Abstract: There has been considerable research on the factors that predict whether individuals will accept and voluntarily use information systems The technology acceptance model (TAM) has a base in psychological research, is parsimonious, explains usage behavior quite well, and can be operationalized with valid and reliable instruments A limitation of TAM is that it assumes usage is volitional, that is, there are no barriers that would prevent an individual from using an IS if he or she chose to do so This research extends TAM by adding perceived user resources to the model, with careful attention to placing the construct in TAM's existing nomological structure In contrast to measures of self-efficacy and perceived behavioral control that concentrate on how well individuals perceive they can execute specific courses of action, this paper examines perceptions of adequate resources that can facilitate or inhibit such behaviors The inclusion of both a formative and reflective set of measures provides the opportunity for the researcher and manager to decide whether to evaluate only the overall perceptions of adequate resources or also the specific underlying causes The extended model incorporating these measures was then tested in the field The results confirmed that perceived user resources is a valuable addition to the model

Abstract: Scholars routinely make claims that presuppose the validity of the observations and measurements that operationalize their concepts. Yet, despite recent advances in political science methods, surprisingly little attention has been devoted to measurement validity. We address this gap by exploring four themes. First, we seek to establish a shared framework that allows quantitative and qualitative scholars to assess more effectively, and communicate about, issues of valid measurement. Second, we underscore the need to draw a clear distinction between measurement issues and disputes about concepts. Third, we discuss the contextual specificity of measurement claims, exploring a variety of measurement strategies that seek to combine generality and validity by devoting greater attention to context. Fourth, we address the proliferation of terms for alternative measurement validation procedures and offer an account of the three main types of validation most relevant to political scientists.

Abstract: With the emergence of the resource-based view of the firm and of the concept of core competencies, intangible resources, and tacit knowledge in particular have been argued to occupy a central place in the development of sustainable competitive advantage. This is because tacit knowledge is argued to be difficult to imitate, to substitute, to transfer and it is rare. However, there is little empirical research to support this theoretical proposition. Tacit knowledge has so far resisted operationalization. This paper sets out to define the term tacit knowledge and proposes to redefine it, within the context of the resource-based view of the firm, as tacit skills. A methodology (based on causal mapping, self-Q and storytelling) for empirically researching the subject is outlined.

Abstract: Stevenson (1983) holds that entrepreneurial management, defined as a set of opportunity-based man-agement practices, can help firms remain vital and contribute to firm and societal level value creation. While his conceptualization has received much attention, little progress has been made because of a lack of empirical tools to examine his propositions. This article seeks to resolve this by describing a new instrument that was developed specifically for operationalizing Stevenson’s conceptualization. After two pre-tests, the instrument was tested full scale on a very large (1200+ cases) stratified random sample of firms with different size, governance struc-ture, and industry affiliation. The results show that both in the full sample and in various sub-samples it was pos-sible to identify six sub-dimensions with high discriminant validity and moderate to high reliability, which rep-resent dimensions of Stevenson’s theoretical reasoning. We label these Strategic Orientation, Resource Orienta-tion, Management Structure, Reward Philosophy, Growth Orientation and Entrepreneurial Culture. We were further able to show that these dimensions only partly overlap with ‘Entrepreneurial Orientation’, the hitherto best established empirical instrument for assessing a firm’s degree of entrepreneurship. Our instrument should open up opportunities for researchers to further evaluate entrepreneurship in existing firms.

Abstract: This paper looks at five focal terms in education - curriculum, environment, climate, quality and change - and the interrelationships and dynamics bemeen and among them. It emphasizes the power and utility of the concept of climate as an operationalization or manifetation of the curriculum and the other three concepts. Ideas pertaining w the theory of climate and its measurement can provide a greater understanding of the medical cumadurn. The environment is an impoltant detemzinant of behaviour. Environment is perceived by students and it is perceptions of environment that are related w behaviour. The environment, as perceived, may be designated as climate. It is argued that the climate is the soul and spirit of the medical school environment and curriculum. Students' experiences of the climate of their medical education environment are related w their achievements, sangaction and success. Measures of educational climate are reviewed and the possibilities of new climate measures for medical education are discussed. These should take account of current trends in medical education and curricula. Measures of the climate may subdivide it inw dzfferent components giving, for example, separate assessment of so-called Faculty Press, Student Press, Administration Press and Physical or Material Environmental Press. Climate measures can be used in different modes with the same stakeholders. For example, students may be asked to report, first, their perceptions of the actual environment they have experienced and, second, w report on their ideal or preferred environment. The same climate index can be used with different stakeholders giving, for example, staff and student comparisons. The climate is important for staff as well as for students. The organizational climate that teaching staff experience in the work environment that they inhabit is important for their well-being, and that of their students. The medical school is a learning organization evolving and changing in the illuminative evaluation it makes of its environment and its curriculum through the action research studies of its climate. Consderations of climate in the medical school along the lines of continuous quality improvement and innovation are likely to further the medical school as a learning organization with the attendant benefits. Unless medical schools become such learning organizations their quality of health and their longevity may be threatened.

Abstract: In this article, the relationship is studied between certification on the ISO 9000 series and the performance of organizations. It is often claimed that ISO certification generates an improvement in the performance of organizations. This research aims to find out if ISO certification indeed results in better performance outcomes for organizations. This is of importance, for example, for those organizations that seek ISO certification in order to improve their performances. To test the hypothesis, an instrument is developed to measure the performance. The performance of organizations is operationalized through five performance indicators, which were derived from the literature: production process, company result, customer satisfaction, personnel motivation, and investment on means. Besides this main research interest the question is posed if other factors can explain for the performance. The concept of motivation is introduced which is the focus of the second part of the study.

Abstract: The paper evaluates the usefulness of indicators as decision support instruments in planning for sustainable development. It examines key concepts and critical issues in planning for sustainable development and reviews the development of indicators in the last two decades. It evaluates their relevance in four planning functions by means of planning-related criteria. It concludes that indicators are still a long way from making a substantial contribution to planning and proposes broad research directions to improve their contribution. The need for integrated, context-specific theories of planning situations to frame the conceptualization, operationalization and use of indicators is emphasized.

Abstract: Various theories suggest that the perceived similarity of objects facilitates the transfer of knowledge, affect, and intentions from one object to the other. However, there is disagreement as to the meaning of similarity and how it should be operationalized among these various theories, and no effort to relate these various measures to one another exists in the literature. In an empirical study, the authors examine the relationships among measures of product similarity in three different contexts: (1) goal-congruent products, (2) moderately goal-incongruent products, and (3) extremely goal-incongruent products. The results of exploratory factor analyses revealed that perceived similarity is a multidimensional construct and that the number and structure of these dimensions of similarity are different when products differ in their degrees of goal congruency. Structural equation analyses of the measures based on a second sample confirmed the structure obtained in the earlier exploratory analyses and...

Abstract: Epistemological questions about the nature of knowledge and belief underlie many of the controversial issues fundamental to research and practice in science teaching and learning. In an effort to bring some clarity to questions of knowledge and belief embedded within science education research and teaching, we first describe the distinctions drawn between knowledge and belief in both philosophy and educational psychology, each of which have shaped the various definitions employed within science education. This discussion is followed by an examination of the distinctions drawn between knowledge and belief employed by three groups of science educators: the traditional distinctions of the foundationalists that are co-opted by researchers focusing on teacher thinking/cognition, the nonfoundational epistemology of the fallibilists and the evolution educators working from this framework, and the radical constructivists who react to and attempt to move past the limitations of these other positions. In this analysis, we explicate the different ways in which knowledge and belief are understood and operationalized in a broad spectrum of research, we describe the theoretical and philosophical assumptions underlying these approaches, and we explore the important areas of contention (both theoretical and empirical) surrounding each of these distinctions.

Abstract: Studies have examined possible effects of concurrent mobile phone use on driving performance. Although interference is often apparent, determining the implications of such findings for 'real world' driving is problematic. This paper considers some relevant methodological issues including the definition of procedures and terms, operationalization of task elements, sampling of task components, and the provision of experimental controls. Suggestions are made about how methodological rigor could be improved.

Abstract: This volume of "Research in Social Science and Disability" focuses attention on the dual themes of theory and methodology that must form a basis for studies of impairment and disability. It addresses issues that include: critiques of current concepts of disability; the fit between sociological role theory and the concept of disability; the operationalization of different definitions of disability; conducting surveys with people with impairments; and, the reliability and utility of several qualitative research methodologies as applied to impairment and disability. Overall, the papers in this volume represent the beginning of a resurgence of interest in social science theories and methodologies within the study of impairment and disability.

Abstract: Because justice is inherently norm‐based, understanding people's perceptions of fairness in organizations requires considering the prevailing cultural standards in which those organizations operate. Social scien‐tists study cross‐cultural differences in justice primarily to comprehend the connection between culture and fairness, providing insight into the different meanings of justice around the world, and to assess the generalizability of culture‐bound organizational justice phenomena. The present studies focus on assessing generalizability, but fall short of doing so optimally because they suffer from several conceptual and methodo‐logical problems that are endemic in this literature. Cross‐cultural research suggests that although concerns about justice may be universal, operationalization of justice standards is highly particularistic. Finally, I address Gallon's Problem as it pertains to justice—that is, how observed connections between culture and justice perceptions may be inflated spuriously because of inevitable cultural diffusion. In closing, I note that the present research appears to be aimed more squarely at theory‐development rather than theory‐testing, which is appropriate, given the current state of the literature.

Abstract: The concept of self-efficacy is concerned with people's beliefs in their ability to produce given attainment. It has been widely applied to study human conduct in various settings. This study, based on Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory, proposes the employment of self-efficacy for investigating people's ethical conduct related to computer use. Specifically, an ethical computer self-efficacy (ECSE) construct concerning software piracy is developed and validated. The measurement model of the construct was rigorously tested and validated through confirmatory factor analysis. The results suggest that ECSE can be operationalized as a second-order factor model. The first order constructs are termed use&keep (do not use), distribution (do not distribute), and persuasion (persuade others not to commit piracy). These factors are governed by a second-order construct of ECSE. This construct could be useful to research a wide range of information ethics in the future.

Abstract: Textual analyses of party and government programmes open up exciting possibilities for the investigation of policy and operationalization of theory. This Note focuses on the validity of the resulting estimates, particularly of the massive policy time-series assembled by the Manifesto Research Group (MRG) of the European Consortium. These are important not only for the policy measurements they provide for fifty post-war democracies, but also from the point of view of validating other codings of texts, especially those deriving from computerized analyses. No other validating standard is available for any but a handful of post-war elections – certainly none other that so unambiguously measures policy preferences as opposed to actual party behaviour and which itself has been so well established by extensive use. Ian Budge, David Robertson and D. J. Hearl, eds., Ideology, Strategy and Party Change, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987). Data-collection continues under the direction of H-D. Klingemann and Andrea Volkens of the Wissenschaftzentrum Berlin under the title of the Comparative Manifestos Project (CMP) and now covers fifty countries.

Abstract: As with other areas of comparative political inquiry, analyses of political corruption must carefully negotiate around numerous methodological issues. In this article, we focus primarily on problems of operationalization and measurement of corruption. We evaluate the major examples of cross-country measures of corruption that have recently emerged and review research that has incorporated the new measures. We end with a discussion of an alternative method for the cross-national measurement and analysis of corruption, one that might also facilitate the goal of establishing universal principles and causal claims about political corruption.

Abstract: This paper develops and explores a pedagogical innovation for integrating virtue theory into business students’ basic understanding of general management. Eighty-seven students, in 20 groups, classified three managers’ real-time videotaped activities according to an elaboration of Aristotle’s cardinal virtues, Fayol’s management functions, and Mintzberg’s managerial roles. The study’s empirical evidence suggests that, akin to Fayol’s functions and Mintzberg’s roles, Aristotle’s virtues are also amenable to operationalization, reliable observation, and meaningful description of managerial behavior. The study provides an oft-called-for empirical basis for further work in virtue theory as an appropriate conceptual framework for the study and practice of management. The results indicate that virtue theory may be used to re-conceive our fundamental understanding of management, alongside its capacity to weigh moral judgment upon it. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Abstract: Sue’s contribution concerning cultural competence is reviewed and critiqued. General issues provoked by Sue and found in the emergent discourse on the topic are discussed, including concerns about its operationalization, its purpose, its parameters, issues pertaining to training, and considerations for evaluation. Specific issues related to Sue’s model are highlighted with suggestions for improvement and clarification. The specific issues critiqued include the following strengths: continued leadership in the field, inclusion of social justice, multidimensionality of cultural competence, and the tripartite conception of personal identity. Issues of concern include the lack of a solid rationale for the model, definitional difficulties, the lack of prescription, and limitations based on the race-based group perspective. Suggestions for future scholarship are offered.

Abstract: Methods for systematically following up and auditing health promotion have been in demand for a considerable period of time. Quality assurance as an auditing method has opened up new opportunities in this area. On the basis of Donabedian's 'triad' of structure, process and outcome, the theoretical preconditions for and implementation of a number of successful health promotion programmes/ projects have been analysed with regard to their common characteristics. These characteristics have been generalized and then transformed into indicators of a successful health promotion programme/project. To ensure the practical applicability of the quality indicators, they were operationalized in what we call a 'question pro-forma'. Any negative response to a question on the pro-forma indicates quality defects in a programme, and any positive response the opposite. The 'template' can be employed for both the planning and auditing for quality assurance on health promotion programmes and projects. The question pro-forma has been tested successfully on a number of programmes and projects. The results from one study are shown in the article.

Abstract: Evaluation of quality in higher education: Content validity. The new conception of higher education in Spanish society and in its national, regional and local governments has generated laws that give more independence to universities. Because of this situation, governments need information about how universities use that independence. This context has stressed the need of defining the construct of quality in higher education and the difficulty that implementing an appropriate evaluation procedure entails. This paper has two aims: first, to justify that systems of indicators are a plausible alternative to both problems, and second, to study the content validity of a group of indicators chosen from the literature. We have carried out the following process in the empirical study: we selected some indicators related to higher education (about teaching, research, and services); we consulted experts about the congruence of these indicators, and finally we used the Osterlind's index (1989) to operationalize the consensus between experts about their judgments. We describe the quality indicators obtained in this analysis as a possible alternative to study quality in higher education.

Abstract: Explanatory style refers to how an individual habitually explains the causes of bad events. This cognitive style is described as pessimistic when bad events are explained with pervasive and long-lasting causes that involve the self, and optimistic when bad events are explained with circumscribed and transient causes that do not involve the self. Optimistic explanatory style predicts good health operationalized in a number of ways, including self-reports, physician ratings, survival time following a heart attack, and longevity, and it apparently impacts health at a number of junctures. The most basic question that arises from research into optimism and health involves the mechanisms linking the two. The link appears to be overdetermined, and there are several plausible routes: immunological, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and social.

Abstract: The aim of this dissertation is first to bring into focus and analyze how relations between schools and the local community are affected when negative economic developments in combination with stigmatizing public representations or portrayals segregate the area. The second aim is to lift up and analyze what role schools are expected to, and actually do, play when an area with a large proportion of immigrants and socially marginalized residents is to be integrated via a set of political-ideological proclamations and concrete efforts. The empirical material that I analyze in the dissertation has been collected in the following districts of Stockholm: Jordbro, Rinkeby, Tensta, and Husby. The heart of the dissertation comprises of four independent studies (chapters 5-8), as well as an introductory section (chapters 1-4), in which the dissertation's background factors, theoretical and methodological framework, and central concepts (segregation and integration) are delineated. Chapter 9 comprises of a concluding discussion of the central findings of the dissertation. My primary theoretical source of inspiration is the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's way of looking at the relations between individuals and structures. Against the background of his work I contend that it is first when positions, lived experiences, and representations are placed in relation to each other in a specific context - a field - that we can see the complexity that makes an explanation possible of why and how segregation of areas with high proportions of immigrants and their schools can be carried out and maintained. This is the framework that I operationalize in my dissertation. The role in integration that schools are officially expected to play in the local community, and that is accepted as legitimate and worth pursuing by the leadership in schools has, for the most part been unsuccessful. In some respects it never really started. The reason for this is the way that the negative socio-economic conditions and representations have impacted the relations between various actors in the schools and local communities. I have also been able to show that when these relations work relatively well, there can be positive benefits for both the school and its socio-economically deprived, predominantly immigrant catchment area. The positive effects for the schools are marked, with regard to reputation, status, an improved economic situation, pedagogic development, and higher grades among the students. The positive benefits for the local community come primarily in the form of higher status and reputation.

Abstract: Therapy process research has made surprisingly little headway during the past 25 years, which has been attributed to a range of methodological and conceptual problems. As a result, appeals have been made for fresh approaches to psychotherapy process research. Here we provide an experiential learning model as one promising way to crystallize conceptualizations of competence in therapy and to advance research. The model provides an integrative account of the moderators and mediators believed to explain the way that therapy achieves its outcomes. Its breadth takes it beyond the scope of its closest rival, the assimilation model. By way of illustration, the theoretical components of the experiential metaphor were operationalized and mapped onto an existing competence scale, the Cognitive Therapy Scale.

Abstract: A study was conducted that examined which managerial skill dimensions were critical for effective leadership for managers in the USA and seven European countries. The results suggested more similarities than differences across countries. Specifically, a core group of two skill dimensions emerged as critical for effective leadership across countries and operationalizations of criticality. These dimensions were analyze issues and drive for results. However, results did differ depending on how criticality was operationalized. The findings of the study suggest that: users of 360‐degree feedback instruments should not rely solely on perceived importance of a skill dimension to aid in ratings interpretation, and the ability to solve complex problems and learn quickly on the one hand and being hard‐working and persistent on the other hand are prerequisites for effective leadership, regardless of whether you are leading in Pittsburgh or in Paris.