Preferences For Different Types Research Articles

To Study the Demographic Profile of Investors, their Attitude and Preferences towards various Investment Avenues in Stock Market

Investors are investing in stock market as number of investment avenues are available for them with different risk and return characterstics. Investors, acquire these securities from the stock market depending upon their requirement and needs in order to create and construct that portfolio where they are able to generate superior risk adjusted returns. Similarly, their preference for different types of stock varies according to their requirements. Moreover, investors with difference in their income, age, occupation, education and across other variables have preference for different avenues. The researcher has made attempt in the present study to define in detail demographic profile of the investors in the study area and then to study investors across different variable their preferences for different avenues. Moreover, different investors have different investment motives for investing in volatile market. Some wish to get higher returns, some invest because of liquidity, some for tax purpose etc. The researcher has attempted to study investment objectives of the investor and in order to achieve the objectives strategy used by the investors to achieve the desired results.

The types and aspects of front-of-pack food labelling schemes preferred by adults and children

There is strong interest in front-of-pack labels (FoPLs) as a potential mechanism for improving diets, and therefore health, at the population level. The present study examined Australian consumers' preferences for different types and attributes of FoPLs to provide additional insights into optimal methods of presenting nutrition information on the front of food packets. Much research to date has focused on two main types of FoPLs – those expressing daily intake values for specific nutrients and those utilising ‘traffic light’ colour coding. This study extends this work by: (i) including the new Health Star Rating system recently introduced in Australia and New Zealand; (ii) allowing a large sample of consumers to self-nominate the evaluation criteria they consider to be most important in choosing between FoPLs; (iii) oversampling consumers of lower socioeconomic status; and (iv) including children, who consume and purchase food in their own right and also influence their parents' food purchase decisions. A cross-sectional online survey of 2058 Australian consumers (1558 adults and 500 children) assessed preferences between a daily intake FoPL, a traffic light FoPL, and the Health Star Rating FoPL. Across the whole sample and among all respondent subgroups (males vs females; adults vs children; lower socioeconomic status vs medium-high socioeconomic status; normal weight vs overweight/obese), the Health Star Rating was the most preferred FoPL (44%) and the daily intake guide was the least preferred (20%). The reasons most commonly provided by respondents to explain their preference related to ease of use, interpretive content, and salience. The findings suggest that a simple to use, interpretive, star-based food label represents a population-based nutrition promotion strategy that is considered helpful by a broad range of consumers.

Reduced intake of carbohydrate prevents the development of obesity and impaired glucose metabolism in ghrelin O-acyltransferase knockout mice

A close relationship between acylated-ghrelin and sucrose intake has been reported. However, little has been examined about the physiological action of ghrelin on preference for different types of carbohydrate such as glucose, fructose, and starch. The current study was aimed to investigate the role of acylated-ghrelin in the determinants of the choice of carbohydrates, and pathogenesis of chronic disorders, including obesity and insulin resistance. In a two-bottle-drinking test, ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT) knockout (KO) mice consumed a less amount of glucose and maltodextrin, and almost the same amount of fructose and saccharin solution compared to WT littermates. The increased consumption of glucose and maltodextrin was observed when acylated-ghrelin, but not unacylated-ghrelin, was exogeneously administered in normal C57BL/6J mice, suggesting an association of acylated-ghrelin with glucose-containing carbohydrate intake. When fed a diet rich in maltodextrin, starch and fat for 12 weeks, GOAT KO mice showed less food intake and weight gain, as well as improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity than WT mice. Our data suggests that blockade of GOAT activity may offer a therapeutic option for treatment of obesity and its associated metabolic syndrome by preventing from overconsumption of carbohydrate-rich food.

New Tests for Poorness, Richness, and Middle Class Welfare: Stochastic Dominance Analysis for Different Types of Social Welfare Functions

Chow, et al. (2016) use the theory of ascending stochastic dominance (ASD), descending stochastic dominance (DSD) to develop stochastic dominance (SD) tests for richness and poorness. In this paper, we extend their work by applying Markowitz stochastic dominance (MSD) and prospect stochastic dominance (PSD) to develop SD tests for the poor (test for poorness), the rich (test for richness), and for the middle class (we call it test for middle class) to achieve a more robust analysis of relative welfare levels in the study of income distributions. The findings of these tests can be used to draw preference for different types of increasing social welfare functions; namely, concave social welfare functions, convex social welfare functions, and S-shaped and reverse S-shaped social welfare functions. The feasibility of the proposed approach and the new tests of richness, poorness, AND the middle class developed for it are demonstrated using distributions of incomes in Hong Kong.

Using conservation auctions informed by environmental performance models to reduce agricultural nutrient flows into Lake Erie

Abstract Cost-effectively mitigating agricultural nutrient export requires an understanding of the biophysical characteristics of cropland as well as the behavioral and economic factors that drive land management decisions. Conservation auctions informed by models that simulate environmental outcomes have the potential to allocate conservation payments cost-effectively by funding practices that provide high predicted environmental benefits per dollar spent. This research tested two forms of conservation auctions. First, experimental auctions were used to analyze farmer preferences for different types of financial incentives for voluntary conservation, including direct payments, insurance, tax credits, and stewardship certification benefits. Second, conservation auctions were conducted in two Ohio counties to evaluate performance under real-world conditions. Supporting both types of auctions, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) predicted reductions in phosphorus exported as a function of the type of conservation practice and farm location. Results of the experimental auctions showed direct payments and tax credits to be the most cost-effective incentives to mitigate phosphorus export. The real auctions yielded two important lessons: 1) participation was very low, due to perceived transaction costs of participation—especially on rented fields and for group bids, and 2) the cost-effectiveness ranking of bids was highly sensitive to the parameters for soluble reactive phosphorus concentrations in the SWAT model. Future socio-economic research into payment for environmental services programs should seek cost-effective mechanisms with lower transaction costs for participants. Future biophysical research should strengthen our understanding of the factors governing soluble reactive phosphorus movement, so that models like SWAT can be more reliably parameterized.

Patient Preference in Dermatologist Attire in the Medical, Surgical, and Wound Care Settings.

Patients' perceptions of their physician can affect subjective and objective outcomes. Physician attire influences patients' perceptions of their physician and consequently may affect patient outcomes. To determine patient preferences for different types of dermatologist attire in dermatology medical, surgical, and wound care clinics. We hypothesized that patients in the dermatology medical setting would prefer professional attire, while patients in the dermatology surgical and wound care setting would prefer surgical scrubs. This study analyzed responses to a cross-sectional, anonymous survey by English-speaking dermatology patients (aged 18 years or older) at general, surgical, and wound care clinics in an academic center in Miami, Florida. Patients who could not read and understand the survey were excluded. Participants received pictures of a physician wearing business attire, professional attire, surgical attire, and casual attire, and responded by indicating which physician they preferred for each of 19 questions. Frequencies of responses were recorded, and χ2 and regression tests were performed. Response frequencies. Surveys were administered to 261 persons, and 255 participated and completed enough of the questions to be included in the outcome analyses (118 men, 121 women, 22 unknown [did not answer sex question]), mean (SD) age, 56.3 (18.6) years; about 49% of those who reported their sex were men; 56% were Hispanic; and 85% were white. Approximately 72% of respondents held a college degree or higher. About 63%, 24%, and 13% of respondents were medical, surgical, and wound care dermatology patients, respectively. Roughly 73%, 19%, 6%, and 2% of cumulative responses were for professional, surgical, business, and casual attire, respectively. Respondents who received a picture of a black male or black female physician were more likely to exclusively prefer professional attire: unadjusted odds ratios (ORs) 3.21 (95% CI, 1.39-7.42) and 2.78 (95% CI, 1.18-6.51), respectively, compared with respondents who received a picture of a white male physician. Nonwhite and unemployed respondents were less likely to prefer professional attire exclusively: ORs, 0.28 (95% CI, 0.1-0.83) and 0.28 (95% CI, 0.08-0.99), respectively. Respondents preferred professional attire in all clinic settings, though respondents in the dermatology surgery clinic were less likely to prefer professional attire compared with respondents in the medical dermatology clinic: race-adjusted OR, 0.74 (95% CI, 0.56-0.98). Wound care and medical dermatology respondents preferred professional attire comparably. In this study, most patients preferred professional attire for their dermatologists in most settings. It is possible that patients' perceptions of their physicians' knowledge and skill is influenced by the physicians' appearance, and these perceptions may affect outcomes.

Take-Away TV: Recharging Work Commutes With Predictive Preloading of Catch-Up TV Content

Mobile data offloading can greatly decrease the load on and usage of current and future cellular data networks by exploiting opportunistic and frequent access to Wi-Fi connectivity. Unfortunately, Wi-Fi access from mobile devices can be difficult during typical work commutes, e.g., via trains or cars on highways. In this paper, we propose a new approach: to preload the mobile device with content that a user might be interested in, thereby avoiding the need for cellular data access. We demonstrate the feasibility of this approach by developing a supervised machine learning model that learns from user preferences for different types of content, and propensity to be guided by the user interface of the player, and predictively preload entire TV shows. Testing on a data set of nearly 3.9 million sessions from all over the U.K. to BBC TV shows, we find that predictive preloading can save over 71% of the mobile data for an average user.

Comparative Study Of Students‘ Approaches And Strategies To Learning: Implications For Counselling

The researchers compared students’ approaches and strategies to learning in two African countries viz.; Nigeria and Uganda. Using a descriptive survey, fifty students, who were enrolled in the year 2012/2013 in guidance and counselling and computer science respectively, were sampled from the population. The students offered an ICT course separately in 200 level in the different institutions. The instrument used was the Approaches to study skills inventory (ASSIST) and the three hypotheses were postulated and tested. The results of the t-test analysis show that the null hypothesis was not statistically significant when using the strategic approach (t = 1.037, 1.056); p > .05 and the deep approach to learning of students in Nigeria and Uganda (t = -0.278, -0.279); p > .05. The second hypotheses revealed a no statistically significant difference in the Nigerian and Ugandan preferences for different types of courses in teaching and learning while the third hypothesis shows a significant correlation between a deep approach to learning and learning that supports understanding (r=.407; p <.001). It is recommended that lecturers need to accommodate their students’ individual differences in the teaching and learning process considering that most of the classes in higher institutions of learning are large for the prevalent part. Additionally, discussions on possible implications for counselling are discussed in the paper.

Preferences in the Early Stages of Mate Choice

Romantic partnership is often considered an optimal barometer of intergroup relations. To date, however, it has been challenging to distinguish the characteristics people prefer in a partner from the types of partners that are locally available. Online dating presents a new opportunity to address this puzzle. In this paper, I use behavioral data from a popular online dating site to answer three questions regarding preferences in the early stages of mate choice: First, to what extent do people prefer similarity versus status in a partner—and do these preferences vary by gender? Second, what is the relative importance of different types of preferences—and to what extent are apparent preferences for one characteristic merely a “by-product” of preferences for another characteristic with which the first is correlated? Third, do preferences vary at different moments of selection—and if so, how? These analyses not only provide a nuanced portrait of how interpersonal dynamics shape broader social structures—here, a network of romantic ties—but they recommend a future approach to mate choice that prioritizes processes over outcomes and more deeply engages the literature on gender, social networks, and symbolic boundaries.

Analysing key influences over actors' use of evidence in developing policies and strategies in Nigeria: a retrospective study of the Integrated Maternal Newborn and Child Health strategy.

BackgroundEvidence-informed policymaking has been promoted as a means of ensuring better outcomes. However, what counts as evidence in policymaking lies within a spectrum of expert knowledge and scientifically generated information. Since not all forms of evidence share an equal validity or weighting for policymakers, it is important to understand the key factors that influence their preferences for different types of evidence in policy and strategy development.MethodA retrospective study was carried out at the national level in Nigeria using a case-study approach to examine the Nigerian Integrated Maternal Newborn and Child Health (IMNCH) strategy. Two frameworks were used for conceptualization and data analysis, namely (1) to analyse the role of evidence in policymaking and (2) the policy triangle. They were used to explore the key contextual and participatory influences on choice of evidence in developing the IMNCH strategy. Data was collected through review of relevant national documents and in-depth interviews of purposively selected key policy and strategic decision makers. Thematic analysis was applied to generate information from collected data.ResultsThe breadth of evidence used was wide, ranging from expert opinions to systematic reviews. The choice of different types of evidence was found to overlap across actor categories. Key influences over actors’ choice of evidence were: (1) perceived robustness of evidence – comprehensive, representative, recent, scientifically sound; (2) roles in evidence process, i.e. their degree and level of participation in evidence generation and dissemination, with regards to their role in the policy process; and (3) contextual factors such as global agenda and influence, timeline for strategy development, availability of resources for evidence generation, and lessons learnt from previous unsuccessful policies/plans.ConclusionActors’ preferences for different types of evidence for policy are influenced not only by the characteristics of evidence itself, but on actors’ roles in the evidence process, their power to influence the policy, and the context in which evidence is used.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12961-016-0098-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

An evaluation of authentication methods for smartphone based on users’ preferences

This study discusses about smartphone screen lock preferences using some types of authentication methods. The purpose is to determine the user behaviours based on the perceived security and convenience, as well as the preferences for different types of authentication methods. Variables used are the considerations for locking the screens and the types of authentication methods. The population consists of the smartphone users with the total samples of 400 respondents within a nonprobability sampling method. Data analysis method used is the descriptive analysis. The results showed that the convenience factor is still the major consideration for locking the smartphone screens. Majority of the users chose the pattern unlock as the most convenient method to use. Meanwhile, fingerprint unlock becomes the most secure method in the users’ perceptions and as the method chosen to be used in the future.

Integrating Time-Preferences into E-Negotiation Systems: A Model, Elicitation Approach and Experimental Implications

Researchers have advocated that the acquisition of user preferences is important to the successful adoption of electronic negotiation systems. In this paper, we focus on one such preference, namely time preference, wherein the price of a good/service varies according to the delivery/consumption time. Time preference is a behavioral aspect that varies across buyers. We discuss how different types of preferences can be elicited, represented and integrated with electronic negotiations. We discuss three experiments to study the effect of time preferences on negotiation. The first is a preference elicitation experiment involving 36 subjects. The next two are agent-to-agent negotiation experiments, one based on the individual preferences obtained earlier and the other based on an expanded dataset on both individual preferences as well as negotiation parameters. The agent-based experiment compares outcomes and efficiencies between the standard exponential discounting model and two behavioral models of time preference. Our results bring out the preferences of subjects, as well as the extent to which negotiation is affected and enhanced by the incorporation of time-preferences.

Audio versus written feedback: Exploring learners’ preference and the impact of feedback format on students’ academic performance

Very little is known about the impact of the different types of feedback on students’ academic performance. This article explores students’ preference in the use of audio and written feedback and how each type of feedback received by students impacts their academic performance in subsequent assignments. The study involved 68 students who were divided into two groups that received either audio or written feedback in their first assignment which was then recalled and applied into the second assignment. An analysis of results obtained in the second assignment was conducted and comparisons made between students in the audio and written feedback group. Students were also surveyed using an online questionnaire to ascertain their perceptions about the type of feedback they had received. The study established that the type of feedback received did not impact students’ grades in the subsequent assignment. In addition, while students were broadly positive about audio feedback, they indicated a strong preference for written feedback in future assignments. The study recommends, among other things, further investigation into the link between students’ learning styles and their preferences for different types of feedback.

Social Finance and the Postmodern Portfolio: Theory and Practice

The field of social finance, which includes a range of investment practices that consider both the social and financial characteristics of investments, has grown tremendously over the past decade. As the Millennial generation acquires increasing amounts of wealth, the trend is likely to continue, and wealth managers will need to adapt. In this article, the authors propose a “post-modern” portfolio theory that incorporates metrics of social return into the portfolio construction process. The article first develops an investor utility function that accommodates each investor’s unique preferences for different types of social impact. Using the heterogeneous expectations version of the capital asset pricing model, the authors then expand the utility function into a model of general equilibrium. Estimation and forecasting problems are discussed, as are the implications of this model for both investors who care only about traditional financial utility, as well as those who value other forms of well-being in the context of their portfolio goals. Finally, the article offers wealth advisors a simple approach to implementation that is amenable to clients with varying degrees of interest in social return.

Preferences Involved Comprehensive Evaluation in Educational Management and Decision Making

Evaluation functions are very crucial in educational comprehensive evaluation. This study summarizes some classical evaluation functions and shows their usage in Pedagogic evaluation applications. The study also presents and illustrates some hybrid evaluation function with some types of preferences of decision makers involved. Some illustrations with examples show that different types of preferences can embody both educators’ teaching experience and their optimism/pessimism decision attitudes. Therefore, the analyses in this study can help first line teachers select suitable, flexible and reasonable models for their practical educational comprehensive evaluations.

A Study on the Image and Visual Preference for the Beautiful Forest Scenery types in Korea

This study intends to evaluate visual preference and image for 10 types of forest sceneries which have own distinct characteristics without overlapping each other among 22 types of beautiful forest sceneries based on Korea National Parks. Z scale and paired comparison methods were used to analyze visual preference for forest scenery, and SD scale method was also adopted to assess visual image for forest scenery. Experiments were conducted with 3 different university students groups. The results of this study can be summarized as follows. First, the evaluation results of Z scale (N=70) and paired comparison (N=64) methods show similar visual preference for different types of forest scenery. 'Scenery inside forests' and 'valley and rock' sceneries have the highest level of preference, and 'panorama of ridges', 'ridge of curious rock peaks', and 'waterfall and cliff' also have relatively higher preference level than others. However, 'community of dead trees' has the lowest preference in forest sceneries. Second, the factor analysis outputs of the image scores for beautiful forest scenery types by SD scale (N=66) show 3 factors of 'mysterious charm', 'colorful sense', and 'vividness/variety'. Examined the variables of forest scenery types for each factor, the image of 'mysterious charm' is based on the sceneries of mountain ridges, the image of 'colorful sense' is focused on the sceneries of color-expressed sense of the season, and the image of 'vividness/variety' is based on the sceneries of waterscape and curious rock peaks.

EFL Learners` Beliefs about Isolated and Integrated Grammar Teaching and Performance on a Grammar Recognition Test

<p>Approaches to teaching grammar have changed dramatically since the 1970s when communicative language teaching was proposed. An increasing number of studies have investigated the adequacy of this kind of grammar instruction. Yet, few studies have been done to look at the preferences that learners have for these methods of focus-on-form instruction and its relationship with their performance on grammar tests. The purpose of the present study is to explore Iranian EFL learners` attitudes and preferences for isolated and integrated focus-on-form and their performance on a grammar recognition test. Participants were learners studying English in a private language teaching institute. They were requested to complete the questionnaire of the isolated and integrated focus on form and answer a TOEFL grammar recognition test. The analysis of findings using descriptive statistics and T-test showed that learners did not have clear preferences for different types of focus on form and that learners` attitude towards isolated and integrated focus on form was not related to their performance. students' The findings can provide useful information for teachers and instructors learners` preferences for different approaches.</p>

Feedback on feedback practice: perceptions of students and academics

While feedback is widely considered central to student learning, students across the higher education sector commonly report dissatisfaction with the feedback they receive. In contrast, academics often feel they provide quality and informative feedback. This article explores and compares the perceptions of students and academics with regard to feedback practice. The paper presents the results of questionnaire surveys conducted with academics and students at the School of the Built Environment, Liverpool John Moores University. It highlights the perceptions of academics and students with regard to preferences for different types of feedback, timeliness of feedback, students’ engagement and interest in feedback, quality feedback and satisfaction with current practice. The findings indicate a significant discord between staff and students in relation to certain aspects of feedback practice, namely opinions on students’ engagement and interest in feedback, satisfaction with current practice and feedback preference. Similarities in viewpoints were also found in relation to quality feedback.

The role of personality traits in self-rated oral health and preferences for different types of flawed smiles.

Symmetric, aligned and luminous smiles are usually classified as 'beautiful' and aesthetic. However, smile perception is not strictly governed by standardised rules. Personal traits may influence the perception of non-ideal smiles. We aimed to determine the influence of personality traits in self-rated oral health and satisfaction and in the aesthetic preference for different strategically flawed smiles shown in photographs. Smiles with dark teeth, with uneven teeth, with lip asymmetry and dental asymmetry were ordered from 1 to 4 as a function of the degree of beauty by 548 participants, of which 50·7% were females with a mean age of 41·5 ± 17·6 years (range: 16-89 years). Self-assessment and oral satisfaction were recorded on a Likert scale. Personality was measured by means of the Big Five Inventory (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness), and the Life Orientation Test was used to measure optimism and pessimism. Of the four photographs with imperfect smiles, dental asymmetry was the most highly assessed in 63% of the sample, and the worst was lip asymmetry, in 43·7% of the sample. Some personality traits (above all conscientiousness and openness) were significantly correlated with the position assigned to the photographs with dental and lip asymmetry or with misaligned teeth. The extraversion, agreeableness and openness traits were correlated with the self-perceptions of oral health and aesthetics of the participants. Dental asymmetry seems to be better tolerated than lip asymmetry. Personality traits are weakly but significantly correlated with the aesthetic preference and oral health values, conscientiousness and openness being the most relevant domains in this sense.

A theoretical and experimental appraisal of four risk elicitation methods

The paper performs an in-depth comparison of four incentivised risk elicitation tasks. We show by means of a simulation exercise that part of the often observed heterogeneity of estimates across tasks is due to task-specific measurement error induced by the mere mechanics of the tasks. We run a replication experiment in a homogeneous subject pool using a between subjects one-shot design. Results shows that the task estimates vary over and above what can be explained by the simulations. We investigate the possibility the tasks elicit different types of preferences, rather than simply provide a different measure of the same preferences. In particular, the availability of a riskless alternative plays a prominent role helping to explain part of the differences in the estimated preferences.