In this thesis, I study three aspects of sell-side analysts’ stock price forecasts, henceforth target prices: analyst teams’ target price forecast characteristics, analysts’ use of information to revise target prices, and determinants of target price disagreement between analysts.The first essay studies the target price forecast performance of team analysts in the UK and finds that teams issue timelier but not less accurate target prices. Unlike evidence from previous studies, my findings suggest that analyst teamwork may improve forecast timeliness without sacrificing forecast accuracy. However, market reactions to team target price revisions are not significantly different from those to individual analyst target price revisions, suggesting that although target prices issued by analyst teams are timelier and not less accurate than those of individual analysts, investors do not consider analyst team target prices more informative. I conjecture that analysts may work in teams to meet the demand to cover more companies while maintaining the quality of research by individual team members rather than to issue more informative reports.In the second essay, I study how analysts revise their target prices in response to new information implicit in recent market returns, stock excess returns and other analysts’ target price revisions. The results suggest that analysts’ target price revisions are significantly influenced by market returns, stock excess return and other analysts’ target price revisions. I also find that the correlation between target price revisions and stock excess returns is significantly higher when the news implicit in these returns is bad rather than good. I conjecture that analysts discover more bad news from the information in stock excess returns because firms tend to withhold bad news, disclosing it only when it becomes inevitable, while they disclose good news early. Using a new measure of bad to good news concentration, I show that the asymmetric responsiveness of target price revisions to positive and negative stock excess returns is significant for firms with the highest concentration of bad news but is insignificant for firms with the lowest concentration of bad news. I argue that firms with the highest concentration of bad news are more likely to withhold and accumulate bad news. The findings, therefore, support my hypothesis that analysts discover more bad news than good news from stock returns because firms tend to withhold bad news, disclosing it only when it is inevitable. The third essay examines the determinants of analyst target price disagreement. I find that while disagreement in short-term earnings and in long-term earnings growth forecasts are significant determinants, recent 12-month idiosyncratic return volatility has the strongest explanatory power for target price disagreement. The findings suggest that target price disagreement is driven not only by analyst disagreement about short-term earnings and long-term earnings growth, but also by differences in analysts’ opinions about the impact of recent firm-specific events on value drivers beyond short-term future earnings and long-term growth, which are eventually reflected in past idiosyncratic return volatility.

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In today's worlds of industry and academia, teamwork is becoming more and more prevalent and is becoming more and more desirable when addressing certain tasks. Intensified and growing competition in the global marketplace is forcing businesses to produce better products, thereby, requiring the input and expertise of various people with diverse backgrounds. Organizations have adopted a team approach in response to the technological advances that contribute to the complexity of many tasks in the workplace making it difficult for employees to work independently (Mathieu, Heffner, Goodwin, Salas, Cannon-Bowers, 2000). The purpose of this research is to investigate the communication patterns of disciplinarily heterogeneous student design teams at the university level. A quasi-experimental design, specifically a non-equivalent control group design was used for this study. This study has two research questions: 1) what is the process that leads to convergence of a team-based mental model among disciplinarily heterogeneous team members? and 2) what are the factors associated with convergence that lead to effective disciplinarily heterogeneous teams? The results will allow the formation of guidelines that will assist such students in improving their effectiveness by allowing the convergence of the team members onto the same mental model(s). It must be noted that data collection for the experimental teams continued after the tragic events that occurred at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. The results for this study were variable. Through examination of the fluctuation of the reliability scores across the three times it was administered, as well as the Pearson-Product Moment comparison, the Group Behavior Inventory is not the best instrument to use in an academic setting for student teams. The disciplinarily homogeneous teams disagreed more and the disciplinarily heterogeneous teams agreed more in terms of body language, while disciplinarily heterogeneous disagreed more through verbal utterances of sighs and pauses; however none of these differences were statistically significant. Certain agreement and disagreement indicators were significantly negatively correlated. Therefore, the corroboration of the Group Behavior Inventory constructs can only be applied to a specific disagreement indicator. / Master of Science

At first glance, the project of moral enhancement (making people more moral) may appear uncontroversial and obviously worth supporting; surely it is a good idea to make people better. However, as the recent literature on moral enhancement demonstrates, the situation is not so simple – there is significant disagreement over the content of moral norms as well as appropriate means by which to manipulate them. This disagreement seriously threatens many proposals to improve society via moral enhancement. In my dissertation, I develop an understanding of how, exactly, disagreement poses problems for moral enhancement. However, I also argue that there is a way forward. It is possible to bring about moral improvement without commitment to particular and controversial moral norms, but instead relying on relatively uncontroversial ideas concerning morally reliable processes. The upshot is that, while attempting to directly manipulate people’s moral ideas is objectionable, it is relatively unproblematic to focus on helping people reason better and avoid akrasia, with the justified expectation that this will generally lead to moral improvement. We should, therefore, focus not on how to bring people in line with what we take to be the right ideas, motives or behaviors. Rather, we should look to helping people determine for themselves what being moral consists in, as well as help ensure that they act on those judgments. Traditional, non-moral education, it turns out, is actually one of the best moral enhancers we have. In fact, the tools of philosophy (which is, in many aspects, concerned with proper reasoning) are central to the project of indirect moral enhancement. Ultimately, one of the best ways to make people morally better may well be to make them better philosophers.

Study One: Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunals (SENDIST) provide independent adjudication of parental appeals against Local Authority (LA) decisions. The Parent Partnership Service (PPS) and Disagreement Resolution Services (DRS) are both arranged to reduce disagreements and, specifically, to prevent tribunals. Study One aimed to explore parental experiences of Local Disagreement Resolution Services (LDRSs) including the PPS and DRS. A secondary aim of Study One was to identify barriers to and facilitators of disagreement resolution from a parental perspective. Methods: Study One utilised semi-structured interviews as a means of exploring seven parents' experiences and constructs. Interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis in order to specify key themes relating to the resolution of disagreements about SEN. Results: Parents reported a sense of embattlement with the Local Authority that appeared to act as a barrier to the resolution of disagreements. Parents also identified a number of facilitators of disagreement resolution including: Feeling 'listened to'; Having access to a 'legitimate decision-maker'; and becoming better informed. A number of barriers to disagreement resolution were also reported, including but not limited to: a perception that no one is listening to them; a perception that LA staff lack independence; a perception that the LA cannot be trusted to deliver SEN provision. Study Two:Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunals (SENDIST) provide independent adjudication of parental appeals against Local Authority (LA) decisions. The Parent Partnership Service (PPS) and Disagreement Resolution Services (DRS) are both arranged to reduce disagreements and, specifically, to prevent tribunals. Study Two aimed to explore experiences of professionals working within Local Disagreement Resolution Services (LDRSs) including the PPS and DRS. A secondary aim of Study Two was to identify barriers to and facilitators of disagreement resolution from a professional perspective. A final aim of Study Two was to synthesise the perceptions reported by professionals in Study Two with those reported by parents in Study One. Methods: Study Two utilised semi-structured interviews as a means of exploring six LA-employed professionals' experiences and constructs. Interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis in order to specify key themes relating to the resolution of disagreements about SEN. Findings emerging from Study Two were integrated with findings from Study One using the themes generated through thematic analysis. Results: Professionals reported a number of parental factors that were perceived to act as a barrier to disagreement resolution. These included but were not limited to: weak understanding of SEN systems and a lack of confidence to engage in mediation processes. Professionals did not identify any parental factors perceived to be conducive to disagreement resolution. A smaller number of facilitators of disagreement resolution were reported, including: early intervention; and face-to-face meetings. Synthesis of findings from Studies One and Two resulted in the creation of clusters of themes that can inform future policy and practice. Findings from Studies One and Two indicate that disagreement resolution is best supported where Local Authorities can promote: collaboration, information-sharing, and reassurance for parents.

Nossa pesquisa visa a compreender como as relações pessoais se constroem por meio da linguagem. Para isso, consideramos o contexto social, cultural e interacional que, combinados de diferentes maneiras, moldam os pensamentos, as falas e as atitudes de cada indivíduo. Intentamos por meio da análise de interações autênticas explorar e evidenciar aspectos pragmáticos presentes no português brasileiro e no italiano que constituem e influenciam o fazer discursivo dos falantes em sala de aula. A partir da análise dos atos de fala discordância e desaprovação realizados por falantes bilíngues de italiano e português brasileiro em contexto escolar de uma escola bilíngue ítalo-brasileira no Brasil, a pesquisa evidencia (i) os componentes pragmáticos das duas línguas relacionados à cortesia verbal e, mais especificamente, ao uso de estratégias atenuadoras; (ii) se e em que medida foram realizadas estratégias atenuadoras na produção desses atos de fala por crianças bilíngues, em contexto ítalo-brasileiro, durante a interação em sala de aula e quais são os efeitos da sua (não) utilização; (iii) em que medida existem analogias e diferenças na utilização de procedimentos atenuadores em italiano e português. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio de videogravações das aulas, de uma entrevista preliminar com as professoras e de um questionário para os alunos. A partir da análise dos dados, verificamos que as discordâncias em língua portuguesa apresentavam um número maior de procedimentos atenuadores em relação àquelas em língua italiana. Notamos que a utilização de procedimentos atenuadores nos atos de discordância em português objetivava a prevenção de conflitos interacionais e nas relações pessoais, logo, a atenuação relacionava-se à cortesia verbal em sala de aula. Nas discordâncias em língua italiana, verificamos que o uso de procedimentos atenuadores objetivava, além da prevenção, a reparação da ameaça à imagem do interlocutor e, algumas vezes, exercia a função de auto proteger o falante. Desse modo, a atenuação nem sempre estava relacionada à cortesia verbal. Além disso, nos atos de discordância em língua italiana observamos uma menor utilização de procedimentos atenuadores em relação as discordâncias produzidas em língua portuguesa. A ausência de atenuadores pode estar relacionada a uma tendência da língua italiana em realizar as discordâncias de forma imediata e direta, em sala de aula. A análise dos dados de desaprovação revelou um equilíbrio entre presença e ausência de estratégias atenuadoras nos atos realizados em ambas as línguas. A presença de táticas atenuadoras está relacionada à cortesia verbal, em que o ato intrinsecamente ameaçador da face (intrinsic Face-Threatening Act - intrinsic FTA) da desaprovação era suavizado, tentando evitar conflito na relação. Observou-se assim que, quando a desaprovação era feita de forma atenuada podia ser interpretada com um pedido e, quando era expressa sem o uso de atenuadores, aproximava-se de uma ordem. / Our research aims to understand how personal relationships are constructed through language. Therefore, we consider the social, cultural and interactional context that, combined in different ways, shapes the thoughts, speeches and attitudes of each individual. We have tried to explore and present some pragmatic aspects in the Brazilian Portuguese language and in the Italian language that constitute and influence the discursive making of the speakers in the classroom. Based on the analysis of disagreement and disapproval speech acts performed by bilingual speakers of Italian and Brazilian Portuguese in a school context of an Italian-Brazilian bilingual school in Brazil, the research has shown (i) the pragmatic components of Italian and Brazilian Portuguese related to verbal politeness and, more specifically, the usage of attenuating strategies in speech acts of disagreement and disapproval in the classroom; (ii) If and to which extent there was the use of attenuating strategies in the production of these speech acts by bilingual children, Italian-Portuguese Brazilians, during their interaction in the classroom and which are the effects of their (non) use; (iii) To which extent it was possible to identify analogies and differences in the use of attenuating procedures in Italian and Brazilian language. Data collection was done through video recordings of classes, a preliminary interview with the teachers and a questionnaire for the students. From the analysis of the data, we verified that the disagreements in the Portuguese language have presented more attenuation procedures related to the disagreements in the Italian language. We have observed that the use of attenuating procedures in the acts of disagreements in Brazilian Portuguese aimed at the prevention of interactional conflicts in personal relations, so the attenuation was related to verbal politeness in the classroom. In the disagreements in the Italian language, we have noted that the use of attenuating procedures had not only the intention of prevention, but also to repair the threat to the image of the interlocutor and sometimes exercised the function of self-protecting the speaker. Thus, attenuation was not always related to verbal politeness. In addition, in acts of disagreement in Italian language, we have observed a greater absence of attenuating procedures in relation to the disagreements produced in Brazilian Portuguese. The absence of mitigators may be related to a possible tendency of the Italian language in making disagreements immediately and directly in the classroom. The analysis of the disapproval data has revealed a balance between the presence and the absence of attenuating strategies in the acts performed in both languages. The presence of attenuating tactics was related to verbal courtesy, in which the intrinsic FTA (intrinsic Face-Threatening Act) of disapproval was softened, trying to avoid conflict in the relationship. Thus, it was observed that when the disapproval was attenuated it could have been interpreted as a request, while, when it was expressed without the use of attenuators, it was approaching an order.

Nossa pesquisa visa a compreender como as relações pessoais se constroem por meio da linguagem. Para isso, consideramos o contexto social, cultural e interacional que, combinados de diferentes maneiras, moldam os pensamentos, as falas e as atitudes de cada indivíduo. Intentamos por meio da análise de interações autênticas explorar e evidenciar aspectos pragmáticos presentes no português brasileiro e no italiano que constituem e influenciam o fazer discursivo dos falantes em sala de aula. A partir da análise dos atos de fala discordância e desaprovação realizados por falantes bilíngues de italiano e português brasileiro em contexto escolar de uma escola bilíngue ítalo-brasileira no Brasil, a pesquisa evidencia (i) os componentes pragmáticos das duas línguas relacionados à cortesia verbal e, mais especificamente, ao uso de estratégias atenuadoras; (ii) se e em que medida foram realizadas estratégias atenuadoras na produção desses atos de fala por crianças bilíngues, em contexto ítalo-brasileiro, durante a interação em sala de aula e quais são os efeitos da sua (não) utilização; (iii) em que medida existem analogias e diferenças na utilização de procedimentos atenuadores em italiano e português. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio de videogravações das aulas, de uma entrevista preliminar com as professoras e de um questionário para os alunos. A partir da análise dos dados, verificamos que as discordâncias em língua portuguesa apresentavam um número maior de procedimentos atenuadores em relação àquelas em língua italiana. Notamos que a utilização de procedimentos atenuadores nos atos de discordância em português objetivava a prevenção de conflitos interacionais e nas relações pessoais, logo, a atenuação relacionava-se à cortesia verbal em sala de aula. Nas discordâncias em língua italiana, verificamos que o uso de procedimentos atenuadores objetivava, além da prevenção, a reparação da ameaça à imagem do interlocutor e, algumas vezes, exercia a função de auto proteger o falante. Desse modo, a atenuação nem sempre estava relacionada à cortesia verbal. Além disso, nos atos de discordância em língua italiana observamos uma menor utilização de procedimentos atenuadores em relação as discordâncias produzidas em língua portuguesa. A ausência de atenuadores pode estar relacionada a uma tendência da língua italiana em realizar as discordâncias de forma imediata e direta, em sala de aula. A análise dos dados de desaprovação revelou um equilíbrio entre presença e ausência de estratégias atenuadoras nos atos realizados em ambas as línguas. A presença de táticas atenuadoras está relacionada à cortesia verbal, em que o ato intrinsecamente ameaçador da face (intrinsic Face-Threatening Act - intrinsic FTA) da desaprovação era suavizado, tentando evitar conflito na relação. Observou-se assim que, quando a desaprovação era feita de forma atenuada podia ser interpretada com um pedido e, quando era expressa sem o uso de atenuadores, aproximava-se de uma ordem. / Our research aims to understand how personal relationships are constructed through language. Therefore, we consider the social, cultural and interactional context that, combined in different ways, shapes the thoughts, speeches and attitudes of each individual. We have tried to explore and present some pragmatic aspects in the Brazilian Portuguese language and in the Italian language that constitute and influence the discursive making of the speakers in the classroom. Based on the analysis of disagreement and disapproval speech acts performed by bilingual speakers of Italian and Brazilian Portuguese in a school context of an Italian-Brazilian bilingual school in Brazil, the research has shown (i) the pragmatic components of Italian and Brazilian Portuguese related to verbal politeness and, more specifically, the usage of attenuating strategies in speech acts of disagreement and disapproval in the classroom; (ii) If and to which extent there was the use of attenuating strategies in the production of these speech acts by bilingual children, Italian-Portuguese Brazilians, during their interaction in the classroom and which are the effects of their (non) use; (iii) To which extent it was possible to identify analogies and differences in the use of attenuating procedures in Italian and Brazilian language. Data collection was done through video recordings of classes, a preliminary interview with the teachers and a questionnaire for the students. From the analysis of the data, we verified that the disagreements in the Portuguese language have presented more attenuation procedures related to the disagreements in the Italian language. We have observed that the use of attenuating procedures in the acts of disagreements in Brazilian Portuguese aimed at the prevention of interactional conflicts in personal relations, so the attenuation was related to verbal politeness in the classroom. In the disagreements in the Italian language, we have noted that the use of attenuating procedures had not only the intention of prevention, but also to repair the threat to the image of the interlocutor and sometimes exercised the function of self-protecting the speaker. Thus, attenuation was not always related to verbal politeness. In addition, in acts of disagreement in Italian language, we have observed a greater absence of attenuating procedures in relation to the disagreements produced in Brazilian Portuguese. The absence of mitigators may be related to a possible tendency of the Italian language in making disagreements immediately and directly in the classroom. The analysis of the disapproval data has revealed a balance between the presence and the absence of attenuating strategies in the acts performed in both languages. The presence of attenuating tactics was related to verbal courtesy, in which the intrinsic FTA (intrinsic Face-Threatening Act) of disapproval was softened, trying to avoid conflict in the relationship. Thus, it was observed that when the disapproval was attenuated it could have been interpreted as a request, while, when it was expressed without the use of attenuators, it was approaching an order.

One of the main criticisms of previously studied label noise models in the PAC-learning framework is the inability of such models to represent the noise in real world data. In this thesis, we study this problem by introducing a framework for modeling label noise and suggesting four new label noise models. We prove positive learnability results for these noise models in learning simple concept classes and discuss the difficulty of the problem of learning other interesting concept classes under these new models. In addition, we study the previous general learning algorithm, called the minimum pn-disagreement strategy, that is used to prove learnability results in the PAC-learning framework both in the absence and presence of noise. Because of limitations of the minimum pn-disagreement strategy, we propose a new general learning algorithm called the minimum nn-disagreement strategy. Finally, for both minimum pn-disagreement strategy and minimum nn-disagreement strategy, we investigate some properties of label noise models that provide sufficient conditions for the learnability of specific concept classes.

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