Showing papers on "Empirical research published in 1974"

Theories of Economic Regulation

Abstract: A major challenge to social theory is to explain the pattern of government intervention in the market - what we may call "economic regulation" Properly defined, the term refers to taxes and subsidies of all sorts as well as to explicit legislative and administrative controls over rates, entry, and other facets of economic activity Two main theories of economic regulation have been proposed One is the "public interest" theory, bequeathed by a previous generation of economists to the present generation of lawyers This theory holds that regulation is supplied in response to the demand of the public for the correction of inefficient or inequitable market practices It has a number of deficiencies that we shall discuss The second theory is the "capture" theory - a poor term but one that will do for now Espoused by an odd mixture of welfare state liberals, Marxists, and free-market economists, this theory holds that regulation is supplied in response to the demands of interest groups struggling among themselves to maximize the incomes of their members There are crucial differences among the capture theorists I will argue that the economists' version of the "capture" theory is the most promising but shall also point out the significant weaknesses in both the theory and the empirical research that is alleged to support it

Learning as a Generative Process

Abstract: A cognitive model of human learning with understanding is introduced. Empirical research supporting the model, which is called the generative model, is summarized. The model is used to suggest a way to integrate some of the research in cognitive development, human learning, human abilities, information processing, and aptitude-treatment interactions around the notion of transfer of experience and abilities.

Perceptions of the Value of a Management Information System

Abstract: A method for determining the monetary value of an existing MIS report is presented based on user perceptions and the semantic differential technique. An empirical test demonstrated the feasibility ...

R & D project selection models: An assessment

Abstract: The R&D project selection decision is described as a process by which an intermittent stream of changes are made to lists of currently active and proposed projects It includes generating alternatives, determining when a decision is required, collecting data, specifying constraints and criteria, and recycling The decision is viewed as imbedded within a hierarchical, diffuse budgeting and planning process Process characteristics such as multiple criteria whose relative importance varies over time, inherent uncertainty and parameter interrelationships result in a highly complex decision problem The existing normative R&D benefit measurement and project selection literature is assessed and the limitations inherent in the proposed models are determined A number of research opportunities are identified for both methodological and empirical studies

Expectancy Theory in Work and Motivation: Some Logical and Methodological Issues

Abstract: The development of expectancy theory is described and 14 alternative models of expectancy are contrasted. It is argued that the essence of the theory in work and motivation is the choice of work behavior. As such, it is shown that the present formulation of theory in industrial and organizational psychology, and consequently the empirical research based on it, ignores the rationality assumptions underlying this choice behavior. Some of these assumptions are specified. It is pointed out that the major constructs of the theory (expectancy and valence) lack the necessary theoretical classification. Several issues in need for further research are discussed. The concept of instrumentality is found to be ambiguous and difficult to operationalize. Finally, it is shown that the typical formulation of the theory is based on optimization choice criteria (maximizing or satisficing) and the empirical validity of these criteria is questioned. Alternative criteria are proposed. The empirical findings in the field are i...

"Convincing Empirical Evidence" on the Six Member Jury

Abstract: The United States Supreme Court has recently been increasing its references to what it likes to call "empirical" data. A genuine issue is occasionally documented by such data, for example the "unusual" character of capital punishment in Furman v. Georgia.' In some cases, however, the intent of such references is merely to ornament an already determined result; the famous footnote 11 in Brown v. Board of Education2 is an example. The Court generally cites "empirical" studies as lawyers cite cases, treating their summary conclusions as if they were holdings in prior cases. Applied to empirical research, this treatment encourages the notion that empirical findings, like case law, are infinitely mutable. The courts are thus diverted from using empirical studies for their intended purpose: to shed light on hitherto unknown facts. A more critical use of empirical data would better inform the courts and force them to face openly those instances in which their decisions are based on theory and merely ornamented by the "facts." Assurance of critical examination in the courts would also force researchers more carefully to connect their summary conclusions with the results of their studies. In two recent decisions concerned with replacing the traditional twelve-member jury with the six-member jury, the Supreme Court admitted that there was a crucial empirical issue: whether the reduction in jury size would affect trial results. In both opinions the Court cited empirical data as proof that there was no such effect. In Williams

Causal Models in Educational Research: Nonrecursive Models

Abstract: This paper extends the causal modelling technique described in an earlier article (Anderson and Evans, 1974) to nonrecursive causal models that involve feedback and/or reciprocal causation. The problem of identification is discussed and a rule provided that can be used to determine whether or not a unique set of parameter estimates can be found for each equation that makes up the model. Three different procedures are described for estimating the parameters of these equations, namely, ordinary least squares, indirect least squares, and two-stage least squares. A formula is provided for the derivation of the reduced form of the model. The reduced form provides information concerning the total effect of exogenous variables on endogenous variables in the model. Data from an empirical study have been used to illustrate the causal modelling technique that is described.

The Von Thuenen Paradigm, the Industrial-Urban Hypothesis, and the Spatial Structure of Agriculture

Abstract: The industrial-urban hypothesis has stimulated considerable empirical research on the spatial structure of agriculture. The alternative paradigm of von Thuenen has had almost no such impact on agricultural research, but has been the mainstay of urban economic analysis. The two models are compared as scientific theories of agricultural land use in an attempt to identify their similarities and contradictions. After reinterpreting several industrial-urban studies from a von Thuenen viewpoint, an empirical discrimination between the two models is attempted with Brazilian data. A synthesis of the two paradigms provides a better explanation of agricultural structure than either alone.

Comments on an Empirical Study of the Causes of Dental Fears

Abstract: pp 683-695; GALE, J Dent Res 51: 964-966, 1972; GALE ET AL, JADA 78: 1304-1307, 1969; JOHNSON, Psychiatry Med 2: 221-228, 1971; KLEINKNECHT, JADA 86: 842-848, 1973; LAUTCH, Br J Psychiatry 119: 151-158, 1971; WEINSTEIN ET AL, J Dent Res 50: 1324-1326, 1971). In this paper we challenge their conclusion on the basis of their faulty statistical assessment of the factors studied. Only five of eleven factors examined could be tested validly by the chi-square test; nine of eleven chi-square values were calculated incorrectly, and, consequently, three of five statistically significant factors were overlooked. Shoben and Borland had classified 15 adult volunteers from a private dental practice as fearful on the basis of having \"displayed extremely intense emotional patterns in the dental office.\" Fifteen others showed little or no fear in the office and were designated nonfearful. All patients were interviewed for two hours and their answers were classified as to the apparent

On the efficiency of subject-surrogation in accounting research

Abstract: FREQUENTLY, researchers interested in empirical research encounter difficulties in gathering data for two main reasons: (1) the reluctance of many executives to provide the needed cooperation and (2) the relatively high cost of conducting field studies. Consequently, accountants were persuaded to use students as substitutes for businessmen.' This substitution has created a troublesome issue in research methodology: the reasonableness of subject surrogation in making decisions. Miller2 was one of the first to pay attention to the issue. In discussing an article by Bruns,3 Miller objected to the use of students as substitutes for "real" decisionmakers in conducting accounting research. In advancing his argument, he suggested that students can be used if the intention of the research is addressed (1) to understanding something about students themselves or (2) to testing the research in a pilot run. "If the objective of a particular piece of research is to shed some light on the relationship between accounting and business decisions, the participants should be decision-makers."4 The concern appears to focus on the surrogation-induced trade-off between the cost of doing the research and the reliability of the results, particularly when such a trade-off may be in favor of reducing research cost at the expense of the relevance of the outcome to the real setting. At present, evaluating the quality of subject surrogation continues to be problematic.

Innovation in health services: Theoretical framework and rewiew of research.

Abstract: The arrangements comprising the health care delivery system are analyzed in terms of social organization, and selected characteristics of the system are discussed that are pertinent to the study of diffusion and adoption of various types of innovations. Research currently under way or completed is then reviewed in terms of its contribution to overall understanding of the phenomenon of innovation, on both the individual practitioner and the organizational levels. The analysis is then used to delineate problem areas needing further study. The article provides a useful context in which to consider substantive findings of future empirical research.

Salesmen's Response to Financial Incentives: An Empirical Study:

Abstract: Different behavioral patterns are hypothesized to explain salesmen's responses to financial incentives in terms of their sales and earnings. In this case study, the proposition that salesmen work j...

The “Corrective Advertising” Remedy of the FTC: An Experimental Evaluation: An empirical study of the effectiveness of corrective advertising

Abstract: O dimension of the regulatory power of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to control \"unfair methods of competition\" concerns its jurisdiction over false and misleading advertising claims. Early in 1970, in response to public criticism regarding the efficacy of its advertising policies, 1 the commission began using corrective advertising as a remedy designed to protect the consumer from unfair and deceptive advertising practices in the marketplace. The continued development and application of the corrective advertising policy by the FTC has prompted intensive debate and controversy among governmental policy makers, business practitioners, and public advocates in recent years. To date, according to one authority, this remedial advertising policy has not \"been advanced with even rudimentary supporting consumer evidence.\"2 The study reported here focuses on an experimental investigation of the FTC's new corrective advertising remedy.

Information processing, data inferences, and scientific generalization

Abstract: The philosophical view that scientific hypotheses come out of data is put to a limited test by investigating actual instances of hypothesis development in a laboratory setting. Subjects who are faculty members or graduate students are asked to find the function from which a plot of ten coordinate values affected by random error was derived. Their protocols serve as the basis for an information processing computer model of performance on the task. The model has a perceptual phase in which a pattern is found in the data, the selection of a class of hypothesized functions, a problem solving phase to find a specific function, and the ability to recycle if necessary. This seems to be compatible with reports of hypothesis development and the small amount of empirical research in other contexts. Tests of the model reveal it does a good job of getting the same answers as subjects and can explain some, not most, of the process leading up to the answers. Due to the contrived nature of the task the model is most appropriate for understanding routine scientific inference.

Contact potential and the occupational structure of the British urban system 1961–1966: An empirical study

Abstract: Westaway J. (1974) Contact potential and the occupational structure of the British urban system 1961–1966: An empirical study, Reg. Studies 8, 57–73 The paper reports an analysis of the distribution of the various functions of business organizations. This comprises, firstly, a study of the occupational structure of the British urban system, with special reference to contact-intensive occupations and, secondly, an examination of the distribution of the head office functions of the 1000 largest industrial companies. Management functions were found to be increasingly concentrated in the London area. Administrative activities were also concentrated in the South East, but were being dispersed to other parts of England. In contrast, productive functions dominate the occupational structure of the less prosperous regions of Britain. A later paper will discuss the rationale behind these trends and also their social, economic and political implications.

Legal Reform of Special Education: Empirical Studies and Procedural Proposals.

Abstract: In the past few years, lawyers have assumed an increasingly active role in disputes over the adequacy of education for the handicapped, promoting particular policy goals both through legislation and in test case litigation.' The first Part of this article briefly describes the education typically provided for the handicapped, noting the criticisms which present practices have provoked. It also posits an explanation of the durability of the status quo, drawing upon certain organizational attributes of special education. Part II makes a preliminary assessment of the effects law reform has had on special education through three case studies of sites where courts or legislatures have

Development and empirical verification of new response categories to increase the validity of multiple response alternative questionnaires

Abstract: A number of scales, including the Ohio State leadership scales, use the response categories Always, Often, Occasionally, Seldom, and Never, and researchers administering these scales usually assume...

The Line-Staff Concept Revisited: An Empirical Study of Organizational Images

Abstract: A conceptual model and operational measure of organizational images which are seen as contributors to interunit collaboration and conflict is proposed. Data were obtained from line and staff units ...

Marketing Activities in the Service Industries: An empirical study reveals major differences in the marketing practices of service firms and product firms

Abstract: S industries have enjoyed phenomenal growth during recent years. More people are now employed in services than in manufacturing, and spending for services is now equivalent to that for nondurable goods-42 et of every consumer dollar. 1 However, little attention has been given to the problems involved in marketing services and how service marketing differs from product marketing. 2 The data that are available indicate a lack of marketing orientation and a limited view of the marketing function in service firms. 3 This study investigates service marketing and provides an analysis of the scope of activities involved in the marketing mix, the use of external marketing services, and the level of marketing expenditures. To develop reference points from which the marketing activities of service firms could be evaluated, manufacturing firms were included in the survey. Analysis of the survey results indicates the following major findings. In comparison to manufacturing firms, service firms appear to be: ( 1) generally less likely to have marketing mix activities carried out in the marketing department, (2) less likely to perform analysis in the offering area, (3) more likely to handle their advertising internally rather than go to outside agencies, ( 4)

An Introduction to Organizational Design

Abstract: In this synthesis of key concepts and findings from research on the design of organizations, the complex trade-offs involved in designing the structures and processes of an organization are examined from the contingency approach viewpoint. Empirical research provides guidelines for fitting together organizational form, the people in the organization, and the task environment; and some important areas for further research are identified.

Empirical research in Taiwan on factors underlying differences in fertility.

Abstract: The attention given to fertility levels, trends and differentials in recent years has resulted in an increase both in empirical research, designed to establish facts and relationships, and in theory development, which has sought to synthesise this rapidly expanding body of knowledge. Conceptual models of a social, psychological, and economic nature have been advanced (see as examples Freedman, 1967; Fawcett, 1970; T. W. Schultz, 1973).

An empirical study of a framework for information systems

Abstract: A decision-making orientation to systems design has been suggested to overcome some of the current deficiencies of computer-based information systems. This paper derives several hypotheses from a decision-making framework proposed by Robert Anthony. These hypotheses are tested with empirical data from a sample of twenty major computer-based information systems drawn from seven Bay Area manufacturing firms. The results indicate that present computer-based information systems follow the descriptive aspects of the Anthony framework, but have had little effect on top management. There is little evidence of common guidelines for systems design which are accepted by the different companies. The data also indicate that users have a strong negative reaction to large numbers of computer-produced reports. The implications of the results for systems design are discussed.

The Management of Scientists: Determinants of Perceived Role Performance

Abstract: An empirical study relates the perceived role performance of 95 scientists in three large research laboratories to the organic system of management conceived by Burns and Stalker. The results indic...