Background: Interventions for young children with autism are increasingly delivered through parents. This thesis investigated baseline and process variables associating with quality of parent-therapist alliance in a parent-mediated intervention for autism, including variables relating to parents' causal beliefs and perspectives. Participants: 77 parents and 6 therapists from a RCT of a parent-mediated intervention for autism (PACT). Method: A sequential exploratory mixed methods approach, with an intermediary instrument development phase. Baseline variables, investigated for the full sample of 77 cases, comprised demographic variables, parental dichotomous causal belief variables, and a therapist average fidelity variable. Thematic analysis of intervention session transcripts informed the development of the Parental Perspectives Coding Scheme (PPCS), a video-based scheme for rating the quality of parent 'Expression' and therapist 'Integration' of parental perspectives during intervention. 5 overarching themes were initially identified, these were collapsed into three items for the PPCS; Interpretation of the Child (IOC), Parent Actions and Strategies (PAS) and Parental Self Disclosures (PSD). Item inter-rater reliabilities were satisfactory to good. Parent-therapist dialogue, for a sub-sample of 20 cases, was coded using the PPCS to create process variables for the Expression and Integration of parental perspectives. Initial analyses identified baseline and process variables with significant univariate associations with alliance; these were included in separate multivariate models of parent-rated alliance and therapist-rated alliance. Results: Parent-rated and therapist-rated alliance did not correlate. PPCS Expression and Integration scores were higher in the high parent-rated alliance group but the difference was non-significant. Parents who cited MMR as a possible cause of their child's autism rated the alliance significantly lower than those who did not. Parents with no post-16 qualifications rated the alliance significantly higher than those with higher qualifications. Each factor contributed independently to a multiple regression model, together explaining 18.3% of variance in parent-rated alliance. Therapist-rated alliance significantly correlated positively with therapist fidelity and with PPCS variables for parent Expression and therapist Integration; together these explained 58.8% of variance in therapist-rated alliance. Conclusions: Therapists should be aware that parents may rate the alliance differently from themselves and that different factors associate with their ratings. Parents' causal beliefs and level of education may influence their ratings of alliance in specific interventions.

<p>Vi ville med vår uppsats undersöka om strategiska allianser inom den internationella flygbranschen har lett till att medlemmarna i alliansen åtnjutit en förbättrad lönsamhet och expansion i verksamheten.</p><p>Den alliansen vi hade fokus på för undersökningen var Star Alliance och vi granskade utvecklingen av de utvalda lönsamhetsmåtten hos de fem flygbolagen som var med och upprättade denna allians. Vi undersökte även lönsamhetsfaktorerna för fyra flygbolag, som för den studerade tidsperioden inte ingick i någon strategisk allians. Dessa användes som jämförelseobjekt.</p><p>Urvalet gjordes utifrån att det var just dessa fem flygbolag som upprättade alliansen och att denna allians var den första av sitt slag. Urvalet av de fyra jämförelsebolagen gjordes utifrån att dessa var de få flygbolag av den traditionella typen som under studiens utvalda tidsperiod inte ingick i någon liknande allians.</p><p>Vi genomförde undersökningen genom att samla information hämtad ifrån flygbolagens årsredovisningar från 1994 till 2004 och försökte upptäcka trendbrott i nyckeltalens utvecklingar efter det att Star Alliance upprättades. För att förstärka tillförlitligheten av undersökningen använde vi de fyra jämförelseflygbolagen och genomförde en statistisk hypotesprövning för att testa om det förelåg någon signifikant skillnad gällande utvecklingen av lönsamhetsfaktorerna mellan bolagen i Star Alliance och jämförelsebolagen.</p><p>Resultatet av vår undersökning var att ingen tydlig lönsamhetsförbättring skett för bolagen inom Star Alliance. Vi kunde urskilja att jämförelsebolagen vi använt i undersökningen hade en liknande utveckling av de utvalda lönsamhetsfaktorerna. Eftersom ingen skillnad fanns mellan bolagen i alliansen och de utanför kan man dra slutsatsen att samarbetet inom Star Alliance inte förbättrat lönsamheten för medlemmarna mer än för bolag som inte ingår i någon allians.</p> / <p>The main purpose with our survey was to analyze if strategic alliances within the international airline business have led to increased profitability and strengthened the competitive advantage for the members of the alliance.</p><p>For our study we focused on Star Alliance and analyzed the development of the selected profitability indicators for the five members that founded it. We also analyzed the same indicators for four airlines that for the time period of the investigation were not members of a strategic alliance. These four airlines were used for purpose of comparison.</p><p>Our selection was made on the basis that there were these five airlines that founded the alliance and that Star Alliance was the first of its kind. The selection of the four airlines of comparison was made on the basis that these four airlines, for the studied time period, were not members of a strategic alliance.</p><p>We made the study by collecting information from the airlines annual reports for the years 1994 to 2004 and tried to discover any kind of differences for the time before and after the alliance was founded. To increase the credibility of the study we made a statistic hypothesis test to detect if there were any significant differences, regarding the profitability indicators and the competitive advantages, between the airlines within Star Alliance and the airlines of comparison.</p><p>The result of our study was that no legible improvement could be proven for the airlines that founded Star Alliance. We could detect that the comparison airlines we used for the survey had a similar development regarding the chosen profitability indicators and the competitive advantages. When no differences could be proven between these airlines, we drew the conclusion that the members in Star Alliance had not improved the studied indicators, to any greater extent than the airlines that were not members of a strategic alliance.</p>

Vi ville med vår uppsats undersöka om strategiska allianser inom den internationella flygbranschen har lett till att medlemmarna i alliansen åtnjutit en förbättrad lönsamhet och expansion i verksamheten. Den alliansen vi hade fokus på för undersökningen var Star Alliance och vi granskade utvecklingen av de utvalda lönsamhetsmåtten hos de fem flygbolagen som var med och upprättade denna allians. Vi undersökte även lönsamhetsfaktorerna för fyra flygbolag, som för den studerade tidsperioden inte ingick i någon strategisk allians. Dessa användes som jämförelseobjekt. Urvalet gjordes utifrån att det var just dessa fem flygbolag som upprättade alliansen och att denna allians var den första av sitt slag. Urvalet av de fyra jämförelsebolagen gjordes utifrån att dessa var de få flygbolag av den traditionella typen som under studiens utvalda tidsperiod inte ingick i någon liknande allians. Vi genomförde undersökningen genom att samla information hämtad ifrån flygbolagens årsredovisningar från 1994 till 2004 och försökte upptäcka trendbrott i nyckeltalens utvecklingar efter det att Star Alliance upprättades. För att förstärka tillförlitligheten av undersökningen använde vi de fyra jämförelseflygbolagen och genomförde en statistisk hypotesprövning för att testa om det förelåg någon signifikant skillnad gällande utvecklingen av lönsamhetsfaktorerna mellan bolagen i Star Alliance och jämförelsebolagen. Resultatet av vår undersökning var att ingen tydlig lönsamhetsförbättring skett för bolagen inom Star Alliance. Vi kunde urskilja att jämförelsebolagen vi använt i undersökningen hade en liknande utveckling av de utvalda lönsamhetsfaktorerna. Eftersom ingen skillnad fanns mellan bolagen i alliansen och de utanför kan man dra slutsatsen att samarbetet inom Star Alliance inte förbättrat lönsamheten för medlemmarna mer än för bolag som inte ingår i någon allians. / The main purpose with our survey was to analyze if strategic alliances within the international airline business have led to increased profitability and strengthened the competitive advantage for the members of the alliance. For our study we focused on Star Alliance and analyzed the development of the selected profitability indicators for the five members that founded it. We also analyzed the same indicators for four airlines that for the time period of the investigation were not members of a strategic alliance. These four airlines were used for purpose of comparison. Our selection was made on the basis that there were these five airlines that founded the alliance and that Star Alliance was the first of its kind. The selection of the four airlines of comparison was made on the basis that these four airlines, for the studied time period, were not members of a strategic alliance. We made the study by collecting information from the airlines annual reports for the years 1994 to 2004 and tried to discover any kind of differences for the time before and after the alliance was founded. To increase the credibility of the study we made a statistic hypothesis test to detect if there were any significant differences, regarding the profitability indicators and the competitive advantages, between the airlines within Star Alliance and the airlines of comparison. The result of our study was that no legible improvement could be proven for the airlines that founded Star Alliance. We could detect that the comparison airlines we used for the survey had a similar development regarding the chosen profitability indicators and the competitive advantages. When no differences could be proven between these airlines, we drew the conclusion that the members in Star Alliance had not improved the studied indicators, to any greater extent than the airlines that were not members of a strategic alliance.

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Western Seminary, Portland, OR, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 281-294).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Columbia International University, 2002. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 190-202).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Covenant Theological Seminary, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-181).

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Western Seminary, Portland, OR, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 281-294).

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Western Seminary, Portland, OR, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 281-294).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Columbia International University, 2002. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 190-202).

Thesis (M.A.H.T.)--Covenant Theological Seminary, 1990. / This is an electronic reproduction of TREN, #030-0126. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-181).