An investigation of math anxiety at Kansas State University

Call number: LD2668 .T4 MATH 1988 W55Master of ScienceMathematic

Agriculture in Lydenburg, 1900-1960

African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented 16 May 1994Historians opposed to structural analysis and working with models that place a greater emphasis on human agency have argued that white fanners were always highly stratified. For the period before 1930, a number of studies demonstrated that this was indeed the case, but very little detailed analysis emerged to show that stratification continued after 1930, into the 1990s. Instead, despite some statistical analyses showing that 20 per cent of white farmers produced 70 per cent of output throughout the 1950s, the literature is still dominated by assertions that ‘white farming’ became ‘capitalist’ or ‘experienced an agricultural revolution’ sometime between 1930 and I960. These approaches are unsatisfactory, because they ignore the majority of white farmers who made only small contributions to agriculture's GDP. Although many of these farmers experienced structural transformations, they did not become ‘capitalist farmers’, nor did they fully participate in an ‘agricultural revolution’. These farmers remained dependent on state aid and cheap labour, and their inability to become independent profit maximisers has had important consequences for South Africa's current transformation. It has provided the economic context for many farmers’ right-wing allegiances. This paper attempts to make a contribution towards a more stratified picture of white farming. It focuses on the district of Lydenburg, where most whites today appear to support the notion of a ‘boere-staat’ The paper argues that districts like Lydenburg must be differentiated from more productive districts elsewhere in the Transvaal. Further, farmers within Lydenburg were also stratified, which meant that changes in the district always had an uneven impact. From this perspective rural transformations were not homogenous phenomena imposed from above. Every change was contested at a number of levels: by white farmers threatened by the growing dominance of the market, and by Africans seeking to maintain access to land. The paper focuses on how economic processes transformed Lydenburg. From 1902 the district was gradually integrated more fully into the wider South African economy, and experienced spurts of growth that raised most farmers' standard of living. However, the paper shows that farmers did not benefit equally from this growth. Some farmers were always more ready to take risks, and thus benefited the most, while others remained cautious, failed to expand their enterprises, and struggled to retain their land. A growing number of these farmers eventually gave up this struggle and moved to the urban areas. The paper also demonstrates that both economic accumulation and attempts to retain land in the face of hostile market forces were dependent on various forms of state aid

From cultural distance to cultural archetypes: an innovative approach to define cultural patterns

The purpose of this thesis is to present an innovative approach in the field of cultural studies, which emerges as the most recent and successful attempt to describe cultural patterns within and across countries. In 2015, cultural archetypes established as an alternative approach to the cultural distance construct, introduced by Geert Hofstede in the 1980s.ope

Max Weber and Pentecostals in Latin America: The Protestant Ethic, Social Capital and Spiritual Capital

Many scholars claim that Pentecostalism is the fastest growing religious phenomenon in human history. Using two important essays of Max Weber as a foundation, this thesis examines whether growth of Pentecostalism in Latin America is promoting the Protestant Ethic described by Weber as well as Social Capital and Spiritual Capital. Analyzing data from the World Values Survey, this thesis argues that growth of Pentecostalism in Latin America is not creating a new Protestant Ethic among its followers, nor is Pentecostalism creating any greater Social Capital or Spiritual Capital among its followers when compared to other religious groups in the region. This thesis argues that the strong emotional character of Pentecostalism weighs against the creation or Social Capital and Spiritual Capital and that the tendency of Pentecostals to find assurance of their salvation in emotional experience does not promote the frugality or rationalization of work necessary for the Protestant Ethic

Family-based activity settings of children in a low-income African context

Background: There has been an overwhelming call to improve the understanding of how children develop within an African context as Euro-American definitions of competence have been uncritically adopted as the norm for children in Africa. The activities that children engage in within the family setting are seen as important to understand how children develop within context. The use of activity settings is closely aligned with a strengths-based perspective of family-centred practice and contributes to improved sustainability of intervention. Objectives: This study that was conducted in Soweto, South Africa, aims to describe activity settings that typically developing young children in low-income African contexts participate in. Method: A descriptive design using structured interviews was utilised to obtain information about activity settings that children aged 3–5 years and 11 months engaged in. Structured interviews with 90 caregivers were conducted. Results: Findings show that children participate in a variety of activities with varied participation levels. The types of activities are dependent on the context and perceptions of caregivers. Conclusion: These findings draw attention to understanding activities that children engage in within the family context