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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
1

En studie av kvinnogrupper och social mobilisering i Babati District ur ett feministiskt empowerment-perspektiv : Hur kan kvinnors agentskap och sociala interaktion transformera de strukturella förutsättningarna i Babati?

Hallström, Sandra January 2007 (has links)
<p>The results and the analysis of this essay are based on an empirical study of women groups in Babati District in Tanzania from 2005. The study has shown that the reason for women in Babati to organize themselves is to overcome traditional and structural obstacles that restrict women’s economical integration. Through the creation of social networks and a common source of income within the group, women are trying to strengthen their position within the household and in society. The significance of empowerment on an individual level is the sense of abilities in everyday life and the feeling of increased options.</p><p>Social mobilization means that individuals come together and with united strengths and according to a common interest are trying to fulfil articulated goals. Local women groups in Babati and the social mobilization they constitute are seeking, through their agency to influence their social and economical situation. It can also mean challenging the structural conditions and increase women’s capacity of action. This kind of agency at a group level is extremely important for the capability of articulating own goals and creating prosperity, to feel in charge of one’s life conditions.</p><p>Aim: The aim for this study is, by using an empowerment approach to examine how women groups in Babati District in Tanzania organize themselves and how the members through their agency are influencing the social conditions and economical possibilities for women in the area. What are the effects of social mobilization in Babati for the individual woman? How can women’s agency contribute to structural changes and help women to overcome traditional obstacles?</p>
2

En studie av kvinnogrupper och social mobilisering i Babati District ur ett feministiskt empowerment-perspektiv : Hur kan kvinnors agentskap och sociala interaktion transformera de strukturella förutsättningarna i Babati?

Hallström, Sandra January 2007 (has links)
The results and the analysis of this essay are based on an empirical study of women groups in Babati District in Tanzania from 2005. The study has shown that the reason for women in Babati to organize themselves is to overcome traditional and structural obstacles that restrict women’s economical integration. Through the creation of social networks and a common source of income within the group, women are trying to strengthen their position within the household and in society. The significance of empowerment on an individual level is the sense of abilities in everyday life and the feeling of increased options. Social mobilization means that individuals come together and with united strengths and according to a common interest are trying to fulfil articulated goals. Local women groups in Babati and the social mobilization they constitute are seeking, through their agency to influence their social and economical situation. It can also mean challenging the structural conditions and increase women’s capacity of action. This kind of agency at a group level is extremely important for the capability of articulating own goals and creating prosperity, to feel in charge of one’s life conditions. Aim: The aim for this study is, by using an empowerment approach to examine how women groups in Babati District in Tanzania organize themselves and how the members through their agency are influencing the social conditions and economical possibilities for women in the area. What are the effects of social mobilization in Babati for the individual woman? How can women’s agency contribute to structural changes and help women to overcome traditional obstacles?
3

Strukturella villkor: En åldersfråga : En kritisk åldersstudie om barns strukturella villkor utifrån kommunala hemsidors information om behandling vid spelproblem

Ärleskog, Caroline January 2019 (has links)
Föreliggande studie syftar till att utifrån ett kritiskt åldersperspektiv beskriva och belysa ålderskategorin barns strukturella villkor utifrån kommunala hemsidors information om behandling vid spelproblem. Studien har en kvantitativ karaktär och för att besvara studiens frågeställningar genomfördes en innehållsanalys av kommunala hemsidor (N = 119). 52,1% av dessa hemsidor innehöll information om behandling vid spelproblem (n = 62). Resultatet påvisade en statistiskt signifikant skillnad avseende i vilken utsträckning barn i jämförelse med ungdomar och vuxna riktades information om behandling ( χ² = 9,478a , df = 2, p = ,009) samt information om behandlingsåtgärder ( χ² = 13,400a , df =2, p = ,001) vid spelproblem via kommunala hemsidor. Genomgående aktualiserades ålder som organiserande princip då information om behandling vid spelproblem via kommunala hemsidor riktades åt barn i markant lägre utsträckning än övriga ålderskategorier. Detta aktualiserar en åldershierarki och utifrån ett barnperspektiv är det möjligt att konstatera att barns strukturella villkor är ojämlika. Då detta var genomgående i samtliga analyser är det rimligt att anta att det råder en systematisk ojämlikhet, vilket aktualiserar social skiktning. / The present study aims to, through a critical age perspective, describe and illustrate the structural conditions of the age category of children based on the information about treatment for gambling problems provided by municipal websites. The study has a quantitative character and in order to answer the study's questions, a content analysis of municipal websites (N = 119) was conducted. 52,1% of those websites contained information on treatment for gambling problems (n = 62). The result showed a statistically significant difference in the distribution regarding information by municipal websites on treatment for gambling problems ( χ² = 9,478a , df = 2, p = ,009) and treatment methods ( χ² = 13,400a , df =2, p = ,001) between the structural age categories. Throughout, age as an organizing principle was updated, and the age category of children was directed to information about treatment for gambling problems through municipal websites to a considerably lower extent than other age categories. This brought to light an age hierarchy and from a children perspective it is possible to state that children's structural conditions were unequal. When this was consistent, it is reasonable to assume that there is systematic inequality, which raises social stratification.
4

Investigation on stability of Knowledge Based Subset Construction in Multi-Agent Games / Undersökning av stabiliteten för en Kunskapsbaserad Delmängdskonstruktion i Fleragentsspel

Johansson, Gustaf, Bergmark, Gustaf January 2022 (has links)
Many real life problems can be modelled using multi-agent games played on finite graphs. When an agent cannot differentiate between game states, for example when a robot operates with a broken sensor, the game is classified as a game of imperfect information. This report focuses on non-deterministic multi-agent games of imperfect information or Multi-Agent Games of Imperfect Information Against Nature (MAGIIAN). Finding optimal strategies for these games is very hard due to the element of imperfect information as well as taking into account the multiple cooperating agents. Using a generalised version for multi-agent games of the known Knowledge Based Subset Construction (KBSC) algorithm may solve the problem of strategy synthesis for MAGIIAN. While the KBSC transforms the game into a game with perfect information, the multi-agent variant (MKBSC) instead yields another MAGIIAN. When applying the algorithm iteratively some games stop expanding while others expand seemingly boundlessly. This is referred to as stability and divergence respectively. Our research focuses on different patterns, called structural conditions, in the MAGIIAN and how they affect stability. By using an existing implementation of the MKBSC along with some newly developed algorithms we were able to iterate over different games and analyse different structural conditions. We have identified several structural conditions which affect stability. By reducing divergent games to only their core components with respect to divergence, a more careful examination of what causes divergence could be done. It reaffirmed earlier research that cycles are necessary in order for games to diverge. Observation overlap was found to not be a necessary condition for divergent games as counter examples to this was found. Games containing well formed observations were found to stabilise within one iteration. Our research has also lead us to believe that it is impossible for structural conditions to properly classify divergence. / Olika typer av autonoma problem kan modelleras med hjälp av fleragentsspel spelade på ändliga grafer. Spel där en agent ej kan urskilja mellan två tillstånd, till exempel när en robot arbetar med trasiga sensorer, klassas som spel med ofullständig information. Vår rapport fokuserar på ickedeterministiska fleragentsspel med ofullständig information, även kallat Multi-Agent Games of Imperfect Information Against Nature (MAGIIAN). Att hitta optimala strategier för dessa spel är mycket svårt både på grund av den ofullständiga informationen och på grund av flertalet agenter som ska samarbeta. Användandet av en generaliserad variant för fleragentspel av den kända Knowledge Based Subset Construction (KBSC) algoritmen kan hjälpa att hitta vinnande strategier för MAGIIAN. Medan KBSC algoritmen transformerar spelet till ett spel med fullständig information, så ger fleragentsvarianten istället ännu ett MAGIIAN. Om man applicerar algoritmen många gånger kommer vissa spel sluta att växa medan andra fortsätter växa gränslöst. Detta kallas att spelen är stabila eller divergeranta. Vår rapport fokuserar på olika strukturer i dessa spel och hur dessa påverkar stabiliteten. Genom att använda en implementation av MKBSC tillsammans med nya algoritmer har vi itererat över många olika spel och analyserat olika strukturer. Vi har hittat flertalet strukturer som påverkar stabiliteten. Genom att reducera divergenta spel så att alla kvarvarande komponenter krävs för divergens, kunde divergenses orsaker noggrannt undersökas. Detta bekräftade tidigare påståenden om att cykler krävs för divergens. Därefter motbevisades att överlappande observationer krävdes för divergens med hjälp av motexempel. Spel innehållandes välformade observationer visades stabilisera efter en iteration av MKBSC:n.
5

Den svenska barnavården : är den universell? / The Swedish Child Protection Services : is it universal?

Håkansson, Rebecca, Shabanaj, Arlinda January 2019 (has links)
Syftet med denna kvantitativa studie är att undersöka huruvida det finns skillnader i andelen insatser inom barnavården mellan de svenska kommunerna. Studiens fokus ligger på att analysera kommunernas strukturella förhållanden i förhållande till vilka åtgärder de vidtar i barnavårdsärenden. De empiriska uppgifterna för studien är främst sekundärdata som samlats in från Statistiska centralbyrån och från Socialstyrelsen. Frågeställningarna för studien är ”Skiljer sig kommunerna åt i andelen barnavårdsinsatser och i sådana fall hur?” och "Om det skiljer sig åt mellan kommunerna, har kommunens strukturella förutsättningar en inverkan på andelen barnavårdsinsatser och i sådana fall på vilket sätt?”. Studiens inhämtade data visar att det finns skillnader i andelen insatser i barnavården mellan kommunerna. Vidare visar analyser av data att skillnaderna i andelen insatser är korrelerade, både negativt och positivt till kommunernas strukturella förhållanden. Resultaten visar också att de olika variabelgrupperna av strukturella förhållanden har olika förklaringar till variationen i de åtgärder som vidtagits. Demografi är den enskilt största förklaringen medan ekonomin visar sig vara den minsta mellan grupperna. Den största effekten som kommer av en variabel är kommunens invånares utbildningsnivå. Vidare visar studien på skillnaderna mellan de svenska kommunerna och belyser ojämlikheterna i det svenska välfärdssystemet. Detta trots sina många förordningar för att motverka detta och att vara allmänt känt för att vara i framkant av den universalistiska synpunkten. / The aim of this quantitative study is to examine whether there are differences in the quantity of actions taken in child protections services between the swedish municipalities. Moreover the focus of the study is to analyze the municipalities structural conditions in relation to what actions they take in child protection service cases. The empirical data for the study is primarily secondary data collected from the Swedish Central Bureau of Statistics and from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. The questions at issue for the study are “Do the municipalities differ in the proportion of actions taken in child protection services and if so, how?” and “If it differs between the municipalities, do the municipalities’ structural conditions have an impact on the proportion of actions taken in child protection services and if so, in what way? The collected data shows that there are differences in the amount of actions taken in child protection service cases between the municipalities. Furthermore the analyses of that data demonstrates that the differences in the actions taken are correlated, both negatively and positively to the structural conditions of the municipalities. The findings also shows that the different variable groups of structural conditions have different explanatories of the variation in the actions taken. Demography is the single biggest explanatory while economy is shown to be the smallest between the groups. The greatest effect of a single variable is the education level of the municipality’s citizens. Further on the study exposes the differences between the Swedish municipalities and brings light to the inequalities in the Swedish welfare system. This despite its many regulations to decrees it and widely being known for being in the forefront of the universalistic viewpoint.
6

Development of the RDD portion of the total pavement acceptance device and its applications to jointed concrete pavement studies

Lee, Jung Su, active 21st century 09 February 2015 (has links)
A Rolling Dynamic Deflectometer (RDD) is a nondestructive testing device for determining continuous deflection profiles of pavements. Theses deflection profiles can be used more effectively when combined with other data such as pavement thickness, variability in moisture and other subsurface conditions, void detection and pavement right-of-way conditions. Therefore, a new, multi-function pavement testing device has been developed by a joint effort between the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), the Center for Transportation Research (CTR) at the University of Texas at Austin (UT) and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) at Texas A&M University. This new device is called the Total Pavement Acceptance Device (TPAD). The objective of TPAD testing is to nondestructively and nonintrusively investigate the structural adequacy of the total pavement system. The multiple functions of the TPAD presently include the following measurement capabilities: (1) rolling dynamic deflectometer (RDD), (2) ground penetrating radar (GPR), (3) global positioning (GPS), (4) pavement surface temperature, (5) digital video imaging of pavement and right-of-way conditions and (6) longitudinal survey offsets from known points through distance measurement (DMI). The TPAD is currently designed to perform continuous measurements at speeds around 2 to 3 mph. The effort in this dissertation is directed at: (1) developing the fourth-generation rolling sensors for faster testing speeds with the TPAD, (2) developing the Jointed Concrete Pavement (JCP) testbed with known and well-documented conditions (3) developing and evaluating the TPAD mobile platform, (4) evaluating the performance of the fourth-generation rolling sensors and refining a field calibration procedure and (5) studying the influence of the longitudinal and transverse joints in Jointed Concrete Pavement on TPAD deflection profile measurements. The first part involved the study of previous research and preliminary testing using the second-generation rolling sensor. Key benefits of the fourth-generation rolling sensor are: (1) reduced rolling noise during the testing, (2) higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and (3) better tracking of the sensor. The second part of this work involved the development of the JCP testbed at the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Flight Services Facility (FSF) adjacent to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA). The JCP testbed was developed to establish a pavement facility with known and well-documented conditions for use in future research dealing with rigid pavement testing. The third part of this work involved the acceptance testing of the TPAD mobile platform for the RDD deflection measurements. The mobile platform was the one of the key components to develop the new moving pavement testing device. The TPAD mobile platform was developed by modifying a small, off-road vibroseies built by Industrial Vehicle International, Inc. (IVI). Acceptance testing of each of the following components was performed: (1) automated speed control, (2) static loading system and (3) dynamic loading system. The fourth part of this work involved the TPAD deflection measurements at the testbed at the TxDOT FSF. The deflection profiles using the fourth-generation rolling sensors and TPAD were performed at the established testbed. During the performance evaluation testing, the new sensor positioning, towing and raising/lowering system was developed and installed in the TPAD. The fifth part of this study involved the deflection measurement using the TPAD-RDD system on the jointed concrete pavement. This study includes the repeatability of the TPAD deflection measurements, the influence of the proximity to the longitudinal and transverse joints in JCP on TPAD deflection measurements, deflection measurements under different pavement surface temperature, the characteristic of the TPAD-RDD deflections and the comparison between the Falling Weight Deflectometer and TPAD deflection measurement testing. / text
7

Investigating innovation : measurement, standardization and practical application

Boonzaaier, Gerhardus Petrus 29 April 2010 (has links)
Growing competition, globalisation and changing circumstances make innovation a prerequisite for the growth, success and survival of any private or public organisation. While innovation in technology, production, marketing and finance all remain essential, it is innovation in management that is most desperately in short supply. A literature study could not reveal the existence of any scale that measures all the factors and processes relevant to organisational innovation. A scale for managerial innovation was developed. This scale is based on the work of various researchers in the field of innovation. The major tasks in the process were connected to the structural arrangements and social patterns that facilitate the tasks are discussed. Innovation consists of a set of processes carried out at the micro-level, by individuals and groups of individuals, and these micro-processes are in turn stimulated, facilitated and enhanced - or the opposite - by a set of macro-structural conditions. A semantic differential scale was developed to measure managerial innovation. The scale consists of 88 items and was designed to reflect the major factors and processes of organisational innovation. Various statistical tests were used to evaluate the scale and data obtained through the scale. Five Factors were identified after the data was analysed using factor analysis. The five factors are Factor 1 (leadership and culture), Factor 2 (employee acquisition and development), Factor 3 (variables that facilitate problem solving and aid in innovation), Factor 4 (variables that impact negatively on innovation), and Factor 5 (variables external to the organisation that influence innovation). The Alpha Cronbach test for reliability showed a very high degree of reliability and the scale conformed to the criteria of content validity. Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA) was used to perform comparative analysis on the biographical variables. The relationships between age, gender, level of education, industry, length of service, and the combined effect of age and gender, age and length of service, gender and industry, and gender and length of service and the five factors were analysed. Age seems to play a significant role in Factor 1 and Factor 2 (i.e. leadership and culture as well as employee acquisition and development). For Factor 1 and Factor 2 average achievement in terms of innovation seems to increase with age. With regard to Factor 3, 4 and 5 age does not seem to impact on achievement significantly. The results of this study indicate that there are no significant relationship between gender and innovation. The results of this study indicate that there is a positive relationship between level of education and innovation for Factors 3, 4 and 5. It was found to differ significantly between the levels for two factors, namely Factor 1: leadership and culture, and Factor 2: employee acquisition and development. They seem to decline as the level of education increases. The results of this study indicate that for all five factors there seem to be a very significant difference in average achievement when individuals from different industries are compared. The results of this study indicate that there is not a significant relationship between length of service and innovation. The ANOVA results for combined variables indicate a significant difference in average achievement Factor 1 (leadership and culture) when the research participants are grouped based on both age and gender. In general, males of any age group tested equal to or higher than their female counterparts for Factor 1. Also apparent from the results is that generally the scores for Factor 1 seemed to increase with age. For Factor 2, 3, 4, and 5 there is no significant difference in achievement when participants are grouped according to age and gender. The results of the tests for difference in achievement when the research participants are grouped according to age and length of service, do not indicate that there is any significant difference in average achievement between the groups. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted
8

Trust and risk in the context of securities lending : a sociological analysis

Bruce, Johannes Conradie 31 January 2005 (has links)
This dissertation uses a Sociological approach to analyse the risks associated with the practice of securities lending. Risks are those factors that inhibit the development of trust, and trust is essential for people to participate in financial transactions like securities lending. In this dissertation we show that, although there are a number of risks, individual and systemic, that are associated with securities lending, practitioners have, over time, developed an array of risk management procedures and practices to keep these risks at acceptable levels. Securities lending is however not practiced in a vacuum and the relevance of these risk management procedures is largely determined by the cultural environment in which it is practised. Values, norms and sanctions are crucial as social controls over behaviour that transpires in social structures. The presence of structural conditions necessary for the development of a culture of extreme opportunism is shown as arguably the greatest source of risk facing those who participate in financial transactions like securities lending. / Sociology / M.A.
9

Trust and risk in the context of securities lending : a sociological analysis

Bruce, Johannes Conradie 31 January 2005 (has links)
This dissertation uses a Sociological approach to analyse the risks associated with the practice of securities lending. Risks are those factors that inhibit the development of trust, and trust is essential for people to participate in financial transactions like securities lending. In this dissertation we show that, although there are a number of risks, individual and systemic, that are associated with securities lending, practitioners have, over time, developed an array of risk management procedures and practices to keep these risks at acceptable levels. Securities lending is however not practiced in a vacuum and the relevance of these risk management procedures is largely determined by the cultural environment in which it is practised. Values, norms and sanctions are crucial as social controls over behaviour that transpires in social structures. The presence of structural conditions necessary for the development of a culture of extreme opportunism is shown as arguably the greatest source of risk facing those who participate in financial transactions like securities lending. / Sociology / M.A.
10

The "Equalizer" Administration: Managerial Strategies in the Public Sector

Cavalcanti, Bianor Scelza 08 April 2005 (has links)
The purpose of this dissertation is to understand the managerial "action" of public administrators in the management of their organizations within the Brazilian context. The research seeks to understand the relationships between managers and formal management mechanisms by exploring the complementary nature of the effective managerial action in the face of structural deficiencies and flaws, considering the possibility of overcoming the structuralism-subjectivism dichotomy present in the construction of the Theory of Organizations. Initially, the study provides a review of the literature on organizational design. It highlights the "goodness of fit" proposition on strategic choice issues concerning the main organizational variables design and organizational goal attainment. It also calls special attention to the emerging interest of designing theorists on interpretivist approaches to the matter, such that of Karl Weick. A review of the the administrative reforms in Brazil is made from the perspective of the main stream organizational design conceptual framework. It highlights the complex dynamics of a constant search for differentiation and flexibilization subject to patterns of advances and reversals, due to the centrality, strength and pervasiveness of the bureaucratic model. It is concluded that in no single given moment, a public manager and his team, may count on a formal organizational design which attends the"congruency" criteria, devised by organizational design conceptual frameworks, to explain organizational results in different environmental sets. Although this conclusion may explain failure at the public sector, it can not provide understanding on the many instances of significative success attained by government operations in spite of inadequate formal administrative structures. This point calls for a better understanding from the interpretivist approach, on how public administrators, strongly associated with good organizational results, engage into transformative action, in order to superate administrative structures flaws and dysfunctional cultural patterns of conduct, structurally present and constantly reproduced, in vigorous developing countries, such as Brazil. The dissertation transcribes the testimony of four outstanding public administrators, doing a deep incursion in the managerial real world of public administration, as subjectively defined by them and transformed by their engagement into action.Through the thematic version of the Oral History methodology, full segments of the complete interviews are categorized into the thirty two managerial strategies captured which are presented on a recategorized manner under eight main strategies: (1) Interchanging Frames of Reference; (2) Exploring the Formal Limits; (3) Playing the Bureaucracy Game; (4) Inducing the Inclusion of Others (5)Promoting Internal Cohesion; (6) Creating Shields against Transgressions; (7) Overcoming Internal Restrictions; (8) Letting the Structures Blossom. Each one of these eight blocks of strategies presented, deserves further reflexive interpretation by the author, on the light of the interpretivist approach to organizational design. A final effort is made, now on theory building, for improving understanding on the matter. In order to find a significant meaning underlining all the strategies extracted from the "practical consciousness" of the interviewers as revealed in their report, the author resort to a metaphor. This metaphor helps to: (1) better describe and understand a not adequately treated phenomenon, namely, good results under inadequate structural social and organizational conditions; (2) reveal the logic and the meaning underlining all the strategies adopted to generate results under these unfaithful conditions; (3) name, accordingly to the nature of the managerial transformative social action involved, an open ended class of managerial interventions of a pragmatic sort driven by an ethics of results much common to good managers, that is, the concept of "managerial equalization"; and (4) give back to public administrators, represented by the interviewees, to be incorporated in their "discursive consciousness", something the most effective and experienced public managers already have as tacit knowledge built in their "practical consciousness", and so, help the education and development of new talents. / Ph. D.

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