The Economy Of Typography (the Arrangement or Mode of Operation of Typography)

The thesis will show that the current research into legibility and readability regarding certain aspects or characters of type is incomplete, and will demonstrate what further research is necessary to complete the analysis of these aspects or characters in the economy of typography in continuous text. Chapter 1 will show that the development of reading depends on the legibility of the typography and characters ‘recognizing patterns, planning strategy, and feeling’ in other words reading and writing are interdependent all depend in some part on the construction of the characters and their relationship to each other. It will also show that readable writing is desirable and important for the reader’s sake. Chapter 2 will deal with the practical presentation of the characters of what the reading public read, and the role played by legibility and readability of typography in conveying their message. Printers and designers will also have a working knowledge and experience of legibility and readability which is incorporated into typograhy presentations, and this also is taken into account in chapter 2. Chapter 3 reviews the criteria and methods used in typography readability and legibility research. The research will show that readability is the ease with which the eye can absorb the message and move along the line, and legibility is based on the ease with which one letter can be identified from another. Chapter 4 entitled Analysis and Recommendations concludes the thesis with a summary of chapters 1, 2 and 3 before presenting a comparative analysis of current research into legibility, with particular emphasis on misreading or misrecognition of characters, and provides illustrations of the conclusions reached by way of bar chart and tables. Appendix One of the thesis contains a comprehensive list of the research into legibility and readability. Appendix Two contains the graphics of Benjamin Sherbow showing typography layout supportive of type spacing matters discussed in chapter 2. The thesis has an extensive bibliography of the works referred to throughout the thesis

A Taxonomy and Process for Structured Innovation, Creative Problem Solving and Opportunity Creating

Myriad problem-solving techniques exist, but the literature indicates that people and organisations lack appreciation of the range and nature of the techniques available, and do not fully understand the use, value and potential of such techniques. A more profound understanding of the role that different types of problem-solving technique can play and how they can be deployed more effectively in creativity and innovation processes would form a sound basis for the improvement of creative practices and innovation processes within organisations. This research aims to provide the means to improve innovation and creative problem solving by using more effective matching of participants’ cognitive styles to the techniques available. In order to achieve synergy in the relationship between the techniques and their users, this research examined the contribution that techniques make to the creative problem solving cycle, and the degree of creativity they encourage was explored first through a review of the relevant literature. This resulted in a novel classification of the techniques and the cognitive skills involved in creative problem solving. The relationship between people and techniques was investigated through a set of experiments in which individuals and groups undertook problem-solving exercises and responded to a questionnaire to evaluate their experience of the exercise. Participants’ preferred cognitive styles were determined so that problem-solving techniques could be selectively assigned to align with or be opposed to their preferred cognitive styles. Results were analysed using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The cognitive styles provided parameters for a taxonomic framework for the techniques. An improved approach to describing personalities based on a continuum of cognitive abilities instead of a set of discrete cognitive styles was a further outcome of this work. The results demonstrate that people show significant preference for problem-solving activities and techniques that are in accord with their preferred cognitive styles. A key conclusion is that people who follow such an approach will improve their ideation productivity in terms of quantity and novelty and will gain more satisfaction from their experience than those who do not. Analysis of the purpose of creative problem solving techniques and the cognitive styles that such techniques encourage, revealed synergy between paradigms used by psychologists and those used by technologists. The synergy between paradigms established a platform for a new creative problem-solving strategy

Persuasive trust building in oral financial presentations: An analysis of a narrative Investor Relations genre

The aim of this study is to better understand the nature and role of oral financial presentations (OFP) in listed companies' Investor Relations (IR) communication activities. Combining existing literature from two disciplines, accounting and business communication research, it identifies two different types of OFP: On the one hand, Earnings Calls (EC) which are closely related to mandatory Earnings Releases and can be seen as 'norm-based', and on the other, Analyst Presentations (AP) which are fully voluntary. Whereas the first group of OFP or EC has been studied to some extent, the voluntary form has received little attention. The present study is thus motivated by asking why and how listed companies present themselves to the financial community voluntarily. The main reason is seen in the necessity to promote the company's shares in the competitive markets. Moreover, the existing literature on EC has regarded them as a genre but has only analyzed different detail questions in presentations held in English without providing any theoretical framework. Therefore, by combining literature from different disciplines about IR and corporate communication, the present study develops a comprehensive genre framework for companies' IR activities and shows within this framework the nature and role of OFP focusing on the AP type or OFP(AP). On the other hand, however, the framework reveals the financial community's need of trustworthy information. The question is thus how listed companies solve this dual goal, share promotion and delivering trustworthy information, in their oral presentations with the help of the strategic reputational story, the Equity Story. This empirical study analyzes 17 recorded and transcribed OFP(AP) held in two European languages, German and Finnish. In order to describe the genre context of the companies' IR efforts, two surveys and six expert interviews were also conducted and analyzed. The findings show that there is a border crossing professional financial marketing rhetoric, which is, however, combined with local rhetorical features in practice. Due to the investors' specific need of trust, also the ethics of such rhetoric is discussed, with the conclusion that in AP, the genre rules make it a shared practice and thus help to share the meaning of these presentations well within the financial community

Appropriation en abyme: the postmodern art of Imants Tillers

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DXN055171 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

The Influence of Total Quality Management on Project Performance: The Case of Construction Organizations in Malaysia

This study examined the relationship between Total Quality Management (TQM) and project performance in Malaysian construction organizations. A TQM model based on the Malcolm Badridge National Quality Awards (MBNQA) was adopted. Data was collected using questionnaires from 161 valid responses having Grade 7 (G7) in the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) list. Pearson’s correlations and a multiple regression analysis were performed to investigate the association of TQM practices with project performance

THE PERCEPTIONS OF ELITE MALE GYMNASTS OF THE EFFECTS OF PUNISHMENT ON SELF-EFFICACY AND ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE

Existing literature suggests that coaches should use rewards rather than punishment for motivational purposes with athletes. The greatest argument against punishment lies in the evidence that the short-term positive effects on skill achievement are outweighed by the longterm negative effects on self-efficacy. Still, punishment is widely practiced within the coaching world; however, little research on coaching practices exists addressing the possibility that punishment could be utilized more effectively. As a beginning exploration of this topic, twelve elite male gymnasts were interviewed to determine what reinforcement their coaches used to motivate them. The results of the interviews seemed to reveal five conditions that could increase the effectiveness of punishment by minimizing the negative affect on self-efficacy of the athlete and the coach-athlete relationship. The first of these is perceived honesty from the coach about when the athlete is doing well and not doing well. Second, the athlete needs to know that the coach believes in his capabilities. Third, the athlete must trust in the coach and coaching plan. Fourth, the coach and athlete must have congruence in the assessment of the athlete’s effort and lastly the coach must be consistent with follow through of pre-set rewards and punishments. The study seems to confirm the Social Learning Theory tenet that individuals are not only manipulated through reinforcement but rather they have the ability based on their perceptions to choose to act on reinforcement strategies

Concept of a Robust & Training-free Probabilistic System for Real-time Intention Analysis in Teams

Die Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Analyse von Teamintentionen in Smart Environments (SE). Die fundamentale Aussage der Arbeit ist, dass die Entwicklung und Integration expliziter Modelle von Nutzeraufgaben einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Entwicklung mobiler und ubiquitärer Softwaresysteme liefern können. Die Arbeit sammelt Beschreibungen von menschlichem Verhalten sowohl in Gruppensituationen als auch Problemlösungssituationen. Sie untersucht, wie SE-Projekte die Aktivitäten eines Nutzers modellieren, und liefert ein Teamintentionsmodell zur Ableitung und Auswahl geplanten Teamaktivitäten mittels der Beobachtung mehrerer Nutzer durch verrauschte und heterogene Sensoren. Dazu wird ein auf hierarchischen dynamischen Bayes’schen Netzen basierender Ansatz gewählt

An experimental study of the effects of army recruitment television advertising on high school seniors

In order for Army recruiters in the Appalachian region to effectively reach their target audience through television advertising, they must know which segment within the overall stated target audience of high school seniors between the ages of 17 to 21 are most likely to be influenced by Army recruitment advertising. Recruiters must also determine the type of programming preferred by the primary target segment to enable recruiting messages to be placed in programming where it is likely to have the most impact and achieve maximum frequency of exposure among the most receptive audience

Design Literacy for Children

The goals of this thesis are to propose specific graphic design methods that can be used as a supplement to enhance the 8th grade English Language Arts Learning Standards of the New York State Department of Education. The thesis includes a guidebook for educators