Microfinance is a significant component of financial inclusion, which has come to the fore in contemporary developmental literature and practice. It has been used as a poster child of millennial development. The various conceptual offshoots that are either symbiotic or causal to online microfinance are laid out here to demonstrate that as a poverty alleviation strategy, the efficacy of microfinance is at best debatable. There is also a positive reflection of online microfinance both cultivating cosmopolitanism and as being representative of a democratization of development. The research here looks at the communication practice of online microfinance –using the largest online peer-to-peer lending site kiva.org as a case study – to see what representations exist. Drawing on Ricoeur's discourse and a textual application of Laclau's chains of equivalence, a content analysis is used to identify what immediate and latent narratives are present. This considers the presence and absence of word chains to convey, construct and conflate meanings through the text. To achieve this, a quantitative and qualitative approach is used to look at the data gathered, and also to contextualise the data through the related concepts set out in the first section.The analysis shows two representations of online microfinance: firstly, a homogenization of meaning that fits a neoliberal discourse, minimizing the problems with microfinance as a development intervention; and secondly, a decontextualization of borrowers, rendering them placeless and apolitical, with the loan itself being of more weight than the life of the borrower.

This study compared results of two experiments that tested transfer of function in stimulus equivalence classes in a task dissimilar to (in Experiment I) and similar to (in Experiment II) the task that trained functional responding. Eleven students from UNT participated in return for monetary compensation. Phase 1 and 2 were identical in the two experiments, in which they established stimulus equivalence classes and functional responding, respectively. Each experiment then used different tasks in the third phase to test differential responding. Only participants in Experiment II demonstrated consistent transfer of function. Results are discussed in terms of how task similarity may function as a type of contextual control when there is limited experience with the task.

NULL Convention Logic (NCL) is a Quasi-Delay Insensitive (QDI) asynchronous design paradigm that aims to tackle some of the major problems synchronous designs are facing as the industry trend of increased clock rates and decreased feature size continues. The clock in synchronous designs is becoming increasingly difficult to manage and causing more power consumption than ever before. NCL circuits address some of these issues by requiring less power, producing less noise and electro-magnetic interference, and being more robust to Process, Voltage, and Temperature (PVT) variations. With the increase in popularity of asynchronous designs, a formal verification methodology is crucial for ensuring these circuits operate correctly. Four automated formal verification methodologies have been developed, three to ensure delay-insensitivity of an NCL circuit (i.e., prove Input-Completeness, Observability, and Completion-Completeness properties), and one to aid in proving functional equivalence between an NCL circuit and its synchronous counterpart. Note that an NCL circuit can be functionally correct and still not be input-complete, observable, or completion-complete, which could cause the circuit to operate correctly under normal conditions, but malfunction when circuit timing drastically changes (e.g., significantly reduced supply voltage, extreme temperatures). Since NCL circuits are implemented using dual-rail logic (i.e., 2 wires, rail0 and rail1, represent one bit of data), part of the functional equivalence verification involves ensuring that the NCL rail0 logic is the inverse of its rail1 logic. Equivalence verification optimizations and alternative invariant checking methods were investigated and proved to decrease verification times of identical circuits substantially. This work will be a major step toward NCL circuits being utilized more frequently in industry, since it provides an automated verification method to prove correctness of an NCL implementation and equivalence to its synchronous specification, which is the industry standard.

Equivalence based instruction (EBI) has been demonstrated as an effective method for teaching various skills to a wide range of clinical and non-clinical populations. Recent research suggests deictic framing, or perspective switching skills, can be taught to typically and atypically developing children using an EBI teaching paradigm, however the protocols for teaching deictic framing tend to be very long. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a brief EBI and errorless learning program to teach deictic framing to a young woman with learning disabilities. A secondary purpose of this study was to determine if training on one deictic framing program would improve responding on skills that involve other deictic frames. The participant completed a pre and post-test before and after mastering one of four tested EBI programs. Results indicate that EBI is effective in teaching deictic frames, as derived relations emerged following training. The participant’s performance on other skills did not improve. These results also lend support to multiple exemplar teaching. Limitations and future directions for research are discussed.

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Depression is heterogeneous, however, depression measures conceptualize it as homogeneous. To help fulfill NIMH's strategic plan to focus on components of depression, this study analyzed the psychometrics of factor-based subscales in the BDI-II, CES-D, IDAS, and IDS. CCA was also used to explore redundancy across measures. Using a diverse sample of symptomatic undergraduates, this study found the IDAS to be the best measure, with complete DSM-IV symptom coverage and psychometrically sound subscales. The other measures did not have consistent subscales or coverage of symptoms. Furthermore, CCA revealed low levels of redundancy across measures. These results serve to disabuse the field of a perception that different measures of equivalently measure depression. Conversion tables were provided to empirically compare scores from different measures.

The advent of the Internet in personnel selection has brought with it many opportunities, challenges and concerns. The opportunities afforded to the employer include, among others, increased security, a reduction in the resources needed, reduced geographical constraints, reduced time to hire, immediate scoring and a lowering of costs. Owing to these benefits, the use of the Internet for psychological testing will continue to become more prevalent in personnel selection over the next few years. The use and acceptance of the Internet has encouraged organisations and assessment practitioners to make use of Internet-delivered testing as the preferred mode of administration, especially in view of the benefits that it offers to the employer, as well as to the candidate. Internet-delivered testing brings with it a few concerns and many organisations are still making use of the paper-and-pencil version of an instrument even though it is available in an online version. This is because of concerns over measurement equivalence, as the paper-and-pencil version is seen as a “safer” and more accepted mode of administration. There are also many test publishers that would like to take advantage of the practicability of Internet-delivered testing by converting their current selection procedures to an Internet format. This conversion cannot simply be assumed and needs to be examined and documented for each instrument. The primary purpose of this study is to determine the construct equivalence of the Customer Contact Styles Questionnaire (CCSQ7.2) when it is administered via paper-and-pencil in the presence of a proctor and when it is administered online in the absence of a proctor. The aim is to determine whether the online version of the CCSQ7.2 can be considered equivalent to its paper-and-pencil counterpart without loss of psychometric property. The results of the study revealed that the mode in which the CCSQ7.2 is administered does not compromise scale reliabilities and that the relationship between scales of the CCSQ7.2 are not affected by modes of administration. It can thus be said with confidence that the online version of the CCSQ7.2 can be considered equivalent to its paper-and-pencil counterpart without loss of psychometric property. Copyright / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

Objectives: Patient-reported outcomes (PROs; self-report assessments) are increasingly important in evaluating medical care and treatment efficacy. Electronic administration of PROs via computer is becoming widespread. This article reviews the literature addressing whether computer-administered tests are equivalent to their paper-and-pencil forms. Methods: Meta-analysis was used to synthesize 65 studies that directly assessed the equivalence of computer versus paper versions of PROs used in clinical trials. A total of 46 unique studies, evaluating 278 scales, provided sufficient detail to allow quantitative analysis. Results: Among 233 direct comparisons, the average mean difference between modes averaged 0.2% of the scale range (e.g., 0.02 points on a 10-point scale), and 93% were within ±5% of the scale range. Among 207 correlation coefficients between paper and computer instruments (typically intraclass correlation coefficients), the average weighted correlation was 0.90; 94% of correlations were at least 0.75. Because the cross-mode correlation (paper vs. computer) is also a test-retest correlation, with potential variation because of retest, we compared it to the within-mode (paper vs. paper) test-retest correlation. In four comparisons that evaluated both, the average cross-mode paper-to-computer correlation was almost identical to the within-mode correlation for readministration of a paper measure (0.88 vs. 0.91). Conclusions: Extensive evidence indicates that paper- and computer-administered PROs are equivalent.

The present study investigated how engaging in a behavior that is potentially incompatible with covert verbal behavior, singing aloud, affected the percent of correct responses and reaction time during equivalence tests as compared to engaging in a behavior considered compatible with covert verbal behavior, alternating foot tapping, during testing. Results varied between participants with some participants showing higher accuracies in the incompatible condition and some in the compatible condition. Performance in terms of accuracy and reaction time were correlated, with higher accuracies in the compatible condition being correlated with faster reaction times in the compatible condition. Limitations discussed include a low number of participants due to COVID-19, the covert nature of the behavior of interest, the length of time required to complete the experiment, and the challenges to monitoring the incompatible behavior due to social distancing requirements. Potential future research is discussed in light of these limitations.

À mesure que le nombre d’objets capables de communiquer croît, le besoin de sécuriser leurs interactions également. La conception des protocoles cryptographiques nécessaires pour cela est une tâche notoirement complexe et fréquemment sujette aux erreurs humaines. La vérification formelle de protocoles entend offrir des méthodes automatiques et exactes pour s’assurer de leur sécurité. Nous nous intéressons en particulier aux méthodes de vérification automatique des propriétés d’équivalence pour de tels protocoles dans le modèle symbolique et pour un nombre non borné de sessions. Les propriétés d’équivalences ont naturellement employées pour s’assurer, par exemple, de l’anonymat du vote électronique ou de la non-traçabilité des passeports électroniques. Parce que la vérification de propriétés d’équivalence est un problème complexe, nous proposons dans un premier temps deux méthodes pour en simplifier la vérification : tout d’abord une méthode pour supprimer l’utilisation des nonces dans un protocole tout en préservant la correction de la vérification automatique; puis nous démontrons un résultat de typage qui permet de restreindre l’espace de recherche d’attaques sans pour autant affecter le pouvoir de l’attaquant. Dans un second temps nous exposons trois classes de protocoles pour lesquelles la vérification de l’équivalence dans le modèle symbolique est décidable. Ces classes bénéficient des méthodes de simplification présentées plus tôt et permettent d’étudier automatiquement des protocoles taggués, avec ou sans nonces, ou encore des protocoles ping-pong. / As the number of devices able to communicate grows, so does the need to secure their interactions. The design of cryptographic protocols is a difficult task and prone to human errors. Formal verification of such protocols offers a way to automatically and exactly prove their security. In particular, we focus on automated verification methods to prove the equivalence of cryptographic protocols for a un-bounded number of sessions. This kind of property naturally arises when dealing with the anonymity of electronic votingor the untracability of electronic passports. Because the verification of equivalence properties is a complex issue, we first propose two methods to simplify it: first we design a transformation on protocols to delete any nonce while maintaining the soundness of equivalence checking; then we prove a typing result which decreases the search space for attacks without affecting the power of the attacker. Finally, we describe three classes of protocols for which equivalence is decidable in the symbolic model. These classes benefit from the simplification results stated earlier and enable us to automatically analyze tagged protocols with or without nonces, as well as ping-pong protocols.