Menu Analysis: Review and Evaluation

In the article - Menu Analysis: Review and Evaluation - by Lendal H. Kotschevar, Distinguished Professor School of Hospitality Management, Florida International University, Kotschevar’s initial statement reads: “Various methods are used to evaluate menus. Some have quite different approaches and give different information. Even those using quite similar methods vary in the information they give. The author attempts to describe the most frequently used methods and to indicate their value. A correlation calculation is made to see how well certain of these methods agree in the information they give.” There is more than one way to look at the word menu. The culinary selections decided upon by the head chef or owner of a restaurant, which ultimately define the type of restaurant is one way. The physical outline of the food, which a patron actually holds in his or her hand, is another. These descriptions are most common to the word, menu. The author primarily concentrates on the latter description, and uses the act of counting the number of items sold on a menu to measure the popularity of any particular item. This, along with a formula, allows Kotschevar to arrive at a specific value per item. Menu analysis would appear a difficult subject to broach. How does a person approach a menu analysis, how do you qualify and quantify a menu; it seems such a subjective exercise. The author offers methods and outlines on approaching menu analysis from empirical perspectives. “Menus are often examined visually through the evaluation of various factors. It is a subjective method but has the advantage of allowing scrutiny of a wide range of factors which other methods do not,” says Distinguished Professor, Kotschevar. “The method is also highly flexible. Factors can be given a score value and scores summed to give a total for a menu. This allows comparison between menus. If the one making the evaluations knows menu values, it is a good method of judgment,” he further offers. The author wants you to know that assigning values is fundamental to a pragmatic menu analysis; it is how the reviewer keeps score, so to speak. Value merit provides reliable criteria from which to gauge a particular menu item. In the final analysis, menu evaluation provides the mechanism for either keeping or rejecting selected items on a menu. Kotschevar provides at least three different matrix evaluation methods; they are defined as the Miller method, the Smith and Kasavana method, and the Pavesic method. He offers illustrated examples of each via a table format. These are helpful tools since trying to explain the theories behind the tables would be difficult at best. Kotschevar also references examples of analysis methods which aren’t matrix based. The Hayes and Huffman - Goal Value Analysis - is one such method. The author sees no one method better than another, and suggests that combining two or more of the methods to be a benefit.

Personnel selection, safety performance, and job performance: Are safe workers better workers?

The present dissertation consists of two studies that combine personnel selection, safety performance, and job performance literatures to answer an important question: are safe workers better workers? Study 1 tested a predictive model of safety performance to examine personality characteristics (conscientiousness and agreeableness), and two novel behavioral constructs (safety orientation and safety judgment) as predictors of safety performance in a sample of forklift loaders/operators (N = 307). Analyses centered on investigating safety orientation as a proximal predictor and determinant of safety performance. Study 2 replicated Study 1 and explored the relationship between safety performance and job performance by testing an integrative model in a sample of machine operators and construction crewmembers (N = 323). Both Study 1 and Study 2 found conscientiousness, agreeableness, and safety orientation to be good predictors of safety performance. While both personality and safety orientation were positively related to safety performance, safety orientation proved to be a more proximal determinant of safety performance. Across studies, results surrounding safety judgment as a predictor of safety performance were inconclusive, suggesting possible issues with measurement of the construct. Study 2 found a strong relationship between safety performance and job performance. In addition, safety performance served as a mediator between predictors (conscientiousness, agreeableness and safety orientation) and job performance. Together these findings suggest that safe workers are indeed better workers, challenging previous viewpoints to the contrary. Further, results implicate the viability of personnel selection as means of promoting safety in organizations.^

Public perception of carbon capture and storage in relation to hydraulic fracturing: content analyses, survey results, and policy proposals

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) can contribute significantly to addressing the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions problem. Despite widespread political support, CCS remains unknown to the general public. Public perception researchers have found that, when asked, the public is relatively unfamiliar with CCS yet many individuals voice specific safety concerns regarding the technology. We believe this leads many stakeholders conflate CCS with the better-known and more visible technology hydraulic fracturing (fracking). We support this with content analysis of media coverage, web analytics, and public lobbying records. Furthermore, we present results from a survey of United States residents. This first-of-its-kind survey assessed participants’ knowledge, opinions and support of CCS and fracking technologies. The survey showed that participants had more knowledge of fracking than CCS, and that knowledge of fracking made participants less willing to support CCS projects. Additionally, it showed that participants viewed the two technologies as having similar risks and similar risk intensities. In the CCS stakeholder literature, judgment and decision-making (JDM) frameworks are noticeably absent, and public perception is not discussed using any cognitive biases as a way of understanding or explaining irrational decisions, yet these survey results show evidence of both anchoring bias and the ambiguity effect. Public acceptance of CCS is essential for a national low-carbon future plan. In conclusion, we propose changes in communications and incentives as programs to increase support of CCS.

Individuals with mental disabilities: perceptions of work limitations

This research investigates the perceptions that individuals with mental illnesses have about the employment experience as a whole. Survey data from 72 respondents with mental disabilities were used to identify areas of perceived work limitations. Comparisons regarding employee work performance were made between eleven individuals with mental disabilities and their supervisors. Functional limitations identified by respondents with mental disabilities and the characteristic symptoms set forth in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders were compared. Overall findings showed that individuals with mental disabilities in this study had problems in the areas of judgment, initiative, interacting and rapport with co-workers and supervisors, frustration tolerance and coping with job stress, and adapting to changes at work. Comparison of identified work task difficulties with diagnostic criteria indicate active symptomatology to have an effect on job performance. Recommendations regarding occupational therapy assessment approaches and roles to facilitate ADA implementation are presented.

Substance Use and Sexual Risk Behaviors among Adolescent Detainees

During the past two decades there has been much research conducted on the relationship between the risky sexual behavior practices and substance use among U.S. adolescents. This body of research has documented the fact that substance use and not using condoms are the most important indicators associated with the risk of becoming infected with sexually transmitted diseases (STD) both among adolescents and adults (Florida Department of Public Health, 2004; Malow, Devieux, Jennings, & Lucenko, 2001; McCoy & Inciardi, 1995). Data from those reports and studies indicate that adolescents and adults who use a condom regularly and appropriately are 20 times less likely to contract an STD than those who do not (Pinkerton & Abramson, 1997). However, less empirical evidence exists about the factors that influence adolescent use of condoms, particularly among adolescents who are detained due to their criminal lifestyle. Researchers have found both a high prevalence of STD in addition to early onset of sexual activity without protection among some adolescent groups such as the detainees (D'angelo & DiClemente, 1996) and that adolescents tend to underestimate their risks of acquiring the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (Magura, Shapiro, & Kang, 1994). Many adolescents will experiment with alcohol and other drugs. This behavior may compromise their judgment and increase their chances of engaging in risky sex (Rotheram-Borus, 2000). Hence the need for research that investigates the influence that substance use, risky sexual attitudes, knowledge about the transmission of HIV, and both peer and parental approval of condom use have on the use of condoms among both female and male adolescent detainees. Lastly, it is important for additional research to be conducted because adolescent detainees have been identified as being at high risk of becoming infected with an STD (Malow, Rosemberg, & Devieux, 2006). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among adolescent substance use, gender, sexual risk attitude, attitude about personal use of condoms, knowledge associated with the transmission of HIV, peer and family approval of condom use, history of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and the level of condom use in a sample of adolescents housed in a correctional institution. Further details of the explanatory variables, the control variables and their expected relationships can be found in the review of the Literature in Chapter 2. Also, more information about the separate analysis of the research questions is detailed in the Methods section in Chapter 3. Based on the literature detailed in Chapter 2 (e.g., Malow et al., 2006), the current study’s researcher anticipated that adolescents’ higher levels of illicit drug use would be related to higher levels of sexual risk behaviors, as measured by lower levels of condom use, than their counterparts who used no drugs. Similarly, it was hypothesized that positive attitudes toward condom use and higher levels of HIV risk knowledge would be associated with a lower level of risky sexual behaviors along with a higher level of condom use skill. It was further hypothesized that the level of approval perceived from parents and peers regarding condom use was going to be related to adolescents’ safe sex behavior (i.e., condom use). Therefore, it was expected that participants’ perception of a high level of approval to use condoms from peers and parents would be a statistically significant variable in helping explain the condom use within this sample of adolescent detainees.

The Effect of Cognitive Load on Deception

The current study applied classic cognitive capacity models to examine the effect of cognitive load on deception. The study also examined whether the manipulation of cognitive load would result in the magnification of differences between liars and truth-tellers. In the first study, 87 participants engaged in videotaped interviews while being either deceptive or truthful about a target event. Some participants engaged in a concurrent secondary task while being interviewed. Performance on the secondary task was measured. As expected, truth tellers performed better on secondary task items than liars as evidenced by higher accuracy rates. These results confirm the long held assumption that being deceptive is more cognitively demanding than being truthful. In the second part of the study, the videotaped interviews of both liars and truth-tellers were shown to 69 observers. After watching the interviews, observers were asked to make a veracity judgment for each participant. Observers made more accurate veracity judgments when viewing participants who engaged in a concurrent secondary task than when viewing those who did not. Observers also indicated that participants who engaged in a concurrent secondary task appeared to think harder than participants who did not. This study provides evidence that engaging in deception is more cognitively demanding than telling the truth. As hypothesized, having participants engage in a concurrent secondary task led to the magnification of differences between liars and truth tellers. This magnification of differences led to more accurate veracity rates in a second group of observers. The implications for deception detection are discussed.

A responsabilidade enunciativa na sentença judicial condenatória

The Textual Analysis of Discourse has its origin in Text Linguistics and it aims at studying the co(n)text meaning production based on the analysis of concrete texts by offering elements to the understanding of the text as a discourse practice throughout the plans or levels of linguistic analysis. In this perspective, we intend to investigate the enunciative responsibility phenomenon in the sentencing court judgment. To do so, we review the theoretical contributions of Textual Analysis of Discourse (ADAM, 2011) and the Enunciative Linguistics from various authors, among them, Rabatel (1998, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010), Nølke (2001, 2005, 2009, 2013), Nølke, Fløttum and Norén (2004), Guentchéva (1994, 1996) and Guentchéva et al. (1994). In this direction, we investigate the enunciative responsibility through a range that comprises the phenomenon from four gradations, each one with a kind of point of view (PoV) and with links that may mark the assumption or the distance from the point of view. Regarding the legal approach of the thesis, our theoretical anchoring follows several authors, among them, Petri (1994), Soto (2001), Alvarez (2002), Alves (2003), Cornu (2005), Albi (2007), Bittar (2010), Asensio and Polanco (2011), López Samaniego (2006), López Montolío and Samaniego (2008), Montolío (2002, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013), Sterling (2010), Prieto (2013), Lawrence and Rodrigues (2013) and Rodrigues, Passeggi and Silva Neto (2014). Our corpus is composed of 13 sentences from criminal cases arising from the district of Currais Novos-RN, completed in 2012. The results reveal how the judge, from various enunciative instances, builds the court decision, which allowed us to understand the configuration of (non) assumption of enunciative responsibility in the sentencing court judgment discourse genre. In conclusion, we perceive that the discourse units are envisaged or through the assumption, or the non assumption of PoV by the enunciative instances, what guides the producer organization argumentative text and his (her) communicative purposes. With that, the judge creates and/or modifies values and beliefs, induces and/or guides his (her) interlocutor by being able to demonstrate objectivity and/or preventing his (her) face through the mediated constructions or engage through the assumption of the enunciative responsibility of the propositional content of an utterance. In short, we reaffirm our belief that the (non) assumption of the enunciative responsibility configures as an argumentative mechanism strongly marked by the producer of the text with a view to their communicative purposes. The sentence, therefore, is constructed in this game of taking and/or not taking of statements according to argumentative orientation and the objectives of the text producer.

A representação discursiva da vítima e do réu no gênero sentença judicial

This dissertation aims to identify and describe the phenomenon of discursive representation of victim and defendant in court judgment genre. Researchis part of general theoretical framework of text linguistics and more specifically in textual discourse analysis (ATD) theory developed by Jean-Michel Adam ([2008] 2011). Discursive representation notion proposed by ATD is one of the most important aspects of semantic dimension of the text, being complemented in the work of Grize (1990, 1996) from schematization notion. In this perspective, this work is guided by studies of text linguistics with Koch (2012, 2005, 2004), Marcuschi (2012, 2008, 2005), Rodrigues, Passeggi and Silva Neto (2010, 2012, 2014), with genre Bazerman (2005), Bakhtin (1992) and the juridical discourse with Capez (2012), Pimenta (2007), Lourenço (2013) and Gomes (2013) . Methodologically, is a documentary research, presenting qualitative and descriptive characters and is guided by the inductivedeductive method. Corpus consists of a judicial sentence, criminal, collected electronically from Court of Justice of São Paulo - Judiciary website in consultation Judged1st Degree, with the theme of violence against women. Analysis procedures use semantic categories of discursive representation, such as referencing, predication, modification and the spatial and temporal location. Results are focused on the construction of discursive representation of (victim and defendant) from PdV distinct enunciators, which may approach or distance themselves according to argumentative text orientation. Thus, considering social importance of forensic text and, in particular, court judgment in the lives of citizens, it was possible to realize the importance of developing research that addresses the study of text semantic dimension, especially in construction of representations of discourse objects

Investigando a compressão da percepção de distância em ambientes virtuais através da comparação entre dispositivos de visualização

The correct distance perception is important for executing various interactive tasks such as navigation, selection and manipulation. It is known, however, that, in general, there is a significant distance perception compression in virtual environments, mainly when using Head-Mounted Displays - HMDs. This perceived distance compression may bring various problems to the applications and even affect in a negative way the utility of those applications that depends on the correct judgment of distances. The scientific community, so far, have not been able to determine the causes of the distance perception compression in virtual environments. For this reason, it was the objective of this work to investigate, through experiments with users, the influence of both the field-of-view - FoV - and the distance estimation methods on this perceived compression. For that, an experimental comparison between the my3D device and a HMD, using 32 participants, seeking to find information on the causes of the compressed perception, was executed. The results showed that the my3D has inferior capabilities when compared to the HMD, resulting in worst estimations, on average, in both the tested estimation methods. The causes of that are believed to be the incorrect stimulus of the peripheral vision of the user, the smaller FoV and the smaller immersion sense, as described by the participants of the experiment.

A ação da bancada evangélica na Câmara Municipal de Natal/RN: 2005-2008

The Evangelical Church is an institution that presents itself as a group that aims to be a mediator between society, the state and the country itself. However political practice within the churches have been somewhat taken authoritarian, manipulative, intolerant and realize this reality in the analysis of this work. While understanding that the Church as an institution has formed an opinion about what is right and wrong in their communities as a social institution can be seen in contemporary society growing religious occupation of the public sphere and in all segments of Brazilian society the presence of evangelicals. One of the challenges is the discussion of the practices of Christ when the ownership of the mandate legitimized by the vote happens, what real action is the "Christ policy"? What social contributions to retrieve people, places and cities? What is the competence to work towards promoting the other gains in health, employment, security, education? The purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to the questioning of the current logic and prevailing construction of Christian ideals in politics. Develop an investigation by reference to the absence of a study on the activity of the evangelical councilors Christmas during the period 2004 -2008, order to be able assign a value judgment based on information of projects that every evangelical councilor exercised during the 15th Legislature, occasion that the City Council received the highest representation of evangelical councilors in its history.

A neuromodulação do córtex pré-frontal dorsolateral na percepção de tempo em contexto neutro ou emocionalmente ativo

The time perception is critical for environmental adaptation in humans and other species. The temporal processing, has evolved through different neural systems, each responsible for processing different time scales. Among the most studied scales is that spans the arrangement of seconds to minutes. Evidence suggests that the dorsolateral prefrontal (DLPFC) cortex has relationship with the time perception scale of seconds. However, it is unclear whether the deficit of time perception in patients with brain injuries or even "reversible lesions" caused by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in this region, whether by disruption of other cognitive processes (such as attention and working memory) or the time perception itself. Studies also link the region of DLPFC in emotional regulation and specifically the judgment and emotional anticipation. Given this, our objective was to study the role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the time perception intervals of active and emotionally neutral stimuli, from the effects of cortical modulation by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), through the cortical excitation (anodic current), inhibition (cathode current) and control (sham) using the ranges of 4 and 8 seconds. Our results showed that there is an underestimation when the picture was presented by 8 seconds, with the anodic current in the right DLPFC, there is an underestimation and with cathodic current in the left DLPFC, there is an overestimation of the time reproduction with neutral ones. The cathodic current over the left DLPFC leads to an inverse effect of neutral ones, an underestimation of time with negative pictures. Positive or negative pictures improved estimates for 8 second and positive pictures inhibited the effect of tDCS in DLPFC in estimating time to 4 seconds. With this work, we conclude that the DLPFC plays a key role in the o time perception and largely corresponds to the stages of memory and decision on the internal clock model. The left hemisphere participates in the perception of time in both active and emotionally neutral contexts, and we can conclude that the ETCC and an effective method to study the cortical functions in the time perception in terms of cause and effect.

Uma aplicação do método fuzzy-electre-topsis para seleção de serviços de computação em nuvem

This work presents an application of a hybrid Fuzzy-ELECTRE-TOPSIS multicriteria approach for a Cloud Computing Service selection problem. The research was exploratory, using a case of study based on the actual requirements of professionals in the field of Cloud Computing. The results were obtained by conducting an experiment aligned with a Case of Study using the distinct profile of three decision makers, for that, we used the Fuzzy-TOPSIS and Fuzzy-ELECTRE-TOPSIS methods to obtain the results and compare them. The solution includes the Fuzzy sets theory, in a way it could support inaccurate or subjective information, thus facilitating the interpretation of the decision maker judgment in the decision-making process. The results show that both methods were able to rank the alternatives from the problem as expected, but the Fuzzy-ELECTRE-TOPSIS method was able to attenuate the compensatory character existing in the Fuzzy-TOPSIS method, resulting in a different alternative ranking. The attenuation of the compensatory character stood out in a positive way at ranking the alternatives, because it prioritized more balanced alternatives than the Fuzzy-TOPSIS method, a factor that has been proven as important at the validation of the Case of Study, since for the composition of a mix of services, balanced alternatives form a more consistent mix when working with restrictions.

Questionamentos acerca de valores axiológicos no turismo: uma abordagem fenomenológica hermenêutica

The study presents the possibility of interpretation of axiological values of tourism as a practice conceived on a human being or Dasein as being-in-the-world of tourism. The value, as an object of Axiology, was considered the predictor of the human being conduct in the phenomenon reflecting this same value in tourism. The aim was to comprehend and interpret through the way of being of Dasein in tourism, which axiological values are chosen to the practice of tourism and the intentional feelings directed to these values. A phenomenological hermeneutics research with exploratory characteristics was accomplished in order to survey the values. Ten episodic interviews were conducted from the hermeneutic situation - constituted by fore-having, fore-sight and fore-conception of each Dasein interviewed, by adopting a sympathetic conduct and sympathy of Max Scheler and the use of emotional intuition to capture the intentional feelings, interpreted afterwards by the analysis of a Martin Heidegger's phenomenology in Being and Time. The results showed that, even without categorisation, the totality of the living experiences, the way of being of positive values outnumber the negatives ones in the existence of each Dasein, leading them to the Learning, which are comprising: experiences to provide self-knowledge, historical-cultural values, and memory as part of the learning experiences, hospitality as a way of openness and socio-cultural exchange, solidarity and peace. Intentional feelings directed at the values for the choice for practicing tourism were: love, happiness, pleasure, respect and trust. Four evidences were found concerning the use of sentimental perspective and intentional feeling of Scheler and regarding the logic of the heart of Pascal used by this author. The sociocultural interrelationships and exchanges form the basis for developing tourism as phenomenon. Therefore the character being-with or Mitsein is prevalent in tourism activities. Despite the learning was the purpose of the experiences, the ultimate goal was the improvement and personal enrichment of Dasein´s humanity development. The study also showed the hermeneutic phenomenological seeing opens the access of the living experiences of values, without making arbitrarily judgment and achieve "to the thing themselves", which, by the overlapping of categories, dispositions and intentional feelings, form the evaluative experiences and are possible to access through the fundamental ontology of Heidegger. The study contributes to broaden the vision concerning to the totality of tourism and the practitioners Dasein of it. As possibilities for deepening studies, was pointed out: the total person of Scheler; the care or Sorge as a form of love in Heidegger; happiness and pleasure in the practice of tourism and human flourishing or eudaimonia.