Ireland’s Rural Environment: Research Highlights from Johnstown Castle

ReportThis booklet gives a flavour of the current research in Teagasc Johnstown Castle Research Centre and introduces you to the staff involved. It covers the areas of Nutrient Efficiency, Gaseous emissions, Agricultural Ecology, Soils and Water quality

The Western Way: Democracy and the Media Assistance Model

International media assistance took off during a time where the ideological extremes of USA vs. USSR were set to disappear. Following the Cold War, international relations focused on democracy building, and nurturing independent media was embraced as a key part of this strategy. Fukayama called it the ‘End of History’, the fact that all other ideologies had fallen and Western style democracy was set to become the one common ideology. The US and UK led the way in media assistance, with their liberal ideas of a free press, bolstered by free market capitalism. America was the superpower, and forged the way around the globe with its beacon of democracy. Under that guiding light they would bring truth, accuracy, freedom of expression and independent reporting to the countries which had so long lived under the shadow of communism, or authoritarian media systems. This is what propelled and justified American foreign policy, and their media assistance, for many years. Much work was thus carried out in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet satellites, but many now question the impact and legacy of these projects. When the US and UK spoke of media assistance they seemed to mean ‘free market’. These days, the ‘democracy promoters’ focus has turned more to Africa and the Middle East. The ideology is apparently the same: to help establish and support democracy with a stronger and more independent media. But with Western economies, and their media systems, in crisis, the relevance of this media assistance model is questioned. This essay looks at the history of media assistance and the ongoing debate on the impact of media assistance over the long term, its motives and the new balance of power appearing in international media development

The Influence of the Servicescape on Post-Consumption Processes

The physical and atmospheric cues in service environments have long been accepted as potent contributors to consumers’ overall evaluations of their service experiences. Theoretical frameworks conceptualising how these environmental cues impact on both emotional and cognitive processes have been put forward, yet the empirical work supporting these theories has become highly disjointed with a great deal of confusion regarding what should be classified as an environmental stimulus. By integrating the extant literature, this dissertation attempts to overcome theoretical ambiguities and proposes a second order factor model of service environments, also known as the servicescape, which is subsequently tested using a multi-item servicescape scale that is developed herein. The service chosen to test the applicability of this model was a low involvement, utilitarian service. The rationale for this choice is that there is a dearth of research in services which are frequently used by consumers, with a greater emphasis placed on services which are more experiential in nature. The analysis demonstrates that the servicescape adheres to a multi-dimensional structure, wherein, each of the sub- constructs are related to one another through a higher level of abstraction. This dissertation also highlights the theoretical confusion that exists between the service quality and servicescapes literature. Rather than subsume the servicescape as an additional dimension within the service quality construct, it is proposed that the servicescape is theoretically distinct whereby it implicitly communicates to consumers the level of service quality they should expect to receive. This view regards the servicescape as an antecedent to service quality with service quality depicted as a parsimonious, two dimensional structure. This relationship is tested using structural equation modelling and it is shown how various aspects of the servicescape impact upon service quality. Emotional reactions are widely regarded as direct consequences of servicescape evaluations; similarly, consumption emotions are thought to be synonymous with customer satisfaction. This premise is tested through a comprehensive model which tests whether consumers adhere to a more emotive processing system, or to one where cognitive processes dominate. In addition, the model also elucidates how modelling the servicescape as a multi-dimensional structure allows one to determine which aspects of the servicescape are more salient than others. Finally, the dissertation concludes with a discussion on the implications of the findings as well as providing recommendations for further research in this area

Research Methodology at Level 8 and 9: a Web-enabled Approach

This research explored the potential use of webinars as a method of course delivery in the College of Business, Technological University Dublin. In-depth interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of students to gain insights into their experience with webinars and to delve into how they interacted with the webinar, whether they would prefer this mode of delivery in the future and to assess their overall perceptions of webinars. Findings indicated that students found the webinar to be a novel and innovative way for delivering course content, however, students reported having connectivity issues and at times encountered audio problems. Furthermore, all students described multi-tasking while taking part in the virtual classroom. Recommendations to the Institute include exploring the possibility of using webinars in situations where the traditional lecture is not possible (i.e. a contingency method of delivery), or to use webinars as part of a blended learning model, whereby webinars are not the sole method of course content delivery but are used in tandem with the traditional, face-to-face lectures

Is Media Assistance Obsolete? A Practice-Based Perspective on the Potential for Digital Technologies to Achieve Media Development Goals in Sub-Saharan Africa

The area of media assistance is not a widely known part of the Development Aid sector, even though it has been in existence since after World War II and has grown significantly since then as part of the development agenda. Media Assistance has been included in the strategies of Western and non Western donors as part of their overseas Aid programmes in many regions, supporting journalism and media with the objectives of contributing to accountability, transparency, governance and ultimately, democracy. This thesis examines the impact on the Media Assistance sector of the arrival of digital technologies into the ‘information ecosystems’ in which it operates. Whereas historically in Media Assistance, broadcast media and the press have been the preferred (or available) media for achieving development objectives, digital technologies such as mobile phones and social media are radically altering the landscape of Media Assistance. In Africa, where mobile phones are heralded as a “gift to development”, donors have been exploring the potential of these tools to achieve their development objective. As a consequence, the area of ICTs for Development (ICT4D) has flourished. At a time when the narrative in the western media has been of an “Africa Rising” and of techno-determinism, this research asks whether these digital technologies are indeed being used to achieve Media Assistance objectives in practice. If they are being integrated into media development programmes – or even replacing media development programmes - to what level of success? To answer this question, the thesis focuses on two countries in East Africa – Kenya and Tanzania – and interviews 40 stakeholders working in media assistance in these countries. The research finds that in fact many projects continue to use traditional methods. This is due to issues such as the digital divide, technical literacy, and continuing preference for traditional media by wider populations in these countries. Furthermore, the study notes that the virtual public sphere facilitated by the internet is not accessible to all, nor is it an ideal public sphere. Finally, citizens of these countries, the research finds, do not necessarily use these technologies for participation or accountability ends. Thus, despite widespread diffusion of technologies such as mobile phones in both these countries, there is still an important role for traditional media development approaches to achieve donor objectives in the new information ecosystem

Towards an Understanding of Students’ Use of Audio Feedback: an Exploratory Study

iCERi2010, Madrid, Spain

Exploratory Factor Analysis

Factor analysis examines the inter-correlations that exist between a large number of items (questionnaire responses) and in doing so reduces the items into smaller groups, known as factors. These factors contain correlated variables and are typically quite similar in terms of content or meaning. Unlike other methods discussed in this book, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) does not discriminate between variables on whether they are independent or dependent, but rather it is an interdependence technique that does not specify formal hypotheses. It is in this sense it is ‘exploratory’ in nature as it allows the researcher to determine the underlying dimensions or factors that exist in a set of data. The technique is particularly useful for managerial or academic research in reducing items into discrete dimensions that can be summed or aggregated and subsequently used as input for further multivariate analysis such as multiple regression. It is also used extensively in scale development research to condense a large item pool into a more succinct, reliable and conceptually sound measurement instrument. Factor analytic techniques can typically be classified as either exploratory or confirmatory and the former of these is addressed within this chapter using a research example to demonstrate it\u27s use

Advocating for the Improvement of Adolescent VCT Services in Malawi

No Abstract. Malawi Medical Journal Vol. 19 (3) 2007: pp. 118-12

Peering In: Improving Existing Buildings with Colorful Increments

Existing office buildings’ embodied energy, history and culture offer something a newly constructed building cannot. On the other hand, new office buildings’ adoption of new technologies and building philosophies offer a range of sustainable efficiencies previously unavailable. Combining these efficiencies with elements that embrace human diversity and well- being offer the opportunity to not only mend our existing buildings’ deteriorating physical bodies but aid in creating workplaces that promote good physical and mental health. This project provides recommendation on how an existing high-rise commercial building can incorporate a number of incremental improvements that continually evolve to meet rapidly changing market demands. This design approach allows for ease of installation and modification to meet the needs of the tenants and the building owner