Acculturation and overseas assignments: A review and research agenda

This review analyzes two streams of literature that are exploring a similar phenomenon from separate perspectives and only recently have they began to overlap; that of migrant acculturation (from the psychology, sociology and anthropology research) and international assignee adjustment (from the international business research stream). We conducted a multiple correspondence analysis on a sample of 389 articles to provide the intellectual structure of the research in these fields. Our research indicates that: 1) the standard 2x2 matrix of acculturation is insufficient; 2) most past research focuses on USA to other countries and vice versa, suggesting there is much work left to explore other pairs of cultures ("there and back again" is not the same globally); 3) as global organizations are dominating the marketplace with many various staffing forms, variables such as corporate culture and management interaction will need to be incorporated; 4) research needs to include dynamics over time as many individuals who have worked outside of their home country often become multi-cultural with a global mindset and the typical acculturation framework is insufficient; 5) past acculturation research focuses on the work or the sociocultural context separately, while both need to be included; 6) and the extended family (parents, relatives, close friends, etc.) need to be considered

An Optimal Scaling Approach to Collaborative Filtering using Categorical Principal Component Analysis and Neighborhood Formation

Abstract. Collaborative Filtering (CF) is a popular technique employed by Recommender Systems, a term used to describe intelligent methods that generate personalized recommendations. The most common and accurate approaches to CF are based on latent factor models. Latent factor models can tackle two fundamental problems of CF, data sparsity and scalability and have received considerable attention in recent literature. In this work, we present an optimal scaling approach to address both of these problems using Categorical Principal Component Analysis for the low-rank approximation of the user-item ratings matrix, followed by a neighborhood formation step. The optimal scaling approach has the advantage that it can be easily extended to the case when there are missing data and restrictions for ordinal and numerical variables can be easily imposed. We considered different measurement levels for the user ratings on items, starting with a multiple nominal and consecutively applying nominal, ordinal and numeric levels. Experiments were executed on the MovieLens dataset, aiming to evaluate the aforementioned options in terms of accuracy. Results indicated that a combined approach (multiple nominal measurement level, "passive" missing data strategy) clearly outperformed the other tested options

Map Based Visualization of Product Catalogs

Traditionally, recommender systems present recommendations in lists to the user. In content- and knowledge-based recommendation systems these list are often sorted on some notion of similarity with a query, ideal product specification, or sample product. However, a lot of information is lost in this way, since two even similar products can differ from the query on a completely different set of product characteristics. When using a two dimensional, that is, a map-based, representation of the recommendations, it is possible to retain this information. In the map we can then position recommendations that are similar to each other in the same area of the map. Both in science and industry an increasing number of two dimensional graphical interfaces have been introduced over the last years. However, some of them lack a sound scientific foundation, while other approaches are not applicable in a recommendation setting. In our chapter, we will describe a framework, which has a solid scientific foundation (using state-of-the-art statistical models) and is specifically designed to work with e-commerce product catalogs. Basis of the framework is the Product Catalog Map interface based on multidimensional scaling. Also, we show another type of interface based on nonlinear principal components analysis, which provides an easy way in constraining the space based on specific characteristic values. Then, we discuss some advanced issues. Firstly, we discuss how the product catalog interface can be adapted to better fit the users' notion of importance of attributes using click stream analysis. Secondly, we show an user interface that combines recommendation by proposing with the map based approach. Finally, we show how these methods can be applied to a real e-commerce product catalog of MP3-players

Modeling consumer behavior in the portuguese recycling program: the logistics and communication planning implications

Tese de Doutoramento, Métodos Quantitativos Aplicados à Economia e à Gestão na especialidade de Estatística, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Algarve, 2004Based on the data of the most recent national survey conducted in Portugal for Sociedade Ponto Verde (SPV) concerning the attitudes and motivations towards household packaging separation and selective disposal for recycling, the main objective of this thesis is to explore the use of multivariate statistical methods to provide a quantitative formative research on the determinants of recycling behavior in the Portuguese case

Enhanced interpretation of the Mini-Mental State Examination

The goal of the research reported in this thesis is to contribute to early and accurate detection of dementia. Early detection of dementia is essential to maximising the effectiveness of treatment against memory loss. This goal is pursued by interpreting the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in novel ways. The MMSE is the most widely used screening tool for dementia, it is a questionnaire of 30 items. The objectives of the research are as follows: to reduce the dimensions of the MMSE to the most relevant ones in order to inform a predictive model by using computational methods on a data set of MMSE results, to construct a model predicting a diagnosis informed by the features extracted from the previous step by applying, comparing and combining traditional and novel modelling methods, to propose a semantic analysis of the sentence writing question in the MMSE in order to utilise information recorded in MMS examinations which has not been considered previously. Traditional methods of analysis are inadequate for questionnaire data such as the MMSE due to assumptions of normally distributed data. Alternative methods for analysis of discrete data are investigated and a novel method for computing information theoretic measures is proposed. The methods are used to demonstrate that an automated analysis of the MMSE sentence improves the accuracy of differentiating between types of dementia. Finally, models are proposed which integrate the semantic annotations with the MMSE data to derive rules for difficult to distinguish types of dementia

An Overview and Tutorial of the Repertory Grid Technique in Information Systems Research

Interest in the repertory grid technique has been growing in the IS field. This article seeks to inform the reader on the proper use and application of the technique in IS research. The methodology has unique advantages that make it suitable for many research settings. In this tutorial, we describe the technique, its theoretical underpinnings, and how it may be used by IS researchers. We conclude by detailing many IS research opportunities that exist in respect to the repertory grid technique

Re-examining Subfamily Classifications For the Alu Family of Repeated DNA Sequences

The primate Alu family of repetitive elements has been widely characterized. This ubiquitous class of retroposons has been found to occupy some 5% of the human genome. This heterogenous group of Short Interspersed Nucleic add Elements (SINEs) has been theorized to possess an identifiable subfamily structure between and within various taxonomic levels in primates. It has been postulated that humans possess up to 6 Alu subfamilies in their genome; this number, however, has varied according to the method of analysis performed on the data. Quentin (1988) analyzed 127 aligned Alu sequences and found evidence supporting the amplification/fixation theory in 5 subfamilies. The research presented in this thesis posits that Quentin\u27s method of alignment used in the correspondence analysis is questionable. A reexamination using an alternative, perhaps more tenable, alignment of the Alu sequences may allow for a more lucid and accurate identification of Alu subfamily structure in the human genome