Texte remanié de: Akademisk avhandling--Ekonomi--Uppsala, 1981. / Bibliogr. p. 155-159.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Parental involvement in a child’s life forms a significant part of parenting, regardless of a parent and child’s background or context. The complexity of the concept is evident considering the diverse nature of existing definitions, models and theories. However, it appears that the approach to the term is greatly determined by the context in which it is used or referred to. Through a case study of a group of South African parents of Grade 9 children at a local high school, the study explores parents’ experiences of their parental involvement and adaption thereof following the transition from primary to high school. The study is qualitative and based on a social-constructivist theoretical framework which is concerned with how each person’s reality is shaped by social interaction with others, as well as historical and cultural influences. The Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (2005) model of parental involvement takes a central stance in the study. Research findings confirmed the complex nature of parental involvement. Each parent’s experience of his or her parental involvement was uniquely expressed, while the adolescent and school’s invitations for involvement, or rather the lack thereof, were the main determinants of parental involvement at the beginning of high school. A general tendency to decrease involvement following the transition to high school was noted, although it appeared that parents prefer to be more involved, or at least as involved as possible. In this study, parents’ expectations and experiences of their involvement and the transition from primary to high school, concurs with existing literature in the field. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ouerbetrokkenheid in ‘n kind se lewe is ‘n belangrike aspek van ouerskap, ongeag die agtergrond of konteks van die ouer en kind. Die kompleksiteit van die term is duidelik wanneer die uiteenlopende definisies, modelle en teorieë wat daaroor bestaan in ag geneem word. Dit wil egter voorkom asof die konteks waarin die term gebruik of na verwys word, veral grootliks die benadering daartoe bepaal. Deur gebruik te maak van ‘n gevallestudie van ‘n groep Suid-Afrikaanse ouers van Graad 9 kinders by ‘n plaaslike hoërskool, ondersoek die studie ouers se ervaringe oor hul ouerbetrokkenheid en aanpassing daarvan na die oorgang van laerskool na hoërskool. Die studie is kwalitatief en gebaseer op ’n sosiaal-konstruksionistiese teoretiese raamwerk, wat bemoeid is met hoe elke persoon se realiteit beïnvloed word deur sosiale interaksie met ander, asook die historiese en kulturele invloede in daardie persoon se lewe. Die Hoover-Dempsey en Sandler (2005) model van ouerbetrokkenheid staan sentraal tot die studie. Die navorsingsbevindings het die kompleksiteit van ouerbetrokkenheid bevestig. Elke ouer se ervaring van sy/haar betrokkenheid is uniek uitgedruk, met die adolessent en skool se aanvraag na betrokkenheid, of eerder die afwesigheid daarvan, as die hoofdeterminant van betrokkenheid tydens die begin van hoërskool. ‘n Algemene geneigdheid om ouerbetrokkenheid te verlaag na die oorgang van laerskool na hoërskool is bevind, alhoewel dit voorkom asof ouers tog ‘n voorkeur het om meer betrokke te wees, of ten minste so betrokke as wat hul kind dit toelaat. Ouers se ervaringe ten opsigte van hul verwagtinge en belewenis van betrokkenheid, asook die oorgang van laerskool na hoërskool, hou verband met bestaande literatuur in die veld.

L’évaluation des situations familiales en protection de l’enfance, est une question complexe et conflictuelle. En France comme en Allemagne, les organisations en prise avec des risques et des incertitudes dans la conduite des évaluations, chercheraient à formaliser les évaluations pour légitimer leurs actions. Mais cette formalisation ne serait pas sans empreinte de tensions, entre l’apparent et l’inapparent, la rationalisation et l’intuition, la participation et l’exclusion. Aussi ce présent travail conduit dans une perspective comparative France / Allemagne s’attache à mettre en lumière les ambiguïtés qui parcourent les formalisations de l’évaluation tant au niveau des normes juridiques que de leurs réfractions plurielles dans les pratiques professionnelles. En alternant les regards des professionnels et des usagers, ce travail s’intéresse également à la place de l’usager mineur dans l’évaluation et à la perception par les enfants et jeunes français et allemands de leur participation au processus évaluatif. / Diagnostic evaluation of children mistreatment in France and in Germany. / Diagnostische Auswertungen im Kinderschutz sind komplex und konfliktbehaftet. In Frankreich ebenso wie in Deutschland versuchen Kinderschutzorganisationen die Risiken ihre diagnostische Methoden bereits im Ansatz so gering wie möglich zu halten und damit ihre Prozesse zu rationalisieren. Dabei laufen sie jedoch Gefahr die Partizipation den Klienten zu vergessen. Die vorliegende Arbeit erstellt eine vergleichende Perspektive zwischen Frankreich und Deutschland, in der Formalisierungsverfahren von diagnostichen Methoden im Kinderschutz sowohl auf der rechtlichen Ebene, als auch in der Praxis der Beschäftigten kritisch beleuchtet werden. Desweitern setzt sich diese Arbeit mit den Sichtweise französicher und deutscher Kinder und Jugendlichen über ihre Partizipationsmöglichkeiten an Bewertungsprozessen ihrer Situation und an konkreten Hilfsmaßnahmen auseinander.

This dissertation presents an experiment exploring the moderating effects of individual differences in personality on the motivational effects of increased participation in setting budget goals. This experiment hypothesizes that individual differences in personality will correlate with changes in the strength and/or direction of participation's effect on individual motivation to reach the budget goal. To test these hypotheses an experiment was conducted utilizing undergraduate students as proxies for front line managers. The experiment used a basic decoding task similar to tasks used in many participative budgeting experiments and manipulated participation in establishing a budget target for the number of items to decode at three levels. Instruments measuring the participant's personality according to the "Big Five" personality traits, perception of participation and motivation were administered during the experiment. A regression analysis was conducted to assess the correlation of perception of participation, levels of each of the five personality dimensions and interactions between perception of participation and each of the five personality dimensions with motivation. Results indicate an interaction between levels of the personality trait neuroticism and perception of participation correlating with a significant reduction in motivation. These results suggest a implementation of a participative budgeting system intended to increase motivation to achieve the budget goal may in fact result in lower motivation if the managers participating in the system possess higher levels of neuroticism. Moreover, a supplemental analysis of the data used in this analysis suggests the personality traits agreeableness and conscientiousness may correlate with consistently higher perceptions of personality.

The roles of the various aspects of religion have been examined regarding political thinking, ideology and the political participation of Americans including minority groups such as African Americans, Latinos, and Asians. However, little is known about the effects of Islamic religiosity on American Muslims. The Pew Survey on American Muslims (2007) (Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life) measures the effects of various religious beliefs, conservatism, practices, and contexts on different aspects of political thinking and participation such as registration for voting, voting in elections, beliefs about the roles of government, and sexuality. The results show that, in terms of political behavior, only the happiness factor has a significant effect on registration for voting. While belief in the Judgment Day and in the existence of angels, the belief that there is more than one interpretation of Islamic teaching, and the feeling of being an American first had significant effects on voting in the presidential elections of 2004, conservatism (the belief in the Quran's inerrancy and in taking the Quran's teachings literally) negatively affected voting for Bush. In terms of a preference for either a large or a small government and attitudes toward the responsibility of the government in helping the poor, results show that a belief in the importance of zakat and the presence of happiness increases the odds of preferring a big government. Beliefs in the Judgment Day and in angels, a perceived conflict between Western and Islamic values, and religious scales of religious commitment affect the odds of the responsibility of the government in helping the poor. Other religious factors affect attitudes towards homosexuality and the involvement of the mosque in politics and the responsibility of the government in protecting the morality of society. The results show that few of the religious factors affect the political thinking and political participation of American Muslims. More research is needed to study the political behavior of small social and immigrant groups in the US.

The aim of this study was to assess the potential of ecotourism in Kibale National Park, the environmental impact of visitor activities, the characteristics of visitors and visits, the perception and attitudes of local communities towards conservation and development of ecotourism, and the status of environmental interpretation in Uganda. The environmental evaluation was attempted using a combination of methods developed in the USA. Selfcompletion questionnaires were used to obtain information on visitors and the characteristics of visits, and direct household interviews were used for the survey of local communities' perception and attitudes. Information on the status of environmental interpretation was sought using the postal-survey method. It was found that Kibale National Park has the potential for development of ecotourism. The number of visitors has been rising annually since ecotourism was introduced in 1992 and was estimated to reach 5 000 in 1995. As a result of the continuing increase in visitor numbers, the camping sites and the nature trails are already being degraded. More than 90 per cent of the visitors come from overseas and only a small proportion are Ugandans. The visitors come on pre-planned tour packages mainly to view the chimpanzees. The common feeling among the visitors is that the facilities and services currently offered in Kibale are of low standard. Several proposals have been put forward for improvement of services and provision of additional facilities. The need to control visitor numbers and to maintain a sound environment in the Park has been discussed and immediate management measures required to reduce further deterioration of the camping sites and the nature trails have been recommended. The study has also revealed that local communities in Kibale still obtain most of their forest products from the Park. Although the majority (about 80%) support conservation and development of ecotourism, they have a poor perception of the Park's existence and value. Eviction of some families from the Park a few years ago and the gradual loss of traditional rights of access and use of resources following the establishment of Kibale as a National Park, has resulted in negative attitudes among some sections of the local communities. It is recommended that local communities should be educated about the value of the Park and the importance of conserving its resources. Moreover, there is a need to involve them directly in all the stages of future planning and management of conservation programmes and ecotourism development in Uganda's protected areas. It has also become clear that the concept of environmental interpretation is little understood in Uganda and the practice is generally poor. It was found that Kibale and other national parks lack facilities for proper interpretation. The Park ranger-guides are often employed and assigned to interpretive work without prior training on interpretation. It is recommended that all national parks and other protected areas where ecotourism is being promoted alongside conservation should set up proper environmental interpretation systems. In addition, there is a need for establishing a national programme of environmental interpretation to facilitate environmental education and development of ecotourism in Uganda.

No description available.

Asynchronous online discussion has the potential to offer equal participation opportunities (Bali & Ramadan, 2007), improve critical thinking skills and facilitate collaborative learning (Lee & Tsai, 2011). However, the success of asynchronous online discussion is based on students' active participation and the depth of their contributions (Mazzolini & Maddison, 2003). Several studies have confirmed that the quality of students' discussion can be maintained by assessing students' contributions. This research, therefore, aims to identify effective assessment criteria with which to assess students' participation in online discussion. The study employed a qualitative case study methodology to explore the assessment of asynchronous discussion in depth. This involved five cases and was conducted at King Saud University. Five instructors and 39 students participated in the study. Students' and instructors' perspectives were triangulated by obtaining data through different methods: in class and online observation, focus groups and semi-structured interviews. An inductive approach to data analysis was followed, informed by constructivist grounded theory. Data were analyzed in two stages: the first stage involved the in-depth analysis of each case. Then, the second stage involved a cross-case analysis of the five cases. Seven categories of assessment criteria emerged: sufficient answers and explanation, participation, originality of contributions, writing format and structure, posting within the timeframe, use of external resources and applying common ground rules. The cross-cases analysis resulted in the development of a framework for the assessment process, elements of this framework are: Preparation for the online discussion task, assessment design, before and after task feedback. This study contributes to the body of knowledge in terms of understanding the role of assessment in students' participation in online discussion This study contributes to the body of knowledge in terms of understanding the role of assessment in students' participation in online discussions. Findings from both the learners' and instructors' experiences allow an in-depth understanding of the assessment process. This study also provides a practical framework for instructors who wish to integrate online discussions to their teaching practice.

Dans une société de plus en plus globalisée, de plus en plus soumise à des flux de mobilité, il devientessentiel de prendre en compte la dimension territoriale pour répondre au besoin d’ancrage desindividus. Pour autant, les études sociologiques portant sur l’interaction entre acteurs et territoire sontencore peu nombreuses.Mesurer l’inscription territoriale des habitants d’un espace donné à travers « quatre piliers » peutcontribuer à la constitution d’une sociologie du territoire ou plus exactement d’une sociologie des acteursterritorialisées, une sociologie appliquée, permettant la mise en place de nouveaux types de diagnosticsterritoriaux, à partir des liens existants entre individus et territoire.Présenter les « quatre piliers », à la base de cette sociologie du territoire – représentations, participation,ancrage et identité – permet ainsi de montrer leur interaction réciproque et les apports d’une approchesociologique du territoire. / In a more and more globalised society, inducing an increasing mobility, taking into account the territorialdimension to answer the people’s need of rooting has become truly essential. However, very fewsociological researches deal with the interaction between people and territories.Measuring the inhabitants territorial inclusion within a particular area through what we called "four pillars"is a way to help instituting a territorial sociology. This could become a form of applied sociology, whichwould propose new types of territorial approaches, based on the study of the people’s links with theirterritory.Introducing the “four pillars” that are the basis of this territorial sociology - representations, participation,rooting and identity – will thus highlight their reciprocal interaction and the benefits of a sociologicalapproach to territories.

Organisations are constantly seeking for ways and means to enhance their profitability in a global economy. The current organisational trend to gain the competitive advantage has become a more people orientated focus. Numerous studies grant acclaim to employee engagement for its perceived increase in financial performance. A dominant driver effecting levels of employee engagement, is leadership. It is this driver, in particular, that is examined in this study. The aim is to determine to what extent leadership has an impact on employee engagement, which in turn directly impacts on the organisations bottom-line. The study was done by utilising existing secondary data on employee engagement (Connexion survey for 2008) in the Enforcement and Risk Management Division of SARS. A quantitative research study was conducted, utilising measures such as Cronbach alpha coefficient test and factor analysis, to establish a relationship between the two factors. The main finding of the research is that leadership has a profound impact on levels of employee engagement in the organisation of choice. It is also deduced that employee engagement, as a strategy to enhance an organisation’s competitiveness, is a continuous process that must be sustained for a number of years to fully perceive the value. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted