group were more positive than the other one, in terms of the importance of physical activity to prevent the risk of falls, fear of falling again, and experience of falls during the last 12 weeks.

The gap between actual crime trends and public perceptions has cast a shadow over criminal policy since it became apparent -with the downturn in crime -in the mid-1990s. Neither the fall in crime nor the fact that this has gone unnoticed by the public is unique to this country. There are also other areas of social policy where public beliefs are out of step with reality. However, the 'perception gap' in relation to crime and punishment is especially large, and the distortions thus caused to crime politics are particularly serious. This is an important report and Ipsos MORI is to be congratulated for producing it. It brings together the key evidence to paint a picture of the nature and causes of these gaps -and it presents some serious challenges for the Government and the criminal justice system.

This article examines whether the emotions of frustration and optimism mediate, fully or partially, the relationship between leadership style and subordinate performance in the context of structural equation modeling. The findings show that transformational leadership has a significant direct influence on frustration and optimism, with the negative influence of frustration having a stronger effect on performance than the positive influence of optimism. Frustration and optimism are found to have a direct influence on performance, and the emotions, frustration and optimism, fully mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and performance. Thus, the effect of transformational leadership style on performance is significant, but indirect. D 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

In the last few years, interest in improving the teaching of translation increased immensely. Proposals of introducing many methods to raise students' involvement and centeredness in the process evolved and many concepts from other disciplines were implemented. One of these evolving concepts was Project Based Learning (PBL) which was popular across many education fields: the main essence of it is involving the students in an authentic and practical translation project. This article investigates the experiences of Saudi under-preparation-translators in a Computer Aided Translation (CAT) course that was introduced using the PBL method. Using qualitative methods (mainly interviews and observations), students' receptions were collected and analyzed and themes were elicited to report the students' attitude to PBL method. Although many positive experiences such as autonomy and team work skills were reported, some indicated the concerns of the practicality of the procedure as well as time issues.

This article describes caregivers’ perceptions of communication strategies that are useful in their care practice when assisting individuals with moderate and severe Alzheimer’s disease (AD) during the completion of activities of daily living (ADLs). A total of 10 formal caregivers participated in one-hour semi-structured focus group interviews (FGIs) conducted at two different long-term care (LTC) locations (n = 5 at each location). To identify the strategies caregivers perceived to be effective, content analysis was the primary method used to examine the FGI data. Particular attention was given to identifying the frequency and extensiveness in which caregivers made reference to communication strategies during the FGIs. Caregivers discussed a total of 33 strategies that they perceived to be useful when assisting residents with moderate and severe AD during the completion of ADLs. The majority of the communication strategies discussed (64%) were task-focused and the most frequently mentioned strategies included the use of negotiation and explaining one’s actions to the resident. Greeting the resident was the most frequently discussed social strategy. In addition, two emergent themes containing a total of 12 strategies were identified, with the most frequently mentioned being establishing eye contact, familiarity with the resident, and postponing the task. Caregivers’ perceived use of communication strategies indicates that person-centred dementia care is a central aspect to facilitating the completion of ADLs.

Although balancing work and family commitments is a significant source of strain for working parents, working mothers in traditionally male positions face additional anxiety due to unfounded assumptions about their competence as employees, assumptions rooted in gender stereotypes. However, stereotype-based assumptions can also bias competence impressions of these working mothers in family domains, depicting them as bad parents. In four experimental studies, we documented evidence that working mothers are seen as less effective parents than nonworking mothers. Consistent with the argument that gender stereotypes underlie these findings, the bad parent assumption was apparent only for mothers and not fathers (Study 1), only when working in a male sex-typed occupation (Study 2), more intensely when job success was clear (Study 3), and only when working out of personal choice (Study 4). Similar patterns were observed in ratings of interpersonal appeal (e.g., likability, friend desirability, coworker desirability), relational judgments suggesting that there are also negative social consequences for working mothers.

Human security conceptions, service quality theory, critical social theory, and humanistic and social reconstructionist conceptualization of the curriculum have been used in this study to diagnose the quality of higher education (HE) in peace and security courses offered in Kenyan universities from the perspective of the student. The discourse emanates from the Kenya Government's recognition of HE as key in solving the challenges affecting the country's peace and security. This conceptualization is crucial in fast-tracking security reforms and dealing with the persistent peace and security challenges which the country faces. However, delivering quality HE amidst the recent explosion in demand for University education in Kenya has been a challenge and discourses on the dwindling quality of teaching and learning (QTL) delivered to University students in the country abound. The ongoing dialectic contends that quality assurance in education is customer driven and the role of the student in evaluation of quality of education is categorical in determining viability of the programmes and self efficacy of the graduands. Using the positivistic-interpretivist paradigm, a total of 152 diploma and undergraduate students from five universities in Kenya participated in the study. Data were collected by use of a modified Service Performance (SERVPERF) questionnaire and interview schedules. The data were analysed both qualitatively by generating themes and categories and quantitatively by use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study found that whereas students hold high perceptions of course relevance, their overall perceptions of the QTL in such aspects as facilities, lecturers, teaching methodology, curriculum evaluation and programme content design was low. The study recommends that the universities should mobilize resources to improve the quality of their teaching and learning resources while intensifying practical training and improving the quality of assessment to minimize overreliance on written examinations in evaluating students. Further study of the role of HE in peace and security studies in reinforcing peacebulding and security management in the East African region is equally imperative.

This paper explores the resurgence of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape of New Jersey in the latter half of the 20th century. This thesis argues that the American Indian Movement, with its strong advocation for Native existence and pride, along with Pan-Indianism, unity amongst all tribes, acted as a driving factor in the revival of the Eastern Woodland tribe, the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape. From the eighteenth century, tribes on the East Coast were forced westward and north, but the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape people remained hidden in plain sight on their native lands, to which they had been tied to for over 10,000 years. Parents taught their children to hide their native heritage in hopes that they would not be forced from their home as well. Generation after generation, fewer and fewer children were aware of their “Nativeness.” The Lenape traditions, language, and cultural practices which had only been passed down orally were beginning to fade away. By the 1960’s, what started off as a survival...

Previous studies have reported mixed findings on the associations between neighbourhood greenness and physical activity. This may be because different methods employed in these studies to measure greenness capture different aspects of greenness. This study examined agreement between perceived greenness of neighbourhoods and an objective measure of greenness using a normalised vegetation index (NDVI). A mail survey collected data on perceived greenness from adults (N = 94) living in Warrnambool, Australia. Participants to the study were randomly selected from areas classified as 'high' or 'low' greenness, based on satellite imagery data using a mean NDVI value calculated from a 400 m buffer around each respondent's address. Results indicate that there was a lack of agreement between the perceived and objective measures of greenness, suggesting that these measures are capturing different aspects of neighbourhood greenness.

Although the flipped classroom has attracted much attention, the flipped classroom research in the English teaching context has not been widely explored. This research is intended (1) to explore the general responses of English teachers toward the flipped classroom methodology and (2) to investigate the perceived benefits and challenges of its implementation in English teaching. The total of 10 English teachers from different institutions that applied flipped classroom participated in this research. The data were collected by using questionnaire and interviews. The data were analyzed by using quantitative descriptive and qualitative data analysis. The results reveal that English teachers have positive responses to the flipped classroom methodology. Some perceived benefits of its implementation are facilitating active learning, developing collaborative teamwork, stimulating autonomous learning, and increasing classroom interaction. Meanwhile, the perceived challenges of its implement...

In the recent years, the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) has been rolled out as an innovative scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), to impart skills required by the industry training to empower the trainees and make them employable. Since over five years after the inception of the PMKVY has passed, this has become essential to examine the effectiveness of the PMKVY and its impact on the youth who had undergone this training. In this backdrop, the study focuses on the awareness and youth perception to be a part of the PMKVY training. This will enable the effective implementation of the PMKVY training in various parts of the nation

This study explored undergraduate tourism and hospitality student's views of the industry as a career choice. Three hundred and seventy-nine tourism and hospitality students, from eight Australian institutions, completed a questionnaire rating the importance of twenty factors in influencing their choice of career, and then the extent to which they thought tourism and hospitality, as a career, offers these factors. A number of factors have been identified as being significantly different. From the results it is clear that students generally do not believe that a career in tourism and hospitality will offer them the factors that they find important.

Purpose:
This paper explored relational repair strategies of YouTube influencers and their viewers. Based on a co-constructed perspective, both apologies and viewer reactions were analyzed.

Methodology:
The paper was organized into three studies: 1) two cases; 2) four commentary videos: and, 3) 120 comments. According to relevance to the study, six methods were utilized.

Findings:
For the first case, the apology was dominated by the pseudo-apology strategy and offender-driven sequencing. The former deals with what was said; while, the latter embraces how the apology was constructed. Although he attempted to apply the apology strategy, it was also based on pseudo-apology elements. By prioritizing his needs to cast himself as a victimized offender, he neglected the aggrieved parties. Both the commentary videos and viewer comments negatively perceived the apology. In the second case, she blended apology and pseudo-apology strategies, with the latter employed more extensively. Her apology prominently featured a context-driven sequencing that detailed the circumstances. The negative perceptions of both sample groups indicate her apology was insincere.

Research Implications:
It is notable that commentary videos have not previously been examined in socially mediated crisis communication research. Because the in-depth reactions play a significant role in YouTube, they warrant further analysis. To capture nuances in the complexities of apologies and reactions, a multi-method design encompassing both what is said and how it is constructed will benefit future research.

Cooperative learning (CL) is a well documented pedagogical practice that promotes academic achievement and socialization, yet many teachers struggle with implementing it in their classes. This study reports on the perceptions of 10, middle-year teachers who implemented cooperative learning in a unit of work across two school terms. Data from the interviews indicated that while the teachers had positive experiences with CL, a number encountered difficulties with implementing it in their classrooms. Issues identified included students socializing during group activities and not working, managing time effectively, and the preparation required. Other issues that the teachers identified as being important for successful group work included the composition of the groups, the task the group was to undertake, the social skills training needed, and the assessment of the learning that occurred in the group.

It is estimated that 23% of the girls in secondary schools in Kenya drop out of school each year as a result of teenage pregnancy. Findings of the Kenya Aids Indicator Survey of 2007 indicate that the HIV and STI prevalence rate is 7 for Rift Valley province, that is, 7 out of every 1000 people have HIV and STI. The drop-out rate for girls in Uasin Gishu district is 2.1% while that of boys’ stands at 2.4%, according to Uasin Gishu development plan 2002 -2007. This is attributed to factors such as HIV, STIs and teenage pregnancies among others. In response to the rising number of HIV, STIs and teenage pregnancies and the resultant dropout rates in schools, the Ministry of Education intended to introduce sex education in secondary schools in Kenya to create awareness on the consequences of sex abuse in order to reduce school dropout rate on teenage pregnancies and STIs related infections. Debates on introduction of Sex Education in schools rages on and a lot of studies have been done on the pros and cons of this. But the opinion of children has not been sought. However, the intentions of the ministry were not realized because religious groups opposed it. In African indigenous culture, children are not consulted in decision making, but according to the United Nations Convention of 1989, children have a right to access information, participate and take responsibility in the society. Hence, need to seek their views. Therefore, this study sought to find out the perception of secondary school students on the need for sex education in secondary schools in Eldoret municipality, Kenya. Perceptions are vital since they shape students behaviour and attitudes towards their sexuality as well as morality. The research design for this study was a cross sectional descriptive survey aimed at collecting qualitative and quantitative primary data from students on their perceptions on the need for sex education. This was done through structured questionnaires and focus group discussions. A sample of 325 students was obtained through stratified and simple random sampling. The findings of the study showed that 53% of the students perceived the need to introduce of Sex Education in schools and so the idea is perhaps worth revisiting. The researcher therefore concludes that many students’ perceptions’ towards introduction of sex education in secondary schools is positive.

The study investigated the effects of cooperative learning on junior high school students who worked in structured or unstructured cooperative groups. Two hundred and twenty-three junior high school students participated in the study and worked in three or four-person, mixed gender and achievement groups. The results show that the children in the structured groups were more willing to work with others on the assigned tasks and they provided more elaborate help and assistance to each other than their peers in the unstructured groups. Furthermore, as the children in the structured groups had more opportunities to work together, they developed a stronger perception of group cohesion and social responsibility for each other's learning than their peers in the unstructured groups. 