Electronic Mail and New Methods for Measuring Media Richness

Media richness has been defined in the literature in terms of four objective characteristics. A rich medium is one that allows for communication of multiple cues through multiple channels, language variety, immediate feedback and a high degree of personalness (Lengel, 1983; Daft and Lengel, 1986). When this concept is applied to traditional forms of communication, face-to-face interaction is considered to be the richest, followed by the telephone, a letter, a memo and a flyer/bulletin (Lengel, 1983;Trevino, Lengel,Bodensteiner, Gerloff and Muir, 1990). With the acceptance and general use in recent years of electronic forms of communication, such as electronic mail, it is of interest to examine where along this continuum of media richness the new electronic forms lie. This is important to ascertain because the so-called richness imperative suggests that high-rich media are necessary for the effective handling of equivocal situations, while low-rich media are sufficient for situations that are low inequivocality (Trevino et al., 1990). Thus, it is useful to know which media are rich and which are not in determining how to apply the above rule. Electronic mail (E-mail) is a commonly used electronic communication medium. It can be classified as a relatively low-rich, or lean, medium according to the four characteristics of richness. In using E-mail, one is not able to communicate through multiple cues or multiple channels, use of much language variety is limited, immediate feedback may or may not be possible depending on the availability and inclination of the communication partner, and based on the required use of a computer and the written word, it is not generally viewed as a personal mode of communication. However, according to some recent studies in the literature, there is some evidence that E-mail is perceived by its users to be a richer communication medium than its objective characteristics would indicate (Fulk, Schmitz and Ryu, 1995; Kydd and Ferry, 1992; Markus, 1994; Lee, 1994). This suggeststhat there may be subjective factors involved in determining the richness of a medium in addition to the objective characteristics. Thus, we need a way of capturing these subjective factors that will allow us to understand why E-mail (and perhaps other communication media) is perceived to be richer than that dictated by the definition of richness. The purpose of this research is two-fold. First, we suggest that the way in which richness has been measured in the past is not sufficient to allow us to truly understand why E-mail and other electronic media are viewed as either rich or lean. Second, we develop and test an instrument for measuring media richness based on the original definition and description. Lengel (1983) originally used a 100-point scale to measure the richness of traditional communication media such as the telephone, a formal memo and a letter. Trevino et al. (1990) used the same scale to measure the richness of electronic mail and found that it was rated at approximately 75. Unfortunately, this tells us nothing about why respondents evaluated E-mail richness as they did. Is it personalness, feedback, or some other dimension? This research attempts to develop a more robust instrument for measuring richness directly by measuring the four characteristics specified in the definition. There is a precedent for this in Fulk et al. (1995), who took the first step in measuring richness in this way by asking one question per characteristic. We propose a fuller instrument that includes several items percharacteristic which can then be folded into a composite measure of media richness

A Synthesis of Human-related Avian Mortality in Canada

Many human activities in Canada kill wild birds, yet the relative magnitude of mortality from different sources and the consequent effects on bird populations have not been systematically evaluated. We synthesize recent estimates of avian mortality in Canada from a range of industrial and other human activities, to provide context for the estimates from individual sources presented in this special feature. We assessed the geographic, seasonal, and taxonomic variation in the magnitude of national-scale mortality and in population-level effects on species or groups across Canada, by combining these estimates into a stochastic model of stage-specific mortality. The range of estimates of avian mortality from each source covers several orders of magnitude, and, numerically, landbirds were the most affected group. In total, we estimate that approximately 269 million birds and 2 million nests are destroyed annually in Canada, the equivalent of over 186 million breeding individuals. Combined, cat predation and collisions with windows, vehicles, and transmission lines caused > 95% of all mortality; the highest industrial causes of mortality were the electrical power and agriculture sectors. Other mortality sources such as fisheries bycatch can have important local or species-specific impacts, but are relatively small at a national scale. Mortality rates differed across species and families within major bird groups, highlighting that mortality is not simply proportional to abundance. We also found that mortality is not evenly spread across the country; the largest mortality sources are coincident with human population distribution, while industrial sources are concentrated in southern Ontario, Alberta, and southwestern British Columbia. Many species are therefore likely to be vulnerable to cumulative effects of multiple human-related impacts. This assessment also confirms the high uncertainty in estimating human-related avian mortality in terms of species involved, potential for population-level effects, and the cumulative effects of mortality across the landscape. Effort is still required to improve these estimates, and to guide conservation efforts to minimize direct mortality caused by human activities on Canada's wild bird populations. As avian mortality represents only a portion of the overall impact to avifauna, indirect effects such as habitat fragmentation and alteration, site avoidance, disturbance, and related issues must also be carefully considered

The Development of the Older Person's Nurse Fellowship: Education concept to delivery.

Background Preparing the nursing workforce to meet the challenges of an ageing population is a priority for many countries. The development of an Older Person's Nurse Fellowship (OPNF) programme for senior clinical nurses is an important innovation. Objectives This article describes the philosophical development, delivery and early evaluation of the OPNF. Design In 2014, Health Education England funded 24 senior clinical nurses to participate in the OPNF. The Fellowship was designed to build clinical leadership and innovation capability and develop a network of nurses to influence local and national strategy for older people's care. The Fellows selected were drawn from mental health (n = 4), community/primary care (n = 9) and acute care (n = 11). The twelve month programme consisted of two Masters-level modules, delivered through study days and e-learning. The first cohort (n = 12) commenced the course in November 2014 with a module designed to enhance clinical knowledge and skills. Methods Evaluation data were collected from the first cohort using anonymous surveys (n = 11) and focus group interviews (n = 9). Descriptive statistics are presented for the quantitative data and common themes are described in the qualitative data. Results The overall satisfaction with the clinical module was high with a median score of 18/20 (range 17–20). Topics such as comprehensive geriatric assessment, frailty, pharmacology and cognitive assessment were regarded as highly relevant and most likely to result in a change to clinical practice. In the focus group interviews students discussed their learning experience in terms of: module specificity, peer-to-peer learning and using the OPNF as leverage for change. Conclusions The OPNF is a timely innovation and a positive commitment to developing an academic pathway for senior nurses. It marks an important step in the future development of the older person's nursing workforce

Individual characteristics associated with World Wide Web use: An empirical study of playfulness and motivation

This study examines the influence of the individual characteristic of playfulness on the use of the World Wide Web (WWW). Previous research suggests that microcomputer playfulness has an effect on computer usage in general, and we found support for a similar relationship in WWW use. Two samples of students were surveyed in this study; one consisting of undergraduate students and the other comprised of graduate students. Our findings also suggest that both intrinsic and extrinsic factors affect WWW use differentially for entertainment purposes and for course work purposes. Our study confirms previous research in that we found that ability to use the computer has a positive effect on WWW usage

A qualitative evaluation study of erasmus intensive programs (IP) - a contribution to transcultural nursing?

This qualitative study set out to explore the main aspects of an Erasmus IP which contribute to student learning. One cohort of 45 IP students (n=8) completed a previously designed survey and the results used to inform interviews in a second cohort of 48 students from 9 institutions and 8 countries. Two sets of focus groups (FGs) were conducted and audiotaped. The first FGs were sorted by countries (and incorporated all participants)s. The second FGs consisted of a spokesperson from each of the first groups, meaning that this group was multinational. The results were transcribed verbatim. Thematic content analysis was performed by threeresearchers from different countries initially and joint agreement reached subsequently. The four main emerging themes were: transcultural nursing, transcultural experience, organization of the IP and student commitment. Subthemes revealed that in nursing, students learned that they had similar issues but different ways of managing these. The actual students’ experience showed it to be rewarding, helped them to think more creatively and provided peer learning in informal settings. Improvements are suggested concerning practical organizational matters and a better match between lectures and the IP topic, however the formal learning was especially valuable to nursing students and the informal learning was clearly evident

Predicting functional outcome after stroke by modelling baseline clinical and CT variables

Abstract Background: we aimed to assess whether the performance of stroke outcome models comprising simple clinical variables could be improved by the addition of more complex clinical variables and information from the first computed tomography (CT) scan. Methods: 538 consecutive acute ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke patients were enrolled in a Stroke Outcome Study between 2001 and 2002. Independent survival (modified Rankin scale ≤2) was assessed at 6 months. Models based on clinical and radiological variables from the first assessment were developed using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: three models were developed (I-III). Model I included age, pre-stroke independence, arm power and a stroke severity score (area under a receiver operating characteristic curve, AUC = 0.882) but performed no better than Model II, which comprised age, pre-stroke independence, normal verbal component of the Glasgow coma score, arm power and being able to walk without assistance (AUC 0.876). Model III, including two radiological variables and clinical variables, was not statistically superior to model II (AUC 0.901, P = 0.12). Model II was externally validated in two independent datasets (AUCs of 0.773 and 0.787). Conclusion: this study demonstrates an externally validated stroke outcome prediction model using simple clinical variables. Outcome prediction was not significantly improved with CT-derived radiological variables or more complex clinical variables