scholarly journals Assessing (Social-Ecological) Systems Thinking by Evaluating Cognitive Maps

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Gray ◽  
Eleanor J. Sterling ◽  
Payam Aminpour ◽  
Lissy Goralnik ◽  
Alison Singer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Cognitive Mapping ◽  
Cognitive Maps ◽  
Study Data ◽  
System Structure ◽  
Stem Learning ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Sustainability Problems ◽  
Complex Environmental Problems

Systems thinking (ST) skills are often the foundation of sustainability science curricula. Though ST skill sets are used as a basic approach to reasoning about complex environmental problems, there are gaps in our understanding regarding the best ways to promote and assess ST learning in classrooms. Since ST learning provides Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students’ important skills and awareness to participate in environmental problem-solving, addressing these gaps is an important STEM learning contribution. We have created guidelines for teaching and measuring ST skills derived from a hybrid of a literature review and through case study data collection. Our approach is based on semi-quantitative cognitive mapping techniques meant to support deep reasoning about the complexities of social–ecological issues. We begin by arguing that ST should be evaluated on a continuum of understanding rather than a binary of correct/incorrect or present/absent. We then suggest four fundamental dimensions of teaching and evaluating ST which include: (1) system structure, (2) system function, (3) identification of leverage points for change, and (4) trade-off analysis. Finally, we use a case study to show how these ideas can be assessed through cognitive maps to help students develop deep system understanding and the capacity to propose innovative solutions to sustainability problems.

Implementing SA8000 certification standards

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Davoine ◽  
Delphine Gendre
Keyword(s):  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Cognitive Mapping ◽  
Cognitive Maps ◽  
Cognitive Change ◽  
Social Accountability ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Certification Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strategic Vision

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to identify difficulties and tension fields encountered in a Social Accountability (SA) 8000 certification process. The paper is based on a case study within a multinational small–medium enterprise (SME) during the implementation of a SA8000 standard. Design/methodology/approach – In the framework of the case study, we adopt a cognitivist approach and use cognitive maps to describe and analyze the corporate social responsibility (CSR) representations of the main actors of the certification process: the owner-manager of the SME and the certification manager. We collected additional information on the case company through document analysis, additional interviews, validation interviews, confrontation interviews and follow-up interviews after one year. Findings – The analysis of cognitive maps revealed tension fields and difficulties linked to the different representations of social responsibility between the social accountability standard SA8000 and the owner-manager strategic vision. It also underlines the sensemaking role of the certification manager in the certification process. Research limitations/implications – Limitations of the research are the explorative character of an illustrative case study and the limits of the construction of cognitive maps. The cognitive perspective brings new insights into the certification process and into the interaction between middle and top management. Practical implications – Implementing a CSR standard necessitates a cognitive change of individual representationsto integrate CSR standardized criteria in the complex, idiosyncratic and systemic representations of the main actors. Social implications – The case study shows clearly the tensions existing between the CSR representation based on a social standard and the CSR representation of SME owner-managers. Originality/value – Cognitive mapping has been often used to analyze and to discuss strategic vision of SME owner-managers, but rarely in the field of CSR. The confrontation of two maps and the complementary analysis of the case study context bring additional perspectives on implementation difficulties.

Removing Self-stigma: The Successes of People with Schizophrenia in Removing Self-stigma Through Self-control

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Franciscus Adi Prasetyo ◽  
Jajang Gunawijaya
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Study Quality ◽  
Data Display ◽  
Case Study Approach ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Depth Interviews

Self-stigma experienced by people who experience schizophrenia has influence on reduced self-esteem, on powerlessness, the weakening of hope, and a motivation towards recovery. The aim of this study is to explain the efforts of people suffering schizophrenia to manage their self-stigma through self-control, using a case study approach. Based on the purposive sampling technique, five people with schizophrenia were selected as the cases to be studied. Data collection techniques utilized in-depth interviews, observation, and documentary studies. The analysis of the study data employed the stages of data reduction, data display, and data verification. Improvement in study quality employed the triangulation of data sources by checking the data to determine its consistency. The results of this study indicate that people with schizophrenia who have the ability to self-control can overcome self-stigma through changes in the manner of viewing themselves, self-training through activities, having endurance, having an honest approach, being able to explain schizophrenia from a positive viewpoint, having initiative, and having a positive attitude and the courage to face challenges.

Parent and Grandparent Relationships in Emerging Adulthood

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Pratt ◽  
M. Kyle Matsuba
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Attachment Theory ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Family Development ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Theory Framework

Chapter 7 begins with an overview of Erikson’s ideas about intimacy and its place in the life cycle, followed by a summary of Bowlby and Ainsworth’s attachment theory framework and its relation to family development. The authors review existing longitudinal research on the development of family relationships in adolescence and emerging adulthood, focusing on evidence with regard to links to McAdams and Pals’ personality model. They discuss the evidence, both questionnaire and narrative, from the Futures Study data set on family relationships, including emerging adults’ relations with parents and, separately, with grandparents, as well as their anticipations of their own parenthood. As a way of illustrating the key personality concepts from this family chapter, the authors end with a case study of Jane Fonda in youth and her father, Henry Fonda, to illustrate these issues through the lives of a 20th-century Hollywood dynasty of actors.

scholarly journals A Case Study of a Negotiated Tender within a Small-to-Medium Construction Contractor: Modelling Project Cost Variance

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 260
Author(s):  
James Ellis ◽  
David John Edwards ◽  
Wellington Didibhuku Thwala ◽  
Obuks Ejohwomu ◽  
Ernest Effah Ameyaw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Review Literature ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Open Book ◽  
Competitive Tendering ◽  
Construction Contractor ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Insight Into

This research explores the failure of competitively tendered projects in the UK construction industry to procure the most suited contractor(s) to conduct the works. Such work may have equal relevance for other developed nations globally. This research seeks to teach clients and their representatives that “lowest price” does not mean “best value”, by presenting a case study of a successfully negotiated tender undertaken by a small-to-medium enterprise (SME) contractor; SME studies are relatively scant in academic literature. By applying the “lessons learnt” principle, this study seeks to improve future practice through the development of a novel alternative procurement option (i.e., negotiation). A mixed philosophical stance combining interpretivism and pragmatism was used—interpretivism to critically review literature in order to form the basis of inductive research to discuss negotiation as a viable procurement route, and pragmatism to analyse perceptions of tendering and procurement. The methods used follow a three-stage waterfall process including: (1) literature review and pilot study; (2) quantitative analysis of case study data; and (3) qualitative data collection via a focus group. Our research underscores the need to advise clients and their representatives of the importance of understanding the scope of works allowed within a tender submission before discounting it based solely on price. In addition, we highlight the failings of competitive tendering, which results in increased costs and project duration once the works commence on site. These findings provide new contemporary insight into procurement and tendering in the construction industry, with emphasis on SME contractors, existing relationships, and open-book negotiation. This research illustrates the adverse effects of early cost estimates produced without first securing a true understanding of project buildability and programming. Our work concludes with a novel insight into an alternative procurement option that involves early SME contractor involvement in an open-book environment, without the need for a third-party cost control.

scholarly journals Water ethics, justice, and equity in social-ecological systems conservation: lessons from the Queensland Wild Rivers Act

Water Policy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 933-952 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sameer H. Shah ◽  
Lucy Rodina
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resource Management ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Resource Governance ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Water Ethics ◽  
Natural Rivers

Abstract The protection of natural rivers and watersheds face important concerns related to environmental (in)justice and (in)equity. Using the Queensland Wild Rivers Act as a case study, we advocate that ethical water governance attends to multiple and diverse values, specifically in ways that: (i) locate them within stakeholders' claims of inequality that emerge from a given or practiced water ethic; and (ii) historicize and understand them as resonating or reflecting natural resource management frameworks that have led to structural injustices. This approach, combined with adaptive co-governance, can contribute to more inclusive water ethics and even support reflexive spaces where radical change in social-ecological resource governance can be imagined.

On Trees and Triviality Traps: Locating the Debate on the Contribution of Cognitive Mapping to Organizational Research

2002 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Daniels ◽  
Gerry Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Mapping ◽  
Cognitive Maps ◽  
Organizational Research ◽  
Similarity Ratings ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Global Similarity

In his critique of Daniels et al. (2002), Hodgkinson (2001a) raises a number of issues concerning the use and comparison of ideographic cognitive maps. Hodgkinson claims that there are problems associated with global similarity ratings, and that ideographic methods should be replaced by methods that have some nomothetic component. In reply, we show that the specific issues raised by Hodgkinson are not at all problematic in the context of the research questions addressed by Daniels et al. We examine Hodgkinson's proposed alternative and explain why it would not be appropriate for the questions addressed by Daniels et al. We then argue that Hodgkinson' s approach, far from being a panacea for problems in cognitive mapping research, will deflect from the issues of real debate in this area.

Constructed Case Studies: Athletes’ Perspectives of Disengaging from Organized Competitive Sport

1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Koukouris
Keyword(s):  
Financial Constraints ◽  
Cognitive Mapping ◽  
Elite Athletes ◽  
Competitive Sport ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Social Death ◽  
Former Athletes ◽  
Phenomenological Perspective ◽  
Holistic Method

Disengagement from sport is examined from a phenomenological perspective. This perspective permits committed adult athletes to explain in their own time and their own words why they ceased participating in formally organized competitive sport. Thirty-four former advanced and elite athletes were interviewed. The constructed case study method provides the opportunity to examine causal relationships among all factors leading to disengagement from sport, and follows a “holistic” method of analyzing interviews (cognitive mapping). Former athletes identified the problem of settling into a job and financial constraints as the primary factors influencing their disengagement from sport. Most athletes left sport voluntarily and experienced elements of rebirth rather than social death.

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