9

Innovative Approaches to Researching Consumer

Experience: An Evaluation and

Comparison

Ying Wang,* Wei Liu and Beverley Sparks

Griffith University, Southport, Australia

9.1 Introduction

In this chapter we explore tourism as a highly personal product in which each person’s experience will be unique. Tourist experience is multifaceted and variable across time. Past research in tourism has mostly relied on both qualitative (e.g. interviews) and quantitative (e.g. questionnaires) approaches to investigate experience. As a result, considerable self-report information based on recall has dominated what is known about tourist experiences. This is helpful, but it is important that we discuss the role of multiple underused methods to develop a greater understanding of customer experience. Thus, we seek to broaden the approach to researching consumer experience through a discussion of multiple methods. The methods we review and evaluate include eye tracking, experience sampling method and photo elicitation.

Where else could you visit an Amish family's farm, camp on a mountaintop, read the Declaration of Independence and view New York, New York from the 86th floor of an art-deco landmark – all in a few days? Even though this corner of the country is the most densely populated part of the US, it's full of places where jaded city dwellers escape to seek simple lives, where artists retreat for inspiration, and pretty houses line main streets in small towns set amid stunning scenery.

Urban adventures in NYC, historic and lively Philadelphia and river-rich Pittsburgh are a must. Miles and miles of glorious beaches are within reach, from glamorous Long Island to the Jersey Shore – the latter ranges from stately to kitschy. The mountain wilderness of the Adirondacks reaches skyward just a day's drive north of New York City, a journey that perfectly encapsulates this region's heady character.

AOct–Nov Autumn in NYC brings cool temps, festivals, the marathon and gearing up for holiday season.

Chen Schechter

Growing dissatisfaction with the social, physical, and linguistic architecture of schoolwork demands the instilling of new ways, opportunities, and spaces within which all school stakeholders can talk and work with one another (Fielding, 1999). To achieve this standard, it is important to provide practitioners with the context—the time and space—for dialogue as a key factor of collective learning. In other words, the isolated working teacher will need to shift into interactive professionalism, where teachers continuously learn, with their colleagues, how to solve teaching and learning problems (Fullan, 1993). Nevertheless, whereas collective learning entails the social processing of information, processes and activities that permit an exchange of information through faculty interactions rarely occur in schools (Leonard, 1998). As traditional hierarchical models of policy and school administration clash with the advocated value of social processing of information, researchers argue for the reorganization of schools into professional webs of interactions (Caldwell & Spinks, 1988; Louis & Miles, 1990), thus attempting to reculture schools into professional learning communities (Scribner, Cockrell, Cockrell, & Valentine, 1999). This in turn serves to enhance teachers’ professional development, which may help to diminish teacher isolation, alter teaching practices, and contribute to student learning (Andrews & Lewis, 2002; Cowan & Hord, 1999; Crowther, Hann, McMaster, & Ferguson, 2000; Huffman & Hipp, 2001).

10

The Functional Role of the Soil Seed

Bank in Agricultural Ecosystems

Nathalie Colbach*

INRA, UMR1347 Agroécologie, EcolDur, Dijon, France

Introduction

In many countries with temperate climate, landscapes are highly anthropized, and arable crops constitute the major part of these landscapes. In these habitats, weeds consisting of both ‘real’ wild species and volunteers originating from lost crop seeds constitute the main component of wild plant biodiversity. Cropped fields differ from natural habitats by frequent disturbances (e.g. tillage, herbicides, harvest) and the presence of one

(or sometimes two) dominant plant species

(i.e. the crop) that usually changes every year. Though these disturbances can appear as stochastic and unpredictable from the weed’s point of view, they result from the farmer’s operational logic, and many of them specifically aim at controlling weeds because the latter are very harmful for agricultural production (Oerke et al., 1994). In this chapter, I propose to focus on the importance of the soil seed bank for plant regeneration in this particular habitat, to identify the relevant biophysical processes interacting with agricultural practices, and, finally, to determine what kind of weed species and traits are selected in different cropping systems.

The basic idea of managers and teams is fundamental to human society. Modern project managers understand the need for and value of diverse project teams. But team members must be treated as individuals; freedom is good. Integration presents itself as the answer to some team problems. An organization with a mature, integrative approach will replace the two-dimensional notion of interfaces with three-dimensional spaces of integration.

Although mathematical integration equations are easily written, no simple algorithm comes to mind for project integration. Still, if there were one, project personnel would multiply all other terms, so we are quite correct to call the integration of project personnel a factor. Perfect integration of budget, schedule, and scope will not prevent failure if a project and its personnel are not also integrated. To a lesser extent, the greater team should be integrated too.

Let’s begin with a fundamental question: How valid are the widely accepted notions of managers and teams? That is, does another structure exist within which projects could be better integrated?

Vivienne Lewin

This paper is about twins and twinning, the impact on psychoanalytic work of the existence of an actual twin, and defensive twin-ship. The primary emotional task facing an infant is the development of a sense of self, a personal identity, separate from but connected to mother and father. The task is complicated by the presence of a twin, whether mono- or di-zygotic, same or different sex. The twin-ship is an additional relationship to be dealt with by all members of the family, but most particularly by the twins themselves. They face a unique series of conflicts between remaining enmeshed and separating: a conflict within each individual twin, between the twins, and between them and their parents. The establishment of separateness from a twin is a process requiring parental help that takes place while the twins are working out their relationships with each parent and with the parental couple.

I have worked individually with a number of adult patients who have a twin, and therefore with the implications of twin-ship for the transference relationship. In working with the individual twin, the twin transference must be addressed in addition to the maternal and paternal object relationships, and the relationship to the parental couple as the creative couple. The twin-ship may be used as a defence by the patient and may make working through the oedipal situation more difficult. If the twin in the transference is not recognized and analysed, a fundamental aspect of the personality will remain inadequately known and integrated, and development towards separateness in the analysis will be impeded.

19 

Hiking Tourism in Germany’s Low and High Mountain Regions

Axel Dreyer* and Anne Menzel

Harz University of Applied Sciences, Wernigerode, Germany

Introduction

Over recent years, approximately 30% of the

German population aged 14 and over chose regions in Germany as their preferred holiday destination (Schrader, 2013; Schmuecker and Koch, 2014; FUR, 2015). The most popular destinations for hiking holidays in

Germany are mountains (BMWi, 2010).

According to a study of PROJECT M et al.

(2014), the low mountain ranges of the Black

Forest (Schwarzwald), Bavarian Forest (Bayerischer Wald), the Harz Mountains, as well as the Allgäu (low mountain range and A

­ lpine foothills – ‘Alpen’) are the preferred destination areas. Another hiking region, though less popular overall for Germans is the Alps, a high mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe and in the deepest south of

Germany. Figure 19.1 shows the locations of the most important low mountain regions in

Germany.

In Germany there are no world-famous hiking routes or trails like the Inca Trail in Peru, the West Coast Trail in British Columbia or the

Although we could never prove it, we suspected that
the times of our convoy sailing were betrayed.

Field Marshal Albert Kesselring

Despite America’s entry into the conflict, Great Britain remained the true foe in the mind of most Italians. On 27 December Mussolini spoke to his Council of Ministers and admitted that the war would continue three or four more years. “Russia will be liquidated as an opponent. To win the war, Great Britain must be defeated; either by invasion or the capture of her world bases. The key is the Suez Canal.” From Rome’s perspective the United States seemed fully occupied by Japan’s “amazing victories,” and even better, the Far Eastern war was siphoning off British strength. Conditions seemed ripe for an Axis victory in the Mediterranean.¹

In January, Italian convoys began docking in Tripoli regularly following the successes at Sirte, at Alexandria, and off Tripoli. The Italo-German army was holding the El Agheila line on the border between Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, the high-water mark of the last British offensive in the winter of 1940–41. Churchill was anxious for his desert army to regroup and capture Tripoli, but an assessment by the Chiefs of Staff Committee dated 10 January recognized that supply difficulties might “retard or even prevent” the occupation of Tripoli and recommended a deeper study of operation “Super-Gymnast.”²

.........But when the topic is the nature of delusion, the ego, false constructs, and human nature, I’m just a guy with a little experience, a lot of interest, and good seats. Yes, I’ve gone through the transformative process and yes, I remember a good deal from my own before and during periods, but whereas enlightenment is exactly the same for anyone, anytime, anyplace, the journey to it is as unique and varied as there are people to make it. Of course, battling past the ego to get to the truth has been at the heart of countless spiritual teachings in countless countries for countless centuries. Ego-death as a means to no-self – abiding non-dual awareness – is what this journey is all about. That’s the reason behind the devotion, the prayer, the meditation, the teachings, the renunciation. Anyone headed for truth is going to get there over the ego’s dead body or not at all...........

LOS CHILES

Todos los chiles usados en este libro de cocina se encuentran disponibles en la mayor parte de los Estados Unidos. Si no se encuentran en la tienda de comestibles de la localidad, búsquelos en un supermercado latino.

CHILE POBLANO– El poblano es un chile grande, verde oscuro que se usa principalmente para hacer Chiles Rellenos y rajas. El poblano puede variar de poco picante a muy picante, y no se sabe el grado de picante hasta que se come.

CHILE SERRANO– El serrano es muy común en México, especialmente en la región central. Es pequeño, angosto y verde oscuro, muy picante. Los serranos se usan en una amplia variedad de salsas y se pueden comer crudos o cocinados.

CHILE JALAPEÑO– El jalapeño fué uno de los primeros chiles que se introdujeron en el mercado de los Estados Unidos. Es más grande que el serrano, pero con un brillo, color y sabor picante muy parecidos. Los jalapeños se pueden encontrar todo el año y con frecuencia se sirven preparados con verduras en escabeche.

One Thing after Another: Layers of Policy and Colorado’s Fiscal Train Wreck

John A. Straayer

This is a story about the evolution of fiscal policy and related institutional change in Colorado over the past two-and-a-half decades. It is a story about the substantial dismantling of a governing apparatus capable of establishing policy direction and budget priorities. It is a story of a decision-making style our founders would surely have viewed with dismay, and it is the story of a state in which fiscal policy is piled upon fiscal policy in a process driven largely by the uncoordinated pursuit of special advantage by an assortment of interests and the flow of economic circumstances rather than by self-conscious choices made by elected institutional authorities. The piling of law upon law has by definition altered policy, but it has also had extraordinary institutional consequences. This is a story without an end.

If there is a current policy perspective in the academic literature that comes close to fitting Colorado, it would be that offered by Professors Christopher McGrory Klyza and David Sousa in their analysis of national environmental policy development over the past several decades. Klyza and Sousa write, “New laws affecting the management of public lands and wildlife were layered atop existing statutes and agency practices” (2008: 1). They note that environmental policy is made in a framework created by earlier policies that were made in their own particular framework, resulting in the “layering of contradictory policy commitments” (ibid.: 3, 8–9) and generating “frustration on all sides” (ibid.: 11). The result, they conclude, is that environmental policy in the United States “will likely continue to be a mix of train wrecks and next-generation success stories” (ibid.: 309). This layering of policy upon policy in a manner that leads to a train wreck comes close to describing the manufacture of fiscal policy in Colorado. Given the current state of Colorado’s policy and politics, however, “next-generation success stories” are questionable (see Bell Policy Center 2011; Center for Colorado’s Economic Future 2009, 2011).

School children in the Cassel community: discovering a place in which to live and learn

Lee Marsden

This chapter focuses on the educational and therapeutic work with children of school age living in the Cassel Community. Therapeutic teaching takes place in the Children’s Centre, an area of the hospital where, as its name suggests, the every day needs of children are the focus. Fundamental to this work is the provision of a reliable, predictable setting, where adults can offer opportunities for secure attachments to develop (Bowlby, 1969) and can help children to make sense of their world (Bion, 1962a). Awareness of the interplay between emotions and thoughts, relationships, and cognitive capacities informs our approach to children’s learning (Greenhalgh, 1994; Salzberger-Wit-tenberg, Henry, & Osborne, 1983). This is similar to thinking that underpins educational therapy (Morton, 2000a). Aspects of this philosophy and practice are similar to those of nurture groups, in which small groups of children are offered therapeutic teaching within a mainstream school setting (Bennathan & Boxall, 1996). There is an emphasis on nurture, noticing and responding to even small details of a child’s concerns, and behaviour of any kind is understood as a form of communication (Holmes, 2000). Different aspects of this therapeutic teaching are illustrated in the following description of the daily work of the Children’s Centre and account of my work as the teacher with two children who were resident at the Cassel and attended the Children’s Centre.

Not every multicultural understands his or her cultural identity in the same way. In a recent study, a group of researchers asked multicultural individuals what it was like to be multicultural. Many of them responded that it was like being a salad with all the different colors and textures of their cultures combined in one bowl. However, there were many different responses, such as the following:

I’m like a spice rack. So, different spices and I’m really unique. I do believe, I think I’m different. I do think differently. And like a spice rack, I pick which part of each culture that I would like. And it can change from day to day. (ARAB AMERICAN)

I think I am probably kind of like the fusion food . . . kind of mix. (CHINESE CANADIAN)

It’s like a game of volleyball, I feel like. Sometimes volleyball can be like calm or you can have like a nice, like a nice, calm game. And sometimes it can get really intense and competitive, and sometimes I feel like the two cultures, they’re balanced. And sometimes I feel like they’re not where it’s like competitive between the two cultures . . . sometimes I feel it’s hard to incorporate the two cultures, just trying to find a way to make a mix sometimes is difficult. And sometimes I feel like, oh, it’s doable or it’s good, it’s OK. You can mix the two cultures. (ARAB AMERICAN)

By Brian J. Gerloff

It’s not uncommon for governing boards to engage in rankism, often unintentionally. For example, board members may assume they have superior knowledge and therefore disregard the views of their constituency. Within the board itself, members may assume the majority is wiser than the minority. Rankism can also occur in the ranks of the organization if board members fail to hold administrators to dignitarian standards of behavior. Some ways boards can reduce rankism in their organization include:

1. Remember that everyone on the board has equal legitimacy.

This means that you must listen to all the varying perspectives on a board as you make decisions. Of course you should look for common ground when possible, but it also means that sometimes you will not have unanimous votes. You won’t always have consensus decisions if you are genuinely allowing everyone’s voice to be heard and considered.

2. Share information equally with all board members.

When information is provided to one member of the board, make it standard practice to provide it to all, e.g., by forwarding informational e-mails to everyone and by copying all members of a committee with all correspondence. This promotes a culture of equality on the board and prevents the formation of cliques.