identifier: Rajakaruna, Harshana <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Rajakaruna=3AHarshana=3A=3A.html>   (2003) Analysis of retrospective error in an adaptive frame work for virtual population analysis.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Retrospective problem (RP) in an adaptive framework for virtual population analysis (ADAPT) is based on the observation that in some fisheries retrospective error in current stock size estimates (REs) in successive yearly assessments display a trend rather than a random pattern. I have investigated the likelihood of occurrence of the RP resulting from chance in the presence of random variation of "realistic" (lognormal) errors in "input data" in the use of ADAPT. Both simulation and analytical methods were used. It was found that the RP occurs with high likelihood by chance alone in a fishery. In combination with positive mean and median bias in REs, a random-walk property in time series estimates of REs that gives false impressions of trends (generated by non-drift random variations of errors in "input data") creates a RP. I have also explored the fundamental causal factor and the casual mechanism of the RP using an explanatory mathematical model. The REs was fundamentally explained by a function of temporal difference in ratios of abundance-index and cohort-size, which is ADAPT regression-independent. This explanatory model was based on the finding that in the overall regression, residuals of each age class are added to near zero. The REs forms temporal trends caused by changes in the biases of factors that influence the above difference, thereby creating a RP. It was also found that series of positive REs generated by temporal increase in the proportion of underestimated catch might not be "true" overestimations. This reality in the ADAPT implies that RP evident in fisheries may also be "illusionary" and may not always require corrective treatment.


identifier: Betts, Robert Alwin <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Betts=3ARobert_Alwin=3A=3A.html>   (1968) Imagery, prosody, and meaning in Henry Vaughan's Silex scintillans.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

type: Thesis NonPeerReviewed

abstract: Henry Vaughan's Silex scintillans (1650 and 1655), a collection of 129 devotional poems, is essentially an imaginative account of the poet's spiritual regeneration. Vaughan lived at a time when traditions were threatened by the rising tides of rationalism and materialism; an authoritarian and hierarchical pattern of life was shattered by the tumultuous Civil War in the 1640's. Inspired by the example and guided by the poetry of George Herbert, Vaughan abandoned secular verse and chose to counter the multiplicity and confusion of an increasingly godless age with the unity and order of his own private world of religious poetry, a world fully imbued with the divine presence. Although the influence of Herbert's The Temple may explain much about Vaughan's predilection for certain formal characteristics and something of his partiality for homely imagery and highly Biblical English, it is in the very finest achievements in Silex scintillans--such as "The Morning-watch", "The Night", and "Unprofitablenes"--that Vaughan stands most firmly upon his own considerable poetic abilities. -- Vaughan's personal afflictions and the collective misfortunes of the unsettled times moved him to action only after his sensitivity was sharpened by the dawn of religious consciousness. The extreme tension between the worlds of matter and of the spirit, revealed to Vaughan by his new awareness, provides not only a fruitful subject but also appears in the contrasting nature of the symbolism of light and darkness, which in almost every poem modifies the imagery. Vaughan's important images are taken from external nature and are in themselves constant throughout Silex scintillans. But because a poem is a composition of images which stand as a manifestation of the poet's subjective impressions of reality as perceived as a particular time, the metaphorical implications of Vaughan's images grow proportionately to his developing attitudes. -- A study of the relationship of imagery, prosody, and meaning in Silex scintillans suggests that Vaughan's collection has perhaps a more subtle but certainly no less valid unity than that in The Temple. As a work entire and sufficient in itself, Silex scintillans owes its continuity to a configuration of images ordered about the central metaphors of the divine spark, the spiritual pilgrimage, and the ultimate union with God who is Light. A careful consideration of representative pieces in parts I and II (originally published, respectively, in 1650 and 1655) indicates that the greatest of Vaughan's poetic achievements, when he attains it, is the felicitous articulation of sound and meaning which produces a whole so very much more grand in the experience of it than the sum of contributive elements seem to warrant. part I is the product of an immutable faith in battle with a recalcitrant will; in Part II, Vaughan's state of mind is such that there is no doubt that the conflict is finished and that the city of palms is in sight.


identifier: Sniderman, W. (Wendy) <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Sniderman=3AW=2E_=28Wendy=29=3A=3A.html>   (1996) Feminist nostalgia for healing and strength : mnemonic sites and signs in Bronwen Wallace's poetry and prose.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: From her earliest published poems in the early 1980's to her final posthumous works of short stories and prose poems in the early 1990's, the remembered past is a constant undercurrent throughout Bronwen Wallace's work. While some might criticize Wallace for including nostalgic sentiments in her lyrical, mnemonic constructions of history, Wallace recovers and reconstructs a home of and for women precisely from her decidedly feminist nostalgia. Nostalgic reminiscence is also the key to the door of the subconscious, allowing Wallace to explore the complex remembered past as a means towards understanding identity. As Wallace finds when constructing an historical home in her earlier work, subjectivity is built upon similarly tenuous ground in her later work. -- Mnemonically rich sites or signs often prompt one to recall the past. Wallace uses photographic imagery as a powerful site for nostalgic sentiments. Photographs at once invite recollection and ensure regret. The time and place presented in a photograph discloses as much as it conceals, by presenting a sanctioned, picture-worthy version of the past that does not always coincide with Wallace's memories or reveal the information she needs to recover a personally valid, female ancestry. As well, the photograph functions as a potent sign for defining subjectivity, as the self can always be explained and proven by the tenuous testimony photographs provide. -- Finally, the scar surfaces as site for nostalgia in Wallace's later writing. As a totem from the past, a scar ensures memory; as a site of injury and healing, it also ensures regret. As such, Wallace's use of scar imagery speaks clearly to a regret particularly enjoined upon women who have survived domestic violence. Bronwen Wallace uses the scar as an emblem for recovery and strength upon a damaged, physical site. Thus, Wallace's feminist nostalgia does not function as a prescription for the future, but rather as a means towards change and possibility, where once only limitation prevailed.


identifier: Bentley, Thomas Roy <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Bentley=3AThomas_Roy=3A=3A.html>   (1971) Money : God and King; economic aspects of Restoration comedy.  Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The new comedies produced on the London public stage between 1660 and 1700 depict a society in which money is the measure of all values, in which money is the catalytic force in all actions, in which money is both god and king. They articulate the conflicts created by the intrusion of capitalistic attitudes and beliefs into a traditional hierarchical society. An economic "system", especially a system in embryonic form, is not easily attacked, even if its existence is recognized, but the prospering merchant, a manifestation of that system, is easily identified. He provides a palpable and convenient target for any attack on economic processes or changing social structure. He, with money, can purchase those things, land, prestige, a noble bride, or power, which belong by natural right to the gentleman. He is an eminently suitable quarry because of his religious and political associations: his kind beheaded a king and dispossessed the nobility. Thus, economic grievances have religious, political and social concomitants which are reflected in the comedies. -- The comedies apparently attempt to convey the belief that in this society the gentleman is the only honest man, cynically resigned to but not involved in the universal money-mongering. What they do convey, however, is that the gentleman too is strongly motivated by money. Unable to earn money, rejecting both business and the professions, the gentleman can depend only on inherited wealth or marriage to a fortune. The comedies present the facts, but they present them in such a way that the gentleman's quest for money appears more honourable than that of the merchant. The gentleman's viewpoint predominates because of the financial condition of most of the playwrights and because of the constraints under which they wrote. Ironically, while the gentleman condemns business, he reveals his own attitude to human relations and society by depending almost wholly, in his use of language in the comedies, on the imagery of commerce. And so, from the comedies emerges the picture of a society in which the procedures of the market-place are used in assessing all human relations and all actions, of a society in which the standard question is "For what is worth in any things/ But so much money as 'twill bring".


identifier: Mackey, Elizabeth <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Mackey=3AElizabeth=3A=3A.html>   (1982) Beryl Bainbridge and her novels.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

title: Beryl Bainbridge and her novels

abstract: Beryl Bainbridge is a successful contemporary novelist who has produced ten novels over the past fifteen years, and her writing career shows every sign of extending well into the future. -- This Thesis comprises an introduction to this prolific writer by presenting some biographical data which shed some light on the author, her interests, the way she regards her own work, the background of each of her novels, and her views on contemporary life. It examines the accomplishment of Bainbridge up to the present by providing a critical survey of her novels in order of publication. An attempt has been made to find themes and ideas consistent in her work and to show how she has developed. -- She is an empirical writer whose emotionally traumatic childhood had a seminal influence on her fiction which is evidenced in her tacit admiration for intensity of feeling. -- Under her father's influence, Bainbridge developed a reverence for the past - a preoccupation which is particularly apparent in her early novels where she patterned her fictional characters on memories of her own family and depicted the odd little incidents of family life in the Forties. Her strong nostalgia for the past includes place as she sensitively evokes her native Lancashire. -- Mr. Bainbridge also instilled in his daughter a deep awareness of the essential loneliness of man, an obsession which accounts for the recurrent themes of isolation, loss and departure so prominent in her work. -- Bainbridge recognizes imperfections. She acknowledges failure, ugliness, squalor and corruption as an inescapable part of life. In later novels she becomes more absorbed in the ills of contemporary society. Declining moral standards, increase in crime and violence, and disregard for law and order are the conditions under which hapless characters succumb to falling standards in spite of themselves. Seldom actively pursuing evil, they are contaminated by an evil world. -- She finds humanity varied, unpredictable, full of short-comings and all too vulnerable in a perplexing world. She repeatedly stresses the oddness and incomprehensibility of people and life. Her realistic concerns, original views, polished style and delightful humour make Beryl Bainbridge a fine novelist.


identifier: Ali, Shahida Parvin <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Ali=3AShahida_Parvin=3A=3A.html>   (1971) Reanalyses of certain nuclear evaporation spectra exhibiting anomalies.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

format: application/pdf application/pdf

abstract: The situation concerning the 'anomalous dependence of the shape of level density plots of nuclear evaporation spectra on the energy of the incident particle' is rather confusing. Some authors have reported observing this anomaly while others have claimed that their results did not indicate any anomaly. It is, however, not always clear if different incident energy spectra have been compared for the same excitation energy of the residual nucleus, as they should be for establishing the existence (or non-existence) of this type of anomaly. Moreover in some (n,α) and (p,n) spectra it has been reported that different choices of the inverse cross section σc lead to different conclusions concerning this anomaly. No thorough study of evaporation spectra with protons as emitted particles has been reported. A thorough examination of published (n,p) and (α,p) spectra was undertaken by us and those sets of spectra which were available for different incident energies were reanalyzed (using the method of least squares for straight line fitting) by us for the constant temperature model as well as for the Fermi gas model with n = 2, 1.67, 1.5, 1.25 and 0 in the expression -- [special characters omitted] -- and in each case we tried six different sets of σc; Blatt & Weisskopf (rₒ = 1.3, rₒ = 1.5), Shapiro (rₒ = 1.3, rₒ = 1.5), Lindner (optical model), and Mani et al (optical model). The aim was to find out if the conclusions concerning these spectra depended significantly on the choice of σc and of level density expression. In particular, it was hoped that some combination(s) of σc and level density expression(s) might lead to a more consistent and less anomalous description of these spectra. Our reanalysis did indicate in many cases significantly different results for different σc but no overall consistent and clearer pattern has emerged. In addition to the conventional analysis a 'level density independent' approach has also been employed by us. From the detailed results certain conclusions about the relative magnitudes of T and different level density parameters have been drawn.


identifier: Buckingham, Anne Marie <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Buckingham=3AAnne_Marie=3A=3A.html>   (1987) Pattern and image in the contemporary female Bildungsroman.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The purpose of this study is to examine pattern and image in the contemporary female Bildungsroman and to discover the reasons for the presence of the images of in/visibility and space in the novels. These novels include Margaret Atwood's Lady Oracle (1976), Marilyn French's The Women's Room (1977), Doris Lessing's The Summer Before the Dark (1973), Alice Munro's Lives of Girls and Women (1971), Marge Piercey's Braided Lives (1981), and Verena Stefan's Shedding (1978). -- In/visibility and objectification in the contemporary female Bildungsroman is predicated on the role of the heroine in patriarchal society. These images have removed her from her essential self and it is necessary for her to confront her own conditioning which has espoused the perception of herself as "object" and Other, before she can even embark on her movement to Bildung, much less achieve it. This study probes the areas of the heroines' experience which have resulted in such alienation from self. -- Spatial imagery in these novels demonstrates that the heroines of contemporary female Bildungsromane are removed from self because they are not perceived as equal to men, and, further, are not viewed as active participants in their societies. Constriction exists at every level of growth - physical, emotional, intellectual and moral. Each protagonist is defined by her perceived role in society. In order for the heroine to begin her quest for identity, she must reclaim space that has been appropriated from her, and more importantly, proclaim that space valid. Positive images of space in the novels occur primarily when the heroine has reached Bildung; this space is a metaphor for the growth of self. -- Narrative and language are used by authors of contemporary female Bildungsromane to attempt to transcend the stifling and limited choices allowed their heroines. The subversion and violation of form and content in these novels indicate that, even as the heroines lead an oppressed existence, transition is imbedded in the text itself. The circularity of the text and feminist ideology serve as paradigms for the positive development that is taking place. The deconstruction and questioning of language that has oppressed women is another strategy that is used as narrative subversion in the novels. -- Finally, these novels indicate that the contemporary female Bildungsroman is a complicated sub-genre of the novel, one which stresses transition and change at every level. It succeeds in demonstrating a wider range of choices for heroines of contemporary novels, who work out their own individual definitions of Bildung.


identifier: Dawson, Rosemary <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Dawson=3ARosemary=3A=3A.html>   (1981) Marriage in the novels of Thomas Hardy.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

title: Marriage in the novels of Thomas Hardy

abstract: The institution of marriage and the relations between the sexes figure largely in the novels of Thomas Hardy. In most of his novels, the action centres around a marriage or a potential marriage that does not take place. The preoccupation with this theme focuses attention on the aspirations and attitudes of characters in nineteenth century England. Hardy's treatment of the subject shows the contrast between marriage as an ideal--a freely accepted and mutually rewarding relationship--and the distortion of that ideal in the context of social and psychological reality. -- Essentially, Hardy was concerned about "man's inhumanity to man." In the Victorian era, in which Hardy lived, man's inhumanity to his fellow creatures was manifested particularly strongly in his attitude towards marriage, sexuality and towards women. Because of the false notions about respectability, there grew up a rigid social code which stressed adherence to the status quo and which condemned individuals who wandered in any way. -- Basically, Hardy felt that the institution of marriage, and the attitudes towards this institution in the Victorian era, formed part of a larger social manifestation that frustrated and sometimes even destroyed individuals. He emphasizes unhappy marriages and human disillusionment; and he stresses that marriage, as seen in nineteenth century England, only serves to alienate the individual. In contrast, he shows the spontaneity of true, free, natural relationships. In contrasting man with nature, Hardy shows that institutional morality imposed harsh penalties upon man, who, after all, does possess natural instincts. -- Hardy's view of the universe is akin to that of Schopenhauer. Both agree that most of man's suffering is caused by his sexual nature. However, Hardy felt that since sexuality was part of life, it ought to be recognized, and not repressed as it had been in the popular novels. He stressed that society's attempt to regulate the instinctual, nonrational element of man's nature was the cause of much of the tragedy of man's life; and his novels can be seen as pleas for relaxation of the rigid moral code and the inflexible, outdated marriage laws. -- Hardy emphasizes a spiritual communion, rather than a physical union; and he preaches a religion of loving kindness and compassion for one's fellow creatures. His belief that much of the tragedy of man's existence will eventually be ameliorated establishes him as a "meliorist" rather than a pessimist.


identifier: Stone, Derrick Jason <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Stone=3ADerrick_Jason=3A=3A.html>   (1997) "I am not my parts. I am one system": Charles Olson's memetic methodology.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Charles Olson, the American poet, wrote poetry that is, to the neophyte reader, stunningly difficult. While Olson insists that the poetry is not obscure, the reader faces a task most other poetry does not insist upon. In this thesis I postulate a critical methodology whereby Olson's poetry can be seen as understandable, as well as comprehensible. This methodology is derived from neo-Darwinian thought, and especially memes and memetics. -- When looking at Olson's writings one cannot overlook his insistence upon finding a "new way." This "new way" is developed on the ruins of Platonic Rationalism. In order to overthrow Platonic Rationalism, Olson uses memes and memetics to create a cultural virus which will enter the cultural matrix, destroy that system, and create a new "humanism." Part of Olson's means for achieving this "original condition" is through the poetic methodology, he calls "objectism." By appealing to the early poem "La Preface," memetics better describes what Olson means by an object, and accurately characterizes "objectism" as an alternate means of communication. "The Kingfishers," one of Olson's most famous poems, continues this memetic methodology and illustrates how a coherent cultural meme-complex can be fashioned out of disparate fragments from heterogeneous cultures.


identifier: MacCarthy, Michelle <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/MacCarthy=3AMichelle=3A=3A.html>   (2003) Mobility, migration and projectile point diversity in the Late Paleoindian period of the far Northeast.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The Late Paleoindian period, roughly dated 10,000 to 8,000 years BP, remains poorly understood in the Northeast. While the Early Paleoindian period is characterized by broad similarities in lithic technology across the region and much of North America, several different 'diagnostic' projectile point types have been identified as characteristic of the Late Paleoindian period in the Northeast. These include lanceolate points similar to contemporaneous specimens from the Great Lakes region, elongate parallel-flaked points, and basally thinned or partially fluted triangular points. What is lacking in the available literature is an attempt to understand, on a regional scale, how these different assemblages relate to one another. Although such an undertaking is hindered by the relatively small number of identified sites and a lack of radiocarbon dates, this paper reassesses the available data for the period to examine possible cultural, functional, geographical and temporal explanations for the variety of Late Paleoindian ascribed assemblages in the archaeological record of the Northeast.


identifier: Grace, Thomas J. <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Grace=3AThomas_J=2E=3A=3A.html>   (1972) A parental attitudinal assessment as a basis for a school board public relations program.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The objective of this research has been to provide the St. John's Roman Catholic School Board with an assessment of parental attitudes concerning the existing state of education within the schools under its jurisdiction so that the Board might begin to initiate a formal public relations program. In order to establish direction and guidelines for the program, this study endeavored to measure parental acceptance or rejection regarding various aspects of finance, discipline, curriculum, teacher image and the school board. To further facilitate the organization of the public relations program, the investigator has attempted, through the use of social variables, to locate those segments of the parent population which displayed strong negative responses on any of the items in the questionnaire.  -- A Likert-type scale consisting of 50 items related to the five divisions of education outlined above was used to gauge parents' attitudes. Before the instrument was considered acceptable for use in the study, it underwent several informal examinations and was finally subjected to a test-retest reliability study. The questionnaire was then distributed to 200 students who had been selected at random from classlists provided by grade four teachers. Each student was given t\NO questionnaires to bring home and to return to the school. Of the 400 questionnaires administered, 331 were returned of which 307 formed the basis for the final analysis.  -- Before the main analysis of the raw data, X analyses were completed to determine whether or not any significant interaction was prevalent among the social variables. Following this, each of the 50 items was subjected to a one-way analysis of variance for each of the social variables. When significant F ratios appeared, the means of that analysis were compared by the Newman-Keuls comparison of ordered means in order to ascertain where the significant difference existed. In addition to these analyses, Table X was constructed to show the percentage of responses for each position on the attitude scale for each item. The analyses for each item were then summarized in chapter five. -- The summary of all the analyses clearly indicated that there was a definite need for the St. John's Roman Catholic School Board to develop a public relations program which would establish methods by which parents would come to know, understand and respect the work of the Board in its efforts to improve the quality of education in the schools under its authority. This was the main recommendation of the study. Among the other recommendations of the study, it was suggested that the School Board examine its educational program with a view to changing the curriculum so that parents perceived the educational process as being relevant to the student's later life situation; that teachers be made aware of the role which good public relations plays in aiding them to succeed in their task, of educating youth and that the new School Board be cognizant of the high expectations held for them by parents.


identifier: Manuel, Katrina <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Manuel=3AKatrina=3A=3A.html>   (1997) On the periphery: the female marginalized in five post-colonial novels.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Women in colonized societies are often marginalized not only because of their race, but also because of their gender. Their experience of domination in a patriarchal system makes finding their own place in society and their own identity extraordinarily difficult. It is imperative to acknowledge that women across the globe and across cultures experience denial of personal development, denial of educational development, and also denial of voice. Although females’ ethnic background may vary significantly, the experience of marginalization remains the same. A feminist perspective, then, is critical in exploring post-colonial literature so that we may be better able to understand the position of women as marginalized individuals. Females conveying female experiences in their own discourse allows us to perceive the impediments and burdens that colonizers and the patriarchy have imposed upon them in addition to recognizing the strengths that they have had to develop in order to cope with their marginalized position in society. Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye, Anita Desai’s Fire on the Mountain and In Custody, Paule Marshall’s Brown Girl, Brownstones, and Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea show the plight of marginalized women in addition to providing rich texts which address a number of pertinent and pressing issues. These texts illustrate females’ search for identity, demonstrating how their ethnic backgrounds and gender have forced them into lifestyles which perhaps they would not have personally chosen, and they also show a desire for survival within male-dominated and colonized societies. -- A culture or individual that has been affected by colonization must deal with a tremendous amount of tension and urgency even after the colonizers have withdrawn from the society, since the impact of colonization remains. One ongoing debate that exists within the parameters of post-colonial literature is whether one can return to a pure, pre-colonial state. The degree to which a person or society can restore its own culture after the imposition of the colonizer’s is a critical issue that will be addressed in addition to the equally important issue of recovering (if this is indeed possible) the lost voice of the female colonized. Furthermore, tracing the self-perception of the female protagonists from the outset of each novel to the end sheds light upon the impact of the patriarchy and of the colonizers. Above all, analyzing the growth of the female characters also indicates the extent to which healing and recovering from the colonial imposition has occurred.


identifier: Williams, Jocelyn <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Williams=3AJocelyn=3A=3A.html>   (2003) Canadian incest autobiography.  Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

title: Canadian incest autobiography

abstract: Incest autobiography is a distinct form of trauma writing. Although the sub-genre began more than two decades ago, it remains largely unexamined. Canadian writers’ substantial contribution to incest autobiography, in particular, is not well recognized. Four of the Canadian incest autobiographers, Charlotte Vale Allen, Sylvia Fraser, Elly Danica, and Janice Williamson have written specifically about father-daughter incest. Their books, Daddy’s Girl (1980), My Father’s House (1987), Don’t (1988), and Crybaby! (1998), because they are similar in focus but different in style, demonstrate the many ways to write autobiographically about incest. They validate incest victims’ experience while demonstrating that incest trauma is not monolithic. They are also shocking. Despite the media’s continuous exposure of incest victimization, most people will not feel a sense of complacency or familiarity with the presentation of incest in the autobiographies. Because of the very intimate autobiographical voice and the steady focus on incest, the books elicit an empathetic response. Readers become the witnesses to the incestuous abuse. Allen Fraser, Danica, and Williamson have encouraged an engaged reading of their books. They have also extended the parameters of contemporary Canadian women’s writing, autobiographical writing, and writing about sexual violence against children and women. The now well developed sub-genre of incest autobiography is in a position to make a substantial social and literary impact.


identifier: Rowsell, Mary Dalton <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Rowsell=3AMary_Dalton=3A=3A.html>   (1975) Clown, existential man and the res itself: a consideration of clown as image of man in the works of Samuel Beckett with special reference to the stage plays.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: This study explores the significance of the presence of the clown in the work of Samuel Beckett. An attempt is made to indicate the parallels between the clown and “existential man” and to show, by means of a discussion of his stage plays in particular, how the image of man as clown is central to Beckett’s work, shaping form as well as providing content. -- The work is divided into three main sections, the first of which deals with the clown, the second with “existential man” and the third with the art of Samuel Beckett. Sections I and II function as a background against which the assessment of Beckett’s art as incorporating and fusing both traditions can be fully appreciated. -- Section I, “He Who Gets Slapped: The Clown down the Ages”, deals with the characteristics of various clowns throughout history. From this discussion an image of the clown as outsider emerges: the clown is rejected and thwarted at every level of existence. This cosmic reject, however, never gives up the struggle in a universe alien to him. -- Section II, “The Existentialists: Man as Clown”, makes clear the nexus between the clown and “existential man” by means of an exploration of the situation of the latter as set forth in the writings of Pascal, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Jaspers, Sartre and Camus. The discussion reveals that the clown is the concrete manifestation of “existential man”. -- Section III, “The Art of Samuel Beckett: the Res Itself”, show (through an examination of his stage plays) that Beckett makes use of the clown as a vehicle for realizing in art the experience of “existential man”. The clown as image of man is central to his work: by means of the clown Beckett has externalized the inner experience of the individual in all its complexity and has given form to a grim yet essentially affirmative vision of man.


identifier: Farquharson, Danine Elizabeth <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Farquharson=3ADanine_Elizabeth=3A=3A.html>   (1993) Brian Friel and the Field Day Theatre Company : a marriage of artistic vision and cultural activism.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: This thesis examines the work of Irish playwright Brian Friel during the period in which he wrote plays specifically for the Field Day Theatre Company, a cultural enterprise he founded with actor Stephen Rea in 1980. Because Field Day is equally active in publishing political pamphlets as it is in producing plays, I use the texts of the fifteen pamphlets (outlined in Appendix A) as the main critical resource for analyzing Friel's dramatic efforts during the 1980's in order to establish a dialogue between the theatrical stage and the political arena. With the production of Dancing at Lughnasa in 1990 by the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, it becomes obvious that this dialogue has changed, if not ended, and the basic conclusion I have drawn is that although the decade spent with the Field Day Theatre Company provided Brian Friel with the material and space for the creation of his finest dramatic efforts to date, that era of artistic and cultural/political activism is over and Friel has moved on to a new stage in his career. -- Chapter One focuses on Translations, produced as the inauguration of the Field Day Theatre Company in 1980, and the first set of pamphlets published in the volume Ireland's Field Day. -- Chapter Two continues to examine the early period of Friel's association with Field Day. Although The Communication Cord is in many ways a response to much of the text of Translations, it remains firmly imbedded in the theatre company's cultural/political agenda and is, in my opinion, representative of a theatrical culmination  in Friel's career. -- Chapter Three looks at Making Historv (1988), a play more akin to the theoretical pamphlets in the second wave of Field Day publishing than it is to the dramatic brilliance of The Communication Cord. The play marks a significant shift in theatrical technique for Friel and is a sign of what is to come. -- Chapter Four concerns the break-up of the Friel/Field Day association as the two can be seen as taking very different approaches to their previously shared goals. The final set of Field Day pamphlets are as fundamentally different from the first six in their theoretical and practical approach to the Irish situation, as Dancing at Lughnasa differs from Translations in both style and content. -- Appendix A is a complete list of the Field Day pamphlets, with bibliographic references.


identifier: Bavington, Grace <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Bavington=3AGrace=3A=3A.html>   (1998) Buchi Emecheta and Ruby Slipperjack: writing in the margins to create home.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Ojibway writer Ruby Slipperjack and Ibo writer Buchi Emecheta are both marginalized writers crafting autobiographical fiction while living in exile from their homes of origin. This thesis discusses their individual works as well as some of the new insights and alternative critical approaches such works open up for readers and critics. One chapter is devoted to the issues of the language and the ways in which Slipperjack and Emecheta represent their linguistic/cultural backgrounds in their stories written in English. -- This is a comparative study in the sense of reading disparate traditions in juxtaposition while avoiding a synthesis of them or the reduction of the two traditions into mainstream literature. The literature of Slipperjack and Emecheta is appreciated within the cultural and historical context in which each is written recognizing the limitations of reading and theorizing from outside of the cultural matrix of the authors.


identifier: Iqbal, Sahar Jameel <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Iqbal=3ASahar_Jameel=3A=3A.html>   (2003) Characterization of individuals residing in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador who consume native grown and locally available foods.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Indigenous foods are cheap and highly nutritious. The present study is a secondary analysis of data collected by the Newfoundland and Labrador nutrition (NNL) survey, 1996. The NNL survey was a province wide cross-sectional study that collected data on the dietary habits of residents of the province. The specific objectives of the present study were to see how prevalent was the consumption of indigenous foods by the population of the province and to compare consumers with nonconsumers. A multistage stratified cluster design was used to sample males and females, 18-74 years inclusive. Excluded were institutionalized individuals, people living on reserves, and pregnant and lactating women. The statistical program, SPSS, was used to analyze the data, collected on 1927 randomly selected adults. Analysis of data revealed that 93% and 79.5% of respondents respectively, claimed to have consumed wild berries and game meat during the previous year. Chi squared analysis showed a significant association of game meat consumption with sex (p<0.001), age (p<0.001), area of residence (p<0.001) and education level (p<0.001). Game meat was most often consumed by males, aged 55-64 years, less educated, rural residents in the low income adequacy group (p<0.001). Chi squared analysis of data on berry consumers showed a significant association with sex (p=0.006) but not with the other factors tested. In addition to the frequency of consumption of indigenous foods and their amounts were also calculated. Median serving size of moose meat was found to be 137g and median serving size of blueberries was 18g. Of those who consume large game meat, 41% said they consumed at least 2 portions per month. Of those who consume berries, 25 % said they consumed more than 4 servings of berries per month. Analysis of health behaviour indicators showed that non-smokers were more likely to be berry consumers (p<0.001) whereas there was no difference between physical activity or intake of vitamin/mineral supplement between consumers and nonconsumers. Indigenous foods appear to be consumed by and thus accessible to a variety of people. Consequently their consumption can be practically encouraged to address food insecurity and health issues in Newfoundland and Labrador. Specific characteristics of consumers of local berries and wild game can be used to aid in the development of strategies to promote the intake of these foods.


identifier: Dimmick, Meghan <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Dimmick=3AMeghan=3A=3A.html>   (2002) Critiquing the campus : academic practice as literary subject in the contemporary university novel.  Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The contemporary university novel is uniquely situated to observe and respond to the current state of crisis widely acknowledged and discussed throughout the university community, and it is capable of offering a considered and credible critique on the function, the value and the purpose of the university. The unique nature of this critique has caused it often to be discredited; in this study, these novels are examined in order to find, instead, what they may contribute. -- To date, the major studies of the university novel have been comprehensive in scope and bibliographical in effect. My study, as a result, is able to assume the existence of the sub-genre and focus on a very select group of novels to show that they constitute a viable mode of academic critique, where academic practice becomes the target, rather than the producer, of extended criticism. Indeed, the sometimes unflattering representations of the university to be found in university novels amount to a coherent and pervasive fictional inquiry into the nature and function of academic practice. -- To prove this, I briefly examine the recent boom in scholarly examinations of the current state of the university in order to establish a background for the positions the novelists explore in their books. Alvin Kernan, Robert Lecker, Bill Readings and Robert Scholes (to name a few) have all recently written on the current "crisis" in the university. Their books locate a corresponding response inside the university community (to the issues raised in the novels) and prove that the novels, like the non-fiction, are positing viable critical responses to important questions concerning the state of the university. -- To examine these responses, I identify core images in a very select and contemporary group of novels. The conflicts between competition and idealism, corporation and community, uncertainty and truth, the creative critic and the creative artist, and solitude and civility are issues found in the novels and critical studies alike and provide the structure for my project. The novels include A.S. Byatt's Possession, Malcolm Bradbury's Mensonge, Michael Frayn's The Trick of It, Christine Brooke-Rose's Textermination, David Lodge's Nice Work, Richard Russo's The Straight Man, Ishmael Reed's Japanese by Spring, Robert Grudin's Book, Jane Smiley's Moo and Carol Shields' Swann. -- What these novels have in common is most interestingly a clear sense of the value and purpose of the study of literature, of education and of the university. In the non-fiction works written on the state of the university, it is widely held that we are losing or have lost touch with the university's value and purpose, but the university novel posits a clear sense of idealism. This sense of idealism and possibility marks an important, often unremarked, evolution in the sub-genre and it is suggestive of the ultimate value of the university novel as a unique means of access to the preoccupations and anxieties of a community in crisis.


identifier: Davis, Hudson H. <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Davis=3AHudson_H=2E=3A=3A.html>   (1968) A comparative analysis of program offerings in the larger and smaller regional high schools of Newfoundland.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: This investigation presents a comparative analysis of program offerings in the larger and smaller Regional High Schools of Newfoundland. A basic assumption of the study was that a balanced program of academic, cultural, physical, and social activities is necessary for high school students today; and, that this is a realistic program for the larger and the smaller Regional High Schools of the province. The subject areas investigated were English, mathematics, science, art, music, physical education, and student activities. -- In the conduct of the study the investigator visited the seven largest and the seven smallest Regional High Schools. Data were obtained through interviews with teachers and principals, using an interview schedule adapted from the Evaluative Criteria of the National Study of Secondary School Evaluation, an American organization. The schedule contained almost a thousand checklist items, and 169 criteria evaluations. A median test was applied to each of these evaluative items to determine whether there was any statistical significance between the ratings assigned the larger and the smaller high schools. -- Underlying the whole study was the general hypothesis that the larger schools would be assigned higher ratings on the evaluative instrument than the smaller schools. The findings of the study confirmed the general hypothesis, in that on eighty-two items a significant difference was evident. When large school median evaluations were compared with small school medians the difference appeared more pronounced, as 147 of these ratings favoured the larger schools. The areas showing least difference were art, mathematics, music, and student activities. Greatest differences were evident in the programs for science and physical education. -- The findings lead to one general conclusion: to the extent that higher ratings on the evaluative criteria may indicate superiority of one program over another, the larger Regional High Schools of Newfoundland offer a better program than do the smaller Regional High Schools. -- The most important recommendations arising from the study are: (1) that future consolidation of high schools be such that the schools will be large enough to provide a differentiated and balanced program of studies; and that, where possible, smaller high schools which are presently existing in close proximity to one another be consolidated; (2) that where small schools must continue to exist, the program in these schools be supplemented by all available means of modern educational technology, and by the provision of visiting specialist teachers; (3) since ratings on the study were generally fairly low, research should be carried out by a team of curriculum experts to determine the extent to which Newfoundland high schools are meeting the educational requirements of the province.


identifier: Lee, Frank Severn <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Lee=3AFrank_Severn=3A=3A.html>   (1972) The development of educational specifications for a primary school.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: This project was designed to develop and illustrate the implementation of a process of educational facility planning in a selected school district in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. As a secondary aim, it attempted to provide for the primary teachers of that district a comprehensive program of in-service education and to fulfill this aim by involving them, along with school board members, administrators, parents and other school personnel, directly in the planning of a primary school for the town of Grand Falls. -- A definite plan of action was developed and approval was received from the Exploits Valley Integrated School Board to institute the project in its district. A steering committee was first appointed and given the responsibility of completing the organizational form of the project and generally administering it. This group then appointed ten sub-committees each of which studied and prepared, in the standard form provided by the steering committee, reports on designated areas of the new school. To assist them in preparing their reports, sub-committees were provided printed and other types of audio-visual materials and opportunities to visit curriculum projects in action or to meet with specialists in specific curriculum areas. All sub-committee reports were studied by the steering committee and used to write educational specifications for the proposed school. -- Upon completion of the project, it was felt that it was successful both in terms of its end product--the educational specifications--and of the process by which the educational specifications were written. Recommendations to persons contemplating a similar process of educational facility planning emphasized the successful aspects of this process. These included (1) an adequate supply of printed and other audio-visual materials, (2) a suggested outline for sub-committee reports, (3) a high degree of participation, and (4) a flexible organizational form. A building needs survey, to determine both the quality and quantity of facilities required, was stressed as being necessary before the actual planning of facilities is begun. -- Recommendations to assist educational planners on a provincial basis pointed to the following needs: -- 1. for each school district to prepare and have available a comprehensive master plan of its educational needs for at least a ten-year period. -- 2. for additional planning personnel to be attached to school district offices, to regional educational offices and to the provincial Department of Education. -- 3. for long-range planning and financial commitment on the part of the provincial government. -- 4. for closer attention by educational planners to the needs of youth as reflected in the school curriculum. -- 5. for a high degree of co-operation in planning between school districts and the various institutions of higher education in the province.


identifier: Knight, Arthur R. <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Knight=3AArthur_R=2E=3A=3A.html>   (1960) The study of hydrogen bonding in substituted benzoic acids by ultraviolet absorption spectra.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The known dependence on solute concentration of the ultraviolet absorption spectrum of benzoic acid is re-examined semi-quantitatively and a critical concentration, above which the intensity of absorption becomes independent of concentration, is found to be exhibited by this acid and its substituted analogues, and is taken as a measure of the relative strengths of the dimeric hydrogen bonds. The critical concentration is found to be unaffected by the addition of small amounts of ether to obtain solution of the acid in cyclohexane. -- The critical concentrations of a number of substituted benzoic acids are determined and the resulting conclusions as to the relative strengths of the dimeric bonds are interpreted in terms of mesomeric and inductive effects and current theories of hydrogen bonding. To explain the observed spectral effects in the m-substituted acids, it is necessary to postulate an electromeric interaction which differs from the usual inductive effect. The proposed effect is refered to as an Ie effect. -- The data show that o-methoxybenzoic acid forms a stronger intramolecular bond than does o-fluorobenzoic acid, suggesting that intramolecular hydrogen bonds of this type are not predominantly electrostatic in nature. -- Experimental methods for the spectral examination of concentrated solutions are also described.


identifier: Himmelman, John H. <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Himmelman=3AJohn_H=2E=3A=3A.html>   (1969) Some aspects of the ecology of strongylocentrotus droebachiensis in eastern Newfoundland.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis is the dominant macroscopic benthic animal along the exposed coasts of Newfoundland. The gonads ripen during the fall, reach a peak in size and maturity in February or March, and spawnout occurs by April. In exposed areas the density is very high (up to 350 urchins/m²) and small urchins are abundant. In sheltered areas the density is much lower but most of the individuals are large. The urchin populations are concentrated in shallow water where macrophytes, their main food, grow abundantly. Urchins have variable preferences for and abilities to consume different algae. Feeding is least in the winter, when the gonads are near their peak, and greatest following spawnout. The potential grasing rate is sufficient to restrict noncalcareous macrophytes to the sublittoral fringe where the abrasion of the gonads, as they are washed back and forth by waves, keeps the urchins from advancing and devouring them. Only Agarum cribrosum and Ptilota serrata, which are undesirable urchin foods, grow at greater depths in urchin dominated areas. Sea stars, other urchins, lobsters, crabs, a number of fishes, and birds are common predators of S. droebachiensis but are not very effective in limiting their numbers.


identifier: Jones, Virginia <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Jones=3AVirginia=3A=3A.html>   (1972) The relationship between academic self-concept of Grade VIII girls in an urban setting and each of the following variables: parent-child relationship, teacher-child relationship, peer relationship, intelligence, social class.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The major purpose of this study was to determine whether or not a relationship existed between academic self-concept and each of the following variables: parent-child relationship, teacher-child relationship, peer relationship, intelligence and the social class of the child's family. The order of importance of those relationships found to be moderately high was also determined. -- The study involved Grade VIII girls in the city of St. John's. Information was obtained from pupils, teachers and parents. The academic self-concept score was determined by combining the score on Brookover's Self-Concept of Ability Scale with the score on the academic self-concept questionnaire devised by the writer. Information on parent-child relationship, teacher-child relationship and peer relationship was determined by the use of questionnaires also devised by the writer. Intelligence quotients for all pupils was determined by use of the Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Test. Social class of the child's family was determined by use of the Blishen Occupational Class Scale. -- Two samples were utilized in this study. The first consisted of Grade VIII pupils who completed all of the questionnaires as well as the intelligence test. Only three variables, teacher-child relationship, peer relationship and intelligence and their relation to academic self-concept, were studied in this sample. The second sample was randomly selected from academic self-concept scores. Nine were chosen from scores above one standard deviation of the mean and nine were chosen from scores below one standard deviation of the mean. This sample consisted of nine girls with low academic self-concept and nine girls with high academic self-concept. This sample of eighteen is referred to throughout the thesis as the extremes. Five variables, parent-child relationship, teacher-child relationship, peer relationship, intelligence, social class and their relationship to academic self-concept, were studied in this sample. -- Moderately high relationships were found to exist between academic self-concept and teacher-child relationship, peer relationship and intelligence. Although a relationship existed between academic self-concept and social class, it was very low. No relationship seemed to exist between academic self-concept and parent-child relationship. -- With the larger sample it was found that intelligence was the best predictor of the academic self-concept. However, with the extremes, although intelligence was still the best predictor of academic self-concept, it seems that peer relationship and teacher-child relationship are also good predictors of academic self-concept. -- The children involved in this study were grouped, based on high, low or average intelligence. This grouping could be one explanation as to why intelligence was found to be the best predictor of academic self-concept for the group as a whole. -- For the group as a whole the implication would seem to be that intelligence, as measured by an intelligence test, must be increased in order for academic self-concept to increase. Perhaps then it would be worthwhile for a preschool program to be established for children attending this school in future years. Continued evaluation of such a program would show whether or not functional intelligence can be increased by such a program and would also show if this increase is maintained throughout the child's school years. -- With the extremes, particularly those with low academic self-concept, it would seem that teachers, by working closely with the child and through classmates, could be very influential in changing the academic self-concept the child holds.


identifier: Chit Maung, Yi Yi <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Chit_Maung=3AYi_Yi=3A=3A.html>   (1965) The role of economic planning in the development of Southeast Asia (with special reference to Burma).  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Since the Second World War, economic planning by a central authority has become increasingly popular in developing countries. The governments of the newly independent nations of Southeast Asia believe that to achieve a rapid economic growth, each country must operate on a planned basis. Economic planning was accepted as an essential means for guiding and accelerating economic development. -- Scope of the Thesis  -- This thesis attempts a general survey of economic planning in eight countries namely: Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The basic problems faced in the process of economic planning as well as effectiveness of the plans in Southeast Asian regions are considered. As countries in Southeast Asia have similar economic, social and cultural characteristics, certain generalizations can be made with regard to their basic development problems. -- Economic planning implies a substantial degree of centralization in policy-making particularly if the aim, in part, of such planning is improving the climate for private enterprise and perfecting the operations of relatively free markets. In Southeast Asia, although a certain amount of government planning exists in all the countries, the content of their plans varies considerably. Intensive study of the plans of each individual country is beyond the scope of the thesis; therefore, only basic aspects of economic planning are considered on a regional basis. However, as Burma was the first country in Southeast Asia which attempted comprehensive planning on the aggregate as well as the sector level, the experience of economic planning in Burma is discussed in some detail. -- The research covers the period from the end of the Second World War until 1960. Thereafter, the role of economic planning in Southeast Asia has increased in importance. However, as great variations now exist in the approaches, formulation and execution of plans, it is not appropriate to make generalizations on the basis of the experience in planning of Southeast Asia as a whole after 1960. -- Objective of the Thesis -- The main objective is to analyse the reasons the countries in Southeast Asia relied heavily on central planning for their economic development and how successful they have been in their attempts to achieve rapid economic planning. In other words, this thesis is to analyse: -- 1. The basic problems facing the Southeast Asian countries. -- 2. Why the governments attempted to solve the problems through economic planning. -- 3. The experience of Burma in her attempts to achieve rapid growth through a comprehensive economic planning. -- 4. The effectiveness of economic planning in the region as a whole. -- 5. The reasons why national plans have failed to achieve their objectives. -- 6. Possible solutions for some of the problems these nations have faced in planning. -- The writer has obtained most of the necessary materials from United Nations publications, especially those of the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East. Research on the experience of economic planning in Burma was based mainly on the data provided by the Central Statistics and Economics Department, Ministry of National Planning, and annual government publications such as Economic Survey of Burma. Detailed analysis of the experience of other Southeast Asian countries could not be undertaken due to the limited amount of information available.


identifier: Katz, Louis <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Katz=3ALouis=3A=3A.html>   (1972) Retroaction and proaction in rats and guinea pigs.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Sixty-day-old rats and guinea pigs and 75-day-old rats were tested on a brightness discrimination task to ascertain whether or not they exhibited the effects of proaction and/or retroaction. Proaction was evaluated by requiring Ss to 1) acquire a discrimination to a criterion of 18 out of 20 responses; 2) learn its reversal to the same criterion; and 3) relearn the same problem to criterion. The corresponding control Ss rested while the experimental Ss acquired the first discrimination but learned the second and third problems in the same manner and to the same criterion as the experimental Ss. In the test for retroaction Ss were required to: 1) learn the discrimination to criterion; 2) learn the reversal of this discrimination to the same criterion; and 3) relearn the initial discrimination, again to the same criterion. Subjects in the corresponding control groups acquired the initial and final tasks to criterion while the experimental group Ss were learning their respective tasks, but rested during the second stage when Ss in the experimental group were learning the reversal. Twenty-four hours separated criterion performance and succeeding reversal tasks in all experimental and control groups. Analysis of variance on the percentage errors to criterion indicated that the 60-day-old rats exhibited proactive interference (PI) while the 75-day-old rats and the guinea pigs showed no PI effects. In contrast, all Ss displayed the effects of retroactive interference (RI). The results were discussed in terms of the relation of the two mechanisms to improvement in SDR learning as well as in terms of their relevance to other studies which tested for proaction and/or retroaction in non-human species.


identifier: Frecker, Maxine Frances Parsons <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Frecker=3AMaxine_Frances_Parsons=3A=3A.html>   (1972) A comparative study of the phytoplankton populations of polluted St. John's Harbour and unpolluted Aquaforte Harbour, with emphasis on eutrophication.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: Hydrographic and phytoplanktonic data from four sampling depths (0, 5, 10 and 22 meters) were collected during the summer and fall of 1969 and the spring and summer of 1970 from St. John's Harbour and Aquaforte Harbour, located on the south-east coast of Newfoundland. Eighty-five species and four unidentified categories (u-cells, flagellates, naviculoids and gymnodinians) were identified from seven algal classes. These were primarily boreal forms. The seasonal distribution pattern of the phytoplankton differed in the two harbours. -- It was concluded that St. John's Harbour, which receives untreated sewage from the city and suburbs, and servies a combined population of approximately 93,500, was the more eutrophicated. Evidence for the eutrophic state was especially notable in the central basin (station 1) of the harbour. Here the bottom waters were deficient in oxygen especially during the summer months. Secchi disc readings were generally lower at this station. The annual standing crop at this station was almost three times that at Aquaforte Harbour. Greater concentrations of nannoplankton were supported by the higher nutrient content. One euglenoid occurred in bloom concentrations throughout the summer months, and may possibly be considered an indicator of organically-polluted waters.


identifier: Chau, Shaw Ji Thieu-Co <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Chau=3AShaw_Ji_Thieu-Co=3A=3A.html>   (1970) The photolysis of Benzoic acid in the gas phase.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The vapor phase photolysis of benzoic acid has been investigated in a flow system at temperatures ranging from 110° to 305°C, pressures from approximately 0.06 to 1.73 torr, and at various incident light intensities. The main identified products are carbon dioxide and benzene, and the minor identified products are carbon monoxide together with much smaller amounts of hydrogen. -- At 150° and 205° the rate of formation of carbon dioxide is directly proportional to the light intensity absorbed. For a constant incident light intensity, the rate of carbon dioxide formation was found to be independent of the benzoic acid concentration at pressures from 0.29 to 1.73 torr. The rate of formation of carbon dioxide increases with temperature and the activation energy is 3.5 ± 0.4 kcal mole⁻¹. -- A mechanism for carbon dioxide formation is suggested in which reaction occurs from a vibrationally excited ground state molecule, C₆H₅COOH', originating from the initially formed singlet state, C₆H₅COOH*, by internal conversion. The phenyl radical so formed initiates a free radical chain reaction. -- C₆H₅COOH + h v → C₆H₅COOH* -- C₆H₅COOH* → C₆H₅COOH' -- C₆H₅COOH' + M → C₆H₅COOH + M -- C₆H₅COOH' → C₆H₅ + COOH -> C₆H₅ + C₆H₅COOH → C₆H₅ + C₆H₆COO -- C₆H₅COO → C₆H₅ + CO₂ -- C₆H₅ + Wall → X


identifier: Cuff, Harry Alfred <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Cuff=3AHarry_Alfred=3A=3A.html>   (1971) The Newfoundland Teachers' Association 1890-1930: its founding ; and its establishment as a stable, influential, and permanent professional organization.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The Newfoundland Teachers' Association was founded in 1890 by a group of teachers who desired an association which would lay primary emphasis on teacher welfare and protection. At the same time, the Superintendents of Education were attempting to found a "Teachers' Institute" - a type of organization operating in England and Canada at the time, which would stress a program of professional development of teachers and the improvement of education in general, and which would admit to membership such people as Superintendents, Inspectors and School Board members. -- Following phenomenal success in persuading the Liberal government to establish a teachers' pension plan and to increase teachers' salaries, the infant association ceased to function shortly after its founder was given a high-paying Civil Service position. -- In the year 1898 a Superintendent of Education, with the support of a principal of a school operated by his religious denomination and in collaboration with the Colonial Secretary, revived the NTA - but with the hope that it would function as an Institute. Such an organization was rejected by the teachers, however, who refused to accept a clause in the constitution which would have extended honorary membership to people other than teachers. Shortly thereafter, the NTA expired for the second time. -- There was a similar struggle taking place at the time in Canada, but there, in every province the existence of a general educational organization or an Institute had preceded the founding of a teachers' association, with such organizations in many cases being transformed into independent teachers' associations in the early 1900's. -- When the NTA was revived in 1908, the privilege of honorary membership was extended to Superintendents of Education, and the Association pursued a concurrent policy of protective and professional objectives. Had it not been for its continuous publication of the NTA Journal, a subscription to which was included in the membership fee, the Association would probably have become dormant again in the period 1912-1923 when it suffered from uninspiring leadership and internal difficulties. -- In the period 1923-1929, under an energetic and able president, a permanent full-time secretary was hired and an office acquired. At the same time, a drive for membership, along with the pursuance of a program balanced judiciously between protective and professional aspects, virtually ensured the permanency of the Association. -- It should not be assumed, however, that the achievements of the late 1920's could have been realized in the 1890's, for by 1929 the establishment of a railway and coastal steamship service had made possible more frequent meetings of teachers. In addition, the broadening of Newfoundland's economic base had created a situation where a greater percentage of the population saw a need for education, and the measure of industrial development attained meant that a greater amount of money should be available for the extension of this social service.


identifier: Easterbrook, Pamela <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Easterbrook=3APamela=3A=3A.html>   (1972) Self reinforcement as a function of baseline score and level of training.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of baseline self reinforcement scores and level of training on post training self reinforcement scores. Subjects were classified into low, medium and high self reinforcer groups during a baseline self reinforcement measuring period. Then, subjects were assigned to treatment groups in which they received either 40%, 60% or 80% training on a four choice, discrimination learning task. Following this phase, post training scores were taken in a self reinforcement testing period. -- Results of the study showed that training served to increase self reinforcement scores over baseline self reinforcement scores, but only if training exceeded the original baseline self reinforcement score. Correct and incorrect applications of self reinforcement responses to actual task responses were also under examination, and it was found that the three baseline self reinforcer groups differed in discriminative self reinforcement behavior following training procedures.


identifier: Anstey, Frank Cyril <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Anstey=3AFrank_Cyril=3A=3A.html>   (1972) A study of certain factors surrounding the origin and implementation of the recommendation of the Royal Commission on Education and Youth that the Newfoundland Faculty of Education be reorganized along functional lines.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: This study is a descriptive analysis of the events surrounding the recommendation of the Newfoundland Royal Commission on Education and Youth to reorganize the Newfoundland Department of Education along functional rather than denominational lines. Data for the study came mainly from personal interviews with relevant actors and an analysis of briefs presented to the Commission. However, information was also gathered from a variety of other sources. -- The study shows that a number of contributing factors created an educational climate which favored the setting up of a Royal Commission in the 1960's. Among these factors were a general feeling of public dissatisfaction with Newfoundland's Denominational System, increasing public interest in quality education, the growth of amalgamated schools, the prospect of the integration of school systems, ecumenism, and politics. -- On the basis of information gathered from its travels, private and public hearings, and from briefs which it received, the majority of the Commission members made a recommendation for a reorganized Department of Education. Of the 147 written briefs received by the Commission, only thirty-eight chose to say anything about the Denominational System. However, all but one of the thirty-eight favored changes of varying degrees in the Department of Education. The organization proposal was made amidst a controversy that any consideration of the Denominational System was not within the Commission's terms of reference. However, three of the five denominations most directly involved in education supported the kind of change which the Commission recommended. -- The research presented evidence which suggested that a change in public opinion had occurred in Newfoundland during !the early 1960's, and changes in the Denominational System were now favored. Not only did the Commission use this perceived change to justify its actions, but it also attempted to draw from the Newfoundland population even greater support for the reorganization recommendation. -- The power held by Premier Smallwood and the great influence which the churches exerted on education in Newfoundland were shown in the implementation of the reorganization proposal. While agreeing with the Commission to implement the reorganization proposal, the Premier also supported the churches' efforts to negotiate themselves into an equally influential position. In this way the Premier stopped what he considered to be an attempt by the Commission to rid Newfoundland education of a great deal of church influence.


identifier: Ralph, Joseph Stewart <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Ralph=3AJoseph_Stewart=3A=3A.html>   (1971) Socioeconomic inputs versus school inputs related to grade six written language achievement in a rural area of Newfoundland.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The present study was designed to discover which of socioeconomic factors or school input factors were more closely associated with written language achievement on the part of Grade Six students in a rural Newfoundland area. Complete data was secured and used for 361 boys and 323 girls. -- Two measures of language achievement were selected. They were, the Canadian Tests of Basic Skills Language subtests and a paragraph writing test. Ten hypotheses were set up and tested. -- The first hypothesis predicted sex differences in language achievement and that girls would achieve more highly than boys. This proved to be an acceptable hypothesis. Subsequent hypotheses were tested for boys and girls separately as well as for both groups combined. -- The second hypothesis predicted that higher verbal intelligence would be associated with higher pupil language scores. This proved to be an acceptable hypothesis. Subsequent hypotheses were tested with the effects of intelligence controlled by the statistical technique of partialing. The acceptance of the first two hypotheses determined the format for testing and reporting the remainder. That is, the remaining hypotheses were tested for boys and girls separately and with intelligence statistically controlled. -- Hypothesis 3 predicted that fathers' occupations would be positively associated with pupils' language achievement, and Hypothesis 4 predicted that mothers' education would be positively associated with pupils' language achievement. Both proved to be acceptable hypotheses for both sexes on both language measures until intelligence was partialled out. Then the significance disappeared. -- Hypothesis 5 predicted that children from larger families would do less well on each of the language measures than children from smaller families. This proved to be true for the sub-group of girls and the whole group on the language skills measure, but not on the paragraph writing measure. With the effects of intelligence removed the significance disappeared. -- Hypothesis 6 predicted that absenteeism would be negatively associated with pupils' language achievement, and Hypothesis 7 predicted that teachers' qualifications would be positively associated with pupils' language achievement. With the effects of intelligence removed, both hypotheses were rejected. -- Hypothesis 8 predicted that class size would be positively associated with pupils' language achievement. This hypothesis was rejected for the sub-group of boys but accepted for the girls. Even with intelligence partialled out, the association was statistically significant. -- Hypothesis 9 predicted that older school buildings would be associated with lower pupils' achievement in language. This hypothesis was rejected. However, it should be noted that the median age of the schools was only 13 years, and that only 24 per cent were over 20 years old. -- The major part of the study concentrated on Hypothesis 10 which predicted that the socioeconomic factors of the pupils environment would be more closely associated with language achievement than the school input factors. This hypothesis was tested and accepted. An overall conclusion, therefore, of the study is that socioeconomic factors of the pupil's environment cannot be ignored by school authorities if they are genuinely interested in preparing programs that will provide the best learning opportunities for all their pupils. The quality of the education is not measured only in terms of school buildings, smaller classes and higher teachers' qualifications. A far greater impact on language achievement was found to be made by a child's family and home background.


identifier: Coombs, Gerald <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Coombs=3AGerald=3A=3A.html>   (1971) The Stephenville Adult Centre : a survey of the clientelle served during 1968-69 and the benefits they derived.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: This study was designed to investigate the background characteristics of the students participating in the program at the Stephenville Adult Centre and the benefits they derived. -- The data were obtained from the files at the Centre and the responses to the two forms of a questionnaire, one completed by forty-six vocational students and the other by thirty-seven in the work force. -- The typical student at the Centre was found to be a married man with two children. He was twenty-four years old, had a grade eight education, had been out of school nine years and was as likely to come from a settlement with under one thousand persons as from a settlement with over one thousand persons. Other findings of the study were that the participants were enrolled "to get more education" or "to help get a better job" and that these objectives were achieved. Eighty-one per cent of the respondents who were not attending vocational schools had been employed since leaving the Stephenville Adult Centre, and eighty-three per cent of those were employed at the time of response. One quarter of the respondents felt they were not allowed to attend the Centre for a long enough period. It was also found that Canada Manpower policy was not uniformly enforced in requiring the participants to state a "vocational goal". -- The four most important recommendations arising out of the study are (1) that the Canada Manpower policy be changed, first, to allow persons to attend for longer than fifty-two weeks if necessary and, second, to eliminate the requirement that applicants state a definite vocational goal; (2) that more facilities be provided for the expansion of the BTSD Program in Newfoundland; (3) that full-time counselling services be provided at the Centre; and (4) that an Adult Education Teacher Education program be established at Memorial University. If adult education programs are to expand, there will be a need for trained personnel.


identifier: Aldrich, Margueritte Luise Marks <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Aldrich=3AMargueritte_Luise_Marks=3A=3A.html>   (1969) The Teuthoid Radula as a taxonomic criterion, with specific reference to the families Architeuthidae and Ommastrephidae (Cephalopoda: Coleoidea).  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: A study of the radular morphology of Cephalopoda was undertaken to determine the feasibility of its use as a taxonomic character. -- A search of the literature for illustrations of radular teeth of as many species as possible was made. Using available original material studies were also carried out using preparations of additional species. Where possible, comparisons were made based on both original preparations and information from the literature. In all, a total of 92 species representing 22 families were considered and are illustrated herein. -- A comparison of the illustrations and radular ribbon preparations of these specimens indicated morphological differences of such a degree as to facilitate separation even to the species level. -- The illustrations and radular ribbon preparations of members of the Family Architeuthidae show that both historical records and current specimens from Newfoundland waters exhibit similarities in the configuration of their radular teeth. There are, however, sufficient differences in the morphology of the teeth of individual specimens to cast serious doubt upon the designation of all five specimens as Architeuthis dux. Other families, genera, and indeed species within genera, can be separated on the basis of their radulae. Since this is true, the situation in the Architeuthidae becomes increasingly difficult to interpret on the basis of their radulae and on the limited amount of material available. -- The members of the Family Ommastrephidae show definite familial similarities in their radular teeth. The recorded differences in the morphology of these teeth, however, facilitate their separation into genera, but subspecies of the genus Illex cannot be so separated. The three subspecies can be separated on the basis of radular morphometry. Also, the radular apparatus of Illex illecebrosus coindetii is apparently to be added to the list of characters exhibiting sexual dimorphism in that form. -- The evidence cannot support the view that the cephalopod radula is without function. As suggested by Bidder and others, the radula functions in teuthoid forms as an aid in swallowing. Such usage causes a wearing-away of the cusps of the teeth and occasional loss of teeth, necessitating their continual replacement at the most posterior, or growing, portion of the radular ribbon. -- Because of the above described phenomenon, only teeth from certain rows (those retained within the radular sac) are of such a uniform configuration as to warrant their use in taxonomy.


identifier: Hoddinott, John <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Hoddinott=3AJohn=3A=3A.html>   (1970) A study of the carbohydrates in the cell walls of some species of the Entomophthorales.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The Entomophthorales were studied to determine whether a new criterion could be introduced into their scheme of classification to help clarify some of the synonymy within the group. An attempt was also made to see if differences in the cell wall carbohydrates showed any correlation with the differences in mycelial lipids within the group. It was also desirable to find out if the Entomophthorales were of similar cell wall composition to the Mucorales, and if not to which chemical category they should be assigned. -- Several media were tested to see which one supported the best fungal growth, and several extraction techniques were tested to see which gave the most useful cell wall preparations free of cytoplasm. The efficiency of the cell wall extractions was determined histochemically. -- A histochemical study of the cell wall was made to provide qualitative data on the constituent polysaccharides in the cell walls. Further qualitative data was gained by hydrolysing the cell walls and analysing by chromatography the monosaccharides so released. Quantitative data were gathered by analysing the hydrolysates by colourimetric techniques. -- It was shown as a result of this study that qualitative differences occur between the genera tested, and that quantitative differences occur between the species of one genus. The glucose: mannose ratio is the most useful taxonomic criterion at the species level, as it remains constant on a variety of media. -- The sub-grouping of the Entomophthorales by their lipid composition seems to be reflected in the cell wall carbohydrate composition. -- The Entomophthorales should not be classed chemically with the Mucorales; they should be separated into a category of chitin-glucan fungi.


identifier: Payne, Sue Stoker <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Payne=3ASue_Stoker=3A=3A.html>   (1972) A developmental analysis of the comparative difficulty level of oddity and two-choice discrimination learning in children.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: This investigation was designed to compare the relative difficulty of the oddity, one irrelevant dimension discrimination, and two irrelevant dimension discrimination tasks, with colour or form as the relevant dimension. Subjects were seventy-two children in three age levels: preschool, kindergarten, and grade 2. All subjects were given planometric colour, form, and size pretraining followed by stereometric oddity, one irrelevant dimension discrimination, and two irrelevant dimension discrimination training in a counterbalanced order. The Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices was administered individually following the last experimental task. -- The data were analysed by nonparametric statistics and the results showed significant main effects for age, task, and dimension. The findings of this study show considerable agreement with and extend the results of other studies in this area.


identifier: Martin, Wilfred B. W. <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Martin=3AWilfred_B=2E_W=2E=3A=3A.html>   (1969) Preservation of self-esteem : a study in role distance.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The theoretical background for this exploratory study is drawn from two areas: (1) the social psychology of role distance and role distance behavior, and (2) the sociology of classroom behavior. An attempt is made to demonstrate that what has been theorized about role distance and role distance behavior does, in fact, take place in everyday life. The study concentrates on: (1) the circumstances in the classroom teaching situation under which both major and minor role distance occur, (2) the situational expressions of both true and false role distance behavior, (3) the dimensions along which role distance behavior develops among junior high school students, and (4) the distinctiveness of both varieties of role distance behavior among the patterns of activities of students in the classroom. -- Two classrooms of a junior high school are selected for this investigation. A field design for the study of role distance and role distance behavior in the classroom is presented. It includes the operationalization of the concepts of role distance and role distance behavior, the procedures followed in gathering the data, and the methods used in analyzing it. -- The findings clearly demonstrate the empirical viability of role distance and role distance behavior theory; hidden dimensions were discovered and new conceptual distinctions made. Minor role distance was found to be more prominent than major role distance, and true role distance behavior was enacted more often than false role distance behavior. Both types were enacted during general and specific class activities. The categories of momentary expression, recurrent expression, and extended expression are generated from the data collected regarding situational expressions of role distance behavior. -- Several, though not all, of the preconditions of role distance behavior are found in behavior other than role distance behavior. By an examination of these related phenomena enacted in role abandonment, fear of inadequate performance, dislike for teacher, attempting to attract a relevant audience, and student frolic, the empirical boundaries of role distance behavior are more clearly delineated.


identifier: Dinham, Paul S. <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Dinham=3APaul_S=2E=3A=3A.html>   (1972) Conceptions and management of mental illness in outport Newfoundland.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The theoretical background for this exploratory study is derived from the societal reaction school of deviance theory. It is an examination, through the use of both interview and participant observation data, of the conceptions and management of mental illness in the isolated "outport" settlements of coastal Newfoundland. The study discusses the effect, on both of these phenomena, of differential access to medical and other professional agents, and through this analysis, challenges the traditional interpretations of psychiatric hospital admission rates. -- The outport conception of mental illness is examined in the light of community culture and interactive structure, in an effort to illustrate that lay conceptions of mental illness entail judgements of the social, rather than psychiatric, nature of behavior. -- The process of coming to be defined as mentally ill by fellow community members is seen as the function of a number of social contingencies. The definitional process is outlined in some detail in an attempt to integrate the relevant contingent factors. Hypotheses are offered about the nature of the lay conceptions of mental illness and the validity of the research focus is briefly evaluated.


identifier: Pritchett, Hazel A. M. <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Pritchett=3AHazel_A=2E_M=2E=3A=3A.html>   (1965) The standard algebras.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

title: The standard algebras

abstract: We discuss the tensor, symmetric, and exterior algebras of a vector space. -- Chapter 0 contains algebraic preliminaries. -- In Chapter I we define the tensor product VⓧW of two vector spaces and then the tensor product of a finite number of vector spaces. A theorem concerning the existence and uniqueness of the tensor product is proved. Let Vr denote Vⓧ...ⓧV (r times) . We define an operation called multiplication of tensors which pairs an element of Vr and an element of Vs with an element of Vr+s . This defines a multiplicative structure on the (weak) direct sum ⓧV=R+V+V* + VⓧV+V*+... We call ⓧV the tensor algebra of the vector space V and prove a theorem concerning its existence and uniqueness. Let V* denote the dual space of V and (V*)r denote V*ⓧ...ⓧV* (r times) We show that (V*)r can be identified with (Vr)* , the dual space of Vr . This identification establishes the pseudo product for the pair Vr, (Vr)* : -- [special characters omitted] -- In the final section we discuss the induced covariant and contravariant homomorphisms. -- We give parallel discussions for the symmetric and exterior algebras. In Chapter II we give constructual and conceptual definitions of V(r) , the space of symmetric contravariant tensors of degree r , and show the existence and uniqueness of V(r) . We define an operation called symmetric multiplication which pairs an element of V(r) and an element of V(s) with an element of V(r+s) . We then have a multiplicative structure on the direct sum -- [special characters omitted] -- and we call OV the symmetric algebra of V . We prove its existence and uniqueness. We discuss the duality in the symmetric algebra and show that (V(r))* can be identified with (V*)(r) . This establishes the pseudo product for the pair V(r), (V(r))* . In fact, we prove the formula -- [special characters omitted] -- and show the relationship between this pseudo product and the permanent function. -- In Chapter III we define V[r] , the space of antisymmetric (alternate) tensors of degree r . We proceed as in Chapter II. Having defined exterior multiplication, we have a multiplicative structure on the direct sum -- [special characters omitted] -- and we call ∧V the exterior algebra of V . We show that (V[r])* can be identified with (V*)[r] We prove that -- [special characters omitted] -- and show the relationship between this pseudo product and the determinant.


identifier: Okoye, Paulinus Nwogbonna Christopher <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Okoye=3APaulinus_Nwogbonna_Christopher=3A=3A.html>   (1971) An assessment of the degree of professionalism associated with the teaching of English in the secondary schools of St. John's, Newfoundland.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: This study attempted to assess the degree of professionalism associated with the teaching of English in the secondary schools of St. John's, Newfoundland. The data were obtained by means of questionnaires and an interview schedule. The questionnaires were completed by principals, heads of English departments and individual English teachers from the thirteen secondary schools in the city of St. John's. The interview schedule was used in interviewing school superintendents. All the instruments were geared to the ten criteria for professionalism in English identified by the investigator. The study attempted to ascertain the extent to which the teaching of English in the secondary schools of St. John's met the conditions implicit in the ten criteria. These criteria are: professional autonomy for teachers of English, the requirement of special training and knowledge in English, professional monopoly which requires that, as far as possible, only qualified English teachers teach English in secondary schools, career commitment, the inservice education of English teachers, involvement in research and development, group consciousness and integration in the form of an association of English teachers, an equitable workload for the teacher of English, special classrooms for English instruction, and the secondary school English department. The main findings of the study indicated that there was a gap between what participants accepted as constituting criteria for professionalism in English on the one hand, and on the other the extent to which these criteria were being met in the study schools. Analysis of the findings suggested several facts among which were the following: (1) The restrictions implicit in the provincial Education Act placed English in the same category as other subjects thereby making it difficult for the English teacher to teach English as he considered appropriate to his particular situation. (2) By the standards of the criteria used in this study, there appeared to be a scarcity of qualified English teachers in the study schools. (3) Analysis of data indicated apparent lack of commitment, on the part of English teachers, to English instruction as a career. The major recommendations arising from the study include the following: (1) Teachers of English in each school should be allowed more responsibility over the English programme and should, as far as possible, be free to teach in the way they consider appropriate to their individual situations. (2) Teachers of English in St. John's should set up a system to foster contacts among themselves as a professional group. (3) Consideration should be given, by the school administrators in St. John's, to the conditions under which the English teacher works, for example, an equitable work load that takes special note of the demands which English instruction makes on the teacher, and classrooms designed and equipped specifically for the teaching of English.


identifier: Chipp, Dorman George <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Chipp=3ADorman_George=3A=3A.html>   (1972) A comparison of biographical variables dropouts, graduates and no-shows, at the Stephenville Adult Centre.  Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between ten biographical variables and three categories of students at the Stephenville Adult Centre: those who successfully completed their programs, those who dropped out of their programs before completion and those who were selected to attend but did not report to start. These comparisons were made during two different time periods when two different types of academic programs were in effect. -- The sample used consisted of 531 students randomly selected from a total population of 4361 who attended the Centre from January 1968 to April 1972. -- Data for the present study came from Canada Manpower Forms which contained all the biographical information necessary for the study. The data was analyzed by means of descriptive statistics as well as distributions and appropriate inferential procedures, such as the chi square and analysis of variance. -- All three student categories were very similar in both programs. Most were married males between the ages of 20 and 25, having a grade VII or VIII prior to entering up-grading and needing two grade levels of up-grading in order to enter the occupation of their choice. -- However, some important differences were as follows: 1) dropouts tended to be a little younger than graduates or no-shows; 2) most of the dropouts and no-shows were from outside the Stephenville area; 3) a large percentage of all students elected to work toward only a few of the many occupational goals that were available; also, there was a sizable number of dropouts who had no occupational goal; 4) the higher a student's entering grade level the greater seemed his chances of success; and 5) the more dependents a student had the greater seemed his chances of success. -- Further research was recommended into the reasons why so many students aspired to only a few courses when there were so many available. Also,further research was recommended into reasons why the dropouts and no-shows appeared similar to each other but different from the graduates. -- Major recommendations resulting from this study were as follows: 1) consideration be given to the establishment of adults centres in other areas of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador; 2) comprehensive vocational counselling and career information centre be set up; 3) study to be set up to investigate reasons as to why so many no-shows, who are unemployed, do not report for up-grading.