Child protective services begin with an intake (screening) decision to accept or reject maltreatment reports. This crucial decision may lead to significant positive or negative outcomes for children and families. Little is known about characteristics that intake decision-makers share or factors that influence the decision-making process. Racially-biased intake practices have been blamed for contributing to African American children’s disproportionate overrepresentation in the child welfare system. Concerns have emerged that social workers may hold negative stereotypes about African Americans and parents who use drugs. Stereotypical biases may influence decisions in reports alleging parental drug use and/or involving African American families. This study was conducted to examine the influence of race and parental drug-use allegations on intake decision-making. It was also conducted to identify factors that influence decision-making and to determine whether concepts drawn from naturalistic decision theory and attribution theory are relevant to intake decision-making. A conceptual model for describing decision-making was proposed and tested. Equivalent materials design was employed. Respondents completed an on-line questionnaire that included 24 vignettes describing hypothetical maltreatment concerns. Race and drug use were manipulated between two instrument versions. Respondents completed a 45-item scale measuring racial and parental drug use bias. They also described their application of policy to decision-making and the degree to which they engaged in different types of mental simulation (a naturalistic decision theory strategy) in making decisions. Eighty-seven child protective services intake decision-makers in Virginia participated (67% response rate). The findings suggest that respondents’ decisions were not influenced by racial bias but were influenced by parental drug use bias. Respondents’ parental drug use bias scores were higher than their racial bias scores. Social workers’ racial bias scores were higher than other respondents’ scores. A set of nine primary decision-factors used frequently in decision-making was identified. Finally, respondents reported using their discretion in adhering to CPS policy depending upon their concern for children’s safety. The research contributes to understanding the intake decision-making process. Findings related to worker characteristics, relevant decision-factors, and decision-making behaviors may influence practice and future research. Findings also suggest that naturalistic decision theory concepts warrant further attention and study.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T18:15:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carla C do N Antunes.pdf: 2645826 bytes, checksum: 5f48e7102554db04388584f1eec55761 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-29 / The present dissertation proposed analyzing the determinants of the choice of undergraduate students of the State University of Western Parana Cascavel Campus / PR. Specifically, the objective was to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic and informational factors and the social influence of families and institutions in the choice process. The theoretical instrument used in this research was the Human Capital theory and using Behavioral Economics, as an alternative to the conception of instrumental rationality. It examines the decision-making processes of university students, identifying factors associated with behavioral rationality, such as when would the decision be taken, uncertainty, level of information, influences of different situations and institutions on behavior and expectations of future professional performance. The dissertation seeks to capture the reality of university selection processes by means of a survey, based on non-probabilistic sampling by quotas. The research totals the result of 452 questionnaires applied, corresponding to 63.2% of all university students that would be entering 19 undergraduate courses in the year 2016. As evidence found in the behavior of the university students that were surveyed, it identifies that, generally, they tend to be oriented to the present, to be partially informed, and also be influenced by the quality and prestige of the educational institution, personal fulfillment and opportunities in the labor market and financial ascension and affirm that they have made the right choice. / A presente dissertação propôs-se analisar os determinantes de escolha do curso de graduação dos ingressantes da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná Campus de Cascavel/PR. Especificamente, buscou-se investigar a relação dos fatores socioeconômicos, informacionais, bem como a influência social dos familiares e instituições no processo de escolha. O instrumento teórico utilizado nesta pesquisa foi a teoria do Capital Humano e as abordagens da Economia Comportamental, como alternativa à concepção da racionalidade instrumental. Examina os processos de decisão dos universitários, identificando fatores associados à racionalidade comportamental, tais como a escolha no tempo, a incerteza, o nível de informação, as influências das diferentes situações e instituições no comportamento e as expectativas de atuação profissional futura. Buscou-se compreender acerca dos processos de escolha do universitário por meio de uma pesquisa de levantamento, baseada numa amostragem não probabilística por quotas. A pesquisa totaliza o resultado de 452 questionários aplicados, correspondendo a 63,2% do total dos universitários ingressantes em 19 cursos de graduação referente ao ano de 2016. Como evidências encontradas no comportamento dos universitários pesquisados, identifica que, em termos gerais, eles tendem a ser orientados para o presente, a estar parcialmente informados, a serem influenciados pela qualidade e prestígio da instituição de ensino, pela realização pessoal, pelas oportunidades no mercado de trabalho e ascensão financeira e afirmam que estão certos em relação a escolha feita.

Bakgrund: En globaliserad värld och ny teknik har gett företag fler möjligheter att få tillgång till arbetskraft och kompetens. Crowdsourcing kan användas av företag för att anlita egenställda frilansare via digitala plattformar på ett flexibelt och kostnadseffektivt sätt. För små företag som kännetecknas av att ha begränsade resurser av kapital, arbetskraft och kompetens kan crowdsourcing vara en lösning för att överleva i en ständigt föränderlig värld och samtidigt skapa konkurrenskraft på marknaden. Syfte och Metod: Syftet med denna studie är att öka förståelsen för de möjligheter och utmaningar små företag i svensk kontext har med crowdsourcing. För att uppnå syftet genomförs studien med en kvalitativ metod uppbyggd av åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer. Teoretisk referensram: Den teoretiska referensramen består av en beskrivning av hur processen går till när företag arbetar med crowdsourcing, ett ramverk med faktorer företag tar hänsyn till vid beslutet att arbeta med crowdsourcing samt vilka möjligheter och utmaningar små företag i andra kontexter upplever att crowdsourcing medför. Resultat och slutsats: Studien visar att små företag i svensk kontext finner en rad olika möjligheter och utmaningar med crowdsourcing där rykte som utmaning är ett bidrag till forskningen från den svenska kontexten. Dessa möjligheter och utmaningar har en stark koppling till beslutsfaktorer som påverkar små företags beslut att arbeta med crowdsourcing genom att de tar hänsyn till och arbetar med de utmaningar som finns för att kunna dra nytta av de möjligheter som finns med att arbeta med crowdsourcing. De möjligheter som finns värderas därmed högre vid beslut att arbeta med crowdsourcing än de utmaningar som små företag måste hantera. / Background: A globalized world and new technologies have given enterprises more opportunities to access labour and skills. Crowdsourcing can be used by enterprises to hire self-employed freelancers via digital platforms in a flexible and cost-effective way. For small businesses that are characterized by limited resources of capital, labour, skills, crowdsourcing can be a solution to survive in an ever-changing world while remaining competitive in the market.  Purpose and method: The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of the opportunities and challenges small enterprises in the Swedish context have with crowdsourcing. The study is conducted using a qualitative method composed of eight semi structured interviews.  Theoretical frame of reference: The theoretical frame of reference consists of a description of the process of crowdsourcing, a framework of factors that companies take into account when deciding to crowdsource, and the opportunities and challenges that small companies in other contexts experience with crowdsourcing.  Results and conclusion: The study shows that small enterprises in the Swedish context find a variety of opportunities and challenges with crowdsourcing where reputation as a challenge is a contribution to the research from the Swedish context. These opportunities and challenges are strongly linked to decision-making factors that influence small enterprises decision to work with crowdsourcing, by taking into account and working with the challenges that exist in order to take advantage of the opportunities that exist in working with crowdsourcing. The opportunities that exist are valued more highly when deciding to work with crowdsourcing than the challenges that small businesses must deal with.

This thesis explains the concept of progressive muscular disease. Describes the development of the disease, different types and methods of treatment. It also deals with the problems of the educational opportunities of children with limited mobility in the Czech Republic. The thesis is divided into four parts. The first chapter deals with the definition of the concept of progressive muscular disease. The second part describes the laws on education and educational facilities for children with disabilities in our country. It also deals with special educational needs and support in the educational process. The third part describes the family as a determinant in the choice of school. Determining what factors and to what extent, affect parents in deciding on the future of education.

Bakgrund och problem: Enterprise resource planning system (Svenska:Affärssystem) har historiskt huvudsakligen använts inom stora företag. Men har påsenare tid blivit allt vanligare hos små- och medelstora företag till följd avdigitalisering och marknadsändringar. Det har gjorts studier för hur ett välimplementerat och integrerat affärssystem ökar effektiviteten inom företag. Vidarekonkluderar forskare att utvärdering av affärssystemet är viktigt för att bibehålla etteffektivt system över tid och föreslår utvärderingsmodeller för ändamålet. Däremotfinns det teoretiska kunskapsluckor gällande hur små- och medelstora företag inomtillverkningsindustrin kan och bör genomföra utvärderingar och vilkabeslutsfaktorer som ligger till grund för ett sådant beslut. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka om och hur små- och medelstora företagutvärderar sina affärssystem. Metodval: Studien har en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med abduktivforskningsansats. Det empiriska materialet utgörs av 10 semistrukturerade intervjuermed olika chefer och ansvariga för små- och medelstora tillverkningsföretag. De 10respondenterna valdes genom ett målstyrt urval. Slutsats: Formella utvärderingar med hjälp av modeller utförs inte. Utvärderingmed hjälp av är modeller är en komplex process som anses vara för tidskrävandeoch kostsam för små- och medelstora företag att genomföra. Däremot förekommerinformella utvärderingar av affärssystem till viss utsträckning. / Background and problem: Enterprise resource planning systems have historicallymainly been used within large companies. But has recently become increasinglycommon in small- and medium-sized companies as a result of digitization andmarket changes. There have been studies on how a well-implemented and integratedbusiness system increases efficiency within companies. Furthermore, researchersconclude that evaluation of the business system is important to maintain an effectivesystem over time and propose evaluation models for the purpose. On the other hand,there are theoretical knowledge gaps regarding how small- and medium-sizedcompanies in the manufacturing industry can and should carry out evaluations andwhich decision factors are the basis for such a decision. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate whether and how small- andmedium-sized companies evaluate their enterprise resource planning system. Method: The study has a qualitative research method with an abductive researchapproach. The empirical material consists of 10 semi-structured interviews withvarious managers of small- and medium-sized manufacturing companies. The 10 respondents were selected through purposive sampling. Conclusion: Formal evaluations using models are not carried out, as evaluationusing models is a complex process that is considered too time-consuming and costlyfor SMEs to undertake. On the other hand, informal evaluations of enterpriseresource planning systems occur to a certain extent.

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