O fluxo escolar brasileiro representa um problema crônico para o caso do Ensino Médio do país. A literatura mostra que o retorno do investimento escolar é atrativo no país, tanto por apresentar uma taxa média alta, como pelo fato de que o adicional de salário devido aos níveis educacionais mais altos são maiores do que nos estágios iniciais da educação, i.e., o retorno educacional brasileiro aparenta ser crescente e convexo, diferente do que se apresenta na literatura internacional. A explicação usual para a evasão se dá através das restrições orçamentárias e de crédito enfrentadas pelas famílias que, sendo restritas no acesso ao crédito, poderia fazer com que o jovem saísse da escola precocemente, mesmo que o aluno esperasse um salário futuro maior. Somado a este retorno atrativo da educação, o país expandiu abruptamente os gastos educacionais. Porém, apesar da expansão, a escolaridade e as medidas de fluxo no país não reagiram proporcionalmente, despertando, assim, a atenção da literatura para explicação desse puzzle. A despeito destes fatos, a literatura internacional avançou no sentido de mostrar dois fatos que auxiliam na investigação dessa questão: em primeiro lugar, o retorno da educação pode variar entre indivíduos, ainda que a média seja alta. Por exemplo, indivíduos com maior aptidão podem ser os que se beneficiam mais de uma escolaridade maior, explicando o motivo de alguns abandonarem a escola. Em segundo lugar, a literatura avançou em mostrar que um fator importante na previsão de resultados escolares são habilidades não-cognitivas, como as habilidades socioemocionais. Portanto, este presente trabalho buscou explorar uma coleta de dados realizada em Sertãozinho - SP, em 2008, 2012 e 2017, em que estão disponíveis dados socioemocionais dos estudantes, além de dados demográficos e cognitivos, de estudantes que estavam no segundo ano do Ensino Fundamental em 2008, e em 2017 idealmente estariam no Ensino Médio, possibilitando investigar se existe uma associação entre características socioemocionais e o fluxo escolar. Os resultados indicam que tais fatores têm poder preditivo relevante na explicação do fluxo escolar brasileiro, medidos pela probabilidade de os indivíduos permanecerem estudando e pela probabilidade de se atingir o Ensino Médio em 2017, sendo que a Conscienciosidade e a Amabilidade do estudante aumentam a chance do aluno persistir estudando, enquanto que a Extroversão reduz essa probabilidade, em linha com algumas evidências da literatura. Os resultados trazem como contribuição uma evidência empírica inicial acerca da associação entre habilidades não-cognitivas e o fluxo escolar brasileiro. / The Brazilian school flow represents a chronic problem for the country\'s high school case. The literature shows that the return on school investment is attractive in the country, both for having a high average rate, and for the fact that the additional salary due to higher education levels is higher than in the early stages of education, ie, The Brazilian educational return appears to be growing and convex, different from what is presented in the international literature. The usual explanation for avoidance is through budget and credit constraints faced by families who, being restricted in access to credit, could cause the young person to leave school early, even if the student expects a larger future salary. Added to this attractive return of education, the country abruptly expanded educational spending. However, despite the expansion, the schooling and flow measures in the country did not react proportionally, thus awakening the attention of the literature to explain this textit puzzle. In spite of these facts, the international literature has advanced to show two facts that help in the investigation of this question: firstly, the return of education can vary among individuals, even if the average is high. For example, individuals with higher aptitude may be those who benefit most from higher schooling, explaining why some drop out of school. Second, the literature has advanced in showing that an important factor in predicting school outcomes are non-cognitive skills, such as social-emotional skills. Therefore, this study aimed to explore a data collection held in Sertãozinho - SP, in 2008, 2012 and 2017, in which are available socioemotional data of the students, as well as demographic and cognitive data, of students who were in the second year of Elementary Education in 2008, and by 2017 would ideally be in High School, making it possible to investigate if there is an association between socioemotional characteristics and the school flow. The results indicate that such factors have a relevant predictive power in the explanation of the Brazilian school flow, measured by the probability of individuals remaining studying and by the probability of reaching high school in 2017, and the student\'s Conscientiousness and Kindness increase the chance of while the Extroversion reduces this probability, in line with some evidence in the literature. The results contribute as an initial empirical evidence about the association between non-cognitive abilities and the Brazilian school flow.

No presente trabalho trato das escolhas contábeis nas empresas genuínas exploradoras de propriedades para investimentos que têm suas ações negociadas no Brasil. A escolha do tema é pelo fato das normas contábeis (CPC 28, correspondente ao IAS 40) permitirem a mensuração das propriedades de investimento ou por custo histórico ou por valor justo. O objetivo do trabalho foi investigar os fatores (individuais ou em conjunto) que possam ter influenciado os agentes internos da empresa a escolher o critério de mensuração. Tais fatores, conforme a literatura, são: grau de alavancagem, custo político, grau de concentração acionária, relevância da informação e aversão a mudanças por parte do elaborador da informação contábil. No trabalho exponho dados secundários das doze principais empresas de capital aberto exploradoras de propriedades para investimento com o objetivo de identificar as características de cada uma das empresas. Para obter conhecimento mais profundo sobre as escolhas contábeis, adotei um método inovador no Brasil, ao menos nessa linha de pesquisa (mensuração de propriedades para investimento) com entrevistas semiestruturadas em duas das mais relevantes empresas do setor (uma de custo histórico e outra de valor justo). Os resultados das entrevistas reforçaram que há características relevantes distintas das empresas que podem explicar as escolhas contábeis. Tais achados, para fins de validade interna, foram confrontados com mais três empresas externas às entrevistas, e as mesmas características encontradas nas entrevistas foram também encontradas nas três empresas usadas para validação. Como resultado dos dados analisados identifiquei que as empresas optantes pelo custo histórico têm seu modelo de negócio (estratégia para ser competitiva e criar valor) pautado na \"visualização do dono\" fundador e acionista controlador, que por sua vez participa desde a escolha do local para aquisição do terreno até seleção dos clientes para quem irá locar o empreendimento. Já as empresas de valor justo são empresas com origens no mercado financeiro, não têm controle acionário concentrado e seus acionistas são fundos de investimento internacionais que cobram resultados mais expressivos da companhia, resultados esses antecipados pela adoção do valor justo. Além disso, as companhias de valor justo, diferente das de custo histórico, adquirem a maior parte de seus empreendimentos e atendem as classes emergentes da economia; já as empresas de custo histórico constroem seus empreendimentos e buscam a atender as classes mais altas da economia. Ou seja, o modelo de negócio das empresas exploradoras de propriedade de investimento explica a escolha contábil de se mensurar ou pelo custo histórico ou pelo valor justo a conta no balanço patrimonial. E essa é a principal contribuição do trabalho: a explicação do principal fator que motiva a adoção do valor justo ou do custo histórico que é o modelo de negócio de cada companhia. / This study discusses accounting choices in companies that are authentic explorers of investment property and are publicly traded in Brazil. The choice of the theme is due to the fact that the accounting standards (CPC 28, corresponding to IAS 40) permit the measuring of investment properties by their historical cost or their fair value. The objective in this study was to investigate the (individual or combined) factors that may have influences the company\'s internal agents to choose the measuring criterion. According to the literature, these factors are: degree of leverage, political cost, degree of stockholder concentration, information relevance and aversion to changes by the elaborator of the accounting information. In the study, secondary data are presented for the twelve main companies that explore investment property with a view to identifying the characteristics of each. To obtain more in-depth knowledge about the accounting choices, a method was adopted that is innovative in Brazil, at least in this research area (measuring of investment property), involving semi structured interviews in two of the most relevant companies in the sector (one of which adopted the historical cost and the other the fair value). The interview results highlighted that the companies display relevant distinct characteristics that can explain their accounting choices. For the sake of internal validity, these findings were confronted with three other companies external to the interviews, and the same characteristics found in the interviews were also found in the three companies used for the purpose of validation. As a result of the data analyzed, it was identified that the business model (strategy to be competitive and create value) in the companies that choose the historical cost is based on the \"visualization of the founding owner\" and controlling stockholder, who in turn participates from the choice of the location to purchase land to the selection of the clients to whom the business will be rented. On the other hand, companies that choose the fair value originate in the financial market, do not have a concentrated stock control and their stockholders are international investment funds that expect more expressive results from the company, anticipated by the adoption of the fair value. In addition, as opposed to the historical cost companies, the fair value companies purchase most of their businesses and attend to the emerging economic classes; the historical cost companies, on the other hand, build their business and aim to attend to the higher economic classes. In other words, the business model of the companies that explore investment property explain the accounting choice to measure the account in the balance sheet using the historical cost or the fair value. That is the main contribution of this study: the explanation of the main factor that motivates the adoption of the fair value or the historical cost, which is each company\'s business model.

Choices are often difficult to make by patients with Alzheimer Dementia. They often become acutely confused when faced with too many options because they are not able to retain in their working memory enough information about the various individual choices available. In this case study, we describe how an essentially simple benign task (choosing a dress to wear) can rapidly escalate and result in a catastrophic outcome. We examine what went wrong in the patient/caregiver interaction and how that potentially catastrophic situation could have been avoided or defused.

Robotic competitions have become an increasingly popular educational tool to increase students’ interest and achievement in STEM. The largest and fastest growing of these is VEX Robotics Competitions (VRCs). Although millions of dollars of funding are allocated, and countless hours of effort are expended annually to provide students with the opportunity to compete in VRCs, little research has been done to investigate the educational impacts of participation in these competitions. One promising research framework in this area is to investigate the self-efficacy of students who participate in VRCs. Self-efficacy, or the beliefs one holds about one’s own abilities in a given area, has been shown to have a strong influence on students’ career and educational interests, choices, and attainment. The purpose of this study was to investigate two research questions: (1) What factors influence VEX Robotics Competition participants’ self-efficacy? (2) What is the relationship between self-efficacy in VRCs and students’ interest in and choice of STEM majors? A cross sectional study was conducted utilizing Robinson’s Self-Confidence Survey for VEX Robotics Participants (SCSVRP) to measure VRC participants’ self-efficacy. In addition, the Post-Secondary Choices Survey was utilized to gather data about the relationship between VRC participants’ self-efficacy and their post-secondary educational choices. Study participants were recruited over a period of 3 years at state- and national-level VRCs, as well as through nationwide recruitment efforts assisted by the CREATE Foundation. A total of 390 students participated in the SCSVRP, while 28 students participated in the Post-Secondary Choices Survey. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted to investigate the relationship between several predictor variables and overall self-efficacy. Correlation analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between VRC participants’ self-efficacy and their choice of major upon enrolling in post-secondary educational programs. The results indicated that VRC participants’ self-efficacy was primarily influenced by their biological sex and the number of seasons they had participated in VRCs. In addition, self-efficacy was correlated with students’ interest in choosing engineering majors, but not STEM majors more generally. Finally, a statistically significant relationship was found between self-efficacy and VRC participants’ actual choice of STEM majors, but not engineering majors specifically.

Although Latina/os are the largest minority group in California and enrolling in higher education in record-breaking numbers (Zarate & Burciaga, 2010), the graduation rate of this group is very low (Kewal-Ramani, Gilbertson, Fox, & Provasnik, 2007). A phenomenological approach was used in this study to explore the lived experiences of Latina/o students at a for-profit college in the Inland Empire. Students from different major fields of study described how they explored and sought college information, how they experienced both community and for-profit colleges, and described their levels of sense of belonging in both community and for-profit colleges. Students shared their experiences reflective of the serpentine pathway of college-conocimiento (Acevedo-Gil, 2017) and the influence of a sense of belonging (Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Hurtado & Ponjuan, 2005; Maestas, Vaquera, & Zehr, 2007) on their persistence in higher education. Findings indicate that Latina/o students have limited college choices, weigh criteria to choose a for-profit college after departing from community colleges to “transfer across,” and feel that they belong in the for-profit institution for reasons that included either feeling cultural congruity with other students, or simply experienced college community support from faculty/ staff. Recommendations include: instructors be assigned as mentors who are personable and exhibit genuine caring; for-profit colleges should be as financially accessible as community colleges for all students; and the personalization available in for-profit colleges should be implemented into the community colleges.

In the United States, over 10 million children under the age of 5, including half the infants and toddlers, spend time in the care of someone other than their parents. Changes in family roles and the need for dual-earner households make childcare decisions important for middle class millennial mothers. Research addressing middle class millennial mothers' experiences in choosing childcare for their infants and toddlers and their adjustment to family changes is limited. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to discover the lived experiences and decision-making processes of these mothers concerning childcare. The conceptual framework was informed by the theories of Bowlby, Bronfenbrenner, and Bandura. Interviews were conducted with 15 middle class mothers, who were 19 to 36 years old, who had a child between the ages of 6-18 months, and who had children in nonfamily care for at least 5 months. Participants from the northeastern states were recruited through social media. A combination of a priori and open coding was used to reveal emergent themes. Findings showed that the mothers balanced societal expectations and meeting their children's needs with self-gratification; also, additional financial resources were important to the participants. Emotional connections with caregivers and comfort level with the setting were the most influential elements in placement decisions. Each participant was content with her choice of childcare arrangement and confident that their children would benefit, both educationally and socioemotionally. These findings can inform early childhood practitioners of factors that contribute to mothers' decisions related to nonfamily childcare and can help educators provide millennial mothers with effective support and information systems.

The food decisions, dietary patterns, physical activity, and weight-related convictions of African American mothers are affected by their self-perceptions and views of body weight. The gap in the literature regarding the impact of these perceptions on children's food choices, eating habits, and body image is significant. Using the health belief model as the theoretical foundation and a cross-sectional survey as the research design, this study assessed the potential relationship between mothers' and children's eating habits and whether mothers' perceptions of their children's body image were reliable indicators of childhood obesity. Eighty-six mothers provided demographic information and completed the Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ) and the Figure Rating Scale (FRS); 86 children completed the FRS. All 172 participants self-reported weight and height. No other measurements were taken. Logistic regression and correlation analysis were used to answer the research questions. Correlation analysis showed a significant relationship between the mothers' perceptions of their children's body image and the children's self-perceptions of their body image. The results of regression analyses indicated that the mothers' perceptions of their weight as children influenced food choices for their children as well as their children's self-perception of body image. Positive social change in the African American community may occur by having community and health care professionals offer awareness programs to African American mothers.

There are two studies in this dissertation. Both are about a program called “PICK a Partner.” The first study looked at how the program went for 682 people from the community who were taught PICK. These people ranged in age from 18 to 25. Those in attendance were given questions at the beginning of the program about their thoughts, perceptions, and knowledge regarding dating relationships. They were given these same questions at the end of the program. The scores on the questions at the end of the program were compared with scores on the questions at the beginning of the program. Peoples’ scores increased from before to after on all four questionnaires. These scores were also compared with scores from a group of students aged 18 to 25 from a university. Those that attended the program had higher scores; the scores of those from the university who did not attend the program stayed about the same. The second study examined how teachers influence scores and how individual characteristics of participants influence change in scores. The second study showed that teacher characteristics do matter somewhat in helping participants increase in knowledge. In addition, how religious a person is and whether they are a man or woman also matter, but only a little, in helping participants increase in knowledge. Future studies on PICK and the strengths and weaknesses of these studies are discussed.

This study explores the phenomenon of dilemma in paediatric practice. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological method informed by the writings of Heidegger [1889-1976] and Gadamer [1900 -2002] this study provides an understanding of the meaning of ‘being in dilemma’ from the perspective of predominantly paediatric health care professionals but also families in New Zealand. Study participants include four families who had a child requiring health care and fifteen health care practitioners from the disciplines of medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, play specialist and occupational therapy who work with families and children requiring health care. Participants’ narratives of their experiences of ‘being in dilemma’ were captured via audio taped interviewing. These stories uncover the everyday realities facing health professionals and families and provide an ontological understanding for the notion of dilemma. The findings of this study suggest that experience of dilemma for health professionals reveals a world that is uncertain and questionable where they are thrown into having to make uncomfortable choices and must live with the painful consequences of their actions. The consequences of being in such dilemma have to find ways of living with the angst, or risk becoming too sensitive or desensitizing. For families the experience of dilemma reveals a similar phenomenon most evident in circumstances where they feel totalized by the impact of heath care encounters. This study has uncovered that the perspectives that health professionals and families bring to the experience of dilemma reveal different concerns and commitments and may be hidden from each other. This thesis proposes that health professionals and families need support in living with their own personal encounters of enduring experiences of dilemma.

Research attention on word of mouth (WOM) communication is growing in necessity and popularity as recent studies continue to confirm that WOM has a significant effect on consumer and organisational decision-making and buying behaviour. Much of the theory generated from this field of communications research has been based on product purchase situations that take place in the United States. More recent developments in the stream of research have begun to address WOM in service contexts and also driven a need to test the reliability of previous works in other countries and cultures. The research problem of this thesis emerged from such needs to further develop WOM theory and is defined by two key statements: (i) How does perceived source credibility and the content (message) of personal communication shape and determine the nature of a WOM system? (ii) What likely influence does culture have on a WOM system? The WOM system conceptualised within this thesis refers to a network of actors in which, personal, verbal, face to face communication occurs. It also refers to the nature of the information exchanged and how these messages determine which actors within the system participate. Addressing the need for further research into service-based contexts, the industry of export education was identified as an ideal environment in which to investigate the problem. In particular, international students (current and potential) were interviewed and surveyed on how WOM is used to gather information to make a decision on where to study. A predictive model of referral source selection is developed as the significant contribution to theory resulting from the qualitative and quantitative research employed in the methodology. The qualitative research was exploratory in nature and designed to understand the decision-making process international students went through before making a choice on their study destination. In depth interviews confirmed that WOM was used frequently throughout this process and identified the important pieces of information sought after by students and which sources the students consulted to obtain the information. International students are concerned about the international recognition of a university, teaching styles, tuition fees, graduate prospects and how compatible the lifestyle of the host country is for them amongst many issues. They consult a variety of personal sources including family, friends, alumni, university agents and even their school teachers. The main quantitative study in this thesis surveyed 420 university students from China and Malaysia and was designed to provide theory verification for the WOM system and explore potential impacts of culture on this system. Firstly, four common WOM themes were identified from all of the content exchanged through WOM between students and their referral sources. These themes are grouped as; informational messages, comparative messages, personal perspectives and guidance messages. The WOM system was then depicted as a predictive model of referral source selection based on which WOM themes are exchanged between actors. As consumers progress through a structured decision-making process, their information requirements (WOM themes) change and so do the sources selected to deliver the information. Secondly, important differences in WOM behaviour emerged between the Chinese and Malaysian samples. Although students from both countries are equally influenced by personal sources of communication, Malaysians considered alumni friends and parent/family sources to be more influential than the Chinese. Whereas the Chinese preferred talking with school teachers and close friends to help in their decisions. These findings added credible evidence of national culture effects to the predictive model of source selection. The thesis concludes by addressing limitations in the research - largely, that the study failed to produce evidence of cultural value dimensions impacting on the WOM system. The Chinese cultural value framework employed was well justified as an appropriate measure however, there were no equivalent measurements of Malaysian cultural values and the study was conducted on a limited convenience sample, making results difficult to generalise through Chinese and Malaysian populations. Further research was then suggested to address these limitations.