Setting performance standards is a judgmental process involving human opinions and values as well as technical and empirical considerations and although all cut score decisions are by nature arbitrary, they should not be capricious. Establishing a minimum passing standard is the technical expression of a policy decision and the information gained through standard setting studies inform these policy decisions. To this end, it is necessary to conduct robust examinations of methods and techniques commonly applied to standard setting studies in order to better understand issues that may influence policy decisions. The modified-Angoff method remains one of the most popular methods for setting performance standards in testing and assessment. With this method, is common practice to provide content experts with feedback regarding the item difficulties; however, it is unclear how this feedback affects the ratings and recommendations of content experts. Recent research seems to indicate mixed results, noting that the feedback given to raters may or may not alter their judgments depending on the type of data provided, when the data was provided, and how raters collaborated within groups and between groups. This research seeks to examine issues related to the effects of item-level feedback on the judgment of raters. The results suggest that the most important factor related to item-level feedback is whether or not a Subject Matter Expert (SME) was able to correctly answer a question. If so, then the SMEs tended to rely on their own inherent sense of item difficulty rather than the data provided, in spite of empirical evidence to the contrary. The results of this research may hold implications for how standard setting studies are conducted with regard to the difficulty and ordering of items, the ability level of content experts invited to participate in these studies, and the types of feedback provided.

Background During the 1990s, Tanzania, like many other developing countries, adopted health sector reforms. The most common policy change under health sector reforms has been decentralisation, which involves the transfer of power and authority from the central levels to the local governments. However, while decentralisation of health care planning and priority-setting in Tanzania gained currency in the last decade, its performance has, so far, been less than satisfactory. In a five-year EU-supported project, which started in 2006, ways of strengthening fairness and accountability in priority-setting in district health management were studied through action research. As part of this overall project, this doctoral thesis aims to analyse the existing health care organisation and management systems, and explore the potential and challenges of implementing Accountability for Reasonableness approach to priority setting in Tanzania. Methods A qualitative case study in Mbarali district formed the basis of exploring the socio-political and institutional contexts within which health care decision-making takes place. The thesis also explores how the Accountability for Reasonableness intervention was shaped, enabled and constrained by the interaction between the contexts and mechanisms. Key informant interviews were conducted with the Council Health Management Team, local government officials, and other stakeholders, using a semi-structured interview guide. Relevant documents were also gathered and group priority-setting processes in the district were observed. Main findings The study revealed that, despite the obvious national rhetoric on decentralisation, actual practice in the district involved little community participation. The findings showed that decentralisation, in whatever form, does not automatically provide space for community engagement. The assumption that devolution to local government promotes transparency, accountability and community participation, is far from reality. In addition, the thesis found that while the Accountability for Reasonableness approach to priority setting was perceived to be helpful in strengthening transparency, accountability, stakeholder engagement and fairness, integrating the innovation into the current district health system was challenging.   Conclusion This thesis underscores the idea that greater involvement and accountability among local actors may increase the legitimacy and fairness of priority-setting decisions. A broader and more detailed analysis of health system elements, and socio-cultural context, can lead to better prediction of the effects of the innovation, pinpoint stakeholders’ concerns, and thereby illuminate areas requiring special attention in fostering sustainability. Additionally, the thesis stresses the need to recognise and deal with power asymmetries among various actors in priority-setting contexts.

This essay is about commercialization as a concept and expression in journalism, since there is a concern that what sells is what have been put on the agenda.  Journalisms main purpose is to provide citizens with an insight into the world beyond their own experiences and give people a social perspective. Commercial materials are often available in many different media, some people say that the commercialization threaten democracy and impair quality journalism.   As more people choose to consume and read the newspaper over the weekend the purpose of this essay is to examine if the commercialization increased in the newspaper Aftonbladet during weekends / holidays, and to investigate how much the commercialization takes place in the newspaper. We also wanted to see which news topic that permeated the newspaper. Through a quantitative content analysis we investigated the empirical material gathered during 14 days (230415-060515) of the daily press Aftonbladet, where the advertisements and articles were analyzed units. Altogether, it became 1115 units of analysis that showed that the commercialization increased by 6% during weekends / holidays. The survey also showed that the newspaper Aftonbladet consists of nearly half commercialization and the news topic entertainment and ads were the dominant subjects. With agenda setting theory and priming we were able to analyze and discuss what was found.

The embryonic ideas for this thesis began to form in two seminars I attended in 2000 while studying for a Masters at the University of Chicago. The first of these, W. J. T. Mitchell's 'Verbal and Visual Landscapes', must be given credit for introducing me to a short essay by Martin Heidegger entitled 'Die Kunst und der Raum' ('Art and Space'), which got me thinking about the 'special character' of space (Heidegger 1973: 4). In addition, Professor Mitchell's specific approach to landscape, that it should be considered as a verb rather than a noun, made me consider the ontological implications of the relationship between space and power that is witnessed both in and through landscape when approached as 'a process by which social and subjective identities are formed' (Mitchell 1994: 1).

Abstract Titel: När rykten blir nyheter – Lokalpressen och Flashback Forum Författare: Anna Jernberg, Annica Hallquist Handledare: Anna Edin   Uppsatsen behandlar relationen mellan Flashback Forum och Gävles lokaltidningar Gefle Dagblad och Arbetarbladet. Om hur nära de jobbar varandra, medborgarjournalisternas betydelse, vem som sätter agendan och hur tidningarna jobbar med de etiska spelreglerna. I viss mån även ryktesspridning. Syftet med uppsatsen var att studera om och i så fall hur medborgarjournalistiken bidrar till morgondagens nyheter via Flashback Forum. De metoder vi har använt oss av för att nå vår slutats är komparativ metod och semistrukturerade intervjuer. Den komparativa analysen för att se i hur många fall lokalpressen använder sig av Flashback och hur våra informanter i intervjuer säger sig arbeta med detta forum. Materialet kommer från intervjuer med journalister, Arbetarbladet (AB) och Gefle Dagblads (GD) nätupplagor samt tråden på Flashback Forum Mord på kvinna, Gävle 20/9-14 som handlar om mordet på Stora Esplanadgatan. Avgränsningsperioden var från 2014-09-20 till 2014-10-20. Vårt svar på undersökningen är: de kriminalfall du läser om på Flashback idag kanske du får läsa om i morgondagens tidning.   Nyckelord: Flashback Forum, agenda setting, medie- och pressetik, ryktesspridning, medborgarjournalistik, Arbetarbladet, Gefle Dagblad.

媒體危機事件扮演之角色: 以台灣印刷媒體在SARS危機為例 / This study aims to explore the interaction between the media and the government during Taiwan’s SARS crisis of 2003 and observe the media’s attitude toward the government’s efforts to contain the epidemic. This paper is particularly interested understanding whether the media presented the government in a way that enabled or inhibited the government’s efforts to manage the crisis. Qualitative content analysis is used to operationalize print media’s “framing” of events. Articles are collected from two print media outlets, China Post and Taipei Times.

Abstract: Large amounts of research have been performed regarding goal-setting and leadership and its effect on organizational performance. However, in school settings, the amount of performed research about leadership performance in relation to goal-setting is limited. The aim of the study was, therefore, to analyze specificity of locally-created goals and the principal’s performance-affecting behaviors during meetings, especially in relation to set goals. Based on Komaki’s research on managerial behavior structured observation was used to analyze the principal’s actions while leading meetings. Adding to the observations Locke & Latham’s Goal-Setting Theory was used to perform a content analysis investigating the specificity of written goals. In total, 56 goals from seven schools in a large county/municipality in Sweden were analyzed. In total, 1,235 minutes of a principal leading their staff during meetings were recorded and analyzed. A majority of the goals written in the schools’ work-plans lacked specificity. This study found that principals talked about their goals while leading their staff at meetings, and they changed their behavior towards a more performance-affecting management style while doing so.

This study attempted to discover perceptions held by public relations counsels and corporate attorneys regarding their professional relationship and whether demographics help determined perceptions. A Q-Sort mail survey asked participants to rank 52 statements. Statements were classified into six subject areas: day-to-day and corporate policy, crisis situations, communications, management, perceptions, and orientation. Five demographic questions were asked. A total of 148 surveys were mailed; 62 (41.9 percent) were returned.Q-Sort rankings, when subjected to factor analysis (Quanal), typed people with similar or dissimilar views. Quanal produced two types--Team Players and Communicators. Team Players were positive about their perception of each other, management, and communications. Communicators felt more strongly about crisis situations and day-to-day activities, especially deadlines.This study found a positive professional relationship between the two groups. Satisfaction with the relationship was indicated. Roles in the corporation were understood. Demographics did not influence perceptions in this study. / Department of Speech Communication

This creative project focuses on the research, planning, design and field-testing of a kit of basic architectural elements that can be used to build simple spaces and small constructions. These elements are reusable, easy to handle, and allow for a nearly infinite number of configurations.The environment in which the system was developed is a setting of an improvisational outdoor theatre, called 'Live-Action-Role-playing-Games'- (LARP). Therefore the system does not provide a high quality indoor space, but rather focuses on the critical requirements of theatrical stages, such as flexibility, ease of erection and variety. Additionally, the system dealt with the pragmatic issues of affordability and cost-effectiveness.The design process commenced with great attention being paid to the very special requirements of LARP and attempting to test initial assumptions. It included two surveys of LARP participants and use of charrettes to incorporate users input into the design process. Prototype elements were then constructed and field-tested during a full-scale replication of an actual LARP-event over afour-day testing period.Following this an evaluation was made, lessons were learned, and the information gained was incorporated in to the final design.This document then records the entire design process and concludes with extensive documentation of the system. / Department of Architecture

Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka socialarbetares uppfattningar om massmediers framställningar av och påverkan på socialt arbete och professionen. Vi har genom kontakter fått tag på samtliga respondenter. Urvalet har skett genom ett snöbollsurval då vi var ute efter en specifik målgrupp, socialarbetare som arbetar inom Socialtjänsten. Respondenterna har i fokusgrupper fått diskutera om sina egna uppfattningar av socialt arbete och massmedia utifrån tre artiklar som berör socialt arbete. En fokusgruppsguide utformades och användes som stöd vid fokusgrupperna. Fokusgruppsguiden berörde teman såsom hur de uppfattar att massmedier framställer socialt arbete och socialarbetare, om de uppfattar att massmedier påverkar socialt arbete och socialarbetare och hur de skulle vilja att massmedier framställer socialt arbete och socialarbetare. Socialarbetarnas uppfattningar av massmediers framställningar var att det övervägande var negativa. Framställningarna ansågs bidra till okunskap och skandalisering av yrket. Socialarbetarna uppfattade att massmediers framställningar bidrog till ett avstånd mellan det sociala arbete och allmänheten genom moralisk panik. Socialarbetarnas uppfattningar om massmedier påverkan var att de ansåg att det påverkar såväl socialarbetarna, allmänheten och andra professioners syn på det sociala arbetet. Resultatet visade även på att massmediers framställningar påverkar på både individnivå och organisatorisk nivå. Massmediers framställningar påverkar allmänheten genom att det som sätts på dagordningen även blir viktiga frågor för allmänheten. Socialarbetarnas uppfattningar om allmänheten i relation till massmediers framställningar var att allmänhetens uppfattningar var både positiva och negativa till socialt arbete. Socialarbetarnas uppfattningar om vilka bakgrundsfaktorer det finns till massmediers framställningar var att de trodde att mycket berodde på okunskap. Deras uppfattning var att allmänheten, massmedia och andra professioner har väldigt dålig insyn i yrket. Allmänheten har hög tilltro till vad massmedier förmedlar vilket massmedier ofta använder i säljande syfte. Socialarbetarnas uppfattningar om hur de skulle vilja framställas i massmedier var att de önskade att en mer nyanserad och neutral bild förmedlades till allmänheten. Fokusgrupperna ansåg att massmedia skulle kunna användas till att marknadsföra och sprida kunskap kring yrket.