Este trabalho teve o objetivo de mensurar o grau de satisfação dos clientes de uma loja de automóveis usados na serra gaúcha. O número de questionários coletados ao final da pesquisa foi de 146 entrevistados, possibilitando a criação de um perfil destes. O método utilizado foi de cunho exploratório, descritivo e explicativo. Para a coleta de dados, utilizou-se o um formulário baseado na escala Likert, que permitiu avaliar questões relativas à importância baseada no nível de concordância de uma afirmação. A partir das médias obtidas, aplicou-se uma série de ferramentas de análise. A principal delas foi a “Janela do Cliente”. A intenção foi descrever os principais atributos apontados a melhorar, sendo os principais e mais relevantes: flexibilidade na negociação, financiamento próprio, tempo de resposta, qualidade dos automóveis, promoções, taxa de juros, horário de atendimento, qualidade no atendimento, iluminação da loja, agilidade no atendimento, disposição dos carros e comprometimento. Também foi aplicada a ferramenta análise de variância (ANOVA), onde observamos a maioria dos atributos listados, com seus respectivos resultados. A análise de regressão serviu para apurar que 5 atributos foram eleitos como de maior relevância para os entrevistados, sendo a variável com maior impacto positivo sobre a satisfação geral dos clientes a flexibilidade na negociação. Por fim, com a análise fatorial foi possível criar grupos de variáveis que se relacionam, identificando 5 grupos de importância, classificados como: aparência estrutura e precificação, habilidade e negociação, disponibilidade da equipe, solicitude ao cliente e confiança. / This work had the objective of measuring the degree of customer satisfaction of a used car shop in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The number of questionnaires collected at the end of the survey was 146 interviewees, making it possible to create a profile of these. The method used was exploratory, descriptive and explanatory. For data collection, a form based on the Likert scale was used, which allowed to evaluate questions related to the importance based on the level of agreement of an affirmation. From the averages obtained, a series of analysis tools were applied. The main one was the "Client Window". The intention was to describe the main attributes aimed at improving, being the main and most relevant: flexibility in negotiation, own financing, response time, car quality, promotions, interest rate, service hours, service quality, store lighting , Agility in service, car layout and commitment. We also applied the analysis of variance (ANOVA) tool, where we observed most of the listed attributes, with their respective results. The regression analysis served to ascertain that 5 attributes were chosen as of greater relevance for the interviewees, being the variable with the greatest positive impact on the general satisfaction of the clients the flexibility in the negotiation. Finally, with the factorial analysis it was possible to create groups of variables that are related, identifying 5 groups of importance, classified as: structure and pricing appearance, skill and negotiation, team availability, client solicitude and trust.

This dissertation seeks to understand the distributive strategies of local politicians in India, a context in which a robust secret ballot is in place and villagers have information on the allocation of selective state benefits due to the high information context of village politics. Specifically, it seeks answers to three questions. Can local politicians in India identity voters' partisan preferences, which is a critical assumption of theory on clientelism in comparative politics? Does a context in which citizens have a great deal of information on the beneficiaries of programs implemented by local governments and villagers and politicians are personally tied to one another pose constraints on targeting strategies relative to work on clientelism, elite capture, and citizen candidate models that predict co ethnic targeting preferences? And do voters perceive that co partisanship vis a vis sarpanch affects their access to selective state benefits and services? To address these questions, I draw on a unique original survey of village council presidents (sarpanch) and citizens across 96 village council areas (gram panchayats) in Rajasthan, India. First, I argue that under a secret ballot, which voters overwhelmingly believe to protect the anonymity of their votes, the clientelistic logic that supports quid pro quo distributive politics does not hold. This has powerful implications for the role we should understand local leaders (who perform brokerage functions) to serve and whom we should expect sarpanch to target with antipoverty benefits implemented through the gram panchayat. I argue that if local politicians cannot identify the partisan preferences of uncertain voters, we should expect local politicians to target benefits in order to maintain their political constituencies, rather than pursuing a vote buying strategy to attract new supporters through a quid pro quo strategy. Second, I argue that the social and political context of the gram panchayat severely constrains sarpanch targeting behavior. In a context in which sarpanch and voters know each other and the latter can directly (or by rumor) observe who received visible and coveted selective benefits, and in which sarpanch and their kin are very likely to live in their village permanently, there is a powerful social cost to providing benefits to the non poor. At the same time, citizens accept that local elections have consequences, which means that some favoritism toward supporters, but not kinship or ethnic lines, is tolerated as long as the pro poor targeting norm is heeded. Finally, I check the validity of my argument on sarpanch distributive strategies by testing for the effect of co partisanship on voters' expectations of receiving selective benefits using a vignette experiment. I randomize partisan cues (Congress or BJP) based on prominent politicians identified by respondents themselves and find support for the claim that partisanship broadly affects access to state benefits. Empirically, I draw on a unique survey of sarpanch and voters across rural Rajasthan. The survey includes two behavioral measures that cross-reference voters within sarpanch surveys. I ask sarpanch to guess sampled voters' partisan preferences and ask them to allocate tokens across these individuals to affect a lottery with a cash prize. I also embed a survey experiment within the voter survey.

The end-to-end argument describes the communication between a client and server using functionality that is located at the end points of a distributed system. From a security and privacy perspective, clients only need to trust the server they are trying to reach instead of intermediate system nodes and other third-party entities. Clients accessing the Internet today and more specifically the World Wide Web have to interact with a plethora of network entities for name resolution, traffic routing and content delivery. While individual communications with those entities may some times be end to end, from the user's perspective they are intermediaries the user has to trust in order to access the website behind a domain name. This complex interaction lacks transparency and control and expands the attack surface beyond the server clients are trying to reach directly. In this dissertation, we develop a set of novel design principles and architectures to reduce the number of third-party services and networks a client's traffic is exposed to when browsing the web. Our proposals bring additional intelligence to the client and can be adopted without changes to the third parties. Websites can include content, such as images and iframes, located on third-party servers. Browsers loading an HTML page will contact these additional servers to satisfy external content dependencies. Such interaction has privacy implications because it includes context related to the user's browsing history. For example, the widespread adoption of "social plugins" enables the respective social networking services to track a growing part of its members' online activity. These plugins are commonly implemented as HTML iframes originating from the domain of the respective social network. They are embedded in sites users might visit, for instance to read the news or do shopping. Facebook's Like button is an example of a social plugin. While one could prevent the browser from connecting to third-party servers, it would break existing functionality and thus be unlikely to be widely adopted. We propose a novel design for privacy-preserving social plugins that decouples the retrieval of user-specific content from the loading of third-party content. Our approach can be adopted by web browsers without the need for server-side changes. Our design has the benefit of avoiding the transmission of user-identifying information to the third-party server while preserving the original functionality of the plugins. In addition, we propose an architecture which reduces the networks involved when routing traffic to a website. Users then have to trust fewer organizations with their traffic. Such trust is necessary today because for example we observe that only 30% of popular web servers offer HTTPS. At the same time there is evidence that network adversaries carry out active and passive attacks against users. We argue that if end-to-end security with a server is not available the next best thing is a secure link to a network that is close to the server and will act as a gateway. Our approach identifies network vantage points in the cloud, enables a client to establish secure tunnels to them and intelligently routes traffic based on its destination. The proliferation of infrastructure-as-a-service platforms makes it practical for users to benefit from the cloud. We determine that our architecture is practical because our proposed use of the cloud aligns with existing ways end-user devices leverage it today. Users control both endpoints of the tunnel and do not depend on the cooperation of individual websites. We are thus able to eliminate third-party networks for 20% of popular web servers, reduce network paths to 1 hop for an additional 20% and shorten the rest. We hypothesize that user privacy on the web can be improved in terms of transparency and control by reducing the systems and services that are indirectly and automatically involved. We also hypothesize that such reduction can be achieved unilaterally through client-side initiatives and without affecting the operation of individual websites.

This qualitative study aimed to investigate psychotherapy clients’ phenomenological experience of positive regard. Though positive regard is broadly accepted as a useful and effective clinical tool across orientations, it has been under-researched and overlooked in favor of more clearly conceptualized variables, such as empathy and working alliance. Designed as a follow-up to a quantitative study that yielded a tentative factor structure and inventory for measuring positive regard (Psychotherapist Expressions of Positive Regard, PEPR), the study also aimed to elucidate the extent to which those findings could be replicated in a qualitative format. Following Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) methodology, 15 psychotherapy clients, primarily white women, participated in semi-structured interviews eliciting the factors that contribute to their experience of positive regard in therapy, the absence of positive regard in therapy, and the impact of positive regard on the course of psychotherapy. Nine domains and several key findings emerged from the analysis. While clients named a wide range of therapist behaviors and actions that served as markers of positive regard in the relationship, three constituent attitudes appeared repeatedly throughout the CQR categories, suggesting an underlying tripartite structure of positive regard – warm authenticity, flexible responsiveness, and empathic understanding. Clients viewed positive regard as a crucial ingredient of therapy, suggesting that it facilitates self-disclosure, risk-taking, personal growth, and rupture resolution. In relationships where positive regard was lacking, clients became disengaged from treatment, and terminating without explanation was not uncommon. Clinical implications and recommendations for optimizing the experience of positive regard are offered. The substantial overlap and interdependence of positive regard with the other Rogerian facilitative conditions of congruence and empathy is discussed. Convergence and divergence between the PEPR factor structure and the results of the current study are also highlighted, with future directions proposed.

An extensive body of literature supports the clinical utility and feasibility of client-centric goal-setting techniques in neurorehabilitation. However, such techniques are seldom used and difficult to adopt in mainstream clinical practice. Two primary barriers that limit uptake and adoption of individualized goal-setting techniques into routine practice include: (1) lack of an operationalized framework susceptible to variations in the characteristics of the user and constraints of a medical setting and (2) limited knowledge on the part of clinicians and clients to confidently engage in goal-setting conversations. The eGAS app was designed to address the need for a semi-structured client-centric goal-setting framework for clinicians engaged in neurorehabilitation. This study used a single-subject design to investigate the effects of using eGAS in an outpatient hospital setting on clinician behavior and client responsiveness. A nonconcurrent, multiple-baseline design was used across three clinicians to determine if use of eGAS would result in functional changes in collaborative interviewing behaviors, validity of generated goal scales, and reliability of the process. Results revealed that using eGAS had strong functional effects on collaborative interviewing behaviors and validity of goal scales, and a weak effect on reliability. Another noteworthy finding was that eGAS could be implemented with relatively high fidelity within the constraints of a clinical context despite variations in the characteristics of the end-user, i.e. clients and clinicians. I discuss support for ecological validity of eGAS in terms of implementation barriers and facilitators that affected outcomes, methodological limitations, and future steps to improve design validity and implementation integrity.

Background and objective: Caring for critically-ill and dying patients is widely recognised as a central stressor in oncology and palliative-care staff. Past research in this area has mostly focused on medical staff, and the impact of patient deaths on other professionals has received only limited attention. This study aimed to explore how psychotherapists experience and cope with the death of the cancer patients in their care, and whether these experiences promote personal and/or professional growth. Methods: an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design was adopted. Participants were psychotherapists working with adult cancer- and palliative-care patients within UK hospices. In the qualitative phase, seven semi-structured interviews were conducted and examined using thematic analysis. In the quantitative phase, 28 participants completed an online questionnaire designed to evaluate the incidence within the target population of the themes identified in the qualitative phase. Findings: Grief appeared as hospice psychotherapists' main immediate response to client deaths. Participants used coping strategies aiming to facilitate emotional closure, and to foster emotional and cognitive processing. These strategies included conducting personal rituals, receiving support from colleagues and clinical supervision. Several factors hindering these coping strategies were identified, but the vast majority were shared by only a small minority of participants (e.g. feeling disenfranchised in their grief for clients). Repeated exposure to client death caused participants to feel emotionally and physically drained (and for some leading to greater fear of illness and dying). It also affected their outlook on life positively, leading to personal growth. Participants managed the negative long-term impact of their work using self-care strategies, which included working in cancer- and palliative-care settings on a part-time basis, and engaging in creative and future-oriented activities promoting a sense of hope, possibilities, and growth. Conclusion and implications: Although many hospice psychotherapists repeatedly experience grief following the deaths of their clients, most appear able to manage the immediate and long-term impacts of their work. Working in proximity to illness and death is seen as deeply challenging but at the same time as promoting personal growth, and to enhance and bring meaning to hospice psychotherapists' lives. Furthermore, the mixed-methods design adopted here provides evidence that while the qualitative methods employed produced rich data, the addition of a simple quantitative survey allowed to put these in perspective about the wider group of hospice psychotherapists. I argue that this finding supports the call, prevalent in the mixed-methods research literature, to question the segregation of qualitative and quantitative methods.

According to the American Psychological Association (2006), three components should be equally considered in treatment decision-making: empirical research, clinical judgment, and the client’s values and preference. Swift, Callahan, and Vollmer (2011) defined client preferences as specific attributes that are desired in a therapeutic setting and are divided into three categories: role, therapist, and treatment-type. Currently, there is no treatment orientation scale that measures treatment type and magnitude of the relationship. For this initial phase of development, 5 treatment orientations are being used as the basis of the Client Treatment Orientation Scale (CTOS): psychodynamic, existential, cognitive-behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and multicultural. The purpose of this study is to begin development of a treatment orientation scale with 5-7 questions per subscale domain. A total sample of 651 participants completed the survey, was English speaking, and aged 18 or over, with the majority being male (n = 334, 51.3%). The mean age of participants was 31.91 (SD = 8.23), with an equal distribution of degree type (e.g. psychiatrist, clinical psychology, counseling psychology, and school psychology) with psychiatry the most endorsed at 26.6% (n = 173). Overall, results did not support the use of the CTOS in applied or research settings. Reliability analyses for the 5 subscales were: psychodynamic (α = .52), existential (α = .32), cognitive-behavioral therapy (α = .64), acceptance and commitment therapy (α = .46), and multicultural (α = .63). There were various limitations of the study, such as being self-report and the possibility of not being representative of the particular orientations being measured. Future research could re-examine items for latent variables or refine the current items for another factor analysis study.

With the growing presence of Latino families across the United States, service providers must remain cognizant of this group’s unique sociocultural characteristics. Culturally competent service provision requires child welfare professionals to remain aware of the stressors often faced by this population. Immigration and acculturation issues, language and cultural barriers, poverty, discrimination, fear of deportation, and lack of access to a variety of services are a few of the stressors that are commonly experienced by this group. Linguistically competent practice requires service provision to be in a families’ native language; however, there are many other factors to consider even when doing so. Cultural unfamiliarity, inadequate bi-lingual worker training in professional terminology, and issues with translators and interpreters are all factors to be considered. It was hypothesized that the relationships between clients and workers may depend on shared culture, that cultural differences due to different backgrounds and countries of origin may hinder working relationships. Through qualitative face to face interviews, this study gained insight into Spanish-speaking client and worker perspectives on their working relationships. The study aimed to understand the advantages and limitations to matching clients and workers solely on shared language. Findings suggest that cultural similarities or differences were not the primary relationship concerns for either workers or clients. Rather, both clients and workers expressed more salient concerns related to the lack of resources for translation and interpretation, the absence of worker Spanish-language training, clients’ limited willingness/ability to advocate for themselves, and increased workload and supervisory lack of support. It is recommended that supervisors take part in mandatory trainings aimed at managing such complex caseloads, that workers receive continuous Spanish language training in professional terminology as well as case management training tailored towards this specific population, and that a more uniform and informative approach is developed when working with these families. Although the present study attempts to address the knowledge gap involving client perspectives, additional research should focus on client experiences more heavily. Further research is also needed in assessing the adequacy of county-made language certification tests and worker perception of language competency while out in the field.

The purpose of this study was to explore how therapist and client gender are associated with communication behaviors of males and females in marital therapy. The majority of research on therapist gender issues has been conducted with individual clients. Few data exist on the effects of therapist gender within marital therapy. This study examined the communication patterns of couples within a marital therapy setting and the influence of therapist gender on those patterns. Forty-six I 0-minute videotape segments of marital therapy were coded for communication patterns. Coded verbal statement categories included the verbal behaviors of agreement, supportive, solution of problems, and structuring. The results indicated that female clients used more problem description, solution of problem, and structuring statements than did males. In the context of marital therapy, stereotypic patterns of communication were not observed. This held true for therapists of both genders. Possible explanations include the experience of the therapists and therapist supervision.

This research investigates how the nature and scope of vocational education and training (VET) in Victoria has changed as a result of legislation passed in 1990 to enable privately owned Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) to provide government accredited training. An interpretive paradigm and multiple data gathering techniques have been applied. These included the examination of primary historical and economic documents which demonstrated why the VET system changed in Australia and quantifiable statistics which illustrated how the system changed over the period covered; from 1990/1 to 2002/3. Semi-structured interviews with a purposeful sample of 21 RTOs assisted in exploring the impact of the entry of privately owned RTOs into the Victorian training market. The wide experience and in-depth knowledge of the VET sector by the researcher acted as an underpinning device. The evidence from my interviews illustrated how the privately owned RTOs in my sample provided relevant, customised and contextualised training, differentiated their services to ensure they met client needs, responded rapidly to changes in demand and exhibited considerable adaptability in their arrangements for training delivery. This adaptability extended, amongst other things, to the location, timing and mode of delivery. It became apparent that the increased diversity found, had unintended consequences. These included an increase in the perceived complexity of the VET sector for those working within it and adversely affecting the extent to which national consistency has been achieved.