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Contextual Variation (contextual + variation)
Selected AbstractsHow news content influences anti-immigration attitudes: Germany, 1993,2005EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 4 2009HAJO G. BOOMGAARDEN Immigration is an increasingly important political issue in Western democracies and a crucial question relates to the antecedents of public attitudes towards immigrants. It is generally acknowledged that information relayed through the mass media plays a role in the formation of anti-immigration attitudes. This study considers whether news coverage of immigrants and immigration issues relates to macro-level dynamics of anti-immigration attitudes. It further explores whether this relationship depends on variation in relevant real world contexts. The models simultaneously control for the effects of established contextual explanatory variables. Drawing on German monthly time-series data and on ARIMA time-series modeling techniques, it is shown that both the frequency and the tone of coverage of immigrant actors in the news significantly influence dynamics in anti-immigration attitudes. The strength of the effect of the news, however, depends on contextual variation in immigration levels and the number of asylum seekers. Implications of these findings are discussed in the light of the increasing success of extreme right parties and growing opposition to further European integration. [source] Metaphor and the Dynamics of Knowledge in Organization Theory: A Case Study of the Organizational Identity Metaphor*JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 4 2006Joep P. Cornelissen abstract Despite the increased salience of metaphor in organization theory, there is still very little conceptual machinery for capturing and explaining how metaphor creates and/or reorders knowledge within organization theory. Moreover, prior work on metaphor has insufficiently accounted for the context of interpreting a metaphor. Many metaphors in organization theory, including the ,organizational identity' metaphor, have often been treated in singular and monolithic terms; seen to offer a similar or largely synonymous interpretation to theorists and researchers working along the entire spectrum of disciplines (e.g. organizational behaviour, organizational psychology) in organization theory. We argue in this paper that contextual variation however exists in the interpretation of metaphors in organization theory. This argument is developed by proposing and elaborating on a so-called image-schematic model of metaphor, which suggests that the image-schemata (abstract imaginative structures) that are triggered by the metaphorical comparison of concepts may vary among individuals. Accordingly, once different schemata are triggered the completion and interpretation of a metaphor may equally vary among different individuals or, indeed, research communities. These points associated with the image-schematic model of metaphor are illustrated with a case study of the ,organizational identity' metaphor. The case study shows that this particular metaphor has spiralled out into different research communities and has been comprehended in very different ways as different communities work from very different conceptions, or image-schemata, of ,organization' and ,identity', and use different theoretical frameworks and constructs as a result. The implications of the image-schematic view of metaphor for knowledge development and theoretical progress in organization theory are discussed. [source] Life Course Transitions, the Generational Stake, and Grandparent-Grandchild RelationshipsJOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 4 2002Robert Crosnoe Drawing on past research and prominent theoretical orientations, this research note suggests new approaches to intergenerational dynamics. For 316 grandparent-grandchild pairs, we found that the transition of grandchildren to higher education, controlling for other transitions, improves the quality of the grandparent-grandchild relationship. For grandparent mentoring, however, we see evidence of a generational stake, with grandparents overestimating their mentoring role, compared to grandchildren, during this transition. This generational stake reflects the importance of grandparent education, with increased mentoring for the college-going grandchildren of college-educated grandparents. These findings indicate that the intergenerational literature can be significantly advanced by taking a long-term perspective, incorporating multiple points of view, and examining contextual variation. Moreover, greater understanding of these intergenerational ties will benefit research on families and individual development. [source] Spatial Scale and the Geography of Tobacco Smoking in New Zealand: A Multilevel PerspectiveNEW ZEALAND GEOGRAPHER, Issue 2 2003GRAHAM MOON ABSTRACT Smoking in New Zealand is more common in deprived areas and in areas with a significant Maori population. Despite its status as a major health problem there has been little work investigating this apparent geography of smoking Data from the 1996 Census is used to construct a multilevel ,proportions-as-responses' model of smoking prevalence. This enables an exploration of the geography of smoking at different spatial scales. Levels within the model distinguish contextual variation between local authorities, census area units and meshblocks. Particular account is taken of the influence of deprivation and ethnicity on smoking. Results confirm the importance of ethnicity and deprivation and indicate that cross-level interaction between meshblock and census area unit measures is significant. They also challenge crude stereotypes about the apparent geography of smoking and suggest that, while levels of smoking may be high in parts of North Island, they are less high than might be expected given the socio-demographic composition of the areas concerned. Conversely, smoking is more prevalent than expected in parts of South Island. The paper notes the health policy implications of these emergent geographies. [source] | ||||||||||