What are the best and worst times in the lives of South African township dwellers? A content analysis of the self-defined end-anchors for Bernheim’s ACSA scale of subjective well-being
- Authors: Moller, Valerie , Theuns, P
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67155 , vital:29042 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0073-1
- Description: publisher version , Bernheim’s ACSA, a less conventional measure of subjective well-being originally developed for use in a clinical setting, was applied to a sample of black South African township dwellers (n = 1,020) in the Eastern Cape Province. The Anamnestic Comparative Self Assessment is an experiential self-anchoring scale with concrete anchors (Bernheim in Psychologie médicale 15:1625–1626, 1983). Respondents described the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ periods experienced in their lives in their own words and rated their current life situation within these two extremes that served as the end-anchors of an 11-point rating scale, ACSA. The ACSA score was significantly positively correlated with conventional measures of subjective well-being. The study examined in detail the content of the ACSA anchors, the best and worst periods of respondents’ lives, classified by domain, to gain insights into reference comparisons applied in quality-of-life evaluation in a developing country setting. As was the case in earlier ACSA studies, most domains that served as reference standards were related to the self and family life. However, material living standards, represented by the domains of income, financial security and housing also featured prominently as personal anchors—a reflection of life goals in post-apartheid South Africa. Age, gender, education and self-reported health were associated with the choice of select anchors. The discussion provides pointers for future applications of ACSA in large sample surveys using a pre-coded multiple-choice format for anchor descriptions. It is concluded that the content of ACSA anchors corresponds closely to contemporary definitions of the good life among ordinary South Africans.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Moller, Valerie , Theuns, P
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67155 , vital:29042 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0073-1
- Description: publisher version , Bernheim’s ACSA, a less conventional measure of subjective well-being originally developed for use in a clinical setting, was applied to a sample of black South African township dwellers (n = 1,020) in the Eastern Cape Province. The Anamnestic Comparative Self Assessment is an experiential self-anchoring scale with concrete anchors (Bernheim in Psychologie médicale 15:1625–1626, 1983). Respondents described the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ periods experienced in their lives in their own words and rated their current life situation within these two extremes that served as the end-anchors of an 11-point rating scale, ACSA. The ACSA score was significantly positively correlated with conventional measures of subjective well-being. The study examined in detail the content of the ACSA anchors, the best and worst periods of respondents’ lives, classified by domain, to gain insights into reference comparisons applied in quality-of-life evaluation in a developing country setting. As was the case in earlier ACSA studies, most domains that served as reference standards were related to the self and family life. However, material living standards, represented by the domains of income, financial security and housing also featured prominently as personal anchors—a reflection of life goals in post-apartheid South Africa. Age, gender, education and self-reported health were associated with the choice of select anchors. The discussion provides pointers for future applications of ACSA in large sample surveys using a pre-coded multiple-choice format for anchor descriptions. It is concluded that the content of ACSA anchors corresponds closely to contemporary definitions of the good life among ordinary South Africans.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2013
What future graduates will value in their leaders: a study across gender and culture
- Authors: Cox, Andrea
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Leadership -- South Africa Leadership -- Evaluation -- South Africa Culture -- South Africa Social values -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:1195 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008197
- Description: Effective leadership has been found to be a key determinant of organisational success. Effective leadership does not only involve the ability to influence and inspire others, it is the ability to lead subordinates according to the competencies that they value. The focus of this study is on determining what in fact the future South African graduate workforce will value in a leader. Effective leadership and the competencies that subordinate's value is especially relevant today as leadership is forced to contend with an increasingly diverse workforce. This diversity necessitates the need for a leadership style to be congruent with what subordinates of diverse genders and cultures will value, so to be effective. Existing studies have indicated that gender and culture influence what subordinate's value in a leader, however it is evident from the results of this study, that this is not entirely the case. Regarding gender, the female and male respondents in this study value similar competencies in their leader, indicating that there is no distinct set of competencies that will be valued by male and female graduates. With respect to culture, the respondents value a mixture of competencies that combine both African and Western leadership practices, values and philosophies, indicating that there is no distinct set of competencies that will be valued by African, Coloured, Indian and White graduates. On the basis of this research, the recommendation is that for leaders to be effective in the 21 st century, a leader must be loyal and inspirational, have vision and integrity and lastly must be open and honest with their subordinates
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Cox, Andrea
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Leadership -- South Africa Leadership -- Evaluation -- South Africa Culture -- South Africa Social values -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:1195 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008197
- Description: Effective leadership has been found to be a key determinant of organisational success. Effective leadership does not only involve the ability to influence and inspire others, it is the ability to lead subordinates according to the competencies that they value. The focus of this study is on determining what in fact the future South African graduate workforce will value in a leader. Effective leadership and the competencies that subordinate's value is especially relevant today as leadership is forced to contend with an increasingly diverse workforce. This diversity necessitates the need for a leadership style to be congruent with what subordinates of diverse genders and cultures will value, so to be effective. Existing studies have indicated that gender and culture influence what subordinate's value in a leader, however it is evident from the results of this study, that this is not entirely the case. Regarding gender, the female and male respondents in this study value similar competencies in their leader, indicating that there is no distinct set of competencies that will be valued by male and female graduates. With respect to culture, the respondents value a mixture of competencies that combine both African and Western leadership practices, values and philosophies, indicating that there is no distinct set of competencies that will be valued by African, Coloured, Indian and White graduates. On the basis of this research, the recommendation is that for leaders to be effective in the 21 st century, a leader must be loyal and inspirational, have vision and integrity and lastly must be open and honest with their subordinates
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
What to expect when you’re not expecting : child-freedom, social stigma, and online subjectivities
- Authors: Morison, Tracy
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Conference paper , text
- Identifier: vital:6210 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003915
- Description: From Introduction: Today I’m presenting some of the preliminary findings of a study about voluntary childlessness conducted with Indian, Polish, and fellow South African collaborators. Voluntary childlessness is also frequently referred to as being childless by choice or childfree. The term childfree (as opposed to ‘childless’) is intended to show that not having children “can be an active and fulfilling choice”, and to indicate agency and freedom from social obligation. The distinguishing feature of voluntary childlessness is the deliberate avoidance of parenthood, and this is precisely what opens up childfree people, especially married heterosexuals, to greater stigma than the temporarily or involuntarily childless, since it is seen as willing and deliberate deviation from the norm. Having children is seen as a natural consequence of being a “normal” heterosexual woman or man, as well as an expected outcome of marriage. Parenthood is therefore normalised by regulative discourses around sexuality and gender. This process of normalisation is reinforced by pronatalist discourse. According to Meyers, pronatalism rests upon twin strategies: The first is the valorisation or glorification of parenthood, which supports the belief that having children is the only true path to fulfilment. The second strategy is the denigration of non-reproduction in which childlessness is cast as horrific. The result of these dual strategies is to eliminate deliberate childlessness as a possibility. Parenthood, as the only truly viable option for a fulfilling life, is therefore a non-choice. This is compounded by nationalistic and religious rhetoric that constructs childbearing as an obligation or duty. Consequently, as my previous research showed, people often do not reflect on whether to have children or not, but see it more as a matter of timing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Morison, Tracy
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Conference paper , text
- Identifier: vital:6210 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003915
- Description: From Introduction: Today I’m presenting some of the preliminary findings of a study about voluntary childlessness conducted with Indian, Polish, and fellow South African collaborators. Voluntary childlessness is also frequently referred to as being childless by choice or childfree. The term childfree (as opposed to ‘childless’) is intended to show that not having children “can be an active and fulfilling choice”, and to indicate agency and freedom from social obligation. The distinguishing feature of voluntary childlessness is the deliberate avoidance of parenthood, and this is precisely what opens up childfree people, especially married heterosexuals, to greater stigma than the temporarily or involuntarily childless, since it is seen as willing and deliberate deviation from the norm. Having children is seen as a natural consequence of being a “normal” heterosexual woman or man, as well as an expected outcome of marriage. Parenthood is therefore normalised by regulative discourses around sexuality and gender. This process of normalisation is reinforced by pronatalist discourse. According to Meyers, pronatalism rests upon twin strategies: The first is the valorisation or glorification of parenthood, which supports the belief that having children is the only true path to fulfilment. The second strategy is the denigration of non-reproduction in which childlessness is cast as horrific. The result of these dual strategies is to eliminate deliberate childlessness as a possibility. Parenthood, as the only truly viable option for a fulfilling life, is therefore a non-choice. This is compounded by nationalistic and religious rhetoric that constructs childbearing as an obligation or duty. Consequently, as my previous research showed, people often do not reflect on whether to have children or not, but see it more as a matter of timing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
When does a nation-level analysis make sense? ESD and educational governance in Brazil, South Africa, and the USA
- Feinstein, Noah W, Jacobi, Pedro R, Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Authors: Feinstein, Noah W , Jacobi, Pedro R , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/131645 , vital:36707 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2013.767321
- Description: International policy analysis tends to simplify the nation state, portraying countries as coherent units that can be described by one statistic or placed into one category. As scholars from Brazil, South Africa, and the USA, we find the nation-centric research perspective particularly challenging. In each of our home countries, the effective influence of the national government on education is quite limited, particularly in fringe and emerging areas of education such as Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Climate Change Education (CCE). This essay explores how nation-level comparisons are and are not useful for international research on ESD and CCE. We consider several layers of decentralized governance, but ultimately come to the conclusion that ESD governance in our respective countries is polycentric rather than decentralized. We discuss the implications of this idea for cross-national policy research on ESD and CCE.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Feinstein, Noah W , Jacobi, Pedro R , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/131645 , vital:36707 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2013.767321
- Description: International policy analysis tends to simplify the nation state, portraying countries as coherent units that can be described by one statistic or placed into one category. As scholars from Brazil, South Africa, and the USA, we find the nation-centric research perspective particularly challenging. In each of our home countries, the effective influence of the national government on education is quite limited, particularly in fringe and emerging areas of education such as Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Climate Change Education (CCE). This essay explores how nation-level comparisons are and are not useful for international research on ESD and CCE. We consider several layers of decentralized governance, but ultimately come to the conclusion that ESD governance in our respective countries is polycentric rather than decentralized. We discuss the implications of this idea for cross-national policy research on ESD and CCE.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
When veiled silences speak: reflexivity, trouble and repair as methodological tools for interpreting the unspoken in discourse-based data
- Morison, Tracy, Macleod, Catriona I
- Authors: Morison, Tracy , Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6220 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006280 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1468794113488129
- Description: Researchers who have attempted to make sense of silence in data have generally considered literal silences or such things as laughter. We consider the analysis of veiled silences where participants speak, but their speaking serves as ‘noise’ that ‘veils’, or masks, their inability or unwillingness to talk about a (potentially sensitive) topic. Extending Lisa Mazzei’s ‘problematic of silence’ by using our performativity-performance analytical method, we propose the purposeful use of ‘unusual conversational moves’, the deployment of researcher reflexivity, and the analysis of trouble and repair as methods to expose taken-for-granted normative frameworks in veiled silences. We illustrate the potential of these research practices through reference to our study on men’s involvement in reproductive decision-making, in which participants demonstrated an inability to engage with the topic. The veiled silence that this produced, together with what was said, pointed to the operation of procreative heteronormativity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Morison, Tracy , Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6220 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006280 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1468794113488129
- Description: Researchers who have attempted to make sense of silence in data have generally considered literal silences or such things as laughter. We consider the analysis of veiled silences where participants speak, but their speaking serves as ‘noise’ that ‘veils’, or masks, their inability or unwillingness to talk about a (potentially sensitive) topic. Extending Lisa Mazzei’s ‘problematic of silence’ by using our performativity-performance analytical method, we propose the purposeful use of ‘unusual conversational moves’, the deployment of researcher reflexivity, and the analysis of trouble and repair as methods to expose taken-for-granted normative frameworks in veiled silences. We illustrate the potential of these research practices through reference to our study on men’s involvement in reproductive decision-making, in which participants demonstrated an inability to engage with the topic. The veiled silence that this produced, together with what was said, pointed to the operation of procreative heteronormativity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Where angels fear to tread: online peer-assessment in a large first-year class
- Mostert, Markus, Snowball, Jeanette D
- Authors: Mostert, Markus , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68845 , vital:29330 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2012.683770
- Description: Publisher version , In the context of widening participation, large classes and increased diversity, assessment of student learning is becoming increasingly problematic in that providing formative feedback aimed at developing student writing proves to be particularly laborious. Although the potential value of peer assessment has been well documented in the literature, the associated administrative burden, also in relation to managing anonymity and intellectual ownership, makes this option less attractive, particularly in large classes. A potential solution involves the use of information and communication technologies to automate the logistics associated with peer assessment in a time-efficient way. However, uptake of such systems in the higher education community is limited, and research in this area is only beginning. This case study reports on the use of the Moodle Workshop module for formative peer assessment of students’ individual work in a first-year introductory macro-economics class of over 800 students. Data were collected through an end-of-course evaluation survey of students. The study found that using the feature-rich Workshop module not only addressed many of the practical challenges associated with paper-based peer assessments, but also provided a range of additional options for enhancing validity and reliability of peer assessments that would not be possible with paper-based systems.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Mostert, Markus , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68845 , vital:29330 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2012.683770
- Description: Publisher version , In the context of widening participation, large classes and increased diversity, assessment of student learning is becoming increasingly problematic in that providing formative feedback aimed at developing student writing proves to be particularly laborious. Although the potential value of peer assessment has been well documented in the literature, the associated administrative burden, also in relation to managing anonymity and intellectual ownership, makes this option less attractive, particularly in large classes. A potential solution involves the use of information and communication technologies to automate the logistics associated with peer assessment in a time-efficient way. However, uptake of such systems in the higher education community is limited, and research in this area is only beginning. This case study reports on the use of the Moodle Workshop module for formative peer assessment of students’ individual work in a first-year introductory macro-economics class of over 800 students. Data were collected through an end-of-course evaluation survey of students. The study found that using the feature-rich Workshop module not only addressed many of the practical challenges associated with paper-based peer assessments, but also provided a range of additional options for enhancing validity and reliability of peer assessments that would not be possible with paper-based systems.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2013
Who knew
- Authors: Gaunt, Hailey Kathryn
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Poetry , Memory , Nature , Marriage , Faith , Death , Meaning , English language -- Writing , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Creative writing (Higher education)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5962 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001812
- Description: This book of poems ranges in style from narrative to condensed lyric moment, and shifts in perspective from observation to introspection. Thematically, these poems explore everyday life through its many manifestations – memory, nature, marriage, faith and death – with an emphasis on finding meaning in absolutely ordinary things. Though their tone is often vulnerable and tender, even when it is more distant the poems are always searching.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Gaunt, Hailey Kathryn
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Poetry , Memory , Nature , Marriage , Faith , Death , Meaning , English language -- Writing , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Creative writing (Higher education)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5962 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001812
- Description: This book of poems ranges in style from narrative to condensed lyric moment, and shifts in perspective from observation to introspection. Thematically, these poems explore everyday life through its many manifestations – memory, nature, marriage, faith and death – with an emphasis on finding meaning in absolutely ordinary things. Though their tone is often vulnerable and tender, even when it is more distant the poems are always searching.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Wireless mobile android technology in the monitoring and control of a safety integrated robotic cell
- Authors: Cumberlege, Aidan
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Android (Electronic resource) , Application software -- Development , Computer software -- Development , Mobile computing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/46284 , vital:39543
- Description: The constant strive for improving the efficiency of production processes has become a worldwide challenge. In high speed production facilities response time between man and machine is of utmost importance when financial implications are taken into account. This dissertation contributes to improving the response time by making use of wireless notification between the machine and the maintenance technician when process faults occur. The tool used to achieve this is based on Android. Research is carried out on the latest Android technology while taking the safety aspects of a production environment into consideration. Research in designing a rule based intelligent system is established by using a tablet as the user interface for automatic notification and corrective action recommendations. Quick response is achieved by setting up a wireless network. As a result of designing a wireless intelligent maintenance tool, production downtime is improved. Management can recall all activities logged by the system for graphical representation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Wireless mobile android technology in the monitoring and control of a safety integrated robotic cell
- Authors: Cumberlege, Aidan
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Android (Electronic resource) , Application software -- Development , Computer software -- Development , Mobile computing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/46284 , vital:39543
- Description: The constant strive for improving the efficiency of production processes has become a worldwide challenge. In high speed production facilities response time between man and machine is of utmost importance when financial implications are taken into account. This dissertation contributes to improving the response time by making use of wireless notification between the machine and the maintenance technician when process faults occur. The tool used to achieve this is based on Android. Research is carried out on the latest Android technology while taking the safety aspects of a production environment into consideration. Research in designing a rule based intelligent system is established by using a tablet as the user interface for automatic notification and corrective action recommendations. Quick response is achieved by setting up a wireless network. As a result of designing a wireless intelligent maintenance tool, production downtime is improved. Management can recall all activities logged by the system for graphical representation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Woman vulnerability to HIV/AIDS : an investigation into women's conceptions and experiences in negotiating sex and safe sex in Okalongo constituency, Omusati Region, Namibia
- Authors: Haipinge, Rauha
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) in women -- Namibia -- Omusati AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects -- Namibia -- Omusati HIV infections -- Social aspects -- Namibia -- Omusati Women -- Namibia -- Omusati -- Social conditions Women -- Sexual behavior -- Namibia -- Omusati Man-woman relationships -- Namibia -- Omusati Sex instruction -- Namibia -- Omusati Safe sex in AIDS prevention -- Namibia -- Omusati Sex role -- Namibia -- Omusati HIV-positive persons -- Sex differences -- Namibia -- Omusati Male domination (Social structure) -- Namibia -- Omusati Sex discrimination against women -- Namibia -- Omusati
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1839 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004337
- Description: This study emerged from the high prevalence rate of HIV and AIDS infection among women in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has no exception to Namibia. Women have been vulnerable to HIV and AIDS let alone on sex related issues since the epidemic emerged, but not research has been done specifically to Okalongo women. The way in which women vulnerable to HIV and AIDS infection were explored by examined social and cultural identities that affect women’s sexual relations in negotiating sex and safe sex. Qualitative study on a sample of fifteen women was conducted in Okalongo. The purpose of this study was to investigate the conceptions and experiences of women in negotiating sex and safe sex with their husband and partners. Feminist theory guided the methodology and analysis of data. I assumed that gender roles andsexuality are socially constructed, shaped by religion, social, political, and economic influences and modified throughout life. Feminist theory assisted in documentary the ways in which the female’s gender and sexuality in Okalongo is shaped by cultural influences and by institutions that disadvantage female and other oppressed groups by silencing their voices. The feminist further guided the discussion of the contradicting messages about women’s sexuality and their experiences, as women complied, conformed and even colluded with their oppression. To address the issue under study, the primary analysis of data from the focus group discussion and individual interview were utilised. The following themes were the heart of analysis: Women Positionality, Normalisation and Compliance, Women Agency and Male Dominance Power, Women Perceptions of Risk, Sex Education in and out of school among Women.In this study the data suggested that women in Okalongo are more vulnerable to their lack of assertiveness, as they have difficult in developing an authoritative voice, they tend to be humble about their achievements and knowledge and to only assertively when concerned about others. The findings supported the literature that women’s vulnerability is strongly influenced and tied by broader forces present in the society. Women’s vulnerability is real and needs to be tackled for any progress to occur in the fight against AIDS. Until factors that constraints and enabling women agency to negotiate sex and safe sex acknowledged and addressed, women will continue to succumb to the HIV pandemic.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Haipinge, Rauha
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) in women -- Namibia -- Omusati AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects -- Namibia -- Omusati HIV infections -- Social aspects -- Namibia -- Omusati Women -- Namibia -- Omusati -- Social conditions Women -- Sexual behavior -- Namibia -- Omusati Man-woman relationships -- Namibia -- Omusati Sex instruction -- Namibia -- Omusati Safe sex in AIDS prevention -- Namibia -- Omusati Sex role -- Namibia -- Omusati HIV-positive persons -- Sex differences -- Namibia -- Omusati Male domination (Social structure) -- Namibia -- Omusati Sex discrimination against women -- Namibia -- Omusati
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1839 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004337
- Description: This study emerged from the high prevalence rate of HIV and AIDS infection among women in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has no exception to Namibia. Women have been vulnerable to HIV and AIDS let alone on sex related issues since the epidemic emerged, but not research has been done specifically to Okalongo women. The way in which women vulnerable to HIV and AIDS infection were explored by examined social and cultural identities that affect women’s sexual relations in negotiating sex and safe sex. Qualitative study on a sample of fifteen women was conducted in Okalongo. The purpose of this study was to investigate the conceptions and experiences of women in negotiating sex and safe sex with their husband and partners. Feminist theory guided the methodology and analysis of data. I assumed that gender roles andsexuality are socially constructed, shaped by religion, social, political, and economic influences and modified throughout life. Feminist theory assisted in documentary the ways in which the female’s gender and sexuality in Okalongo is shaped by cultural influences and by institutions that disadvantage female and other oppressed groups by silencing their voices. The feminist further guided the discussion of the contradicting messages about women’s sexuality and their experiences, as women complied, conformed and even colluded with their oppression. To address the issue under study, the primary analysis of data from the focus group discussion and individual interview were utilised. The following themes were the heart of analysis: Women Positionality, Normalisation and Compliance, Women Agency and Male Dominance Power, Women Perceptions of Risk, Sex Education in and out of school among Women.In this study the data suggested that women in Okalongo are more vulnerable to their lack of assertiveness, as they have difficult in developing an authoritative voice, they tend to be humble about their achievements and knowledge and to only assertively when concerned about others. The findings supported the literature that women’s vulnerability is strongly influenced and tied by broader forces present in the society. Women’s vulnerability is real and needs to be tackled for any progress to occur in the fight against AIDS. Until factors that constraints and enabling women agency to negotiate sex and safe sex acknowledged and addressed, women will continue to succumb to the HIV pandemic.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Women in power: the experiences of female administrators at Nelson Mandela bay Metropolitan Municipality
- Authors: Memela, Yoliswa Lourenda
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Women government executives -- South Africa , Women executives -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9239 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021105
- Description: South Africa is held up internationally as a beacon of good practice in terms of its efforts to promote gender equality and, the increased number of women in leadership positions in all spheres of government is testament to this. The representation of women in all spheres of government is advocated for and promoted by legislation and policies that aim to promote a gender focus on all government procedures and programmes. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of women leaders, including their reasons for maintaining leadership positions. It also addressed the challenges these women faced on their journeys and described their definitions of successful leadership based on their experiences. The qualitative nature of the research project made it possible to tell the stories of the participants’ experiences in order to understand their career progression and how it pertained to their concept of leadership. The three participants recruited for the study were women in positions of influence within their municipality including managers, directors, and executive directors. Purposeful sampling was used so that the chosen participants would have experience with the central phenomenon being studied. All of the women contacted to participate in this study readily agreed to share their experiences. There was some level of diversity regarding the age, ethnic backgrounds, and education level of the participants. Semi-structured personal interviews were conducted to collect the data. Open-ended questions were used so the responses of the participants could guide the development of themes and the direction of the study. Once the data were collected through recorded interviews, codes were assigned to sections of the text to help identify themes. A coding table was developed to illustrate how the themes for the discussion emerged from data obtained during the interviews. The stories of the participants were interwoven based on the themes and also analyzed in terms of the existing research. A discussion of the findings incorporated the literature and provided evidence of connected concepts. Strategies including inter-coder agreement, rich description, and clarification of biases were used to strengthen the study’s findings. Ethical issues were addressed throughout each phase of the study. All participants were asked to sign an informed consent form that outlined the procedures of the study. The identity of the participants was kept confidential through the use of pseudonyms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Memela, Yoliswa Lourenda
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Women government executives -- South Africa , Women executives -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9239 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021105
- Description: South Africa is held up internationally as a beacon of good practice in terms of its efforts to promote gender equality and, the increased number of women in leadership positions in all spheres of government is testament to this. The representation of women in all spheres of government is advocated for and promoted by legislation and policies that aim to promote a gender focus on all government procedures and programmes. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of women leaders, including their reasons for maintaining leadership positions. It also addressed the challenges these women faced on their journeys and described their definitions of successful leadership based on their experiences. The qualitative nature of the research project made it possible to tell the stories of the participants’ experiences in order to understand their career progression and how it pertained to their concept of leadership. The three participants recruited for the study were women in positions of influence within their municipality including managers, directors, and executive directors. Purposeful sampling was used so that the chosen participants would have experience with the central phenomenon being studied. All of the women contacted to participate in this study readily agreed to share their experiences. There was some level of diversity regarding the age, ethnic backgrounds, and education level of the participants. Semi-structured personal interviews were conducted to collect the data. Open-ended questions were used so the responses of the participants could guide the development of themes and the direction of the study. Once the data were collected through recorded interviews, codes were assigned to sections of the text to help identify themes. A coding table was developed to illustrate how the themes for the discussion emerged from data obtained during the interviews. The stories of the participants were interwoven based on the themes and also analyzed in terms of the existing research. A discussion of the findings incorporated the literature and provided evidence of connected concepts. Strategies including inter-coder agreement, rich description, and clarification of biases were used to strengthen the study’s findings. Ethical issues were addressed throughout each phase of the study. All participants were asked to sign an informed consent form that outlined the procedures of the study. The identity of the participants was kept confidential through the use of pseudonyms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of the effect of alkyl-and arylthio substituents on manganese phthalocyanines for self-assembled monolayer formation on gold
- Coates, Megan, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Coates, Megan , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190490 , vital:44999 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2013.03.019"
- Description: Self-assembled monolayers of an octa-substituted alkylthio and arylthio manganese phthalocyanines were formed on gold. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to analyse both of the phthalocyanine layers on gold. Approximately 60% of the sulphur groups in the aryl substituted-SAM surface were bound to gold through the cleavage of the C S bond, as opposed to only 37% for the alkyl substituted-SAM.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Coates, Megan , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190490 , vital:44999 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2013.03.019"
- Description: Self-assembled monolayers of an octa-substituted alkylthio and arylthio manganese phthalocyanines were formed on gold. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to analyse both of the phthalocyanine layers on gold. Approximately 60% of the sulphur groups in the aryl substituted-SAM surface were bound to gold through the cleavage of the C S bond, as opposed to only 37% for the alkyl substituted-SAM.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
You don't love your mother just because she feeds you : amaXhosa and woodlands in the Peddie district, Eastern Cape
- Authors: McAlister, Gareth
- Date: 2013 , 2013-07-24
- Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Social life and customs Forest ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Forest conservation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Social change -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2106 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006044
- Description: This thesis will discuss how the application of place theory might provide insight into how a selection of Xhosa-speaking people in a rural village (Ntloko), in the former Ciskei of the Eastern Cape, interact with and establish relationships with the local indigenous thicket forest (ihlathi). I am concerned with how these influence residents' perceptions and attitudes (relational epistemologies) towards this resource, and how these may (or may not) translate into conservation practices. I am also interested in how socio-political and economic changes have altered these people/place relations (including gender) and their corresponding cultural perceptions. It is argued that the local thicket forest's significance and importance moves beyond the economic and utilitarian value of its natural resources. The thicket plays an important part in local identity construction, due to both its socio-cultural significance and its role in local livelihoods. People form meaningful attachments and relationships (relational epistemologies ) with the thicket as a place, through their interactions with it. While this may or may not result in actions and attitudes in-line with the conservation agenda, it is shown that this relationship is necessary for a local concern and stake in the natural environment. Those who have no or minimal interaction, such as many of the young women of Ntloko, have no opportunity to forge a relationship with it. Ihlathi may be known through narrative, but not personal experience, and as such no significant attachments can be formed, and thus concern for its conservation status is irrelevant. It is clear that if you remove people from an environment, you remove the stake they hold in the environment in question, thereby disrupting the relationship, and alienating people from nature. While a relational epistemology may not equate to conservation practices, it does imply a stake or concern in the environment, and as such, may provide an opportunity for conservationists to work with local communities. Resistance to conservation and development projects that aim to exclude local interaction, and therefore relationships, with the environment, will always be strong when local identities are intricately tied to the places and experiences that form them. Threatening that relationship threatens local identities and the attachments that orient them.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: McAlister, Gareth
- Date: 2013 , 2013-07-24
- Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Social life and customs Forest ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Forest conservation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Social change -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2106 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006044
- Description: This thesis will discuss how the application of place theory might provide insight into how a selection of Xhosa-speaking people in a rural village (Ntloko), in the former Ciskei of the Eastern Cape, interact with and establish relationships with the local indigenous thicket forest (ihlathi). I am concerned with how these influence residents' perceptions and attitudes (relational epistemologies) towards this resource, and how these may (or may not) translate into conservation practices. I am also interested in how socio-political and economic changes have altered these people/place relations (including gender) and their corresponding cultural perceptions. It is argued that the local thicket forest's significance and importance moves beyond the economic and utilitarian value of its natural resources. The thicket plays an important part in local identity construction, due to both its socio-cultural significance and its role in local livelihoods. People form meaningful attachments and relationships (relational epistemologies ) with the thicket as a place, through their interactions with it. While this may or may not result in actions and attitudes in-line with the conservation agenda, it is shown that this relationship is necessary for a local concern and stake in the natural environment. Those who have no or minimal interaction, such as many of the young women of Ntloko, have no opportunity to forge a relationship with it. Ihlathi may be known through narrative, but not personal experience, and as such no significant attachments can be formed, and thus concern for its conservation status is irrelevant. It is clear that if you remove people from an environment, you remove the stake they hold in the environment in question, thereby disrupting the relationship, and alienating people from nature. While a relational epistemology may not equate to conservation practices, it does imply a stake or concern in the environment, and as such, may provide an opportunity for conservationists to work with local communities. Resistance to conservation and development projects that aim to exclude local interaction, and therefore relationships, with the environment, will always be strong when local identities are intricately tied to the places and experiences that form them. Threatening that relationship threatens local identities and the attachments that orient them.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
You reap what you sow : regulating marriages and intimate partnerships in a diverse post-apartheid society
- Authors: Kruuse, Helen
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54152 , vital:26396 , https://tinyurl.com/yaughtn2
- Description: South Africa does not have a particularly proud history. Marred by the politics of separate but (un)equal treatment of its people, the country's past political system has had a damaging effect in all spheres, but specifically on that of the family. In the context of relationships, it is fair to say that the apartheid system was replicated in family law, with the Western 'white' monogamous marriage receiving the state's stamp of approval - leaving other relationships (customary, Muslim, homosexual, cohabiting etc) largely out in the cold.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Kruuse, Helen
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54152 , vital:26396 , https://tinyurl.com/yaughtn2
- Description: South Africa does not have a particularly proud history. Marred by the politics of separate but (un)equal treatment of its people, the country's past political system has had a damaging effect in all spheres, but specifically on that of the family. In the context of relationships, it is fair to say that the apartheid system was replicated in family law, with the Western 'white' monogamous marriage receiving the state's stamp of approval - leaving other relationships (customary, Muslim, homosexual, cohabiting etc) largely out in the cold.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Zinc (II) 2, 9, 16, 23-tetrakis [4-(N-methylpyridyloxy)]-phthalocyanine anchored on an electrospun polysulfone polymer fiber: Application for photosensitized conversion of methyl orange
- Zugle, Ruphino, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Zugle, Ruphino , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232741 , vital:50020 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcata.2012.10.001"
- Description: In this work, a comparative study of photodegradation of methyl orange, an azo dye, in homogeneous aqueous solution of a quarternized cationic zinc phthalocyanine and a heterogeneous catalytic system based on the same phthalocyanine anchored on polysulfone polymer fiber is presented. In both cases, conversion involved the azo bond of the dye with no detectable opening up of the aromatic benzene rings. The reaction kinetics in both cases were consistent with first order with the conversion occurring in the homogeneous system being faster than when the functionalized polymer fiber was used. The reaction products consisted of a coupling product as well as a series of oligopolymeric products.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Zugle, Ruphino , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232741 , vital:50020 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcata.2012.10.001"
- Description: In this work, a comparative study of photodegradation of methyl orange, an azo dye, in homogeneous aqueous solution of a quarternized cationic zinc phthalocyanine and a heterogeneous catalytic system based on the same phthalocyanine anchored on polysulfone polymer fiber is presented. In both cases, conversion involved the azo bond of the dye with no detectable opening up of the aromatic benzene rings. The reaction kinetics in both cases were consistent with first order with the conversion occurring in the homogeneous system being faster than when the functionalized polymer fiber was used. The reaction products consisted of a coupling product as well as a series of oligopolymeric products.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
‘Growing’ social protection in developing countries: lessons from Brazil and South Africa
- Barrientos, Armando, Moller, Valerie, Saboia, Joao, Lloyd-Sherlock, Peter, Mase, Julia
- Authors: Barrientos, Armando , Moller, Valerie , Saboia, Joao , Lloyd-Sherlock, Peter , Mase, Julia
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67195 , vital:29058 , https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2013.756098
- Description: publisher version , The rapid expansion of social protection in the South provides a rich diversity of experiences and lessons on how best to reduce poverty and ultimately eradicate it. Knowledge on how best to ‘grow’ social assistance, understood as long-term institutions responsible for reducing and preventing poverty, is at a premium. This article examines the expansion of social assistance in Brazil and South Africa, two of the middle income countries widely perceived to have advanced furthest in ‘growing’ social protection. It examines three aspects: the primacy of politics in explaining the expansion of social protection and assistance, the tensions between path-dependence and innovation in terms of institutions and practices, and the poverty and inequality outcomes of social assistance expansion. The article concludes by drawing the main lessons for other developing countries.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Barrientos, Armando , Moller, Valerie , Saboia, Joao , Lloyd-Sherlock, Peter , Mase, Julia
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67195 , vital:29058 , https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2013.756098
- Description: publisher version , The rapid expansion of social protection in the South provides a rich diversity of experiences and lessons on how best to reduce poverty and ultimately eradicate it. Knowledge on how best to ‘grow’ social assistance, understood as long-term institutions responsible for reducing and preventing poverty, is at a premium. This article examines the expansion of social assistance in Brazil and South Africa, two of the middle income countries widely perceived to have advanced furthest in ‘growing’ social protection. It examines three aspects: the primacy of politics in explaining the expansion of social protection and assistance, the tensions between path-dependence and innovation in terms of institutions and practices, and the poverty and inequality outcomes of social assistance expansion. The article concludes by drawing the main lessons for other developing countries.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2013
“A road that may lead nowhere”: JM Coetzee, Tayeb Salih, and the Hospitality of Vagrant Writing
- Authors: Marais, Mike
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144072 , vital:38308 , https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=4568814
- Description: In this article, I argue that Coetzee's writing, being alienated from history but unable to transcend it, is forced to treat its own representations with a measure of suspicion. By extension, the Coetzee text is always divided against itself. It is, in the idiom of hospitality, never quite at home with itself because it is aware that home is premised on exclusion, on the existence of an outsider, one for whom home is not a home.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Marais, Mike
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144072 , vital:38308 , https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=4568814
- Description: In this article, I argue that Coetzee's writing, being alienated from history but unable to transcend it, is forced to treat its own representations with a measure of suspicion. By extension, the Coetzee text is always divided against itself. It is, in the idiom of hospitality, never quite at home with itself because it is aware that home is premised on exclusion, on the existence of an outsider, one for whom home is not a home.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
“As soon as the four sides are all equal, then the angles must be 90° each”: children's misconceptions in geometry
- Atebe, Humphrey U, Schäfer, Marc
- Authors: Atebe, Humphrey U , Schäfer, Marc
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140983 , vital:37934 , DOI: 10.1080/10288457.2008.10740634
- Description: This study describes Nigerian and South African students' conceptual understanding in high school geometry based on the van Hiele model of geometric thinking levels. The study further highlights students' misconceptions in school geometry. Concepts of triangles and quadrilaterals were investigated among 36 mathematics learners drawn from grades 10 through 12 who participated in this study. The tasks included identifying and naming shapes, sorting of shapes, stating the properties of shapes, defining of shapes and establishing class inclusions of shapes. The results indicated that many Nigerian and South African high school learners in Grade 10, 11 and 12 hold a number of misconceptions about geometric concepts of triangles and quadrilaterals.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Atebe, Humphrey U , Schäfer, Marc
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140983 , vital:37934 , DOI: 10.1080/10288457.2008.10740634
- Description: This study describes Nigerian and South African students' conceptual understanding in high school geometry based on the van Hiele model of geometric thinking levels. The study further highlights students' misconceptions in school geometry. Concepts of triangles and quadrilaterals were investigated among 36 mathematics learners drawn from grades 10 through 12 who participated in this study. The tasks included identifying and naming shapes, sorting of shapes, stating the properties of shapes, defining of shapes and establishing class inclusions of shapes. The results indicated that many Nigerian and South African high school learners in Grade 10, 11 and 12 hold a number of misconceptions about geometric concepts of triangles and quadrilaterals.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
“Face the music!”: the Daily Sun's representation of adolescent sex in the Jules High sex scandal
- Boshoff, Priscilla A, Prinsloo, Jeanne
- Authors: Boshoff, Priscilla A , Prinsloo, Jeanne
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143483 , vital:38250 , DOI: 10.1080/10130950.2013.834660
- Description: Rather than being merely a physiological stage, adolescence is variously constructed through social institutions. The media plays a significant role in such constructions, including that of adolescent sexuality. In the recent past there have been several cases of sexual acts involving adolescents that have received prominent media coverage as they have been considered shocking. The Jules High School sex scandal related to sex acts between a single adolescent girl and two adolescent boys. It was recorded on mobile phones by their peers and circulated on their mobile networks, or ‘went viral’ as the media continuously noted. The press coverage surrounding this incident and the legal process that ensued is the focus of this Article which undertakes a critical textual analysis of the coverage in the popular tabloid, the Daily Sun, in order to make explicit the contesting sets of discourses around adolescence and sexuality that were articulated in this popular public sphere. The Article uses a Foucauldian framework in order to probe the discourses of sexuality that are articulated and contested in this space. As the most widely read newspaper in South Africa it serves as a powerful site of definition of teen sexuality. The analysis suggests that, rather than allowing for teen sexuality, it is disavowed by villainising teen sex and responsibility for such ‘deviance’ is directed to various adult and social adult actors.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Boshoff, Priscilla A , Prinsloo, Jeanne
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143483 , vital:38250 , DOI: 10.1080/10130950.2013.834660
- Description: Rather than being merely a physiological stage, adolescence is variously constructed through social institutions. The media plays a significant role in such constructions, including that of adolescent sexuality. In the recent past there have been several cases of sexual acts involving adolescents that have received prominent media coverage as they have been considered shocking. The Jules High School sex scandal related to sex acts between a single adolescent girl and two adolescent boys. It was recorded on mobile phones by their peers and circulated on their mobile networks, or ‘went viral’ as the media continuously noted. The press coverage surrounding this incident and the legal process that ensued is the focus of this Article which undertakes a critical textual analysis of the coverage in the popular tabloid, the Daily Sun, in order to make explicit the contesting sets of discourses around adolescence and sexuality that were articulated in this popular public sphere. The Article uses a Foucauldian framework in order to probe the discourses of sexuality that are articulated and contested in this space. As the most widely read newspaper in South Africa it serves as a powerful site of definition of teen sexuality. The analysis suggests that, rather than allowing for teen sexuality, it is disavowed by villainising teen sex and responsibility for such ‘deviance’ is directed to various adult and social adult actors.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
“It’s like uprooting trees”: responsive treatment for a case of complex post-traumatic stress disorder following multiple rapes
- Van der Linde, Francois, Edwards, David J A
- Authors: Van der Linde, Francois , Edwards, David J A
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6238 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007788
- Description: This systematic case study documents 27 sessions of assessment and treatment with cognitive therapy of Bongi (23)who presented with major depression, posttraumatic stress disorder and borderline traits. Bongi had been raised in a punitive environment, had been raped three times, the first time at age 9, and had been in a series of abusive relationships. The treatment illustrates the importance of therapist responsiveness in addressing this kind of complex presentation, the importance of drawing on case formulation to guide the course of treatment and the range of different interventions that need to be incorporated into an integrative treatment of a complex case. Self-report measures of depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress indicators provided evidence that the therapy contributed to positive changes and the qualitative therapy narrative gives details of the nature of some of those changes. Although treatment was not complete when Bongi moved away, Bongi herself judged that the therapy had been a valuable experience which had resulted in her feeling more alive, more confident, and better able to take care of herself.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Van der Linde, Francois , Edwards, David J A
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6238 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007788
- Description: This systematic case study documents 27 sessions of assessment and treatment with cognitive therapy of Bongi (23)who presented with major depression, posttraumatic stress disorder and borderline traits. Bongi had been raised in a punitive environment, had been raped three times, the first time at age 9, and had been in a series of abusive relationships. The treatment illustrates the importance of therapist responsiveness in addressing this kind of complex presentation, the importance of drawing on case formulation to guide the course of treatment and the range of different interventions that need to be incorporated into an integrative treatment of a complex case. Self-report measures of depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress indicators provided evidence that the therapy contributed to positive changes and the qualitative therapy narrative gives details of the nature of some of those changes. Although treatment was not complete when Bongi moved away, Bongi herself judged that the therapy had been a valuable experience which had resulted in her feeling more alive, more confident, and better able to take care of herself.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
An Analysis and Implementation of Methods for High Speed Lexical Classification of Malicious URLs
- Egan, Shaun P, Irwin, Barry V W
- Authors: Egan, Shaun P , Irwin, Barry V W
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429757 , vital:72637 , https://digifors.cs.up.ac.za/issa/2012/Proceedings/Research/58_ResearchInProgress.pdf
- Description: Several authors have put forward methods of using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to classify URLs as malicious or benign by using lexical features of those URLs. These methods have been compared to other methods of classification, such as blacklisting and spam filtering, and have been found to be as accurate. Early attempts proved to be as highly accurate. Fully featured classifications use lexical features as well as lookups to classify URLs and include (but are not limited to) blacklists, spam filters and reputation services. These classifiers are based on the Online Perceptron Model, using a single neuron as a linear combiner and used lexical features that rely on the presence (or lack thereof) of words belonging to a bag-of-words. Several obfuscation resistant features are also used to increase the positive classification rate of these perceptrons. Examples of these include URL length, number of directory traversals and length of arguments passed to the file within the URL. In this paper we describe how we implement the online perceptron model and methods that we used to try to increase the accuracy of this model through the use of hidden layers and training cost validation. We discuss our results in relation to those of other papers, as well as other analysis performed on the training data and the neural networks themselves to best understand why they are so effective. Also described will be the proposed model for developing these Neural Networks, how to implement them in the real world through the use of browser extensions, proxy plugins and spam filters for mail servers, and our current implementation. Finally, work that is still in progress will be described. This work includes other methods of increasing accuracy through the use of modern training techniques and testing in a real world environment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Egan, Shaun P , Irwin, Barry V W
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429757 , vital:72637 , https://digifors.cs.up.ac.za/issa/2012/Proceedings/Research/58_ResearchInProgress.pdf
- Description: Several authors have put forward methods of using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to classify URLs as malicious or benign by using lexical features of those URLs. These methods have been compared to other methods of classification, such as blacklisting and spam filtering, and have been found to be as accurate. Early attempts proved to be as highly accurate. Fully featured classifications use lexical features as well as lookups to classify URLs and include (but are not limited to) blacklists, spam filters and reputation services. These classifiers are based on the Online Perceptron Model, using a single neuron as a linear combiner and used lexical features that rely on the presence (or lack thereof) of words belonging to a bag-of-words. Several obfuscation resistant features are also used to increase the positive classification rate of these perceptrons. Examples of these include URL length, number of directory traversals and length of arguments passed to the file within the URL. In this paper we describe how we implement the online perceptron model and methods that we used to try to increase the accuracy of this model through the use of hidden layers and training cost validation. We discuss our results in relation to those of other papers, as well as other analysis performed on the training data and the neural networks themselves to best understand why they are so effective. Also described will be the proposed model for developing these Neural Networks, how to implement them in the real world through the use of browser extensions, proxy plugins and spam filters for mail servers, and our current implementation. Finally, work that is still in progress will be described. This work includes other methods of increasing accuracy through the use of modern training techniques and testing in a real world environment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012