Abstract: The construct of multicultural competence has gained much currency in the counseling psychology literature. This article provides a critique of the multicultural counseling competencies and argues that counseling psychology's operationalization of multicultural competence must be grounded in a commitment to social justice. Such a commitment necessitates an expansion of our professional activities beyond counseling and psychotherapy. While counseling is one way to provide services to clients from oppressed groups, it is limited in its ability to foster social change. Engaging in advocacy, prevention, and outreach is critical to social justice efforts, as is grounding teaching and research in collaborative and social action processes.

Abstract: Background Both women's and men's occupational health problems merit scientific attention. Researchers need to consider the effect of gender on how occupational health issues are experienced, expressed, defined, and addressed. More serious consideration of gender-related factors will help identify risk factors for both women and men. Methods The authors, who come from a number of disciplines (ergonomics, epidemiology, public health, social medicine, community psychology, economics, sociology) pooled their critiques in order to arrive at the most common and significant problems faced by occupational health researchers who wish to consider gender appropriately. Results This paper describes some ways that gender can be and has been handled in studies of occupational health, as well as some of the consequences. The paper also suggests specific research practices that avoid errors. Obstacles to gender-sensitive practices are considered. Conclusions Although gender-sensitive practices may be difficult to operationalize in some cases, they enrich the scientific quality of research and should lead to better data and ultimately to well-targeted prevention programs. ⌐ 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Abstract: This paper presents a conceptual framework for person-centred practice with older people. The research from which the framework was developed was guided by hermeneutic philosophy and integrated processes of conversation analysis and reflective conversation in data collection and analysis. The research findings suggested that nurses need to be able to particularize the person that the patient is, the relationship that exists between them and the patient, and the understandings and expectations implicit in the relationship. From these findings a conceptual framework for person-centred practice was developed. In the framework, person-centredness is premised on the concept of authentic consciousness and is operationalized through five imperfect duties. The factors that enable person-centredness to operate in practice are identified as the patient's values, the nurse's values and the context of the care environment. Considerations for implementing the model in practice are highlighted.

Abstract: `Quality of life' is one of the fastest growing areas of research and policy. The concept has an intuitive appeal as a measure of the well-being of individuals, communities and nations. It is increasingly promoted as an aid for political decisions and public funding. But what does the concept really mean? And how can it be operationalized in teaching and research? This is the first introductory text to offer a critical overview of the concept of quality of life and the ways in which it is researched. Using an inter-disciplinary approach the book covers every aspect of the concept and its application - from the calculation of Quality-Adjusted Life Years to conversation analysis, from the estimation of the quality of life of nation states to ethnographic studies of the life quality of individual disadvantaged people. The book fills a huge gap in teaching and research. Written with authority, and the need to produce an accessible critical introduction to the field, it will be of interest to students of sociology, psychology, public health and nursing, health economics, politics and medicine.

Abstract: oller 2 Despite the long history of homework and homework research, the role that homework plays in enhancing student achievement is, at best, only partly understood. In this review, we give an overview of twentieth-century homework research and discuss the reasons why the relationship between homework and achievement remains unclear. We identify the operationalization of homework and achievement and the problematic handling of hierarchically ordered data as two important factors affecting the validity of many of the studies performed over the last century. We then describe a new generation of homework studies using multilevel modeling to deal with hierarchically nested data. Finally, we argue that homework research should be more closely connected to well-founded psychological theories of learning and instruction, and we offer three potential links (theories of instruction time, self-regulation theory and expectancy-value theory, and teaching behavior).

Abstract: Stefan Svallfors' 1997 conclusion that patterns of attitudes towards redistribution are essentially the same across welfare-state regimes rests on a questionable treatment of missing data and on. poor operationalization of the theoretical determinants of public opinion. Using demographic variables to improve the model specification, we identify cross-country differences in the social bases of support for redistribution that confirm predictions of welfare-state scholarship. The gap between married and unmarried people is unimportant in universalist regimes; the insider/outsider cleavage is more important in conservative and specific skills systems; class matters more in liberal regimes. We find additional cross-national variation when we examine whether popular support for redistribution is related to beliefs about social mobility. Specifically, beliefs about why people get ahead in society are key determinants of attitudes towards redistribution in the United States and Australia, but play a more limited role in Norway and Germany

Abstract: Social protection is moving up on the development agenda. Dismissed as ineffective, expensive or even detrimental to development in developing countries for a long time, it is now increasingly understood that assisting individuals, households and communities in dealing with diverse risks is needed for accelerated poverty reduction, and sustained economic and social development. Conceptually, social protection is shifting towards social risk management to reduce the economic vulnerability of households with appropriate instruments and to help them smooth consumption patterns. For the poor countries, it is about moving away from unproductive coping strategies adopted by households (such as removing children from schools, delaying health care, selling livestock) that are buffeted by shocks (such as drought, cyclones, floods, conflict, terms of trade, policy reforms, health, unemployment, etc.). It seeks to replace these strategies with ex-ante planning and mechanisms to help households anticipate and insure against these shocks (through public works, weather-based insurance, water management, grain storage, micro-savings, etc.). For all countries, it is about rethinking the design and implementation of traditional public interventions such as labor market, social insurance, and social assistance policies. The paper outlines the development aspect of social protection, presents the social risk management concept and its operationalization in risk and vulnerability assessments, explains the focus on vulnerable groups (such as children and the disabled), and briefly reviews traditional programs such as labor market interventions and pensions through the social risk management lens.

Abstract: According to James J. Gibson, the concept of the affordance refers to the functionally significant properties of the environment, and provides a psychologically relevant means to analyze evolving child-environment relationships. Affordances operationalize the transactional approach. Thus the concept allows researchers to bring the material environment back into the realm of environmental psychology. The framework of ecological perceptual psychology, and in particular the concept of the affordance, was utilized in determining the criteria for child-friendly environments. An assessment model for a child-friendly environment was constructed, which comprises two central criteria for environmental child friendliness: children’s possibilities for independent mobility and their opportunities to actualize affordances. By combining various degrees of these two criteria, four hypothetical types of environment were distinguished, Bullerby, Wasteland, Cell, and Glasshouse. The Bullerby type represents a child-friendly environment, as it allows a positive interactive cycle to develop between a child and the environment. In the Bullerby type sufficient possibilities for independent mobility enables to a child to discover environmental affordances. Actualized affordances for their part motivate the child to move around more in the environment, which creates more possibilities for new affordances to become actualized. The empirical results from the study of eightand nine-year-old children indicated that the developed model was sensitive enough to assess the child friendliness of different communities in Finland and Belarus (Belorussia). All hypothesized environmental types appeared in the data. Each neighborhood had a unique combination of affordances and independent mobility in terms of the model. The Bullerby type of setting abounded in the Finnish communities. The Cell, Wasteland, and Glasshouse types of environment were the most common in the Belorussian data. In general, the proportion of Bullerby-type settings decreased and that of Glasshousetype settings increased as the degree of urbanization rose. The two-dimensional assessment model presented here could be further developed so that it includes a third dimension such as, for example, the emotional value of affordances for children. At the same time an essential future challenge for ecological perceptual psychology, that of studying the motivational basis of affordances, could be met. As the transactional approach of environmental psychology allows for the integration of children’s experiences with the material world, it provides information that can be used in the design and planning of child-friendly environments.

Abstract: Early IS research on satisfaction investigated system characteristics affecting end-user satisfaction, relying mostly on the IS success model. More recent research, on the other hand, studied satisfaction formation in the context of web-based products and services, using the disconfirmation theory. The IS context, however, is different from the marketing context where the theory was originally developed. One important difference is the novelty effect associated with the constant and rapid advancement of information technology. Previous satisfaction studies did not account for the dynamic nature of satisfaction and the changeability of its determinants. Such variability may be more salient in the IS context due to the novelty effect. In this paper, we develop, operationalize and empirically test a model for explaining/predicting satisfaction with Internet-based services at adoption and post-adoption stages. We argue and empirically demonstrate the need to consider the evolutionary nature of satisfaction and the variability of its determinants. Our results show that desires and expectations are both important factors that need to be considered simultaneously in explaining satisfaction at adoption. The role of desires, however, diminishes significantly in the post-adoption stage. The results also show no significant relationship between post-adoption satisfaction and satisfaction at adoption. The augmented disconfirmation model resulting from this study constitutes an important step towards the development of an IS satisfaction theory that accounts for the evolution of satisfaction over adoption stages.

Abstract: Strategic innovation has been described as the fundamental reconceptualization of business models and the reshaping of existing markets by breaking the rules and changing the nature of competition. This paper traces the notion of strategic innovation in the literature, offers corporate examples from Amazon.com and Swatch to illustrate key drivers and outcomes of strategic innovation, and synthesizes the insights gained in a Multiple Indicator–MultIple Causes (MIMIC) model. The model offers a formal specification of the strategic innovation construct and provides conceptual guidance for its operationalization in the context of empirical research.

Abstract: Stefan Svallfors' 1997 conclusion that patterns of attitudes towards redistribution are essentially the same across welfare-state regimes rests on a questionable treatment of missing data and on poor operationalization of the theoretical determinants of public opinion. Using demographic variables to improve the model specification, we identify cross-country differences in the social bases of support for redistribution that confirm predictions of welfare-state scholarship. The gap between married and unmarried people is unimportant in universalist regimes; the insider/outsider cleavage is more important in conservative and specific skills systems; class matters more in liberal regimes. We find additional cross-national variation when we examine whether popular support for redistribution is related to beliefs about social mobility. Specifically, beliefs about why people get ahead in society are key determinants of attitudes towards redistribution in the United States and Australia, but play a more limited role in Norway and Germany.

Abstract: Although questions about social cohesion lie at the core of our discipline, definitions are often vague and difficult to operationalize. Here, research on social cohesion and social embeddedness is linked by developing a concept of structural cohesion based on network node connectivity. Structural cohesion is defined as the minimum number of actors who, if removed from a group, would disconnect the group. A structural dimension of embeddedness can then be defined through the hierarchical nesting of these cohesive structures. The empirical applicability of nestedness is demonstrated in two dramatically different substantive settings, and additional theoretical implications with reference to a wide array of substantive fields are discussed.

Abstract: The e-commerce literature has rarely addressed the measurement of customer perceptions of website service quality in digital marketing environments. It is argued that the current SERVQUAL and IS-SERVQUAL instruments need to be refined and validated to fit the digital marketing environment, as they are targeted primarily towards either traditional retailing or information systems contexts. This article validates and refines a comprehensive model and instrument for measuring customer-perceived service quality of websites that market digital products and services. After a discussion of the conceptualization and operationalization of the service quality construct, the procedure used in modifying items, collecting data, and validating a multiple-item scale is described. Subsequently, evidence of reliability and validity on the basis of analyzing data from a quota sample of 260 adult respondents is presented. Implications for practice and research are then explored. Finally, this paper concludes by discussing limitations that could be addressed in future studies. The final EC-SERVQUAL instrument with good reliability and validity will be essential to the development and testing of e-business theories, and provide researchers with a common framework for explaining, justifying, and comparing differences across results.

Abstract: Recently the National Institutes of Health has been emphasizing research that takes findings generated by clinical research and translates them into treatments for patients who are seen in day-to-day nonresearch settings. This translational process requires a series of steps in which elements of both efficacy and effectiveness research are combined into successively more complex designs. However, there has been little discussion of exactly how to develop and operationalize these designs. This article describes an approach to the development of these hybrid designs. Their operationalization is illustrated by using the design of an ongoing effectiveness treatment study of panic disorder in primary care. Experts in both efficacy and effectiveness research collaborated to address the methodologic and data collection issues that need to be considered in designing a first-generation effectiveness study. Elements of the overall study design, setting or service delivery context, inclusion and exclusion criteria, ...

Abstract: A critical discussion is presented of what could be understood as research excellence, and how to deal with fundamental issues and methodological challenges in operationalizing and evaluating this complex, multi-faceted notion in terms of measurable attributes at organizational levels. This paper argues for a systemic and interactive approach, combining multiple perspectives and stakeholders, while incorporating a wide range of information sources and quantitative indicators within the analytical framework of a ‘score-board’. Context-specific and customized score-boards show promise as a structuring tool in informed debate, indicator selection, comparative analysis and benchmarking studies of research excellence. Guidelines and recommendations are illustrated by way of a fictitious scoreboard with recent empirical data for economics research at the universities in the Netherlands. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Abstract: Many educational systems worldwide are putting much work in the assimilation of ICT in schools, fostering significant changes in the processes of instruction and learning. These changes occur in schools at various levels by means of, e.g., the creation of new learning configurations (beyond traditional time and space configurations), the devise of novel pedagogical solutions, or through the expansion of the school's knowledge-resources space into cyberspace. These transformations, and the processes by which they occur, have become highly interesting research themes with obvious theoretical (e.g., cognitive or curricular issues) as well as practical (e.g., policy or planning issues) implications. We present an analysis schema for the systematic study of these transformational processes in schools using ICT. The schema's dimensions are located within a grid defined by two axes. The horizontal axis represents levels of innovation from preliminary alterations in the school's routine due to the initial assimilation of ICT, to far-reaching transformations of pedagogical practices and learning processes. The vertical axis details domains of innovation, focusing on four main constituents of the school milieu: time/space configurations, students, teachers, and the curriculum. A detailed description of the dimensions as well as the variables suggested for their operationalization, is presented. Implications of using the analysis tool for researchers, practitioners and policy makers are discussed.

Abstract: Processes of self-concept immunization are introduced as a way of reconciling self-concept protection against threatening information with the necessity of acknowledging own failure or losses. Self-immunization works by adaptively changing the subjective operationalization of personal traits, such that skills that individuals believe themselves to be good at are conceived as highly diagnostic, whereas skills that persons do not believe they possess are considered less diagnostic. Three studies are presented to investigate this stabilizing process. Correlational as well as experimental and longitudinal data support the assumption that self-immunization stabilizes central and abstract aspects of the self-concept without ignoring negative information on concrete skills.

Abstract: In the paper we give a definition of autonomy that tries to answer to the main questions this concept brings with it We also provide an operationalized notion of autonomy In particular, we interpret autonomy as a concept strictly related with other relevant notions: dependence, delegation, awareness, predictability, automaticity We analyze more deeply autonomy in collaboration, its relationships with control and finally, the modalities of its possible adjustments

Abstract: The Collier-Hoeffler (2000) model of civil war onset (henceforth called CH) has been very influential in shaping current research on the relationship between conflict and development. Its main thesis is that civil wars tend to occur not necessarily where there is more underlying political grievance or ethnic division, but where the organization of rebellion is financially viable. This paper extends and modifies the CH model by drawing causal inferences about the causes of civil war based on a set of comparative case studies designed to answer a set of questions central to the CH model. Overall, the case studies suggest that, while the CH model of war onset describes well the reality of some cases, it frequently falls short of making accurate predictions of the process through which civil war occurs. By taking a closer look at actual cases of civil war, this paper suggests several ways in which economic models of civil war such as the CH model could be improved. The paper is organized in the following sections, beyond the introduction and the conclusion. Section 2 provides a discussion of methodological concerns addressed by the case study. Section 3 provides a very brief overview of the CH model and the main empirical results of the model so as to create the context within which to evaluate the detailed discussion of the case study project. Section 4 begins the synthesis of the case studies by focusing on data measurement and operationalization of key variables, suggesting a number of refinements to the CH model. Section 5 draws on the findings of more than twenty case-studies to expand the theory underlying the CH model of civil war onset. Several modifications of the CH model are recommended, and empirical evidence supporting these recommendations is summarized by presenting illustrative examples from the case studies. These recommendations essentially add up to a new theoretical model that can be tested empirically if new variables are coded and included in the dataset. Section 6 concludes with an overview of the contribution of the case study project to the World Bank's research agenda in the Economics of Political and Criminal Violence.

Abstract: Williams elaborates the concept of structures of feeling in different ways at important points in his writings. This gives it a particular methodological significance in relating the extraordinariness of imaginative literature to the ordinariness of cultural process. It is employed particularly to show the significance of literature for the articulation of alternatives to dominant world views, and thus to the politics of social change. Williams's different formulations of the concept are discussed in terms of their ways of relating reflexive experience to institutional structures and in relation to the genetic structuralism of Goldmann and Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and cultural field. Three types of criticisms are considered, which have in common the contention that the concept is unclear. Operationalized in analysing literature and its symbols, it can contribute towards clarification of the complexity of the processes of reflexive communication of experience which are at the root of social order and change.

Abstract: The assumption of the work presented in this paper is the situatedness of the change process. The Enterprise Knowledge Development-Change Management Method (EKD-CMM) provides multiple and dynamically constructed ways of working to organize and to guide the change management. The method is built on the notion of labeled graph of intentions and strategies called a road map and the associated guidelines. The EKD-CMM road map is a navigational structure that supports the dynamic selection of the intention to be achieved next and the appropriate strategy to achieve it whereas guidelines help in the operationalization of the selected intention following the selected strategy. This paper presents the EKD-CMM road map and guidelines and exemplifies their use with a real case study.

Abstract: This paper proposes a new strategy for bridging the gap between psychotherapy process research and practice. Constructs covering the full spectrum of potential change mechanisms are derived from a general theory of human functioning (Grawe's Consistency Theory) and operationalized by Therapy Spectrum Analysis (TSA), a measure of the realization of therapeutic change mechanisms within individual therapy sessions. Using the data generated by TSA, we conducted an exploratory search for meaningful patterns of process and session-outcome variables using Answer Tree as a context-sensitive method of data analysis. Results show that process-activated resources of the patients, in particular their responsiveness to interventions and motivation are especially predictive of the session productivity experienced. Further analyses were conducted to uncover how the patients' participation can be promoted and results translate into guidelines for the session-to-session decisions by clinicians. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract: This paper investigates the extent to which the technical and social contexts of organizations independently affect levels of workplace trust. We argue that, in an organizational context, trust is not just a relationship between an individual subject (the truster) and an object (the trustee) but is subject to effects from the conditions of the work relationship itself. We describe the organizational context as comprising both a technical system of production (where work gets done through the specification of tasks) and a social system of work (where problems of effort, compliance, conformity and motivation are managed). We analyse the relationship between trust and these two aspects of workplace context (technical and social systems). We also operationalize this in terms of differences between industries, occupational composition and human resource management practices. The model is tested using data drawn from the 1995 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey. The results confirm that differences in industry, occupational composition and HRM practices all impact on levels of workplace trust. We review these results in terms of their implications for future research into the problem of analysing variation in trust at both the workplace and individual levels.

Abstract: If the recent collapse of Enron had been just the bankruptcy of a large corporation, history would have taken little notice. However, this event resulted in the unraveling of a host of problems in corporate offices across many industries. This event focused attention on almost every segment of corporate and government entities who apparently failed in their ethical duty to the general public. "Corrupted by the chase for an ever-greater piece of the action, accountants, lawyers, analysts, and managers have shirked their duty on a scale not seen since the 1920s " (Nussbaum, 2002). Therefore, it seemed appropriate to draw attention to an area of corporate social performance (CSP) research that has received little attention - the relationship between top management team functional backgrounds and the CSP orientation of their organization. This paper looks at selected top management team characteristics to show that there is a relationship between functional background and CSP. Introduction Corporals managers are subject to multiple pressures from a large number of constituents (Weaver, Trevino & Cochran, 1999). Their reactions to these pressures can be a function of explicit governmental requirements or the personal commitments of key managers (Miles, 1987). Wally & Baum (1994) argued that top managers imprint their firms with their own values which can become manifest in the decision-making process. This shows the need for more research into the antecedents of socially responsible behavior on the part of top managers. Corporate social performance can be defined as the identification of the domains of an organization's social responsibility, the development of processes to evaluate environmental and stakeholder demands and the implementation of programs to manage social issues (Carroll, 1979). Since the personal history of any individual will impact how he or she identifies and frames events, and interprets the relevance of actions, it is reasonable to conclude that managers' identification of domains, and the programs implemented to manage social issues can be influenced by their functional background and training. Hambrick and Mason (1984) suggest that the process by which managers arrive at strategic decisions is perceptual, consisting of a series of sequential steps. They suggest that top managers have the ability to scan only limited portions of the external environment, selectively perceive only some of the phenomena in their field of vision and, interpret these stimuli through a filter of individual values and beliefs. According to this model, the choices made by managers on the behalf of the organization, reflect to some extent, the characteristics of these managers. We can then argue that individualistic attributes and characteristics of key managers should play an important role in the definition of an organization's strategic posture and the development of programs for dealing with multiple forces in the internal and external environments. Thus, two managers facing identical environments can arrive at entirely different decisions because of their personal characteristics and experiences. This study used two hypotheses based on the literature review: H1 : There will be a significant relationship between the functional backgrounds of top managers and corporate social performance. More specifically, there will be a negative relationship between throughput oriented backgrounds and corporate social performance. H2: There will be a significant relationship between the tenure of top managers and corporate social performance More specifically, there will be a positive relationship between tenure and corporate social performance. Methodology Corporate social performance was operationalized using data from the Kinder, Lydenberg and Domini (KLD) database. There has been growing acceptance of the KLD data base among social issues researchers (e. …

Abstract: For individually motivated agents to work collaboratively to satisfy shared goals, they must make decisions about actions and intentions that take into account their commitments to group activities. This paper examines the role of social consciousness in the process of reconciling intentions to do group-related actions with other, conflicting intentions. We operationalize the notion of social consciousness and provide a first attempt to formally add social consciousness to a cooperative decision-making model. We define a measure of social consciousness; describe its incorporation into the SPIRE experimental system, a simulation environment that allows the process of intention reconciliation in team contexts to be studied; and present results of several experiments that investigate the interaction in decision-making of measures of group and individual good. In particular, we investigate the effect of varying levels of social consciousness on the utility of the group and the individuals it comprises. A key finding is that an intermediate level of social consciousness yields better results in certain circumstances than an extreme commitment. We suggest preliminary principles for designers of collaborative agents based on the results.