Showing papers on "Conceptualization published in 2001"

Nature and Operation of Attitudes

Abstract: This survey of attitude theory and research published between 1996 and 1999 covers the conceptualization of attitude, attitude formation and activation, attitude structure and function, and the attitude-behavior relation. Research regarding the expectancy-value model of attitude is considered, as are the roles of accessible beliefs and affective versus cognitive processes in the formation of attitudes. The survey reviews research on attitude strength and its antecedents and consequences, and covers progress made on the assessment of attitudinal ambivalence and its effects. Also considered is research on automatic attitude activation, attitude functions, and the relation of attitudes to broader values. A large number of studies dealt with the relation between attitudes and behavior. Research revealing additional moderators of this relation is reviewed, as are theory and research on the link between intentions and actions. Most work in this context was devoted to issues raised by the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior. The present review highlights the nature of perceived behavioral control, the relative importance of attitudes and subjective norms, the utility of adding more predictors, and the roles of prior behavior and habit.

Some New Thoughts on Conceptualizing Perceived Service Quality: A Hierarchical Approach:

Abstract: Through qualitative and empirical research, the authors find that the service quality construct conforms to the structure of a third-order factor model that ties service quality perceptions to distinct and actionable dimensions: outcome, interaction, and environmental quality. In turn, each has three subdimensions that define the basis of service quality perceptions. The authors further suggest that for each of these subdimensions to contribute to improved service quality perceptions, the quality received by consumers must be perceived to be reliable, responsive, and empathetic. The authors test and support this conceptualization across four service industries. They consider the research and managerial implications of the study and its limitations.

Cultural distance revisited: Towards a more rigorous conceptualization and measurement of cultural differences

Abstract: Cultural distance is a widely used construct in international business, where it has been applied to foreign investment expansion, entry mode choice, and the performance of foreign invested affiliates, among others. The present paper presents a critical review of the cultural distance construct, outlining its hidden assumptions and challenging its theoretical and methodological properties. A comprehensive framework for the treatment of the construct is developed and concrete steps aimed at enhancing rigor are delineated.

Evolutionary origins of stigmatization: the functions of social exclusion.

Abstract: A reconceptualization of stigma is presented that changes the emphasis from the devaluation of an individual's identity to the process by which individuals who satisfy certain criteria come to be excluded from various kinds of social interactions. The authors propose that phenomena currently placed under the general rubric of stigma involve a set of distinct psychological systems designed by natural selection to solve specific problems associated with sociality. In particular, the authors suggest that human beings possess cognitive adaptations designed to cause them to avoid poor social exchange partners, join cooperative groups (for purposes of between-group competition and exploitation), and avoid contact with those who are differentially likely to carry communicable pathogens. The evolutionary view contributes to the current conceptualization of stigma by providing an account of the ultimate function of stigmatization and helping to explain its consensual nature.

Clarifying a contested concept: Populism in the study of Latin American politics

Abstract: Social scientists commonly encounter concepts that are unclear and contested. Authors inspired by competing theories emphasize different attributes from a complex set of defining characteristics. These differences in intension produce differences in extension as scholars apply the same term to divergent sets of cases. Therefore, it is unclear how one author's findings apply to the cases delimited by another's different definition. Conceptual disagreements thus hinder the cumulation of knowledge. Indeed, scholars can shield their arguments from criticism by attributing discordant results to definitional differences. Due to the lack of conceptual agreement, authors "talk past each other" and avoid addressing counterarguments. The resulting fragmentation obstructs debate and criticism, the engines of scholarly progress.' A particularly confusing concept is populism. Scholars have diverged not only over its specific attributes, but also over its primary domain. Should populism be defined in political, social, economic, and/or discursive terms? Due to these conceptual disagreements, a wide variety of governments, parties, movements, leaders, and policies has been labeled populist, and scholars have found populism to have radically divergent characteristics.2 To flee from this confusion, some authors have advocated abandoning the concept.3 But the scholarly community has refused to follow these calls. Instead, in the last decade studies of populism have thrived.4 Evidently, many authors continue to regard populism as a useful, even indispensable, concept in elucidating Latin American politics. This article therefore applies a different approach, inspired by Sartori's "guidelines for concept analysis."5 It seeks to clarify the meaning of populism and to propose a new definition. To place the debate in a systematic context, it first distinguishes different types of conceptualization. It then assesses the most useful type in clarifying populism. Finally, populism is systematically redefined by determining its domain and genus, clarifying its specific characteristics, and distinguishing two subtypes.

The ecology of medical care revisited.

Abstract: Since its publication in the Journal in 1961, “The Ecology of Medical Care,” by White et al.,1 has provided a framework for thinking about the organization of health care, medical education, and research (Figure 1). This conceptualization, inspired in part by careful reporting on the part of British general practitioners,2 suggested that in a population of 1000 adults, in an average month, 750 reported an illness, 250 consulted a physician, 9 were hospitalized, 5 were referred to another physician, and 1 was referred to a university medical center. These data have been used repeatedly by investigators, authors of textbooks, task . . .

An operationalization of Stevenson's conceptualization of entrepreneurship as opportunity-based firm behavior

Abstract: Stevenson (1983) holds that entrepreneurial management, defined as a set of opportunity-based management practices, can help firms remain vital and contribute to firm and societal level value creation. While his conceptualization has received much attention, little progress has been made because of a lack of empirical tools to examine his propositions. This article seeks to resolve this by describing a new instrument that was developed specifically for operationalizing Stevenson's conceptualization. After two pre-tests, the instrument was tested full scale on a very large (1200+ cases) stratified random sample of firms with different size, governance structure, and industry affiliation. The results show that both in the full sample and in various sub-samples it was possible to identify six sub-dimensions with high discriminant validity and moderate to high reliability, which represent dimensions of Stevenson's theoretical reasoning. We label these Strategic Orientation, Resource Orientation, Management Structure, Reward Philosophy, Growth Orientation and Entrepreneurial Culture. We were further able to show that these dimensions only partly overlap with ‘Entrepreneurial Orientation’, the hitherto best established empirical instrument for assessing a firm's degree of entrepreneurship. Our instrument should open up opportunities for researchers to further evaluate entrepreneurship in existing firms. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rethinking diversity in learning science: The logic of everyday sense‐making

Abstract: There are many ways to understand the gap in science learning and achievement separating low-income, ethnic minority and linguistic minority children from more economically privileged students. In this article we offer our perspective. First, we discuss in broad strokes how the relationship between everyday and scientific knowledge and ways of knowing has been conceptualized in the field of science education research. We consider two dominant perspectives on this question, one which views the relationship as fundamentally discontinuous and the other which views it as fundamentally continuous. We locate our own work within the latter tradition and propose a framework for understanding the everyday sense-making practices of students from diverse communities as an intellectual resource in science learning and teaching. Two case studies follow in which we elaborate this point of view through analysis of Haitian American and Latino students' talk and activity as they work to understand metamorphosis and experimentation, respectively. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this new conceptualization for research on science learning and teaching. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 529–552, 2001

An operationalization of Stevenson’s conceptualization of entrepreneurship as opportunity-based firm behavior

Abstract: Stevenson (1983) holds that entrepreneurial management, defined as a set of opportunity-based man-agement practices, can help firms remain vital and contribute to firm and societal level value creation. While his conceptualization has received much attention, little progress has been made because of a lack of empirical tools to examine his propositions. This article seeks to resolve this by describing a new instrument that was developed specifically for operationalizing Stevenson’s conceptualization. After two pre-tests, the instrument was tested full scale on a very large (1200+ cases) stratified random sample of firms with different size, governance struc-ture, and industry affiliation. The results show that both in the full sample and in various sub-samples it was pos-sible to identify six sub-dimensions with high discriminant validity and moderate to high reliability, which rep-resent dimensions of Stevenson’s theoretical reasoning. We label these Strategic Orientation, Resource Orienta-tion, Management Structure, Reward Philosophy, Growth Orientation and Entrepreneurial Culture. We were further able to show that these dimensions only partly overlap with ‘Entrepreneurial Orientation’, the hitherto best established empirical instrument for assessing a firm’s degree of entrepreneurship. Our instrument should open up opportunities for researchers to further evaluate entrepreneurship in existing firms.

What's in a Fashion? Interpretative Viability and Management Fashions

Abstract: Building and reacting on the most influential article on the topic, namely, `Management Fashion' by Abrahamson (Academy of Management Review 21(1), 1996), we propose that management fashions are best conceptualized as `the production and consumption of temporarily intensive management discourse, and the organizational changes induced by and associated with this discourse'. This conceptualization allows us to take account of `interpretative viability', a certain degree of ambiguity about a fashion `s content, and its consequences for the dynamics involved in the ongoing shaping and reshaping of a concept's connotations. Our arguments are illustrated by drawing on a variety of empirical work on Business Process Reengineering in the Netherlands.

Epistemic Modality, Language, and Conceptualization: A cognitive-pragmatic perspective

Abstract: The relationship between language and conceptualization remains one of the major puzzles in language research. This monograph addresses this issue by means of an in depth corpus based and experimental investigation of the major types of expressions of epistemic modality in Dutch, German and English. By adopting a systematic functional orientation, the book explains a whole range of peculiarities of epistemic expression forms (synchronically and diachronically), and it offers a clear perspective on which cognitive systems are needed to get from the concept of epistemic modality to its linguistic expression. On that basis the author postulates a sophisticated, layered view of human conceptualization. This book is of interest both to scholars working on modality and related semantic dimensions, and to the interdisciplinary field of researchers concerned with the cognitive systems involved in language use.

A synthesis of contemporary market orientation perspectives

Abstract: A great deal of attention has been devoted to the concept of market orientation in marketing academe and practice. Numerous perspectives have been proposed as researchers endeavor to conceptualize the market orientation construct and implement it in practice. Presents a conceptual framework that integrates five recently advanced perspectives on market orientation (Deshpande, Farley, and Webster; Kohli and Jaworski; Narver and Slater; Ruekert; Shapiro). The similarities and differences are reviewed and a synthesized conceptualization of market orientation is offered, followed by a discussion of market orientation as a managerial versus cultural phenomenon to achieving a competitive advantage.

CLARIFYING CONVERGENCE. Striking similarities and durable differences in public management reform

Abstract: Both academics and practitioners have disagreed among themselves about whether and to what extent the developed world is witnessing a convergence in the forms of public management. Some of this disagreement may be attributed to the formidable empirical problems facing those who wish to make global or near-global generalizations. To a considerable extent, however, the divergences of view may be attributed to a more subtle cause – an inadequate conceptualization of the notion of ‘convergence’ itself. This article sets out to remedy that deficiency by discussing ‘convergence’ and proposing a multi-layered definition of the concept. This approach carries with it the implication that different aspects of convergence require substantially different research strategies. It also holds out the probability that convergence and enduring difference can co-exist in one jurisdiction at one time – depending on the level at which the analysis is being conducted. The article concludes with a preliminary examination of the...

On the Substance of a Sophisticated Epistemology.

Abstract: Among researchers who study students' epistemologies, a consensus has emerged about what constitutes a sophisticated stance toward scientific knowledge. According to this community consensus, students should understand scientific knowledge as tentative and evolving, rather than certain and unchanging; subjectively tied to scientists' perspectives, rather than objectively inherent in nature; and individually or socially constructed, rather than discovered. Surveys, interview protocols, and other methods used to probe students' beliefs about scientific knowledge broadly reflect this outlook. This article questions the community consensus about epistemological sophistication. We do not suggest that scientific knowledge is objective and fixed; if forced to choose whether knowledge is certain or tentative, with no opportunity to elaborate, we would choose “tentative.” Instead, our critique consists of two lines of argument. First, the literature fails to distinguish between the correctness and productivity of an epistemological belief. For instance, elementary school students who believe that science is about discovering objective truths to questions, such as whether the earth is round or flat, or whether an asteroid led to the extinction of the dinosaurs, may be more likely to succeed in science than students who believe science is about telling stories that vary with one's perspective. Naive realism, although incorrect (according to a broad consensus of philosophers and social scientists), may nonetheless be productive for helping those students learn. Second, according to the consensus view as reflected in commonly used surveys, epistemological sophistication consists of believing certain blanket generalizations about the nature of knowledge and learning, generalizations that do not attend to context. These generalizations are neither correct nor productive. For example, it would be unsophisticated for students to view as tentative the idea that the earth is round rather than flat. By contrast, they should take a more tentative stance toward theories of mass extinction. Nonetheless, many surveys and interview protocols tally students as sophisticated not for attending to these contextual nuances, but for subscribing broadly to the view that knowledge is tentative. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed85:554–567, 2001.

Bridging Funds of Distributed Knowledge: Creating Zones of Practices in Mathematics

Abstract: The work in this article has a basis in a long-term research paradigm investigating the "funds of knowledge" of diverse populations. This conceptualization adopts an anthropological perspective for viewing the households of low-income and minority students as repositories of diverse knowledge bases. In the BRIDGE project, the focus has been on understanding the mathematical potential of households, as well as "mathematizing" household practices. The transformation of mathematical knowledge, however, has been somewhat problematic. Our experience until now indicates that, whereas other classroom knowledge domains (language arts, social studies, etc.) may draw in a rather straightforward fashion from households, mathematical knowledge may not be so easily incorporated. This article describes a theoretical refinement of the concept of funds of knowledge, and will endeavor to conceptualize the distributed nature of mathematical community capital.

Ontology versioning on the semantic web

Abstract: Ontologies are often seen as basic building blocks for the Semantic Web, as they provide a reusable piece of knowledge about a specific domain. However, those pieces of knowledge are not static, but evolve over time. Domain changes, adaptations to different tasks, or changes in the conceptualization require modifications of the ontology. The evolution of ontologies causes operability problems, which will hamper their effective reuse. A versioning mechanism might help to reduce those problems, as it will make the relations between different revisions of an ontology explicit. This paper will discuss the problem of ontology versioning. Inspired by the work done in database schema versioning and program interface versioning, it will also propose building blocks for the most important aspects of a versioning mechanism, i.e., ontology identification and change specification.

Discourse in Cognitive Grammar

Abstract: Cognitive Grammar presupposes an inherent and intimate relation between linguistic structures and discourse. Linguistic units are abstracted from usage events, retaining as part of their value any recurring facet of the interactive and discourse context. Linguistic structures thus incorporate discourse expectations and are interpretable as instructions to modify the current discourse state. There are multiple channels of conceptualization and vocalization, including the symbolization of attentional framing by intonation groups. An expression is produced and understood with respect to a presupposed discourse context, which shapes and supports its interpretation. Particular contextual applications of linguistic units become entrenched and conventionalized as new, augmented units. As discourse proceeds, conceptual structures are progressively built and modi®ed in accordance with the semantic poles of the expressions employed. While initially manifesting the speci®c conceptual structuring imposed by these expressions, the structures assembled undergo consolidation to re ect the intrinsic conceptual organization of the situations described. This conceptual organization has to be distinguished from grammatical constituency, which is exible, variable, and in no small measure determined by discourse considerations.

Sometimes It Just Feels Right: The Differential Weighting of Affect-Consistent and Affect-Inconsistent Product Information

Abstract: An affect-confirmation process is proposed to explain the conditions in which information that is similar in valence (i.e., evaluatively consistent) with a person's mood is weighted more heavily in product judgments. Specifically, the affect that participants experience as a result of a transitory mood state may appear to either confirm or disconfirm their reactions to product information, leading them to give this information more or less weight when evaluating the product as a whole. This affective confirmation typically occurs when hedonic criteria are considered more important in evaluation than utilitarian criteria. Four experiments confirmed implications of this conceptualization.

Reconsidering Prepositional Polysemy Networks: The Case of Over

Abstract: This article explores lexical polysemy through an in-depth examination of the English preposition over. Working within a cognitive linguistic framework, the present study illustrates the nonarbitrary quality of the mental lexicon and the highly creative nature of the human conceptual system. The analysis takes the following as basic: (1) human conceptualization is the product of embodied experience, that is, the kinds of bodies and neural architecture humans have, in conjunction with the nature of the spatio-physical world humans inhabit, determine human conceptual structure, and (2) semantic structure derives from and reflects conceptual structure. As humans interact with the world, they perceive recurring spatial configurations that become represented in memory as abstract, imagistic conceptualizations. We posit that each preposition is represented by a primary meaning, which we term a PROTOSCENE. The protoscene, in turn, interacts with a highly constrained set of cognitive principles to derive a set of additional distinct senses, forming a motivated semantic network. Previous accounts have failed to develop adequate criteria to distinguish between coding in formal linguistic expression and the nature of conceptualization, which integrates linguistic prompts in a way that is maximally coherent with and contingent upon sentential context and real-world knowledge. To this end, we put forward a methodology for identifying the protoscene and for distinguishing among distinct senses.

Academic Self-Handicapping: What We Know, What More There is to Learn

Abstract: Some students put off studying until the last minute, fool around the night before a test, and otherwise reduce effort so that if their subsequent performance is low, these circumstances will be seen as the cause rather than lack of ability. These strategies are called self-handicapping because they often undermine performance. In this paper, we begin with a definition of academic self-handicapping. Next, we review our research in which we used achievement goal theory as a framework for examining academic handicapping among elementary and middle school students. We discuss the implications of the recent conceptualization of approach and avoidance components of performance goals for handicapping. We conclude with a consideration of some potentially fruitful future directions for research on academic self-handicapping, focusing particularly on individual differences in handicapping, contextual influences, and the methods used to study handicapping.

Justice and the spatial imagination

Abstract: Introduction In an article published almost two decades ago, G H Pirie (1983, page 472) wrote: ``It would be a pity indeed if the busyness of political philosophers was to go completely unnoticed by spatial theorists and applied researchers. Equally, it would be a pity ... if this essay were to stand alone as a review of implications of that busyness.'' In that article, entitled On spatial justice'', Pirie reflected on the desirability and possibility of fashioning a concept of spatial justice from notions of social justice and territorial social justice'' (page 465). The present paper offers yet another reflection on the notion of justice as it relates to space and spatiality, to point to the ways in which various forms of injustice are manifest in the very process of spatialization, and the ways in which an increased awareness of the dialectical relationship between (in)justice and spatiality could make space a site of politics in fighting against injustice. As will become clear further through the text, the conceptualizations of both justice and space differ from the ways Pirie once viewed them. The paper is organized in five sections. The first section is a brief review of the geography literature which engages with the notion of justice, and serves to outline the theoretical position assumed in this paper. The second section provides an urban context in which a notion of spatial justice may be conceptualized. The third section is devoted to such a conceptualization. The fourth section presents the case of French urban policy in order to make the arguments more concrete. The concluding section is an attempt to define an ethico-political ground on which emancipatory politics in an urban spatial framework may be defended. The paper is conceptual in nature. Examples, however, are provided to stir the imagination as to the ways in which the dialectical relationship between (in)justice and spatiality may be conceived. The examples, therefore , are used to make this relationship more concrete, rather than attempting to provide a thorough discussion of the cases selected. Abstract. I attempt in this paper to conceptualize a notion of spatial justice in order to point to the dialectical relationship between (in)justice and spatiality, and to the role that spatialization plays in the production and reproduction of domination and repression. I argue that the city provides a productive ground for the formation of a spatially informed ethics of political solidarity against domination and repression. A `triad' is articulated to inform such politics, which brings together three notions: the spatial dialectics of injustice, the right to the city, and the right to difference. The notion of spatial justice is employed as a theoretical underpinning to avoid abusive interpretations of Lefebvrian rights in a liberal framework of individual rights. The case of French urban policy is used for illustrative purposes. Finally, the notion of e¨aliberteis introduced as a moral ground on which the triad may be defended.

Guidelines for Conducting Research and Publishing in Marketing: From Conceptualization through the Review Process

Abstract: A primary mission of institutions of higher learning is the generation and dissemination of knowledge. The low acceptance rates at the leading research journals in marketing, typically in the single digits to low teens, suggests the need to increase the quality of the research manuscripts produced. This article presents a set of guidelines for researchers aspiring to do scholarly research in marketing. Discussed are issues such as developing the necessary research skills, conceptualizing the study, constructing the research design, writing the manuscript, and responding to reviewers. Also presented are the author's personal observations concerning the current state of research in marketing.

An exploration and advancement of the concept of trust.

Abstract: An exploration and advancement of the concept of trust Background. Trust is a concept used both in everyday language and in the scientific realm. An exploration of the conceptualizations of trust within the disciplines of nursing, medicine, psychology and sociology, revealed that trust is an ambiguous scientific concept. Aims. In order to increase the pragmatic utility of the concept of trust for scientific application, further clarification and development of the concept was undertaken. Methods. First, a concept analysis was conducted with the aim of clarifying the state of the science of discipline-specific conceptualizations of trust. The criterion-based method of concept analysis as described by Morse and colleagues was used (Morse et al. 1996a, 1996b, Morse 2000). This analytic process enabled the assessment of the scientific maturity of the concept of trust. The interdisciplinary concept of trust was found to be immature. Based on this level of maturity it was determined that in order to advance the concept of trust toward greater maturity, techniques of concept development using the literature as data were applied. In this process, questions were ‘asked of the data’ (in this case, the selected disciplinary literatures) to identify the conceptual components of trust. Results. The inquiry into the concept of trust led to the development of an expanded interdisciplinary conceptual definition by merging the most coherent commonalties from each discipline. Conclusions. The newly developed interdisciplinary conceptualization advances the concept toward maturity, that is, a more refined, pragmatic and higher-order concept. The refined concept of trust transcends the contextual boundaries of each discipline in a truly interdisciplinary scientific fashion.

Clarification of conceptualizations of empathy.

Abstract: Clarification of conceptualizations of empathy Background. If understanding our clients needs, emotions, and circumstances is fundamental to nursing practice, and empathy is the foundation of that understanding, then a conceptualization of empathy that can be used by nurses is of utmost importance to the profession. In 1992, Morse, Anderson, Bottorff, Yonge, O’Brien, Solberg and McIlveen analysed the concept of empathy in the psychological and nursing literature, and suggested the conceptualization of empathy was incomplete. Since that time, nurse authors have continued to publish conceptualizations and research on empathy. Purpose. The purpose of our analysis was to describe empathy as presented in the nursing literature between 1992 and 2000. Method. A concept clarification methodology of concept analysis was used because of the many definitions, the rich descriptions, and the application of empathy as a research variable in the reviewed literature. Findings. Five conceptualizations of empathy were revealed: empathy as human trait, empathy as a professional state, empathy as a communication process, empathy as caring, and empathy as a special relationship. Conclusions. The literature reviewed contained evidence that the concept is developing more depth and breadth. Nurse authors are approaching empathy from a variety of perspectives, time frames, measurements, and outcomes. While all are important to the development of the concept, further enrichment of the conceptual work on empathy is needed before a fully mature concept emerges that is fully useful in nursing practice, research, and education.

Experiential learning in sociology: service learning and other community-based learning initiatives

Abstract: Despite increased popularity and a strong pedagogical tradition, the literature on community-based learning (CBL) initiatives and service learning evidences a certain conceptual imprecision In the hopes of clarifying definitional ambiguities, we critically review the CBL literature, identifying six distinct types of CBL options and their characteristics The result is a hierarchy of community-based learning, which while not proposed as a definitive conceptualization, is likely to be useful in terms of curricular development Using a hypothetical sociology class, the community-based learning options identified (ie, out-of-class activities, volunteering, service add-ons, internships, service learning, and service learning advocacy) are discussed in terms of their pedagogical differences and associated curricular benefits

Institutional image: a case study

Abstract: Examines the concept of institutional (university) image from a cultural studies approach and from a quantitative perspective. Building on these and other research findings, posits that multiple changing images exist within each individual and that these images are affected by certain factors. Examines university image from an external stakeholder perspective, based on a telephone survey study of respondents from across the university’s home state. The results confirm multi‐image conceptualization of the university setting and, importantly, examine the factors – personal, environmental, and organizational – that give rise to the multiple image concept. Complementing much corporate image research that views image(s) as primarily controlled by the organization, these findings suggest that corporate image, considered also as a receiver‐oriented and audience‐specific construct, can vary as a function of other, external, determining factors but that organizational factors are, nevertheless, very influential factors for one’s decision making about image.

A Theoretical Conceptualization for Motivation Research in Physical Education: An Integrated Perspective

Abstract: This paper is intended to conceptualize motivation research in physical education from an integrated perspective in that the motivation research and its findings are situated in the dynamics of teaching and learning. Major motivation theories and research findings are reviewed, synthesized, and critiqued. The synthesis shows that a dominant number of motivation research studies have been baed on achievement goal theories. An emerging line of research relies on the theoretical framework of interest. In most studies, motivation is conceptualized as individual psychological dispositions rather than a process of learner-content interaction in the context defined by the curriculum. The synthesis also revealed that the Findings are limited because learning achievement was loosely or not at all defined in most investigations. An integrated conceptual framework for future research is proposed to link motivation to specific achievement settings, to the physical education curriculum, and to the socioeconomic enviro...

Measuring Democratic Consolidation

Abstract: The concept of democratic consolidation has become a pivotal concept in comparative politics. In its most widespread acceptation, a “consolidated” democracy is one that is unlikely to break down. For all its apparent thinness and simplicity, this conceptualization poses considerable problems of operationalization and measurement. As the article argues, cholars have been relying on three basic strategies to assess the survival prospects of democratic regimes. They have been studying either behavioral, attitudinal, or structural foudnations of democratic consolidation. This article briefly examines those approaches that rely on different kinds of empirical evidence as well as on different causal assumptions. On the basis of a quick revision of recent Latin American experiences, it concludes that in common judgments about democratic consolidation, behavioral evidence seems to trump both attitudinal and structural data.