Tourism distribution has commonly been understood within a managerial framework, appearing as a static, linear and isolated process, happening in distribution channels. Through ontological, epistemological and methodological argumentation, this paper reveals that such an approach represents one specific enactment of tourism distribution that, on its own, does not sufficiently reflect the complex processes involved. A conceptual basis and framework for a new approach to analysis of tourism distribution is presented. This approach applies existing knowledge on tourism distribution to a framework (...) founded in understandings from Activity Theory and Actor-Network Theory. In this framework, tourism distribution is considered as a process of mediation, happening in networks of relations, between complex activity systems. The approach sets up a specific frame for analysis of tourism distribution, but also encourages researchers to take an open approach where mess and multiplicity is embraced. (shrink)

Philosophical inquiry that delves into the intriguing connections between media technology and leisure may assist us in understanding how we might consider the goodness of using media technology for leisure. Specifically, philosophical discourses of Aristotle and Heidegger can be used to help identify and clarify the roles of media technology and leisure. Therefore, in this paper, we provide a philosophical examination of connections between media technology and leisure by exploring perspectives and linkages of writings by Aristotle [2004. The Nicomachean ethics. (...) Translated and edited by J. A. K. Thompson. New York: Penguin Group] and Heidegger [1977. The Question Concerning Technology. Translated and edited by W. Lovitt. New York: Harper & Row]. We use the writings of these philosophers to organize and describe recent research focusing on media technology and leisure experiences. The relationship between media technology and leisure is complex and multifaceted and it seems that this relationship is reciprocal, in that media technology influences leisure expression and, simultaneously, leisure experiences shape the use of media technology. (shrink)

Problem-based learning has been widely adopted as a strategy by nurse educators all over the world. Many studies have been carried out to examine its process and outcomes. There are few studies discussing the relevance of PBL to students with different cultural background. This study reports the experiences of Chinese students in Hong Kong using PBL and explores if their experiences were compatible with the educational philosophy documented in traditional Chinese literature. The phenomenological approach was used in the treatment of (...) data. The informants were students enrolled in the post-registration nursing degree programme at a university in Hong Kong during 1997-1998. A total of 94 journals were included in the analysis. Seven main themes emerged from the phenomenological analysis. They were the integration of knowing and doing, critical reflection and debate, individuality of learning, self -motivated learning, critical inquiry and independent thinking, timeliness of instruction and cooperative learning. This study provides evidence to show that PBL is an approach that is compatible with the Chinese way of learning. The result of this study shows that aspects of the modern PBL process harken back to an ancient Chinese learning philosophy that underpins Chinese learning today. (shrink)

Aim. This paper adopts an epistemological perspective in order to support the assertion that there is very little evidence to support the existence of evidence-based nursing as a distinct construct or process. Rationale. This analysis of concept meaning is based on the theory of symbolic interactionism. By adopting this theory the commonalities and inconsistencies in the use of evidence-based symbolism by nurses and other health care professionals can be used to evaluate the perceived meaning of the term. Methods. A frequency (...) analysis of relevant key words in one publications data-base demonstrates the increasing use of evidence-based terminology and its euphemistic status visa vi research. An epistemological analysis is conducted on a sample of concept clarification statements taken from the popular literature, defining the nature of 'evidence' and 'evidence-based practice'. Findings. The results of the frequency analysis show that the keywords 'evidence-based medicine' revealed 5612 papers, evidence-based practice 432 papers, evidence-based nursing 47 papers, evidence-based health care 60 papers, and evidence-based decision making 43. Almost all of these papers have been published since 1995 and the earliest use of the symbol 'evidence-based' is 1992. There is also an increase in papers adopting 'evidence-based' symbolism along with a commensurate decrease in the use of the term 'research' in the nursing context. Conclusion. 'Evidence-based practice' is commonly a euphemism for information management, clinical judgement, professional practice development or managed care. There is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that evidence-based nursing is a single construct or process that can be distinguished from its concomitants. The term adds little more to the existing long standing traditions of quality assurance and research-based practice. Nurses must avoid the inefficiency brought about by the 'intense enthusiasm followed by sad disenchantment' that has been associated with other attempts to introduce innovation in health care delivery. (shrink)

This paper shows how analytic modeling research in the Marketing field is focused on answering questions of "How?" and "Why?" It describes the disciplines involved in analytic modeling; examines how the key criteria of parsimony and robustness help to define a good model; and discusses other goodness criteria, including appropriate use of analytic techniques, applicability of the model to institutionally rich, real-world problems, non-obvious results, generalizability, and ability to provide insight where other research techniques do not work. The paper defines (...) and discusses key concepts in analytic models of distribution channels, including double marginalization, coordination, incentive alignment and contract design, strategic substitutability and complementarity, externalities, and principal-agent problems. Next, the paper summarizes research presented in the session on analytic models in channels at the Erin Anderson conference; and finally, the paper suggests avenues for future analytic modeling research. (shrink)

This paper argues that scientific studies distinguish themselves from other studies by a combination of their processes, their elements and the roles of these elements. This is supported by constructing a process model. An illustrative example based on Newtonian mechanics shows how scientific knowledge is structured according to the process model. To distinguish scientific studies from research and scientific research, two additional process models are built for such processes. We apply these process models: to argue that scientific progress should emphasize (...) both the process of change and the content of change; to chart the major stages of scientific study development; and to define "science". (shrink)