The first file-sharing software, Napster, was shut down in 2001, but the copying technologys impact on the music industry is still passionately debated. This paper uses micro-level data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey to examine the impact of Internet file sharing on music sales. Music industry representatives argue that the practice decreases CD sales, while supporters of file-sharing allege the practice could actually increase sales. Using household-level data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, we find support for the claim that file-sharing has decreased sales.
In this study we seek to better understand the outcomes of online education by observing the role of learners' personality traits. Under the premise that the behaviors that maximize learning are contingent on the delivery method, we compared learning outcomes of students participating in four sections of an undergraduate principles of management course-three sections were taught using the online approach and one section was taught using the classroom teaching approach (N = 132). Following a multi-group quasi-experimental design, we controlled for differences in teaching delivery styles between the online and traditional classes. Then, we utilized students' personalities as the key independent variable of learning across classes. Our results corroborate that personality is an independent variable worthy of consideration in online settings. Results also suggest that future research in these settings benefits from considering narrow descriptions of personality as opposed to traditional broad traits (e.g., the big-five model). Specifically, we argue that online education demands a particular set of behavioral patterns (i.e., low gregariousness, achievement orientation) necessary to navigate the idiosyncrasies of online education (e.g., social isolation, schedule flexibility). We discuss the theoretical implications of our results in the context of online education and offer practical suggestions for online teaching design.
This study tests a process model of learning in which trainer and trainee traits are simultaneously considered as endogenous variables of learning outcomes. The article builds on a social view of training (Kraiger, 2008) and similarityattraction paradigms (Byrne, 1971). In this context, we hypothesize that trainer-trainee similarity in personality (agreeableness) engenders social reactions that influence how much trainees learn. To test the study hypotheses, undergraduate students (N ϭ 194) participated in a training program during an academic semester. Results from structural-equation modeling indicate that similarity in personality acted on trainees' emotional states, which, in turn, accounted for trainees' posttraining declarative knowledge. With the use of hierarchical regression procedures, results indicated that personality similarity explained incremental variance of posttraining declarative knowledge beyond modal learning correlates (e.g., cognitive abilities, conscientiousness). Our results provide evidence of a social view of training in which combined attributes of dyads (trainer-trainee) account for learning results that the extant literature primarily relates to individual-level variables (e.g., cognitive abilities). The discussion section addresses theoretical implications of our findings, with special emphasis on compositional approaches of personality. From an applied perspective, we discuss why corporate trainers should consider the role of their personality in training, and we also make suggestions for weighting the effect of personality similarity when evaluating training results.Training may be characterized as a social event (Kraiger, 2008), a series of interpersonal exchanges that enhances a trainee' s ability to understand and further elaborate subject materials. Dialogical theories of learning (Flecha, 2000) argue in this line by placing dialogue and reflection at the core of knowledge acquisition and skill development (Wells, 1999). According to this view, knowledge is transacted; it is negotiated in the contentions occurring in learning events (Palinscar, 1998). Rather than unidirectionally transmitted (from instructors to learners), knowledge is seen as a bipartisan creation of meanings fueled by the exchanges in education. Indeed, educational research indicates that instructors and learners'
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.