Abstract: Although DeLone, McLean, and others insist that system usage is a key variable in information systems research, the system usage construct has received little theoretical scrutiny, boasts no widely accepted definition, and has been operationalized by a diverse set of unsystematized measures. In this article, we present a systematic approach for reconceptualizing the system usage construct in particular nomological contexts. Comprising two stages, definition and selection, the approach enables researchers to develop clear and valid measures of system usage for a given theoretical and substantive context. The definition stage requires that researchers define system usage and explicate its underlying assumptions. In the selection stage, we suggest that system usage be conceptualized in terms of its structure and function. The structure of system usage is tripartite, comprising a user, system, and task, and researchers need to justify which elements of usage are most relevant for their study. In terms of function, researchers should choose measures for each element (i.e., user, system, and/or task) that tie closely to the other constructs in the researcher's nomological network. To provide evidence of the viability of the approach, we undertook an empirical investigation of the relationship between system usage and short-run task performance in cognitively engaging tasks. The results support the benefits of the approach and show how an inappropriate choice of usage measures can lead researchers to draw opposite conclusions in an empirical study. Together, the approach and the results of the empirical investigation suggest new directions for research into the nature of system usage, its antecedents, and its consequences.

Abstract: Employability is a critical requirement for enabling both sustained competitive advantage at the firm level and career success at the individual level. We propose a competence-based approach to employability derived from an expansion of the resource-based view of the firm. In this contribution, we present a reliable and valid instrument for measuring employability. This measure is based on a five-dimensional conceptualization of employability, in which occupational expertise is complemented with generic competences. Two sources of raters (employees and their immediate supervisors) are involved in developing and testing the measure. Since the five dimensions of employability explain a significant amount of variance in both objective and subjective career success, the predictive validity of the tool is promising. This instrument facilitates further scientific HRM research and is of practical value in light of job and career assessments, recruitment, staffing, career mobility, and development practices

Abstract: In this article, the authors present an empirical example of triangulation in qualitative health research. The Canadian Heart Health Dissemination Project (CHHDP) involves a national examination of capacity building and dissemination undertaken within a series of provincial dissemination projects. The Project's focus is on the context, processes, and impacts of health promotion capacity building and dissemination. The authors collected qualitative data within a parallel-case study design using key informant interviews as well as document analysis. Given the range of qualitative data sets used, it is essential to triangulate the data to address completeness, convergence, and dissonance of key themes. Although one finds no shortage of admonitions in the literature that it must be done, there is little guidance with respect to operationalizing a triangulation process. Consequently, the authors are feeling their way through the process, using this opportunity to develop, implement, and reflect on a triangulation protocol.

Abstract: Despite its growing currency in academic and policy circles, social cohesion is a term in need of a clearer and more rigorous definition. This article provides a critical review of the ways social cohesion has been conceptualized in the literature in many cases, definitions are too loosely made, with a common confusion between the content and the causes or effects of social cohesion. This motivates us to propose a refined definition that we hope is clearer and more rigorous. We will show how our definition could be operationalized into a measurement scheme that facilitates empirical work on social cohesion.

Abstract: This article draws on work done in educational psychology to propose a new approach to generating a psychometrically-based measure of second language learners’ strategic learning, operationalized as their self-regulatory capacity ,a s an alternative to the scales traditionally used to quantify language learning strategy use. The self-regulation instrument was developed through a three-phase process, focusing on the realm of vocabulary learning. The first phase involved the generation of an item pool, the second a pilot study in a sizeable sample, and the third an evaluation of the psychometric properties of the revised instrument, using confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis. The results show that the proposed instrument has satisfactory psychometric characteristics and that the hypothesized theoretical model had a good fit with the data. We argue that the results provide evidence for the validity of transferring the theoretical construct of self-regulation from educational psychology to the area of second language acquisition. We also propose that instruments targeting learner self-regulation in a similar way to the questionnaire presented in this study can provide a more psychometrically sound measure of strategic learning than traditional language learning strategy scales.

Abstract: We develop a valid definition of technological radicalness which states that a successful radical invention is: (1) novel, (2) unique, and (3) has an impact on future technology. The first two criteria allow us to identify potentially radical inventions ex ante market introduction; adding the third condition, we can ex post determine if an invention served as an important change agent. Empirically testable condition selected 6 of 581 tennis racket patents granted between 1971 and 2001. Two of the identified patents - the oversized and the wide-body rackets - are considered radical inventions by industry experts. Applying our definition and operationalization would allow researchers to achieve greater generalizability across studies, avoid endogenous definitions of radicalness, and study predictors of market success for radical inventions.

Abstract: Researchers and practitioners have an abiding interest in improving tools and methods to support idea generation. In studies that go beyond merely enumerating ideas, researchers typically select one or more of the following three constructs, which are often operationalized as the dependent variable(s): 1) idea quality, 2) idea novelty, which is sometimes referred to as rarity or unusualness, and 3) idea creativity. It has been chronically problematic to compare findings across studies because these evaluation constructs have been variously defined and the constructs have been sampled in different ways. For example, some researchers term an idea ‘creative’ if it is novel, while others consider an idea to be creative only if it is also applicable, effective, and implementable. This paper examines 90 studies on creativity and idea generation. Within the creativity studies considered here, the novelty of ideas was always measured, but in 1 Detmar Straub was the accepting senior editor. This paper was submitted on September, 3, 2004, and went through three revisions. Journal of the Association for Information Systems Vol. 7 No. 10, pp. 646-699/October 2006 646 Identifying Quality, Novel, and Creative Ideas/Dean et al. some cases the ideas had to also meet additional requirements to be considered creative. Some studies that examined idea quality also assessed novelty, while others measured different quality attributes, such as effectiveness and implementability, instead. This paper describes a method for evaluating ideas with regard to four dimensions—novelty, workability, relevance, and specificity—and has identified two measurable sub-dimensions for each of the four main dimensions. An action-research approach was used to develop ordinal scales anchored by clearly differentiable descriptions for each sub-dimension. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed high loadings among the sub-dimensions that comprise each dimension as well as high discriminant validity between dimensions. Application of this method resulted in high inter-rater reliability even when the method was applied by different raters to different problems and to ideas produced by both manual methods and group support systems (GSS).

Abstract: This book represents an effort to present an easily accessible framework to readers, especially those for whom empowerment remains a puzzling development concern, conceptually and in application. The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 explains how the empowerment framework can be used for understanding, measuring, monitoring, and operationalizing empowerment policy and practice. Part 2 presents summaries of each of the five country studies, using them to discuss how the empowerment framework can be applied in very different country and sector contexts and what lessons can be learned from these test cases. While this book can offer only a limited empirical basis for the positive association between empowerment and development outcomes, it does add to the body of work supporting the existence of such a relationship. Perhaps more importantly, it also provides a framework for future research to test the association and to prioritize practical interventions seeking to empower individuals and groups.

Abstract: Increasingly there is interest in development studies and specifically in the field of education in taking up Amartya Sen’s capability approach as a framework for theorizing, implementing and evaluating education policy as a matter of social justice. This paper sets out to contribute to the emerging debate and to show how the capability approach offers an assertive alternative discourse to dominant human capital ideas in education. It considers core ideas of capability and functioning, and the emphasis in Sen’s approach on each person’s freedom and opportunities to develop valued beings and doings. The article then shows more concretely how the ideas might be operationalized by producing a provisional, situated list of education capabilities, with specific attention to gender equity in contemporary South African schools. It closes by presenting and emphasizing the importance of public debate and discussion around the policy potential of the theoretical and empirical ideas raised.

Abstract: The examination of racism as a determinant of health is an emerging area of research. This paper examines and expands on existing research approaches in relation to three levels at which coherence and conceptual clarity can be improved: in defining and theorizing racism, in conceptualizing how racism may relate to health and in characterizing racism as an exposure that can be operationalized and measured. A definition of racism in relation to the broader concept of privilege/oppression is detailed along with a discussion of the implications of this definition in relation to the concept of power, the perpetration of privilege/oppression, intention vs. effect and objective vs. subjective racism. This is followed by a conceptualization of the relationship between racism and health, which incorporates both previous approaches in health research and pertinent social theory and is designed to aid in organizing and synthesizing knowledge, defining concepts and variables, generating specific research questions an...

Abstract: Research policy favours projects that integrate disciplinary knowledge and involve non-academic stakeholders. Consequently, integrative concepts - interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity - are gaining currency in landscape research and planning. Researchers are excited by the prospect of merging disciplinary and non-academic expertise to improve their understanding and performance, but often struggle with the challenges of operationalizing integration. This book provides guidelines for those coping with these challenges, whether they are members of an integrative research team or individuals working on a problem that demands integration. They must define terminology, choose appropriate methodologies, overcome epistemological barriers and cope with the high expectations of some stakeholders while encouraging others to participate at all. The book deals with the development of integrative theory and concepts, the development of integrative tools and methods, training and education for integration, and the application of integrative concepts in landscape research. As it also presents examples of successful integrative PhD studies, it is not only valuable for experienced scientists but will also help other PhD students find their way in integrative research.

Abstract: Though a vast amount of empirical work stresses the beneficial effects of social capital, the recent literature has explicitly recognized the importance of distinguishing different types of social capital. Particularly, a distinction has been made between homogeneous (or bonding) and heterogeneous (or bridging) networks under the argument that the latter are more likely to generate positive externalities than the former. The empirical operationalization of this theoretical distinction has thus far, however, remained underdeveloped. We take a step to resolve this issue by assessing the diversity of (voluntary) association membership on a number of socio-economic traits. The proposed methodology is applied to Flemish survey data on voluntary association membership. This analysis indicates that hobby clubs and humanitarian associations such as the Red Cross are among the most bridging associations, while women's groups and associations for retired people are among the most bonding groups.

Abstract: In this issue of The Counseling Psychologist, Smith presents an array of important strength-related literature and offers propositions, stages, and counseling recommendations to foster resilience among youth. This article argues, however, that the strength-based counseling model is not sufficiently operational or clearly distinguishable from other models and that more inclusion of the adult well-being literature could help to clarify key constructs and relationships among variables. The author proffers a focal operationalization of psychological resilience as generalized self-efficacy and discusses the importance of cultural moderators of resilience effects and meaning in life as a predictor of well-being. He recommends studying the incremental therapeutic benefits of strength-focused interventions.

Abstract: Based on a theoretical exploration in a previous article, this paper empirically analyzes which issues of SD are taken into account by corporations and stakeholders in what way, and to what extent the concept of sustainable development (SD) can be achieved through stakeholder relations management (SRM) on the corporate level. An important basis for this empirical analysis is a referential framework, which specifies 14 issues of SD. In a first empirical step, the literature-based framework has been operationalized for the business world by analyzing sustainability reports. In a second empirical step, the operationalized framework served as the basis for a survey of selected MNCs. The analyses of the sustainability reports and the survey show how MNCs deal with particular issues of SD and what role they perceive particular stakeholders play. A key conclusion of the article is that SRM indeed promotes SD, but that it is no alternative to predictable government regulation.

Abstract: Introduction Two decades after the report "A Nation at Risk" by National Commission on Excellence in Education (A Nation at Risk: The imperative of educational reform, 1983), education professionals are still struggling with the issue of improving academic achievement as measured by standardized test scores. To reinforce the sense of national urgency about this issue, The Teaching Commission (2004) published a new report, "Teaching at Risk", stating that teaching quality is a critical factor in attempts to improve our national's global competitiveness, security and future. Whether there is any association between teaching quality and the nation's ability to compete in a global economy is an empirical question mat should be addressed in a the context of carefully defining teacher quality. Purpose Purpose of this article is to examine the issue of the relationship between teacher effectiveness and students' achievement as measured by test scores. A strong belief among policy makers and public as well as private funding agencies is that test scores are directly related to the quality of teaching effectiveness (Kupermintz, 2002). This relationship implies that there could be a direct causality among teacher preparation, teacher quality, and student achievement. The terms "teaching effectiveness" and "teacher effect" are often used interchangeably in these conversations. In the following sections, we will discuss several aspects of each construct. Particularly, we discuss the following issues: (i) teacher effects, (2) teaching or teacher effectiveness, and (3) an educational model of school and teacher effects on student achievement. Fundamental research issues and concerns as well as an alternative conceptual framework for studying the relationship of achievement and teaching will be highlighted. Comparing Teacher Effects and Teacher Effectiveness In recent years, research on effectiveness of teaching has reported a direct relationship between its quality and student learning (Darling-Hammond & Young, 2002). Odden, Borman, and Fermanich (2004) indicated that teachers have a significant influence on student learning. However, the definition of teaching effectiveness is not clear and, in fact, is operationalized in terms of teacher effects, which are more easily quantified in research studies. Based on the literature discussion by Odden, Borman, and Fermanich (2004), the following teacher factors or effects are specifically identified. They were found to be, to different degrees, associated with student achievement and include: (1) years of teaching (Goldhaber & Brewer, 1997), (2) major of undergraduate study, particularly for mathematic and science teachers (Monk, 1994), (3) ACT or SAT test scores (e.g., Ferguson, 1998), (4) course work or degree obtained (Rowan, Chiang, & Miller, 1996), (5) quality of high school (Goldhaber & Brewer, 1997), (6) earning of a license (Darling-Hammond & Young, 2002), and (7) verbal ability (Ehrenberg & Brewer, 1995). Odden et al. (2004) suggest that these variables should be defined further, especially for the variables that show mixed effects. Whereas these teacher effects can be defined relatively easily and studied, the teacher effectiveness is a very different matter. While the teacher effects can be operational zed as, for instance, the gender, experience and salary level of teachers, the operationalization of teacher or teaching effectiveness is not clearly articulated. For example, it is relatively a simple matter to study the relationship between teachers' salary and student achievement as a teacher effect since there is a large variation in teachers' salary. One could conclude, therefore, that students taught by higher paid teaches will be more successful on tests than pupils of lower paid teachers. However, such a teacher effect cannot be necessarily translated into teacher effectiveness; that is, a teacher's salary may not have anything to do with whether a teacher is effective in his/her teaching. …

Abstract: This research contrasts two different conceptions, fields and pathways, of individual information behavior in context. These different approaches imply different relationships between actors and their information environments and, thus, encapsulate different views of the relationship between individual actions and contexts. We discuss these different theoretical views, then empirically compare and contrast them. The operationalization of these conceptions is based on different analytic treatments of the same raw data: a battery of three questions based on respondent's unaided recall of the sources they would consult for information on inherited cancers, a particularly rich information seeking problem. These operationalizations are then analyzed in a nomological network of related concepts drawn from an omnibus survey of 882 adults. The results indicated four clusters for fields and 16 different pathways, indicating increased fragmentation of information environments, with different underlying logics and active ingredients, although the use of the Internet appears to be an emerging common theme. The analysis of the nomological network suggests that both approaches may have applications for particular problems. In the implications, we compare and contrast these approaches, discussing their significance for future methodological, analytical, and theoretical developments.

Abstract: The concept of a working alliance as a key ingredient within therapeutic processes has been emphasized by many community mental health researchers and practitioners. However, few studies have provided insights into the dimensions and operationalization of the concept. To address this gap, the authors analyzed data on the working alliance derived from two qualitative data sets: (a) interviews conducted with 33 users of community mental health services, family members, and service providers; and (b) content extracted from a systematic review of 48 articles in the area of community mental health services. Three superordinate themes emerged: Building and negotiating trust, I'm on your side, and Tools and strategies. The authors discuss implications for community mental health practice.

Abstract: Objectives Uncertainty is pervasive in decision making on new health technologies; therefore, some countries have put systems in place to support decision makers with timely information. An important, but as yet undocumented, determinant of the potential value for decision making of these so-called horizon scanning systems (HSSs) is how the most significant health technologies are selected. Methods All thirteen member organizations of EuroScan, a collaborative network for HSSs, were surveyed and interviewed on how they prioritize technologies for assessment. Results The majority of HSSs directly serves a customer. Some customers actively request early assessments of new health technologies, thereby diminishing the need for priority setting for the HSSs. All systems express a concern to miss an important technology and/or to select an unimportant technology. Almost all HSSs use explicit selection criteria, but these criteria hardly ever are operationalized. The number of criteria used varies, but costs and health benefit of the technology are always taken into account. The process of reaching a final decision is implicit, undocumented in all but one system, and is based on agreement by consensus. Conclusions The process of making the final decision on which technologies to assess can be improved by applying existing criteria more consistently and transparently. Current practice does not safeguard against missing an important technology. This finding is probably most important to act upon for systems with customers that do not actively request assessment of specific technologies.

Abstract: This year, the workshop examined the conceptual foundation of the workshop sessions by discussing the definition of equity itself. What do we mean by equity, and how does equity differ from equality? Whereas equity is commonly associated positively with impartiality and justice, economists understand equality as an idealistic and unattainable goal often linked to socialism and communism. The terminological twins equity/equality, however, can be conceptualized in highly diverging ways with different consequences for development strategy. The discussions throughout the workshop mirror the controversial positions of international discourse on the topic. Through the varying dimensions of these terms, discussions focused on the different responsibilities for political action such terms entail. For example, whereas equality in outcome implies an egalitarian perspective, economic studies on inequality in outcome mostly take into account the results of actions and conditions such as unequal incomes. Session I, on what is equity, and, what is the role for governments in the promotion of equity, further discussed how does this role differ between developed and developing countries. Nonetheless, it was suggested that before operationalizing and measuring inequity, the concept itself has to be clarified, and, further arguments indicated that one future challenge for development policy is precisely to combine growth-promoting policies with policies that assure that the poor can fully participate in the opportunities that growth offers. Session II, on equity-enhancing social transformation and historical evidence from European and Transition Countries, focus on policies that impact equity. Session III, on building efficient welfare states and lessons learnt, discussed the task of formulating policies that foster both efficiency and equitable social welfare, while Session IV, on international inequalities and what can be done to reduce them, focuses on the global level, contrary to Session III which concentrated on equity issues at the national level. Finally, Session V, on what will greater integration mean for inequalities between and within the richer and poorer countries of the New Europe, draws a very differentiated picture. Conclusions outlined key issues that need to be addressed, noting the importance of carefully analyzing different redistributive instruments with respect to their effects on growth and efficiency, and vice versa.

Abstract: Managerial constraint is a central theme in strategic management research. Although discussed using a variety of labels (including choice and determinism) and theoretical perspectives (including resource dependence and population ecology), the common question is the degree to which executives have choices or options when making decisions. Two of the most commonly used approaches for discussing constraint are organizational task environments (Dess & Beard, 1984) and managerial discretion (Hambrick & Finkelstein, 1987). These two papers share substantial commonalities in both their theoretical background and operationalization, raising the question of whether discretion and task environment are indeed separate constructs. This chapter reviews both conceptual and methodological issues associated with the use of task environment and discretion. Drawing on a review of published studies and original data analysis, we offer methodological suggestions for future research.

Abstract: Tensions between imperatives for sharing of information about clients, patients, and offenders and those for confidentiality and privacy have become a prominent but unresolved issue in British public policy in the context of greater pressures toward interagency collaboration. This article analyses empirical data from a major Economic and Social Research Council–funded research project designed to provide the first systematic evidence about the ways in which local partnerships working in sensitive policy fields in England and Scotland attempt to strike settlements between sharing and confidentiality and discusses the impact of national government's attempts to increase formal regulation of their information-sharing practices. To do this, the project has developed a methodology to operationalize neo-Durkheimian institutional theory and demonstrates that theory in this tradition has the power to identify and explain patterns of information-sharing styles adopted in local collaborative working. The overall conclusion is that the stronger assertion of formal regulation by national government may well be leading to the greater prominence of hierarchical institutional forms but it may also be associated with the counterassertion of other institutional forms, too, and in ways that may reinforce problems that greater regulation is intended to address. In particular, we show that neither does increased formal regulation always lead frontline staff to be more confident about local information-sharing practices nor should it lead observers to be more confident that data-sharing practices will be more transparent or consistent from locality to locality.

Abstract: The idea of social norm is often associated with the idea of value. However, such a simple association has often been criticized. The criticism seems to lie in the polysemy and the vagueness associated with the idea of value. The present study was based on the distinction drawn between two dimensions of value that people or objects can have, and its experimental operationalization in personality traits: (1) social desirability (SD), which refers to affective valence or motivation and covers traits such as sympathetic and nice, and (2) social utility (SU), which corresponds to how well a person meets the requirements of a given society, and covers traits like dynamic and competent. The desirability-utility distinction was used here to investigate what kind of value a norm can activate. Our hypothesis was that SU would be more elicited by normativity than SD. This hypothesis was tested in three studies in which participants were asked to describe target people (with traits pertaining either to SD or to SU) whose answers on a questionnaire varied in degree of normativeness (judge paradigm). The results support the hypothesis; the more normative targets are, the more they are described in SU terms.