The Meanings of ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. An Explanation for the Forbid/Allow Asymmetry

Survey questions worded with the verb ‘forbid’ prove not to elicit opposite answers to equivalent questions worded with the verb ‘allow’ (Rugg 1941). Although ‘forbid’ and ‘allow’ are generally considered each other’s counterparts, respondents rather answer ‘no, not forbid’ than ‘yes, allow’. In order to find out which question is a more valid measure of the underlying attitude, this asymmetry in the answers has to be explained. Experiments show that the asymmetry arises because respondents translate similar attitudes differently into the answering options to forbid/allow questions are equally valid, but the way the attitudes are expressed on the answering scale differs due to the use of ‘forbid’ or ‘allow’. How does this translation process work? The leading hypothesis in forbid/allow research predicts that respondents holding moderate opinions feel that ‘yes forbid’ and ‘yes allow’ are very extreme, causing moderate respondents to prefer answering ‘not forbid’, or ‘not allow’. This article presents the results of 10 experiments investigating the meanings of the answering options to forbid/allow questions. Extreme connotations are shown to only provide part of the explanation for the occurrence of the forbid/allow asymmetry. In order to describe the answering process for forbid/allow questions, well-definedness of meanings proves to be an important additional factor. The meanings of answering options to allow questions are ill-defined compared of those to forbid questions, which causes allow questions to be less homogeneous measures of the underlying attitude than forbid questions.     

课堂心理环境与学习效果相关性实证研究

课堂心理环境建设是大学外语教学的一个重要课题。本文通过访谈、问卷调查等方式研究大学生课堂心理环境与学习效果之间的关系,研究结果表明：课堂心理环境与学生学习成绩呈显著负相关;二者的相关,男生高于女生,文科高于理科;课堂心理环境对成绩处于两个极端的学生基本没有影响。根据调查结果,本文提出一些培养教师环境意识、优化大学外语课堂教学的建议。     

The development of a questionnaire assessing metacognitive patterns of students majoring in accounting in higher education

This paper reports on the process of developing and pilot testing a new questionnaire—the Metacognitive Pattern Indicator (MPI)—to identify metacognitive patterns of accounting students. Metacognitive patterns are a construct that encompasses meta programmes and other theoretical frameworks, the measurement of which can improve metacognition of students in higher education. The MPI was completed by a pilot sample of 207 accounting and 655 non-accounting students in a UK university. Survey-based student evaluation of the MPI indicated that students found the questionnaire to be easily accessible, confirming it can be completed and the results interpreted without any need for specialist training. Follow-up interviews with 15 students indicate that the MPI increased metacognitive awareness and improved understanding of factors that impact on students' learning. Statistical analysis revealed alpha coefficients greater than 0.7 for seven pattern variables and greater than 0.52 for a further 13 of the 24 variables, confirming that further research is needed to improve reliability. Exploratory factor analysis, based on the more reliable scale items, revealed conceptually logical combinations or ‘profiles’ of patterns. Some interesting statistically significant (P < 0.01) differences were identified between metacognitive pattern scores of accounting students and other groups of students.     

Information and communication technology,co-innovation,and perceived productivity in tourism small and medium enterprises: an exploratory analysis

With the aim of providing new evidence and a practical instrument to measure co-innovative sources of productivity in tourism small and medium enterprises (SMEs), this article presents a newly designed questionnaire that has been validated by exploratory factor analysis. The empirical study was conducted on a representative sample of 500 tourism SMEs in Catalonia (a region in north-eastern Spain). Three factors emerged from the analysis: (1) Internet use; (2) firm innovation; and (3) new forms of work organization. Together, these factors explained 45.4% of cumulative variance. The reliability coefficients obtained for the three factors were high (α_1?=?0.76; α_2?=?0.72; and α_3?=?0.71). The study also identified a specific form of co-innovation in SMEs, which is based on bringing radically innovative products and services to the market, and on Internet use and work organization practices that are clearly orientated towards increasing income and optimizing resources. The combination between economics of the firm and statistical validation tools is a source of originality of the paper. Strategic guidelines to improve SMEs productivity have also been discussed.     

能繁母猪保险实施过程中的制约因素分析——基于山东省17地市的问卷调查

以山东省能繁母猪保险为研究对象,依据山东省17地市关于养猪场（户）能繁母猪保险的调查问卷,在实地调研的基础上,通过了解和考察山东省政策性能繁母猪保险的开展情况,发现无论在养猪场（户）参保,还是保险公司经营、政府政策扶持方面都存在一系列的问题,为此文章对制约山东省能繁母猪保险发展的因素进行了分析,提出了采用市值保险、建立协作机制和可追溯体系、开发多样化保险产品、完善无害化处流程、将能繁母猪保险纳入强制险等一系列解决方案,以期为促进山东省生猪产业的健康、稳定、持续发展,也为政府完善政策性能繁母猪保险提供决策参考。     

The questionnaire survey of the necessity of oral English presentation in university students

The oral presentation plays an important role in the English language teaching. However, some students seems pay lit le at ention to it. This paper attempts to elaborate the significance of the oral pr...     

提升政府治理水平,打造服务型政府——2011连氏中国服务型政府指数及中国城市服务型政府调查报告

什么是服务型政府？如何打造服务型政府是当前中国公共管理理论和实践界共同关注的焦点.借鉴国际、国内相关研究成果,新加坡南洋理工大学南洋公共管理研究生院开发了连氏中国服务型政府指数,对服务型政府的内涵和外延进行了界定,并于2011年4月至6月间,与上海交通大学国际与公共事务学院通力合作,以此指数为依据,通过对市民和企业的电话访谈,对中国32个主要城市(直辖市、计划单列市、部分省会城市和重要城市)的服务型政府的建设情况进行了测评.文章旨在汇报此次调查的结果,并结合调查结果对当前中国地方服务型政府建设的状况进行分析并提出政策建议.     

Development and application of the Leadership Archetype Questionnaire

The leadership assessment questionnaire (LAQ) is a 360 degree survey instrument designed to help organizational leaders identify their own style of leadership and formulate appropriate development objectives. It is designed to provide avenues for development of an executive team in which multiple leadership archetypes are represented. The LAQ is based on eight leadership archetypes – strategist, change-catalyst, transactor, builder, innovator, processor, coach, and communicator. These archetypes are representations of ways of leading in a complex organizational environment. In this article, we discuss the development, design, and psychometric analysis of the LAQ. We detail the conceptual foundations of the questionnaire and the psychometric methods used to confirm the validity and reliability of the instrument. We conclude with avenues for future research.     

外商在华直接投资的区位因素分析——基于北京外商投资企业的典型调查研究

外商直接投资的区位问题是当前理论和实际工作者关心的热点问题之一,文章通过对北京81家外资企业的问卷调查,分析了外商在华直接投资的区位因素,发现市场规模、市场增长、政治和经济稳定是影响外商在华直接投资的最重要因素;劳动力成本、劳工素质、仿效或领先竞争对手也是吸引外商投资的重要因素;产品运输成本和基础设施也在外商的投资区位选择中占有一席之地;而政府的激励措施(包括税收优惠)在外商的投资驱动中并不占有十分重要的地位。     

基于明尼苏达满意度短式量表的度假酒店员工满意度调查研究——以杭州某度假酒店为例

随着酒店业蓬勃发展,酒店员工满意度成为研究关注焦点,文章通过明尼苏达满意度短式量表对杭州某度假酒店员工进行调查分析,分别从工作条件、对领导者、个人责任感和外在奖励这四个方面分析员工的满意度,发现存在的问题及原因,继而从鼓励员工参与管理,改善工作条件、加强领导素质培训、发挥员工主观能动性,提高员工素质和责任感、改善奖励机制完善福利制度等方面提出改进策略。