Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2017-05-18T20:33:53Z No. of bitstreams: 1 alejandrorossiniespinozapenadillo.pdf: 619028 bytes, checksum: 49e9b09f640d339c02aedbdf674716d7 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-05-19T14:41:11Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 alejandrorossiniespinozapenadillo.pdf: 619028 bytes, checksum: 49e9b09f640d339c02aedbdf674716d7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-19T14:41:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 alejandrorossiniespinozapenadillo.pdf: 619028 bytes, checksum: 49e9b09f640d339c02aedbdf674716d7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-06 / Neste trabalho estudamos alguns resultados da teoria de escalas temporais, as quais são subconjuntos fechados não vazios dos números reais. As escalas temporais são ferramentas eficazes para descrever modelos que envolvem evolução de tempo, onde R e Z são considerados casos particulares, chamados tempo contínuo e tempo discreto, respectivamente. A teoria e aplicações da derivação (delta, nabla e α-diamante) e a integração no sentido de Riemann em escalas temporais tem recebido recentemente uma atenção considerável. O objetivo principal deste trabalho é estudar as funções convexas em escalas temporais e apresentar algumas propriedades como: a convexidade de uma função é uma condição necessária e suficiente para sua subdiferenciabilidade. A subdiferencial de uma função ƒ é dada como um conjunto de certas funções estendidas. Utilizando a convexidade de uma função demonstramos uma versão generalizada da desigualdade de Jensen em escalas temporais através da integral delta. Além disso, apresentamos alguns corolários e uma aplicação em cálculo variacional. / In this work we study some results of the theory of time scales, which are closed nonempty subsets of the real numbers. The time scales represent a powerful tool to describe models which involve evolution of time, where R and Z are considered special cases, called continuous and discrete time respectively. The theory and applications of the derivation (delta, nabla and α-diamond) and the Riemann’s integration in time scales have recently received considerable attention. The main objective of this work is to study convex functions on time scales and to present some properties such as: the convexity of a function is a necessary and sufficient condition for its sub-differentiability. The subdifferential of a function ƒ is given as a set of certain extended functions. Using the convexity of a function we prove a generalized version of Jensen’s inequality on time scales via the delta integral. In addition, we present some corollaries and an application in variational calculus.

Submitted by isabela.moljf@hotmail.com (isabela.moljf@hotmail.com) on 2017-08-29T15:53:47Z No. of bitstreams: 0 / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-08-30T14:30:29Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-30T14:30:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2015-11-30 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / FAPEMIG - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais / Introdução: Os docentes que atuam na escola não são formados para lidar com demandas como a prevenção ao uso indevido de drogas, sentem-se despreparados. Desta maneira, sinaliza-se a necessidade de avaliar as crenças e práticas dos educadores. Sendo assim os objetivos do presente estudo foram descrever as etapas de construção de uma escala para avaliar as crenças e práticas de educadores frente à prevenção ao uso de álcool e outras drogas e construir evidências de validade do instrumento desenvolvido. A dissertação será apresentada e organizada em dois artigos. Metodologia: No artigo 1, uma matriz conceitual foi elaborada, realizou-se avaliação teórica por especialistas, juiz, grupo focal e estudo piloto. No artigo 2, foram utilizadas as abordagens da TCT e TRI para avaliar as propriedades psicométricas da escala. Resultados: No piloto, (artigo 1) 136 tutores participaram, a média de idade foi de 39,37 anos, 86,8% eram do sexo feminino. Dois componentes surgiram: Crenças e Práticas que explicaram 41% da variância total e o Alpha de Cronbach foi de 0,90. Já no artigo 2, a amostra contou com 3247 educadores dos estados de Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro e Paraná, a maioria dos participantes era do sexo feminino (85,8%) com média de idade de 40,7 (DP = 8,9) anos. A partir da avaliação da independência local e da comparação semântica dos itens, os itens 8 e 33 da Escala de Crenças e 9, 29, 31 e 35 da Escala de Práticas foram removidos. A versão final da escala ficou com 12 itens (Crenças) e 11(Práticas). Conclusão: Conclui-se que o presente estudo apesar das limitações avança em construir uma escala que avalia duas dimensões, com evidências psicométricas satisfatórias para a avaliação das crenças e práticas dos educadores. / Introduction: Teachers working in the school are not trained to deal with demands such as preventing the misuse of drugs, they feel unprepared. In this way, it signals the need to assess the beliefs and practices of educators. Thus the objectives of this study were to describe the construction of a range of steps to evaluate the beliefs and facing educators practices to prevent the use of alcohol and other drugs and construct validity evidence of the instrument developed. The dissertation will be presented and organized in two articles. Methodology: In Article 1, a conceptual framework was drawn up, there was theoretical evaluation by experts, judge, focus groups and pilot study. In Article 2, the approaches were used as TCT and TRI to evaluate the psychometric properties of the scale. Results: In the pilot, (Article 1) 136 tutors participated, the mean age was 39.37 years, 86.8% were female. Two components emerged: Beliefs and Practices which explained 41% of the total variance and the Cronbach's alpha was 0.90. Already in Article 2, the sample consisted of 3247 teachers of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Paraná, most participants were female (85.8%) with a mean age of 40.7 (SD = 8, 9 years. From the assessment of local independence and semantic comparison of items, items 8:33 of Beliefs Scale and 9, 29, 31 and 35 of the Practice Range were removed. The final version of the scale was left with 12 items (Beliefs) and 11 (Practice). Conclusion: In conclusion, this study despite the limitations advances in building a scale that assesses two dimensions, with psychometric evidence satisfactory to evaluate the beliefs and practices of educators.

A inovação é um campo do conhecimento que vem sendo largamente discutido na literatura de negócios. Nesse campo, ela pode ser entendida como a criação de um novo valor e riqueza para os stakeholders. Nesse sentido, o conceito comumente concebido pela literatura, aborda como ela pode criar e capturar novos valores para as organizações e para os clientes por meio de mudanças em uma ou mais dimensões do sistema de negócios. Essas mudanças podem ocorrer em produtos, serviços ou processos, entre outras. Embora a inovação tenha sido mais estudada na área de negócios, a partir dos impactos sociais que elas podem promover, alguns estudiosos, usando a mesma lente da inovação tradicional, começaram a investigar as inovações que tinham como propósito alcançar objetivos socioambientais. A esse tipo de inovação foi adicionado o termo \"social\". Como essa área de conhecimento ainda se apresenta incipiente na literatura, este estudo tem como objetivo ampliar o conhecimento sobre inovação social, a profundidade em que ela ocorre, os tipos encontrados e a abrangência geográfica de sua ocorrência. Por ser ainda um assunto pouco estudado, conforme revisão sistemática da literatura, seu entendimento ainda se encontra em fase de construção. Portanto, para atingir esse objetivo, foi necessário desenvolver um instrumento de pesquisa que fosse capaz de identificar a profundidade, os tipos e a abrangência das inovações sociais geradas por empreendimentos sociais. Entendem-se como empreendimentos sociais, organizações com ou sem fins lucrativos que tenham como intencionalidade algum propósito social, ambiental ou socioambiental e a criação de valor. A partir do desenvolvimento de uma escala para mensurar e mapear as inovações sociais geradas por empreendimentos sociais, seguindo todos os critérios necessários e indispensáveis para o desenvolvimento de escalas, no que diz respeito a sua validação de conteúdo, procedeu-se a sua aplicação em 264 empreendimentos sociais nas 27 unidades confederativas do Brasil. Para a validação psicométrica do instrumento de pesquisa, foram realizadas Análises Fatoriais Exploratórias e Confirmatórias. A escala inicial, antes da validação de conteúdo e psicométrica, contava com 53 itens, e após as validações restaram 23 itens, que mensuram os tipos de inovação social de produto, de marketing e organizacional; as profundidades incremental, disruptiva e institucional, e a abrangência geográfica. Os resultados da aplicação da escala indicam que a profundidade inovação social que mais se destacou na amostra foi a disruptiva. Este achado indica que estes empreendimentos sociais buscam identificar problemas sistêmicos e elaborar soluções transformacionais para atingir seus objetivos. Também foram observadas inovações incrementais e institucionais, no entanto, com menor intensidade. Com relação aos tipos de inovações sociais verificadas na amostra, as inovações sociais organizacionais foram as que mais se destacaram, seguidas das inovações sociais de produto e de marketing. As inovações de processo não atingiram índices de confiabilidade que pudessem participar das análises, e, por este motivo, as variáveis que buscavam mensurar esse tipo de inovação social foram excluídas da escala. Análises complementares, incluindo cruzamentos de dados demográficos podem ser verificadas nas análises de resultados. Como contribuição, esta tese amplia o entendimento sobre o empreendedorismo social, as inovações sociais que eles geram e, oferece aos pesquisadores, um instrumento de pesquisa validado / Innovation is a field of knowledge that has been widely discussed in the business literature. In this field, it can be understood as the creation of a new value and wealth for stakeholders. In this sense, the concept commonly designed for literature, discusses how it can create and capture new value for organizations and for customers through changes in one or more dimensions of the business system. These changes may occur in products, services or processes, among others. Although innovation has been more studied in the area of business, from the social impacts that they can promote, some scholars, using the same traditional innovation lens, began to investigate the innovations that had as purpose to achieve environmental goals. To this kind of innovation, it was added the term \"social\". As this area of knowledge is still incipient in the present literature, this study has the objective to deepen the knowledge about social innovation, the depth at which it occurs, the types found and its geographical occurrence. The fact that it is still a subject little studied, according to a systematic review of the literature, its understanding is still under construction. Therefore, to achieve this goal, it was necessary to develop a research instrument that was able to identify the depth, the types and geographical occurrence of social innovations generated by social entrepreneurships. We understand as social entrepreneurships, organizations for or non-profit that have as intentionality some social, environmental or socio-environmental purpose and the value creation. From the development of a scale to measure and map the social innovations generated by social enterprise, following all the necessary and essential criteria to the development of scales, with respect to its content validation, we applied it to 264 social entrepreneurships in in the 27 Confederate units of Brazil. For the psychometric validation of the research instrument, we did Exploratory and Confirmatory Factorial Analyses. The initial range, before the content and psychometric validation, had 53 items, and after the validations, it remained 23 items. These items measure the types of social innovation of product, organizational and marketing; the incremental, institutional, and disruptive depths and the geographical range. The results of the application of the scale indicates that the depth of social innovation that most stood out in the sample was disruptive. This finding indicates that these social entrepreneurships seek to identify systemic problems and develop transformational solutions to achieve their goals. Also incremental innovations and institutional were observed, however, with less intensity. With respect to the types of social innovations occurring in the sample, the social organizational innovations were the ones that stood out, followed by the social innovation of product and marketing. Process innovations did not reach levels of reliability that could participate in the analysis, and, for this reason, the variables to measure this kind of social innovation were excluded from the scale. Complementary analyses, including intersections of demographic data can be checked in the analysis of results. As a contribution, this thesis extends the understanding about social entrepreneurship, social innovations they generate and offers researchers, a validated instrument of research.

A crescente tendência para o livre comércio e o elevado ritmo em que as economias nacionais estão se transformando em globais, têm aumentado a importância do construto imagem de país, uma vez que, para muitos autores, a imagem impacta na forma com que os consumidores avaliam os produtos produzidos em diferentes países e assim influencia seu comportamento de compra. No entanto, na literatura, observa-se uma divergência no campo teórico desse conceito. Para muitos autores, apesar do conhecimento a respeito da sua importância, não é observado um consenso na forma de conceituar e operacionalizar o construto. Assim, não há nenhuma análise sistemática dos conceitos existentes e, sequer uma forma melhor de operacionalizá-los. Desse modo, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo verificar se diferentes formas de operacionalização do construto imagem de país levam a resultados semelhantes. Para isso, foram comparadas duas escalas, utilizadas para mensurar a imagem do país de origem, a fim de verificar, de forma empírica, o comportamento dessas escalas, já que são pertencentes a uma mesma base teórica e assim contribuir para uma discussão, mais profunda, a respeito da confiabilidade e validade dos estudos sobre imagem de país. Embora existam muitos artigos a respeito da imagem dos países mundialmente, o Brasil foi foco de poucos trabalhos. Assim, o presente trabalho também possui como objetivo mensurar a imagem do Brasil. O Brasil é o detentor do maior saldo da balança comercial agrícola do mundo e possui um histórico de superávits. Tendo em vista o exposto acima, pretende-se observar qual é a imagem que o Brasil possui em relação aos consumidores ingleses, que foram escolhidos por sua relevância no comércio internacional, estando em quarto lugar no ranking dos principais países importadores de produtos agrícolas do mundo. O método utilizado foi o transversal simples (também chamado de Levantamento ou Survey). A pesquisa caracteriza-se como sendo quantitativa e foram coletados 223 questionários, junto aos estudantes da Faculdade Royal Agricultural College, localizada em Cirencester, Gloucestershire na Inglaterra. Para comparar as escalas, foram agrupadas as escalas de Pisharodi e Parameswaran (1992) e Nebenzahl, Jaffe e Usunier (2003). Como resultado, foi obtido para a escala de Pisharodi e Parameswaran (1992), 5 dimensões (atributos especificos do produto, faceta pessoas, faceta interação, atrbutos desejaveis do produto e atributos indesejáveis do produto) e para a escala de Nebenzahl, Jaffe e Usunier (2003) 3 dimensões (desafortunado, busca por qualidade e satisfação e busca por valor econômico), sendo que a imagem resultante da primeira escala do Brasil foi negativa e para a segunda escala positiva. Com esses resultados fez-se, ainda, análise de cluster não hierárquico forçando dois clusters para cada escala e foi observada novamente uma diferença nos resultados, uma vez que os respondentes foram agrupados de forma diferente em cada escala, o que significa que uma mesma pessoa na escala de Pisharodi e Parameswaran (1992) foi enquadrada no cluster de imagem negativa e na escala de Nebenzahl, Jaffe e Usunier (2003) essa mesma pessoa foi incluída no cluster de imagem positiva. Dessa forma, comparando-se as escalas, 61% das pessoas não foram enquadradas da mesma forma pelo cluster e foi preciso rejeitar a hipótese inicial do trabalho (o resultado da aplicação das duas escalas seria semelhante). Assim, a pesquisa contribuiu para o avanço da discussão nas lacunas existentes sobre o tema imagem de país, além de fornecer informações que podem servir, tanto para profissionais de marketing como para agentes do governo, que visam fortalecer a imagem do Brasil. Como limitações do trabalho, podem ser citadas: a comparação de apenas duas das escalas existentes na literatura, a extensão do questionário e o foco dado apenas ao Brasil. / The increasing trend towards free trade and the high rate at which national economies are becoming global, has shown an increase in the importance of the country image contruct, since, for many authors, the image impacts the way in which consumers evaluate the products manufactured in different countries and thus influences their buying behavior. However, in the literature, there is divergence regarding the concept. For many authors, despite the knowledge about its importance, there is no consensus on how to conceptualize and operationalize the construct. Thus, there is no systematic analysis of existing concepts, and no best way to operationalize them. Thus, this study aims to determine whether different forms of measurement of the \"country image\" construct would lead to similar results. For this, we compared two scales used to measure the image of the country of origin, to verify, empirically, the behavior of these scales, since they are owned by the same theoretical basis and thus contribute to a deeper discussion, regarding the reliability and validity of studies on country image. Although there are many articles about the image of the world countries, Brazil was the focus of few of such studies. Thus, this work also has aimed to measure the image of Brazil. This country is the largest holder of agricultural trade balance of the world and has a history of surplus. So, we intend to observe which is the image of Brazil in relation to British consumers, who were chosen for their relevance in international trade, while it is ranking fourth among the main importing countries of agricultural products in the world. Survey method was applied, and the research is characterized as being quantitative and 223 questionnaires were collected, with students of the Royal Agricultural College, located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire in England. To compare the scales, Pisharodi and Parameswaran (1992) scales and Nebenzahl, Jaffe and Usunier (2003) scales were grouped. As a result, five dimensions (specific product attributes, people facet, interaction facet, desirable product attributes and undesirable product attributes) were obtained for the Pisharodi and Parameswaran (1992) scale, and the scale of Nebenzahl, Jaffe and Usunier (2003) obtained 3 dimensions (underdog, quality and satisfaction seeker and economic value seeker). A negative image of Brazil was observerd using the Pisharodi and Parameswaran (1992) scale and for the Nebenzahl, Jaffe and Usunier (2003) scales a positive image of Brazil was seen. With these results, yet, a non-hierarchical cluster analysis was made, forcing two clusters for each scale and again there was a difference in the results, since the respondents were grouped differently in each scale, which means that a person who was framed in the cluster of negative image in Pisharodi and Parameswaran (1992) scale was framed in another cluster of positive image in Nebenzahl, Jaffe and Usunier (2003) scale. Thus, comparing the scales, 61% of people were not framed the same way by the cluster and we had to reject the initial hypothesis of the work, that the result of applying two diferent scales would be similar. The research contributed to the advancement of gaps in the discussion on the country image theory, and provides information that may be useful both to marketers and government officials, aimed at strengthening the image of Brazil. The limitations of the work may be cited: the comparison of only two scales of the literature, the length of the questionnaire and the focus given only to Brazil.

The Association for Research in Infant and Child Development (ARICD) is currently in the process of revising the Griffiths Scales. When revising measures, obtaining practitioners’ views on the measure is common practice. The purpose of the present study was to explore the themes emerging from a group of practitioners surveyed on their opinions about the Griffiths Scales in order to inform the Griffiths Scales revision process. A qualitative, survey methodology was used. A survey questionnaire was designed and distributed by the ARICD to ascertain practitioners’ and researchers’ views on assessing child development, insights into practicalities and the usability of the Griffiths Scales, as well as their opinions on potential changes and improvements. Data were also gathered on the frequency, purpose and age range with which practitioners used the Griffiths Scales. The questionnaire was distributed to Registered Griffiths Scales Users (practitioners) via the ARICD members’ email distribution list. The practitioners and researchers were either current or past users of the Griffiths Scales. Eighty-five completed questionnaires were returned of which 52 were from current, regular users of the Griffiths Scales and 33 were from non-users. The data obtained from the 85 returned questionnaires were analysed in the present research study using thematic analysis to extract themes for both users and non-users of the Griffiths Scales. The results of the data analysis revealed four over-arching themes, namely, purpose and use of the Griffiths Scales; domains, content, and structure of the Griffiths Scales; psychometric properties, standardisation, and norms; and merits, limitations, and improvements. Based on the themed views of practitioners, recommendations were made regarding the support for the next revision cycle as well as strengths of the Griffiths Scales that should be retained and improvements and additions needed. It is hoped that these recommendations will guide aspects of the revision process. Consequently, the recommendations have been submitted to the Project Board.

In this unique time of nation building in South Africa, education is seen as the key foundation stone to prosperity and development. However, despite a decade of restructuring, many differing groups of children still do not receive the quality of education they deserve. Amongst those are children with special needs, including those who have a hearing impairment. These children are the focus of the present study. It is a widely accepted principle that early assessment and intervention is necessary to maximise a child’s potential. It is for this reason that the global aim of this study was to explore and describe the developmental profile of hearing impaired children on the Revised Extended Griffiths Scales. Further aims were to compare the performance of the clinical sample to a normal South African sample. A quantitative, exploratory-descriptive research design was employed. The sample of hearing impaired children (N = 58), between the ages of 36 and 95 months, attended the Carel du Toit Pre-School in the Western Cape, South Africa and were obtained by means of a non-probability, purposive sampling procedure. The normal sample (N = 58) was drawn from an existing database created for the revision of the Scales. Information was collated using clinical files, biographical data as well as the results of an assessment on the Revised Extended Griffiths Scales. The major findings of the study are summarised below. The general performance of the hearing impaired sample on the Revised Extended Griffiths Scales was average. The performance of the children on the six subscales ranged from below average to average, with major fall-outs occurring on the Hearing and Speech and Practical Reasoning Subscales. The normal sample performed significantly better than the hearing impaired sample on all of the subscales of the measure. However, significant differences were found on four of the six subscales, namely, the Locomotor, Personal-Social, Hearing and Speech and Practical Reasoning Subscales. Generally, the results of the current study suggest that a specific developmental profile is obtained for hearing impaired children. In addition, this study has highlighted the success with which the Revised Extended Griffiths Scales can be utilised on a hearing impaired population.

An investigation of attitudes toward selected international problems and issues, and the relationship between attitudes and some independent variables was conducted among 234 graduate and undergraduate students in the College of Education at North Texas State University, Denton, Texas. Attitudes toward Chauvinism, World Government, Cooperation, War, and Human Rights were measured by thirty-two Likert-type items developed by Educational Testing Service. The 234 returned, useable responses were tabulated according to each attitude scale and educational level. The attitude scales enumerated above were all correlated with students' backgrounds, educational experiences, and political attitudes.

Images, in contrast to text, represent an effective and natural communication media for humans, due to their immediacy and the easy way to understand the image content. Shape recognition and pattern recognition are one of the most important tasks in the image processing. Crime scene photos should always be in focus and there should always be a ruler be present, this will allow the investigators the ability to resize the image to accurately reconstruct the scene. Therefore, the camera must be on a grounded platform such as tripod. Due to the rotation of the camera around the camera center there exist the distortion in the image which must be minimized. The distorted image should be corrected using transformation method. Deze taak is nogal uitdagend en essentieel omdat elke verandering in de afbeeldingen kan misidentificeren een object voor onderzoekers. Forensic image processing can help the analyst extract information from low quality, noisy image or geometrically distorted. Obviously, the desired information must be present in the image although it may not be apparent or visible. Considering challenges in complex forensic investigation, we understand the importance and sensitivity of data in a forensic images.The HT is an effective technique for detecting and finding the images within noise. It is a typical method to detect or segment geometry objects from images. Specifically, the straight-line detection case has been ingeniously exploited in several applications. The main advantage of the HT technique is that it is tolerant of gaps in feature boundary descriptions and is relatively unaffected by image noise. The HT and its extensions constitute a popular and robust method for extracting analytic curves. HT   attracted a lot of research efforts over the decades. The main motivations behind such interest are the noise immunity, the ability to deal with occlusion, and the expandability of the transform. Many variations of it have evolved. They cover a whole spectrum of shape detection from lines to irregular shapes. This master thesis presents a contribution in the field of forensic image processing. Two different approaches, Hough Line Transformation (HLT), Hough Circular Transformation (HCT) are followed to address this problem. Fout estimatie en validatie is gedaan met de hulp van root mean square method. De prestatie van beide methoden is geëvalueerd door ze te vergelijken. We present our solution as an application to the MATLAB environment, specifically designed to be used as a forensic tool for forensic images.

To constantly add to our understanding of child development, a valid, comprehensive, well-researched measure is needed. The recent revision and standardisation of the Griffiths Mental Development Scales - Extended Revised (GMDS-ER) has necessitated investigations into its psychometric properties. This measure is used to identify developmental delays in children and critical decisions may be made, hence it is imperative that this measure be deemed both reliable and valid. This study aimed to contribute to the broader restandardisation project and focussed on gathering qualitative and quantitative construct-related validity evidence for one of the six Subscales of the GMDS-ER, namely the Eye and Hand Coordination Subscale (Subscale D). An exploratory descriptive method using a triangulation approach was used to explore the construct-related validity evidence of the Eye and Hand Coordination Subscale. A non-random purposively selected sample of 6 experts, who had worked at least 10 years with children assessing and evaluating the domain of eye-hand coordination, participated in a facet analysis to identify the underlying dimensions tapped by the Eye and Hand Coordination Subscale. The sample for the quantitative aspects of this study, the empirical validation of the construct model, was collected as part of the broader restandardisation and represented a stratified sample of 1026 children between the ages 24 months and 96 months from across the United Kingdom and Eire. Three measures, namely a biographical questionnaire, the GMDS-ER and a construct evaluation form were used to gather the qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative data was analysed by means of a facet analysis and literature control which included examining other tests or subtests that tapped eye-hand coordination skills. The quantitative data was analysed by means of exploratory common factor analysis using oblique (DQUART) rotation in order to verify the qualitatively identified construct model by specifying a one-factor solution for each underlying construct. While literature suggests that eye-hand coordination is multidimensional in nature the facet analysis revealed that the tasks tapped by Subscale D were not tapping complex skills aside from eye-hand coordination. The facet analysis thus revealed that all the items tap the eye-hand coordination of fine motor tasks and that these items could be grouped into two categories, using writing utensils and object manipulation. The results from the factor analysis confirmed that the items on Subscale D have one underlying construct and further exploration confirmed that these items could in fact be grouped into two categories. The coefficients of congruence for SES and gender were satisfactory and thus the construct model was validated across these groups as well. The study has provided extensive qualitative and quantitative evidence for the construct-related validity of the Eye and Hand Coordination Subscale of the GMDS-ER, thus validating its use as a sound measure of eye-hand coordination development in children aged 2 to 8 years. The content coverage however, seemed to indicate that the tasks required do not adequately cover all the facets of eye-hand coordination and some of these item types are tapped by the other Subscales in the measure. Hence, should the Subscale be used as an independent assessment of eye-hand coordination, the eye-hand coordination development of the child would have a narrow focus. In addition, in reviewing the variety of tasks in the two sections for the older and younger child, the researcher noted that while section III tapped a variety of skills, section IV only focused on skills associated with drawing, copying and writing. A review of the age appropriateness of the items and the item analysis results from the revision seemed to indicate that some of the items assessing the older child may need to be revised. Further, the researcher suggested that the revision should consider adding additional dimensions to the tasks assessed. Overall, it is the researcher‟s opinion that this Subscale was not given adequate attention during the revision process and should future revisions occur, the recommendations from this study should be considered.

Although it is generally acknowledged that critical career-related concepts and attitudes are first formed in childhood, research has focused little attention on this developmental stage. Statements about children‘s career development as an integral dimension of human development date to the early 1950s, yet limited research has investigated this interrelationship. It is imperative to gain a greater understanding of childhood career development in order to better prepare children for their future. The overall purpose of this study is to explore the interrelationship of childhood development and childhood career development. An exploratory-descriptive quantitative research method was used. Thirty participants (all eight year-old girls from a middle class, English speaking background) were selected through non-probability purposive sampling. Data were gathered from the Griffiths Mental Development Scales – Extended Revised (GMDS-ER) and the Childhood Career Development Scale (CCDS) and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicated a correlation, although not statistically significant, between childhood development and childhood career development, thus indicating a weak positive correlation between the two variables. Statistically significant relationships were established between certain subscales of the GMDS-ER and CCDS, namely Language and Exploration, Eye-Hand Co-ordination and Key Figures, and Practical Reasoning and Planning. The results from this study, although not conclusive, are groundbreaking in this neglected area of research as they indicate an interrelationship between childhood development and childhood career development. This research is an initial step in investigating this interrelationship and it is the hope of the researcher that it will stimulate further research in this area.