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This thesis analyses how and why culture and geography influence the allocation and licensing of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum in different nations. Based on a broad comparative study of 235 countries, an inter-disciplinary approach is used to explore regulatory frameworks and attitudes toward risk. In addition, detailed case studies of the UK, France, the US and Ecuador provide deeper insights into the main contrasting regulatory styles. Three alternative sociological theories are used to analyse and explain the results for both the in-depth and broad brush studies. The Cultural Theory of Mary Douglas and co-workers is first used to categorise countries in terms of perceptual filters. The empirical findings indicate some countries to be apparently exceptional in their behaviour. The theory of Bounded Rationality is used to investigate and explain these apparent irrationalities. Finally, Rational Field Theory shows how beliefs and values guide administrations in their RF regulation. A number of key factors are found to dominate and patterns emerge. The European RF harmonisation is unique. Following European unification, wireless regulation is divided into two major camps (the EU and the US), which differ in their risk concerns, approach to top-down mandated standards, allocation of RF spectrum to licence-exempt bands and type approval process. The adoption of 3G cellular (UMTS versus CDMA2000) and digital TV standards (DVB-T/ATSC/ISDB-T) around the world reflects geopolitical and colonial influence. The language of a country is a significant indicator of its analogue TV standard (SECAM/PAL/NTSC). Interestingly, the longitude of a country to a fair extent defines RF allocation: Africa and West Asia follow Europe, whereas the Americas approximate the US. RF regulation and risk tolerability differ between tropical and non-tropical climates. The collectivised/centralised versus the individualised/market-based rationalities result in different regulatory frameworks and contrasting societal and risk concerns. The success of the top-down European GSM and the bottom-up Wi-Fi standards reveal how the central-planning and market-based approaches have thrived. Attitudes to RF human hazards and spurious emissions levels reveal that the US, Canada and Japan are more tolerant of these radiation risks than Europe. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK and USA encourage technological innovation. A practical benefit of this study is that it will give regulators more freedom to choose a rational RF licensing protocol, by better understanding the possibly self-imposed boundaries of cultural and geographical factors which are currently shaping allocation. Academically, there is utility in undertaking a cultural and geographic analysis of a topic that is mostly the domain of engineering, economic and legal analysts.

We study the spatially resolved properties of star-forming galaxies at redshift z ~ 2 - 3 on scales ~ 1 kpc using a combination of morphological and kinematic analyses in an effort to characterize the major mechanisms of galaxy formation in the young universe. Using a sample of 216 galaxies which have been spectroscopically confirmed to lie between redshifts z = 1.8 - 3.4 in the GOODS-N field we demonstrate that rest-UV morphology (as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope) is statistically uncorrelated with physical properties such as star formation rate and is therefore unable to support the hypothesis that the prevalence of irregular morphologies indicates a high major merger fraction. Further, we present a sample of 13 galaxies observed with the OSIRIS integral field spectrograph and the Keck laser-guide star adaptive optics system which demonstrate the prevalence of high velocity dispersions ~ 80 km/s and generally little in the way of spatially resolved velocity gradients, inconsistent with favored rotating disk models. We discuss the implications of these results for galaxy formation models, including gas accretion via cold flows and gravitational instability of early gas-rich galactic disks. There is some evidence for a trend towards stronger rotational signatures in galaxies with more massive stellar populations.

Using a quantitative causal-comparative approach, the researcher conducted a relational study that compared injured and rehabilitated soldiers with no religious foundation to similar soldiers possessing religious preferences and spirituality. The two primary research questions were (a) Does religious preference and spirituality have a positive impact on the retention and attrition rates of injured soldiers? (b) Does an injured soldier's frequency of spirituality increase the likelihood of being returned to initial-entry training? The study addressed several possible variables; among these were the importance of religious preference and spirituality in returning injured soldiers to training; the determination of a soldier's level of spirituality and its healing impact; spirituality's effect on the injured soldier's psychotherapy, and other related demographic factors.

This study investigates how Christianity impacts on the way owner-managers of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) conceptualise their worlds of business practice. The context for the research is the more general issue of how civil society and its institutions influence economic activity and how they might provide a counterbalance to the potentially negative impacts of 'unrestrained' self-interested economic behaviour.The study is based on qualitative interviews with SME owner-managers in Germany and the U.K. who regard themselves as practising Christians. Using a socio-psychological approach, the data analysis yielded a range of linguistic and conceptual resources that are peculiar to Christian discourse and that have the potential to influence business activity in rather distinctive ways. This book outlines the effects that these Christian resources can have on these owner-managers and how they may be linked to specific business practices. Attention is drawn to the fact that Christian conceptual resources can be interpreted and exploited in different ways, which leads to differences in how Christian owner-managers apply their faith to their business.Furthermore, the study maps out the - often interacting - influence of other discursive contexts and resources. The specific influence of the SME context will be discussed and some differences with regards to the two national contexts in which the research was conducted will be highlighted. The book also addresses how the socio-psychological approach that was chosen for this study may be used for investigations into the impact of other civil society contexts.