Yes / Purpose Refractive blur is associated with decreased hazard perception and impairments in driving performance, but little is known about why people who have spectacles to correct their distance vision drive with uncorrected vision. Methods We conducted six focus groups. Participants were 30 drivers (mean age 45) who reported having driven uncorrected at least twice in the past six months despite having spectacles to correct their distance vision. Focus groups were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. Results We identified three themes. 1. Responsibility: participants did not feel obliged to drive with optimal vision and believed that others have a responsibility to ensure drivers maintain clear vision. 2. Safe Enough: participants felt safe to drive uncorrected, did not believe they need to wear spectacles to see sufficiently clearly and that they would know if their uncorrected eyesight fails to meet minimum standards. 3. Situations: participants discussed how they would drive uncorrected for short and familiar journeys, when they feel alert, in daylight and in good weather. Conclusions Beliefs about the importance of driving with clear vision compete with the benefits of not wearing spectacles. Eyecare professionals should provide more direct advice to patients regarding the need to wear their visual correction for driving.

Nanotechnology is one of the key innovative technologies in the present century. The food industry has applied this technology in each of its sectors. Nanotechnology has tremendous potential in food and agriculture, including advancing agricultural cultivation and food production, enhancing food nutrition and flavor, and improving food packaging and preservation. However, the novel properties of nanoscale materials that allow beneficial applications are also accompanied with uncertainties, even unknown risks. A number of studies have examined public understanding as well as acceptance of nanotechnology via surveys in both the US and Europe. However, most of these studies concentrated on public attitudes in general. Few works focused on specific products, let alone food or food related products. This project will contribute to the literature by calculating monetary valuations (i.e., willingness-to-pay) for canola oil where new techniques are utilized. Using choice experiment survey data, consumers’ valuations for nano attributes were estimated with choice models. As implied, consumers were willing to pay $0.95 less for a typical bottle (48 fl. oz.) of canola oil if it was produced from nanoscale-modified seed; $0.51 less if the final products were packed with nanotechnology-enhanced packaging technique; and no significant difference was found for oil that was designed with health enhancing nano-engineered oil drops, which would require interaction with the human digestive system. Additionally, the results revealed unobserved heterogeneities among respondents in their willingness-to-pay for canola oil attributes. Aligned with descriptive results, 46.7% of the respondents reported that they were optimistic about new technology applied to food products. While a significant portion of the respondents (42.8%) indicated that they might gain benefits at the same level as risks, there were a slightly larger proportion of the respondents who feared they might be exposed to more risks than benefits through nanofoods. Further analysis included respondents’ attitudes and opinions as well as their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics toward the goal of understanding the underlying behavior difference. Findings from this study will help bridge the gap between scientific innovation and public policy and social-economic concerns. Implications for government policy that can be efficiently used to monitor and regulate these technologies were also investigated.

Ruapehu is an active volcano located on the North Island of New Zealand, with the most recent major eruptions occurring in 1945, 1969, 1975, and 1995/96. Ruapehu is also home to the three major North Island ski areas, Whakapapa, Turoa, and Tukino. Because of the high frequency of eruptions, there is a significant volcanic hazard at the ski areas particularly from lahars which can form even after minor eruptions. Most recently, lahars have affected Whakapapa ski area in 1969, 1975, and 1995/96. The most significant risk at Turoa is from ballistic bombs due to the proximity of the top two T-Bars to the crater. Ash fall has also caused disruption at the ski areas, covering the snow and causing damage to structures. There is yet to be a death at the ski areas from a volcanic event; however the risk at the ski areas is too high to be completely ignored. The ski areas at Whakapapa and Turoa are currently operated by Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL), who have been significantly improving their commitment to providing volcanic hazard training for their staff and preparing for handling a volcanic eruption. RAL is joined by the Institute of Geological Sciences (GNS) and the Department of Conservation (DoC) in trying to mitigate this risk through a range of initiatives, including an automated Eruption Detection System (EDS), linked to sirens and loudspeakers on Whakapapa ski areas, as well as by providing staff training and public education. The aim of this study was to provide RAL with recommendations to improve their staff training and warning system response. Staff induction week at both Turoa and Whakapapa ski areas was observed. Surveys were distributed and collected from staff at both ski areas, and interviews were conducted with staff at Whakapapa ski area. Data obtained from staff interviews and surveys provided the author with insight into staff's mental models regarding a volcanic event response. A simulation of the warning system was observed, as well as a blind test, to collect data on the effectiveness of training on staff response. Results indicated permanent and seasonal staff were knowledgeable of the volcanic hazards that may affect the ski areas, but had differing perspectives on the risk associated with those hazards. They were found to be confident in the initial response to a volcanic event (i.e. move to higher ground), but were unsure of what would happen after this initial response. RAL was also found to have greatly improved their volcanic hazard training in the past year, however further recommendations were suggested to increase training effectiveness. A training needs analysis was done for different departments at the ski areas by taking a new approach of anticipating demands staff may encounter during a volcanic event and complementing these demands with existing staff competencies. Additional recommendations were made to assist RAL in developing an effective plan to use when responding to volcanic events, as well as other changes that could be made to improve the likelihood of customer safety at the ski areas during an eruption.

Den föreliggande studien undersöker om en omarbetad version av skalan Risk Perception Self (RPS) och Risk Perception Other (RPO) som Hunter (2002) vidareutvecklade från Imhoff och Levine (1981) för att mäta riskperception hos piloter, även mäter riskperception hos militär personal. Hunters skala bestod av (RPS=26, RPO=17) frågescenarier uppdelade i 2 perspektiv föreställande typiska risksituationer som piloter kan möta i sitt arbete. Skalan översattes till svenska och scenarierna anpassades till risksituationer av allmänmilitär karaktär som militärpersonal förstår och möter i sitt arbete. Den omarbetade skalan besvarades av 153 militärer, 20-66 år gamla, genomsnittsålder 32.5, 17% kvinnor. Deltagarnas erfarenhet av militär verksamhet varierade, Erfarna individer var soldater som hade genomgått grundläggande militär-, soldat- och befattningsutbildning (n=93). Noviser var soldater som hade nyligen påbörjat sin utbildning (n=60). Skalan hade god reliabilitet (Chronbach α för RPS=0.88, RPO=0,89) och Hunters skalas struktur kunde till stor del återfinnas i den omarbetade skalan. Den omarbetade riskperceptionsskalan användes därefter för att undersöka om studiedeltagarnas kunskap, erfarenhet, kön och ålder påverkar riskperceptionen och om den kontexten man befinner sig i när man besvarar frågorna påverkar deltagarnas riskuppfattning. Resultaten visade att Erfarna deltagare bedömer risker som mindre farliga. Kvinnor och äldre bedömer risker som farligare och personal tillhörande stridande förband bedömer risker som mindre farliga än personal vid stödjande förband. Dessa resultat är i huvudsak i linje med tidigare forskning vilket tyder på att den omarbetade skalan förmår att mäta riskperception bland militär personal. Generellt bedömde Noviser risker som farligare jämfört med Erfarna i underdimensionerna Självorsakade risker, Externa hot och Riskbenägna beslut oavsett vilken kontext de befann sig i när de fyllde i enkäten. / The present study investigated whether a revised version of the scale Risk Perception Self (RPS) and the Hazard Perception Other (RPO) that Hunter (2002) developed from Imhoff and Levine (1981) to measure the risk perception of pilots, also measures risk perception among military personnel. Hunters scale consisted of (RPS=26, RPO=17) scenarios divided in 2 perspectives depicting typical risk situations that pilots faced in their work. The scale was translated into Swedish and the scenarios adjusted to risk situations of general military nature as military personnel would understand and encounter in their work. The revised scale was answered by 153 servicemen, 20-66 years old, average age 32.5; 17% women. The participants' experience of military operations varied: Experienced individuals were soldiers who had undergone basic military training and specific military training (n = 93). Novices were soldiers who had recently started their training (n = 60). The scale had good reliability (Cronbach α = 0.88 for RPS, RPO = 0.89) and the factor-structure of Hunter’s scale replicated reasonably well in the revised scale. The revised risk perception scale was then used to investigate whether the study participants´ knowledge, experience, gender and age affected risk perception and if the respondents’ contexts affected the participants´ risk perception. The results showed that Experienced participants assessed risks as less dangerous. Women and older people assessed risks as more dangerous, and personnel associated with combat units assessed risks as less dangerous than personnel in supporting units. These results are generally in line with previous research and suggest that the revised scale is capable of measuring the risk perception among military personnel. An interesting result was that the context in which the participants answered the questionnaire also affected risk perception. Generally, Novices assessed risks as more dangerous than experienced in self-made hazards, external threats and risk-prone decisions regardless of what context they were in when they filled in the questionnaire.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

The lack of knowledge regarding the perception of risks in agile project management is evident in research. With this knowledge, this study sets out to address this issue and close the gap in knowledge regarding this issue by identifying the individual perception of risk by a project leader, SCRUM master, and two system developers, and comparing the individual appetite matrices to a unified appetite matrix created by a Delphi panel. A case study at an IT consulting firm, working with several projects in parallel, in Sweden is conducted. A risk register is used to collect the data, with the principle of assisting in creation of the risk appetite matrices. The result shows that the individual risk appetites differ significantly from the group’s unified risk appetite. The group showed itself far more risk aggressive than the individual appetite which was risk aversive in relation to the group’s appetite. The lack of RM practices is evident in smaller IT firms such as these, as there are no clear standardized approaches to the mapping or classification of risks; a far more informal approach is taken.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-10T10:55:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ISABELLE ROCHA ARAO.pdf: 788165 bytes, checksum: 1372730a23d621da70fe7b0559e1efac (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-03-23 / The consumption of agricultural defensives has increased in Brazil during the past years. The state of Goiás specifically has the fifth position on the consumption of such products, mainly due to the history of agricultural development in the state. It was defined as main goal of this study to verify the rural workers perceptions concerning the use of agricultural defensives, their health care and the environment in which they live in. Therefore, several soy crop workers were interviewed in the city of Rio Verde and tomato crop workers from the city of Catalão. After an analysis according to the Grounded Theory principles some data emerged pointing out that workers have got few informations related to products and they don t realize any actual effects of the defensives either over health care or environment, although they confirm concerns about these two aspects. Besides, it was noticed that not all participants make use of Individual Protective Devices and a many of them do not adopt personal hygiene measures needed to individual protection. / O consumo de defensivos agrícolas tem aumentado nos últimos anos no Brasil. O estado de Goiás, especificamente, ocupa o 5° lugar da Federação em consumo de tais produtos, fato este justificado pelo histórico do desenvolvimento agrícola goiano. Foi definido como objetivo principal deste estudo verificar qual é a percepção de trabalhadores rurais quanto ao uso dos defensivos agrícolas sobre a saúde e o meio ambiente em que vivem. Para isso foram entrevistados trabalhadores da cultura da soja no município de Rio Verde e da cultura do tomate no município de Catalão. Após uma análise de acordo com os preceitos da Grounded Theory emergiram dados indicando que os trabalhadores possuem poucas informações relacionadas aos produtos e não percebem efeito concreto algum dos defensivos sobre a saúde nem sobre o meio ambiente, embora revelam preocupação com estes dois aspectos. Além disso, foi constatado que nem todos os participantes da pesquisa fazem uso de Equipamentos de Proteção Individual (EPI's) e muitos deles não adotam medidas importantes de higiene pessoal necessárias à proteção individual.

A literatura acadêmica sobre o comportamento do investidor financeiro é bastante escassa. A pesquisa sobre o processo de decisão, em geral, aborda tradeoffs na aquisição de produtos e pouco se discute o processo de decisão de investimento. Esta tese pretende contribuir para a redução deste gap ao discutir fatores determinantes para a tomada de decisão do investidor pessoal em produtos financeiros. A decisão de investimento é complexa, envolve, entre outros, o tradeoff entre renunciar o consumo presente pela possibilidade de maior bem estar no futuro. Adicionalmente, em muitas situações, existe possibilidade real de perda dos recursos financeiros investidos. Para investigar os percursos desta decisão foram realizadas entrevistas em profundidade com executivos ligados ao setor de fundos de investimento e ao de distribuição de produtos de investimento dos maiores bancos brasileiros atuantes no segmento de varejo. Os conhecimentos recolhidos e a revisão de literatura efetuada subsidiaram a elaboração do questionário de pesquisa aplicado em plataforma web junto a potenciais investidores. Os atributos rentabilidade, possibilidade de perda (proxy de risco), liquidez, taxa de administração e recomendação do gerente foram identificados como os mais relevantes para a decisão do investidor. Para construção dos estímulos e decomposição da utilidade da decisão foi utilizada a técnica conjoint based choice (CBC) que simula uma decisão real. Os resultados apontaram ser a recomendação do gerente o atributo mais importante para a formação da preferência por uma alternativa de investimento, resultado que, por si só, indica que fatores não racionais exercem influência na decisão. Estudou-se, então, o impacto da aversão ao risco e do estilo cognitivo do investidor. Os resultados denotam que os mais avessos e os mais intuitivos são mais suscetíveis à recomendação do gerente, mas que seus efeitos são independentes entre si. As evidências sugerem que os mais intuitivos utilizam o gerente para alcançar conforto cognitivo na decisão e que os mais avessos para mitigar a sensação de risco associada ao produto. Uma análise de cluster indicou ser possível segmentar a amostra em dois grupos, um mais propenso à recomendação do gerente e outro aos atributos do produto. A recomendação do gerente mostrou ser o atributo mais forte na distinção dos grupos. Os resultados indicam que uma segmentação de mercado baseada na propensão à recomendação do gerente pode ser efetiva para direcionar a construção de uma estratégia de relacionamento que busque incrementar os resultados de longo prazo. / The academic literature on the financial investor behavior is rather scarce. Research on decision generally discusses tradeoffs when purchasing products and little is discussed the investment decision process. This thesis aims to contribute to the reduction of this gap when discussing determining factors for decision making personnel investor in financial products. The investment decision is complex, involving, among others, the tradeoff between forgo present consumption by the possibility of greater well-being in the future. Additionally, in many situations, there is real possibility of loss of funds invested. To investigate the pathways of this decision were conducted in-depth interviews with executives linked to the investment fund industry and the distribution of investment products of the largest Brazilian banks operating in the retail segment. The collected knowledge and performed literature review supported the development of the survey questionnaire applied to web platform to potential investors. Attributes profitability, possible loss (risk proxy), liquidity, management fees and manager\'s recommendation have been identified as the most relevant for the investor\'s decision. Construction of stimuli and decomposition of the decision utility was based on the technique named conjoint based choice (CBC) that simulates a real decision. The results showed to be the manager\'s recommendation the most important attribute for the formation of preference for an alternative investment, a result which, in itself, indicates that non-rational factors influence the decision. It was studied, then the impact of risk aversion and investor cognitive style. The results show that the more averse and more intuitive are more susceptible to the manager\'s recommendation but their effects are independent of each other. Evidence suggests that the most intuitive use the manager to achieve cognitive comfort in the decision and the most averse to mitigate the feeling of risk associated with the product. A cluster analysis indicated to be possible to segment the sample into two groups, one more prone to the manager\'s recommendation and the other more prone to product attributes. The manager\'s recommendation proved to be the strongest attribute distinguishing the groups. The results indicate that a segmentation of the market based on the propensity to manager\'s recommendation can be effective to direct the building of a relationship strategy that seeks to increase the long-term results

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2017-06-28T12:39:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Geruza Rodrigues Thiel_.pdf: 772624 bytes, checksum: 688088c20cb5ab889b7da4169af21447 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-28T12:39:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Geruza Rodrigues Thiel_.pdf: 772624 bytes, checksum: 688088c20cb5ab889b7da4169af21447 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-04-19 / Nenhuma / Informações contábeis destinam-se ao apoio de decisões de gestão e o desenvolvimento dessas informações auxilia as partes interessadas a realizarem escolhas melhores. Nesse sentido, o estudo teve como objetivo analisar como a conformidade das informações contábeis afeta a percepção do risco e tomada de decisão financeira do negócio. Trata-se de um estudo de caso, descritivo, qualitativo, realizado em um ambiente empresarial de serviços marítimos. Os principais resultados encontrados apontaram que o atendimento das características qualitativas fundamentais e de melhoria das informações contábeis faz parte dos objetivos dos setores envolvidos na confecção dessas informações, no entanto, existem duas percepções distintas nesses departamentos quanto ao nível atual da capacidade de processo relativa ao apoio da governança de tecnologia da informação (GTI) à conformidade. São formas usuais de subsídio das informações contábeis aos gestores: relatórios, e-mails, reuniões periódicas (semanais, mensais e bimestrais), além da consulta pelo próprio gestor ao sistema. Indícios revelaram que não há uma relação direta entre aversão ao risco dos decisores e importância relativa da contabilidade, essa importância está atrelada a percepção dos decisores sobre o nível de risco do ambiente e não, necessariamente, sobre a aversão ao risco de cada um. Conclui-se que as informações contábeis, por meio do atendimento de sua conformidade e apoio da governança de tecnologia da informação, afetam as preferências de risco dos decisores uma vez que juntas, contabilidade e GTI, proporcionam quadros de referência com maior visibilidade, agilidade, transparência e acessibilidade dos fatos, permitindo a tomada de decisão clara do gestor. Desse modo, os dados contábeis afetam a percepção do risco e tomada de decisão financeira do negócio ao melhorar essa percepção e proporcionar decisões financeiras coerentes e mais seguras, possibilitando ao gestor assumir ou não o risco, de forma consciente. / Accounting information is intended to support management decisions and the development of this information helps stakeholders to make better choices. In this sense, the study aimed to analyze how the conformity of accounting information affects the perception of risk and financial decision making of the business. It is a case study, descriptive and qualitative, carried out in a business environment of maritime services. The main results found that the fulfillment of the basic qualitative characteristics and improvement of the accounting information is part of the objectives of the sectors involved in the preparation of this information, however, there are two distinct perceptions in these departments regarding the current level of process capacity related to the support of information technology governance (GTI) to compliance. These are usual ways of providing accounting information to managers: reports, e-mails, periodic meetings (weekly, monthly and bimonthly), and the manager's own consultation with the system. Evidence has shown that there is no direct relationship between risk aversion of decision makers and the relative importance of accounting, this importance is tied to the perception of decision makers about the level of environmental risk and not necessarily about the risk aversion of each one. It is concluded that accounting information, by complying with its compliance and support of information technology governance, affects the risk preferences of decision makers since, together, accounting and GTI, they provide reference frameworks with greater visibility, agility, transparency and accessibility of the facts, allowing the clear decision of the manager. In this way, accounting information affect the perception of risk and financial decision making of the business by improving this perception and providing coherent and safer financial decisions, allowing the manager to take the risk or not, in a conscious way.

Le transport est un facteur important de la croissance urbaine et de la viabilité des centres urbains mais il est également responsable de nombreuses nuisances telles que le bruit, la pollution de l'air et les accidents de la route, qui causent aujourd'hui de nombreux impacts sur la santé, telles que la gêne. L'objectif principal de notre thèse était d'identifier les déterminants (sociodémographiques, socioéconomiques, liés à la mobilité quotidienne) d'une gêne ressentie vis-à-vis du bruit, de la pollution de l'air et des accidents de la route. L'objectif secondaire était d'identifier les déterminants de la perception du risque sanitaire vis-à-vis de ces trois nuisances et du ressenti des effets du bruit et de la pollution de l'air sur sa propre santé ou celle de son entourage ; dans le but in fine de voir si des inégalités sociales se dessinaient dans le champ de cette problématique. Pour ce faire, deux études transversales ont été menées en population générale, dans le département du Rhône en 2013 puis en 2014 respectivement. La principale conclusion de notre étude est que le milieu socioéconomique ne joue un rôle prédominant ni dans l'expression de la gêne ni dans la perception du risque sanitaire. En revanche, les usagers des modes doux (marche, vélo) et des transports publics sont plus gênés par la pollution de l'air et le bruit du trafic routier comparés aux usagers motorisés. Par ailleurs, la gêne liée à la pollution de l'air influencerait le ressenti des effets du bruit et de la pollution de l'air sur sa propre santé. Nos résultats devraient être utiles aux décideurs politiques dans le cadre des politiques urbaines. Créer un environnement plus « friendly » en réduisant l'utilisation des voitures, en promouvant l'utilisation des modes doux, en améliorant les transports en commun et leur utilisation, en développant des installations pour les piétons et pour les cyclistes - toutes ces mesures sont autant de mesures nécessaires pour réduire les nuisances dus au trafic routier et ainsi le sentiment de gêne et d'insécurité / An important factor supporting urban growth, and the viability of the urban centers, is transportation but road transport is still a common important source of traffic accidents, noise, and air which have heavy consequences on public health such as annoyance. The main objective of our thesis was to identify the determinants of each kind of trafficrelated annoyance (sociodemographic, socioeconomic, daily mobilty). The secondary objective was to identify the determinants of health risk perception and the feelings of health effects on his own health. Then, tow cross-sectional studies have been conducted in the general population, in the Rhône Department, in France. The main finding of our study is that the socioeconomic level doesn’t play a rule neither in the expression of annoyance nor in the health risk perception. However, active travel modes and public transport users are highly annoyed by traffic air pollution and road-traffic noise more than motorized users. Moreover, annoyance related to air pollution seemed to influence the feeling of health effects of noise and air pollution. Our results should be useful for urban policies. Create a friendly environment by reducing the use of cars, promoting non-motorized or “active” travel mode use (walking, cycling), to improve public transport and to promote the use of public transport, avoiding to add noisy road infrastructure near population centers, to develop facilities for pedestrians and for cyclists - all of these measures are needed to reduce road-traffic nuisances and the feeling of annoyance