<p>Due to the technical development the enterprises of today are forced to creative thinking when it comes to marketing of their products. An example of one of these new methods are the development of product placement which has come to an interesting turn namely advertiser funded programming (AFP). Instead of the product just being a small part of the storyline it has become the story itself. The purpose of this study is to analyse how the advertiser funded tv-production Roomservice, a Swedish home styling program, communicates with it’s viewers as well as how they perceive the message. The study is based on qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey. The results showed that Roomservice is communicating without an obvious source but still clearly reaching the viewers with its message. Information about paint and painting are frequently shown in the program. This has affected the viewers in means of higher appreciation of the product. The most thrilling and unexpected result was the fact that a big part of the respondents were valuing the product higher and therefore willing to spend more money on paint after having seen Roomservice. The information also gets the viewers more engaged in the subject of paint and a small but important group was even looking for more information about things they’ve seen in the program. A big majority stated that Roomservice made them feel a stronger desire to paint, due to these results it can only be said that Roomservice has had influence on the viewers. Finally, the study showed that in order to create a successful advertiser funded production the integration of the product must be done correctly, as well as the ability of the production to work as tv-entertainment.</p>

Whistle-blowers have an important role as they reveals incongruities in organizations in order to enable improvement of working conditions. However, there is a risk of reprisals against the employees when expressing their discontent, which may prevent them from blowing the whistle. Since whistle-blowers in private sectors have less protection of freedom of expression against their employer, the protections of whistleblowing also become weaker in these organizations. Nowadays it is becoming increasingly common for businesses in the welfare sector to govern under private management, but still with public funding. A weak protection of whistleblowing therefore reduces the public's opportunity to gain insight into how public funds are used. Therefore the aim of the study is to examine the protection of whistleblowing in private sectors and especially highlight the problem with a weak protection in private organizations that are publicly funded. The Swedish law has no general regulation for the protection of whistle-blowers, which leads to a complex legal situation. It will additionally be new regulations introduced in this area, which might lead to further complexity. The second purpose of the study is therefore to analyse the new regulations and identify some possible consequences of the legislation. A legal dogmatic method is used in the essay with the purpose of investigating the current legislation. The study shows that employees in private sectors have a relatively expansive right to criticize their employer and the conditions at workplaces. The judgement depends on how the employee chooses to express their criticism and therefore there are several factors that must be taking into account. The new regulations will hopefully reduce the risk of reprisals related to whistleblowing. On the other hand there are some identified weaknesses in the legislation that might imply that the intention of the law not would be fulfilled. Therefore the question still stands if the whistle-blower’s situation in the private sector will be improved by the new regulations.

The current study examined the extent to which associations between participation in a targeted state-funded pre-kindergarten (pre-k) program and children’s literacy, numeracy, executive function (EF), and social-emotional skills were moderated by the quality of teacher-child interactions. Data came from an evaluation of a state-funded pre-k program including children enrolled in pre-k and those in a matched comparison group. The sample consisted of 558 children (Mage = 57.74 months) from two cohorts (48.9% female; 43.7% African American; 0.8% Asian; 32.3% European American; 12.4% Hispanic; 10.4% Multiracial). Children’s school readiness assessments and teacher surveys were collected during fall and spring of the preschool year. Research assistants assessed teacher-child interactions using the Pre-K Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS; Pianta, La Paro, Hamre, 2008) once in the winter of the preschool year. Two-level multilevel linear models were conducted for each school readiness domain and included a variety of control variables. Results suggested that emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support did not significantly moderate the relation between pre-k participation and literacy, numeracy, EF, and social-emotional skills.

With the adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English language arts and mathematics by the State of California in 2010, a shift in instructional practices along with the level of rigor and expectations for students began. As a result of these changes, a local school district sought a way through district-funded Common Core Collaboration Grants (CCCG) to provide professional development that supported 4th-6th grade teachers in their implementation of the CCSS. The purpose of this qualitative program evaluation case study was to examine teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of professional development funded by CCCG in supporting 4th-6th grade teachers in understanding and application of instructional strategies aligned with the CCSS. Weiss's theory of change and Roy and Killion's program evaluation framework guided the study. Data were collected from individual interviews of 7 teachers of 4th-6th grade who participated in the district CCCG professional development sessions. Interview data were coded and themes of choice, time, collaboration, and integration of the CCSS emerged. The results indicated that the use of CCCG for professional development is assisting teachers in successfully implementing the CCSS through increased collaboration and more opportunities to engage in learning within their own contexts. A program evaluation report and presentation to the district school board were developed. The results of this study may affect positive social change through suggestions of an alternative in the form of grants to schools and districts looking for innovative ways to support teachers and enhance student learning through professional development on the CCSS.

Due to the technical development the enterprises of today are forced to creative thinking when it comes to marketing of their products. An example of one of these new methods are the development of product placement which has come to an interesting turn namely advertiser funded programming (AFP). Instead of the product just being a small part of the storyline it has become the story itself. The purpose of this study is to analyse how the advertiser funded tv-production Roomservice, a Swedish home styling program, communicates with it’s viewers as well as how they perceive the message. The study is based on qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey. The results showed that Roomservice is communicating without an obvious source but still clearly reaching the viewers with its message. Information about paint and painting are frequently shown in the program. This has affected the viewers in means of higher appreciation of the product. The most thrilling and unexpected result was the fact that a big part of the respondents were valuing the product higher and therefore willing to spend more money on paint after having seen Roomservice. The information also gets the viewers more engaged in the subject of paint and a small but important group was even looking for more information about things they’ve seen in the program. A big majority stated that Roomservice made them feel a stronger desire to paint, due to these results it can only be said that Roomservice has had influence on the viewers. Finally, the study showed that in order to create a successful advertiser funded production the integration of the product must be done correctly, as well as the ability of the production to work as tv-entertainment.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore whether or not there exists a difference between the old and new migrants who moved to Istanbul, Ankara, Bursa, Izmir, Gaziantep, Erzurum and Sanliurfa provinces pre and post 1990, and the disadvantaged residents born in the urban areas of these provinces in terms of education, health and employment. To attain this aim, a theoretical framework, through which main features of the concept of disadvantageous were discussed.The overview of the literature, is based on these three dimensions of being disadvantaged, which are education, health and employment by using socio-economical characteristics as the interpretive tools. Therefore, the definition of disadvantageous centered on the notion of migration is accepted as a background of the study. In this respect, disadvantaged people are accepted as a group that experiences a higher risk of poverty and social exclusion than the general population.

The goal of this qualitative study was to gain insight into which personal factors most affect student adjustment in a state residential STEM school. Factors from Tinto’s Model of Institutional Departure were used as the framework to capture the transition of gifted high school students from traditional high school to The Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky, a statewide residential STEM school. Tinto’s Model predicts college persistence using pre-existing individual characteristics and institutional experiences. These qualities and experiences were used to form questions about student traits and transition. Questionnaires were administered to Gatton Academy first-year students, parents, and staff members. Participants included 10 students, two parents, and six staff members. The answers were analyzed using deductive analysis. The study found the student participants at The Gatton Academy came from intact families, were often not challenged at their sending high schools, and entered the residential setting with very few study habits but high self-control. The findings suggest that gifted students are highly adaptable to the college environment despite being younger than traditional college age.

It has become an axiom of British archaeology that the results of developer-funded fieldwork are under-utilised in research and several projects carried out at British universities have attempted to redress this perceived imbalance. These projects, including those on British and Continental prehistory carried out by Richard Bradley, the Roman Rural settlement project, the Fields of Britannia project, John Blair's work on early medieval England and the EngLaId project, of which this thesis forms a component, have all demonstrated beyond doubt the transformative effect of the data produced by developer-funded work on our understanding. However, to date no project has sought to utilise artefact and ecofact data produced by developer-funded work on a similar scale. This thesis is partly an attempt to fill this gap, by using ceramic, animal bone and charred plant data from digital archives generated by developer-funded archaeology, to address a series of questions about food production/consumption over the later prehistoric and early historic periods in Southern England. These three datasets have very varied characteristics and their integration in a single database was, therefore, one of the major challenges of the thesis. However, this also provided the opportunity to ask new questions and to address old questions with new data. The thesis argues that regional ecosystems had a long-term influence on processes of food production/consumption, which displayed considerable continuities across the boundaries of traditional archaeological periods. Landscape, settlement, ceramic, animal bone and charred plant data from three regional case studies, encompassing the Upper Thames Valley, the Middle and Lower Thames Valley and the route of HS1 in Kent were investigated using a Filemaker database and QGIS mapping. It is argued that, while there were long-term continuities in the use of plants and animals, the expression of social relationships expressed in fields, settlements and ceramics followed a cyclical pattern.

The main objective of the thesis is the assessment of the long-term economic sustainability of a particular subject in the field of a provision of nursing services. The thesis is divided into two parts, the theoretical part and the practical part. The theoretical part defines basic concepts and the legislative framework related to the provision of social services. Further the attention is paid to providers of social services and the issues of financing of social services. The practical part characterizes the selected subject providing of nursing servises and is also focused on its economic analysis.

The subject of this dissertation thesis is the performance of funded organizations, specifically the Czech region-founded museums. The main goal of the author is to design a model for regional museum performance measurement and assessment. The designed model is called the performance pyramid due to hierarchical layout of its elements. The model is horizontally divided into four levels, namely resources management, programs realization, functions fulfilment and mission realization. Each of the model levels consists of typical elements that can be modified or changed in order to meet the needs and specifics of each particular museum. The elements and relations between them are measured and assessed by means of performance indicators. These are, according to the model level, called inputs, outputs and outcomes indicators. The relations between the particular elements are the performance dimensions. The model distinguishes dimensions of economy, efficiency, productivity, quality and effectiveness. The model construction has been verified at the Museum Vysočiny Jihlava.