Learning to be a psychologist: the construction of identity in an online forum

The paper reports a study that investigated the construction of a common identity in an online Italian forum of psychologists based on asynchronous CMC. Discourse analysis was carried out on 20 discussions, and three Interpretative Repertoires were identified: (i) Professional Boundaries, (ii) disempowered psychology and (iii) psychology and health, which refer to three recurrent modalities of constructing the psychological profession. The study suggests that a framework drawing on social constructionism and Bourdieu's critical theory can help understand some aspects of identity in, and across, communities of practice. The main conclusion is that analysing critically how identities are constructed in learning environments, virtual or not, allows reconsidering the role of the cultural context in the production of those identities.     

To buy or not to buy online: adopters and non-adopters of online shopping in Singapore

The Internet, as a dynamic virtual medium for selling and buying information, services and products, is gaining increasing attention from researchers and practitioners. In this study, we examine the perceptions of adopters and non-adopters of online shopping in terms of demographic profile, consumer expectations of online stores, advantages and problems of online shopping and transaction cost. In addition, we also examine the types of products purchased, frequency of online purchase and the extent of communication with e-commerce vendors. The findings are useful in explaining consumers' buying behaviour in the electronic marketplace. Implications of the results are discussed.     

To buy or not to buy online: adopters and non-adopters of online shopping in Singapore

The Internet, as a dynamic virtual medium for selling and buying information, services and products, is gaining increasing attention from researchers and practitioners. In this study, we examine the perceptions of adopters and non-adopters of online shopping in terms of demographic profile, consumer expectations of online stores, advantages and problems of online shopping and transaction cost. In addition, we also examine the types of products purchased, frequency of online purchase and the extent of communication with e-commerce vendors. The findings are useful in explaining consumers' buying behaviour in the electronic marketplace. Implications of the results are discussed.     

Make new friends or keep the old: Gender and personality differences in social networking use

The present study examined the influence of gender and personality on individuals’ use of online social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace. Participants were 238 undergraduate students who reported being members of Facebook, MySpace, or both. Based on prior research examining online behavior, we expected that gender and scores on the Big Five personality scale would moderate online social networking behavior. The results supported our predictions. Specifically, men reported using social networking sites for forming new relationships while women reported using them more for relationship maintenance. Furthermore, women low in agreeableness reported using instant messaging features of social networking sites more often than women high in agreeableness, whereas men low in openness reported playing more games on social networking sites compared to men high in openness. Overall, these results indicate the importance of examining individual differences in online behavior.     

Consumer perceptions on web advertisements and motivation factors to purchase in the online shopping

The principal objective of this study was to investigate the mediating and moderating effects of product involvement and trust toward websites in relation to the effects of the attributes of web advertisements on customers’ purchase intentions. We collected data consisting of a total of 264 responses from individuals with previous experience with purchasing products from online shopping mall sites, and utilized the PLS (partial least squares) method to analyze the collected data.     

Social presence in relation to students' satisfaction and learning in the online environment: A meta-analysis

Social presence, the ability to perceive others in an online environment, has been shown to impact student motivation and participation, actual and perceived learning, course and instructor satisfaction, and retention in online courses; yet very few researchers have attempted to look across contexts, disciplinary areas, or measures of social presence. This meta-analysis allowed us to look across these variables of the primary studies and identify the pattern of student outcomes (e.g., perceived learning and satisfaction) in relation to social presence through scrutiny of differences between the studies. The results showed a moderately large positive average correlation between social presence and satisfaction (r = 0.56, k = 26) and social presence and perceived learning (r = 0.51, k = 26). Large variation among correlations (86.7% for satisfaction and 92.8% for perceived learning, respectively) also indicated systematic differences among these correlations due to online course settings. We found that (a) the strength of the relationship between social presence and satisfaction was moderated by the course length, discipline area, and scale used to measure social presence; and (b) the relationship between social presence and perceived learning was moderated by the course length, discipline area, and target audience of the course. Implications and future research are discussed.     

Perceived risks, counter-beliefs, and intentions to use anti-/counter-terrorism websites: An exploratory study of government–citizens online interactions in a turbulent environment

This study examines the relationships between various risks, beliefs, and behavioral intentions that are related to citizens' use of anti-/counter-terrorism e-Government websites. The data was collected through two surveys within a one-year interval — before and after the Iraqi regime was expelled by the US coalition army. The results suggest that perceived privacy risk from an anti/counter-terrorism authority is the major obstacle in citizen-to-government anti/counter-terrorism information flow, while citizens' belief in the authority's domain competence greatly influences citizens' dependence on anti/counter-terrorism website information. Other findings and implications are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested.     

Applying the Practical Inquiry Model to investigate the quality of students’ online discourse in an information ethics course based on Bloom’s teaching goal and Bird’s 3C model

The goal of this study is to better understand how the study participants’ cognitive discourse is displayed in their learning transaction in an asynchronous, text-based conferencing environment based on Garrison’s Practical Inquiry Model (2001). The authors designed an online information ethics course based on Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives and Bird’s 3C model (Content–Construction–Consolidation). The content analyzed included the participants’ message posts, the quality of the dialogue and the scaffolding strategies for mentoring used by group leaders and teachers.