As COVID-19 has led to more desktop usage overall it could be said that the screen size has increased for the general consumer. Previous research shows that what device a consumer uses when browsing the internet also affects their behaviour and more particularly their decision making. Previous research regarding consumer behaviour also shows that consumers when exposed to different amounts of alternatives act differently when making a decision. Connected to devices and their obvious distinction when it comes to screen size and therefore the amount of alternatives displayed to the consumer on the screen makes it interesting.  Most of the previous research regarding alternatives and consumer behaviour had not been done in a digital context and this thesis was aimed at studying how consumers react to different amounts of alternatives in a digital context. The authors got interesting contradictory results from the two different AB-tested experimental questions indicating a more complex explanation to the causality of the research into alternatives and consumer behaviour. The author's main conclusion is that consumers' attitudes and then preferences towards products influenced by their internal search could have an explanation to why some products are more advantageous to be displayed as large assortments than others.

En France, les inégalités scolaires restent un problème majeur. En effet, la reproduction des inégalités et le déterminisme social continuent de teinter la réussite des jeunes : la quête pour l’égalité des chances se poursuit. Agir sur la pédagogie pourrait être considérée comme l’une des voies pour l’édification d’une école plus juste. Notre revue de la portée vise donc à interroger la contribution des pédagogies nouvelles (PN), héritières du projet socio-politique de l’Éducation nouvelle, face à l’égalité des chances. Notre corpus composé de 17 études synthétise les effets des PN observés auprès de jeunes de milieux sociaux défavorisés. Notre thèse dévoile la capacité des PN à soutenir la réussite de tous les élèves grâce à certaines conditions pédagogiques et didactiques, propres à leurs principes fondamentaux. Si les PN ont le potentiel de contribuer à la réduction des inégalités, nous montrons l’intérêt et la nécessité de les démocratiser, de leur donner une chance.

Cognitions relevant to tanning salon decision making were studied using Jaccard's Theory of Alternative Behavior. Questionnaires were administered assessing tanning salon use, attitudes toward tanning salon use, attitudes toward reasonable behavioral alternatives, and cognitive variables underlying these variables. Tanning salon use reports were very high in this sample. The results support the notion that young people make decisions regarding using tanning salons based on the behavioral alternatives available to them. Specifically, subjects with stronger preferences for using clothing to enhance appearance were less likely to use tanning salons. Furthermore, the multivariate approach used clearly delineates the specific cognitive beliefs and orientations that might be targeted to change these attitudes. The relevance of these findings to skin cancer prevention is discussed.

Ordered alternatives tests are sometimes used in life-testing experiments and drug-screening studies. An ordered alternative test is sometimes used to gain power if the researcher thinks parameters will be ordered in a certain way if they are different. This research proposal focuses on developing new nonparametric tests for the nondecreasing ordered alternative problem for k (k?3) populations when testing for differences in both location and scale. Six nonparametric tests are proposed for the nondecreasing ordered alternative when testing for a difference in either location or scale. The six tests are various combinations of a well-known ordered alternatives test for location and a test based on the Moses test technique for testing differences in scale. A simulation study is conducted to determine how well the proposed tests maintain their significance levels. Powers are estimated for the proposed tests under a variety of conditions for three, four and five populations. Several types of variable parameters are considered: when the location parameters are different and the scale parameters are equal; when the location parameters are equal and the scale parameters are different; when the location and scale parameters are both different. Equal and unequal samples sizes of 18 and 30 are considered. Subgroup sizes of 3 and 6 are both used when applying the Moses test technique. Recommendations are given for which test should be used for various situations.

Thesis (M.Com. (Information Systems))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2015. / This research study investigated the key factors that contribute to both current usage and future usage intention of online banking by South African users. The research was focused on online banking from all banks and regions in South Africa, hence making the results generalisable to the South African context. The variables (Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Facilitating Conditions and Social Influence) were derived from UTAUT model. Trust, Switching Costs and Availability of Alternatives were also added. The conceptual model was moderated by age, gender and experience. The variables used within the study were derived from literature review based on previous studies. From a survey of 300 online banking consumers, results were drawn from 105 responses. In South Africa, Trust, Effort expectancy and facilitating conditions, presented significant and positive impact on future usage intention of using online banking. Age and Experience were also significant to Future Usage intentions. However Social Influence, Switching Costs and Availability of Alternatives do not play a considerable role in influencing the user’s future usage in South Africa. While current usage did not directly impact future usage intentions of using online banking, the findings on frequency of usage and functionality (applications) added value to understanding the concept of current usage. The model had an R2 = 0.25 which suggests that within the South African context, there are more factors to be considered for academia and practitioners to understand online banking behaviour amongst consumers. We cannot completely apply theories and models from other countries to the South African context. There is a need to look at factors unique to South Africa, including how customers interpret questionnaires. The research also contributes to the current body of work and interest by banks in South Africa to move from “bricks to clicks”, (moving customers from the branches onto electronic platforms) that are more accessible from any location, and require less staff to operate. To do that, practitioners need add “trust” factors to online banking as well as increase frequency of users logging on to transact. It is vital for banks to also focus on functionality that is simple, reliable and dependable, as well as adds value to customers to ensure their frequent and continued usage thereof.

The transport sector is a major contributor to the rise in global temperatures and emissions. The use of fossil fuel being one of the main drivers, most modes of transport are looking at alternatives to the limited and environmentally unsustainable fuels. Despite the railway sector being considered the more ‘green’ alternative mode of transport as compared to other modes like air, there exist more work that is required to make the railway sector as efficient and green as possible especially the significant percentage of the railway networks that are still non-electrified. These lines tend to be short, isolated and in some instances with seasonal traffic, hence there not being an urgent need to electrify. The cost of electrification is usually costly especially in terms of initial infrastructure development and alternatives are needed where the cost of electrification is not viable. The main objective of this report is to analyze the current fossil-free alternatives that are available or soon to be available on the market and determine which alternative is suitable for a specific non-electrified line considering factors such as cost, impact to the environment and the long-term strategy. As this is a complex analysis, the authors of this report will utilize the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) model to determine the most suitable choice for each line. The AHP model is one of the multicriteria methods developed to deconstruct complex situations into simple levels with the first level containing the goal: determining the viability of a fossil-free alternative that may be suitable for a particular railway line using the various criteria and sub-criteria. The results differed along the various railway lines with Fryksdalsbanan, Tjustbanan, HällnäsLycksele, Kinnekullebanan and Vaggerydsbanan having battery-operated trains as the optimal choice while the Mellerud-Bengtsfors, Stångådalsbanan, both Inlandsbanan (North and South), HalmstadNässjö, Bockabanan and Nässjö-Vetlanda favoring the hydrogen-fueled trains. In conclusion, both the battery-operated and hydrogen-fueled trains are viable options on the short, low-demand railway lines while the electric trains and diesel-fueled trains are expensive and environmentally unsuitable, respectively.

This thesis considers the problem of hypothesis testing for umbrella alternatives when there are two groups, or strata, of observations. The proposed methods extend a previously established general framework of hypothesis testing based on rankings to stratified datasets by first aligning the strata. The tests based on the Spearman and Kendall distances between ranking vectors lead to the traditional aligned-rank tests and new methods which account for “misalignment” under the alternative hypothesis. Asymptotic null distributions and simulation studies are given for the Spearman distance. Diagnostic tools for the misalignment issue are illustrated alongside the proposed tests on a dataset of IQ scores of coma patients. Extensions to three or more strata and ”adaptive” tests are provided as future research directions.

The purpose of this mixed-methods case study was to examine teachers’ beliefs toward in-grade retention in a K-2 school. This study focused on how teachers acquire beliefs regarding grade retention, and their knowledge of research regarding the effectiveness of retention. Witmer, Hoffman and Nottis (2004) contend that teacher beliefs toward grade retention may not be based on research, but on peer influence, past practice, or administrative policy. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected to examine teacher beliefs in a K- 2 school. Quantitative data were collected through the Teacher Opinion Survey (TOS) and Personal Experiences and Retention Practices (PERP). A total of ten K-2 teachers volunteered to complete the survey instruments. Additionally, six K-2 teachers and the school principal were interviewed to collect qualitative data. Data were analyzed to triangulate the findings. This study concluded that teachers continue to retain students as a remedy for academic failure, contrary to what some researchers like Shepard and Smith (1989), who decried that schools were continuing the practice of retention despite research findings that indicated little or no academic achievement is gained though retention. Findings further indicated that teachers disagreed that retention failed to improve achievement, failed to inspire students to buckle down and behave better, and failed to develop students’ social adjustment and self-concept.

No description available.

Evaluation of critical transportation infrastructure and their operation is vital for continuous evolution to meet the growing needs of the society with time. The current practice of evaluating signalized intersections has two steps. The first is to determine the level of service at which the intersection is performing. Level of Service (LOS) is based on the average delay per vehicle that gets past the particular intersection under consideration. The second step is to do a capacity analysis. This considers the number of lanes and other infrastructure related factors and also includes the influence of the control strategies. The above-described procedure evaluates any one intersection at a time. It is necessary to compare and rank a given set of intersections for planning purposes such as choosing the sites for improvements. The research work presented in this thesis demonstrates how Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) can be used as a tool to achieve the purpose of comparing and ranking a given set of comparable intersections. This study elaborates on various ways of representing different characteristics of an intersection. The demonstration has been restricted to four way signalized intersections. The intersections that were used for demonstration as part of this research were created in a controlled random fashion by simulation. / Master of Science