International Comparative Research Research Articles

International Cooperative Research: Experiences and Insights from the Project on Confirmation Work in Europe

Abstract This article describes the long-term research project on confirmation work in Europe which is carried out in ten countries, and discusses it as an example of international cooperative and comparative research in practical theology. Against the background of an increasing demand for international research in practical theology on the one hand and the far-reaching lack of respective studies which is demonstrated by an analysis of the articles published in IJPT on the other, major results and methodological questions from the project on confirmation work are presented. In a final section, the advantages as well as the challenges of international cooperative and comparative research are discussed.

Construction of Sci-Tech Financial Ecosystem Indicators and International Comparative Research

The development of science and technology (sci-tech) finance is conducive to improving the transformation quality of sci-tech achievements and optimizing the allocation of resources. However, the current sci-tech finance field in China is mainly promoted by the way of government work, and the theoretical research on the operation mechanism and system structure of sci-tech finance is relatively lagging. This article constructs the research framework of the sci-tech financial ecosystem from the perspective of ecology, uses the quantitative method of index design to deconstruct the gap between China and other major countries in the world, and analyzes the reasons and enlightenment. It is expected to provide decision-making support for relevant policies from the perspective of top-level design while promoting theoretical research.

Teaching Expertise in Three Countries: findings and policy implications from an international comparative study in early childhood education

ABSTRACT In this paper, Teaching Expertise in Three Countries project is used as an example to show the significance and contribution of international comparative research and to think about the possible implications for policy in early childhood education. The project studied the development of expertise in preschool teaching in Japan, China, and the United States by employing ‘video-cued multivocal ethnography’ to explore how teaching expertise is defined in each of these countries and what processes help teachers acquire advanced teaching skills. This project has shown similarities and culturally specific notions, in what the participants have to say about characteristics of less and more experienced teachers. These research findings raise issues and challenges in early childhood education that resonate with the situation not only in the three countries but also possibly in other countries, such as problematizing the role of remembering and reflection in professional practice and the value of experience.

To Trust or Not to Trust? COVID-19 Facemasks in China–Europe Relations: Lessons from France and the United Kingdom

At the crossroads of sociology and international relations, this interdisciplinary and comparative research article explores how the COVID-19 outbreak has impacted China–Europe relations. Unfolding the critical moments of the COVID-19 outbreak, this article characterizes the evolution of China–Europe relations with regard to the facemask. This simple object of self-protection against the coronavirus strikingly became a source of contention between peoples and states. In the face of this situation, we argue that the facemask is the prism through which to illustrate (1) the transnational links between China and its overseas population, (2) the changing social perceptions of China and Chinese-looking people in European societies, and (3) the advent of China’s health diplomacy and its reception in Europe. Comparing two European settings—France and the United Kingdom (UK)—the common denominator appears to be the reduced trust, if not outright distrust, between individuals and communities in the French and British contexts, and in Sino–French and Sino–British relations at the transnational level. Combining critical juncture theory and (dis)trust in international relations as our analytical framework, this article examines how the facemask became a politicized object, both between states and between Mainland China and its overseas population, as the epidemic unfolded throughout Europe. Adopting a qualitative approach, our dataset comprises the analysis of official speeches and statements; press releases; traditional and social media content (especially through hashtags such as #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus, #IAmNotAVirus, #CoronaRacism, etc.); and interviews with Chinese, French, and British community members.

Solidarity and mutual aid: Women organizing the “visible hand” urban commons

AbstractThe involvement of women in the organization and functioning of voluntary self‐help groups and their activity in the forums of these groups on social media during the COVID‐19 pandemic is surprisingly high. In Poland, the share of women involved in the “visible hand” groups was 80 percent. This article is based on the theoretical considerations of solidarity and mutual aid and points to the nexus of women and urban commons. It also presents the results of empirical research, based on mixed methods, devoted to the motivations of members to join affinity groups of this kind in the era of the pandemic as well as their expectations and the perceived benefits and dangers/threats. The obtained results contradict the stereotypical assumption that the high level of participation of women in self‐help groups is related to the reproductive work they perform and the most important motivation for them is community building. There is also a finding related to women's agency, namely that all contemporary social movements mobilize a greater percentage of women. The members of the affinity groups surveyed see numerous benefits from their actions, both for others and for themselves (especially in psychological and social dimensions), and the most frequently indicated danger is dishonesty. The results of this research are an important contribution to both the theories of urban commons and informal organization of care. At the same time, the presented analysis of groups and their emotions, needs and calls for action may serve as an inspiration for both international comparative research and the very communities that are stuck up in crises (both current and those yet to come).

Portraying the Pandemic: Analysis of Textual-Visual Frames in German News Coverage of COVID-19 on Twitter

ABSTRACT The novel coronavirus disease (SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19) resulted in a severe global pandemic in 2020. Amid the unprecedented health crisis, visuals play important roles in media framing and health crisis communication. This article provides one of the first analyses of textual-visual news concerning COVID-19 posted by two leading German newspapers on Twitter. Our objective is to integrate texts and visuals into framing analysis to better understand the multimodal news presentation of health crises. A quantitative content analysis of 2479 tweets examined nine news frames, among which politics and instructions, update information, economic impact and social impact presented more thematic salience. The semiotic signs of indexical, symbolic and iconic appeared in news visuals and served evidential, performative and illustrative functions. The results also detected recurrent news visuals in the color-clustered patterns. Notably, an alluvial diagram revealed the connections between textual frames and visual signs across three crisis phases. In recognizing the diverse roles of visuals in constructing mediated reality, this article demonstrates the value in the multimodal framing of health crises and suggests expanding our focus to risk cultures for future international comparative research.

Foreign language education policies at secondary school level in England and Germany: an international comparison

ABSTRACT International comparative curriculum research is becoming more important in a globalised world. However, up-to-date comparative studies of international foreign language education policies are still rare. This study compares current modern foreign language curricula in England with that in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia in Germany at Key Stage 4 and equivalent, to identify points of convergence and divergence in learning intentions. The analysis shows systematic differences and similarities regarding philosophical underpinning, learning goals, curriculum content and the level of alignment to international frameworks for teaching, learning and assessing foreign language proficiency. The paper discusses the findings with reference to the implications for the development of modern foreign languages teaching and learning in both educational settings.

The Relation between Trumpism and Compliance with the Rules during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Procedural Justice Perspective

The COVID-19 pandemic is undoubtedly one of the more significant events that marked the21st century and changed the world. Also, the 21st century was marked by the peculiar rule of USA President Donald Trump. Trumpism as a concept has influenced many aspects of peoples lives around the world. Drawing on statements by former USA President Donald Trump regarding the global pandemic, the question arises as to whether trumpism could have had a global scale to spread the virus. As procedural fairness is one of the essential factors for compliance, this paper relates the concepts of procedural justice, compliance, and trumpism. The paper offers a unique review of literature and research, providing practical implications and suggestions for future international comparative research of these concepts.

Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow: The ‘thick and thin’ of comparative (statactivist) research with a European trade union federation

The greater insight and deeper understanding generated by slow comparative international research is beyond doubt. However, there are times when researchers need to ‘quicken up’, most notably when engaged in ‘real-time’ social science that is directly responsive to policy initiatives by the (supranational) state and/or new business strategies and employment practices developed by (multi-national) employers. This is a particular challenge for scholars working with European trade union federations, especially when they are drawn into political campaigns and/or European policy debates. Such engagement often calls for a (quick) step from slow (typically qualitative) to fast (predominantly quantitative) research, using statistics for activism in order to build evidence for representation that can pass the test of science as well as the test of action. The evidence is necessarily ‘thin’ but nonetheless sufficient, on occasion, to warrant collective action.

A Comparative Study of Upper Secondary School Biology Curricula in Two Countries: Finland and Nigeria

Scientific literacy (SL) has been recognized as the main goal of science curricula documents around the world; however, comparative international curriculum research is limited, especially with Western and African countries. To fill this gap, this study aimed to compare the coverage of SL competencies with the components of knowledge, attitudes, and contexts in the upper secondary school biology curricula of Finland and Nigeria. Content analysis was used as a method and a modified version of the SL framework of the Programme for International Student Assessment 2015 (OECD, 2016) was used to analyze the curricula. The results revealed that both curricula contain the main components of SL defined in the framework, scientific knowledge being the most prominent, followed by scientific competencies. Both curricula laid less emphasis on the interpretation competency and attitudes to science component. The curricula differed in the amount of attention paid to the different areas of SL components. The Finnish curriculum focused more on content knowledge, explaining phenomena scientifically and frontiers of science and technology, while in the Nigerian curriculum procedural knowledge, evaluation and design of scientific enquiry and natural resources as context were more emphasized. The results of this study are not only important to the European and African continents but to other parts of the world for the promotion SL in schools, also the findings reinforce the call on curriculum planners and science educators to ensure equal coverage of all the dimensions of SL in the school science curriculum if the next generation of the world is to be scientifically literate.

Comparative studies of early childhood education and care: beyond methodological nationalism

ABSTRACT With early childhood inhabiting a firm position on policy agendas, an emerging global consensus acknowledges the need for research into early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems. However, standardised approaches to comparison dominate the field. These studies tend to be grounded in methodological nationalism, assuming nation states as the natural and necessary unit to study social phenomena. I argue the national unit is not sufficient to understand ECEC systems and that we need to consider subnational levels (district and local). Subnational approaches enable the reconstruction of the different actors and institutions at play in all levels of ECEC systems. This movement beyond methodological nationalism requires a shift towards integrated approaches and territorialised policy analysis. I illustrate my argument drawing on qualitative data from two subnational studies in Argentina. I discuss the conceptual and methodological implications for international comparison and comparative research in the early childhood field.

Media reporting on public procurement: an analysis of UK press coverage, 1985–2018

PurposeThe media is an important actor in public procurement, but research on its role is limited. This paper aims to investigate how the media has engaged with public procurement, using UK newspapers as a case example.Design/methodology/approachThe method consisted of searching Nexis database for news articles on public procurement; automatic extraction of article attributes such as length, section, authorship; and manually coding each article for its theme and industry context. This produced quantitative indicators about the extent and focus of press coverage on public procurement.FindingsPress coverage of public procurement increased between 1985 and 2018. The focus of coverage has been on governance failure and socio-economic policy. Governance failure, which includes corruption, cronyism and supplier malpractice, is associated with construction, outsourcing and professional services sectors. Socio-economic policy, which includes supporting small suppliers and favouring domestic industry, is associated with manufacturing, defence and agriculture.Research limitations/implicationsThe analysis included UK media only. While the trends observed on the extent and focus of public procurement news coverage likely reflect the situation in other countries, international comparative research is still required.Practical implicationsGovernment officials should be more proactive in countering the “negativity bias” in news coverage of public procurement by showcasing projects where value-for-money has been achieved, services have been successfully delivered and social value has been realised.Social implicationsThe media accentuates the negatives of public procurement and omits positive developments. The end-result is a selective and, at times, self-serving media narrative that is likely to engender cynicism towards public procurement.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study on media coverage of public procurement. It highlights that while there are similarities between media and academic treatment of public procurement, particularly in relation to its socio-economic side, the media emphasises governance failings and negative developments to a greater extent.

Nurse educator education in six European countries: a descriptive study / Ausbildung von Pflegepädagog/-innen in sechs europäischen Ländern – eine deskriptive Studie

Abstract Objectives Information on nurse educator education is scarce. The present study thus aims to provide an overview of the requirements for and standards of nurse educator education in six European countries in order to enable further reflection and promote discourse on the topic. Methods: A descriptive international cross-sectional comparative study was conducted across six European countries. Data were collected via an online questionnaire completed by experts in nurse educator education or in organisations with specialist knowledge about nurse educator preparation (n = 11). The data were analysed, compared, and condensed. Results The participating countries differ in terms of their educational requirements and the working environments they provide for nurse educators. Formal nurse educator education is available in three of the six countries. Furthermore, in the countries with formal education for nurse educators, differences exist in terms of the regulation and implementation of the education. The educational requirements of nurse educators in higher education are mostly not specific to nursing and are instead general requirements for professional (tertiary) or higher education. Conclusions The analysis reveals heterogeneous regulations, standards, and pathways in the education of nurse educators in the six different counties included in the study. Despite some formal and content-related similarities, no uniform picture of the educational requirements, programmes, or standards was identified. The results of this international comparative research confirm the need for further research that examines whether the education of nurse educators meets the global need both for skilled nurses and for more Europe-wide collaboration in nurse educator education.

International perspectives on information avoidance during the coronavirus pandemic: Comparing media evaluations and media use in Pakistan, Germany, and Indonesia

This study investigates the comparative prevalence of information avoidance concerning the coronavirus and its relationship with media evaluation and use. We argue that information avoidance is a behavior that broadly signifies the intermittent and conscious practice of shunning specific content. It is problematic because having an informed citizenry is essential, especially during a global pandemic. Given the global affectedness of the world by the coronavirus, we believe in the necessity for international comparative research and conduct our study in Pakistan, Germany, and Indonesia. Based on the existing literature, which stems predominantly from the Global North, we assume that media use and its evaluations are associated with information avoidance and test our assumptions against cross-cultural differences. Hence, we collected data in Germany (n = 822), Indonesia (n = 1164), and Pakistan (n = 467). The results indicate important differences with regard to the prevalence of information avoidance as well as media use and its evaluations across the three countries. The analysis further confirms a rather stable relationship between media evaluations with information avoidance but revealed interesting differences in the associations between media use and avoidance.

The Persian Language Version of the Obsession With the COVID-19 Scale for Adolescents.

Objective: The worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused significant public health burdens and psychological dysfunctions. In this challenging time, adolescents require special care. The Persian version of the Obsession with COVID-19 Scale (OCS) for adolescents was developed to screen for dysfunctional obsession associated with the coronavirus during the global pandemic. The structure and internal consistency of the OCS were established.Design and Measures: Although there are different language versions of the OCS, this is the first study to validate the psychometric properties of the OCS in Iranian adolescents. Seven hundred and nine students (369 girls) participated in the study. Demographic questions and the OCS were administered.Results: The findings provided support for the existence of a unidimensional structure that met the criteria for configural, metric, and full scalar invariance across gender (girls and boys), inhabitancy (urban and rural), and infection experience (infected and non-infected). The OCS is short and highly reliable measurement. However, further research is necessary to establish the validity of the scale in Iranian population.Conclusions: The development of such valid scales is an essential part of both research and practice during times of crisis, like a global pandemic. Diagnosis of pandemic related to obsessive thoughts in adolescents is needed as the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing and as experts point out, it can be expected that the effects of the pandemic will be observed in the coming years. The Persian version makes it possible to conduct international comparative research on the anxiety related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

National Reports and Global Education Policy Diffusion

Comparative research projects have become one of the main sources of information to investigate national systems of education and to inform education policy making at the national level. However, the way that national education authorities interpret and use the results of these projects may differ substantially among countries. This process, that we refer to as the national interpretation in comparative education, is overlooked in the debate regarding comparative research projects in education. This paper addresses this issue analysing national reports of the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) from eight different countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada (Alberta), Chile, England, Mexico, Portugal and Spain.
 The results indicate that the national interpretation and reporting of international comparative data is fairly homogeneous considering the socio-educational diversity of the selected countries. However, our analysis also suggests that reports from English-speaking countries (Australia, Canada, and England) have a higher degree of similarity with the survey’s conceptual framework, whereas national reports from Mexico and Chile showed a lower degree of similarity. Moreover, our analysis reinforces the relevance of understanding countries’ focus and interpretation of evidence produced by international comparative research projects in education.

Essays in Comparative International Entrepreneurship Research

Entrepreneurship does not take place in a vacuum but is deeply embedded in its context. This dissertation proposes three new perspectives which highlight (1) the changing impact of socio-cultural conditions over the course of the venture creation process, (2) the persistence, portability, and intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurial culture, and (3) the different theoretical channels through which culture influences entrepreneurship. This dissertation advances three fresh perspectives which shed new light on the critical role of socio-cultural influences in comparative international entrepreneurship research. <br>

Exploring the Outdoor Recreational Behavior and New Environmental Paradigm among Urban Forest Visitors in Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia

This is international comparative research on the perception of local residents toward the natural environment in South Korea, Taiwan, and Indonesia. Through the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) investigation, perceptions of natural environmental conservation and utilization of 664 urban forest visitors were analyzed, and the relationship between recreational behavior, NEP scores, and demographic characteristics was investigated. The three countries, with different histories, cultures, and economic development, showed statistically significant differences in all items. In terms of the NEP response score, Taiwan showed the most positive results with an average of 4.08. Frequent visits by the elderly and family were common significant factors of high NEP score for all survey locations. In the confirmatory factor analysis of latent variables for NEP, ‘limits to growth’ were significant in South Korea while ‘ecological crisis’ was more significant in Taiwan and Indonesia. Forest experience frequency was a common factor affecting NEP, indicating that frequent forest visits during leisure time are a major factor in improving the ecological paradigm.

Doing ‘judgemental rationality’ in empirical research: the importance of depth-reflexivity when researching in prison

ABSTRACT Critical realist thought has theorised convincingly that epistemic relativism is constellationally embedded in ontological realism which in turn necessitates judgemental rationality. In social science, judgemental rationality involves acting upon plausible decisions about competing points of view. However, the tools for doing this are, as yet, under-articulated. This paper addresses this absence by articulating triangulation and depth-reflexivity as two tools for doing judgemental rationality in empirical research. It draws on the experiences of a diverse team working on an international comparative research project on conversion to Islam in prisons. It demonstrates how epistemic and relational gaps between researchers and research subjects can be bridged by mobilising the ‘laminated’ properties and personal attributes of a diverse research team that factors in attributes that are absent as well as those present. The biographical experiences of the team are analyzed in a variety of intersecting dimensions: faith, ethnicity/ethno-culture, gender, class and professionality.

A Study of the Human Factor in Industry 4.0 Based on the Automotive Industry

Human factor plays an important role in the implementation of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). The concept of Industry 4.0 is poorly researched, particularly the social aspect. The authors have conducted a study to determine the level of preparation of employees for the introduction of technological changes. This study involved conducting a survey on a sample of 453 employees based in four organizations within the automotive industry. The respondents were thereafter divided into groups based on age and positions held. The employees’ knowledge of the Industry 4.0 technology was examined, and their openness to change and readiness to increase competence was determined. A causal relationship was found between knowledge and trust in technology. Employees’ fears associated with production automation were discussed. A group of production workers was found to be the least prepared to implement technology changes. Actions to improve the situation and potential consequences of inadequate implementation of this technology were indicated. The findings from this study were compared with the results obtained in other countries. Special attention was paid to the limitations of this study, and we identified the necessity to conduct international comparative research on small, medium and large enterprises.