Questionnaire - Thesis: A Practical Set of Cultural Dimensions for Global User-Interface Analysis and Design
by Valentina-Johanna Baumgartner (valentina.baumgartner@fh-joanneum.at)
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Background Questions
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Name:
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Company:
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Position:
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E-Mail:
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Country of Birth:
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Country where you live and
work currently:
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years of experience in the field of user-interface design
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Questionnaire
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The following table lists 29 dimensions which describe how countries/cultures can be differenciated. These dimensions where found by studying the work of Hofstede, Wright, Parsons, Adler, Condon & Yousef, Victor, Hall, Trompenaars, and Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck.
Please try to rate which of these dimensions are important for the field of user-interface design based on your own experience as an interface designer.
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No
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Dimension
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Description
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Importance for the field of user-interface design
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D01
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Achievement vs. Ascription
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refers to how a status is accorded to certain members of a society. In achievement-oriented cultures, individuals derive their status from what they have accomplished. In an ascriptive society, individuals derive their status from birth, age, gender or wealth.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D02
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Activity orientation
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refers to the extent to which activity is valued within a culture. Human activity can focus on doing, being or being-in-becoming. Doing-oriented cultures are concerned with those activities that are external to the individual and which can be measured. E.g.: Thinking will be less valued than painting as painting can be observed and measured. The being-in-becoming orientation is about who we are and is reflected in those cultures that value the pursuit of a better self through contemplation and prayer. The being orientation is about the expression of what is already in the human personality. E.g.: The Mexican fiesta is an expression of a being orientation.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D03
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Affective (emotional) vs. Neutral cultures
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describes the way how cultures express their emotions. E.g.: Affectivists believe that all relationships with others are human affairs and that people should express their feelings openly. Neutralists believe the nature of their relationships with others should be objective and detached, that emotions confuse the issues.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D04
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Authority Conception
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describes the degree to which people favor an authoritarian, egalitarian, paternalistic, or participative management style.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D05
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Context
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refers to the amount and specificity of information in a given situation. A high context communication is one in which most of the meaning is in the context while very little is the transmitted message. A low context communication is similar to interacting with a computer –if the information is not explicitly stated; and the program followed religiously, the meaning is distorted.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D06
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Degree of power
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refers to the degree of strength or weakness of a country/culture in international comparison - perceived by other nations.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D07
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Economic progress
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refers to the degree of flexibility or rigidity of a country/culture regarding economic progress.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D08
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Environment and technology
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refers to the culture's attitude toward the use of technology for solving problems in the work environment. In control-oriented societies technology is seen as a positive good; the environment is meant to be mastered; mastery can be accomplished through technology. Subjugation-oriented cultures see technology as being neutral to negative; the environment controls society; it is impossible or undesirable to control the environment. Harmonization means that people are neither masters nor subjects of the environment, but are part of the environment; technology is a subset of the larger system of thought.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D09
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Face-Saving
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may be defined as the act of reserving one's prestige or outward dignity.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D10
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Gender Roles, Masculinity vs. Femininity, Sex
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portrays the extent within cultures to which social gender roles are clearly distinct. E.g. In highly distinct (aka masculinity or assertiveness) cultures men are supposed to be assertive, tough, and focused on material success, whereas women are supposed to be more modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life. Low or no distinction (aka femininity or modesty) pertains to societies in which social gender roles overlap. Both men and women are supposed to be modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D11
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Human Nature Orientation
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describes the way people can be seen: good, evil or a mixture of both. In addition they can be seen to be able to change or to be unable to change.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D12
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Individualism vs. Collectivism (Communitarianism)
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refers to the role of the individual and group, and which interest prevails over the other. E.g. in individual-oriented countries everyone is expected to look after one’s self or immediate family. Collectivism implies that people are integrated from birth into strong, cohesive groups that protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D13
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Instrumental-Expressive Orientation
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describes the way which goals people seek through their interaction with others. People from a culture where an instrumental orientation to interaction prevails tend to value relationships for what they can do for them rather than for the relationship itself. People from cultures where an expressive orientation prevails do not do this.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D14
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Internal vs External control, Relationship to nature
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refers to the relations a culture has to nature. Externalist cultures view nature as a force more powerful than the individual, a force to be feared or emulated. Internalist societies see the major force in life, the origins of vice and virtue as residing within the individual.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D15
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International trade and communication
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refers to the rate of development in the field of trade and communication with other countries/cultures (isolation versus cooperation).
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D16
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Long-term (time) orientation vs. Short-term orientation
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describes the way cultures think about time. E.g. LTO plays an important role in Asian countries that have been influenced by Confucian philosophy over many thousands of years. Long- and short-term countries seem to divide between East and West.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D17
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Meaning of Life
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describes how a society perceives the goals of living: material goals - intellectual goals - spiritual goals.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D18
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Nonverbal communication
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describes what kind of nonverbal communication is important: kinesics (body movement and facial gestures); proxemics (distance); oculesics (eye movements and eye contact); haptics (touching behavior); paralanguage (tone of voice and nonlanguage sounds); and appearance (dress and grooming).
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D19
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Political decentralization
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describes the degree of lethargy or energy a country/culture show towards political decentralization.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D20
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Power distance
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refers to the extent (high or low) to which less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D21
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Property
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describes the way a society sees property: private - utilitarian - community.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D22
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Resources
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refers to the resources a country/culture owns (resource poverty versus abundance).
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D23
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Space
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refers to the invisible boundary around an individual that is considered "personal" and the use of physical space within a society. E.g.: an office may be seen as a public space to be entered without permission, or it may be seen as a private space that cannot be entered without first obtaining permission
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D24
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Specific vs. Diffuse cultures
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refers to the degree of how closely people get involved with one another. E.g.: Specifists believe relationships with others should be explicit, delineated and regulated as in a contract. Diffuse-oriented people emphasize the real and personal contact of the whole person in a relationship.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D25
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Technological development
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refers to the rate of technological development (advancement versus backwardness).
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D26
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Time orientation
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refers to the way cultures conform to time. Past Orientation implies a belief that everything that can occur has occurred before, and past patterns will be replicated. Understanding the principles and truths of the past can guide current and future experience. Present Orientation implies dominance of the mental state of the moment, perhaps because that is most real or one cannot depend on the future. Future Orientation implies expectancy of advancement, improvement or progression. It enables prediction, scheduling, planning, and changing forthcoming events.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D27
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Time perception
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refers to the cultures response to time. Monochronic (sequentially) time is characterized by schedules, promptness and compartmentalization or isolation of activities. People tend to do one thing at a time. Staying on schedule is a must. In countries/cultures with polichronic (synchronically) time attention and plans are constantly shifted, and people do not adhere to appointment schedules as rigidly as in the monochronic time cultures. People usually do several things at a time. Time commitments are desirable rather than absolute. Plans are easily changed.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D28
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Uncertainty avoidance
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can be defined as the extent (high or low) to which the members of a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations. Cultures vary in their avoidance of uncertainty, creating different rituals and having different values regarding formality, punctuality, legal-religious-social requirements, and tolerance for ambiguity.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional)
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D29
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Universalism vs. Particularism
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describes the degree of adhering to agreed standards. Universalists believe that good and right are definite and always applicable. Particularists place more emphasis on the obligations and the unique circumstances.
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very important
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important
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Not sure
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Not very important
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not important
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Comment (optional):
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