The aim of this article is to discuss quantitative content analysis as established in communication sciences as a method for research in business ethics. We argue that communication sciences and business ethics are neighboring disciplines, which allow the transfer of quantitative content analysis from communication sciences to business ethics. Technically, quantitative content analysis can be applied through human as well as software coding. Examples for both applications are provided and discussed. We (...) make reference to the software solutions ‘Leximancer’, ‘Crawdad’, and ‘Wordle’, and examine their suitability and limitations with regard to ethical questions for researching business ethics. We recommend a mixed‐method approach, combining human and software coding. Furthermore, we propose a three‐step process that discusses quantitative content analysis as a method for business ethics, including an ethical research objective, and most importantly, concluding with ethical reasoning and interpretation of the quantitative results. (shrink)

Technology advancement provide more effective and efficient ways for the people to perform individual and or collective roles and execution of responsibilities, and this has also resulted to tenacious upsurge in peoples' dependence on technology. As the right for people with disabilities increases, the need to cater for their educational right like every other learner brought about the quest to provide for AT that can best serve those special students. Application of AT can help students with one or more deficiencies, (...) aid information collection process and increase learning motivation. The aim of this study is to conduct content analysis of studies on AT in education and the research sample consist of research publications on AT in education published on Scopus between 2018-2022. Content analysis was conducted on the research publications related to the research and the data gotten were evaluated through descriptive statistical methods with the intention that research findings will add to the body of literature and create more quest for research interest on AT in education. The findings indicated that, more studies were conducted in the year 2021 compared to others, qualitative research method was applied more in those studies, followed by quantitative and mixed methods, the larger percentage of the studies under review were conducted under special education, and the greater part of co-authorship were local collaboration. (shrink)

This paper explores the application of an affective content analysis to a selection of nanotechnology news articles gathered from selected newspapers. Thematic content analyses dominate current efforts to mine large text collections of popular science media; the addition of an affective analysis element can yield useful information to supplement future content analysis efforts. Using Whissell’s Dictionary of Affect in Language , the analysis rates news articles gathered over a twenty-two year period for their (...) pleasantness, activeness, and imagery, determining the mean affective tone in each category for the entire collection, four ‘content themes’ (business, national security, health, and environment), and the change in affective tone over the twenty-two year period these articles represent. Whereas the entire collection analyzed as a whole rates very similarly to the average found for everyday English language use and the ‘content themes’ show similar results, the change in affective tone over the years has been both significant and striking. A sample of results from three years of the twenty-two year period is then qualitatively explored to demonstrate to the reader the connection between the quantitative results of the Dictionary and the qualitative effect of the article’s word use and phrasing. The paper ends with a review of the technique’s success, implications for policymaking and public dialogue, and avenues for future use. (shrink)

This article conducts a mixed-method content analysis of Chinese and American news media coverage of Google DeepMind’s Go playing computer program, AlphaGo. Drawing on humanistic approaches to artificial intelligence, combined with an empirically rigorous content analysis, it examines the differences and overlap in coverage by the Chinese and American press in their accounts of AlphaGo, and its historic match with Korea’s Lee Sedol in March, 2016. The event was not only followed intensely in China, but also (...) made the front page of The New York Times. This article finds that the Chinese press was more likely than the American press to frame AlphaGo as non-threatening, which the authors attribute to cultural differences and the two countries' different understandings of Go. In addition to quantitatively identifying similarities and differences in the framing of AlphaGo, this paper also investigates the underlying and evolving contestations over what constitutes the “human” and the “machine.” It concludes by discussing the implications of the study’s findings as well as outlining avenues for further research. (shrink)

During the past decade or two the influence of theories of language and meaning has made itself felt in almost every field of study, either because, as in the case of psychology and the social sciences, meaning phenomena were part of the subject matter, or because, as in the case of physics and philosophy, the language used in the study demanded analysis and clarification. In recent years there has been developed, especially by H. D. Lasswell and his associates, a (...) technique known as content analysis, which attempts to characterize the meanings in a given body of discourse in a systematic and quantitative fashion. (shrink)

General practice consultation has often been characterized by pragma-dialecticians as an argumentative activity type. These characterizations are typically derived from theoretical insights and qualitative analyses. Yet, descriptions that are based on quantitative data are thus far lacking. This paper provides a detailed account of the development of an instrument to guide the quantitative analysis of argumentation in doctor–patient consultation. It describes the implementation and preliminary results of a content analysis of seventy videotaped medical consultations of (...) which the extent and type of doctors’ argumentative support for medical opinions and advice are analyzed. Based on the study results, this paper addresses the merits of observational studies using content analysis as a method for the analysis of argumentative discourse in context as well as some of its key challenges and limitations, laying bare the opportunities for future research. (shrink)

This article analysed the Indonesian government’s strategy in eradicating terrorism and radicalism. This study was designed with quantitative methods within the framework of normative legal research using anti-terrorism-related regulations as the sample. Data analysis was carried out with content analysis to identify the conception of terrorism, radicalism and deradicalisation in the legislation. The research found that most of Indonesia’s counter-terrorism regulations associate terrorism with criminal actions. However, regulatory developments also present a decreasing association between terrorism and (...) acts of violence alone as terrorism is growingly being conceptualised by policymakers not only as a virulent action to an increasing extent but also ideologically based on the process of radicalisation. Consequently, various regulations after 2013 accommodate many prevention-based ideas and soft approaches. Newest regulations also accommodate deradicalisation as an important strategy in countering terrorism. This finding practically would imply including counter-narratives through education and deradicalisation strategies. It is also projected through counter-propaganda as a strategic deradicalisation approach. Its incorporation into regulations is needed as digital technology advances, making it easier for young people to be exposed to radical ideas through internet channels. Contribution: This study deepens empirical evidence regarding the need for an alternative soft approach strategy in dealing with religious doctrine-based radicalism. Apart from preventive measures through law enforcement which should be continuously strengthened, the findings in this research encourage preemptive methods in deradicalisation through counter-narrative, counter-propaganda and counter-ideology. (shrink)

One of the most important roles of schools is to enable students to become good citizens, capable of participating in the public affairs of society. However, the term ‘good citizens’ evokes different interpretations and definitions in different value systems. Using the methods of quantitative content analysis and narrative analysis, this paper aims to identify the dominant moral values of a good citizen that are conveyed by Malaysian moral education textbooks. The findings demonstrate that ‘responsibility’ is the (...) dominant value for shaping a good citizen in Malaysia. The value of responsibility in the textbooks embraces not only the meanings of self-obligation and accountability, but responsibility is also defined as an individual's sense of self-discipline in their behaviour that enables them to avoid conflict and strive for harmonious social order. The other important values are “Respect”, “Helpful”, “Hard-working” and “Caring”. This study provides an example of how a multi-ethnic nation state like Malaysia promotes these moral values through its educational curriculum, for political legitimacy and forging national unity. (shrink)

The article describes an approach of systematic, rule guided qualitative text analysis, which tries to preserve some methodological strengths of quantitative content analysis and widen them to a concept of qualitative procedure. First the development of content analysis is delineated and the basic principles are explained (units of analysis, step models, working with categories, validity and reliability). Then the central procedures of qualitative content analysis, inductive development of categories and deductive application (...) of categories, are worked out. The possibilities of computer programs in supporting those qualitative steps of analysis are shown and the possibilities and limits of the approach are discussed. (shrink)

This article proposes that Discourse Analysis (DA) be methodologically characterized as an analytical technique for the social sciences. To do this, it must first be situated in relation to two other methodological tools used for the study of discourse: hermeneutics and Content Analysis. Subsequently, the article will define DA, focusing on one aspect in particular: its compatibility with both qualitative and quantitative research strategies. It will then examine the usefulness of this technique in the process of (...) data construction and finally propose an assessment of this issue. En este artículo nos proponemos caracterizar metodológicamente al Análisis del Discurso (AD) en tanto técnica de análisis de las ciencias sociales. Para ello, primero, lo ubicaremos en relación con otras dos herramientas metodológicas utilizadas para estudiar el discurso: la hermenéutica y el análisis de contenido. Posteriormente, haremos una caracterización del AD, centrándonos en un aspecto en particular: su compatibilidad tanto con estrategias cualitativas como con estrategias cuantitativas de investigación. Estudiaremos la utilidad de esta técnica en el proceso de construcción de los datos. Finalmente, propondremos un balance de la cuestión. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to show that statistical analysis and hermeneutics are not mutually exclusive. Although statistical analysis may capture some patterns and regularities, statistical methods may themselves generate different types of interpretation and, in turn, give rise to even more interpretations. The discussion is lodged within the context of a quantitative analysis of dream content. I attempted to examine the dialogical texts of reported dreams monologically, but soon found myself returning to dialogic (...) contexts to make sense of statistical patterns. One could cogently argue that the reported statistical relationships in this study, rather than pointing to any interaction among the "signifieds," speak only to the relationships among the "signifiers" that were being played out through various actors on the analytic or scientific stage, since all of the constructs used in theorizing about, interpreting, and telling dreams come from the same discursive system. (shrink)

The Qur'an is a holy book on which many studies have been carried out by both Muslims and non-Muslims. In terms of its religious and cultural origins, Turkey is one of the countries where the most research on the Qur'an has been conducted. However, the fact that the studies and contributions will be gain a more important place in the international arena, the articles written about Qur'an in Turkey be addressed in various aspects in this article. For this purpose, the (...) articles have been classified firstly by the contents. Thus, it has been questioned which topics have been researched much and which ones have been researched relatively less. Secondly, the article also aims to determine how many articles composed about Qur'an in an interdisciplinary manner. And the numerical changes of the articles are also examined yearly. In addition, the number of articles related with Qur'an and written in a language except for Turkish is also determined in the article. Based on that, some evaluations are made about these articles and their authors. Finally, some formal, contextual and scientific procedural errors in the articles written about Qur'an have been examined, and it has been investigated whether there have been ethical violations in the articles or not. Lastly, various suggestions to eliminate the deficiencies, have been suggested. Since the excessive increase in the number of articles after 2015 made the research difficult, the determinations in the article are limited to the articles between 1930 and 2015. (shrink)

This study combines quantitative content and qualitative production analysis of two television news programs in Flanders to investigate the impact of a Charter of Diversity on the portrayal of ethnic minorities. Findings of interviews with news production and ethnic minority experts show the ineffectiveness of a Diversity Charter not implemented at the heart of the newsroom. It seems unable to have an impact on journalists' media literacy and social capital, on the discursive structure of the news or (...) characteristics of the production process itself – all more decisive factors in minority reporting. These findings are confirmed by the results of content analysis showing no gradual improvement of ethnic minority portrayal in a newscast produced under a Diversity Charter compared to news produced under no such Charter – both showing little changes in ethnic minority reporting. (shrink)

As the field of clinical ethics consultation sets standards and moves forward with the Quality Attestation process, questions should be raised about what ethical issues really do arise in practice. There is limited data on the type and number of ethics consultations conducted across different settings. At Loyola University Medical Center, we conducted a retrospective review of our ethics consultations from 2008 through 2013. One hundred fifty-six cases met the eligibility criteria. We analyzed demographic data on these patients and conducted (...) a content analysis of the ethics consultation write-ups coding both the frequency of ethical issues and most significant, or key, ethical issue per case. Patients for whom ethics consultation was requested were typically male, white, between 50 and 69 years old, of non-Hispanic origin, and of Roman Catholic faith. Nearly half were in the intensive care unit and 44.2 % died in the hospital. The most frequent broad ethical categories were decision-making, goals of care/treatment, and end-of-life. More specifically, capacity, patient’s wishes/autonomy, and surrogate decision maker were the most frequent particular ethical issues. The most common key ethical issues were withdrawing/withholding treatment, patient wishes/autonomy, and capacity. Our findings provide additional data to inform the training of clinical ethics consultants regarding the ethical issues that arise in practice. A wider research agenda should be formed to collect and compare data across institutions to improve education and training in our field. (shrink)

The current technical report presents the partial results of the quantitative analysis of the research project, after the review of 247 gambling websites. It is focused on and discusses the usage of the math terms specific to gambling in the reviewed sample. In particular, the fifth technical report discusses the usage of math terms associated with the game of slots, as found in the reviewed sample.

We describe the ongoing citations to biomedical articles affected by scientific misconduct, and characterize the papers that cite these affected articles. The citations to 102 articles named in official findings of scientific misconduct during the period of 1993 and 2001 were identified through the Institute for Scientific Information Web of Science database. Using a stratified random sampling strategy, we performed a content analysis of 603 of the 5,393 citing papers to identify indications of awareness that the cited articles (...) affected by scientific misconduct had validity issues, and to examine how the citing papers referred to the affected articles. Fewer than 5% of citing papers indicated any awareness that the cited article was retracted or named in a finding of misconduct. We also tested the hypothesis that affected articles would have fewer citations than a comparison sample; this was not supported. Most articles affected by misconduct were published in basic science journals, and we found little cause for concern that such articles may have affected clinical equipoise or clinical care. (shrink)

Few institutions have published reviews concerning the case consultation history of their ethics committees, and policies used by ethics committees to address inappropriate treatment are infrequently reviewed. We sought to characterize the operation of our institution’s ethics committee as a representative example of a volunteer ethics committee, and outline its use of a policy to address inappropriate treatment, the Conscientious Practice Policy. Patients were identified for retrospective review from the ethics consultation database. Patient demographics, medical admission information, and consultation information (...) were obtained from the medical record. Consultation notes were analyzed with directed content analysis. The use of the CPP was documented in each case. Groups of interest were compared via two-sample t-tests. There were 178 consultations between 2013 and 2018. The majority originated from medicine services. The most common consultation reasons were end-of-life balances of acute and palliative care, best interest standard, medical futility, and code status and intubation status. Average age was 65.5 years and average hospitalization before consultation was 51.4 days. 92 patients had a code status change that occurred after consultation. A policy to address inappropriate treatment was used in 42 of the consultations. Bivariate analysis demonstrated a reduction in policy use over time, with use in 32.1% of consultations from 2013 to 2016 and 11.4% of consultations 2017–2018, p = 0.002. End-of-life issues were the most common reason for consultation. Our consultation volume was lower than previously-published reports. A policy used to address inappropriate treatment was frequently used, although use decreased over time. (shrink)

Based on evidence that learning new characters through handwriting leads to better recognition than learning through typing, some authors proposed that the graphic motor plans acquired through handwriting contribute to recognition. More recently two alternative explanations have been put forward. First, the advantage of handwriting could be due to the perceptual variability that it provides during learning. Second, a recent study suggests that detailed visual analysis might be the source of the advantage of handwriting over typing. Indeed, in that (...) study, handwriting and composition –a method requiring a detailed visual analysis but no specific graphomotor activity– led to equivalent recognition accuracy, both higher than typing. The aim of the present study was to assess whether the contribution of detailed visual analysis is observed in preschool children and to test the variability hypothesis. To that purpose, three groups of preschool children learned new symbols either by handwriting, typing, or composition. After learning, children performed first a four-alternative recognition task and then a categorization task. The same pattern of results as the one observed in adults emerged in the four-alternative recognition task, confirming the importance of the detailed visual analysis in letter-like shape learning. In addition, results failed to reveal any difference across learning methods in the categorization task. The latter results provide no evidence for the variability hypothesis which would predict better categorization after handwriting than after typing or composition. (shrink)

Journal of the History of Biology provides a fifty-year long record for examining the evolution of the history of biology as a scholarly discipline. In this paper, we present a new dataset and preliminary quantitative analysis of the thematic content of JHB from the perspectives of geography, organisms, and thematic fields. The geographic diversity of authors whose work appears in JHB has increased steadily since 1968, but the geographic coverage of the content of JHB articles remains (...) strongly lopsided toward the United States, United Kingdom, and western Europe and has diversified much less dramatically over time. The taxonomic diversity of organisms discussed in JHB increased steadily between 1968 and the late 1990s but declined in later years, mirroring broader patterns of diversification previously reported in the biomedical research literature. Finally, we used a combination of topic modeling and nonlinear dimensionality reduction techniques to develop a model of multi-article fields within JHB. We found evidence for directional changes in the representation of fields on multiple scales. The diversity of JHB with regard to the representation of thematic fields has increased overall, with most of that diversification occurring in recent years. Drawing on the dataset generated in the course of this analysis, as well as web services in the emerging digital history and philosophy of science ecosystem, we have developed an interactive web platform for exploring the content of JHB, and we provide a brief overview of the platform in this article. As a whole, the data and analyses presented here provide a starting-place for further critical reflection on the evolution of the history of biology over the past half-century. (shrink)

PurposeCodes of ethics are important instruments in journalism, as they promote transparency and self-regulation of media, in addition to monitoring the quality of information. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the perceptions that Spanish journalists have of the effectiveness of codes of ethics and to evaluate the different personal and professional variables which condition this vision.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology used in the present study is based on quantitative content analysis using the survey technique. This technique makes it (...) possible to obtain empirical data on various key aspects of the profession that are determining factors in ascertaining Spanish journalists’ views of one of the instruments of accountability that is external to the media: general ethical codes.FindingsThe results show that Spanish journalists are largely confident in the effectiveness of ethical codes in their profession. Likewise, it was seen that variables such as age, professional experience or the media with which they work influence the perceptions that professionals have of such instruments.Originality/valueIf understanding journalism as a profession whose mission is to guarantee the citizens their right to information, then it is essential to be familiar with the tools provided by the profession itself to be accountable to the public regarding this professional mission. Hence the importance of instruments of accountability and the perceptions of the professionals themselves regarding their effectiveness. (shrink)

Populism is on the rise, especially in Western Europe. While it is often assumed that populist actors have a tendency for fallacious reasoning, this has not been systematically investigated. We analyze the use of informal fallacies by right-wing populist politicians and their representation in the media during election campaigns. We conduct a quantitative content analysis of press releases of right-wing populist parties and news articles in print media during the most recent elections in the United Kingdom and (...) Switzerland in 2015. The results show that fallacies are used in more than a third of all analyzed texts and overwhelmingly co-occur with populist key messages. Moreover, fallacies occur more often in populist parties’ press releases than in news articles and are more common in Switzerland compared to the United Kingdom. This study confirms the argument that populist actors use fallacies in combination with populist claims. (shrink)

Research regarding ethics programs represents an important segment of business ethics literature. In the last thirty years, scientific discourse on ethics programs has flourished. Numerous studies examined their functions, composition, application in organizational practice, and impact on employee ethical behavior and many other organizational variables. However, so far there has been no study that would comprehensively map this particular field. Given that, this paper aims to examine discourse on ethics programs in its complexity within business and management literature. Based on (...) a sophistically composed search protocol in the Scopus database, and after multiple rounds of checks, we extracted a final sample of 287 documents that matched the selection criteria. The sample was thoroughly analyzed by means of advanced bibliometric analytics tools. The results show the quantitative impact of ethics program literature via publication and citation metrics, a network of co-occurring themes and clusters of scientific inquiry, and the evolution of respective discourse over time. This detailed analysis results in a set of conclusions provided in the last part of the paper summarizing the quantitative performance and thematic scope of literature on ethics programs. (shrink)

Scholars have proposed a number of courses and programs intended to improve the ethical behavior of scientists in an attempt to maintain the integrity of the scientific enterprise. In the present study, we conducted a quantitative meta-analysis based on 26 previous ethics program evaluation efforts, and the results showed that the overall effectiveness of ethics instruction was modest. The effects of ethics instruction, however, were related to a number of instructional program factors, such as course content and (...) delivery methods, in addition to factors of the evaluation study itself, such as the field of investigator and criterion measure utilized. An examination of the characteristics contributing to the relative effectiveness of instructional programs revealed that more successful programs were conducted as seminars separate from the standard curricula rather than being embedded in existing courses. Furthermore, more successful programs were case based and interactive, and they allowed participants to learn and practice the application of real-world ethical decision-making skills. The implications of these findings for future course development and evaluation are discussed. (shrink)

In the digital age, many corporations communicate with their publics via online channels. Among many channels, a corporation’s official Web site is often used for informing publics of its performance and other corporate-related information and for shaping a positive corporate image. This study quantitatively analyzed corporate Web sites, particularly the “About us” Web pages of Fortune 500 corporations based on symbolic convergence theory, which describes the formation of symbolic reality and the shared meaning of that symbolic reality among the public. (...) A content analysis revealed that economic corporate management was the dominant rhetorical vision, and the fantasy, in the context of SCT, of being a superior company was emphasized by the 500 examined corporations. Such symbolic reality was constructed using corresponding structural tools of Web content, such as dramatis personae, plot line, and scene. In addition, the rhetorical vision and fantasy themes created by the Web sites turned out to be contingent on business classifications. Companies that pursued other types of fantasy themes and rhetorical visions were also identified. Some suggestions for corporate communicators are provided based on the results of this analysis. (shrink)

Faculty journals are one of the necessary platforms for qualified academic production. Since 2018, the number of the published journals of theology faculty has reached 56. The purpose of this study is to analyze the articles on religious education published at journals of theology faculty between 1925 and 2017 by virtue of the used research methods such as qualitative and quantitative, and numerical distribution according to the journals, subject area diversity, scientific research methods used, contributions of different science branches, (...) number of author and foreign language writing. Research is a type of descriptive and cross-sectional screening based on document analysis and content analysis. There are 604 articles on religious education published in journal of theology faculty. According to the results of the research, the religious education articles have a very wide subject network and the majority of the articles are the theoretical studies. Research is important in terms of revealing the current state of published works on religious education.SummaryReligious education is quite old as the practice, but as a scientific discipline is an area that can be considered new in Turkey. However, it should be noted that religious education has left behind a process that lasts nearly 40 years and has been making a rapid progress towards becoming a scientific discipline. In Turkey, the first journal of the Republican period in theology is The Journal of Dârü'l-Fünûn Faculty of Theology. it published 25 issues until 1933 in which the Dârü’l-fünûn Faculty of Theology ended its education. In this research, covering the 92-year period between 1925-2017, articles on religious education published in the journals of the faculty of theology have been evaluated by document analysis and content analysis. During the research, databases of all theology journals were examined through their web pages. There are 604 articles on religious education published in journals of theology faculty. There are only a limited number of studies in the literature that subject the articles in the field of religious education to assessment. The most relevant one to this research is the article by Kaymakcan and Ünsal about the religious education published in the journals of the theology faculty in 1952-2003. A total of 213 articles published in 18 journals of faculties were listed in alphabetical order.The purpose of this study is to analyze the religious education articles published at journals of theology faculty between 1925 and 2017 by virtue of the used research method such as qualitative and quantitative, and numerical distribution according to the journals, subject area diversity, scientific research methods used, contributions of different science branches, number of author and foreign language writing. Research is a type of descriptive and cross-sectional screening based on document analysis and content analysis. The scope of the research is limited to 57 faculties. All articles of all academicians working / had worked in main science branch of religious education were included in the research. In addition, articles of title of religious education / religious teaching which were written by academicians from other fields were also included in the study.The evaluation process of the published articles on religious education in the journals of theology faculty from 1925 to 2017 is divided into three parts. The first is the period from 1925 to 1980. In this period, a total of 17 articles have been published and each year an average of 0.3 percent of articles. The second part is between the years 1995 and 1995 when the new divinity magazines began to be published. In this process, 55 religious education articles were published in the journals of the faculty of theology. In this period, the average number of articles per year is 3,4. The third part is from 1996 to the present. In this period, a total of 532 articles were published and the average of articles per year was 24. One of the results of the study is that the articles on religious education published in the journals of the Faculty of Theology have a wide range of topics. When the subject classification of the articles is examined, it can be seen that the articles are divided into 10 main subject / problem areas. Foundations of religious Education history of religious education, formal religious education, common religious education, informal religious education, ethics and values education, education based on religion, development and religious education, religious education in the countries, person surveys are from these main subject areas. Formal religious education is the area where the most articles are produced (189 article). When we look into the faculty journals the most studies were published in the Journal of Faculty of Theology of Ankara University with 86 articles. With 59 articles Uludag, with 52 articles 19 May, with 51 articles The Republican Journal of Theology follow Ankara University Faculty of Theology Journal. 65% of the articles (368) were written based on the literature review method. 23% of the articles were quantitative, 10% were qualitative and 2% had mixed methods. The number of articles using the qualitative method is 54 and the number of articles using the hash method is 14. According to the academic studies of the authors, the distribution of articles related to religious education is given. According to this, religious education branch constitutes 85% of all articles with 510 articles. 15% of them are composed of 89 articles which are contributed by 23 branches such as theology, philosophy, sociology, literature, educational sciences, and social services. When we look at the distribution of the articles according to the academic study areas of their authors, it is revealed that the science of religious education has an interdisciplinary aspect. It seems that there is an article level contribution to the field of religious education from almost every discipline in theology. When we analyze the articles about religious education published in the faculty of theology journals in terms of the number of authors, it is seen that only 43 of the 604 articles were carried out by more than one researcher. Of the 43 articles with more than one author, 8 were theoretical and the other 35 used empirical methods. When we look at the publication of the articles published in the journals of Theology Faculty in foreign languages, only 12 articles were published in foreign languages. This ratio corresponds to 2%. 7 of the 12 articles were published in German, 4 in English and one in Arabic. According to the results of the study, the rate of writing in a foreign language on the religious education is clearly insufficient. These two problems not only belong to the field of religious education, but also to all the disciplines of theology. In particular, production of articles in foreign languages is obvious that pose a problem for all academic fields in Turkey. In this issue, individual and institutional developments are highly needed. (shrink)

SummaryThe salience of mediated scandals today is deeply linked with the formation of norms and values in our society. This is a particular challenge for the field of sport as the compliance with norms and values is of particular relevance in this social area. The paper shows the extent of scandalization in sport reporting and discusses possible implications for sport. Therefore, it offers a definition and typology for sport scandals. It indicates why sport scandals might have a fundamental share of (...) overall scandal reporting today in comparison to other fields of society. The paper further emphasizes content-related aspects such as celebrity status, sport discipline and type of sport scandal. In the empirical portion, a quantitative content analysis of all reported scandals in three German newspapers over a period of one year is provided. Implications of the findings for athletes, organizations, and society are discussed. (shrink)

We carried out a systematic review of psycholinguistic, empirical, quantitative studies on verbal irony use and individual differences (i.e. psychological, not demographic, traits that significantly differentiate individuals). Out of 5,967 publications screened, 29, comprising 35 studies in total, were included. Following a qualitative content analysis, six thematic clusters were identified, representing areas of research in individual differences in irony use: (a) psychological well-being, (b) personality traits, (c) humor-related traits, (d) cultural factors, (e) social skills, and (f) cognitive (...) factors. The results of the studies in each cluster are summarized and conclusions for further research are presented. In particular, the systematic review suggests that irony and sarcasm should be clearly delineated as separate, yet related phenomena due to differing patterns of correlations with specific individual differences. Additionally, significant methodological heterogeneity between the studies suggests the need for greater standardization of irony use measures. (shrink)

In recent years, digital tools, such as WhatsApp, have been increasingly deployed to support group interaction and collaboration in higher education contexts. To understand contemporary, digitally-mediated collaborative dynamics – including the role played by tutors and the situated nature of group development – robust and innovative methodologies are needed. In this paper, we illustrate how integrating qualitative methods with quantitative tools used in qualitative ways makes it possible to trace how tutors adapt their style to support group development, which (...) in turn triggers student development in a circular and responsive process. To make visible this contemporary phenomenon, we combine thematic content analysis – a qualitative tool – with a quantitative method: Social Network Analysis. Drawing on data generated by two WhatsApp learning groups in research exploring the collaborative construction of boundary objects in a master’s level “E-learning Psychology” course, we suggest that our methodological approach has the potential to support interrogation of complex and dynamic digitally-mediated group interactions. Our results show the situational nature of an effective tutorship style through its complex adaptation to learners’ maturity, digital tools, and learning goals. (shrink)

Emergence of the novel pathogenic coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2 and its rapid pandemic spread presents challenges that demand immediate attention. Here, we describe the development of a semi‐quantitative high‐content microscopy‐based assay for detection of three major classes (IgG, IgA, and IgM) of SARS‐CoV‐2 specific antibodies in human samples. The possibility to detect antibodies against the entire viral proteome together with a robust semi‐automated image analysis workflow resulted in specific, sensitive and unbiased assay that complements the portfolio of SARS‐CoV‐2 serological (...) assays. Sensitive, specific and quantitative serological assays are urgently needed for a better understanding of humoral immune response against the virus as a basis for developing public health strategies to control viral spread. The procedure described here has been used for clinical studies and provides a general framework for the application of quantitative high‐throughput microscopy to rapidly develop serological assays for emerging virus infections. (shrink)

Respondents from Austria (N = 146) and the Czech Republic (N = 165) noted down their experiences with people from their neighbouring country and their attitudes to their own country and the neighbouring nation on feeling thermometers. The quantitative content analysis and qualitative critical discourse-inspired analysis of the open statements focused on the role of language in the construction of Czech-Austrian relations. Using qualitative analysis we enquired as to which themes were intertwined with the topic (...) of language, and as to the ways in which the participants perceived themselves, the Others, behind the border, and the relations between the two sides. We looked not only into what participants said but also how they said it. Using statistical analysis we tested the link between language-related topics in the descriptions of intergroup contact and the evaluation of the neighbouring nation as a whole. Throughout the article we compare the findings obtained by the two kinds of analysis and comment on (dis)agreement as well as on the (dis)advantages of both approaches. (shrink)

The present study investigated the viewpoints of visitors and their experiences with al-Qarawiyyin as conveyed through Google Reviews. The study aimed to determine the primary aspects that underlie the visitors’ experiences at al-Qarawiyyin and to examine these experiences through sentiment. This research examined both quantitative ratings and qualitative comments. The reviews were obtained from Google by utilizing the Google Review Downloader tool. The reviews underwent content analysis in order to categorize them into distinct aspects or categories. Subsequently, (...) a sentiment analysis was performed to ascertain positive, negative, and neutral viewpoints about the institution. The results unveiled seven key aspects pertaining to visitor experiences: access, education, facilities, general aspects, location, national and international heritage, and serenity. The categories of national and international heritage, as well as facilities, were given greater emphasis, while the category of location received comparatively less attention. Based on the examination of star ratings and sentiment, it can be inferred that the majority of visitors were satisfied with their experience at al-Qarawiyyin. Nevertheless, the aspect that garnered the bulk of one-two-star ratings and negative reviews was the access category. The results of this study carry significant implications for scholarly investigations in the fields of higher education and tourism. (shrink)

Quantitative studies have assessed nurses’ attitudes toward and frequency of spiritual care [SC] and which factors are of influence on this attitude and frequency. However, we had doubts about the construct validity of the scales used in these studies. Our objective was to evaluate scales measuring nursing SC. Articles about the development and psychometric evaluation of SC scales have been identified, using, Web of Science, and CINAHL, and evaluated with respect to the psychometric properties and item content of (...) the scales. Item content was evaluated by each of the five authors with respect to the following questions: Does the item (1) reflect a general opinion about SC instead of a personal willingness to offer SC; (2) reflect general psychosocial care instead of specific SC; (3) focus solely on religious care; (4) contain the words ‘spiritual’ (care/needs/health/strengths, etc.); and (5) contain multiple propositions, or have an unclear meaning? We found eight scales. Psychometric analysis of these scales was often meager and the items of all but one scale suffered from two or more of the five problems described above. This leads us to conclude that many quantitative results in this area are based on findings with questionable scales. Suggestions for improvements are provided. (shrink)

This paper explores by means of content analysis the extent to which the Finnish biggest companies have adapted socially responsible reporting practices. The research focuses on Human Resource (HR) reporting and covers corporate annual reports. The criteria has been set on the basis of the analysis of the documents published at the European level in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR), paying special attention to the European Council appeal on CSR in March 2000. As CSR is (...) a relatively new concept in Finland, the paper also contributes to the discussion on interface between HR reporting (especially as based on measurements such as Human Resource Accounting and Intellectual Capital schools) and corporate social reporting practices. The results of the content analysis indicate that social reporting practices are still at an early stage of development in Finland. The most reported theme was ‘training and staff development’. A positive sign was that the majority also disclosed themes ‘participation and staff involvement’ and ‘employee health and well-being’. Furthermore, nearly one-third made references to their work atmosphere or job satisfaction survey. However, disclosures lacked overall consistency and comparability with each other and especially quantitative indicators were disclosed by few. Further concern was lack of information related to the theme equal opportunities and going beyond a sheer disclosure of age or gender structure. The other issues rarely disclosed were those related to employee work–life balance and integration of disadvantaged groups in the labour markets. (shrink)

En la carrera de medicina se evidencia desmotivación del estudiante hacia el aprendizaje del contenido estadístico y la presencia del estrés académico que genera este contenido que se imparte en la asignatura Metodología de la Investigación y Estadística. En el trabajo se diseña una estrategia didáctica para la disminución del estrés académico en los alumnos de segundo año de la carrera de medicina. Se realizó un estudio pre-experimental, con análisis cuanti-cualitativo. La muestra estuvo conformada por los 43 estudiantes del grupo (...) A1 y B4, a los cuales se les aplicó un inventario de estrés académico y una entrevista. Como parte del proceso de experimentación se aplicaron diferentes técnicas participativas enfocadas a la enseñanza aprendizaje del contenido estadístico. Para procesar los datos se utilizó el programa SPSS. Finalmente se pudo concluir que la aplicación de técnicas participativas contribuye a minimizar el estrés académico hacia el contenido. Some evidence is found of lack of motivation towards the learning of statistic contents in the medical studies as well as the presence of academic stress generated by this content taught through the Methodology of Research subject. This paper presents a didactic strategy to diminish the academic stress suffered by second year medical students. A pre- experimental study was carried out with a quantitative-qualitative analysis. The sample was made up of forty- three students from the A1-B4 group. An academic stress inventory was applied and an interview was conducted. Different participative techniques focused on the statistic teaching learning process were used during the experimental process. The SPSS program was chosen to process data. The authors concluded by saying that the application of participative techniques contributes to minimize the academic stress towards the contents. (shrink)

Blumenthal-Barby and her colleagues (2022) situate their discussion of philosophy and bioethics in the context of (reportedly) widely held assumption that, when compared to the early days of bioethics, the role of philosophy is now diminished across the field – the assumption we call the Disconnection Thesis. This assumption can be summarized, to use the authors’ own words, by the phrase “philosophy’s glory days in bioethics are over“. While in no place of the article they explicitly endorse the Disconnection Thesis, (...) at least some of the authors had previously endorsed it in print (Savulescu 2015). Such expressions of collective expert wisdom might be a valuable source of information on the discipline's history, but they should not be accepted uncritically. Given the explosion in the size and scope of bioethical research in recent decades, any scholar’s familiarity with the area is necessarily based on selective reading and might be biased. Hence, in this commentary, we examine what kind of more rigorous evidence could corroborate the Disconnection Thesis. In other words, if the role of philosophy in bioethics has been indeed diminishing, what kind of observable patterns should we expect to see? Drawing on our previous research (Bystranowski, Dranseika, Żuradzki 2022), here we focus on two useful perspectives: citation analysis and topic modeling. While the first approach allows us to indirectly measure the level of engagement of bioethicists with philosophical literature (by measuring the proportion of references from articles published in journals in bioethics that cite philosophy journals), the latter provides a window into the content and argumentative style of bioethical texts. (shrink)

_The present study delves into the sentiment analysis of Pakistani youth towards TikTok influencers, employing a mixed-methods research design. The data for the present study was collected using a questionnaire consisting of both open-ended and closed-ended items. The data was collected from Pakistani youth ranging from 15 to 30 years of age (timespan was from February 2023 to September 2023). The sample of the study were 300 Pakistani youth, comprising 41.1% males and 58.9% females. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (...) (SPSS-v20) was employed for descriptive statistics and Chi-Square test on quantitative data. While for sentiment analysis of qualitative data Azure Machine Learning add-on was used in Microsoft Excel for polarity categorization of sentiments. Chi-Square statistics revealed that the relationship between age group and following TikTok influencers was statistically significant (p=0.010) while there was no significant correlation between gender and following TikTok influencers (p= 0.421). While the qualitative analysis of the data i.e., content analysis revealed a wide spectrum of emotions and sentiments among the respondents, showcasing a varied significance of the TikTok influencers in shaping their thoughts, perceptions, and worldviews. The study offers both qualitative and quantitative insights to inform ongoing research in the realm of digital culture._. (shrink)

Richard Levins has advocated the scientific merits of qualitative modeling throughout his career. He believed an excessive and uncritical focus on emulating the models used by physicists and maximizing quantitative precision was hindering biological theorizing in particular. Greater emphasis on qualitative properties of modeled systems would help counteract this tendency, and Levins subsequently developed one method of qualitative modeling, loop analysis, to study a wide variety of biological phenomena. Qualitative modeling has been criticized for being conceptually and methodologically (...) problematic. As a clear example of a qualitative modeling method, loop analysis shows this criticism is indefensible. The method has, however, some serious limitations. This paper describes loop analysis, its limitations, and attempts to clarify the differences between quantitative and qualitative modeling, in content and objective. Loop analysis is but one of numerous types of qualitative analysis, so its limitations do not detract from the currently underappreciated and underdeveloped role qualitative modeling could have within science. (shrink)

The main objective of this article is to analyze the cognitive level of the activities in History textbooks in Spain, England, and Portugal in the transition stage from Primary to Secondary Education (11–13 years), according to the country of origin, typology, and the concepts and disciplinary contents included. The design of this research is quantitative, descriptive, and cross-sectional. The non-probabilistic sample consists of 6,561 activities contained in 27 school textbooks from Spain, England, and Portugal. Descriptive and contrast analyses have (...) been carried out using parametric tests. The results indicate that textbooks from Spain and Portugal mainly include activities situated between a basic and intermediate cognitive level while in England, the cognitive level of activities is medium or high. The ANOVA and TukeyBtests show significant differences between the cognitive level required in the activities and the typology of exercises, the concepts, and historical contents worked on. The activities with higher cognitive level correspond to those of creation and essays, the exercises that work on empathy and historical relevance, and that contain activities of social and economic history. In contrast, the activities with the lowest cognitive level are short questions and objective tests, those that work on first-order concepts (data and concrete facts), and those on the History of Art. The conclusion is that there is a need for a balanced presence of first-order content and historical thinking skills, the application in the classroom of a more active student-centered methodology, and the teachers’ conception of history teaching that prioritizes historical skills. (shrink)

College English teaching aims to cultivate students' comprehensive ability to use English. The study of spoken English barriers is a hot topic in this subject area. Based on a survey of non-English primary college students' spoken language impairments, this paper analyzes the research status of spoken language impairments at home and abroad. It relies upon the theoretical basis of Swain's output and Krashen's input hypotheses. With extensive data mining in colleges and universities as the entry point, this paper's content, (...) object, and method are determined by combining qualitative and quantitative research with empirical research. Through the combination of classroom observations, questionnaires, interviews, and other research forms, this paper concludes that the spoken language barriers of non-English primary college students include language and non-language barriers. The influencing factors of the spoken language output barriers include subjective and objective aspects. The questionnaires are analyzed from the three dimensions of the students, schools, and education departments. This paper proposes some ways to overcome the spoken English barriers of non-English college students. It also suggests that non-English college teachers should pay more attention to the cultural transmission of English-speaking countries in English classes, cultivate students' cross-cultural awareness, and enhance students' enthusiasm in English learning. These actions are more conducive to overcoming the psychological barriers in spoken English output. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to investigate the impact neoliberalism has in shaping the discourse of the European Union’s policy of Lifelong Learning. The literature review initially presents the theoretical framework of neoliberalism as the dominant ideological and economic paradigm of our time. Thereafter, it takes a view on how neoliberalism perceives the four objectives of the European Union’s Lifelong Learning policy, namely employability/adaptability, personal fulfillment, social inclusion, and active citizenship. Through the analysis of European Commission’s policy documents (...) on Lifelong Learning, this article explores whether these objectives, with focus on social inclusion and active citizenship, can be realized within the ideological, political, and economic framework set by the neoliberal paradigm. The data underwent Qualitative Analysis using the methods of Critical Discourse Analysis and Qualitative Content Analysis as well as Quantitative Analysis of textual data. The results indicate that only employability and adaptability seem to be compatible with the neoliberal rhetoric since the flexible and adaptable employee better serves the needs of the markets. The role neoliberalism holds for the individual is that of the consumer, product user, and voter. Therefore, the non-economic objectives of Lifelong Learning cannot be equally developed as they constitute the complete antithesis of neoliberalism’s basic principles. (shrink)

​This contributed volume gives access to semiotic researches adopting a quantitative stance. European semiotics is traditionally based on immanent methodologies: meaning is seen as an autonomous dimension of human existence, whose laws can be investigated via purely qualitative analytical and reflexive analysis. Today, researches crossing disciplinary boundaries reveal the limitations of such an homogeneous practice. In particular, two families of quantitative research strategies can be identified. On the one hand, researchers wish to naturalize meaning, by making semiotic (...) results interact with those coming from Neurophysiological and psychological sciences. On the other hand, statistical and computational tools are adopted to work on linguistic and multimedia corpora. The book acts to put the two approaches into dialogue. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to examine the usefulness of spirituality and aesthetics for generating new perspectives and understandings with regard to business ethics. Using an interpretive mixed-methods approach, data were collected through an online survey of 223 respondents and focus group interviews with 20 participants. Analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data suggests that the presence of aesthetic spirituality and religious spirituality, along with the factors of optimism, contentment, making a difference and interconnectedness, are significantly associated (...) with ethical practice in the workplace. These factors may be focused upon when considering the ethical climate of organizations. Although this research does not support universal conclusions, the relationship between ethics, spirituality and aesthetics identified in the Australian services sector might be replicated elsewhere. (shrink)

Through statistical analysis of datasets describing single cell shape following systematic gene depletion, we have found that the morphological landscapes explored by cells are composed of a small number of attractor states. We propose that the topology of these landscapes is in large part determined by cell‐intrinsic factors, such as biophysical constraints on cytoskeletal organization, and reflects different stable signaling and/or transcriptional states. Cell‐extrinsic factors act to determine how cells explore these landscapes, and the topology of the landscapes themselves. (...) Informational stimuli primarily drive transitions between stable states by engaging signaling networks, while mechanical stimuli tune, or even radically alter, the topology of these landscapes. As environments fluctuate, the topology of morphological landscapes explored by cells dynamically adapts to these fluctuations. Finally we hypothesize how complex cellular and tissue morphologies can be generated from a limited number of simple cell shapes. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to examine the usefulness of spirituality and aesthetics for generating new perspectives and understandings with regard to business ethics. Using an interpretive mixed‐methods approach, data were collected through an online survey of 223 respondents and focus group interviews with 20 participants. Analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data suggests that the presence of aesthetic spirituality and religious spirituality, along with the factors of optimism, contentment, making a difference and interconnectedness, are significantly associated (...) with ethical practice in the workplace. These factors may be focused upon when considering the ethical climate of organizations. Although this research does not support universal conclusions, the relationship between ethics, spirituality and aesthetics identified in the Australian services sector might be replicated elsewhere. (shrink)

Over the past two decades there has been a great deal of research conducted into the question of gender differences in ethical decision making in organisations. Much of this has been based on questionnaire surveys, typically asking respondents (often students, sometimes professionals) to judge the moral acceptability of actions as described in short cases or vignettes. Overall the results seem inconclusive, although what differences have been noted tend to show women as ‘more ethical’ than men. The authors of this paper (...) believe that attention should be paid to the insight, from Carol Gilligan and others, that women are more inclined than men to subscribe to an ‘ethic of care’, and that once this perspective is adopted a pattern is discernible. In a critical examination of previous research we pay particular attention to the detailed content of cases used in surveys, and the statistical analysis of findings. We advocate greater reflection on the results of quantitative surveys and sensitivity to different possible interpretations of findings. This we do with our own exploratory study, conducted with UK undergraduate students of accounting, the findings from which seem to support the original hypothesis that where a ‘care’ orientation is invited, women do indeed react differently to business ethics issues than do men. (shrink)