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Analytical methods for measurement error estimation in survey data This dissertation aims at the domain of measurement error in social science survey data. To conceptualize and estimate measurement errors it employs the analytical and theoretical framework that stems from the analytical method of structural equation modeling (SEM) and Classical Test Theory (CTT), extended with the component of the systematic measurement error. This thesis has two goals that may contribute to development and extension of Czech social science methodology. The first goal is to illustrate methods of measurement error estimation, which has not been used for analysis of Czech data yet, and to point out to some problematical aspects of these methods. The second goal is to employ presented methods to obtain new findings regarding the quality of data from Czech surveys. The dissertation presents three empirical studies, each of which uses one of the methods defined within the presented theoretical and analytical framework. First study presents an analysis of reliability of measurement with the Quasi Simplex Model (QSM). It illustrates how to use the model and brings optimistic results regarding the reliability of the Czech EU SILC panel data. In the second study the confirmatory factor analysis model, operationally called...

Diplomová práce Spor o pozitivismus v německé sociologii. Renáta Vondráková. 2012. Abstract The main theme of the work is the issue of positivism dispute, which is commonly referred to discussions that occurred in German sociology in the sixties. It was a debate between advocates of critical theory, which were Theodor W. Adorno and Jürgen Habermas, and the concept of critical rationalism of Karl R. Popper and Hans Albert. The discussion initially was confined to issues related to the logic of the social sciences, for many reasons, but rather applied to differences between the concepts and challenges of science from the perspective of both the above approaches. Also the description and discovery purposes and contexts that led to the overturning topic discussion are devoted to this work. The aim is to describe the external influences as widely as possible and how it affected the final understanding of the dispute, but also how well the positivism dispute turned the concepts of science in the following period. The first part is concerned with social and historical situation in which the dispute arose. Followed by an outline of key terms that in connection with a dispute likely occur, in fact it is the analysis of major issues. Emphasis is placed on a thorough description of the first two contributions to the...

Diploma thesis "Diffusion of innovations in medical setting: A Meta-analysis of case studies" deals with contemporary shape of empirical diffusion research in public health and medical sociology field. By means of meta-analysis based on 23 case studies that was targeted on chosen aspects of investigation within the diffusion of innovations topic, on whole design of the research and on particular methodological procedures we arrived to wide thematic scope of these studies and their significant heterogeneity regarding methodological aspects. This fact testifies the large amount of possibilities that diffusion studies provide, even in such narrowed research area. Meta-analytical findings and studies divided into several typologies were then compared with an older study, where a pragmatic orientation of newer studies on a specific aspect of the whole process and practical task that needs to be solved, turned up. The sociological micro-theories making is then overshadowed by dealing with the actual field problems acute even more in the field of medicine. The communication processes at the level of interpersonal communication (that are, according to the generally accepted definition of diffusion of innovation, principal for the diffusive mechanism) as a dominant object of examination almost faded out....

The diploma thesis deals with validity of direct measurement of stated willingness to pay (WTP) in the fair trade context based on two-phase measurement applied in the INESAN survey. Attention is also paid to the unit of answer to an open-ended question and to the functionality of WTP as an indicator of purchase intent. First, fair trade, the concept of WTP with focus on areas of its application, ways of measurement, critics and problems of its use are introduced from the theoretical perspective. Further, cognitive aspects of the process of answering survey questions as a way of testing the functionality of a measurement tool are analyzed. The thesis is built on a combination of two survey methods, cognitive interviews and secondary analysis of quantitative data. It concludes that measuring WTP for the purpose of capturing the value of fair trade using direct stated method of measurement is problematic as numerous risks with impact on validity of acquired data appear. Those risks concern both the particular way of measurement and the direct stated WTP measurement in general, starting with ambiguous interpretation of WTP questions for a fair trade product among respondents. The thesis also shows that answering open-ended question in the form of percentage is cognitively more demanding than in the...

This diploma thesis deals with the use of mobile applications and web platforms in teaching Czech as a foreign language. The practical output is a set of thirty activities that focus on language skills (listening, reading, speaking, writing), grammar and vocabulary. The theoretical part first focuses on defining the concept of e-learning. The pros and cons of e- learning are discussed with regard to its use in synchronous teaching. Subsequently, the paper describes the methodological procedure for the implementation of synchronous teaching, the specifics of working with language material and teaching management in the online environment. Last but not least, the descriptions of reference levels A1 and A2 for Czech as a foreign language (according to the CEFR) are recapitulated. The practical part of this paper centres on the method of selection of applications and platforms and the methodical procedure of creating individual activities, which are presented in the form of methodical sheets. All applications and platforms were subjected to pretesting. Therefore, a description of the pretesting course and an evaluation of feedback is also provided. An integral part of this work is also a technical manual which serves as a guide for working with individual applications and platforms.

The focus of this research is the area known as Sorgenti del Brembo di Carona (sources of river Brembo of Carona), which is located in the Orobie Alps (province of Bergamo, Italy). The current archaeological activities in the area, carried out by the Civico Museo Archeologico di Bergamo, are site-specific and mainly focused on Iron Age rock engravings and on a medieval dwelling excavation. The present study aims at a wider approach to upland archaeology, more focused on landscape evolution rather than on single evidence. The starting point is the methodology developed in other alpine contexts, like the ALPES (Alpine Landscapes: Pastoralism and Environment of Val di Sole) project. The data, gathered through extensive field survey activities, assessed the presence of a complex landscape, with pastoral evidence, iron mining facilities and charcoal production sites, dating from Early Middle Ages to the present. All the collected data are managed through a GIS in order to maintain their spatial reference. Therefore, it was possible to easy cross-reference them with several historical documents (cartography, cadastres, archives) and also to perform quantitative and spatial analysis. This method allowed us to reconstruct a diachronic evolution of human activities impact on the landscape formation. An inductive predictive modelling based on the integration with ethnoarchaeology was also implemented using modern pastoral sites. The results shed light on the complex dynamics of the human approach to high-altitude regions and on the alpine environment constraints to human activities. On the other hand, it was also possible to asses both the strengths and biases of the current application of predictive models to Alpine cultural heritage. The methodology developed during this research, following and implementing previously developed methods, can be a step forward on the definition of a common archaeological approach to upland contexts. / Il progetto di ricerca nasce a seguito delle indagini archeologiche condotte dal Civico Museo Archeologico di Bergamo nel comune di Carona (BG), situato in alta val Brembana, sulle Alpi Orobie, che hanno permesso di identificare un sito cultuale con incisioni rupestri dell'età del Ferro e un villaggio minerario con fasi altomedievali e medievali. L'obiettivo principale della presente ricerca è stato ampliare la conoscenza storico-archeologica di tutto il territorio alla testata del Brembo di Carona, senza focalizzarsi su singoli siti e applicando le metodologie sviluppate all'Università di Trento nell'ambito del progetto ALPES (Alpine Landscapes: Pastoralism and Environment of Val di Sole), che prevedono un approccio al paesaggio montano in una prospettiva diacronica, inquadrabile nell'ambito della Landscape Archaeology. Le attività di ricerca sul campo hanno rappresentato il fulcro del progetto, permettendo l'individuazione di centinaia di evidenze antropiche. I dati raccolti sul campo sono stati contestualizzati attraverso l'analisi di diverse tipologie di fonti e materiali, non solo di tipo archeologico ma anche inquadrabili in ambiti storico-archivistici e topografici, con un’impostazione della ricerca in senso marcatamente interdisciplinare. L'elaborazione di un modello predittivo etnoarcheologico ha avuto il duplice obiettivo di fornire uno strumento di interpretazione delle strutture presenti sul territorio e di validare la stessa metodologia prognostica impiegata, già elaborata in ambito trentino. I dati raccolti e i risultati della loro analisi hanno permesso la ricostruzione diacronica di un paesaggio complesso, caratterizzato dalla compresenza di differenti attività economiche (pastorizia, attività minerarie e sfruttamento forestale), attraverso le quali si è espressa l'azione umana nell'ambiente montano lungo l'arco di più di un millennio. La metodologia proposta, in quanto sintesi di diverse esperienze di ricerca in ambito alpino, potrebbe porre le basi per una più ampia riflessione riguardo possibili approcci condivisi e comuni ad una "archeologia di montagna", che sempre più si sta delineando come una disciplina autonoma.

The main thematic scope and basis of the PhD thesis is the specific movement in the historiography called duchové dějiny (in English partly misleading translation intellectual history) in the form, in which it was developed in German speaking lands as Geistesgeschichte, and in the Czech historiography as duchové dějiny outlined by Zdeněk Kalista. In the PhD thesis duchové dějiny is put into the wide context of the development of historical thinking and methodology in the 19th and 20th century. The PhD thesis treats the subdiscipline of duchové dějiny in many perspectives and at different levels and thematically is not enclosed by the boundaries of the duchové dějiny itself. The duchové dějiny is here in a way an optics through which one line of historiography and historical thinking in the 19th and 20th century is observed, treated and interpreted. The PhD thesis also aims to connect the history and its methodology with the archivistics and archival theory. In this way proposes the thesis certain solutions. Nowadays, duchové dějiny belongs rather to the marginal movements or subdisciplines in the historiography in the Czech and German speaking lands, contrary to intellectual history in Anglophone areas. In spite of this the PhD thesis tried to show, that the duchové dějiny is still alive,...

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Afrikaans text / Die doel van hierdie studie was om argivale inligtingontsluiting en -herwinning aan die einde van die 20ste eeu te ondersoek, verai met betrekking tot ernstige historiese navorsing. Inligting is op die volgende wyses ingesamel: ‘n uitgebreide literatuurondersoek, onderhoude met argivarlsse in beide staats- en privaatargiefbewaarpiekke en ‘n empiriese ondersoek deur middel van ‘n vraelys wat aan hoofsaaklik ernstige historiese navorsers versprei is. Die navorser het argivale vindmiddels soos inventarisse, gidse en indekse, sowel as die gerekenariseerde argivale databases, persoonlik ondersoek ten einde eerstehandse kennis van die voordele en nadele van hierdie navorsings- hulpmiddets te verkry. Daar is gevind dat tegnologiese ontwikkelings die aard van argiefbewaarplekke en argivale bronne verander het. Die impak van rekenaarnetwerke op die argivale milieu, sowel as die voor- en nadele verbonde aan die hantering van elektroniese argivale rekords en mondelinge geskiedenisargiewe, is gevolglik in besonderhede bespreek, Hoewel die ontsluiting van argivale bronmateriaai steeds op die beginsels van herkoms en oorspronklike orde gebaseer is, is sekere aanpassings noodsaaklik. Tog is geen toegang tot argivale inligtingbronne sonder hie rdie prosesse moontlik nie, Doeltreffende argivale inligtingherwinning kan slegs verwesenlik word indien genoeg fondse en opgeleide, ervare personeel beskikbaar gestel word. Vervolgens Is die veranderende aard van historiese navorsing belig, verat wat die keuse van ondemverpe betref. Moderne tendense ten opsigte van die geskiedenis van benede, of die geskiedenis van die aiiedaagse lewe, en die geskiedenis van vroue, in teenstelling met tradisionele historiese nadruk op politieke figure en gebeure, is bespreek. Die studie het verder aangetoon dat toeganklikheid tot argivale inligtingbronne die belangrikste behoefte van die historiese navorser is. Die beduidende rol wat die argivaris en argivale vindmiddels in historiese navorsing speel, is beklemtoon. Gedurende die empiriese fase is 'n ontleding van die antwoorde van respondente ten opsigte van navorsingsbesoeke aan argiefbewaarplekke gedoen, Historiese navorsers se ondervinding met betrekking tot argivale vindmiddels, gerekenariseerde argivale netwerke en leeskamerpersoneel is bespreek. Die ondersoek word afgesluit met beiangrike bevindings en 'n aantal aanbevelings rakende historiese navorsing as ‘n argivale aktiwiteit in 'n veranderende inligtingwereld. / The purpose of this study was to investigate archival information organisation and retrieval at the end of the 20th century, especially with regard to serious historical research. Information was collected by the following means: an extensive literature survey, interviews with archivists in both state and private archives and an empirical survey by means of a questionnaire distributed amongst mainly serious historical resea rchers.The researcher personally examined archival finding aids such as inventories, guides and indexes, as well as the computerised archival database, for firsthand knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of these research aids. It was found that technological developments had changed the nature of archives and archival sources, the most important adjustment being to electronic information sources and oral history archives. The impact of computer networks on the archival milieu, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of dealing with electronic archival records and oral history archives, was subsequently discussed in detail. Although the organisation and description of archival source material are still based on the principles of provenance and original order, certain adaptations are necessary. Without these processes no access to archival sources is possible. Effective archival information retrieval can only be achieved if sufficient funds are made available and well-trained, experienced staff are appointed. Subsequently the changing nature of historical research, especially with regard to the choice of research topics, was discussed. Modern tendencies such as history from below, or the history of everyday life, and the history of women, were investigated, in opposition to traditional historical emphasis on important political figures and happenings. Research further showed that accessibility to archival information sources is of paramount importance to the historical researcher. The important role of the archivist and archival finding aids, is emphasised. During the empirical phase the answers of respondents about their visits to archives were analysed. The experiences of historical researchers with regard to archival finding aids, computerised archival networks, and reading room staff, are discussed. The study is concluded with important findings and a number of recommendations pertaining to historical research as an archival activity in a changing information world. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

The thesis deals with possibilities of an application of system dynamics methodics for an understanding and teaching the project management. A dynamic simulation model has been created for this purpose by using Vensim. A web simulator for the project management, which is based on the simulation model, has been created in the next part of the thesis. The benefit of the simulator over the model is its user- friendliness and its self-explanatory graphic interface, which makes it possible to use the simulation model for purposes of teaching and further reaserch in the field of project management. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)