Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-10T10:40:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Elodia Teodoro Valadao de Morais.pdf: 9654095 bytes, checksum: c3d49fa0609f9064b84347e41209bc49 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-03-08 / Technological advances, especially in the area of information technology (IT), make possible the dissemination of information in real time, providing logistic managers a broader scope, based on related information, which is extremely important for the success of the companies. This study aims to identify and map the use of IT tools in logistic processes in midsize food industries from the state of Goiás, regarding the management of the supply chain. The first part of this study consists of an exploratory literature research as well as the presentation of the food industries panorama. The second part presents the survey research with the data collection, analysis and interpretation. The use of information technology, focused on the supply chain visibility, with the development of the virtual information flux of goods from their origin to final consumers, may guarantee to the supply chain companies the development of competitive advantages. The results obtained in this research allowed a better overview of the positioning of the surveyed companies in the supply chain in which they are included. The results also showed that the surveyed midsize food companies form the state of Goiás do not use many of the technologies applied to logistics, already available and consolidated in the market. They also showed that these companies do not use IT in their integration with the links of the supply chain, limiting their own development. / Os avanços tecnológicos, principalmente na área da tecnologia da informação (TI), possibilitam a disseminação em tempo real da informação, fornecendo aos gestores logísticos um escopo mais amplo, com base nas informações correlatas, o que é de extrema importância para o sucesso das empresas. Este trabalho tem por objetivo, portanto, identificar e mapear o uso de ferramentas de TI nos processos logísticos em indústrias alimentícias goianas de médio porte no que se refere ao gerenciamento da cadeia de suprimentos. A primeira parte deste estudo é composta por uma pesquisa exploratória bibliográfica, bem como, a apresentação do panorama de indústrias de alimentícias. Na segunda parte, é apresentada a pesquisa survey, com a coleta, análise e interpretação dos dados. O uso da tecnologia da informação na busca da visibilidade da cadeia produtiva, com o desenvolvimento do fluxo virtual de informações dos produtos desde sua origem até o consumidor final, pode garantir às empresas de uma cadeia de suprimentos, o desenvolvimento de vantagens competitivas. Os resultados obtidos com a pesquisa possibilitaram uma melhor visualização do posicionamento das empresas pesquisadas dentro da cadeia de abastecimento em que se encontram inseridas. Os resultados demonstraram também que as empresas alimentícias goianas de médio porte pesquisadas não utilizam boa parte das tecnologias aplicada a logísticas, disponíveis e já consolidadas no mercado, como também evidenciou que não utilizam a TI na sua integração com os elos da cadeia de suprimentos, limitando o seu desenvolvimento.

This diploma thesis seeks above all to introduce the German concept of artistic education into the context of the Czech art education and to compare it with some of the didactical tendencies within this field. Based on the analysis of German and English publications, firstly the pivotal theoretical influences of the concept are introduced, and then its specifics, educational methods and goals are described. The theoretical section is concluded by examples of practical approaches using the described concept in the field of German school praxis. The empirical-practical section, that is based on the author's personal experiences gained during Erasmus studies in Germany (Karlsruhe, University of Education, Institute of Art), introduces how the concept is being applied during the training of university students, in particular on the level of the artistic and pedagogical praxis. This section also contains a reflection of the concept of artistic education's influence on the author's own artistic work. The second section concludes by analysing two student projects in a German school, applying the methods of artistic education, and outlines how these projects could be improved. At the end of the thesis the results of the theoretical, empirical and practical sections are summarized and evaluated. Questions...

Survey research plays a significant role in the way psychologists investigate key relationships which impact human behaviours—and which inform us about undercurrents of a population. Samples are generally taken with the primary function of being able to make inferences which can be generalised to the target population—however, historically the field has consistently relied on small and niche datasets which are not truly representative of the general population. As a consequence, there is an abundance of published research which lacks ecological validity. The alternative approach is to collect larger amounts of data—this approach is extremely costly and in most instances impractical for the researcher. I have termed this conundrum, the cost-insight trade-off, which has traditionally exasperated psychologists. To address this dilemma, I conducted three studies using two alternative methods. Study 1 investigated the relationship between social status and international friendships at a micro and macro level. The building social status hypothesis states that higher social status individuals would reach out more to people and have more international friendships than their poorer counterparts. In contrast, the restrictive social status hypothesis states the higher social status individuals would be reclusive and have fewer international friendships than their poorer counterparts. Findings at both the micro (N = 857; U.S. participants) and macro levels (approximately 50 billion friendships across 187 countries) were in alignment with the restrictive social status hypothesis. Investigating this relationship at this large a scope would not have been possible without utilising Facebook Data—furthermore, for most research projects collecting data at this scale is both too costly and impractical. Study 2 aims to address the limitation of study 1. In this light, a new alternative method, the Survey Forecasting Method, is introduced and used to demonstrate creative capability of combining the latest technology, machine learning techniques and big data (i.e. Twitter). The findings were proof positive that a data collection of only 1,000 participants (at minimum) can be transformed into the power of having a dataset of several hundred thousand participants. In other words, the findings suggest that it is possible to efficiently and effectively forecast scores for potentially millions of people, without them having to complete a single survey. This is a significant step towards developing an alternative survey method; however, the method has only been applied to the Big Five & NEO-IPIP personality traits. Study 3 provides further evidence for the Survey Forecasting Method as a viable alternative to traditional sampling methods. The study examined the relationship between entrepreneurs’ self-efficacy, fear of failure, and well-being at two levels: (a) self-report and forecasted individual level, and (b) forecasted state level (across all 50 U.S. states). Findings show there are differences between each level which provides insights into effects and potential mechanisms which would not potentially be found using traditional “silo’d” methods. The primary aim of this thesis is to provide a viable alternative method to conducting survey research—which allows the researcher to gain deeper insights into the population at less cost and time. Furthermore, this alternative method addresses poor data representativeness. Limitations are addressed and future directions to improve its capability and robustness as a viable survey research methodology are provided.

This dissertation discusses the convergence of aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems, the language acquisition and development of young children who are minimally verbal or nonverbal who acquire their native language while simultaneously learning to use an aided AAC system, and explicit and implicit elements that influence language outcomes. Factors investigated include those related to language acquisition universals, the AAC system, the young aided AAC user, and practices, philosophies, and beliefs of speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Further examined were: (a) language acquisition parallels in atypical populations who do not possess the full range of senses who have been shown to develop language, and (b) analogies between the linguistic structures of pidgins, interlanguages, and the syntax of young aided AAC users. This dissertation employed a survey methodology to capture the practices and beliefs of SLPs as a means of identifying potential contributing factors to the reduced linguistic outcomes of these children. Quantitative findings revealed statistically significant differences in SLPs’ perceptions of confidence and qualification with the two populations of children with language impairments who use an oral modality and young aided AAC users. Descriptive trends across all constructs measured suggested differences in SLPs’ practices, belifes, and perspectives in their work with these two populations. The analysis of the syntactic structures of the language of young aided AAC users revealed definitive parallels with the construct of interlanguages.

xviii, 274 p. : ill. (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Environmental organizations in the US engage in a variety of political practices in order to meet their goals. Some organizations consciously pursue more contentious and oppositional actions to match their goals, while others adopt methods that align with conventional institutional practices to achieve their goals. This variation in the terrain of the environmental movement is indicated by the behavior of the environmental organizations that it largely comprises. The following is an investigation of the factors that influence the political advocacy of a sample of environmental organizations and thus the political praxis of the environmental movement proper. By deriving concepts from a 2006 survey of a sample of organizations in the US, three conceptual factors derived from social movement theory are operationalized: ideological identities, strategies of practice and resource structures. Using numerous independent variables, these concepts are then tested in a logistic regression for the effect they have on the odds that the organizations would oppose any of three historical events: the World Trade Organization (WTO), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and/or the Kyoto protocols. A typology of environmental organizations is then constructed, tested, substantiated, problematized, and interpreted. Subsequently, a comparative case analysis of 11 distinct organizations was conducted that revealed the ways in which the leadership constructed meaning around their organizational practices and helped develop the typology further, explaining some of its shortcomings and adding nuance to the model that better explains contemporary environmental advocacy behavior in the US. Directions for future research are assessed, and both the challenging and encouraging implications that this research has for the environmental movement as a whole are extrapolated. / Committee in charge: Michael Dreiling, Chairperson, Sociology; Yvonne Braun, Member, Sociology; Gregory McLauchlan, Member, Sociology; David Frank, Outside Member, Honors College

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / nÃo hà / Essa pesquisa de mestrado tem como intuito conhecer a implementaÃÃo da mÃsica nas aulas de Artes na Rede Municipal de EducaÃÃo de Sobral, cidade localizada no interior do CearÃ. Atendendo as diretrizes das Leis n 9.394/96 e 11.769/2008, a Secretaria Municipal de EducaÃÃo instaura em 2014 o ensino de Artes dentro do currÃculo bÃsico escolar e mÃsica à uma das modalidades oferecidas aos alunos do ensino fundamental final, do 6 ao 9 ano. O objetivo principal dessa investigaÃÃo à fazer um levantamento destas incursÃes musicais na escola, averiguando se no municÃpio de Sobral realmente tÃm aulas de Artes no currÃculo e, consequentemente, se contempla o conteÃdo MÃsica. A investigaÃÃo permite tambÃm conhecer como està sendo o acesso dessas aulas pelos estudantes, se os professores tÃm competÃncias e/ou habilidades para o ensino desta linguagem artÃstica, dentre outras caracterÃsticas, ou seja, descrever como se dà o processo de ensino e aprendizagem dos conteÃdos musicais na disciplina de Artes. Para isso, serà utilizado um protocolo de investigaÃÃo prÃprio da Pesquisa de Levantamento (FOWLER, 2011), que utilizarà como coleta de dados um questionÃrio a ser aplicado junto aos professores de Artes. Esta anÃlise mostra que a formaÃÃo especÃfica dos professores à pouco significativa, a estrutura nÃo à satisfatÃria e nem todas as escolas tÃm o ensino de mÃsica, apresentando assim problemas para EducaÃÃo Musical no municÃpio. / This Master research aim to know the implementation of the Musical Education in the Arts classes within the Municipality Education System of Sobral, a city in the interior of CearÃ. According the guidelines of the Laws N 9.394/96 and 11.769/2008, the Municipal Education, installed in 2014, the teaching of arts within the school core curriculum, and music is one of the modalities offered to elementary school students end, 6 to 9 year. The main objective of this research is to survey of these musical incursions in the school, rising if in the municipality of Sobral actually has Arts classes in the core curriculum and consequently if contemplate the music content. The investigation also possibiliting to know how has been the access of these classes by the students, if the teachers have capacity and/or abilities for the teaching of this artistic language, among other character, in other words, to describe how happening the process of teaching and learning of the musical contents on arts discipline. To this, will be utilized a proper protocol of investigation of the survey research (FOWLER, 2011), that will utilize as a data collection a questionnaire to be applied to the arts teachers. This analysis shows that the specific formation of the teachers is little significance, the structure isnât satisfactory, not all the schools have the musical teaching, presenting thus problems to the Musical Education on Municipal.

This study explored the school climate of adult basic education centres by investigating the extent to which these education centres showed evidence of control, staff cohesiveness, physical resources, and safe and orderly environment. The study was inspired by a lack of school climate studies that focused on adult basic education centres as many school climate studies had concentrated on investigating the school climate of primary and secondary schools. The broad research question which was addressed in the research study was: ‘What is the nature of the school climate of adult basic education centres as perceived by educators?’ The participating educators were randomly selected and a survey – in the form of a questionnaire – was administered. The questionnaire comprised the four scales mentioned above. The items from the four scales were validated through the use of both face and content-related validity procedures. Face validity was ensured through pre-testing. Content validity was achieved through expert review of the items used. The extent to which these items could be included as part of a scale was further explored by means of reliability analysis whose acceptable coefficient alpha was benchmarked at 0.65 and above. Reliability was used to explore the reliability of the questionnaire. The aspect of reliability used for this purpose was analysis of internal consistency. The main purpose was to ascertain whether all the items used in the four scales collectively measured the construct school climate. For example, the reliability analysis for the variable control had 0.79 as its coefficient alpha whilst the reliability analysis for the variable staff cohesiveness, physical resources and safe and orderly environment had 0.76, 0.89, 0.84 as corresponding coefficient alpha respectively. This implied that most items within the four scales measured the construct control, staff cohesiveness, physical resources, safe and orderly environment as part of the construct school climate. Furthermore, the coefficient alphas of these four scales compared well with the overall coefficient alpha of 0.84 for this study, which further implied that each of the scales had an immense contribution in the measurement of the construct school climate. Based on the scale rubric designed for the variable control (high score 28-21: moderate score 20-14; low score 13-0), the results from the analysis indicated that the centres under review had a fair level of control mechanisms in place as in all these centres the mean score varied between 23 and 25. On the basis of the scale rubric devised for staff cohesiveness (high score 32-24; moderate score 23-16; low score 15-0), it was also revealed that the majority of the centres had evidence of staff cohesiveness, as no low score was recorded for in most cases the mean score revolved between 22 and 25. Although, the results further indicated that there was an average degree of physical resources in most centres, it also became clear that not all centres had the same level of physical resources at their disposal as the majority of the centres had a mean score that fluctuated between 18 and 33. The scale rubric for physical resources was: between 40-30 for high score; between 29-20 for moderate score and between 19-0 for low score. Finally, the mean score for the variable safe and orderly environment alternated between the minimum mean score of 17 and the maximum mean score of 21. Based on the latter mean scores, it became clear that the majority of the centres had a safe and orderly environment level that fell within the moderate score category (between 20-14) whilst the remaining two centres had a high score category (between 28-21) and no centre had a low score category (between 13-0). / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

School climate has been of interest internationally for a number of years not only because school climate has been linked to the effectiveness of the school but also to learner achievement. School climate was the focus of this research study and in particular the development of a school climate questionnaire for learners in Pretoria schools. Prominent factors influencing school climate were identified from literature and six of the more prominent factors were selected for study namely cohesiveness, trust, respect, control, violence and physical infrastructure. These were conceptualised in terms of systems theory using an input-throughput-output model. Input into the system is the learners, educators, principals, policies on school-level as well as policies on National level and resources. The throughput was considered as the process of interaction between the learners, educators and principals and how this influences cohesiveness, trust, respect, control, violence and physical infrastructure. The interplay results in behaviours, perceptions and attitudes of the principal, educators and learners, which influences the atmosphere within the school (output). Survey research was undertaken in order to collect data on the six factors from the perspective of the learner. A self-administered questionnaire was used and was developed based on numerous school climate instruments. These instruments were studied and items associated to the factors were identified for possible inclusion in the questionnaire. The items chosen were then taken and rephrased to make them relevant for the South African context. Experts in the fields of psychology, education and instrument development rated the items in terms of appropriateness, relevance, language and readability. The comments were then included and the questionnaire piloted in one school in Pretoria. Based on an initial analysis minor changes were made to the questionnaire, which was then administered in three schools in and around Pretoria. In total 608 learners participated in the study, 166 learners in the pilot study and 442 learners in the main study. Some problems were identified with the questionnaire, which included the language of the items and that of the learners. The instrument was found to have face and content validity. The initial reliability analysis indicated that some of the factors attained reliability coefficients that were lower than the set limits. As a result item-total analysis was undertaken and it was found that certain items did not correlate well with the scale. A factor analysis was also undertaken for further scale development. Five factors were extracted using principal components analysis; the previously conceptualised factors were incorporated in different ways than anticipated. These factors were conceptualised and named Interaction, Cohesion, Learning environment (which is on a classroom level) and Resources. The only factor that concurred with the original conceptualized factors was Violence. The developed questionnaire clearly depicted these individual aspects of school climate and could distinguish between the different school contexts. / Dissertation (MA (Research Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Psychology / unrestricted

Context: Exploratory testing (ET) is an approach to test software with a strong focus on personal skills and freedom of the tester. ET emphasises the simultaneous design and execution of tests with minimal test documentation. Test practitioners often claim that their choice to use ET as an important alternative to scripted testing is based on several benefits ET exhibits over the scripted testing. However, these claims lack empirical evidence as there is little research done in this area. Moreover, ET is usually considered an ad-hoc way of doing testing as everyone does it differently. There have been some attempts in past to provide structure to ET. Session based test management (SBTM) is an approach that attempts to provide some structure to ET and gives some basic guidelines to structuring the test sessions. However, these guidelines are still very abstract and are very open to individuals' interpretation. Objective: The main objective of this doctoral thesis is to support practitioners in their decisions about choosing exploratory versus scripted testing. Furthermore, it is also aimed to investigate the empirical evidence in support of ET and find ways to structure ET and classify different levels of exploration that drive the choices made by exploratory testers. Another objective of this thesis is to provide a decision support system to select levels of exploration in overall test process. Method: The findings presented in this thesis are obtained through a controlled experiment with participants from industry and academia, exploratory surveys, interviews and focus groups conducted at different companies including Ericsson AB, Sony Mobile Communications, Axis Communications AB and Softhouse Consulting Baltic AB. Results: Using the exploratory survey, we found three test techniques to be most relevant in context of testing software systems and in particular heterogeneous systems. The most frequently used technique mentioned by the practitioners is ET which is not a much researched topic. We also found many interesting claims about ET in grey literature produced by practitioners in the form of informal presentations and blogs but these claims lacked any empirical evidence. Therefore, a controlled experiment was conducted with students and industry practitioners to compare ET with scripted testing. The experiment results show that ET detects significantly more critical defects compared to scripted testing and is more time efficient. However, ET has its own limitations and there is not a single way to use it for testing. In order to provide structure to ET, we conducted a study where we propose checklists to support test charter design in ET. Furthermore, two more industrial focus group studies at four companies were conducted that resulted in a taxonomy of exploration levels in ET and a decision support method for selecting exploration levels in ET. Lastly, we investigated different problems that researchers face when conducting surveys in software engineering and have presented mitigation strategies for these problems. Conclusion: The taxonomy for levels of exploration in ET, proposed in this thesis, provided test practitioners at the companies a better understanding of the underlying concepts of ET and a way to structure their test charters. A number of influence factors elicited as part of this thesis also help them prioritise which level of exploration suits more to their testing in the context of their products. Furthermore, the decision support method provided the practitioners to reconsider their current test focus to test their products in a more effective way.

he point of this diploma thesis is to analyze current marketing strategies of Strasil Co. and create marketing quantitative research. Based on the obtained data, author is trying to develop the concept of solutions, which will increase the volume of new customers.