What keeps science spiralling? Unravelling the critical success factors of knowledge creation in university research

Based on Nonaka’s knowledge spiral, this paper examines how processes of knowledge creation contribute to success in academia. It presents the outcomes of an in-depth exploration of the workings of the knowledge spiral in a university research institute. The research shows the outstanding but undervalued importance of socialization processes. It also shows that, while research success is typically defined at the interplay of the individual, group and institutional levels, in the institute that was examined none of the four knowledge creation processes (socialization, externalization, combination and internalization) appears to run smoothly at the institutional level.     

Editorial zum Themenheft: ,,Datenbanksysteme”

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

What are Clinician Scientists Expected to do? The Undefined Space for Professionalizable Work in Translational Biomedicine

Minerva - Clinician scientists have gained institutional support in the era of translational research, as the key solution to closing the ‘translational gap’ between biomedical research...     

Generierte DB-Aufrufschnittstellen – Anwendungsspezifische Zugriffsoptimierung durch Bindungsflexibilit?t

Jede Datenbankprogrammierschnittstelle mu? sich daran messen lassen, inwieweit sie die Vorteile der durch sie integrierten Sprachen (Datenbank- und Programmiersprache) erh?lt. Neben dieser allgemeinen Zielsetzung müssen heutzutage neuere Konzepte in den Bereichen Programmiersprachen und Datenbanksysteme sowie die Anforderungen komplexer Anwendungsbereiche (z. B. CAD oder Software-Entwicklung) beachtet werden. Unser Ansatz der generierten Aufrufschnittstellen soll dazu beitragen, Datenmodelle objekt- relationaler Datenbanksysteme und Typsysteme objektorientierter Programmiersprachen n?her zusammenzurücken. Er erlaubt neben der Schnittstellengenerierung ihre anwendungsspezifische Konfigurierung, um die DB-Verarbeitung spezieller Anwendungen gezielt optimieren zu k?nnen. Wir werden neben Aspekten der Generierung/Konfigurierung die Nutzung von generierten Aufrufschnittstellen beschreiben und Experimente vorstellen, die den durch diesen Ansatz erzielbaren Leistungsgewinn verdeutlichen. Letzterer kann durch gezielten, auf die jeweilige Anwendung zugeschnittenen Einsatz von frühen Bindungen für Datenmanipulationsoperationen sowie von Pointer-Swizzling-/Prefetching-Mechanismen erreicht werden.     

STABILITY OF SCALE QUALITY UNDER VARIOUS DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES: A MODE COMPARISON ON THE 'DE JONG-GIERVELD LONELINESS SCALE

Data collection procedures can influence respondents' self-disclosure,accuracy and motivation to complete the interview. In comparingresearch results across different studies, it is important touse robust measuring instruments. The ‘De Jong-GierveldLoneliness Scale’ was developed to measure lonelinessamong different populations and in studies with different designs.Data on this loneliness scale were re-analyzed to investigatethe robustness of the scale. The data were from six Dutch surveys.Different interview modes were used for data collection: threesurveys with self-administered paper questionnaires, two surveyswith face-to-face interviews, and one telephone survey. In orderto compare the properties of the loneliness scale, a relativelyhomogeneous category of respondents was selected: single womenbetween the ages of 25 and 65. An examination of the scale withregard to five aspects of robustness showed in very few casesthat it was affected. No evidence was found for the assumptionthat the use of a self-administered questionnaire would leadto high item non-response, any higher than using other datacollection procedures. It was also assumed that in self-administeredquestionnaires or telephone interviews, a better inter-itemhomogeneity and a better person scalability would be found instudies with face-to-face interviews. The results sustainedthis hypothesis. Further, it was believed that the absence ofan interviewer would result in greater self-disclosure and thereforein higher scale means. We found on evidence to support this.In general the results showed that the loneliness scale metthe psychometric requirements of items non-response, scale homogenityand person scalability. After testing the robustness of thescale, we conclude that it is questionable on two aspects: theinter-item homogeneity and the person scalability.