Shu-Ling Tsai, Michael L. Smith and Robert M. Hauser
Results from international large-scale assessments, such as PISA surveys, suggest that boys do better in math and science, whereas girls do better in reading. How do gender gaps…
Abstract
Results from international large-scale assessments, such as PISA surveys, suggest that boys do better in math and science, whereas girls do better in reading. How do gender gaps vary across subjects, when estimated simultaneously? Building on the work of Tsai, Smith, and Hauser (2017), we answer this question by applying a multilevel-MIMIC model that enables us to estimate gender gaps in two ways: gender differences in the effects of observed family and school factors on math, science, and reading scores; and the “adjusted” gender gaps in test scores across all three subjects after controlling for observables. We apply the model to 2012 PISA data of students aged 15–16 and enrolled in 9th or 10th grade in three East Asian (Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan) and three Western countries (USA, Germany, and the Czech Republic) that represent both similar and different types of school systems. Our findings indicate that the gender gap in math or science achievement in Western countries, favoring boys, does not necessarily apply to the East Asian countries examined here, while all three East Asian countries exhibit similar features of gender reading gaps in the 10th grade. There is evidence indicating that observed background and school factors impact boys’ and girls’ achievement in a similar way in USA, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the Czech Republic, but not in Germany. Overall, gender differences in family and school influences do not account for gender differences in academic achievement in any of the six countries.
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The paper outlines the growth in low friction materials, the various elastomers available and the seal designs which have evolved around the utilisation of these materials.
THE techniques employed in the sealing of different types of fluid systems used in today's aircraft have been developed over many years. These systems contain equipment which…
Abstract
THE techniques employed in the sealing of different types of fluid systems used in today's aircraft have been developed over many years. These systems contain equipment which incorporates seat configurations designed to give maximum sealing efficiency. High performance polymers have been used for the basis of these seals together with the continuing development of plastics have combined to give new life to older seal shapes while providing the opportunity for entirely new designs.
The chemistry librarian has been better served by professional literature than any other subject specialist in the library, except perhaps the medical librarian. A new series of…
Abstract
The chemistry librarian has been better served by professional literature than any other subject specialist in the library, except perhaps the medical librarian. A new series of papers on chemical substance searching in Online Review continues this tradition. If the first installment of this series is an indication of what is to come, chemistry librarians and online searchers can look forward to a lot of valuable (and readable) literature on this most important topic. The useful column by Buntrock has, I am sure, already made valuable contributions to more efficient and effective online searching in chemistry.
When librarians think of accounting, they generally think of budgets. However, accounting includes planning and control activities broader than creating budgets. Managerial…
Abstract
When librarians think of accounting, they generally think of budgets. However, accounting includes planning and control activities broader than creating budgets. Managerial accounting concentrates on internal decision‐making processes. In many libraries, external budgetary reports have mandated techniques that the library is expected to use. Internal reports and operational budgets are designed by the librarian. The question is: How can internal reporting and operational budgets be used advantageously in the library? Using managerial accounting is one answer.
This paper aims to chart the influence of McCarthyism and of FBI surveillance practices on a number of prominent American social scientists, market researchers, opinion pollsters…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to chart the influence of McCarthyism and of FBI surveillance practices on a number of prominent American social scientists, market researchers, opinion pollsters and survey research practitioners during the post-war years. Hitherto disparate sets of historical evidence on how Red Scare tactics influenced social researchers and marketing scientists are brought together and updated with evidence from original archival research.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on the existing secondary literature on how social research practitioners and social scientists reacted to the unusually high pressures on academic freedom during the McCarthy era. It supplements this review with evidence obtained from archival research, including declassified FBI files. The focus of this paper is set on prominent individuals, mainly Bernard Berelson, Samuel Stouffer, Hadley Cantril, Robert S. Lynd, Paul F. Lazarsfeld, Herta Herzog, Ernest Dichter, but also the Frankfurt School in exile.
Findings
Although some of the historiography presents American social scientists and practitioners in the marketing research sector as victims of McCarthyism and FBI surveillance, it can also be shown that virtually all individuals in focus here also developed strategies of accommodation, compromise and even opportunism to benefit from the climate of suspicion brought about by the prevailing anti-Communism.
Social implications
Anyone interested in questions about the morality of marketing, market research and opinion polling as part of the social sciences practiced in vivo will need to pay attention to the way these social-scientific practices became tarnished by the way prominent researchers accommodated and at times even abetted McCarthyism.
Originality/value
Against the view of social scientists as harassed academic minority, evidence is presented in this paper which shows American social scientists who researched market-related phenomena, like media, voters choices and consumer behaviour, in a different light. Most importantly, this paper for the first time presents archival evidence on the scale of Paul F. Lazarsfeld’s surveillance by the FBI.
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The year 1977 was the first in the tenth collective period (1977‐1981) for Chemical Abstracts. Thus during that year the important and very voluminous Tenth Collective Index began…
Abstract
The year 1977 was the first in the tenth collective period (1977‐1981) for Chemical Abstracts. Thus during that year the important and very voluminous Tenth Collective Index began to appear on library shelves, but as this review is being written in 1978 there are still volumes of the formula and chemical substance indexes that have to be added. Librarians will have recently received two Index Guides: one as part of the Ninth Collective Index, and the other as the first Index Guide for the tenth collective period ‐ to be supplemented annually, and finally superseded by the Index Guide which appears as part of the Tenth Collective Index.
This paper seeks to review the history, development and utilization of self‐managing work teams (SMWTs) in business and library work environments.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to review the history, development and utilization of self‐managing work teams (SMWTs) in business and library work environments.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a review of both the relevant management and library literature, this paper broadens the library literature related to SMWTs with the objective of finding relevant insights applicable to the management of SMWTs in the library environment.
Findings
The paper finds that the use of appropriately designed and implemented SMWTs has the potential to increase employee productivity and workplace satisfaction while reducing absenteeism and employee turnover. Organizational democracy and managerial support are the primary drivers of successful SMWTs. However, the use of SMWTs by library administrators appears to be underutilized.
Research limitations/implications
While the organizational and administrative benefits associated with the use of SMWTs are clear, the reasons why library administrators have not used this tool more frequently remains obscure. Additional research is required to understand the factors – both personal and institutional – that lead library administrators to either adopt or reject innovative managerial tools and techniques generally and SMWTs specifically.
Originality/value
This paper provides an important review of the library and management literature related to the use of SMWTs. The information is presented with the objective of increasing awareness, debate and additional research on the application of SMWTs in the library environment.
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This study aims to analyze four text-mining studies of quality management (QM) to illustrate and problematize how the research on quality has informed the quality paradigm since…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze four text-mining studies of quality management (QM) to illustrate and problematize how the research on quality has informed the quality paradigm since the 1980s. By understanding history, one can better manage current developments.
Design/methodology/approach
The findings are based on a meta-analysis of four text-mining studies that explore and describe 11,579 research entries on quality between 1980 and 2017.
Findings
The findings show that the research on quality during the past 30 years form a research paradigm consisting of three operational paradigms: an operative paradigm of backend quality orbiting around QM, total QM (TQM) and service quality; an operative paradigm of middle-way quality, circling around the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), business excellence frameworks (BEFs) and quality awards; and an operative paradigm of frontend quality, revolving around reliability, costs and processes. The operative paradigms are interconnected and complementary; they also show a divide between a general management view of quality and a hands-on engineering view of quality. The findings indicate that the research on quality is a long-lived standalone paradigm, supporting the notion of quality being a genuine academic entity, not a fashion or fad.
Research limitations/implications
The empirical basis of the study is four text-mining studies. Consequently, the results and findings are based on a limited number of findings.
Originality
Text-mining studies targeting research on quality are scarce, and there seem to be no prior models that depict the quality paradigm based on such studies. The perspectives presented here will advance the existing paradigmatic discourse. The new viewpoints aim to facilitate and deepen the discussion on current and future directions of the paradigm.
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Stephen L. Vargo, Robert F. Lusch, Melissa Archpru Akaka and Yi He