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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2007. / "May, 2007." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-87). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2009. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 204-210). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-129) Also available in print.

No description available.

The attempts to understand discontent and populist surges in the West, especially in recent years, led to an abundance of research, comments, and speculations. Some thinkers asserted that such events are the symptoms of a cleavage restructuration in liberal democratic societies that would be centered around the question of merit. Research generally links higher education and general success in life to satisfaction and relative support of the established order. On the contrary, lesser educated and successful individuals tend to question this state of affairs. A cleavage revolving around success and education would consequently replace previous divisions, such as the usual right-left opposition, but also come on top of other schisms, mainly spatial ones. This thesis offers to verify the existence of such a cleavage with a case study of the Yellow Vests movement, in France. Analyzing the discourse of the representants of the meritocracy, Emmanuel Macron and his government, it finds trends that support the existence of such an underlying conflict.

The purpose of this study was to audit employee perceptions of the Sentara Health System performance appraisal system in a merit pay setting. To accomplish this, the study investigated variables having a positive relationship on employee perception of performance appraisal acceptability, fairness and accuracy. The study had three objectives: (1) integrate the current body of literature to develop variables that adequately describe employee perception of appraisal systems, (2) integrate these variables into several hypotheses that are consistent with current literature, and (3) test the hypotheses using Pearson product moment correlations. Nine variables hypothesized as depicting aspects of employee perceptions were conceptualized, and multiple indicators were developed for each variable. A questionnaire containing these items was randomly distributed to 300 employees throughout a large health care system. Results indicate that performance appraisal acceptability, fairness and accuracy had a positive relationship with supervisor trust, supervisor knowledge of performance, interview information, interview atmosphere, performance standard acceptability, participation in development, performance reward link and merit pay acceptability. All the hypotheses had significant positive correlations (≤.01). These findings were discussed in terms of the study limitations, suggested future research and implications for the organization studied, as well as other organizations with merit pay programs. / Master of Science

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Objective: Social functioning encompasses interactions with people across situations of varying complexity. Given the frequency of observed social impairments in individuals with schizophrenia, there is a need to identify mechanisms that influence social functioning impairments. One proposed mechanism is metacognition, a mental process that enables the integration and interpretation of mental states and experiences. Impaired metacognition can inhibit one’s ability to engage and navigate through our social world. In individuals with schizophrenia, both social functioning and metacognitive deficits are profound. This study examined three hypotheses. Following Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy (MERIT), (1) individuals will show improvements in social functioning; (2) individuals will show improvements in metacognitive abilities; and (3) improvements in social functioning will be associated with improved metacognitive abilities. Method: Using secondary data from a MERIT therapy feasibility study, data collected from the active condition groups (e.g., individuals with schizophrenia, n =16) at pre-and post-assessment were analyzed using paired samples t-tests for primary outcomes and hierarchical linear regressions to assess metacognition as an underlying mechanism of change. Results: Paired samples t-tests found no significant improvement in social functioning or metacognition. In contrast to the hypothesis, metacognitive abilities significantly declined. When subscales were examined, two subscales (self-reflectivity and awareness of others) significantly decreased. The post-hoc analysis found significant improvements in overall symptoms and disorganization. Lastly, metacognition did not significantly predict post-intervention social functioning. Conclusions: Measurement modality and the length of intervention may help explain the null findings observed in this study. The improvement in overall and disorganized symptoms could indicate that symptom reductions precede social functioning and metacognition changes. Given that the results from this trial were not aligned with previous studies, further research is needed to determine the effectiveness of MERIT on social functioning and metacognition in schizophrenia.

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Högskola/universitet riktar sina blickar allt mer ut mot övriga världen och en del i denna internationalisering är att studenterna har möjlighet till utlandsstudier under studietiden. En av de utbildningar som uppmärksammar detta är Biblioteks- och informationsvetenskaps-programmet vid Växjö universitet, där studenterna den femte terminen har möjlighet till utlandsstudier. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka huruvida dessa utlandsstudier under studietiden betraktas som en merit eller inte vid anställning av bibliotekarier. Detta syfte ses utifrån två grupper: tidigare studenter på biblioteks- och informationsvetenskapsprogrammet vid Växjö universitet och personer med anställningsansvar inom biblioteksyrket, så kallade avnämare. I examensarbetet tar jag upp dessa två gruppers uppfattningar kring utlandsstudier och jag undersöker också hur medvetna de tidigare studenterna är om avnämarnas uppfattningar kring utlandsstudier. Detta gör jag genom en kvalitativ studie med tre reflexiva intervjuer med vardera gruppen. Jag har även valt att studera detta fenomenografiskt och utgå från de två gruppernas uppfattningar av utlandsstudier. Mina slutsatser av dessa sex intervjuer är att båda grupperna ser utlandsstudier som en merit men i olika hög grad. De tidigare studenterna är mer övertygade om att det är en merit än vad de intervjuade avnämarna generellt är. Det kan dock konstateras att ett väl underbyggt val och tankar kring vad terminen med utlandsstudier är bra för underlättar för studenten vid en anställningsintervju. Det samma gäller om du läser samma termin på ditt universitet i Sverige. Med andra ord är utlandsstudier en fördel som kan ge dig andra perspektiv på livet, men är inte avgörande vid en anställning inom biblioteksyrket.