Masters in Public Administration - MPA / Organisations of every industry are changing continuously. A pervasive response to this experience is some form of downsizing. Chew and Horwitz (2002) state due to globalisation, organisations have increasingly adopted cost/ competitive measures to increase performance. Organisations inevitably seek to survive these pressures by downsizing. According to Tzafrir, Mona- Negrin, Havel and Rom Nagy (2006), downsizing is known to be defined as a company trying to increase its competitiveness, efficiency and productivity by decreasing the number of workers in the organisation. Drummond (2000) states that there is extra pressure put onto the remaining workers for productivity after the layoff process. It must be acknowledged that managers should be seen as both an employee and a supervisor. Managers therefore have to implement the change when the process occurs and deals with the reactions of him/herself and that of the subordinates (Wiesenfeld, Brockner, Petzall, Wolf & Bailey, 2001). To gain a competitive advantage, organisations must pay attention to their managers who are responsible for driving organisation’s processes and outcomes. Rana, Garg and Rastogi (2011) state that organisations need to attend to factors that influence managers’ performance and job satisfaction, such as perception of organisational justice. Managers’ perception of organisational justice is imperative, as subordinates mimic the behaviours and attitude of their managers (Wiesenfeld et al., 2001). The aim of this study is to investigate what impact the downsizing process had on the perception of organizational justice of survivor middle managers. The differences between middle managers’ age, gender, year of service or tenure, marital status and education level were taken into account. The study was conducted in different departments of a large Automotive Retail organisation where downsizing has taken place. A biographical questionnaire and a questionnaire designed to measure perceptions of organisational justice after downsizing (Niehoff and Moorman Organisational Justice Questionnaire), was administered to gather the data. The sample of one hundred and forty-four respondents consisted of male and female middle managers. Convenience sampling was utilised to select the sample. Statistical analyses involved both descriptive and inferential statistics. ANOVA and T-Test were the tools that were used to analyse the data. Findings indicates that there was a statistical significant difference in middle managers’ perception of organisational justice based on gender, age, tenure, marital status and education level in the Automotive Industry.

The thesis elaborates on the previously described and generally accepted relationship between marital status and mortality. Into this relationship, it is trying to include cohabitations, which responds to the latest developments in the structure of households in the Czech Republic. The thesis aims to include cohabitations within the context of this proven relationship and to determine at what level is the mortality of cohabitants compared to married couples or people without a partner. The question is whether it is possible to include cohabitations and marriages on the same level or whether each of these groups keeps its specifics, which is also transmitted to mortality. Life tables according to marital status and dependency analysis of time series were used to address this issue. The research of the nature of cohabitation in the Czech society is also an essential part of the thesis and helps to further illustrate the findings obtained by these methods. Hypotheses that are solved using these methods are based on the assumption that cohabitants are the part of the category of single people as well and if they show lower mortality rates than people without a partner, then their increasing representation accelerates growth in life expectancy compared to married couples, and eventually it accelerates a decline in mortality. The results tend to show that the mortality of cohabitants is higher than that of people without a partner, but lower compared to married couples. However, it is necessary to face the lack of data and work on the design of better indicators. It means that this thesis opens up the area especially for Czech society and presents perspectives that research of this issue offers.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify the key predictors of prostate cancer; such study may lead to the development of appropriate interventions and prevention. Previous epidemiological studies have found these following factors to be key predictors for being diagnosed with hormone-associated carcinoma such as prostate cancer: age, ethnicity, physical activity, family history, diet, sleep amount, marital status, and having another form of carcinoma. Many studies have included results only for men over the age of 65, however, prostate cancer is claiming the lives of many African American, Hispanic and White American men over the age of 35, and younger men are more likely to battle it if they are genetically predisposed. The sample population (N =21,646) was selected because men aged 35 or over have the highest prevalence of prostate cancer. Of this sample, 619 reported having prostate cancer, and 1,401 reported having some other type of cancer. This study employs a logistic regression model using SAS® and utilizes the National Health Interview Survey data set and a multivariate analysis of the years 2006, 2007, and 2008. To improve the quality of future research the methods need modification, the subpopulation being studied should be larger, and the studies should be longitudinal. This particular study found the aforementioned factors to be critical in predicting prostate cancer. Maximum sun exposure was found to be also related to having prostate cancer. Key predictors for prostate cancer diagnosis are age, ethnicity, having some other cancer and maximum sun exposure, and education. Though previous studies have found physical activity, sleep amount, and occupation to be beneficial in reducing the risk for prostate cancer, it was not confirmed in this particular study.

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Thesis (M. Sc. (Statistics)) --University of Limpopo, 2017. / South Africa is one of the countries with chronic high unemployment rate. The unemployment rate has consistently been above 24% for a considerable period of time. It is important for policy and decision makers to know the type of persons who are unemployed, and underemployed in order to come up with the right intervention. The purpose of this study was to find and describe the determinants of unemployment, underemployment, and earnings in South Africa. In order to realize the objectives of the study, secondary data from 2012 Quarterly Labour Force Survey was used. Statistics South Africa collects labour market related information from persons between the age of 15 and 64. The data have information on status of unemployment, underemployment and earnings and other related to variables. Logistic regression was applied on the data and it was found that age, gender, population group, marital status, level of education, and province were significant determinants of unemployment in South Africa. Gender, population group, sector, marital status and contract duration were found to be significantly associated with time-related underemployment. Generalised linear model was applied on the data and it was found that gender, population group, marital status, level of education contract duration, geographical location, and sector were the determinants of earnings.

Vitamin D is essential to optimizing health; vitamin D deficiency (VDD) can increase risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and insulin resistance. VDD occurs when individuals do not receive sufficient oral intake or obtain adequate sun exposure. Previous researchers indicated there is a relationship between VDD and depression, while others have indicated there is no relationship. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between vitamin D levels and depression, and how this relationship might be moderated by an individual's demographic characteristics (gender, age, smoking status, or marital status). This study was a quantitative data analysis of archival data from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The Health Belief Model was the theoretical framework. An ex-post facto exploratory analysis was used to test 2,623 adults located throughout the United States. Employing moderated multiple regression, a significant relationship was found between vitamin D levels and depression (p. < .001); however, the relationship was not moderated by demographic characteristics (gender, age, smoking status, or marital status). This study supports prior researchers who affirmed a correlation between vitamin D levels and depression. Given the definitive findings, practitioners should continue to recommend intake of vitamin D to individuals not meeting recommended daily dosages, but recommendations should not be based on gender, age, smoking status, or marital status. Understanding the connection between VDD and depression provides a basis on which to foster positive social change at the individual, family, organizational, and societal level.

There are 15.9 million adults in the United States providing care to a family member diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Family member caregivers experience detrimental physical and mental health stress because of their caregiving role. The purpose of this study was to determine if the independent variables of marital status, perceived social support, and gender of family member caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease were related to the dependent variable of caregiver burden. The variables were examined through the lens of John Bowlby's attachment theory using archival data (n = 586) from the REACH II program. The results of the analysis of variance indicated that marital status did not affect level of burden. The outcome of a correlational analysis indicated a positive linear association between burden and social support. The result of an independent samples t test was that females reported higher burden than males. The outcome of a linear regression identified marital status, social support, and gender as predictors of caregiver burden. Positive social change implications of this study include contributing to scholarly literature, providing information for families to consider when implementing a plan for long-term care, and encouraging caregivers to seek professional support to minimize burden and maximize quality of life for themselves and the care receiver. Female caregivers with many social supports were identified as high risk for severe burden, an important factor for clinicians, agencies, and healthcare providers who work with family caregivers to consider. Identifying factors that contribute to burden and developing strategies to manage these factors may reduce severity of burden and improve quality of life for both caregivers and care recipients.

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This research paper explores differences in company performance levels, as measured by selected company fundamentals and annual return, with regard to the marital status of top executives, specifically the chief executive officer and the chief financial officer. It examines whether the differences in firm performance are determined by the marital status of the respective business executive. Groups of never married, married, and divorced executives are compared against each other to establish if and how the company performance changes between these groups. Summary statistics of the examined variables in conjunction with the results of the simple and multiple regression analyses indicate that marriage clearly has a detrimental effect on a firm’s performance. By contrast, divorce is beneficial as it contributes to improved firm performance. As previous research has revealed, professional performance of top executives, particularly CEOs, as well as money managers is influenced by distractions originating in their personal life events. Because human attention is naturally limited, major life events, such as marriage or divorce, can have detrimental effects on the professional performance of a business executive, and therefore also on the firm performance. Consistent with the results of previous research, the data analysis identifies marital status of CEOs and CFOs as a significant determinant of firm performance.

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