Books about Contextual from Amazon.com

In this fully updated Fourth Edition of Intercultural Communication, author James W. Neuliep provides a clear contextual model (visually depicted by a series of concentric circles) for examining communication within cultural, microcultural, environmental, sociorelational, and perceptual contexts. Beginning with the broadest context-the cultural component of the model-the book progresses chapter by chapter through the model, to the most specific traits of communication, verbal and nonverbal messages. Each chapter focuses on one context and explores the combination of factors within that context, including setting, situation, and circumstances. Highlighting values, ethnicity, physical geography, and attitudes, the book examines means of interaction, including body language, eye contact, and the exchange of words, as well as the stages of relationships, cross-cultural management, intercultural conflict, and culture shock.

Features  

• Features a new chapter on Cross-Cultural Conflict (Chapter 10) that includes discussions of face-negotiation theory, facework and facework strategies, conflict communication styles, and cultural preferences for conflict styles
• Includes new sections on White/European American culture, an expanded discussion of Arab Americans, new material on Indian culture, and an expanded discussion on Chinese groups and communication, especially as it pertains to the business world
• Includes new discussion questions at the end of each chapter that ask students to critically think about the chapter material
• Offers realistic, cross-cultural dialogues throughout the book to demonstrate how key theoretical concepts manifest themselves in human interaction.
• Includes self-assessment instruments that measure concepts such as intercultural communication apprehension, ethnocentrism, individualism, and collectivism to help students understand themselves and evaluate their skill development

Supplements

• An Instructor’s Resources CD that includes PowerPoint® slides, a test bank, suggested activities, and other useful teaching aids is available to qualified instructors
• A Student Study Web Site is available at www.sagepub.com/neuliep4estudy and includes e-flashcards, study quizzes, internet resources, and other study material

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Price: $56.66 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Site analysis is the key to a well-designed project. In fact, the careful and complete analysis of a site and its surrounding context can lead to better development proposals, smoother design implementation, and, ultimately, higher quality built environments.

This carefully conceived book is the first to detail each crucial step in the site analysis and planning process, from site selection through design development. It shows how these activities are integrated to arrive at a site plan that successfully balances the needs of the client and other stakeholders with the site's suitability for the intended land uses. With more than 130 illustrations, this book includes many outstanding examples of maps and site plans created by leading land planning firms. It offers guidance on:

* Site identification, evaluation, and selection
* Site inventories of physical, biological, and cultural attributes
* Land use suitability analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
* Concept planning and design development
* Graphic communication with clients, government agencies, and other stakeholders

Filled with need-to-know information on the entire land planning and design process, Site Analysis is a vital addition to the library of students and professionals in landscape architecture, urban design and planning, and related areas.

This book will fill a void in the academic market by offering a comprehensive introduction to all stages of the site analysis process. The Second Edition of Site Analysis will detail each phase of the land planning and site design process, explain the influence of site and contextual conditions conditions on land use development and conservation decisions. It will also provide a valuable resource for professionals seeking design solutions for successful land use.

Content from this book is available as an online continuing professional education course at http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-320255.html#sustainable_site.  WileyCPE courses are available on demand, 24 hours a day, and are approved by the American Institute of Architects..
Price: $50.88 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This book introduces a customer-centered approach to business by showing how data gathered from people while they work can drive the definition of a product or process while supporting the needs of teams and their organizations. This is a practical, hands-on guide for anyone trying to design systems that reflect the way customers want to do their work. The authors developed Contextual Design, the method discussed here, through their work with teams struggling to design products and internal systems. In this book, you'll find the underlying principles of the method and how to apply them to different problems, constraints, and organizational situations.

Contextual Design enables you to
* gather detailed data about how people work and use systems
* develop a coherent picture of a whole customer population
* generate systems designs from a knowledge of customer work
* diagram a set of existing systems, showing their relationships, inconsistencies, redundancies, and omissions.
Price: $60.55 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Why do some families survive stressful situations while others fall apart? Can a family’s beliefs and values be used as a predictor of vulnerability to stress? And most importantly, can family stress be prevented? In this Second Edition, Pauline Boss continues to explore both the larger context surrounding families and stress and the inner context, which includes perceptions and meanings. The author emphasizes the need for a more general contextual model of family stress that may be applicable to a wider diversity of people and families as well as a wider variety of stresses and crises than other models. The goal is to provide a framework for students and professionals engaged in helping families learn how to manage their stress. 

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Price: $30.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

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Price: $20.58 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Middle Childhood Development: A Contextual Approach is a new and integrative resource for practitioners who work with children ages 6 through 12. With a focus on the historical and cultural context of middle childhood and on developmental pathways, this text explores the ways in which middle childhood is considered both a stage of development and a transitional period. An Emphasis on Application *Current research is translated into practical applications for educators, parents, and other professionals. See the feature "Guideposts for Working with School-age Children;" for examples, see pages 90, 173 and 332. *In addition, "Stop and Reflect" questions embedded in the text also allow readers to integrate and apply chapter content to their own lives; for examples, see pages 108, 166 and 328. An Integrated Discussion of Research and Theories *Based on recent research findings, the authors provide suggestions on what to expect and how to interact with children in middle childhood.* Rather than one abstract introductory chapter, psychological theories of development are applied throughout the text to address particular chapter content in integrated sections called "Theoretical Viewpoints;" for examples, see pages 78, 158, and 304. Each chapter also has a cumulative table of the theories presented in that chapter. *Each chapter includes key research on the ecologies of family, school, and community highlighted in separate sections called "Development in Context;" for examples, see pages 112, 184 and 334. *In each chapter, pedagogical boxes called "Roadmap to Understanding Theory and Research" and "Roadmap to Successful Practice" are included that alert students to key illustrations of chapter content; for examples, see pages 97, 182, and 333..
Price: $54.97 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Is it impossible to schedule enough time to include users in your design process? Is it difficult to incorporate elaborate user-centered design techniques into your own standard design practices? Do the resources needed seem overwhelming?

This handbook introduces Rapid CD, a fast-paced, adaptive form of Contextual Design. Rapid CD is a hands-on guide for anyone who needs practical guidance on how to use the Contextual Design process and adapt it to tactical projects with tight timelines and resources.

Rapid Contextual Design provides detailed suggestions on structuring the project and customer interviews, conducting interviews, and running interpretation sessions. The handbook walks you step-by-step through organizing the data so you can see your key issues, along with visioning new solutions, storyboarding to work out the details, and paper prototype interviewing to iterate the design-all with as little as a two-person team with only a few weeks to spare!

*Includes real project examples with actual customer data that illustrate how a CD project actually works.
*Covers the entire scope of a project, from deciding on the number and type of interviews, to interview set up and analyzing collected data. Sample project schedules are also included for a variety of different types of projects.
*Provides examples of how-to write affinity notes and affinity labels, build an affinity diagram, and step-by-step instructions for consolidating sequence models.
*Shows how to use consolidated data to define a design within tight time frames with examples of visions, storyboards, and paper prototypes.
*Introduces CDToolsT, the first application designed to support customer-centered design..
Price: $33.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]