The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 has lead to reduced welfare assistance to the needy. This thesis analyzes how families have become increasingly homeless and hungry during the welfare reform years.

In certain areas such as Pharmacokinetic(PK) and Pharmacodynamic(PD), the hazard rate function, denoted by ??, plays a central role in modeling the instantaneous risk of failure time data. In the context of assessing the appropriateness of a given parametric hazard rate model, Huh and Hutmacher [22] showed that their hazard-based visual predictive check is as good as a visual predictive check based on the survival function. Even though Huh and Hutmacher’s visual method is simple to implement and interpret, the final decision reached there depends on the personal experience of the user. In this thesis, our primary aim is to develop nonparametric goodness-ofit tests for hazard rate functions to help bring objectivity in hazard rate model selections or to augment subjective procedures like Huh and Hutmacher’s visual predictive check. Toward that aim two nonparametric goodnessofit (g-o) test statistics are proposed and they are referred to as chi-square g-o test and kernel-based nonparametric goodness-ofit test for hazard rate functions, respectively. On one hand, the asymptotic distribution of the chi-square goodness-ofit test for hazard rate functions is derived under the null hypothesis ??0 : ??(??) = ??0(??) ??? ? R + as well as under the fixed alternative hypothesis ??1 : ??(??) = ??1(??) ??? ? R +. The results as expected are asymptotically similar to those of the usual Pearson chi-square test. That is, under the null hypothesis the proposed test converges to a chi-square distribution and under the fixed alternative hypothesis it converges to a non-central chi-square distribution. On the other hand, we showed that the power properties of the kernel-based nonparametric goodness-ofit test for hazard rate functions are equivalent to those of the Bickel and Rosenblatt test, meaning the proposed kernel-based nonparametric goodness-ofit test can detect alternatives converging to the null at the rate of ???? , ?? < 1/2, where ?? is the sample size. Unlike the latter, the convergence rate of the kernel-base nonparametric g-o test is much greater; that is, one does not need a very large sample size for able to use the asymptotic distribution of the test in practice.

This thesis is mainly concerned with the estimation of conditional probabilities in two-way contingency tables, that is probabilities of type P(R=i,S=j|X=x), for (i,j) in {1, . . . , r}×{1, . . . , s}, where R and S are the two categorical variables forming the contingency table, with r and s levels respectively, and X is a vector of explanatory variables possibly associated with R, S, or both. Analyzing such a conditional distribution is often of interest, as this allows to go further than the usual unconditional study of the behavior of the variables R and S. First, one can check an eventual effect of these covariates on the distribution of the individuals through the cells of the table, and second, one can carry out usual analyses of contingency tables, such as independence tests, taking into account, and removing in some sense, this effect. This helps for instance to identify the external factors which could be responsible for an eventual association between R and S. This also gives the possibility to adapt for a possible heterogeneity in the population of interest, when analyzing the table.

企業為了不斷成長並追求永續經營，並因應快速變化的外在環境與日趨激烈的國際競爭，需不斷地加強或擴增員工的知識、技術及能力，因而建立短期與長期性的人才培育之訓練有其重要性。 國際級工程案競爭越形激烈，尤其有韓國工程公司競爭性策略搶標及大陸崛起積極跨入國際市場之隱憂，加上客戶在維持高品質及持續壓縮工期之需求，個案公司(簡稱以下A公司)成長及獲利空間均受到嚴苛的挑戰。為提昇在國際上競爭力，A公司設計部必須面對培植具豐富工程經驗及國際級之設計人才問題。而目前面臨5年以下經驗工程師達人數比例佔42%以上(即年輕工程師比例偏高) ，7~15年經驗工程師人數佔10%相對偏低之M型人力結構及未來幾年面臨退休潮，如何加速培育年輕工程師須具備世界級的專業技術及落實資深工程師經驗傳承，達成各職級人力結構合理化，提升設計品質，為A公司當務之急。 為能瞭解A公司現行各項教育訓練之效益，揭示員工對A公司教育訓練方式的意見或需求，本研究採用問卷調查並分為五大類，第一，專業技術訓練的同意度與重要度；第二，經驗傳承的同意度與重要度；第三，跨部門訓練的同意度；第四，管理訓練的同意度；第五，英文能力方面的同意度。以上各問項再與人口統計變數做交叉分析，尋求出目前教育訓練之成效如何及提出改善建議。 其中專業技術訓練與經驗傳承再將每個同意度和重要性的問項平均後做出二維分布圖(IPA分析圖)，利用同意度和重要性整體的平均切割分成四個區域，即優越區、過剩區、優先改進區及建議改進區，尤其問項落在優先改進區、建議改進區及過剩區時，則進一步進行原因分析及提出改善建議。 對跨部門訓練、管理課程與英文能力等問項，則以同意度與人口統計交叉分析結果，根據其滿意度程度及卡方檢定(Chi-Square Test)結果有統計上顯著差異關係之受訪者基本資料提出改善建議。 / Enterprises need to continuously enhance knowledge, skills, and abilities of their employees for sustainable business development and adapting to rapid changing environment as well as fierce international competition. The importance of developing short-term and long-term talent training programs is thus recognized. Under some unfavorable conditions, which include keen competition in global EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) industry, Korean engineering companies’ strategic bidding, mainland China contending in international markets, clients’ request for quality and compressed work schedule at the same time, etc…, the case company (designated as company A) is facing severe challenges in achieving profitable growth. The company A must cope with the problem of cultivating world-class and experienced talent to promote its competitiveness in international markets. It’s the company A’s top priority to tackle the engineering talent gap at the range of seniority between 7 to 15 years (10%) whereas the young engineers with less than 5 years of experience account for more than 42% of its talent pool and engineers will retire that are increased in near future year. It’s important for the company A to professionalize young engineers, facilitate knowledge transferring, and optimize its staffing structure. A questionnaire survey research was undertaken to understand the effectiveness of the training programs and reveal the employees’ opinion or request on the training activities of the company A. The questionnaire variables were classified into five categories: 1. degree of agreement and importance of professional skills training; 2. degree of agreement and importance of intergenerational transfer of experience; 3. degree of agreement on cross-disciplinary training; 4. degree of agreement on management training; 5. degree of agreement on English competency requirements. Demographic variables were used to cross analyze the survey result. The analysis was also used to find the causes of training deficiency and to explore improvement ideas. The survey results of questionnaire variables in the first two categories, degree of agreement and importance of professional skills training and intergenerational transfer of experiencewere, were used to develop two-dimensional scatter diagrams (IPA matrices). The mean ratings of degree of agreement and importance were plotted in a two-dimensional grid to produce a four-quadrant matrix that identifies areas of Keep Up the Good Work, Possible Overkill, Concentrate Here, and Low Priority. Causes and improvement plans were further investigated for variables situate in the quadrant Concentrate Here, Low Priority, and Possible Overkill. For the survey results of questionnaire variables in the other three categories, degree of agreement on cross-disciplinary training, management training and English competency requirements, cross tabulation analyses using demographic variables were performed. According improvement plans were proposed for the respondent demographics when statistically significant differences between the degree of satisfaction and chi-square test result were observed.

Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war die Erstellung eines dreidimensionalen Untergrundmodells der Region Göttingen basierend auf einer geotechnischen Klassifikation der unkosolidierten Sedimente. Die untersuchten Materialen reichen von Lockersedimenten bis hin zu Festgesteinen, werden jedoch in der vorliegenden Arbeit als Boden, Bodenklassen bzw. Bodenkategorien bezeichnet. Diese Studie evaluiert verschiedene Möglichkeiten durch geostatistische Methoden und Simulationen heterogene Untergründe zu erfassen. Derartige Modellierungen stellen ein fundamentales Hilfswerkzeug u.a. in der Geotechnik, im Bergbau, der Ölprospektion sowie in der Hydrogeologie dar. Eine detaillierte Modellierung der benötigten kontinuierlichen Parameter wie z. B. der Porosität, der Permeabilität oder hydraulischen Leitfähigkeit des Untergrundes setzt eine exakte Bestimmung der Grenzen von Fazies- und Bodenkategorien voraus. Der Fokus dieser Arbeit liegt auf der dreidimensionalen Modellierung von Lockergesteinen und deren Klassifikation basierend auf entsprechend geostatistisch ermittelten Kennwerten. Als Methoden wurden konventionelle, pixelbasierende sowie übergangswahrscheinlichkeitsbasierende Markov-Ketten Modelle verwendet. Nach einer generellen statistischen Auswertung der Parameter wird das Vorhandensein bzw. Fehlen einer Bodenkategorie entlang der Bohrlöcher durch Indikatorparameter beschrieben. Der Indikator einer Kategorie eines Probepunkts ist eins wenn die Kategorie vorhanden ist bzw. null wenn sie nicht vorhanden ist. Zwischenstadien können ebenfalls definiert werden. Beispielsweise wird ein Wert von 0.5 definiert falls zwei Kategorien vorhanden sind, der genauen Anteil jedoch nicht näher bekannt ist. Um die stationären Eigenschaften der Indikatorvariablen zu verbessern, werden die initialen Koordinaten in ein neues System, proportional zur Ober- bzw. Unterseite der entsprechenden Modellschicht, transformiert. Im neuen Koordinatenraum werden die entsprechenden Indikatorvariogramme für jede Kategorie für verschiedene Raumrichtungen berechnet. Semi-Variogramme werden in dieser Arbeit, zur besseren Übersicht, ebenfalls als Variogramme bezeichnet. IV Durch ein Indikatorkriging wird die Wahrscheinlichkeit jeder Kategorie an einem Modellknoten berechnet. Basierend auf den berechneten Wahrscheinlichkeiten für die Existenz einer Modellkategorie im vorherigen Schritt wird die wahrscheinlichste Kategorie dem Knoten zugeordnet. Die verwendeten Indikator-Variogramm Modelle und Indikatorkriging Parameter wurden validiert und optimiert. Die Reduktion der Modellknoten und die Auswirkung auf die Präzision des Modells wurden ebenfalls untersucht. Um kleinskalige Variationen der Kategorien auflösen zu können, wurden die entwickelten Methoden angewendet und verglichen. Als Simulationsmethoden wurden "Sequential Indicator Simulation" (SISIM) und der "Transition Probability Markov Chain" (TP/MC) verwendet. Die durchgeführten Studien zeigen, dass die TP/MC Methode generell gute Ergebnisse liefert, insbesondere im Vergleich zur SISIM Methode. Vergleichend werden alternative Methoden für ähnlichen Fragestellungen evaluiert und deren Ineffizienz aufgezeigt. Eine Verbesserung der TP/MC Methoden wird ebenfalls beschrieben und mit Ergebnissen belegt, sowie weitere Vorschläge zur Modifikation der Methoden gegeben. Basierend auf den Ergebnissen wird zur Anwendung der Methode für ähnliche Fragestellungen geraten. Hierfür werden Simulationsauswahl, Tests und Bewertungsysteme vorgeschlagen sowie weitere Studienschwerpunkte beleuchtet. Eine computergestützte Nutzung des Verfahrens, die alle Simulationsschritte umfasst, könnte zukünftig entwickelt werden um die Effizienz zu erhöhen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie und nachfolgende Untersuchungen könnten für eine Vielzahl von Fragestellungen im Bergbau, der Erdölindustrie, Geotechnik und Hydrogeologie von Bedeutung sein.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:32:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ricardo Cavalcanti Alves.pdf: 1472492 bytes, checksum: 191a6c7b13b5d0386ac7e4edda2748c7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-03-26 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / In the last decades the world has seen great dissemination of powerful brands, local and world-known, not infrequently assessed in billions of dollars, leading to massive sales of products and services associated with them. And in that context it is clear the impact of the intrinsic value of the intangible assets brand of companies in mergers and acquisitions.Nowadays, it has been clear that a Company valuation has a relevant amount related to intangible assets and, among these, brands have significant importance. This study aimed to investigate what is the general perception, the control method and the valuation of brands on companies operating in Brazil, by gathering information about the companies where students and recent graduates of post-graduate in business administration related courses used to work.Thus, from the sample group of 134 companies operating in Brazil, were extracted details of five dimensions of brand: awareness about its importance, financial valuation of the brand,accounting recognition of brand value, management of this intangible asset and its use as a tactical and strategic performance ratio. The methodology used was a survey that, from statistical tests Chi-square Pearson test led to the conclusion that there is no significant relationship between the fact that companies sell products and services and aspects relating to each of the five dimensions studied. Other variables statistically compared by using the chisquare test meant for the sample companies, among other findings, the significant correlation between large companies and the fact that companies evaluate brands or negotiate them. Also, the study took into account the criteria of attitude scores of respondents based on the Likert scale. The resulting data reveal that the brands are still in need of greater attention from companies. It is a minority in the sample studied the incidence of financial valuation of the brand, as well as the proper focus on accounting and management reports. Internal control over brand management and variable compensation system based on ratios of the brand,though present, such items were observed in low intensity in the sample companies. / Nas últimas décadas o mundo tem assistido à grande proliferação de marcas poderosas, local e mundialmente conhecidas, avaliadas não raramente em bilhões de dólares, levando a vendas em massa de produtos e serviços a elas associadas. E nesse contexto é notório o impacto do valor intrínseco do ativo intangível marca no valor das empresas em movimentos de fusões e aquisições. Hoje sabe-se que um valuation conta com parte relevante de seu montante relacionado a ativos intangíveis e, entre tais, as marcas possuem significativo destaque. Este trabalho objetivou investigar qual é a percepção geral, o método de controle e a avaliação das marcas em companhias em operação no Brasil, a partir de levantamento de informações sobre as empresas em que trabalhavam estudantes e recém egressos de cursos de pós-graduação profissional em áreas ligadas à administração de negócios. Assim, da amostra pesquisada de 134 companhias atuantes no país, foram extraídos detalhes de cinco dimensões da marca:percepção sobre sua importância, avaliação financeira, reconhecimento contábil de seu valor,gestão desse ativo intangível e de seu uso como indicador de performance tática e estratégica. A metodologia utilizada foi um levantamento (ou survey) que, a partir de testes estatísticos qui-quadrado de Pearson , permitiu a constatação de que não há relacionamento significativo entre o fato das empresas comercializarem produtos e serviços e aspectos ligados a cada uma das cinco dimensões estudadas. Outras variáveis comparadas estatisticamente pelo teste de qui-quadrado resultaram para as companhias da amostra, entre outras constatações, a significativa correlação entre as empresas de grande porte e o fato das empresas avaliarem marcas ou as negociarem. O estudo também levou em conta o critério de escores de atitudes dos respondentes baseado na escala Likert. Os dados resultantes revelam que as marcas carecem ainda de maior atenção por parte das empresas. É minoritária na amostra estudada a incidência de avaliação financeira da marca, assim como o devido enfoque em relatórios contábeis e gerenciais. Os controles internos de gestão da marca e o sistema de remuneração variável baseado em indicadores da marca, embora existam, mostraram-se itens pouco observados nas companhias da amostra.

Studien syftar till att undersöka vilken förvaltningsstrategi som är bäst, fonders prestation genom olika ekonomiska förhållanden samt persistens på den svenska fondmarknaden. Huvudsyftet är att undersöka om fonders föregående prestation kan användas för att förutsäga framtida avkastning. Genom att använda etablerade mått på förvaltningsprestation som Jensens Alfa, Sharpekvoten och Modiglianis riskjusterad prestation (𝑀2) jämförs fonders prestation. För att identifiera persistens jämförs fondernas avkastning med medianavkastning under en specifik period. Genom statistiska tester i form av Oddskvot, Chi-två-test och regressionsanalys fördjupas studien ytterligare. Resultaten från studien visar enskilda fall av persistens, men inga konsekventa mönster kan utläsas för alla fonder. Slutsatsen från studien är att det inte går att slå fast en överlägsen förvaltningsstrategi. Slutsatsen indikerar även att det inte finns några signifikanta indikationer på att det går att förutspå framtida avkastning utifrån föregående tidsperiods avkastning. / The study investigates which management strategy is superior, funds’ performance across different economic conditions and persistence in the Swedish fund market. The main objective is to examine whether past fund performance can be utilized to predict future returns. Through using established performance measures such as Jensen’s Alpha, The Sharpe Ratio and Modigliani’s risk- adjusted performance (𝑀2), we compare fund performance. To identify persistence, funds’ returns are compared with median returns over a specific period. Through statistical tests such as Odds Ratio, Chi-square test and regression analysis, the study is further elaborated. The results of the study reveal isolated instances of persistence, but no consistent patterns can be discerned across all funds. The conclusion drawn from the study is that no superior management strategy can be definitively established. Additionally, the findings suggest no significant indications that past period returns can predict future returns.

This thesis examines the perceived importance by two-tiered management of Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) for managing a range of intellectual property issues. Fifty survey items are presented to the executive directors and commercialization managers of 62 CRCs. The survey items are categorized under four themes: relationships with collaborators, project management; design and implementation of agreements; and specific licensing issues. An analysis of the data, using a series of independent samples t-tests, repeated measures t-tests, chi-square tests for independence or relatedness and goodness of fit, shows a range of results. There are significant differences between executive directors and commercialization managers on a number of issues. There are particular emphases or trends about certain issues for the whole sample of managers. These findings are compared with text analyses of 23 CRC strategic planning documents. This is done in order to explore any similarity, difference or nuance between what the managers say in response to the survey items, compared with what is stated in the codified policies of the CRCs. While there is a high degree of consistency among certain themes between the two sets of findings, the overall analysis points to the need for the CRCs to have a better understanding and practice of commercialization opportunities, especially through the involvement of third party commercial interests. It is argued that accommodating third party commercialization interests involves the application of an important knowledge economy principle that has an important bearing on the future economic viability and competitiveness of the CRCs.

The purpose of this study is to investigate physics teachers’ (TPCK) and their learners’ achievement in electricity. A purposive sample of 42 Grade 11 physics teachers and 1423 learners participated in the study. An explanatory mixed method research design was employed in the study to collect data. A survey questionnaire (PTTPCKQ), consisting of six-point Likert scale questions, was answered by participating teachers. Similarly, their learners responded to a confirmatory questionnaire (LCPTTPCKQ). The learners also responded to the Electricity Learning Confirmatory Questionnaire (LELCQ) and wrote an achievement test called Learner Electricity Achievement Test (LEAT). The data collected was analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitatively, it was found that a positive, statistically significant relationship existed between physics teachers’ experience and their learners’ achievement [Spearman’s rho (42) = .39, p = .011] as well as physics teachers’ TPCK and their qualifications [Spearman’s rho (42) = .33, p = .003]. There was also a positive statistical relationship between physics teachers’ TPCK and learner achievement, yet this was not statistically significant. There were positive, statistically significant relationships between all the constructs of the physics teachers’ TPCK and their TPCK from the analysis of the PTTPCKQ. There were positive statistically significant relationships between all the constructs of the physics teachers’ TPCK and their TPCK, according to the analysis of the LCPTTPCKQ. Furthermore, comparing the learners’ responses on the LCTTPCKQ and their teachers’ responses on the PTTPCKQ, it was found that both learners and teachers provided similar responses for all the constructs of TPCK except TCK. Qualitative data analysis further revealed that the technologies used by these teachers were PhET Simulations, YouTube Videos, Power Point Presentations, Interactive White Boards, and Mindset Videos. Finally, between 12.9% and 5.2% of the learners reported that their teachers had neglected to teach some sections of the electricity in the curriculum. / Mathematical Sciences / Ph. D. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

在資料分析上，調查者通常需要決定，不同的樣本是否可被視為來自相同的母體。一般最常使用的統計量為Pearson’s 統計量。然而，傳統的統計方法皆是利用二元邏輯觀念來呈現。如果我們想要用模糊邏輯的概念來做樣本調查，此時，使用傳統 檢定來分析這些模糊樣本資料是否仍然適當？透過這樣的觀念，我們使用傳統統計方法，找出一個能處理這些模糊樣本資料的公式，稱之為模糊 。結果顯示，此公式可用來檢定，模糊樣本資料在不同母體下機率的一致性。 / In the analysis of research data, the investigator often needs to decide whether several independent samples may be regarded as having come from the same population. The most commonly used statistic is Pearson’s statistic. However, traditional statistics reflect the result from a two-valued logic concept. If we want to survey sampling with fuzzy logic concept, is it still appropriate to use the traditional -test for analysing those fuzzy sample data? Through this concept, we try to use a traditional statistic method to find out a formula, called fuzzy , that enables us to deal with those fuzzy sample data. The result shows that we can use the formula to test hypotheses about probabilities of various outcomes in fuzzy sample data.