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Analyses the influence of value judgements in the mechanics of testing econometric theories against empirical data. The orthodox view of mainstream, positive economics is that value judgements play no part in the above process. Contests this view; defines value judgements and shows the orthodox conception to be too narrow, compared with the meaning and use of the term in other disciplines. Reviews many published examples from the 1970s and 1980s and ways in which value judgements have affected testing procedures in economics. Hypothesis testing via econometric techniques is fraught with value judgements because the application of statistical methodology is not a determinate, neutral or objective process.

The purpose of this paper is statistical analysis for the democracy index data of 167 countries for the period 2006 to 2012 to investigate whether democracy index is progressing day by day? Does democracy make any significant improvement in public life and public trust in political institutions? What are the implications for future progress of democracy? Democracy index is a measure of democratic performance introduced by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The EIU calculated democracy index since 2006 for 167 countries covering almost the entire population of the world.

As democracy index varies from country to country and over time, the author considers randomized complete bock design for the analysis of variance to test whether there are significant variations among the countries and between time (years). The author also applied Friedman’s test, which is a non-parametric distribution-free test.

It was found that democracy did not make any significant progress in the study period. Popular confidence in political institutions continues to decline in many full democratic countries. Violence and drug-trafficking have a negative impact on democracy in some countries. Some countries had democratic progress, while some other countries had regression. However, these changes in democratic performances are not statistically significant. As a result, democracy becomes stagnant all over the world.

The analysis is based on only five years of available data.

As democracy becomes stagnant all over the world and the public trust on political institutions and politicians is declining, it is essential to find out the root cause.

Democracy is a popular alternative to hybrid or authoritarian regimes, but the nations’ recent democratic transitions had brought no improvements to their lives in the society. God has created us in this world with the rest of creation for a very good reason which was explained in all main religious books. To increase our honesty, character, trust and understanding for becoming a good human, we should follow the divine rules and guidance. Eventually everything will work properly, including democracy.

The author analyzed democracy index data produced by the EIU using statistical techniques, analysis of variance and non-parametric Friedman’s test. Statistical analysis, discussion and conclusion are the author ' s contribution.

The purpose of this paper is to present a tie-breaking procedure for computing performance efficiencies to improve benchmarking and performance evaluation process in a business situation.

The authors propose a unified approach based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) and technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), to overcome the difficulty of unique ranking in the prevalent benchmarking and performance evaluation processes such as DEA, Super efficiency DEA model, etc., under constant return to scale (CRS) assumption. This model is called as efficiency ranking method using DEA and TOPSIS (ERM-DT). In order to check the consistency of the approach, various input-output combinations (to calculate the efficiencies) have been illustrated. Further, the authors present a case of an Indian Bank to illustrate an application of the proposed approach.

The proposed approach, ERM-DT enables assign a unique rank to decision making units and provides a tie breaking procedure. Results obtained using the proposed approach are statistically compared with those obtained from the CRS DEA approach and super efficiency DEA approach using Friedman’s test.

The proposed model provides an efficiency ranking method based on a score obtained by considering the minimum distance from the best value and maximum distance from the worst value. The proposed methodology is capable of handling negative data and undesirable output variables. This approach is unit invariant and makes the calculations simple. The authors present an application to compute the efficiency of various branches of an Indian bank. The authors hope the proposed method can enhance the decision-making ability of the management in complex situations.

The authors propose an integrated DEA and TOPSIS framework for better benchmarking and performance evaluation. This approach provides a tie-breaking procedure for the efficiencies computed using CRS DEA approach. Ranks are assigned based on score obtained by considering the distance from the worst and the best solution. The proposed approach can be used with non-positive data points and undesirable output variables.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a conceptualization and two‐stage pilot study that explores ways in which fuzzy sets can be used to measure the indexability of literary texts.

Participants provided a subject description for each in a series of literary and nonliterary texts. Each participant was also randomly assigned to one of three tasks: using a visual analog scale to rate the clarity of each text, using a visual analog scale to rate the confidence each participant felt in describing the subject of each text, or sorting the texts from most to least clear without the use of a visual analog scale. Nonparametric statistics and qualitative analysis were used to analyze the data.

Participants and coders used the visual analog scales successfully. The participants perceived literary texts as less clear than nonliterary texts, and expressed less confidence in their subject description of literary texts than in their descriptions of literary texts. The study found preliminary support for the idea that fuzzy sets can provide a useful theoretical basis for examining the indexability of texts.

A measure of the indexability of literary texts could help provide sound theoretical guidance for construction of tools to organize those texts. A structured comparison of literary and nonliterary texts could help to build a theoretical base from which to make practical decisions about whether and how to perform subject analysis on each type of text.

This study aims to answer the ‘what’ and ‘how’ questions about the key role players’ influence on the overall productivity outcomes in the lifecycle of residential buildings procured through the traditional route.

A mix of exploratory and descriptive research methods was used to obtain feedback from 179 role-players involved in various phases of the residential building lifecycle (RBLC) in New Zealand. Empirical data were analysed using content analysis, multi-attribute method and Friedman’s two-way analysis of variance.

Results showed that designers, building owners, main contractors and project managers were the greatest influencers of the productivity outcomes in the RBLC. The priority drivers of these key role-players’ influences on the RBLC productivity outcomes comprised poor brief interpretation, inclination to lowest tender, inadequate prior risk analysis and miscommunication of owner’s requirements and preferences to service providers, respectively. By taking proactive steps to redress their productivity inhibiting acts/omissions as identified in this study, the various role-players could contribute to significant improvement of productivity outcomes in the building lifecycle.

It was not possible to interview all participants that made up the representative random samples from each role-player group due largely to workload related excuses. As a result, the findings and the conclusions may not be generalised beyond the study scope. However, the study achieved its purpose, as the main intent was to provide hypothetical constructs that could guide further confirmatory/experimental studies for residential buildings as well as for other building types.

A succinct and easy-to-follow model was developed as implementation pathway for operationalising the key findings of the study in the industry. The model highlights the Owner-Architect-Contractor Influence Triangle (OACIT) as the 20 per cent of the solutions that could deliver 80 per cent of the productivity improvement in the RBLC.

This study re-examines productivity issues not only from a life-cycle perspective but also from the perspectives of the majority of the key role-players. In addition, the OACIT concept offers a novel productivity improvement tool; it stresses that productivity in the traditionally procured building lifecycle could be optimised if the architect could focus greater attention on brief articulation and the issuance and review of design and specification information. Also, the owner should adopt productivity-enhancing procurement and contract strategies and emphasise more on value-addition and less on lowest tender price.

Most provincial town centres in New Zealand typically feature old and vacant historical buildings, the majority of which possess heritage values. The growing perception that it is cheaper to repurpose vacant historical buildings rather than demolishing and rebuilding them is one of the factors that have made the adaptive reuse approach so popular. However, will this also be the case for provincial town centres in New Zealand? The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore the key factors that could influence the efficacy of adaptive reuse, and check for significant differences in the effect that each perceived factor would have on the adaptive reuse efficacy as a justifiable resilient and sustainable approach towards the regeneration of a major provincial town centre in New Zealand that is currently experiencing inner-city shrinkage.

A focus group workshop was conducted with 22 stakeholders involved in an existing town centre regeneration agenda for Whanganui. Closed-ended questionnaires were administered to the workshop participants to measure their opinions regarding the efficacy of the adaptive reuse approach for the regeneration of Whanganui’s town centre. The participant mix comprised a combination of structural engineers, quantity surveyors, architects, estate valuers, building owners/developers, legal representatives, heritage representatives and local government council representatives.

The study reported a high proportion of respondents that strongly agreed to the positive impacts of adaptive reuse with regards to the discussed priority aspects, hence, justifying the efficacy of the approach, towards delivering a vibrant town centre for Whanganui. Also, the Friedman’s analysis suggests that no significant differences existed among all perceived adaptive reuse efficacy criteria by the workshop participants, therefore justifying the approach.

This paper’s originality pertains to the practicality of changing the use of vacant historical buildings in Whanganui, which is one of New Zealand’s major provincial town centres, to renegotiate resilience and sustainable urban regeneration for the area.

Marketers have been using discounts and freebies for sales promotion strategy for a long time, yet a dilemma concerning better promotion remains. The paper tries to address this issue through empirical research by classifying sales promotion based on their utility and relatedness to the product to which they are bundled.

Two hypotheses were drawn: there is a distinctive preference of sales promotional offering, when it is bundled with a product, and the preference of promotion varies with the product category it is bundled with; discounts by retailers are preferred over advertised discounts, but they negatively affect the credibility of the product The hypotheses were tested by a double‐staged experimental protocol. The first stage standardized the perceived price of the freebies, and the second stage consisted of a 2 × 2 × 2 mixed model experiment. The first hypothesis was tested with Friedman's Test and Wilk's λ, and the second hypothesis was subjected to t‐test and factor analysis on a four‐item scale.

Promotion type influences the rate of increase in market demand and is product category dependent. Promotional offerings which can be readily converted into monetary terms are more preferred to freebies but in the long‐run, they can affect the overall value of the product. Retailer discount is preferred over advertised discount but has a negative perception. Hedonic freebies are least preferred; but have a higher perceived value.

The study deals with the promotional choice of consumer durables and consumables. It is applicability to other product categories needs confirmation.

The findings can be useful for marketers in designing promotional strategies, especially in the consumer retail segment, new product marketing and brand extension situations.

The paper will help marketers design better and appropriate promotion vis‐à‐vis a product and its target consumers.

This paper aims to analyze the visual attention, transparency perception and attitude of Brazilian women from generation Z toward sponsorship disclosures with a different number of text messages used in native advertisements made by a digital influencer.

A quantitative and multi-method experiment was conducted through a within-subjects experimental design with 149 women. The eye-tracker assessed visual attention and questionnaires measured transparency perception of sponsorship and attitude toward native advertisements. To analyze eye-tracking and transparency perception data, Friedman’s analysis of variance was used. Structural equations were modeled for analyzing attitude data.

The quantitative results indicate that disclosures with a single textual message obtain more visual attention than multiple textual messages. However, sponsorship disclosures with multiple textual messages obtain the best transparency perception and generate a better attitude toward native advertisements.

This study extends the theory by investigating the relationship between visual attention to sponsorship disclosure with a different number of textual messages and the target audience's responses to them.

The analysis of Brazilian generation Z women's responses to native ads might contribute to companies, marketing professionals and digital influencers obtaining great visual attention, transparency perception and attitude toward ethical and transparent ads to this audience.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to analyze Brazilian generation Z women's visual attention, transparency perception and attitude toward sponsorship disclosure with single and multiple textual messages in native advertisements.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the use and effect of benchmarking in manufacturing companies.

A total of 23 companies were interviewed longitudinally in 1993, 2004 and 2010. For the study a standard questionnaire was used, and the questions asked concerned the best practices used in the companies and their operational performance.

The use of benchmarking has changed a lot over the last 15 years. It grew a lot after the first study was made, but by the time of the third study it had shrunk to the same level as in 1993. There may be several reasons for that, but, as the data indicates, there is no clear relation between the use of benchmarking and operational results, which may be one reason.

Due to the small sample size the results are only indicative and more research is needed in this area. Furthermore, there may also be several other reasons affecting the performance of companies. It is always risky to claim that the use of a certain best practice is the only reason for a performance improvement. One implication is that certain best practices may not be suitable at all levels of operation and that therefore they need to be applied and used carefully.

This study is the only longitudinal study in this field using data from three different periods of time. This gives a unique perspective to critically study the changes in, and consequences of, the use of certain practices.

This paper aims to present the finding of a practical lab assessment used to evaluate students’ mastery of Ohm’s law. The researchers used an approach combining different instruction types and lab formats to examine whether this combination produced a unique effect on students’ performance. This multifaceted approach provided evidence about how assessment design could affect students’ lab performance. The study also discussed various strategies that could guide instructors and curriculum designers about how to incorporate lab tasks into their curriculum to facilitate students’ mastery of subject content.

This study was a quantitative experiment that used a factorial repeated measures design. The design allowed the researchers to measure participants’ task scores and time across different treatment conditions, hence enabling the effects of lab format and instructional type to be observed. All participants were recruited through the convenience sampling strategy.

The results suggested that there was a statistically significant difference in the time taken to complete the task. However, no statistically significant difference was recorded in the participants’ task scores. Overall, it appeared that participants performed better in the simulation-based labs with expository instructions.

The current study contributes to the body of knowledge on the effect of lab format and instructional type on students’ performance in lab-based assessments. The results presented here may also help instructors to determine the most appropriate form of lab formats and instruction types to be used in an electronics course.