The purpose of the study is to investigate how well the mathematics achievement is explained by the students and school related factors. Also, to what extent students and school related factors components are accounted for students&rsquo / mathematics achievement in answering reasoning level questions and basic mathematical knowledge questions will be investigated. This study will basically combine students&rsquo / questionnaires items with their mathematics achievement scores obtained from mathematics achievement tests items. According to content and cognitive domains three achievement tests were prepared from TIMSS-2003 released mathematic items. Student questionnaire consist of combination of items from TIMSS-2003 and TMSS-1999 student questionnaires. The seventy six items selected from the students questionnaires were analyzed using principle component factor analysis and ten interpretable dimensions were found. Based on the result of the factor analysis, variables were generated by selecting the observed variables with highest loadings. These variables were: socioeconomic status, perception of success, teacher centered activities, students centered activities, out of school activities, out of school activities II, school climate, reason for being successful in mathematics, homework and computer. The data which is used in the study gathered from four socially and economically different schools in Ankara and the final sample of the study consisted of 426 elementary school students. This data was analyzed by using regression analysis. Regression analysis results indicated that socio-economic status was the strongest factor explaining mathematics achievement. Other important variables were the perception of success, use of computers and homework activities. Socioeconomic status and perception of success have positive relationships with mathematics achievement, while homework and computer have negative relationships. These four variables account for the 30.1 % of the variance in mathematics achievement. Other variables did not significantly contribute to mathematics achievement in the regression model. Students&rsquo / achievement in basic mathematical knowledge was explained by the same variables which were socioeconomic status, perception of success, homework and computer in the same way. However, achievement in reasoning level explained by socio- economic status, perception of success and homework. The use of computer factor did not contribute the achievement in reasoning level.

Researchers have been addressing on entry strategies, most of them are foreign researchers conducted researches on multinational firms, especially firms entering developed European countries or USA. Domestic researches mainly focused on firms entering PRC market, literally few studies have been found served Taiwan as the market being entered. Since Taiwan released the limit on foreigner share holding proportions in 1984, international advertisement firms gradually entered Taiwan. In the score years, Taiwan¡¦s advertisement market have been totally owned by foreign firms, thus Taiwanese advertisement firms need a method to break through. Given southeastern Asia markets are emerging, for Taiwanese advertisement firms, they pose as a market to be invested. Thus this thesis analyzed the entry mode of international advertising firms in order to serve as a reference to Taiwanese advertisement firms. This research served the period between establishment and entering Taiwan, cultural differences, five years average growth rate of GDP per capita, five years average growth rate of FDI in origin country, year 1984 and the changes in the number of competitors as the independent variables, and ownership or not as the dependent variable, applied logistic regression models in testing the relation between the selected variables. Outcomes indicate that cultural differences factor and five years average growth rate of GDP per capita factor bear significant factor loading while the other yielded insignificant results. Emerging countries in Asia ¡V e.g. Vietnam and Thailand ¡V possess close culture characteristics with Taiwan. Thus if advertisement firms are willing to invest in these markets, it is suggested to enter with ownership ¡V especially when the underlying countries¡¦ GDP growth rates are high.

Offshoring, meaning the movement of business operations to foreign countries, has recently grown. It provides the company with opportunities which are not available domestically, but it also bears risks. The public has recently blamed the strategy of offshoring for weak growth of domestic economy, decreasing competitiveness, salary stagnation, job losses, lower worker morale, and poverty. As a consequence, a firm carrying out offshoring activities could suffer from consumers' negative attitudes towards offshoring, as the consumers are unwilling to buy their products/services or take actions against the company. This study addresses the Swedish young adults' attitudes towards offshoring. Young adults are playing an important role in economy as consumers, future workers, innovators, leaders and decision makers. The study investigates the factors that were underlying the formation of attitudes towards offshoring. We focused especially on three factors, namely consumer ethnocentrism, economic threat and quality beliefs. In order to address these issues, a quantitative research approach was applied and primary data were collected. The variables for the online survey were mainly distilled from Durvasula and Lysonski (2009) as well Grappi, Romani and Bagozzi (2013). The gathered data have been analyzed via the software of SPSS by performing correlation tests and analyzing descriptive statistic measures. The results indicated that Swedish young adults had neutral attitudes towards offshoring. We also found that two of the studied factors, consumer ethnocentrism and economic threat, were vital in the formation of the attitudes towards offshoring.

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Resilient modulus is an important property for asphalt concrete design and for mechanistic analysis of pavement response under traffic loading. This study investigates the different factors affecting the resilient modulus of hot mix asphalt. A fractional factorial design of experiment was carried out to investigate six factors each factor was studied at two levels. These factors are: the maximum nominal aggregate size, specimen diameter and thickness, the load pulse form and duration, and the compaction method. Two types of hot mix asphalts with different maximum aggregate sizes (10 mm and 14 mm) were studied. Gyratory and Marshall compaction methods were used to prepare the specimens. Sinusoidal and triangular load pulse forms were used in the measurement of the resilient modulus. This study attempts to examine how the different factors interrelate to affect the resilient modulus. In addition to this, two other investigations will be carried out. The first is the comparison of the strain backcalculated using the resilient modulus test results with the strain measured using strain gages and strain values obtained from finite element modelling (FEM), and determine whether the FEM or the closed form equation is the more accurate method for determining strain. The second is the investigation of the relationship between the flexural, complex and resilient modulus. Analysis of the factorial experimental design showed that the maximum nominal aggregate size is the most important factor affecting the resilient modulus, followed by the load duration, the specimen geometry represented by the thickness and diameter then the interactions between the different factors. The strain comparison suggested that the closed form equations were indeed a suitable approach to determine maximum horizontal strain during a resilient modulus test. The modulus comparison suggested that it is possible to predict either resilient, complex and flexural modulus given that only one of them is known, but only for AC10 specimens.

Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 1992. / gm2014 / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

This Diploma thesis analyzes the development of the mortgage market in Slovakia. The thesis achieves partial goals which lead to the analysis of the factors affecting the mortgage market. The subject of the practical part, which at the same time happens to be a partial goal, is to analyze the overall development of the mortgage market together with the surrounding markets, to identify the key factors, to monitor their development along with the development the mortgages provided, and to analyze econometrically selected factors affecting the mortgage market. The analysis shows the scope of the force and direction of the selected factors. The theoretical part emphasizes the characteristics of the type of mortgage banking with a focus on the system existing in Slovakia. The thesis also follows the risks from the perspective of the entities in mortgage banking. It also defines the rules, interest rate conditions and types of government-sponsored support. The relationships between the Slovak mortgage market and its subjects are also being explained. Special attention is being paid to the legislative developments having current impact on mortgage banking.

The master thesis deals with the determination of factors that affect the price of real estate. The theoretical part focuses on the basic concepts related to the real estate market, as well as the methods of real estate valuation and prices used in the valuation, enumeration and description of the factors that affect the price of real estate and in the last part of the description of the towns, which the analysis applies. In the practical part is the analysis and evalution of selected factors on the price of real estate. During the monitored properties were selected apartments 3 +1, 65 to 75 m2.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Physiotherapy Johannesburg, 2012 / Introduction: Stroke continues to be a major public health problem for both the developed and developing world despite the various advances in health care. The economic burden of stroke is ever increasing and in light of this, return to work post-stroke is becoming an important area of research for therapists. Thus the main aims of the study were to establish the rate of return to work of patients following stroke and to establish the patients’ perceived factors which influence their return to work after stroke. Method This was a quantitative cross sectional study. A sample of convenience of ninety seven participants were selected from a list of patients obtained from various rehabilitation units and government clinics within the Gauteng province. A self-designed questionnaire was used. A pilot study was conducted to determine the questionnaire’s reliability and validity, and the validity, inter-rater and intra-rater reliability were all found to be satisfactory. The participants were contacted and interviewed at their homes or a location suitable for them using a self-designed questionnaire. The percentage of patients that returned to work was determined and reasons for returning or not returning to work were summarised using frequencies and percentages. A univariate and then multivariate analysis was performed to establish perceived factors which had an influence on return to work Results The study sample had more males than females with an overall mean age of 51years. They were mostly black and between 18 months and 24 months post-stroke. The most common co-morbidities were fatigue and hypertension. There was a 34% return to work rate, with 3% stopping work after a period of time, leaving 31% of the sample working at the time of interview. The most common reasons for returning to work were financial (77%), enjoyment of work (77%) and personal development (73%). For those who did not return to v work the two most common reasons were upper limb dysfunction (61%) and walking difficulties (53%). The main factors that decreased likelihood of return to work included depression and not paying life insurance or monthly car repayments. Conclusion The return to work rate following stroke in this study group is in line with other countries around the world, although it is still relatively low with less than a third of patients with stroke returning to work. Enjoyment of work was shown to be as important a motivating factor for return to work as finances, and physical fallout was the most demotivating factor. Depression was the most likely factor to decrease return to work.

No description available.