Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Assessment criteria'

Environmental policymaking is a difficult issue for governments. It is desirable to have the decisions based on the results of quantitative and analytical studies. On the other hand, by their very nature, many such decisions have political aspects, whose subtleties are difficult to be captured by quantitative approaches alone. It is left to the political establishments to decide how best to allocate the efforts to improve environmental conditions. In this respect, evaluating the countries by generating environmental indices and the subsequent ranking of the countries with respect to those indices is a common practice. Perhaps the best known environmental sustainability index, the Environmental Performance Index-2008 (EPI-2008), is a composite index that comprises 6 core policy categories and 25 indicators. While recognizing the qualitative aspects of such decision making, in order to support and guide the policymaking process, we develop analytical tools to assist the process. We carefully delineate our models to be limited only to the provable quantitative properties of the available objective data. However, such data are processed into more meaningful statements concerning the available options. Specifically, using EPI-2008, meaningful mathematical models that shed further light onto the country sustainability measures are developed.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the implementation of criteria-referenced self-assessment in students’ learning in argumentative writing especially for students learning Chinese as a second language (CSL). Participants were 4 year-8 students in an international school in Hong Kong. Follow-up interview was also conducted to investigate students’ perspectives of self-assessment. Findings include the changes of students’ writing performance in argumentative essays based on the comparison of pre-test and post-test in the aspects of the 3 metafunctions of language: ideational, interpersonal and textual defined by M.A.K. Halliday. The result suggests that integrating criteria-referenced self-assessment in CSL writing classes can improve students’ writing performance and enhance their understanding of marking criteria for argumentative essay. 本文透過準實驗性研究的設計，以香港一所國際學校4位8年級學生為研究對象，了解透過量表自評在中文第二語言寫作教學中的實施，是否能夠提升學生在議論文寫作的表現。本文根據系統功能語言學對於語言元功能的分類，分析學生前後測寫作的表現。結果發現，經過一個月的量表自評實驗，學生的寫作表現在語言的概念功能、人際功能以及語篇功能三個方面均產生變化。此外，透過實驗後的跟進訪談發現，量表自評使得學生對於議論文寫作的評估標準有了更清楚的認識，同時也能夠將這樣的認識體現在對於議論文寫作的評斷當中。
published_or_final_version
Education
Master
Master of Education

Bibliography: pages 181-186.
The study recorded in this dissertation was undertaken in the School of Education at the University of Cape Town (UCT) during the period 1986-1990. It was motivated by perceived anomalies in the administration of State regulations for endorsement of teachers' diplomas in respect of ability in English (E/e). The study commences with an analysis of the relevant requirements of the regulations for teacher bilingualism, as set out in sections 10 and 11 of Criteria for the Evaluation of South African Qualifications for Employment in Education, 1988. Theoretical and practical problems of evaluation and endorsement identified at UCT are considered in relation to the concept of test failure, as opposed to testee failure. Responses to a questionnaire sent to other teacher training centres indicate similar concerns elsewhere. Arising from a review of recent literature on language testing, and against the background of the multilingual target groups tested at UCT, a proposition is put forward for a distinction between communicative competence and language proficiency as criteria in language assessment, depending on whether English is the medium (communicative competence), or the subject (proficiency), of instruction. Assuming that English will remain a medium of instruction in a changing socio-political dispensation, at least in the short and medium terms, the study then focuses on test design, construction and scoring, where the objective is to test communicative competence in English, rather than proficiency. The role of English in the curriculum in a future South Africa is discussed briefly. It is concluded that current regulations for language endorsement are in urgent need of review. The following recommendations are made in this regard: that the relevant requirements for teachers in State schools be reformulated to account for one level, rather than two, of endorsement in English as the medium of instruction; that such endorsement be required only in the case of non-English medium graduates, thereby recognising the integrity of the English medium teachers' diploma itself; that procedures for assessment for the purpose of diploma endorsement be standardised; and that the State support further research in this area.

A total of 60 school psychologists and educational diagnosticians across Texas completed a survey to identify the instruments used to screen and diagnose learning disabled (LD) students, and to identify the criteria on which the final diagnosis and placement of LD or non-LD is made. The results of this survey indicate that consistent methods and criteria are not being used for identifying children as LD within the state. Many of the instruments currently used may not be technically adequate for use with a LD population. Implications of the use of inconsistent criteria, inadequate screening and assessment measures are discussed.

With the rapid advancement of technologies, software is gaining its popularity in assisting our daily activities in the last decades. This circumstance causes a rising concerns about a software product with high quality which lead to a question about the justification whether a software product has high quality. Therefore, a numerous of researches and studies had spent a lot of effort in software product quality assessment in order to justify whether the software product(s) under study have satisfactory quality. One of the foremost approaches to assess software product quality is the application of the quality models. For example, quality model ISO 9126. However, the quality models do not provide an explicit way to aggregate the performance of different quality aspects nor handling the various interests raised from different perspective or stakeholders. Although many studies have been conducted to aggregate the different measures of quality attributes, they are still not capable to include the various interests raised by different software product stakeholders. Therefore, some studies have attempted to apply MCDA methods in order to aggregate the measure of quality attributes as the ultimate software product quality and handling the various quality interests. However, they do not provide any rational about their particular choice of MCDA methods. Most of them justify their choice by referring to high popularity of the selected MCDA method. Without studying the suitability of MCDA methods in the application domain of the software product, it is difficult to conclude whether the chosen MCDA methods fit in the intended software engineering discipline. Furthermore, there is no systematic approach available to help other software practitioners in selecting the MCDA method that will be suitable for their needs and constraints in software product quality assessment. This thesis aims to provide the key concepts for an effective selection of suitable MCDA method for the purpose of software product quality assessment. A foremost part of this thesis presents two systematic reviews. The first review illustrates the evaluation of the characteristics of MCDA methods. The second review identifies the major needs and constraints of the software quality assessment potential MCDA method has to consider in order to be used for assessing quality of software products. Based on the results from both systematic reviews, a selection framework named MCDA-SQA framework is formulated. This framework is intended to assist the software practitioners to systematically select and adapt appropriate MCDA method(s) in order to fulfil their quality assessment needs and the respective environmental concerns.

Many city planners, regional authorities and transport providers are tasked with the challenging job of selecting which type of public buses are suited to their location and priorities. The challenges of which are multidimensional in nature due to different policies to adhere to as well as economic, environmental and technical tradeoffs between options. The aim of this report was to provide decision support in the choice of powertrains and energy sources for buses in public transport systems. The methodology used was a multi-criteria analysis. The assessed transportation options include buses running on diesel, biogas, fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), hydro-treated vegetable oils (HVO), bioethanol as well as battery electric vehicles (BEVs) assessed separately as opportunity and overnight charging. Suitable bus solutions were broken into six key areas to be considered when selecting fleets. These involved economic, technical, reliability, infrastructure, environmental and social issues. The economic considerations highlighted: the cost of ownership and the market share of vehicles. Vehicle performance considerations included: the range/refuel time of a vehicle. Considerations involved in delivery reliability were: national energy security, whether there was a short-term backup fuel as well as current and future policy support. Another consideration regarding infrastructure was: the required level of change required. Regarding environment and energy, considerations of merit involved: well-to-wheel greenhouse gas reductions, air pollution in relation vehicle regulations, noise levels, nutrient recyclability as well as associated resource impacts. The social considerations were determined as: public opinion and job creation. From the compiled results assessing each criterion the grading matrix suggested it was biogas buses followed closely by HVO buses that scored the best. Weighted results were also conducted, emphasizing the most important criteria according to surveyed stakeholders which resulted in HVO and Biogas again performing the best.
Många stadsplanerare, regionala myndigheter och transportleverantörer har uppgift att utföra det utmanande arbetet med att välja vilken typ av offentliga bussar som passar deras läge och prioriteringar. Utmaningarna är multidimensionella på grund av olika politikområden för att följa såväl ekonomiska, miljömässiga som tekniska avvägningar mellan alternativ. Syftet med denna rapport var att ge beslutsstöd när det gäller val av elmotorer och energikällor för bussar i kollektivtrafiksystemen. Metoden som använts var en analys av flera kriterier. De bedömda transportalternativen inkluderar bussar som körs på diesel, biogas, fettsyrametylestrar (FAME), vattenbehandlade vegetabiliska oljor (HVO), bioetanol samt batteridrivna fordon (BEV) som bedömts separat som möjlighet och över natten laddning. Lämpliga busslösningar delades upp i sex nyckelområden som ska beaktas vid val av flottor. Dessa involverade ekonomiska, tekniska, tillförlitliga, infrastrukturella, miljömässiga och sociala frågor. Ekonomiska överväganden framhävs: ägandekostnader och marknadsandelar för fordon. Fordonets prestanda överväganden inkluderade: fordonets räckvidd / tankningstid. Överväganden som berörs av leveranssäkerhet var: nationell energisäkerhet, om det fanns ett kortsiktigt backupbränsle samt nuvarande och framtida politiskt stöd. En annan hänsyn till infrastrukturen var: den nödvändiga förändringsnivån. När det gäller miljö och energi var överväganden om meriter involverade: bränslesänkningar på vägen mot växthus, luftförorening i förhållande till fordonsbestämmelser, bullernivån, återvinningsförmåga för näringsämnen samt tillhörande resurskonsekvenser. De sociala övervägandena bestämdes som: allmän åsikt och skapande av arbetstillfällen. Från de sammanställda resultaten som bedömde varje kriterium noterades att biogasbussar, som följdes noggrant av HVO-bussar, gjorde det bästa enligt graderingsskalmatrisen. Viktiga resultat genomfördes också, med betoning på de viktigaste kriterierna enligt de undersökta intressenterna, vilket resulterade i att HVO och Biogas återigen utför de bästa.

To survive in the global market the manufacturing companies need to meet the cus-tomer demands quickly and effectively. Therefore, lot of companies are striving to overcome the demand fluctuation and uncertainty. RMS is a concept which handles uncertainty easily by running the product mix and varying the level of volume accord-ing to the requirement. The reconfigurability level of manufacturing system is as-sessed by evaluating the criteria affecting the characteristics of the system.The characteristics of reconfigurability are scalability, customization, convertibility, modularity, integrability and diagnosability. A RMS achieves quick and cost effective changes through customization and convertibility, it handles volume variations through scalability. These characteristics are achieved with the help of modularity and integrability. A detailed assessment of a manufacturing system based on these charac-teristics will indicate its level of reconfigurability. Hence assessment of a manufactur-ing system for reconfigurability becomes necessary in the current turbulent market conditions.This research presents a method to assess the reconfigurability in a manufacturing system. The research is divided into two parts where, in the first part a qualitative as-sessment method is developed, and it is then tested in the second part. The study uses two research methods namely literature review and case study. Based on literature re-view assessment criteria for each characteristic of reconfigurability are listed and an assessment method is developed. The assessment method uses a radar chart to repre-sent the level of reconfigurability. This is supported with a case study where the de-veloped assessment method is tested and validated.

Highly repellent surfaces are constantly being sought in a number of industrial sectors, where accumulation of unwanted material (ice, debris, insects etc…) can cause seriously detrimental effects on these function. The chemistry and physics of such surfaces is relatively well-understood, yet their industrial adoption is still very limited, due to their poor durability. Emerging technologies for nanostructured coatings have significant potential for the development of advanced surfaces, where high repellency can be combined with mechanical robustness. However, lack of understanding of the wear mechanism in such coatings and lack of recognised test methodologies to enable comparison of various approaches hinders effective progress in advanced surfaces development. Furthermore, there is no comprehensive classification system that allows categorization of highly repellent surfaces. New multi-variable analysis methodology for the evaluation of durability in highly repellent coatings was developed in this study. Key coating parameters were identified, including initial wettability, abrasive wear, adhesive wear and ability to retain repellency. Coating characteristics were examined with FTIR, SEM, AFM, DSA, Taber Abrader, roughness profilometer and goniometer. Furthermore, these characteristics were presented in a form of spider diagrams and performance indices and are used to generate plot of performance indices. In this study, six types of TWI coating anti-soiling materials (based on patented TWI’s Vitolane® technology, containing silsesqioxanes and functionalized silica nanoparticles) and two commercial easy clean products were prepared and subjected to new assessment methodology. It has been found that this novel methodology for evaluation of highly repellent surfaces allows comparison and categorizing different families of coatings. The data obtained from plot of performance indices supports the statement that there is an inverse relation between repellency and durability of hydrophobic surfaces. It has been found that coatings with low Ra value (no more than 10nm) and symmetric distribution of peaks and valleys are the most durable, yet their WCA value doesn’t exceed more than 105°. It has been also found that some nanostructured coatings behave beyond this inverse relationship. Addition of novel inorganic building blocks with controlled size (Ra in a range of 200nm and symmetric distribution in roughness profile) and functionalities (3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate and 1H 1H 2H 2H-perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane) improves overall coating performance by linking mechanical robustness with desired wetting characteristics (WCA reaches 112°C). The progress in testing and classification criteria of repellent coatings enables further development of next generation of materials. This novel knowledge-based approach for highly repellent coatings validation has the potential to accelerate uptake. The findings open a promising new direction in materials development, where advanced coatings and surface treatments can be developed by design, reducing the number of development iterations, ultimately leading to reduced cost and development time.

Sustainability is a fairly new emerging business concept for manufacturing industry and this thesis will focus on smartphone manufacturing industry. In 2015 there were 1.86 billion smartphone users and it is estimated to increase to 2.87 billion in 2020. Currently the average lifetime of a smartphone is 21 months and According to Consumer Technology Association the technical life expectancy of a smartphone is 4.7 years. The European Commission approximated that from 17–20 kg of electronic waste is produced per person per year and that smartphones are contributors for increase of electronic waste. Also the smartphone manufacturing process has an impact on the people who are involved with manufacturing and resource extraction process.  Related social problems include conflict minerals, issues in manufacturing campuses, health problems and excessive worktimes. There has been suspicion that large manufacturing companies use labour market in areas that have a high risk of poverty or lack of national authority that can protect labour rights. To investigate these emerging issues that has an impact on smartphone manufacturing sustainability, a sustainability ranking criteria for individual smartphones devices and their manufactures was developed. Furthermore, the aim of the research is to develop a ranking system using life cycle perspective and to evaluate sustainability of a smartphones upcycling, recycling, and social aspects. This aim will be accomplished by the following objectives: Develop evaluation system for smartphones using Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) to evaluate sustainability; Comparing sustainability of smartphones Fairphone 2, iPhone 7, Samsung Galaxy S7 and LG G5, using developed Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA); Conducting general sustainability- focused survey about consumer demand for sustainable and ethical electronics. The method used in this research to assess smartphone sustainability was Multi-Criteria Analysis(MCA), based on eco-design trends and three pillars of sustainability, – economic, environmental and social. Eco-design will be supported using EcoDesing Roadmap by Conrad Luttropp and Göran Brohammer. In parallel with MCA method a survey was developed to briefly assess consumer’s behaviour in terms of choosing sustainable electronics. For better understanding about the consumer value on purchase decision, a survey was made considering the technical and sustainable aspects. The results of this survey will be used as indicator. Furthermore, results from this research (Table 1 MCA evaluation results) revealed that majority of chosen smartphones where lacking sustainable products aspects. This MCA ranking system also confirm that for sustainable designed smartphone it is equally important to have well established environmental management system for overall manufacturing process and afterlife of smartphone. Continuing, after conducting deeper analysis with combined results from MCA, survey revealed that general public are willing to pay more for sustainable products, but consumers lack information about the overall manufacturers` sustainability, as well Indicating that communication between manufacturers and consumers are very weak or even one way. The conclusion of the study about Smartphone sustainability assessment using multi-criteria analysis and the consumer survey has provided better understanding about the lack of transparency and complex logistics manufacturing process of smartphone. The lack of qualitative data and transparency from the manufactures side is a major issue that creates lot of uncertainties about smartphone manufacturing process and social issues for workforce that is involved in this manufacturing process.

The problem examined is an infinite anisotropic layer with a through crack at arbitrary orientation, subjected to uniform in-plane remote loading. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of several theoretical models for predicting the direction of crack propagation and the level of load causing crack extension, and to present a new model for predicting the critical load. The discussed models are particularly examined in detail with regard to the physical parameters affecting the results. Comparison is made with available experimental results. It is shown that the normal stress ratio theory provides good agreement with experimental crack growth direction, independent of physical parameters, and that the newly proposed traction ratio theory predicts well the critical load causing crack extension.
M.S.

How do teachers develop an understanding and make interpretations of the assessment criteria used for standards-referenced assessment like School-Based Assessment (SBA) in Hong Kong? The thesis attempts to offer an answer to this question through researching four English Language teachers teaching in a secondary school over a period of two years (2008 -2010). Understanding the meanings of the criteria used for the standards-referenced assessment is the primary focus of this study. Keeping track of the teachers’ opinions on the content and the use of criteria, this case study draws upon qualitative data from the interviews with the teachers after each assessment, and from regular meetings on standardizing scores, setting tasks and training on standards in the two-year assessment cycle. Focus group interviews with their students were used to triangulate the data collected from their respective teachers. The main findings from this study are as follows: the teachers demonstrate variability in their level of understanding and interpretations of the criteria, through which they use to rate students’ oral performances in SBA context. This understanding of the meanings of the criteria enhanced when they start using it. Teachers also adopt the criteria in other contexts such as meetings to standardize scores, to set assessment tasks and to familiarize themselves with the standards .Regarding their self-perceived role as assessors, the four teachers embrace a range of roles such as a follower, a team player, a game player, and a believer. This study is significant as it informs how teachers involved in understanding the meanings of standards-referenced criteria. This conceptualization process would be enhanced if teachers are given opportunity to share their views towards the assessment criteria and their roles as assessors in a professional community of shared practices.
published_or_final_version
Education
Master
Master of Philosophy

Deep slurry injection is a process of solid waste disposal that involves grinding the solid waste to a relatively fine-grained consistency, mixing the ground waste with water and/or other liquids to form slurry, and disposing of the slurry by pumping it down a well at a high enough pressure that fractures are created within the target formation. This thesis describes the site assessment criteria involved in selecting a suitable target reservoir for deep slurry injection. The main goals of this study are the follows:

• Identify the geological parameters important for a prospective injection site
• Recognize the role of each parameter
• Determine the relationships among different parameters
• Design and develop a model which can assemble all the parameters into a semi-quantitative evaluation process that could allow site ranking and elimination of sites that are not suitable
• Evaluate the model against several real slurry injection cases and several prospective cases where slurry injection may take place in future

The quantitative and qualitative parameters that are recognized as important for making a decision regarding a target reservoir for deep slurry injection operations are permeability, porosity, depth, areal extent, thickness, mechanical strength, and compressibility of a reservoir; thickness and flow properties of the cap rock; geographical distance between an injection well and a waste source or collection centre; and, regional and detailed structural and tectonic setup of an area. Additional factors affecting the security level of a site include the details of the lithostratigraphic column overlying the target reservoir and the presence of overlying fracture blunting horizons. Each parameter is discussed in detail to determine its role in site assessment and also its relationship with other parameters. A geological assessment model is developed and is divided into two components; a decision tree and a numerical calculation system. The decision tree deals with the most critical parameters, those that render a site unsuitable or suitable, but of unspecified quality. The numerical calculation gives a score to a prospective injection site based on the rank numbers and weighting factors for the various parameters. The score for a particular site shows its favourability for the injection operation, and allows a direct comparison with other available sites. Three categories have been defined for this purpose, i. e. average, below average, and above average. A score range of 85 to 99 of 125 places a site in the ?average? category; a site will be unsuitable for injection if it belongs to the ?below average? category, i. e. if the total score is less than 85, and the best sites will generally have scores that are in the ?above average? category, with a score of 100 or higher. One may assume that for sites that fall in the ?average? category there will have to be more detailed tests and assessments. The geological assessment model is evaluated using original geological data from North America and Indonesia for sites that already have undergone deep slurry injection operations and also for some possible prospective sites. The results obtained from the model are satisfactory as they are in agreement with the empirical observations. Areas for future work consist of the writing of a computer program for the geological model, and further evaluation of the model using original data from more areas representing more diverse geology from around the world.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Treatment outcome research strives towards objective estimates of disorder-specific treatment efficacy and has been applied to most psychiatric disorders. However, due to shortcomings in outcome research designs, problems still remain regarding the interpretation and generalisability of treatment outcomes. This is despite the development of research methodology criteria such as the Gold Standards, currently viewed as essential criteria for well-controlled cognitive-behavioural outcome research. The objectives of this assignment are (a) to assess the Gold Standards as criteria for treatment outcome research by means of a qualitative overview and evaluation of exposure treatment studies for PTSD, and (b) to make recommendations for the expansion and/or modification of these criteria. An assessment of five selected treatment outcome trials, based on the Gold Standards, showed significant limitations in the scope of the Gold Standards regarding (a) the inclusion of target symptoms in the research hypotheses, (b) estimates of treatment adherence, (c) guidelines for statistical analyses of attrition points, (d) the ethical implementation of exposure treatment, and (e) estimates of significant clinical change. It is concluded that the Gold Standards are not sufficient to ensure valid and reliable treatment outcomes. Recommendations are made for the expansion of four of the existing Gold Standards parameters and three additional criteria are proposed. Key words: treatment outcome research, Gold Standards, post-traumatic stress disorder, exposure therapy.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Navorsing oor behandelingsuitkoms streef na objektiewe resultate oor die uitkoms van behandeling vir spesifieke psigiatriese versteurings. Nogtans, weens tekortkominge in die ontwerp van uitkomsstudies, word talle probleme steeds ervaar met die interpretasie en veralgemeenbaarheid van die resultate van die studies. Dit is die geval ten spyte van die ontwikkeling van navorsingskriteria soos die "Gold Standards" wat huidig as die belangrikste kriteria vir uitkomsstudies op die gebied van die kognitiewe gedragsterapie aanvaar word. Hierdie projek het ten doelom (a) die Gold Standards as kriteria vir uitkomsnavorsing te assesseer deur middel van 'n kwalitatiewe oorsig en evaluering van vyf geselekteerde uitkomsstudies van blootstellingsterapie vir post-traumatiese stresversteuring, en (b) om aanbevelings te maak ter aanvulling enJofwysiging van die Gold Standards. Evaluasie van die studies het betekenisvolle beperkings in die Gold Standards se omvattenheid uitgelig in terme van (a) die insluiting van teikensimptome in die navorsingshipoteses, (b) die skatting van behandelingvoitrekking ("treatment adherence"), (c) riglyne vir die statistiese analise van data oor attrisie, (d) die etiese implementering van blootstellingsterapie, en (e) skattings van betekenisvolle kliniese verandering. Dit blyk dat die Gold Standards nie voldoende is om geldige en betroubare resultate oor behandelingsuitkomste te verseker nie. Aanbevelings word gemaak vir die hersiening van vier van die Gold Standards kriteria en drie addisionele kriteria word voorgestel. Sleutelwoorde: behandelingsuitkomsnavorsing. Gold Standards, post-traumatiese stresversteuring, blootstellingsterapie.

Qualified student enrollment to nurse education program is limited by admission criteria predetermined by faculty; however, little is known regarding the development and consistency of selection criteria. The purpose of this study was to examine the admission requirements of nursing programs to better understand the philosophical underpinnings and complexity of selection criteria. The conceptual frameworks of teaching philosophy, complexity, and gatekeeping guided this research. This descriptive correlational study used a cross-sectional design to survey a purposeful sample of full-time faculty teaching in nurse education programs in a southeastern state. Descriptive analyses, independent t test, and a Lambda analyses were employed on self-reported program practices, teaching philosophy, and demographic data. Descriptive analysis documented that nurse education was a limited access major with 73% reporting either very or extremely competitive admission. Descriptive analysis identified 35 distinct admission criteria that were usually combined into a weighted scoring system that favored empirical evidence aligned to accreditation and licensure requirements. Independent t test revealed that associate degree programs employed significantly more criteria than did baccalaureate programs to select students. Lambda analysis found no association linking faculty teaching philosophy to the complexity of admissions criteria. This study demonstrated that competitive admission processes exist but vary significantly across programs, and suggests that more research is required since this variability in criteria may impact diversity within nursing education. Positive social change can be achieved by a critical review of admission requirements to ensure a more diverse nursing workforce able to deliver culturally competent care.

The purpose of this research was to gather the preferences of flight attendants for garment characteristics of the ideal flight attendant uniform, then translate those garment characteristics to design criteria. Using uniform silhouette, interior design lines and fabric characteristics as dependent variables, garment characteristics of clothing length and shape, sleeve length and shape, neckline, collar, pocket style, pocket placement, closing type, closing location, waist style, fabric care, color, type, stretch, weight, hand, surface and fabric design were selected as independent variables. The objectives of the study were to determine 1) the flight attendant preferences for an ideal uniform and 2) if a relationship existed between flight attendant age and garment characteristics and between flight attendant years of service and garment characteristics. A questionnaire was developed and tested as the instrument to be used to gather the wearer preferences and garment characteristics. The development of the questionnaire evolved through a series of pretests. Changes were made based on the reader comprehension of questions, terminology, illustrations and instructions. The data were analyzed using frequency counts, cross-tabulations and independent sample chi-square test. The data were gathered in the crew lounge of a major southeast airline. The sample consisted of 218 actively employed, Caucasian and non-Caucasian female flight attendants between the ages of 25 to 51 with 1 to 36 years of service. The findings indicated this group of flight attendants preferred three garments; shirt, slacks and cardigan sweater as uniform clothing, and no relationships existed between flight attendant age or flight attendant years of service and preferred garment characteristics.
Master of Science

Lack of energy access in developing countries remains a major barrier in the economic development of rural communities. Worldwide, about 1.3 billion people lack access to modern energy services, and there is a need to pursue ways other than grid extension due to the remoteness of most of these communities from national grids. Following the Sustainable Energy For All (SE4ALL) initiative of the United Nations, the role of decentralised solar generation systems has been acknowledged to meet rural energy objectives. The initiative has also resulted in growing participation of private sectors in the rural energy field for boosting project execution and delivery.   To evaluate the success of private entrepreneurs operating rural energy projects, the research has proposed a decision support sustainability assessment framework for evaluating performance of operational decentralized rural solar energy projects. A rural electrification project is said to be performing sustainably when it reliably ensures access to its services for productive uses, while engaging and gaining acceptance of the community and which operates within socio-ethical norms maintaining its financial gains as well as maintaining the local environment. Based on this definition and the multi-criteria Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), 15 energy indicators have been proposed to evaluate sustainability performance of existing projects.  These indicators are spread over the standard three pillar approach – capturing economic, social, environmental dimensions, along with the contribution of a fourth ethical dimension of sustainability. Multiple stakeholder groups including 16 project planners, evaluators, advisors and investors have been consulted in applying the multi criteria Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Organisations consulted include University of Oslo, Aalto University, Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), Multiconsult AS, Micro-energy International, African Solar Designs (ASD), SunErgy AS, RVE.SOL, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Foundation of Rural Energy Services (FRES), Alliance of Rural Electrification (ARE), and Fortum Corporation. The outcome from two rounds of consultation surveys have yielded highest priority to economic dimension (33,18%), followed by social (27,55%) and ethical (23,17%) dimensions, and lastly the environment (16,18) dimension. With these prioritisations, the framework has been used to evaluate the performance of  rural decentralised solar projects in Kenya and Malawi. Results of this framework yielded average performance of Kenya and Malawi in the economic dimension – in Kenya being driven by a competitive O&M cost and delivery of project services to businesses; and in Malawi through a low rate of payment defaults and ability to increase tariffs with inflation.  In assessing the Kenya case study, a higher score in the social dimension was attributed to the range of services on offer resulting in better involvement of the community in the project as compared to the Malawian case study. However, a limited number of services in Malawi have ensured a more transparent and accountable management structure resulting in a higher score in the ethical evaluation. For both projects, environmental performance has been average due to lack of solid policies for waste treatment, end-use recycling of batteries, and some recorded negative impacts on the local bio-diversity-  Outcomes of the framework suggest a applicability of the framework in addressing concerns of multiple stakeholder groups including project planners, evaluators, advisors and investors in understanding operational challenges of rural solar projects. Insights from the case studies point towards the strength of  solar electrification as a means rather than the ultimate goal of rural development, the necessity of economic and social sustainability synergies during project operation, and the importance of affordable energy pricing and payment methods.
Bristande tillgång energi i utvecklingsländerna fortfarande ett stort hinder för den ekonomiska utvecklingen av landsbygden. 1,3 miljarder människor saknar tillgång till moderna energitjänster, och det finns ett behov av att föra andra än grid förlängning sätt på grund av de stora avstånden för de flesta av dessa samhällen från nationella elnät. Efter hållbar energi för alla (SE4ALL) initiativ av UN, har betydelsen av decentraliserade sol generationens system erkänt att uppfylla målen på landsbygden energi. Initiativet har också resulterat i ökande deltagande privata sektorn på landsbygden energi fältet för att öka projektgenomförande och leverans. För att utvärdera framgången med privata entreprenörer som arbetar på landsbygden energiprojekt har forskning föreslagit en ramverk för att utvärdera prestanda för operativa decentraliserade landsbygden solenergiprojekt hållbarhetsbedömning beslutsstöd. En elektrifiering av landsbygden projekt sägs att utföra ett hållbart sätt när det på ett tillförlitligt sätt säkerställer tillgång till sina tjänster för produktiva ändamål, samtidigt bedriva och få acceptans i samhället och som arbetar inom socioetiska normer behålla sin ekonomiska vinster samt att upprätthålla den lokala miljön. Baserat på denna definition och flera kriterier Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), har 15 indikatorer energi föreslagits för att utvärdera hållbarhetsprestanda av befintliga projekt. Dessa indikatorer är spridda över tre pelare strategi standard - fånga ekonomiska, sociala, miljömässiga dimensioner, tillsammans med bidrag från en fjärde etisk dimension hållbarhet. grupper Flera intressenter inklusive 16 projektplanerare, utvärderare, rådgivare och investerare har hörts vid tillämpningen av flera kriterier Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Organisationer som rådfrågats inkluderar University of Oslo, Aalto-universitetet, Institutet för energiteknik (IFE), Multi-Consult AS, Micro-Energy International, African Solar Designs (ASD), Sunergy AS, RVE.SOL, Styrelsen för internationellt utvecklingssamarbete (Sida), Foundation of Rural Energy Services (FRES), Alliance of Rural Electrification (ARE), och Fortum Corporation. Utfallet från två omgångar av undersökningar samråds har gett högsta prioritet åt ekonomisk dimension (33,18%), följt av social (27,55%) och etisk (23,17%) dimensioner och slutligen miljön (16,18) dimensionera. Med dessa prioriteringar har ramverket använts för att utvärdera landsbygdens decentraliserade solenergiprojekt i Kenya och Malawi. Resultaten av denna ramverket gav genomsnittliga resultat i Kenya och Malawi i den ekonomiska dimensionen - i Kenya drivs av ett konkurrenskraftigt O & M kostnader och leverans av projekttjänster till företag; och i Malawi genom en låg betalnings och förmåga att höja tullarna med inflation. Vid bedömningen av Kenya fallstudie ades en högre poäng i den sociala dimensionen hänföras till utbudet av tjänster som erbjuds resulterar i bättre medverkan av samhället i projektet jämfört med den malawiska fallstudie. Emellertid har ett begränsat antal tjänster i Malawi säkerställt en mer öppen och ansvarsfull förvaltning struktur resulterar i en högre poäng i den etiska bedömningen. För båda projekten har miljöprestanda varit genomsnittliga grund av brist på fasta principer för avfallshantering, slutanvändning återvinning av batterier och några inspelade negativa effekter på de lokala bio-diversity- Resultat av ramverket föreslå en tillämpning av ramverket för att ta itu oro flera intressegrupper inklusive projektplanerare, utvärderare, rådgivare och investerare att förstå operativa utmaningar på landsbygden sol projekt. Insikter från fallstudierna pekar mot styrkan i solar elektrifiering som ett medel snarare än det yttersta målet för landsbygdsutveckling, behovet av synergier ekonomisk och social hållbarhet under projektets drift och vikten av överkomliga priser energi och betalningsmetoder.

This study investigates the assessment criteria of Unit Standard 115789: Communication Studies and Language. In general unit standards are registered, standardised statements of expected education and training outcomes including assessment criteria and other regulatory information required by training providers and assessors to train and assess learners under the Skills Development Act of 1998. However, it was found that many training providers and assessors share the view that in the case of Unit Standard 115789, among others, the assessment criteria and their descriptors are generic, vague and non-context specific to the extent that trainers and assessors have difficulty in developing appropriate and reliable assessment tools and instruments that allow them to adhere to the basic principles of assessment, namely transparency, validity, reliability, consistency, practicability, fairness, flexibility and usability. The main concern of the study is that learners will be declared communicatively competent individuals in a variety of professional and industrial environments when in fact they are not. The study traces the origins and development processes of Unit Standard 115789 in order to gain a clearer understanding of the problems experienced by training providers and assessors in the implementation of the assessment criteria. It then proposes a set of guidelines that will assist training providers and assessors to make the assessment criteria more accessible and the assessment processes more reliable, valid and consistent. Finally, it makes a number of recommendations to ensure that the problems of implementation of Unit Standard 115789 currently experienced by training providers and assessors are alleviated.

The overall objective of this thesis is to assess the financial, technical and social feasibility of investing in modern Automated People Movers (APM) transportation systems, generally known as monorails, in METU campus which presents a unique opportunity to fulfill the modern-day transportation needs of METU campus. This study complements the Presidency Office&rsquo
s long term goal to integrate environmental, social and economic sustainability into the policies, practices and culture of the university and ultimately reduce the consumption of all resources on campus and traffic congestion and accidents. In this context, the consequent cost-benefit effects of the proposed monorail system on campus life were quantified in monetary expressions and the corresponding multi-criteria feasibility assessment including: Break-even Analysis, Cost Effectiveness Assessments and Cost Benefit Analysis have been done successfully. According to these analyses the overall capital cost of system is $46.5 million which covers the 24 months project construction period, and an additional annual operating and maintenance cost of $2 million will span the 30 year project life time. Three different scenarios were proposed for financing the project and relevant break-even points were determined for each of the scenarios. Eventually, it appears that based on the evaluations, constructing such a transit system in METU campus will be cost effective and will certainly enhance the transportation, and will contribute to the institutional improvements and environmental preservation schemes of METU campus.

Measurement of visual quality is crucial for various image and video processing applications.

The goal of objective image quality assessment is to introduce a computational quality metric that can predict image or video quality. Many methods have been proposed in the past decades. Traditionally, measurements convert the spatial data into some other feature domains, such as the Fourier domain, and detect the similarity, such as mean square distance or Minkowsky distance, between the test data and the reference or perfect data, however only limited success has been achieved. None of the complicated metrics show any great advantage over other existing metrics.

The common idea shared among many proposed objective quality metrics is that human visual error sensitivities vary in different spatial and temporal frequency and directional channels. In this thesis, image quality assessment is approached by proposing a novel framework to compute the lost information in each channel not the similarities as used in previous methods. Based on natural scene statistics and several image models, an information theoretic framework is designed to compute the perceptual information contained in images and evaluate image quality in the form of entropy.

The thesis is organized as follows. Chapter I give a general introduction about previous work in this research area and a brief description of the human visual system. In Chapter II statistical models for natural scenes are reviewed. Chapter III proposes the core ideas about the computation of the perceptual information contained in the images. In Chapter IV, information theoretic criteria for image quality assessment are defined. Chapter V presents the simulation results in detail. In the last chapter, future direction and improvements of this research are discussed.

The main goal of the current PhD thesis is urban transport system analysis according sustainability. In dissertation have been analyzed urban areas transport system using integrated decision support system methods with GIS. These methods have been adopted for urban transport system analysis, urban territories ranking according transport system level. Also the indicators system for urban transport system analysis was filled with other important indicators groups for urban sustainability (environmental, socio economic). The aim of the paper cov-ers creation of theoretical model, which could evaluate urban transport system sustainability and perform rational planning of urban future development ac-cording decision support methods and GIS technologies. Also this model could allow executing urban transport system ranking by engineering infrastructure, socio economic and environment aspects. Model could perform comparing of urban development scenarios and to indicate the best one, which satisfies trans-port systems indicators.
Disertacijoje nagrinėjama gyvenamųjų teritorijų susisiekimo sistema darnos požiūriu. Pagal sukurtą susisiekimo sistemos analizei naudojamą rodiklių sis-temą, disertacijoje nagrinėjami sprendimų paramos sistemos metodai, tinkantys gyvenamųjų teritorijų susisiekimo sistemos analizes uždaviniams spręsti, tai pat analizuojamos šių metodų integracijos galimybės su geografinėmis informa-cinėmis sistemomis (GIS). Pagrindinis darbo tikslas – sudaryti teorinį modelį, kuris leistų daugiatiksliais sprendimų priėmimo metodais bei GIS technologi-jomis įvertinti gyvenamųjų teritorijų susisiekimo sistemos darną ir darniai planuoti gyvenamųjų teritorijų susisiekimo sistemos vystymąsi ateityje. Dis-ertacijoje siūlomas modelis suteikia galimybę atlikti skirtingų gyvenamųjų teri-torijų susisiekimo sistemų rangavimą, analizuoti įvairias gyvenamųjų teritorijų susisiekimo sistemos vystimosi alternatyvas, jas palyginti bei atrinkti geriausią. Modelis yra integruotas su GIS ir suteikia galimybė atlikti gyvenamųjų teritorijų plėtros tendencijų modeliavimą.

During the past decade, self-assessment has become a major research area; however, contradictory findings have been reported. This study investigated the effectiveness of self-assessment and examined some possible factors that might influence the accuracy of self-assessment. Participants were 32 English as a second language (ESL) graduate students and an experienced ESL teacher at McGill University. The student participants were divided into a control group and an experimental group while the researcher and the ESL teacher served as raters. Both quantitative and qualitative data were generated. The results indicated that the experimental group outperformed the control group. Some possible causes of the differences or similarities between student and teacher assessors' rating were identified. The findings of this study provide evidence on the effectiveness of self-assessment and offer ESL students and teachers an alternative way to participate in the learning process and to assess the learning outcomes.

The findings of this report were thought to be a useful contribution to the current knowledge of the quality of Aberdeen Harbours marine environment, and has resulted in a further round of scientific research into the effects of pollution on marine organisms. An integrative approach was used which combined chemical, biological and ecotoxicological indicators to provide evidence of pollution-induced degradation known as Sediment Quality Triad approach . The use of a Sediment Quality Triad approach to develop a single numerical index to describe the condition of the benthic ecosystem is a useful methodology in demonstrating spatial and temporal variability in marine sediment quality. The appropriate graphic representation of the Triad data can be effective in displaying relationships between patterns of toxicity, biology and chemistry. However the selection of the weighting tool for normalisation does effect the components and subsequently its use as a screening tool should be site or region specific, and not generic. There is a further need to be evaluating the use of sub-lethal toxicity tests and responses relative to changes the benthic community structure and sensitivity to contaminants, particularly in relation to interactions between multiple chemicals. These results show the value of using multi-component parameters for evaluating sediment quality. The combination of field and laboratory studies of sediment quality therefore can an important measure of the relationship between sediment and food-web magnification, and are therefore crucial signposts for hazard identification in marine sediments.

Mass migration to cities has led to a a huge increase in research into urban environmentalsustainability, its assessment and methods to improve it. This thesisfocuses on the theme of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) in digitalurban planning. It addresses the question of how useful such methods wouldbe in quantitative assessment of the environmental sustainability potential ofurban areas in the planning stage. This paper discusses potential methods tobuild an environmental sustainability scoring system for urban areas, choosesthe most promising and applies it to a case study urban area. This is intendedto be a proof of concept piece on whether the application of MCDA to digitalurban planning is feasible and useful. This method is then evaluated basedon its limitations, consistency, robustness to changes in input and on the opinionsof experts in the fields of sustainability and digital urban planning. Itis found that the method proposed, a combination of the AHP and MAUTdecision analysis methods, has several advantages in creating representativesustainability scores and incorporating expert opinions, but is difficult to scaleto include many criteria and requires a high level of input. It is suggested thatfurther research in this area into more scalable MCDA methods would be beneficial,and increasing the reliability and availability of urban environmentaldata would be highly useful for this field.
Massmigration till städer har lett till en enorm ökning av forskning inom hållbarheti stadsmiljöer, dess bedömning och metoder för att förbättra det. Dennaavhandling fokuserar på temat ’multi-criteria decision analysis’ (MCDA, beslutsanalysav flera kriterier) i digital stadsplanering. Den adresserar fråganom hur användbara sådana metoder skulle vara vid kvantitativ bedömning avden miljömässiga hållbarhetspotentialen av stadsområden i planeringsstadiet.Vidare diskuteras potentiella metoder för att ta fram ett poängsystem i miljömässighållbarhet för stadsområden, där den mest lovande väljs och appliceraspå en fallstudie. Detta är meningen att fungera som en konceptvalidering överom appliceringen av MCDA till digital stadsplanering är möjligt och användbart.Metoden utvärderas sedan baserat på dess begränsningar, pålitlighet, robusthettill förändringar i input och med åsikter från experter inom områdenahållbarhet samt digital stadsplanering. Det visas att den föreslagna metoden,en kombination av AHP ochMAUT beslutsanalysmetoderna, har flera fördelarnär det kommer till att skapa representativa hållbarhetspoäng och inkorporeraexpertåsikter, men är svår att skala för att inkludera många kriterier och kräveren stor mängd input. Det föreslås att ytterligare forskning inom detta områdemed mer skalbara MCDA metoder skulle vara lönsamt, samt att öka pålitlighetenoch tillgängligheten av miljödata inom stadsområden skulle vara väldigtanvändbart för detta område.

[EN] The main objectives of this research are the following. First, to analyse the models and methods in Decision Support Systems (DSS) for forest management, taking into account the important features which allow forestry related problems to be categorized. Second, to define strategic criteria for the sustainable management of Mediterranean forests, as well as to elicit and aggregate the stakeholders' preferences. Third, to propose a robust methodology to implement collaborative management focused on ESS and to develop indicators for the main functions of ESS. The methodology is based on a workshop and surveys to elicit the decision makers', experts' and other stakeholders' preferences. Several techniques were then used to aggregate individual judgements and determine social preferences, in particular, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Goal Programming (GP). In addition, a PROMETHEE based method has been developed to provide indicators of the ESS, classified into provisioning, maintenance and direct to citizens services. The analysis of DSS for forest management has shown that the best choice of approach to solve a given problem depend on its nature, which can be characterized by the temporal scale, spatial context, spatial scale, number of decision makers or stakeholders, objectives and finally goods and services involved. A decision hierarchy for strategic management of Valencian forests has been developed by involving experts during the design phase. This was later validated in consultation with the stakeholders in a workshop and provides the base from which to obtain the social preferences. The results show greater importance for environmental and social criteria and lesser relevance for economic criteria, valid for both public and private Mediterranean forests. This result is the same regardless of which preference aggregation technique was used and takes into account the preferences of the majority of the stakeholders and also the minority opinions furthest from the consensus. New products and services such as rural tourism, renewable energies, landscape, hydrological regulation and erosion control, biodiversity and climate change mitigation are relevant. This research also proposes a robust methodology to implement collaborative management focused on ESS provided by protected areas and aggregated indicators for their main functions. Decision makers, technical staff and other stakeholders are included in the process from the beginning, by identifying ESS and eliciting preferences using the AHP method. Qualitative and quantitative data are then integrated into a PROMETHEE based method in order to obtain indicators for provisioning, maintenance and direct to citizens services. This methodology, which has been applied in a forest natural park, provides a tool for exploiting available technical and social data in a continuous process, as well as graphical results, which are easy to understand. This approach also overcomes the difficulties found in prioritising management objectives in a multiple criteria context with limited resources and facilitates consensus between all of the people involved. The new indicators define an innovative approach to assessing the ESS from the supply perspective and provide basic information to help establish payment systems for environmental services and compensation for natural disasters.
[ES] Los principales objetivos de esta investigación son los siguientes. En primer lugar, analizar los modelos y los métodos de los sistemas de ayuda a la toma de decisiones para gestión forestal, teniendo en cuenta las características relevantes que permiten clasificar los problemas forestales. En segundo lugar, definir los criterios estratégicos para la gestión forestal sostenible del bosque mediterráneo, así como obtener y agregar las preferencias de los decisores y otras partes interesadas. En tercer lugar, proponer una metodología robusta para implementar una gestión colaborativa centrada en los servicios del ecosistema y desarrollar indicadores para las principales funciones de estos servicios. La metodología se fundamenta en una jornada de trabajo con decisores, expertos y otros grupos de personas interesadas, así como en encuestas a todos ellos. Después se han utilizado varias técnicas para agregar las preferencias individuales y determinar las preferencias de los distintos grupos sociales, en particular el proceso analítico jerárquico y la programación por metas. Adicionalmente, se ha desarrollado un método basado en PROMETHEE que permite obtener indicadores de los servicios del ecosistema, clasificados en servicios de producción, mantenimiento y directos a los ciudadanos. El análisis de los sistemas de ayuda a la toma de decisiones para gestión forestal ha puesto de manifiesto que los mejores enfoques para resolver los problemas forestales dependen de su naturaleza, caracterizada por la escala temporal, el contexto espacial, la escala espacial, el número de decisores o personas interesadas, el número de objetivos y por último los bienes y servicios involucrados. Se ha desarrollado una jerarquía de decisión para la gestión estratégica de los bosques valencianos involucrando a expertos en la fase de diseño. Este modelo fue validado posteriormente por las partes interesadas en una jornada organizada con esta finalidad y ha sido la base para obtener las preferencias sociales. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto la mayor importancia de los criterios medioambientales y sociales y la menor relevancia de los económicos, tanto para el monte mediterráneo público como privado. Este resultado es independiente del método de agregación utilizado y tiene en cuenta tanto las preferencias de la mayoría como de la minoría más alejada del consenso. Son relevantes los nuevos productos y servicios tales como el turismo rural, las energías renovables, el paisaje, la regulación hidrológica y el control de la erosión, la biodiversidad y la mitigación del cambio climático. Esta investigación también propone una metodología robusta para implementar una gestión colaborativa centrada en los servicios del ecosistema que proporcionan las áreas protegidas e indicadores agregados para sus principales funciones. Los responsables de las decisiones, el personal técnico y otras personas interesadas han participado desde el inicio del proceso, identificando los servicios del ecosistema y proporcionado sus preferencias mediante la técnica del proceso analítico jerárquico. Después se integran los datos cualitativos y cuantitativos en un método basado en PROMETHEE con la finalidad de obtener indicadores para los servicios de producción, mantenimiento y directos a los ciudadanos. Esta metodología, que se ha aplicado en un parque natural, facilita la explotación de los datos técnicos y sociales en un proceso continuo y proporciona resultados gráficos muy fáciles de entender. Este enfoque también permite superar las dificultades que surgen al priorizar los objetivos de gestión en un contexto multicriterio con recursos limitados y facilita el consenso entre todas las personas involucradas. Los nuevos indicadores representan un enfoque innovador para la valoración de los servicios del ecosistema desde el punto de vista de la oferta y proporcionan información básica para establecer sistemas de pagos por
[CAT] Els principals objectius d'aquesta recerca són els següents. En primer lloc, analitzar els models i els mètodes dels sistemes d'ajuda a la presa de decisions per a gestió forestal, tenint en compte les característiques rellevants que permeten classificar els problemes forestals. En segon lloc, definir els criteris estratègics per a la gestió forestal sostenible del bosc mediterrani, com també obtenir i agregar les preferències dels decisors i altres parts interessades. En tercer lloc, proposar una metodologia robusta per a implementar una gestió col·laborativa centrada en els serveis de l'ecosistema i desenvolupar indicadors per a les principals funcions d'aquests serveis. La metodologia es fonamenta en una jornada de treball amb decisors, experts i altres grups de persones interessades, i també en enquestes a tots ells. Després s'han utilitzat diverses tècniques per a afegir-hi les preferències individuals i determinar les preferències dels diferents grups socials, en particular el procés analític jeràrquic i la programació per metes. Addicionalment, s'ha desenvolupat un mètode basat en PROMETHEE que permet obtenir indicadors dels serveis de l'ecosistema, classificats en serveis de producció, manteniment i directes als ciutadans. L'anàlisi dels sistemes d'ajuda a la presa de decisions per a la gestió forestal ha posat de manifest que els millors enfocaments per a resoldre els problemes forestals depenen de la naturalesa d'aquests problemes, caracteritzada per l'escala temporal, el context espacial, l'escala espacial, el nombre de decisors o persones interessades, el nombre d'objectius i, finalment, els béns i serveis involucrats. S'ha desenvolupat una jerarquia de decisió per a la gestió estratègica dels boscos valencians involucrant experts en la fase de disseny. Aquest model ha sigut validat posteriorment per les parts interessades en una jornada organitzada amb aquesta finalitat i ha sigut la base per a obtenir les preferències socials. Els resultats posen de manifest la major importància dels criteris mediambientals i socials i la menor rellevància dels econòmics, tant per a la muntanya mediterrània pública com privada. Aquest resultat és independent del mètode d'agregació utilitzat i té en compte tant les preferències de la majoria com de la minoria més allunyada del consens. Són rellevants els nous productes i serveis, com ara el turisme rural, les energies renovables, el paisatge, la regulació hidrològica i el control de l'erosió, la biodiversitat i la mitigació del canvi climàtic. Aquesta recerca també proposa una metodologia robusta per a implementar una gestió col·laborativa centrada en els serveis de l'ecosistema que proporcionen les àrees protegides i indicadors agregats per a les seues funcions principals. Els responsables de les decisions, el personal tècnic i altres persones interessades hi han participat des de l'inici del procés, identificant els serveis de l'ecosistema i proporcionant les seues preferències mitjançant la tècnica del procés analític jeràrquic. Després s'integren les dades qualitatives i quantitatives en un mètode basat en PROMETHEE amb la finalitat d'obtenir indicadors per als serveis de producció, manteniment i directes als ciutadans. Aquesta metodologia, que s'ha aplicat en un parc natural, facilita l'explotació de les dades tècniques i socials en un procés continu i proporciona resultats gràfics molt fàcils d'entendre. Aquest enfocament també permet superar les dificultats que sorgeixen a l'hora de prioritzar els objectius de gestió en un context multicriteri amb recursos limitats i facilita el consens entre totes les persones involucrades. Els nous indicadors representen un enfocament innovador per a la valoració dels serveis de l'ecosistema des del punt de vista de l'oferta i proporcionen informació bàsica per a establir sistemes de pagaments per serveis ambientals i compensacions per desastres naturals.
Segura Maroto, M. (2015). ASSESSMENT OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES BASED ON MULTIPLE CRITERIA AND GROUP DECISION MAKING [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/57955
TESIS

Evaluating Drugs for Rare Diseases (DRDs) for the purpose of reimbursement and beyond represents a tremendous challenge for most health care priorities. A consensus is set about the irrelevance of cost e ectiveness analysis to evaluate such drugs. The appeal for multi criteria decision aid models seems reasonable as the evaluation of DRDs is indeed multifaceted. However, the application of MCDA for the purpose of evaluating DRDs is yet primitive and simplistic. The present work tries to tackle the issue of evaluating DRDs from a decision maker angle by adopting an innovative robust ordinal regression MCDA method, UTADIS-GMS, that helps the decision maker discern between the DRDs based on their multi criteria value.

Current global demands for energy resources along with continuous global population growth have placed natural environments and societies under great stress to fulfill such a need without disrupting economic and social structures. Policy and decision-making processes hold some of the most important keys to allow safe paths for societies towards energy security and safeguard of the environment. Brazil has played a lead role within renewable energy production and use during the last decades, becoming one of the world’s leading producer of sugarcane based ethanol and adapting policies to support renewable energy generation and use. Although it is true that Brazil has historic experience with managing development of renewables and its further integration into the consumer market, there is still a lot to do to impulse new technologies that could further reduce emissions, increase economic stability and social welfare. Throughout this thesis project a sustainability assessment of hydrogen production technologies in Brazil is conducted through Multi-Criteria Analysis. After defining an initial framework for decision-making, options for hydrogen production were reviewed and selected. Options were evaluated and weighted against selected sustainability indicators that fitted the established framework within a weighting matrix. An overall score was obtained after the assessment, which ranked hydrogen production techniques based on renewable energy sources in first place. Final scoring of options was analyzed and concluded that several approaches could be taken in interpreting results and their further integration into policy making. Concluding that selection of the right approach is dependent on the time scale targeted for implementation amongst other multi-disciplinary factors, the use of MCA as an evaluation tool along with overarching sustainability indicators can aid in narrowing uncertainties and providing a clear understanding of the variables surrounding the problem at hand.

Авторы, используя описанное процентное соотношение оценок в рамках скалярной модели студента (СМС) [2] попытались уточнить критерии оценок КМС. Для этого были использованы данные ГЭК, который проводился для студентов кафедры информатика СумГУ в 2008 г. При цитировании документа, используйте ссылку http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/7293

The aim of this research is to test a decisional aid model - the Analytic Hierarchy Procedure (AHP) - in risk assessment for development of an urban area. The Port Authority of Venice commissioned the Regional Environmental Protection Agency (ARPAV) to carry out an estimation of major industrial hazards in Porto Marghera, an industrial estate near Venice (Italy), via Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA). However, this model only provided a list of individual quantitative risk values, related to single locations. Therefore, there was both a need and an opportunity to introduce a decision aid model, which could take into account the geographic distribution of risk, the quantification of intangible factors and the analysis of possible future developments. The experimental model, through a series of trade -off comparisons, encouraged the use of expert opinions in conjunction with traditional quantitative analysis, enabling the decision maker to generate quantitative data on risk assessment from a series of subjective, qualitative assessments. It was also a major result to bring together complementary skills and expertise from different disciplines in a wide and clear collaborative research project.

Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, May, 2020
Cataloged from the official PDF of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (page 36).
Background: Lab meetings are observed at the beginning and the middle of a senior product design capstone course for mechanical engineering students. Purpose: This paper seeks to understand how social team decision-making processes and assessment criteria affect the quality and process of group coherence and communication for mechanical engineering students Design and Method: Audio and video meeting recordings with written transcripts, mid-term product milestone evaluations, and course materials are analyzed through qualitative observation and thematic analysis. Pivotal moments and key differences between teams and within the same teams over time are noted in relation to the ideation and decision-making process. Results: Emerging themes that affect decision-making are compared across teams and lab meetings, and influential teamwork dynamics and assessment criteria are qualitatively noted as well. Conclusions: Novice student designers are solution-oriented in prioritizing technical feasibility and product details in selecting product design ideas. Across teams, they vary in levels of acceptance of undefined key terms in navigating ill-defined design problems. In the context of design education, class materials and instructor feedback play an influential role in shaping team meetings, discussions, and assessment criteria.
by Amy Q. Fang.
S.B.
S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Energy access remains a significant challenge in nations lacking access to resources and strong infrastructure systems, creating barriers to economic development and to increased standards of living. Small scale biomass gasification energy (BGE) systems have been developed to meet energy needs in rural areas, creating synergies between agricultural and agro-forestry systems through utilization of biomass feedstock for energy generation. The sustainability of such systems requires sophisticated planning and coordination of the biomass supply chain. The goal of this thesis is to investigate and improve structural and process related characteristics of sustainability assessments for small scale bio-energy systems, specifically focusing on establishment and management of biomass supply chains through the development and dissemination of a generic sustainability assessment framework for biomass supply chains of small-scale BGE systems in rural East Africa. Building on a preliminary sustainability assessment framework (Christensen, 2013; Joerg, 2013) this research develops an assessment tool designed to capture sustainability requirements of the biomass supply chain in the ecological, social, and economic spheres through testing on three case studies in rural Uganda. Application and analysis of a preliminary framework on pilot projects in a rural east African context using Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) methodologies contributes to development of strategies for energy system analysis and building stakeholder capacity to incorporate social, economic, and environmental considerations. The assessment process is outlined, including scoring, data collection, contextual considerations. Model application is discussed, including the impact of weighting on decision outcomes, uncertainty management, sensitivity analysis, and identification of tradeoffs among criteria. Finally, discussion of tool usefulness verses usability contributes to bridging academic research with practitioner priorities.

This thesis develops and applies an integrated method of environmental assessment that couples a geographic Information system (GIS) to Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA), using bioenergy combustion and CHP sites as a case study. A literature review to identify the gaps in knowledge with respect to spatial MCA and GIS-based approaches to support decision-making and sustainability assessments shows the need for an approach to identify suitable locations for Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants using bioenergy combustion and to analyse spatial aspects. CHP plants can improve the efficiency and sustainability of bioenergy generation because they are capable of producing and utilising both electrical and thermal energy. Identifying suitable locations for these, typically decentralised, plants is crucial but challenging because proximity to both feedstock supply and heat demand has to be considered. The thesis develops and applies a novel GIS-based approach to identify suitable locations for CHP bioenergy plants and to analyse spatial aspects. This work stands out as the principal novel contribution of the research presented in this thesis. The science-based technical assessment can be integrated in a formal and structured decision support framework (DSF) which could aid environmental decision-making. There is no single right way to conduct a decision-making process because every process is limited by resources and timelines. The environmental assessment case study described in this thesis uses a modified version of the MCA framework proposed by the Department for Communities and Local Government (2009). The GIS-based approach is integrated in this DSF to couple GIS to MCA. Additionally, specific attention is given to reviewing and selecting sustainability aspects (covering Criteria and Indicators) and MCA methods. These processes are also integrated in the DSF and can be seen as being part of the problem structuring phase of the DSF used in the research presented in this thesis. It is shown how the DSF is applied to assess alternatives for centralised and decentralised generation in a research case study region. By applying the different stages of the DSF, including the GIS-based approach, the selection processes and a selected MCA method (Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)), it can be concluded that the decentralised alternatives should be preferred in the research case study scenarios if regional sustainable bioenergy generation wants to be archived. In the first scenario, the second alternative (A2) clearly dominates with an overall score of 71.82% (A1: 28.18%). However, the results are relatively close in the second scenario (A3: 56.62%, A4: 43.38%), which is mainly due to the similarity of the alternatives in the scenario. The sensitivity analyses show that the rankings of alternatives do not change in both scenarios unless major criteria weight variations or performance adjustments are made.

Social Multi-Criteria Evaluation is a kind of multi-criteria analysis that combines the technical evaluation of different options according to various assessment criteria with the analysis of the social actors' conflicting values and interests.
Two main ideas are at the basis of SMCE: technical incommensurability (i.e. in a complex environment one cannot express all impacts of a policy using one only unit of measurement, or, in other words, an inter/multidisciplinary analysis is needed) and social incommensurability (i.e. the social actors have different and legitimately conflicting values and interests, which must be taken into account when evaluating a policy or a project).
SMCE was applied to two case-studies. In the first one, the problem at hand was how to provide some isolated rural households in a natural park near Barcelona with electricity, whether by extending the grid or installing stand-alone photovoltaic systems. The issue caused a conflict between 1995 and 2000 among the Park administration (in favour of solar energy) and the household inhabitants and owners, plus the Mayor (in favour of traditional electricity). A retrospective SMCE was performed in order to explain the positions of the involved stakeholders and the factors that help the diffusion of off-grid photovoltaic systems in rural areas.
The second part of the thesis deals with the opportunity for the Italian government of supporting a large-scale biofuels production. The pros and cons of satisfying part of the energy need of the transport sector with biodiesel were analyzed through a variety of assessment criteria and taking into account different scales and dimensions.

Historically, research on grading, ie the allocation of marks by teachers to pupils has shown that it represents an assessment of both the academic and non academic characteristics of pupils. Recent research examining teacher grading criteria and practices, shows that little has changed. The present study investigates the grading criteria and practices of Greek primary school teachers . Interviews with 17 teachers investigated the extent to which the legislation regarding grading is implemented by teachers, and the possible criteria that they believe they use in grading. The analysis of the interviews showed that teachers' grading was affected not only by the academic attainment of pupils, but also by non academic factors including the overall picture of pupils' academic attainment assessed by tests, classroom participation and homework, pupils' families, linguistic level, intelligence and motivation, pupils' behaviour, teachers' personal likes of some pupils, pupils' differential attainment in different subjects, pupils self perception of attainment, and local school factors. Different teachers' grading was influenced to a different degree by these factors. On the basis of the interviews a questionnaire was devised to enable a larger sample to be studied. 472 primary teachers of both genders, working in different geographical areas of Greece, with different levels of experience and education completed the questionnaire. Its analysis showed the extent to which they were influenced by the criteria elicited in the interviews, and the differences between them. Factor analysis of the questionnaire confirmed the interview findings, and enabled the development of a possible model of the factors influencing grading, which may be used as the basis for explaining teachers' actual grading practices as opposed to their beliefs about them.