The use of semantic network analysis to manage customer complaints

Effective handling of customer complaints is obviously in the consumers’ interest, but analysis of the letters can also provide valuable information to the organization. Organizations can use customer complaints as a way of recording organizational information and tracking effectiveness of their consumer relationship management. In this paper, we argue that organizations should adopt the use of semantic network analysis as an efficient and effective means to track complaints ‐ and what customers are complaining about ‐ over time. We present an example of the use of semantic network analysis with the complete texts of all complaint letters sent to an organization during a one‐year period. The semantic network analysis of the text of the complaint letters identifies the central concerns of this customer group and suggests that the organization address these issues. Through the use of semantic network analysis, an organization can uncover trends and provide support for decision‐making regarding customer relationship management issues.     

Predicting parents' satisfaction with the education of their child with Down's syndrome

This study investigated parents' satisfaction with the schooling of their children with Down's syndrome and its relationship to parent identity. Responses to a postal questionnaire from 131 parents of children with Down's syndrome aged from 4 to 19 years were recorded for analysis. Using identity process theory to provide a theoretical framework, it was predicted that parent satisfaction with education would be a function of the extent to which the identity principles described by this theory are threatened by perceived educational circumstances. Composite measures of identity, perceived school climate and parents' satisfaction with school were obtained, and correlations among these variables calculated. Regression analysis confirmed the prediction that parents' satisfaction is closely related to self-efficacy, perceived involvement with their children's education and perceived school climate.     

A pilot study of the effects of faculty status for medical librarians in the United States

Objectives:Within many institutions, there are debates over whether medical librarians should be classified as faculty or professional staff, a distinction that may have considerable effect on the perception of librarians within their local institutions. This study is a pilot exploration of how faculty status may affect the professional experiences of academic medical librarians within their local institutions.Methods:Surveys were sent to 209 medical librarians listed as having some instructional function at Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accredited medical institutions in the United States. Survey responses were captured using Qualtrics survey tool and analyzed for frequencies and associations using SPSS version 27.Results:Sixty-four medical librarians at academic medical institutions completed the survey developed for this study. Of the respondents, 60.9% indicated that librarians at their institution have faculty status, while 71.9% believe that librarians at their institution should have faculty status. Ninety percent of librarians with faculty status reported that they are expected to generate scholarly materials, compared to 28% of those without faculty status.Conclusions:Many medical libraries offer faculty status to librarians. While many medical librarians are active in instruction, research, and other activities normally associated with faculty status, it is not clear if faculty status impacts how librarians are perceived by other health care workers within their institutions.     

Relationships between reading,phonological skills and language development in individuals with Down syndrome: A five year follow-up study

This article is based on language, memory andreading information gathered for a five yearfollow-up study of 30 children and adolescentswith Down syndrome, aged from 10 to 24 years atthe end of the study. At Time 1, 10individuals were classified as readers but byTime 2 this number had risen to 16. Readers significantly outperformed non-readerson tests of nonverbal ability, languagecomprehension and production, phonologicalmemory and phonological awarenesss. However,some of these differences could be accountedfor by readers' significantly lower hearingthresholds. Phonological memory and earlyletter knowledge at Time 1 were significantpredictors of reading scores for Time 2readers, after controlling for age, nonverbalability and corresponding Time 1 readingscores. There was no evidence that learning toread had a significant impact on later languagecomprehension, but early reading skills may besignificant predictors of MLU five years later,after controlling for age, nonverbal abilityand hearing.     

Collaborative Partnership: Developing Pre-service Teachers as Inclusive Practitioners to Support Students with Disabilities

Since the introduction of anti-discrimination legislation including Australian Disability Discrimination Act, 1992 and the Disability Standards of Education, 2005, there is an increasing demand on all schools to cater effectively for more students with disabilities within an inclusive school community context. This investigation explored a proactive partnership model designed to equip pre-service teachers with deeper role understandings in teaching students with disabilities. This collaborative model involved sustained professional experiences in schools on four mornings each week over 38 weeks, offered in conjunction with their final-year teacher education studies in Diversity and Inclusive Education. A unique emphasis of this qualitative study was a focus on identifying conducive real-life experiences and ideal teacher qualities for undertaking challenging inclusive practitioner roles. Findings highlighted the perspectives of school leaders, special education mentors and pre-service teachers in improving inclusive learning outcomes for all students while developing an effective collaborative partnership model for teacher education.     

Becoming Schoolgirls: The ambivalent project of subjectification

In this article, the authors examine the concept and practices of subjectification; that is, the processes through which we are subjected, and actively take up as our own the terms of our subjection. They use Judith Butler's theorising of subjection both as a starting point for working with their own memories of being subjected in school settings, and as the theoretical basis of their analysis of subjectification. Their method of working, which they refer to as collective biography, is derived from Haug et al. 's methods developed in Female Sexualization . Their memories focus on aspects of the achievement of the individual, appropriate(d) schoolgirl subject who simultaneously constitutes herself and is constituted through discourse. They analyse the illusion of autonomy through which modern subjects are made possible, and the inevitable ambivalence that is experienced as schoolgirls take themselves up appropriately within the possibilities made available to them. Through re-membering their own pasts, and the embodied and emotional detail through which we became (and go on becoming) subjects, they open up for inspection the contradictory ground of the humanist subject, and in particular the feminine humanist subject, as it is achieved in educational settings.