Students Attitudes Toward A New Method For Preventing Loafing On The Group Project: The Team Activity Diary

The Team Activity Diary (TAD) is designed to prevent social loafing on the team project. This paper describes the TAD and reports on students’ perceptions of it. Although students appeared fairly indifferent to the TAD, 25% of the students indicated that it increased their contributions to the team project. Moreover, 16% of the students felt the TAD increased the contributions from some of their teammates.  The authors present recommendations for use of the TAD and offer suggestions for future researchers

The measurement of guanxi: Introducing the GRX scale

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Industrial Marketing Management. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2010 Elsevier B.V.This study posits and examines a measurement scale for measuring guanxi based on three Chinese relational constructs – ganqing, renqing and xinren. Focusing on Anglo-Chinese buyer–seller relationships, the research reports the findings from six qualitative in-depth interviews and survey data obtained from over 200 Taiwanese trading companies. Based on exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses the findings from the final second-order confirmatory factor analysis of the guanxi model identified 11 items for measuring ganqing, renqing, xinren and guanxi respectively. The results offer a useful starting point in order for business practitioners to assess their guanxi and at the same time provide academics with a scale for operationalizing the measurement of guanxi

Can Perfume Increase The Response Rate To A Face-To-Face Survey?

After this paper reviews the literature related to the use of scent in marketing and other fields, it describes an experiment that manipulated the use of a perfume on a personal interviewer. The results indicate that perfume can be used to enhance the response rate to a face-to-face survey without incurring a sample bias or affecting the item omission rate.  Suggestions for future researchers are offered

Lessons Learned From Using An Ill-Conceived Nonmonetary, Prepaid Incentive In A Self-Administered Survey Of College Students

An experiment was conducted to determine how effective a prepaid, nonmonetary incentive would be at inducing college students to participate in a self-administered survey. The experiment was conducted on two college campuses in Los Angeles County.  As students exited their campus library, an interviewer approached them for an interview.  Half of those approached were offered a prepaid, nonmonetary incentive; the other half were not. Contrary to expectations, the prepaid, nonmonetary incentive dampened the response rate to the survey. Explanations are offered as to why the incentive was counterproductive

Increasing follow-up questionnaire response rates in a randomized controlled trial of telehealth for depression: three embedded controlled studies

Background: Attrition is problematic in trials, and may be exacerbated in longer studies, telehealth trials and participants with depression – three features of The Healthlines Study. Advance notification, including a photograph and using action-oriented email subject lines might increase response rates, but require further investigation. We examined the effectiveness of these interventions in three embedded Healthlines studies. Methods: Based in different trial sites, participants with depression were alternately allocated to be pre-called or not ahead of the 8-month follow-up questionnaire (Study 1), randomized to receive a research team photograph or not with their 12-month questionnaire (Study 2), and randomized to receive an action-oriented (‘ACTION REQUIRED’) or standard (‘Questionnaire reminder’) 12-month email reminder (Study 3). Participants could complete online or postal questionnaires, and received up to five questionnaire reminders. The primary outcome was completion of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Secondary outcome measures were the number of reminders and time to questionnaire completion. Results: Of a total of 609 Healthlines depression participants, 190, 251 and 231 participants were included in Studies 1–3 (intervention: 95, 126 and 115), respectively. Outcome completion was ≥90 % across studies, with no differences between trial arms (Study 1: OR 0.38, 95 % CI 0.07–2.10; Study 2: OR 0.84, 95 % CI 0.26–2.66; Study 3: OR 0.53 95 % CI 0.19–1.49). Pre-called participants were less likely to require a reminder (48.4 % vs 62.1 %, OR 0.41, 95 % CI 0.21–0.78), required fewer reminders (adjusted difference in means −0.67, 95 % CI −1.13 to −0.20), and completed follow-up quicker (median 8 vs 15 days, HR 1.35, 95 % CI 1.00–1.82) than control subjects. There were no significant between-group differences in Studies 2 or 3. Conclusions: Eventual response rates in this trial were high, with no further improvement from these interventions. While the photograph and email interventions were ineffective, pre-calling participants reduced time to completion. This strategy might be helpful when the timing of study completion is important. Researchers perceived a substantial benefit from the reduction in reminders with pre-calling, despite no overall decrease in net effort after accounting for pre-notification

An Exploratory Investigation Of College Students Attitudes Toward Californias New Menu-Labeling Law

In March of 2009, business students at a large public university in the Los Angeles area were polled about their attitudes towards a new menu-labeling law that was about to be implemented in California. It was hypothesized that the students would be in favor of the law and that those in favor of it would be inclined to select healthier items on the menu.  Moreover, it was hypothesized that the law would be favored more by females than males, and more by persons who perceive themselves as overweight than those who perceive themselves as average weight. Support was found for all of the hypotheses except for the one concerning a person’s perceived weight status. A student’s perceived weight status appears to have no effect on his or her reaction to the new menu-labeling law. The survey results indicate that menu-labeling will be effective in promoting better eating habits among college students who dine out

Evaluation of an interactive, case-based review session in teaching medical microbiology

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oklahoma State University-Center for Health Sciences (OSU-CHS) has replaced its microbiology wet laboratory with a variety of tutorials including a case-based interactive session called Microbial Jeopardy!. The question remains whether the time spent by students and faculty in the interactive case-based tutorial is worthwhile? This study was designed to address this question by analyzing both student performance data and assessing students' perceptions regarding the tutorial.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Both quantitative and qualitative data were used in the current study. Part One of the study involved assessing student performance using archival records of seven case-based exam questions used in the 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 OSU-CHS Medical Microbiology course. Two sample t-tests for proportions were used to test for significant differences related to tutorial usage. Part Two used both quantitative and qualitative means to assess student's perceptions of the Microbial Jeopardy! session. First, a retrospective survey was administered to students who were enrolled in Medical Microbiology in 2006 or 2007. Second, responses to open-ended items from the 2008 course evaluations were reviewed for comments regarding the Microbial Jeopardy! session.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both student performance and student perception data support continued use of the tutorials. Quantitative and qualitative data converge to suggest that students like and learn from the interactive, case-based session.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The case-based tutorial appears to improve student performance on case-based exam questions. Additionally, students perceived the tutorial as helpful in preparing for exam questions and reviewing the course material. The time commitment for use of the case-based tutorial appears to be justified.</p

Análise dos Fatores Que Influenciam a Intenção de Uso do M-Commerce por Americanos da Geração Millennial

Over the last few years, there has been an increase in m-commerce (mobile commerce) sales by means of smartphones, which has had a significant impact on the electronic commerce of the countries. Thus, there is a need to investigate the factors that influence users’ Intention to Use m-commerce. Through an adaptation of the UTAUT (Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology) model, this study looked at the factors that affect the Usage Intention of Americans. The results reaffirm the relationship between the Expectation of Performance and the Facilitating Conditions in the Intention to Use. Besides, it confirmed the relationship between the Expectation of Performance and the Expectation of Effort, as well as between the Expectations of Effort in the Facilitating Conditions. Finally, it presents the moderating effect of age between social influence and the Intention to Use mobile m-commerce.Ao longo dos últimos anos, evidenciou-se um crescimento de vendas através do m-commerce (mobile commerce), por meio dos smartphones, que passou a ter impacto significativo no comércio eletrônico dos países. Com isso, surge a necessidade de investigar quais são os fatores que influenciam a Intenção de Uso do m-commerce pelos usuários. Por intermédio de uma adaptação do modelo da UTAUT (Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology – Teoria Unificada de Aceitação e Uso de Tecnologia), este estudo analisou fatores que afetam a Intenção de Uso de americanos. Os resultados reafirmam a relação entre a Expectativa de Performance e as Condições Facilitadoras e a Intenção de Uso. Além disso, confirmou-se a relação entre a Expectativa de Performance e a Expectativa de Esforço e entre a Expectativa de Esforço e as Condições Facilitadoras. Por fim, apresenta-se o efeito moderador da idade entre a Influência Social e a Intenção de Uso do m-commerce

New tools for measuring global academic performance

The study is on performance measurement in academia. It aims at developing and validating the measurement scale for the performance of higher institutions. The items were developed based on the extant literature. Data were collected via an online survey in which a questionnaire link was sent to 269 vice chancellors/presidents of the sampled universities. A total of 133 responses were retrieved at the end of the data collection period. This study used proportionate random sampling for sample selection. The goodness of measures was checked via field experts, academicians, and data analysis with SPSS. Overall, the alpha coefficient was .974. The outcome of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) exposed all factors loaded more than 0.50. The results revealed that the instrument was reliable and valid. Hence, the instrument developed was suitable to be used in examining the performance of higher institutions

E-Mail Interviewing in Qualitative Research: A Methodological Discussion

This article summarizes findings from studies that employed electronic mail (e-mail) for conducting indepth interviewing. It discusses the benefits of, and the challenges associated with, using e-mail interviewing in qualitative research. The article concludes that while a mixed mode interviewing strategy should be considered when possible, e-mail interviewing can be in many cases a viable alternative to face-to-face and telephone interviewing. A list of recommendations for carrying out effective e-mail interviews is presented