Daily urban systems explained from the household perspective: an exploratory research on how the spatial interactions of the individual households shape the structure of daily urban systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik A. de Graaf
Keyword(s):  
Urban Systems ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Spatial Interactions ◽  
The Individual

scholarly journals The Effect of Branchless Banking Strategy on the Financial Performance of Commercial Banks in Kenya

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gift Kimonge Dzombo ◽  
James M. Kilika ◽  
James Maingi
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Commercial Banks ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Electronic Banking ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Significance Level ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The Individual

The Banking sector acts as the life blood of modern trade and economic development. Commercial banks influence, facilitate and integrate the economic activities like resources mobilization, poverty elimination, production, and distribution of public finance. The financial performance of commercial banks has great implications in the financial sector and in the country at large, and will still remain an important subject of concern by all the stakeholders in the banking industry. In the last two decades, a lot of banking innovation has taken place in order to improve commercial banks financial performance. Branchless banking which involves the use of agency banking and electronic banking channels in the distribution of banking products and services is one such innovation. This study purpose was to evaluate the effect of branchless banking on the financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to analyze the individual effects of agency banking and electronic banking channels on the financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya and the combined effect of both agency and electronic banking on the financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The study adopted an exploratory research design. A survey of all the 42 licensed commercial banks in Kenya was done. Both primary and secondary data on branchless banking and financial performance of banks was obtained from the individual commercial banks, Central Bank of Kenya banking annual supervision reports respectively. Return on Assets (ROA) was used as the main indicator of commercial banks financial performance. The amount of investment in agency and electronic banking was used as indicator for agency and electronic banking. Data analysis was done using SPSS and STATA statistical softwares. Descriptive statistics, diagnostic tests and tests of hypothesis were done. Data was presented using tables and charts. Study findings indicated that when used in isolation; both agency and electronic banking had a significant negative effect on the financial performance of commercial banks at 5 percent significance level. However, when agency and electronic banking channels were used together as a multichannel strategy, they had a significant positive effect on bank’s financial performance at 5 percent significance level. The study recommends that for positive returns, commercial banks should invest in both agency and electronic banking as a multichannel strategy since these channels are complimentary to each other.

scholarly journals Sustainability Assessment: Exploring the Frontiers and Paradigms of Indicator Approaches

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomás B. Ramos
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Scientific Development ◽  
Assessment Procedure ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
Current State ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Combination Of Methods ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Global And Local

Sustainability assessment approaches could support all levels of decision-making and policy processes (including strategies, policies, plans, programs, projects, and activities/operations), thus improving the management of natural and human systems. Sustainability Indicators (SIs) have been extensively used to assess and communicate the progress toward sustainable development. However, despite all the SI initiatives and the well-known advantages and popularity, several risks have been pointed out, so there is a need to rethink the current state of SIs and build visions that could reshape the indicator reality. The main goal of this research is to develop a constructive debate around the possible futures and paths of SIs’, by conducting a critical analysis of a set of challenges and opportunities identified by the literature. This was explored through a critical perspective and viewpoint article that discusses what could be some of the new frontiers and paradigms in SIs. Exploratory research supported by a combination of methods was conducted, consisting of a search of the literature and qualitative document analysis, followed by an assessment procedure based upon an evaluation ranking scale. The classification scale integrated three main criteria of valuation: Relevancy, feasibility, and societal impacts. The findings showed that most of the challenges and opportunities analyzed are old and mainly technically oriented, with a low potential impact on society, including end-users and practitioners. The majority of the challenges have low-to-medium feasibility, showing that there would be difficulty in implementing them, and so they should be improved or redesigned. A set of key questions on SIs’ futures is proposed, aiming to represent a critical view of the relevant challenges and opportunities analyzed, but underpinned and observed from a crosscutting angle, represented by the societal role. The SI research community should be ready to adapt ways of thinking and doing, responding to new global and local paradigms and using transdisciplinary collaborative scientific development and innovation as the foundations for the change process, wherein communities and the individual have central roles to play.

scholarly journals From self-tracking to smart urban infrastructures: towards an interdisciplinary research agenda on Big Data

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco R Klauser ◽  
Anders Albrechtslund
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Four Levels ◽  
Individual Use ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Automated Software

Recent debates on surveillance have emphasised the now myriad possibilities of automated, software-based data gathering, management and analysis. One of the many terms used to describe this phenomenon is ‘Big Data’. The field of Big Data covers a large and complex range of practices and technologies from smart borders to CCTV video analysis, and from consumer profiling to self-tracking applications. The paper’s aim is to explore the surveillance dynamics inherent in contemporary Big Data trends. To this end, the paper adopts two main perspectives concerned with two complementary expressions of Big Data: (1) the individual use of various techniques of self-surveillance and tracking and (2) the simultaneous trend to optimise urban infrastructures through smart information technologies. Drawing upon exploratory research conducted by the authors, the paper shows that both expressions of Big Data present a range of common surveillance dynamics on at least four levels: agency, temporality, spatiality and normativity. On these grounds, the paper highlights a series of important issues to explore in future research.

Avaliação no Ensino Superior: um Estudo Exploratório Sobre as Percepções e Emoções dos Alunos

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 472
Author(s):  
Ada Magaly Matias Brasileiro ◽  
Sara Rodrigues de Andrade Souto
Keyword(s):  
High Education ◽  
School Context ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Learning Evaluation ◽  
School Learning ◽  
Belo Horizonte ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Teaching Learning

Avaliação da aprendizagem é um tema que tem merecido muita atenção no contexto escolar. Teoricamente, a avaliação é hoje compreendida como algo inerente aos processos de ensino/aprendizagem, cuja função deve ser sempre diagnóstica, considerando a singularidade do indivíduo. Na prática, contudo, são muitos os aspectos questionáveis, dentre estes, o estado emocional no qual um estudante se envolve, no momento da avaliação, o que interfere em seu desempenho. Ao abordar avaliação, este artigo traz um estudo feito a partir de uma pesquisa exploratória com alunos de três cursos de uma Instituição de Ensino Superior de Belo Horizonte, com o objetivo de compreender quais emoções os alunos do Ensino Superior têm ao fazerem uma avaliação somativa. Os resultados mostram que emoções negativas como tensão, preocupação e nervosismo são preponderantes no processo avaliativo do Ensino Superior, especialmente, intensificadas no momento da prova somativa, o que é justificado pelos alunos em virtude do caráter de teste ameaçador, classificatório e punitivo.Palavras-chave: Avaliação da Aprendizagem Escolar. Emoção. Ensino Superior. Tipos de Avaliação.AbstractLearning evaluation is a subject which deserves much attention in the school context. Theoretically, it is now understood as something that is inherent to teaching-learning processes, and whose function must always be diagnostic, regarding the individual particularities. In practice, however, there are many questionable aspects, among them the emotional state in which the student gets involved by the time of the evaluation and that interferes on his or her performance. When approaching this theme, this study is based on an exploratory research with three students from a High Education School in Belo Horizonte, which aimed to analyze the different kind of emotions high education students reveal when taking a summative evaluation. The results have shown the presence of negative emotions during High Education Evaluation Process, justified by the threatening, classificatory and punishing atmosphere that it brings.Keywords: School Learning Evaluation. Emotion. High Education. Kinds of Evaluation.

scholarly journals Connecting cities and their environments: Harnessing the water-energy-food nexus for sustainable urban development

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Chan
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Sustainable Urban Development ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Environmental Pressures ◽  
Metropolitan Regions ◽  
Economic Progress ◽  
Rural Environments ◽  
The Individual

AbstractThousands of years of development have made the production and consumption of water, energy, and food for urban environments more complex. While the rise of cities has fostered social and economic progress, the accompanying environmental pressures threaten to undermine these benefits. The compounding effects of climate change, habitat loss, pollution, overexploitation (in addition to financial constraints) make the individual management of these three vital resources incompatible with rapidly growing populations and resource-intensive lifestyles. Nexus thinking is a critical tool to capture opportunities for urban sustainability in both industrialised and developing cities. A nexus approach to water, energy, and food security recognises that conventional decisionmaking, strictly confined within distinct sectors, limits the sustainability of urban development. Important nexus considerations include the need to collaborate with a wide spectrum of stakeholders, and to “re-integrate” urban systems. This means recognising the opportunities coming from the interconnected nature of cities and metropolitan regions, including links with rural environments and wider biophysical dynamics.

scholarly journals A dimensão tática do Futsal na cobertura jornalística de uma mídia impressa de Santa Maria-RS (1990 - 1999)

Kinesis ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Otávio Baggiotto Bettega ◽  
Cesar Vieira Marques Filho ◽  
Luís Felipe Nogueira Silva ◽  
Silvan Menezes Dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Training And Development ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Development Methodology ◽  
The Media ◽  
City Newspaper ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Santa Maria

A pesquisa busca identificar os sentidos atribuídos à dimensão tática do Futsal na cobertura midiática do jornal “A Razão”, da cidade de Santa Maria – Rio Grande do Sul – Brasil. Foi realizada pesquisa descritiva e exploratória, de análise de produto midiático, com abordagem qualitativa dos dados recolhidos nos arquivos impressos do jornal, de 1990 até 1999. Os resultados apontam o ganho de visibilidade tática do papel do goleiro no jogo a partir das modificações nas regras, da relação entre o individual e o coletivo, das estratégias na relação ataque e defesa e da metodologia de treino e desenvolvimento dos jogadores. As matérias trazem visibilidade à dimensão tática do jogo de Futsal, mas são apresentadas de forma superficial e fragmentada. Futsal’s tactical dimension in the news coverage of a santa-mariense journal (1990 - 1999)The research seeks to identify the meanings attributed to the tactical dimension of futsal in the media coverage from Santa Maria-RS city newspaper A Razão. A descriptive and exploratory research was carried out, analyzing media product, with a qualitative approach to the data collected in the newspaper's printed files from 1990 to 1999. The results show a greater visibility for the tactics since the change of rules, the goalkeeper role in the game, the relationship between the individual and the collective, offensive and defensive relationship strategies and the players’ training and development methodology. The articles bring visibility to the tactical dimension of the futsal game, but are presented in a superficial and fragmented way.La dimensión táctica del fútbol sala en la cobertura de noticias de un periódico santa-mariense (1990 - 1999)La investigación busca identificar los significados atribuidos a la dimensión táctica del fútbol sala en la cobertura mediática del periódico A Razão en la ciudad de Santa Maria /RS. Se realizó una investigación descriptiva y exploratoria, analizando el producto de los medios, con un enfoque cualitativo de los datos recopilados en los archivos impresos del periódico desde 1990 hasta 1999. Los resultados muestran que la táctica gana visibilidad a partir de los cambios en las reglas, el papel del portero en el juego, la relación entre el individuo y el colectivo, del estrategias en la relación de ataque y defensa y la metodología de entrenamiento y desarrollo de los jugadores. Los artículos aportan visibilidad a la dimensión táctica del juego de fútbol sala, pero se presentan de manera superficial y fragmentada.

scholarly journals Competências dos Profissionais da Informação relacionadas à inovação a partir da produção científica

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priscila Machado Borges Sena ◽  
Ana Paula Alves Soares ◽  
José Antonio Moreiro González ◽  
Ursula Blattmann
Keyword(s):  
Information Science ◽  
Scientific Production ◽  
University Education ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Library Management ◽  
The Face ◽  
Information Professionals ◽  
Number Of Publications ◽  
The Individual

Reflecting on the competences of information professionals before the reality of the constant technological innovations of the 21st century becomes paramount, since when they are not included in conventional information units (archives, libraries and museums), they are in organizations that understand the information and knowledge as an essential subsidy for achieving economic and social prominence. In line with the thematic line "5 University education in information and documentation: evaluation, innovation and future horizons", this paper aimed to investigate the scientific production about the competencies of information professionals related to innovation. The research was carried out from the scientific production in Information Science in the Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA) databases. A descriptive exploratory research was carried out, starting from a bibliometric study of the data recovered in these international databases. The analysis portfolio consisted of 73 articles. In this way, we examined the authors with the highest number of publications, the ranking of scientific journals, the number of publications per year and the most cited articles. In relation to the journals that appear with the largest number of articles published, it is verified that the Library Review, New Library World and Library Management were the ones that appeared with publications between five and eight. Regarding the focus and scope of the periodicals, these were mostly about Librarianship, Information Science and Information and Communication Technology. As for the publication years, 2017 was the year with the highest number (20) of publications, followed by the years 2016 (12), 2015 and 2014 (9), and 2012 (1). As for the articles with the greatest number of citations, eight stood out for having between 49 and 96 citations. Their themes to some extent focused on the effect of technological innovations on the competences to be developed by information professionals, knowledge management, the importance of the individual and their informational needs, and the international and intercultural opportunities related to the curricula of Librarianship and Science of Information. It was verified that the researchers through their studies have made efforts to some extent to base the practices of the professionals of the information. To a great extent, in the studies analyzed, we noted the concern with the expansion of professional competencies in the face of the innovative and technological dynamics of contemporary society. On the other hand, it was also identified that although they treat the relevance of the professionals being innovators, theories were not found or formulated in this respect. This will be discussed in more detail in subsequent articles from this communication.

scholarly journals Internal marketing and organisational performance of SMEs in the EDV industrial sector

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
João Pedro Sousa ◽  
Katarzyna Krot ◽  
Ricardo G. Rodrigues
Keyword(s):  
Geographic Location ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Internal Marketing ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Organisational Performance ◽  
Quantitative Studies ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Distinct Features

Abstract Focusing on the industrial sector, this research aims to identify conditions for the implementation of internal marketing concepts among employees and its impact on the organisational performance. Only one study was found simultaneously integrating the two constructs. It concerned the cork processing industry alone, yet considered expanding the efforts – namely, using qualitative exploratory research in the form of 10 in-depth interviews based on a script of generally open questions – to the entire industry in the Portuguese region between rivers Douro and Vouga. The unit of analysis was constructed considering distinct features as well as activity criteria and the geographic location, thus ensuring the necessary heterogeneity. The results inform about the awareness of the internal marketing conceptualisation. The research found that all analysed enterprises had more or less structured model frames and worked with the conceptualisation of the guidance for the internal market, a strategic concern, and in some instances, this concept was an organisational desideratum in the sector. In addition to the lapse of the research according to a qualitative paradigm of exploratory nature, the main limitation is the need for objective sustainably of the results obtained through future quantitative studies to promote an integrated triangulation of their outcomes. The research allowed identifying the companies that use organisational models conducive to the individual well-being of employees and facilitating the desired orientation to the market.

scholarly journals The four Dimensions of Knowledge: Cognitive, Connectionist, Autopoietic and Integral. Advancing the Understanding Learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Francisco Fialho ◽  
Andreia De Bem Machado ◽  
Daniela Fanucchi Moussa
Keyword(s):  
Individual Learning ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Comprehensive Approach ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Everyday Problems

The question of knowledge permeates our society since the days of the Greek Philosophers. According to some “knowledge” is what allows men to solve their everyday problems. This article goal is to conceptualize knowledge regarding the individual learning of the human being: in the eyes of the cognitivists; following the optics of connectionism; and in accordance with the autopoietic approach. By way of an epiphany we discuss the knowledge in an integrated vision that understands each of the three concepts as aspects of the same reality. Therefore, the methodology used was a descriptive exploratory research, a qualitative approach, which allowed, in the end, infers some considerations on the question of knowledge in a broader and more comprehensive approach.

scholarly journals Impact of Determinants on Student Performance towards Information Communication Technology in Higher Education

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arif Sari
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
Learning Abilities ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
The Individual

New teaching and learning techniques are developing day by day with the support of information technology and the Internet. Many universities take the advantage of support of information technologies on teaching and learning environments. Each individual’s physical, mental and emotional skills are different. It is emphasized that, more importance are given to individuals performances while they are in groups in those places where the traditional teaching approaches is dominated. At this point, individual performance of individuals and their different learning abilities could not be evaluated alone and left in the background. In these places, it is also stated the importance of learning in groups but not individually. The attitude of an individual towards the computer could be defined as a positive or negative view of the individual on the computer technology or the computer-supported applications. In the development of the attitude of the students, their personal characteristics, perception of computers, frequency of their use of computers, their sex, age and previous experiences play an important role. Some experts find it striking that when attitudes towards the computers are investigated, the researches are concentrated more on teachers and teachers-to-be, while studies on establishing the attitude of students are limited in number. For that reason, this study focuses on impact of determinants of student performance and evaluates this performance through an exploratory research.

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