• Title/Summary/Keyword: social environments

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A Study on the Compensatory Education for the Disadvantaged Children in Preschool Age (Focussed on the Programs of Compensatory Education in the U.S.A. and Japan) (불리(不利)한 환경(環境)의 학령전(學齡前) 아동(兒童)을 위한 보상교육(補償敎育)에 관(關)한 연구(硏究) - 미국(美國) 및 일본(日本)의 보상교육(補償敎育)·프로그램을 중심(中心)으로 -)

  • Chong, Young-Sook;Lee, Hee-Ja
    • Korean Journal of Child Studies
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    • v.1
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    • pp.65-81
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    • 1980
  • This study is aimed at investigating the compensatory education which was already implemented or is being implemented in the U.S.A. and Japan; and at studying the types of programs and their characteristics; and at sounding out the possibilities of the application of such programs in family and social conditions is Korea. In order to achieve the above mentioned objectives, the established items for the study are as follows: (1) Various types of early children's education (2) Programs of compensatory education for the disadvantaged Children (3) Head Start Program, Early Training Project and Montessori School (4) Integrated Preschool Programs (5) Day-Care Center for employed mothers We investigated the various compensatory education programs for the preschool children who are in economically, socially, culturally disadvantaged conditions. Head Start Programs were federally supported programs for preschool children and opened as summer programs in 1965 for the first time. The purpose of Head Start has been to give preschool children the kinds of experiences they need in preparation for school. The Head Start children were found to be significantly better prepared for school than the normal children. However, after six to eight months, their initial advantages had virtually. disappeared and then the simple problem with Head Start and other such programs was that little long-term good could be evidenced unless the high quality educational environment was maintained. Therefore, to solve this problem, three other programs were funded as part of the overall Head Start. These three programs are the Parent-Child Center, Home Start, and the Child and Family Resources Program. The Early Training Project for disadvantaged children was implemented by Klaus and Gray of Peabody College in 1962. The program was a field research study concerned with the development and testing over time of procedures for improving the educability of young children from low income homes. Its major concern was to study whether it was possible to offset the progressive retardation observed in the public schooling careers of children, living in deprived circumstances. Children, who were trained through the Early Training Project were superior to control groups in the test of IQ and vocabulary as well as linguistic abilities, and preparation for reading. This project showed the possibilities which could prevent preschool children from being disadvantaged socially, culturally and mentally. In 1907, Montessori School was established by Maria Montessori in Italy and her school program has been introduced at present to several countries in the world as one compensatory educations. She first began her experimental methods with retarded children, followed by disadvantaged children from the tenements of Rome. The Montessori approach futures a prepared environment and carefully designed, self-correcting materials. The Montessori curriculum presents tastes that feature sequence, order, and regularity, in addition to those that develop motor and sensory skills. She was interested in children's intellectual development and in developing good work habits. One of the latest developed programs for disadvantaged children is "Integrated Preschool Program" which has successfully integrated handicapped and nonhandicapped children. Several studies have showed that handicapped children in integrated school environments are accepted by and interact with their nonhandicapped peers. In fact, this program provides a number of potential, and perhaps opportunities for nonhandicapped children to serve as valuable resources in fostering the development of their handicapped peers. Next we turn to Japanese programs which are divided into two different types. One is Day-Care Center which was established by Child Welfare Law and the other is kindergarten organized by School Education Law. The kindergarten opened in 1876 and it has been part of school systems since 1947 by the implementation of education law, and the Day-Care Center which started in 1890 for the employed mothers. was changed into Day-Nursery by the enactment of child welfare law in 1947. The laws and operational regulations for the Day-Nursery were set up and were put in effect by the establishment standard acts of children welfare facilities, and the Day-Nursery has been operated in various types by the increasing demand, chiefly because of the socio-economical changes of family structures in both urban and suburban areas. Nursery education for physically and mentally disadvantaged children is for those who are blind, deaf and dumb, mentally retarded; physically disadvantaged by accidents or diseases. Montessori education in Japan was started in 1968 and many research groups for studying Montessori were organized. In 1977, Montessori remedial education society was also organized in which they started a number of studies; a study for developing materials; in-service training for the remedial education; and seminars and lectures, etc It is strongly suggested that we study the early educations that are being implemented in Japan and a variety of compensatory educations that were already implemented in the U.S.A. and modify them for the organization of our own model and properly accommodate them to our social needs.

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Teachers' Conceptions about the Genetic Determinism of Human Behaviors (교사들이 가지는 사람의 행동적 특징에 대한 유전자 결정론적 인식)

  • Youn, Se Jin;Seo, Hae-Ae
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.34 no.4
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    • pp.407-415
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    • 2014
  • Genetic determinism of human behaviors is considered as a philosophical perspective that genes in humans determine biological as well as social traits. However, many biologists agree that human traits are determined by interactions between genes and genes, as well as between genes and environments. In this context, genetic determinism still affect ideas of the general public as well as research directions of biologists. According to Cl$\acute{e}$ment's KVP model (Cast$\acute{e}$ra & Cl$\acute{e}$ment, 2012), teachers' conceptions of genetic determinism influence students' concepts of genetics. This study intends to investigate teachers' conceptions on genetic determinism of human behaviors. For this end, a questionnaire adopted from a previous research (Cast$\acute{e}$ra & Cl$\acute{e}$ment, 2012) has been administered to 308 teachers including 151 pre-service and 157 in-service. Factor analysis has been conducted to extract major factors and one-way ANOVA has been employed to find out differences in extracted factors among different groups of teachers. Four factors have been extracted from 14 items of questionnaire, including factor 1, a perspective of genetic determinism of gender differences in intellectual ability, social status, and emotional traits; factor 2, a perspective of genetic determinism of individual differences in intellectual ability; factor 3, a perspective of genetic determinism of individual differences in biological immune function and behavioral trait; and factor 4, a perspective of genetic determinism of ethnic differences. From the results of One-way ANOVA among teacher groups on four factors, first, it has shown a significant difference in factor 1 (F=3.325, p=.006), factor 3 (F=3.320, p=.006) and factor 4 (F=4.325, p=.001) due to their subject matters. In post-hoc comparison there have been no significant difference between biology teachers and other teachers. It has also been found that there was a significant difference between pre-service and in-service teachers in factor 1 (t=-3.938, p=.000) and factor 4 (t=-3.121, p=.002) and in-service teachers are more genetic deterministic than pre-service teachers. Finally, different religions have no influence on teachers' conceptions of genetic determinism of human behaviors.

Recovery Support Service for Neglected Children and Their Families of Origin: Status and Suggestions (방임 및 보호 아동·청소년 원가정 회복지원 시범사업의 현황과 과제)

  • Jeong, Jeeyoung;Anh, Jinkyung;Kim, Eunhye
    • Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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    • v.25 no.3
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    • pp.87-102
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    • 2021
  • Child abuse and neglect are recently increasing in Korea, and although the government has actively improved the child protection system, the number of abused children and the rate of cases judged as abuse have continuously risen. Given that 75% of child abusers are parents, child abuse and neglect are expected to recur. To prevent such a recurrence, various intervention programs for abused children and their parents are required. The purpose of this study were to design a recovery support service process and investigate the effectiveness of pilot program for families of origin, including neglected(protected) children, to improve the system by which these programs are operated, and formulate policy alternatives that reinforce "family preservation" principles. The pilot program was implemented from June to November 2020 in 4-local healthy family support center. The number of program participants and the frequency of participation in each other differed, because of the difference in number of confirmed coronavirus cases in each region and the requirement for social distancing. Through the program, a community-based service process was developed for neglected(protected) children and their parents, and cooperative networks between related facilities and institutions were established. The study formulated the following recommendations: First, a cooperation system among government departments mandated to provide different services to neglected(protected) children is needed. Second, wider and various channels through which abused children can avail of protective services should be developed within communities. Third, more stable environments for program operation should be cultivated, and cooperative partnerships should be sought for knowledge sharing among relevant government departments. Another necessary measure is for a center to develop its own business model, in which the duplication of services provided by involved organizations is avoided. Finally, clear guidelines, administrative standards, and specific plans for program operation should be arranged. Also regional characteristics are maintained, but services should be standardized.

Technological Diversities Observed in Bronze Objects of the Late Goryo Period - Case Study on the Bronze Bowls Excavated from the Burial Complex at Deobu-gol in Goyang - (고려 말 청동용기에 적용된 제작기술의 다양성 연구 - 고양 더부골 고분군 출토 청동용기를 중심으로 -)

  • Jeon, Ik Hwan;Lee, Jae Sung;Park, Jang Sik
    • Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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    • v.46 no.1
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    • pp.208-227
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    • 2013
  • Twenty-seven bronze bowls excavated from the Goryo burial complex at Deobu-gol were examined for their microstructure and chemical composition to characterize the bronze technology practiced by commoners at the time. Results showed that the objects examined can be classified into four groups: 1) objects forged out of Cu-near 22%Sn alloys and then quenched; 2) objects cast from Cu-below 10% Sn alloys containing lead; 3) objects cast from Cu-10%~20% Sn alloys containing lead and then quenched; 4) objects forged out of Cu-10~20% Sn alloys containing lead and then quenched. This study revealed that the fabrication technique as determined by alloy compositions plays an important role in bronze technology. The use of lead was clearly associated with the selection of quenching temperatures, the character of inclusions and the color characteristics of bronze surfaces. It was found that the objects containing lead were quenched at temperatures of $520^{\circ}{\sim}586^{\circ}C$ while those without lead were quenched at the range of $586^{\circ}{\sim}799^{\circ}C$. The presence of selenium in impurity inclusions was detected only in alloys containing lead, suggesting that the raw materials, Cu and Sn, used in making the lead-free alloys for the first group were carefully selected from those smelted using ores without lead contamination. Furthermore, the addition of lead was found to have significant effects on the color characteristics of the surface of bronze alloys when they are subjected to corrosion during interment. In leaded alloys, corrosion turns the surface light green or dark green while in unleaded alloys, corrosion turns the surface dark brown or black. It was found that in fabrication, the wall thickness of the bronze bowls varies depending on the application of quenching; most of the quenched objects have walls 1mm thick or below while those without quenching have walls 1mm thick or above. Fabrication techniques in bronze making usually reflect social environments of a community. It is likely that in the late Goryo period, experiencing lack of skilled bronze workers, the increased demand for bronze was met in two ways; by the use of chief lead instead of expensive tin and by the use of casting suitable for mass production. The above results show that the Goryo bronze workers tried to overcome such a resource-limited environment through technological innovations as apparent in the use of varying fabrication techniques for different alloys. Recently, numerous bronze objects are excavated and available for investigation. This study shows that with the use of proper analytical techniques they can serve as a valuable source of information required for the characterization of the associated technology as well as the social environment leading to the establishment of such technology.

A Study on How Urban Gardening Affect Citizens' Quality of Life and Social Capital in Deteriorated Neighborhood - Focus on the Residential Complex in Gojan 1-Dong, An San City - (노후 근린생활권 정원 활동이 지역 주민의 삶의 만족과 커뮤니티에 미치는 영향 연구 - 경기도 안산시 고잔1동 연립주택단지를 대상으로 -)

  • Park, Ji-eun;Sung, Jong-Sang;Son, Yong-Hoon
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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    • v.51 no.1
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    • pp.56-71
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    • 2023
  • Citizens' needs for urban green spaces are on the rise due to improved quality of life and increased interest in environments. The garden is noteworthy because it is small in size, making it less controversial to create in the city, and it is adjacent to the residential area, improving citizens' daily environment. Moreover, recently gardens is attracting attention as a tool for urban regeneration, such as being created in declining areas as part of a government project. Therefore, it is time to study the role and value of urban gardens in deteriorated areas in terms of space welfare. However, there are few studies that quantitatively evaluate the effects of gardens, and many prior studies are limited to focusing the green space larger than a certain size (e.g., parks and forests). Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the effect of garden and gardening quantitatively, paying attention to social aspects such as life satisfaction and community of inhabitants. The study was conducted in an old row housing complex in Gojan1-dong, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do. In there, some of the dwellers voluntarily created outdoor gardens and engaged in gardening for a long time. In addition, after the 2017 Gyeonggi-do Garden Fair, several gardens have been maintained and used by residents there. For the first step, the field trip was done to research the status of the garden in the area, and then, a survey was conducted on whether or not gardening has an impact on the life satisfaction and community of residents. The results were analyzed by t-test and ANOVA. As a result, residents who are engaged in gardening are more active in the "neighborhood exchange" and "resident participation" than those who are not engaged in gardening. In addition, if residents voluntarily create a garden, the level of "satisfaction of life" is higher than those staying in the garden which is constructed by the government. And a resident who is gardening in the complex shows higher life satisfaction than those who garden outside of the complex. These results confirmed that the garden has positive effects promoting "exchanges with neighbors", "participation in the community", and "life satisfaction" of residents. It shows that it is important to ensure the right of residents to participate in the garden-making process as much as possible, and the garden's location should be paid attention to maximize the positive effect of gardens.

A Comparison of American and Korean Experimental Studies on Positive Behavior Support within a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (다층지원체계 중심의 긍정적 행동지원에 관한 한국과 미국의 실험연구 비교분석)

  • Chang, Eun Jin;Lee, Mi-Young;Jeong, Jae-Woo;ChoBlair, Kwang-Sun;Lee, Donghyung;Song, Wonyoung;Han, Miryeung
    • Korean Journal of School Psychology
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    • v.15 no.3
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    • pp.399-431
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    • 2018
  • The purpose of this study was to summarize the empirical literature on implementation of positive behavior support (PBS) within a multi-tiered system of supports in American and Korean schools and to compare its key features and outcomes in an attempt to suggest future directions for development of a Korean school-wide PBS model and implementation manuals as well as directions for future research. Twenty-four American articles and 11 Korean articles (total 35 articles) that reported the outcomes of implementation of PBS at a tier 1 and/or tier 2, or tier 3 level and that met established inclusion criteria were analyzed using systematic procedures. Comparisons were made in the areas of key features and outcomes of PBS in addition to general methodology (e.g., participants, design, implementation duration, dependent measures) at each tier of PBS. The results indicated that positive outcomes for student behavior and other areas were reported across tiers in all American and Korean studies. At the tier 1 level, teaching expectations and rules were the primary focus of PBS in American and Korean schools. However, Korean schools focused on modifying the school and classroom environments and teaching social skills whereas American schools focused on teacher training on standardized interventions or curricular by experts and teacher support during implementation of PBS. At the tier 2 level, more American studies reported implementation of tier 2 interventions within school-wide PBS, and Check/In Check/Out (CICO) was found to be the most commonly used tier 2 intervention. The results also indicated that in comparison to Korean schools, American schools were more likely to use systematic screening tools or procedures to identify students who need tier 2 interventions and more likely to promote parental involvement with implementing interventions. At the tier 3 level, more Korean studies reported the outcomes of individualized interventions, but more American studies reported that designing individualized intervention plans based on comprehensive functional behavior assessment results and establishment of systematic screening systems were focused when implementing individualized interventions. Furthermore, few Korean studies reported the assessment of procedural integrity, social validity, and contextual fit in implementing PBS across tiers, indicating the need for development of valid instruments that could be used in assessing these areas. Based on these results, limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The Research on the Development Potential of Smart Public Facilities in Public Design - Focusing on examples of public facilities in smart cities - (공공디자인에서 스마트 공공시설물의 발전 가능성에 관한 연구 -스마트 도시의 공공시설물 사례를 중심으로-)

  • Son, Dong Joo
    • Journal of Service Research and Studies
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    • v.13 no.4
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    • pp.97-112
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    • 2023
  • Background: In modern society, the importance of Public Design has become increasingly significant in contributing to the enhancement of urban functionality and the quality of life of citizens. Smart Public Facilities have played a pivotal role in enriching user experience by improving accessibility, convenience, and safety, and in elevating the value of the city. This research recognizes the importance of Public Facilities and explores the potential of Smart Public Facilities in solving urban challenges and progressing towards sustainable and Inclusive cities. Method: The literature review comprehensively examines existing theories and research results on Smart Public Facilities. The case study analyzes actual examples of Smart Public Facilities implemented in cities both domestically and internationally, drawing out effects, user satisfaction, and areas for improvement. Through analysis and discussion, the results of the case studies are evaluated, discussing the potential development of Smart Public Facilities. Results: Smart Public Facilities have been found to bring positive changes in various aspects such as urban management, energy efficiency, safety, and information accessibility. In terms of urban management, they play a crucial role in optimization, social Inclusiveness, environmental protection, fostering citizen participation, and promoting technological innovation. These changes create a new form of urban space, combining physical space and digital technology, enhancing the quality of life in the city. Conclusion: This research explores the implications, current status, and functions of Smart Public Facilities in service and design aspects, and their impact on the urban environment and the lives of citizens. In conclusion, Smart Public Facilities have brought about positive changes in the optimization of urban management, enhancement of energy efficiency, increased information accessibility, User-Centric design, increased interaction, and social Inclusiveness. Technological innovation and the integration of Public Facilities have made cities more efficient and proactive, enabling data-based decision-making and optimized service delivery. Such developments enable the creation of new urban environments through the combination of physical space and digital technology. The advancement of Smart Public Facilities indicates the direction of urban development, where future cities can become more intelligent, proactive, and User-Centric. Therefore, they will play a central role in Public Design and greatly contribute to improving the urban environment and the quality of life of citizens.

Historical Studies on the Characteristics of Buyongjeong in the Rear Garden of Changdeok Palace (창덕궁 후원 부용정(芙蓉亭)의 조영사적 특성)

  • Song, Suk-ho;Sim, Woo-kyung
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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    • v.34 no.1
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    • pp.40-52
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    • 2016
  • Buyongjeong, a pavilion in the Rear Garden of Changdeok Palace, was appointed as Treasure No. 1763 on March 2, 2012, by the South Korea government since it shows significant symmetry and proportion on its unique planar shape, spatial configuration, building decoration, and so forth. However, the designation of Treasure selection was mainly evaluated by concrete science, in that the selection has not clearly articulated how and why Buoungjeong was constructed as a present unique form. Therefore, this study aims to clarify the identity of Buyongjeong at the time of construction by considering its historical, ideological, philosophical background and building intention. Summary are as follows: First, Construction backgrounds and characters of Buyongjeong: Right after the enthronement, King Jeongjo had founded Kyujanggak(奎章閣), and sponsored civil ministers who were elected by the national examination, as a part of political reform. In addition, he established his own political system by respecting "Kaksin(閣臣)", Kyujanggak's officials as much as "Kain(家人)", internal family members. King Jeongjo's aggressive political reform finally enabled King's lieges to visit King's Rear Garden. In the reign of King Jeongjo's 16th year(1792), Naekaksangjohoe(內閣賞釣會) based on "Kaksin" was officially launched and the Rear Garden visitation became a regular meeting. The Rear Garden visitation consisted of "Sanghwajoeoyeon(賞花釣魚宴)" - enjoying flowers and fishing, and activities of "Nanjeongsugye". Afterward, it eventually became a huge national event since high rank government officials participated the event. King Jeongjo shared the cultural activities with government officials together to Buyongjeong as a place to fulfill his royal politics. Second, The geographical location and spatial characteristics of Buyongjeong: On the enthronement of King Jeongjo(1776), he renovated Taeksujae. Above all, aligning and linking Gaeyuwa - Taeksujae - a cicular island - Eosumun - Kyujangkak along with the construction axis is an evidence for King Jeongjo to determine how the current Kyujangkak zone was prepared and designed to fulfill King Jeonjo's political ideals. In 17th year(1793) of the reign of King Jeongjo, Taeksujae, originally a square shaped pavilion, was modified and expanded with ranks to provide a place to get along with the King and officials. The northern part of Buyongjeong, placed on pond, was designed for the King's place and constructed one rank higher than others. Discernment on windows and doors were made with "Ajasal" - a special pattern for the King. The western and eastern parts were for government officials. The center part was prepared for a place where government officials were granted an audience with the King, who was located in the nortern part of Buyongjeong. Government officials from the western and eastern parts of Buyongjeong, could enter the central part of the Buyongjeong from the southern part by detouring the corner of Buyongjeong. After all, Buyongjeong is a specially designed garden building, which was constructed to be a royal palace utilizing its minimal space. Third, Cultural Values of Buyongjeong: The Buyongjeong area exhibits a trait that it had been continuously developed and it had reflected complex King's private garden cultures from King Sejo, Injo, Hyunjong, Sukjong, Jeongjo and so forth. In particular, King Jeongjo had succeded physical, social and imaginary environments established by former kings and invited their government officials for his royal politics. As a central place for his royal politics, King Jeongjo completed Buyongjeong. Therefore, the value of Buyongjeong, as a garden building reflecting permanency of the Joseon Dynasty, can be highly evaluated. In addition, as it reflects Confucianism in the pavilion - represented by distinguishing hierarchical ranks, it is a unique example to exhibit its distinctiveness in a royal garden.

A Study on the Relationship Between Online Community Characteristics and Loyalty : Focused on Mediating Roles of Self-Congruency, Consumer Experience, and Consumer to Consumer Interactivity (온라인 커뮤니티 특성과 충성도 간의 관계에 대한 연구: 자아일치성, 소비자 체험, 상호작용성의 매개적 역할을 중심으로)

  • Kim, Moon-Tae;Ock, Jung-Won
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.157-194
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    • 2008
  • The popularity of communities on the internet has captured the attention of marketing scholars and practitioners. By adapting to the culture of the internet, however, and providing consumer with the ability to interact with one another in addition to the company, businesses can build new and deeper relationships with customers. The economic potential of online communities has been discussed with much hope in the many popular papers. In contrast to this enthusiastic prognostications, empirical and practical evidence regarding the economic potential of the online community has shown a little different conclusion. To date, even communities with high levels of membership and vibrant social arenas have failed to build financial viability. In this perspective, this study investigates the role of various kinds of influencing factors to online community loyalty and basically suggests the framework that explains the process of building purchase loyalty. Even though the importance of building loyalty in an online environment has been emphasized from the marketing theorists and practitioners, there is no sufficient research conclusion about what is the process of building purchase loyalty and the most powerful factors that influence to it. In this study, the process of building purchase loyalty is divided into three levels; characteristics of community site such as content superiority, site vividness, navigation easiness, and customerization, the mediating variables such as self congruency, consumer experience, and consumer to consumer interactivity, and finally various factors about online community loyalty such as visit loyalty, affect, trust, and purchase loyalty are those things. And the findings of this research are as follows. First, consumer-to-consumer interactivity is an important factor to online community purchase loyalty and other loyalty factors. This means, in order to interact with other people more actively, many participants in online community have the willingness to buy some kinds of products such as music, content, avatar, and etc. From this perspective, marketers of online community have to create some online environments in order that consumers can easily interact with other consumers and make some site environments in order that consumer can feel experience in this site is interesting and self congruency is higher than at other community sites. It has been argued that giving consumers a good experience is vital in cyber space, and websites create an active (rather than passive) customer by their nature. Some researchers have tried to pin down the positive experience, with limited success and less empirical support. Web sites can provide a cognitively stimulating experience for the user. We define the online community experience as playfulness based on the past studies. Playfulness is created by the excitement generated through a website's content and measured using three descriptors Marketers can promote using and visiting online communities, which deliver a superior web experience, to influence their customers' attitudes and actions, encouraging high involvement with those communities. Specially, we suggest that transcendent customer experiences(TCEs) which have aspects of flow and/or peak experience, can generate lasting shifts in beliefs and attitudes including subjective self-transformation and facilitate strong consumer's ties to a online community. And we find that website success is closely related to positive website experiences: consumers will spend more time on the site, interacting with other users. As we can see figure 2, visit loyalty and consumer affect toward the online community site didn't directly influence to purchase loyalty. This implies that there may be a little different situations here in online community site compared to online shopping mall studies that shows close relations between revisit intention and purchase intention. There are so many alternative sites on web, consumers do not want to spend money to buy content and etc. In this sense, marketers of community websites must know consumers' affect toward online community site is not a last goal and important factor to influnece consumers' purchase. Third, building good content environment can be a really important marketing tool to create a competitive advantage in cyberspace. For example, Cyworld, Korea's number one community site shows distinctive superiority in the consumer evaluations of content characteristics such as content superiority, site vividness, and customerization. Particularly, comsumer evaluation about customerization was remarkably higher than the other sites. In this point, we can conclude that providing comsumers with good, unique and highly customized content will be urgent and important task directly and indirectly impacting to self congruency, consumer experience, c-to-c interactivity, and various loyalty factors of online community. By creating enjoyable, useful, and unique online community environments, online community portals such as Daum, Naver, and Cyworld are able to build customer loyalty to a degree that many of today's online marketer can only dream of these loyalty, in turn, generates strong economic returns. Another way to build good online community site is to provide consumers with an interactive, fun, experience-oriented or experiential Web site. Elements that can make a dot.com's Web site experiential include graphics, 3-D images, animation, video and audio capabilities. In addition, chat rooms and real-time customer service applications (which link site visitors directly to other visitors, or with company support personnel, respectively) are also being used to make web sites more interactive. Researchers note that online communities are increasingly incorporating such applications in their Web sites, in order to make consumers' online shopping experience more similar to that of an offline store. That is, if consumers are able to experience sensory stimulation (e.g. via 3-D images and audio sound), interact with other consumers (e.g., via chat rooms), and interact with sales or support people (e.g. via a real-time chat interface or e-mail), then they are likely to have a more positive dot.com experience, and develop a more positive image toward the online company itself). Analysts caution, however, that, while high quality graphics, animation and the like may create a fun experience for consumers, when heavily used, they can slow site navigation, resulting in frustrated consumers, who may never return to a site. Consequently, some analysts suggest that, at least with current technology, the rule-of-thumb is that less is more. That is, while graphics etc. can draw consumers to a site, they should be kept to a minimum, so as not to impact negatively on consumers' overall site experience.

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Perceptions of Married Women on Childbirth and Sex Preference and Related Factors in Gyeongju, Korea (도농복합지역 기혼여성들의 출산과 성 선호에 대한 인식 및 관련요인)

  • Youm, Seog-Heon;Kang, Pock-Soo;Kim, Chang-Yoon;Lee, Kyeong-Soo;Hwang, Tae-Yoon;Hwang, In-Sob
    • Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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    • v.35 no.3
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    • pp.260-273
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    • 2010
  • Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of married Korean women regarding marriage and childbirth, and their awareness of childbirth-related issues such as low birth rates, sex preferences and sex imbalances in Korea. Methods: A total of 453 married women aged 20 or older were randomly selected from four urban districts and five rural districts out of 25 districts in Gyeongju, a consolidated city located in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, South Korea. The survey was conducted from December 2005 to February 2006. A total of 392 out of 453 questionnaires(86.5% response rate) were collected, and 44 incomplete questionnaires were excluded, leaving 348 completed questionnaires to be used for data analysis. Age was divided into three groups as below 49, 50-69, 70 or older. Results: Women's perceptions of marriage were associated with age(p<0.01). Perceptions about childbirth were also significantly related to age(p<0.01), type of residential area (p<0.01) and education level(p<0.05). Sex preferences were significantly related to age(p<0.05) and occupation(p<0.01). Of the respondents aged 49 or younger, 34.8% indicated that the ideal number of children is two, while 25.5% of respondents aged 50 to 69 and 15.3% of respondents aged 70 and 33.7% of respondents aged 70 or older considered four children to be the ideal number. Perceptions of sex imbalance were significantly related to socioeconomic status(p<0.01) and occupation(p<0.01). The largest number of respondents cited "economic burden" as the main reason for low birth rates. Multiple logistic regressions were performed for all three age groups using male sex preference as the dependent variable under the assumption that respondents can have only a single child. Socioeconomic status (p<0.01) and residential area (p<0.05) were significant variables for those aged 49 or below. Education level(p<0.05) and residential area (p<0.01) were statistically significant variables on preferring son in case of having only one child for respondents aged 50 to 69. We did not detect any significant independent variables in respondents who were 70 or older. Conclusions: Our results highlight the necessity of developing policies and public education programs to explain the consequences of low birth rates and sex imbalances in Korea. As increasing numbers of women work outside the home, it is important for the government and employers to provide social and working environments where women do not consider marriage and childbirth to be obstacles to social and business activities.