It was hypothesized that the socialspatial dialectic (location, education, politics and race) contributes to Mississippi’s low livability ranking. Regression models were employed using race, student funding rates, high school graduation rates, property tax, and voter turnout in the 82 counties as variables. The research found evidence that Blacks have lower graduation rates than Whites and property tax has a significant effect on voter participation at the gamma = .001 level. Social capital disadvantage seems to reside within both races with voter participation, property tax rates, and school funding being more pronounced with Whites. Results suggest that political capital should not be diminished in researching Mississippi’s livability ranking.

The purpose of this paper is to present a new nonparametric test statistic for testing against ordered alternatives in a Balanced Incomplete Block Design (BIBD). This test will then be compared with the Durbin test which tests for differences between treatments in a BIBD but without regard to order. For the comparison, Monte Carlo simulations were used to generate the BIBD. Random samples were simulated from: Normal Distribution; Exponential Distribution; T distribution with three degrees of freedom. The number of treatments considered was three, four and five with all the possible combinations necessary for a BIBD. Small sample sizes were 20 or less and large sample sizes were 30 or more. The powers and alpha values were then estimated after 10,000 repetitions.The results of the study show that the new test proposed is more powerful than the Durbin test. Regardless of the distribution, sample size or number of treatments, the new test tended to have higher powers than the Durbin test.

This research answers the complex decision-making question about identifying the quality dimensions in a polymer industry and to prioritize these quality dimensions to obtain the best quality product with minimum expenditure. This research takes use of expert opinion and right decision-making model to yield an optimal solution which will help the manufacturing plants to reduce wastage and to get a better consistent quality product throughout the production process.

Detta examensarbete utfördes i byn Matemwe som ligger i den nordöstra delen av ön Unguja, Zanzibar, i september och oktober 2012. Det var finansierat av Sidas stipendium Minor Field Study. Studien inriktar sig på flickor som har hoppat av Form 1 och 2 i motsvarande högstadiet mellan åren 2007 och 2012. Kvalitativa metoder med prioriteringsrankning av kort användes för att underlätta kommunikation. Vidare är studiens syfte att identifiera anledningar till varför åtta flickor hoppar av skolan i byn och förstå deras tankar kring hur beslutet påverkar deras framtid. Innehållet på varje kort är baserad på tidigare forskning som behandlar olika anledningar till att hoppa av skolan. Varje respondent valde två till sex anledningar och de mest vanliga var språkliga barriärer, hälsoproblem och finansiella omständigheter. Trots att dessa mönster har identifierats är ett avhopp en komplex fråga som inkluderar en lång historia. Flickorna visade sig ha god förmåga att hantera svårigheter som eventuellt orsakar skolavhopp, delvis på grund av deras tankar om utbildning och dess framtida fördelar. Sammanfattningsvis var beslutet att hoppa av skolan rationellt och baserat på flera anledningar i samtliga fall. Slutligen kan sambandet mellan skolavhopp och fattigdom inte uteslutas. / This undergraduate thesis was conducted in the village of Matemwe, Northeast coast of Unguja Island, Zanzibar. It was financed by Sida’s Minor Field Study scholarship in September and October 2012. The study focuses on females who dropped out of Form 1 and 2 in lower secondary school between the years 2007 and 2012. Using qualitative interview technique with priority ranking flashcards functioning as a medium of communication, this study intends to identify reasons why eight females in this village dropped out of school and to understand their thoughts on how the decision affects their future. The content of each flashcard was based on previous research covering reasons for dropping out of school. Each respondent chose two to six reasons, with the most common causes being linguistic barriers, health issues and financial circumstances. Despite these patterns being identified, a dropout is a complex matter including a long story. The young females were found to have great ability to cope with difficulties that may cause school dropout partly because they had positive thoughts about education and its future benefits. To conclude, the decision to drop out was in all cases rational and based on several reasons. Finally, the relationship between dropouts and poverty cannot be ignored.

The transfer pricing, literature indicates that an investigation of some aspects of this subject could usefully be undertaken in order to contribute to the understanding of transfer pricing in both domestic and international markets. This study aims at exploring the current state of transfer pricing practice and establishing the importance attached to the ranking of transfer pricing determinants (i. e. objectives and environmental variables) and the extent to which the ranking varies across markets, industry, and according to the transfer pricing method used. It also seeks to discover interrelationship among the transfer pricing determinants in order to produce a reduced set of basic factors. Lastly, it aims at evaluating the relationship between transfer pricing determinants and transfer pricing methods and at discovering a means of predicting the latter from the company's perception of the relative importance of these determinants. To achieve the above objectives, an empirical study covering both domestic and international markets was undertaken in UK companies. The conclusions are concerned with transfer pricing policy, methods currently used, and problems apparent in practice. The overall ranking-by survey respondents of the transfer pricing determinants is given as well as the results of tests of certain hypotheses which relate to this ranking. The transfer pricing determinants used in the survey for domestic and international. markets (twelve and twenty respectively) have been reduced by Factor Analysis to four and six factors. The study made use of the results to obtain measures of the ranking of discovered factors. Finally, the relationship between the transfer pricing determinants and transfer pricing methods was quantitatively evaluated in the form of a set of classification functions by using Multi-Discriminant Analysis. The classification functions are able to predict the transfer pricing method actually used in companies with an acceptable degree of success. The study's results have been reviewed with a small number of senior managers who are involved in establishing transfer pricing policy within their companies. / Egyptian Government and Al-Azher University

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