title: An international study of the psychometric properties of the Hofstede values survey module 1994: A comparison of individual and country/province level results

authors: Spector, Paul E.

subjects: Hofstede's values survey module

abstract: Hofstede's Values Survey Module has been the basis for much cross‐cultural and cross‐national research in the workplace, but little information about its psychometric properties has been available. This study provides internal consistency (coefficient alpha) statistics from samples representing 23 nations/provinces. Across both English and translated versions, internal consistencies tended to be poor, and in the majority of cases failed to achieve even a liberal criterion of 0.60. Even when data were aggregated by sample coefficient alphas were poor for all but long‐term orientation. At the participant level, long‐term orientation and individualism had marginal internal consistencies, whereas power distance, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance subscales had inadequate internal consistencies. A replication of Hofstede's ecological factor analysis failed to support the five subscales. It is suggested that the construct validity of these scales is suspect, and that they should be used with caution.

text: An international study of the psychometric properties of the Hofstede values survey module 1994: A comparison of individual and country/province level results Hofstede's Values Survey Module has been the basis for much cross‐cultural and cross‐national research in the workplace, but little information about its psychometric properties has been available. This study provides internal consistency (coefficient alpha) statistics from samples representing 23 nations/provinces. Across both English and translated versions, internal consistencies tended to be poor, and in the majority of cases failed to achieve even a liberal criterion of 0.60. Even when data were aggregated by sample coefficient alphas were poor for all but long‐term orientation. At the participant level, long‐term orientation and individualism had marginal internal consistencies, whereas power distance, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance subscales had inadequate internal consistencies. A replication of Hofstede's ecological factor analysis failed to support the five subscales. It is suggested that the construct validity of these scales is suspect, and that they should be used with caution.

year: 2001

title: Machine learning identifies ecological selectivity patterns across the end-Permian mass extinction

authors: Foster, William J.

abstract: The end-Permian mass extinction occurred alongside a large swath of environmental changes that are often invoked as extinction mechanisms, even when a direct link is lacking. One way to elucidate the cause(s) of a mass extinction is to investigate extinction selectivity, as it can reveal critical information on organismic traits as key determinants of extinction and survival. Here we show that machine learning algorithms, specifically gradient boosted decision trees, can be used to identify determinants of extinction as well as to predict extinction risk. To understand which factors led to the end-Permian mass extinction during an extreme global warming event, we quantified the ecological selectivity of marine extinctions in the well-studied South China region. We find that extinction selectivity varies between different groups of organisms and that a synergy of multiple environmental stressors best explains the overall end-Permian extinction selectivity pattern. Extinction risk was greater for genera that had a low species richness, narrow bathymetric ranges limited to deep-water habitats, a stationary mode of life, a siliceous skeleton, or, less critically, calcitic skeletons. These selective losses directly link the extinctions to the environmental effects of rapid injections of carbon dioxide into the ocean-atmosphere system, specifically the combined effects of expanded oxygen minimum zones, rapid warming, and potentially ocean acidification.

text: Machine learning identifies ecological selectivity patterns across the end-Permian mass extinction The end-Permian mass extinction occurred alongside a large swath of environmental changes that are often invoked as extinction mechanisms, even when a direct link is lacking. One way to elucidate the cause(s) of a mass extinction is to investigate extinction selectivity, as it can reveal critical information on organismic traits as key determinants of extinction and survival. Here we show that machine learning algorithms, specifically gradient boosted decision trees, can be used to identify determinants of extinction as well as to predict extinction risk. To understand which factors led to the end-Permian mass extinction during an extreme global warming event, we quantified the ecological selectivity of marine extinctions in the well-studied South China region. We find that extinction selectivity varies between different groups of organisms and that a synergy of multiple environmental stressors best explains the overall end-Permian extinction selectivity pattern. Extinction risk was greater for genera that had a low species richness, narrow bathymetric ranges limited to deep-water habitats, a stationary mode of life, a siliceous skeleton, or, less critically, calcitic skeletons. These selective losses directly link the extinctions to the environmental effects of rapid injections of carbon dioxide into the ocean-atmosphere system, specifically the combined effects of expanded oxygen minimum zones, rapid warming, and potentially ocean acidification.

year: 2022

title: Problematic reasoning under the guise of anti-Māori talk: A case study of the Three Waters tweets

authors: Tan, Kyle K. H.

abstract: Drawing from a subset of Twitter/X quotes (or tweets) on the politically controversial Three Waters Reform, this study identified forms of anti-Māori discourse through a deductive analysis. A complementary analysis was conducted to unpack how problematic reasoning fueled racism against Māori. Our results revealed distinct and interconnected themes—“resources,” “culture,” “stirrer,” “privilege,” and “one people”—that portrayed Māori as undeserving, lacking expertise, threatening, and unworthy of equitable treatment, as New Zealand citizens are entitled to enjoy liberal democratic values. Anti-Māori speakers employed problematic reasoning tactics to obstruct the public from understanding the truth or to encourage others to form ill-informed opinions through emotions, supposed authority, and conspiracy. Exemplar tweets were provided to illustrate the myriad instances of false information related to patterns of anti-Māori discourse. Evidence from this study makes the case for addressing racism on social media and creating interventions to expand media literacy amongst the public to discern problematic reasonings.

text: Problematic reasoning under the guise of anti-Māori talk: A case study of the Three Waters tweets Drawing from a subset of Twitter/X quotes (or tweets) on the politically controversial Three Waters Reform, this study identified forms of anti-Māori discourse through a deductive analysis. A complementary analysis was conducted to unpack how problematic reasoning fueled racism against Māori. Our results revealed distinct and interconnected themes—“resources,” “culture,” “stirrer,” “privilege,” and “one people”—that portrayed Māori as undeserving, lacking expertise, threatening, and unworthy of equitable treatment, as New Zealand citizens are entitled to enjoy liberal democratic values. Anti-Māori speakers employed problematic reasoning tactics to obstruct the public from understanding the truth or to encourage others to form ill-informed opinions through emotions, supposed authority, and conspiracy. Exemplar tweets were provided to illustrate the myriad instances of false information related to patterns of anti-Māori discourse. Evidence from this study makes the case for addressing racism on social media and creating interventions to expand media literacy amongst the public to discern problematic reasonings.

year: 2025