Tone in Fwe

This paper describes the use of tone in Fwe, a little-studied Bantu language (K.402) spoken in Zambia and Namibia. Fwe has two underlying tones, and their surface realization is determined by a number of tone rules, such as Meeussen’s Rule, high tone shift and the realization of high tones as falling. Tone also interacts with prosodic lengthening, which affects the penultimate syllable of a phrase-final word, and phonological lengthening, which affects syllables with a glide or followed by a prenasalized consonant

Individuals' preferences for GPs Choice analysis from the establishment of a list patient system in Norway

The purpose of this paper is to gain more knowledge concerning individuals’ preferences for alternative GPs within a municipality. We have data on the population’s first, second and third choice of GPs. The data stem from the entry form the inhabitant filled in as a result of the implementation of a list patient system in general practice in Norway. To assess the potential demand for GPs3 or individuals’ request for a position on a certain GP’s list, we formulate and estimate a structural demand model based on probabilistic theories of individual choice behaviour. The model originates from the work of Luce (see for instance Luce, 1959 and Block and Marschak, 1960). Such models are successfully used to obtain knowledge of people’s preferences for different transportation vehicles. We raise the question of whether individuals’ choice of GPs is informed or purely random, as well as the question of whether observable demographic characteristics of a GP can tell us anything about the person who wants him or her as a personal physician. We find systematic dependencies between characteristics of an individual and characteristics of his or her choice of a GP. But we also find that the random part plays a major role in the choice process. In the last part of the paper we discuss policy implications of our findings. Central points are both how local health authorities can use the information on rankings to put together collegiums of GPs that serve the need – or the demand – of the inhabitants in the best way, and how a payment system for GPs should be designed if our results should be taken into account.General practitioner; GP; individual preferences

A healthy lifestyle: The product of opportunities and preferences

In this explorative study we examine factors explaining individual choice of lifestyle. The empirical analysis of smoking, exercising and diet show that the mechanisms determining people’s lifestyle are complex. We argue that the economic models on the demand for health is a meaningful framework for analysing this issue, but that it needs some refinements. A suggestion for further analytical work is therefore to reformulate the model to incorporate own past behaviour (habits), the society individuals belongs to (traditions and norms), as well as a more immediate effect on utility of lifestyle.Health demand models; lifestyle; ordered probit analysis

General Practice: Four Empirical Essays on GP Behaviour and Individuals’ Preferences for GPs

On June 1, 2001 a reform took place in Norwegian general practice. This implied some advantages of importance to empirical analysis. First, a new organisation and a new payment system were introduced, which makes it possible to perform before-after analysis. Second, the GPs' preferred list-sizes are known, which makes it possible to analyse the effect of patient constraints for individual GPs. Third, the size and composition of patient-lists are known on the individual practice level. Previously, it was not known whether consultations provided during a certain period were given to a large or a small number of persons, and this made it difficult to compare practice styles. If, for instance, two GPs provide the same number of services during one year, but GP A is responsible for twice as many patients as GP B, GP B has a more service-intensive practice style. When information on the number of patients on the list is not known, we might erroneously conclude that A and B have the same practice style. Last, but not least, the population filled in an entry form ahead of the nationwide reform - which gives us information on preferences for GPs for the whole population. Report 2004: 1 "General Practice: Four Empirical Essays on GP Behaviour and Individuals Preferences for GPs" focuses on the General Practitioner reform. Four essays show different impacts this reform had on the general practitioners practice and preferences in the population. Summing up the reform in general practice is very well suited for collecting interesting data and doing empirical analysis. The first three analyses in this doctoral thesis by Hilde Lurås are based on the evaluation of the list patient trial (in four municipalities in 1993-1996). The last analysis is based on the evaluation of the nationwide reform in 2001.General practice; Payment systems; Capitation; Service provision; Preferences; Applied econometrics

Frankfurter slapstick : Benjamin, Kracauer, and Adorno on American screen comedy

Scrutinizing the writings by Walter Benjamin, Siegfried Kracauer, and Theodor W. Adorno and connecting them to specific comedy scenes and tropes, this essay explores the fascination for American slapstick comedies and comedians by the philosophers of the Frankfurt School. Although often critical of mass entertainment, Benjamin, Kracauer, and Adorno admired the way slapstick film elevated motion and speed to an art form that answered to the rhythms and dangers of an industrialized society. For these writers, slapstick's crude and anarchic humor and anthropomorphizing of everyday objects offered a means of resistance against the forces of modernization through ludic encounters. </jats:p

Familiar strangers: facework strategies in pursuit of non-binding relationships in a workplace exercise group

This chapter reports on the interaction dynamics of a workplace exercise group for beginners. Dramaturgical stress occurred here as individuals who already knew each other as competent colleagues felt embarrassed about encountering one another in this low ability exercise group. To resolve this role conflict, participants sought to define themselves as familiar strangers (which they were not) through minimal interaction in non-binding relationships. This was achieved through three types of facework strategy: not only the defensive and protective kinds that Goffman identified as saving individual faces, but also collective strategies, which sought to repair the face of the whole group. Paradoxically, therefore, in attempting to deny their “groupness,” these actors actually displayed and reinforced their solidarity as a performance team