Thesis (M.A.)--Radford University, 1997. / Thesis that offers strategies for a successful and beneficial peer response group by establishing a site to include drafts, response sessions, and revisions of the writing of four freshmen at Radford University. The home page is represented in the thesis through a linear printout and on the Internet at the following address: http://www.runet.edu/j̃frick. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-60) and abstract.

Risālat al-Duktūrāh--Jāmiʻat ʻAyn Shams. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [613]-622) and index.

Thesis (M.A.(Political Sciences))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Summary in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references

Background: Construct validity refers to the degree to which tests that claim to measure a “construct” (i.e., an inferred concept that is intangible regarding an individual’s health or internal state such as a disease, or postulated attribute) are truly reflective of that specific construct. It is suggested that construct validity is an important concept in preclinical research, as it may help reduce misinterpretations of study results allowing for better ability to predict the success of clinical translation of preclinical studies. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence to confirm its impact on preclinical research efficacy. Objectives: (I) Conduct a scoping review of the construct validity literature as it relates to the design of in vivo animal studies. (II) Conduct an overview of systematics reviews evaluating the application and reporting of construct validity within systematic reviews of in vivo animal studies. Methods: For the scoping review, we searched Embase, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar. Eligibility criteria was intentionally broad as we included any article that mentioned construct validity in preclinical in vivo research. Further review of citations was performed on eligible studies that provided substantial discussion on construct validity. For the overview, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, and TOXLINE for systematic reviews of preclinical in vivo interventions. The outcomes of interest were the prevalence of systematic reviews that mentioned construct validity and the prevalence of reviews that assessed construct validity. Results: The literature searches for the scoping and overview yielded 3657 and 2356 articles, respectively. After screening 372 and 444 met inclusion criteria for the scoping and overview. Six codes were generated (theory; mechanism; matches the human condition; measures what it reports to; experimental conditions; and outcomes) from the content analysis for the definition of construct validity. Of the 444 systematic reviews, seven mentioned construct validity, but only three used the term construct validity directly. None of the systematic reviews assessed construct validity. Discussion/Conclusion: Construct validity was not defined uniformly among studies suggesting it is not clearly understood. There was limited reporting on construct validity in systematic reviews and entirely no assessment of it; this may reflect a lack of awareness of this concept. Future research should aim to find a consensus on the definition of construct validity in order to develop tools and frameworks to help researchers assess construct validity.

Although there is substantial literature on the use of performance appraisal in the for-profit world, there is little literature available concerning the appraisal of staff positions in higher education. More knowledge is needed in this area since there is considerable research indicating that performance appraisal creates benefits to an organization and its employees. This study provides a comprehensive review of the development and use of performance appraisal in the United States, and a detailed look at the purposes, benefits, and challenges of performance appraisal. The study found a very high usage of staff performance appraisal in its population of 108 Christian colleges and universities. However, it also found a significant amount of dissatisfaction with the appraisal process due to (a) lack of leadership support for the appraisal process, (b) supervisors not being held accountable for the timely completion of their appraisals, and (c) the lack of training provided supervisors for doing performance appraisals well.

Master of Science / Department of Computing and Information Sciences / Mitchell Neilsen / The Course Review System (CRS) application reviews courses and their feedbacks, thereby providing a platform to learn about the courses being offered at Kansas State University (KSU) before enrollment. This can help current and also prospective students who are planning to enroll in courses at KSU to form an idea about the courses being offered at KSU. For the CRS application graduate and undergraduate level courses from 16 departments at KSU were included. Users can rate a course on a scale of 1 to 5 in three categories namely: Difficulty, Grading, and Learning Curve. Statistical analysis was used to display the top 10 courses in each department for each rating category. A recommendation feature which recommends courses to users based on the courses they are currently viewing was added to provide users with recommendations. Users could post their reviews and comments in the comments section. In addition to this we also have a ‘Questions and Answers’ section allowed users to ask questions and any interested user could answer them in that forum. Dimensional Research conducted a survey about the impact of opting courses via online reviews, in which 88% of respondents were influenced by online course reviews when selecting an online course [17]. In addition to the survey however, rational thinking suggests that obtaining an idea about a course involves reading through the experiences of actual users before deciding to select a course. Therefore, the proliferation of various review websites, including software application reviews, plays a major role. Reviews and ratings of a course provides users with an idea about the course they intend to take up and also helps in effectively planning out coursework for the semester. As users are looking for information to help them choose the most suitable course for their requirements course reviews are playing a larger role than they were in the past. It also helps students to make smart choices in laying out a flow chart for their program. The CRS application was a perfect platform for students to know everything they need to know about courses before they enroll.

Staff Development and Performance Review (SDPR) was introduced in Northern Ireland in 1992, in compliance with the Education (School Teacher Appraisal) Regulations (1991) in England and Wales. This qualitative study examined issues relating to SDPR and staff development. Qualitative research was chosen because the research involved an in-depth examination of social processes and the researcher would be closely associated with the research, the findings of which would have direct implications for her professional practice. The research involved four case studies, each conducted in four post-primary schools in Northern Ireland, a voluntary grammar school, an integrated school, a maintained school and a controlled school. Twenty-five semi-structured interviews were carried out. Findings showed that there is a close relationship between the management of SDPR and the perceptions held of it. When the principal for example embraced SDPR in a positive light, other teachers in the school did likewise. Constraints to SDPR included: lack of time; SDPR being perceived as appraisal; the difficulty of choosing a suitable focus for review; concerns about writing up the report following the review; and inadequate training. Personal professional development was being encouraged and supported in all four schools. Two of the schools offered funding for in-service degree courses. The other two did not. This highlighted inequity in relation to financial support for teachers undertaking part-time degree courses. A number of respondents thought that the introduction of performance related pay (PRP) would have a positive effect on the staff development aspect of the SDPR process. Others believed that if performance related pay and SDPR were to be linked, the purpose of SDPR would be defeated. The study refers to a number of recommendations. These include the fact that money should be held centrally by the Department of Education in Northern Ireland for the purpose of supporting personal professional development.

This study explored the process of constitutional interpretation and constitutional review in Ethiopia and determined the role of the courts. It examined the different suggestions made by different authors and officials regarding the respective role and function of the courts and the House of Federation in interpreting the constitution and exercising the power of constitutional review. It also seeked to inquire the counter-majoritarian problem which focused on the relationship between judicial review and democracy. The thesis also inquired into the legitimacy of the Ethiopian approach to constitutional review. In this regard it seeked to determine whether the approach represents and adequate response to the counter-majoritarian problem. It also seeked to determine whether Ethiopia has adopted an institution that is well suited, competent and impartial to discharge the task of constitutional interpretation and constitutional review.

The research field argues for the importance of aligning business and IT, since organizations that has conducted a high degree of alignment in general perform better than other organizations. This is not easy to achieve, aligning business and IT is still one of the top challenges for organizations. This study aims to examine previous research to identify and describe scientifically validated ways of achieving and keeping business and IT aligned. To do this a systematic literature review is conducted. The result from the systematic literature review is processed to identify similarities between the different ways of achieving and keeping business and IT aligned. The study contributes with a theoretical ground for future research and for interested students and practitioners who want to gain insights in the field.

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. / Maternal and perinatal mortality remains significantly high in low‐income countries with over 800 deaths per day of women around childbirth. Greater than 90% of such deaths occur in low‐income countries. The concept of maternity waiting homes (MWH) was reintroduced to aid in decreasing maternal and perinatal mortality. Since the previous Cochrane Review in 2012 on maternity waiting homes, there have not been any published randomized controlled studies. Do observational studies on MWHs demonstrate decreased maternal and perinatal mortality in low‐income countries when compared with the standard of care? We searched for primary articles that reported maternal and perinatal deaths as major outcomes in studies who compared MWHs to other methods such as direct hospital admits, we also investigated cesarean delivery rates. Search engines used were: Cochrane Review, Medline and CINAHL. Meta‐analyses and forests plots were formulated using MedCalc Software. Systematic review was drafted using MOOSE guidelines for meta‐analysis and systematic reviews of observation. Seven articles met criteria for this study. The maternal mortality rate for MWH was 105/100,000 and 1,066/100,000 for non‐MWH, Relative Risk (RR) 0.145 (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.062 to 0.204). Perinatal mortality rate was 60/1,000 in MWH compared to 65/1,000, RR 0.782 (CI 0.602 to 1.120) in non‐MWH. Stillbirth rate was 18/1,000 in MWH and 184/1,000 in non‐MWH, RR 0.204 (CI 63.88 to 94.08). Neonatal mortality rates were 16/1,000 in MWH and 15/1,000 in non‐MWH, RR 0.862 (CI 0.392 to 1.628). Cesarean deliveries rate was 24/100 for MWH and 18/100 in non‐MWH, RR 1.229 (CI 1.226‐1.555). MHWs statistically decreased maternal death, stillbirths and increased cesarean delivery rates. Overall, the observation nature of the study designs introduces selection biases that may have altered the results of the studies. No randomized trials have been done to date. We suggest cluster‐randomized studies to further evaluate the effect of MWHs.