Taking a risk and playing it safe: the use of actors in interagency child protection training

Interagency training in child protection is an important part of engaging professionals in a common approach to their collective responsibility for safeguarding children. Training is a key method for empowering professionals to carry out their complex role in child protection with appropriate knowledge, skills and confidence. In Buckinghamshire, experiential learning involving actors has met with some success as part of the interagency child protection training programme. The following paper proposes the argument for using actors, describes how this is done and evaluates its effectiveness for participants, trainers and actors. It is suggested that this method has ample rewards if properly planned, particularly for practitioners in lessons for practice. A close working relationship must be developed between actors and trainers. Scenarios that seem real can be portrayed and skills can then be practised in the knowledge that no one is really being harmed but valuable lessons for real‐life situations can be learned. A central aspect is learning together in a supportive environment away from a blame culture. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Errors in Estimates of Smoking-Related Deaths Derived from Nonsmoker Mortality

A number of recent analyses have computed present and future costs associated with a risk by estimating what would happen if the risk were absent. Two sources of bias are associated with this approach: (1) differences in confounding factors between present risk avoiders and risk takers, and (2) the difficulty of selecting an unbiased sample of risk avoiders. A staff memo from the Office of Technology Assessment used this approach to estimate mortality due to smoking. Numbers of deaths and age at death distributions of U.S. smokers and nonsmokers for all causes, all cancers, lung cancers, heart disease, and cerebrovascular lesions are used to assess the accuracy of these estimates. Large errors in the OTA estimates are found. Conditions are discussed that might help reduce errors from this approach.     

经济责任审计及其风险规避

目前,经济责任审计成为加强党政领导干部管理和监督,促进领导干部廉洁自律的重要手段,但由于审计对象和目标的复杂性,经济责任评价指标欠规范等原因,使审计风险广泛存在。为规避审计风险,本文从完善审计法律法规、规范审计程序和推行双向承诺制度等方面做了有益的探讨。     

我国飞行培训机构的投资风险与规避策略探析

我国飞行培训机构在筹建和运营中面临政策风险、市场风险和技术风险,依托专业化和实体化机构联合办学、秉持规范化和职业化的经营理念、注重科学化和多元化的市场开发策略、提供差异化和个性化的服务内容,是飞行培训机构规避上述风险的有效途径。     

非正常撤诉--行政诉讼中的法律规避

撤诉是行政诉讼中的一种常见现象,实践中行政诉讼撤诉率居高不下乃是非正常撤诉大量增加所致,而非正常撤诉大量增加是当事人规避行政诉讼高昂诉讼成本的"理性"选择.分析行政诉讼的成本构成及其对当事人撤诉的影响,可以得出这样的结论,要减少非正常撤诉这一法律规避现象,就必须树立新的诉讼观念,改革现行的诉讼制度.     

Young children's perceptions and beliefs about hypothetical shy,unsociable, and socially avoidant peers at school

The aim of this study was to explore young children's perceptions, beliefs, and anticipated outcomes about different types of social withdrawal (shyness, unsociability, social avoidance). Participants were N = 212 children (n = 110 boys) aged 2.55–6.37 years (M = 4.86, SD = 0.89) recruited from three preschools and kindergartens in Italy. Children were interviewed individually and asked about hypothetical peers displaying different types of social withdrawal (i.e., shy, unsociable, socially avoidant) and for comparison purposes, aggressive and socially competent behaviors were also assessed. Among the three vignettes depicting types of withdrawn children, children rated the hypothetical shy peer as having the highest social motivations, the unsociable peer as receiving the least sympathy from others, and the avoidant peer as being the least intelligent and least liked by the teacher. In addition, girls reported wanting to play more with the shy peer than boys, and kindergarteners reported a higher affiliative preference for all subtypes of socially withdrawn peers than preschoolers. These findings suggest that Italian young children have a quite sophisticated ability to differentiate among the different social motivations and emotions that may underlie social withdrawal.     

美国中小学的体验式学习及启示

体验式学习的内涵随着时代的发展而逐渐丰富和深化，但无论其如何演变，直接经验和反思始终是体验式学习这一概念的内核。体验式学习理念渗透于美国教育文化之中。具体表现在：小学阶段的教育以学生的真实感知为基础，注重为学生提供真实体验的机会和激发学生的学习兴趣；中学尤其是高中阶段的教育以学生的真实体验为基础，注重为学生提供在新情境中检验所学知识的机会，注重学生知识、技能的内化吸收。美国中小学体验式学习的实施经验可为我国基础教育课程改革提供如下启示：（1）进一步树立和推广体验式学习理念；（2）创设学生进行真实体验的教学环境；（3）注重实施基于学生体验式学习的表现性评价。     

通信企业基于体验营销的顾客满意度的实证研究

从体验营销的角度研究通信企业的顾客满意度。为使研究更有针对性,选取了中国移动作为研究对象,运用管理学、营销学、消费者行为学及相关学科理论,采用理论研究和实证研究相结合的研究方法进行研究。首先提出了基于体验营销的顾客满意度模型和假设;然后通过因子分析、方差分析和相关分析验证其假设;最后分析研究结果,提出相应的营销策略。     

The influence of tax authorities on the employment of tax practitioners: Empirical evidence from a survey and interview study

Tax practitioners play a crucial role in the degree of taxpayers’ compliance – a role that has increased as tax systems worldwide have become more complex. However, little is known about tax authorities’ impact on taxpayers’ decisions to employ tax practitioners. Based on earlier research on motivations to employ a tax practitioner and the extended slippery slope framework of tax compliance, we conducted two studies which provide some answers. A survey study – comprising a representative sample of 500 Austrian self-employed taxpayers – revealed that financial gain is not the most important reason to employ a tax practitioner but instead the motivation to avoid problems with the tax authorities. Related to that, we also find that taxpayers’ perception of tax authorities wielding coercive power motivates them to employ tax practitioners. In the interview study with 33 self-employed taxpayers and 30 tax auditors, taxpayers indicated that they sought to avoid contact with tax officers by employing tax practitioners. This finding was supported by tax officers who reported preferring interaction with tax practitioners over direct contact with taxpayers. The two studies point to the complex relationship between taxpayers, tax authorities and tax practitioners, and allow the drawing of theoretical and practical implications.     

The potential for bias in reporting of industry-sponsored clinical trials

Concerns about potentially misleading reporting of pharmaceutical industry research have surfaced many times. The potential for duality (and thereby conflict) of interest is only too clear when you consider the sums of money required for the discovery, development and commercialization of new medicines. As the ability of major, mid-size and small pharmaceutical companies to innovate has waned, as evidenced by the seemingly relentless decline in the numbers of new medicines approved by Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency year-on-year, not only has the cost per new approved medicine risen: so too has the public and media concern about the extent to which the pharmaceutical industry is open and honest about the efficacy, safety and quality of the drugs we manufacture and sell. In 2005 an Editorial in Journal of the American Medical Association made clear that, so great was their concern about misleading reporting of industry-sponsored studies, henceforth no article would be published that was not also guaranteed by independent statistical analysis. We examine the precursors to this Editorial, as well as its immediate and lasting effects for statisticians, for the manner in which statistical analysis is carried out, and for the industry more generally.