SEM Software Research Articles

The influence of technology in the classroom: An analysis of an iPad and video intervention on JHS student’s confidence, anxiety, and EFL WTC

This small-scale, longitudinal study tested for the influence of video recording with a camcorder, and recording and self-viewing with an iPad. The study tested for changes in confidence, anxiety and foreign language (fl) willingness to communicate (wtc; McCroskey & Baer, 1985) using self-report measures before and after the intervention (N = 91 & 71, respectively). For the second administration, a second instrument was administered which asked about the influence of the camcorder / iPad intervention on confidence, anxiety, and wtc. The class that received the iPad intervention shows statistically significant increases in confidence and wtc, and a statistically significant decrease in anxiety. Furthermore, the Warppls structural equation modeling (sem) software results show that the iPad use had a strong positive influence on confidence and wtc and may also have lowered the level of anxiety of the students video-recorded directly (n = 9) with the iPad. The results indicate that video recording and self-viewing in the classroom with an iPad may promote confidence and wtc, and lower anxiety.

The influence of technology in the classroom: An analysis of an iPad and video intervention on JHS student’s confidence, anxiety, and EFL WTC

Nagano City Board of Education davidockert1@gmail.com This small-scale, longitudinal study tested for the influence of video recording with a camcorder, and recording and self-viewing with an iPad. The study tested for changes in confidence, anxiety and foreign language (fl) willingness to communicate (wtc; McCroskey & Baer, 1985) using self-report measures before and after the intervention (N = 91 & 71, respectively). For the second administration, a second instrument was administered which asked about the influence of the camcorder / iPad intervention on confidence, anxiety, and wtc. The class that received the iPad intervention shows statistically significant increases in confidence and wtc, and a statistically significant decrease in anxiety. Furthermore,the Warppls structural equation modeling (sem) software results show that the iPad use had a strong positive influence on confidence and wtc and may also have lowered the level of anxiety of the students video-recorded directly (n = 9) with the iPad. The results indicate that video recording and self-viewing in the classroom with an iPad may promote confidence and wtc, and lower anxiety.

Service quality effect on satisfaction and word of mouth in insurance industry

Article history: Received January 20, 2014 Accepted 5 July 2014 Available online July 7 2014 Quality tends to play an essential role in service industries such as banking and insurance services, as quality of service is crucial to count for the survival and profitability of the organization. Today, customer satisfaction and service quality is critical in most service industries. Taking into consideration the competitive issues from observing services quality, the subject also in the insurance industry is important based on administrative reform plan, which is required to provide quality services and meet customers' demands. This study aims to assess the factors influencing the positive words of mouth in the insurance services market. The population is Iran insurance company's customers in Guilan and 409 individuals were selected by simple random sampling. To collect data, a questionnaire was used and structural equation SEM and LISREL software was used to analyze the data. The findings indicate a significant positive relationship between all aspects of service quality and customer satisfaction. The results indicate that there was a significant positive relationship between customer satisfaction and customer words of mouth. Therefore, we can conclude that there were significant positive relationships between the dimensions of service quality with customer satisfaction and customer words of mouth in Iran insurance company in Guilan province. © 2014 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

청소년의 만성질환이 또래관계에 미치는 영향 : 자신이 평가한 건강상태와 자아탄력성의 매개효과 검증

The purpose of this study was (1) to examine the impact of chronic diseases on adolescent`s peer relationships, and (2) to investigate the mediating effect of self-perceived health status and resilience on the relationship between their physical health states and peer relationships. The authors used the first-wave panel data from `the Korean Children-Youth Panel Survey`. The sample included 2,351 first-grade of middle school students(boys 50.1%, girls 49.9%). Among the subjects examined 48.11% had chronic diseases. Using maximum likelihood estimation with Amos18(Arbuckle, 2009), SEM software, structural equation modeling was tested. The major findings were as follows : 1. Adolescents` chronic diseases had a negative impact on peer relationships. 2. Self-perceived health status and resilience had a mediating effect. This suggests that self-perceived health status and resilience could be protective factors when it comes to perceive peer relationships more positively for adolescents with chronic diseases. 3. Resilience was directly affected by self-perceived health status. This indicates that positive self-perception about their health status encourages adolescents with chronic diseases to be more resilient and to more positively affect their perception of their relationships with peers.

Research on the Quantitative Method of Brazed Diamond Tool Wears Characterization

A quantitative method which is named as ‘Wear Area Method’ (WAM) is proposed to characterize the brazed diamond tool wear in this paper. To different diamond grain forms, we present different definitions of their wear area. And with above foundation, the concept ‘Tool Wear Rate’ (TWR) is defined to describe the wear level of tool. Then we propose a corresponding measurement way which depends on the SEM photos and software Image pro plus to get the wear area. Finally, we set a face grinding experiment of sapphire to confirm the availability of this new method.

Facile synthetic route for producing one-dimensional zinc oxide nanoflowers and characterization of their optical properties

The morphologies and unique properties of zinc oxide nanoflowers make the nanoflowers promising candidates for use in wide range of future technological device applications. This paper describes the use of a versatile single-step synthetic route for producing ZnO nanoflowers under hydrothermal conditions at various reaction times. High-quality ZnO crystal was obtained after only 4 h by using this synthetic route. The morphology evolution and the length of rods that compose the flowers were monitored using SEM and ImageJ software. From the SEM images, it was possible to identify the formation of pure ZnO nanoflowers after 15 min under hydrothermal conditions. The length of the nanoflowers and the presence of defects in their morphology directly affected their optical properties, as examined using UV–visible and photoluminescence spectrophotometry. For samples kept at 5 and 10 min under similar conditions the time was not enough to form nanoflowers of pure ZnO materials. Actually, the samples are composed by two phases with zinc hydroxide being majority (>95%) and morphology like-rods.

Sensitivity Analysis of Multiple Informant Models When Data Are Not Missing at Random

Missing data are common in studies that rely on multiple informant data to evaluate relationships among variables for distinguishable individuals clustered within groups. Estimation of structural equation models using raw data allows for incomplete data, and so all groups can be retained for analysis even if only 1 member of a group contributes data. Statistical inference is based on the assumption that data are missing completely at random or missing at random. Importantly, whether or not data are missing is assumed to be independent of the missing data. A saturated correlates model that incorporates correlates of the missingness or the missing data into an analysis and multiple imputation that might also use such correlates offer advantages over the standard implementation of SEM when data are not missing at random because these approaches could result in a data analysis problem for which the missingness is ignorable. This article considers these approaches in an analysis of family data to assess the sensitivity of parameter estimates and statistical inferences to assumptions about missing data, a strategy that could be easily implemented using SEM software.

NILAI KESEHATAN DAN WORD OF MOUTH TERHADAP SIKAP, PERILAKU, DAN INTENSI PEMBELIAN KONSUMEN

One of the most dangerous illnesses which are often ignored by Indonesian people is Osteoporosis. On the one hand, many people start to be aware with this illness. On the other hand, most of the Indonesian society does not pay attention to this issue. Marketers see this illness as a big opportunity. As a result, it could be seen that there are a lot of functional foods, especially for healthyness were developed by companies. This research uses one of the most popular brand in Indonesia, Anlene as an experiment objects considering that Anlene serves the specific market in the healthy food. This research identifies the effect of health value to attitudes toward functional foods and attitudes toward the product. Furthermore, this research aims to acknowledge the effect of attitudes toward functional foods toward perceptions of healthiness and hedonic expectations. This research would also identify the effect of perceptions of healthiness, hedonic expectations, and word of mouth to purchasing intention. There are 8 hypotheses that would be tested and analyzed using SEM software LISREL 8.8.

Multi-Criteria Structured Equation Model on Strategic Project Management

Recently, the strategic project management (SPM) is considered as a dynamic activity within strategic management process. The literature shows that, many scholars highlighted three main factors in SPM mainly the structure, leadership style, and resources. To implement strategy successfully, attention must be paid to a number of organizational issues, especially organizational structure. It is expected that performance in firms is correlated with the use of structural features that, must support the strategy. Furthermore, cines last decades it is argued that the leadership style of the entrepreneur can have a significant effect on implementation of strategy. And successful strategy realization is determined by the coherence of decisions and actions of all employee resources at all levels of the organization, and not just by the people who originally defined the strategy. To ensure that strategy is realized at all levels of the organization, a mechanism is necessary to direct all employees and other resources towards the same strategic project management. In this study we prepare a structural equation model on SPM factors and the relation of SPM with organization financial performance. Our data gathered from 211 project managers and our tool of data analysis was AMOS SEM software. The results confirm the significant relation between three mentioned SPM factors and success level of SPM, and investigation of SPM and firm's financial performance.

A Comparison of Three Confidence Intervals of Composite Reliability of A Unidimensional Test

The widely used coefficient α may underestimate or overestimate reliability when its premise assumption is violated and therefore is not a good index to evaluate reliability.Composite reliability can better estimate reliability by using confirmatory factor analysis(see e.g.,Bentler,2009;Green Yang,2009).As is well known,point estimate contains limited information about a population parameter and could not give how far it could be from the population parameter.The confidence interval of the parameter could provide more information.In evaluating the quality of a test,the confidence interval of composite reliability has received more and more attention in recent years.There are three approaches to estimate the confidence interval of composite reliability of a unidimensional test:Bootstrap method,Delta method and directly using the standard error in the output of an SEM software(e.g.,LISREL).Each of the three approaches produces a standard error of composite reliability.Then the confidence interval can be easily formed based on the standard error.Bootstrap method provides an empirical result of the standard error of composite reliability and is the most credible,but the method needs data simulation technique and is not be easily mastered by general applied researchers.Delta method computes the standard error of composite reliability by approximate calculation,and the method is much simpler than Bootstrap method.LISREL software can directly give the standard error of composite reliability,and this method is the simplest among the three methods.To evaluate the standard errors of composite reliability obtained by Delta method and LISREL software,we compared them with that obtained by Bootstrap method,because the latter can be treated as the true value in theory.A simulation study was conducted to the comparison.Four factors were considered in the simulation design:(a) the number of items on each test(k=3,6,10,and 15);(b) factor loading(high,medium and low);(c) sample size(N=100,300,500,and 1000);(d) the method for calculating the standard error of composite reliability(Bootstrap,Delta,and LISREL).Totally,48 treatment conditions were generated in terms of the above 4-factor simulation design(i.e.,48=4×3×4×3).The simulation results indicated that the difference between the standard errors obtained by Delta method and Bootstrap method was ignorable under each designed condition,except when sample size was small(less than 200)and standardized factor loadings were not high(less than 0.7).However,there was substantial difference between the standard errors obtained by LISREL software directly and Bootstrap method under each designed condition.Noting that the result from Bootstrap method can be treated as the true value,we recommended that Delta method could be adopted to estimate the confidence interval of composite reliability of a unidimensional test.At the same time we revealed that the standard error directly obtained by LISREL software is severely biased.We used an example of a unidimensional test to illustrate how to calculate composite reliability and its confidence interval by using Delta method based on LISREL output.We also showed that the same results could be directly obtained by using SEM software Mplus that automatically calculates the confidence interval with Delta method and presents the confidence interval.

Effects of Reactant Mixing Mode on Dispersibility and Particle Size Stability of Cuprous Oxide Particles

Spherical Cu2O particles were prepared under high reaction concentration and without any additives us- ing CuSO4, NaOH, and glucose as raw materials. The products were characterized by XRD, SEM and smileview software. The effects of reactant mixing modes on dispersibility and size stability of Cu2O particles were investi- gated. It is found that when Cu(OH)2 was prepared by slowly mixing NaOH and CuSO4 solutions at first step, and then reduced by adding glucose solution at second step, Cu2O particles were formed by so-called rapid nucleation- slow model, and well-dispersed spherical Cu2O particles with stable particle size were prepared. The good dispersibility of Cu2O particles can be explained by the slow growth of Cu2O particles, which allows the soft ag- glomeration of Cu2O particles to be broken by stirring and prevented from becoming hard agglomeration through chemical bond between crystal nuclei. The good particle size stability can be explained by good thermal stability of Cu(OH)2 which allows the precursor to keep oneness during heating up and prevents the renucleation in the

Response of Small Enterprises to the Pressures of ERP Adoption

Decision to adopt ERP by small enterprises is influenced by external forces due to their dependence on the supply chain. However, certain factors mediate the external forces and alter their influences. This article intends to highlight that the response of small enterprises to the institutional isomorphic pressures in adoption decision of ERP depends on the perception of cost-benefit and the complexity of the organization. A conceptual model was developed and empirically tested by a survey among SMEs of the knitwear garment cluster that has a well developed institutional structure. The mediation effect is tested in SEM software and its significance is verified by bootstrapping. The results show that perceived benefit, challenges and organizational complexity confound the external forces. The study reveals how the small enterprises respond to the external pressures so that stakeholders involved in promotion of ERP can plan a right strategy for encouraging ERP adoption among SMEs.

Study on the Thermal Fatigue Resistance of Cr17Mn10Ni3 Heat-Resistant Steel

In order to prolong the life of inner liner of coke can, the thermal fatigue property of Cr17Mn10Ni3 heat-resisting steel was analyzed and studied from cast metallurgical structure, the morphology of crack surface and cross-section, the injury factor by OM, SEM, photoshop and imagetool software. The results shows, Cr17Mn10Ni3 has a good thermal fatigue property because of the microstructure with good thermal conductivity, austenite matrix and break carbide lying in treelike crystals. It decreases the innerstress and postpones the time of crack formation and extension, during the process with 1100°C and room- temperature water cooling. The cracks mainly appear in the phase interfaces between carbides and matrix, ferrite and austenite, and grain boundaries. The thin and deep cracks with high concentration are beneficial to relax the elastic strain energy. But a single and thick crack easily widens and deepens to be detrimental to the thermal fatigue property.

Application of micromechanical models for elasticity and failure to short fibre reinforced composites. Numerical implementation and experimental validation

This paper deals with numerical modelling of the mechanical behaviour of short fibre reinforced plastic composites manufactured by the injection moulding process. First of all, an experimental program has been carried out in which the local fibre orientation distribution has been measured in an 80 × 80 × 2 mm injected plate by means of polished cut sections, analysed with SEM and image processing software. Tensile and three-point bending tests have been performed to obtain the elastic and strength response of the material in different locations along the plate and at two directions (parallel and normal to the flow direction). Analytical micromechanical models and averaging procedures have been implemented to relate the local fibre orientation distribution with the effective local anisotropic response of the material (elastic and strength). The models are validated by means of the finite element simulation of the performed characterisation tests. Finally, the methodology is applied to an injection moulded component with complex geometry. Fibre orientation data predicted with mould-flow software has been used to determine the local effective elastic stiffness and strength coefficients. A FE simulation of the functional behaviour of the component has been carried out. Results indicate that the proposed variable stiffness/strength anisotropic model predicts a lower load for onset of failure than when applying an equivalent isotropic material model.

Fitting Partially Nonlinear Random Coefficient Models as SEMs

The nonlinear random coefficient model has become increasingly popular as a method for describing individual differences in longitudinal research. Although promising, the nonlinear model it is not utilized as often as it might be because software options are still somewhat limited. In this article we show that a specialized version of the model can be fit to data using SEM software. The specialization is to a model in which the parameters that enter the function in a linear manner are random, whereas those that are nonlinear are common to all individuals. Although this kind of function is not as general as is the fully nonlinear model, it still is applicable to many different data sets. Two examples are presented to show how the models can be estimated using popular SEM computer programs.