In many Internet-based services, network effects have a significant impact on the evolution of the market. In particular, critical mass is a fundamental element due to its relevance to the growth process of these kinds of services. The objective of this paper is to set out some of the difficulties concerning the identification of critical mass. According to more conventional approaches, the critical mass is defined by the product's demand curve and its price. However, as shown in this paper, it is not possible to define a critical mass in such a simple way, since market structure and companies' entry strategy will substantially modify the mass adoption process starting point. Results also have an impact on determining the value of a network. Conclusions and directions for further research are also discussed.
Patrones de uso de vídeos didácticos: un estudio cuantitativo en estudiantes universitarios AbstractThis paper analyzes the perception, on the part of Grade students, of the availability of videos complementary to classroom teaching, as well as the moment of visualization of the same, with the aim of identifying their use pattern and perceived usefulness, an initial step towards future flip-teaching interventions. The analysis has been carried out in three groups, one of the Business Administration degree, and two of the double degree of Business Administration and Law, during the academic year 2018-19, in a quantitative subject (Quantitative Models), the content of which is necessary for subsequent subjects, including Operations Management, in the third year of the grade. The use pattern of the videos, which received a total of 7281 views, was analysed using the Box-Jenkins methodology, adjusting an ARIMA model and identifying the atypical values in the series. The results indicate that the students perceive these videos as useful, although more as a tool to help in the preparation of exams than as an instrument to review the contents.All authors have participated in the idea, study design, collection and/or analysis and interpretation of the data, in the draft of the paper and in the critical review of their intellectual content.
The portability of predictive models of academic performance has been widely studied in the field of learning platforms, but there are few studies in which the results of previous evaluations are used as factors. The aim of this work was to analyze portability precisely in this context, where preceding performance is used as a key predictor. Through a study designed to control the main confounding factors, the results of 170 students evaluated over two academic years were analyzed, developing various predictive models for a base group (BG) of 39 students. After the four best models were selected, they were validated using different statistical techniques. Finally, these models were applied to the remaining groups, controlling the number of different factors with respect to the BG. The results show that the models’ performance varies consistently with what was expected: as they move away from the BG (fewer common characteristics), the specificity of the four models tends to decrease.
Previous research on the gender gap in mathematics indicates that, in the case of Spain, the gap is stable and has even increased during the last years both in primary and secondary education. The objective of this paper is to analyze whether this gender gap remains by changing the academic level and the way of measuring performance. A sample of 2,713 undergraduate management students (1,478 female and 1,235 male) has been analyzed. The results show that the mathematical level in university entrance is significantly higher in male students, confirming the existence of the aforementioned gap. Nevertheless, throughout the first year of university studies, it has been observed that in most degrees there are no differences between male and female students in terms of their achievement in mathematics. In fact, in those cases in which differences do exist, they occur in the opposite direction, with female students achieving better performance.
This article aims to analyze the factors influencing belief in a flat Earth. We focus on Spain, a country that sadly has some of the most relevant figures on this topic in the Spanish-speaking world. After a qualitative analysis of YouTube videos on the main channels on the subject, a survey was carried out on 1252 individuals. The results point to two conclusions. First is the presence of a considerable Dunning–Kruger effect among flat-earthers. There is a significant negative correlation between science literacy—overall and practically all its dimensions—and overconfidence in science in this group. The second, evaluated through a regression tree, confirms that the interaction of low scientific literacy and overconfidence is highly relevant in explaining the belief in a flat earth. Neither factor alone is determinant, but the combination of the two (low scientific literacy and high overconfidence) leads to high levels of flat earth belief.
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