Do Professionals Take Over? Professionalisation and Membership Influence in Civil Society Organisations

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - While many scholars have postulated the decline of membership influence as an important consequence of the...     

A Contingency Approach to Decentralization

After decades of centralization, in 1980 the central government of the Netherlands embarked upon an ambitious project to decentralize the administrative system. It proclaimed a series of general decentralization measures that aimed to improve the performance of the administrative system and to boost local democracy. This article presents the results of research into the effects of these measures. It shows that the decentralization project did not meet the high expectations. This can be explained by the fact that the theoretical framework underlying the decentralization policy was overly simple. The authors present a new framework that represents the contingent character of the effects of decentralization.     

On pseudo-values for regression analysis in competing risks models

For regression on state and transition probabilities in multi-state models Andersen et al. (Biometrika 90:15–27, 2003) propose a technique based on jackknife pseudo-values. In this article we analyze the pseudo-values suggested for competing risks models and prove some conjectures regarding their asymptotics (Klein and Andersen, Biometrics 61:223–229, 2005). The key is a second order von Mises expansion of the Aalen-Johansen estimator which yields an appropriate representation of the pseudo-values. The method is illustrated with data from a clinical study on total joint replacement. In the application we consider for comparison the estimates obtained with the Fine and Gray approach (J Am Stat Assoc 94:496–509, 1999) and also time-dependent solutions of pseudo-value regression equations.     

Sektion Wissenssoziologie

Ohne Zusammenfassung unter Mithilfe von Jule Lorenzen, Sabine Petschke, Lisa-Marian Schmidt und René Tuma     

‘Warren Buffet is my cousin’: shaping public understanding of big data biotechnology,direct-to-consumer genomics,and 23andMe on Twitter

Scholars, educators, regulators, pundits, and other observers are advocating for regulation and oversight of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genomic testing. As a result, the technology has been subject of highly visible public and regulatory controversy. In this article, we explore the nature and the shape of the sentiment of public discourse about the DTC company, 23andMe. We conduct a quantitative content analysis and qualitative framing analysis on Tweets. We find that the discourse surrounding DTC genomics and 23andMe is largely positive. We also identify a number of frames users deploy to debate, discuss, and share their experiences with DTC genomics and 23andMe. We argue that these frames create meaning around this emerging technology for its users.     

A test statistic for weighted runs

A new test statistic based on runs of weighted deviations is introduced. Its use for observations sampled from independent normal distributions is worked out in detail. It supplements the classic χ² test which ignores the ordering of observations and provides additional sensitivity to local deviations from expectations. The exact distribution of the statistic in the non-parametric case is derived and an algorithm to compute p-values is presented. The computational complexity of the algorithm is derived employing a novel identity for integer partitions.     

History matters: The impact of reviews and sales of earlier versions of a product on consumer and expert reviews of new editions

Product reviews are assumed to be based on the observable characteristics of the underlying product. However, in the case of new editions in a product series, the determinants may include signals that originate from the reviews and the sales of editions that precede the focal product edition. Our analysis of 577 video games released in a series between 2000 and 2009 indicates that the reviews of earlier versions carry over to the reviews of the sequel by the same type of reviewer. We also find that expert reviews are influenced by the average review of previous editions by consumers and the average sales of previous editions of the product. This suggests that experts tend to adapt to the taste of consumers. Furthermore, it is found that a lack of consensus, between reviewers of a particular type, weakens the impact of average past reviews, whilst it magnifies the impact of the sales of earlier versions.     

Virtual journey coupled with face‐to‐face exchange: enhancing the cultural sensitivity and competence of graduate students

This study attempted to enhance cultural sensitivity for graduate students at an American and a South African university, using a six‐week online List Serv, email buddy exchange, and two‐week face‐to‐face experience. After the course was over, results of the intercultural developmental inventory, using t‐tests for related samples, showed that there was a significant difference (alpha equals .04) in the universalism and cognitive frame shifting clusters as well as the overall developmental cultural level of sensitivity. Positive trends were noted in the areas of cultural self‐identity enhancement, and a decrease in inflation in the area of perceived intercultural sensitivity was noted.     

An Overview and Evaluation of Composite Indices of Development

The search for alternative indicators of development has witnessedthe development of a variety of composite indices of development. Theseindices integrate various social, political and economic aspects ofdevelopment in measurement. This paper presents an overview andevaluation of composite indices of development in terms of certain broaddimensions of measurement. In terms of method and technique, compositeindices are generally additive ones with equally weighted componentsconsisting of variables selected in an ad hoc manner. Numerouscriticisms have been leveled at these methods employed in compositeindexing. Composite indices are mainly quantitative insofar as theindices are all presented in numerical format. Composite indices aresubject to subjectivity despite the relative objectivity of the methodsemployed in composite indexing. Composite indices are of a cardinalnature, but remain ordinal insofar as differences in index values cannotbe interpreted meaningfully. The multidimensionality of compositeindices represents one of their main advantages. Indices representaggregate measures of a combination of complex development phenomena.The comparative application of composite indices of development overspace and time remains problematic. Composite indices generally combinemeasures of ends and means. In respect of method and technique,composite indexing is relatively complex. Composite indices arerelatively flexible, because changes in selection, scaling, weightingand aggregation can be effected readily, albeit at the cost ofcomparability. Composite indices perform relatively well in terms ofcross-national availability, but few indices perform well in terms ofinter-temporal availability. On the strength of the systematic positiveassociation between income and popular composite indices such as theHDI, many have claimed that these indices represent no real contributionto the literature on indicators research. Composite indices,furthermore, are often considered to be ideological statements ratherthan practically functional indicators. Yet, composite indices representuseful supplements to income-based development indicators. These indicesremain invaluable in terms of their ability to simplify complexmeasurement constructs, to focus attention and to catch the eye, thusenhancing their political appeal.     

Ansteckungsprozesse in Gruppen: Die Rolle von geteilten Gefühlen für Gruppenprozesse und -ergebnisse

Feelings are not only a matter of individual group members. Within groups, individuals’ feelings converge resulting in a group affective tone. This paper provides an overview about processes that contribute to group affective tone as well as research findings about related group processes and outcomes. Group affective tone compromises two independent dimensions: positive group affective tone and negative group affective tone. Positive group affective tone is usually related to desired group processes and outcomes. It also promotes cooperation and performance. A negative group affective tone promotes group processes and outcomes only in groups that work together for a short time. In longer lasting groups negative group affective tone is linked to conflicts and reduced performance. Groups should be aware that affect spills over, cultivate a positive group affective tone and regulate an emergent negative group affective tone at an early stage.