• Title/Summary/Keyword: Environmental perception

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A Study on the Health Risk Agents in the Workplace of a General Hospital (한 종합병원 작업환경의 건강저해인자에 관한 조사 연구)

  • Kim, Yang-Ok;Kim, Ki-Soon;Park, Jong;Ryu, So-Yeon;Yang, Hee-Yeon
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.29 no.1 s.52
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    • pp.1-14
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    • 1996
  • To evaluate the health risk of the workplace environment of a general hospital toward the hospital workers, a questionnaire survey on the perception of risk at the workplace environment and environmental measurements at 27 locations with 240 workers in the hospital were made from October 25th, 1993 to October 30th, 1994. The results were as follows ; 1. By the environmental measurements, 86 workers(36%) were found to be exposed to poor or harmful degree of general illumination, 193 workers(80%) were exposed to poor or harmful local illumination, 34 workers(14%) were exposed to poor or harmful degree of thermal condition and 180 workers(75%) were exposed to poor or harmful noise level, but nobody was exposed to poor or harmful dust and toluene concentration. Also nobody was exposed to poor or harmful level of radiation or anticancer/antibiotic agents. 2. The subjective perceptions on the environmental conditions felt by the workers were different from the objective findings by the environmental measurements. The workers underscored the poor illumination state and overscored the dust concentrations. Also workers oversensitized about the thermal condition, the noise level, the radiation level, the toluene concentration and anticancer/antibiotic agents 3. The sources of noise were the dialogue(179 workers) and the office instruments(131 workers). The sources of dust came from the clothes(108 workers) and the building materials(79 workers). 4. The questionnaire survey showed that the 28 workers were exposed to poor or harmful level of the antibiotics, 10 workers to alkali or acid and 6 workers to drug dust in the pharmacy but the above findings could not be proved by the environmental measurements.

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Citizen Satisfaction Model for Urban Parks and Greens - A Transactional Approach in the Case of Anyang City, Korea - (도시공원.녹지의 시민만족도 모형 - 안양시를 사례로 한 교류적 접근 -)

  • Kim, Yoo-Ill;Kim, Jung-Gyu;An, Jin-Sung;Choi, A-Hyun
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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    • v.38 no.3
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    • pp.62-74
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    • 2010
  • This study aims to examine what factors citizens value in urban parks and green spaces in terms of usage and aesthetic value and to find ways to deal with the changing patterns of user satisfaction for these various green elements. To achieve this, the study developed a dynamic model employing a transactional approach to evaluate environmental quality for 1999 and 2007 in Anyang City as well as a conceptual model of parks and greens satisfaction. This study relied on an empirical study method including the 1999 and 2007 green conditional survey and citizen questionnaires totaling 573 in the year 1999 and 982 in the year 2007. As a result, first, the factor 'urban parks' is the most important factor and 'cityscape' is the second most important factor in parks and greens satisfaction(PGS). Second, PGS in turn causes environmental quality satisfaction(EQS), which is related to two items--'urban livability' and 'aesthetic quality'--in the model. This means that PGS is the intervening variable of urban livability. Third, the factor analysis resulted in six factors: cityscape, urban green, linear facilities, urban parks, riverside green, and urban forest. 'Riverside green' emerged as a factor in 2007 as a result of public participation in the 'Anyang River Revitalization Project'. Fourth, through a transactional view, the environmental changes result in either a change in or stability of public attitude. The levels of satisfaction were elevated but patterns of satisfied-unsatisfied items remained unchanged for most factors. The perception of riverside a greenway and linear surface facilities(pedestrian walkways, biking and jogging trails, etc.) have changed positively. PGS changed significantly in 2007, as a result of urban events and development, including parks, rivers and greenways which were built through the joint effort of the local government and civic participation.

How Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Affect Mobility, Land Use, and Destination Selection? Lesson from Seoul, Korea

  • Lee, Jiwon;Gim, Tae-Hyoung Tommy;Park, Yunmi;Chung, Hyung-Chul;Handayani, Wiwandari;Lee, Hee-Chung;Yoon, Dong Keun;Pai, Jen Te
    • Land and Housing Review
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    • v.14 no.4
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    • pp.77-93
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    • 2023
  • The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about significant social changes through government prevention and control measures, changes in people's risk perceptions, and lifestyle changes. In response, urban inhabitants changed their behaviors significantly, including their preferences for transportation modes and urban spaces in response to government quarantine policies and concerns over the potential risk of infection in urban spaces. These changes may have long-lasting effects on urban spaces beyond the COVID-19 pandemic or they may evolve and develop new forms. Therefore, this study aims to explore the potential for urban spaces to adapt to the present and future pandemics by examining changes in urban residents' preferences in travel modes and urban space use due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study found that overall preferences for travel modes and urban spaces significantly differ between the pre-pandemic, pandemic, and post-pandemic periods. During the pandemic, preferences for travel modes and urban spaces has decreased, except for privately owned vehicles and green spaces, which are perceived to be safe from transmission, show more favorable than others. Post-pandemic preferences for travel modes and urban spaces are less favorable than pre-pandemic with urban spaces being five times less favorable than transportation. Although green spaces and medical facilities that were positively perceived during the pandemic are expected to return to the pre-pandemic preference level, other factors of urban spaces are facing a new-normal. The findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on urban residents' preferences for travel modes and urban space use. Understanding these changes is crucial for developing strategies to adapt to present and future pandemics and improve urban resilience.

A Study on Perception and Attitudes of Health Workers Towards the Organization and Activities of Urban Health Centers (도시보건소 직원의 보건소 업무에 대한 인식 및 견해)

  • Lee, Jae-Mu;Kang, Pock-Soo;Lee, Kyeong-Soo;Kim, Cheon-Tae
    • Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.347-365
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    • 1995
  • A survey was conducted to study perception and attitudes of health workers towards health center's activities and organization of health services, from August 15 to September 30, 1994. The study population was 310 health workers engaged in seven urban health centers in Taegu City area. A questionnaire method was used to collect data and response rate was 81.3 percent or 252 respondents. The following are summaries of findings: Profiles of study population: Health workers were predominantly female(62.3%); had college education(60.3%); and held medical and nursing positions(39.6%), technicians(30.6%) and public health/administrative positions(29.8%). Perceptions on health center's resources: Slightly more than a half(51.1%) of respondents expressed that physical facilities of the centers are inadequate; equipments needed are short(39.0%); human resource is inadequate(44.8%); and health budget allocated is insufficient(38.5%) to support the performance of health center's activities. Decentralization and health services: The majority revealed that the decentralization of government system would affect the future activities of health centers(51.9%) which may have to change. However, only one quarter of respondents(25.4%) seemed to view the decentralization positively as they expect that it would help perform health activities more effectively. The majority of the respondents(78.6%) insisted that the function and organization of the urban health centers should be changed. Target workload and job satisfaction: A large proportion (43.3%) of respondents felt that present target setting systems for various health activities are unrealistic in terms of community needs and health center's situation while only 11.1 percent responded it positively; the majority(57.5%) revealed that they need further training in professional fields to perform their job more effectively; more than one third(35.7%) expressed that they enjoy their professional autonomy in their job performance; and a considerable proportion (39.3%) said they are satisfied with their present work. Regarding the personnel management, more worker(47.3%) perceived it negatively than positive(11.5%) as most of workers seemed to think the personnel management practiced at the health centers is not fair or justly done. Health services rendered: Among health services rendered, health workers perceived the following services are most successfully delivered; they are, in order of importance, Tb control, curative services, and maternal and child health care. Such areas as health education, oral health, environmental sanitation, and integrated health services are needed to be strengthening. Regarding the community attitudes towards health workers, 41.3 percent of respondents think they are trusted by the community they serve. New areas of concern identified which must be included in future activities of health centers are, in order of priority, health care of elderly population, home health care, rehabilitation services, and such chronic diseases control programs as diabetes, hypertension, school health and mental health care. In conclusion, the study revealed that health workers seemed to have more negative perceptions and attitudes than positive ones towards organization and management of health services and activities performed by the urban health centers where they are engaged. More specifically, the majority of health workers studied revealed to have the following areas of health center's organization and management inadequate or insufficient to support effective performance of their health activities: Namely, physical facilities and equipments required are inadequate; human and financial resources are insufficient; personnel management is unsatisfactory; setting of service target system is unrealistic in terms of the community needs. However, respondents displayed a number of positive perceptions, particularly to those areas as further training needs and implementation of decentralization of government system which will bring more autonomy of local government as they perceived these change would bring the necessary changes to future activities of the health center. They also displayed positive perceptions in their job autonomy and have job satisfactions.

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Sick Building Syndrome in 130 Underground Workers (지하상가 근무자의 건강 장애에 관한 실태조사)

  • Joo, Ree;SaKong, Joon;Chung, Jong-Hak;Park, Sang-Whan;Kim, Dong-Hee;Kim, Dong-Min;Choi, Eun-Kyong;Cho, Hyun-Geon
    • Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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    • v.15 no.2
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    • pp.325-340
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    • 1998
  • A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between sick building syndrome(SBS) and the environmental factors affecting SBS on 130 underground workers and 60 controls. The study consisted of 1) a review of environmental condition 2) measurement of temperature, $O_2$, $CO_2$, CO, and formaldehyde and 3) a questionnaire survey of symptom prevalence and perception of environmental conditions using indoor Air Quality questionnaire recommended by National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Bronchitis and dust allergy were more prevalent in underground workers significantly(p < 0.05). Among the 18 symptoms related to the indoor air pollution, the experience rate of dry, itching or irritated eyes, sore or dry throat, chest tightness, tired or strained eyes and dry or itchy skin symptom was significantly different between the underground workers and controls. The diagnostic criteria of SBS was defined as at least 1 symptom is experienced 1-3 times a week during the last 1 month among 18 indoor air pollution related symptoms which can be relieved by moving out of the underground. Applying the criteria, the mean symptom score was significant higher in underground workers than controls significantly (p < 0.05). These resalts indicated that underground workers are under inappropriate ergonomic and physical condition and inadequate ventilation. Their experience rate of symptoms related to indoor air pollution and prevalence of SBS was significantly higher than controls. To reduce the prevalence of SBS of underground workers, the surveillance system of indoor air quality, restriction of using fuel in underground and legislative regulations for the environment are needed to establish a better indoor air quality. Early detection, treatment and prevention of SBS through medical attention is also needed.

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A Study on the Visual Characteristics of the Landscape of Darangyi-paddy in Garchon, Namhae (남해 가천마을 다랑이논 경관의 시각적 특성에 관한 연구)

  • Youn, Kyung-Sook;Lee, Chang-Hun;Lee, Jae-Keun
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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    • v.28 no.4
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    • pp.76-84
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    • 2010
  • Darangyi paddy in Namhae Gachon village provides natural beauty with its distinct location. Darangyi is a traditional Korean landscape, shaping a circular form to serve continuous cultivation. Despite the paddy's landscape, it is difficult to preserve its natural scenery due to many factors such as inadequate visual analysis. Under the belief that there is a necessity to preserve Darangyi paddy, the research in visual features of the paddy began to illustrate the relevance between its viewpoint and landscape objects. First, we researched typical view structures. When considering the visual features, Darangyi paddy landscape objects has a viewpoint from the horizontality to its below, which its center area is about $-5^{\circ}{\sim}-30^{\circ}$. From the analyzed data, the scenary of Darangyi paddy, which most people agree its decency, is formed in a visually decent location. The above type of measure of visual structure in Darangyi paddy is expected to be applied in maintenance of foothold of views in the future. Second, the surrounding elements play important parts to form the whole landscape of Gachon Darangyi paddy. Although Darangyi paddy is the principal part of the scenary, the landscape analysis showed a high relevance with the paddy's identity, forest around the paddy, sky, ocean, settlements, and the roads in terms of visual perception. It was affirmed that those elements around the paddy play important parts in structuring and providing the beauty of the whole landscape. Various viewy objects are seen obvious especially in a long distance, and the splendid scenary proved that those viewy objects are in indispensable location. In order to preserve the paddy, it seems necessary to consider the surrounding envrionment of Darangyi paddy, not just the paddy's sole landscape form. Third, Darangyi paddy has a distinct seasonal characteristics. According to the survey analysis, the full heading time in spring and time when people can take a picture against the sun light proved magnificence of Darangyi paddy. Thus, it would be ideal to maintain Darangyi paddy by securing the sunlight condition with decent landscape view and the views from its surrounding environments or researching the ways to principally maintain the surrounding environments.

A Study on Deriving Process of a Design Alternative to the Forest Experience Center for Children through Preschooler Participatory (유아참여를 통한 유아숲체험원 설계안 도출과정에 관한 연구)

  • Kang, Tae-Sun
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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    • v.47 no.5
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    • pp.1-13
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    • 2019
  • This study is to derive a design alternative to the FECC (Forest Experience Center for Children) that meets the preschooler's preferences. For this purpose, preschooler participation is included in each phase of the FECC, the site perception phase, the deriving design elements phase, and the deriving design alternative phase. In this study, the process of the deriving design alternative phase was carried out with kindergarteners and preschoolers (6, 7 years olds; all 41 students) at Songsan-mulbit FECC in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju. In order to derive the design alternatives, three detailed design processes (preschooler participation 2 times, researcher analysis 1 time), tool construction, and a preschooler participation workshop were conducted. The results of this study are as follows. First, as a result of the preschooler's design process, 41 designs were drawn, and an average of 7.66 spaces were drawn by each preschooler. The 6-year-old males designed the least (average 6.80 spaces) and the 7-year-old females designed the most (9.0 spaces). The physical and adventure play spaces were most common (38.9% to 48.7%) regardless of gender or age. To analyze the feasibility of the preschooler's design using a base map, the appearance of the physical environmental characteristics (7 items) in the site were analyzed in each of the 41 designs. As a result, the environmental characteristics were apparent a total 72 times overall. Similar environmental characteristics appearing more than once were apparent in 87.8% (26 designs) of designs. Second, three design alternatives were derived: APS- types (intensive planning of active play facility spaces) was presented in 15 designs, NS-types (planning focused on nature spaces) was presented in 14 designs, and SPS-types (planning focused on static play facility spaces) were presented 12 designs. Third, NS-type, which were finally selected through a preference assessment (5-point scale) and a comparative assessment of the three alternatives, has mainly natural spaces (forest space, forest path, shelter, natural exploration space, and ecological pond) and active play facility spaces, water play space and soil (sand) play spaces was appropriately designed. Therefore, the NS-type was analyzed as the design alternative that can fully accomplish all types of cognitive development through developed through play (functional play, constructive play, dramatic(symbolic) play).

Perceptions of school meal services of middle school students and dieticians/dietetic teachers in Gwangju area according to the conversion of free meal services (무상급식 전환에 따른 광주지역 중학생과 영양(교)사의 학교급식에 대한 인식)

  • Kim, Sook-Wha;Heo, Young-Ran;Ro, Hee-Kyong
    • Journal of Nutrition and Health
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    • v.48 no.1
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    • pp.113-121
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    • 2015
  • Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate satisfaction with and perception of the school meal service according to middle school students and dieticians/dietetic teachers in Gwangju area who experienced change to the free meal service and the main contents were as follows. Methods: The research subjects were 197 students (99 boys and 98 girls) and 42 dieticians/dietetic teachers were recruited. Results: Compared to the free meal service before, satisfaction of students was high (53.8%), and 69.9% of students said there was no change in the school meals, however a significant difference was observed between gender. Overall 80.2% of middle school students said that there was no change in menu, 70.6% were no change in the frequency of food with high preference, and 64.0% were no change in leftover of meals. 85.7% of dieticians/dietetic teachers said that there was no change in the student's satisfaction according to the conversion of free meal services; 59.5% of dieticians/dietetic teachers said that there was no change in the frequency of foods with high preference, the variety of vegetables was increased in the qualitative change item of food materials, and 95% of them were not aware of change in the amount of students' leftover foods. Dieticians/dietetic teachers had limitations in selecting menus with purchase and costs of food materials (26.2%) by conversion of the free meal service and their priority considered was the food cost (45.2%) when they selected menus. Change in feeding affairs was office work management (26.2%) and recipe research and development (19.0%). Conclusion: With the results of this study, the satisfaction with the school meal service was not changed in the awareness of students and dieticians/dietetic teachers. Therefore further study is needed to determine the middle school's satisfaction with school meals based on a variety of factors including the environmental food meal services.

Consumer Awareness and Evaluation of Retailers' Social Responsibility: An Exploratory Approach into Ethical Purchase Behavior from a U.S Perspective (소비자인지도화령수상사회책임(消费者认知度和零售商社会责任): 종미국시각출발적도덕구매행위적탐색성연구(从美国视角出发的道德购买行为的探索性研究))

  • Lee, Min-Young;Jackson, Vanessa P.
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.20 no.1
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    • pp.49-58
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    • 2010
  • Corporate social responsibility has become a very important issue for researchers (Greenfield, 2004; Maignan & Ralston, 2002; McWilliams et al., 2006; Pearce & Doh 2005), and many consider it necessary for businesses to define their role in society and apply social and ethical standards to their businesses (Lichtenstein et al., 2004). As a result, a significant number of retailers have adopted CSR as a strategic tool to promote their businesses. To this end, this study sought to discover U.S. consumers' attitudes and behavior in ethical purchasing and consumption based on their subjective perception and evaluation of a retailer. The objectives of this study include: 1) determine the participants awareness of retailers corporate social responsibility; 2) assess how participants evaluate retailers corporate social responsibility; 3) examine whether participants evaluation process of retailers CSR influence their attitude toward the retailer; and 4) assess if participants attitude toward the retailers CSR influence their purchase behavior. This study does not focus on actual retailers' CSR performance because a consumer's decision making process is based on an individual assessment not an actual fact. This study examines US college students' awareness and evaluations of retailers' corporate social responsibility (CSR). Fifty six college students at a major Southeastern university participated in the study. The age of the participants ranged from 18 to 26 years old. Content analysis was conducted with open coding and focused coding. Over 100 single-spaced pages of written responses were collected and analyzed. Two steps of coding (i.e., open coding and focused coding) were conducted (Esterberg, 2002). Coding results and analytic memos were used to understand participants' awareness of CSR and their ethical purchasing behavior supported through the selection and inclusion of direct quotes that were extracted from the written responses. Names used here are pseudonyms to protect confidentiality of participants. Participants were asked to write about retailers, their aware-ness of CSR issues, and to evaluate a retailer's CSR performance. A majority (n = 28) of respondents indicated their awareness of CSR but have not felt the need to act on this issue. Few (n=8) indicated that they are aware of this issue but not greatly concerned. Findings suggest that when college students evaluate retailers' CSR performance, they use three dimensions of CSR: employee support, community support, and environmental support. Employee treatment and support were found as an important criterion in evaluation of retailers' CSR. Respondents indicated that their good experience with a retailer as an employee made them have a positive perception and attitude toward the retailer. Regarding employee support four themes emerged: employee rewards and incentives based on performance, working environment, employee education and training program, and employee and family discounts. Well organized rewards and incentives were mentioned as an important attribute. The factors related to the working environment included: how well retailers follow the rules related to working hours, lunch time and breaks was also one of the most mentioned attributes. Regarding community support, three themes emerged: contributing a percentage of sales to the local community, financial contribution to charity organizations, and events for community support. Regarding environments, two themes emerged: recycling and selling organic or green products. It was mentioned in the responses that retailers are trying to do what they can to be environmentally friendly. One respondent mentioned that the company is creating stores that have an environmentally friendly design. Information about what the company does to help the environment can easily be found on the company’s website as well. Respondents have also noticed that the stores are starting to offer products that are organic and environmentally friendly. A retailer was also mentioned by a respondent in this category in reference to how the company uses eco-friendly cups and how they are helping to rebuild homes in New Orleans. The respondents noticed that a retailer offers reusable bags for their consumers to purchase. One respondent stated that a retailer uses its products to help the environment, through offering organic cotton. After thorough analysis of responses, we found that a participant's evaluation of a retailers' CSR influenced their attitudes towards retailers. However, there was a significant gap between attitudes and purchasing behavior. Although the participants had positive attitudes toward retailers CSR, the lack of funds and time influenced their purchase behavior. Overall, half (n=28) of the respondents mentioned that CSR performance affects their purchasing decisions making when shopping. Findings from this study provide support for retailers to consider their corporate social responsibility when developing their image with the consumer. This study implied that consumers evaluate retailers based on employee, community and environmental support. The evaluation, attitude and purchase behavior of consumers seem to be intertwined. That is, evaluation is based on the knowledge the consumer has of the retailers CSR. That knowledge may influence their attitude toward the retailer and thus influence their purchase behavior. Participants also indicated that having CSR makes them think highly of the retailer, but it does not influence their purchase behavior. Price and convenience seem to surpass the importance of CSR among the participants. Implications, recommendations for future research, and limitations of the study are also discussed.

Perception of School Foodservice Officials on Rice Bread as School Foodservice Menu (쌀빵에 대한 인식 및 학교급식 적용 가능성 분석: 교육청 학교급식 담당자를 중심으로)

  • Yang, Il-Sun;Lee, Min-A;Cha, Sung-Mi;Jo, Yoon-Hee;Lee, So-Young;Lee, So-Jung;Lee, Hae-Young
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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    • v.37 no.6
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    • pp.729-737
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    • 2008
  • The purposes of this study were to investigate supporting status and subsidy for school food service and to analyze the perception of school food service officials at the educational board on using rice bread to the school food service menu. The questionnaire was developed by content analysis, situation analysis, in-depth interview and checked by the school food service officials at the educational board. The questionnaires were responded by 33 officials (respondent rate: 86.8%) during September 1 to October 26 in 2007. The major findings of this study were as follows: First, most of the respondents were women (93.9%), and worked an average of 104.36 months at school-related work. The metropolitan & provincial office of education had prevalently jurisdiction over 272.3 rural and self-operation type of elementary schools, 115.50 rural and self-operation type of middle schools and 73.0 rural and self-operation type of high schools. In the case of the district office of education, 23.3 urban and self-operation type of elementary schools, 11.6 urban and self-operation type of middle schools and 5.3 urban and contracted type of high schools were averagely managed. Second, all the respondents supported meal cost for low-income group and 50.5% provided reimbursement for organic environmental agricultural products. The highest subsidy was 16.8 billion won as meal cost for low-income group in metropolitan & provincial office and 1,050 million won as labor cost in district office. Third, the experience of performing policies for using rice was relatively lower than perception of rice bread application to school food service menu. Fourth, the advantages of using rice bread were acceleration of consuming rice (32.0%), excellence of nutrition (24.0%) and promotion of healthy image (22.7%). On the other hand, the difficulties of using rice bread were lack of facilities (72.7%), higher cost compared to wheat bread (54.5%), limitation of menu application and cooking method (15.7% each). Fifth, the opinion of utilizing rice and that of applying rice bread were significantly correlated (p<0.001). Desirability and willingness were correlated with reality for applying rice bread to the school food service menu (p<0.001). Also, comparative analysis between divided groups by perception of utilizing rice showed that willingness and experience were significantly different.