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1 – 10 of over 5000The purpose of this paper is to examine the ethical implications of Google's Knowledge Graph. The paper argues that in the advent and implementation of said Knowledge Graph, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the ethical implications of Google's Knowledge Graph. The paper argues that in the advent and implementation of said Knowledge Graph, the role of Google in users' lives and the power held by Google as the key intermediary of information must be scrutinized.
Design/methodology/approach
Revisiting existing literature on Google and its impact on knowledge culture, the paper seeks to assess whether the implementation of The Knowledge Graph represents a significant shift in the nature (or use) of the service.
Findings
The paper concludes that the extension to Google Search, The Knowledge Graph, can serve to radicalize Google's position as a key intermediary of information in users' lives. Rather than simply serving as a gatekeeper supplying the user with an array of links matching a given query, Google now conveniently disseminates information on their own site, roughly rendering the remainder of the web superfluous. Considering both the commercial nature and the opacity of the service, Google as a de facto solo editor of information is worrying from both a democratic and ethical perspective. A culture of emphatic insistence on convenience and consumption is likely to contribute to the impediment of autonomous information retrieval and digital literacy.
Research limitations/implications
The paper must be considered a preliminary inquiry into Google's reliability as an editor of the body of knowledge. As of yet, no literature specifically has remarked on The Knowledge Graph.
Originality/value
This paper examines whether the newest extension of Google Search, The Knowledge Graph, poses any significant changes to the assessment of the service and its role in the culture. Fostering critical, digital literacy in search engine users is deemed of even more vital importance to society with the implementation of The Knowledge Graph. This paper, preliminary and far from exhaustive, seeks to initiate a discussion on the future responsibilities of Google, scholars and users in securing the ideal of critical digital literacy.
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Lih-Juan ChanLin, Kung-Chi Chan and Chiao-Ru Wang
This study aims to investigate whether epistemological assessment is a suitable approach to evaluate students’ learning of dietary knowledge via the use of an augmented reality…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate whether epistemological assessment is a suitable approach to evaluate students’ learning of dietary knowledge via the use of an augmented reality (AR) information system. Students’ perceived dietary knowledge was compared before and after learning with the AR system. Two major questions were addressed: Did students improve their understanding of dietary knowledge after the use of AR information system? Did students gain more appropriate understanding of dietary knowledge after the use of AR information system?
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-methods approach was used in the study. The mobile AR system was used among 65 volunteered non-nutrition-major college students recruited in campus. For promoting epistemological development of personal dietary knowledge, students practiced with life experiences to access daily dietary information. Pre- and post-tests of students’ understanding of dietary knowledge were compared. Interviews with 20 students were used for gathering in-depth research data to analyse students’ epistemological understanding of dietary knowledge.
Findings
The epistemological assessment indicated an improvement in learning after the use of the AR system. Students gradually gained awareness of dietary knowledge and changed their perceptions of their dietary behaviours. Epistemological approaches to the analysis of students’ conceptual change in dietary knowledge revealed a significant increase in the mean nutritional concepts (p < 0.01) and a decrease in their mean misconceptions (p < 0.001) after learning via the mobile nutrition monitoring system. Learning assessment of 65 students also indicated a significant increase from the post-test after learning with the system (p < 0.0001).
Research limitations/implications
This study might have its limitations, as it only assessed learning using a pretest-posttest design for a specific learning context over a short period of learning time. The use of interviews based on the epistemological approach might have its limitations in the interpretations of the phenomenon. Future implementations can also be extended to different populations to promote self-monitoring dietary behaviours.
Originality/value
The findings of this study will contribute to the application of AR in learning about dietary knowledge. The research involving in-depth observation of students’ learning relevant to personal nutritional information needs via mobile AR might provide potential contributions to dietitian professionals and health education.
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Lovinska Liudmyla and Kucheriava Maria
Introduction: In the context of globalisation processes, the necessity to create appropriate information support for management decisions at various levels becomes increasingly…
Abstract
Introduction: In the context of globalisation processes, the necessity to create appropriate information support for management decisions at various levels becomes increasingly important: at the international, national and enterprise levels. The source of such data is financial reporting. The last leads to increase attention from key users (investors, lenders, other users) to the reliability and quality of financial reporting data. The study of scientific literature and best foreign practices made it possible to identify problems of the theoretical, organisational and methodological background of preparing high-quality financial statements and their assessment, particularly the lack of a unified interpretation of the financial reporting quality concept. The necessity to identify a theoretical basis for assessing financial reporting quality has led to the relevance of this study.
Aim: Scientific substantiation and improvement of theoretical provisions of methodology development for financial reporting quality assessment.
Methods used within the study are the following: Analysis, synthesis, operational approach, bibliographic analysis, generalisation.
Findings: The application of an operational approach to the formulation of the definition of financial reporting quality has made it possible to create the basis for its assessment. This approach involves descriptions of the principles of clarity and uniformity. The authors define the concept of ‘financial reporting quality’, formulating the theoretical principles for financial reporting assessment as the process of establishing compliance of financial statements with a specific list of qualitative characteristics.
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States that growing numbers of experienced adult professionals are pursuing higher education on a part‐time basis and are enrolling selectively in university and workplace‐based…
Abstract
States that growing numbers of experienced adult professionals are pursuing higher education on a part‐time basis and are enrolling selectively in university and workplace‐based undergraduate, graduate, and continuing professional education programs. As competition for this growing population of lifelong learners increases, the assessment of student satisfaction requires more attention. This article discusses the advantages of focus groups – a structured group interview technique – over other techniques for assessing the satisfaction of adult learners, presents key aspects of focus group methodology, and provides a case illustration of focus group methodology applied to quality improvement in a professional master’s level management program that serves adult professionals who are employed full‐time in the health professions.
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Paul Chipangura, Dewald Van Niekerk and Gerrit Van Der Waldt
The purpose of this paper is to understand the meaning of social constructivism and objectivism within the context of disaster risk from which disaster risk policy can be…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the meaning of social constructivism and objectivism within the context of disaster risk from which disaster risk policy can be analysed. In particular, the paper attempts to explore the implications of social constructivism and objectivism in disaster risk which is essential in explaining why disaster risk has different nuances and consequently policy responses.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature survey was used to explore social constructivism and objectivism within the context of disaster risk. The survey involved documentary searches from academic books, journal articles and disaster risk reports to serve as primary research data.
Findings
The analysis revealed that viewing and managing disasters through the lens of objectivism might not yield the desired results of minimising risk as it conceals the vulnerabilities to disaster risk. The objectivist perspective is therefore in itself considered inadequate for the study of disaster risk and that social constructivist assumptions are required in order to analyse disaster risk. Towards this end, social constructivism offers a discursive approach to disaster risk policy science; one that more optimally illuminates competing local perspectives.
Originality/value
An epistemological and ontological assessment of social constructivism and objectivism in disaster risk can assist greatly in understanding the discursive dimension of disaster risk through explanations of how and why disasters are framed the way they are framed and the implications of this on policy formulation and implementation.
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Following Lakatos' strategy of a rational reconstruction of science, I present a concrete example of the rise and decline of a research program from the history of the social…
Abstract
Following Lakatos' strategy of a rational reconstruction of science, I present a concrete example of the rise and decline of a research program from the history of the social sciences: the authoritarian character studies of the Frankfurt School. The first version of the authoritarian character studies of the Frankfurt Institute of Social Research was based on a Marxist social and psychoanalytic theory, and included an initial empirical survey. The preliminary results of this survey motivated the Institute's just-in-time emigration from Germany in 1932, and at the same time do not fit into the later theory of the authoritarian character (1936). The second version of the authoritarian character studies (1950) gained the status of a social psychological paradigm, but soon turned into a declining research program, which came to a complete stop around 1968 as far as the Institute of Social Research was concerned. Internal and external factors combined to bring about the sudden end of the authoritarian character studies.
Ali E. Akgün, John Byrne and Halit Keskin
This paper aims to unify the fragmented views on organizational intelligence from the perspective of Giddens' structuration theory.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to unify the fragmented views on organizational intelligence from the perspective of Giddens' structuration theory.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper used a case study of a firm, which is a small electronics manufacturing group located in the New England area of the northeast USA. Data were collected by observation, oral histories and through discussion and interviews with organization members.
Findings
It was observed that a structuration view of organization intelligence removes the individual/organization level intelligence dichotomy, and integrates the fragmented studies on the epistemology of intelligence, e.g. cognitive, behavioral and social/emotional.
Research limitations/implications
Propositions for further research are formulated. However, findings are derived on the basis of a substantive case study in a particular country. Further, research needs to expand this base to encompass other organizations in a wider range of countries across different cultures.
Practical implications
This paper helps managers to assess and to operationalize organizational intelligence.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a more comprehensive understanding of intelligence in organizations.
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Developments at all levels between project and policy have a potential impact on human health. Health‐impact assessment (HIA) is a discipline that seeks to assess these impacts to…
Abstract
Developments at all levels between project and policy have a potential impact on human health. Health‐impact assessment (HIA) is a discipline that seeks to assess these impacts to safeguard and enhance human health. There is a growing consensus about the scope, methodology and context for HIA but there are also many unresolved issues. This paper reviews the main trends as they vary between the healthy public policy, environmental assessment and environmental epidemiology communities; and between retrospective and prospective, developed and developing economies and urban/industrial versus rural settings. There are unresolved issues associated with the nature of evidence, the link with economic appraisal, and with the core biophysical and social health determinants. The nature of the evidence used is examined and some resolutions are proposed. The growing number of guidelines testify to a demand by development agencies for HIA, but increased consensus is required to ensure that quality assessments are delivered.
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Arushi Bathla, Ginni Chawla, Mahrane Hofaidhllaoui and Marina Dabic
Applying critical analysis as the methodological framework for assessing the literature, the review seeks to present a summary and evaluation of the existing body of knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
Applying critical analysis as the methodological framework for assessing the literature, the review seeks to present a summary and evaluation of the existing body of knowledge. This approach helps to establish the basis for developing forthcoming recommendations.
Design/methodology/approach
The articles were selected through a Systematic Literature Review following the PRISMA guidelines, and utilising Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, and the Education Resources Information Center database. Field taxonomy is presented based on the outcomes.
Findings
Through a critical review, we offer narrative arguments that document the shortcomings in the existing literature by scrutinising study designs and highlighting suboptimal approaches. Finally, we issue a call to action for future research, envisioning its potential to reorient and reconstruct the field while enhancing the quality of future studies. This proactive stance aims to foster the development of more competent and insightful perspectives, theories, and policy recommendations within design thinking in management education and training.
Practical implications
The research in this field holds significant potential for providing valuable practical and policy insights, contingent upon the rigorous and thorough execution of studies.
Originality/value
This article presents a robust critical review of 57 state-of-the-art articles investigating design thinking in the context of management education and training.
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