Este diagnóstico teve como objetivo desenvolver uma análise minuciosa do setor produtivo da habitação em madeira no Brasil, avaliando a sua atual situação, suas singularidades produtivas e seus produtos. Um formulário padrão dividido em três enfoques (produto, empresa e setor) foi aplicado aos empresários das empresas que produzem casas de madeira. Os dados foram coletados mediante a realização de entrevistas estruturadas face-a-face e reunidos para a avaliação em amostragem do setor brasileiro de casas de madeira em 2015, os quais foram organizados em dezesseis eixos. Paralelamente, a metodologia de buscas em websites corporativos permitiu a identificação de 210 produtores de casas de madeira no Brasil, um índice muito acima do que a literatura difundia até então, as quais foram estimadas devido à ausência de uma entidade de classe para o setor. Quinze técnicas construtivas em madeira foram identificadas como exemplos em oferta no Brasil. Na amostragem principal das entrevistas face-a-face, 107 empresas foram analisadas, apresentando uma margem de erro de 6,65%, isto é, ±3,325%. Verificou-se que o setor estudado ainda sofre com as seguintes dificuldades para a sua consolidação: desarticulação e desunião entre os produtores, oferta elevada de madeiras nativas, demanda de profissionais capacitados no ofício com a madeira e os seus derivados, escassez de financiamentos habitacionais, barreira cultural da população, baixa oferta de financiamentos voltados para a melhoria das empresas, etc. Contudo, o setor também alcançou os seguintes resultados positivos: quantidade expressiva de produtores, portes compactos das empresas, elevada concentração de fábricas próprias e parcerias industriais, altas fixações de carbono e de dióxido de carbono, custos básicos de venda competitivos perante a alvenaria, ampla oferta de madeira exótica, tempos de produção integralmente mais eficientes que a alvenaria, pluralidade nas ofertas de padrão de acabamento para todas as classes sociais, entre outros. Espera-se que os resultados e as suas potencialidades apontadas auxiliem em novas discussões e estudos paralelos para incentivar o aprimoramento, expansão e consolidação do referido setor por meio de políticas públicas assertivas, mitigando suas falhas, dificuldades e demandas. Por fim, foram propostas as criações de entidades e comitês para representar e promover o setor. / This study aimed to develop a thorough analysis of the production sector of timber housing in Brazil, evaluating the current situation, industrial singularities, and their products. A standard questionnaire divided in three focuses (product, company and sector) was applied to the entrepreneurs of the wooden housing sector. Data were collected by face-to-face structured interviews and they were gathered to the sample evaluation of the Brazilian wooden housing sector in 2015, which were organized in sixteen research axes. At the same time, the corporative website search method allowed the identification of 210 wooden housing producers in Brazil; an index higher than what the literature had disseminated until then, which where estimated due to the absence of a sector association. Fifteen wooden construction techniques were identified as sale examples in Brazil. In the main sampling process of face-to-face interviews, 107 companies were analyzed, presenting a margin of error of 6.65%, in other words, ±3,325%. It was verified the studied sector still suffers with the following difficulties to its consolidation: disarticulation and disunity among the producers, high native timber supply, woodworker demand, shortage of housing financing, population\'s cultural barrier, low supply of financing to improve the companies, etc. However, the sector also achieved the following positive results: expressive producer amount, compact companies, high concentration of own prefabrication plants and industrial partnerships, high levels of carbon and carbon dioxide fixations, competitive basic selling costs regarding masonry, wide availability of exotic wood, production times that are more efficient than masonry, plurality in the finishing standards availability for all social classes, among others. It is hoped that the results and the highlighted potentialities will help in new discussions and parallel studies to encourage the improvement, expansion and consolidation of this sector through assertive public policies, mitigating their failures, difficulties and demands. Finally, the creation of associations and committees was proposed to represent and promote this sector.

Background and Objectives Self - report data is known to be unrel iable and susceptible to factors such as social desirability bias. Methods used for collecting self - report data has thus far been unsuccessful in ameliorating known obstacles to honest self - disclosure. Considering the current HIV/AIDS pandemic and relate d health crises, it is imperative that self - report data is an accurate depiction of reality, since it informs research requirements and designs as well as intervention designs and the evaluation of the efficacy of the interventions. Aim To evaluate and co mpare the efficacy of the Informal Confidential Voting Interview (ICVI) to the FTFI (Face - to - Face Interview) and the SAQ (Self - Administered Questionnaire) in enhancing self - disclosure and minimizing social desirability bias on sensitive topics of sexual ex perience and sexual activity. Study Design A sample of 110 undergraduate and post - graduate students at various tertiary education institutions in Pietermaritzburg were randomly allocated to the ICVI, the SAQ or the FTFI. The ICVI combined a face - to - face interview with a voting box method devised to enhance response anonymity. The FTFI and the SAQ were administered according to a standardized procedure to maximize confidentiality and self - disclosure. Results The self - disclosure scores were significant ly higher for the ICVI in comparison to the FTFI and the SAQ, with a p = 0.005. Post - hoc tests revealed that the ICVI performed significantly better in self - disclosure scores than the FTFI with p = 0.022 and the SAQ with p = 0.015. There was no significa nt difference in self - disclosure scores between the SAQ and the FTFI. Using the Marlowe - Crowne scale of social desirability bias, a significant difference in social desirability bias scores were achieved with p = 0.043. However, the post - hoc analysis ind icated no affirmative significant mean difference in social desirability score among any of the methods. Males displayed greater self - disclosure than females with p = 0.013, but for both sexes the ICVI group achieved the highest mean self - disclosure score s than the FTFI - and the SAQ group. Conclusion The results of this study concluded that the employment of ICVI fundamentally resulted in better quality data than the SAQ and the FTFI on topics of sensitivity and controversial behaviours. The findings ar e suggestive of the successful implementation of the ICVI method across potentially diverse research contexts that rely on self - report data, as the method is adaptable to the target population and its characteristics. Further research is warranted to buil d on its current design and facilitate the implementation of the ICVI across the wide disciplines of self - report data. / Thesis (M.Sc.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, [2009]