Suchergebnisse

by Wu Wai Man. ; Thesis submitted in: December 1997. ; Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998. ; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-150). ; Abstract also in Chinese. ; Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 ; Chapter Chapter 2 --- Theoretical Framework --- p.12 ; Chapter Chapter 3 --- Operationalization of the Theoretical Framework --- p.27 ; Chapter Chapter 4 --- General Configurations of the Collective Action Events Concerning Issues of Public Housing Estates --- p.38 ; Chapter Chapter 5 --- The Hong Kong Government's Propensity of Repression --- p.49 ; Chapter Chapter 6 --- Formal and Informal Access for Participants of the Public Housing Movement --- p.69 ; Chapter Chapter 7 --- Policy and Strategic Orientation of the Grass-Root Oriented Political Parties --- p.99 ; Chapter Chapter 8 --- Changes in the Political Alignment: the Protrusions of Pro-China Resident Organizations --- p.125 ; Chapter Chapter 9 --- Conclusion --- p.133 ; Appendix Background Information of the Interviewees --- p.145 ; Bibliography --- p.146

Jin, Lei. ; Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. ; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-170). ; Abstracts in English and Chinese. ; THESIS COMMITTEE --- p.II ; ABSTRACT --- p.IV ; 摘要 --- p.VI ; TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.VIII ; LIST OF TABLES --- p.XII ; LIST OF FIGURES --- p.",XIV" ; LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS --- p.XVII ; Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- GENERAL INTRODUCTION --- p.1 ; Chapter 1.1 --- Background of Mushroom --- p.1 ; Chapter 1.1.1 --- Mushroom --- p.1 ; Chapter 1.1.2 --- Shiitake Mushroom --- p.2 ; Chapter 1.1.3 --- Production of Shiitake mushroom --- p.3 ; Chapter 1.1.4 --- Taxonomy of Shiitake --- p.4 ; Chapter 1.1.5 --- Nutrients of Shiitake --- p.5 ; Chapter 1.1.6 --- Taste Substances of Shiitake --- p.10 ; Chapter 7.1.7 --- Aroma Components of Shiitake --- p.11 ; Chapter 1.1.8 --- Color of Shiitake --- p.12 ; Chapter 1.2 --- Food Additives --- p.13 ; Chapter 1.2.1 --- Food Additives --- p.13 ; Chapter 1.2.2 --- Definition of Food Additives Given by FA O/WHO Joint Expert Committee for Food Additives (JECFA) --- p.13 ; Chapter 1.2.3 --- Definition of Food Additives Given by the Commission of the European Union --- p.14 ; Chapter 1.3 --- Food Colorants and Stability Assessment --- p.15 ; Chapter 1.3.1 --- "Define a Color: Color Space, Hue, and Chroma" --- p.15 ; Chapter 1.3.2 --- Natural Pigment --- p.17 ; Chapter 1.3.3 --- Food Color and use of Colorant --- p.17 ; Chapter 1.3.4 --- Microbial Colors as Food Colorant --- p.19 ; Chapter 1.3.5 --- Stability of Food Colorant --- p.23 ; Chapter 1.4 --- Food Safety and Risk Assessment --- p.23 ; Chapter 1.4.1 --- Food Safety --- p.23 ; Chapter 1.4.2 --- The Codex Alimentarius --- p.24 ; Chapter 1.4.3 --- National and Regional Authorities --- p.24 ; Chapter 1.4.4 --- The Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) and Other Related Safety Levels --- p.25 ; Chapter 1.4.5 --- Toxicity Tests for Safety Assessment --- p.26 ; Chapter 1.4.6 --- Sensitive Organs to Toxin (Liver and Kidney) --- p.29 ; Chapter 1.5 --- Safety Assessment of Food Color Additives ...

Ho Man-sze. ; Thesis submitted in: December 2004. ; Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. ; Includes bibliographical references (leaves [83]-[86]). ; Abstracts in English and Chinese. ; List of Tables ; Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 ; Political versus Apolitical Youth --- p.1 ; Colonial Background of HK --- p.3 ; Political Aspirations of HK Youth --- p.4 ; Youth Studies in Political Participation --- p.7 ; Research Questions --- p.8 ; Significance of the Study --- p.10 ; Outline of the Thesis --- p.14 ; Chapter Chapter 2 --- Literature Review --- p.16 ; Habermasian Public Sphere --- p.16 ; Basic Principles of Public Sphere by Jurgen Habermas --- p.17 ; The Potential Public Sphere for HK Youth --- p.19 ; The Subaltern Public Sphere of HK Youth --- p.25 ; Chapter Chapter 3 --- Research Methodology --- p.33 ; Questionnaire Survey: HK Youth Values 2002 --- p.33 ; The Political Attitude of HK Youth --- p.34 ; In-depth Interviews --- p.37 ; Chapter Chapter 4 --- Data Analyses --- p.41 ; Existence of Political Discussions --- p.41 ; A Subaltern Public Sphere of HK Youth? --- p.50 ; Chapter Chapter 5 --- Discussions and Conclusions --- p.73 ; Social and Political Discussions Found --- p.73 ; The Possible Arena of Subaltern Public Sphere --- p.74 ; Domination within a Subaltern Public Sphere --- p.75 ; Co-existence of Dominant and Subaltern Public Sphere --- p.76 ; Interactions with the Wider Publics --- p.77 ; Contributing the Democratic Development of HK --- p.78 ; "Broadening the Definition of ""Subaltern""" --- p.79 ; Summary --- p.81

2008年三鹿三聚氰胺毒奶粉事件震驚國內外,該事件導致六名嬰兒腎結石死亡,逾三萬嬰幼兒從此生活在各種腎疾病的陰霾之下。此後奶產品安全問題尋出不窮,對國內奶產業造成嚴重的負面影響,令消費者對整個國內奶產業信心下降。事實上,在很多奶產品安全的危機中,遭受質疑的企業組織最後均被政府的檢測結果證實是無辜的。在危機中,組織的形象受到威脅,組織需通過不同的方法進行自我辯護。現存的文獻提出,危機溝通策略和組織對責任承擔的態度是兩個影響公眾對組織信心和媒體報導語調的重要因素。組織類型(國有或外資)也會影響公眾對組織的信心和媒體報導語調。過往研究也發現,公眾對組織的信心與媒體報導語調之間存在正相關的聯繫。此研究通過對兩個犯行危機情景的案例研究(2009多美滋危機事件和2010聖元危機事件),目的在於評估危機溝通策略的效用,同時也探討在不同的階段中危機溝通策略、組織責任承擔、組織類型、公眾對組織的信心和媒體報導語調之間的關係。研究成果發現文獻建議之在不同階段的最佳策略和組織責任承擔對公眾對組織的信心和媒體報導語調均無重要影響。然而,使用越少藉口和越多提供信息策略的組織贏得更多公眾信心,從而提升正面媒體報導。研究也發現,外企在第一和第二階段報導更正面,但最後國企反而取得正面的媒體報導。另外,組織類型與階段對組織選取策略與組織責任承擔均有影響。本研究結果顯示西方危機處理理論在低信任度社會如中國等未必適用。研究一方面透過更複雜的情境角度,進一步加深對現有危機傳播文獻的理解,例如引入不同階段的概念來評估危機管理的成效,另一方面也為在低信任社會中的奶產業企業提供有效的危機管理建議。 ; Sanlu Melamine-contaminated Milk Scandal, the frequent outbreak of dairy product safety crises had a severe impact on the domestic dairy industry, resulting in a general loss of the consumers' confidence in the entire domestic dairy industry. In fact, in many crises the crisis-ridden organizations were eventually proven innocent by governmental departments. During a crisis, an organization's image is threatened, so that various communicative entities are used to defend this image. Based on the existing literature, this study aims at evaluating the effectiveness of crisis communicative strategies (CCSs) as well as investigating the relationships among CCSs, organization responsibility acceptance, organization ownership type (domestically owned or foreign-invested), confidence in organization and media coverage in different stages during the crisis by comparing the Dumex case in 2009 and the Synutra case in 2010. The results found that the posited optimal CCS in a particular stage and organization responsibility acceptance generally did not have significant effects on confidence in organization or media image coverage. However, the findings revealed that the less excuses and the more information providing strategies were employed, the higher the stakeholders' confidence in organization would be, which in turn significantly increased the ...

Miao Yi. ; Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004. ; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-146). ; Abstracts in English and Chinese. ; Abstract (In English) --- p.i ; Abstract (In Chinese) --- p.iii ; Acknowledgement --- p.v ; Abbreviation --- p.vi ; Chapter Chapter I --- Introduction --- p.1 ; Social-Political Background --- p.4 ; Significance of Cadre Training --- p.7 ; Organization of the Thesis --- p.8 ; Chapter Chapter II --- Literature Review and Methodology --- p.10 ; Convergence Vs Divergence: Two Views on China's Administrative Reforms --- p.14 ; Interplay of Convergent and Divergent Forces --- p.21 ; Elites Transformation: A Convergence Trend? --- p.24 ; Rise of Technocracy in China --- p.25 ; Methodology --- p.34 ; Chapter Chapter III --- Rationale of China's MPA Education --- p.36 ; Features of Cadre Training in China: a historical perspective --- p.38 ; Demand for MPA Education: external and internal impetus --- p.43 ; Chapter Chapter IV --- Design and Implementation of MPA Program at National Level --- p.54 ; Initiation --- p.54 ; Selection of MPA Universities --- p.60 ; Admission --- p.67 ; Curriculum --- p.69 ; Teaching and Study Modes --- p.79 ; Teachers and Students --- p.82 ; Connection with Cadre Management --- p.86 ; Chapter Chapter V --- A Case Study -- MPA in Renmin University of China --- p.92 ; Pedagogical Matters --- p.95 ; Partnership With Government and Other Organizations --- p.110 ; Profiles of Teachers and Students --- p.111 ; Summary: Features of MPA Education in China --- p.114 ; Chapter Chapter VI --- Concluding Discussion --- p.120 ; Converging Image of Administrator --- p.121 ; A Technocratization Perspective --- p.127 ; Implications on Convergence Problem --- p.133 ; Limitations and Demand for Further Research --- p.135 ; Bibliography --- p.138 ; Appendix I Geographic Locations of MPA Universities --- p.147 ; Appendix II Seniority List of MPA Universities (2003) --- p.150 ; Appendix III MPA Specializations --- p.152 ; Appendix IV Interview ...

After World War II, an international military court sentenced 20 Nazi doctors and 3 collaborators with crimes against the humanity at the Nuremberg Trials. For the past 70 years after Nuremberg Trials, the restoration to pre-Nazi's ethical standard has been progressed. The eugenicist theories and the policies of racial hygiene were the fundamental axes of the Nazi euthanasia programs without paying attention to the basic ethics of the medicine. German psychiatry that it enjoyed an extraordinary international reputation, played a capital rôle in these programs and the mental patients supposed the main group of risk for these practices during the Nazi era. In this overview, we deal with, the historical perspective of the euthanasia programs of the mental patients, and the procedures for its execution, and the use of the mental patients as investigation tools. Direct consequence of the mentioned penal process gave birth to the Nuremberg Code, which has been considered as the fi rst international code of ethics for the medical experiments with human subjects. During the last 70 years, it has advanced substantially in the restoration of ethical codes and norms to protect patients in particular in the fi eld of psychiatry and psychopharmacology, and its culmination of advancement has been in the 1996 Declaration of Madrid.

Ho Wing-Kee. ; Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. ; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-66). ; Abstracts in English and Chinese. ; Abstract --- p.i ; Acknowledgement --- p.iii ; Table of Content --- p.v ; List of Table --- p.vi ; List of Appendices --- p.vii ; Chapter Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 ; Chapter Chapter 2. --- Literature Review --- p.5 ; Chapter Chapter 3. --- Theoretical Framework --- p.8 ; Chapter 3.1 --- Regime 1 ( Social Planner Model) --- p.10 ; Chapter 3.2 --- Regime 2 ( Provision of Indivisible Public Capital by the Government Model ) --- p.14 ; Chapter 3.3 --- Regime 3 ( Provision of Indivisible Public Capital by the Public Monopoly Model) --- p.19 ; Chapter Chapter 4. --- Quantitative Comparison --- p.27 ; Chapter 4.1 --- Calibration --- p.27 ; Chapter 4.2 --- Numerical Results --- p.29 ; Chapter Chapter 5. --- Conclusion --- p.31 ; Appendices --- p.42 ; References --- p.60

Chan Chi Kit. ; Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. ; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 206-213). ; Abstracts in English and Chinese. ; List of figures --- p.vii ; Forward --- p.viii ; Chapter 1. --- Introduction: democratization of Hong Kong --- p.1 ; Chapter 2. --- Hegemony: its origins and formation --- p.7 ; Chapter i. --- The origins: Gramsci's ideas of Hegemony --- p.8 ; Chapter ii. --- Hegemonic formation and ideological interpellation --- p.11 ; Chapter iii. --- Discourse analysis and hegemonic formation --- p.14 ; Chapter 3. --- Formation of hegemony and public discourse: Arguments and criticisms --- p.20 ; Chapter i. --- Public discourse and media representation --- p.21 ; Chapter ii. --- Public discourse and social formation --- p.24 ; Chapter iii. --- Social formation and discursive struggles: an analytical model to contemplate hegemonic formation in public discourse --- p.32 ; Chapter iv. --- Criticisms and implication on resistance strategy --- p.40 ; Chapter 4. --- Research questions and methodology --- p.45 ; Chapter i. --- Formation of state hegemony in public discourse: an indicator --- p.47 ; Chapter ii. --- Methodology: textual analysis and documentation --- p.52 ; Chapter iii. --- Sampling of media text --- p.55 ; Chapter 5. --- Democratization of Hong Kong: A brief review --- p.61 ; Chapter i. --- Establishing the state ideological discourse --- p.62 ; Chapter ii. --- Democratization: before and after the handover --- p.63 ; Chapter iii. --- Hegemony and Hong Kong democratization --- p.73 ; Chapter 6. --- Never be a base of subversion': Chinese state discourse toward Hong Kong --- p.75 ; Chapter i. --- Discursive logic of China's state discourse: its background and formation --- p.77 ; Chapter ii. --- Discursive strategy of China's state discourse: building up authoritative and professional image --- p.90 ; Chapter iii. --- Establishment of China's state discourse: social formation and discursive struggle --- p.110 ; Chapter 7. --- Public discourse of Hong ...

In the past two decades, China has achieved world renown for reducing rural poverty. However, it is becoming harder to reduce poverty and inequality further in China, even though its economy continues to grow. This report compares the impact specific rural public investments can have on promoting growth and reducing poverty and inequality. Returns to these investments are calculated for the nation as a whole and for three economic zones in the west, central, and coastal regions of the country. Government expenditures that have the highest impact on poverty and growth include education, agricultural research and development, and rural infrastructure (roads, electricity, and telecommunications). Notably, spending on irrigation and anti-poverty loans had minimal impact. The report discusses the implications of these findings for setting future priorities for government investment. It also suggests avenues for future research and calls for a better understanding of how to improve the effectiveness of public resources. This report will be of interest to professionals involved in rural poverty reduction, rural development, agricultural growth, food security, and public investment policy. ; PR ; IFPRI1; GRP3; Theme 9; Public Policy and Investment

prepared by Chu Yan-kit. ; Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. ; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-145). ; Abstract also in Chinese. ; Acknowledgments --- p.iii-iv ; List of Tables and Figures --- p.vii-ix ; List of Abbreviations --- p.x ; Abstract --- p.xi-xiv ; Chapter Chapter One: --- Introduction --- p.1-39 ; Chapter 1.1 --- Scope and Purpose --- p.1-2 ; Chapter 1.2 --- Literature Review --- p.3-18 ; Chapter 1.2.1 --- Public Budgeting Researches in Hong Kong --- p.3-4 ; Chapter 1.2.2 --- On-Hand Budgeting Theories --- p.5-12 ; Chapter 1.2.3 --- Neo-Institutional Approach --- p.13-18 ; Chapter 1.3 --- Conceptualization --- p.19-27 ; Chapter 1.3.1 --- Premises of the Explanatory Model --- p.19 ; Chapter 1.3.2 --- Rationale of the Model --- p.20-27 ; Chapter 1.4 --- Operationalization --- p.28-36 ; Chapter 1.4.1 --- Working Definitions --- p.28-29 ; Chapter 1.4.2 --- Operationalization of the Research --- p.29-32 ; Chapter 1.4.3 --- Indicators and Hypotheses --- p.32-34 ; Chapter 1.4.4 --- Methodology --- p.35-36 ; Chapter 1.5 --- Organization of the Research --- p.37 ; Notes --- p.38-39 ; Chapter Chapter Two: --- The Background --- p.40-69 ; Chapter 2.1 --- Characteristics of the Colonial Public Finance System & Marco-Economic Context for the Public Finance System --- p.40-47 ; Chapter 2.1.1 --- Revenue Aspect of the Public Finance System --- p.40-41 ; Chapter 2.1.2 --- Expenditure Aspect of the Public Finance System 42- --- p.47 ; Chapter 2.2 --- Macro Economic Context for the Two Institutional Levels from the 1970s to the 1990s --- p.48-53 ; Chapter 2.2.1 --- Financially Non-Stringent & Stringent Periods for the First Level Institutions --- p.48-50 ; Chapter 2.2.2 --- Non-Hostile & Hostile Periods for the Second Level Institutions --- p.51-53 ; Chapter 2.3 --- Composition and Characteristics of the Actors in the Two Institutional Levels --- p.54-59 ; Chapter 2.3.1 --- Actors in the First Level Institutions and the Second Level Institutions --- p.54 ; Chapter ...

Adelaide Nga-yan Lau. ; Thesis submitted in: December 2001. ; Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. ; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 152-158). ; Abstracts in English and Chinese. ; Introduction --- p.p. 1 -4 ; Theoretical Framework --- p.p.5-25 ; The Habermasian public sphere ; Chapter ■ --- Universal access ; Chapter ■ --- Topics of public concern ; Chapter ■ --- Rational discussion ; Gatekeeping in production ; Chapter ■ --- Individual gatekeeping ; Chapter ■ --- Organizational gatekeeping ; Chapter ■ --- Impact of commercialization ; Phone-in Programs as Media Public Spheres --- p.p.26-46 ; Factors for developing public sphere ; Chapter ■ --- Capitalism ; Chapter ■ --- Freedom of expression ; Media and political communication in Hong Kong ; Political and social contexts of radio phone-in programs ; Chapter ■ --- Period of germination ; Chapter ■ --- Period of recognition ; Chapter ■ --- Period of flourishing ; Three radio phone-in programs in Hong Kong ; Chapter ■ --- RTHK's Talkabout ; Chapter ■ --- Commercial Radio's Teacup in a Storm ; Chapter ■ --- Metro Radio's Metropolitics ; Methodology --- p.p.47-55 ; Data collection ; Chapter ■ --- The Robert Chung case ; Data analysis ; Chapter ■ --- Content analysis ; Chapter ■ --- Discourse analysis ; Analysis I - Universal Access --- p.p.56-76 ; Technologies enhance accessibility ; Equal opportunity for callers ; Selecting calls ; Chapter ■ --- Screening in Talkabout ; Chapter ■ --- Screening in Teacup in a Storm ; Chapter ■ --- Screening in Metropolitics ; What is universal access? ; Analysis II - Topics of Public Concern --- p.p.77-96 ; Topics initiated by the public ; Handling of topics initiated by the public ; Characteristics of pre-set discussion topics ; Chapter ■ --- Characteristics of discussion topics in Talkabout ; Chapter ■ --- Characteristics of discussion topics in Teacup in a Storm ; Chapter ■ --- Characteristics of discussion topics in Metropolitics ; Who sets the media agenda? ; Analysis III - Rational Discussion ...

Cheung, Lai-shan. ; Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. ; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-162). ; Abstracts in English and Chinese. ; Acknowledgments --- p.i ; Abstract --- p.ii ; List of Figures --- p.iv ; Abbreviations --- p.iv ; Chapter ; Chapter One --- Introduction --- p.1 ; Chapter Two --- New Public Management: Its Theoretical Underpinnings and Their Inadequacies --- p.23 ; Chapter Three --- The Content of the Managerial Reform: The New Philosophy of the Hospital Authority --- p.64 ; Chapter Four --- De-mystifying the Culture: Delineating the Managerial Reform from the Participants´ة Sense --- p.99 ; Chapter Five --- Conclusion --- p.146 ; Bibliography --- p.153 ; Appendix I --- p.163

中國自一九七八年以來一直致力於法制現代化建設,但至今仍未能建立一個具有高度凝聚力和獨立性的法律共同體,國家與法律職業之間的關係依然緊張。職業主義並沒有隨著過去三十年的法律發展而成為改革的核心。在這種背景下,非職業化法律服務制度在中國的發展無疑值得進一步的關注與研究。 ; 本文將分析國家在職業化與非職業化機制中所扮演的角色。在全面評估非職業化法律服務發展概況的基礎上,分析的焦點將放在基層法律工作者和非政府組織雇員這兩類重要的非職業化服務團體上。本文也將通過實證研究與比較研究的方法對這兩種類型的非專業人士進行深入的探討。 ; 本文通過以上視角得出若干重要的啟示。第一, 非職業化法律制度的發展主要服務於國家控制的目標。第二,非職業化法律服務團體的生存與發展必須建立在滿足特定國家機構利益的前提上。第三,在本文所觀察的樣本中,非政府組織雇員比基層法律工作者更有效率。總體而言,國家在職業化和非職業化機制的形成與運作中都發揮了決定性的作用。 ; Since 1978 China has been committed to modernizing its legal system, yet a cohesive and independent community of legal personnel is far from established and the tension between the state and the legal community remains high. Despite three decades of legal development, China has not truly made professionalism central to its reform agenda. Among many others, one noteworthy but understudied aspect is the widespread use of non-lawyers in the legal services system. ; This dissertation aims to examine the role of the state in the making of professional and non-professional mechanisms in China. In addition to a holistic evaluation of non-professional legal services, the dissertation includes empirical studies and comparative analyses of the two most important groups of non-lawyers the government-sponsored basic-level legal workers and the non-lawyer staff of non-governmental organizations. ; These perspectives reveal a number of important facts. First, the development of non-professional legal institutions mainly serves the purpose of state control. Second, non-professional groups are able to survive only by satisfying the bureaucratic interests of specific state agencies. Third, the staff of non-governmental organizations observed in this study appeared to perform more effectively than basic-level legal workers. Overall, the dissertation argues that the state dictates the formation and operation of both professional and non-professional mechanisms in China. ; Detailed summary in vernacular field only. ; Detailed summary in vernacular field only. ; Detailed summary in vernacular field only. ; Pan, ...

Chan Chun Chiu. ; Thesis (M.Div.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. ; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-65). ; Abstracts in English and Chinese. ; Title Page --- p.i ; English Abstracts --- p.ii ; Chinese Abstracts --- p.iv ; Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 ; Chapter 1.1 --- Statement of Thesis and its Motivation --- p.1 ; Chapter 1.2 --- Theological Competence and Critical Theory --- p.6 ; Chapter 1.3 --- Critical Theology as Revisionary Method of Correlation --- p.12 ; Chapter 2. --- The Critical Political Theology of Peukert --- p.20 ; Chapter 2.1 --- A Theory of Science: Communicability and Intersubjectivity --- p.24 ; Chapter 2.2 --- A Theory of Action --- p.33 ; Chapter 2.3 --- A Hermeneutical Criterion and Ethical Response: Anamnestic Solidarity --- p.40 ; Chapter 2.4. --- Peukert´ةs View on the Gospels and its Relation to His Critical Political Theology --- p.48 ; Chapter 3. --- An Evaluation of the Critical Theology --- p.54 ; Chapter 3.1 --- Conclusions --- p.61 ; Bibliography --- p.63

The design of this research is based on the liberal pluralism belief that there should be various forms of alternative media co-existing with mainstream media, and the society benefits from having alternatives. The concept of alternative media refers to media that are independent from the political and market power. They deal with alternative topics, which are not covered in their mainstream counterparts. One of the traditions of alternative media research is to examine their potential in the formation of subaltern public sphere. ; The core question of this research is to explore the usage of online alternative media, and the link between online alternative media and the ideal of subaltern public sphere, in terms of attitude towards difference, rational discussion and civic participation. Participatory observation, online survey and case studies were applied to find out the answers. ; First of all, it is found that the usage of online alternative media is influenced by a number of factors. In addition to the gratifications sought from media usage, a heterogeneous online community is more likely to accept online alternative media, while intense use of alternative media in turn contributes to more tolerance of difference in society. ; Secondly, this research examines the relationships between online alternative media and the elements of subaltern public sphere. As the research findings suggest, under high political and economic pressure, little space is left for mainstream public sphere, while subaltern public sphere is possible with the help of online alternative media. Non-hierarchically organized and depend on voluntary work, online alternative media partly escape from political and market pressure and become the birthplace of rational public opinions. Online alternative media contribute to democratic society as they generate public space for deliberation, and cultivate the culture of participation. ; Finally, the significance of heterogeneity is emphasized. Online alternative media develop a group of media ...