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This study validated the scale originally developed in Taiwan for measuring satisfaction of foodservice franchisees with support provided by franchisors in mainland China. Data for validation were collected by means of a questionnaire distributed to foodservice franchisees in Shanghai and Xiamen, China respectively, and analyzed through confirmatory factor analysis. The findings showed that the proposed measurement scale is applicable across the two regions with acceptable model fit indices. In addition, this study examined the differences of franchisees' perception on support provided by franchisors in Taiwan and China. The findings in this research not only advanced scholarly understanding and theory in franchising but also provided useful insight for foodservice stakeholders seeking to expand their market by franchising in these two regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) is a widely used scale of anxiety and depression. However, recent studies have challenged the bi-dimensional scoring of the HADS. The present study was to examine the dimensionality of the Chinese HADS. Methods: We recruited a convenience sample of 214 adult psychiatric outpatients at a medical centre in Taiwan, and they completed the Chinese HADS. We used Mokken scale analysis (MSA), exploratory factor analysis (EFA), exploratory bifactor analysis (EBA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine the dimensionality of the Chinese HADS. Results: The Chinese HADS was a moderate Mokken scale (Hs = 0.44), and had a two-factor structure. EBA showed that one general factor, emotional distress, explained 68% of the common variance of the Chinese HADS. CFA confirmed that the bifactor model had the best fit statistics. The items 5 and 7 of the Chinese HADS contributed to structural ambiguity in the Chinese HADS subscales. Conclusions: The sum scores of the Chinese HADS were a reliable and valid unidimensional measure of emotional distress. The Chinese HADS subscales were incapable of differentiating between anxiety and depression. Clinicians and researchers should choose other scales that are specifically designed for measuring anxiety and depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined the psychometric characteristics of the Chinese translation of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory–Revised (MSI-R) in a community sample of 117 couples from Taiwan. The Chinese MSI-R demonstrated moderate to strong internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed similar scale factor structures in the Taiwanese and U.S. standardization samples. Mean profile comparisons between the current Taiwanese sample and the original MSI-R standardization sample revealed statistically significant but small differences on several subscales. Overall, the psychometric characteristics of the Chinese MSI-R lend support to its use with couples from diverse cultural backgrounds whose sole or preferred language is Chinese. It may also be appropriate to use the MSI-R in clinical settings for prevention or intervention efforts directed at Chinese-speaking couples. The implications of these findings for clinical and research purposes are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. The aim of this study was to describe the development of a Nurse Cultural Competence Scale using Mokken scaling. Background. The psychometrics of the present cultural competence assessment tools has been questioned. The levels of competence measured by existing tools are not capable of indicating individual differences. Design. This study employed a cross-sectional design. A convenience sample of 172 on-the-job nursing students in a college of technology in Taiwan was recruited. Methods. Based on previous literature, the Nurse Cultural Competence Scale comprising 41 items was developed to measure the concept of cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, cultural sensitivity and cultural skill. Mokken scaling analysis was conducted to investigate the unidimensionality and hierarchical nature of the scale. Results. From the 41 items entered into the Mokken scaling procedure, 20 form a strong Mokken scale. The 20 items form a reliable and statistically significant scale which is negatively skewed. The ordering of the items from lowest to highest difficulty shows a hierarchy. Relevance to clinical practice. Nursing managers and educators may use this scale to assess the levels of cultural competence of their members or students and then provide the education according to individual needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our main purpose in this study was to develop a sports fan ethnocentrism (SFE) scale and test whether or not SFE impacts sports viewing motivations and behaviors. First, 3 rounds of the Delphi technique (Gupta & Clarke, 1996) were applied to develop items for the scale. Then, using quota sampling by region, gender, and age we obtained 900 valid surveys from Major League Baseball (MLB) viewers in Taiwan. We then conducted structural equation modeling with viewing time and motivations to confirm construct validity. The characteristics of Taiwanese SFE were found to be as follows: a) SFE is a positive common value in spectator sports that support local athletes; b) Taiwanese MLB viewers generally possess SFE; and c) SFE had an indirect impact on viewing behavior via interest in sports. The results illustrated positive aspects of SFE and suggest that fans may support their own team without feeling hostility toward those from other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pilot study and a main study were conducted to investigate what diseases were stigmatized in Taiwan society, and which dimensions people use to represent them. We first conducted a pilot study to find the 10 highly stigmatized diseases routinely seen in Taiwan, including SARS, AIDS, poliomyelitis, sexual disease, depression, drug addiction, psychosis, cleft lip and palate, shenkui ("kidney deficiency," …), and pulmonary tuberculosis. In the main study, 44 undergraduates were asked to complete the similarity judgment task and the rating task. In the similarity judgment task, participants compared pairs of diseases and judged the similarity between the one disease and the other for each pair. In the rating task, participants described the 10 diseases on six bi-polar adjectives. uncontrollable-controllable, perilous-safe, concealable-conspicuous, temporary-permanent, noncontagious-contagious, and distant- approachable. Results of a multidimensional scaling analysis indicated that the stigmatized diseases were differentiated in terms of contagiousness and concealability. The cultural universality and specificity of social representation of the stigmatized diseases were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to investigate the performance of number sense and its relationships with mathematics achievement of Taiwanese students who had just completed the 5th-grade mathematics curriculum, a computerized number sense scale has been developed. This number sense scale includes four factors which are recognizing relative number size, using multiple representations of numbers and operations, judging the reasonableness of estimates of computed results and recognizing the relative effect of operations on numbers. A total of 1,212 students in Taiwan participated in this study. The main findings of this study are summarized as follows. First, the students perform best on “recognizing relative number size” and perform worst on “judging the reasonableness of estimates of computed results”. This finding is consistent with previous studies. It shows that students in Taiwan seem quite poor on judging the reasonableness of estimates of computed results. Second, female students, on average, have higher scores on recognizing the relative number size than male students, even though only a small effect size is found. And, third, the achievements of the students in mathematics are significantly correlated with their number sense, as measured by the average grade for the academic year of 5th-grade students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the scalability of intimacy permissiveness measures in Taiwan by using island-wide survey data. Among models for scaling analysis, the Guttman scaling model and two latent class models – the latent-distance model and Goodman’s scale model – were employed to examine the scalability of the scale measures. The data were drawn from the 2002 Taiwan Social Change Survey (Questionnaire No. 2), conducted by Academia Sinica. A total of 1983 completed interviews were obtained. This study found that the measures of intimacy permissiveness scale (IPS) were able to form a reasonable Guttman-type scale based on three scaling models. In order to understand whether the attitudinal patterns of Taiwanese toward premarital intimacy permissiveness, particularly the existence of sexual double standards, are consistent with those suggested by the previous literature, we conducted multinomial logistic regression of socio-demographic variables on the scale. Gender and age differences were found consistent with previous studies and mostly reconfirmed the appropriateness of the measures of IPS designed for the Taiwan Social Change Survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective This study examined the effects of reminiscence on depressive symptoms and mood status of elderly people residing in long-term care facilities. Methods A longitudinal quasi-experimental design was conducted, using two equivalent groups for pre-post test and purposive sampling. Each subject was administered pre- and post- tests at a 4 month interval, but subjects in the experimental group underwent weekly individual reminiscence therapy. Geriatric Depression Scale short form (GDS-SF) and Apparent Emotion Rating Scale (AER) were used as study instruments. Results Forty-eight subjects completed the study, with 25 in the experimental group and 23 in the control group. The experimental findings indicated that the experimental group demonstrated fewer depressive symptoms (p < 0.05) and better mood status (p = 0.05) on the post-test comparing to the control group. Conclusion These warranted that reminiscence therapy is a recommended therapy for older people who reside in care facilities. It can provide a basis for planning geriatric care in community to promote the well being and quality of life of older people. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reliability and validity of four selected scales-namely, job control, psychological demands, supervisor support, and coworker support-from the Chinese Version of the Job Content Questionnaire (C-JCL) were studied in 551 male and 648 female workers in Taiwan. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for job control, supervisor support, and coworker support were all above .80. Whereas it was .55 for psychological demands, indicating insufficient internal consistency for this subscale. Participants responded to questionnaire items relatively consistently over a 3-month period. Exploratory factor analyses disclosed 4 empirical factors, which corresponded closely with theoretical constructs of the JCL. As predicted by the model, lowest levels of job satisfaction were found in workers in "iso-strain" category (i.e., high demands combined with low control and low social support). These findings indicated that the C-JCL is reliable and valid for assessing psychosocial work conditions among Taiwanese workers, although further improvement is needed for the psychological demands subscale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]