Methodological issues in cross-cultural research

Regardless of whether the research goal is to establish cultural universals or to identify and explain cross-cultural differences, researchers need measures that are comparable across different cultures when conducting cross-cultural studies. In this chapter, we describe two major strategies for enhancing cross-cultural comparability. First, we discuss a priori methods to ensure the comparability of data in cross-cultural surveys. In particular, we review findings on cross-cultural differences based on the psychology of survey response and provide suggestions on how to deal with these cultural differences in the survey design stage. Second, we discuss post hoc methods to ascertain data comparability and enable comparisons in the presence of threats to equivalence

Voorspelling van het recidivegevaar van elektronisch gedetineerden

In dit onderzoek wordt een beschrijving gegeven van personen die elektronische detentie kregen opgelegd en wordt het recidiverisico van deze personen berekend. Om reliëf aan de resultaten te geven wordt een vergelijking gemaakt met de kenmerken en het recidiverisico van ex-gedetineerden uitgestroomd uit een penitentiaire inrichting in 2003. Voor het berekenen van het recidiverisico is gebruikt gemaakt van een door het WODC ontwikkeld predictieinstrument (Wartna & Tollenaar, 2006). Het recidiverisico wordt berekend op grond van gegevens uit de justitiële documentatie. Ter beantwoording van de onderzoeksvragen is de justitiële documentatie opgevraagd van personen van wie de elektronische detentie in 2006 is beëindigd (N = 2.427). De uitstroomgegevens werden aangeleverd door de Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen. De gegevens van de ex-gedetineerden uitgestroomd in 2003, zijn afkomstig uit het onderzoek van de WODC-Recidivemonitor (Wartna et al. 2006)

Programa de intervención en representaciones de creatividad y motivación académica de adolescentes

Creativity and its promotion are widespread concerns in education. However, few efforts have been made to implement intervention programs designed to promote creativity and other related aspects (e.g., academic motivation). The Future Problem Solving Program International (FPSPI), aimed for training creativity representations and creative problem solving skills in young people, has been one of the most implemented programs. This intervention’s materials and activities were adapted for Portuguese students, and a longitudinal study was conducted. The program was implemented during four months, in weekly sessions, by thirteen teachers. Teachers received previous training for the program and during the program’s implementation. Intervention participants included 77 Basic and Secondary Education students, and control participants included 78 equivalent students. Pretest-posttest measures of academic motivation and creativity representations were collected. Results suggest a significant increase, in the intervention group, in motivation and the appropriate representations of creativity. Practical implications and future research perspectives are presented.A criatividade e sua promoção geram grande preocupação em educação. Contudo, poucos esforços têm existido para implementar programas destinados a sua promoção e de outros aspetos relacionados (e.g., motivação acadêmica). O Future Problem Solving Program International (FPSPI), criado para melhorar as representações de criatividade e a resolução criativa de problemas em jovens, tem sido um dos mais implementados. Os seus materiais e atividades foram adaptados para estudantes portugueses, efetuando-se um estudo longitudinal. O programa foi implementado durante quatro meses, semanalmente, por treze professores, que receberam formação antes e durante a implementação. O grupo experimental incluiu 77 estudantes do Ensino Básico e Secundário, apresentando o grupo de controlo 78 estudantes com características equivalentes. Os dados sobre a motivação e criatividade foram recolhidos num pré e pós-teste. Os resultados sugerem um aumento significativo na motivação e crenças apropriadas de criatividade no grupo experimental. Implicações práticas e perspectivas para investigações futuras são apresentadas.La creatividad y su promoción generan gran preocupación en educación. Sin embargo, han sido llevados a cabo pocos esfuerzos para implementar programas de promoción de la creatividad y otros aspectos (e.g., motivación académica). El Future Problem Solving Program International (FPSPI), creado para mejorar las representaciones de creatividad y la solución creativa de problemas en jóvenes, ha sido bastante implementado. Se adaptaron sus materiales y actividades para estudiantes portugueses, y se desarrolló un estudio longitudinal. El programa se implementó semanalmente durante cuatro meses por trece profesores, que recibieron formación antes y durante la implementación. El grupo experimental incluyó 77 estudiantes de Educación Primaria y Secundaria y el grupo de control incluyó 78 estudiantes con características semejantes. Los datos de motivación y creatividad fueron recogidos en un pre y post-test, sugiriendo un aumento significativo de motivación y creencias apropiadas sobre la creatividad en el grupo experimental. Se presentan implicaciones prácticas y perspectivas para futuras investigaciones.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - SFRH/BPD/80825/201

Hybrid intelligent framework for automated medical learning

This paper investigates the automated medical learning and proposes hybrid intelligent framework, called Hybrid Automated Medical Learning (HAML). The goal is the efficient combination of several intelligent components in order to automatically learn the medical data. Multi agents system is proposed by using distributed deep learning, and knowledge graph for learning medical data. The distributed deep learning is used for efficient learning of the different agents in the system, where the knowledge graph is used for dealing with heterogeneous medical data. To demonstrate the usefulness and accuracy of the HAML framework, intensive simulations on medical data were conducted. A wide range of experiments were conducted to verify the efficiency of the proposed system. Three case studies are discussed in this research, the first case study is related to process mining, and more precisely on the ability of HAML to detect relevant patterns from event medical data. The second case study is related to smart building, and the ability of HAML to recognize the different activities of the patients. The third one is related to medical image retrieval, and the ability of HAML to find the most relevant medical images according to the image query. The results show that the developed HAML achieves good performance compared to the most up-to-date medical learning models regarding both the computational and cost the quality of returned solutionspublishedVersio

Consensus on a conversation aid for shared decision making with people with intellectual disabilities in the palliative phase

Background: Little is known about how to involve people with intellectual disabilities in making decisions about treatment and care in their palliative phase. We aimed to reach a consensus about a shared decision-making (SDM) conversation aid for people with intellectual disabilities, relatives, and healthcare professionals. Methods: In a Delphi process, an expert panel of 11 people with intellectual disabilities, 14 relatives, and 65 healthcare profe

Conhecimento e Avaliação dos Trade-offs de Custos Logísticos: um Estudo com Profissionais Brasileiros

O equilíbrio entre os custos incorridos e o serviço oferecido ao cliente depende da identificação e da exploração dos trade-offs de custos logísticos. Nesse sentido, o presente estudo teve o objetivo de identificar a extensão em que os profissionais logísticos brasileiros conhecem e avaliam os trade-offs de custos. Para tanto, um questionário, definido com base no arcabouço teórico, foi aplicado a uma amostra de 73 profissionais de companhias comerciais e industriais constantes na relação das maiores empresas da Revista Exame Melhores e Maiores. A indicação da confiabilidade do questionário foi dada pelo Alfa de Cronbach (90, 8%). Os dados coletados foram submetidos à análise quantitativa que abrangeu a estatística descritiva e a realização do teste estatístico não paramétrico de Mann-Whitney.Os resultados demonstraram que a maioria dos profissionais logísticos sabe que os trade-offs existem, mas não possui amplo entendimento do conceito, especialmente da sua relação com o custo total. O conhecimento de que a logística impacta o desempenho econômico-financeiro, por sua vez, apareceu como difundido para a maior parte da amostra, sendo mais expressivo entre os profissionais experientes.Os resultados também revelaram que a avaliação dos trade-offs é enfatizada em desenhos e redesenhos da rede e dos processos logísticos, mas ainda é limitada na formulação de projetos específicos. A não utilização de simuladores de custo e a indisponibilidade de informações adequadas de custo apareceram como fatores relacionados à restrita avaliação dos trade-offs. Esses achados são importantes para demonstrar que a Controladoria pode ajudar a Logística a reverter a situação de não avaliação dos trade-offs para buscar otimizar o resultado econômico

Testing the stability of an acquiescence style factor behind two interrelated substantive variables in a panel design

This article addresses the question of to what extent one type of response style, called acquiescence (or agreeing response bias), is stable over time. A structural equation modeling approach is applied to measure the stability of one acquiescence factor behind two concepts among the same respondents for a 4-year period. The data used are representative population surveys in 1995 and 1999 from the Belgian Election Study in which balanced sets of items are used for measuring two interrelated constructs: perceived ethnic threat and distrust in politics. This study provides empirical support that acquiescence is stable and consistent for a 4-year period