Review Of Empirical Studies Research Articles

A review of studies on tourism and climate change from 2007 to 2021

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to review empirical studies on the relationship between climate change and tourism for a period of 15 years, from 2007 to 2021. The main variables analyzed were research subjects, topics and economic development levels.Design/methodology/approachLiterature review was used to analyze articles published on climate change and tourism from 2007 to 2021. A staged article selection process was followed using the Scopus database. Statistical comparison tests found differences among sub-groupings of articles.FindingsThe research articles on climate change and tourism continued their upward trajectory until 2021. The 893 articles analyzed were published in 254 different journals, with over 60% from non-tourism or cross-disciplinary journals. Significant differences were found by time period and between developed and developing countries.Research limitations/implicationsGaps in the literature were detected with respect to policy analysis and it was concluded that the research for developing nations remains insufficient. More research should be encouraged to focus on the situation and solutions to climate change and tourism in developing countries. Additional research is also needed on biodiversity declines in destinations because of climate change.Originality/valueThis research dealt exclusively with empirical research studies in academic articles. It compared results across three different time periods and between developing and developed countries. Statistical tests supported the comparisons.

Microfinance Intervention and Health Outcomes of Marginalized People: A Systematic Literature Review

INTRODUCTION: People from developing countries may have poor health due to economic constraints. Microfinance institutions provide collateral-free microcredit to the unbanked people for their livelihood improvement. This study aims to assess the impact of microfinance services on the health outcomes of marginalized people. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The research is based on a review of empirical studies, reports, and data. The PubMed search engine was used to locate research publications on microfinance and health. The PubMed Open Database was applied to find the publications using the keywords "microfinance" and "health." All papers that were published from January 1, 2010, to April 15, 2023, were checked for the study. 71 research papers were discovered during the initial inquiry; nine duplicate articles were eliminated, and 13 were irrelevant to the study. Finally, 50 research papers and reports were selected for evaluation. RESULTS: Health outcomes and microfinance intervention are related. Microfinance services are useful to improve access to healthcare, health initiatives/awareness, and funding for healthcare services. When financial services are integrated with health care services, the poor and marginalized people benefit from the microfinance intervention in the diverse areas of health care services such as communicable and non-communicable diseases, food security and nutrition, contraceptives, and mental health risks of intimate partner violence, as well as health awareness, quality of life, social integration, and economic wellbeing. CONCLUSIONS: Financial accessibility is important for promoting the health of the underprivileged. The poor and marginalized individuals gain from the microfinance intervention in the broad spectrum of health care services when financial services are linked with health care services.

The deficit model in PISA assessments of competencies: counter-evidence from anthropology

ABSTRACT International organisations have pressed countries to prepare students for the knowledge economy by building real-life competencies into national curricula, and the OECD’s PISA has assessed competencies like collaboration and creative problem solving. But is there really a deficit in competencies that schools must address? This review of empirical studies in anthropology and cultural psychology documents that people learn and practice many key competencies in everyday life. However, the situation affects practice, and school-like assessments are situations ill-suited to eliciting everyday competencies. The inaccurate deficit model and questionable assessments paint a misleading picture of how to solve underemployment in the knowledge economy.

Learners’ career choices in STEM education: A review of empirical studies

The purpose of this study was to systematically review articles on the career choices of learners and STEM. The first goal was to classify research on career choice and STEM to identify trends and gaps in the literature. The second goal was to summarize the findings related to learners’ career choices at STEM and interpret them according to what has been reported in the literature. In this study, the PRISMA method was used to review articles in the educational literature STEM. Sixty-seven articles published in indexed journals in SCOPUS that met the specified criteria were analyzed systematically. The results showed that 51 of 67 articles were involved in the analysis to review by researchers. The results also showed that the earliest article that addressed career choice and STEM was published in 2011, and most of the articles studied were published after 2017. The results also showed that most articles on career choice in STEM were conducted in the United States, Israel, and Spain. The preferred sample groups in research on career choice in STEM fields are mostly high school and undergraduate students. In addition, the studies were broadly classified into five categories, including the effects of STEM activities and the effects on teachers, the effects of some variables on learners’ career choices, the study of learners’ career choices, and parental attitudes. Based on the results obtained from this research, implications are made for future research.

The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) Hypothesis in China: A Review

China is the largest total pollution emitter country on the globe and a vast literature has investigated the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in China. Thus, we aim to review empirical studies on the testing of the EKC hypothesis using different pollution proxies and area samples in China. The EKC hypothesis can be validated by establishing an inverted U-shaped or an N-shaped relationship between pollution and economic growth. In this review of the Chinese literature, the validity of the EKC hypothesis is found more often than its absence. In comparison, a higher proportion of the studies validated the EKC hypothesis using global pollution proxies compared with local pollution proxies. Moreover, a greater percentage of the studies substantiated the EKC hypothesis using Chinese provincial and city-level data compared with aggregate national data. To validate these findings, we applied logistic regression, and the chance of the validity of the EKC hypothesis was found to be 5.08 times higher than the absence of the EKC if a study used a global pollution proxy. Moreover, the chance of the existence of the EKC hypothesis was found to be 4.46 times higher than the nonexistence of the EKC if a study used Chinese provincial, city, sectoral, or industrial data.

Maltreatment in Daycare Settings: A Review of Empirical Studies in the Field.

Daycare maltreatment refers to abusive and/or neglectful acts perpetrated by teachers, directors, non-professionals or volunteers, family members of staff, and peers in a daycare setting. Despite growing evidence of its occurrence, the prevalence and consequences of daycare maltreatment for the child, the parent(s), and their dyad are largely unknown. This qualitative systematic literature review was conducted to synthesize the existing literature referring to daycare maltreatment, using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. In order to be included in the analysis, the manuscripts needed to report empirical findings regarding maltreatment in daycare settings, be written in English, be published in a peer-reviewed journal or a dissertation, and be accessible by our research team. In all, 25 manuscripts met the above criteria and were included in the review. Our results indicate that reports of daycare maltreatment are characterized by early age of abused children, inferring mainly to sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. The majority of these manuscripts reported caregivers' and teachers' abuse, while peer victimization was reported much less. In addition, the findings demonstrated a higher representation of female perpetrators compared to abuse in other scenarios. Although some indications of long-term implications are reported in the manuscripts, a well-validated measure for assessment of daycare maltreatment seems to be lacking. These findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the complex experience and ramifications of daycare maltreatment, providing insight into its multi-faceted implications.

Professional boundary violations in prisons: a scoping review of the literature

PurposeProfessional boundary violations – intentional blurring, minimising or exploiting of institutions’ ethical and legal frameworks – have the potential to cause significant harm to prisoners, staff, prison systems and the public. There has been little empirical research on the nature, extent and impact of boundary violations in UK prisons. The purpose of this paper is to synthesise and critically review studies which have sought to explore, measure and predict boundary violative behaviour, with a view to direct future research and inform prison policies and practices.Design/methodology/approachFour internet-based bibliographic databases were used for this review. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. Twenty studies published between 2001 and 2022 were included in this review.FindingsThere is a lack of comprehensive self-report measures around prison boundary violations. Staff and prisoner characteristics, as well as prison-specific conditions, are linked with boundary violations. Staff training, improved working conditions and amnesty programmes as well as bolstered surveillance and restricted cross-sex staff deployment were among recommendations to reduce boundary violations. “Insider” researchers offer insight and access opportunities, but they also pose ethical implications. Current studies have research design, participant sampling and measurement scale limitations which compromises the applicability of findings. Prisons need robust policies on defining, reporting, punishing and recovering from boundary violations. Collaboration between prison institutions and academics, using individuals with experience of both professions, is essential to understand, predict and reduce boundary violations.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first review of empirical studies on professional boundary violations in prison.

A Review of Empirical Studies on Intercultural Communication in China

This study reviews empirical research papers on intercultural communication in China from 2012 to 2022 and provides insights and implications derived from these papers. Although the number of empirical studies has increased, most studies have a single analytical approach, less cross-cutting discussions, weak theoretical foundations, insufficient theoretical analyses, and a lack of comprehensive questionnaire content. This study recommends enriching the methodology of empirical research on intercultural communication, increasing longitudinal studies, emphasizing the development of intercultural communication competence or intercultural sensitivity scales for Chinese learners, and expanding empirical research on different ethnic groups and mother tongues in the context of intercultural communication in China. Finally, this study provides pedagogical insights.

The Status of Social Health Insurance in Nepal

INTRODUCTION: Social health insurance (SHI) is a risk-sharing method-based health care financing and administration. SHI combines the contributions of people, households, businesses, and the government with people's health hazards. As a result, it shields people from financial and physical hardship and is a generally equitable way to pay for medical care. This study aims to assess the status of social health insurance in Nepal. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The research is based on a review of empirical studies, reports, and data. The Google Scholar search engine was used to locate research publications on health insurance. The Google Scholar Open Database was applied to find the publications using the keywords "health insurance" or "social health insurance in Nepal." All papers that were published before July 2022 were checked for the study. Fifty-seven research papers were discovered during the initial inquiry; five duplicate articles were eliminated, and seven were out of the norm. Finally, 45 research papers and reports were selected for evaluation with the study titled "The status of health insurance in Nepal." RESULTS: This study finds that Madhesh province has poor status (4.63%) of social health insurance and province one has the highest (33.02%) of insured persons in Nepal. Females (52%) insured are higher than males (48%). The population covered by health insurance is seven percent in Nepal. Likewise, the renewal status of social health insurance is poor in Karnali province (50%) and highest in Lumbini province (85%) for the fiscal year 2021/22. CONCLUSIONS: Social health insurance is an effective strategy for fair access to healthcare services. The penetration of social health insurance is low in Nepal. Since the social health insurance program is one of the effective tools for improving the health system in developing nations like Nepal, so the government should speed up its implementation to achieve the goal of universal health coverage and sustainable development goals.

Assessing Digital Transformation Acceptance in Public Organizations’ Marketing

Digital transformation has a substantial impact on the activities of public organizations. The way public organizations conduct marketing has also changed due to digital transformation. This paper evaluates how digital transformation influences public organizations’ marketing activities in their employees’ perception and examines the changes triggered by digital technology in public marketing. The research results are based on the literature review empirical studies based on a survey conducted among 425 employees of public organizations in Romania in the marketing field. Using the technology acceptance model and structural equation modeling to analyze and interpret the data, the paper demonstrates that digital technologies have a substantial impact on marketing, in the perception of technology users, in helping to build relationships with the public, and in increasing citizens’ trust in public organizations. Digital technologies, by their significant characteristics (innovativeness, social influence, accessibility, and rapidity), have a significant impact on all public marketing activities. However, they are substantially transforming quantitative marketing research activities due to the digitization of financial accounting and managerial information systems, as well as interactive and transparent communication and public relations activities. Public organization managers must explain the benefits of digital marketing to employees from the internal branding perspective as well as the effectiveness of public marketing activities.

Oral corrective feedback on lexical errors: a systematic review

Abstract This study adopted a synthetic approach to review empirical studies on oral corrective feedback (OCF) for lexical errors. It examined OCF types, lexical target types, interlocutors’ attention to lexical errors, and OCF effectiveness in promoting vocabulary development. After the application of inclusion and exclusion criteria on studies retrieved from a search of six databases, 31 primary studies were available for coding and analysis. Findings revealed that interlocutors showed a greater preference for recast than prompt and explicit correction. However, recast resulted in the lowest rate of lexical repairs, whereas prompt was found the most effective. Lexical errors received OCF at a higher rate than grammatical errors and phonological errors, indicating that interlocutors paid greater attention to vocabulary problems. OCF was most often provided for the inappropriate choice of lexical items, or inaccurate use of word derivation, involving a wide range of word classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs). Only a few studies looked into OCF targeting a single lexical feature. Findings suggest it may be more effective for teachers to employ prompts to elicit repairs of lexical errors from learners. There is a need for future researchers to conduct empirical OCF studies on a single lexical target.

Disentangling Housing Supply to Shift towards Smart Cities: Analysing Theoretical and Empirical Studies

The search for a pleasant home has concerned people ever since. Paradoxically, people are facing strong difficulties in finding a decent place to settle their lives in cities. As such, the housing market regained momentum in connection with the development of Smart Cities, where life quality of residents is strongly emphasized. Well-being in the metropolis is affected by a wide variety of factors with housing supply being among the most important, hence stirred by financing costs, construction costs, vacancy rate, sales delay, inflation rate, housing stock, price of agricultural land, and regulation. The present article reviews empirical studies on housing supply for a better understanding of the dynamics in this market, shedding some light on the expectable outcomes of policy actions in the promotion of sustainable housing towards the smart city transition. Our review shows that the long-run price elasticity of housing supply is larger than the short-run, as well as the existence of substantial differences in the price elasticity across countries and regions. As such, overall, the hypothesis of a perfectly elastic supply is rejected. In addition, our review highlights that housing supply is negatively related to financial costs, inflation, sales delay, and the existence of regulatory or physical constraints. Also, the elasticity is lower when there are regulatory constraints. Newfangled strategic interaction models, though overlooked in the literature, reinforce that housing does not fit the perfect competition frame. The review proves that we are in face of a non-competitive market in which policy intervention is required to maximize social welfare; policy packages to grant people access to the housing market may be required. However, policy interventions should be carefully designed and clear, to mitigate their potentially negative impact on the housing supply as adverse results may be harmful to the transition towards a smart city.

Early Home Learning Environment (HLE) and Children's Cognitive Development: A Review of Empirical Studies

Early Home Learning Environment (HLE) and Children's Cognitive Development: A Review of Empirical Studies

Workplace engagement interventions: empirically based alternatives for manager consideration

PurposeThe primary purpose of this paper is to identify for practitioners and readers of this journal several interventions represented in empirical research that have shown promise with regard to the stimulation and/or reinforcement of employee work engagement. The aim is to identify a range of interventions that managers, supervisors or coaches may consider for a given setting as they go about enabling employee learning and performance improvement.Design/methodology/approachExamination of the research literature on work engagement provided initial guidance for study of interventions that link to enhancement and/or reinforcement of employee work engagement. Information was found that aids in developing an understanding of the dynamics of work engagement as well as identifying a variety of interventions successfully applied in many organizations in several countries. The fundamental approach used in the study is a scoping review. Overall, the paper is generally discursive and details are offered based on review of empirical study and meta-analyses.FindingsFindings are represented by a detailed explanation of the construct of work engagement, its theoretical grounding and its relationship with performance and achievement. A summary of interventions identified across many empirical studies provides guidance for managers and leaders, primarily, and organizations with regard to interventions to aid with employee learning, growth and performance improvement.Research limitations/implicationsResearch implications deal mainly with issues linked to the concept of work engagement and the primary tool used for its measurement.Practical implicationsSubstantial information is presented to give a manager, coach or supervisor a detailed view of the construct of work engagement and how one may influence employee growth with regard to the concept. Several interventions are identified, all of which have been shown to be effective. The manager can examine these interventions and make choices about how to influence the employees in her/his unit.Originality/valueWhile hundreds of studies of work engagement have identified and highlighted a variety of interventions used to stimulate or reinforce work engagement with employees, there have been few efforts made to provide practitioners/managers with an array of interventions that have been shown, repeatedly, to be effective. The present study provides such an array.

The Impact of Product and Process Innovations on Productivity: A Review of Empirical Studies

This article draws attention to insufficient research interest in the empirical assessments of the impact of product and process innovations (PPI) on economic performance. The analysis of the relevant studies for 2000–2022 found significant international and intersectoral differentiation of the considered linkages between innovation and productivity. It revealed limitations for the meaningful interpretation of the array of results accumulated in the literature. The author emphasizes the importance of an integrated multi-perspective approach to assessing the possible impact of PPI on various aspects of enterprise and industry performance when planning public innovation policy. For example, minor product innovations can make a tangible positive contribution to a company's sales growth, but have no impact on labor productivity at all. The impact of a radical resource-saving process innovation will look doubtful if it is evaluated only on a short time interval. The author concludes that it is expedient to revise established views on industrial technological innovations and develop new approaches to their measurement.

How does the tourism and hospitality industry use artificial intelligence? A review of empirical studies and future research agenda

ABSTRACT In response to the increased interest in artificial intelligence (AI) and service robotics within tourism and hospitality (T&H) research, the current study examined 123 articles thematically to determine how AI is defined and which themes are most associated with the phenomena. Several journal articles on AI were extracted and analyzed using bibliometrics (citation and co-citation) and content analysis to uncover the salient themes. We first reviewed the emergent definition of AI and its relevant themes. Then, we presented the methodology and reported quantitative bibliometric and qualitative thematic analysis findings. Subsequently, we revealed recent trends, context, theory, and nomological network in the domain, followed by the main themes and clusters, such as anthropomorphism, theory-based works, methodological foundations, service robots, and employee and customer views on service robots, and their relations with AI in T&H. The research also offers aresearch agenda that outlines opportunities for future AI studies.

Economic Development, Sociocultural Change and Quality of Life in Korea: Analysis of Three Generations Growing up in Colonial, Industrial and Digital Age

The article reviews key questions that are central to developing countries and provide a case study of South Korea (abbreviated as Korea): How could one of the poorest country in the world transform to become the 10th largest economy in the world? What are the psychological, relational, social and cultural impact of rapid economic development in Korea? How do these factors influence the subjective well-being, quality of life and happiness among three generations of Koreans? The first part of this article reviews the cultural history of Korea. The second part of this article reviews the rapid economic development that lifted Korea out of poverty into prosperity. The third part of this articles reviews the social and cultural changes that impacted the family, incentive structure and lifestyle of three generation of Koreans. The fourth part of this article reviews the impact of digital revolution on the psychological, economic and cultural life of Millennials and Gen Z (abbreviated as the MZ generation), and examine how they are different from their parent and grandparent generation. The fifth part of the articles reviews quality of life and social problems in Korea. In contrast to the economic prosperity that Koreans enjoy, the country is facing serious social problems with low marriage and fertility rate, high unemployment, divorce and suicide rate, and a bleak economic future for the MZ generation. The current situation in Korea is an example of Innovator’s Dilemma ( Christensen, 2016 ), where the economic and political model that accelerated economic growth is serving as an obstacle to innovation and change. The fifth part of this article reviews empirical studies conducted in Korea during the past 20 years focusing on subjective well-being, quality of life and happiness. The results indicate that social support received from close relationships and self, relational and social efficacy predict high subjective well-being, quality of life and happiness. In contrast, income and socio-economic status had very little impact on subjective well-being, quality of life and happiness. For the MZ generation, friends have become much more important than their parents in promoting happiness and online social support is emerging as an important factor. The information, knowledge and skills that they obtain from the online community are changing how they view the world, relate to others and live. The MZ generation represents the most educated, globally connected and socially conscious generation. They are starting a quiet revolution, demanding changes to social inequalities, discrimination and climate change that were create by and for the baby boomer generation.

Factors Related to EFL/ESL Readers' Reading Strategy Use

This Article systematically reviews the use of reading strategies among college-level English as a foreign/second language (EFL/ESL) learners and its relationship with two non-cognitive factors: gender and motivation. The author reviews empirical studies published from 2000 to 2017 in order to answer two research questions: (a) What gender disparities exist in college-level EFL/ESL learners' use of reading strategies? (b) How do motivation factors relate to college-level EFL/ESL learners' use of reading strategies? Findings indicate that: (1) motivation factors, including achievement goals, interest in reading, and self-efficacy, positively relate to reading strategy use. (2) gender has an influence on strategy use and female readers show higher use of reading strategies. (3) Interaction effects among factors exist. EFL/ESL learners' strategy use is shaped by multiple factors jointly.

Which types of instruction in writing‐to‐learn lead to insight and topic knowledge in different disciplines? A review of empirical studies

AbstractThis review examines which types of instruction in writing‐to‐learn lead to effects on insight and topic knowledge in different disciplines, in grades 5–12 and in higher education. Forty‐three empirical studies have been selected to answer this question. Four types of instruction are distinguished. Three of them are based on hypotheses proposed by Klein (1999) about the cognitive processes involved in writing‐to‐learn: Forward Search, Genre Writing and Backward Search. The fourth type, Planning Only, arises from the literature reviewed. Results of the studies show that about two thirds of the (quasi) experimental studies lead to positive effects on insight and topic knowledge for the four types of instruction. However, given the small number of experimental studies conducted, no firm conclusions can be drawn for three types of instruction. For the remaining type of instruction, Genre Writing, a larger number of studies provide positive evidence. Suggestions for future research are discussed. Context and implicationsRationale for this studyIt is known that instruction is needed for promoting learning by writing. The question is which specific types of instruction can be used for inciting the writing‐to‐learn process.Why the new findings matterThe finding that the four types of instruction, especially Genre Writing, may promote learning, can serve as a reference for judging or formulating instruction.Implications for educational researchers and policy makersThe outcome may be interesting for education, because it entails that one from four types of instruction, that is, Genre Writing, shows the largest positive effects. Subject teachers often are hesitant to use writing‐to‐learn in their teaching practice, therefore the findings may provide clearness about how to instruct it. They can use Genre Writing instruction for composing writing tasks and select the preferred content of this instruction. The authors indicate mechanisms underlying the process of writing‐to‐learn that may be stimulated by instruction. For researchers it can be interesting to study these mechanisms, for instance in think‐aloud studies.

ADDRESSING HEALTH LITERACY IN THE GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL (GCC) COUNTRIES: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW PROTOCOL TO SUMMARIZE THE HEALTH LITERACY LANDSCAPE

Introduction: In the world of an ever-evolving face of healthcare practice and policies, it is increasingly becoming more imperative that the greater population is enabled to keep up with the pace of changes and reforms in healthcare. However, to do this, we need to ensure healthcare consumers can access, evaluate and create change in a way that is meaningful and understandable to them. Objective: The aim of this integrative review is to assess health literacy within the GCC countries in order to provide a picture of the state of health literacy. Method: An integrative review using the Whittemore and Knafl framework was utilized in order to review empirical studies will be undertaken. This study will also look at grey literature in order to review the evidence that is written about health literacy in the GCC countries. Discussion: The results are expected to provide a landscape of the current practice in the GCC counties as well as to inform future practice related to caregiving and the influence of health literacy on that realm. Keywords: Health Literacy, GCC Countries, Review protocol, Health Literacy Landscape