scholarly journals Heterogeneity of COVID-19 Risk Perception: A Socio-Mathematical Model

Author(s):  
Alfonso Gastelum-Strozzi ◽  
Claudia Infante-Castañeda ◽  
Juan Guillermo Figueroa-Perea ◽  
Ingris Peláez-Ballestas

The perception of risk has been a key element in the experiences, containment and differential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. The complexity of this phenomenon requires the interdisciplinary integration of theoretical and methodological aspects, as this integration informs the objective of developing a mathematical proposal based on a conceptual model located within the social theory of risk at the micro-social level. The mathematical risk model used here was developed from a secondary analysis of a study of 12,649 individuals on the experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic in a population in which the quantity and quality of the information made it possible to define a risk factor and its relationship to emotions and the sources of information used. Four sequential strategies were used to construct the model: choosing the variables for the questionnaire that theoretically corresponded to the conceptual model, constructing the risk vector and initial grouping of individuals by perception of risk, modeling by using principal component analysis and applying network methods. The theoretical model of risk, proposed and constructed through the analysis of groupings by quartiles and by networks in the studied population from a social and mathematical perspective, demonstrates the heterogeneity of risk perception as manifested by differences in perception by age, gender, expression of feelings and media consulted in a university community. The knowledge and methodology generated in these analyses contribute to the body of knowledge informing the response to future epidemiological contingencies.

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Sabri Embi ◽  
Zurina Shafii

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of Shariah governance and corporate governance (CG) on the risk management practices (RMPs) of local Islamic banks and foreign Islamic banks operating in Malaysia. The Shariah governance comprises the Shariah review (SR) and Shariah audit (SA) variables. The study also evaluates the level of RMPs, CG, SR, and SA between these two type of banks. With the aid of SPSS version 20, the items for RMPs, CG, SR, and SA were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA). From the PCA, one component or factor was extracted each for the CG, SR, and RMPs while another two factors were extracted for the SA. Primary data was collected using a self-administered survey questionnaire. The questionnaire covers four aspects ; CG, SR, SA, and RMPs. The data received from the 300 usable questionnaires were subjected to correlation and regression analyses as well as an independent t-test. The result of correlation analysis shows that all the four variables have large positive correlations with each other indicating a strong and significant relationship between them. From the regression analysis undertaken, CG, SR, and SA together explained 52.3 percent of the RMPs and CG emerged as the most influential variable that impacts the RMPs. The independent t-test carried out shows that there were significant differences in the CG and SA between the local and foreign Islamic banks. However, there were no significant differences between the two types of the bank in relation to SR and RMPs. The study has contributed to the body of knowledge and is beneficial to academicians, industry players, regulators, and other stakeholders.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elise Payzan-LeNestour ◽  
Lionnel Pradier ◽  
James Doran ◽  
Gideon Nave ◽  
Bernard Balleine

AbstractResearch in the field of multisensory perception shows that what we hear can influence what we see in a wide range of perceptual tasks. It is however unknown whether this extends to the visual perception of risk, despite the importance of the question in many applied domains where properly assessing risk is crucial, starting with financial trading. To fill this knowledge gap, we ran interviews with professional traders and conducted three laboratory studies using judgments of financial asset risk as a testbed. We provide evidence that the presence of ambient sound impacts risk perception, possibly due to the combination of facilitatory and synesthetic effects of general relevance to the perception of risk in many species as well as humans. We discuss the implications of our findings for various applied domains (e.g., financial, medical, and military decision-making), and raise new questions for future research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6494
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Baran ◽  
Aleksandra Berkowicz

The main idea of the paper is to combine modern research methods (as living labs that enable research in a real-life setting) with the new technological opportunities for entrepreneurship and innovation development (as digital platforms) to search for innovative solutions, while addressing the sustainable development problems. Thus, the paper aims to explain how real value for society is created within digital platform ecosystems and how they employ to this end novel solutions that better address existing social problems. Consequently, it proposes a conceptual framework to research and develop sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation with the use of digital platforms. This research study takes a synthesizing conceptual approach that seeks to integrate the existing knowledge drawn on two major streams of research: living labs as a methodology and digital platform ecosystems to enrich the theory of sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation development. The paper contributes to the body of knowledge by proposing a novel conceptual model of digital platform ecosystems as living labs for sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation. The model depicts digital platform ecosystems examined as living labs and the implicit processes that include platform users in problem-solving and value-creation in real-life settings. The novelty of the model stems from framing these processes that capture the relationship between individuals and opportunities as the foundations of entrepreneurship and the relationship between the problem space and the solution space, where the opportunities occur.


2015 ◽  
Vol 64 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 82-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Calaresu ◽  
Ali Shiri

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to explore and conceptualize the Semantic Web as a term that has been widely mentioned in the literature of library and information science. More specifically, its aim is to shed light on the evolution of the Web and to highlight a previously proposed means of attempting to improve automated manipulation of Web-based data in the context of a rapidly expanding base of both users and digital content. Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual analysis presented in this paper adopts a three-dimensional model for the discussion of Semantic Web. The first dimension focuses on Semantic Web’s basic nature, purpose and history, as well as the current state and limitations of modern search systems and related software agents. The second dimension focuses on critical knowledge structures such as taxonomies, thesauri and ontologies which are understood as fundamental elements in the creation of a Semantic Web architecture. In the third dimension, an alternative conceptual model is proposed, one, which unlike more commonly prevalent Semantic Web models, offers a greater emphasis on describing the proposed structure from an interpretive viewpoint, rather than a technical one. This paper adopts an interpretive, historical and conceptual approach to the notion of the Semantic Web by reviewing the literature and by analyzing the developments associated with the Web over the past three decades. It proposes a simplified conceptual model for easy understanding. Findings – The paper provides a conceptual model of the Semantic Web that encompasses four key strata, namely, the body of human users, the body of software applications facilitating creation and consumption of documents, the body of documents themselves and a proposed layer that would improve automated manipulation of Web-based data by the software applications. Research limitations/implications – This paper will facilitate a better conceptual understanding of the Semantic Web, and thereby contribute, in a small way, to the larger body of discourse surrounding it. The conceptual model will provide a reference point for education and research purposes. Originality/value – This paper provides an original analysis of both conceptual and technical aspects of Semantic Web. The proposed conceptual model provides a new perspective on this subject.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2292
Author(s):  
Aneta Ptak-Chmielewska ◽  
Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) represent more than 99% of enterprises in Europe. Therefore, knowledge about this sector, also in the spatial context is important to understand the patterns of economic and social development. The main goal of this article is an analysis of spatial conditions and the situation of MSMEs on a local level using combined sources of information. This includes data collected in the Social Insurance Institution and Tax registers in Poland, which provides information on the employment, wages, revenues and taxes paid by the MSMEs on a local level as well as contextual statistical information. The data is used for a diagnosis of spatial circumstances and discussion of conditions influencing the status of the MSMEs sector in a selected region (voivodeship) in Poland. Taxonomy methods including factor analysis and clustering methods based on k-means and SOM Kohonen were used for selecting significant information and grouping of the local units according to the situation of the MSMEs. There are eight factors revealed in principal component analysis and five clusters of local units distinguished using these factors. These include two clusters with a high share of rural local units and two clusters with a high share of rural-urban and urban local units. Additionally, there was an outstanding cluster with only two dominant urban local units. Factors show differences between clusters in the situation of MSMEs sector and infrastructure. Different spatial conditions in different regions influence the situation of MSMEs.


2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Koszewska

An overview of the Western European literature shows that one of the most distinct trends in consumption that has been noted in the recent years is globally increasing environmental and social awareness. The issue of consumers' behaviours and attitudes towards "socially responsible products" has been gaining importance in Polish economy as well. This article evaluates the development prospects of ethical and ecological consumption in Poland vis-a-vis Western European countries. The comparative analysis being part of the article utilizes primary sources of information, i.e. interviews with a representative sample of Polish adults, as well as secondary sources of information. A factor analysis or, more precisely, a principal component analysis, allowed dividing Polish consumers into groups that were typologically homogeneous in respect of their sensitivity to various aspects of business ethics and ecology.


Author(s):  
Pierluigi Diotaiuti ◽  
Giuseppe Valente ◽  
Stefania Mancone ◽  
Lavinia Falese ◽  
Fernando Bellizzi ◽  
...  

The Coronavirus pandemic has affected the lives of people all over the world. The perception of risk and people’s consequent behaviour during a pandemic are very complex and are affected by multiple cultural and psychological factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the change in risk perception, perceived self-efficacy and the perceived trust in the behaviour of others, the decisions of health authorities and government provisions, as well as the variation of self-restraint behaviours during the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic in Italy. We used a convenience sample of 707 university students (Mage = 22.99; SD = 4.01) from a central area of Italy. Participants freely joined the research by answering an online questionnaire between February and March 2020. Three time intervals defined by the progressive containment measures implemented by the Italian Government were considered. Main outcome measures were the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale, the Risk Perception Index, the Index of Self-restraint Behaviours, and Institutional and Interpersonal Trust Measures. Results confirmed that significant changes in the time progression have occurred in the perception of risk, in the perception of individual self-efficacy, in the value attributed to social responsibility, in interpersonal trust and in trust in health authorities. The study also identified the participants’ personality traits and locus of control as predictors (positive and negative) of perceived self-efficacy and tested a mediation model of trust on the effect of risk perception on self-restraint intentions.


Author(s):  
Milind Watve ◽  
Harshada Vidwans Dubey ◽  
Rohini Kharate

In public health literature the risk of death or disease associated with a dietary, environmental of behavioral factor is most commonly denoted by odds ratio (OR), hazard ratio (HR) or risk ratio (RR). The ratio indices have several desirable statistical properties. However, the most important question is whether there are some evolved innate norms of perception of risk that people use and what they are. We conducted a simple one question survey of 98 individuals with different age, sex, educational and professional backgrounds. The respondents were asked to judge the relative perceived risk of four different hypothetical habits for which data on the percentage of people affected by the disease with and without the habit was given. They were asked to rank the risks for the four habits. Results showed that the habits that had the highest difference between probability of acquiring the disease were ranked high on risk perception. The probability ratios did not affect risk perception significantly. Further age, sex, profession or formal training in statistics did not affect the response significantly. Even individuals that were formally trained to use OR and HR as risk indicators, preferred using probability differences over ratios for judging their own risk in the perceived context. This preliminary inquiry into intuitive statistical perception suggests that designing statistical indices based on people’s innate perception may be a better strategy than trying to train people to understand the indices designed by expert statisticians.


Author(s):  
Mahan Shafie ◽  
Mahsa Mayeli ◽  
Hamed Hosseini ◽  
Mahnaz Ashoorkhani

COVID-19 pandemic obligated applying population-level behavioral modifications to effectively prevent the spread of the disease. This necessitated investigating those measures that determine population behavior. Herein we have studied risk perception and information exposure that are among those determinants in Iran. 402 cases from medical sciences students were enrolled during the last week of September 2020. Using an online questionnaire, risk perception and sources of information about COVID-19 were investigated. Although most students considered COVID-19 preventable, merely a few considered the disease curable. A higher risk was perceived concerning the families compared to themselves. Moreover, most of them believed the prognosis good even in high-risk patients. Social media was the most informative source used; however, health professionals were considered the most reliable. The risk perception was equal between those diagnosed with COVID-19 or had a family member diagnosed compared to those without such exposure in most questions. Also, no significant difference was observed in risk perception between those students with serious underlying medical conditions and those without one regarding most items. Lastly, major and grade were the most significant demographic contributors to the risk perception. Moderate risk was perceived overall among the cases in which major and grade were the only remarkable demographic contributors. Unexpectedly, underlying medical history was not significantly correlated with the perceived risk. Lastly, previous COVID-19 exposure merely altered the curability and preventability perception.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Aravena Pelizari ◽  
Christian Geiß ◽  
Elisabeth Schoepfer ◽  
Torsten Riedlinger ◽  
Paula Aguirre ◽  
...  

<p>Knowledge on the key structural characteristics of exposed buildings is crucial for accurate risk modeling with regard to natural hazards. In risk assessment this information is used to interlink exposed buildings with specific representative vulnerability models and is thus a prerequisite to implement sound risk models. The acquisition of such data by conventional building surveys is usually highly expensive in terms of labor, time, and money. Institutional data bases such as census or tax assessor data provide alternative sources of information. Such data, however, are often inappropriate, out-of-date, or not available. Today, the large-area availability of systematically collected street-level data due to global initiatives such as Google Street View, among others, offers new possibilities for the collection of <em>in-situ</em> data. At the same time, developments in machine learning and computer vision – in deep learning in particular – show high accuracy in solving perceptual tasks in the image domain. Thereon, we explore the potential of an automatized and thus efficient collection of vulnerability related building characteristics. To this end, we elaborated a workflow where the inference of building characteristics (e.g., the seismic building structural type, the material of the lateral load resisting system or the building height) from geotagged street-level imagery is tasked to a custom-trained Deep Convolutional Neural Network. The approach is applied and evaluated for the earthquake-prone Chilean capital Santiago de Chile. Experimental results are presented and show high accuracy in the derivation of addressed target variables. This emphasizes the potential of the proposed methodology to contribute to large-area collection of <em>in-situ</em> information on exposed buildings.</p>


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