8,567 research outputs found

    A review of the characteristics of 108 author-level bibliometric indicators

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    An increasing demand for bibliometric assessment of individuals has led to a growth of new bibliometric indicators as well as new variants or combinations of established ones. The aim of this review is to contribute with objective facts about the usefulness of bibliometric indicators of the effects of publication activity at the individual level. This paper reviews 108 indicators that can potentially be used to measure performance on the individual author level, and examines the complexity of their calculations in relation to what they are supposed to reflect and ease of end-user application.Comment: to be published in Scientometrics, 201

    Design and Validation of the Non-Verbal Immediacy Scale (NVIS) for the Evaluation of Non-Verbal Language in University Professors

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    Knowledge and awareness of how to use non-verbal language is essential for the educational field. For this reason, the aim of this study was to develop a validation that validly and reliably measures the analysis of non-verbal language in university teachers. Content validation was carried out by applying the Delphi technique and through an exploratory and confirmatory analysis. The validity of understanding is given by the application of the scale to 1316 university teachers between 24 and 67 years of age. The initial data collected through the Delphi technique provided some modifications. The final scale, called Non-verbal immediacy, was composed of a total of 26 items that presented satisfactory adjustments in both comprehension and outcome validity. Confirmatory factor analysis determined three dimensions (kinesics, paralanguage, and proxemics). These factors will be a new element for future lines of research related to the teaching-learning process, as high relationships have been demonstrated between non-verbal language and psychosocial aspects implicit in teaching practice, as well as comprehension and student learning

    The role of defensive information processing in population-based colorectal cancer screening uptake

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    BACKGROUND: Internationally, colorectal cancer screening participation remains low despite the availability of home-based testing and numerous interventions to increase uptake. To be effective, interventions should be based on an understanding of what influences individuals’ decisions about screening participation. This study investigates the association of defensive information processing (DIP) with fecal immunochemical test (FIT)–based colorectal cancer screening uptake. METHODS: Regression modeling of data from a cross-sectional survey within a population-based FIT screening program was conducted. The survey included the seven subdomains of the McQueen DIP measure. The primary outcome variable was the uptake status (screening user or nonuser). Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) for screening nonuse by DIP (sub)domain score, with adjustments made for sociodemographic and behavioral factors associated with uptake. RESULTS: Higher scores (equating to greater defensiveness) on all DIP domains were significantly associated with lower uptake in the model adjusted for sociodemographic factors. In the model with additional adjustments for behavioral factors, the suppression subdomains of “deny immediacy to be tested” (OR, 0.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.43–0.65; p < .001) and “self-exemption” (OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.68–0.96; p < .001) independently predicted nonuse of FIT-based screening. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study outside the United States that has identified DIP as a barrier to colorectal cancer screening uptake, and it is the first focused specifically on FIT-based screening. The findings suggest that two suppression barriers, namely denying the immediacy to be tested and self-exempting oneself from screening, may be promising targets for future interventions to improve uptake

    Do Quasi-Hyperbolic Preferences Explain Academic Procrastination? An Empirical Evaluation

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    Traditional neoclassical thought fails to explain questions such as problems of self-control. Behavioural economics have explained these matters on the basis of the intertemporal preferences of individuals and, specifically, the so-called (ÎČ, ÎŽ) model which emphasises present bias. This opens the way to the analysis of new situations in which people can adopt incorrect indecisions that make it necessary for the government to intervene. The literature which has developed the (ÎČ, ÎŽ) model and its implications has generated a categorisation of people that is widely used but which lacks a systematic empirical evaluation. It is important to value the need for this public action. In this article, we develop a method which makes it possible to verify the main implications that this model has to explain the procrastination of university students. Using an experimental time discount task with real monetary incentives, we estimate the students’ ÎČ and ÎŽ parameters and we analyse their correlation with their answers to a series of questions concerning how they plan to study for an exam. The results are ambiguous given that they back some of the model’s conclusions but reject others, including a number of the most basic ones, such as the relation between present biases and some of the categories of people, these being essential to predict their behaviour

    Bandwagon of impact factor for journal scientometrics

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    Determinants of the international influence of a R&D organisation: a bibliometric approach

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    Traditionally, studies on the influence and impact of knowledge-producing organisations have been addressed by means of strict economic analysis, stressing their economic impact to a local, regional or national extent. In the present study, an alternative methodology is put forward in order to evaluate the international scientific impact and influence of a knowledge-producing and -diffusing institution. We introduce a new methodology, based on scientometric and bibliometric tools, which complement traditional assessments by considering the influence of a R&D institution when looking at the scientific production undertaken and the recognition of its relevance by its international peer community. Focusing on the most prolific scientific areas of INESC Porto, and resorting to published scientific work recorded in the Science Citation Index (SCI), we show that INESC Porto has enlarged its international scientific network. The logit estimations demonstrate that the wide geographical influence of INESC Porto scientific research is a result not of its international positioning in terms of co-authorships, but rather a result of the quality of its scientific output.Impact and influence assessment methods; R&D Institutions; Bibliometrics, Scientometrics; knowledge network; INESC Porto

    Bond Liquidity Premia

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    Recent asset pricing models of limits to arbitrage emphasize the role of funding conditions faced by financial intermediaries. In the US, the repo market is the key funding market. Then, the premium of on-the-run U.S. Treasury bonds should share a common component with risk premia in other markets. This observation leads to the following identification strategy. We measure the value of funding liquidity from the cross-section of on-the-run premia by adding a liquidity factor to an arbitrage-free term structure model. As predicted, we find that funding liquidity explains the cross-section of risk premia. An increase in the value of liquidity predicts lower risk premia for on-the-run and off-the-run bonds but higher risk premia on LIBOR loans, swap contracts and corporate bonds. Moreover, the impact is large and pervasive through crisis and normal times. We check the interpretation of the liquidity factor. It varies with transaction costs, S&P500 valuation ratios and aggregate uncertainty. More importantly, the liquidity factor varies with narrow measures of monetary aggregates and measures of bank reserves. Overall, the results suggest that different securities serve, in part, and to varying degrees, to fulfill investors' uncertain future needs for cash depending on the ability of intermediaries to provide immediacy.Financial markets; Financial stability

    Multimedia Design, Learning Effectiveness, and Student Perceptions of Instructor Credibility and Immediacy

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    Online learning and the use of multimedia is a quickly growing element of higher education. This experimental research study examines five common audio and video presentation designs to inform evidence-based practices that can be applied by instructional designers as they develop content for online learners. Specifically, this experiment compares instructor-only, slides-only, dual-windows, video-switching, and superimposed-slides multimedia designs in terms of learning effectiveness, perceived instructor credibility, instructor immediacy, and cognitive load created by each design. This study included a diverse sample of adult learners who were randomly assigned to treatment groups. A total of 171 participants completed the study and responded to the NASA Task Load Index (TLX) used to gauge task and cognitive load, the credibility and immediacy survey, and the 20-item post-test. A series of 5x1 Analyses of Variance and Tukey post-hoc calculations were conducted to test for statistically significant differences between groups. The results suggest that a balance can be established between instructor credibility and immediacy by showing both the instructor and instructional content during online classes. The five multimedia designs can yield similar results in recall and comprehension as long as audio, video, and content quality is a design priority. The results also indicate that the design of instructional methods has a greater impact on learning than the device used to receive that instruction. Media and technology are a means to deliver pedagogy and foster communication; it is up to instructors and designers to use evidence-based best practices such as these to build optimal learning environments and instructional systems

    Communication expectations for college instructors : do traditional and nontraditional students want the same things?

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    For over 20 years the instructional literature has suggested communication techniques and methods to instructors that enhance motivation and learning among traditional college students in their classrooms. However, the face of undergraduate students today is changing, and the nontraditional students entering colleges cannot be overlooked if instructors hope to serve every student. Thus, this study investigated the extent to which traditional and nontraditional students differ with respect to demographic characteristics and learning orientations and expectations of instructor communication behaviors as well as to see how those expectations affected their classroom motivation and learning. The investigation utilized Expectancy Violations Theory (Burgoon, 1978) as a basis for understanding student responses to instructor communication in the classroom. To determine whether age and life experience impacts the expectations students have of their instructors’ communication behaviors, 327 traditional and nontraditional undergraduate students from a four-year southeastern research university were surveyed. An instrument was developed to measure and compare expectations and experiences of the following instructor communication behaviors: nonverbal immediacy, verbal immediacy, clarity, affmity-seeking, student-centeredness, and instructor-centeredness
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