This Master’s thesis argues for leadership for sustainability as a role consisting of skills that can be learned, and re-examines the notion that female leaders are better for sustainability. While gender socialisation may equip women and girls with competencies required for considerate and holistic problem solving and seeing beyond purely economical benefits, it hinders men and boys to develop the same skills. The world needs leaders with the necessary skills, regardless of gender. Through a survey, sustainability consciousness (SC) and leadership skills are established in working adults in Sweden. Regarding SC, the mean average of (N=218) is 3.9 on the Likert Scale, pointing towards decent awareness of sustainability in the sample. Gender did show to have an effect on SC, but gender had no effect on leadership skills. Regarding the correlation between leadership skills and SC, the human and conceptual skills correlate well with all the components of SC, but the technical skill correlate least with all. These results disprove many gender stereotypes and highlight issues with research claiming one gender over another as a better leader for sustainability.

The topic of ecology has resonated more and more in society in recent years, and the concept of sustainability in many forms is an integral part of this. Companies set out to fight for a green future with their product offerings and marketing strategies. But greenwashing practices can often be part of this company communication and the product or a brand could look more ecological than it is and the truth about the impact on the environment often remains hidden. Although the practices are considered misleading advertising, which is regulated by the state, in practice we may still find about half of the products that do not provide sufficient information to assess the accuracy of the claim. The aim of this work is to reflect on the issue of greenwashing and map the awareness of this phenomenon in Czech society with a closer focus on the young generation because it was the young generation that has been the focus of attention in connection with the Fridays For Future movement in recent years. The work is divided into theoretical, methodological, and research parts. In the research part is using quantitative research, the hypothesis is examined according to which the young generation is more ecological, and thus their awareness of greenwashing is greater. Research has shown that awareness of...

<p>Validerat; 20120419 (anonymous)</p>

The foundational hypothesis to this study is that congregations which have a healthy perception and a greater understanding of conflict will develop more effective responses to conflict that will translate into more effective conflict resolution and reconciliation. The process and sustainability of the development of a missional church, the context of the study, is pregnant with potential conflict. Untamed conflict has the propensity to retard, jeopardise or even destroy the development of a missional church. When conflict arises, it must be understood and dealt with theologically. The inherent problem is that conflict appears to be neither understood nor appreciated sociologically and theologically. This knowledge and praxis vacuum has the potential for conflict to translate into inappropriate or ineffective responses that do not always make for effective resolution and reconciliation. The research focuses mainly on an empirical study based on the four practical theological questions of Osmer (2008). Participants for this study were randomly selected from specific sectors of Methodist congregations in the wider Pretoria area. The research explores congregants’ perceptions, understanding and views of conflict; their responses to conflict; and some felt and observed outcomes of conflict. The presupposition is that the development of the local missional church would be more effective and efficient when the management and process of conflict resolution and reconciliation are well led and well managed. This study confirmed that conflict, despite its normalcy and necessity, carries a negative undertone and is mostly avoided in congregations. This is compounded by the evidence that there is little, if any, theological or scriptural understanding of conflict. There is also no indication that churches intentionally and purposefully educate their members to appreciate and understand conflict. In so doing, churches are harming their innate calling as the glory and manifestation of God’s divine grace through faith communities for the transformation of all peoples. Yet, the church understands the dangers of unhealthy conflict, and on occasion even expects conflict to arise, although deeming it inappropriate. Practical theological discernment is sought as to why this may be so and remedial action is proposed to address the problem of conflict within congregations. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Practical Theology / PhD / Unrestricted

This thesis aims to utilize data analysis and predictive modeling techniques and apply them in different domains for gaining insights. The topics were chosen keeping the same in mind. Analysis of customer interests is a crucial factor in present marketing trends and hence we worked on twitter data which is a significant part of digital marketing. Neuroscience, especially psychological behavior, is an important research area. We chose eye tracking data based on which we differentiated human concentration while watching controllable (video game) videos and uncontrollable (sports) videos. Currently, cities are using data analysis for becoming smart cities. We worked on the City of Lewisville emergency services data and predicted the vehicle-accident-prone areas for development of precautionary measures in those areas.

Poor student achievement at some community colleges results in low retention and graduation rates. Addressing the problem of unpreparedness for college with good academic advising may help to improve student achievement. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a difference in the academic achievement of 1st year full-time (FYFT) community college students, based on having received 1 semester of any of 4 different academic advising methods (prescriptive, developmental, intrusive, proactive) while controlling for high school grade point average (GPA). Bandura's social learning theory was used as the theoretical framework. A quantitative research method, deploying 1 research question and 5 hypotheses, was used to guide the examination of a sample of 349 archived data records of Fall 2016 FYFT students at a community college in the northeastern United States. The study included a categorical (factor) and a metric (covariate) measures of variables; therefore, a 1-way ANCOVA was used to estimate the effect of the academic advising method on student achievement. The findings showed no significant difference in FYFT student GPA, based on having received academic advising in general or any method of academic advising, during the 1st semester of enrollment. Despite these findings, the literature supports academic advising as critical for improving GPA, implying that further research is needed to adequately determine trends in student achievement related to advising over more than 1 semester at the college studied. By understanding the difference in the academic achievement of FYFT students based on having received academic advising consistently, academic advisors will have information that can potentially enhance student achievement and increase students' chances of graduating, thus promoting positive social change.

Se realizó la siguiente tesis con la finalidad de entender el uso que los Millennials le dan al internet antes, durante y después de un viaje. Es decir, se busca comprender como usan este medio para cumplir su objetivo principal: lograr una buena experiencia turística percibida. Se selecciona a este segmento de jóvenes por la alta importancia que tienen en el sector turismo y por ser el grupo que, a la fecha, es el que representa el mayor crecimiento de esta industria. Además de ello, se han vuelto relevantes al demostrar que son potenciales viajeros que están en constante uso de internet. Por dichos motivos, los Millennials se han convertido en el nuevo público objetivo de muchas empresas del rubro y un caso de interés para organismos como PROMPERÚ. Los resultados de las encuestas analizarán y responderán la incógnita principal: ¿Cómo es el uso del internet en la experiencia turística percibida antes, durante y después del viaje en Millennials de Lima Metropolitana comprendidos entre los 22 y 37 años que viajan dentro del Perú?. Además de ello, se buscará responder los cuatro objetivos secundarios que giran alrededor del problema principal: cómo es que realizan la búsqueda de información ante un viaje, conocer si realizan publicaciones en internet sobre su experiencia y comprender como lo hacen, entender cuáles son las motivaciones que tienen para utilizar este medio y describir si la expectativa de este viajero se cumple cuando realiza una evaluación después de su viaje. / The focus of this thesis is to understand the different ways that Millennials use the internet through out a trip. Explicitly, the use of the internet to achieve an optimal touristic experience. Millennials were selected for this study due to their high influence to the tourist industry and for contributing the most to the growth of this sector. In addition to this, they are considered relevant due to their high internet engagement and constant use throughout their trips. It is due to this that Millennials have become the new target group for many business related to Tourism or other institutions such as PROMPERU. The survey results aim to answer the following question: How does the use of the internet affect the perception of the overall touristic experience throughout the trip for Millennials from Metropolitan Lima of ages 22 to 37 that travel within Peru? In addition, the study aims to answer four objectives that gravitate around the main problem: understand how is the target group searching for information before their trip, if they generate posts portraying their experience during their trip, comprehend their motivations behind their reasons for the internet usage and understand whether their expectations were met by analyzing their survey answers after a trip. / Tesis

The main aim of the thesis was to investigate the effect of the use of a foreign language - in this case, English - on the strength of the framing effect in framing types that have not been studied in this respect before. According to the results, framing through the manipulation of emotionally charged keywords is indeed mitigated by the use of a foreign language. The main factors at play here are whether the respondent started learning the foreign language at an early age before the emotion-regulation systems were developed, and whether the respondent is accustomed to using the language routinely. Visual framing yielded the opposite results - in the absence of the keywords, only the effect of greater cognitive load remained for respondents completing the questionnaire in English, which magnified the framing bias. This effect was stronger for respondents whose English skills were weaker and who used English less. In the case of framing using the status quo, the results were inconclusive as there was a bias most likely caused by an inaccuracy in translation.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / A semi-parametric approach incorporates parametric and nonparametric functions in the model and is very useful in situations when a fully parametric model is inadequate. The objective of this dissertation is to extend statistical methodology employing the semi-parametric modeling approach to analyze data in health science research areas. This dissertation has three parts. The first part discusses the modeling of the dose-response relationship with correlated data by introducing overall drug effects in addition to the deviation of each subject-specific curve from the population average. Here, a penalized spline regression method that allows modeling of the smooth dose-response relationship is applied to data in studies monitoring malaria drug resistance through the ex-vivo assays.The second part of the dissertation extends the SiZer map, which is an exploratory and a powerful visualization tool, to detect underlying significant features (increase, decrease, or no change) of the curve at various smoothing levels. Here, Penalized Spline Significant Zero Crossings of Derivatives (PS-SiZer), using a penalized spline regression, is introduced to investigate significant features in correlated data arising from longitudinal settings. The third part of the dissertation applies the proposed PS-SiZer methodology to analyze HIV data. The durability of significant weight change over a period is explored from the PS-SiZer visualization. PS-SiZer is a graphical tool for exploring structures in curves by mapping areas where rate of change is significantly increasing, decreasing, or does not change. PS-SiZer maps provide information about the significant rate of weigh change that occurs in two ART regimens at various level of smoothing. A penalized spline regression model at an optimum smoothing level is applied to obtain an estimated first-time point where weight no longer increases for different treatment regimens.

The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a preventative curriculum entitled Eating Disorders: Physical, Social, and Emotional Consequences, A High School Curriculum about Anorexia, Bulimia, and Compulsive Eating (EDPSEC), a preventative curriculum for eating disorders. Participants included an experimental group of 72 students enrolled in a ninth grade health class and a control group of 39 ninth grade students enrolled in a physical education class. The research examined the administration integrity of the curriculum and participating students' change in eating attitudes and behaviors according to group membership. The Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) and the Eating Survey (ES) were utilized in a pre-post test design to determine the participants' change. There was a high correlation between the students' scores on the ES and the EAT-26 (r = .873). Results indicated low treatment integrity and no significant change on students' EAT-26 or ES scores according to group. However due to low treatment integrity this study was unable to determine the effectiveness of this EDPSEC curriculum. There was a high correlation between the students' scores on the ES and the EAT-26 (r = .873).