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Book part
Publication date: 12 November 2021

Xianghan O'Dea

This chapter draws on longitudinal and cross-sessional research to explore the use of Bottery's variant of portrait methodology in understanding the individual experiences of a…

Abstract

This chapter draws on longitudinal and cross-sessional research to explore the use of Bottery's variant of portrait methodology in understanding the individual experiences of a group of Chinese top-up students when they study a one-year top-up programme in a UK university. The rationale for using Bottery's variant was to understand only the perceptions of these students in their particular context, during a specific period of time in their life. Data were collected three times using semi-structured interviews, and individual portraits were produced after each set of interviews, based on the interview transcripts. The findings of the research and also the comments of the participants suggest that the use of portrait methodology helped enhance the trustworthiness of the research and also self-awareness and self-reflection of the participants. Researchers may face challenges when adopting Bottery's variant of portrait methodology in research, in particular relating to portrait writing and rapport building with the participants.

Details

Theory and Method in Higher Education Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-441-0

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Book part
Publication date: 22 November 2012

Tae-Seok Jang

This chapter analyzes the empirical relationship between the pricesetting/consumption behavior and the sources of persistence in inflation and output. First, a small-scale…

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the empirical relationship between the pricesetting/consumption behavior and the sources of persistence in inflation and output. First, a small-scale New-Keynesian model (NKM) is examined using the method of moment and maximum likelihood estimators with US data from 1960 to 2007. Then a formal test is used to compare the fit of two competing specifications in the New-Keynesian Phillips Curve (NKPC) and the IS equation, that is, backward- and forward-looking behavior. Accordingly, the inclusion of a lagged term in the NKPC and the IS equation improves the fit of the model while offsetting the influence of inherited and extrinsic persistence; it is shown that intrinsic persistence plays a major role in approximating inflation and output dynamics for the Great Inflation period. However, the null hypothesis cannot be rejected at the 5% level for the Great Moderation period, that is, the NKM with purely forward-looking behavior and its hybrid variant are equivalent. Monte Carlo experiments investigate the validity of chosen moment conditions and the finite sample properties of the chosen estimation methods. Finally, the empirical performance of the formal test is discussed along the lines of the Akaike's and the Bayesian information criterion.

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DSGE Models in Macroeconomics: Estimation, Evaluation, and New Developments
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-305-6

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Book part
Publication date: 16 July 2015

Martine Lappé and Hannah Landecker

This study analyzes the rise of genome instability in the life sciences and traces the problematic of instability as it relates to the sociology of health. Genome instability is…

Abstract

Purpose

This study analyzes the rise of genome instability in the life sciences and traces the problematic of instability as it relates to the sociology of health. Genome instability is the study of how genomes change and become variable between generations and within organisms over the life span. Genome instability reflects a significant departure from the Platonic genome imagined during the Human Genome Project. The aim of this chapter is to explain and analyze research on copy number variation and somatic mosaicism to consider the implications of these sciences for sociologists interested in genomics.

Methodology/approach

This chapter draws on two multi-sited ethnographies of contemporary biomedical science and literature in the sociology of health, science, and biomedicine to document a shift in thinking about the genome from fixed and universal to highly variable and influenced by time and context.

Findings

Genomic instability has become a framework for addressing how genomes change and become variable between generations and within organisms over the life span. Instability is a useful framework for analyzing changes in the life sciences in the post-genomic era.

Research implications

Genome instability requires life scientists to address how differences both within and between individuals articulate with shifting disease categories and classifications. For sociologists, these findings have implications for studies of identity, sociality, and clinical experience.

Originality/value

This is the first sociological analysis of genomic instability. It identifies practical and conceptual implications of genomic instability for life scientists and helps sociologists delineate new approaches to the study of genomics in the post-genomic era.

Details

Genetics, Health and Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-581-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 4 February 2008

Umut Asan and Seçkin Polat

In this paper we discuss the relationship between the competence-based perspective and market positioning. We argue that a product, which as the ultimate expression of a firm's…

Abstract

In this paper we discuss the relationship between the competence-based perspective and market positioning. We argue that a product, which as the ultimate expression of a firm's competence reflects a firm's distinctive competences, should have the potential to achieve a superior market position. We suggest how a specific capability of central importance in product creation – modular design capability – may help firms to achieve advantageous market positioning. In particular, we develop a framework for assessing the potential impact of modular design capability on customers’ perception of competing products in the market for mobile phone handsets.

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Advances in Applied Business Strategy
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-520-8

Book part
Publication date: 1 July 2015

Willi Semmler and Christian R. Proaño

The recent financial and sovereign debt crises around the world have sparked a growing literature on models and empirical estimates of defaultable debt. Frequently households and…

Abstract

The recent financial and sovereign debt crises around the world have sparked a growing literature on models and empirical estimates of defaultable debt. Frequently households and firms come under default threat, local governments can default, and recently sovereign default threats were eminent for Greece and Spain in 2012–2013. Moreover, Argentina experienced an actual default in 2001. What causes sovereign default risk, and what are the escape routes from default risk? Previous studies such as Arellano (2008), Roch and Uhlig (2013), and Arellano et al. (2014) have provided theoretical models to explore the main dynamics of sovereign defaults. These models can be characterized as threshold models in which there is a convergence toward a good no-default equilibrium below the threshold and a default equilibrium above the threshold. However, in these models aggregate output is exogenous, so that important macroeconomic feedback effects are not taken into account. In this chapter, we (1) propose alternative model variants suitable for certain types of countries in the EU where aggregate output is endogenously determined and where financial stress plays a key role, (2) show how these model variants can be solved through the Nonlinear Model Predictive Control numerical technique, and (3) present some empirical evidence on the nonlinear dynamics of output, sovereign debt, and financial stress in some euro areas and other industrialized countries.

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Monetary Policy in the Context of the Financial Crisis: New Challenges and Lessons
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-779-6

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Book part
Publication date: 8 November 2010

Martin Davies and Marcia Devlin

In higher education, interdisciplinarity involves the design of subjects that offer the opportunity to experience ‘different ways of knowing’ from students’ core or preferred…

Abstract

In higher education, interdisciplinarity involves the design of subjects that offer the opportunity to experience ‘different ways of knowing’ from students’ core or preferred disciplines. Such an education is increasingly important in a global knowledge economy. Many universities have begun to introduce interdisciplinary studies or subjects to meet this perceived need. This chapter explores some of the issues inherent in moves towards interdisciplinary higher education. Definitional issues associated with the term ‘academic discipline’, as well as other terms, including ‘multidisciplinary’, ‘cross-disciplinary’, ‘pluridisciplinarity’, ‘transdisciplinarity’ and ‘interdisciplinary’ are examined. A new nomenclature is introduced to assist in clarifying the subtle distinctions between the various positions. The chapter also outlines some of the pedagogical and epistemological considerations which are involved in any move from a conventional form of educational delivery to an interdisciplinary higher education, and recommends caution in any implementation of an interdisciplinary curriculum.

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Interdisciplinary Higher Education: Perspectives and Practicalities
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-371-3

Abstract

Details

Automated Information Retrieval: Theory and Methods
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-12266-170-9

Book part
Publication date: 6 January 2016

Michel van der Wel, Sait R. Ozturk and Dick van Dijk

The implied volatility surface is the collection of volatilities implied by option contracts for different strike prices and time-to-maturity. We study factor models to capture…

Abstract

The implied volatility surface is the collection of volatilities implied by option contracts for different strike prices and time-to-maturity. We study factor models to capture the dynamics of this three-dimensional implied volatility surface. Three model types are considered to examine desirable features for representing the surface and its dynamics: a general dynamic factor model, restricted factor models designed to capture the key features of the surface along the moneyness and maturity dimensions, and in-between spline-based methods. Key findings are that: (i) the restricted and spline-based models are both rejected against the general dynamic factor model, (ii) the factors driving the surface are highly persistent, and (iii) for the restricted models option Δ is preferred over the more often used strike relative to spot price as measure for moneyness.

Book part
Publication date: 4 December 2009

Alfred Ogle

This paper reviews the literature on hotel guest questionnaires, also commonly known in the industry as comment cards. Considered a hotel tradition, the ubiquitous questionnaire…

Abstract

This paper reviews the literature on hotel guest questionnaires, also commonly known in the industry as comment cards. Considered a hotel tradition, the ubiquitous questionnaire remains the primary method employed by mainstream hotels to elicit and record guest feedback despite shortcomings in data reliability and response rates. Hence questionnaires play a key facilitation role in the collection of guest feedback (guest–hotel dyad in hotel communication). The paper traces the history of questionnaire utilization in the hotel industry, and examines evolutionary changes in terms of form and function. A typology of questionnaire genre is constructed. Used either independently or in combination with other methods, the traditional paper guest questionnaire has been complemented or even superseded by e-based variants. Obsolescence threatens the paper questionnaire as technology uptake permeates the hotel industry. This paper considers a “service innovation” by using the questionnaire as a communication tool along the hotel–guest dyad. A back-to-basics approach potentially yields a valuable and cost-efficient guest service encounter opportunity whilst mitigating questionnaire data deficiencies.

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Perspectives on Cross-Cultural, Ethnographic, Brand Image, Storytelling, Unconscious Needs, and Hospitality Guest Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-604-5

Book part
Publication date: 1 March 2023

Ivan D. Grachev, Dmitry I. Grachev, Sergey N. Larin, Natalija V. Noack and Nina M. Baranova

Under current conditions, strong sustainable socio-economic development of major metropolitan areas in separate regions and separate countries comparable to them in size is…

Abstract

Under current conditions, strong sustainable socio-economic development of major metropolitan areas in separate regions and separate countries comparable to them in size is possible with the optimal management of a set of anti-epidemic measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter constructs the first numerical model of the quasi-periodic dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was created based on the innovative model of the Kondratiev waves developed by the authors in their previous works. The authors found a close approximation between the model and the actual data for the four waves of development of the COVID-19 pandemic in Moscow. It was also noted that this model applies to small countries close in population to Moscow when comparing the correlation and autocorrelation curves. The data calculated by the models indicate the possibility of the practical application of the developed model for metropolitan areas and small countries comparable to them in size and population. Additionally, the model showed the accuracy of the results for such large countries as Russia and the United States.

Details

Game Strategies for Business Integration in the Digital Economy
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-845-6

Keywords

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