The master thesis has analytical character and focuses on information security issues in enterprises. The mail goal of this thesis is to evaluate the impact of implemented standard ISO/IEC 27001 and regulation by American law SOX to overall information security. In order to preform the analysis, two medium-sized companies from the segment of services were selected: the first one with ISO/IEC 27001 certification and the second one regulated by SOX. The structure of the thesis contributes gradually with its steps to meet the goal. The first three chapters provide a theoretical basis for the analysis of information security. They contain a summary of key processes and tools essential for ensuring the information security and are based on the best practices included within the latest standards and methodologies and on practical experience. These chapters provide the basis for an evaluation guidance including criteria groups and defined variants of implemented security, which is described in the fourth chapter. The analysis of information security and the impact of regulations is part of the fifth chapter of this document. The sixth chapter contains final assessment and comparison of the impact, which the regulations have on information security of the selected companies. The final chapter summarizes and evaluates the results achieved with regards to the goal.

Naturvärdesinventering (NVI) görs inför exploatering av naturmiljöer som en del i bevarande- och förstärkningsarbetet av den biologiska mångfalden. I Sverige har en standard för utförandet av NVI tagits fram. Studien gjordes på uppdrag av Trafikverket, beställare av NVI och Boreal Partner AB, potentiell ny utförare av NVI. Syftet var att jämföra olika grupper av utförarorganisationers NVI-rapporter för att utröna av vilka och på vilket sätt högts kravefterlevnad uppnås. Vidare skulle en redovisningsmall för att optimera kravefterlevnaden föreslås. Beskrivningarna av arbetssätt var för få och övergripande för att kunna användas för att utveckla ett arbetssätt för en ny utförare. Skillnaderna mellan gruppernas kravefterlevnad visade sig vara små till följd av variationer inom grupperna. Att vara väl insatt i standarden visade på högre och jämnare kravefterlevnad. Den föreslagna redovisningsmallen utgår från standardens krav och ska underlätta redovisning med hög kravefterlevnad och vara till nytta för så väl beställare som utförare.

This theoretical-empirical study deals with the impact of regional varieties of Spanish on the quality of simultaneous interpreting into Czech. The aim of this thesis is to find whether interpreters make more omissions, additions, semantic errors and errors of performance when they interpret from Latin American varieties of Spanish than when they interpret from standard European Spanish as defined by the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE). Another aim is to confirm that different user groups have different expectations regarding the quality of simultaneous interpreting. The theoretical part of this thesis presents findings and conclusions of previous studies. It also provides an overview of strategies and coping mechanisms and a description of some of the Latin American varieties of Spanish. The research part of this study consists of an experiment and a questionnaire survey regarding quality assessment. The empirical part of this thesis presents the results of the experiment and the questionnaire survey.

This research aimed at exploring the quality assurance and assessment models used for English First Additional language (EFAL) in the Further Education and Training (FET) band especially in Grade 10. It examined various quality assurance models used by grade 10 educators in designing the assessment tasks, with specific reference to EFAL. This study adopted the industry based SABS ISO 9004-2 conceptual framework. This conceptual framework ensures that the task to be performed and the objectives to be achieved are clearly spelt out, including how they affect quality. A qualitative research approach was used, specifically a case study. Convenient sampling was used to select the three participant of this study, namely; two EFAL educators and one Head of Department (HoD). Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, document analysis and research journal, and triangulated to support the conclusion and to make the findings more reliable. The main research question of the study was: To what extent do English First Additional Language (EFAL) educators employ quality assurance measures in their assessment. In order to fully explore the quality assurance measures employed in EFAL assessment tasks, four sub- research questions were envisaged in this study. The following themes emerged from the data collected: assessment of EFAL, quality of the assessment tasks, assessment challenges as well as internal moderation. With regard to assessment of EFAL the results of the study indicated that educators have minimal level of skill to construct high quality assessment tasks due to poor understanding of OBA and the terminology associated with OBA. As a result, they resorted to prescribed portfolio assessment tasks as dominant form of assessment. The study also found that the quality of such assessment tasks is below the expected standard as Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards are the major quality assurance measures utilized. Furthermore the study revealed that challenges such as overcrowding and shortage of learner support material are the inhibiting factors towards development and implementation of quality assessment tasks. The study further revealed that moderation of those Grade 10 portfolio assessment tasks which occur at school level by the HoD, focused mainly on the accuracy of mark transfer from the learner’s script to the mark sheets rather than on the quality of the assessment task. The study further revealed a corroboration of concepts used in the conceptual framework based on the SABS ISO 9004-2, as educators do not have acceptable level of establishing quality structure or measures for effective control, evaluation and improvement of service quality throughout all stages of learning and assessment. The difficulty was attributed to educator’s lack of knowledge with regard quality assurance mechanisms, assessment and the terminology associated with Outcomes Based Assessment. Copyright / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted