Understanding Travel Behavior through Travel Happiness

Author(s):  
Eleni G. Mantouka ◽  
Eleni I. Vlahogianni ◽  
Alexandros E. Papacharalampous ◽  
Léonie Heydenrijk-Ottens ◽  
Sanmay Shelat ◽  
...  

The aim of this paper is to extend past research on travel behavior analysis by investigating travelers’ emotions and perceptions of the system’s performance. Perceived travel happiness as an extension of travel satisfaction is researched in the framework of the decision-making process during traveling. Socio-demographic, cognitive, and affective data were collected from a questionnaire survey that took place in Athens (Greece), the Netherlands, and Barcelona and Salamanca (Spain). A Bayesian network was developed to investigate the interrelations between travel happiness and parameters that affect travel behavior. Findings revealed that travel mode choice directly affects the level of happiness that a person experiences during everyday trips. Moreover, travel happiness is directly associated with the traveler’s perception of the occurrence of disruptions during everyday trips and the level of tolerance he/she has toward such disruptions. Results also indicated that further research should focus on understanding how the topology and performance of each country’s system affect travel-related choices. Finally, a discussion of the most significant results is provided.

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ada van Bruchem-van de Scheur ◽  
Arie van der Arend ◽  
Frans van Wijmen ◽  
Huda Huijer Abu-Saad ◽  
Ruud ter Meulen

This article presents the attitudes of nurses towards three issues concerning their role in euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 1509 nurses who were employed in hospitals, home care organizations and nursing homes. The study was conducted in the Netherlands between January 2001 and August 2004. The results show that less than half (45%) of nurses would be willing to serve on committees reviewing cases of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. More than half of the nurses (58.2%) found it too far-reaching to oblige physicians to consult a nurse in the decision-making process. The majority of the nurses stated that preparing euthanatics (62.9%) and inserting an infusion needle to administer the euthanatics (54.1%) should not be accepted as nursing tasks. The findings are discussed in the context of common practices and policies in the Netherlands, and a recommendation is made not to include these three issues in new regulations on the role of nurses in euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.


Author(s):  
Dimitrios A. Tsamboulas ◽  
Seraphim Kapros

A methodological framework with models is provided, which correlates behavioral and perceptual issues related to the use of intermodal transportation with the commonly used physical and economic criteria in modal choice approaches. With factor analysis, key variables and common decision patterns related to the choice of intermodal transportation are identified. Factor analysis is applied to capture the actors’ perception of the importance of variables affecting the decision-making process. With multiple regression analysis, models simulating the decision-making process are developed for actor groups, utilizing actual quantitative data of cost and performance of intermodal transportation services. Three decision patterns and the respective actor groups’ profiles are identified. The first group consists of actors who decide almost exclusively according to the cost criterion; these actors are intensive users of intermodal transportation. The second group has actors who decide according to both quality and cost criteria; using intermodal transportation by this actor group constitutes a minor portion of its total transport volumes. The third group consists of actors who are influenced in their decisions by specific logistics needs, beyond the physical transportation activity itself. The offer of third-party end-haul operations or refrigerated storage areas is an example of such services, necessitating specific logistic support. For each actor group a model is developed, which associates values of the quantitative variables affecting the decision-making process with the share of intermodal transportation in the total volume of transport handled by the group. The application of the model defines the extent to which changes in the values of relevant variables may shift a decision toward the use of intermodal transportation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 198
Author(s):  
Mimi Lord

University endowments with broad portfolio diversification have been correlated with performance, but committees’ decision-making process has received relatively little attention. This study is unique in postulating that the committee’s learning commitment and open-mindedness are significant contributors to a decision process that is based on the principles of Modern Portfolio Theory (or, simply, Portfolio Theory). The use of Portfolio Theory as a decision-making framework leads to greater portfolio diversification, which, in turn, leads to higher risk-adjusted returns. This study also demonstrates that greater committee expertise across multiple asset classes contributes to more diversified portfolios.


2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne K Dees ◽  
Myrra J Vernooij-Dassen ◽  
Wim J Dekkers ◽  
Glyn Elwyn ◽  
Kris C Vissers ◽  
...  

Background: Euthanasia has been legally performed in the Netherlands since 2002. Respect for patient’s autonomy is the underpinning ethical principal. However, patients have no right to euthanasia, and physicians have no obligation to provide it. Although over 3000 cases are conducted per year in the Netherlands, there is little known about how decision-making occurs and no guidance to support this difficult aspect of clinical practice. Aim: To explore the decision-making process in cases where patients request euthanasia and understand the different themes relevant to optimise this decision-making process. Design: A qualitative thematic analysis of interviews with patients making explicit requests for euthanasia, most-involved relative(s) and treating physician. Participants/setting: Thirty-two cases, 31 relatives and 28 treating physicians. Settings were patients’ and relatives’ homes and physicians’ offices. Results: Five main themes emerged: (1) initiation of sharing views and values about euthanasia, (2) building relationships as part of the negotiation, (3) fulfilling legal requirements, (4) detailed work of preparing and performing euthanasia and (5) aftercare and closing. Conclusions: A patient’s request for euthanasia entails a complex process that demands emotional work by all participants. It is characterised by an intensive period of sharing information, relationship building and negotiation in order to reach agreement. We hypothesise that making decisions about euthanasia demands a proactive approach towards participants’ preferences and values regarding end of life, towards the needs of relatives, towards the burden placed on physicians and a careful attention to shared decision-making. Future research should address the communicational skills professionals require for such complex decision-making.


2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 1298-1314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirk R. Daffner ◽  
Hyemi Chong ◽  
Xue Sun ◽  
Elise C. Tarbi ◽  
Jenna L. Riis ◽  
...  

This study took advantage of the subsecond temporal resolution of ERPs to investigate mechanisms underlying age- and performance-related differences in working memory. Young and old subjects participated in a verbal n-back task with three levels of difficulty. Each group was divided into high and low performers based on accuracy under the 2-back condition. Both old subjects and low-performing young subjects exhibited impairments in preliminary mismatch/match detection operations (indexed by the anterior N2 component). This may have undermined the quality of information available for the subsequent decision-making process (indexed by the P3 component), necessitating the appropriation of more resources. Additional anterior and right hemisphere activity was recruited by old subjects. Neural efficiency and the capacity to allocate more resources to decision-making differed between high and low performers in both age groups. Under low demand conditions, high performers executed the task utilizing fewer resources than low performers (indexed by the P3 amplitude). As task requirements increased, high-performing young and old subjects were able to appropriate additional resources to decision-making, whereas their low-performing counterparts allocated fewer resources. Higher task demands increased utilization of processing capacity for operations other than decision-making (e.g., sustained attention) that depend upon a shared pool of limited resources. As demands increased, all groups allocated additional resources to the process of sustaining attention (indexed by the posterior slow wave). Demands appeared to have exceeded capacity in low performers, leading to a reduction of resources available to the decision-making process, which likely contributed to a decline in performance.


Author(s):  
Lacy S. Brown ◽  
Karen K. Dixon ◽  
H. Gene Hawkins

Research suggests that successfully implemented access management programs can reduce delay, increase capacity, and improve safety performance on single roadway segments and across larger roadway networks. However, quantifying how access management, as a single entity, might affect a transportation system is difficult because countless combinations of strategies can be implemented. Consequently, large-scale access management decisions are often based on subjective assessments and the engineering judgment of practitioners and decision makers. There is a need for a standard, objective, and quantifiable approach to evaluating the impacts and performance of large-scale access management applications. This paper presents a quantitative method for evaluating an access management project on factors including operations; safety; impacts to adjacent land uses; and bicycle, pedestrian, and transit facilities. The result is an access management rating (AMR), a numerical value that allows for straightforward comparisons between corridors or between design alternatives on the same corridor. The proposed methodology eliminates the subjective component of the decision-making process while maintaining enough flexibility to be tailored to a specific agency’s needs and priorities. By improving the consistency of access management evaluations, the decision-making process will be streamlined, funding will be allocated to projects with the greatest needs and opportunities for improvement, and the entire transportation industry will benefit from improved safety, operations, and land use development.


ACC Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-40
Author(s):  
Petra Kašparová

Growing pressure on increasing decision-making speed in all spheres of human life is one of the basic phenomena of today. Immediately after the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, we can consider the ability of making good decisions quickly as one of the most important aspects of our being. The main objective of this article is to find out the utilization rate of several basic decision-making approaches in selected companies with an emphasis on newly used methods such as data analysis and business intelligence tools. The first part of the article presents a short introduction of the decision-making process and an overview of hitherto known and used tools facilitating the whole procedure. The submitted study of available literature leads to the presentation of own classification of the most widely used decisionmaking methods. Based on a questionnaire survey, in the second section, the pilot research examines the involvement of five different groups of methods in business decision-making, such as intuition and previous experiences, consultation with colleagues, data analysis (historical), MCDM methods and consultation with experts. Afterwards, the most common obstacles that employees must face in introducing new tools have been identified. In general, the results show that time and the associated pressure on decision-making speed play a crucial role in the decision-making process.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thai Quoc Cao ◽  
Quynh Kim Chieu

Amidst the worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus, many overseas Vietnamese students have decided to return to Vietnam to seek protection from illness. However, the decision to return or not to return in such a risky context requires intensive thinking about the outcomes of each possible choice. The aim of this reflection paper is to explore the personal considerations and dilemmas during the decision-making process of two Vietnamese students in the Netherlands using the expected utility framework. The experience of applying a systematic approach to assess risky situations not only informs decisions more comprehensively but also provides an opportunity to look deeply at one's values and interests.


2020 ◽  
Vol 215 ◽  
pp. 109849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shima Ebrahimigharehbaghi ◽  
Queena K. Qian ◽  
Frits M. Meijer ◽  
Henk J. Visscher

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