Survey Research Study Research Articles

International Cash Management in the 21st century: Theory and Practice

This paper outlines the theoretical models of international cash management and assesses their implications for corporate practice. Corporate practice is then reviewed through the analysis of survey research and case studies. It emerges that whilst the implications of theoretical models are captured in essence by corporate practice, there is scant evidence of companies using sophisticated models in international cash management. The practice of international cash management is largely driven by developments in communications and computer technology, relaxation of regulatory and tax impediments, the internationalisation of banking and the development of new banking prod ucts. International treasurers may therefore be able to find appropriate cash management solutions to meet their business needs with the co‐operation of banks and technology providers. Further academic research should evaluate the extent to which corporate practice is consistent with extant multi‐currency balance and net work optimisation models and also explain why particular approaches to interna tional cash management persist in companies.

Sistemas de informação: um panorama da pesquisa científica entre 1990 e 2003

Este artigo apresenta uma análise da pesquisa científica brasileira em Sistemas de Informação (SI). Ele avalia o estado da arte da área a partir do exame de 343 artigos publicados em revistas científicas de Administração entre os anos de 1990 e 2003. A análise se concentra nos temas abordados e nas estratégias e metodologias de pesquisa. Constatou-se que: primeiro, no período ocorreu uma significativa redução na proporção de ensaios teóricos publicados; segundo, as estratégias de pesquisa são predominantemente exploratórias; terceiro, o estudo de caso e a pesquisa survey são os métodos preferenciais adotados; e, quarto, há um predomínio do tema Administração da Informação. Especificamente, para o período 1990-1997 avaliou-se a qualidade científica dos artigos publicados e verificou-se a existência de várias limitações metodológicas. Com o propósito de consolidar a pesquisa na área, sugerem-se algumas ações à comunidade acadêmica de SI para aperfeiçoar a consistência metodológica e a relevância das pesquisas.

2004 Survey of United States architects on the subject of switchable glazings

The 21st century has ushered in an era marked by the growing integration of technology and other scientific advances into commercial buildings and residential homes. Of particular interest to many architects, developers and builders are “switchable” glazing, a new category of technologically advanced glass and plastic building materials that can be used to control light, glare and heat entering an office or a home. Interest in switchable glazing technology is influenced by a variety of factors, including a growing movement to offer sustainable, energy-efficient building solutions, and the emerging desire by users to maintain greater control over their working and living environments. This paper examines the movement toward sustainable development and the end-user needs that are driving it. Further, it presents the results of a proprietary survey research study of United States architects on the subject of switchable glazing. This study includes an examination of the attributes most desired by architects regarding smart window technology, and provides additional insight into the potential application of this smart material to the building community.

PAIN FOLLOWS FUNCTION IN SUBJECTS WITH CHRONIC SPINAL CORD INJURY.

PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS: Musculoskeletal pain problems frequently occur in subjects with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). It is unclear, however, if the subjects activity level plays a role in the development of chronic musculoskeletal pain. This survey research study was designed to evaluate the activity patterns and incidence of pain experienced by subjects greater than 5 years post SCI. Our hypothesis was that subjects with increased activity levels would experience an increased incidence of musculoskeletal pain. NUMBER OF SUBJECTS: Five hundred subjects were randomly selected from the Shepherd Hospitals database (Atlanta, GA). Inclusion criteria: subjects were at least 18 yrs of age and at least 5 years post traumatic SCIA 29 item questionnaire was mailed with a SASE to all participants and 127 surveys were returned. Seven surveys were incomplete and were not further analyzed. Therefore, 120 surveys were utilized for data analyses constituting an approximately 25% response rate. MATERIALS/METHODS: Multiple choice, fill in, and Likert-Scale type questions were developed based on an extensive literature search, as well as, on previous pilot work (Hutchinson et al. Activity Level and Musculoskeletal Pain in Subjects Greater than Five Years Post Spinal Cord Injury. Neurology Report:Dec 2002;26(4): 190-191). Descriptive statistics were run on all questions. A priori comparisons were analyzed using Chi-square analyses for categorical data and PPMCC and t-tests for interval and ratio data sets. SPSS v. 11.01 was utilized. RESULTS: Demographic data: 93 males and 27 females responded representing 57, 47, and 16 subjects with cervical, thoracic and lumbar/sacral injuries, respectively. Ninety percent of the ambulatory patients with SCI complained of lower extremity pain (LE), but only 20-30% of the wheelchair users complained of LE pain (p<.000). However, 67 to 70% of wheelchair users complained of pain involving either one or both upper extremities (UE), whereas, 50% of the ambulatory patients complained of UE pain. This difference was not significant. Analyses of data, collapsed across injury categories, revealed that the mean number of transfers per week was significantly higher for those diagnosed with UE pathological conditions versus those without (p<.001). Also, the mean number of transfers/wk was significantly higher for those who identified shoulder, elbow or wrist pain during transfers (p <.001) versus those who did not have UE pain with transfers. CONCLUSIONS: Incidence of musculoskeletal pain, in subjects with chronic SCI, appears to follow activity patterns. These data suggest that high activity levels may play a role in the development of musculoskeletal pain patterns in subjects with chronic SCI. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Further research is needed to identify potential thresholds of activity, beyond which participation in an activity would likely lead to long term chronic pain patterns.

Job Desirability of the University Professorate in the Field of Educational Leadership

This survey research study uses job choice theory to assess recent educational leadership doctoral graduates’ perceptions of the desirability of the educational administration professorate. Results reveal attractive and unattractive aspects of professorial work as well as those job attributes that are most strongly related to candidates’ assessment of overall job desirability and job intentions.

Providers' perspectives and beliefs regarding transition to adult care for adolescents with sickle cell disease.

Until recently, few children with chronic illnesses such as sickle cell disease (SCD) lived past late adolescence. Substantial reductions in mortality mean a growing number of adolescents with SCD reach adulthood. Consensus among researchers and health care providers (HCP) from multiple disciplines is that critical attention to and more empirical research on the transition from pediatric to adult care is needed. We address the following questions: (1) How do pediatric and adult providers demonstrate involvement in transition? (2) What is expected of adolescents when they move to adult care? and (3) Do providers think there is a need for a systematic transition program? A cross-sectional, multi-format survey research study utilizing open-ended and forced-choice questions was conducted to compare responses between pediatric and adult providers from multiple disciplines. Data were collected from 227 HCP in three waves. Significant bivariate results (p < 0.05) reflected differing opinions regarding transition expectations and program need, especially among female providers, those practicing in urban areas, and providers who treat both adolescent and adult clients in comparison with their counterparts. Discussion includes implications for program development, social service and public health practice, and future research.

Mail Survey Return Rates Published in Health Education Journals: An Issue of External Validity

This study assessed mail survey return rates published in seven general health education journals for the 13-year period, 1990–2002: American Journal of Health Behavior, American Journal of Health Education, American Journal of Health Promotion, Health Education & Behavior, Health Education Research, Journal of American College Health, and the Journal of School Health. A significant difference in mail survey return rates across the seven journals was found. Also, published mail survey return rates significantly increased from 1990–1995 (M=61.8%) to 1997–2002 (M=65.5%). All of the journals had published a noteworthy percentage (10–26%) of their mailed survey research studies with return rates of less than 50%. Finally, there was not a significant association between sample size and return rates of published mail survey studies. Researchers reporting mail survey research results in health education journals should expect to have return rates of 60% or greater. Yet, such return rates may still be considered a significant threat to the external validity of the findings.

The Complexity of Loss in Continuing Care Institutions for Older People: A Review of the Literature

This article analyzes the findings of a literature review undertaken on loss in continuing care institutions. It suggests that research undertaken in continuing care institutions, such as care homes, ignores the complexity and multiplicity of loss, depending on the methodological approach taken (e.g., qualitative field methods, survey research and intervention studies). It argues that different methodological approaches fragment and hide some aspect of loss in these settings. For instance, some methods capture the individual emotional component, while others focus solely on the social dynamic. This fragmentation and hiding of aspects of loss makes research findings of limited value to those working in practice. The article concludes that future studies need to be aware of these tendencies, in order to uncover new meanings of loss more appropriate to the continuing care setting.

Present Day Use of the Internet for Survey-Based Research

SUMMARY This article argues that Internet-based survey research studies are presently limited in their utility. What many consider “classical” blunders in political polling that took place in the 1930s are used as a vehicle for describing parallel methodological errors that may occur with present-day use of the Internet. Without thoughtful protocols, Internet-based surveys are susceptible to these familiar errors, which limit their predictive utility. Tools such as e-mail, file transfers, and data and information access/retrieval should continue to be the primary role of Internet use. A model that articulates the use of Internet technology in survey research is offered for consideration.

On the model dependence of majority preference relations reconstructed from ballot or survey data

The Condorcet criterion requires a majority winner to be elected whenever it exists. In practice, virtually no social choice procedure or survey research study reports complete pairwise comparisons or a complete ranking of the choice alternatives for each voter, as required by standard majority rule. Thus, majority rule can almost never be computed directly from ballots or survey data. We show that it is typically impossible to unambiguously check a given set of ballot or survey data against the Condorcet criterion because any reconstruction of majority preferences is sensitive to the underlying implicit or explicit model of decision making.

Pay dispersion and workforce performance: moderating effects of incentives and interdependence

AbstractThe compensation literature is replete with arguments, but lacking in empirical tests, regarding the effects of pay dispersion on organizational outcomes. Pay dispersion may increase effort and provide incentives for high workforce performance levels, but may also inhibit cooperation and goal orientation among employees. Drawing on several theoretical perspectives (individual motivation, institutional theory, organizational justice, and neoclassical economics), this study predicts that pay dispersion will be associated with higher levels of workforce performance when accompanied by formal individual incentive systems and independent work, while pay compression is desirable in the absence of individual incentive systems and when work is interdependent. Survey research studies in two industrial sectors (the motor carrier and concrete pipe industries) were conducted to address these issues. Interactive regression results were generally supportive of the predictions across several measures of workforce performance (accident rates, safety violations, and productivity). Implications of these studies for strategy implementation in terms of compensation theory and practice are addressed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Fundamental dilemmas in contemporary psychotherapy: a transtheoretical concept.

The transtheoretical nature of fundamental dilemmas in contemporary psychotherapy is explored. The basic distinction between technical and ethical dilemmas in clinical practice is discussed, as well as the ramifications for the psychotherapist. Clinical dilemmas identified by survey research studies and interviews with master psychotherapists are reviewed. In addition to dilemmas relevant to circumscribed areas of psychotherapy, such as brief therapy, managed mental health care, sexual questions, feminist therapy, dilemmas fundamental to the psychotherapeutic process as a whole are examined. Finally, clinical examples are provided that include such issues as hospitalization of the suicidal patient, dealing with known contraindications, treating the intractable patient, and self-care of the psychotherapist.

Suggestions for Future Directions for Research in Sociology of Education

These comments are based on my experience reviewing projects during the past 10 years in the Division of Research, Evaluation, and Communication of the National Science Foundation. Our division supports applied and basic research for the purpose of improving mathematics and science education in U.S. schools. With the assistance of advisory panels of published researchers in the study fields, program officers fund about 50 new projects each year and evaluate the progress of approximately another 100 projects. SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON EDUCATION Few of the best proposals to our programs are developed by or with researchers trained in the sociology of education; only 2 projects out of 160 active awards in 2000 came from departments of sociology. Most studies of education are not placed in sociological theoretical frameworks, yet they could be. Reviewers would give consi deration to education studies that explore broader social systems or social psycho logical behaviors, but few such studies are proposed. Nevertheless, many of the research topics submitted for review involve some aspect of sociological investigation, such as the use of techniques that have been developed and taught by sociologists for conducting survey research, statistical analysis, qualitative analysis, and single case studies. Other sociological concepts such as status, human interaction, and the role of whole systems in change are commonly used in many projects.

In Search of a Few Hundred Good Kids: Three Months in the Life of a Community-Based Survey Research Study

In 1993, I received funding to conduct a community-based survey of adolescents living in public housing neighborhoods. While the ethnography literature warns about the emotional risks associated with field work, the survey research literature is silent about these risks, and I was largely unprepared about what to expect. This paper documents the experience of contacting over 600 youths in public housing neighborhoods, obtaining parental consent, scheduling a time and place to conduct the survey, and actually conducting it. It shows that the process of conducting this survey was much more like an ethnographic study than a strict survey. From this perspective, it also discusses insights I gained about life in public housing, and shares some of the stories of the people who live there.

Baccalaureate nursing faculty performance of nursing computer literacy skills and curriculum integration of these skills through teaching practice.

This article describes a cross-sectional survey research study designed to collect data from nurse educators regarding their self-reported competence in the performance of 60 nursing computer literacy skills, as well as self-reported levels of integration of these skills, through teaching practice, into the curricula of their respective baccalaureate nursing programs. Data were received from 184 respondents representing 18 publicly funded, National League for Nursing-accredited, college and university generic baccalaureate degree programs in the New England region of the United States. Study findings revealed that 21 of the 60 skills were being performed "well" or "very well" as reported by 50% or more of respondents, while in the area of curriculum integration through teaching practice, only 3 of the 60 skills were being integrated into teaching practice either "moderately" or "extensively" as reported by 50% or more of respondents. Another major finding of this research study strongly suggested that faculty who have the ability to perform requisite nursing computer literacy skills comfortably are more likely to integrate these skills into the curriculum through their teaching practices (r = .76; p<.01). This article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the study findings for nursing education.

Urban American Indian Identity Attitudes and Acculturation Styles

SUMMARY Implicit in much of American Indian acculturation research is the erroneous assumption that acculturation is synonymous with identity and, as a result, can be used as a proxy for identity in survey research. This lack of distinction between the two means may partly explain some discrepant findings in American Indian wellness studies. To clarify the conceptual distinction, the current study examined the relationship between urban American Indian identity attitudes and acculturation styles. The findings indicate that although identity attitudes and acculturative behaviors are related they are separate constructs that should not be used as proxies for one another in survey research or mental health studies. Contrary to the assimilationist models, native peoples have survived by taking the best of both worlds, integrating them, maintaining and transforming native cultures, and, ultimately buffering against negative colonizing processes through the internalization of positive identity attitudes and the externalization of negative dominant group attitudes.

Pioneer Brand Advantage in Japan

Until now there had never been an empirical study on pioneer brand advantage in Japan. A survey research study including some of Japan's largest consumer products companies found evidence that pioneer brand advantage does exist in Japan, possibly even stronger than in the USA, and the longer the lag before follower brands the higher the pioneer brand market share tends to be. Key factors contributing to the success of pioneer brands in Japan are identified, and also key factors with a positive impact on the market share of follower brands.

Research Trends in Gifted Education in Taiwan: A Review

This paper is a critical review of research done in the past 26 years on gifted education in Taiwan. A total of 374 research papers were reviewed and analysed in terms of their basic themes, nature of subjects, research design and methods of data analysis. It was found that most of thepubtisbed articles were survey research or correlation studies on topics concerning students’ psychological characteristics and school performance. However, researchers were more and more interested in conducting qualitative research in the lastfiveyears, and the method of in-depth interview has been used increasingly. The themes of the research were also diversified in recentyears. More studies on effects of teaching strategies and programs for the gifted emerged, as well as gifted education policies in school systems.

Response-Rate Differences and Response-Enhancement Effects by Population Type

A meta-analysis of 193 survey research studies examined differences in response rate by population type. Analysis suggests higher response rates may be expected from surveys of students and educators than from surveys of the general population. Effects of treatments intended to affect response rate differed minimally by type of population.

Research Methodology

The purpose of the this article is to discuss the impact that online technologies are having and will continue to have on the way secondary analysis of survey research is performed. The authors discuss the validity of secondary analysis of survey research studies and the effect that online technology has on such analyses. Before reviewing current online public opinion sources, the authors make the argument that online services are becoming increasingly important for secondary analysis. Finally, the authors present a model indicating where online services can go in the future given the technology that is available today. Ultimately, it is believed that the Internet is currently underexploited for its capacity to aid secondary analysis. The authors advocate making survey data more easily available online to all potential users. This entails varying the format and depth of data so that users find sources suitable to their needs. It also entails the use of desktop technology to store and analyze survey research data and making that technology, or the applications that are developed through that technology, available to other users via computer networks, primarily via the Internet.