Nonverbal Social Sensing in Action: Unobtrusive Recording and Extracting of Nonverbal Behavior in Social Interactions Illustrated with a Research Example

Nonverbal behavior coding is typically conducted by “hand”. To remedy this time and resource intensive undertaking, we illustrate how nonverbal social sensing, defined as the automated recording and extracting of nonverbal behavior via ubiquitous social sensing platforms, can be achieved. More precisely, we show how and what kind of nonverbal cues can be extracted and to what extent automated extracted nonverbal cues can be validly obtained with an illustrative research example. In a job interview, the applicant’s vocal and visual nonverbal immediacy behavior was automatically sensed and extracted. Results show that the applicant’s nonverbal behavior can be validly extracted. Moreover, both visual and vocal applicant nonverbal behavior predict recruiter hiring decision, which is in line with previous findings on manually coded applicant nonverbal behavior. Finally, applicant average turn duration, tempo variation, and gazing best predict recruiter hiring decision. Results and implications of such a nonverbal social sensing for future research are discussed.     

Low fertility in Malaysia: Can it be explained?

Journal of Population Research - This study assesses the determinants of the fertility rate in Malaysia using the combined tests for cointegration and generalised variance decomposition analysis of...     

社会保护的历史演进

社会保护,是为很多国际组织和学者所使用的新概念,是国际上关于民生保障的新的共识.从历史上看,作为一种社会机制的社会保护在其发展过程中,是随着经济的发展、生产方式的转变而变化的.农业社会有传统社会保护机制,工业社会有现代社会保护机制,后工业社会有后现代社会保护机制.我们现在正处于从工业社会向后工业社会转变的关节点上,社会保护机制必然要发生重大的改变.     

The impact of job loss on family dissolution

The impact of involuntary job displacements on the probability of divorce is analysed using discrete duration models. The analysis uses the sample of couples from the British Household Panel Survey and distinguishes between types of displacements. Results show that couples in which the husband experiences a job loss are more likely to divorce. Redundancies have small, positive, often insignificant and short-lived effects while dismissals and temporary job endings have larger positive impacts. This is consistent with the interpretation of redundancies as capturing negative income shocks while other types of job loss also convey new information about potential future earnings and match quality.     

Participatory research meets validated outcome measures: Tensions in the co‐production of social care evaluation

Funding for care service research is increasingly subject to the satisfaction of two requirements: public involvement and adoption of validated outcome tools. This study identifies competing paradigms within these requirements and reveals significant challenges faced by researchers who seek to satisfy them. The focus here is on a study co‐produced between academic researchers and people with experience of adult social care services. It examines to what extent research studies can conduct high‐quality public involvement and genuine co‐production of knowledge, whilst attempting to produce quantifiable outcome scores. Findings add to debate around how to incorporate diverse perspectives in research, which may draw on incommensurate accounts of validity and reliability. Findings also highlight constructive attempts by academic and co‐researchers to make the combination of approaches work in the field. These small scale acts of researcher agency indicate some scope to combine the two approaches in future research studies. However, conclusions foreground the importance of broader awareness of how tensions and power imbalances related to this combination of approaches play out in social policy research practice.     

China: developmentalism and social security

China began its social security reform when the market-oriented economy was first promoted in the late 1970s. Initiatives have been taken to replace the employer-based labour insurance model with a largely social insurance model. However, it is a mistake to argue that China is pursuing a neo-liberal agenda in its social initiatives. Instead, the state has played a major role in the process. Based on a developmental analysis, it is argued that the direction of change is generally encouraging. The emerging social insurance programme has the following advantages: it widens coverage, facilitates economic development, seeks a minimum entitlement, fosters social integration, and enhances individual participation and responsibility. The creation of an economically and socially viable social insurance programme will support the economic development of the country in the twenty-first century.     

宁波市食品工业现状与对策

通过对宁波市食品工业现状的实地调查分析,指出了宁波市食品工业发展现状的不足之处．认为,加强企业管理和改革,全面导入CI思想,树立品牌意识,正确运用4PS组合,尽快形成全市食品批发市场营销网络,是宁波市食品工业发展的必由之路．