<p>With the increased use of social media as a marketing tool, marketing strategies and the way brands communicate with customers is changing. Due to its low cost and characteristic short length of messages, Twitter is an especially beneficial marketing tool. Twitter is free and consists of making posts that are easy to compose and easy to consume, which makes it an ideal way for companies, such as startups, to reach customers without having to use many resources. However, companies should be strategic in their use of Twitter and no data exists on the best practices for startup companies as they develop Twitter marketing plans. This study sought to address this issue and explored different methods for engaging followers and which of these methods were the most effective for technology-oriented startups to use. A content analysis revealed that engagement tools, such as media, hashtags, URLs, and mentions serve their intended purpose for tech startups and were related to engagement. However, using conversational, two-way communication, as suggested by marketing companies and literature, proved to not be positively related to engagement rates. One-way, promotional language that is typically advised against was more related to higher engagement. Thus, startup tech companies should continue to prioritize engaging followers with engagement tools but should focus on non-conversational topics, such as their products, events, news, and updates.</p>

In this work, the problem of relay selection and resource power allocation in one- way and two-way cognitive relay networks using half duplex channels with different relaying protocols is investigated. Optimization problems for both single and multiple relay selection that maximize the sum rate of the secondary network without degrading the quality of service of the primary network by respecting a tolerated interference threshold were formulated. Single relay selection and optimal power allocation for two-way relaying cognitive radio networks using decode-and-forward and amplify-and-forward protocols were studied. Dual decomposition and subgradient methods were used to find the optimal power allocation. The transmission process to exchange two different messages between two transceivers for two-way relaying technique takes place in two time slots. In the first slot, the transceivers transmit their signals simultaneously to the relay. Then, during the second slot the relay broadcasts its signal to the terminals. Moreover, improvement of both spectral and energy efficiency can be achieved compared with the one-way relaying technique. As an extension, a multiple relay selection for both one-way and two-way relaying under cognitive radio scenario using amplify-and-forward were discussed. A strong optimization tool based on genetic and iterative algorithms was employed to solve the 
formulated optimization problems for both single and multiple relay selection, where discrete relay power levels were considered. Simulation results show that the practical and low-complexity heuristic approaches achieve almost the same performance of the optimal relay selection schemes either with discrete or continuous power distributions while providing a considerable saving in terms of computational complexity.

Research has shown that goal orientation has a direct relationship with academic achievement for students. This relationship varies for South African students from different backgrounds. This mini dissertation investigated the relationship between academic achievement and goal orientation but moreover explored the mediating variables at play in this relationship. A quantitative correlational research study was employed with a sample size of 545 South African students ranging in age from 18 to 48 with a mean of 20.77 (SD = 2.94). Students completed an online survey, through Qualtrics. T tests yielded results suggesting that there was a significant difference (p = <.05) in the performance avoidance scores for historically advantaged students (M = 7.24, SD = 2.03) and historically disadvantaged students (M= 7.83, SD = 2.15), suggesting that historically disadvantaged students are more performance avoidant compared to historical advantaged students. Two way between groups ANOVA showed that the historical advantaged students (M = 65.39, SD= 14.30) scored higher academically compared to the historical disadvantaged students (M=54.42, SD=15.17). Structural equation modelling (SEM) produced results showing that Goal achievement (GAQ) related positively, with a large direct, significance effect with Culture (R^2=0.0, ᵝ = 0.71, C.R.= 4.91, p<.001), proposing that students who are individualistic (or traditional) perform better academically. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Psychology / MA / Unrestricted

The purposes of this study were to (a) determine graduate students' perceptions of the effectiveness of the delivery system and their level of comfort with the delivery system, (b) determine graduate students' perceptions of the effectiveness of the delivery system and their level of comfort with the teacher, (c) determine graduate students' level of comfort with the delivery system and their level of comfort with the teacher, (d) determine differences in graduate students' ratings of the effectiveness of the delivery system before a distance education session and after a distance education session, and (e) determine differences in graduate students' level of comfort with the teacher before a distance education session and after a distance education session.

In communication and marketing there have been a shift from a transaction focus with emphasis on persuasion to a relationship focus referred to as a two-way communication with increased interactivity. Traditional companies are challenged to understand how their business can take advantage and adapt to the digital changes and opportunities when it comes to communication and building relationships and gain the ability to anticipate and deliver what customers expect them to. B2B companies have a slower adaption to digital media and digital changes compared to B2C companies and when it comes to digital channels there is many opportunities to discover. B2B companies still feel dependent on traditional communication when it comes to building relationships but the digital trend pressure companies to get involved and keep up digitally. The constantly expanding digital landscape force B2B companies to find a way to utilize digital platforms and channels in order to create strong digital relationships with retailer and audience The purpose of this study is to investigate and gain an understanding how B2B wholesalers communicate and build digital relationships with retailers. A qualitative method is used featuring a single-case study with Company X a B2B firm operating in the wholesale trade business as a producer and a wholesaler. Data used in the study is collected from semi-structured interviews with employees from the sales and marketing department. Digital marketing is one of the most emerging tools within communication, that B2B businesses not yet use to its full potential but are eager to discover the opportunities and advantages B2C companies adapted for a long time. B2B businesses use digital tools to support and strengthen the communication and relationship with retailers however findings reveal traditional tools is still the prefered communication method in B2B. Our findings suggest how there are still qualities lacking in digital communication that can only be achieved through traditional communication with psychical meetings. Empirical suggestion on how a B2B company can adopt techniques from B2C and apply it in a B2B context.

This normative comparative study sought to compare the reading achievement, in English and Spanish, of Latino English learners in a 50/50 two-way immersion (TWI) bilingual program to Latino English learners in a 90/10 TWI program. The scores from 55 students across four TWI programs, two 50/50 and two 90/10, were analyzed. The principal from each school was also interviewed. Quantitative data from the district’s reading Benchmark Book Test, California Standards Test/English Language Arts and Standards-based Test in Spanish were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA, Bonferroni Post Hoc and Chi Square to compare the means between the students’ reading achievement in Spanish and English by program model. Overall the biliteracy results revealed that the main effect between programs was not significant (p = .23) nor was the within subjects effect (p = .42). However, the interaction of grade and program was significant (p = .001). English and Spanish literacy results showed the students in the 50/50 TWI program outperformed students in the 90/10 TWI program by end of fifth grade; however across program models more students reached grade level literacy in English than in Spanish. Interviews with the principals of each school revealed that when analyzing test data at the school site level, English data were analyzed more closely and more systematically due to accountability measures indicating that NCLB has had a profound effect on the biliteracy attainment of Latino English learners in two-way immersion.

The purpose of this study was to determine factors that impact the final grades of full admission and developmental students who were enrolled in selected 22 undergraduate business courses during the fall 2015 and spring 2016 semesters. Also, this study examined the interaction of students’ ethnicity, gender, age, and classification on their final course grades in selected business courses at a rural public HBCU. The research design for this study was casual-comparative research. A 2X2 and a 2X4 factorial ANOVA was used to determine whether there was a main effect on students’ final grades considering each independent variable. Out of a population of 393 students enrolled, 320 students participated in this study. After the data were collected and analyzed, the researcher determined that there was a statistically significant relationship between student’s final grade and course delivery, ethnicity, and classification. There was no statistically significant interaction on student’s final grades between course delivery and student admission status, gender, age, ethnicity, and classification. Conclusion and recommendations based on the findings in this study indicated that students attending the rural public HBCU and enrolled in business courses that offered the same courses in both face-toace and online formats performed better in face-toace courses than in the online courses.

This thesis is a philosophical contribution to the theories on risk communication. The topic of risk communication is approached from several different angles, but with a normative focus on equality and vulnerability. Essay I is a comment on risk perception theory and the psychometric model in particular. In risk perception research individual risk taking is described as either a result of valuing the benefits from risk taking or a failure of comprehending the severity or probability of risks. The essay argues that sometimes individuals take risks simply because they are in a vulnerable position and have no other choice. Four factors are identified as crucial in risks from vulnerability: poor outset conditions, lack of reasonable options, hope and liability to disinformation. Essay II addresses the democratic approach to risk communication and the ideal of risk communication as a dialogue between more or less equal stakeholders. The Essay argues that even the more innovative and dialogue oriented approaches to risk communication are unequal. This is often blurred by the confusion between the described ideal and the description of these newer approaches. This inequality is analysed in a three-fold way: influence over the communication process; influence over and access to information; and influence over risk decisions. The Essay develops a typology of different risk communication practices and influence distributions and concludes that the form of risk communication most commonly referred in the literature is the most imbalanced kind where all three types of influence falls to the same party. Essay III explores the concept of trust, an often-mentioned objective for risk communication. The concept of trust is analyzed from previous philosophical approaches, and the idea of trust as comfortable defocusing is introduced. It is argued that not only the gains for the trustee but also the gains and risks for the truster, generally and in the case from risk communication, can be explained by this notion. It is concluded that public trust for institutions or organizations need not be framed on an individual level. Instead, the vulnerability of trusting can be counter-acted by a delegation of different stances, including both control and trust, among different individuals and institutions in society. / QC 20101116

One of the most popular challenges facing academia and industry is the development of effective techniques and tools for maximizing the availability of data as the most valuable source of knowledge. The internet has dominated as the core for maximizing data availability and XML (eXtensible Markup Language) has emerged and is being gradually accepted as the universal standard format for platform independent publishing and exchanging data over the Internet. On the other hand, there remain large amount of data held in structured databases and database management systems have been traditionally used for the effective storage and manipulation of large volumes of data. This raised the need for effective methodologies capable of smoothly transforming data between different formats in general and between XML and structured databases in particular. This dissertation addresses the issue by proposing a two-way mapping approach between XML and object-oriented databases. The basic steps of the proposed approach are applied in a systematic way to produce a graph from the source and then transform the graph into the destination format. In other words, the derived graph summarizes characteristics of the source whether XML (elements and attributes) or object-oriented database (classes, inheritance and nesting hierarchies). Then, the developed methodology classifies nodes and links from the graph into the basic constructs of the destination, i.e., elements and attributes for XML or classes, inheritance and nesting hierarchies for object-oriented databases. The methodology has been successfully implemented and illustrative case studies are presented in this document.

Research on adolescents sense of belonging in schools is plentiful; however, there is an obvious lack of research conducted in early childhood years. Friendship groups have been shown to be impactful in helping students feel like they belong in school. This study explores how kindergarteners talk about friendship in the context of belonging in a two-way immersion school. I pay particular attention to the role primary language plays in developing a sense of belonging and friendships at school. The 19 kindergarteners in this study were interviewed in small linguistically homogenous groups of 2 or 3 students. Each focus group was shown 2 puppets that represented one English-speaking and one Spanish-speaking child. Students were then asked to help each puppet understand what it would be like to be a new student at the school and what they would need to know to fit in. Findings reveal that these students recognize the utility of language for doing schoolwork and fitting into the institution of schooling, but did not highlight the importance of language as a necessary tool for making friends. Students focus on the importance of understanding the social context in order to belong at school. More research is needed regarding how school programs and social context influence the development of friendship.