[pt] Esta tese tem como objetivo investigar a eficácia e a equidade em uma instituição privada de natureza filantrópica e de reconhecido prestígio acadêmico, localizada na cidade de Juiz de Fora – MG. O referencial teórico foi elaborado a partir dos conceitos de equidade de Rawls (2003) e Dubet (2004, 2008) e de justiça escolar e de discriminação positiva propostos, respectivamente, por Crahay (2000) e Dubet (2008). De maneira complementar, recorreu-se a estudos que abordam o tema da eficácia e da equidade escolar no contexto brasileiro. A pesquisa apresenta desenho longitudinal e faz uso de dados de perfil e dos resultados dos estudantes nas três medidas de desempenho do Programa de Ingresso Seletivo Misto da Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora – PISM-UFJF, avaliação aplicada ao final de cada ano letivo do Ensino Médio. Os resultados dos estudantes foram organizados em cinco grupos de comparação: o grupo de interesse, composto por estudantes de baixo nível socioeconômico que recebem bolsas integrais para cursar o Ensino Médio na escola filantrópica, e outros quatro grupos de comparação, um formado pelos estudantes pagantes da escola filantrópica e três constituídos por estudantes de escolas públicas. No tratamento dos dados foram utilizados métodos mistos: quantitativos e qualitativos. Os primeiros envolveram modelos de regressão para estimação dos efeitos do nível socioeconômico sobre o desempenho dos alunos no PISM e sobre as escolhas de carreiras. Complementarmente, análises qualitativas foram produzidas a partir de entrevistas semiestruturadas realizadas com bolsistas e gestores da escola filantrópica, cujos roteiros foram elaborados em diálogo com as características de escolas eficazes verificadas para o Brasil por Alves & Franco (2008). Os resultados da pesquisa confirmam a significativa correlação entre o nível socioeconômico e a proficiência dos estudantes verificada em outras pesquisas e apontam para evidências de eficácia escolar e de equidade promovidas pela escola filantrópica. As análises quantitativas mostraram que os alunos bolsistas obtiveram maiores proficiências que os estudantes de características semelhantes dos grupos de comparação matriculados nas outras quatro escolas. Os resultados também foram interpretados com base em análises qualitativas e, em linha com as pesquisas brasileiras em eficácia escolar, identificaram condições intraescolares que atuam como fatores importantes de eficácia, notadamente a infraestrutura escolar, o clima acadêmico, a gestão, a ênfase pedagógica e a atuação dos professores. O estudo também aponta para uma questão que merece ser melhor investigada: o peso da origem social na escolha dos bolsistas de carreiras universitárias de menor prestígio acadêmico, mesmo em se tratando de estudantes que frequentaram o Ensino Médio em uma escola eficaz, promotora de equidade e reconhecida socialmente como uma escola de excelência. / [en] The present study aims to investigate effectiveness and equity in a private institution with a philanthropic nature and recognized academic prestige, located in the city of Juiz de Fora – MG. The theoretical framework was drawn up based on the concepts of equity by Rawls (2003) and Dubet (2004, 2008) and of school justice and positive discrimination proposed by Crahay (2000) and Dubet (2008), respectively. In a complementary manner, studies that approach the issues of effectiveness and school equity in the Brazilian context were also implemented. The research resorts to a longitudinal drawing and uses profile and results data from students in the three measures of development of Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora - UFJF s Programa de Ingresso Seletivo Misto - PISM-UFJF, an exam that is applied at the end of each academic year of High School. The students results were organized in five comparison groups: the interest group, composed by students with a low socio-economic status that receive a scholarship to attend the philanthropic school, and other four comparison groups, one consisting of paying students of the philanthropic school and three consisting of students from public schools. In the data analysis, mixed methods were used: quantitative and qualitative. The first ones involved regression models to measure the effects of the socio-economic status on the students development on PISM and on career choices. Furthermore, qualitative analysis were developed from semi-structured interviews with scholarship-holding students and the philanthropic school s managers, the scripts of which were elaborated in relation with the characteristics of effective schools identified for Brazil by Alves and Franco (2008). The research findings confirm the significant correlation between socioeconomic status and the students proficiency identified in other research and points to the evidence of educational effectiveness and equity promoted by the philanthropic school. The quantitative analysis showed that scholarship-holding students achieved higher proficiency than students with similar characteristics from the comparison group enrolled in the other four schools. The results were also interpreted according to qualitative analysis and, in accordance with the Brazilian studies about school effectiveness, identified that internal school conditions such as infrastructure, academic environment, management, pedagogic emphasis and teacher performance are important effectiveness factors. The study also points to an issue that deserves a better investigation: the weight of the social origin on the scholarship-holding students choices of lower academic prestige careers, even if they attended an effective equity promoter and socially acknowledged excellence school during High School.

No description available.

Two randomized controlled trials were conducted to find out whether a new treatment for asthma has a significant effect on the patients. These were multi-center trials with a parallel design, the control arm receiving a Placebo. The data were collected over a period of about 20 days before administering the intervention and for almost 80 days after the intervention. Thus, each patient has many observations recorded, making the data longitudinal. The data are summarized using first descriptive statistics and graphical displays. Then, a continuation ratio model with a lagged covariate to account for the longitudinal aspect is used to model the data. Finally, Generalized Estimating Equations methods are used. These methods have acquired popularity in recent years to account for longitudinal correlation structures. To apply the continuation ratio, the data have to be appropriately restructured. Then, the logistic regression is used to model the symptoms. The results of this procedure show that the treatment is statistically significant. However, the goodness of fit tests show that the model is inadequate. This issue is explored in the last subsection of Chapter 3. Using Generalized Estimating Equations to analyze the number of times rescue medication was used, we concluded that there is no statistically significant difference between the Active and Control groups. However, we noticed that the use of rescue medication decreased with time from the start of treatment. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

Longitudinal slab splitting in composite hot rolled girders and joist girders was investigated. Two different type of framing configurations were studied with two tests conducted per configuration. The framing configurations were designated as either flush-framed or haunched, which describes the framing of the joists into the joist girders or H-shape. Each floor system consisted of at least one exterior or spandrel joist girder, one interior joist girder, and in three of the four tests, an exterior or spandrel H-shape. The nominal lengths of the girders were 30 ft 4 in. with a centerline spacing of 7 ft for the flush-framed tests and 6 ft 9 in. for the haunch tests. Varying amounts of transverse reinforcement were used in the slab over each girder. Shear connectors were all 0.75 in. diameter headed shear studs of varying lengths. The results of these tests were used to determine the minimum amount of transverse reinforcement required to prevent longitudinal splitting from controlling the strength of the section. A comparative analytical study was performed to generate a design procedure for determining the appropriate amount of transverse reinforcement. This consisted of adapting existing procedures in reinforced concrete for similar shear problems and generating alternative procedures based on existing research for composite construction. Results from these methods were then calibrated against experimental data obtained in this study. / Master of Science

Over the next decade the ‘Baby Boomer' cohort will increasingly contribute to the proportion of those aged 60 and over in Britain. The issue of how the mobility of older people has changed for different cohort groups has not been considered in a historical context. Ryder (1965) argued that cohort groups could be important in determining behaviour as have other social structural factors, such as socioeconomic status. This thesis merges the disciplines of transport geography and population studies using a novel approach of cohort analysis, which has not been used widely for studying mobility trends. Using National Travel Survey data from 1995-2008, the mobility trends of older people in Britain are explored by creating pseudo cohorts. Pseudo cohorts are artificially created datasets which are constructed from using repeated cross-sectional data (McIntosh, 2005, Uren, 2006). This technique can differentiate ‘age', ‘period' and ‘cohort' effects in mobility trends. Age effects are differences in behaviour between age groups i.e. changes in mobility associated with age itself. Period effects relate to changes in behaviour in all age groups over a period of time. Cohort effects are those associated with behaviour common to particular groups born around the same time (Glenn, 2005, Yang, 2007). The influence of the Scottish concessionary travel policy on the mobility of older people at the aggregate level is also considered using Scottish Household Survey data from 1999-2008. This policy is very blunt and based on assumptions about older age. As cohorts differ, these assumptions may no longer hold and therefore the policy may not be effective. This thesis argues, using a longitudinal demographic perspective, that structural effects shape mobility of cohorts differently over time. The findings reveal although mobility amongst older people is rising in general, there would actually be declining mobility were it not for the Boomer cohort. Amongst younger cohorts mobility is lower. The analysis also shows that women travel further than men, a fundamental break with the past, specific to this generation. This thesis illustrates the importance of cohort membership in explaining mobility change.

by Ting Kwok-Fai. / Thesis (M.Ph.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1985 / Bibliography: leaves 123-126

This study is a Time 4 (T4) follow-up interview of ninety-three caregivers of persons who experienced a first stroke between 2 to 4 years (mean = 36 months) prior to the T4 interview. The first wave of data collection occurred within two months after the stroke. The second and third waves occurred six and twelve months, respectively, after the first interview. The caregivers were identified by the person with stroke as being the person closest to him/her who would be responsible for care after the stroke. Data were gathered at all four interviews using reliable and valid measures for depressive symptomatology (CES-D; Radloff, 1977), psychological well-being (IPWB; Berkman, 1971), and caregiver burden (Zarit, 1980). The contribution of social support to caregiver well-being was also investigated. Additional areas of investigation at T4 included coping strategies (F-Copes; McCubbin, Larsen, and Olson, 1981), caregiver adjustment, and the respondents' perception of themselves as "caregivers". The mean scores of depressive symptomatology, perceived burden, negative well-being, and positive well-being did not change significantly over the four points in time. However, the percentage of the sample having CES-D levels of 16 and above (indicating potential diagnosis of clinical depression) decreased by ten percent between T1 and T4. About ten percent of the respondents who were at risk for clinical depression at T4 reported high levels of depressive symptoms at all four interviews. Respondents who specifically thought of themselves as "caregivers" (sixty-two percent) were significantly more likely to report high levels of depressive symptoms, to experience high levels of strain and caregiver burden, and to be caring for persons who were more severely impaired by the stroke than those who did not. Caregiver characteristics contributed more to the variance in depressive symptoms and psychological well-being than did characteristics of the stroke. However, depressive symptomatology and perceived burden were significantly associated with both the functional capacity of the person with stroke and with an index of stroke severity comprised of communication impairments and negative personality/behavior changes since the stroke. The findings from this study have implications for stroke management programs, caregiver intervention planning, and health care policy.

The eleven studies which comprise the Consortium for Longitudinal Studies were described in order to determine long-term effects of preschool education on disadvantaged children. Research methods and results of the studies were evaluated and compared. An historical overview details the sociopolitical milieu from the time the eleven studies began in the 1960s to the present. Theories which impacted the preschool movement in the 1960s were also discussed, particularly those which concern the development of intelligence, the importance of early education and environmental impact on the development of intelligence. Demographic data were used to describe disadvantaged children's needs for quality early intervention programs. The results of the eleven Consortium studies indicate positive long-term effects for disadvantaged children enrolled in quality preschool programs.

This study explores the representation of nerds and geeks in popular broadcast television programs over the course of the past twenty years. A content analysis of the five most popular scripted broadcast television programs for each year was conducted in order to assess the frequency of nerd characters, as well as the social competence, physical attractiveness, and demographic information of each such character. In addition, a supplemental survey design study was employed in order to collect public opinion data regarding perceptions of nerds in general and on television. The results of these studies indicated that while the per-year frequency of nerd portrayals has not varied significantly, nerds have been consistently portrayed as overwhelmingly white and male. Nerd characters in popular television programs have grown more physically attractive over the past twenty years. Furthermore, while technological or computer-related expertise remain significant predictors for the identification of television characters as nerds by audience members, the same is true for unattractiveness and low social competence. Considered through the theoretical framework provided by past mass media scholars, these findings suggest that nerds represent a group of individuals consistently portrayed as possessing technical aptitudes which are highly desirable in the current social context, but that such roles are portrayed as accessible only to white males.

Research has consistently demonstrated strong relationships between high levels of adherence to traditional masculinity ideology and poor health and behavior outcomes (e.g., Levant & Richmond, 2007; O'Neil, 2008). Though recent studies have demonstrated support for theories of multiple masculinities or the idea that one's masculinity ideology is developed, maintained, and restructured according to one's social and environmental contexts (e.g., Smiler, 2004), understanding how male gender contributes to social problems within diverse communities, social groups, and contexts is not well established (Mankowski & Maton, 2010). The current study examined how individual and contextual variables predict change in level of adherence to traditional masculinity ideology among a diverse sample of incarcerated adolescent males convicted of felony crimes in the state of Ohio. In particular, while literature has described prison settings as an environment that ignores gender (e.g., Lutze & Murphy, 1999; Messerschmidt, 1993), the current study assessed the effectiveness of a strength-based program at successfully decreasing adherence to traditional masculinity within two of the four participating juvenile justice facilities in ODYS. Using hierarchical linear modeling informed by a qualitative follow-up sequence design, study found younger adolescents and African American youth with low levels of ethnic pride to have higher levels of adherence to traditional masculinity at the beginning of the study compared to older adolescents and White youth or African American youth with high levels of ethnic pride. Interestingly, age did not predict changes in levels of adherence to traditional masculinity ideology over time, however, White youth's level of adherence increased over time and African American youth's level of adherence remained relatively stable. Moreover, youth with good attendance in the program experienced less dramatic increases in adherence to traditional masculinity compared to those with poor attendance. Thematic analysis of qualitative data supports the study's finding that program participation predicts changes in levels of adherence to traditional masculinity ideology over time. In addition to providing support for quantitative findings, the thematic analysis highlights some potential gaps in the quantitative assessment of masculinity ideology that must be considered in future research. For example, youth describe an alternative ideal form of masculinity, sometimes characterized by the youth as "man up," that provides a level of flexibility that is counter to that of traditional masculinity. Moreover, the qualitative findings also raise questions about the validity of the survey measure of masculinity (AMIRS; Chu, 2005) for use with African American and incarcerated youth. Finally, the study supports theories of multiple masculinities and offers preliminary evidence that gender specific, strengths-based programming can influence adherence to traditional masculinity ideology among youth in juvenile justice facilities.