Considering clustering measures: Third ties,means, and triplets

Measures that estimate the clustering coefficients of ego and overall social networks are important to social network studies. Existing measures differ in how they define and estimate triplet clustering with implications for how network theoretic properties are reflected. In this paper, we propose a novel definition of triplet clustering for weighted and undirected social networks that explicitly considers the relative strength of the tie connecting the two alters of the ego in the triplet. We argue that our proposed definition better reflects theorized effects of the important third tie in the social network literature. We also develop new methods for estimating triplet, local and global clustering. Three different types of mathematical means, i.e. arithmetic, geometric, and quadratic, are used to reflect alternative theoretical assumptions concerning the marginal effect of tie substitution.     

The relationship between religious education and intercultural education

ABSTRACT

Religious education and intercultural education are seen by some to be in tension with each other, and by others as two sides of the same coin. The explanations for this unsettled relationship may be found in the different histories of the two fields. Intercultural education has become a cross curricular priority, resulting from rather recent developments marked by cultural complexity, following globalisation and migration processes of the last 50 years or so. Religious education has a long history of being a distinct school subject, much influenced by differing national and religious cultural heritages and which, during the last half century, has begun to address the issues of religious and world view diversity. In several countries today, religious education in the publicly funded school is conceived as non-confessional and deals with a diversity of religions and world views. Religious education may be the subject where socio-cultural differences are most visible and where the challenges of diversity are put to the test. This raises a series of challenges to curriculum designers and teachers in classrooms; the article will address some of them and suggest ways forward for teacher education and school practice.     

Religious Participation and Civic Engagement in a Secular Context: Evidence from Sweden on the Correlates of Attending Religious Services

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - The aim of the present study is to investigate the potential link between religious participation and civic engagement in...     

Reducing the Effort to Comprehend Risk Models: Text Labels Are Often Preferred Over Graphical Means

Risk analysis involves people with different roles and competences. The validity of the outcome depends on that they are able to communicate; ideally between themselves, but at least with or via a risk analyst. The CORAS risk modeling language has been developed to facilitate communication between stakeholders involved in the various stages of risk analysis. This article reports the results from an empirical investigation among professionals, where the purpose was to investigate how graphical effects (size, color, shape) and text labels introduced in the CORAS risk modeling language affected the understanding. The results indicate that if graphical effects are used to illustrate important information, they should also be accompanied by informative textual labels.     

An appraisal of key factors in the implementation of occupational stress interventions

Empirical research on stress intervention in organizations, and experience from organizational change programmes in general, indicates that obtaining intended change is often more difficult than it had been conceived to be at the outset. In order to facilitate the accomplishment of stress prevention and effective organizational change, this paper examines the importance of the social and cognitive processes influencing the implementation of any intervention. It states that if change is to be managed skilfully, it is important (1) to create a social climate of learning from failure, (2) to provide opportunities for multi-level participation and negotiation in the design of interventions, (3) to be aware of tacit behaviours that possibly undermine the objectives of interventions, and (4) to define roles and responsibilities before and during the intervention period.     

Business models and organization design

Despite a voluminous literature, business model research continues to be plagued with problems. Those problems hinder theory development and make it difficult for managers to use research findings in their decision-making. In our article, we seek to make three contributions. First, we clarify the theoretical foundations of the business model concept and relate them to the five elements of a business model: customers, value propositions, product/service offerings, value creation mechanisms, and value appropriation mechanisms. A clear definition of a business model enables theory to develop systematically and provides coherent guidance to managers. Second, we suggest that value configuration is a contingency variable that should be included in future theorizing and model building. Each of the elements of a business model is affected by a firm's value configuration depending on whether the firm is a value chain, value shop, or value network. Third, we link business models to organization design. We show how organization design is affected by value configuration and how new collaborative organizational forms enable open and agile business models. We derive the implications of our analysis for future research and management practice.