Hypotheses in Marketing Science: Literature Review and Publication Audit

We examined three approaches to research in marketing: exploratory hypotheses, dominant hypothesis, and competing hypotheses. Our review of empirical studies on scientific methodology suggests that the use of a single dominant hypothesis lacks objectivity relative to the use of exploratory and competing hypotheses approaches. We then conducted a publication audit of over 1,700 empirical papers in six leading marketing journals during 1984-1999. Of these, 74% used the dominant hypothesis approach, while 13 % used multiple competing hypotheses, and 13% were exploratory. Competing hypotheses were more commonly used for studying methods (25%) than models (17%) and phenomena (7%). Changes in the approach to hypotheses since 1984 have been modest; there was a slight decrease in the percentage of competing hypotheses to 11%, which is plained primarily by an increasing proportion of papers on phenomena. Of the studies based on hypothesis testing, only 11 % described the conditions under which the hypotheses would apply, and dominant hypotheses were below competing hypotheses in this regard. Marketing scientists differed substantially in their opinions about what types of studies should be published and what was published. On average, they did not think dominant hypotheses should be used as often as they were, and they underestimated their use

Automated knowledge acquisition for knowledge-based systems: KE-KIT

Despite recent progress, knowledge acquisition remains a central problem for the development of intelligent systems. There are many people throughout the world doing studies in this area. However, very few automated techniques have made it to the market place. In this light, the idea of automating the knowledge acquisition process is very appealing and may lead to a break through. Most (if not all) of the approaches and techniques concerning intelligent, expert systems and specifically knowledge-based systems can still be considered in their infancy and definitely do not subscribe to any kind of standards. Many things have yet to be learned and incorporated into the technology and combined with methods from traditional computer science and psychology. KE-KIT is a prototype system which attempts to automate a portion of the knowledge engineering process. The emphasis is on the automation of knowledge acquisition activities. However, the transformation of knowledge from an intermediate form to a knowledge -base format is also addressed. The approach used to automate the knowledge acquisition process is based on the personal construct theory developed by George Kelly in the field of psychology. This thesis gives and in-depth view of knowledge engineering with a concentration on the knowledge acquisition process. Several issues and approaches are described. Greater details surrounding the personal construct theory approach to knowledge acquisition and its use of a repertory grid are given. In addition, some existing knowledge acquisition tools are briefly explored. Details concerning the implementation of KE-KIT and reflections on its applicability round out the presented material

Accelerating MPI collective communications through hierarchical algorithms with flexible inter-node communication and imbalance awareness

This work presents and evaluates algorithms for MPI collective communication operations on high performance systems. Collective communication algorithms are extensively investigated, and a universal algorithm to improve the performance of MPI collective operations on hierarchical clusters is introduced. This algorithm exploits shared-memory buffers for efficient intra-node communication while still allowing the use of unmodified, hierarchy-unaware traditional collectives for inter-node communication. The universal algorithm shows impressive performance results with a variety of collectives, improving upon the MPICH algorithms as well as the Cray MPT algorithms. Speedups average 15x - 30x for most collectives with improved scalability up to 65536 cores.^ Further novel improvements are also proposed for inter-node communication. By utilizing algorithms which take advantage of multiple senders from the same shared memory buffer, an additional speedup of 2.5x can be achieved. The discussion also evaluates special-purpose extensions to improve intra-node communication. These extensions return a shared memory or copy-on-write protected buffer from the collective, which reduces or completely eliminates the second phase of intra-node communication.^ The second part of this work improves the performance of MPI collective communication operations in the presence of imbalanced processes arrival times. High performance collective communications are crucial for the performance and scalability of applications, and imbalanced process arrival times are common in these applications. A micro-benchmark is used to investigate the nature of process imbalance with perfectly balanced workloads, and understand the nature of inter- versus intra-node imbalance. These insights are then used to develop imbalance tolerant reduction, broadcast, and alltoall algorithms, which minimize the synchronization delay observed by early arriving processes. These algorithms have been implemented and tested on a Cray XE6 using up to 32k cores with varying buffer sizes and levels of imbalance. Results show speedups over MPICH averaging 18.9x for reduce, 5.3x for broadcast, and 6.9x for alltoall in the presence of high, but not unreasonable, imbalance

Do agonistic behaviours bias baited remote underwater video surveys of fish?

Marine environments require monitoring to determine the effects of impacts such as climate change, coastal development and pollution and also to assess the effectiveness of conservation measures. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are being established globally and require periodic monitoring to determine whether their objectives are being met. Baited underwater video systems are becoming a popular method for monitoring change within protected fish populations, because they are less damaging to habitats than bottom trawling and allow for more statistical powerful comparisons to determine spatial and temporal patterns in the relative abundances, lengths and biomass of demersal and pelagic fishes. However, much remains uncertain about how interactions between the fish and bait and between the fish themselves affect the results obtained. Agonistic behaviours are frequently observed around the bait of the camera and potentially bias fish density estimates by altering the number and size classes seen at cameras. Here we counted the number of agonistic behaviours between pink snappers (Pagrus auratus), the size of fish involved and whether the fish left the field of view following such behaviours. The study consisted of 20 baited underwater video deployments inside a New Zealand marine reserve and 20 in adjacent open areas. We observed a significant relationship between the peak number of fish observed at the camera and the total number of agonistic behaviours, as well as the number of both aggressor and subordinate fish leaving the camera field of view following interactions. The slope of the latter relationship and thus the absolute numbers of fish leaving were higher for subordinate fish. As subordinates were significantly smaller than aggressors, the apparent size frequency distribution is likely skewed away from smaller size classes. The staying time of the fish and thus the maximum number of fish present at the camera will be reduced by agonistic behaviours and the absolute magnitude of this effect appears to be greater at high fish densities. Our results suggest that an overall effect of these phenomena is to underestimate the differences in abundance between MPAs and open areas, but also to overestimate differences in average size

A Comparative Study of Mathematics Self-Efficacy and Anxiety Levels of Grades 10-12 Students at Thai Christian School Before and After Supplemental Practice Use of The Mathematics E-Learning Application Website Khan Academy

The purpose of this study was to determine if students’ mathematics selfefficacy could be increased and their mathematics anxiety could be reduced by adding supplemental mathematics practice using the internet-based website Khan Academy to increase mastery experiences in solving mathematics problems. The study focused on 156 Grades 10-12 students at Thai Christian School in Bangkok. A research experiment was conducted during the course of the second semester of the 2016 school year based on Bandura (1977) sources of self-efficacy (mastery experience, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, psychological factors). During the experiment, the students received weekly supplemental mathematics practice by homework recommendations from the researcher sent using the Khan Academy website. A comparison was made between the students’ mathematics self-efficacy and mathematics anxiety before and after the research experiment and after the research experiment. The research included four objectives. Objectives one and two were to determine students’ mathematics self-efficacy levels and mathematics anxiety levels at the beginning and end of the research experiment. Objectives three and four were to determine if a significant increase in mathematics self-efficacy and a significant reduction in mathematics anxiety could be achieved through the addition of supplemental mathematics exercises using the mathematics e-learning website Khan Academy. The major findings in this research were that the average students’ mathematics self-efficacy increased, and the average students’ mathematics anxiety was reduced in all three-program emphasis (mathematics science, mathematicsEnglish, English-Chinese). Overall Mathematics self-efficacy increased significantly for the entire sample and mathematics anxiety reduced significantly for the entire sample

Variation in compulsory psychiatric inpatient admission in England:a cross-sectional, multilevel analysis

Background: Rates of compulsory admission have increased in England in recent decades, and this trend is accelerating. Studying variation in rates between people and places can help identify modifiable causes. Objectives: To quantify and model variances in the rate of compulsory admission in England at different spatial levels and to assess the extent to which this was explained by characteristics of people and places. Design: Cross-sectional analysis using multilevel statistical modelling. Setting: England, including 98% of Census lower layer super output areas (LSOAs), 95% of primary care trusts (PCTs), 93% of general practices and all 69 NHS providers of specialist mental health services. Participants: 1,287,730 patients. Main outcome measure: The study outcome was compulsory admission, defined as time spent in an inpatient mental illness bed subject to the Mental Health Act (2007) in 2010/11. We excluded patients detained under sections applying to emergency assessment only (including those in places of safety), guardianship or supervision of community treatment. The control group comprised all other users of specialist mental health services during the same period. Data sources: The Mental Health Minimum Data Set (MHMDS). Data on explanatory variables, characterising each of the spatial levels in the data set, were obtained from a wide range of sources, and were linked using MHMDS identifiers. Results: A total of 3.5% of patients had at least one compulsory admission in 2010/11. Of (unexplained) variance in the null model, 84.5% occurred between individuals. Statistically significant variance occurred between LSOAs [6.7%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 6.2% to 7.2%] and provider trusts (6.9%, 95% CI 4.3% to 9.5%). Variances at these higher levels remained statistically significant even after adjusting for a large number of explanatory variables, which together explained only 10.2% of variance in the study outcome. The number of provider trusts whose observed rate of compulsory admission differed from the model average to a statistically significant extent fell from 45 in the null model to 20 in the fully adjusted model. We found statistically significant associations between compulsory admission and age, gender, ethnicity, local area deprivation and ethnic density. There was a small but statistically significant association between (higher) bed occupancy and compulsory admission, but this was subsequently confounded by other covariates. Adjusting for PCT investment in mental health services did not improve model fit in the fully adjusted models. Conclusions: This was the largest study of compulsory admissions in England. While 85% of the variance in this outcome occurred between individuals, statistically significant variance (around 7% each) occurred between places (LSOAs) and provider trusts. This higher-level variance in compulsory admission remained largely unchanged even after adjusting for a large number of explanatory variables. We were constrained by data available to us, and therefore our results must be interpreted with caution. We were also unable to consider many hypotheses suggested by the service users, carers and professionals who we consulted. There is an imperative to develop and evaluate interventions to reduce compulsory admission rates. This requires further research to extend our understanding of the reasons why these rates remain so high. Funding: The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme

Virtuous soldiers: is the current ethical training sufficient for the United States Army or is a character development programme what soldiers and officers need?

Recent years have seen a few academic studies on ‘morality and the military’. Some of those studies have attempted to measure moral reasoning while others constituted an intervention or a course evaluation, but none of the studies has involved both. This doctoral study is the first to evaluate the effectiveness of the coursework on a measure of moral reasoning at the intermediate-concept level. The aim of this thesis is to determine if the current ethical training for cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point has a significant effect on how they reason about and adjudicate moral issues. More specifically, the main research question is: ‘Does the ethical training for cadets in their required ethics and philosophy course at West Point have a significant effect on how they reason about moral issues?’ To achieve this aim, the research design needed to be a course evaluation to see if cadets would improve their moral reasoning after receiving instruction in normative ethical theories, specifically virtue ethics and just war theory. Before reporting on the empirical part of the study, the thesis critically reviews some of the relevant background literatures. The ethical theories reviewed include utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, and just war theory. Arguments are presented as to why adopting a virtue-and-character-based framework, as opposed to a rule- or consequence-based one, would be advisable for the military profession, specifically at a military academy. After reviewing the ethical theory, opportunities for ethical training at West Point and in the United States (US) Army are considered. Following this, an overview is given of six empirical studies that have focused on ethics and moral reasoning in a military setting. The ensuing empirical research involves an evaluation of a required philosophy and ethics class during the fall 2018 semester. The evaluation included 129 cadets of whom, 97 were male (75.2%) and 32 (24.8%) were female. The research measures used were an army-centric intermediate-concept measure (ICM), called the Army Reasoning and Ethical Training and Education Test (ARETE), the VIA Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) and semi-structured interviews. Among several interesting findings in the study is that the female cadets performed better on the ARETE than the male cadets in a variety of ways. Female cadets start at a higher baseline in moral reasoning than do male cadets at roughly the same age. Further, while female cadets did improve after the coursework, male cadets remained stagnant in moral reasoning. A second conclusion is that cadets at West Point are not able to take ethical concepts and apply them to novel or complex dilemmas or situations without explicit instruction. A third conclusion is that cadets struggle to reason about the right action and justification when two or more virtues collide. Further, the cadets prioritise character traits that are not virtues and that might not lead to virtuous actions. These findings have implications for West Point and those other military academies trying to improve the moral reasoning of cadets, as well as more generally for the moral education undertaken in these institutions

Reflections on offering a therapeutic creative arts intervention with cult survivors:A collective biography

A new, evidence-based, multimodal, and creative psychological therapy, Arts for the Blues, was piloted with survivors of cultic abuse in a workshop within a conference setting. The five facilitators, who occupied diverse roles and perspectives within the workshop and research project, reflected on heir experiences of introducing this novel intervention to the cult-survivor population. In this underreported territory of using structured, arts-based, psychological therapy with those who have survived cultic abuse, the authors used a process of collective biography to compile a first person, combined narrative based on those reflections. This approach allows for a visceral insight into the dynamics and obstacles encountered, and the counter transference responses of the facilitators. This reflexive process shined a light into aspects of research and practice that were not all visible to the individual researchers previously, with implications for research ethics, psychological therapy, and creative arts within the cult-survivor field

Movement Patterns of Resident and Relocated Northern Bobwhites in East Texas

We compared home range sizes and movement patterns of resident and relocated northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) on an area managed specifically for the species in the Pineywoods of east Texas. During the winters of 1990–1992, 155 south Texas, 136 east Texas, and 139 resident bobwhites were radiomarked, released, and thereafter regularly located. Bird locations were plotted on a digitized map, and home range sizes and movement patterns of each group of birds were estimated. Resident bobwhites moved longer daily distances in March and had larger home ranges during the nesting season (May-Jul) than relocated birds (P \u3c= 0.05). Conversely, no differences were detected among groups in mean of daily distances moved in April or dispersal during the breeding season (Mar-Jun) (P 0.05). Annual dispersal distances (x¯ = 1.43 km) of birds that survived into November were similar among groups (P \u3e 0.05). Managers that elect to relocate northern bobwhites should consider doing so in the fall and only into habitats of ample size

Movement Patterns of Resident and Relocated Northern Bobwhites in East Texas

We compared home range sizes and movement patterns of resident and relocated northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) on an area managed specifically for the species in the Pineywoods of east Texas. During the winters of 1990–1992, 155 south Texas, 136 east Texas, and 139 resident bobwhites were radiomarked, released, and thereafter regularly located. Bird locations were plotted on a digitized map, and home range sizes and movement patterns of each group of birds were estimated. Resident bobwhites moved longer daily distances in March and had larger home ranges during the nesting season (May-Jul) than relocated birds (P0.05). Managers that elect to relocate northern bobwhites should consider doing so in the fall and only into habitats of ample size