Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Serious Gamification: On The Redesign Of A Popular Paradox, Steffen Roth

Dr. Steffen Roth

We challenge the idea of the paradoxical nature of the concept serious games and ask how researchers and designers need to conceive of serious games so that they at all appear paradoxical. To develop and answer this question, we draw on a theory–method that considers all forms of observation as paradoxical. We then use the tetralemma, a structure from traditional Indian logics, to resolve the paradox of serious games into this larger paradox of observation. Consequently, serious games may only be consid- ered a paradox if we presume realities and define games as deviations therefrom. The increasing gamification of society, …

Towards A Model Of Optimal Family Leisure, Keri Schwab, Daniel Dustin

Keri Schwab

Towards a model of optimal family leisure Keri A. Schwaba and Daniel L. Dustin Recreation, Parks, & Tourism Administration Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA; bDepartment of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA Leisure is an important component of family life, yet many families struggle to focus on or participate in family leisure. This study examined the structural characteristics of family life that can impede or promote family leisure. Employing a systems perspective, a literature-based model of family leisure was created, and in-depth interview data were gathered from three families …

Management And Function, Steffen Roth

Dr. Steffen Roth

The distinction of function systems such as the political system, the economy, science, religion, or the legal system is considered a key principle of modern societies (Bergthaller and Schinko, 2011; Brier, 2006; Jönhill, 2012; Kjaer, 2010; Leydesdorff, 2002; Luhmann, 1977; Luhmann, 1990; Luhmann, 1997; Schoeneborn, 2011; Seidl, 2005; Tsivacou, 1996; Vanderstraeten, 2005; Wetzel and Van Gorp, 2014; Wolfgang Rennison, 2007). Modern man knows how to talk business and when to avoid politics or religion in conversations; considers the buying of votes as corruption; and differentiates show trials from normal cases. Though these and similar differentiations are naturally applied by a …

Visual Analysis Through Four Lenses, Jenna Hartel

Jenna Hartel

The iSquare Research Program is an arts-informed, visual study of the concept of information, utilizing the draw-and-write technique (Pridmore & Bendelow, 1995). Participants are asked to respond to the question, “What is information?” by drawing upon a 4” by 4” piece of paper, coined an “iSquare.” The ongoing research program explores three questions: 1.) How do people visualize the concept of information?; 2.) How do visual conceptions of information differ among populations?; and 3.) How do these images relate to the traditional conceptions of information made of words? Since 2011, more than 1,000 iSquares have been collected from around the …

Axiomatic Social Choice Theory, David Randall Jenkins

David Randall Jenkins

Ordered Relations Theory’s two axioms ultimately enable (individual: society) well-being transitivity inasmuch as they impound Social Choice Theory’s impossibility theorem, impossibility-resolving axioms, and all such further regressive impossibility theorems and impossibility-resolving axioms.

Usos E Significados Da Tecnologia Na Academia, João Monteiro Matos

João Monteiro Matos

This study seeks to understand how the academic population – professors and researchers perceives, uses, and interacts with new information and communication technologies (ICT) in their everyday working practices. The main goal is to understand whether these new technologies can be an indicator of different scientific cultures, using the metaphor of the “two cultures” introduced by Charles Snow (1963).

I make use of this metaphor to examine differences and specificities of two scientific communities: the natural sciences and the social sciences community at two institutions of the University of Lisbon.

This research follows a mixed methods strategy, combining the application …

Booties, Bounties, Business Models: A Map To The Next Red Oceans, Steffen Roth Dr.

Dr. Steffen Roth

This quest is for pirate maps to blue oceans. The key problem involved is that blue oceans turn red whenever these maps make their way from pirates to mainstream entrepreneurs. Pirates therefore have an essential need for maps to the next blue oceans. In drawing on form theory, this article develops a map sheet, on which it appears that, throughout history, pirates navigated social borders. An analysis of the gaps in past and present maps of social differentiation then allows for the discovery of a largely uncharted quadrant of the blue ocean for entrepreneurship and entrepreneuring.

The Eye-Patch Of The Beholder. Introduction To Entrepreneurship And Piracy, Steffen Roth Dr.

Dr. Steffen Roth

This introduction to entrepreneurship and piracy presents a collection of articles that responds to an identified need to light the darker sides of entrepreneurship, which appear clearer in the mirror of piracy. It first makes a claim for a dismoralised view of piracy. It then presents the cases the individual members of our expedition make for an explorative research program in entrepreneurship and piracy, which is finally outlined in the lookout of this article.

Coining Societies. An Inter-Functional Comparative Analysis Of The Euro, Steffen Roth

Dr. Steffen Roth

The present analysis of the Euro looks for the marks that function systems make on what we commonly take for the European money. Clearly distinguishing between coins and currency, the Euro coins and banknotes are not taken for economic tokens per se but for storage devices that contain both economic and noneconomic information. A systemic analysis of the function system references on these storage devices shows that the economy has left fewer marks on the Euro than politics, art, and the mass media systems have. We, hence, argue that “the Euro” “is” not just money with a political second mission …

Fashionable Functions: A Google Ngram View Of Trends In Functional Differentiation (1800-2000), Steffen Roth

Dr. Steffen Roth

Computer communication is revolutionizing modern society to the same extend as the invention of writing or the printing press have unsettled the archaic or the ancient society, respectively. In the present article, this idea will be exemplified by a demonstration of how the Google Ngram viewer – an online graphing tool which charts annual counts of words or sentences as found in the largest available corpus of digitalized books – allows for checks and challenges of familiar self-definitions of modern society. As functional differentiation is considered the central unique feature of modern societies, the hypotheses focus on the testing of …

Measuring Social Capital And Its Influence On Individual Performance, Alireza Abbasi

Alireza Abbasi

Studies on social networks highlight the importance of network structure or structural properties of a given network and its impact on performance outcome. One of the important properties of this network structure is referred as “social capital” which is the “network of contacts” and the associated values attached to these networks of contacts. In this study, the aim is to provide empirical evidence of the influence of social capital and performance within the context of academic collaboration (co-authorship). This study suggests that the collaborative process involves social capital embedded within relationships and network structures among direct co-authors. Thus, association between …

Understanding The Evolutionary Dynamics And Adaptation Of Complex Networks, Alireza Abbasi

Alireza Abbasi

This study aims to explore the co-evolutionary processes of network structure and state for examining the evolutionary dynamic and adaptation of networks. The study addresses several major areas of network research: network structure dynamics (i.e., the longitudinal study of network structure); network evolution mechanisms (i.e., variation, selection, retention); actors’ attachment logics (i.e., cumulative advantage, embedding, multi-connectivity, homophily); and self-organized network behavior. Theories and hypotheses from the intersection of network theories, evolutionary theories and complex adaptive systems are drawn and synthesized. Finally the co-evolution of local dynamics versus global dynamics of networks over time has been explored through proposing a research …

Autonomia Y Dependencia En Las Ciencias Sociales Latinoamericanas, Jorge Gibert-Galassi

jorge gibert-galassi

Description paper about the problem of Latin American academics in terms of autonomy or dependence from the central countries and scientific institutions from the north. It is centrally a diagnosis on political science, sociology and economics in 5 Latin American countries.

Voice Without Say: Why Capital-Managed Firms Aren’T (Genuinely) Participatory, Justin Schwartz

Justin Schwartz

Why are most capitalist enterprises of any size organized as authoritarian bureaucracies rather than incorporating genuine employee participation that would give the workers real authority? Even firms with employee participation programs leave virtually all decision-making power in the hands of management. The standard answer is that hierarchy is more economically efficient than any sort of genuine participation, so that participatory firms would be less productive and lose out to more traditional competitors. This answer is indefensible. After surveying the history, legal status, and varieties of employee participation, I examine and reject as question-begging the argument that the rarity of genuine …

A Theory Without A Movement, A Hope Without A Name: The Future Of Marxism In A Post-Marxist World, Justin Schwartz

Justin Schwartz

Just as Marx's insights into capitalism have been most strikingly vindicated by the rise of neoliberalism and the near-collapse of the world economy, Marxism as social movement has become bereft of support. Is there any point in people who find Marx's analysis useful in clinging to the term "Marxism" - which Marx himself rejected -- at time when self-identified Marxist organizations and societies have collapsed or renounced the identification, and Marxism own working class constituency rejects the term? I set aside bad reasons to give on "Marxism," such as that the theory is purportedly refuted, that its adoption leads necessarily …

Dying Is Only Human. The Case Death Makes For The Immortality Of The Person, Steffen Roth Dr.

Dr. Steffen Roth

The claim of the present article is that human mortality makes a case for the discovery of the immortal nature of the person. Based on a clear distinction of the concepts of the human being and the person, human beings and persons are considered immortal insofar as both entities evidently do not qualify for a definition as living systems. On the one hand, human beings are presented as neither lifeless nor living systems. On the other hand, persons are introduced as lifeless systems and, as a result, immortal system. This claim is extended by the statement that, even if supposed …

Dolina Krzemowa I Inne Regiony Rozwijające Przemysły Wysokich Technologii, Dominika Latusek

Dominika Latusek

Artykuł omawia charakterystyki regionalnych klastrów wysokich technologii na świecie, na przykładzie Doliny Krzemowej w Stanach Zjednoczonych. Na podstawie przeglądu istniejących badań można wskazać cechy, które łączą takie regiony w różnych częściach świata. Jednocześnie jednak badania wskazują, że niemożliwe jest kreowanie nowych klastrów poprzez imitowanie istniejących rozwiązań, a każdy region wyróżnia się od innych własną specyfiką.

Uttarakhand Tragedy – The Questions One Prefers To Ignore, Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan

Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan

This article questions the existence of God. By invoking tragedies in natural disasters it asks the same question what the French philosopher Voltaire had asked two and half centuries before - How could a just and compassionate God seek to punish sins through such terrible means?

A Phenomenolical Study And Meta-Analysis Of Declining Membership And Participation In The Church, Cliffrod E. Jones Jr.

Cliffrod E Jones Jr.

This study seeks to establish a multifactor approach to the problem of declining membership and participation that allows a broader defense against the negative effects of separate causalities. A meta-analysis of past and current study into the phenomenon investigates currently recognized causalities, and forms a grounded basis for the study questions, while personal interviews from a sampling of churches, church leaders and church members provides additional quantitative data for review, comparison, weighting and analysis of the phenomenon.

Social Connectedness And Adaptive Team Coordination During Fire Events, Alireza Abbasi

Alireza Abbasi

Preparing for fire-related emergencies and consequence management is considered to be dynamic and challenging in managing crises, preventing losses, and in the allocation of resources. In this study, we argue that improving plans and operations of personnel involved in managing fire-related emergencies is an important area of investigation. Here, we investigate the effects of social connectedness among different team members to manage bushfires. We further analyze response coordination by exploring variables such as participants’ preparedness quality, quality of incident action planning, and quality of accessibility of resources. In doing so, we also test the effects of these variables on improved …

After Privacy: The Rise Of Facebook, The Fall Of Wikileaks, And Singapore’S Personal Data Protection Act 2012, Simon Chesterman

Simon Chesterman

This article discusses the changing ways in which information is produced, stored, and shared — exemplified by the rise of social-networking sites like Facebook and controversies over the activities of WikiLeaks — and the implications for privacy and data protection. Legal protections of privacy have always been reactive, but the coherence of any legal regime has also been undermined by the lack of a strong theory of what privacy is. There is more promise in the narrower field of data protection. Singapore, which does not recognise a right to privacy, has positioned itself as an e-commerce hub but had no …

Usos E Significados Da Tecnologia Na Academia: Uma Abordagem Sociológica, João Monteiro Matos

João Monteiro Matos

perceives, uses, and interacts with new information and communication technologies (ICT) in their everyday working practices.

The main goal is to understand whether these new technologies can be an indicator of different scientific cultures, using the metaphor of the “two cultures” introduced by Charles Snow (1963).

I will make use of this metaphor to examine differences and specificities of two scientific communities: the natural sciences and the social sciences community at two institutions of the University of Lisbon.

This research follows a mixed methods strategy, combining the application of a survey and qualitative interviews.

This study will contribute to the …

Designing An Information-Experience Using Creativity Science & Tools, Stephanie Belhomme

Stephanie Belhomme

An “information-experience” encapsulated by a technological/digital audio-visual tool presents data and potentially meaningful information to prompt actionable knowledge concerning: “unspoken creative process elements;” their profound impacts on both how well our “physiology of creativity” functions but also; how well foundational creative thinking and behavioral prerequisites (energy, motivation, imagination, and ownership) are leveraged.

The product: 1) introduces the user to one component of the CPS (Creative Problem Solving) Facilitation Process - Exploring the Challenge; 2) features a content specific component which prompts exploration of the many correlations between societal, organizational / community, human physiological / behavioral data, and the direct relationships …

Looking East, Looking West: Penang As A Knowledge Hub, Solvay Gerke, Hans-Dieter Evers

Hans-Dieter Evers

Penang has always been a focal point, absorbing nowledge (and popular culture) from civilizations to the East and West. In modern Penang the pattern of cultural contacts has changed over time. Research institutes and universities in Penang cooperate with foreign partners to produce research papers and reports. Based on an analysis of joint research output, the changing international position of Penang as an emerging research hub will be analysed. The paper will show that international cooperation has increased considerably between 1970 and 2010, but that there has also been a remarkable shift from European, Australian and American partners to East …

Webs Of Faith As A Source Of Reasonable Disagreement, Gregory Brazeal

Gregory Brazeal

Contemporary political theorists and philosophers of epistemology and religion have often drawn attention to the problem of reasonable disagreement. The idea that deliberators may reasonably persist in a disagreement even under ideal deliberative conditions and even over the long term poses a challenge to the common assumption that rationality should lead to consensus. This essay proposes a previously unrecognized source of reasonable disagreement, based on the notion that an individual's beliefs are rationally related to one another in a fabric of sentences or web of beliefs. The essay argues that an individual's beliefs may not form a single, seamless web, …

The Truths Of Chenglish: Logical Imperfection, Natural Language, And Philosophical Disagreement, Gregory Brazeal

Gregory Brazeal

Why is it that philosophy seems unable to obtain the kinds of agreement regularly achieved by mathematics and the natural sciences? The experimental philosophy movement emphasizes conflicting intuitions as a potential source of philosophical disagreement. This essay draws attention to another, complementary source: the logical imperfection of natural languages. Unlike logic as it is formalized in symbolic notation, the rules governing the correct use of terms in a natural language can be indeterminate, underdetermined, and inconsistent. Though most philosophers recognize the logical imperfection of natural languages in the abstract, everyday philosophical discussion is often conducted as though the argumentative moves …

Identyfikowanie I Klasyfikowanie Barier Zarządzania Wiedzą, Anna Ujwary-Gil

Anna Ujwary-Gil

Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie różnych ujęć klasyfikowania barier zarządzania wiedzą, ze szczególnym wskazaniem procesu identyfikowania barier z wykorzystaniem morfologii pola problemowego oraz metody delfickiej. Oba podejścia mogą zaowocować rozpoznaniem zbioru barier, adekwatnych do warunków funkcjonowania danej organizacji. Na podstawie przeglądu badań poszukiwano konsensusu w klasyfikowaniu barier zarządzania wiedzą w przedsiębiorstwie. Główny podział kształtuje się w oparciu o wewnętrzny (kontrolowany), bądź zewnętrzny (ograniczony stopień kontroli) charakter tych barier i określenie wpływu ich oddziaływania zarówno na przedsiębiorstwo, jak i pracowników. Autorka zaproponowała główny podział barier zarządzania wiedzą ze względu na poziom analizy wiedzy, rodzaje barier oraz proces wiedzy. W oparciu o trójwymiarowy …

Linking Development And Innovation: What Does Technological Change Bring To The Society?, Evgeny A. Klochikhin

Evgeny A. Klochikhin

Recently, there has been a popular trend in academic research for paying more attention to ‘pro-poor’ policies and theoretical studies. This tradition has emerged from a broader understanding of development that includes not only economic but also social and political dimensions. Meanwhile, innovation researchers are still considering development as mere economic growth without much focus on the social impacts of technological change. This article recognizes that, despite these fundamental differences, the concepts of innovation and development have much in common and are, in fact, positively connected and mutually beneficial. This assumption has some important implications for the innovation and development …

The Enclosure And Alienation Of Academic Publishing: Lessons For The Professoriate, Wilhelm Peekhaus

Wilhelm Peekhaus

This paper interrogates and situates theoretically from a Marxist perspective various aspects and tensions that inhere in the contemporary academic publishing environment. The focus of the article is on journal publishing. The paper examines both the expanding capitalist control of the academic publishing industry and some of the efforts being made by those seeking to resist and subvert the capitalist model of academic publishing. The paper employs the concepts of primitive accumulation and alienation as a theoretical register for apprehending contemporary erosions of the knowledge commons through the enclosure effects that follow in the wake of capitalist control of academic …

Desarrollo Cientifico Tecnologico Y Universidades, Jorge Gibert-Galassi

jorge gibert-galassi

The paper shows how scientific and technological activities are embodied at universities in emegent peripheric countries and regions.