Comparative Inquiry Research Articles

Work Passion and Entrepreneurial Self-Employment in an Artisan Economy: Individual- and Field-Level Dynamics of Inequality

ABSTRACT Sociologists identify work passion—in which work is seen as an activity for the expression of personal passion and individual self-realization—as an important organizing and meaning-making force amongst contemporary workers and employers. I extend this literature into a new empirical context often framed as a pinnacle of work passion: entrepreneurial self-employment through artisan microenterprise. Applying a mixed-methods approach to handmade bicycle fabricators in the United States, I explore how these artisans pursue a livelihood in a field where many participants are willing to pay a “passion penalty” of reduced remuneration to remain engaged in the trade. I show that a large volume of passion-driven entrants into this field of self-employment without credentialing ultimately creates an “immiserating field” that privileges those with household-level resources and outside work to sustain their business. These dynamics destabilize the occupational field itself and stymie organizational efforts that might be collectively beneficial. My findings underscore the salience of the work-passion analytical frame and suggest the value of future comparative inquiry into entrepreneurial self-employment.

Assessing AI-generated (GPT-4) Versus Human Created MCQs In Mathematics Education: A Comparative Inquiry into Vector Topics

Using multiple-choice questions as learning and assessment tools is standard at all levels of education. However, when discussing the positive and negative aspects of their use, the time and complexity involved in producing plausible distractor options emerge as a disadvantage that offsets the time savings in relation to feedback. The article attempts to understand whether, with the AI conquests on the educational landscape, we can now remove this aspect from the list of drawbacks. This paper aims to determine the suitability of GPT-4 for generating questions and answer options for multiple-choice questions using prompts in Estonian on topics related to vectors and their similarities and differences compared to questions and answers created by a human expert. The results show that GPT-4 can generate multiple-choice questions and answer options based on given learning objectives, theory, and sample problems. However, the suggested correct answer option often requires correction and is not yet linguistically at such a level that teachers can use the questions without editing. Verifying the generated tasks still becomes labour-intensive for teachers. Nonetheless, it is more crucial that the AI tool accurately determines the correct answer than that some of the generated distractors are not plausible.

The value of comparative research in an era of standards-based reforms

The impact of standards-based reforms on the professional practice of English teachers in Anglophone settings has been well documented. Such reforms typically foreground the importance of a particular form of English and standardised formulations of curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment, which facilitate easy measurement and comparisons between educational settings. In Australia, the impact has intensified to such an extent that traditional framings of English teacher practice, which emphasize responsiveness to the cultural and linguistic diversity of students, begin to look like a discourse of a bygone era. From an historical perspective, how has this come about? And what does English teacher practice look like in the current policy environment? Can comparative inquiry into language education, such as has been conducted under the auspices of the International Mother Tongue Education Network (IMEN) over the past four decades, provide intellectual resources to resist relentless pressures towards standardisation and measurement? The collaborative inquiry into the professional practice of one author at the heart of this essay arises out of our attempts to explore the potential of IMEN protocols to render the familiar strange and to see her practice with new eyes. In this way we seek to resist the ways standards-based reforms are radically reshaping the praxis of English educators in Australia.

How is urban co-production conveyed in European cities?

ABSTRACT Urban co-production, through which citizens contribute with the public institutions to the planning or governance of the city, is a growing practice throughout Europe. However, apart from the more widespread and spontaneous ‘co-city’ model, only a few countries have adopted state policies of urban co-production. A comparative inquiry of the European spatial governance and planning systems (SGPSs) highlights at least three possible types of correlation between systems and urban co-production. Urban co-production as a state policy appears to take shape only in countries with SGPSs characterized by a greater capacity for public control over spatial development. Moreover, only SGPSs that allocate land rights on a case-by-case basis seem able to ensure that co-production operates within (and not outside) the system itself.

Improve speaking skills with Duolingo’s mobile game-based language learning

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of Duolingo's game-based methodology in improving speaking proficiency within mobile language learning, while also examining the specific attributes and strategies contributing to its success and exploring implications for language education and learner optimization. Given the growing prevalence of mobile language learning platforms, the research meticulously scrutinizes the specific attributes and strategies employed by Duolingo that contribute to the refinement of oral fluency. This study employs a mixed methods design, integrating phenomenological and experimental approaches through a pre, post and attainment speaking tests with a control group design supported with metaphorical perceptions. The findings underscore the pivotal role of assimilating technological advancements and gamified pedagogical approaches within language education to expedite effective intercultural communication across multifarious linguistic landscapes. Furthermore, the results emphasize the importance of continuously adapting language learning methodologies to leverage emerging technologies and gamification strategies in order to foster effective communication skills in diverse linguistic contexts. The implications for prospective inquiries advocate for longitudinal investigations delving into the enduring implications of mobile game-based language learning on comprehensive linguistic acquisition, necessitating comparative inquiries to ascertain the comparative efficacy of diverse mobile applications in fostering distinct language proficiencies. Additionally, probing the influence of individual learner attributes and predilections in optimizing the utilization of mobile language learning applications could yield valuable insights for tailoring language acquisition paradigms.

Spaces of subsidiarity: A comparative inquiry into the social agenda of Cohesion Policy

AbstractCohesion Policy—the European Union's (EU) policy platform for regional and local development—represents a major yet often neglected instance of Social Europe. In this article we inquire into the delivery of Cohesion Policy projects concerned with social policy objectives. Specifically, we ask: how are these projects delivered? Building on the literature of subsidiarisation in social policy, we theorise that the interaction of two processes—vertical subsidiarisation across territorial levels and horizontal subisidiarisation across sectoral levels—generates different spaces of subsidiarity, with major implications for policy outputs and outcomes. Empirically, we explore the emergence of spaces of subsidiarity in over 800 Cohesion Policy projects for quality employment and labour mobility delivered in Italy, Portugal, and Spain, during the 2010s. We show that, despite common rules, the governance framework through which the social agenda of Cohesion Policy is implemented is not a constant but a variable, one that may be leveraged by future research to explain the heterogeneous impact of Cohesion Policy across the EU. Our contribution is relevant to research on Social Europe, research on the territorial dimension of post‐industrial welfare systems as well as research on Cohesion Policy.

Efficacy and Contextual Dimensions of Task-Based Language Teaching: A Study on Bangladeshi Learners'

This scholarly investigation, titled "Assessing the Pedagogical Efficacy of Task-Oriented Language Didactics: A Comparative Inquiry into English Proficiency Augmentation Among Bangladeshi Learners," dissects the multi-layered implications and efficacies of task-based language teaching (TBLT) in contrast to traditional pedagogical modalities within the Bangladeshi educational context. Employing a meticulous secondary source analysis, this research scrutinizes the pedagogical pluralism in TBLT and evaluates its quantitative and qualitative effectiveness, particularly focusing on English proficiency among Bangladeshi students. The study employs a rigorous methodological framework, incorporating criteria for source selection and methods for comparative analysis. The research explicates the synthesis of analyses and extrapolates both theoretical and practical implications. The task-type effectiveness in TBLT is thoroughly interrogated, providing nuanced insights into the types of tasks that significantly contribute to language acquisition. Additionally, the paper offers an in-depth contextual analysis to elucidate the cultural and educational factors that may influence the efficacy of TBLT in Bangladesh. The conclusion aggregates the key findings, delineates limitations, and furnishes recommendations for future empirical endeavors in this realm. This paper serves as a seminal work for educators, policymakers, and researchers aiming to comprehend the complexities and efficacies of TBLT in fostering English language proficiency in non-native speakers, particularly in a Bangladeshi milieu.

Impact of Different Social Media Channels on Online Buying behavior: Comparative Case Study of UK with Reference to COVID-19

COVID-19 has drastically affected the business sector all around the globe and its subsequent implications have changed the buying habits of consumers. This comparative inquiry seeks to evaluate the online buying behavior of customers amid different scenarios for developing an empirical idea how different social media platforms influenced the online purchase behavior of customers before and after global pandemic. The population of this study primarily encompasses the social media users. Objective responses are gathered from 100 respondents using online survey questionnaire and data is analyzed using statistical analysis techniques. The results have indicated an increase in the customer shift from physical shopping to the online shopping and also indicated that different social sharing platforms including Instagram and Facebook positively influenced the purchase intention of customers during the times of crisis.

'I'm Real, Not You': Roles and Discourses of Trans Exclusionary Women's and Feminist Movements in Anti-gender and Right-wing Populist Politics

This article offers a comparative inquiry concerning the rise in visibility, relevance, and power of trans exclusionary women’s and feminist movements in Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) between 2015 and 2022.  It focuses on two case studies concerning trans rights: the successful campaign for Bill C-16 in Canada, and failed reform of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 in the UK. In both cases, key streams within trans exclusionary women’s and feminist movements increasingly engage in collaborative action with right-wing populist-centered anti-gender coalitions, which include right-wing religious, conservative, and right-wing extremist actors, from approximately 2016. It argues that a key role of women’s and feminist actors in these coalitions is to help legitimize, amplify, and give meaning to anti-gender and right-wing populist appeals and, therein, the politics of exclusion they promote. This occurs in part, it is argued, through symbolic appeals concerning authenticity and the non-materiality of trans lives; the promotion of narratives concerning conflicts in rights; and the provision of strong imagery, narrative, and emotional appeals concerning threat. These broad developments have had various important effects. In the UK, the combination of so-called ‘radical’ as well as ‘traditional’ actors within anti-gender coalitions, has been critical in challenging progress towards trans and broader (Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Intersex, and Queer) LGBTIQ+ rights. In Canada, although anti-gender movements have enjoyed less policy success during this period, women’s and feminist actors have helped popularize and provide legitimacy to wider coalitions. 

From Invasive to Iconic

Abstract Recent years have seen a shift in the social scientific study of introduced species. Social scientists have shown that popular interpretations vary beyond the critical, invasive frameworks and include more celebratory or welcoming responses. Yet this research has taken the form of case studies. This has limited comparative inquiry. In response, this article develops a typology of sociocultural responses to introduced species by nonspecialists. The article then discusses major forms of collective meaning-making that go into creating these different cultural types.

Constitutionalization of Happiness: A Global and Comparative Inquiry

AbstractHappiness and well-being are now explicitly enshrined in a myriad of national constitutions. As of 2022, the terms “happiness” and “well-being” form part of the constitutional lexicon of more than 20 and 110 states respectively. These “happiness provisions” epitomize the phenomenon of the “constitutionalization of happiness,” which denotes the process of elevating happiness to the constitutional echelon, thereby bearing discernible legal and political implications. An audit of all happiness provisions reveals that they boil down to three categories—happiness as a national objective, happiness as a policy paradigm, and the pursuit of happiness as a human right. The meaning and jurisprudential landscape of happiness provisions within a specific constitutional framework is molded by, on top of the semantic and structural configuration, a dynamic interplay among three factors, which include the indigenous and socio-cultural conception of happiness of that state, interpretations put forward by judges and other constitutional actors, and transnational influences such as the migration of constitutional ideas and jurisprudence. This article draws upon an extensive array of case studies, covering among others Bhutan, Bolivia, Ecuador, Japan, Korea, and Nigeria, to illustrate the breadth and diversity that enliven the universe of happiness provisions.

Students, community and belonging: an investigation of student experience across six European countries

ABSTRACT Despite existing empirical work that explores the multiple ways in which students develop a sense of belonging in higher education, there is a dearth of comparative research about the extent to which the concepts of community and belonging are central to what it means to be a student and how students in different national contexts (beyond Anglophone countries) construct community and belonging. Drawing on qualitative data from students from six European countries, we provide an account of conceptualisations of community and belonging. Specifically, this paper extends discussions around community and belonging in higher education through comparative inquiry. Notwithstanding the individualised and consumerist framing of students accompanied by market reforms in higher education across Europe, it shows that the notion of community and/or belonging features prominently in students’ narratives. We also demonstrate how a sense of community and belonging is experienced on different levels. Crucially, the emphasis placed on community in students’ sense of belonging varies by the country, pointing towards the continued influence of distinctive national traditions, structures and norms of higher education. Our analysis contributes to wider debates about the development of a European Higher Education Area and its impact on European homogenisation.

A Comparison of Teacher Competence Frameworks in the USA and Türkiye

Teaching is a complex endeavor that requires deep knowledge of content, pedagogy, and students. Educational stakeholders design teacher competence frameworks to outline the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that teachers need to have to improve their teaching activity. These competence frameworks are guided by research and theory and tend to respond to local contexts and national efforts. In this article, we examine teacher competence frameworks in two national contexts, the United States of America and Türkiye, using Merriam’s (2009) approach to document analysis and Phillips and Schweisfurth’s (2014) framework for comparative inquiry. This analysis reveals much overlap but also distinct differences in educational structures. Our analysis is based upon four categories including overall structures, development, scope, and accountabilities of teacher competence frameworks. Given that the teacher competence frameworks in both countries are dated, we conclude our article with a call for updating such frameworks through participatory efforts, taking into account recent post-COVID pandemic needs in teacher competencies.

Workplace Sexual Harassment in China: A Comparative Inquiry into the Personality-Based Paradigm

Abstract Western researchers have produced significant insight into sexual harassment in Western contexts, but sexual harassment in Chinese society remains largely unexplored. To address this comparative inquiry, this article explores the development of an understanding of workplace sexual harassment and the legal regulation thereof in China—a State with a socialist legal system that has characteristics specific to its context. Through a thorough review of the historical foundations, legislative change over time, and judicial practice, I explore two questions: (i) how do Chinese laws define sexual harassment and (ii) how do Chinese lawmakers perceive the wrong done by sexual harassment? This article reveals that, over two decades of legislation, a sexual harassment legal system has gradually taken shape in China. This system is based on a paradigm distinct from the two major paradigms in the Western world: the American-style discrimination approach and the Continental employee dignity approach. Notwithstanding some attempts to use the American approach, the Chinese legal authorities are developing an alternative personality paradigm where sexual harassment is framed as a tortious infringement on an individual’s right to personality. I argue that the personality paradigm, though strategic and advantageous in terms of expanding the scope of protection to victims, is inadequate in addressing workplace sexual harassment as well as protecting women as the most vulnerable class of victims, which calls for further legal reform to rectify the deviation. In light of this, I offer concrete proposals for China’s sexual harassment legal reform in the future.

Two-warehouse sustainable inventory models under different fuzzy environments with optimum carbon emissions

In the present era, the most delicate environmental issue is global warming, and because of this, countries across the globe are trying to manage the most hazardous emissions by making certain investments in projects to promote green industrial practices. The proposed study creates sustainable deteriorating inventory models in both crisp and fuzzy environments, with both cloudy and intuitionistic fuzzy considerations, where the demand is taken to be time-dependent. In the current study, the emission of CO2 from transportation is controlled by the optimum investments in green technology (GT). This work develops the previous research that has worked on a sustainable inventory system with controllable greenhouse facilities through green investment. The present research includes an optimum GT investment in an inventory system with two warehouses to restrict carbon emissions due to the transportation of goods from owned to rented warehouses and then to customers. To have control over the total cost, this work considers two warehouses to manage the stock-out conditions and represents models with shortages for crisp, cloudy fuzzy (CF), and intuitionistic fuzzy (IF) environments. A multiple prepayment option for the purchasing cost involving an installment is provided to the retailers. In the present research, we develop non-linear crisp and fuzzy deteriorating inventory models and suggest an algorithm for the solution process. Model problems are illustrated through numerical examples and validated through sensitivity analysis. A comparative inquiry is conducted for the optimum results obtained in all three cases.

Колекція клепсидр XIX–XX століть у фондах відділу рукописів Львівської національної наукової бібліотеки України імені В. Стефаника

The aim of the work is the introduction into the scientifi c circulation, generalization, and analysis of the materials of the «Obituaries collection of the 19th–20th centuries» (F. 351), which was recently created in the archives of the Manuscript Department of Vasyl Stefanyk National Scientifi c Library of Ukraine in Lviv, the disclosure of their content, the establishment of historical, cultural, and art value. The methodology of the research is based on the principles of historicism and objectivity, the application of the synthesis and analysis methods, the comparative-historical method (while comparing obituaries from various periods and European countries), the archival methodological approaches. The scientifi c novelty consists in the introduction into the scientifi c circulation of the large amount of such documents, as obituaries (which previously were rarely used in the research works), and also in the illumination of their informational value as sources for social and cultural history, biographical and prosopography inquiries. Prospects for further studies. Given a very large amount of the documents in the collection, their analysis can only be selective, and a detailed study of each of them within a single article is simply impossible. So, in the next studies we can carry out a more thorough consideration of the collection – both of its separate parts as well as individual obituaries. The study of these materials can be fruitful in prosopography. Also, due to their huge variety – having originated in diff erent European countries, obituaries can be investigated in comparative inquiries. Conclusions. On the basis of the research of the documents, which form this collection, generalizations regarding their origins, content, informational value, structure, design, and features were made. As a result, a signifi cant potential of the obituaries as sources for the study of the social and family history of the 19th– 20th centuries, scientifi c relations, culture of the romanticism era in addition to their high art value are established. All of it indicates a clear value of the newly formed collection of the Manuscript Department and demonstrates strong research possibilities, which it presents for the scholars.

Insights from yeast: Transcriptional reprogramming following metformin treatment is similar to that of deferiprone in a yeast Friedreich's ataxia model.

In the absence of YFH1, the yeast orthologof the human FXN gene, budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae experience similar problems to those of cells with Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA). The comparable phenotypic traits consist of impaired respiration, problems in iron homeostasis, decreased oxidative stress tolerance, and diminished iron-sulfur cluster synthesis, rendering yeast of potential use in FRDA modeling and drug trials. Deferiprone, an iron chelator, is one of the long-term studied potential drugs for FRDA, whereas metformin is a biguanide prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes. In the present study, the effects of deferiprone and metformin treatment on the yeast FRDA model are explored via RNA-sequencing analyses. The comparative inquiry of transcriptome data reveals new promising roles for metformin in FRDA treatment since deferiprone and metformin treatments produce overlapping transcriptional and phenotypic responses in YFH1Δ cells. The results revealed that both deferiprone and metformin treatment does not rescue aerobic respiration in YFH1Δ cells, but they alleviate the FRDA phenotype probably by triggering the retrograde mitochondria-to-nucleus signaling.

Nation versus State: A Comparative Inquiry into A. D. Gordon’s and Hannah Arendt’s Social and Political Thought and Their Views of the Jewish State

Abstract: The paper offers a first comparison and critical review of the social and political theories of German-Jewish political thinker Hannah Arendt and Russian-born Zionist thinker Aaron David (A. D.) Gordon. Bringing these two thinkers into conversation sheds light on their distinctive human ontologies and competing theories of labor that led them, in turn, to critically assess modern politics. Subsequently, the analysis identifies the two thinkers’ opposing conceptual trajectories as underpinning their competing perspectives on the Jewish state. Whereas Arendt’s commitment to upholding neutral political spaces led her to call for safeguarding the state from the Jewish nation, Gordon’s view of nations as corporeal-organic entities led him to advocate securing the Jewish nation from statist institutions. In broader terms, the analysis seeks to add to the burgeoning literature in recent years that revisits the theoretical and ideological parameters conventionally understood as underlying the historical debate about the Jewish state. The analysis shows that whereas Gordon, as a Zionist thinker, set forth an antistatist doctrine, the non-Zionist Arendt assigned a key role to the state in securing Jewish national self-determination.

Network analysis and comparative migration law: examples from the European Court of Human Rights

International migration law (IML) is famously fragmented, which provides fertile ground for comparative inquiry. However, this task is inhibited the heterodox nature of IML as it draws on a composite body of law that is expressed in different concepts, interpretations and languages. This paper presents network analysis as one useful methodology for navigating IML's normative architecture and empirically mapping case law and its interrelations. Part I introduces network analysis as a data driven method for representing the relationship between variables in a legal network. Part II exemplifies its empirical purchase in the European Court of Human Rights' migration case law. Part III suggests the further added value that arises for a comparative migration law by bringing into scope authoritative judicial practice across wider data sets. Part IV concludes reflexively by asking what unravelling the web of IML might reveal for a field always caught between universalist and relativist theoretical narratives.

The macrosociolinguistics of language contact

Abstract This contribution provides an overview of macrosociolinguistic approaches to the study of language contact, with a focus on contact languages. It addresses the current state of the art and future of the field. It also reflects on the global inequalities of power in the study of contact languages and the ways in which research on contact languages can serve as a model for North-South cooperation. Studies on contact languages and their histories of formation show how power and prestige are tightly connected to demographic factors and the political, economic, and ideological frameworks that mold language structures. They also inform us about the mechanisms that seemingly exert an influence on the correlations between structural and extra-linguistic factors. New areas of comparative inquiry with large datasets, new methods and varied contexts continue to diversify and further our understanding of the macrosociolinguistics of contact. These advances require a dialogue with other focus areas of sociolinguistics and a critical, self-reflective approach to the epistemological basis of the field.