Should You Order the Feedback Sandwich? Efficacy of Feedback Sequence and Timing

This study sought to investigate the efficacy of feedback sequence—namely, the feedback sandwich—and timing on performance. Undergraduate participants performed simulated office tasks, each associated with a feedback sequence (positive–corrective–positive, positive–positive–corrective, corrective–positive–positive, and no feedback), presented in a counterbalanced fashion. Half of the participants received individual verbal feedback delivered privately by the researcher immediately after each session, and the remaining participants received the same type of feedback immediately before each session. The aggregate data suggested no feedback was the most efficacious for participants who experienced feedback prior to performance, and the corrective–positive–positive sequence was the most efficacious for participants who received feedback following performance. Differences in feedback timing were not significant except for the no feedback condition. These results document that the feedback sandwich was not the most efficacious sequence, despite claims to the contrary.     

Evaluating excellence: A model of evaluation for public relations practice in organizational culture and context

This paper represents the development of an innovative and comprehensive model designed to measure public relations excellence within an organizational context. Drawing on established scales of evaluation for public relations practice, researchers propose a measurement model situated within excellence Theory. Through a partnership between the research team and The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) organization, a case study approach was developed and implemented, highlighting the relationships between organizational culture and communication. The Excellence in Organizational Context model was tested within the AER, using empirical data gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews and a self-report questionnaire survey conducted with individuals from various identified organizational stakeholder groups. This mixed-method approach was employed to explore and understand the multi-dimensional nature of public relations practice within this organization.Researchers investigated eight dimensions of excellence in this model. Initial findings indicate that the Excellence in Organizational Context model proposed here is a valid and appropriate method for measuring public relations performance when applied as a mixed-method approach for measuring practice and establishing context within an organizational culture. This indicates the need for both organizational, stakeholder, and sector/national level data in confirming relevant benchmarks.     

Barriers and coping strategies of women with gestational diabetes to follow dietary advice

ObjectiveTo understand barriers and coping strategies of women with gestational diabetes (GDM) to follow dietary advice.DesignQualitative study.ParticipantsThirty women with GDM from the Winnipeg area participated. Each participant completed a Food Choice Map (FCM) semi-structured interview and a demographic questionnaire.Major outcome measuresUnderlying beliefs of women with GDM and factors that hinder following dietary advice.AnalysisQualitative data analyzed using constant comparative method to identify emergent themes of factors and beliefs that affected following dietary advice. Themes were categorized within the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction.ResultsGDM women faced challenges and barriers when (1) personal food preference conflicted with dietary advice; (2) eating in different social environments where food choice and portions were out of control and food choice decisions were affected by social norms; (3) lack of knowledge and skills in dietary management and lack of a tailored dietary plan.Conclusions and implicationsQuick adaptation to dietary management in a short time period created challenges for women with GDM. Stress and anxiety were reported when women talked about following dietary advice. Tailored educational and mental health consultation with consideration of the barriers may promote dietary compliance and overall better health.     

Effects of Contingent Reinforcement of Actions on Infants' Object‐Directed Reaching

The role of contingency learning was examined in 3‐month‐old infants' reaching movements. Infants in the experimental group experienced 9 min of active training during which they could move their arms in a reach‐like fashion to pull and move a mobile. Infants in the control group experienced 9 min of passive training during which they watched a mobile move. Prior to (pre‐training) and following the mobile experience (post‐training), infants in both conditions were given an opportunity to interact with a rattle placed within and out of their reach. Compared with infants in the control condition, infants in the experimental condition produced reach‐like movements more frequently during the mobile experience; they also showed a greater increase in reaching attempts from pre‐ to post‐training assessments with the rattle. These findings show that reinforcement of arm extensions and retractions increases the frequency of infants' reaching behaviors. This result suggests that the reinforcement of components of infants' behaviors may contribute to the successful assembly of these behaviors. This process could help keep infants engaged during the lengthy transition from prereaching to independent reaching.     

New Voters,New Outlook? Predispositions,Social Networks,and the Changing Politics of Gay Civil Rights*

Objectives. This study examines the factors that shape public acceptance of homosexuality and support for same-sex marriage across age cohorts.Methods. We analyzed data from two national surveys. We constructed hierarchical logistic and hierarchical ordinary least squares regressions for relevant age cohorts in order to test our hypotheses and explore our research questions.Results. Our models suggest that personal contact has a greater impact on the attitudes of younger respondents, positively influencing public acceptance of homosexuality. Alternatively, religious and ideological predispositions have a greater impact on the attitudes of older individuals. When examining public support for gay marriage, we find that younger individuals have higher levels of deliberative engagement with the issue debate, while older individuals rely more heavily on their predispositions when determining issue stance. Interestingly, measures of media exposure are not significantly related to either public acceptance of homosexuality or support for same-sex marriage, suggesting that other factors may have a greater impact on public attitudes at this point in time.Conclusion. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of the emergence of a new political generation and the continuing struggle for gay civil rights.     

Staffing Call Centers with Uncertain Arrival Rates and Co‐sourcing

In a call center, staffing decisions must be made before the call arrival rate is known with certainty. Once the arrival rate becomes known, the call center may be over‐staffed, in which case staff are being paid to be idle, or under‐staffed, in which case many callers hang‐up in the face of long wait times. Firms that have chosen to keep their call center operations in‐house can mitigate this problem by co‐sourcing; that is, by sometimes outsourcing calls. Then, the required staffing N depends on how the firm chooses which calls to outsource in real time, after the arrival rate realizes and the call center operates as a M/M/N + M queue with an outsourcing option. Our objective is to find a joint policy for staffing and call outsourcing that minimizes the long‐run average cost of this two‐stage stochastic program when there is a linear staffing cost per unit time and linear costs associated with abandonments and outsourcing. We propose a policy that uses a square‐root safety staffing rule, and outsources calls in accordance with a threshold rule that characterizes when the system is “too crowded.” Analytically, we establish that our proposed policy is asymptotically optimal, as the mean arrival rate becomes large, when the level of uncertainty in the arrival rate is of the same order as the inherent system fluctuations in the number of waiting customers for a known arrival rate. Through an extensive numerical study, we establish that our policy is extremely robust. In particular, our policy performs remarkably well over a wide range of parameters, and far beyond where it is proved to be asymptotically optimal.     

A competency-based approach to preparing staff as recreation and youth development leaders

Youth development professionals and parks and recreation professionals often are charged with providing services to youth. However, the approach of each can be quite different as recreation is a primary focus for recreation professionals and part of many services offered by youth development specialists. Despite the differences, these two groups of professionals can learn a great deal from each other. This article examines youth development and staff training with examples from the field and suggests how youth development professionals can learn from recreation professionals and vice versa. It suggests that parks and recreation professionals can strengthen degree programs, accreditation, certification, and continuing education by incorporating specific youth development competencies established by the National Collaboration for Youth. For their part, youth development professionals can learn from parks and recreation professionals how to enhance recreation programming as part of their services by gaining an understanding of program design, program and activity leadership, and administrative practices. With much debate over whether more education or more experience is a better path for those working with youth, the authors suggest that a combination of both will adhere to the quality of staff. Staff gain further knowledge and skill from academic preparation at the undergraduate and graduate levels, field-based training through jobs and internships, and continuing education courses specializing in youth development competencies and recreation-based competencies set within a youth development environment.