Dichotomous Perspective Research Articles

Experiences With mHealth Use Among Patient-Caregiver Dyads With Chronic Heart Failure: Qualitative Study.

Chronic heart failure has become a serious threat to the health of the global population, and self-management is key to treating chronic heart failure. The emergence of mobile health (mHealth) provides new ideas for the self-management of chronic heart failure in which the informal caregiver plays an important role. Current research has mainly studied the experiences with using mHealth among patients with chronic heart failure from the perspective of individual patients, and there is a lack of research from the dichotomous perspective. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences with mHealth use among patients with chronic heart failure and their informal caregivers from a dichotomous perspective. This descriptive phenomenological study from a post-positivist perspective used a dyadic interview method, and face-to-face semistructured interviews were conducted with patients with chronic heart failure and their informal caregivers. Data were collected and managed using NVivo 12 software, and data analysis used thematic analysis to identify and interpret participants' experiences and perspectives. The thematic analysis included familiarizing ourselves with the data, generating initial codes, searching for themes, reviewing themes, defining and naming themes, and producing the report. A total of 14 dyads of patients with chronic heart failure and their informal caregivers (13 men and 15 women) participated in this study, including 3 couples and 11 parent-child pairs. We constructed 4 key themes and their subthemes related to the experiences with mHealth use: (1) opposing experiences with mHealth as human interaction or trauma (great experience with mHealth use; trauma), (2) supplement instead of replacement (it is useful but better as a reference; offline is unavoidable sometimes), (3) both agreement and disagreement over who should be the adopter of mHealth (achieving consensus regarding who should adopt mHealth; conflict occurs when considering patients as the adopter of mHealth), (4) for better mHealth (applying mHealth with caution; suggestions for improved mHealth). This study reported that the experiences with mHealth use among patients with chronic heart failure and their informal caregivers were mixed, and it highlighted the human touch of mHealth and the importance of network security. These results featured mHealth as a complement to offline hospitals rather than a replacement. In the context of modern or changing Chinese culture, we encourage patients to use mHealth by themselves and their informal caregivers to provide help when necessary. In addition, we need to use mHealth carefully, and future mHealth designs should focus more on ease of use and be oriented more toward older adults.

How a Conversation Between EU Studies and Critical‐Constructivist IR Norm Research Illuminates a Union in Crisis: A Research Note

AbstractHistorically, crises have been lauded for fostering European Union (EU) integration. Conversely, it has recently been predicted that the current ‘polycrisis’ will precipitate the EU's demise. However, this dichotomous perspective on crises is oversimplified. In this research note, we argue that a critical‐constructivist approach to norm contestation is uniquely placed to illuminate the shades of grey populating the continuum between these two extremes. As contestation effects may occur on both normative and institutional levels, a norm contestation approach has the potential to open the black box of crises by investigating the prerequisites, actors and processes of crisis and reminding us that these stages are linked in a circular way. Therefore, we argue that a conversation between EU studies and critical‐constructivist norm contestation research is crucial to advancing our understanding of the myriad effects crises have on the EU beyond the dichotomous distinction between integration and demise.

Synthesis of forty years of brand crisis literature

PurposeThe brand crisis literature remains unilateral and scattered, necessitating academic effort to comprehend the extant body of knowledge. This study aims to provide the required comprehensive overview of the domain, by outlining its significance, progression and future research directions.Design/methodology/approachFollowing the PRISMA approach, journal articles for review are selected. The study uses a hybrid (structured and bibliometric) review, to provide a systematic insight and graphical visualization of the existing literature. It applies VOSviewer software to analyse bibliographic data through citation and co-occurrence analysis.FindingsThe hybrid review outlines most-cited articles, authors, frequently used theories, methodologies and data analysis techniques in this domain. Findings are further presented as integrative framework that distinctly highlights prior studies from a dichotomous perspective and across three stages of crisis. Finally, research opportunities and directions for future research are presented.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is useful for scholars and practitioners to understand the brand crisis literature and to cognize the inferences drawn by distinct researchers. It provides contemporary research agendas using the theory, context and method (TCM) framework, to augment future investigations through interdisciplinary approach.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge this is the first study that synthesizes the academic work of brand crisis using a hybrid method. Also, the novelty of the work lies in presenting the future research direction in the form of multiple (macro, meso and micro) levels with inter-disciplinary theoretical underpinnings.

The relation of standards and power in management and organization research: Core notions and alternative avenues

AbstractThis paper explores how management and organization research has shed light on the relation between standards and power. The narrative literature review intersects so far unconnected categorizations from standardization and power literatures to systematically map out the broad knowledge structure of the power‐related literature on standardization. As a result, the paper details six power‐related notions of standardization. Building on the review, the paper summarizes neglected issues and suggests new avenues for future research. The analysis reveals that research widely tends toward either/or conceptions in terms of the empowering or disempowering dynamics of standardization. To descend from this dichotomous perspective in future research, the paper finally recommends exploring the dialectics of standardization in more detail: first, by analyzing standards as a reflection of existing power structures and contestations; second, by investigating standards as subject to power logics and interests; and third, by scrutinizing standardization as the dynamic interplay of powerlessness and powerfulness.

A Review of the State of Recent Santiago de Compostela Tourism Research (2016–2020)

As the issue of tourism is fundamentally connected with the modern incarnation of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago, this meta-analysis of research studies addressing pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela utilizes Cohen’s typology of tourism (as adapted by Uriely, Yonay and Simchai). This survey of recent research (published between 2016 and 2020) suggests that this phenomenon is still much under-researched. Few studies have been published recently and even fewer that have generated recent data. Earlier it was thought that this phenomenon was taken as a sign of resurging religiosity and more recently as an illustration of spiritual Bauman-style “post-secularist” pilgrimage. This review suggests that pilgrimage travel to Santiago might well yield richer research data if probed from a less dichotomous perspective, focusing more on the variety of the populations on the multiple routes to Santiago and from additional research angles, as religious tourism, as therapy and as recreation.

Rethinking collaborative planning in China: Does the communicative or agonistic planning theory matter?

There has been considerable debate about Habermasian-inspired communicative planning theory and Mouffe’s-inspired agonistic planning theory. This study investigates the possibility of the communicative and agonistic approaches for collaborative planning in the Chinese context. It examines three common theoretical dimensions, regarding the political concept, the public sphere and the power relation. The recent political development in China is related to authoritarian deliberation, in which governments allow some space for deliberation and participation but with limited empowerment. The multiple tensions between governments and society lead to the fragmentation of public spheres and various forms of power relations in collaborative practices. This study concludes that a dichotomous perspective is not helpful to understand China’s collaborative planning, which reflects features of both communicative and agonistic approaches.

Dikotomik İlişkiler Bağlamında Olgu-Değer Problemi

Sosyal bilimlerin en temel kavram çiftlerinden olan olgu-değer dikotomisi, nesnellik, öznellik ve değer-yargı mevzularıyla ilişkilidir. Bu kavram çifti teorik ve uygulamalı araştırmaların her seviyesinde karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Sosyal gerçekliğin ve toplumsal dünyanın doğası araştırılırken olgu-değer düzlemi oldukça hassaslık arz etmektedir. Olguya değer atfetmek ya da değerleri olgu olarak sunmak objektif bilimsel araştırmaların hedefleri bakımından son derece risklidir. Zira olgu-değer dikotomisi, sosyal araştırmalar açısından bilimsel bilgide nesnellik sorunu, değer-yargı problemi, eleştiri ve uygulama esasıyla ilgili önemli birtakım sorular gündeme getirir. Bu soruların yanıtlanması ise olgu-değer dikotomisine dair sosyolojik bir analizi gerekli kılmaktadır. Dolayısıyla söz konusu çalışmanın odak noktasını olgu-değer dikotomisinin ilişkisel sosyolojik analizi oluşturmaktadır. Bu kapsamdan hareketle mevcut çalışmada, olgu-değer dikotomisi, evvela sosyo-felsefi düzlemde ele alınacak akabinde dikotomik ilişkinin sosyoloji disiplini içerisindeki mahiyeti ve önemi üzerinde durulacaktır. Çalışmanın temel gayesi olgusal gerçeklik ile olumsal gerçeklik arasındaki dikotomik ilşkiyi farklı açıdan ele alıp incelemektir. Çalışma, bir yandan dikotomik ilişkinin ontolojik cihetine dikkat çekerken öte yandan epistemolojik ve metodolojik yönlerini açıklığa kavuşturmayı hedeflemektedir. Çalışmayı ehemmiyetli kılan husus, olgu-değer sorunsalını münferit ele almaktan ziyade dikotomik (yani bağıntısal) açıdan araştırmaya konu edinmiş olmasıdır. Diğer bir ifadeyle çalışma, olguyla değerin birbirini var ettiği ve bütünlediği gerçeğinden hareket etmesi bakımından önem arz etmektedir. Çalışma teorik bir bağlamda tasarlandığından fenomenolojik yaklaşım tercih edilmiş analiz tekniği olarak da içerik ve ifade analizlerine ağırlık verilmiştir.

PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT USING DPEASSEMBLY LINE BALANCING

Assembly lines have been a significant development for managing operations-- a mode that allows high-volume, low-cost standardized production. These benefits are often offset by drawbacks: perceptions of Fordist assembly lines consider them to be rigid and inflexible (Abernathy, 1978; Piore and Sabel, 1984; Womack, Jones and Roos, 1990). Tolliday and Zeitlin’s (1992) title “Between Fordism and Flexibility” perfectly expresses this dichotomous perspective: that the two are on opposite poles. Our understanding of assembly lines is implicitly constrained by the theory surrounding assembly line balancing (ALB) describing how such systems should be designed for maximum efficiency. The line balancing problem is well established in the Operations Research literature. Salveson (1955) first described and mathematically formulated the problem, and an extensive literature followed (Erel and Sarin, 1998; Boysen, Fliedner and Scholl, 2007; Wild, 1972) with many variants and extensions of the basic model. These analyses have focused on maximizing line efficiency rather than their overall operational effectiveness or strategic use. Erel and Sarin (1998) observed that ALB theory was not widely used, but suggested this was because racticing managers were unfamiliar with the relevant theoretical developments. They also noted that managers often considered broader issues than simple line optimization; however, those issues were not explored.

An acceptance divergence? Media, citizens and policy perspectives on autonomous cars in the European Union.

Do citizens, media and policymakers share the same view on autonomous cars? In the present paper, we analyse data from media articles, a Eurobarometer survey, and policy documents, to understand the perspective of different stakeholders when it comes to autonomous cars. We find significant differences between the groups, with a predominance of negative sentiments in news articles and a majority of citizens being wary of autonomous cars, while the political narrative mostly carries a positive tone. The findings highlight a dichotomous perspective about this potentially disruptive technology. This may represent a problem as the benefits of adopting autonomous cars will only come to surface if all actors are engaged and see the advantages they can bring to people's daily lives. We conclude by encouraging policymakers to promote initiatives to engage citizens in the transformation of road transport and other stakeholders to be advertised the positive implications of autonomous vehicles.

Effectiveness of virtual reality technologies in digital entrepreneurship: a comparative study of two types of virtual agents

PurposeThe rapid progress of information and communication technologies enables business creators to access a wide variety of tools. These tools facilitate electronic exchanges and interactions with customers and companies. The purpose of this study is to test and compare the effectiveness of two virtual reality technologies, the avatar and anthropomorphic virtual agents, on consumers’ psychological states and perceived realism.Design/methodology/approachAn experimental survey was conducted to measure the potential superiority of the anthropomorphic virtual agent over the avatar and to identify the determining characteristics of the anthropomorphic virtual agent’s effectiveness. An experimental website was designed for the purpose of the study. A total of 1,262 internet users participated in the experiment.FindingsResults confirm the superiority of the anthropomorphic virtual agent over the avatar in affecting consumers’ flow state, telepresence experience and perceived realism. These findings can be explained by the humanized characteristics of this type of agent (i.e. verbal and nonverbal language).Originality/valueThe originality of this research lies in the study of different forms of social interactivity. This latter has been little studied and essentially treated with a dichotomous perspective (presence/absence of a virtual agent). New trends in digital marketing challenge entrepreneurs to be proactive and to anticipate customers’ behavior on their online stores. That is why, virtual reality technologies, namely, anthropomorphic agents, can be considered as a relevant tool to engage in efficient inbound marketing strategies. Today, the development of intelligent technologies encourages entrepreneurs operating online to design more interactive, realistic and humanized virtual merchant environments that are more adapted to the realities of the new consumption trends and environment.

“Siempre Adistanciados”

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected K–12 education worldwide, Peru has faced particularly unique challenges. A combination of quarantine requirements and unequal access to remote learning technology led to the creation of a series of multimodal programs by Peru’s Ministry of Education under the umbrella title Aprendo en Casa [I Learn at Home]. Modules for preschool, primary, and secondary grades are broadcast via national television and radio networks, as well as posted on YouTube in an attempt to reach as many learners in the country as possible. In this article, we focus on Aprendo en Casa’s radio broadcasts for Spanish as a second language (SL2). Our data comprise transcribed SL2 radio broadcasts, educational materials, and interviews with primary school teachers. Findings indicate that a lack of access to technology in rural areas, even for radio broadcasts, is inscribed in historical inequities and ideologies regarding the rural population, exacerbating the so-called “digital divide” and complicating the traditionally dichotomous perspective on this divide. We highlight student and parent difficulties with access and technological know-how, as well as some of the creative ways that teachers provided access to the curriculum for students and family members, often at risk to their own health and finances. We conclude with suggestions for improving research and practice in emergency distance language education for marginalized populations.

The relationship between work engagement and workaholism: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to clarify the relationship between two sub-constructs of heavy work investment: work engagement and workaholism.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to synthesize and critically assess existing research on the relationship between these concepts.FindingsThe review revealed three major shortcomings of the extant literature: a dichotomous perspective, variations in measurements and the unaddressed complexity of the relationship.Originality/valueBased on these findings, this study provides a discussion on the limitations and suggestions for future research on work engagement and workaholism, including using a person-centered approach.

On capitalism’s cusp

ABSTRACT The paper presents a critique of persistent tendencies in (macro)economic theorizing to draw binary distinctions between states and markets, and between liberal-market capitalism and its (more statist) others. Against this dichotomous perspective, a case is made for conjuncturally sited investigations of reconfigured capitalisms and recombinant economic forms. The ambitious scheme to construct a ‘Greater Bay Area’ (GBA) in China’s Pearl River Delta, with its inchoate remit to transcend the two-systems divide between ‘free market’ Hong Kong and the ‘state capitalism’ of the mainland, is taken as a case in point. The GBA scheme entails the construction of a new political economic scale, imagined as a developmental horizon and as a space for experimentation in economic statecraft.

Changing Home: Experiences of the Indigenous when Receiving Care in Hospital.

Objective.To understand the meaning of the experience of the indigenous when receiving care in a low-complexity hospital.Methods.Qualitative study with ethnographic approach conducted in a hospital of Antioquia, Colombia. The study had 12 indigenous participants who underwent semi-structured interviews. Observation was carried out in hospitalization wards, emergency, and outpatient services of the institution during 40 hours. The analysis process was performed descriptively. The methodological rigor was maintained by applying criteria of confirmability, credibility, transferability, and consistency. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee and authorized by the indigenous authorities to enter the field.Results.Five themes emerged: the context of caring for the indigenous, the need to consult the hospital, changes experienced by the indigenous in the hospital, experiences in relation with treatments, and relations established within the hospital. The meaning is constructed from a dichotomous perspective based on the favorable or unfavorable aspects of the situations and experiences, which for the indigenous is like “changing home”.Conclusion.The meaning of the experience of receiving care in hospital for the indigenous is constructed from the context in which they live and receive health services, the changes they live in the dimension of space by virtue of their traveling from their vital space to another space that, due to their physical characteristics, results strange and different, even not healing. Upon the difficulties, the indigenous develop strategies and actions to overcome limitations, whether through adaptation and learning.

Parenting Practices, Parent–Child Relationship, and Perceived Academic Control in College Students

We examined the associations among parent–child relationships, two types of parenting practices (helicopter parenting and autonomy support), and college students’ perceived academic outcomes. Participants were from a private university in Upstate New York. Structural equation modeling was utilized to examine the above associations. Results showed that mothers’ autonomy support was positively associated with children’s academic control, whereas fathers’ helicopter parenting was negatively related to children’s academic control. Regarding the mediation effects, the mother–child relationship mediated the association between mothers’ two types of parenting practices and children’s academic control. However, the mediating effects of the father–child relationship in the association between fathers’ two types of parenting practices and children’s academic control were not significant. Consequently, our findings indicate that helicopter parenting and autonomy support could be related to fathers’ and mothers’ parenting contexts. We suggest that autonomy support is an appropriate parenting practice for promoting college students’ academic success as well as enhancing the parent–child relationship. In addition, we suggest that helicopter parenting is not advantageous for developing college students’ academic control, but could be beneficial for the parent–child relationship. These mixed effects of helicopter parenting on college students’ relational and academic-related outcomes should be investigated further. Moving beyond the dichotomous perspective regarding autonomy support and helicopter parenting, we believe that it is necessary to strengthen understanding of their merits and provide guidance for parents who have college-aged children to enable them to employ more developmentally appropriate parenting practices.

From active imagination to active life: at the roots of Jungian social activism.

Our traditional Western worldview is often unconsciously based on a polarized, dichotomous perspective. However, many of Jung's ideas hint at a deep interrelation between opposites, such as inside and outside, which are, as the principle of synchronicity shows, rooted in a conceptualization of psyche and matter conceived as intertwined. Another pair of philosophical concepts, traditionally considered as opposites, needs further investigation: that between imagination and reality. If we are lucky in our daily practice as analysts, we can use imagination as a powerful tool to help people discover themselves as individuals and to get in deeper, more lively and responsible touch with reality. This paper explores the difference that Jung outlined between 'active imagination' and 'passive fantasies', and the transformative power of taking an active part in what imaginatively happens - he called it 'active participation' - rather than being passively overwhelmed by invasive fantasies. It is argued that it makes a great difference whether we become the actors and not just the spectators of our lives, and this is linked with the core of the individuation process in which, if individuals discover their particular place and meaning in the universe, they can live an 'active life', playing a heartfelt and responsible role in the collective world to which they belong. These ideas are at the heart of Jung's work, and they represent one of the roots of Jungian social activism.

The Research on Effectiveness of Communicative Language Teaching in China

Since China initiated Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) practice, it has enjoyed increasing popularity amongst educational practitioners as well as professional researchers. This paper undertakes an in-depth and all-around analysis of pedagogical practices of English class so as to ascertain the feasibility and effectiveness of CLT in China. Although China’s educational system is centrally-controlled, the top-down intervening policy of CLT fails to improve students’ interactive competence. Due to the contextual constraints including excessive class size, limited class hours, Confucian heritage culture, teacher equalizations as well as norm-referenced assessment, current situation of English Language Teaching (ELT) nevertheless is far from aligning with the tenet of CLT. This paper reveals that direct transfer of western–originated CLT practice is infeasible and ineffectual without considering the specific contextual factors in China and doomed to be a failure. Based on this argument, a combination of traditional pedagogy and CLT with an eclectic and dichotomous perspective is proposed and recommended to put into practice in the hope of adapting CLT paradigm to the particular Chinese contexts.

The interplay between ovule number, pollination and resources as determinants of seed set in a modular plant.

BackgroundA classical dichotomous perspective proposes that either pollination or plant resources limit seed production. However, ovule number could also be limiting when pollination results in complete ovule fertilization and there are more plant resources available than needed to develop seeds. Moreover, this dichotomous view assumes that all flowers of a plant have equal access to a shared pool of resources, although these are frequently compartmentalized within plant modules, for example, inflorescences. How ovule number, pollination and resources affect seed production in physiologically-compartmentalized rather than physiologically-integrated plants has yet to be explored. We used raspberry (Rubus idaeus) to address this question.MethodsWe first assessed if ovule number affected the fraction of ovules that develop into seed (i.e., seed set) and whether this effect related to the extent of physiological integration among flowers within plants. This was achieved by statistically testing predictions on the sign and level of plant organization (i.e., among flowers within inflorescences, among inflorescences within ramets, and among ramets) of the relation between ovule number and seed set given different degrees of physiological integration. We then explored whether the relation between ovule number and seed set was affected by plant age (used here as a surrogate of resource availability) and pollination intensity (open-pollination vs. exclusion).ResultsWithin inflorescences, flowers with more ovules set a larger fraction of seeds. On the other hand, seed set at the inflorescence level was negatively related to the average number of ovules per flower. Seed set increased with ovule number and open-pollination, and decreased with ramet age. However, ovule number explained more variation in seed set than ramet age and pollination treatment. Ramet age affected the strength of the relation of seed set to ovule number, which was stronger in old than young ramets. Pollination did not alter the strength of this relation to any significant extent.DiscussionResults reveal the importance of ovule number as an overriding factor affecting seed set. Within inflorescences, resources appear to be differentially allocated to developing fruits from flowers with many ovules. This is consistent with the fact that in the raspberry a large proportion of the carbon invested in fruit development is fixed by the inflorescence subtending leaf. Differential resource allocation to flowers with many ovules is not affected by pollinator exclusion, being stronger in resource-exhausted ramets. This suggests that the effects of pollen limitation and resource allocation are compartmentalized at the inflorescence level. Consequently, modular plants can be viewed as reproductive mosaics where either ovule number, pollination or resources limit the number of seeds set by different flowers, so that improvements in any of them could increase plant seed production.

Supplier behavior and its impact on customer satisfaction: A new characterization of negotiation behavior

Many questions of customer/supplier negotiation dynamics remain unanswered. One reason behind this is that most existing models do not entirely reflect the complex relationship between negotiation behavior and the attained outcome of the negotiation process, analyzing the former from a purely dichotomous perspective. This study examines supplier negotiation behavior and how it impacts the outcome (satisfaction) from the customer´s perspective, thereby proposing a new characterization of negotiation behavior. Our analysis is based on a case study of 21 customer/supplier negotiations carried out by four leading supermarket chains in Costa Rica. Evidence supports our proposal that in customer/supplier negotiations, supplier negotiation behavior can include both integrative and competitive actions within the same negotiation, thereby justifying our proposal of different classifications existing within the negotiation continuum. It was also noted that supplier negotiation behavior influences a customer´s perceived satisfaction level. These findings are relevant to both academia and the professional world and can be used to promote better implementation and performance of agreements attained during a negotiation.

PERSPECTIVAS RETÓRICO-DISCURSIVAS PARA O ESTUDO DA PATEMIZAÇÃO

RESUMO Tomando como ponto de partida as reflexões sobre a dimensão patêmica do discurso, este artigo focaliza a discussão sobre as três provas retóricas de persuasão – logos, pathos e ethos –, buscando argumentar em favor de sua integração, a partir de contribuições advindas tanto da Nova Retórica e da Sofística quanto da Teoria Semiolinguística do Discurso. Recusando a perspectiva dicotômica do paradigma cartesiano, nosso objetivo principal é realçar a necessidade de concebermos uma relação de interdependência entre o pathos e o logos. Para ilustrar nossa proposta, procedemos, após exposição teórica sobre o tema, ao exame de excertos de uma crônica jornalística, na expectativa de reforçar a legitimidade do assunto em apreço e de confirmar a necessidade de debates e demonstrações mais consistentes. Elegidas as categorias da intergenericidade e da metáfora como estruturas discursivas representativas do logos, a análise permite observar seu desdobramento em efeitos de patemização, concebidos aqui como efeitos de sentido.