The Social Embeddedness of Transactions: Evidence from the Residential Real-Estate Industry

Information and communications technologies (ICT) are becoming pervasive in the residential real-estate industry and their usage is affecting the work lives of real-estate agents. Drawing on data from a regional study of the residential real-estate industry in the United States, we focus on the disintermediation or, more accurately, the reintermediation of real-estate agents in the sales process. Using data collected from interviews, direct observation, and archival records, we examine how real-estate agents are (1) taking advantage of new ICT in their work, and (2) protecting themselves from others wishing to displace their position in the real-estate value chain. Our analysis of this activity draws on two contrasting theoretical perspectives to illuminate the roles of residential real-estate agents: transaction cost and social capital. The results of this study provide insights into the ways in which ICT are used to build and draw on the social relationships that underpin the actual transactions, to help guide the process of buying/selling a house, and to invoke expertise as needed.     

Building A Contemporary Public Library Through Community Engagement: A Personal Journey

ABSTRACT

This article discusses how a broad understanding of community engagement has influenced the conception, realization, and services of one of the most internationally lauded modern public libraries, Dokk1, opened in 2015 in Aarhus, Denmark. Leveraging the power of networking and partnerships and the engagement of citizens and stakeholders is a key component in the success of the library. Input derived from the engagement process has informed decisions and influenced planning profoundly, contributing to the library’s evolution into a significant cultural and communal hub with 1.4 million annual visits from people from all walks of life. The article examines the journey toward this achievement through the lens of the author, who has been a central actor in the decision making and planning processes leading up to Dokk1     

Self-concept assessment for young children: Development of a self-report, peer comparison measure

The present investigation concerned the development of the Primary Self-Concept Inventory (PSCI), a group-administered self-report self-concept inventory for children of ages 5 through 8. Replicated analysis of the factor structure of the PSCI data indicated that a seven-component pattern provides an appropriate fit. As a result of this analysis, seven subscales were formed. Acceptable test—retest reliability estimates were obtained for administrations separated by a 6-month interval. On the basis of these results, the PSCI was accepted as a research tool, and recommendations for further investigation of the inventory were made.     

Processing Fluency in Education: How Metacognitive Feelings Shape Learning,Belief Formation,and Affect

Processing fluency—the experienced ease with which a mental operation is performed—has attracted little attention in educational psychology, despite its relevance. The present article reviews and integrates empirical evidence on processing fluency that is relevant to school education. Fluency is important, for instance, in learning, self-assessment of knowledge, testing, grading, teacher–student communication, social interaction in the multicultural classroom, and emergence of interest. After a brief overview of basic fluency research we review effects of processing fluency in three broad areas: metacognition in learning, belief formation, and affect. Within each area, we provide evidence-based implications for education. Along the way, we offer fluency-based insights into phenomena that were long known but not yet sufficiently explained (e.g., the effect of handwriting on grading). Bringing fluency (back) to education may contribute to research and school practice alike.     

The methodological benefits of social media: “studying up” in Brazil in the Facebook age

While conducting research on the organizational cultures of elite nonprofit organizations in Rio de Janeiro, the author encountered many access issues identified in the current literature: in particular, difficulty in encountering research subjects due to the transitional nature of educational nonprofits and the role of secretaries and administrators as gatekeepers. This article explores two previously undeveloped methodological innovations utilized by the author to overcome these difficulties with regard to access: namely, the use of social media as a participant recruitment tool and the use of an organization's online marketing presence as an alternative data source.     

The Use of External Consultants for School Development: A Norwegian Case Study

>Although teaching has traditionally been regarded as a stressful occupation, it may be argued that the increased pace of change and enhanced levels of competition within education have impacted upon all schools in Britain, and have brought added pressures to the profession. Additionally, a number of schools have experienced further traumatic change through the process of school merger and, hence, it would seem that teachers in these particular schools are highly vulnerable to high levels of stress.

A study, which was carried out to assess the levels of stress experienced by teachers in a sample of schools which were threatened by merger, had merged or had not merged, revealed that those who were threatened by traumatic change exhibited the highest levels of stress. The findings are discussed in relation to their implications for the management of traumatic organisation change projects.