Problems Relating to Declining Response Rates to Social Survey Research in Japan: Trends After 2000

Abstract: Sociologists in Japan recognize that the circumstances under which social survey research is conducted have been deteriorating and have become critical since 2000. Social survey research is understood as a large-scale survey that mainly draws samples by a random sampling method, using a questionnaire as a measurement tool. The crises of social survey research are summarized as following: (1) the increasing difficulty of conducting accurate sampling and (2) the decline in response rates to drawn samples (planned samples). This paper focuses on the decline in response rates to social survyes by examining recent trends in relation to social surveys conducted by the Japanese government and local government (prefectures). In summary, there has been a landslidedecline of the response rate between 2005 and 2006 in surveys conducted by Japanese government. This decline was thought to mainly come from the declining of response rates among the elderly and women, groups that had previously had high response rates. This seems to be the result of the growing level of the crime involving the abuse of the personal information. However, there did not appear to be a serious decline in the response rate for surveys conducted by local governments. Given that it is not easy to restore response rates, it is important to develop research methods and techniques to cope with the decline. Further, informing respondents of the purpose of the research and its benefit to may help raise response rates.     

论信息管理在学校经营中的作用

本文基于信息管理理论的视角,首先分别介绍了信息管理和学校经营这两种越来越受到人们重视的理论,然后分析了在学校经营过程中引入信息管理的必要性,并初步尝试将信息管理的基本原理运用到学校经营中,以提高学校经营的效率和效益,实现学校的可持续发展。     

Trial or No Trial: Supplying Costly Signals to Improve Profits*

Many software and video game firms offer free trials with limited content to help buyers assess the likely value of the goods that they may purchase. This article examines fundamental issues related to the incentives and risks for a monopoly by providing a trial. Assuming that a seller can control the mix of components in a trial, we introduce a new mechanism for buyers’ inference of using a trial. We find that a trial may enable the seller to segment the market and charge a higher price to high‐valuation buyers, but can also cause a decline in demand. Moreover, the seller forfeits partial value of a full product through providing a free trial, so the benefit is offset by this cannibalization loss. In addition to the size and content of a trial, the distribution of buyers’ prior belief also affects a trial's ability to convey information. We show that a trial can provide more information if the prior belief is more concentrated in the tails of the distribution.     

Exploring the Effects of the Privacy‐Handling Management Styles of Social Networking Sites on User Satisfaction: A Conflict Management Perspective

The issue of consumer information privacy, arguably the most substantial and persistent problem confronting e‐commerce companies in general and online social networking service providers in particular, often results in unsatisfied customers. Researchers have investigated privacy from various perspectives and in a multitude of settings, yet there have been few attempts to understand privacy versus satisfaction, particularly from the perspective of conflict management. Because users’ privacy can be negatively affected by social networking sites (SNSs), this study focuses on the privacy conflicts between SNSs and their users. Drawing on conflict management theory, this article investigates the effects of different conflict management styles exhibited by an SNS on users’ satisfaction with its privacy practices, which then affects their intention to disclose personal information. The SNS examined in this study is Facebook, the most popular SNS with the largest number of users. Data were collected using an online survey and were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results suggest that the two cooperative conflict management styles demonstrated by the SNS—accommodating and problem‐solving—positively affect users’ satisfaction with the privacy practices of the SNS both directly and indirectly through perceived privacy risk control. With regard to uncooperative styles, an avoiding style negatively affects user satisfaction directly, whereas an asserting style negatively affects user satisfaction indirectly through perceived privacy risk. The results also support that satisfaction is positively related to intention; users who are satisfied with the privacy practices of SNSs are more willing to disclose personal information than unsatisfied ones.     

Classical model selection via simulated annealing

Summary. The classical approach to statistical analysis is usually based upon finding values for model parameters that maximize the likelihood function. Model choice in this context is often also based on the likelihood function, but with the addition of a penalty term for the number of parameters. Though models may be compared pairwise by using likelihood ratio tests for example, various criteria such as the Akaike information criterion have been proposed as alternatives when multiple models need to be compared. In practical terms, the classical approach to model selection usually involves maximizing the likelihood function associated with each competing model and then calculating the corresponding criteria value(s). However, when large numbers of models are possible, this quickly becomes infeasible unless a method that simultaneously maximizes over both parameter and model space is available. We propose an extension to the traditional simulated annealing algorithm that allows for moves that not only change parameter values but also move between competing models. This transdimensional simulated annealing algorithm can therefore be used to locate models and parameters that minimize criteria such as the Akaike information criterion, but within a single algorithm, removing the need for large numbers of simulations to be run. We discuss the implementation of the transdimensional simulated annealing algorithm and use simulation studies to examine its performance in realistically complex modelling situations. We illustrate our ideas with a pedagogic example based on the analysis of an autoregressive time series and two more detailed examples: one on variable selection for logistic regression and the other on model selection for the analysis of integrated recapture–recovery data.     

我国农村环境群体性事件的法治研究——以行政法视野下的农民参与为视角

近年来,社会管理创新背景下的农村群体性事件呈现出诸多新的特点,农村环境群体事件已经成为影响农村社会稳定的主要因素之一。我国农村环境群体性事件发生主要是由于官民价值之间存在冲突、农民表达意愿的渠道不畅、官民沟通机制不健全等原因造成的。针对农村环境群体性事件的产生原因,提出转变政府现行的"压制型"行政模式成"回应型"行政模式,吸收农民参与到农村环境群体性事件的预防治理中势在必行。     

试论行政决策执行过程中的信息管理

行政决策过程理论研究中存在着对决策执行的忽视 ,主要表现为对相应的信息管理环节研究的不足。这种不足不利于决策目标的实现。提高行政决策执行水平的途径在于加强执行中的信息管理。我国目前在行政决策执行信息的产生、传递、处理、追诉方面存在许多困境 ,克服这些困境的出路在于进行制度创新     

高校图书馆与校园文化建设

探讨和认识高校图书馆在校园文化建设中的地位和作用,并对高校图书馆如何更好地为校园文化建设服务提出了对策。     

信息技术与云南医药企业管理的变革与创新

信息化建设是云南医药企业实现管理变革与创新、提高医药产业核心竞争力的良好契机。提高云南医药产业核心竞争力的总体思路 ,是以信息技术外溢效应和企业信息化外溢效应为基础提高云南医药企业的核心竞争力以至整个医药产业的核心竞争力