The purpose of this thesis was to analyze a number of auditor change and other peripheral issues from two related perspectives. Empirical data were gathered from publicly available Forms 8-K and 10-K to first assess whether meaningful differences existed between NYSE, AMEX, and OTC registrants regarding disclosures required in those documents. Secondly, the data were analyzed to determine whether differences existed with respect to the accounting firms (Big Eight or non-Big Eight) involved in the auditor changes. In most of the tests designed to achieve these purposes, statistically defensible results were obtained using the nonparametric chi-square test for significance of observed differences and the McNemar test for significance of changes, at the .05 level.

The hypothesis that a structured, sequenced, approach to mathematics learning, based on the application of learnt facts, decreases mathematics anxiety and increases mathematics achievement is tested. A literature study and an empirical investigation were conducted with respect to the relationships between maths anxiety, maths achievement and teaching methods. A qualitative research design which focussed on the cross-case analysis of different case studies was used. The qualitative case study involves multiple methods such as interviews, observations and a pretest, posttest design. It analyses and compares the effects of the Kuman method, used as the intervention programme, on maths anxiety and maths achievement of an experimental group and a control group. The results of this research indicate that learners on the intervention programme who showed a decrease in anxiety, showed an increase in achievement. This has implications for the teaching methods used in South Africa. / Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Specialisation in Guidance and Counselling)

Today’s stream of information is massive. Children and teenagers are exposed to information and advertising daily. The requirement to be able to sort and review the messages behind the advertising is fast becoming more important. This study has been made on 8- year-old pupils, in which they studied analysing advertisements for one lesson and then they were interviewed individually. The purpose of this study was to see if eight-year-old children are aware of the way advertisements describe gender and how you in a pedagogical way can teach children to critically examine media, above all advertising.   One of the questions asked is: Can eight-year-old children see specific gender roles in advertising? By studying former research and carrying out this study the writer of this essay has tried to answer the questions.   Through the study it was apparent that the 8- year- old pupils had difficulties to grasp the gender roles and see the messages behind advertising. It is important to learn more about media and advertising in early ages to be able to criticize the messages in media. / Dagens informationsflöde är stort. Barn och ungdomar exponeras för information och reklam dagligen. Det ställer stora krav på att kunna sortera informationen och kritiskt kunna granska budskapen bakom reklam. Tidningsreklam är något som barn träffar på ofta och många gånger ter sig dessa reklambilder stereotypt för könsroller.   Undersökningen har gjorts genom en kvalitativ studie på elever som är i åtta års ålder, där de hade ett lektionstillfälle i reklamanalys som sedan följdes upp med enskilda intervjuer.   Syftet var att se om barn i åtta års ålder är medvetna om reklamens framställning av könroller och hur man på ett pedagogiskt sätt kan ge barn verktyg att kritiskt granska medier, framför allt reklamen.   En av frågorna som har ställts är: Kan barn i åtta års ålder utläsa specifika könsroller i en reklambild? Genom studier av tidigare forskning och den genomförda undersökningen har författaren sökt svar på frågorna.   I resultatet kan man utläsa att respondenterna i studien hade svårt att se könsrollerna och se till reklambildens bakomliggande budskap. Det är viktigt att lära sig mer om media och reklam i tidiga åldrar för att kritiskt kunna granska dess budskap.

published_or_final_version / Chinese Historical Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Uppror och upprorsrörelser har förekommit långt tillbaka i historien. Redan romarna hade problem med upproriska rebellgrupper som vägrade inordna sig Roms lagar. Militärteoretiker har ägnat lång tid åt att försöka analysera bästa möjliga lösning på upproret. Dagens teorier kring uppror är starkt präglade av nuvarande konflikter i Irak och Afghanistan. David Kilcullens teorier utgår från dessa samlade erfarenheter och utgör idag förlaga till en rad nationers strategier för upprorsbekämpning. Risken är att dessa strategier är ett resultat av erfarenheter dragna här och nu.  Syftet med denna studie har varit att pröva i vilken utsträckning Kilcullens teorier är utan orsakssamband och tidlösa då teorierna fått ligga till grund för nationers strategiutveckling avseende upprorsbekämpning. Detta har gjorts genom att Kilcullens teorier prövats mot Gustav Vasas agerande under Dackefejden.  Resultatet av studien visar på stora skillnader när det gäller våldsanvändning. Det går inte att belägga att Kilcullens teorier skulle vara tillämpbara vid en upprorsbekämpning i en historisk konfliktmiljö som präglas av hög grad av strukturerat våld. Studien påvisar dock att Vasa vid flera tillfällen agerade med ickevåldsmetoder som till del går att återfinna i Kilcullens teorier.  Sammantaget påvisar studien resultat som pekar på att Kilcullens teorier besitter ett antal orsakssamband och inte kan anses som tidlös. / Uprising and insurgency has always been present during history. Military theorists have been studying various uprisings during history in order to develop solutions how to counter uprisings and insurgency. Current theories involving counter-insurgency are in some way influenced by on-going conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. With the possibility of being type casted, the theories of David Kilcullen is based on US experiences from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and form the basic foundation of numerous national strategies when it comes to counter-insurgency and policy-making.  The purpose of this study is to assess in what way Kilcullen´s theories are without causality and in what way they are timeless as the theory form the basis of several nations modern counter-insurgency strategies. The study has been done by appliqueing Kilcullen´s theories on the actions taken by Gustav Vasa during the Dacke War.  The result shows great deviation when it comes to the amount of violence being used.  It is not possible to confirm Kilcullen´s theories being applicable studying a historical uprising characterised by great violence. The study does on the other hand show acts of non-violent actions taken by Gustav Vasa that correlates with the theories of David Kilcullen.  As a result the study shows evidence of causality and the theories seemingly being a result of the present situation. Therefore the Kilcullen theories can not be seen as timeless.

International Relations Masters Research Thesis, 2015 University of Witwatersrand / The G8 New Alliance on Food Security and Nutrition (NAFN) is a new, under-researched and rapidly spreading partnership initiative. As the latest attempt to target hunger in Africa by developed countries, it deserves a certain level of scrutiny to decipher the intended development trajectory for African food systems and the possible implications for smallholder farmers, since these smallholders produce more than ninety percent of the continent’s food supply. Food sovereignty provides the ideal lens through which to analyse the New Alliance, being a political economy critique of agro-industrial food systems, as well as a constitutive approach to rights and the building of a grassroots movement and alternative. This research seeks to ascertain how the New Alliance may globalise African agriculture and undermine food sovereignty. An exploratory research design was used, first historicising African globalised agriculture, then decoding the main objectives of the New Alliance, and finally using the African Food Sovereignty Alliance as a case study to critique its translation into African countries’ commitments. The first few predictions of the hypothesis were strongly validated with findings that the New Alliance will result in large-scale investment of land, the commercialisation of the seed industry and an increased use of agro-chemicals and GMOs, increased foreign investment, and monopolisation of agribusiness by MNCs. To a lesser degree, the prediction that it would decrease barriers to trade and increase imports and exports was confirmed; however, there was little evidence that it intends to cut domestic support measures like some previous development programmes. The New Alliance is beyond reform, built on flawed neoliberal assumptions about development. This and further research could contribute to a movement to abolish the New Alliance before it induces negative long term effects, and to warn off other African countries contemplating this initiative.

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar o comportamento dos expoentes críticos do modelo de Oito Vértices através de cotas superior e inferior para sua função de partição na vizinhança de modelos solúveis. O método é ilustrado pelo modelo de Heisenberg quântico unidimensional também denominado modelo XYZh. Aplica-se igualmente ao modelo de Ising bidimensional (com interação quártica e segundos vizinhos). Assim, propomos um modo alternativo de abordar universalidade nos modelos de Heisenberg unidimensional quântico e Ising bidimensional clássico por desigualdades satisfeitas por suas funções de partição. Dentre os métodos que utilizamos para a obtenção das cotas destacam-se: a interação Gaussiana nas variáveis reais e nas variáveis de Grassmann; o mapeamento de um modelo unidimensional em um bidimensional através do auxílio da fórmula Trotter; a representação da função de partição pelo Pfaffiano de uma matriz; e, para a obtenção da cota superior, a técnica de positividade por reflexão, estendida ao acaso de variáveis que anti-comutam. / The aim of this work is to analyze the behavior of critical exponents in the eight-vertex model starting from the upper and lower bound obtained for its partition function. We studied the quantum onedimensional Heisenberg model also denominated XYZh model. We propose na alternative way of approaching universality in Heisenberg and Ising models using inequalities satisfied for their partition functions.Among the methods that we used in the solutions of the models atand out the integration on the Grassmann variables, the mapping of a onedimensional model in a two-dimensional one through the aid of the Trotter formula and, finally, the representation of the partition function as Pfaffian of a matrix. To obtain na upper bound, the positivity reflection technique was used, extended to the case of variables that, anticomute, and the method of thechess board estimate.

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar o comportamento dos expoentes críticos do modelo de Oito Vértices através de cotas superior e inferior para sua função de partição na vizinhança de modelos solúveis. O método é ilustrado pelo modelo de Heisenberg quântico unidimensional também denominado modelo XYZh. Aplica-se igualmente ao modelo de Ising bidimensional (com interação quártica e segundos vizinhos). Assim, propomos um modo alternativo de abordar universalidade nos modelos de Heisenberg unidimensional quântico e Ising bidimensional clássico por desigualdades satisfeitas por suas funções de partição. Dentre os métodos que utilizamos para a obtenção das cotas destacam-se: a interação Gaussiana nas variáveis reais e nas variáveis de Grassmann; o mapeamento de um modelo unidimensional em um bidimensional através do auxílio da fórmula Trotter; a representação da função de partição pelo Pfaffiano de uma matriz; e, para a obtenção da cota superior, a técnica de positividade por reflexão, estendida ao acaso de variáveis que anti-comutam. / The aim of this work is to analyze the behavior of critical exponents in the eight-vertex model starting from the upper and lower bound obtained for its partition function. We studied the quantum onedimensional Heisenberg model also denominated XYZh model. We propose na alternative way of approaching universality in Heisenberg and Ising models using inequalities satisfied for their partition functions.Among the methods that we used in the solutions of the models atand out the integration on the Grassmann variables, the mapping of a onedimensional model in a two-dimensional one through the aid of the Trotter formula and, finally, the representation of the partition function as Pfaffian of a matrix. To obtain na upper bound, the positivity reflection technique was used, extended to the case of variables that, anticomute, and the method of thechess board estimate.

Este trabalho apresenta uma investigação acerca do Oitavo Livro de Madrigais de 1638, de Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), obra oferecida à Sacra e Cesárea Majestade Imperador Ferdinando III, ascensionado ao trono máximo do Ocidente em 1637. São delineados o contexto histórico que envolve a obra bem como questões relativas à publicação e dedicatória da coleção de madrigais. É apresentada também uma análise de seu prefácio segundo preceptivas retóricas do gênero demonstrativo ou epidíctico que revelam chaves discursivas e importantes e tópoi que são substanciais para o entendimento da questão ética e patética em música. Tais questões incidem diretamente nas diretrizes performáticas previstas por Monteverdi para realização do stile concitato, procedimento musical encontrado nos Madrigali Guerrieri. Também é realizada uma exegese do textos poéticos dos madrigais onde é revelada a figuração do Eros guerreiro e militante contemplado nas elegias de Propércio e Ovídio bem como nos livros de emblemas amatórios do XVI XVII. Por último, procura-se demonstrar que o stile concitato e seus procedimentos peculiares são dispositivos de ornato dos afetos sugeridos pelos textos dos madrigais, manejados habilmente na música do compositor. / The present work is an investigation about Claudio Monteverdi\'s (1567-1643) Eight Book of Madrigals of 1638, offered to the Sacre and Cesarean Majesty of the Emperor Ferdinand III, ascended to the Ocident high throne in the year 1637. We trace the work historical context and the questions about its publication and dedicatory. We present an analysis of its preface according to the rethoric prescriptions of the demonstrative or epidictic genre which reveals significant discoursive keys and tópoi to the comprehension of the ethical and pathetical matter in music. These questions directly affect Monteverdi\'s performatic guidelines in his stile concitato, a musical procedure found inside the Madrigali Guerrieri. We also do an exegesis of the poetic texts of the madrigals where is revealed the warrior and militant Eros figuration conceived in Propertius and Ovid\'s elegies as well as in the amatory emblem books of XVI and XVII centuries. Finally, we intend to demonstrate that the stile concitato and its procedures are embellishment devices of the affects of the poetic texts in the madrigals, artfully managed in the composer music.

The data base for this research was provided by a set of mimeographed reports prepared in the summer and fall of 1939 by the Office of Government Reports, Statistical Section, Washington, D.C. Originally prepared for Franklin Roosevelt's 1940 campaign, they detail each New Deal program year by year for the 1933-1939 period. The set of forty-eight reports, one for each state, also contains material on the organization of various programs and outlines work accomplishments in each state. This dissertation is intended as an analysis of New Deal loans and expenditures in each of the forty-eight states during the 1933-1939 period, and calls attention to unusual activities of programs within the several states. Each of thirty-three categories, which include all major New Deal programs plus summaries of smaller programs, is ranked by state on both an absolute and per capita basis. An analysis of the New Deal pattern of loans and expenditures for each region of the United States is also made with the use of absolute and per capita rankings. Each region is also examined for anomalies in federal expenditure and loan patterns. Each major New Deal program is reviewed as to the states and regions which received the major impact from the federal effort. This dissertation is intended as an analysis of New Deal loans and expenditures in each of the forty-eight states during the 1933-1939 period, and calls attention to unusual activities of programs within the several states. Each of thirty-three categories, which include all major New Deal programs plus summaries of smaller programs, is ranked by state on both an absolute and per capita basis. An analysis of the New Deal pattern of loans and expenditures for each region of the United States is also made with the use of absolute and per capita rankings. Each region is also examined for anomalies in federal expenditure and loan patterns . Each major New Deal program is reviewed as to the states and regions which received the major impact from the federal effort. In an effort to explain the vast differences in the per capita distribution of New Deal loans and expenditures among the states, multivariate analysis is used. While specific reasons may be cited for high per capita rankings for any given program in any given state, there may have been some general rationale (whether intended or unintended) behind the pattern of New Deal expenditures among states. Three hypotheses have been advanced and tested in this study. These are: (1) that the Roosevelt administration allocated per capita expenditures and loans among with reform as the prime objective; (2) that per capita expenditures and loans were allocated to achieve relief and recovery; and (3) that per capita expenditures and loans were allocated so as to upgrade the nation's resources. Reform is defined in such a way as to mean allocations aimed at improving undesirable socio-economic patterns. These undesirable conditions existed before, as well as during, the depression and are reflected in such demographic, social, and economic variables as per capita income, illiteracy, and home and farm ownership. Relief and recovery is defined as the effort which is expended to return the economy to a pre-1929 level rather than to attempt to reform existing inequities. The need for relief and recovery is measured by the percent decrease in per capita income from 1929 to 1933, rather than the absolute level of per capita income and the rate of unemployment. Two variables are selected to represent investment in the nation's resources--expenditures according to the percent of federal land ownership and expenditures based on the per capita miles of highway. The analysis suggests that New Deal federal effort was directed toward an improvement in the nation's assets, and toward relief and recovery. The analysis suggests that New Deal loans and expenditures failed to flow in proportional per capita amounts to states with the greatest need for reform.