Diglossia and identity in Northeast Thailand: Linguistic,social, and political hierarchy

The paper explores diglossic relations between Central Thai and phasa isan, a variety officially known as a dialect of Thai, but linguistically close to Lao. Phasa isan is spoken by almost one‐third of Thailand's population but its speakers in the Northeast are often stigmatized as uneducated and backward. We conducted field research mainly among university students in Ubon Ratchathani, a northeastern border province, by drawing upon data from survey questionnaires, reflective essays, interviews, and field observations. The findings suggest a transitional diglossic relationship in which Central Thai is the High and phasa isan the Low variety. These relationships are discussed in terms of nationalism, social hierarchy, and language maintenance and shift.     

Evaluation of a Training to Reduce Provider Bias Toward Pregnant Patients With Substance Abuse

The objective of this article is not to present a scientific or systematic study, but to provide an initial framework for designing a training workshop to enhance health practitioners’ (nurses, social workers, physicians, etc.) knowledge regarding substance abuse treatment and to decrease their bias toward substance-abusing women, particularly pregnant women in rural communities. We incorporated the 4 Transdisciplinary Foundations from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Competencies Model, with specific competencies targeted that related to provider bias. After the conference, 52 of the 70 participants completed a questionnaire to self-assess knowledge level and confidence in skill related to substance abuse management. Participant mean scores were statistically significantly higher following the conference than 1 week prior (p < .001) in the area of “gender difference with substance abuse,” moving from an average of 2.6 to 4.5 on a 5-point Likert scale. Our conference was successful in increasing attendees’ knowledge about gender difference and substance abuse among pregnant patients.     

Sexual Orientation as a Peripheral Cue in Advertising: Effects of Models’ Sexual Orientation,Argument Strength,and Involvement on Responses to Magazine Ads

This study examines how sexual orientation of couples featured in magazine advertisements affects heterosexual viewers’ responses using the elaboration likelihood model as a framework. A 3 × 2 × 2 × 3 experiment tested effects of sexual orientation, argument strength, involvement, and attitudes toward homosexuality on heterosexuals’ attitudes toward the couple, advertisement, brand, and product, purchase intentions, and recall. Results indicate that consumers were accepting of ads with lesbian portrayals. Participants showed more negative attitudes toward gay male portrayals, but attitudes toward heterosexual and lesbian ads were similar. This effect was moderated by participants’ attitudes toward homosexuals. Low-involvement consumers showed more negative attitudes toward homosexual portrayals than toward heterosexual portrayals, indicating that sexual orientation may have served as a peripheral cue negatively impacting attitudes toward the couple and ad under low elaboration. These effects were not observed for attitudes toward the brand and product, purchase intentions, or recall.     

Validation of the Learning Transfer System Inventory (LTSI) in the Korean corporate context

Lack of a valid instrument to measure learning transfer predictors has been the major obstacle hindering Human Resource Development (HRD) professionals from moving forward. This problem is one of the lingering HRD issues in South Korea, in which human resources have been strategically emphasized as a critical asset due to the scarcity of natural resources. To address this issue, this study aims at testing the validity and reliability of the data collected with the Korean Learning Transfer System Inventory (LTSI) Version 4. A sample of 753 managers from 16 Korean industries was divided into two subsamples for exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Reliability and the effect of common method variance on the factor structure were examined, with the results suggesting that the LTSI is valid for use in the Korean industry.     

A reduced form of the Workplace Bullying Scale – the EAPA-T-R: A useful instrument for daily diary and experience sampling studies

The need for more longitudinal studies (i.e. daily diary and experience sampling studies) focused on counterproductive work behaviours such as bullying requires shorter scales that at the same time do not compromise their content validity. Our main objective is to develop and validate a reduced version of the Workplace Bullying Scale (Escala de Abuso Psicológico Aplicado en el Lugar de Trabajo): the EAPA-T-R. Two studies (Study 1: 1506 and Study 2: 932 employees, respectively) were conducted to evaluate its psychometric properties and to ensure the external validity of the EAPA-T-R. Correlation and regression analyses were performed to reduce the current 12-item scale to a more parsimonious 4-item scale. Moreover, the psychometric properties of potential models were compared. Subsequently, the new scale was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. Likewise, statistically significant relationships were found between the EAPA-T-R and other dimensions evaluated, such as job characteristics, transformational leadership, engagement, job satisfaction, and subjective performance. Moreover, bullying mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and burnout. To sum up, the EAPA-T-R showed good reliability and validity across studies, supporting its use in future research. The benefits of this short scale for daily diary and experience sampling studies and when using large surveys are discussed.     

Estimation of Deprivation Level Functions using a Numerical Rating Scale

Evaluating and quantifying human suffering in humanitarian operations offers an innovative and potentially powerful way to assess the performance of humanitarian logistics (HL) and help build optimization models. Previous studies have suggested deprivation cost as a metric and have estimated deprivation cost functions for water using willingness‐to‐pay. Our study proposes deprivation levels, defined as the degree of human suffering caused by lack of access to a good or service, and estimates deprivation level functions using a numerical rating scale. Analyzing data collected from respondents with and without disaster experience, we find that individuals in the latter category estimate deprivation differently from the beneficiaries of disaster relief. Our study demonstrates that deprivation levels can be expressed as logistic growth functions with a typical S‐shape, and that these can be integrated into HL optimization models to better account for human suffering.     

基于博弈模型的“罪刑均衡”思想分析

罪刑均衡思想由来已久,作为刑法理论中最基本的刑罚原则,在对犯人进行科处刑罚方面具有的重要意义早已得到承认,而在预防犯罪方面具有的作用却长期被忽视。犯罪行为实质上是犯人和政府之间的博弈。政府先制订刑法,犯人在观察到刑罚后才选择是否犯罪以及犯何种性质的罪。经济分析表明,改变刑罚的确定性和严厉性就能影响博弈的均衡,从而影响犯罪,刑罚之外的其它措施如果能改变犯罪的成本和收益,也能实现同样的目的,这为预防犯罪提供了一种新的思路。     

劳动合同理论研究

本文分析劳动合同的可执行特征和在可执行要求下,劳动合同条款须具备可检验性,这要求明确期限和工资,同时劳动强度与劳动范围却是模糊的.进一步阐释劳动合同中劳动强度与劳动范围的模糊性的原因以及在劳动合同中劳动强度与劳动范围的模糊性情况下,相关制度安排怎样抑制雇佣双方机会主义行为,雇佣双方退出权的不对称是有效抑制雇佣双方机会主义行为的安排.     

基于Logit模型的区域集镇系统需求分析及规模确定研究

集镇迁建并非简单的将集镇按照原规模从一个地方搬到另一个地方,集镇迁建规模的大小．应该根据迁入区的实际需求（需求规模）来确定,需求的大小主要取决于村民对集镇的选择行为,即越多的人选择到某个集镇进行活动,该集镇的需求规模越大,反之越小。影响集镇需求的因素很多,包括交通时间、交通费用、集镇服务种类、服务质量等,本文将其概括为广义费用和集镇效用（服务能力）,建立反映村民选择行为的Logit模型分析集镇需求情况,并将其应用于区域集镇系统布局优化中,以我国西部某地为例进行实证分析,反映搬迁前后一定区域内各榘镇需求规模的变化,同时计算出新集镇的需求规模,为集镇迁建规模的确定及其布局优化提供科学的参考。