Comportamento de Consumo Ambientalmente Responsável de Futuros Formadores de Opinião da Capital Paranaense

Este estudo teve como objetivo verificar o nível de consciência ambiental dos futuros formadores de opinião da Universidade Federal do Paraná no momento de consumo. Os dados foram obtidos por meio da aplicação de questionário aplicado a 180 estudantes de uma IFES. Após análise inicial para testar a multicolinearidade e existência de outliers múltiplos, as variáveis foram submetidas a Análise Fatorial Exploratória. Pelo critério de Kaiser, combinado com a análise do diagrama de sedimentação (scree plot) as variáveis foram agrupadas em 4 fatores, submetidos à análise de confiabilidade pelo cálculo do Alpha de Cronbach. Todos os fatores apresentaram índices adequados para um estudo experimental. O resultado apresenta escala robusta para a mensuração do comportamento desejado, identificando diferenças relevantes de resultados entre os fatores, sugerindo a existência de comportamentos diferenciados para situações específicas.

Application of Feature Extraction Methods for Chemical Risk Classification in the Pharmaceutical Industry

The features that are used in the classification process are acquired from sensor data on the production site (associated with toxic, physicochemical properties) and also a dataset associated with cybersecurity that may affect the above-mentioned risk. These are large datasets, so it is important to reduce them. The author’s motivation was to develop a method of assessing the dimensionality of features based on correlation measures and the discriminant power of features allowing for a more accurate reduction of their dimensions compared to the classical Kaiser criterion and assessment of scree plot. The method proved to be promising. The results obtained in the experiments demonstrate that the quality of classification after extraction is better than using classical criteria for estimating the number of components and features. Experiments were carried out for various extraction methods, demonstrating that the rotation of factors according to centroids of a class in this classification task gives the best risk assessment of chemical threats. The classification quality increased by about 7% compared to a model where feature extraction was not used and resulted in an improvement of 4% compared to the classical PCA method with the Kaiser criterion, with an evaluation of the scree plot. Furthermore, it has been shown that there is a certain subspace of cybersecurity features, which complemented with the features of the concentration of volatile substances, affects the risk assessment of chemical hazards. The identified cybersecurity factors are the number of packets lost, incorrect Logins, incorrect sensor responses, increased email spam, and excessive traffic in the computer network. To visualize the speed of classification in real-time, simulations were carried out for various systems used in Industry 4.0.

Identification of patterns related to linkage groups or disequilibrium by factor analysis

ABSTRACT: Empirical patterns of linkage disequilibrium (LD) can be used to increase the statistical power of genetic mapping. This study was carried out with the objective of verifying the efficacy of factor analysis (AF) applied to data sets of molecular markers of the SNP type, in order to identify linkage groups and haplotypes blocks. The SNPs data set used was derived from a simulation process of an F2 population, containing 2000 marks with information of 500 individuals. The estimation of the factorial loadings of FA was made in two ways, considering the matrix of distances between the markers (A) and considering the correlation matrix (R). The number of factors (k) to be used was established based on the graph scree-plot and based on the proportion of the total variance explained. Results indicated that matrices A and R lead to similar results. Based on the scree-plot we considered k equal to 10 and the factors interpreted as being representative of the bonding groups. The second criterion led to a number of factors equal to 50, and the factors interpreted as being representative of the haplotypes blocks. This showed the potential of the technique, making it possible to obtain results applicable to any type of population, helping or corroborating the interpretation of genomic studies. The study demonstrated that AF was able to identify patterns of association between markers, identifying subgroups of markers that reflect factor binding groups and also linkage disequilibrium groups.

Criteria for choosing the number of dimensions in a principal component analysis: An empirical assessment

Principal component analysis (PCA) is an efficient model for the optimization problem of finding d' axes of a subspace Rd' ⊆ Rd so that the mean squared distances from a given set R of points to the axes are minimal. Despite being steadily employed since 1901 in different scenarios, e.g., mechanics, PCA has become an important link in machine learning chained tasks, such as feature learning and AutoML designs. A frequent yet open issue that arises from supervised-based problems is how many PCA axes are required for the performance of machine learning constructs to be tuned. Accordingly, we investigate the behavior of six independent and uncoupled criteria for estimating the number of PCA axes, namely Scree-Plot %, Scree Plot Gap, Kaiser-Guttman, Broken-Stick, p-Score, and 2D. In total, we evaluate the performance of those approaches in 20 high dimensional datasets by using (i) four different classifiers, and (ii) a hypothesis test upon the reported F-Measures. Results indicate Broken-Stick and Scree-Plot % criteria consistently outperformed the competitors regarding supervised-based tasks, whereas estimators Kaiser-Guttman and Scree-Plot Gap delivered poor performances in the same scenarios.

Analysis of Factor that Preferred by Customer in the Selection of Batara Savings Products at BTN Bank Branch Kamal

Factor analysis is a statistical analysis that tries to find a relationship (interrelationship) between a number of variables are mutually independent from one another, so that it can be made one or several sets of variables are less than the amount of the initial variables. Researchers want to conduct research on the factors that necessitated the customer in product selection god savings deposits at Bank BTN Kamal, Bangkalan by factor analysis approach. From the results in getting that formed five factors capable of representing on the seventeenth of the variables used factor analysis conducted, five factors formed can be seen from the eigen value more than 1 and pictures scree plot. Factors which is made by customers of Bank BTN in the selection of savings products Batara ie Employee Bank BTN responsive in serving, security transactions, procedures (and requirements) account opening Savings Batara easy was infested, Administration fee is low, and Employees of Bank BTN can give correct information and clear.

PENGEMBANGAN INSTRUMEN PENGUKURAN KEPUASAN MAHASISWA DALAM PENINGKATAN MUTU LAYANAN PERGURUAN TINGGI

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah mengembangkan instrument pengukuran kepuasan mahasiswa dalam peningkatan mutu layanan perguruan tinggi. Pengembangan instrument ini dimaksudkan agar institusi perguruan tinggi memiliki instrument pengukuran kepuasan mahasiswa yang valid dan reliable dalam mengukur kepuasan mahasiswa terhadap layanan administrative, dan kepuasan mahasiswa terhadap layanan proses pembelajaran. Jenis penelitian ini adalah Research and Development atau penelitian pengembangan. Proses pengembangan dilakukan dalam lima tahap, yaitu: analisis potensi dan masalah, perencanaan desain produk, uji coba produk, uji validitas dan reliabilitas produk, dan produksi masal. Pada instrument pengukuran kepuasan mahasiswa terhadap layanan administrative, scree plot menunjukan adanya perbedaan atau selisish yang sangat besar antara nilai igen faktor pertama dengan efaktor kedua. Sehingga instrument pengukuran kepuasan mahasiswa terhadap layanan administrative dinyatakan valid. Pada instrument pengukuran kepuasan mahasiswa terhadap layanan proses pembelajaran, diperoleh satu faktor yang memiliki nilai eigen di atas 1,00 (>1,00). Sehingga dapat disimpulkan bahwa seluruh butir dalam instrumen pengukuran kepuasan mahasiswa terhadap proses pembelajaran hanya membentuk satu faktor bersama, yaitu faktor kepuasan terhadap proses pembelajaran. Sehingga isntrumen pengukuran kepuasan mahasiswa terhadap layanan proses pembelajaran dinyatakan valid. Uji reliabilitas instrument pengukuran kepuasan terhadap layanan administrative diperoleh nilai Cronbach’s Alpha sebesar 0,843. Sehingga instrumen pengukuran kepuasan mahasiswa terhadap layanan administratif dinyatakan reliable. Uji reliabilitas instrument pengukuran kepuasan terhadap layanan proses pembelajaran diperoleh nilai Cronbach’s Alpha sebesar 0,777. Dengan demikian instrumen pengukuran kegiatan ekstra dapat dinyatakan reliabel.

Educação Física no Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio: análise via teoria clássica dos testes / Educación física en el Examen Nacional de la Secundaria Superior: análisis por la teoría clásica de las pruebas

O Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (ENEM) no Brasil, é uma avaliação em larga escala que tem o objetivo de medir o conhecimento de estudantes ao final da Educação Básica. Em 2009 a Educação Física passou a compor o Exame. Dessa forma, a pesquisa objetivou analisar os itens de Educação Física do exame dos anos de 2009 a 2014 a partir da teoria clássica. Para isso, a pesquisa tem um enfoque predominantemente quantitativo e exploratório. O estudo foi realizado com uma amostra aleatória de participantes do estado do Ceará, Brasil, que realizaram o exame. Foram analisados os seguintes parâmetros: validade, fidedignidade, dificuldade e discriminação. Os itens apresentaram bons valores de correlação e adequação da amostra. No entanto, apresentaram escores de comunalidade e cargas fatoriais inadequados para composição da prova. A Análise Fatorial Exploratória apresentou baixa explicação da variância considerando apenas um fator, mesmo Scree plot indicando a unidimensionalidade. Os valores de fidedignidade foram bons, não havendo influência dos itens de Educação Física. A dificuldade e discriminação apresentaram valores aceitáveis em quase todos os anos. No entanto, em 2014 a prova não apresentou unidimensionalidade. Neste ano, os itens apresentaram alta dificuldade e baixa discriminação. Dessa forma, alguns itens de Educação Física do exame não apresentaram parâmetros adequados. As provas de Linguagens e Códigos do exame apresentaram dificuldades de comprovação da unidimensionalidade. Tais fatores podem comprometer a validade da medida e consequentemente dos resultados desse exame, podendo interferir no ingresso de milhões de brasileiros no Ensino Superior. Resumen: El Examen Nacional de la Secundaria Superior (ENEM), en Brasil, es una evaluación a gran escala que tiene el objetivo de medir el conocimiento de estudiantes al final de la Educación Básica. En 2009, la educación física pasó a componer el examen. De esta forma, la investigación tuvo por objetivo analizar los ítems de Educación Física del Examen de los años 2009 a 2014 a partir de la teoría clásica. Para ello, la investigación presenta un enfoque predominantemente cuantitativo y exploratorio. El estudio se realizó con una muestra aleatoria de participantes del estado de Ceará, Brasil, que fueron examinados. Se analizaron los siguientes parámetros: validez, fiabilidad, dificultad y discriminación. Los ítems presentaron buenos valores de correlación y adecuación de la muestra. Sin embargo, indica comunalidad y cargas factoriales inadecuadas para la composición de la prueba. El Análisis Factorial Exploratorio presentó baja explicación de la varianza al considerar solo un factor, a pesar de que lo scree plot indica la unidimensionalidad. Los valores de fiabilidad fueron buenos, no habiendo influencia de los ítems de Educación Física. La dificultad y la discriminación presentaron valores aceptables en casi todos los años. No obstante, en 2014, la prueba no presentó unidimensionalidad. Este año, los ítems presentaron alta dificultad y baja discriminación. Así, algunos ítems de Educación Física del examen no muestran parámetros adecuados. Las pruebas de Lenguajes y Códigos del examen presentaron dificultades de comprobación de la unidimensionalidad. Tales factores pueden comprometer la validez de la medida y consecuentemente de los resultados de ese examen, y pueden interferir en el ingreso de millones de brasileños en la Enseñanza Superior.

Mathematics Graduate Student Instructor Observation Protocol (GSIOP): Development and Validation Study

This paper presents the development and validation of the 17-item mathematics Graduate Student Instructor Observation Protocol (GSIOP) at two universities. The development of this instrument attended to some unique needs of novice undergraduate mathematics instructors while building on an existing instrument that focused on classroom interactions particularly relevant for students’ development of conceptual understanding, called the Mathematical Classroom Observation Protocol for Practices (MCOP2). Instrument validation involved content input from mathematics education researchers and upper-level mathematics graduate student instructors at two universities, internal consistency analysis, interrater reliability analysis, and structure analyses via scree plot analysis and exploratory factor analysis. A Cronbach-Alpha level of 0.868 illustrated a viable level for internal consistency. Crosstabulation and correlations illustrate high level of interrater reliability for all but one item, and high levels across all subsections. Collaborating a scree plot with the exploratory factor analysis illustrated three critical groupings aligning with the factors from the MCOP2 (student engagement and teacher facilitation) while adding a third factor, lesson design practices. Taken collectively, these results indicate that the GSIOP measures the degree to which instructors’ and students’ actions in undergraduate mathematics classrooms align with practices recommended by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) using a three-factor structure of teacher facilitation, student engagement, and design practices.

DETERMINANTS OF BRAND PREFERENCE OF COMMERCIAL THREE WHEELER PASSENGER AUTO RICKSHAW DRIVERS IN ADAMA CITY, ETHIOPIA

Purpose of the study: The aim of this study is to find out the factors that influence drivers of three wheeler auto rickshaw in their brand preference towards different brands of commercial three wheeler passenger auto rickshaw in Adama City, Ethiopia Methodology: Primary data was collected from 500 auto drivers using a pilot tested questionnaire consisting of 40 questions. Cronbach’s alpha measure was used to test constructs reliability and in order to identify brand preference, exploratory factor analysis and parallel analysis was conducted. Main Findings: PCA revealed that there are 11 factors whose Eigen values are above 1. A look at scree plot indicated that there is a need to reconsider the number of factors to be used for further analysis. This decision was supported by Parallel analysis and 8 relevant factors identified. This 8 component solution explained 64.25 % of the variance. Applications of this study: Identification of determinants of brand preference can be used by three wheeler passenger auto manufacturers and distributors in Ethiopia Novelty/Originality of this study: There is no study conducted on drivers brand preference of three wheeler passenger auto rickshaws in Ethiopia.

Factorial Structure of the Frugality Scale: Exploratory Evidence

This article aims to promote an investigation of the psychometric properties of Frugality Scale adapted to Brazilian Portuguese. Frugality is characterized by using and consuming goods in a resourceful way, fully exploring its durability as well. To this end, 626 people responded to an online form that contained the frugality scale. Procedures such as non-graphical solutions to the scree plot, exploratory graphical analysis and a Schmid-Leiman factor solution point to evidence that the scale’s structure is not one-dimensional but two-dimensional. Finally, modeling strategies also indicate that a bifactor solution can be applied.