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1 – 10 of over 76000Jungkeun Kim, Seongseop (Sam) Kim, Jihoon Jhang, Yeil Kwon and Nancy Grace Baah
This study aims to systematically review a total of 513 papers using experimental methods in hospitality and tourism research and then proposed new recommendations to address…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to systematically review a total of 513 papers using experimental methods in hospitality and tourism research and then proposed new recommendations to address approaches that have been confusingly adopted or ignored in the current literature.
Design/methodology/approach
An extensive literature review was conducted. Together with critiques on previous studies, four recommendations were proposed to help carry out future experimental studies using more rigorous and exact approaches.
Findings
Multiple experimental studies can provide stronger evidence for theoretical arguments. Demonstration of the theoretical underlying mechanism using evidence based on mediation and moderating methods is required. The adoption of complementary methods can mitigate the generic weaknesses of experimental methods. In addition, enhancement of the realism of experiments is required to obtain stronger empirical evidence with internal and external validity.
Research limitations/implications
This study proposes four constructive recommendations which help researchers to conduct future experimental design studies correctly. Valid and exact research outcomes can help practitioners to carry out new useful marketing strategies.
Originality/value
After reviewing 513 previous papers that used experimental design in the hospitality and tourism fields, this study proposes four new recommendations to facilitate a better understanding of experimental design. The original and innovative nature of this study will help future investigations to adopt more accurate statistical approaches.
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Sunyoung Park and Chungil Chae
The purpose of this paper is to identify how intervention research weighed in nonintervention research in the field of human resource development (HRD) by examining the number…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify how intervention research weighed in nonintervention research in the field of human resource development (HRD) by examining the number, citation frequency and use of experimental studies in HRD academic journals.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 2,700 articles published between 1990 and 2014 from Advances in Developing Human Resources (ADHR), European Journal of Training and Development (EJTD), Human Resource Development International (HRDI) and Human Resource Development Quarterly (HRDQ) were reviewed and analyzed to identify 91 experimental studies in the field.
Findings
The total citation frequency of the 91 articles was 1,100 (14 from ADHR, 222 from EJTD, 56 from HRDI and 808 from HRDQ). The authors reviewed the 1,100 subsequent studies that cited 91 experimental research studies and coded them to identify the research methods that each article adopted and to determine whether the studies used the citation to make causal statements. As a result, the authors found 459 causal statements from 1,100 citations. In particular, they identified the citation frequency of the causal statements used in nonintervention research to examine how often nonintervention studies used causal statements from intervention studies.
Research limitations/implications
The results of the citation frequency could be different according to the search engines and timeframes. Books, technical reports, non-English studies, non-academic articles and inaccessible articles were not considered in this study. Theoretically, this study aimed to illuminate the magnitude of HRD experimental research conducted over 25 years and to what extent it influenced non-experimental studies. In addition, this study emphasized the importance of using the causal statements from experimental research to improve empirical validation in other studies.
Practical implications
When HRD practitioners need to identify alternative interventions to replace previous ones or to justify the use of specific interventions, they could consider causal statements from empirical studies as valid evidence. Further, HRD practitioners might collaborate with researchers to receive more direct and relevant information from experimental research.
Originality/value
Significantly, this study provides an integrative review of experimental research conducted in the field of HRD in terms of the number, citation frequency and proportion of using experimental research. An additional contribution is that it summarizes the research methods used in HRD studies over 25 years.
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Lawrence Hoc Nang Fong, Rob Law, Candy Mei Fung Tang and Matthew Hong Tai Yap
This paper aims to examine the prevalence and trend of experimental research in hospitality and tourism. Hospitality and tourism researchers have long been encouraged to increase…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the prevalence and trend of experimental research in hospitality and tourism. Hospitality and tourism researchers have long been encouraged to increase their use of experimental designs. However, a solid support for such advocacy is lacking, and the present paper fills in this research gap.
Design/methodology/approach
By using a systematic approach, this study reviews 161 tourism and hospitality articles and conducts content analysis based on certain criteria including journal outlets, Social Sciences Citation Index journals, years of publication, contexts, disciplinary foci, experimental designs, settings, number of independent variables, number of studies per article, manipulation methods, manipulation check, research subjects, sample size, subjects per experimental condition, statistical analyses and provision of effect size. The criteria between hospitality and tourism publications are also compared.
Findings
Findings show that the number of experimental publications has significantly increased over the past decade, especially in hospitality publications. Nonetheless, there is still room for improvement in applying the experimental design in hospitality and tourism research.
Research limitations/implications
Researchers in hospitality and tourism are recommended to report manipulation check results and the effect size of statistically significant results, as well as to devote more effort to knowledge accumulation and methodological advancement of experimental designs.
Originality/value
This study is the first to review experimental research in hospitality and tourism. The findings of this study provide significant implications and directions for hospitality and tourism researchers to conduct experimental research in the future.
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David B. Zoogah and Richard B. Zoogah
We discuss how experimental analysis can be integrated into strategic human resources management (SHRM) research in Africa so as to develop theory and value principles to guide…
Abstract
Purpose
We discuss how experimental analysis can be integrated into strategic human resources management (SHRM) research in Africa so as to develop theory and value principles to guide executives.
Design/methodology/approach
The model we propose – experiment-based SHRM – is predicated on the use of experimental approaches to demonstrate the value of SHRM and to derive principles that guide research and practice in Africa.
Findings
We illustrate how scholars can conduct experiments from an SHRM perspective.
Research limitations/implications
We discuss the strengths and limitations of the model and suggest ways of maximizing its potential.
Practical implications
The technique is a resource for scholars of SHRM in Africa. They can use it to supplement other approaches for studying SHRM.
Originality/value
This chapter discusses a typology of experimental analysis. The lack of such a typology in the context of Africa makes it a valuable contribution. Thus, it fills a contextual gap in the SHRM research methodology literature. It can therefore help graduate students and junior faculty improve their research.
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Kenneth Butcher and Chachaya Yodsuwan
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the current status of experimental research within hospitality and tourism. This paper further aims to develop practical ideas for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the current status of experimental research within hospitality and tourism. This paper further aims to develop practical ideas for enhancing the adoption of a cause and effect mindset in researchers.
Design/methodology/approach
A mini-review of the level of experimental designs and best-practice ideas published by the top 12 journals in hospitality and tourism over a five-year period was conducted.
Findings
Although the absolute number of experimental studies is growing, the ratio of experimental studies to overall publications remains low at 6.4%. To increase the take-up of experimental design, a broader typology of field experiments is presented. Practical steps to increase causal reality are provided under the categories of purpose; scenario development; scenario testing; and sample characteristics.
Research limitations/implications
The methodological advances suggested in this paper can contribute to more robust theory development and testing. The recommendations offer guidance to a new generation of researchers seeking to add causal value to their studies, researchers collaborating with scholars from other discipline areas and hospitality managers seeking stronger evidence of cause and effect.
Originality/value
This paper identifies key obstacles to the take-up of experimental design and the contemporary status of experimental design. A novel typology of five experimental designs that distinguish the difference between experimental and correlational designs in terms of explanatory power is presented, together with a comprehensive list of best practice suggestions to increase causal reality in scenario design.
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This research paper aims to explore the impact of using wiki activities to support a blended learning course (70 per cent in-class and 30 per cent PBwiki activities) on the…
Abstract
Purpose
This research paper aims to explore the impact of using wiki activities to support a blended learning course (70 per cent in-class and 30 per cent PBwiki activities) on the knowledge management of library and information science (LIS) students compared to 100 per cent in-class learning.
Design/methodology/approach
In the 2015 academic year, the researcher compared an experimental group (41 students) and a control group (41 students). Instruction of the experimental group was based on combining 2 h (70 per cent) of in-class learning and 1 h (30 per cent) of wiki-based learning activities each week. The control group’s experience was 100 per cent in a physical classroom without the use of a wiki. The researcher used a t-test to compare the means of the control and experimental groups in achievement tests and the students’ attitudes based on principles of activity theory (technological, individual and community levels) at 0.05 alpha levels.
Findings
The principal results of the study are that students in the experimental group perform better than those in the control group on the achievement test, learning tracks and attitudes. Learning tracks analysis shows that students in the experimental group had greater participation in different topics of discussion in the PBwiki than did the control group. The first topic discussed by students in the wiki is related to exam revision, and the second topic is related to the course content.
Originality/value
This research paper is useful for readers, parents, students and schools to explore the effectiveness of PBwiki activities to support blended courses in LIS education.
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The unavailability of practitioners is one of the disturbing realities that often prevent the use of experimental methods in accounting research. The availability of pragmatic…
Abstract
Purpose
The unavailability of practitioners is one of the disturbing realities that often prevent the use of experimental methods in accounting research. The availability of pragmatic alternatives to accounting practitioners demands that researchers explore such alternatives fully before conducting expensive experiments with practitioners. However, the use of students as surrogates for non‐students has been a controversial issue and this has led to an under‐utilization of the experimental method in management accounting research. Recent research has warned that relying solely on practitioners as subjects in experimental methods may result in “negative externalities”. The purpose of this paper is to inquire in to the feasibility of using student subjects in behavioral accounting research so that better judgments can be made about the benefits and dangers of using students in experiments.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper relies on a review and synthesis of the literature on the student surrogate debate.
Findings
The paper shows that accounting students may be adequate surrogates for practitioners in many decision‐making experiments.
Research limitations/implications
The paper demonstrates that maintaining the experimental realism of a study and replications are more important than the type of subject when generalizing results.
Originality/value
The paper provides an analysis and synthesis of literature that will enable researchers to make sound judgments about the selection of subjects for experiments.
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In school improvement studies, randomized experiments are rare. A special problem is the assignment to the experimental and control groups, taking into account the different…
Abstract
Purpose
In school improvement studies, randomized experiments are rare. A special problem is the assignment to the experimental and control groups, taking into account the different starting conditions at the schools in terms of school improvement competencies. The purpose of this paper is to take the example of an intervention study conducted in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, the extent to which the challenges involved with a quasi-experimental design were addressed is examined.
Design/methodology/approach
The intervention study was conducted with 54 math teachers (experimental group: n=29; control group: n=25) and their grade 7 and 8 classes (n=1,054) at 13 secondary schools. It aimed to increase teacher cooperation on teaching for promotion of students’ self-regulated learning. T-tests, Mann-Whitney tests, ANOVA, multilevel regression analyses were conducted.
Findings
At the beginning of the intervention, the teachers in the two groups did not differ significantly in prior cooperation on teaching processes and in attitudes toward cooperation. However, they differed in prior cooperation on school framework conditions and teaching processes. The intervention was effective in increasing teachers’ cooperation intensity on instruction, and teachers’ attitude toward binding cooperation. However, teaching processes did not change depending on experimental or control group.
Research limitations/implications
Teacher cooperation practice was assessed only by teachers’ self-report. No indicators on the quality of the cooperation among teachers were included.
Practical implications
The paper discusses the challenges and limitations of conducting intervention studies on school improvement. Implications for further research are given.
Originality/value
This paper fulfils an identified need to study how quasi-experimental designs can be implemented in intervention studies on school improvement.
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Sun-Ki Chai, Dolgorsuren Dorj and Katerina Sherstyuk
Culture is a central concept broadly studied in social anthropology and sociology. It has been gaining increasing attention in economics, appearing in research on labor market…
Abstract
Culture is a central concept broadly studied in social anthropology and sociology. It has been gaining increasing attention in economics, appearing in research on labor market discrimination, identity, gender, and social preferences. Most experimental economics research on culture studies cross-national or cross-ethnic differences in economic behavior. In contrast, we explain laboratory behavior using two cultural dimensions adopted from a prominent general cultural framework in contemporary social anthropology: group commitment and grid control. Groupness measures the extent to which individual identity is incorporated into group or collective identity; gridness measures the extent to which social and political prescriptions intrinsically influence individual behavior. Grid-group characteristics are measured for each individual using selected items from the World Values Survey. We hypothesize that these attributes allow us to systematically predict behavior in a way that discriminates among multiple forms of social preferences using a simple, parsimonious deductive model. The theoretical predictions are further tested in the economics laboratory by applying them to the dictator, ultimatum, and trust games. We find that these predictions are confirmed overall for most experimental games, although the strength of empirical support varies across games. We conclude that grid-group cultural theory is a viable predictor of people’s economic behavior, then discuss potential limitations of the current approach and ways to improve it.
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Rajashi Ghosh and Seth Jacobson
The purpose of this paper is to conduct a critical review of the mediation studies published in the field of Human Resource Development (HRD) to discern if the study designs, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conduct a critical review of the mediation studies published in the field of Human Resource Development (HRD) to discern if the study designs, the nature of data collection and the choice of statistical methods justify the causal claims made in those studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper conducts a critical review of published refereed articles that examined mediation in Human Resource Development Quarterly, Human Resource Development International, Advances in Developing Human Resources and European Journal of Training and Development. Mediation studies published in these journals from 2000 to 2015 were identified and coded. The four journals sampled were chosen to provide breadth of coverage of the different types of empirical studies published in the field of HRD.
Findings
The review findings imply that HRD scholars are not employing experimental or longitudinal designs in their studies when randomized experiments and longitudinal studies with at least three waves of data collection are regarded as the golden standards of causal research. Further, the findings indicate that sophisticated statistical modeling approaches like structural equation modeling are widely used to examine mediation in cross-sectional studies and most importantly, a large number of such studies do not acknowledge that cross-sectional data does not allow definite causal claims.
Research limitations/implications
Although the findings urge us to rethink the inferences of mediation effects reported over the past 15 years in the field of HRD, this study also serves as a guide in thinking about framing and testing causal mediation models in future HRD research and even argues for a paradigm shift from a positivist orientation to critical and postmodern perspectives that can accommodate mixed methods designs for mediation research in HRD.
Originality/value
This paper presents a critical review of the trends in examining mediation models in the HRD discipline, suggests best practices for researchers examining the causal process of mediation and directs readers to recent methodological articles that have discussed causal issues in mediation studies.
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