Theoretical Perspectives Research Articles

Constructing cultural integration through rhetoric in Modi’s speech in Lumbini, Nepal

This article reports how the rhetorical devices and logical argument utilized in the speech of Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, delivered in Lumbini, addressing the 2566th birth ceremony of Lord Buddha, assisted him to establish his purpose by persuading the audience. I adopted the concept of rhetoric developed by Aristotle and the notion of argument advanced by Toulmin as a theoretical perspective to analyze his speech. The findings reported that Modi used rhetorical devices and layers of argument to establish religious and cultural relationships between Nepal and India; however, he focused on religions, particularly Hinduism and Buddhism, and excluded the religious and cultural sentiments of people belonging to other religious and cultural backgrounds living in both countries. The finding further revealed that Modi’s seemingly religious rhetoric was directed towards the political mission of promoting relations between Nepal and India by expanding cultural nationalism and establishing the supremacy of Hinduism and Buddhism. This study has greater significance because it adds new insights into the existing literature on rhetoric and communication and provides a clear direction for further analyzing the rhetorical strategy in Modi’s speeches.

Demographic analysis of online grocery shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic: a theoretical perspective with an expanded technology acceptance model

Demographic analysis of online grocery shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic: a theoretical perspective with an expanded technology acceptance model

In-Depth Insight into Corrosion Inhibition Performance of Sweet Potato Leaf Extract as a Green and Efficient Inhibitor for 6N01 Al Alloy in the Seawater: Experimental and Theoretical Perspectives.

Corrosion protection of metal has become an important and urgent topic, which requires the development of an inexpensive, environmentally friendly, and highly efficient corrosion inhibitor. Herein, a sweet potato leaf extract (SPL) was obtained by a simple water-based extraction method and then as a green corrosion inhibitor for 6N01 Al alloy in the seawater was well investigated by the weight loss method and various electrochemical tests. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopies were carried out to investigate the compositions of SPL. The findings from the potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) curves suggest that SPL functions as a typical mixed-type corrosion inhibitor. Notably, the maximum corrosion inhibition efficiency reaches 94.6% following a 36 h immersion period at 25 °C. The adsorption behavior of SPL on the Al alloy surface belongs to the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The Gibbs free energy value illustrates that the adsorption of SPL contains both physisorption and chemisorption. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicate that SPL is firmly attached to the Al alloy surface by making a protective layer, which can effectively inhibit the corrosion of the Al alloy in the seawater. Furthermore, quantum chemical calculations were applied to validate the chemical adsorption and elucidate the relationship between the electronic structure of the active components in SPL and their effectiveness in corrosion inhibition.

A New Extended Target Detection Method Based on the Maximum Eigenvalue of the Hermitian Matrix

In the field of radar target detection, the conventional approach is to employ the range profile energy accumulation method for detecting extended targets. However, this method becomes ineffective when dealing with non-stationary and non-uniform radar clutter scenarios, as well as long-distance targets with weak radar cross sections (RCSs). In such cases, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the target echo is severely degraded, rendering the energy accumulation detection algorithm unreliable. To address this issue, this paper presents a new extended target detection method based on the maximum eigenvalue of the Hermitian matrix. This method utilizes a detection model that incorporates observed data and employs the likelihood ratio test (LRT) theory to derive the maximum eigenvalue detector at low SNR. Specifically, the detector constructs a matrix using a sliding window block with the available data and then computes the maximum eigenvalue of the covariance matrix. Subsequently, the maximum eigenvalue matrix is transformed into a one-dimensional eigenvalue image, enabling extended target detection through analogy with the energy accumulation detection method. Furthermore, this paper analyzes the proposed extended target detection method from both theoretical and experimental perspectives, validating it through field-measured data. The results obtained from the measured data demonstrate that the method effectively enhances the SNR in low SNR conditions, thereby improving target detection performance. Additionally, the method exhibits robustness across different scattering center targets.

Myth, identity and ableism: Jericho March becomes Canadian Marathon of Hope in the Freedom Convoy

The aim and means of the Freedom Convoy are instructive for understanding how ableism is promoted in Canadian society today. As an example of such promotion, the author considers the Jericho March that took place during the Freedom Convoy Trucker Protest in Ottawa. The organizer of the Jericho March described the Convoy’s aim as an end to all public protections against the spread of COVID-19, and the discourse used by the organizer prior to the Convoy aligns with the kind of ableism that characterizes this general aim. The organizer’s description of the Jericho March as the Convoy participants’ ‘Marathon of Hope’ also aligns with other appropriations of Terry Fox’s iconography within the Freedom Convoy. After situating the Jericho March within more aggressive tactics used by Convoy participants, the author synthesizes theoretical perspectives from Fiona Campbell and Keiji Nishitani to think about what kind of Canadian identity the march promoted. From these considerations, it seems that myth can be used by individual organizers in Canada today to actively promote and perhaps even shift the boundaries of structural forms of oppression.

Operations In Critical Waiting Processes

This paper offers an alternative approach to the essential matter of the factors involved in the process of waiting, especially in critical contexts such as civil emergencies. Some categories for the analysis of waiting are developed here, taking an alternative theoretical perspective, where waiting processes are conceived of as operational and institutionalised in nature, rather than mere temporal phenomena. Importantly, this paper contributes to research in the field of anthropology studying processes of waiting, as it presents a unique perspective of analysis. This perspective shifts the focus of these processes from temporalities to institutions and highlights the essential importance of operations in their analysis. In order to exemplify the proposed perspective, empirical waiting processes in crisis will be analysed. These examples of critical waiting have been selected with consideration to their historical, political or social impact. The demand for operational behaviour among the people waiting has also been considered in these examples. These processes will be analysed using categories established from an institutional and operational approach based on the materialistic philosophical approach of the Spanish philosopher Gustavo Bueno Martinez, sometimes called Discontinuous Materialism.

Pain tolerance as a ‘barrier’ to nonsuicidal self-injury: A longitudinal study

Theoretical perspectives underscore that low pain tolerance may be a relevant ‘barrier’ to non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). However, there is limited longitudinal work on the link between pain tolerance and NSSI, which is needed to assess if pain tolerance precedes NSSI engagement, and/or if NSSI precedes altered pain tolerance. Further, assessing both NSSI frequency and versatility (or number of NSSI methods), in addition to engagement, can provide a more nuanced understanding of the influence of pain on NSSI severity. In the present study, 1125 undergraduate students at a large university (72 % female, Mage = 17.96) reported on their NSSI frequency, NSSI versatility, and perceived pain tolerance. Four individual regressions were run to examine the potential bidirectional nature of the association between NSSI frequency and pain tolerance, and NSSI versatility and pain tolerance. Pain tolerance predicted both NSSI frequency and versatility over time. Neither NSSI frequency nor versatility predicted pain tolerance. Results suggest that high pain tolerance may be a risk factor for severe NSSI engagement.

Perceived strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to the utilization of oral health services among pre-conceptive married women before their first pregnancy in Kalutara District

Introduction: Utilization of oral health services during pre-conce ptive period is important for a woman to accomplish a healthy oral environment prior to her pregnancy. Objectives: To describe the perceived strengths, weaknesses, oppor tunities and threats (SWOT) related to the utilization of oral health services among pre-conceptive married women before the ir first pregnancy in Kalutara District Methods: In-depth interviews among pre-conceptive married wome n before their first pregnancy in Kalutara District were conducted using semi-structured interview guide. Purposive sampli ng method was used to select 18 study participants. Data were analysed manually using the thematic analysis method. The i nductive method was used to identify and generate codes and themes from the data itself. The theoretical perspective of qua litative data analysis carried out in this study was the ‘grounded theory approach’. Results: Identified strength was knowledge on benefits of oral health for the pregnancy and quality of life of women. Identified weaknesses were lack of motivation regarding oral health care seeki ng, lack of awareness that the pre-conception period is a crucial period for the oral health promotion among married women, f ear for dental treatment, myths related to the oral health and barriers related to attending dental clinics due to personal-level factors. Identified opportunities were availability of oral health component in the Healthcare for Newly Wedded Programme (HNWP), provision of the oral health education by the medical officer of health (MOH) office staff at the HNWP session s, help and guidance from the MOH office staff at the HNWP sessions to clarify oral health related issues, satisfactory pro vision of the government dental services, dental clinics in the MOH office premises and favourable working hours of the priva te dental clinics. Identified threats were barriers related to attending dental clinics due to service-related factors and lack of information regarding the oral health component of the HNWP from peer groups. Conclusions & Recommendations: Perceived SWOT related to t he oral health services among pre-conceptive married women were identified. These findings will be important to the poli cy makers and service providers to plan an effective oral health service for married women before their first pregnancy.

Jack of all trades, masters of everything: From a specialized to a generalized way of teaching and learning in higher education

In the context of advanced technology, increased knowledge, complex problems, and global issues, topics related to science and education need to be reimagined and deconstructed. All the proposed pedagogies developed throughout history need to be assessed to figure out which one would be the most suitable according to the current times. Although all of them offered some advantages and worked in their respective sociohistorical contexts, a theorical and pragmatic view should be used to get the best of those pedagogies. Polymathic pedagogy is the proposed way of teaching and learning, where the main educational actors (students-teachers) work together around a systemic paradigm, grounded in the ideal of the unity of knowledge, in which disciplinary, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches draw different theoretical and practical perspectives on the learning-teaching process that influences the biological, psychological, and social aspects of the individual, including the environment. An integrative and holistic approach of all the systems does not mean that the individual needs to acquire and accumulate merely information. Instead, it is a pragmatic way of choosing the appropriate knowledge and applying it in an adequate context.

Perspectives on Kurdish International Relations: ­Cross-border Kurdish agency between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan

This paper analyses the specific transitional, cross-border, transnational characteristics of the Kurds from different theoretical perspectives, highlighting an application of one of these perspectives through a case study. It first outlines the possible analytical perspectives on the Kurds, emphasising the analytical value of borderland studies. Focusing on the political, economic, social, and governmental processes of the borderlands enlarges the scope of international relations and enables closer cooperation among different social sciences. The paper concludes with an illustrative case study on the importance of the study of borderland by exploring the rapprochement between the Iraqi Kurds and Turkey in the mid-2000s. The main question discussed is how the southeastern borderland of Turkey shaped Ankara’s stance towards the Kurdish question and the country’s political and economic relations with the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Beyond this bottom-up approach, the paper highlights the agency of the Kurds in developing positive relations between Turkey and the KRI.

Theoretical Perspectives, Empirical Findings, and Policy Implications of Research on Femicide Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Beyond a Special Issue Introduction

Theoretical Perspectives, Empirical Findings, and Policy Implications of Research on Femicide Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Beyond a Special Issue Introduction

From Dual Roles to Dynamic Equilibrium: An Overview of Theoretical Perspectives Used in Studies Addressing Work-Life Struggles of Working Mothers

There has been much scholarly attention given to the role of women in the labor market throughout the years. While there are plenty of evaluations of ideas and perspectives regarding work-life concepts, there is limited understanding regarding the theoretical foundation of work-life concerns specifically about mothers. This study aims to provide an overview of theories used to investigate the work-life issues of working mothers. The data were collected from the Web of Science database. A total of 63 research studies examining the work-life challenges faced by employed women were evaluated based on theoretical frameworks. It was seen that identity theory and gender perspective are dominant perspectives in the current literature. In addition, the prevailing work-life perspectives adopted in the studies are work-life balance and work-life conflict. The study offers a detailed examination of the various theoretical perspectives employed in understanding the work-life difficulties encountered by employed mothers.

Time and memory distrust shape the dynamics of recollection and belief-in-occurrence

ABSTRACT The current study examined how people’s metamemory judgments of recollection and belief-in-occurrence change over time. Furthermore, we examined to what extent these judgments are affected by memory distrust – the subjective appraisal of one’s memory functioning – as measured by the Memory Distrust Scale (MDS) and the Squire Subjective Memory Scale (SSMQ). Participants (N = 234) studied pictorial stimuli and were tested on some of these stimuli later in the same session, but were tested on other stimuli 1, 2, 4, 8, and 17 days later. Recollection and belief ratings were correlated highly and followed similar declining patterns over time. However, belief decreased relatively more slowly than recollection, such that the discrepancy between recollection and belief increased over time. Memory distrust moderated the association between recollection and belief, with this association being weaker among people who reported greater (versus lower) memory distrust. Memory distrust also interacted with retention period to predict memory judgments. Two measures of memory distrust diverged in their predictive power. In particular, only the MDS predicted the spontaneous reporting of nonbelieved memories. Our results provide support to the theoretical perspective that belief-in-occurrence is a summative judgment informed not only by recollective phenomenology but also by metamemorial beliefs.

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) As a Critical Friend: The Affordances and Limitations

ABSTRACT This qualitative self-study contributes new insights on critical friendship, specifically related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot utility trends, asking: In what ways can AI serve as our critical friend? And, what are the affordances and limitations of AI as a critical friend, compared to our human critical friends? To answer these questions, the authors selected Pi.ai/talk, an AI tool they later nicknamed Pia. After interacting with Pia (using data from a previous study), they compared Pia’s responses to those of two human critical friends, Anne and Anders, who originally provided feedback in their previous self-study. Drawing on theoretical and conceptual perspectives (Thought Collective, Anatomy of Critical Friend Attributes, & Critical Friend Definition Continuum) and using four data sources, the authors applied multiple qualitative analysis tools to determine the affordances and limitations of Pia. They found Pia could serve as a critical friend when examining her critical friend attributes because to some extent she provided feedback to their thinking, probed thoughtful questions, and remained in a positive tone. Although Pia had some affordances in her ability to serve as a critical friend, the data evidenced several limitations in how she met the critical attributes in the areas of constraints, trust, and relational dynamics; especially when juxtaposing Pia’s feedback to Anne’s and Anders’ feedback. Given the findings, the authors argue AI tools can complement human critical friends in self-study research, but as of the date of this publication, they do not advocate for replacing human critical friends entirely.

Profit before principle? An experimental assessment of incentive schemes encouraging consumers’ role in product end-of-life returns

In the circular economy, an effective reverse supply chain is crucial, necessitating consumers to return end-of-life products rather than discard them. However, voluntary returns lack consistent motivation. While incentive programs might enhance return behaviors, the driving factors – whether based on sustainability principles or profit motives – remain unclear. Using self-determination theory, our study examines these dynamics in the cosmetics industry to uncover incentive efficiency and underlying mechanisms. We conducted an online experiment with 509 participants to empirically test four incentive schemes: 1) none, 2) financial, 3) sustainable, and 4) financial and sustainable incentives combined. Mean value comparisons indicate that the willingness to return increases for all participants after being informed about return opportunities, with financial and combined incentives differing significantly from the other groups, displaying the strongest intention to return. Experimental group-specific structural equation modeling analyses indicate that in all experimental groups, perceived intrinsic and extrinsic values positively affect the attitude towards returning packaging, which in turn is positively related to willingness to return. On the other hand, green consumer value only has a positive effect on willingness to return in the context of sustainable incentives. This study represents the first systematic approach to EOL incentive schemes, building on a new theoretical perspective and providing actionable strategies for retailers to advance the role of consumers in the circular economy.

Changes in essentialist beliefs about cognitive aging predicts changes in mental health: Evidence from a 10-year longitudinal study.

The belief that aging-related cognitive decline is inevitable is associated with impaired cognitive performance of older adults. Little is, however, known about the association between changes in essentialist beliefs about cognitive aging and mental health in the long term and among both younger and older adults. From a theoretical perspective, it would be expected that changes in essentialist beliefs about cognitive aging predict changes in mental health among older adults compared to younger adults. These differential associations have not yet been prospectively investigated. Using longitudinal data, the association between changes in essentialist beliefs about cognitive aging and mental health outcomes and the moderation effect of age were assessed. Mental health includes well-being and mental illness (depression, anxiety, and panic symptoms). Data from adult participants (n = 4,963 with a mean age of 55.41 years, range 28-84 years) in a U.S. national longitudinal study were analyzed. A series of two-wave latent change score models indicated that changes in essentialist beliefs about cognitive aging are associated with changes in well-being and mental illness. Age did not moderate the relationship between changes in essentialist beliefs about aging and changes in mental health (i.e., mental illness and well-being). The present study highlights change-to-change dynamics between essentialist beliefs about cognitive aging and mental health, regardless of age. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

A call for theory-inspired analysis in qualitative research: Ways to construct different truths in and about healthcare.

Over the last 50 years, there has been significant development of qualitative research and related methods in healthcare. Theoretical frameworks support researchers in selecting appropriate research approaches, proceduresand analytical tools. However, the implications of the choice of theory are sparsely elucidated. Based on a text excerpt from a public debate article, the study aimed to show how different theory-inspired analytical perspectives produced varied understandings of the same text. The study presented three subanalyses inspired by Bourdieu's sociological theory, Lazarus and Folkman's psychological theoryand utilitarian ethics, respectively. The analyses showed that by using different theoretical analytical perspectives in inductive processes, an immediate interpretation of the text was not obvious. It became possible to spot the underlying meta-theoretical assumptions, as the interpretations were not taken for granted or indisputable. Our analyses suggest that different theoretical lenses lead to different interpretations of the same empirical material, recognising the existence of multiple truths or realities. Thus, utilising a theoretical perspective in inductive analyses can enhance transparency and rigour because the analytical optics are made explicit to the reader. This allows the reader to follow the analysis processes and comprehend from which theoretical starting point a truth arises.

The Effectiveness of ChatGPT in Translating Chunky Construction Texts in Chinese Political Discourse

From the theoretical perspective of Chinese-English temporal-spatial cognitive differences, this study employs a self-constructed bilingual parallel corpus of political discourse totaling one million words. It extracts chunky construction texts with latent agents in the source language (Chinese) and corresponding texts of target language translations (English) for a comparative experiment between ChatGPT translations and those of human translators. Driven by the “Human-AI Interaction Model”, three different prompts were set up to conduct three rounds of translation testing with ChatGPT. The study discovers: 1) ChatGPT has limitations in actively understanding the implicit elements of the source Chinese texts that are driven by a strong spatial preference, which are also reflected in the target language English translations; 2) The “Human-AI Interaction Model” can guide and train ChatGPT effectively through continuous optimization of prompts, enhancing AI abilities in understanding the source language and achieving effective target language translation; 3) Currently, ChatGPT cannot replace human translators in translating chunky discourses of Chinese, but the collaborative interaction between human translators and AI is highly effective. By optimizing the design of prompt instructions, this research offers cognitive reference and operational paradigms to improve ChatGPT’s recognition and cognitive reconstruction capabilities of Chinese-English temporal-spatial differences, providing insights for future research, translation practice, and teaching in related areas.

Financial budgets: evaluation instrument to future

The general objective of the research is the design of methodological models for the preparation of financial budgets, whose function is to carry out the future evaluation of the productive unit, through innovative techniques. A solution flowchart was prepared for each type of budget. The financial economy requires specific instruments for the future evaluation of the productive units, which make up the production of goods and services. For this reason, tools are used for the future evaluation of financial variables from the short to long term, which will allow the evaluation of options for integrating proposals in a successful system, which responds in an environment of uncertainty to the investment function and its impact on the production process. Mastering the future evaluation, knowing its methodology, are part of the basic knowledge of the financier, so that higher education in this area makes sense. The construction of a textbook is another contribution of research in the development of the theoretical perspective.

Mapping Knowledge Domains of Digital Labor Research: Current Status, Hotspot and Frontier

With the rapid development of digital technology, the mode of production has been transformed into digitalization, virtualization and technologization. The labor has been changed from the real world to the virtual digital world, and digital labor has become an important part of the labor form in modern society. According to bibliometrics and Mapping Knowledge Domains, this study aims to reveal the research status, hot spots and future development trends in the field of digital labor. Based on this, this study takes the relevant core literature from 1990-2023 includes Web of Science Core Collection and Chinese CNKI as the database, and uses CiteSpace visualization software to conduct comparative analysis. The results of this study show that: the number of publications on digital labor in China is lagging behind that of the international community; the research on digital labor in China started late, and the influence of the literature is weaker than that of the international community; the growth rate of relevant literature in Chinese is faster, and the distribution of disciplines is concentrated, while the literature in English is increasing year by year and is relatively stable, and the distribution of disciplines is wide; there is a partial overlap between Chinese and international digital labor research hotspots, with digital labor being studied under the perspectives of computer science, communication studies, education, and so on; Chinese research still focuses on general theoretical discussions, while international research has been widely conducted in the fields of social media, deep learning, digital labor education, artificial intelligence, computer science and information systems. This study not only provides a theoretical perspective for understanding the interaction between digital technologies and labor, but also offers new perspectives for future research and labor education to address the challenges of digital transformation.