• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.27-44
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to empirically verify the effect of social entrepreneurship on market orientation. total of 500 questionnaires were distributed to workers in social enterprise and preliminary social enterprise. 202 questionnaires were used for final validation of research model, The hypotheses set in this study were validated through SPSS18.0 and LISREL8.3 based on the research model. The results showed that all hypotheses were accepted, except for 5 hypotheses(Hypothesis 1-1, Hypothesis 1-2, Hypothesis 1-3, Hypothesis 1-6, Hypothesis 1-9). First, we examined the effect that empathy might have on market orientation in connection with social entrepreneurship. The results suggested that empathy did not have a statistically significant effect on customer-orientation, inter-department cooperation and coordination, and competitor orientation. Second, we examined the effect that innovativeness might have on market orientation in connection with social entrepreneurship. The results showed that innovativeness had a positive(+) effect on customer-orientation and inter-department cooperation and coordination but did not have a statistically significant effect on competitor-orientation. Third, we examined the effect that risk-taking might have on market orientation in connection with social entrepreneurship. The results implied that risk-taking had a positive(+) effect on customer-orientation and inter-department cooperation and coordination but did not have a statistically significant effect on competitor-orientation. Finally, the relationship among market orientation variables was like this: The inter-department cooperation and coordination had a positive(+) effect on both customer-orientation and competitor-orientation. The results of this study are expected to provide a useful basis for overall understanding about the effect of social entrepreneurship on market orientation and present important theoretical and practical implications.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.240-247
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• 2017

The increased investigation of the cerebral arteries with magnetic resonance angiography has resulted in an increase in the identification of unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs). Knowledge of the distribution and factors associated with UIAs might be helpful for understanding the pathological mechanism of unruptured aneurysms. This study examined patients who visited a health care center and had a health examination from January 2007 to December 2016. Subjects who underwent magnetic resonance angiography with a health examination at the Health Screening were enrolled in this study. The incidence and risk factors of UIAs (age, sex, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, alcohol, and coronary artery disease) were investigated by comparing the size (more than 3 mm vs. less than 3 mm) and multiple aneurysm (single vs. multiple aneurysms). The frequency of aneurysm according to the site was also analyzed. Among the 187166 subjects, who received a health examination, 18954 underwent magnetic resonance angiography. Of them, 367 (1.93%) had UIAs. A comparison of the size of more than 3 mm and less than 3 mm showed that the mean age of the more than 3 mm group of patients was significantly higher than the other size groups (more than 3 mm $57.16{\pm}8.47$ vs. less than 3 mm $55.12{\pm}8.19$; p=0.07). High-density lipoprotein was significantly higher in the more than 3 mm group than in the less than 3 mm($55.95{\pm}16.03$ vs. less than 3 mm $50.85{\pm}13.65$; p=0.007). Hypertension was significantly higher in the multiple aneurysm group (single 153 in 399 (38.3%) VS multiple 19 in 35 (54.3%); p=0.065). An aneurysm of less than 3 mm in size was frequent in the distal internal carotid artery (34.3%) and MCA-bifurcation (16.4%) (p=0.003). Aneurysms of more than 3 mm were frequent in the distal internal carotid artery (43.4%) and MCA-bifurcation (13.4%), and anterior communicating artery (13.4%) (p=0.003). The difference in size and single or multiple aneurysm revealed other risk factors. These risk factors suggest that degenerative and hemodynamic disorders may lead to the presence of aneurysms.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.1040-1046
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• 2010

This research is composed of a series of survey of existing plants species by classifying biotope type of agro-ecosystem of Guksoo village area of Yangpyeong County, to collect and analyze basic data of vegetation analysis for indicators development of agro-ecosystem habitat quality. From the observation area, we found total 141 kinds of tracheophytes (53 Family 114 Genus 124 Species 16 Variety 1 Breed) and they are 3.36% of total Korean tracheophytes (4,191 kinds). Among those 141 tracheophytes, there are 23 kinds of naturalized plants (11 Family 20 Genus 20 Species 2 Variety) and they are 8.61% of total Korean naturalized plants (267 kinds). Among those 141 tracheophytes, they include 0.71% of pteridophyte, 0.71% of gymnosperm, 98.58% of angiosperm. So, most of them are angiosperm. When we classify them according to plant life form characteristics, dormant/diapause type plants include 45 species (31.91%) of annual plant (Th), 19 species (13.48%) of Th (w), 17species (12.06%) of hemicryptophyte (H). Regarding propagation type, as for the Radicoid form, there are 99 species (70.21%) of crumb structure plant, 13 species (9.22%) of $R_4$, 12 species (8.51%) of $R_{2.3}$ are the crumb structure does not make any connection on the ground or under ground. As for the Disseminule form of propagation type, there are 62 species (43.97%) of Gravity dispersal type $D_4$), 23 species (16.31%) of Wind dispersal type ($D_1$), 21 species (14.89%) of $D_{1.4}$. According to this survey of plant distribution rate by plant life form characteristics, we may acquire many knowledge about species composition of sociability, cluster's reaction against environmental elements, space usage and possible species competition in community. It may be very useful basic data for habitat preservation to keep and promote biological diversity.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.804-811
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• 2010

The lower portion of sloping paddy fields normally contains excessive moisture and the higher water table caused by the inflow of ground water from the upper part of the field resulting in non-uniform water content distribution. Four drainage methods namely Open Ditch, Vinyl Barrier, Pipe Drainage and Tube Bundle for multiple land use were installed within 1-m position from the lower edge of the upper embankment of sloping alluvial paddy fields. Knowledge of the spatial variability of soil water properties is of primary importance for management of agricultural lands. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of drainage in the soil on spatial variability of soil water content using the geostatistical analysis. The soil water content was collected by a TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry) sensor after the installation of subsurface drainage on regular square grid of 80 m at 20 m paddy field located at Oesan-ri, Buk-myeon, Changwon-si in alluvial slopping paddy fields ($35^{\circ}22^{\prime}$ N, $128^{\circ}35^{\prime}$). In order to obtain the most accurate field information, the sampling grid was divided 3 m by 3 m unit mesh by four drainage types. The results showed that spatial variance of soil water content by subsurface drainage was reduced, though yield of soybean showed the same trends. Value of "sill" of soil water content with semivariogram was 9.7 in Pipe Drainage, 86.2 in Open Ditch, and 66.8 in Vinyl Barrier and 15.7 in Tube Bundle.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.38
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• pp.329-358
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• 2005

The Three storied Stone pagoda in Gameunsa Temple site, one of the early staged stone pagodas, has been known as a standard for Silla stone pagodas. A stone pagoda is not only a stone art work and but also a stone structure. Most studies and investigation of the stone pagoda has done mainly based on style and chronological research according to an art historical view. However, there is not an attempt to research the stone pagoda as a stone architecture. Most Korean experts at the stone pagoda has art history in their background. Engineers who can understand the structure of the stone pagoda are very limited. More architectural and engineering approach is need to research not only art historial understanding but also safety as a structure. We can find many technical know-how from our ancestors who made stone pagodas. 1. To reduce any deformation such as relaxation and sinking of BuJae which is caused by a heavy load, the BuJae (consist of a foundation stone and lower stereobates) should be enlarged. 2. A special construction method for connection between Myonsuk and Tangjoo was invented. This unique method is not used any longer after the Three storied Stone pagoda in Gameunsa Temple site. 3. The upper BuJae and the lower BuJae are missed each other by making a difference of Okgaesuk and Okgaebatchim in size. It is done for a distribution of perpendicular load and a prevention for relaxation of BuJae. 4. The center of gravity in the BuJae is located to the center of the stone pagoda by trimming the upper surface of the Okgaebatchim into a convex shape. The man who made stone pagodas had excellent knowledge on the engineering and techniques to understand the structure of the stone pagodas. We can confirm it as follows: the enlarged BuJae, dislocated connection between upper Bujae and lower BuJae, and moving the center of gravity close to the center of the stone pagoda.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.69-88
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• 2022

One of the characteristics of South Korea's economic structure is that it is highly dependent on exports. Thus, many businesses are closely related to the global economy and diplomatic situation. In addition, small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) specialized in exporting are struggling due to the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a model to forecast exports for next year to support SMEs' export strategy and decision making. Also, this study proposed a strategy to recommend promising export countries of each item based on the forecasting model. We analyzed important variables used in previous studies such as country-specific, item-specific, and macro-economic variables and collected those variables to train our prediction model. Next, through the exploratory data analysis(EDA) it was found that exports, which is a target variable, have a highly skewed distribution. To deal with this issue and improve predictive performance, we suggest a separated learning method. In a separated learning method, the whole dataset is divided into homogeneous subgroups and a prediction algorithm is applied to each group. Thus, characteristics of each group can be more precisely trained using different input variables and algorithms. In this study, we divided the dataset into five subgroups based on the exports to decrease skewness of the target variable. After the separation, we found that each group has different characteristics in countries and goods. For example, In Group 1, most of the exporting countries are developing countries and the majority of exporting goods are low value products such as glass and prints. On the other hand, major exporting countries of South Korea such as China, USA, and Vietnam are included in Group 4 and Group 5 and most exporting goods in these groups are high value products. Then we used LightGBM(LGBM) and Exponential Moving Average(EMA) for prediction. Considering the characteristics of each group, models were built using LGBM for Group 1 to 4 and EMA for Group 5. To evaluate the performance of the model, we compare different model structures and algorithms. As a result, it was found that the separated learning model had best performance compared to other models. After the model was built, we also provided variable importance of each group using SHAP-value to add explainability of our model. Based on the prediction model, we proposed a second-stage recommendation strategy for potential export countries. In the first phase, BCG matrix was used to find Star and Question Mark markets that are expected to grow rapidly. In the second phase, we calculated scores for each country and recommendations were made according to ranking. Using this recommendation framework, potential export countries were selected and information about those countries for each item was presented. There are several implications of this study. First of all, most of the preceding studies have conducted research on the specific situation or country. However, this study use various variables and develops a machine learning model for a wide range of countries and items. Second, as to our knowledge, it is the first attempt to adopt a separated learning method for exports prediction. By separating the dataset into 5 homogeneous subgroups, we could enhance the predictive performance of the model. Also, more detailed explanation of models by group is provided using SHAP values. Lastly, this study has several practical implications. There are some platforms which serve trade information including KOTRA, but most of them are based on past data. Therefore, it is not easy for companies to predict future trends. By utilizing the model and recommendation strategy in this research, trade related services in each platform can be improved so that companies including SMEs can fully utilize the service when making strategies and decisions for exports.

• Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.23-42
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• 2006

This is a study of the digital archives of Culturecontent.com where 'Cultural Archetype Contents' are currently in service. One of the major purposes of our study is to point out problems in the current system and eventually propose improvements to the digital archives. The government launched a four-year project for developing the cultural archetype content sources and establishing its related business with the hope of enhancing the nation's competitiveness. More specifically, the project focuses on the production of source materials of cultural archetype contents in the subjects of Korea's history. tradition, everyday life. arts and general geographical books. In addition, through this project, the government also intends to establish a proper distribution system of digitalized culture contents and to control copyright issues. This paper analyzes the digital archives system that stores the culture content data that have been produced from 2002 to 2005 and evaluates the current system's weaknesses and strengths. The summary of our findings is as follows. First. the digital archives system does not contain a semantic search engine and therefore its full function is 1agged. Second, similar data is not classified into the same categories but into the different ones, thereby confusing and inconveniencing users. Users who want to find source materials could be disappointed by the current distributive system. Our paper suggests a better system of digital archives with text mining technology which consists of five significant intelligent process-keyword searches, summarization, clustering, classification and topic tracking. Our paper endeavors to develop the best technical environment for preserving and using culture contents data. With the new digitalized upgraded settings, users of culture contents data will discover a world of new knowledge. The technology we introduce in this paper will lead to the highest achievable digital intelligence through a new framework.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.61-118
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• 2008

The purpose of this research is to construct research framework for international franchising based on existing literature and to identify research components in the framework. Franchise can be defined as management styles that allow franchisee use various management assets of franchisor in order to make or sell product or service. It can be divided into product distribution franchise that is designed to sell products and business format franchise that is designed for running it as business whatever its form is. International franchising can be defined as a way of internationalization of franchisor to foreign country by providing its business format or package to franchisee of host country. International franchising is growing fast for last four decades but academic research on this is quite limited. Especially in Korea, research about international franchising is carried out on by case study format with single case or empirical study format with survey based on domestic franchise theory. Therefore, this paper tries to review existing literature on international franchising research, providing research framework, and then stimulating new research on this field. International franchising research components include motives and environmental factors for decision of expanding to international franchising, entrance modes and development plan for international franchising, contracts and management strategy of international franchising, and various performance measures from different perspectives. First, motives of international franchising are fee collection from franchisee. Also it provides easier way to expanding to foreign country. The other motives including increase total sales volume, occupying better strategic position, getting quality resources, and improving efficiency. Environmental factors that facilitating international franchising encompasses economic condition, trend, and legal or political factors in host and/or home countries. In addition, control power and risk management capability of franchisor plays critical role in successful franchising contract. Final decision to enter foreign country via franchising is determined by numerous factors like history, size, growth, competitiveness, management system, bonding capability, industry characteristics of franchisor. After deciding to enter into foreign country, franchisor needs to set entrance modes of international franchising. Within contractual mode, there are master franchising and area developing franchising, licensing, direct franchising, and joint venture. Theories about entrance mode selection contain concepts of efficiency, knowledge-based approach, competence-based approach, agent theory, and governance cost. The next step after entrance decision is operation strategy. Operation strategy starts with selecting a target city and a target country for franchising. In order to finding, screening targets, franchisor needs to collect information about candidates. Critical information includes brand patent, commercial laws, regulations, market conditions, country risk, and industry analysis. After selecting a target city in target country, franchisor needs to select franchisee, in other word, partner. The first important criteria for selecting partners are financial credibility and capability, possession of real estate. And cultural similarity and knowledge about franchisor and/or home country are also recognized as critical criteria. The most important element in operating strategy is legal document between franchisor and franchisee with home and host countries. Terms and conditions in legal documents give objective information about characteristics of franchising agreement for academic research. Legal documents have definitions of terminology, territory and exclusivity, agreement of term, initial fee, continuing fees, clearing currency, and rights about sub-franchising. Also, legal documents could have terms about softer elements like training program and operation manual. And harder elements like law competent court and terms of expiration. Next element in operating strategy is about product and service. Especially for business format franchising, product/service deliverable, benefit communicators, system identifiers (architectural features), and format facilitators are listed for product/service strategic elements. Another important decision on product/service is standardization vs. customization. The rationale behind standardization is cost reduction, efficiency, consistency, image congruence, brand awareness, and competitiveness on price. Also standardization enables large scale R&D and innovative change in management style. Another element in operating strategy is control management. The simple way to control franchise contract is relying on legal terms, contractual control system. There are other control systems, administrative control system and ethical control system. Contractual control system is a coercive source of power, but franchisor usually doesn't want to use legal power since it doesn't help to build up positive relationship. Instead, self-regulation is widely used. Administrative control system uses control mechanism from ordinary work relationship. Its main component is supporting activities to franchisee and communication method. For example, franchisor provides advertising, training, manual, and delivery, then franchisee follows franchisor's direction. Another component is building franchisor's brand power. The last research element is performance factor of international franchising. Performance elements can be divided into franchisor's performance and franchisee's performance. The conceptual performance measures of franchisor are simple but not easy to obtain objectively. They are profit, sale, cost, experience, and brand power. The performance measures of franchisee are mostly about benefits of host country. They contain small business development, promotion of employment, introduction of new business model, and level up technology status. There are indirect benefits, like increase of tax, refinement of corporate citizenship, regional economic clustering, and improvement of international balance. In addition to those, host country gets socio-cultural change other than economic effects. It includes demographic change, social trend, customer value change, social communication, and social globalization. Sometimes it is called as westernization or McDonaldization of society. In addition, the paper reviews on theories that have been frequently applied to international franchising research, such as agent theory, resource-based view, transaction cost theory, organizational learning theory, and international expansion theories. Resource based theory is used in strategic decision based on resources, like decision about entrance and cooperation depending on resources of franchisee and franchisor. Transaction cost theory can be applied in determination of mutual trust or satisfaction of franchising players. Agent theory tries to explain strategic decision for reducing problem caused by utilizing agent, for example research on control system in franchising agreements. Organizational Learning theory is relatively new in franchising research. It assumes organization tries to maximize performance and learning of organization. In addition, Internalization theory advocates strategic decision of direct investment for removing inefficiency of market transaction and is applied in research on terms of contract. And oligopolistic competition theory is used to explain various entry modes for international expansion. Competency theory support strategic decision of utilizing key competitive advantage. Furthermore, research methodologies including qualitative and quantitative methodologies are suggested for more rigorous international franchising research. Quantitative research needs more real data other than survey data which is usually respondent's judgment. In order to verify theory more rigorously, research based on real data is essential. However, real quantitative data is quite hard to get. The qualitative research other than single case study is also highly recommended. Since international franchising has limited number of applications, scientific research based on grounded theory and ethnography study can be used. Scientific case study is differentiated with single case study on its data collection method and analysis method. The key concept is triangulation in measurement, logical coding and comparison. Finally, it provides overall research direction for international franchising after summarizing research trend in Korea. International franchising research in Korea has two different types, one is for studying Korean franchisor going overseas and the other is for Korean franchisee of foreign franchisor. Among research on Korean franchisor, two common patterns are observed. First of all, they usually deal with success story of one franchisor. The other common pattern is that they focus on same industry and country. Therefore, international franchise research needs to extend their focus to broader subjects with scientific research methodology as well as development of new theory.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.43-59
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• 1977

The Community Health Service considers the family as a service unit and places the emphasis of its service on the health problems and the nursing needs of the family rather than the individual. From the conceptual point of view that tile community health service is both health maintenance and health promotion of the family, the community health nurse should have a knowledge of the growth and development of the family and be responsible for the comprehensive support of normal family development. The community health nurse often is in a position to make a real contribution to normal family development. In order to investigate the relationship between the areas of nursing need and family development, the following objectives were established 1. To discover the general characteristics of the study population by the stage of family development. 2. To discover specific nursing needs in relation to the family developmental stage, and to determine the intensity of the nursing needs and the ability of the family to cope with these needs. 3. To discover overall family health nursing problems in relation to the family developmental stage and determine the intensity of the nursing need and the problem solving ability of family. Definitions : The family developmental stages as classified by Dually were used stage 1. Married couples(without children) stage 2. Childbearing Families (oldest child birth to 30 months of age) stage 3. Families with preschool children (oldest child 2½-to 6 years) stage 4. Families with schoolchildren (oldest child 6 to 13 years). stage 5. Families with teenagers (oldest child 13 to 20 years) stage 6. Families as launching centers (first child gone to last child′s leaving home). stage 7. Middle- aged parents (empty nest to retirement) stage 8. Aging family member (retirement to death of both spouses) The areas of nursing need were defined as those used in the study, "A Comprehensive Study about Health and Nursing Need and a Social Diagram of the Community", by tile Nursing research Institute and Center for population. and Family Planning, July 1974. The study population defiled and selected were 260 nuclear families ill two myron of Kang Hwa Island. Percent, mean value and F- test were utilized in tile statistical analysis of the study result. Findings : 1. General characteristics of the study population by tile family developmental stage ; 1)The study population was distributed by the family developmental stage as follows : stage 1 : 3 families stage 2 : 13 families stage 3 : 24 families stage 4 : 41 families stage 5 : 50 families stage 6 : 106 families stage 7 : 13 families stage 8 : 10 families 2) Most families had 4 or 5 members except for those in stage, 1, 7, and 8. 3) The parents′ present age was older in the higher developmental stage and their age at marriage was also younger in the higher developmental stages. 4) The educational level of parents was primarily less than elementary school irrespective of the developmental stage. 5) More than half of parents′ occupations were listed as laborers irrespective of the developmental stage, 6) More than half of the parents were atheists irrespective of the developmental stage. 7) The higher the developmental stage(from stage 2 to stage 6 ), the wider the distribution of children′s ages. 8) More than half of the families were of middle or lower socio-economic level. 2. Problems in specific areas of nursing need by family developmental stage, the intensity of nursing need and the problem solving ability of the family : 1) As a whole, many problems, irrespective of the developmental stage, occurred in tile areas of Housing and Sanitation, Eating Patterns, Housekeeping, Preventive Measures and Dental care. Problems occurring ill particular stages included the following ; stage 1 : Prevention of Accident stage 2 : Preventive Vaccination, Family Planning. stage 3 : Preventive Vaccination, Maternal Health, Family Planning, Health of Infant and Preschooler. stage 4, 5 : Preventive Vaccination, Family Planning, Health of School Children. stage 6 : Preventive Vaccination, Health of School Children. 2) The intensity of the nursing need in the area of Acute and Chronic Diseases was generally of moderate degree or above irrespective of the developmental stages except for stage 1. Other areas of need listed as moderate or above were found in the following stages: stage 1 : Maternal Health stage 3 . Horsing and Sanitation, Prevention of Accident. stage 4 . Housing and Sanitation. stage 5 : Housing and Sanitation, Diagnostic and Medical Care. stage 6 : Diagnostic and Medical care stage 7 : Diagnostic and Medical Care, Housekeeping. stage 8 : Housing and Sanitation, Prevention of Accident, Diagnostic and Medical Care, Dental Care, Eating Patterns, Housekeeping. 3) Areas of need with moderate problem solving ability or less were as follows : stage 1 : Diagnostic and Medical Care, Maternal Health. stage 2 : Prevention of Accident, Acute and Chronic Disease, Dental Care. stage 3 : Housing and Sanitation, Acute and Chronic Disease, Diagnostic and Medical Care, Preventive Measure, Dental Care, Maternal Health, Health of Infant and preschooler, Eating Patterns. stage 4 : Housing and Sanitation, Prevention of Accident, Diagnostic and Medical Care, Preventive Measure, Dental Care, Maternal Health, Health of New Born, Health of Infant and Preschooler, Health of school Children, Eating Patterns, Housekeeping. stage 5 . Housing and Sanitation, Prevention of Accident, Acute and Chronic Disease, Diagnostic and Medical Care, Preventive Measure, Dental Care, Preventive Vaccination, Maternal Health, Eating Patterns. stage 7, 8 : Housing and Sanitation, Prevention of Accident, Acute and Chronic Disease, Diagnostic and Medical Care, Preventive Measures, Dental Care, Preventive Vaccination, Eating Patterns , Housekeeping. Problem occurrence, the degree of nursing need and the degree of problem solving ability 1 nursing need areas for the family as a whole were as follows : 1) The higher the stages(except stage 1 ), the lower the rate of problem occurrence. 2) The higher the stage becomes, the lower the intensity of the nursing need becomes. 3) The higher the stages (except stages 7 and 8), the higher. the problem solving ability. Conclusions ; 1) When the nursing care plan for the family is drawn up, depending upon the stage of family development, higher priority should be give to nursing need areas ① at which problems were shown to occur ② where the nursing need is shown to be above moderate degree and ③ where the problem solving ability was shown to be of moderate degree. 2) The priority of the nursing service should be Placed ① not on those families in the high developmental stage but on those families in the low developmental stage ② and on those areas of need shown in stages 7 and 8 where the degree nursing need was high and the ability to cope low.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.29-52
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• 2012

Consumers differ in the way they make a purchase. An audio mania would willingly make a bold, yet serious, decision to buy a top-of-the-line home theater system, while he is not interested in replacing his two-decade-old shabby car. On the contrary, an automobile enthusiast wouldn't mind spending forty thousand dollars to buy a new Jaguar convertible, yet cares little about his junky component system. It is product involvement that helps us explain such differences among individuals in the purchase style. Product involvement refers to the extent to which a product is perceived to be important to a consumer (Zaichkowsky, 2001). Product involvement is an important factor that strongly influences consumer's purchase decision-making process, and thus has been of prime interest to consumer behavior researchers. Furthermore, researchers found that involvement is closely related to perceived risk (Dholakia, 2001). While abundant research exists addressing how product involvement relates to overall perceived risk, little attention has been paid to the relationship between involvement and different types of perceived risk in an electronic commerce setting. Given that perceived risk can be a substantial barrier to the online purchase (Jarvenpaa, 2000), research addressing such an issue will offer useful implications on what specific types of perceived risk an online firm should focus on mitigating if it is to increase sales to a fullest potential. Meanwhile, past research has focused on such consumer responses as information search and dissemination as a consequence of involvement, neglecting other behavioral responses like online merchant selection. For one example, will a consumer seriously considering the purchase of a pricey Guzzi bag perceive a great degree of risk associated with online buying and therefore choose to buy it from a digital storefront rather than from an online marketplace to mitigate risk? Will a consumer require greater trust on the part of the online merchant when the perceived risk of online buying is rather high? We intend to find answers to these research questions through an empirical study. This paper explores the impact of enduring product involvement and perceived risks on required trust level, and further on online merchant choice. For the purpose of the research, five types or components of perceived risk are taken into consideration, including financial, performance, delivery, psychological, and social risks. A research model has been built around the constructs under consideration, and 12 hypotheses have been developed based on the research model to examine the relationships between enduring involvement and five components of perceived risk, between five components of perceived risk and required trust level, between enduring involvement and required trust level, and finally between required trust level and preference toward an e-tailer. To attain our research objectives, we conducted an empirical analysis consisting of two phases of data collection: a pilot test and main survey. The pilot test was conducted using 25 college students to ensure that the questionnaire items are clear and straightforward. Then the main survey was conducted using 295 college students at a major university for nine days between December 13, 2010 and December 21, 2010. The measures employed to test the model included eight constructs: (1) enduring involvement, (2) financial risk, (3) performance risk, (4) delivery risk, (5) psychological risk, (6) social risk, (7) required trust level, (8) preference toward an e-tailer. The statistical package, SPSS 17.0, was used to test the internal consistency among the items within the individual measures. Based on the Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ coefficients of the individual measure, the reliability of all the variables is supported. Meanwhile, the Amos 18.0 package was employed to perform a confirmatory factor analysis designed to assess the unidimensionality of the measures. The goodness of fit for the measurement model was satisfied. Unidimensionality was tested using convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity. The statistical evidences proved that the three types of validity were all satisfied. Now the structured equation modeling technique was used to analyze the individual paths along the relationships among the research constructs. The results indicated that enduring involvement has significant positive relationships with all the five components of perceived risk, while only performance risk is significantly related to trust level required by consumers for purchase. It can be inferred from the findings that product performance problems are mostly likely to occur when a merchant behaves in an opportunistic manner. Positive relationships were also found between involvement and required trust level and between required trust level and online merchant choice. Enduring involvement is concerned with the pleasure a consumer derives from a product class and/or with the desire for knowledge for the product class, and thus is likely to motivate the consumer to look for ways of mitigating perceived risk by requiring a higher level of trust on the part of the online merchant. Likewise, a consumer requiring a high level of trust on the merchant will choose a digital storefront rather than an e-marketplace, since a digital storefront is believed to be trustworthier than an e-marketplace, as it fulfills orders by itself rather than acting as an intermediary. The findings of the present research provide both academic and practical implications. The first academic implication is that enduring product involvement is a strong motivator of consumer responses, especially the selection of a merchant, in the context of electronic shopping. Secondly, academicians are advised to pay attention to the finding that an individual component or type of perceived risk can be used as an important research construct, since it would allow one to pinpoint the specific types of risk that are influenced by antecedents or that influence consequents. Meanwhile, our research provides implications useful for online merchants (both online storefronts and e-marketplaces). Merchants may develop strategies to attract consumers by managing perceived performance risk involved in purchase decisions, since it was found to have significant positive relationship with the level of trust required by a consumer on the part of the merchant. One way to manage performance risk would be to thoroughly examine the product before shipping to ensure that it has no deficiencies or flaws. Secondly, digital storefronts are advised to focus on symbolic goods (e.g., cars, cell phones, fashion outfits, and handbags) in which consumers are relatively more involved than others, whereas e- marketplaces should put their emphasis on non-symbolic goods (e.g., drinks, books, MP3 players, and bike accessories).