Este estudo investiga, sob a ótica da teoria da contingência, os efeitos dos fatores contingenciais sobre o perfil do sistema de controle gerencial (SCG) das empresas brasileiras tendo como objetivo compreender as características do SCG, em função dos fatores contingenciais. São examinados os efeitos diretos e interativos dos fatores contingenciais internos estratégia, estrutura, tecnologia da informação e estágio do ciclo de vida organizacional e do ambiente no perfil do SCG. Avalia-se também o efeito do SCG no desempenho organizacional. Esta pesquisa defende a tese de que os fatores contingenciais internos e externos influenciam o perfil do SCG que possui associação com o desempenho, sendo possível estabelecer arranjos (fit) entre fatores contingenciais, características do SCG e desempenho organizacional. As hipóteses relativas aos efeitos dos fatores contingenciais no SCG preveem que o ambiente, fator contingencial externo, possui associação com os fatores contingenciais internos i) estratégia, ii) estrutura, iii) estágio do CVO e iv) tecnologia da informação; que o ambiente e os fatores contingenciais internos possuem associação com o perfil do SCG e que o SCG possui associação com o desempenho. A amostra envolveu 120 empresas brasileiras de grande porte e os dados para obtenção de informações sobre as mesmas foram coletados através de uma survey (levantamento). Para o tratamento dos dados, foram utilizadas as técnicas estatísticas de análise fatorial, análise de clusters e modelagem de equações estruturais. Os resultados indicaram que quando analisadas em um único grupo de empresas, não foi possível identificar associação entre os fatores contingenciais e o SCG e deste com o desempenho organizacional, rejeitando-se as hipóteses estabelecidas. Entretanto, ao separar as empresas em dois grupos distintos, i) indústria e ii) comércio e serviços, a hipótese de associação entre o fator contingencial ambiente e o SCG foi aceita. Também foram aceitas as hipóteses de: i) associação do ambiente com os fatores contingenciais internos da organização, ii) de associação dos fatores contingenciais internos com o SCG e, finalmente, iii) do SCG com o desempenho organizacional. A validação das hipóteses da pesquisa indica que a escolha e a utilização dos artefatos do SCG sofrem influência dos fatores contingenciais vivenciados pela empresa. Os resultados da pesquisa estão sujeitos a algumas limitações: i) as respostas refletem a percepção dos profissionais de controladoria das empresas, ii) a amostra não é probabilística e, portanto, todas as inferências não podem ser generalizadas para a população. Entretanto, considerando o atual estágio da pesquisa em contabilidade gerencial no Brasil, a pesquisa fornece uma visão importante de um grupo de empresas classificadas entre as maiores do País. Esta análise pode ser o ponto de partida para futuras pesquisas que utilizem a teoria da contingência. / This study investigates, from the perspective of contingency theory, the effects of contingency factors on the profile of the management control system (SCG) of Brazilian companies. The study examines the direct and interactive effects of internal contingency factors - strategy, structure, information technology and stage of organizational life cycle - and the environment in the profile of the SCG. It also evaluates the effect of SCG on organizational performance. This research supports the view that the contingent factors internal and external influence the profile of the SCG that has membership to the performance, it is possible to make arrangements (fit) between contingency factors, characteristics of the SCG and organizational performance. The assumptions of the effects of contingency factors in the SCG predict that the environment, external contingency factor, has association with membership to the internal contingency factors i) strategy, ii) structure, iii) stage of the CVO and iv) information technology, the environment and the internal contingency factors are associated with the profile of the SCG and the SCG has association with the performance. The sample involved 120 Brazilian companies large and the data to obtain information about them was collected through a survey (survey). For the treatment of data, we used the statistical techniques of factor analysis, cluster analysis and structural equation modeling. The results showed that when analyzed in a single group of companies, we could not identify an association between contingency factors and the SCG and this organizational performance, rejecting the hypotheses. However, the separate companies in two distinct groups: i) industry and ii) trade and services, the hypothesis of association between the environment and contingency factor SCG was accepted. We also accept the following hypotheses: i) linking the environment with the contingency factors internal to the organization, ii) the association of contingency factors internal to the SCG and, finally, iii) the SCG with organizational performance. The validation of the hypotheses of research indicates that the choice and use of artifacts from the SCG are influenced by the contingent factors experienced by the company. The survey results are subject to some limitations: i) the responses reflect the perceptions of professionals controlling companies, ii) the sample is not probabilistic and, therefore, all inferences can not be generalized to the population. However, considering the current state of research in management accounting in Brazil, the study provides important insight into a group of companies ranked among the highest in Brazil. This analysis can be the starting point for future studies using the contingency theory.

O principal objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar alguns das principais idéias envolvidas no labirinto da liberdade, um dos assuntos de grande destaque dentro da filosofia leibniziana. Por um lado, Leibniz sempre defendeu a máxima racionalidade de todos os fatos, o que acaba por indicar que todos estes estão absolutamente predeterminados. Por outro, ele procurou mostrar que todos os seres racionais são moralmente responsáveis pelos seus atos conforme suas vontades. Por meio de um grande esforço conceitual, Leibniz procurou conciliar a idéia de um destino, racionalmente delineável, junto à idéia de liberdade das ações dos seres racionais; ele não quis defender nem a pura necessidade e nem o puro acaso. O principal aliado nessa tarefa foi o Princípio de Razão Suficiente. Este princípio ganhou foi fortalecido a partir do desenvolvimento do conceito das infinitas substâncias completas (entelechia, substância individuais, mônadas), que foi elaborado gradualmente ao longo da sua vida filosófica. Uma reconstrução básica de algumas das principais teses da metafísica leibniziana permite observar como as criaturas (especialmente as racionais) passaram a ser consideras as legítimas responsáveis por suas ações, sem que o mundo representasse uma espécie de caos. / The main goal of this dissertation is to investigate some aspects of the Labyrinth of Freedom, a key subject in the Philosophy of Leibniz. On one hand, Leibniz supported the maximum rationality of all events, meaning that they are all absolutely predetermined. On the other, he tried to show that rational beings are morally responsible for their actions, and that requires free will. Through an act of great intellectual effort Leibniz tried to conciliate an idea of all embracing destiny (rationally understood) and the concept of freedom. He resisted admitting a vision of the world driven either by absolute necessity or lost to pure chance. His main ally in this task was the Principle of Sufficient Reason. This principle gained strength from the development of the concept of infinite substances (entelechia, individual substance, monades) that was gradually forged throughout the philosopher\'s life. A brief reconstruction of some of the main features of Leibniz´s metaphysics allows us to perceive how all creatures (especially rational ones) could be seen to be truly responsible for what they do and the choices they make in a rationally structured world.

The main objective of the dissertation is to evaluate and compare higher education financing instruments in regard to their practical advantageousness. None of the publications covering higher education financing so far have dealt with the question of practicability and market acceptance of the different higher education financing instruments currently being offered. The author intended to close this gap, providing a practical analysis of the mode of operation as well as a thorough comparison of private higher education financing instruments in respect to their applicability.

This study investigated the effects of using a group contingency program with three students with disabilities in a small group special education setting. These students exhibited both academic and behavioral difficulties. With the use of Class Wide Function-Related Intervention Team (CW-FIT) students increased their active engagement and correct responses, as well as decreased their disruptive behaviors; however, these behaviors did not maintain over time. CW-FIT with high opportunities to respond showed an even greater improvement than CW-FIT with low opportunities to respond. Increased opportunities to respond resulted in higher levels of active engagement and correct responses and decreases in disruptive behavior for all three students. These results indicate that CW-FIT in combination with high opportunities to respond can help manage students' behavior and help them increase correct responding.

The purpose of this paper is to compare Analysis of Variance with Contingency Table Analysis when the data being analyzed do not satisfy Analysis of Variance assumptions. The criteria for comparison are the powers of the Standard variance-ratio and the Chi-square test. The test statistic and powers were obtained by Monte Carlo. 1. Calculate test statistic for each of 100 trials, this process was repeated 12 times. Each time different combination of means and variances were used. 2. Powers were obtained for each of 12 combinations of means and variances. Whether Analysis of Variance or Contingency Table Analysis is a better alternative depends on if we are interested in equality of population means or differences of population variances.

Sous la catégorie de « fictions commentaires », cette thèse compare des romans au second degré, dont le processus fictionnel s’ancre dans la glose d’une œuvre première plus que dans la représentation référentielle. À rebours de l’intertexte destiné à s’intégrer et à nourrir la création, les fictions commentaires reposent plutôt sur une hypertextualité hétérogène, ainsi que sur des dispositifs enchâssés d’écriture, de lecture et d’édition. Avec les expérimentations de Mark Z. Danielewski (House of Leaves), les facéties de Pierre Senges (Fragments de Lichtenberg) ou les enquêtes de Roberto Bolaño (2666), l’écriture devient herméneutique, déchiffrement d’un manuscrit perdu, recherches bio-bibliographiques. Mais ces œuvres secondes ne sont pas nécessairement refermées sur elles-mêmes : en multipliant les références fragmentaires à leurs sources, que ce soit par l’annotation, l’allusion ou la représentation seconde, elles modifient en effet leur rapport à la référence, à la manière dont la fiction se construit sur un fondement implicite. Une figuration au second degré est en effet distincte de celle qui part d’un « cadre de référence », qu’il soit pensé comme le monde « tel qu’il est » ou considéré comme relevant de la perception, de constructions langagières ou de connaissances scientifiques. Les fictions commentaires interrogent donc les conditions de la représentation littéraire lorsqu’elle ne s’appuie plus seulement sur des figurations subjectives mais bien sur un objet qui obéit arbitrairement (mais sûrement) à ses propres règles. Elles substituent à la représentation mimétique d’un monde extralinguistique, la signification d’une œuvre déjà constituée. Ce déplacement ne constitue pourtant pas une simple abolition du référent. De cadre implicite et nécessairement dogmatique, la référence devient un substrat explicite, matériel et mobile, un point de départ contingent. Il devient possible de la soumettre à la variation, au doute, à la dés-illusion. Dans les fictions commentaires, le référent devient donc spéculatif. Notre travail voudrait penser ce transfert à l’aune des philosophies spéculatives contemporaines, telles qu’elles sont par exemple portées par Quentin Meillassoux, Graham Harman ou Tristan Garcia. En prenant le parti des choses, ces penseurs s’efforcent de débusquer l’absence de nécessité des lois physiques du monde. En effet, dans l’ontologie objet-orientée les choses hors de leurs représentations sont souvent pensées selon leur contingence. Les fictions commentaires réfèrent surtout à des objets – les œuvres premières – qu’elles commentent, glosent et modifient. Elles pourraient dès lors être conçues comme la figuration des virtualités présentes au cœur du réel et plus seulement comme l’image de possibles stipulés ou fantasmés. Dans cette perspective, il s’agira donc d’explorer le monde figuré par la littérature spéculative. / This dissertation intends to outline and study “commentary fictions,” or novels that comment on other works rather than represent a referential reality. Against intertextual assimilation, these fictions “of the second degree” rely on a hypertextual basis, and depict the writing, reading and editing processes. As demonstrated in Mark Z. Danielewski’s experimentations (House of Leaves), Pierre Senges’ wit (Fragments de Lichtenberg) and Roberto Bolaño’s investigations (2666), reading literary fiction becomes an act of hermeneutical or bio-bibliographical research. However, these secondary novels are not necessarily enclosed within a self-referential framework: their relationship with reference, i.e. the way fiction is built on the implicit, is amended by a multiplicity of fragmentary references to their sources. A second-degree representation is indeed different from one that follows a “frame of reference”, either considered as the world “itself” or as its perceptions, verbal constructions or scientific descriptions. Commentary fictions look into the conditions of a literary representation that is no longer a subjective depiction, but rather a mere object with its own random – but defined – rules. Mimetic representations of extralinguistic worlds are replaced by significations of already finished works. This shift does not yet lead to the end of referential reality. Formerly a dogmatic frame, the reference is converted into an explicit, concrete and movable layer: it is now a contingent background. In commentary fictions, variation, doubt and dis/illusion are bound to a reference that becomes, in short, speculative. One could easily associate this idea with certain contemporary philosophical trends, as found in the works of Quentin Meillassoux, Graham Harman or Tristan Garcia, amongst others. Indeed, their attempt to “think the thing outside the thought” leads to an absence of necessity. Their attention to things allows an object-oriented ontology which relies on a speculation of the world’s contingence. Commentary fictions could therefore be regarded as representations of a virtual reality more so than stipulations of possible worlds. This work, then, aims to explore the world’s figuration (or representation in the second degree) in speculative literature.

An informational source where teachers and teacher-candidates could gain a functional knowledge of contingency management techniques had not been developed. A programed text was written to provide this source. Five teachers and teacher-candidates were exposed to the text for a period of three days. As a result of this exposure, learning gains, significant at the 0.01 level, were found in the students' abilities (a) to write behavioral prescriptions and (b) to write the principles of contingency management when presented with open-ended questions pertaining to these principles.

The number of dependent youth reported as runaways to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has become an increasing concern to the Department of Children and Families (Child Welfare League of America, 2005). Youth under state supervision, who are reported as runaways, most often leave from foster care settings, although some youth are also reported as runaways from the homes of relatives, non-relatives, and biological parents (CWLA, 2005). Community based care (CBC) agencies responsible for the supervision of dependent children in the State of Florida have struggled to develop an effective means of addressing the problem of running away and have subsequently been unable to decrease the number of dependent youth reported as runaways each year (CWLA, 2005). The current study evaluated a behavioral approach through a multiple baseline design to address the runaway behavior of dependent youth. Behavior contracts were used with three runaway youth placed in foster care which showed an initial increase in the number of days spent in an approved placement for all three participants. While the increase in the number of days spent in an approved placement did not maintain for one participant, a decrease in runaway behavior was demonstrated and maintained for the other two participants.

Participants are slower to identify the print colour of incongruent colour words (e.g., the word ORANGE printed in green) than of congruent colour words (e.g., ORANGE printed in orange). The difference in time between these two conditions is the Stroop effect. The item-specific proportion congruent (ISPC) effect is the observation that the Stroop effect is larger for words that are presented mostly in congruent colours (e.g., BLUE presented 75% of the time in blue), and smaller for words that are presented mostly in a given incongruent colour (e.g., YELLOW presented 75% of the time in orange). One account of the ISPC effect, the modulation hypothesis, is that participants use the distracting word to modulate attention to the word (i.e., participants allow the word to influence responding when it is presented mostly in its congruent colour). Another account, the contingency hypothesis, is that participants use the word to predict the response that they will need to make (e.g., if the word is YELLOW, then the response is probably orange). Reanalyses of data from Jacoby, Lindsay, and Hessels (2003) along with results from new experiments are inconsistent with the modulation hypothesis, but entirely consistent with the contingency hypothesis. A mechanistic account of how responses are predicted is generated from the contingency hypothesis.

Participants are slower to identify the print colour of incongruent colour words (e.g., the word ORANGE printed in green) than of congruent colour words (e.g., ORANGE printed in orange). The difference in time between these two conditions is the Stroop effect. The item-specific proportion congruent (ISPC) effect is the observation that the Stroop effect is larger for words that are presented mostly in congruent colours (e.g., BLUE presented 75% of the time in blue), and smaller for words that are presented mostly in a given incongruent colour (e.g., YELLOW presented 75% of the time in orange). One account of the ISPC effect, the modulation hypothesis, is that participants use the distracting word to modulate attention to the word (i.e., participants allow the word to influence responding when it is presented mostly in its congruent colour). Another account, the contingency hypothesis, is that participants use the word to predict the response that they will need to make (e.g., if the word is YELLOW, then the response is probably orange). Reanalyses of data from Jacoby, Lindsay, and Hessels (2003) along with results from new experiments are inconsistent with the modulation hypothesis, but entirely consistent with the contingency hypothesis. A mechanistic account of how responses are predicted is generated from the contingency hypothesis.