4,072 research outputs found
Alone together: Biographical crises in times of pandemix
I have been studying biographical crises for some years now. My interest is in understanding how people cope with very personal difficult moments experienced over the course of their lives. I am examining critical events and periods connected, for example, to the death of someone close, a disease, accidents, severe economic difficulties, among other traumatic occurrences [1]. One of the main features of this type of micro analysis is that it examines extremely private dimensions of a person’s life, and deals with the exceptionality and sometimes even unpredictability of these events in that person’s biography. It is true that many of these crises illustrate the individual dimension of larger societal trends. An accident, a death, or a disease can be understood at the individual level as the result of chance, but if we look at the global picture, these are events that are quite common in people’s biographies. They are individually unexpected but collectively probable. And while they tend to have disruptive effects, there are institutional responses to such circumstances [2]. Societies are prepared, through their institutions, to deal with these negative moments, precisely because they are integral parts of social life.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
On the Hausdorff Dimension of Continuous Functions Belonging to Hölder and Besov Spaces on Fractal d-Sets
The Hausdorff dimension of the graphs of the functions in Hölder and Besov spaces (in this case with integrability p≥1) on fractal d-sets is studied. Denoting by s in (0,1] the smoothness parameter, the sharp upper bound min{d+1-s, d/s} is obtained. In particular, when passing from d≥s to d<s there is a change of behaviour from d+1-s to d/s which implies that even highly nonsmooth functions defined on cubes in ℝn have not so rough graphs when restricted to, say, rarefied fractals. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
Fitting isochrones to open cluster photometric data III. Estimating metallicities from UBV photometry
The metallicity is a critical parameter that affects the correct
determination fundamental characteristics stellar cluster and has important
implications in Galactic and Stellar evolution research. Fewer than 10 % of the
2174 currently catalog open clusters have their metallicity determined in the
literature. In this work we present a method for estimating the metallicity of
open clusters via non-subjective isochrone fitting using the cross-entropy
global optimization algorithm applied to UBV photometric data. The free
parameters distance, reddening, age, and metallicity simultaneously determined
by the fitting method. The fitting procedure uses weights for the observational
data based on the estimation of membership likelihood for each star, which
considers the observational magnitude limit, the density profile of stars as a
function of radius from the center of the cluster, and the density of stars in
multi-dimensional magnitude space. We present results of [Fe/H] for nine
well-studied open clusters based on 15 distinct UBV data sets. The [Fe/H]
values obtained in the ten cases for which spectroscopic determinations were
available in the literature agree, indicating that our method provides a good
alternative to determining [Fe/H] by using an objective isochrone fitting. Our
results show that the typical precision is about 0.1 dex
Validation of the Portuguese version of the Langer Mindfulness Scale and its relations to quality of work life and work-related outcomes
Mindfulness is an active mindset characterized by novel distinction-drawing and has been related to happiness and well-being. This study aims to validate the Portuguese version of the Langer Mindfulness scale (LMS14), to explore its psychometric and structural properties, and to analyze the role of mindfulness on the relation between work characteristics and performance. We conducted three studies; the first (N = 141) tested the scale’s factorial structure and its psychometric properties. In the second we used two samples (N = 330) and tested the factorial structure of the scale, its reliability and validity. In the third (N = 154) we analyzed the moderating role of mindfulness in the relationship between autonomy and feedback with performance. Results showed three factors — novelty seeking, novelty producing, and engagement — and convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity as the scale correlates with well-being, affect, creativity, and work engagement. Results demonstrated that mindfulness moderates the link between autonomy and feedback with performance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Corporate blended learning in Portugal: current status and future directions
The aim of this study is to characterize the current status of blended learning in Portugal, given that b-learning has grown exponentially in the Portuguese market over recent years. 38 organizations (representing 68% of all institutions certified to provide distance training by the Government Labour Office – DGERT -) participated in this study. The results revealed that in 2007, although the predominant instructional format in Portugal was still face-to-face training (65%), e-learning at 15% came in behind b-learning with 20%. Data also revealed that 50% of distance training department coordinators believe that b-learning produces better training outcomes than face-to-face training alone, when considering the same content and learning objectives. Furthermore, when comparing b-learning and e-learning outcomes with similar content and learning objectives, 78.1% of these coordinators declared that b-learning produces better outcomes than e-learning alone. Hence, the content analysis indicated positive perceptions with regard to the future direction of b-learning, leading to the conclusion that in the long-term, corporate b-learning training will develop considerably in this country
Biographical research through the looking glass of pandemic times: Challenges and possibilities of online interviewing
In biographical interviewing, building strong relationships characterised by rapport and trust with our participants, through direct face-to-face interactions, is critical. However, the emergence of Covid-19 calls into
question the continuity of co-presence research as researchers increasingly adopt online interviewing techniques. The mobilisation of digital inquiry is by no means new in social scientific research (Fielding et
al. 2017; James and Busher 2009) nonetheless, the need for Social Distancing to control virus transmission means that cloud-based video conferencing is being more frequently utilised in qualitative research (Dodds and Hess 2021; Lupton 2020). This presents serious challenges in how we ‘do’ biographical research, how we forge trusting bonds with
participants whilst negotiating unprecedented social and temporal distancing that characterises the current context.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
How followers' neuroticism buffers the role of the leader in their daily mental health via daily positive affect: A multilevel approach
This study expands on the existing research on employees' work-related mental health by analyzing (1) the relationship between within-person fluctuations in perceived leadership effectiveness and positive affect and mental health and (2) between-person variations in neuroticism as a relevant boundary condition of this relationship. Multilevel data were collected from 224 working adults (2240 measurement occasions). The results demonstrated that fluctuations in the perception of the leader's effectiveness were positively related to daily positive affect, and this relationship was moderated by the followers' levels of neuroticism, in such a way that higher levels of neuroticism buffered the positive effect of leadership effectiveness on positive affect. The findings also evidenced a positive relationship between daily positive affect and daily mental health, as well as a significant indirect effect from perceived leadership effectiveness to daily fluctuations in mental health via daily fluctuations in positive affect. An effective leader makes employees feel more positive affect during the day, which is beneficial to their daily mental health; however, this relationship is may be impaired by the employees' levels of neuroticism. Practical implications for theory and practice are discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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