341 research outputs found
Design dimensions of experience rooms for service test drives : case studies in several service contexts
No full textPurpose - The objective of this exploratory study is to analyse "test drives" of service offerings in a variety of service contexts by applying existing design dimensions of experience rooms in order to develop some principles to assist service designers who are interested in developing such "test drives" for their potential customers.
Design/methodology/approach - An exploratory qualitative study was undertaken using three case studies with varying levels of simulation/artificiality. Data were collected from documents and interviews with service providers and customers and analysed using a framework of six dimensions
Findings - The study adds a sixth dimension to the existing five dimensions or experience rooms found in the literature It also proposes seven principles to guide designers who seek to create new service "test drives" The study also introduces the new notion of "value in pre-use" (a development of "value in use") to describe the potential value of "real" services yet to be purchased Finally the study documents some of the advantages and disadvantages of using "test drives"
Research limitations/implications - The exploratory and interpretive nature of the research, and the limited number of cases and respondents, limits the generalisability of the findings
Practical implications - The study provides several principles that can be used in the design of service "test drives".
Originality/value - This is the first paper to analyse the design dimensions of service "test drives" and to propose the notion of "value in pre-use"
Skin-to-skin contact definitions in included studies where defined (alphabetical) by author/s name.
No full textSkin-to-skin contact definitions in included studies where defined (alphabetical) by author/s name.</p
Duration of skin-to-skin contact as reported in included studies (alphabetical) by author/s name.
No full textDuration of skin-to-skin contact as reported in included studies (alphabetical) by author/s name.</p
Timing of starting skin-to-skin contact as reported in included studies (alphabetical) by author/s name.
No full textTiming of starting skin-to-skin contact as reported in included studies (alphabetical) by author/s name.</p
Female Callosobruchus maculatus mate when they are thirsty : resource-rich ejaculates as mating effort in a beetle
No full textBecause male uncertainty over parentage limits the value of paternal investment in offspring, mate attraction and facilitation of ejaculate transfer are thought to be important functions of nuptial gifts. However, these are unlikely functions for valuable resources in ejaculates delivered inside the female. Instead, ejaculates containing costly nuptial gifts may be maintained because females alter their mating behaviour in response to the trade-off between the costs and benefits of mating. The value of receiving an additional gift should decrease with improved female physiological condition. Providing a female with a substantial gift will therefore make it less profitable for her to remate and reduce the risk of future sperm competition. Females of the bruchid beetle Callosobruchus maculatus are harmed by the spiny male genitalia during copulation but also appear to derive material benefits from the large ejaculates. I kept female C. maculatus with access to water and other females without access to water. All females were given the opportunity to mate with a new male every day. Females without access to water mated more frequently than females with access to water. I suggest that female C. maculatus mate more frequently to obtain water when dehydrated and that this may select for ejaculates containing large amounts of water in males. By providing their mates with a large amount of water, males can delay female remating and reduce the risk of future sperm competition.</p
Cryptic Female Choice and Male Mating Behaviour : Sexual Interactions in Beetles
No full textThe importance of cryptic female choice, i.e. female post-copulatory influence over male reproductive success, in driving the evolution of male traits remains controversial. The main aim of this thesis was to understand the post-copulatory consequences of sexual interactions and the importance of cryptic female choice in two species of beetle. Males of the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum use their legs to rub the lateral edges of the female elytra during mating. When manipulating female perception of this behaviour, I found that females preferentially use the sperm of males with vigorous leg rubbing when they mate with more than one male. Leg rubbing also appeared to increase female rate of oviposition. Females do not seem to gain any indirect benefits by preferring males with an intense leg rubbing behaviour since this behaviour was found to have very low narrow sense heritability and did not appear to be condition dependent in its expression. Males of the bruchid beetle Callosobruchus maculatus have spiny genitalia that harm their mates. Females kick males during copulation and when prevented from kicking, suffered reduced lifetime offspring production as a consequence of more extensive injuries. Males were not able to delay female remating, increase rate of oviposition or increase sperm precedence by inflicting relatively severe injuries to non-kicking females. Hence, the injuries appear to be side effects of male efforts to remain in copula. When copulation duration was manipulated, ejaculate size and female lifetime offspring production increased with the length of copulation. Females reduced their mating rate when they had access to water, suggesting that they obtain water from the large ejaculates and trade-off their need for additional water against the costs of mating. Males may then reduce the benefits of remating by providing their mates with a large amount of water. Females did not increase their remating propensity to avoid inbreeding when they had mated to brothers. Together, these studies reveal the complexity of sexual interactions and the importance of post-copulatory processes for the fitness of both males and females
Cognitive biases : a threat to objectivity in field investigations and in decisions based upon them?
No full textBased upon the author´s field experience as an expert witness cognitive biases in investigations and decisions are discussed. This paper was presented at The 13th European Congress of Psychology, Stockholm, Sweden, July 9-12, 2013. Handout 5 pages. </p
Beväpnade organisationer i Sverige under mellankrigstiden : En jämförelse mellan kommunistiska och nationalistiska beväpnade organisationer
No full textThe research problem of this study has been to compare armed organizations in the Swedish inter war period in a systematic way through the theoretical framework of the monopoly of violence. This has been done in the effort to demonstrate how the Swedish state viewed the level of threat that these organizations proposed based on certain criterias. This is something that hasn’t previously been done and it’s important analyze since it demonstrates how the state works under enormous amounts of stress and what the state deems to be of highest risk during these special times. The purpose of the study has been to answer how the state viewed the different armed organization's threat levels. Was it based on ideological views or was it based on something different? To answer this the study used three different research questions: What did the armed organizations have as their motive? What resources did the organizations have? And how did the state view the threat levels of the different organizations? As already noted the study was conducted within the framework of Max Weber's theory on the monopoly of violence. This theory implies that in order to have a successful state you need to be able to have the exclusive right to use violence within a specific area. Hence the state needs a monopoly of violence and therefore violence becomes a form of politics and the pursuit of power and influence. This theory should help demonstrate both why these organizations choose to take to arms but also how their different aspects affect their levels of threat perceived by the state. This study has been done primarily through a qualitative text analysis with a hermeneutic approach and comparative elements applied to it. This study has found that the organization's ideology seems to be the major aspect that increases the perceived threat levels but that there also are two other aspects that do this. The second is the motive behind why the organization has chosen to become armed. If the motive is to be able to conduct revolution this greatly increases the perceived levels of threat. The third aspect is the amount of resources that these organizations have, the more resources that they are in control of, the greater their potential threat and hence perceived threat levels
Perspektiv-strategianalys av handläggningssituationer inom socialtjänsten [Elektronisk resurs] : Ett teoretiskt utkast
No full textRapporten utgör ett försök att utveckla ett forskningsanknutet begreppssystem för att strukturera och analysera konventionella handläggningssituationer inom socialt arbete. Ett utkast till analyssystem presenteras.The author is trying to develop a research-based conceptual system for the purpose to structure and analyze ordinary work situations in the social services. A draft is presented.</p
Perspective-strategy-analysis of work situations in the social services : A theoretical draft
No full textRapporten utgör ett försök att utveckla ett forskningsanknutet begreppssystem för att strukturera och analysera konventionella handläggningssituationer inom socialt arbete. Ett utkast till analyssystem presenteras.The author is trying to develop a research-based conceptual system for the purpose to structure and analyze ordinary work situations in the social services. A draft is presented
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