This PhD research project is about how Dutch development NGOs use social media for their development projects. For this, the following research question has been investigated: how do Dutch development NGOs use social media to further the development activities of their organisations? The purpose of this study is to understand how development NGOs are trying to get to grips with social media. Given the exploratory nature of this research, a qualitative research approach was adopted. Both case studies and the grounded theory method were used for this study. This combination is ideal because with a case study one tries to understand, or explore a phenomenon, whereas, in grounded theory studies, one tries to build theory. Given that this study is concerned with how Dutch development NGOs perceive social media for their development projects, an interpretive paradigm seems appropriate. The grounded theory methodology for this research is consistent with the epistemology of interpretivism. The combination of case study research and grounded theory works well for theory building and has been applied in Information Systems and ICT for Development studies before. As the use of theory before data collection is in opposition to the principle idea of the grounded theory methodology, in which theory emerges from the data, this needs to be addressed when combining case studies and grounded theory. This issue was resolved by using an initial highlevel conceptual framework as a guiding instrument for both the noncommittal literature research and for the conceptualisation of the research problem, whilst not distorting the emergence of theory from the data. This study focuses on formally organised development NGOs who receive funding from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their development projects. From the approximately 100 organisations, fourteen NGOs were selected for this study. The choice of fourteen NGOs was driven by a theoretical sampling strategy. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews with 18 respondents and field-notes of meetings or events of 14 development NGOs. The data was analysed using the Glaserian coding procedure of grounded theory, starting with open coding, followed by selective coding, and ending with theoretical coding. Three major themes (or core categories as they are called in the grounded theory method), were identified. This study's first contribution is captured in the theme ‘NGO Enacting Values in Development’. This is about how an organisation’s values are enacted in the context of international development. The organisational mixture of development mind-sets influences organisational activities in development. The ideological trends that are stimulated by societal and technological changes have an impact on the organisation’s development strategy and the strategic collaboration network of development NGOs. The second contribution of this study is captured in the theme ‘NGO’s Views on Social Media Use’. This core category discusses the organisation’s view on the meaning of social media and includes the four following categories: technological, individual, collective and contextual views attributed to organisational social media. The four categories empirically demonstrate the concept of affordance clusters and the connections between them. The study’s third contribution is captured in the theme ‘NGO’s Use of Social Media in Development’, encompassing the social media activities of the studied development NGOs in their development projects. This has led to an assessment framework of organisational social media use by development NGOs, constructed by cross-referencing the organisational goals of development NGOs to the social media activity areas in the context of development. These themes represented by three core categories are inter-related. Feedback loops between NGO’s values in development, views on social media, and the actual uses of social media for development purposes have been discerned. This grounded theory study aims to build an initial theory of how NGOs might approach the use of social media in a development context. This qualitative study has produced some new concepts. This study has led to a substantive theory in the context of international development. Furthermore, this substantive theory is compared with three theory lenses, when applied on the data collected for this PhD research, in their ability to identify similar concepts as reached with the substantive theory following the grounded theory method. Finally, the thesis presents some avenues for future research that may help expand the substantive theory that has been developed under this research to formal theory
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The goal of this study is to identify the perspectives that development NGOs attribute to organisational social media, and furthermore elaborate on an appropriate categorisation of these perspectives for social media use by development NGOs. How social media is used in the area of development, where the use goes far beyond the private sector purpose of publicity and converting a sale, is a key issue for NGOs. Fourteen development NGOs from the Netherlands that are actively using social media were selected for this study. Interviews were conducted to collect data from the decision makers and practitioners in these organisations. The grounded theory method combined with a multiple case study was applied for data analysis. The resulting preliminary framework presents us with four emerging perspectives, namely Technological, Individual, Collective and Contextual perspectives attributed to organisational social media use. We theorise that there are relationships between these four perspectives. This paper suggests that the understanding of (organisational) social media use among development NGOs can be better understood by identifying these perspectives and their inter-relationships. The implications of these findings for the literature on affordances and organisational social media use in the context of development and NGOs are discussed. Recommended Citation Sheombar, Anand; Urquhart, Cathy; Kayas, Oliver; and Ndhlovu, Tidings, "Social Media and Development: Understanding NGO practices and perceptions" (2018). GlobDev 2018. 3. https://aisel.aisnet.org/globdev2018/3
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This study aims to help professionals in the field of running and running-related technology (i.e., sports watches and smartphone applications) to address the needs of runners. It investigates the various runner types—in terms of their attitudes, interests, and opinions (AIOs) with regard to running—and studies how they differ in the technology they use. Data used in this study were drawn from the standardized online Eindhoven Running Survey 2016 (ERS2016). In total, 3723 participants completed the questionnaire. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were used to identify the different running types, and crosstabs obtained insights into the use of technology between different typologies. Based on the AIOs, four distinct runner types were identified: casual individual, social competitive, individual competitive, and devoted runners. Subsequently, we related the types to their use of sports watches and apps. Our results show a difference in the kinds of technology used by different runner types. Differentiation between types of runners can be useful for health professionals, policymakers involved in public health, engineers, and trainers or coaches to adapt their services to specific segments, in order to make use of the full potential of running-related systems to support runners to stay active and injury-free and contribute to a healthy lifestyle.
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Closing the loop of products and materials in Product Service Systems (PSS) can be approached by designers in several ways. One promising strategy is to invoke a greater sense of ownership of the products and materials that are used within a PSS. To develop and evaluate a design tool in the context of PSS, our case study focused on a bicycle sharing service. The central question was whether and how designers can be supported with a design tool, based on psychological ownership, to involve users in closing the loop activities. We developed a PSS design tool based on psychological ownership literature and implemented it in a range of design iterations. This resulted in ten design proposals and two implemented design interventions. To evaluate the design tool, 42 project members were interviewed about their design process. The design interventions were evaluated through site visits, an interview with the bicycle repairer responsible, and nine users of the bicycle service. We conclude that a psychological ownership-based design tool shows potential to contribute to closing the resource loop by allowing end users and service provider of PSS to collaborate on repair and maintenance activities. Our evaluation resulted in suggestions for revising the psychological ownership design tool, including adding ‘Giving Feedback’ to the list of affordances, prioritizing ‘Enabling’ and ‘Simplification’ over others and recognize a reciprocal relationship between service provider and service user when closing the loop activities.
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Smart speakers are heralded to make everyday life more convenient in households around the world. These voice-activated devices have become part of intimate domestic contexts in which users interact with platforms.This chapter presents a dualstudy investigating the privacy perceptions of smart speaker users and non-users. Data collected in in-depth interviews and focus groups with Dutch users and non-users show that they make sense of privacy risks through imagined sociotechnical affordances. Imagined affordances emerge with the interplay between user expectations, technologies, and designer intentions. Affordances like controllability, assistance, conversation, linkability, recordability, and locatability are associated with privacy considerations. Viewing this observation in the light of privacy calculus theory, we provide insights into how users’ positive experiences of the control over and assistance in the home offered by smart speakers outweighs privacy concerns. On the contrary, non-users reject the devices because of fears that recordability and locatability would breach the privacy of their homes by tapping data to platform companies. Our findings emphasize the dynamic nature of privacy calculus considerations and how these interact with imagined affordances; establishing a contrast between rational and emotional responses relating to smart speaker use.Emotions play a pivotal role in adoption considerations whereby respondents balance fears of unknown malicious actors against trust in platform companies.This study paves the way for further research that examines how surveillance in the home is becoming increasingly normalized by smart technologies.
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An important consideration for future age-friendly cities is that older people are able to live in housing appropriate for their needs. While thermal comfort in the home is vital for the health and well-being of older people, there are currently few guidelines about how to achieve this. This study is part of a research project that aims to improve the thermal environment of housing for older Australians by investigating the thermal comfort of older people living independently in South Australia and developing thermal comfort guidelines for people ageing-in-place. This paper describes the approach fundamental for developing the guidelines, using data from the study participants’ and the concept of personas to develop a number of discrete “thermal personalities”. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) was implemented to analyse the features of research participants, resulting in six distinct clusters. Quantitative and qualitative data from earlier stages of the project were then used to develop the thermal personalities of each cluster. The thermal personalities represent di erent approaches to achieving thermal comfort, taking into account a wide range of factors including personal characteristics, ideas, beliefs and knowledge, house type, and location. Basing the guidelines on thermal personalities highlights the heterogeneity of older people and the context-dependent nature of thermal comfort in the home and will make the guidelines more user-friendly and useful. Original publication at MDPI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228402 © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI.
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Given the complexity of teaching, continuing teacher professional development (CPD) is essential for maintaining and enhancing teaching effectiveness, and bridging the gap between ever-evolving theory and practice. Technological advancements have opened new opportunities for digital tools to support CPD. However, the successful integration of such digital tools into practice poses challenges. It requires adherence to CPD prerequisites and acknowledgment of the complexity of the professional development process. This study explored the applicability of the developed digital PE teacher professional development TARGET-tool in a secondary school PE context. We examined the perceived usability of this tool and gained insights into the process of teachers’ professional development as a result of using the tool. Ten PE teachers from different schools implemented the TARGET- tool within their PE context for a period of 4 to 6 weeks. Individual semi-structured inter- views and the System Usability Scale provided insights into the perceived usability and the process of teacher professional development. The TARGET-tool demonstrated its potential as an effective tool for supporting teachers’ professional development. Future tool improve- ments were identified to further optimize the perceived usability, such as simplifying com- plex features, providing additional support and resources, and improving (data) presenta- tions. Using the Interconnected Model of Professional Growth as a theoretical basis, it was demonstrated how the use of the TARGET-tool engages teachers as active and reflective participants in their professional development and induces changes within the external domain, the domain of practice, the domain of consequences, and the personal domain.
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Current global trends show that different regions of the globe face an increased level of urbanization, and there is a swift aging process from the Western to the Eastern European countries. Romania is a typical country expecting to triple the percentage of the older population aged 65 and over in the next 30 years. Urban policies often neglect such demographic perspectives. The World Health Organization launched the age-friendly city and communities' movement that proposes solutions for older people to age actively by improving their welfare and social participation. The concept of an age-friendly city comprised eight dimensions: (1) outdoor spaces and buildings; (2) transportation; (3) housing; (4) social participation; (5) respect and social inclusion; (6) civic participation and employment; (7) communication and information; and (8) community support and health services. It raises some important questions about how to measure and evaluate urban policies in this framework. Current work presents the process of adaptation and validation for the Romanian older population of a standardized tool - the Age-Friendly Cities and Communities Questionnaire (AFCCQ). The validation study was conducted in Bucharest (n = 424) on a representative sample of older people, who were asked to rate their life in the city, following the eight dimensions and an additional one regarding their financial situation. Four clusters were differentiated in the analysis, resulting in different views of older adults on their experience of living in the city, showing that people's socio-economic status, their living arrangements and health situation play a role in shaping their views on city life. The results highlight the importance of standardized tools to design urban policies following an age-friendly agenda.
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The goal of this study was (1) to determine whether and how nursing home residents with dementia respond to the interactive art installation in general and (2) to identify whether responses change when the content type and, therefore, the nature of the interaction with the artwork changes. The interactive art installation ‘VENSTER’ evokes responses in nursing home residents with dementia, illustrating the potential of interactive artworks in the nursing home environment. Frequently observed responses were naming, recognizing or asking questions about depicted content and how the installation worked, physically gesturing towards or tapping on the screen and tapping or singing along to the music. It seemed content matters a lot. When VENSTER is to be used in routine care, the choice of a type of content is critical to the intended experience/usage in practice. In this study, recognition seemed to trigger memory and (in most cases) a verbal reaction, while indistinctness led to asking for more information. When (initially) coached by a care provider, residents actively engaged physically with the screen. Responses differed between content types, which makes it important to further explore different types of content and content as an interface to provide meaningful experiences for nursing home residents. •Implications for rehabilitation •VENSTER can facilitate different types of responses ranging from verbal reactions to active physical engagement. The choice of a type of content is critical to the intended experience/usage in practice. •Activating content seems suitable for use as a meaningful experience during the spare time in between existing activities or therapy. •Sessions with interactive content are short (avg. 30 mins) and intense and can therefore potentially be used as an activating therapy, activity or exercise. •In order to actively engage residents with dementia, the role of the care provider seems very important.
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This paper reports the responses of nursing home residents who live in a psychogeriatric ward to the abstract interactive art installation ‘Morgendauw’, which was specifically designed for this study. All stakeholders were involved in designing and implementing Morgendauw. The artwork seems able to evoke responses in both the residents and their caregivers, but the amount and duration of the responses observed during the study were limited. 15 interactions over the course of 14 h were noted and almost all of them were initiated by the nursing home staff, physiotherapy students or visitors (n = 12). Interactions lasted for about 3 min on average. Although the nursing home residents initially did not seem to notice the artwork, the threshold of acknowledging and approaching the artwork was quickly overcome when staff nudged or directed the residents’ attention towards the artwork. Beyond this point, nursing home residents generally needed little explanation of the interface to interact with the artwork. The location in which Morgendauw was placed during the study or the characteristics of the installation seemed to create a threshold. Further research should focus on the importance and the effects of context when designing and implementing an interactive art installation in a nursing home environment.
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