Value System Research Articles

«Нива Божья»: организация и благоустройство православных кладбищ конца XIX — начала XX века в отражении церковной публицистики

The article analyzes the ideas of the Orthodox clergy about cemeteries related to their management, profitability, improvement, assessments of the state of this space, determined by the location of the cemetery in system of values, symbolic meanings and normative emotional models. The study revealed a contradiction between the appearance of the vast majority of urban and rural cemeteries and the idea of the clergy about the "proper" in this area. It was considered what was included in the concept of an “ideal cemetery” and what obstacles prevented the realization of this ideal: an inefficient administrative system, a lack of funds and enthusiasm from both the clergy and parishioners, especially in rural areas, as well as conflicting ideas about the attitude towards cemeteries in church ideology and in traditional folk culture, which was characterized by fear of the “unclean place” and the desire to avoid the dead, which was not typical for the clergy, better educated and professionally accustomed to the spectacle of ordinary death.In addition, the measures of the clergy to introduce the “correct order” of the organization of the cemetery space were studied: criticism of the inaction of the clergy, attempts to influence the priests through religious and value motivation and practical recommendations for bringing the appearance of the cemeteries in line with the “proper”; coupled with this, preaching to the people with various ways of argumentation and forms of emotional impact, including appealing to the idea of Christian virtue and duty, respect for dead ancestors and “kinship feeling”, arousing fear of possible punishment from above for neglecting the “holy place”, awakening national-confessional competitiveness.

THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION IN HIGHER EDUCATION AS A DIRECTION OF ANTI-CRIMINAL POLICY: THE EXPERIENCE OF SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

In the structure of the anti-criminal policy being developed, the direction of overcoming corruption in the higher education system is considered. The empirical basis of anti-corruption prevention is investigated, its principles are formulated. The anonymous questionnaire method was used to obtain empirical data on corruption in educational institutions. A survey of 416 students of Russian universities was conducted. The questionnaire questions reflect the respondents’ opinion on the causes, conditions and forms of corruption, as well as on the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures applied. The results show that students associate corruption with giving bribes (in monetary or material form) to a teacher. The motives of students’ participation in corrupt relations are manifested in the desire to obtain a diploma of education without making efforts to master the educational material. A significant part of the respondents recognizes the initiative of students in establishing corrupt relations with the teacher. Many respondents justify the permissibility of illegally acquiring a final qualifying work. Students are not sufficiently informed about the content of anti-corruption programs operating at the university. A significant part of the students are indifferent to the manifestations of corruption. During the survey, students expressed idealistic views on anti-corruption issues. Many respondents do not associate anti-corruption prevention at the university with the system of anti-criminal policy of the state, do not associate the rejection of corruption with the system of traditional moral values. The results obtained in this work form the basis for anti-corruption prevention in the higher education system.

A new two-step iterative technique for efficiently solving absolute value equations

PurposeThis work presents a new two-step iterative technique for solving absolute value equations. The developed technique is valuable and effective for solving the absolute value equation. Various examples are given to demonstrate the accuracy and efficacy of the suggested technique.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, we present a new two-step iterative technique for solving absolute value equations. This technique is very straightforward, and due to the simplicity of this approach, it can be used to solve large systems with great effectiveness. Moreover, under certain assumptions, we examine the convergence of the proposed method using various theorems. Numerical outcomes are conducted to present the feasibility of the proposed technique.FindingsThis paper gives numerical experiments on how to solve a system of absolute value equations.Originality/valueNowadays, two-step approaches are very popular for solving equations (1). For solving AVEs, Liu in Shams (2021), Ning and Zhou (2015) demonstrated two-step iterative approaches. Moosaei et al. (2015) introduced a novel approach that utilizes a generalized Newton’s approach and Simpson’s rule to solve AVEs. Zainali and Lotfi (2018) presented a two-step Newton technique for AVEs that converges linearly. Feng and Liu (2016) have proposed minimization approaches for AVEs and presented their convergence under specific circumstances. Khan et al. (2023), suggested a nonlinear CSCS-like technique and a Picard-CSCS approach. Based on the benefits and drawbacks of the previously mentioned methods, we will provide a two-step iterative approach to efficiently solve equation (1). The numerical results show that our proposed technique converges rapidly and provides a more accurate solution.

Forming of readiness for motherhood among female students in the extracurricular process of a higher educational organization

The relevance of the article is due to the existing demographic problems closely related to the transformation of traditional stereotypes of reproductive behavior among modern youth, the changes in the models of traditional family relations and the devaluation of the motherhood value in society. This actualizes the problem of forming readiness for motherhood among girls and young women, using the educational potential of the higher educational organization. The author considers readiness for motherhood as a psychological and pedagogical phenomenon that has complex nature and requires of woman having an appropriate set of special skills and abilities in the field of motherhood and childhood, a firm civil and social position, a formed system of values, attitudes and personal qualities, which implies systematic and pedagogically justified impact. In this regard, emphasis is placed on the need to develop and implement an additional educational program in the extracurricular process aimed at forming a system of ideas among students about the essence of motherhood and maternal functions, obtaining primary skills of upbringing, development and child care, solving socio-economic and legal problems that arise at the same time. Usage of various types and forms of organization of extracurricular activities of female students, methods of active and interactive learning, a specially developed set of tasks, as well as the involvement of specialists from specialized organizations and teachers of higher education organizations in the program implementation allowed to form each of the components of the students' readiness for motherhood and the phenomenon on the integral basis.

On Culture and Cultural Values

Culture is not merely a simple concept; it is a complex entity encompassing the creative products and activities of humanity. It is the result of continuous labor and innovation, passed down from generation to generation, reflecting the core values of truth, goodness, and beauty. Culture embodies both the spiritual and material expressions that humans have created and continue to create, ranging from works of art, architecture, language, and customs to systems of values, ideologies, and beliefs. In today’s context, as the world undergoes profound transformations in economics, politics, and technology, the role of culture has become more crucial than ever. Culture serves as a bridge that fosters understanding and respect among nations and civilizations, while also acting as a powerful tool to address global challenges and conflicts. The sustainable development of a nation cannot solely rely on economic or military strength but must also include cultural development. A prosperous society is one that values and nurtures its cultural heritage. This article will delve into the analysis of cultural values and its indispensable role in modern social life. We will explore how culture impacts various aspects of life, from social relations and education to individual and community development. Additionally, the article will discuss the challenges that culture faces in the digital and globalized era and how we can preserve and promote cultural values amidst the ever-changing landscape of the world.

Descriptive Study of Government Expenditure & Poverty Reduction in South Halmahera, Indonesia (Maqashid Sharia Approach)

AbstractGovernment intervention plays an important role in reducing poverty in South Halmahera as an antithesis to when market mechanisms fail to distribute wealth. From the Islamic public finance perspective, the ulil-amri (the government) plays a central role in managing public budget and is subject to the sharia value system. This research descriptively explores how the SH government manages its expenditure side for poverty alleviation and tries to conceptualize direct spending using the 2019 APBD(The Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget) sample with the maqashid sharia approach. The results show that government spending brings benefits to the poor, but unfortunately an increase in spending does not always reduce poverty. During the COVID-19 pandemic, budget refocusing was quite successful in reducing poverty. Meanwhile, the expenditure allocation according to the maqashid sharia indicator has reached 69% of the total direct expenditure, although the expenditure allocation for religious protection received the smallest portion, 0.42%. Keywords:Poverty, Government Expenditure, Budget Refocusing, Maqashid Sharia

Swipe Right for Tradition: Decoding Gender Constructs in Modern Indian Matrimony through Media Representations

This paper examines the portrayal of arranged marriages in India as depicted in mainstream media with a special focus on Netflix’s Indian Matchmaking. It utilises an intersectional feminism framework to explore themes of colourism, casteism, and gender discrimination within the context of Indian matrimony. Methodologically, the study employs a qualitative content analysis of specific episodes and character interactions within the documentary-style format of Indian Matchmaking. By analysing these depictions, the paper aims to uncover how mainstream media reflects and perpetuates societal norms and discriminatory practices inherent in the Indian matrimonial tradition. Through detailed examination, the findings highlight the ways in which the Netflix series perpetuates entrenched patriarchal structures and regressive value systems, illustrating the complexities of identity negotiation within the marriage market. The analysis demonstrates that while the series provides a platform for cross-cultural exploration, it simultaneously reinforces harmful ideologies and existing power dynamics. The paper concludes by discussing the broader implications of media representation for social discourses on gender equality and social justice, emphasising the dual potential of popular culture to both perpetuate and subvert dominant narratives.

More than employment: Belonging and boundary construction among immigrants in rural Finland

Rural communities frame immigrants’ belonging experiences in various ways. In this article, I examine: 1) how do immigrants produce belonging in their speech through symbolic boundaries in rural areas, and 2) what kinds of belonging do those boundary constructions create? This study contributes to the discussion about belonging in rural areas by highlighting immigrants’ own voices in the process. The empirical data is based on twenty-three semi-structured interviews of immigrants living in rural areas in Finland. As a conclusion, the interviewees created belonging in relation to the safety and stagnancy of rural places, the experience of being (not) understood, and within religion and value systems. Within these three frames, the interviewees highlighted the meaning of employment, language, and social relations with Finnish people as aspects that promoted their sense of belonging. However, rural areas’ structural order offers different opportunities for these three elements of belonging to materialise.

"Nothing Is More Powerful than Words:" How Patient Experience Narratives Enable Improvement.

Patient experience narratives (narratives) are an increasingly important element of both measurement approaches and improvement efforts in healthcare. Prior studies show that narratives are considered by both clinicians and staff to be an appealing, meaningful, and credible form of evidence on performance. They also suggest that making concrete use of narratives within organizational settings to improve care can be complex and challenging. Our qualitative study was designed to explore how middle managers working in a health system's outpatient clinics value and use written narratives in their day-to-day work. We conducted qualitative interviews with 20 middle managers working in 8 outpatient clinics. Interviews were fully transcribed, loaded into MAX-QDA software, and coded using thematic analysis techniques. Code reports were extracted and reanalyzed for subthemes related to the objectives of this paper. Middle managers across sites described valuing narratives as a tool to: enable better patient experience assessment by augmenting data from patient experience scores; deepen understanding of and relationships with patients; provide insight about operational issues; identify areas for needed improvement and potential solutions; and facilitate strategic work. They reported using narratives for a range of activities related to their roles as supervisors, such as focusing attention on positive practices and needed improvements, promoting deeper group learning, motivating change, reinforcing sense of purpose for staff, recognizing staff strengths and training needs, and inspiring transformational thinking. Finally, interviewees reported numerous specific quality improvement projects (both short- and longer-term) that were informed by narratives-for example, by identifying an issue to be addressed or by suggesting a workable solution. Together, these interviews suggest a collective "narrative about narratives" woven by these organizational actors-a story which illustrates how narratives are highly relevant for how middle managers derive meaning from their work, put organizational values such as responsive service provision into practice, and enact their roles as supervisors. Our results add to the nascent literature a detailed description of how narratives can be used both as a tool for middle managers in their leadership and supervisory roles, and as a blueprint for improvement work within outpatient settings. They also illuminate why patient experience scores may improve when narrative data are collected and used. Finally, our results suggest that for middle managers, perhaps "nothing is more powerful than words" because narratives function as both an insight provider and a compelling tool that adds direction and meaning to workplace endeavors.

Образ школы сегодня и завтра в контексте системы ценностей российских школьников

The image of the modern and future school in perception of high school students is examined in the context of understanding the system of their values and life views. Empirically the paper is based on the results of the field research undertaken by the author in September-October 2021 among the 9–11 grade students of St. Petersburg schools, followed by further investigation among the same target audience in January-February 2023. New questioning of the students was accompanied by the questioning of teachers, which allows us now not only to analyze the data in dynamics, but also to compare the views of students and teachers. Theoretical background of the research is based on the current sociological and psychological academic discussion about the concepts of happiness and meaningful life. We argue, that during the recent year and a half the image of modern and future school has significantly changed and this change bears the value-oriented character. First, the move from the values of life stability and comfort towards the values of personal and professional growth and achievements has been identified, i.e. from the consumer values to the values of development. Second, high school students demonstrate almost entire indifference towards the values of common good. And, third, the teachers’ perception of the teenagers’ values is significantly different from the reality in two important aspects: firstly, according to the teachers the students are much more oriented on consumer values, than it takes place in fact. And secondly, in the teachers’ perception students prioritize successful learning of curriculum disciplines much less than they actually do. According to teachers’ opinion friendship and communication are much more important to students than studies as such. This in fact may mean the attribution to the students the system of values, spread among the teachers, which causes major difficulties in identifying the optimal combination of teaching and upbringing.

Ценностные основания стратагемного мышления (на примере минских «Книг мудрости» 1614–1634 гг.)

In the history of human thought, the question of the human wisdom nature, or the possibility to gain it, has never assumed a simple solution. Chinese thinkers and philosophers answered this question in different ways. The secular and practical character of understanding the concept of wisdom in the Chinese intellectual tradition was largely due to the influence of the ethical and political doctrine of Confucianism. From the point of view of Confucian ethics, the idea of using tricks and gimmicks was considered rather dubious. In the history of Chinese thought, there were periods when the intellectual elite had time to realize the beginning of a crisis in society and tried not only to theorize stratagem thinking, but also to find sufficient ethical grounds for applying stratagems in routine practices. The last third of the Ming dynasty reigning, when A Complete Book of Wisdom was written, was just such a period. At the same time, there was a serious value guidelines transformation of the educated class in China, which could also act as one of the factors in developing interest in stratagems and stratagem thinking. The aim of the article is to analyze the transformation of the value system of Chinese intellectuals, who lived in the last third of the Ming dynasty, and identify the value grounds of stratagem thinking described in A Complete Book of Wisdom. The article presents a classification of relevant factors that influenced the transformation of the value system of educated people under the late Ming. It describes and systematizes the data on the attitude of Ming emperors to educated people and Confucian ethical-political doctrine. The struggle not only for real power but also for symbolic power in the area of values and ideals was one of the drivers for the transformation of the value system. In addition, the commercialization of life and mass culture was the main factor in the significant change of Confucian philosophy. The article presents the analysis of educated people feelings and attitudes, which entailed changes in approaches to the process of knowledge and social practices. Thus, under the late Ming dynasty, there was the development of new models of social conflict resolution and value grounds of stratagem thinking.

An interdisciplinary approach for successful municipal energy transition communication

AbstractThe energy transition toward a sustainable, decentralized energy supply requires the active participation of local municipalities. Its success depends on acceptance and participation across all sections of the population. A role-specific communication strategy is therefore essential to meet the different communication and information habits, value systems, and needs. In this study, a corresponding transactional communication approach is proposed and evaluated, in which communication is understood as a dynamic and interactive process that is oriented toward preference-specific roles. The methodological approach transfers both Jakobson’s communication model from linguistics and Freeman’s matrix from stakeholder management to the context of municipal energy transition communication. In line with our newly proposed agile reference process, a contextualization-based instead of a predominantly functionally oriented energy transition communication strategy can thus be formulated. Applying Jakobson’s model, roles are described primarily in terms of their communicative aspects rather than their functional meaning. The new interdisciplinary approach is demonstrated using the example of a municipality. Results are used to demonstrate a role-specific communication strategy as the base of the subsequent derivation of role-specific actions and instruments.

Responsible Knowing in Partnering

How partners encounter each other plays a role in whether they will be able to sustain their interaction. How partners go about maintaining their interaction reveals features of their epistemological system, particularly with respect to factors like what they know, what they take to be relevant to the interpretation, and what they value. In this way, the value system (what partners want) and the epistemological system (what partners know) intersect. By focusing on the role of reasoning and understanding, I believe we stand to gain a clearer picture of how expectations about interactions inform the dynamics between partners. This, in turn, affords a picture of what partners can actually achieve in and through their connection. I am particularly interested in considering what features of interaction are necessary for maximizing the affordances of the partnership. I say this not as a utilitarian interested in maximizing good simpliciter, but as a social epistemologist thinking about the contingent goods that are present in relation (e.g. care). The epistemic picture assumes that there are things that are knowable in dancing together, while the ethical picture assumes that partners are responsible for the things they ought to know.

British Conversation is Changing: Resonance and Engagement in the BNC1994 and the BNC2014

Abstract This applied study assesses the degree to which speakers re-use and acknowledge parts of one another’s utterances. This form of alignment is called resonance (DuBois 2014; Tantucci and Wang 2021), and is a decisive indicator of creativity and verbal engagement. Consistent absence of resonance indicates interactional detachment, which is distinctive of autistic speech (Tantucci and Wang 2023). We analysed resonance in naturalistic interaction among British speakers in the demographically sampled sections of the British National Corpora of English: the BNC1994 and the BNC2014. We controlled for creativity, age, class, gender, context, dialect, and intra-generational speech for 1,600 turns of informal speech. We discovered that upper-class people from the corporate world and neighbouring sectors mutually resonated much more in 2014 than they used to in 1994. This may be due to the dramatic change in corporate and institutional communication in the 2000s, involving a new turn towards corporate social responsibility, participatory frameworks in higher education, and the enactment of ideologies such as inclusivity, engagement, and equality in higher social grades of British society. This plausibly affected not only the system of values of those communities but also their interactional behaviour, now increasingly geared towards overt acknowledgement of other people’s talk.

Formation of Approaches to Determining the Social Effectiveness of Scientific Activity of Libraries

The problem of evaluating the effectiveness of scientific activity as applied to the humanitarian and library sphere is analyzed. Research conducted in libraries contributes to the development of libraries themselves, as well as to the study and disclosure of cultural heritage. The question of the effectiveness of the conducted research is of fundamental importance. An analysis of the evolution of approaches to the evaluation of effectiveness is presented. In the last quarter of the 20th century, the fundamental principle of scientific policy was the position “science is the direct productive force of society”, which focused on the implementation of the findings of research activities and the formation of ideas about the mandatory material form of the results. This attitude is not applicable in the social sciences and humanities. In the Soviet period, the task of practical connection of science with production for a long time established the position that any scientific result should be practically tangible and economically effective, and every research should end with a document containing certain conclusions and a list of measures, or with an act on the implementation of research results.Currently, to assess not only the performance of individual scientists and organizations, but also in the formation of public science policy, the use of scientometric methods — quantitative measurements of information characteristics of published results of scientific work — is widely used. However, the scientometric approach continues to be debated.In the last decade the theoretical problem of social effectiveness of science, which, unlike economic, is not direct and specific and difficult to measure, has been increasingly discussed. Research conducted in the field of scientific support of library development has been proven to have a pronounced impact on library work (e. g., in the form of developed concepts, strategies, programs, etc.). Research of historical and cultural character influences the formation of public and individual consciousness, value system and contributes to the solution of the most important strategic state tasks.Determining the social effectiveness of research activities of libraries is becoming increasingly important.

Reproductive attitudes of youth

The article presents the results of a sociological study aimed at identifying the reproductive attitudes of young people, namely: the study of the desire and willingness of young people to have children, ideas about the ideal, desired and expected number of children in the family, the identification of barriers affecting the decision to have a child. The place of reproductive attitudes in the system of life values of young people has been determined. The factors influencing the reproductive attitudes of young people are described. The empirical basis was the results of the author's sociological research conducted by the method of Internet questionnaire in the period (n= 200), on the target sample. Respondents aged 18 to 35 were interviewed. According to the results of the study, it was found that young people mostly perceive the birth of children positively: thoughts about children and pregnancy cause pleasant feelings, and motherhood is not associated with material difficulties. At the same time, the majority of respondents share the mindset of having no more than two children, and postponing the birth of the first child until the age of 25-29. Among the factors determining the reproductive attitudes of young people are marital status, the model of the parent family and the level of education. It is particularly necessary to note the difficulties faced by young people after the birth of children: the social well-being of young parents, as well as the financial situation. Based on the results of the study, recommendations are proposed for optimizing measures of socio-demographic policy in the field of fertility and family.

Practical Exploration of Integrating the Socialist Core Values System into Ideological and Political Education in Universities

The socialist core value system is an important component of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and integrating ideological and political education into universities is an important task for current universities. This article conducts in-depth research on the socialist core value system and ideological and political education in universities. Starting from the meaning of the socialist core value system, it strengthens the construction of teaching staff, campus culture, changes traditional teaching methods, and integrates socialist core values into social practice. It guides students to establish correct socialist core values, cultivate patriotism, collectivism, and socialist moral concepts, and cultivate socialist builders and successors with comprehensive development in morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor for socialism with Chinese characteristics. I hope that the relevant practices in this article can have certain reference significance for universities to better integrate into the socialist core values system.

Qur’anic Methods in Instilling Characters in a family: An Educational Perspective

Characters are closely related to morality which is underpinned on the moral strength based on the value system instilled as early as possible in a family. The study aims to discuss the Qur’anic methods used to instill the early childhood’s characters in a family. To gain the data, the researchers employ qualitative method under descriptive approach. In addition, to analyse the data, it is used content analysis technique. The results of the study assert that characters education needs to be taught and instilled as early as possible to early childhood at home. Through the education, the parents need an enormous efforts to instill characters education to the early childhood. One of the efforts is using the Qur’anic methods used to instill the early childhood’s characters in a family. The Qur’anic methods consist of the Amtsal method, the Kisah (story) method, the Ibrah Mauidzah method, the Targhib wa Tarhib method, the Tajribi method, the Uswah Hasanah method, and the Hiwar method. In conclusion, instilling characters to early childhood in a family needs the suitable methods, so that its implementation is going to be in harmony with planning and achieve the goal to create early childhood to be ‘Insan Kamil’.

Identifying stance in legislative discourse: a corpus-driven study of data protection laws

Mirroring public ideologies and value systems in legislative discourse, stance not only functions as a powerful instrument for legislators to balance legal values and stakeholders’ interests but also acts as a valuable reference for individuals to understand legislative texts. This study conducts a corpus-driven analysis of stance expressions in legislative discourse. Using three self-compiled corpora that incorporate data protection laws from the United States, the European Union, and China, we apply Hyland’s stance model to contrastively analyse evidence of hedging, boosting, self-mention, and attitude markers across these jurisdictions and eventually propose a specialised research model of stance in law. This study unveils the nature of modesty and sufficient discursive space of data protection laws, as well as legislative values and public ideologies conveyed by different jurisdictions within the broader socio-legal cultural context. Besides uncovering the legal constructiveness of data protection laws, the results also suggest that the overall representation of stance in data protection legislation aligns with its performance in legislative discourse, which showcases a legislative tendency to achieve an overtly neutral appearance through covert stance expressions.

A Value and Diversity-Aware News Recommendation Systems: Can Algorithmic Gatekeeping Nudge Readers to View Diverse News?

A Value and Diversity-Aware News Recommendation Systems: Can Algorithmic Gatekeeping Nudge Readers to View Diverse News?