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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [218]-224).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 55).

WICKRAMARATHNE, T. L. (M.S., Electrical and Computer Engineering) A Belief Theoretic Approach for Automated Collaborative Filtering (May 2008) Abstract of a thesis at the University of Miami. Thesis supervised by Professor Kamal Premaratne. No. of pages in text. (84) Automated Collaborative Filtering (ACF) is one of the most successful strategies available for recommender systems. Application of ACF in more sensitive and critical applications however has been hampered by the absence of better mechanisms to accommodate imperfections (ambiguities and uncertainties in ratings, missing ratings, etc.) that are inherent in user preference ratings and propagate such imperfections throughout the decision making process. Thus one is compelled to make various "assumptions" regarding the user preferences giving rise to predictions that lack sufficient integrity. With its Dempster-Shafer belief theoretic basis, CoFiDS, the automated Collaborative Filtering algorithm proposed in this thesis, can (a) represent a wide variety of data imperfections; (b) propagate the partial knowledge that such data imperfections generate throughout the decision-making process; and (c) conveniently incorporate contextual information from multiple sources. The "soft" predictions that CoFiDS generates provide substantial exibility to the domain expert. Depending on the associated DS theoretic belief-plausibility measures, the domain expert can either render a "hard" decision or narrow down the possible set of predictions to as smaller set as necessary. With its capability to accommodate data imperfections, CoFiDS widens the applicability of ACF, from the more popular domains, such as movie and book recommendations, to more sensitive and critical problem domains, such as medical expert support systems, homeland security and surveillance, etc. We use a benchmark movie dataset and a synthetic dataset to validate CoFiDS and compare it to several existing ACF systems.

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1992. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-88).

Thesis (M.Phil.) - University of St Andrews, June 2008.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Tübingen, 2003.

[pt] Esta dissertação tem como objetivo descrever e analisar o uso da argumentação e da análise retórica para o desenvolvimento, para a crítica e para a compreensão das teorias pedagógicas, sob a perspectiva de Tarso Mazzotti. Para isto, realizamos uma pesquisa bibliográfica a partir das obras deste filósofo da educação nas quais encontramos suas principais idéias acerca do uso da argumentação e da análise retórica. Logo, consideramos desde o capítulo Estatuto de cientificidade da pedagogia, publicado pela primeira vez em 1996, até (inclusive) a publicação, em 2008, do livro Doutrinas pedagógicas, máquinas produtoras de litígios. Enquanto o primeiro capítulo desta dissertação descreve as referidas idéias, o segundo capítulo analisa três pontos que permeiam as idéias apresentadas no capítulo anterior: a organização das teorias pedagógicas em torno de metáforas, o processo de validação das teorias pedagógicas, e a função e os limites da análise retórica aplicada às teorias pedagógicas. Na conclusão, convencidos de que o objetivo desta pesquisa tenha sido alcançado, apresentamos a utilidade do processo argumentativo e a necessidade da consideração da análise retórica como um dos instrumentos para a crítica das teorias pedagógicas. / [en] This dissertation aims to describe and analysis the use of argumentation and rhetorical analysis for the development, critique and comprehension of pedagogical theories, focusing on the work of Tarso Mazzotti. Bibliographical research was undertaken, concentrating on the work of this philosopher of education and his principal ideas on the use of argumentation and rhetorical analysis. The texts analysed range from The scientific status of pedagogy, originally published in 1996, to the publication, in 2008, of his book Pedagogical doctrines: dispute-producing machines. The first chapter of this dissertation describes the central ideas, while the second chapter analyses three central aspects of the ideas presented in the previous chapter: the organization of pedagogical theories around metaphors; the validation process of pedagogical theories; and the function and limits of rhetorical analysis applied to pedagogical theories. The conclusion reinforces the utility of argumentative processes and the need to consider rhetorical analysis as one of the instruments for the critique of pedagogical theories.

[pt] A filosofia de Epicuro divide-se, tradicionalmente, em três áreas: a Física, a Canônica e a Ética. Essas áreas dialogam entre si, não podendo ser compreendidas individualmente sem o estudo apurado das demais. Diante disso, esta dissertação se dividirá em quatro partes: a primeira, dedicada à Física, analisará tanto o desafio de Epicuro em levar adiante o atomismo exaltado por Demócrito e a física econômica democritiana, fundada sobre os dois elementos primordiais que permitem tanto a compreensão total da ordem cósmica, quanto a forma em que o sensualismo epicúreo diferiu do materialismo daqueles que apenas admitiam o ser e o material; a segunda tratará da Canônica, visto que, após trabalhar a physiologia, torna-se imprescindível abordar a questão do conhecimento e a sua origem, bem como a maneira através da qual a escola epicurista procurou definir o que é possível conhecer e como se deu a origem da linguagem; na terceira, estudar-se-á a Ética à luz dos temas da felicidade e do prazer, esclarecendo o que é o prazer e o que é a vida feliz para Epicuro, assim como este filósofo procurou lidar com o uso dos prazeres, definindo como deveria ser a postura e o agir dos homens que almejam a felicidade, opondo-se às teses hedonistas; na quarta parte, será defendida uma visão do epicurismo como uma filosofia terapêutica e prescritiva, balizada principalmente no ideal ascético do cultivo de si para uma vida feliz. / [en] Traditionally Epicurus’ philosophy is divided in three areas: Physics, Canonic and Ethics. These areas dialog among themselves and they can’t be understood disconnected one from the others. Thus, this dissertation will be splitted into four parts: the first part will be dedicated to physics, analyzing the Epicurus` challenge of continuing the atomism exalted by Democritus and the democritian economical physics, based on the two primordial elements which allow the total comprehension of the cosmic order, as well as the manner that epicurean sensualism disagreed from those that only had accepted the being and the material; The second one will deal with the Canonic, once after having studied the physiology, it becomes vital to examine the subject of knowledge and its origin, likewise the way that epicureans determined what is knowable and what was the origin of the language; in the third part, will be studied the Ethic in the light of the themes of happiness and pleasure, clarifying what Epicurus considered as pleasure and as a blessed life, such as this philosopher dealt with the use of pleasure, defining how should be the attitude and the action of those men who long for happiness, opposing the hedonistic thesis; in the fourth part, will be advocate a view of epicurism as a therapeutic and prescriptive philosophy, based mainly on the ascetic ideal of the cultivation of oneself for a happy life.

M.A. / 1. Introduction Internationally there has been a paradigm shift towards a developmental and preventative approach in social work. Also, the cost-effectiveness of programs aimed at community development has been noted. 2. Goal of the study The main aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of a life skills program aimed at personal / community enrichment through the extension of self-knowledge according to the themes of temperament, early childhood experiences, transactional analysis, self-presentation and cognitive reconstruction and presented according to experiential instruction methods. 3. Objectives of the study In order to come to a conclusion regarding the impact of the abovementioned program, the following objectives were identified: - Has the program empowered the respondents to enhance their self-knowledge; - Has the program led the respondents to a better understanding of others; - Has the knowledge created a willingness to undertake necessary adjustments; - Respondents’ impressions of the program and the presentation thereof. 4. Methodology A qualitative grounded evaluative research design was used for the study. An availability sampling method was used: In this case the attendants at a workshop where the abovementioned program was implemented. 5. Data collection methods The following methods of data gathering were implemented: - The respondents had to give feedback on what they have realized or learned about each theme. - The theme on self-presentation was introduced by a brainstorming session on which aspects the respondents regarded as important aspects by which first impressions are formed. - Each respondent had to complete a questionnaire (enclosed as annexure 3) at the end of the workshop. - The results were compared with the literature overview. 6. Limitations of study - The researcher had no control over whether the faxed invitations to the workshop (enclosed as annexure 1) actually reached the intended population or not. - Although the invitation was intended for adults as well as teenagers, eventually only one teenager and nine adults were included in the sample. - The category: “Other”, was not included to the biographic questions. Because it was a small group which was known to the researcher, the question on marital status could be rectified and: “Divorced and remarried”, could be included for analysis. - The fact that some of the open ended questions in the questionnaire (annexure 3) didn’t require the respondents to motivate their answers, left a gap in the interpretation of those answers. - After the respondents named so many aspects attributing to first impressions, the researcher assumed that the topic was known so well, that the theoretic information wasn’t presented in full. When the results were analyzed, this seemed to be a wrong assumption, as more discussion was requested on this topic. - Despite the small sample, the results have been confirmed by the literature overview, which means that literature based on Western research also apply to the Afrikaans speaking case sample. 7. Goal achievements The abovementioned goals were conclusively achieved and can be summarized as follows: The life skills program for personal / community development presented according to experiential instruction methods and aiming at the extension of self-knowledge according to the themes of temperament, early childhood experiences, transactional analysis, self-presentation and cognitive reconstruction, has indeed: - Led to the enhancement of the respondents’ self-knowledge; - Created a better understanding for others; - Created a willingness to make adjustments; - As a whole been evaluated positively: As a dynamic, organized, understandable and effective presentation. 8. Recommendations The following recommendations were made: 8.1. Methodology - The program can be marketed as a personal-, marriage- family- or community enrichment program, and even as an employee assistance program (EAP). - Personal invitations, preparation and screening are recommended. - The questionnaire for completion at the end of the program, should be adapted to eliminate the limitations that were identified. 8.2 Program content and presentation - The program content can be perceived as effective for enhancing self-knowledge, to create a better understanding for others, as well as creating a willingness for change and adaptations. - Experiential instruction methods contribute to the success of the program and should be retained. - Do not deviate from the intended theory included in the program. - The participant manual (annexure 2) is a resourceful device which is also useful for future reference. - Permanent transparencies can be added to the program to enhance the efficiency thereof. - The five themes lend itself for presentation during five group sessions. 8.3 With regards to social work profession - This study proved that the case sample were more inclined to change and for adaptations once they got to know themselves better. Thus the social worker should experience less resentment or poor/lack of co-operation with helping programs. Indeed, the more the client gets to know himself, the more inclined should he be to accept responsibility for his own growth as a person in his social environment. - It would be unethical to leave a client who is ready for change and growth without further directions. Therefore the social worker should be capable to either present follow-up programs or to refer appropriately. / Prof. W.A. Mitchell