The Internet and computer mediated communication offer new opportunities for communication studies. On-line individuals are encountering dramatic new possibilities for personal growth. This thesis critically interrogates these possibilities with its social psychological perspective. Through theory that owes much of its heritage to symbolic interaction, it asks questions about the virtualization of community and new manifestations of the digital self. Too often, commentators feel that community on-line is afforded simply by the connections that the Internet offers. Community, however, is most fully-developed when individuals recognize 'the other' such that they can most fully know themselves. A n empirical study of community networking is undertaken to support this concept and show that virtual community need not be an empty term. This study demonstrates that the way that people value information is more important than an information provider that is a good value.
The objective of this thesis is to address the fact that new reproductive technologies have been met with both resistance and acceptance by feminists. These contradictory attitudes are represented in differing feminist ideologies and also surface in individual women who experience contradictions in their values, feelings and actions when they make personal decisions regarding NRTs. In the first chapter, I develop a contextual approach to understanding NRTs that takes these mixed reactions into account by revealing the subtleties of the dialogues that occur between the oppressed and the oppressors. The purpose of the second chapter is to develop an ethical framework that can contend with women's deep-rooted ties to patriarchy, and is grounded in a relational understanding of personhood, enabling us to identify systemic features that shape women's decisions and values. In the final chapter, I flesh out relational concepts of equality and autonomy and demonstrate their potential role, alongside a relational interpretation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in guiding policy formulation concerning NRTs.
A co-axial tube arrangement, in conjunction with a modified version of the Axisymmetric Drop Shape Analysis (ADSA) protocol, was designed and used to investigate surface pressure - area isotherms of pentadecanol, C15, and octadecanol, C18, monolayers on pure water. This was done at several temperatures and the collapse pressure, molecular area at collapse, the limiting molecular area and the transition pressures were investigated. The error associated with the transition were also determined. Finally, we show that the shape of the isotherm does not depend on the initial monolayer structure for low molecular weight, insoluble alcohols. This was done by comparing two techniques to disperse the insoluble alcohol solutions onto a pendant drop. Octadecanol on water was used to test this approach because there was sufficient published data using the Langmuir trough and ADSA to make a comparison.
This thesis explores a traditional Native model of healing. This holistic approach to healing is based on Native philosophy which integrates the physical, the emotional, the mental and the spiritual aspects of being for the person to be healthy, balanced and in harmony. The healing process incorporates an experiential approach based on shamanic techniques of healing including breath work or controlled breathing, drumming, rattling, nature music and shamanic journey's during altered levels of consciousness where individuals can meet spirits, guides, animals and shamans to help them in their healing. Also illustrated is how patients and healers view Western medicine and Native healing as becoming a more integrated process. The fieldwork used a combination of participant observation, ethnographic interviews, and a transpersonal approach using experiential methods. The sample population included Native healers from different cultural groups across Canada, as well as patients/clients, both Native and non-Native, participating in traditional Native healing ways. The sampling method was non-random and does not intend to be representative of all healers or patients of traditional Native healing. Ethnographic information on healing ceremonies, the healing circle, pipe ceremony, sweatlodge ceremony and feast for the dead were gained through transpersonal participant observation. This method of data gathering is inherently qualitatively oriented, as opposed to quantitative. The therapeutic process involved in traditional Native healing, which produces a transformational healing experience for the patient, both physiologically and psychologically, is outlined. A n understanding of the healing process is provided through the biogenetic structural approach to consciousness, as well, the theoretical framework of analytic psychology as outlined in the personal and collective unconscious by Jung, and Gellhorn and Kiely's theory of the ergotropic-trophotropic process. In addition to the academic focus represented by the theoretical framework, an attempt has been made to present the healing process from the perspective of the Native worldview.
Recently, there have been attempts to interpret Kant's philosophical insights into the problem of free will in light of contemporary compatibilist theory. Such attempts typically underplay the importance of Kant's transcendental idealism. This thesis argues that the fundamental tenets of transcendental idealism are integral to a proper interpretation of the problem of free will, as Kant saw it, and to the manner in which Kant achieves a resolution to the problem. Of particular relevance, is Kant's contention that natural causation and freedom cannot both be possible without appealing to the transcendental distinction between appearances and things inthemselves. Since this distinction is the defining feature of transcendental idealism, I argue that the free will discussion of the third antinomy cannot be properly rendered unless it is interpreted from within the framework of transcendental idealism. Thus, this thesis offers an interpretation of transcendental idealism, an account of the interconnectedness of transcendental idealism and the third antinomy, and demonstrates the failure by contemporary compatibilist theory to capture the essence of Kant's thought regarding the issue of free will.
The existence of restricted shares has significant implication for a potential divergence of interest between external equity providers and "insiders", and the deeper the divergence, the greater the potential for underperformance. Application of this agency theory to "singles" suggests a lower performance compared to "matched" diversely-held firms. Based on a sample of 90 internally-controlled restricted voting firms with their corresponding "matched" firms identified using propensity scores, this study provides partial empirical support to theoretical implications. Between 1985 and 1994, Treynor's performance index of 0.012 and 0.011 for "singles" and "matched" firms respectively, confirms no significant statistical difference in long term stock market performance. Accounting-based analysis is also consistent with stock market performance, however, when the sample of Initial Public Offerings is analysed separately, "matched" firms actually outperform "singles".
