The present thesis is devoted to a construction which defies generalisations about the prototypical English noun phrase (NP) to such an extent that it has been termed the Big Mess Construction (Berman 1974). As illustrated by the examples in (1) and (2), the NPs under study involve premodifying adjective phrases (APs) which precede the determiner (always realised in the form of the indefinite article a(n)) rather than following it. (1) NoS had not been hijacked – that was too strong a word. (BNC: CHU 1766) (2) He was prepared for a battle if the porter turned out to be as difficult a customer as his wife. (BNC: CJX 1755) Previous research on the construction is largely limited to contributions from the realms of theoretical syntax and a number of cursory accounts in reference grammars. No comprehensive investigation of its realisations and uses has as yet been conducted. My thesis fills this gap by means of an exhaustive analysis of the construction on the basis of authentic language data retrieved from the British National Corpus (BNC). The corpus-based approach allows me to examine not only the possible but also the most typical uses of the construction. Moreover, while previous work has almost exclusively focused on the formal realisations of the construction, I investigate both its forms and functions. It is demonstrated that, while the construction is remarkably flexible as concerns its possible realisations, its use is governed by probabilistic constraints. For example, some items occur much more frequently inside the degree item slot than others (as, too and so stand out for their particularly high frequency). Contrary to what is assumed in most previous descriptions, the slot is not restricted in its realisation to a fixed number of items. Rather than representing a specialised structure, the construction is furthermore shown to be distributed over a wide range of possible text types and syntactic functions. On the other hand, it is found to be much less typical of spontaneous conversation than of written language; Big Mess NPs further display a strong preference for the function of subject complement. Investigations of the internal structural complexity of the construction indicate that its obligatory components can optionally be enriched by a remarkably wide range of optional (if infrequent) elements. In an additional analysis of the realisations of the obligatory but lexically variable slots (head noun and head of AP), the construction is highlighted to represent a productive pattern. With the help of the methods of Collexeme Analysis (Stefanowitsch and Gries 2003) and Co-varying Collexeme Analysis (Gries and Stefanowitsch 2004b, Stefanowitsch and Gries 2005), the two slots are, however, revealed to be strongly associated with general nouns and ‘evaluative’ and ‘dimension’ adjectives, respectively. On the basis of an inspection of the most typical adjective-noun combinations, I identify the prototypical semantics of the Big Mess Construction. The analyses of the constructional functions centre on two distinct functional areas. First, I investigate Bolinger’s (1972) hypothesis that the construction fulfils functions in line with the Principle of Rhythmic Alternation (e.g. Selkirk 1984: 11, Schlüter 2005). It is established that rhythmic preferences co-determine the use of the construction to some extent, but that they clearly do not suffice to explain the phenomenon under study. In a next step, the discourse-pragmatic functions of the construction are scrutinised. Big Mess NPs are demonstrated to perform distinct information-structural functions in that the non-canonical position of the AP serves to highlight focal information (compare De Mönnink 2000: 134-35). Additionally, the construction is shown to place emphasis on acts of evaluation. I conclude the construction to represent a contrastive focus construction. My investigations of the formal and functional characteristics of Big Mess NPs each include analyses which compare individual versions of the construction to one another (e.g. the As Big a Mess, Too Big a Mess and So Big a Mess Constructions). It is revealed that the versions are united by a shared core of properties while differing from one another at more abstract levels of description. The question of the status of the constructional versions as separate constructions further receives special emphasis as part of a discussion in which I integrate my results into the framework of usage-based Construction Grammar (e.g. Goldberg 1995, 2006).

Up-to-date information about the type and spatial distribution of forests is an essential element in both sustainable forest management and environmental monitoring and modelling. The OpenStreetMap (OSM) database contains vast amounts of spatial information on natural features, including forests (landuse=forest). The OSM data model includes describing tags for its contents, i.e., leaf type for forest areas (i.e., leaf_type=broadleaved). Although the leaf type tag is common, the vast majority of forest areas are tagged with the leaf type mixed, amounting to a total area of 87% of landuse=forests from the OSM database. These areas comprise an important information source to derive and update forest type maps. In order to leverage this information content, a methodology for stratification of leaf types inside these areas has been developed using image segmentation on aerial imagery and subsequent classification of leaf types. The presented methodology achieves an overall classification accuracy of 85% for the leaf types needleleaved and broadleaved in the selected forest areas. The resulting stratification demonstrates that through approaches, such as that presented, the derivation of forest type maps from OSM would be feasible with an extended and improved methodology. It also suggests an improved methodology might be able to provide updates of leaf type to the OSM database with contributor participation.

Digitalisierung wirkt sich in radikaler Weise auf alle Lebensbereiche aus. Durch die technische Vernetzung und die Umwandlung analoger in digitale Daten entstehen umfassende Datenmengen. Aus ihrer Verknüpfung und Verarbeitung lassen sich Regelmäßigkeiten erkennen und Anwendungen generieren, deren soziale, ethische, politische, rechtliche, arbeitsweltliche und ökonomische Folgen heute noch nicht ansatzweise abzuschätzen sind.

The dissertation includes three published articles on which the development of a theoretical model of motivational and self-regulatory determinants of the intention to comprehensively search for health information is based. The first article focuses on building a solid theoretical foundation as to the nature of a comprehensive search for health information and enabling its integration into a broader conceptual framework. Based on subjective source perceptions, a taxonomy of health information sources was developed. The aim of this taxonomy was to identify most fundamental source characteristics to provide a point of reference when it comes to relating to the target objects of a comprehensive search. Three basic source characteristics were identified: expertise, interaction and accessibility. The second article reports on the development and evaluation of an instrument measuring the goals individuals have when seeking health information: the ‘Goals Associated with Health Information Seeking’ (GAINS) questionnaire. Two goal categories (coping focus and regulatory focus) were theoretically derived, based on which four goals (understanding, action planning, hope and reassurance) were classified. The final version of the questionnaire comprised four scales representing the goals, with four items per scale (sixteen items in total). The psychometric properties of the GAINS were analyzed in three independent samples, and the questionnaire was found to be reliable and sufficiently valid as well as suitable for a patient sample. It was concluded that the GAINS makes it possible to evaluate goals of health information seeking (HIS) which are likely to inform the intention building on how to organize the search for health information. The third article describes the final development and a first empirical evaluation of a model of motivational and self-regulatory determinants of an intentionally comprehensive search for health information. Based on the insights and implications of the previous two articles and an additional rigorous theoretical investigation, the model included approach and avoidance motivation, emotion regulation, HIS self-efficacy, problem and emotion focused coping goals and the intention to seek comprehensively (as outcome variable). The model was analyzed via structural equation modeling in a sample of university students. Model fit was good and hypotheses with regard to specific direct and indirect effects were confirmed. Last, the findings of all three articles are synthesized, the final model is presented and discussed with regard to its strengths and weaknesses, and implications for further research are determined.

Laboratory landslide experiments enable the observation of specific properties of these natural hazards. However, these observations are limited by traditional techniques: frequently used high-speed video analysis and wired sensors (e.g. displacement). These techniques lead to the drawback that either only the surface and 2D profiles can be observed or wires confine the motion behaviour. In contrast, an unconfined observation of the total spatiotemporal dynamics of landslides is needed for an adequate understanding of these natural hazards. The present study introduces an autonomous and wireless probe to characterize motion features of single clasts within laboratory-scale landslides. The Smartstone probe is based on an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and records acceleration and rotation at a sampling rate of 100 Hz. The recording ranges are ±16 g (accelerometer) and ±2000∘ s−1 (gyroscope). The plastic tube housing is 55 mm long with a diameter of 10 mm. The probe is controlled, and data are read out via active radio frequency identification (active RFID) technology. Due to this technique, the probe works under low-power conditions, enabling the use of small button cell batteries and minimizing its size. Using the Smartstone probe, the motion of single clasts (gravel size, median particle diameter d50 of 42 mm) within approx. 520 kg of a uniformly graded pebble material was observed in a laboratory experiment. Single pebbles were equipped with probes and placed embedded and superficially in or on the material. In a first analysis step, the data of one pebble are interpreted qualitatively, allowing for the determination of different transport modes, such as translation, rotation and saltation. In a second step, the motion is quantified by means of derived movement characteristics: the analysed pebble moves mainly in the vertical direction during the first motion phase with a maximal vertical velocity of approx. 1.7 m s−1. A strong acceleration peak of approx. 36 m s−2 is interpreted as a pronounced hit and leads to a complex rotational-motion pattern. In a third step, displacement is derived and amounts to approx. 1.0 m in the vertical direction. The deviation compared to laser distance measurements was approx. −10 %. Furthermore, a full 3D spatiotemporal trajectory of the pebble is reconstructed and visualized supporting the interpretations. Finally, it is demonstrated that multiple pebbles can be analysed simultaneously within one experiment. Compared to other observation methods Smartstone probes allow for the quantification of internal movement characteristics and, consequently, a motion sampling in landslide experiments.