No / In the UK, half a million people care for people with severe mental illnesses (Princess Royal Trust for Carers 2002). This article reviews the findings of a study of the views of 13 carers of people self-identified as having schizophrenia on the nature and extent of their role, and its effect on their lives and identities. According to these findings, carers experience stress and illness, and think that the support they receive from professionals is inadequate. As a result, they think that help and psychotherapeutic interventions, such as family therapy, should be more accessible.

MSc (Nursing), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand / The purpose of this study was to elicit and compare nurses’ and families’ perception of family needs in intensive care unit. A quantitative non-experimental, comparative and descriptive research design was used to achieve research objectives. Participants (nurses, n= 65; family members, n= 61) were drawn from three intensive care units. Data were collected using a questionnaire developed from the Critical Care Family Needs Inventory (CCFNI). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Majority (more than 50%) of both groups agreed with 42 out of 45 family need statements. All the nurses (100%, n=65) agreed with the need ‘to have explanations that are understandable’ while most family members (98%, n=58) agreed with the need ‘to feel that health care professionals care about the patient’. Seven out of ten statements agreed by majority of both groups were similar. Most of these statements were related to assurance and information need categories. In addition, both groups scored high on the two categories, assurance and information. However, family members scored higher than nurses in two categories, assurance and proximity with statistically significant difference (p-value < 0.05). Based on the research findings, it can therefore be concluded that generally there were similarities between nurses’ and families’ perception of family needs. These findings support evidence in literature resulting from previous studies.

Over the last 50 years, research has explored the writing assignment types and purposes found in undergraduate courses, including discipline-specific writing for the business major, which is one of the most popular fields of study for international students in the U.S. Many studies have explored faculty perceptions of writing challenges students exhibit when writing for business; however, few studies have compared both faculty and student perceptions of student writing challenges. The purpose of this study was to investigate business faculty perceptions of the writing challenges exhibited by students for whom English is a second or additional language (EAL) compared to EAL perceptions of their own writing challenges. This study utilized parallel surveys distributed to faculty and students in Accounting, Finance, and Management in one undergraduate business school. Students self-selected as being a native English speaker (NES), an EAL, or having more than one primary language (multilingual or ML). Results of the study indicated statistically significant differences across faculty, EAL, and ML perceptions of developing arguments as an important purpose of business writing. No statistically significant differences were found, however, across all three populations in regards to perceptions of the student challenges of business writing.

The major purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between teacherstudent interpersonal behaviour in the middle level of schooling with the students' academic achievement in science as determined by the term grade (typically issued after a six or nine week grading period). The study also provided validation data for the Questionnaire on Teacher Interactions (QTI) survey instrument with a large American sample of students and teachers drawn from randomly selected the State of Ohio schools. The QTI was designed to elicit students' and teachers' perspectives of effective teaching and learning in classrooms. Numerous studies, here and abroad, during the last five years and have caused awareness that students' perceptions of their school experience are a significant influence on how and what students learn in the classroom. Few studies have been conducted on the topic of student perceptions in comparison to their respective teachers' perceptions in science or how this variance might influence student achievement. The focus of the present study was to compare the perceptions of students and their teachers regarding effective teaching and learning, while concurrently noting students' achievement in science. This study presumed that there was a definite disparity between what teachers perceive to be effective teaching and learning in comparison to what students perceive. The intention of the study was to identify some of the factors associated with any disparity. The hypothesis for the study, simply stated, was that student achievement, according to student's accumulative grade, would reflect a variance in perception with that of their science teacher. / Restated, the student's perception of effective teaching and learning could demonstrate to be a strong indicator of academic success or failure, depending upon the extent of difference with their respective teachers'. The research design of the study was based on the survey research method incorporating: 1) student and teacher questionnaires; 2) student and teacher interviews and; 3) students' science achievement, as measured in a teacher-issued grade. A probability sample of 433 middle school students was surveyed using the 48-item short form of the Australian version of the QTI (Wubbels, 1993). This sample comprised 21 middle level science classes, ranging from grade 5 through grade 9. Twelve cooperating science teachers associated with the teaching of science to these students were also surveyed using Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI). In addition, random interviews were conducted using interview logs with 6 teachers and 6 students selected from a convenience sample of those also responding to the questionnaire. Another major component of the research design was the term grade recorded by the cooperating science teacher, as a means of gauging "student academic achievement". All student and teacher questionnaire data were statistically analysed using Microsoft Excel 2000 and the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) for Windows 1999. The analysis was according to the proper categories in the QTI based on leadership, helpful/friendly, understanding, student responsibility and freedom, uncertain, and dissatisfied, admonishing and strict behaviour established in the QTI. / The use of both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods from a range of data sources provided a means of triangulation to strengthen the validity of the findings, which thus afforded a means of comparing data consistency and cross validation for the purpose of improving the rigour of the research design. As a means of collecting empirical data, schools were randomly chosen (probability sample) from the 20001-2002 Ohio Educational Directory, a directory produced by the Ohio Department of Education. Thirty-three schools were drawn. Between October 20002 and January 2003, each school was sent two letters inviting their participation in the study; one letter was sent to the on-site principal and one to the "head science teacher". Five weeks from the date the original letter was sent out to those not responding. Eventually, twenty-one classes returned their surveys for analysis. The Questionnaire of Teacher Interaction (QTI) was chosen due to its record of validity and its ease of administering. The qualitative data were tallied and recorded. The quantitative data analysis was completed using both manual and computerised methods to address the objectives of this study.

This thesis focuses on why prospective teachers want to teach. It argues that prospective teachers draw on their own perceptions of what teaching means to them and that these perceptions are clarified and refined during the initial stages of their university study. Firstly, it examines what attracts and holds first year student teachers to teaching and whether they really want to be teachers. Secondly, it compares students’ perceptions of teaching at the start, during and at the end of their first year of their first year of university studies. Finally, it identifies the kind of early experiences at university and school sites that can either strengthen the initial commitment to become a teacher or might lessen the original desire to teach. The context of the study is a regional university in a provincial city in Central Queensland. The selection of constructivism as a theoretical framework informed the research approach and allowed data to be gathered in a case study format using an iterative process to permit probing and identification of change, and reconstruction of relevant issues. In this research, data was collected through three individual interviews with nine first year prospective student teachers at the beginning, mid and end of that year. Constructivist analysis concepts were employed to draw from the data coded patterns, themes and issues displaying student teachers’ emerging perceptions of their first year of learning how to teach. The thesis reports that student teachers in their initial year were enabled to articulate their co-construction of what it means to be a teacher. During the year they were able to build up their construction of what it means to be a teacher which, over time, alleviated earlier uncertainties as their decision to teach was affirmed. The process of construction of being a teacher identified qualities, knowledge and skills identified from the start to the end of the program, building from perceptions to reality, from the old to the new. Conceptions of teaching as work, and the importance of relationships in teaching contributed to the satisfaction of student teachers and helped affirm their commitment in anticipating their future as a teacher. The findings of the study exemplify that a well-structured, collaborative teacher education program in the initial year will attract and retain many prospective teachers. This thesis gives a wider understanding of the first year of a teaching career. The research builds a contemporary picture of what prospective teachers think about teaching in their first year of a teacher education program. The issues and problems identified in the context of a regional campus, underpin the results of this research. This research enables students’ voices to be heard and will inform teacher educators and others involved in teacher education to examine specific cases in the attraction and retention of prospective teachers.

This case is based on a semiconductor equipment supplier which was a branch in Taiwan. The research is about analyzing how the influence of compensation system reform on employees¡¦ pay satisfaction & organizational commitment through by employees¡¦ pay-for-performance perceptions and justice perceptions on reformed compensation system. By doing that, we can understand the performance of the new system. The result of the research could be provided to the company for reference for next compensation system reformed. The result of the research is summarized as below: 1. Employees¡¦ pay-for-performance perceptions of reformed compensation system has positive impact on value commitment and commitment-to-stay. For justice perceptions has positive impact on value commitment. 2. Employees¡¦ justice perceptions of reformed compensation system has positive impact on pay satisfaction. 3. Employees¡¦ pay satisfaction of reformed compensation system has positive impact on value commitment and commitment-to-stay. 4. Pay-for-performance perceptions and justice perceptions of reformed compensation system will impact on value commitment and commitment-to-stay through pay satisfaction.

How do we discover a person’s true personality? How does personality appear from the inside (i.e., to the self)? How does that differ from how personality appears from the outside (i.e., to the observer)? Given that people often see themselves differently than they are seen by others, what are the conditions under which each perspective is accurate? These questions are central to understanding who a person really is and, in turn, how much people are aware of their own and others’ personalities. The goal of this dissertation is to examine these questions. I begin by providing a descriptive account of the differences between self- and other-perceptions in terms of positivity and accuracy. Specifically, in the first two studies, I compare how people see themselves to how they are seen by their friends, romantic partners, parents, and siblings (Chapter 2). Then, in the next two studies, I test the accuracy of self- and other-predictions of behavior by comparing them to actual naturalistic behavior recorded from people’s everyday lives (Chapter 3). Finally, in the fourth study, I examine the accuracy of self, friend, and stranger ratings of personality by comparing personality judgments to laboratory-based behavioral tests of personality (Chapter 4). The results show that self-perceptions are more negative than others’ perceptions of them, people are more aware of their own negative traits than their positive traits, and they fail to notice a substantial number of their own characteristics. Observers agree substantially about what a person is like, and their knowledge of a target’s observable personality is quite good. By comparing perceptions of the person from the inside and outside with objective behavioral criteria, we can come to understand the strengths and limitations of each perspective. In fact, the two perspectives often complement each other – one filling in the gaps left by the other. Furthermore, even when both perspectives are accurate, they are often accurate in different ways. Thus, although neither perspective alone can explain the whole puzzle of who a person really is, they both provide different pieces of the puzzle and together deepen our understanding of the person. / text

The purpose of the thesis was to research how management used internal communication during acquisitions and if it affected the perceptions amongst the employees. Internal communication happens at all levels of every organization and underpins organizational effectiveness. Internal communication is a powerful tool available for managers, but is difficult to master as employees have demands regarding channels, frequency, richness and meaning. During an acquisition the use of internal communication is even more important and harder to handle. Employees hold different perceptions about the acquisition based on partner attractiveness and target responsiveness. These perceptions will make employees perceive the acquisition as an opportunity or a threat. The communication owner must be aware of the perceptions and take them into account when crafting a strategy for internal communication. Employees in the two case organizations studied held negative perceptions in the early stages of the acquisitions. Our results showed that it was possible to alter employee perceptions regarding the acquisitions from threatening to opportunistic by internal communication and managerial involvement.

Many different parties are involved in trying to promote student success: faculty, student affairs professionals, parents, mentors, and students themselves. All may speak of their endeavors to work toward the goal of "student success", but if success is defined differently by each party, then each pursues a different goal. With this in mind, this study was designed for three purposes. First, the researcher sought to define student success based on the perspectives of student and faculty populations within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech. Second, the researcher sought to identify the barriers to student success. Finally, the researcher sought to identify strategies that would foster student success. Qualitative methods were employed to conduct this research within the population of undergraduate students and faculty within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech. Eight focus groups were conducted in the spring of 1997 with a total of 27 students participating and two focus groups were conducted the following spring with 7 faculty participating. Questionnaires and the transcripts of the focus groups were analyzed for this study. Findings showed that faculty and students have somewhat dissimilar perspectives on student success. Faculty participants were more interested in the academic elements of being successful, while students placed more weight on what they felt were personal indicators of success, such as happiness. In terms of the barriers to student success that were discussed, students were much more likely to discuss barriers that were outside of their control, such as the classroom environment. Faculty, on the other hand, concentrated on the personal characteristics of students, feeling that students ultimately had personal responsibility for their own success. Based on the questionnaires, the groups were fairly well balanced and represented a fairly wide range of collegiate experiences. Faculty and students have demonstrated through this study that they are quite valuable as a resource to consult when conducting needs assessments or developing student interventions. Many of the solutions that were suggested, interestingly, dealt not with the creation of new programs but with improving communication within the university to ensure the awareness of programs that already exist. Participants also felt that orientation activities for new students should be extended well into their first semester at the university. From a research perspective, this study provided a great deal of insight into the ways that faculty and student perspectives are both similar and different. It would be interesting to see whether perspectives are similar across colleges within the university, or even similar between universities with similar characteristics. In trying to determine the nature of the collegiate experience, few would deny that no groups are more intimately involved in that experience than the faculty and students. Ultimately, then, the answers concerning the nature of student success must lie with them. / Master of Science

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