Search results for: social identity and preferences

Authors: Sarah Vuningoma, Maria Rosa Lorini, Wallace Chigona

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Mobile phones are one of the main tools for promoting the wellbeing of people and supporting the integration of communities on the margins such as refugees. Information and Communication Technology has the potential to contribute towards reducing isolation, loneliness, and to assist in improving interpersonal relations and fostering acculturation processes. Therefore, the use of mobile phones by refugees might contribute to their social connectedness. This paper aims to demonstrate how existing literature has shown how the use of mobile phones by refugees should engender social connectedness amongst the refugees. Data for the study are drawn from existing literature; we searched a number of electronic databases for papers published between 2010 and 2019. The main findings of the study relate to the use of mobile phones by refugees to (i) create a sense of belonging, (ii) maintain relationships, and (iii) advance the acculturation process. The analysis highlighted a gap in the research over refugees and social connectedness. In particular, further studies should consider evaluating the differences between those who have a refugee permit, those who are waiting for the refugee permit, and those whose request was denied.

Keywords: belonging, mobile phones, refugees, social connectedness

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Authors: Yu-Sheng Lin, Sheng-Teng Huang

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In recent years, the issue of corporate social responsibility has become an enthusiastic discussion and hottest issue around the world. To make the enterprises be sustainable management and sustainable development, more and more enterprises realize that fulfill its corporate social responsibility is the good choice. It is an essential, important issue that the leader needs know how to lead the staff in balance benefit, also emphasize on economic, social and environmental aspects to impact the company, then enhance the consensus. The leader needs to improve cohesion of personnel, and implement the corporate social responsibility in staff behavior, in order to show a performance in the effort of corporate social responsibility of enterprises. The previous literature mostly is committed to comparison of corporate social responsibility in the industry and service industry, regarding to literature of shipping companies were relatively rare. This paper aims to take the domestic and foreign shipping companies of corporate social responsibility reports as the data analysis, and refer to the international convention (GRI) such as association and organization of CSR standard values. Overall comparison with shipping companies of CSR reports, annual reports and other public information, and taking Taiwan shipping companies as the target, respectively, with the international conventions and the world's top ten leading shipping companies to do the comparison and analysis. Shipping companies in Taiwan are bound to the standard that set by the international convention for the first goal diligently and following step is contend with the world's top ten leading shipping companies. There are 3 ~ 5 experts to be involved in interview after the result is completed. They will indicate the superiority and inferiority then provide the opinion, recommendation in the needed action. Through this study, we can explore the importance of corporate social responsibility report for shipping companies, and also provide the clear orientation to external providers to improve corporate social responsibility. In addition, it can provide the academic research and business experts as a reference; finally, serving shipping companies to complete another contribution.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility (CSR), CSR reports, statistical methods, expert interview method

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Authors: João Pereira Dos Santos

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The uneven spatial distribution of start-ups and their respective survival may reflect comparative advantages resulting from the local institutional background. For the first time, we explore this idea using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to assess relative efficiency of Portuguese municipalities in this specific context. We depart from the related literature where expenditure is perceived as a desirable input by choosing a measure of fiscal responsibility and infrastructural variables in the first stage. Comparing results for 2006 and 2010, we find that mean performance decreased substantially with 1) the effects of the Global Financial Crisis; 2) as municipal population increases and 3) as financial independence decreases. A second stage is then computed employing a double-bootstrap procedure to evaluate how the regional context outside the control of local authorities (e.g. demographic characteristics and political preferences) impacts on efficiency.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, political economy, public finance, accountability, crisis, efficiency, Portuguese municipalities

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Authors: Zahra Ali Abbasi, Syed Muhammad Saqib Saleem

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This research explores the relationship between social media and awareness about climate change amongst the university students of Lahore, Pakistan. The aim is to understand how the people of Pakistan perceive climate change, especially on the social media. A deductive and quantitative method is applied on the research to find out the awareness of climate change in the people using social media. For this purpose, a survey method is used, to analyze the response from 167 online respondents through stratified random sampling technique. The relation between multiple variables including awareness about important climatic events like Paris agreement, GreenTube, Smog in Lahore, Floods in Pakistan and other eminent incidents of climate change and social media are calculated by analyzing social media as a source to impart information about climate change. The results show that as people get aware of climate change, they post about different national and international events/incidents of climate which reveal a significant relationship between respondents' awareness about climate change and their posting and sharing of content about climate change. Another test indicates that respondents’ post/share/comment (impart) information about climate change when there is a shift in the climate both globally and nationally. However, the significance of both these correlations has been found to be negligible. Social media being an independent platform holds greater influencing power, hence, as consumers of the environment the users hold the responsibility of producing and sharing content at a global platform about climate. However, matters of politics, economy and religion seem to have overshadowed the significance of climate.

Keywords: climate change, diffusion of innovation, environment, social media, Pakistan

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Authors: Regan Harper, Song Yang, Douglas Adams

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During the historically unprecedent time of Covid-19 pandemic, we survey college students with social issue generators to measure their core discussion groups. For the total 191 students, we elicit 847 conversation partners (alters) with our five social issue generators such as school closing, facemasks, collegiate sports, race and policing, and social inequality, producing an average of 4.43 alters per respondent. The core discussion groups of our sample are very gender balanced, with female alters slightly outnumbering male alters. However, the core discussion groups are racially homogenous, consisting of mostly white students (around or above 80 percent). Explanatory analyses reveal that gender and race of respondents significantly impact the size, gender composition, and racial composition of their core discussion networks. We discuss those major findings and implications of future studies in our conclusion section.

Keywords: core discussion groups, social issue generators, ego-centric network, Covid-19 pandemic

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Authors: Bassant Eyada, Hanan Atef Kamal Eldin

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Advertising has witnessed a diffusion and development in technology to promote products and services, increasingly relying on the interactivity between the consumer and the advertisement. Consumers seek, self-select, process, use and respond to the information provided, hence, providing the potential to increase consumers’ efficiency, involvement, trustworthiness, response, and satisfaction towards the advertised product or service. The power of interactive personalized messages shifts the focus of traditional advertising to more concentrated consumers, sending out tailored messages with more specific individual needs and preferences, defining the importance and relevance that consumers attach to the advertisement, therefore, enhancing the ability to persuade, and the quality of decision making. In this paper, the researchers seek to discuss and explore innovative interactive advertising, its’ effectiveness on consumers and the benefits the advertisements provide, through designing an interactive ad to be placed at the international airports promoting tourism in Egypt.

Keywords: advertising, effectiveness, interactivity, Egypt

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Authors: Zubeida Rossenkhan, Pervaiz K. Ahmed, Wee Chan Au

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In view of cross cultural career experiences, to the author’s best knowledge, the crucial role of culture and religious traditions in Asia remains understudied. Drawing on the notion of social capital as an invaluable resource needed for manager’s to progress, the purpose of this study is to probe the contextual experiences of Muslim women to elucidate unique challenges associated with social capital and career progress. Twenty-three in-depth interviews with top level Malay managers were conducted to probe experiences of upward career mobility and inequities in the workplace. Interpretive phenomenology was used to surface unique challenges and processes of creating and leveraging social capital. The study uncovers the unique challenges of Muslim women in Malaysia. Narratives of participants highlight not only generic forms of gender discrimination, but also culturally specific stereotypes and social expectations limiting their advancement. Interestingly, the findings identify a gender-religion handicap in the form of perceived inequality and restrictions rooted from the women manager’s gender and religion. The analysis also reveals how these Muslim women managers’ negotiate their challenges, especially how they access social capital and progress their careers. The research offers a unique perspective on the career experiences of Malay women managers’ in top management. The research provides insight into the unique processes of developing social capital utilized by this group of women for career success.

Keywords: career success, gender discrimination, malaysia, Muslim women, social capital

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Authors: Hai L. Tran

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Previous research on agenda setting effects has often focused on the top-down influence of the media at the aggregate level, while overlooking the capacity of audience members to select media and content to fit their individual dispositions. The decentralized characteristics of online communication and digital news create more choices and greater user control, thereby enabling each audience member to seek out a unique blend of media sources, issues, and elements of messages and to mix them into a coherent individual picture of the world. This study examines how audiences use media differently depending on their prior dispositions, thereby making sense of the world in ways that are congruent with their preferences and cognitions. The current undertaking is informed by theoretical frameworks from two distinct lines of scholarship. According to the ideological migration hypothesis, individuals choose to live in communities with ideologies like their own to satisfy their need to belong. One tends to move away from Zip codes that are incongruent and toward those that are more aligned with one’s ideological orientation. This geographical division along ideological lines has been documented in social psychology research. As an extension of agenda setting, the agendamelding hypothesis argues that audiences seek out information in attractive media and blend them into a coherent narrative that fits with a common agenda shared by others, who think as they do and communicate with them about issues of public. In other words, individuals, through their media use, identify themselves with a group/community that they want to join. Accordingly, the present study hypothesizes that because ideology plays a role in pushing people toward a physical community that fits their need to belong, it also leads individuals to receive an idiosyncratic blend of media and be influenced by such selective exposure in deciding what issues are more relevant. Consequently, the individualized focus of media choices impacts how audiences perceive political news coverage and what they know about political issues. The research project utilizes recent data from The American Trends Panel survey conducted by Pew Research Center to explore the nuanced nature of agenda setting at the individual level and amid heightened polarization. Hypothesis testing is performed with both nonparametric and parametric procedures, including regression and path analysis. This research attempts to explore the media-public relationship from a bottom-up approach, considering the ability of active audience members to select among media in a larger process that entails agenda setting. It helps encourage agenda-setting scholars to further examine effects at the individual, rather than aggregate, level. In addition to theoretical contributions, the study’s findings are useful for media professionals in building and maintaining relationships with the audience considering changes in market share due to the spread of digital and social media.

Keywords: agenda setting, agendamelding, audience fragmentation, ideological migration, partisanship, polarization

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Authors: Fariya Tahreen

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Women are an important part of the society comprising more than 50% population of the world. Participation of women in public services is increasing in the present era while cultural values embedded with gender differences still influencing the performance of working women. Many researches have been carried out on cultural impact on working women like managers, doctors, and lawyers and other public servants. But very rare efforts were made to study the impact of cultural values on the performance of women bureaucrats. The present study aimed to find out the relationship of cultural values (i.e., collective identity, gender segregation, and gender asymmetrical relations) with the performance of women bureaucrats. Sample of the present study comprised of 130 women bureaucrats from the Office Management Group, Inland Revenue, District Management Group, and Pakistan Police Services which is selected by convenient sampling technique. The locale of the study was Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore city. The current research study was conducted by using a quantitative approach in research method and data were collected through survey method. The measures used in the study included: personal information, three main cultural values, and performance of women bureaucrats. Uni-variate and bi-variate analyses were implied by using correlation and multiple linear regression test. The current study shows a negative significant relationship between cultural values and performance of women bureaucrats (R²= 0.790, p-value 0.000). It shows that cultural values (collective identity, gender segregation and gender asymmetrical relations) significantly influence the performance of women bureaucrats. Due to the influence and pressure of these cultural values, women bureaucrats give less time to the office and avail more leaves. They also avoid contacting with male colleagues, public dealings, field visits and playing leadership role. Further, they attend fewer meetings of policy formulation due to given less importance for it. In a nutshell, the study concluded that cultural values significantly influence the performance of women bureaucrats in Pakistan.

Keywords: cultural values, performance, Pakistan, women bureaucrats

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Authors: Nasir Umar Abdullahi

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The social media profoundly causes the reading culture to decline in Nigeria, where the English language is a second language (SL), a language of instruction (LI), as well as the target language (TL). This is because the university students have, over the years, failed to make extensive reading their closest companion, with much emphasis on reading the European novels, newspapers, magazines, etc., so as to learn language from its original or native speakers for linguistic competence. Instead, they squander the most part of their day and nocturnal hours, sending and receiving messages through social media. The end result is their vocabulary become stagnant or ebbs, and that they cannot acquire the Cox head’s 570 vocabulary, let alone the Nation’s 2000 vocabulary to use the language fluently in writing, reading, listening, and speaking and to further compete with the native speaker in varying degrees of language usages. Be that as it may, if the social media is a monster in worsening the decline in reading culture, which degenerates in the Northern part of the country in contradistinction to the Southern part, it boosts it as well, for aside the social media language, slangs, cliché, for instance, students improve their vocabulary power, and at the same time it allows the students to privately and leisurely put the language into use, by using practically some of the vocabulary they have acquired to chart, to comment, socialize to adjudge, etc. This is what this paper tries to explore in Umaru Musa Yar’adua University Al-qalam University and the Federal University Dutin-ma.

Keywords: social media, reading, vocabulary, universities

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Authors: Fatima Alsalem

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Objectives: This study aims to explore the perceived credibility of social media influencers and their effect on purchase intention. In addition, the study aims to investigate the relationship between satisfaction with content promoted via social media and its relation to purchasing intention. Methodology: This study uses an exploratory and quantitative methodology. It was implemented through a cross-sectional survey that asked respondents to identify the time they spend using social media, satisfaction with influencers’ content, types of influencers they prefer, motivations to use social media, purchase intention of products promoted by influencers, as well as three credibility dimensions. Sample: the sample included 1184 Kuwaiti nationals, of which 50.4% (N=593) were males and 49.6% (N=584) were females. Results: The analysis of the data indicated that comedy and entertainment influencers are the most preferred type of influencers, while fashion influencers “fashionistas” are the least preferred. Based on the results of the regression analysis, the perceived credibility of influencers and satisfaction with their content is positively related to higher purchase intention. While all dimensions of credibility are positively related to higher purchase intention, attractiveness is the strongest predictor. Conclusion: The significant value of this study is the examination of the perceived credibility of influencers and the type of influencer social media users prefer to follow. The current research proves that the attractiveness of influencers is the highest dimension of their perceived credibility, which was prevalent in the findings.

Keywords: influencers, social media, mass media, credibility

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Authors: Michal Alon-Tirosh, Dorit Hadar-Shoval

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Social Psychology theories, such as the intergroup contact theory, content that bringing members of different social groups into contact is a promising approach for improving intergroup relations. The heterogeneous nature of the nursing profession generates encounters between members of different social groups .The social relations that nursing students develop with their peers during their years of study, and the meanings they ascribe to these contacts, may affect the success of their nursing careers. Jewish-Arab relations in Israel are the product of an ongoing conflict and are characterized by stereotyped negative perceptions and mutual suspicions. Nursing education is often the first situation in which Jewish and Arab nursing students have direct and long-term contact with people from the other group. These encounters present a significant challenge. The current study explores whether this contact between Jewish and Arab nursing students during their academic studies improves their perception of their intergroup relationship. The study explores the students' perceptions of the social relations between the two groups. We examine attribution of stereotypes (positive and negative) and willingness to engage in social interactions with individuals from the other group. The study hypothesis is that academic seniority (beginning students, advanced students) will be related to perceptions of the relations between the two groups, as manifested in attributions of positive and negative stereotypes and willingness to reduce the social distance between the two groups. Method: One hundred and eighty Jewish and Arab nursing students (111 Jewish and 69 Arab) completed questionnaires examining their perceptions of the social relations between the two groups. The questionnaires were administered at two different points in their studies (beginning students and those at more advanced stages Results: No differences were found between beginning students and advanced students with respect to stereotypes. However, advanced students expressed greater willingness to reduce social distance than did beginning students. Conclusions: The findings indicate that bringing members of different social groups into contact may improve some aspects of intergroup relations. The findings suggest that different aspects of perceptions of social relations are influenced by different contexts: the students' specific context (joint studies and joint work in the future) and the broader general context of relations between the groups. Accordingly, it is recommended that programs aimed at improving relations in a between social groups will focus on willingness to cooperate and reduce social distance rather than on attempts to eliminate stereotypes.

Keywords: nursing education, perceived social relations, social distance, stereotypes

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Authors: Seyedeh Samaneh Hosseini Yousefi

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Space does not play role just in mentioning the place or locations. It also takes part in people attendance and social structures. Urban space is of substantial aspects of city which is a public sphere for free and unlimited appearance of citizens. Along with such appearances and regarding physical, environmental and functional conditions, different personal and social behaviors can be seen and analyzed toward people. The main principle of an urban space is including social relations and communications. In this survey, urban space has been referred to one in which physical, environmental and functional attractions cause pause and staying of people. Surveys have shown that urban designers have discussed about place more than architects or planners. With attention to mutual relations between urban space, society and civilization, proper policy making and planning are essential due to achieving an ideal urban space. The survey has been decided to analyze the effect of functional and physical structure of urban spaces on citizens' social behaviors. Hence, Valiasr crossroads, Tehran identified public space, has been selected in which analytic-descriptive method utilized. To test the accuracy of assumptions, statistical test has been accomplished by SPSS. Findings have shown that functional structure affects social behaviors, relations, integration and participation more than physical structure does.

Keywords: citizens' social behavior, functional structure, physical structure, urban space

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Authors: Parvin Foroughifar

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The concept of sense of community refers to residents’ sense of attachment and commitment to the other residents in a residential community. It is implicitly indicative of the mental image of a physical environment in which the residents enjoy strong social ties. Sense of community, a crucial factor in improving quality of life and social welfare, leads to life satisfaction in a residential community. Despite the important functions of such a notion, few empirical studies, to the best of the authors' knowledge, have been so far carried out in Iran to investigate the effective factors in sharpening the sense of community in residential communities. This survey research examined sense of community in 360 above 20-year old residents of three residential communities in Tehran, Iran using cluster sampling and questionnaire. The study yielded the result that variables of local social ties, social control and trust, sense of security, length of residence, use of public spaces, and mixed land use have a significant relationship with sense of community.

Keywords: sense of community, local social ties, sense of security, public space, residential community, Tehran

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Authors: Maysam Mard-Soltani, Mohamad Javad Rasaee, Saeed Khalili, Abdol Karim Sheikhi, Mehdi Hedayati

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Production of specific antibody responses against hTSH is a cumbersome process due to the high identity between the hTSH and the other members of the glycoprotein hormone family (FSH, LH and HCG) and the high identity between the human hTSH and host animals for antibody production. Therefore, two polyclonal antibodies were purified against two recombinant proteins. Four possible ELISA tests were designed based on these antibodies. These ELISA tests were checked against hTSH and other glycoprotein hormones, and their sensitivity and specificity were assessed. Bioinformatics tools were used to analyze the immunological properties. After the immunogen region selection from hTSH protein, c terminal of B hTSH was selected and applied. Two recombinant genes, with these cut pieces (first: two repeats of C terminal of B hTSH, second: tetanous toxin+B hTSH C terminal), were designed and sub-cloned into the pET32a expression vector. Standard methods were used for protein expression, purification, and verification. Thereafter, immunizations of the white New Zealand rabbits were performed and the serums of them were used for antibody titration, purification and characterization. Then, four ELISA tests based on two antibodies were employed to assess the hTSH and other glycoprotein hormones. The results of these assessments were compared with standard amounts. The obtained results indicated that the desired antigens were successfully designed, sub-cloned, expressed, confirmed and used for in vivo immunization. The raised antibodies were capable of specific and sensitive hTSH detection, while the cross reactivity with the other members of the glycoprotein hormone family was minimum. Among the four designed tests, the test in which the antibody against first protein was used as capture antibody, and the antibody against second protein was used as detector antibody did not show any hook effect up to 50 miu/l. Both proteins have the ability to induce highly sensitive and specific antibody responses against the hTSH. One of the antibody combinations of these antibodies has the highest sensitivity and specificity in hTSH detection.

Keywords: hTSH, bioinformatics, protein expression, cross reactivity

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Authors: Michael Daly

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Background/Aims: The interplay of childhood self-control and early life social background in predicting adult health is currently unclear. We drew on rich data from two large nationally representative cohort studies to test whether individual differences in childhood self-control may: (i) buffer the health impact of social disadvantage, (ii) act as a mediating pathway underlying the emergence of health disparities, or (iii) compensate for the health consequences of socioeconomic disadvantage across the lifespan. Methods: We examined data from over 25,000 participants from the British Cohort Study (BCS) and the National Child Development Study (NCDS). Child self-control was teacher-rated at age 10 in the BCS and ages 7/11 in the NCDS. The Early life social disadvantage was indexed using measures of parental education, occupational prestige, and housing characteristics (i.e. housing tenure, home crowding). A range of health outcomes was examined: the presence of chronic conditions, whether illnesses were limiting, physiological dysregulation (gauged by clinical indicators), mortality, and perceptions of pain, psychological distress, and general health. Results: Childhood self-control and social disadvantage predicted each measure of adult health, with similar strength on average. An examination of mediating factors showed that adult smoking, obesity, and socioeconomic status explained the majority of these linkages. There was no systematic evidence that self-control moderated the health consequences of early social disadvantage and limited evidence that self-control acted as a key pathway from disadvantage to later health. Conclusions: Childhood self-control predicts adult health and may compensate for early life social disadvantage by shaping adult health behaviour and social status.

Keywords: personality and health, social disadvantage, health psychology, life-course development

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Authors: Odoh Ben Uruchi

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Access to Justice implies access to social and distributive Justice. Access to social justice in Nigeria remains an illusion where cases last in courts for unduly long period of time, as is currently the situation in the country. As the popular saying goes– justice delayed is justice denied. It is, however, important to underscore the point that these perspectives are not necessarily disconnected since the extent to which one can have distributive justice in any system is largely determined by the level and effectiveness of social justice in the country. Generally, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Processes are increasingly being accepted in Nigeria as appropriate mechanisms for resolving disputes. While some jurisdictions have institutionalized ADR through the concept of a Multidoor Courthouse, many other are at different stages of doing same. With these developments, it is obvious that stakeholders in the administration of justice in Nigeria, can no longer be indifferent about understanding and fully mainstreaming ADR into their various activities and professional practice. Any framework for promoting social justice in Nigeria should therefore of necessity include provision of avenues for use of ADR in the protection and enforcement of citizen’s rights. The constitutional and other legal provisions that guarantee various rights of citizens cannot of itself ensure the enjoyment of the rights in the absence of an effective framework for dispute resolution. Excessive reliance on litigation and other adversarial approaches will also fail to ensure a sound regime of social justice. There should be structured mainstreaming of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in justice delivery if the society must provide and guarantee social justice to the citizens. This paper seeks to address some of the fundamental issues affecting the perception, knowledge and skills of ADR in the provision of social justice. In doing this, the paper proposes to unlock the full enormous potentials of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in promoting access to justice in Nigeria.

Keywords: aspects, dimensions, alternative dispute resolution, social justice

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Authors: Dagnew Dessie Mengie

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The purpose of this study was to investigate German tourists' demand for Ethiopian tourism destinations. The author has made every effort to identify the differences in the preferences of German visitors’ demand in Ethiopia comparing with Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, and South African tourism sectors if they are invited to visit at the same time. However, the demand of international tourism for Ethiopia currently lags behind these African countries. Therefore, to offer demand-driven tourism products, the Ethiopian government, Tour & Travel operators need to understand the important factors that affect international tourists’ decision to visit Ethiopian tourist destinations. The aim of this study was intended to analyze German Tourists’ Demand towards Ethiopian destination. The researcher aimed to identify the demand for German tourists’ preference to Ethiopian tourist destinations comparing to the above-mentioned African countries. For collecting and analysing data for this study, both quantitative and qualitative methods of research are being used in this study. The most significant data are collected by using the primary data collection method i.e. survey and interviews which are the most and large number of potential responses and feedback from nine German active tourists,12 Ethiopian tourism officials, four African embassies, and four well functioning private tour companies and secondary data collected from books, journals, previous research and electronic websites. based on the data analysis of the information gathered from interviews and questionnaires, the study disclosed that majority of German tourists have not that much high demand on Ethiopian Tourist destinations due to the following reasons; Many Germans are fascinated by adventures, safari and simply want to lie on the beach and relax. These interests have leaded them to look for other African countries which have these accesses. Uncomfortable infrastructure and transport problems attributed for the decreasing the number of German tourists in the country. Inadequate marketing operation of Ethiopian Tourism Authority and its delegates in advertising and clarifying the above irregularities which are raised by the tourists.

Keywords: environmental benefits of tourism, social benefits of tourism, economical benefits of tourism, political factors in tourism

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Authors: B. Shaw, K. Doherty

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The Cultural Communication and Computing Research Institute (C3RI) is a diverse multidisciplinary research institute including art, design, media production, communication studies, computing and engineering. Across these disciplines it can seem like there are enormous differences of research practice and convention, including differing positions on objectivity and subjectivity, certainty and evidence, and different political and ethical parameters. These differences sit within, often unacknowledged, histories, codes, and communication styles of specific disciplines, and it is all these aspects that can make understanding of research practice across disciplines difficult. To explore this, a one day event was orchestrated, testing how a PhD community might communicate and share research in progress in a multi-disciplinary context. Instead of presenting results at a conference, research students were tasked to articulate their method of inquiry. A working party of students from across disciplines had to design a conference call, visual identity and an event framework that would work for students across all disciplines. The process of establishing the shape and identity of the conference was revealing. Even finding a linguistic frame that would meet the expectations of different disciplines for the conference call was challenging. The first abstracts submitted either resorted to reporting findings, or only described method briefly. It took several weeks of supported intervention for research students to get ‘inside’ their method and to understand their research practice as a process rich with philosophical and practical decisions and implications. In response to the abstracts the conference committee generated key methodological categories for conference sessions, including sampling, capturing ‘experience’, ‘making models’, researcher identities, and ‘constructing data’. Each session involved presentations by visual artists, communications students and computing researchers with inter-disciplinary dialogue, facilitated by alumni Chairs. The apparently simple focus on method illuminated research process as a site of creativity, innovation and discovery, and also built epistemological awareness, drawing attention to what is being researched and how it can be known. It was surprisingly difficult to limit students to discussing method, and it was apparent that the vocabulary available for method is sometimes limited. However, by focusing on method rather than results, the genuine process of research, rather than one constructed for approval, could be captured. In unlocking the twists and turns of planning and implementing research, and the impact of circumstance and contingency, students had to reflect frankly on successes and failures. This level of self – and public- critique emphasised the degree of critical thinking and rigour required in executing research and demonstrated that honest reportage of research, faults and all, is good valid research. The process also revealed the degree that disciplines can learn from each other- the computing students gained insights from the sensitive social contextualizing generated by communications and art and design students, and art and design students gained understanding from the greater ‘distance’ and emphasis on application that computing students applied to their subjects. Finding the means to develop dialogue across disciplines makes researchers better equipped to devise and tackle research problems across disciplines, potentially laying the ground for more effective collaboration.

Keywords: interdisciplinary, method, research student, training

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Authors: Kankeyanathan Kannan

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On approximation properties of group C* algebras is everywhere; it is powerful, important, backbone of countless breakthroughs. For a discrete group G, let A(G) denote its Fourier algebra, and let M₀A(G) denote the space of completely bounded Fourier multipliers on G. An approximate identity on G is a sequence (Φn) of finitely supported functions such that (Φn) uniformly converge to constant function 1 In this paper we prove that approximation property pass to free product.

Keywords: approximation property, weakly amenable, strong invariant approximation property, invariant approximation property

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Authors: Bassant Eyada, Hanan Atef Kamal Eldin

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Advertising has witnessed a diffusion and development in technology to promote products and services, increasingly relying on the interactivity between the consumer and the advertisement. Consumers seek, self-select, process, use and respond to the information provided, hence, providing the potential to increase consumers’ efficiency, involvement, trustworthiness, response and satisfaction towards the advertised product or service. The power of interactive personalized messages shifts the focus of traditional advertising to more concentrated consumers, sending out tailored messages with more specific individual needs and preferences, defining the importance and relevance that consumers attach to the advertisement, therefore, enhancing the ability to persuade, and the quality of decision making. In this paper, the researchers seek to discuss and explore innovative interactive advertising, its’ effectiveness on consumers and the benefits the advertisements provide, through designing an interactive ad to be placed at the international airports promoting tourism in Egypt.

Keywords: advertising, effectiveness, interactivity, Egypt

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Authors: Z. Goosen, E. J. Cilliers

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Social sustainability, as an independent perspective of sustainable development, has gained some acknowledgement, becoming an important aspect in sustainable urban planning internationally. However, limited research aiming at promoting social sustainability within urban areas exists within the South African context. This is mainly due to the different perspectives of sustainable development (e.g., Environmental, Economic, and Social) not being equally prioritized by policy makers and supported by implementation strategies, guidelines, and planning frameworks. The enhancement of social sustainability within urban areas relies on urban dweller satisfaction and the quality of urban life. Inclusive cities with high-quality public spaces are proposed within this research through implementing the third place theory. Third places are introduced as any place other than our homes (first place) and work (second place) and have become an integrated part of sustainable urban planning. As Third Places consist of every place 'in between', the approach has taken on a large role of the everyday life of city residents, and the importance of planning for such places can only be measured through identifying and highlighting the social sustainability benefits thereof. The aim of this research paper is to introduce third place planning within the urban area to ultimately enhance social sustainability. Selected background planning approaches influencing the planning of third places will briefly be touched on, as the focus will be placed on the social sustainability benefits provided through third place planning within an urban setting. The study will commence by defining and introducing the concept of third places within urban areas as well as a discussion on social sustainability, acting as one of the three perspectives of sustainable development. This will gain the researcher an improved understanding on social sustainability in order for the study to flow into an integrated discussion of the benefits Third places provide in terms of social sustainability and the impact it has on improved quality of life within urban areas. Finally, a visual case study comparison of local and international examples of third places identified will be illustrated. These international case studies will contribute towards the conclusion of this study where a local gap analysis will be formulated, based on local third place evidence and international best practices in order to formulate a strategic planning framework on improving social sustainability through third place planning within the local South African context.

Keywords: planning benefits, social sustainability, third places, urban area

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Authors: Skirmante Mozuriunaite

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Contemporary metropolitan areas and large cities are dynamic, rapidly growing and continuously changing. Thus, urban transformations and mutations are not a new phenomenon, but rather a continuous process. Basic factors of urban transformation are related to development of technologies, globalisation, lifestyle, etc., which, in combination with local factors, have generated an extremely great variety of urban development conditions. This article discusses the main urbanisation processes in Lithuania during last 50 year period and social factors affecting urban functional mutations.

Keywords: dispersion, functional mutations, urbanization, urban mutations, social factors

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Authors: Isabella B. Davidman

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Violence used against Jewish women in both the Eastern European pogroms and during the Nazi era was specifically gendered, targeting their female identity and dignity of womanhood. Not only did these acts of gendered violence dehumanize Jewish women, but they also hurt the Jewish community as a whole. The devastating sexual violence that women endured during the pogroms and the Nazi era caused profound trauma. Out of shame and fear, silence about women’s experiences of sexual abuse manifests in forms that words cannot translate. Women have turned to art and other means of storytelling to convey their female experiences in visual and non-verbal ways. Therefore, this paper aims to address the historical accounts of gendered violence against Jewish women during the pogroms and Nazi era, as well as art that reflects upon the female experience, in order to understand the emotional impact resulting from these events. To analyze the artwork, a feminist analysis was used to understand the intersection of gender with the other systems of inequality, such as systemic anti-semitism, in women’s lives; this ultimately explained the ways in which cultural productions undermine and reinforce the political and social oppression of women by exploring how art confronts the exploitation of women's bodies. By analyzing the art in the context of specific acts of violence, such as public rape, as a strategic weapon, we are able to understand women’s experiences and how these experiences, in turn, challenged their womanhood. Additionally, these atrocities, which often occurred in the public space, were dismissed and forgotten due to the social stigma of rape. In this sense, the experiences of women in pogroms and the Nazi era were both highly unacknowledged and forgotten. Therefore, the art that was produced during those time periods, as well as those after those events, gives voice to the profound silence on the narratives of Jewish women. Sexual violence is a weapon of war used to cause physical and psychological destruction, not only as a product of war. In both the early twentieth-century pogroms and the Holocaust, the sexual violence that Jewish women endured was fundamentally the same: the rape of Jewish women became a focal target in the theater of violence– women were not raped because they were women, but specifically, because they were Jewish women. Although the events of the pogroms and the Holocaust are in the past, the art that serves as testimony to the experience of Jewish women remains an everlasting reminder of the gendered violence that occurred. Even though covert expressions, such as an embroidered image of a bird eating an apple, the artwork gives voice to the many silenced victims of sexualized and gendered violence.

Keywords: gendered violence, holocaust, Nazi era, pogroms

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Authors: Farzane Yusef Ghanbari

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A sociological analysis on the ancient poetry of Vis and Ramin reveals important points about the political, cultural, and social conditions of the Iranian ancient history. The reciprocal relationship between the effect and structure of society helps the understanding and interpretation of the work. Therefore, informed by the Goldman genetic structuralism and through a glance at social epistemology, this study attempts to explain the role of spell in shaping the social knowledge of ancient people. The results suggest that due to the lack of a central government, and secularism in politics and freedom of speech and opinion, such romantic stories as Vis and Ramin, with a focal female character, has emerged.

Keywords: persian literature, Vis and Ramin, sociology, developmental structuralism

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Authors: Boadi Agyekum

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In this study, a social location perspective is used to explore the challenges of creating opportunities that will foster lifelong education, inclusion, and equity for residents of rural communities in Ghana. The differentiated experiences of rural adults are under-researched and often unacknowledged in lifelong education literature and distance education policy. There is a need to examine carefully the structural inequalities that create disadvantages for residents of rural communities and women in pursuing distance education in designated cities in Ghana. The paper uses in-depth interviews to explore participants’ experiences of learning at a distance and to scrutinise the narratives of lifelong education. The paper reflects on the implications of the framework employed for educators and social justice in lifelong education. It further recommends the need to provide IT laboratories and fully online programs that would require stable and regular internet and access to ICT equipment for potential learning in rural communities. The social location approach presented a number of axes of diversity as comparatively more important than others; these included gender, age, education, work commitment, geography, and degree of social connectedness. This can inform lifelong education policy and programs to sustain quality education.

Keywords: equity, distance education, lifelong learning, social location, intersectionality, rural communities

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Authors: Jehan Fahim M. Alsulami

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Academic research about sentiment analysis in sentiment analysis has obtained significant advancement over recent years and is flourishing from the collection of knowledge provided by various academic disciplines. In the current study, the status and development trend of the field of sentiment analysis in social networks is evaluated through a bibliometric analysis of academic publications. In particular, the distributions of publications and citations, the distribution of subject, predominant journals, authors, countries are analyzed. The collaboration degree is applied to measure scientific connections from different aspects. Moreover, the keyword co-occurrence analysis is used to find out the major research topics and their evolutions throughout the time span. The area of sentiment analysis in social networks has gained growing attention in academia, with computer science and engineering as the top main research subjects. China and the USA provide the most to the area development. Authors prefer to collaborate more with those within the same nation. Among the research topics, newly risen topics such as COVID-19, customer satisfaction are discovered.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis, sentiment analysis, social networks, social media

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Authors: Paraskevi Theodorou, Apostolos Meliones

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In the context of the development process of two assistive navigation mobile apps for blind and visually impaired people (BVI) an extensive qualitative analysis of the requirements of potential users has been conducted. The analysis was based on interviews with BVIs and aimed to elicit not only their needs with respect to autonomous navigation but also their preferences on specific features of the apps under development. The elicited requirements were structured into four main categories, namely, requirements concerning the capabilities, functionality and usability of the apps, as well as compatibility requirements with respect to other apps and services. The main categories were then further divided into nine sub-categories. This classification, along with its content, aims to become a useful tool for the researcher or the developer who is involved in the development of digital services for BVI.

Keywords: accessibility, assistive mobile apps, blind and visually impaired people, user requirements analysis

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Authors: Abrar Al-Hasan

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Objectives: There is ongoing discourse regarding the potential risks to health professionals' reputations and credibility arising from their personal social media use. However, the specific impacts on professional credibility and the health professional-client relationship remain largely unexplored. This study aims to investigate the type and frequency of the content posted by health professionals on their Instagram accounts and its influence on their credibility and the professional-client relationship. Methodology: In a controlled field study, participants reviewed randomly assigned mock Instagram profiles of health professionals. Mock profiles were constructed according to gender (female/male), social media usage (high/low), and social media richness (high/ low), with richness increasing from posts to stories to reels and personal content type (high /low). Participants then rated the profile owners’ credibility on a visual analog scale. An analysis of variance compared these ratings, and mediation analyses assessed the influence of credibility ratings on participants' willingness to become clients of the mock health professional. Results: Results from 315 participants showed that health professionals with personal Instagram profiles displaying high social media richness were perceived as more credible than those with lower social media richness. Low social media usage is perceived as more credible than high social media usage. Personal content type is perceived as less credible as compared to those with low personal content type. Contributions: These findings provide initial evidence of the impact of health professionals' personal online disclosures on credibility and the health professional-client relationship. Understanding public perceptions of professionalism and credibility is essential for informing e-professionalism guidelines and promoting best practices in social media use among health professionals.

Keywords: credibility, consumer behavior, social media, media richness, healthcare professionals

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Authors: Dilip Singh Sisodia, Shrish Verma

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Spamming is the most common issue seen nowadays in the Internet especially in Online Social Networking Sites (like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ etc.). Spam messages keep wasting Internet bandwidth and the storage space of servers. On social network sites; spammers often disguise themselves by creating fake accounts and hijacking user’s accounts for personal gains. They behave like normal user and they continue to change their spamming strategy. To prevent this, most modern spam-filtering solutions are deployed on the receiver side; they are good at filtering spam for end users. In this paper we are presenting some spamming techniques their behaviour and possible solutions. We have analyzed how Spammers enters into online social networking sites (OSNSs) and how they target it and the techniques they use for it. The five discussed techniques of spamming techniques which are clickjacking, social engineered attacks, cross site scripting, URL shortening, and drive by download. We have used elgg framework for demonstration of some of spamming threats and respective implementation of solutions.

Keywords: online social networking sites, spam, attacks, internet, clickjacking / likejacking, drive-by-download, URL shortening, networking, socially engineered attacks, elgg framework

Procedia PDF Downloads 331