علی اصغر فیروزجاییان

Purpose: Epistemological beliefs mean what people believe about the nature of knowledge and knowing that can be related to areas such as learning and theory of mind.The purpose of the present study was to investigate the growth of epistemological beliefs in 9-year-old girl children. Methodology: This was a qualitative grounded theory study. The study population consisted of elementary third grade girl students in Babolsar city in 1397. A sample of 20 students through purposeful sampling method with Theoretical saturation was selected and the epistemological beliefs of these participants were examined in two stages over a period of one year. The research tool was in-depth interviews with emphasis on "draw, write, tell" technique which was used in both stages. Coding was also used to analyze the data. The validity of the findings was evaluated by triangulation method including expert review, continuous comparison of data and different methods of data collection. Findings: The epistemological beliefs of children emerged in five dimensions, including ' Ownership ', ‘Innateness’, ' Exactness', 'simplicity' and ‘pace’. Each of these dimensions was relatively complex, and developed over a period of one year, especially in dimension of ownership. Conclusion: Based on the findings, it can be said that the development of girl children's epistemological beliefs towards more complex beliefs can occur if necessary conditions are in instructional Environments. Therefore, it is suggested that providing children with appropriate learning environments such as constructive learning environments and opportunities to reinforce the power of reasoning and argumentation.

Considering corruption as one of the chronic harms of the administrative system, and the social factor affecting economic growth, the present study sought to explain, for the first time, the differences in the perceived levels of corruption among 16 Southwest Asian countries, relying on the sociological “new institutionalism” theory in analyzing organizations, describing causal mechanisms and their mutual impact, and creating corruptive contexts. The fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Method (fsQCA) and the secondary data were used to find the causal configurations leading to corruption in these cases. The experimental judgment led to two causal configurations showing that some institutional requirements of the institutional environment, in contrast to the requirements of the technical environment, exacerbated the gap between formal and informal structures. Conflicts lead to the formation of informal norms and networks that, over time, provide shared mental patterns for actors in executing current actions and confronting ambiguity and uncertainty; and on the basis of contextual rationality, they are interpreted as an appropriate way of acting. This reduces the costs of corruption and increases the opportunity for abuse by diminishing supervision and control and strengthening informal networks.

Purpose of this study was to investigate the sustainability of domestic gas consumption and identify the social factors that affect it. Three questions were asked in this study. 1) How stable is the gas consumption practice at home? 2) What are the elements that affect gas consumption as a sustainable practice?3) What solutions can be offered to increase gas consumption sustainability? After reviewing the research literature and the concepts of sustainable development and sustainable consumption, two categories of factors were identified as predictors of sustainable gas consumption changes. The research strategy is deductive and the explanation was used to investigate the research problem. The approach of this study was quantitative, and the survey method was used for measurement. The data collection tool is questionnaire. Structural validity, face validity and Cronbach's alpha were used to assess the validity and reliability. The statistical population consisted of household subscribers in Mazandaran province. Using systematic random cluster sampling method, 430 individuals were selected as the statistical sample. The findings of the study showed that the level of sustainability of gas consumption by household subscribers was at an average level. After exploratory factor analysis, three dimensions were considered for sustainable gas consumption. Findings showed that and after-sales support and pro-norms had the greatest impact on the dimension of consumer safety. Environmental values and knowledge of gas consumption have the most impact on the dimension of  consumer  awareness, pro-norms, Environmental values and pre-norms had greatest effects on responsible consumption.