D.Cur. / With the dawn of the new democratic dispensation in South Africa, numerous structural changes in the form of new legislation on health care were introduced by government. The purpose hereof is to transform health care delivery in order to bring about equality, accessibility, availability and applicability of health care to the citizens of South Africa. However, such changes have given rise to rationalization and the restructuring of health care services and health care personnel. Against the background of the so-called brain drain of health care personnel, it possibly contributed to a situation where numerous health care services find themselves with a shortage of expert human and material resources. These changes have influenced the quality of decisionmaking in health care services in general, and nursing in particular. Furthermore, based on an investigation of disciplinary case studies of the SANe, it appears that there is an increase in the number of disciplinary cases against nurses. These disciplinary cases reflect the nature of the decisions made by nurses. From these disciplinary case studies, it appears that decision-making by nurses do not comply with the reasonable expectations as stipulated in the legal-ethical framework of the nursing profession. Furthermore, it appears that decisions made by nurses in order to promote the health of the individual, group and/or community, are unsafe, ineffective and unacceptable in terms of the reasonable expectations as stipulated in the legal-ethical framework of the nursing profession. It can be concluded, that decision-making by these nurses no longer complies with the regulation in terms of the Nursing Act (Act 50 of 1978, as ammended), namely to deliver safe nursing to the citizens of South Africa. As a possible solution to the aforementioned problem, the researcher sees the description of a system for quality decision-making as being necessary in nursing. This goal can be achieved by the following objectives: the exploration and description of the expectations of the stakeholders with regard to quality decision-making in nursing, the integration of these expectations during iv the conceptualization of quality decision-making in nursing, as well as the formulation of standards for quality decision-making in nursing.Based on a qualitative, explorative, descriptive and standard-generation design, the study was conducted in four phases to achieve the objectives of the study. During the first phase, the expectations ofthe stakeholders with regard to quality decision-making in nursing were explored and described. In phase two, the identified themes on quality decision-making were conceptualized. In phase three standards for quality decision-making in nursing were formulated through inductive and deductive reasoning from the results of the previous two phases. In phase four a system for quality decision-making in nursing was described based on a theoretical foundation of the systems theory.

D.Litt. et Phil. / The aim of this study was to determine possible relationships between sense of coherence, temperament and decision-making and to explore the nature of these relationships. The study was based on the assumption that people attempt to make sense of complex environments and that differences in certain biological and psychological characteristics may lead to differences in the way that people make decisions in complex environments. Temperament was defined as a biological or physiological aspect that influences human behaviour. Sense of coherence was conceptualised as a psychological, global orientation that influences the way in which individuals understand their environments and can therefore give rise to individual differences in behaviour. Decision-making style was defined as a specific behavioural manifestation of the manner in which individuals make sense of complex environments and it was postulated that decision-making would probably be influenced by temperament and sense of coherence. In order to explore the current study’s research questions, a sample of 189 third year and Honours students in Psychology at a tertiary institution was used. The ages of the participants ranged from 19 tot 34 years and the average age was 22 years. More women (91.5%) participated in the study than men (8.5%). As a result of practicalities it was impossible to use a random sample. Three self-report measurements were used to respectively measure sense of coherence, temperament and decision-making style. These were the Orientation to Life Questionnaire, Pavlovian Temperament Survey and Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire. The Pavlovian Temperament Survey measures three characteristics of the nervous system namely Strength of Excitation, Strength of Inhibition and Mobility of the Nervous Processes. An additional sub-scale was added to measure Balance of the Nervous Processes. The Orientation to Life Questionnaire measures Comprehensibility, Manageability, Meaningfulness as well as total Sense of Coherence. The Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire measures four decision-making styles: one effective style, Vigilance and three ineffective styles, Procrastination, Hypervigilance and Buck Passing. The raw data that were collected from the completed questionnaires were subjected to several statistical analyses. The data were tested for normality of sub-scale distributions, which lead to logistical regression analyses being used to determine if temperament and sense of coherence can predict differences in decision-making style. Pearson product moment correlations as well as canonical correlations were also used. Multiple analyses of variance were used to determine whether biographical variables could account for any differences in sense of coherence, temperament and decision-making style. The results indicated that differences due to language, year of study or work status did not affect scores with regard to sense of coherence, temperament or decision-making style. The sample could therefore be regarded as quite homogeneous and the effect of confounding variables could be limited. However, generalisability of the results was also compromised. It was found that Strength of Excitation, Strength of Inhibition and Mobility of the Nervous Processes displayed relationships with Sense of coherence as well as the individual aspects of sense of coherence namely Comprehensibility, Manageability and Meaningfulness. This finding points to the possibility that physiological responses and psychological assessment of complex environments are related. Even though Balance of the Nervous Processes was not indicated as related to sense of coherence, it was found that this characteristic of the nervous system may possibly relate to decision-making. In line with these findings, the results indicated the possibility of relationships between a person’s psychological assessment of situations and behavioural outcomes as relationships were found between sense of coherence and decision-making style. It was indicated that certain temperament dimensions possibly displays an inverse relationship with decision-making styles, and especially the use of a hypervigilant decision-making style. However, the role of temperament in the use of a vigilant decision-making style is unclear. Lastly, the results indicated that the emotional assessment of stimuli as meaningful and challenging may possibly give rise to the use of a vigilant decision-making style. The assessment of situations as chaotic and unstructured could possibly relate more to the use of ineffective decision-making styles. An overall conclusion that can be made is that relationships between sense of coherence, temperament and decision-making style do indeed exist but that the nature of the relationships is quite complex. It seems as if different mechanisms are at play with regard to determining the use of effective and ineffective decision-making styles. These mechanisms could possibly lie in the emotional and cognitive assessments of situations. It seems as if a healthy emotional assessment of situations as challenging and meaningful precede the use of an effective, cognitively-based decision-making style. The cognitive assessment of situations as chaotic and unstructured could possibly lead to a more emotional decision-making response and decisions may be postponed, its responsibility may be shifted or it may be handled in a panicky manner. The results of this study should be interpreted with care since the sample was quite homogeneous and not particularly large. The exclusive use of the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire to measure decision-making is also problematic and the inclusion of an objective measurement of decision-making efficiency would have been preferable. It is also unclear whether reported decision-making style is equal to true decision-making style. Lastly, it was also decided to move away from Antonovsky’s (1987) recommendations that sense of coherence be treated as one global construct and the individual sub-scales were analysed separately. Future research can make use of similar variables and statistical techniques with bigger and more diverse samples to facilitate the development of an explanatory model for behaviour within complex environments. If the same variables are used, other measurements should be included to expand the conceptual framework. Future research could also test the current findings in practice for example in training or therapy.

"Will highly educated women have more children in the future?" In this contribution, I address this question by looking at both fertility and fertility intentions; i.e., the number of children people plan to have over their reproductive lives. Intended births are highly correlated with actual births, and in low-fertility settings, childbearing has become associated with the couple's agency. On the other hand, education, which is a marker of income and social status, has remained an important driver of fertility choices. Hence, understanding the reproductive decision-making of women and men with low, medium, and high levels of education is crucial when seeking to determine whether - and if so, to what extent - there is scope for additional policy interventions aimed at raising fertility levels.

Fung Chi Tim. / Thesis (M.Sc.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53). / Abstract / Chapter I. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- Objective --- p.4 / Chapter III. --- Methodology / Decision Methodology --- p.6 / Sensitivity Analysis and Re-iteration --- p.14 / Ease of use of the system --- p.22 / Chapter IV. --- Test Result --- p.26 / Chapter V. --- Future Research Direction --- p.28 / Chapter VI. --- Conclusion --- p.32 / Chapter VII. --- Appendix A Description of System --- p.35 / Chapter VIII. --- Appendix B User's Guide --- p.44 / Figures --- p.50 / References --- p.53

Kin-hong Wong. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-70). / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Literature Review --- p.4 / Chapter 2.1 --- Modelling --- p.4 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Integer Programming Model --- p.4 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Network Flow Model --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Graph Colouring Model --- p.8 / Chapter 2.2 --- Heuristic Approach --- p.10 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Lesson Selection Strategy --- p.11 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Time Slot Selection Strategy --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Conflict handling Strategy --- p.13 / Chapter 2.3 --- Remarks --- p.15 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Project Overview --- p.16 / Chapter 3.1 --- The Work Flow --- p.16 / Chapter 3.2 --- System Objectives --- p.17 / Chapter 3.3 --- An Incremental Construction Approach --- p.18 / Chapter 3.4 --- A Decision Support System --- p.19 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Task Analysis --- p.21 / Chapter 4.1 --- Three-Stage Task Model --- p.21 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Conflict Free (CF) Stage --- p.22 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Conflict Avoidance (CA) Stage --- p.23 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Conflict Resolution (CR) Stage --- p.24 / Chapter 4.2 --- System Supports --- p.24 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Supports for CF Stage --- p.24 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Supports for CA Stage --- p.25 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Supports for CR Stage --- p.25 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- System Design --- p.27 / Chapter 5.1 --- User Interface --- p.28 / Chapter 5.2 --- Data Model --- p.28 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Timetable Structure --- p.30 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Resource Lists --- p.31 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Lesson List --- p.33 / Chapter 5.2.4 --- History Log --- p.34 / Chapter 5.3 --- Operational Tools --- p.35 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Elementary Scheduling Functions --- p.35 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- AUTO Function --- p.36 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- FLAG/COMMIT/ABORT --- p.37 / Chapter 5.4 --- Analytical Tools --- p.39 / Chapter 5.4.1 --- Availability Table --- p.39 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- Operation History --- p.39 / Chapter 5.4.3 --- Slot Finder --- p.40 / Chapter 5.4.4 --- Scheduling Priority --- p.42 / Chapter 5.5 --- Remarks --- p.43 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- System Evaluation --- p.45 / Chapter 6.1 --- Case 1 --- p.46 / Chapter 6.2 --- Case 2 --- p.46 / Chapter 6.3 --- Case 3 --- p.47 / Chapter 6.4 --- Remarks --- p.48 / Chapter Chapter 7 --- Further Works --- p.50 / Chapter 7.1 --- Algorithmic Tools --- p.50 / Chapter 7.2 --- Post-Scheduling Room Assignment --- p.52 / Chapter 7.3 --- Input and Output Processors --- p.53 / Chapter 7.4 --- Electronic Tutorial Subsystem --- p.54 / Chapter 7.5 --- Task-Model-Based Help Subsystem --- p.54 / Chapter Chapter 8 --- Conclusions --- p.56 / Chapter Appendix A --- Database Definition --- p.58 / Chapter Appendix B --- Conflict Resolution Algorithm --- p.61 / Chapter Appendix C --- System Specification --- p.63 / References --- p.67

This thesis examines the existence of an interaction between the gender of the defence attorney and the crime domain of the accused person represented by the defence attorney when predicting juror verdict, juror certainty in his/her verdict and juror perceptions of the credibility of the defence attorney. More broadly, this study explores a possible gender-domain congruency effect on juror decision-making and whether jurors apply gender schemas when processing information presented by male versus female attorneys in particular crime domains. Specifically, this investigation hypothesizes that in cases in which female defence attorneys represent crimes perceived to be in an area of women’s expertise, jurors resort to gender stereotypes, perceiving them as not only more credible than male defence attorneys but also more likely to find the accused person not guilty as well as have a greater degree of certainty in this verdict. To test this theory, an Ottawa community sample of 80 jury-eligible participants read one of four online case vignettes in which the crime domain and the gender of the defence attorney varied. Findings demonstrate a significant main effect of gender whereby mock jurors are more likely to impose a guilty verdict with a male versus a female defence attorney. Further, the crime domain of the accused person whom the defence attorney represents emerged as a significant main effect predicting the perceived credibility of the defence attorney. That is, regardless of gender, the defence attorney was perceived as more credible when representing the defendant accused of aggravated assault than of sexual assault. However, a significant interaction effect of the gender of the defence attorney and crime domain was not found. The implications of these findings as they relate to the impact of extralegal factors on juror decision-making are discussed, particularly in light of the continuing existence of gender stereotypes and their ramifications for modern Canadian juries.

Recent research on judgment and decision making emphasizes decision architecture, the task and contextual features of a decision setting that influence how preferences are constructed (Thaler & Sunstein, 2008). In a series of three papers, this dissertation considers architectural features related to the intertemporal structure of the decision setting that influence cognition, motivation, and emotion, and include modifications of (i) informational, (ii) experiential, (iii) procedural, and (iv) emotional environments. This research also identifies obstacles to decision making, whether that obstacle is an individual difference (e.g., age-related change in emotional processing) or a temporary state (e.g., a change in motivational focus, or sensitivity to irrelevant features of the decision setting). Papers 1 and 2 focus on decision architecture related to environmentally-relevant decisions, investigating how structural features of the decision task can trigger different choice processes and behavior. Paper 1 explores a potential mechanism behind constructed preferences relating to climate change belief and explores why these preferences are sensitive to normatively irrelevant features of the judgment context, such as transient outdoor temperature. Paper 2 examines new ways of emphasizing time and uncertainty with the aim of turning psychological obstacles into opportunities, accomplished by making legacy motives more salient to shift preferences from present-future and self-other trade-offs at the point of decision making. Paper 3 examines how the temporal horizon of a decision setting influences predicted future preferences within the domain of affective forecasting. In addition, Paper 3 explores how individual and situational differences might affect the match (or mismatch) between predicted and experienced outcomes by examining differences in forecasting biases among older versus younger adults. Taken together, these three papers aim to encourage individuals to make decisions that are not overshadowed by short-term goals or other constraints, with the aim of producing actionable modifications for policy-makers in the presentation of information relevant to such decisions.

This dissertation contains three essays in Economic Theory. The first chapter relates to information economics and mechanism design: it studies the inefficiencies that arise from delegating information acquisition to an uninterested agent. The second and third chapter are essays in decision theory and explore the behavioral implications of certain types of incomplete preferences. In the first chapter, a principal hires an agent to acquire costly information that will influence the decision of a third party. While the realized piece of information is observable and contractible, the experimental process is not. Assuming a general family of information cost functions (inclusive of Shannon’s mutual information), we show that the first best is achievable when the agent has limited liability or when he is risk averse, in contrast to standard moral hazard models. However, when the agent is risk averse and has limited liability, efficiency losses arise generically. Specifically, we show that the principal obtains his first best outcome if and only if she intends to implement a ”symmetric” experiment, i.e. one in which the cost of generating each piece of evidence is the same. On the other hand, ”asymmetric” experiments that are relatively uninformative with high probability but occasionally produce conclusive evidence will bear large agency costs. In the second chapter, we define an elimination rule as a binary relation that is reflexive and has no strict cycle. We study the behaviors of decision makers that can be represented by certain types of menu dependent elimination rules: upward refinements, in which the elimination rule becomes more complete as the choice set grows and are consistent with the decision maker extracting increasingly more information from bigger sets; and downward refinements, in which the elimination rule shrinks as the choice set grows, and that are consistent with choice overload phenomena. Finally, we study the behavior of a decision maker with incomplete preference who uses a heuristic rule to select an arbitrary subsets of undominated elements in each choice set. We show how to use this framework to identify all choice data consistent with a certain behavioral bias, by illustrating it with both the compromise effect and the attraction effect. In the third chapter, we introduce the notion of revealed betweenness for partial orders of dimension two, i.e. that are the intersection of two linear orders: how to identify solely from binary comparisons which of three mutually incomparable alternatives is ranked as the middle one for both linear orders. We use it to provide a new set of sufficient conditions for a partial order to be of order dimension two or less, by applying a characterization of a particular class of ternary relations: betweenness relations. We finally address the issue of identifiability of this pair of criteria.

What role does ethical theory play in everyday deliberation? On the ideal view, agents are taken to have an overriding commitment to a theory that dictates the obligatory, permissible, and forbidden actions in every conceivable situation. I argue that the ideal view imposes undesirable psychological burdens, whereas a non-ideal view—on which agents act according to the norms of their local practices and appeal to theory only when those norms prove insufficient to resolve particular problems—does not. Inspired by J. S. Mill, I develop one non-ideal theory for practices of regret, toleration, punishment, and partiality.

Across three essays, I explore how modern statistical machine learning approaches can be used to glean novel marketing insights from data and to facilitate data-driven decision support in new domains. In particular, I draw on Bayesian nonparametrics, deep generative modeling, and modern Bayesian computational techniques to develop new methodologies that enhance standard marketing models, address modern challenges in data-driven marketing, and, as I show through applications to real world data, glean new, managerially relevant insights. Substantively, my work addresses issues in customer base analysis, the estimation of consumer preferences, and brand identity and logo design. In my first essay, I address how multi-product firms can understand and predict customer purchasing dynamics in the presence of partial information, by developing a Bayesian nonparametric model for customer purchasing activity. This framework yields an interpretable, model-based dashboard, which can be used to predict future activity, and guide managerial decision making. In my second essay, I explore the flexible modeling of customer brand choice dynamics using a novel form of heterogeneity, which I term dynamic heterogeneity. Specifically, I develop a novel doubly hierarchical Gaussian process framework to flexibly model how the preferences of individual customers evolve relative to one another over time, and illustrate the utility of the framework with an application to purchasing during the Great Recession. Finally, in my third essay, I explore how data and models can inform firms' aesthetic choices, in particular the design of their logos. To that end, I develop image processing algorithms and a deep generative model of brand identity that links visual data with textual descriptions of firms and brand personality perceptions, which can be used for understanding design standards, ideation, and ultimately, data-driven design.