Academic literature on the topic 'Web sites – Political aspects – Canada'

Abstract. This paper provides a bibliometric review between integration of authoritative and volunteered geographic information for the purpose of cartographic updating of urban mappings. The adopted methodology was through a bibliometric survey of the literature published by Web of Science and Science Direct. The period was evaluated from 2005 to 2020 and the keywords used were: integration of authoritative data, volunteered geographic information, VGI, large scale topographic mapping, Authoritative urban mapping. The number of publications found was small for the topic that deals with this integration, totalizing 14 articles at Web of Science and 23 at Science Direct. 38% of them were published in the International Journal of Geo Information (ISPRS), 16% in the International Journal of Geographical Information Science. 5% were published in the Cartography and Geographic Information Science and the Computer Geosciences respectively. The other 36% is shown in several other journals, approximately 3% each. Regarding the origin of publications, 25% are in Germany (University of Heidelberg), 14% in the UK (New Castle University), 13% in China (Wuhan University), 11% in Canada (Calgary University), and other countries show percentages between 3% and 5%. Among the research, areas are physical geography, remote sensing, computer science, information science, engineering, and public administration. Among themes addressed in the articles, potentials can be pointed out as existence of models which institutions can implement management of information received collaboratively, existence of several methodologies for quality control of this information so that they can be integrated into authoritative data that are called as data conflation. Methodologies for handling big data and semantic interoperability, as well as automation of processes. This data potential is not only on platforms such as OpenStreetMap, but also on data collected through scraping from social networks such as twitter, sites, and others. Among the challenges, there are still somethings to investigate regarding consideration of temporal, historic, political, and economic aspects, as well as the consideration of legal aspects. The integration of this volunteered geographic information is necessary, mainly in cities with economic and cultural difficulties to maintain their mapping up to date, as well as the difficulty of accessing information that allows access to authoritative data.

Two studies investigated Singaporean junior college students’ determinations of the credibility of social studies Web sites. In the first study, participants selected Web sites that they determined to provide objective and accurate representations of their topics, provided reasons for their selection, and described Web site authors’ vested interests. They also selected Web sites that illustrated misrepresentations, explained why, and described authors’ vested interests. Finally, they rated their own competence and confidence about different aspects of Web site information accuracy. Qualitative analyses of participants’ written comments revealed a strong awareness of political vested interests of Web site authors, a topic that had not emerged in previous research. In the second study, analyses of students’ responses to questionnaires about a more credible and a less credible Web site provided by their instructor indicated that students rated the more credible Web site higher. Students’ ratings of their general confidence in evaluating Web sites on accuracy/truthfulness as well as their confidence in detecting misrepresentations in Web sites were used as criteria in a reduced multiple regression model. Results showed that students generally differed in their perception of the two Web sites. Implications for future research are discussed.

Information and communication technology is an important factor for national, regional and local sustainable tourism development according to the long-term Croatian national strategic plan. New forms of information, such as web sites; new media, materials, political and social change, all influence tourists’ decisions when choosing specific destinations. The aim of this research is to determine, based on the analysis of the tourism media campaign, the relationship between new communication trends and the application of photography as a medium that influences the experience when choosing a destination and the importance of crucial information factors on web pages based on their technical and visual characteristics.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical assessment of the diffusion of advertising messages on microblogging sites. The diffusion properties of advertising messages are quantified based on the following three aspects: diffusion breadth, depth, and speed. Furthermore, this study examines the influence of message- and advertiser-level factors on the diffusion of advertising messages. Design/methodology/approach – The study data comprises 20,000 advertising messages that are randomly drawn from a popular microblogging web site in China. Five message-level factors and four advertiser-level factors are constructed based on the information retrieved from the microblogging web site. Generalized linear modeling is adopted to examine the effects of such factors on the diffusion properties of advertising messages. Findings – The positive driving forces underlying the diffusion of advertising messages on microblogging sites include message length, the advertisers’ in-degrees, and their reputation. The diffusion of advertising messages is hampered by typicality, affectivity, the completeness of the information of the advertising messages, and advertisers’ out-degrees. Practical implications – To achieve optimal diffusion on microblogging sites, advertisers should select the appropriate time windows for releasing advertising messages. Moreover, advertisers should actively increase the number of fans, use less typical and less emotional words in advertising messages, and eliminate unnecessary URLs in such messages. Originality/value – This study contributes to the diffusion theory by identifying the mixed effects of different information attributes on the diffusion of advertising messages on microblogging sites, and examining the roles of advertisers’ structural characteristics in the diffusion of advertising messages. Furthermore, the results illustrate how consumers cope with the advertisers’ sales presentations on microblogging sites.

The web-based program retro­Reveal has been used primarily for providing improved visibility of documents with faint text, including stamps, currency, music, and so forth. It has yet to be used to its full potential by archaeologists interested in rock art. The plugin DStretch, used on the ImageJ platform, has been the standard for enhancement of faint red ochre rock art images. We introduce retroReveal as a supplement to photographic investigation through comparison of images from four rock art sites in Alberta, Canada. Processing photographs with the two techniques typically yields comparable results, but often with slight differences. In a few cases, retroReveal makes certain features more apparent than is the case with DStretch; in other instances, the opposite is true. Other positive and negative aspects of the two techniques are discussed. Experiments with black pictographs indicate that retroReveal does not perform satisfactorily with these images. Overall, our results indicate that retroReveal should be added to the toolkit for illuminating painted rock art images.

Canadian legislatures’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have raised questions about whether and how parliaments should continue to meet during the pandemic (Reid, 2020; Thomas, 2020a). The purpose of this research note is twofold: (1) to document how Canadian legislatures have changed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) to assess the effect of these responses on legislatures’ ability to fulfill their core functions. Through an analysis of parliamentary records from all elected federal, provincial and territorial legislatures in Canada, we find that the role of parliaments as sites of citizen representation has suffered the most, whereas the scrutinizing and legislative functions of parliaments have tended to be preserved, albeit in a significantly truncated form. We argue that patterns in legislatures' varied responses to the pandemic reveal which aspects of parliamentary functioning these bodies de facto prioritize and which are at risk of being eroded.

Four studies, each on health technology assessment (HTA) in a different country, are presented in this volume. Conveying differing levels of sensitivity to political aspects of HTA, their storylines are similar in terms of the importance of the institutional structures that produce HTA and mediate its influence on health policy decision making. Regarding the internal politics of HTA, the latter appears to have developed in a relatively depoliticized environment, supported by a dense and varied web of institutional sites for funding, production, and consumption of HTA, buffered from the capricious impacts of electoral politics. Regarding external politics, HTA in all the countries began with relatively politically innocuous studies of technologies recognized to be of major import to national health systems or researcher-initiated studies. However, with increased focus in health systems on explicit determination of health benefits baskets, the role of HTA has become more high profile. This means that political accountability for the entire HTA process will increase. The implication is that future management of HTA programs will require self-conscious attention to the building of institutions capable of handling the delicate process of integrating science and politics in health policy.

Background Adherence to lifesaving antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV infection remains a challenge for many patients. Routine screening for barriers to ART adherence could help make HIV care more patient-centered and prevent virologic rebound or failure. Our team is currently developing a new HIV-specific patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) of these barriers for use in Canada and France along with a digital app for its electronic administration. In our previous work, we developed the PROM’s multidimensional conceptual framework and generated 100 English items, which have been translated to French. Objective This study aims to use a Web-based Delphi to help validate and select the content of this new HIV-specific PROM, based on the perspective of anglophone and francophone patients and providers in Canada and France. Here, we present the proposal for this Delphi. Methods This modified Delphi will involve a diverse panel of patients (n=32) and providers (n=52) recruited especially from the 9 sites of the PROM development study (site locations in Canada: Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver; in France: Paris, Nantes, Clermont-Ferrand, Saint-Martin, Cayenne). Overall, 2 rounds of Web-based questionnaires will be conducted. The threshold for consensus is set at 60% and will determine which items are carried forward to the second round. Per item, 3 aspects will be rated: importance as a barrier to ART adherence, relevance for HIV care, and clarity. In both rounds, space will be available for free text comments. Overall comprehensiveness will be assessed in the second round. Results This study has undergone a methodological review by experts in patient-oriented research. It has received approval from a research ethics board of the McGill University Health Centre. It is financially supported, in part, by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research-Quebec Support Unit (M006). As of May 21, 2019, 15 people living with HIV and 25 providers completed the first round of the Delphi (24 from Canada and 16 from France). Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first Delphi to seek consensus on the most relevant and clinically actionable barriers to ART adherence, collecting opinions on an extensive list of barriers. Drawing on a relatively large and diverse panel of HIV patients and providers, it essentially engages key stakeholders in decision making about the PROM’s final content, helping to ensure its utility and adoption. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/12836

The previous period of United States presidential elections of 1996 has redirected the relevant scientific research to investigate the correlation online communication - political sphere. Consequently were formulated various paradigms and the most discussed was the democratic paradigm, according to which the representation serve as a basic principle of modern democracy. The study of the level of influence of new communication technologies on political sphere became, for a number of scientific investigations carried out in USA, Canada and later in some European countries such as France, Italy, the UK (in 2000 and since 2007 in Romania), an important objective of empirical research. In most cases, the first stage of the investigation of online political communication has been marked by some methodological problems such as: the changeable nature of web space, the necessity to elaborate new indicators able to represent basic aspects of studied reality, the temporal validity of the data. The elaboration of A Model of Cyber –Interactivity by Sally J. McMillan has contributed to overcome these difficulties and has demonstrated the effectiveness of content analysis as research method used for the study of Web Space dynamic reality. Later, the research team from the University of Rochester (Paul Ferber, Frantz Foltz, Rudy Pugliese) have perfected the two-way interactivity model (elaborated by Sally J. McMillan) and have it completed with three-dimensional model of interactivity for the purpose of quantitative investigation of political websites and to argue that these forms of new media correspond to the ideals of cyberdemocracy.

Social Networking Sites (SNS) which is a popular mode of communication in present era is one of the well flourished tools of web 2.0 technology. It offers a varied spectrum of resources and services to the user community like messaging, blogging, sharing pictures, videos, events, interests with people in their network anywhere in the globe. It has a phenomenal influence in the political, economic, and educational domains of our social life. It has bought an evident makeover in the attitude, personality and academic performance of students who are the most ardent users of Social media. The main objective of this study is to examine the various aspects of usage of SNS like purpose and frequency, impact on academics, satisfaction level etc. Among engineering college students in the city of Kozhikode, Kerala. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from a representative sample. The study unveils that majority of students uses SNS as an interactive platform for friendly communication and academic usage is comparatively less. Awareness need to be raised for the intelligent usage of social media by educating students about the applications, benefits, and risks related with social networking sites.

The purpose of this study is to explore the representation of national political freedom on web interface design by using power distance, one of the culture dimensions identified by Geert Hofstede, as a measurement. This study also aims to determine if there are any differences between government-based websites and business-oriented websites in representing national political freedom. A pilot study was conducted to validate ten power distance indicators identified from previous research on cultural dimensions with the intent of establishing a measurement for determining a country's national political freedom on web content and interface design. The result showed that six out of ten proposed indicators are valid power distance indicators. The seventh indicator, symmetric layout, demonstrated that its Web representation correlates with national political freedom level. Consequently, the principal research applied these seven indicators in coding 312 websites selected from 39 countries and analyzed national political freedom represented on these websites with content analysis method. The result of two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that large differences exist in web interface design, which in turn reflects the aforementioned national political freedom. The research showed that the mean effect of freedom level between free-country group, partly-free-country group and not-free-country group was statistically significant (p = .003). So was the mean effect of website type between government-based and business-oriented websites (p = .000). Furthermore, the interaction between the freedom level and website type was also significant (p = .041). Therefore, we conclude that web interface design represents a country's political freedom and government-based websites embody more of a nation's authority and supremacy than business-oriented websites do. It is expected that this study furthers our exploration in culture dimensions on web interface design and advances our knowledge in sociological and cultural studies of the web.

現代信息技術，以其多元、快速的優勢使人們對中國的民主抱以樂觀的態度。公民參與是一個健康的民主制度的核心要素，如何促進公民的政治參與一直是政治參與研究領域的焦點問題。在互聯網時代，尤其是社交媒體的出現，其廉價、方便、互動性的技術優勢大大增加了政治參與的可行性。大學學生是“互聯網一代“和中國知識分子的代表。因此，了解他們的社會媒體使用行為如何影響其政治知識、政治感知和政治行為、對於認識未來中國的政治變革是重要的。本研究提出“社交媒體使用“及“在線新聞使用“兩個概念，並以此視作政治參與和民主實踐研究範疇下的新討論焦點。
本研究主要探討以下問題：（1）大學生通過何種渠道在線獲取新聞;（2）大學生使用不同的媒體平台獲取新聞的情況如何；（3）在線新聞使用同傳統新聞媒體使用之間的關係如何;（4）計算機能力，互聯網自我效能感，在線和離線新聞使用，社交媒體使用，政治知識，政治效能，政治信任和政治參與等核心變量之間的關係； 以及（5）計算機能力，互聯網自我效能感，在線和離線新聞使用，社交媒體使用之於政治知識、政治感知和政治參與的相對重要性。
本研究採用定量的研究方法。研究的主體是對中國大陸在校大學本科及研究生進行問卷調查；調查前，焦點小組輔助研究結構建立與問卷設計。問卷調查採用多階層整群抽樣的方法，在北京抽取了兩所“elite工程“大學，在長春及杭州各抽取一所非“elite工程“大學的學生參與，樣本數量為624人。研究結果顯示，當中97.4% 的受訪者均使用互聯網獲取新聞。因子分析結果顯示，中國內地大學生主要經由三種信息渠道在線獲取新聞，分別是海外新聞渠道、社交媒體渠道，以及官方新聞渠道。不同信息渠道的使用者其政治常識、政治效能和政治信任亦有所區別。同時，本研究還發現傳統新聞同網絡新聞的使用之間存在互補的關係。
研究結果顯示，人口學變量超越社交媒體和在線新聞使用兩個變量對中國內地大學生的政治認知及政治知識的形成發揮最重要的作用。研究還發現社交媒體和在線新聞在促進線上和線下政治參與方面具有很大潛力。結論部分將詳述本研究的貢獻與實踐意義。
Citizen participation is a core element of a healthy democracy, and what facilitates citizens’ political activities has long been a central interest in political participation research. In the age of the Internet, especially with the appearance of social media, political participation is greatly facilitated by technology that makes information inexpensive, accessible, and interactive. Modern information technology, with its pluralism and fast speed, has made people optimistic about democracy. University students represent the Net generation and intellectuals in China; therefore, understanding how their social media use affects political knowledge, perception, and participation is valuable, to bring political change to China in the future.
Expanding the line of previous research, this study aims to address the question of the democratic implications of social media use and online news seeking from the vantage point of how individuals seek news online and how such use may be related to several key indications of individuals’ engagement in political life as citizens. Specifically, this study examines (a) the sources through which university students seek news online; (b) to what degree university students in China use different media platforms to seek news; (c) how online news seeking is related to its offline counterpart; (d) the relationships among computer competence, Internet efficacy, online and offline news seeking, social media use, political knowledge, political efficacy, political trust, and political participation; and (e) the relative influence of technological attributes, social media use, and online and offline news seeking on political attributes and political participation.
In this study, we used quantitative questionnaire surveys among university students. The questionnaire surveys were based on a stratified cluster sampling of two elite universities in Beijing and two ordinary universities in Changchun and Hangzhou. The final sample consisted of 624 university students, of whom 97.2% had used online news. Factor analysis identified three major sources of online news seeking among university students: official sources, overseas sources, and social media sources. Adopting these sources seems to affect students’ political knowledge, perception, and participation differently. Also, the supplement effect was found between online and offline news seeking.
Results also showed that demographics, rather than social media use and online news seeking, have the most power to predict political perception and knowledge among Chinese university students, and online news seeking and social media use have great potential in facilitating political engagement online and offline. How the social media use and online news seeking change the mode of state-society interactions and expands forms of political engagement are also discussed.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Zheng, Pei.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012.
Includes bibliographical references.
Abstracts also in Chinese.
Abstract --- p.i
摘要 --- p.iii
致謝 --- p.iv
List of Tables and Figures --- p.4
Chapter Chapter 1 --- : Introduction --- p.1
Research Methods --- p.9
Main Contents of Each Chapter --- p.10
Chapter Chapter 2 --- : Literature Review --- p.12
Internet as a Public Sphere --- p.13
Technology between State and Society --- p.15
History of Technology Empowerment Since Modern China --- p.15
Political Control over the Internet --- p.16
Internet Empowerment of Society --- p.20
Political Participation --- p.23
Offline Political Participation --- p.24
Online Political Participation --- p.25
Social Media Use, and Offline and Online News Seeking --- p.27
Social Media Use and Political Participation --- p.27
Online News Seeking --- p.29
Offline News Seeking vs. Online News Seeking --- p.32
Computer Competence and Internet Efficacy --- p.33
Computer Competence --- p.33
Internet Efficacy --- p.35
Political Knowledge --- p.37
Political Efficacy --- p.38
Political Trust --- p.42
Chapter Chapter 3 --- : Research Methods --- p.57
Questionnaire Survey --- p.57
Sampling procedure and survey participants --- p.57
Final sample profiles --- p.62
Pilot tests --- p.64
Measures --- p.64
Internet efficacy. --- p.64
Computer competence. --- p.65
Social media use. --- p.65
Online news seeking. --- p.66
Offline news seeking. --- p.67
Political efficacy. --- p.68
Political knowledge. --- p.69
Political trust. --- p.70
Political participation. --- p.70
Demographics. --- p.71
Analytical Procedure --- p.72
Chapter Chapter 4 --- : News Seeking Behaviors --- p.73
Online News Seeking --- p.73
News Consumption Online vs. Offline --- p.76
Relationship Between Online and Offline News Seeking --- p.76
Chapter Chapter 5 --- : Assessing Factors Influencing Political Participation --- p.79
Linking Social Media Use and Online News Seeking to Political Attributes. --- p.79
Linking Computer Competence, and Internet Efficacy to Social Media Use 1.1 and Online News Seeking --- p.84
Computer competence --- p.84
Internet efficacy --- p.85
Linking Online News Seeking, Political Knowledge, Political Efficacy, 1.1 Political Trust and Political Participation --- p.87
Political knowledge --- p.87
Political efficacy --- p.88
Political trust --- p.89
Research questions --- p.90
Predicting Political Knowledge, Efficacy and Trust --- p.91
Predicting Political Participation --- p.97
Chapter Chapter 6 --- : Discussion and Conclusion --- p.102
Contributions of This Study --- p.102
Complementary effect of offline and online news --- p.102
Three sources of online news seeking --- p.104
Potential of social media use and online news seeking to promote 1.1.1 online political participation --- p.107
Political attributes: Demographic determined. --- p.108
Offline political participation: After the Internet, before democracy --- p.110
Limitation and Suggestions for Future Research --- p.114
Reference --- p.117
Glossary --- p.135

Two studies investigated Singaporean junior college students’ determinations of the credibility of social studies Web sites. In the first study, participants selected Web sites that they determined to provide objective and accurate representations of their topics, provided reasons for their selection, and described Web site authors’ vested interests. They also selected Web sites that illustrated misrepresentations, explained why, and described authors’ vested interests. Finally, they rated their own competence and confidence about different aspects of Web site information accuracy. Qualitative analyses of participants’ written comments revealed a strong awareness of political vested interests of Web site authors, a topic that had not emerged in previous research. In the second study, analyses of students’ responses to questionnaires about a more credible and a less credible Web site provided by their instructor indicated that students rated the more credible Web site higher. Students’ ratings of their general confidence in evaluating Web sites on accuracy/truthfulness as well as their confidence in detecting misrepresentations in Web sites were used as criteria in a reduced multiple regression model. Results showed that students generally differed in their perception of the two Web sites. Implications for future research are discussed.