A functional-cognitive framework for attitude research

In attitude research, behaviours are often used as proxies for attitudes and attitudinal processes. This practice is problematic because it conflates the behaviours that need to be explained (explanandum) with the mental constructs that are used to explain these behaviours (explanans). In the current chapter we propose a meta-theoretical framework that resolves this problem by distinguishing between two levels of analysis. According to the proposed framework, attitude research can be conceptualised as the scientific study of evaluation. Evaluation is defined not in terms of mental constructs but in terms of elements in the environment, more specifically, as the effect of stimuli on evaluative responses. From this perspective, attitude research provides answers to two questions: (1) Which elements in the environment moderate evaluation? (2) What mental processes and representations mediate evaluation? Research on the first question provides explanations of evaluative responses in terms of elements in the environment (functional level of analysis); research on the second question offers explanations of evaluation in terms of mental processes and representations (cognitive level of analysis). These two levels of analysis are mutually supportive, in that better explanations at one level lead to better explanations at the other level. However, their mutually supportive relation requires a clear distinction between the concepts of their explanans and explanandum, which are conflated if behaviours are treated as proxies for mental constructs. The value of this functional-cognitive framework is illustrated by applying it to four central questions of attitude research

Discovery and Communication of Important Marketing Findings: Evidence and Proposals

My review of empirical research on scientific publication led to the following conclusions. Three criteria are useful for identifying whether findings are important: replication, validity, and usefulness. A fourth criterion, surprise, applies in some situations. Based on these criteria, important findings resulting from academic research in marketing seem to be rare. To a large extent, this rarity is due to a reward system that is built around subjective peer review. Rather than using peer review as a secret screening process, using an open process likely will improve papers and inform readers. Researchers, journals, business schools, funding agencies, and professional organizations can all contribute to improving the process. For example, researchers should do directed research on papers that contribute to principles. Journals should invite papers that contribute to principles. Business school administrators should reward researchers who make important findings. Funding agencies should base decisions on researchers' prior success in making important findings, and professional organizations should maintain web sites that describe what is known about principles and what research is needed on principles

Discovery and Communication of Important Marketing Findings: Evidence and Proposals

My review of empirical research on scientific publication led to the following conclusions. Three criteria are useful for identifying whether findings are important: replication, validity, and usefulness. A fourth criterion, surprise, applies in some situations. Based on these criteria, important findings resulting from academic research in marketing seem to be rare. To a large extent, this rarity is due to a reward system that is built around subjective peer review. Rather than using peer review as a secret screening process, using an open process likely will improve papers and inform readers. Researchers, journals, business schools, funding agencies, and professional organizations can all contribute to improving the process. For example, researchers should do directed research on papers that contribute to principles. Journals should invite papers that contribute to principles. Business school administrators should reward researchers who make important findings. Funding agencies should base decisions on researchers' prior success in making important findings, and professional organizations should maintain web sites that describe what is known about principles and what research is needed on principles.marketing, marketing findings

Waking up to the Present: Vipassana Meditation and the Body

Using ethnographic methods I examine the process of learning vipassana meditation, a form of meditation in which the practitioner focuses on their bodily sensations, and the ways in which learning this form of meditation affects the practitioner\u27s daily life. I employ reflexivity alongside an ethnography of the particular to capture my experiences as the student of a Thai Theravada Buddhist monk who teaches at a temple in Portland, Oregon. Through this process I have found that learning vipassana meditation pervades numerous aspects of daily life, extending beyond direct instruction and meditation practice, bringing about perceptual changes in reality as learned concepts become embodied through both meditation and lived experience

[[alternative]]Enhancing On-Line Learning Using Standards and Web 2.0 Technologies---Using Multimedia Course as an Example

計畫編號：NSC96-2524-S032-001研究期間：200708~200807研究經費：4,080,000[[sponsorship]]行政院國家科學委員

TEACHING TO THE TEST: ASSESSMENT SYLLABUS AND VALIDITY OF ENGLISH EDUCATION IN BOTSWANA SECONDARY SCHOOLS

The demand for better results among school leavers in Botswana, like in many other places in the world, has been increasing in recent years, but what do the scores students get in examinations really mean? Do they mean such school leavers are adequately equipped to join the world of work and fully participate in the development process? Is classroom instruction geared towards achieving the goals of the syllabus or it is a mere examination preparedness exercise? To what extent can mid-year and final examinations be taken as a valid measure of the syllabus?            To find the answers to these questions and others, the study, which was survey inferential in nature, comparatively content analysed the subject matter content as well as cognitive skill content of the midyear as well as the final examinations, and the subject matter content as well as well as cognitive skill content of English language syllabi. The data was then analysed using SPSS by conducting Pearson correlation and Fisher’s z-score transformations tests. Both literature review and findings for this study indicated a tendency among instructors to teach more to fulfil the requirements of the examinations than those of the syllabus. Correlation between the content of the mid-year examinations and that of BGCSE was found to be significant in most cases. It was recommended that teachers be engaged in in-service courses that emphasize test development and that assessment of English should include oral exams.  Article visualizations