Guided by a conceptual framework regarding how relationships experience points of transition, this research explored individuals’ perceptions of their online romantic relationship’s transition from a casual to serious relationship in comparison to how individuals in face-to-face romantic relationships experience points of transition. Participants were asked to answer questions regarding their perceptions of relational characteristics during different points in their relational transition. Perceptions regarding intimacy, relationship uncertainty, partner interference, directness of communication, topic avoidance, turmoil, deception and met expectations were assessed. Additionally, individuals in both online and face-to-face relationships responded to questions regarding their relationship status, commitment, length, proximity and other demographic questions. Results indicated that individuals in online relationships perceive more intimacy and less uncertainty prior to a transition while perceiving less intimacy and more uncertainty after a transition than face-to-face relationships. Relationships uncertainty was associated with topic avoidance and turmoil in online romantic relationships. Further results and the relevance of perceptions of relational characteristics on online transitioning relationships are discussed. / text

Τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες έχουν παρατηρηθεί σε παγκόσμιο επίπεδο μεγάλες οικονομικές, κοινωνικές και πολιτικές αλλαγές. Αποτέλεσμα αυτών, ήταν η δημιουργία μεταναστευτικού ρεύματος από τη μία χώρα στην άλλη και η μετατροπή των εκάστοτε κοινωνιών από μονοπολιτισμικές σε πολυπολιτισμικές. Η αύξηση της μετανάστευσης δεν άφησε ανεπηρέαστη την ελληνική κοινωνία. Τα τελευταία χρόνια, η σύσταση του ελληνικού πληθυσμού έχει αλλάξει, δημιουργώντας μια πολυπολιτισμική κοινωνία, στην οποία η παρουσία γηγενών και αλλοδαπών είναι σημαντική. Μέσα σε αυτή την πολυπολιτισμική πραγματικότητα, τα άτομα αλληλεπιδρούν και αλληλοεπηρεάζονται μεταξύ τους με αποτέλεσμα η κοινωνία μας να καθίσταται διαπολιτισμική. Ο χώρος της εκπαίδευσης δεν έμεινε εκτός της νέας αυτής πολυπολιτισμικής πραγματικότητας. Το εκπαιδευτικό σύστημα προσπάθησε να αντιμετωπίσει τα προβλήματα που προκλήθηκαν με την παρουσία παιδιών από διάφορα πολιτισμικά υπόβαθρα, θέτοντας ως βάση τη διαπολιτισμική εκπαίδευση. Η εργασία αυτή θα προσπαθήσει να διερευνήσει εάν οι Έλληνες αλλά και πολιτισμικά διαφορετικοί μαθητές που ζουν στον ελληνική κοινωνία υφίστανται τις κοινωνικές διαμεσολαβήσεις και να αναδείξει κατά πόσο αυτές επηρεάζουν τη διαμόρφωση των προσδοκιών τους στην εκπαίδευση. Στην ελληνική σχολική κοινότητα οι διαμεσολαβητές εκείνοι που διαμορφώνουν τις προσδοκίες των μαθητών και που δημιουργούν ανάλογες υποκειμενοποιήσεις μπορεί να ποικίλουν. Στην παρούσα έρευνα ως βασικοί διαμεσολαβητές θεωρούνται οι γονείς, οι φίλοι, ο δάσκαλος και οι συμμαθητές.Οι προσδοκίες των μαθητών στις οποίες εστιάζει η έρευνα είναι η φοίτηση στο σχολείο, η αριστεία, η επίτευξη υψηλότερων επιδόσεων, η εκμάθηση καινούργιων πραγμάτων και η μελέτη των μαθημάτων τους. / Recent decades have seen worldwide major economic, social and political changes. These changes led to immigration flow from one country to another and the conversion of the respective societies from monocultural to multicultural. The increase of the immigration flow affected the Greek society as well. In recent years, the establishment of the Greek population has changed, creating a multicultural society, in which the presence of natives and foreigners is important. In this multicultural reality, people interact with each other creating a multicultural society. The education sector is not left out of this new multicultural reality. The educational system has tried to address the problems caused by the presence of children from various cultural backgrounds by setting an intercultural education base. This research attempts to explore whether the Greek and culturally different students living in Greece suffer the social mediations and identify whether they affect the formation of expectations in education. In the Greek school community the mediators that shape the students' expectations may vary. In this research, the parents, the friends, the teacher and the classmates are considered as key mediators. The student expectations are school attendance, excellence of students, achievement of higher performance, learning of new things and doing their homework. Finally, all the mediators and the expectations of students in education were considered by the independent variables: nationality and gender, nationality and class attendance, nationality and performance in language, nationality and student behavior, nationality and adjustment of students in the school.

The present study examined individuation and expectations for autonomous behavior (EAB) with incoming college freshmen and their parents. To test the theory that greater mismatch between young adults and their parents about EAB would be associated with more negative adjustment to college, Collins' (1990) Expectancy-Violation Model was applied. Data were initially collected with online questionnaires from incoming college freshmen and one of their parents before the transition to college. Follow-up data (W2) were collected three months later to assess adjustment to college. Individuation was measured with the Late Adolescence Individuation Questionnaire; EAB and reports of actual autonomous behavior were assessed with a measure based on the Psychological Separation Inventory. College student adjustment was measured with indicators of psychological well-being (i.e., psychosomatic symptoms, depressive symptoms, positive affect) and adaptation to college (i.e., college self-efficacy, satisfaction with college, and anticipated fall college grades). Open-ended data were collected from young adults and their parents describing topics of autonomy behavior where they perceived disagreement. A MANOVA indicated that there were significant differences between the four individuation groups (a) individuated (high connectedness and high separateness), (b) pseudoautonomous (low connectedness and high separateness), (c) dependent (high connectedness and low separateness), and (d) ambiguous (low connectedness and low separateness) on the young adults' adjustment to college. Post-hoc planned comparisons revealed that college students in the "individuated" group were consistently better off than those in the "ambiguous" group. Some support was found for the hypothesis that a higher discrepancy (a) between parent and young adult EAB and (b) between young adults' reports of expected versus actual autonomous behaviors was associated with lower W2 young adult well-being. Quality of parent-young adult communication was found to moderate some of these associations. Qualitative data somewhat supported the quantitative results, as well as illustrated unique areas for disagreement on EAB. Jointly, these quantitative and qualitative findings suggest that young adults' level of individuation from parents and a mismatch between parents' and young adults' perceptions of future autonomous behavior may impact college students' psychological well-being during the transition to college.

Paauglystė – tai vienas iš svarbiausių gyvenimo tarpsnių, kai individas iš vaiko palaipsniui tampa suaugusiuoju, bando atsiskirti nuo tėvų, šeimos, tapti savarankišku ir nepriklausomu. Todėl šiuo laikotarpiu labai svarbūs yra santykiai bendruomenėje tarp paauglių ir suaugusiųjų, kurie turėtų būti pagrįsti pasitikėjimu, tolerancija, abipuse pagalba. Tad labai svarbu, kad būdamas bendruomenėje ir socializacijos procese, priimdamas vertybes, tradicijas, papročius, paauglys formuotų savo gyvenimo vertybių pagrindą. Tyrimo tikslas: Atskleisti paauglių užimtumo realybės gyvenvietės bendruomenėje ir paauglių lūkesčių sąsajas. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Apibūdinti paauglystės amžiaus tarpsnio specifiškumą ir gebėjimą socializuotis bendruomenėje. 2. Aprašyti gyvenvietės bendruomenės veiklą, organizuojant paauglių laisvalaikį. 3. Atskleisti gyvenvietės paauglių laisvalaikio užimtumo lūkesčių ir bendruomenės organizuojamos veiklos sąsajas. / Adolescence is one of the most important periods of life, when an individual from a child gradually develops into an adult, he/ she tries to separate himself / herself from parents, family, to become self-determined and independent. That is why relations in the community among adolescents and adults are very important during this period. They should be based on trust, tolerance, and mutual help. Thus, it is very important for an adolescent to form the fundamentals of his/ her life values in the community and during the process of socialization through the acceptance of its values, traditions and customs. Aim of the research: To reveal the correlation between the reality of adolescent pastime activities in a village community and adolescent expectations. Research objectives: 1. To describe the specificity of adolescence and ability to socialize in a community. 2. To describe the activities of a village community while organizing adolescent pastime. 3. To reveal the correlation between village adolescent pastime expectations and the activities organized by the village community.

SUMMARY The master’s degree study , called “The assessment of patient flow and posture towards the quality of services in a civic health center” has an objective to analyze the alterations of patient flow in the health center from 1999 to 2003 as well to rate their posture towards the quality of services they get. The study consists of three parts. The theoretical guesswork of patient flow and posture towards the quality of services in the civic health center is analyzed in the first part of the study. The enhanced information statement analysis of Šeškinė civic health center during the period between 1999 and 2003, including the computation of dynamical parameters and designating the trends by the specialties, was made in the second part of this study. The empirical results of the trial are presented in the third part. It comes to a conclusion that the unified quality of service rating system, which lets timely identify the problems of the service and effectively eliminate the demerit, is missing in the health care institutions; the national health care institutions do not orient towards the client demands, the sociological researches, about the satisfaction of patients with the level of services offered, aren’t performed. There is no prevention of potential contraction and contagion of diseases, the healthy lifestyle is not popularized, the information about the diseases, their course and possible complications are not proffered to the patients, the derivative specialists... [to full text]

Moksleiviai susiduria su rimtomis problemomis, susijusiomis su profesijos, tolesnio mokymosi krypties pasirinkimu, įsidarbinimu. Dažnai profesijos pasirinkimas ir profesinių mokyklų mokymo programų turinys neatitinka mokinių karjeros lūkesčių. Todėl atlikome tyrimą, kuris atskleidė profesijos rinkimosi subjektyviuosius bei objektyviuosius veiksnius, kurie turi įtakos karjeros lūkesčiams. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad profesinės mokyklos mokinių tarpe dominuoja subjektyvieji profesijos pasirinkimo veiksniai. Išanalizavus tyrimo duomenis paaiškėjo jog profesinėje raiškoje labiau dominuoja pragmatiškos vertybės. / Students encounter serious problems, which relate to their choice of profession, the direction that their studies should take and also eventual employment. Quite often the choice of profession and curriculum of the chosen educational institute, do not satisfy the students expectations in the chosen career. This is the reason why the study was conducted. It exposed subjective and objective factors which have an influence on career expectations. The results of the study showed that, students of institutes of professional learning are dominated by subjective career choice factors. Having analysed the results of the survey, it became clear that the professional sphere is dominated by pragmatic values.

Darbo tikslas: įvertinti pacientų pasitenkinimą VšĮ „Palangos reabilitacijos ligoninės“ teikiamomis paslaugomis. Uždaviniai: 1. Įvertinti bei palyginti pacientų lūkesčius ir pasitenkinimą. 2. Įvertinti socialinių – demografinių charakteristikų įtaką pacientų lūkesčiams ir pasitenkinimui. 3. Nustatyti veiksnius, susijusius su bendru pacientų pasitenkinimu Palangos reabilitacijos ligoninės teikiamomis paslaugomis. 4. Pateikti rekomendacijas reabilitacijos paslaugų tobulinimui. Tyrimo metodika: anketinė anoniminė VšĮ „Palangos reabilitacijos ligoninės“ pacientų apklausa - n = 346, atsako dažnis 87,6 proc. Naudota 7 balų Likert skalė. Rezultatų statistinė analizė atlikta naudojant SPSS 13.0 ir MS Excel. Hipotezės apie dviejų požymių nepriklausomumą buvo tikrinamos naudojant chi kvadrato (χ²) kriterijų. Rezultatai: tyrime dalyvavo 16-80 metų respondentai, iš jų 60,1 proc. moterų ir 39,9 proc. vyrų. 99,3 proc. pacientų gydėsi gavę siuntimą ir tik 0,7 proc. savo lėšomis. Du trečdalius (66,2 proc.) visų tiriamųjų sudarė pirmą kartą besigyd��iusieji. Pacientų pasiskirstymas pagal departamentus buvo beveik vienodas: bendrosios reabilitacijos departamente – 51,3 proc. ir neurologijos departamente – 48,7 proc. Lūkesčiai aukštesni (6,55 balo) už pasitenkinimą (6,42 balo) suteiktomis paslaugomis (p<0,05). Mažiausias pasitenkinimas yra paslaugų apčiuopiamumu (6,29 balo), didžiausias – personalo jautrumu (6,58 balo). Moterys ir vyrai yra vienodai patenkinti suteiktomis paslaugomis... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of the study: to assess patients’ satisfaction with the services provided at Palanga Rehabilitation Hospital. Objectives: 1. To assess and compare patients’ expectations and satisfaction. 2. To assess the influence of social and demographical characteristics on patients’ expectations and satisfaction. 3. To set the factors related with general patients’ satisfaction with the services provide at Palanga Rehabilitation Hospital. 4. To provide recommendations for the improvement of rehabilitation services. Methodology. Anonymous questionnaire survey of the patients of Palanga rehabilitation hospital – n = 346, the response rate 87.6 %. Likert scale of 7 points was used. Statistical analysis was performed by using SPSS 13.0 and MS Excel. The hypothesis due to non-dependence of two attributes was verified by applying chi square (x2) criterion. Results. The respondents of 16-80 years old participated in the survey, 60.1 % of women and 39.9 % of men. 99.3 % of patients had referrals to this institution and only 0.7 % of them at their costs. 66.2 % of all the respondents were hospitalized the first time. The patients’ distribution according to departments was almost equal: in the department of general rehabilitation – 51.3 % and the department of neurology – 48.7 %. The expectations were higher (6.55 points) than satisfaction (6.42 points) with the provided services (p<0.05). The lowest satisfaction was with tangibility of the services (6.29 points), the highest – with the... [to full text]

This thesis brings to the forefront of the existing literature the importance of analyzing transitional dynamics among different levels of schooling and to the labor market. I perform empirical analyses using confidential longitudinal survey data from Statistics Canada; employing program evaluation techniques, and regression modelling. The first chapter is joint work with Louis Christofides, Michael Hoy and Thanasis Stengos. We explore the forces that shape the development of aspirations and the achievement of grades during high school and the role that these aspirations, grades, and other variables play in educational outcomes such as going to university and graduating. We find that parental expectations and peer effects have a significant impact on educational outcomes through grades, aspirations, and their interconnectedness. Apart from this indirect path, parents and peers also influence educational outcomes directly. Policy measures that operate on parental influences may modify educational outcomes in desired directions. The second chapter estimates the wage returns to university quality. I distinguish between two distinct measures of university quality. The first is a survey-based university reputation ranking, and the second is a new ranking, which I construct from several university characteristics in order to objectively reflect the university quality. The findings indicate that the wage returns of having a Bachelor’s degree from a highly ranked university are 10.3% for women, and 13.4% for men. The returns are higher when comparing the wages in the top and bottom tails of the ranking distribution and gender differences are identified. The third chapter is a large-scale study on how students form and revise expectations. This affects their decision to drop out and/or change field of study once they have accessed post-secondary education. I find evidence that students change expectations and educational pathways as they are exposed to unexpected new information. This informs them about the quality of match between their own ability and the program that they are enrolled. Using non-parametric methods I show that this relationship is not linear.

The following study used politeness theory to explore the impact of simultaneously engaging in a face to face conversation and a text message conversation. Specifically the study used Brown and Levinson’s (1978, 1987) five original politeness strategies to see whether strategy choice (in the face to face conversation) impacts the face threat present in engaging in multiple conversations. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to understand the impact different politeness strategies had on the following variables: conversational appropriateness, relational/social appropriateness, immediacy, attentiveness, and politeness. Findings show that when a face to face partner ignores (no verbal/nonverbal politeness) a text message interruption the partner is seen as more relational/socially appropriate, immediate, attentive, and polite. Findings also indicate that aside from ignoring the text message, politeness messages that acknowledge the text message interruption and offer a relevant verbal message are viewed as more relationally/socially appropriate, immediate, attentive, and polite than those that indirectly deal with the text interruption. This study partially supports the popular belief that texting in the presence of others violates face to face conversational expectations and is perceived as “rude.” However, future studies need to look at the role and influence mediated conversational expectations play in overall conversational expectations.

The aim of the study was to gain a deeper understanding of the expectations that assistant nurses in the elderly care have on unit manager's leadership and the consequences if the expectations are not met. To answer the purpose of this paper a qualitative research was conducted with interviews with six assistant nurses in municipal elderly care. To analyze the empirical material communication were used as a theoretical concept. Communication includes codes, signals and messages to be interpreted by the parties in a conversation and they can be both verbal and nonverbal. This means that communication is complicated and can cause confusion if it is interpreted wrong. Both literature and the results of the interviews showed that the director has a lot of expectations on him- or herself. What among other things emerged was that the manager should be involved in employees' work, he should be knowledgeable about the organization and be able to give confidence to the families and this by including external characteristics argued the interviewees. Another important part of the result was that the manager should support staff, providing them with appreciation as this makes them feel good and do more at work. The consequence of the result showed a reduced commitment when expectations are not met. The decreased involvement came partly from the unit manager being in a terminal position, among other things, employees do not bring their ideas to the manager's because he do not introduce them without first asking his director for "permission". The second consequence was crap talk. Crap talk turned out to poison the workplace if among other things, conflicts were not handled or if the employees received too little information. / Syftet med studien var att få en fördjupad förståelse för de förväntningar som undersköterskorna i äldreomsorgen har på enhetschefernas ledarskap samt vilka konsekvenserna blir om förväntningarna inte uppfylls. För att besvara syftet genomfördes en kvalitativ studie. Det empiriska materialet består av intervjuer gjorda med sex undersköterskor inom den kommunala äldreomsorgen. För att analysera det empiriska materialet användes kommunikation som teoretiskt begrepp. Kommunikation innefattar koder, signaler och budskap som ska tolkas av parterna i ett samtal och dessa visar sig både verbalt och ickeverbalt. Detta gör att kommunikation är komplicerat och kan leda till missförstånd om det tolkas fel. Både litteraturen och resultaten från intervjuerna visade att chefen har en hel del förväntningar på sig. Det som bland annat framkom var att chefen ska vara engagerad i medarbetarnas arbete, denne ska vara kunnig om organisationen och kunna inge förtroende både till medarbetarna och till de anhöriga. En annan viktig del i resultatet var att chefen ska stödja personalen, ge dem uppskattning då detta gör att de mår bra och gör mer på arbetet. De konsekvenser som följer om förväntningarna inte uppfylls var ett minskat engagemang. Det minskade engagemanget kom bland annat från att chefen befinner sig i en klämposition som till viss del innebär att medarbetarna inte kommer med sina idéer till chefen då denne inte inför dem utan att först fråga verksamhetschefen om ”lov”. Den andra konsekvensen var skitsnack. Skitsnacket visade sig kunna förpesta en hel arbetsplats om bland annat konflikter inte hanterades eller om medarbetarna fått för lite information.