Highlighting the progress made by researchers in using Web-based surveys for data collection, this timely volume summarizes the experiences of leading behavioral and social scientists from Europe and the US who collected data using the Internet. Some chapters present theory, methodology, design, and implementation, while others focus on best practice examples and/or issues such as data quality and understanding paradata. A number of contributors applied innovative Web-based research methods to the LISS panel of CentERdata collected from over 5,000 Dutch households. Their findings are presented in the book. Some of the data is available on the book website. The book addresses practical issues such as data quality, how to reach difficult target groups, how to design a survey to maximize response, and ethical issues that need to be considered. Innovative applications such as the use of biomarkers and eye-tracking techniques are also explored. Part 1 provides an overview of Internet survey research including its methodologies, strengths, challenges, and best practices. Innovative ways to minimize sources of error are provided along with a review of mixed-mode designs, how to design a scientifically sound longitudinal panel and avoid sampling problems, and address ethical requirements in Web surveys. Part 2 focuses on advanced applications including the impact of visual design on the interpretability of survey questions, the impact survey usability has on respondents' answers, design features that increase interaction, and how Internet surveys can be effectively used to study sensitive issues. Part 3 addresses data quality, sample selection, measurement and non-response error, and new applications for collecting online data. The issue of underrepresentation of certain groups in Internet research and the measures most effective at reducing it are also addressed. The book concludes with a discussion of the importance of paradata and the Web data collection process in general, followed by chapters with innovative experiments using eye-tracking techniques and biomarker data. This practical book appeals to practitioners from market survey research institutes and researchers in disciplines such as psychology, education, sociology, political science, health studies, marketing, economics, and business who use the Internet for data collection, but is also an ideal supplement for graduate and/or upper level undergraduate courses on (Internet) research methods and/or data collection taught in these fields.

This book examines innovative theoretical perspectives and novel labour market policy responses to Europe's changing work demands, employment careers and life courses. It presents creative ideas and recommendations for flexicurity policies at various levels and in different social and economic contexts. The driving factors determining the performance of dissimilar pathways in Europe are identified in regard to their impact on the flexibility/security nexus. Key issues in the current European policy debate are addressed, including how innovative policies are designed in the areas of working time, education, work-life balance, employment relations, retirement and migration, how they are put into practice and what determines their level of success. This volume is an authoritative overview of innovative labour market policies and research findings, with a strong thematic emphasis on life course, transitional labour market and flexicurity approaches. It encompasses a wide array of European countries and is written by a multidisciplinary group of established scholars. This book will be of great interest to researchers, academics and policy makers.

Highlighting the progress made by researchers in using Web-based surveys for data collection, this timely volume summarizes the experiences of leading behavioral and social scientists from Europe and the US who collected data using the Internet. Some chapters present theory, methodology, design, and implementation, while others focus on best practice examples and/or issues such as data quality and understanding paradata. A number of contributors applied innovative Web-based research methods to the LISS panel of CentERdata collected from over 5,000 Dutch households. Their findings are presented in the book. Some of the data is available on the book website. The book addresses practical issues such as data quality, how to reach difficult target groups, how to design a survey to maximize response, and ethical issues that need to be considered. Innovative applications such as the use of biomarkers and eye-tracking techniques are also explored. Part 1 provides an overview of Internet survey research including its methodologies, strengths, challenges, and best practices. Innovative ways to minimize sources of error are provided along with a review of mixed-mode designs, how to design a scientifically sound longitudinal panel and avoid sampling problems, and address ethical requirements in Web surveys. Part 2 focuses on advanced applications including the impact of visual design on the interpretability of survey questions, the impact survey usability has on respondents' answers, design features that increase interaction, and how Internet surveys can be effectively used to study sensitive issues. Part 3 addresses data quality, sample selection, measurement and non-response error, and new applications for collecting online data. The issue of underrepresentation of certain groups in Internet research and the measures most effective at reducing it are also addressed. The book concludes with a discussion of the importance of paradata and the Web data collection process in general, followed by chapters with innovative experiments using eye-tracking techniques and biomarker data. This practical book appeals to practitioners from market survey research institutes and researchers in disciplines such as psychology, education, sociology, political science, health studies, marketing, economics, and business who use the Internet for data collection, but is also an ideal supplement for graduate and/or upper level undergraduate courses on (Internet) research methods and/or data collection taught in these fields.

Silicon Valley is the world's most successful innovation region. Apple, Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, Uber, and Airbnb changed our way of living. Silicon Valley has built a brilliant ecosystem that supports startups. Its entrepreneurial mindset fosters risk-taking, thinking big, and sharing. A fast growing number of accelerators in Silicon Valley help startups by bringing their product to the market, refining their business idea, developing their product, strengthening their team, designing a marketing strategy, getting first customers and traction, raising funds, and coping with the hardships of startup life. In Accelerators in Silicon Valley Peter Ester describes how these 'schools of startup entrepreneurship' operate and empower startups. What can we learn from how Silicon Valley accelerators help startups to become successful companies? This book gives the answer. Accelerators in Silicon Valley is a book for those who share a fascination for building the new startup economy.

For decades now, Silicon Valley has been the home of the future. It's the birthplace of the world's most successful high-tech companies-including Apple, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and many more. So what's the secret? What is it about Silicon Valley that fosters entrepreneurship and innovation? With Silicon Valley, Planet Startup, Peter Ester and Arne Maas argue that the answer lies in Silicon Valley's culture-a corporate culture that values risk-taking, creativity, invention, and sharing. Through extensive interviews with Dutch entrepreneurs working in the area, Ester and Maas show that Silicon Valley is above all a mind-set: a belief in thinking, with passion and ambition, far beyond the here and now. Scholars and business people and budding entrepreneurs alike are sure to find both inspiration and illumination in the stories and analyses Ester and Maas have assembled here.