What Must My Interest in Politics Be If I Just Told You "I Don't Know"?

How much people think they follow what's going on in governmentand public affairs depends upon the context in which they areasked the question. If asked immediately after difficult questionsabout what they know of their congressman's record, they aremuch less likely to think they pay attention to public affairsthan if they are asked, first, how interested they are in suchmatters. More important, data from two independent experimentsshow that this context effect cannot be eliminated, or significantlyreduced, by interposing a buffer of questions on unrelated topicsbetween the items that are known to affect one another. Theauthors discuss the psychological significance of these findingsand their implications for survey research.     

Beyond Victim Blaming: Students’ Perceptions of Bystanders Who Fail to Intervene

ABSTRACT

Bystander intervention education has been a common feature on college campuses for more than a decade. Although research has explored the degree to which bystander training influences students’ attitudes toward sexual assault, their perceptions of their own efficacy to intervene, and their intentions to help others, very little is known about how such training impacts students’ perceptions of bystanders who knowingly fail to intervene. In other words, what impact is bystander education having on broader expectations for bystander behaviors? This research addresses this question using in-depth interview data from 51 college students. Results suggest that although students report a general expectation that bystanders should intervene in sexually threatening situations, intrapersonal, microsystem, exosystem, and macrosystem factors, nonetheless, interact with one another to excuse or justify nonintervention by bystanders. Implications for campus programming are discussed.     

Who Controls Whom? History and Educational Technologies

Abstract

Considering the lack of research on the historisation of educational technologies, the current study attempts to fill this void. To do so, the following research question is posed: To what extent have educational technologies and local histories controlled one another? Data for this question came from a naturalistic enquiry into a university in the Saudi Arabian public sector. Having analysed documents, interviews, and observations by means of the grounded theory technique, two key themes emerged: local histories controlling educational technologies and educational technologies controlling local histories. The consideration of both themes brought forth a theoretical proposition — that there are political dynamics between educational technologies and micro histories, with one continuously directing and driving the other. The recommendation is therefore that policymakers, scholars, and commentators should be more cognisant of the political tensions between local histories and educational technologies.     

A Two-Question Method for Assessing Gender Categories in the Social and Medical Sciences

Three studies (N = 990) assessed the statistical reliability of two methods of determining gender identity that can capture transgender spectrum identities (i.e., current gender identities different from birth-assigned gender categories). Study 1 evaluated a single question with four response options (female, male, transgender, other) on university students. The missing data rate was higher than the valid response rates for transgender and other options using this method. Study 2 evaluated a method of asking two separate questions (i.e., one for current identity and another for birth-assigned category), with response options specific to each. Results showed no missing data and two times the transgender spectrum response rate compared to Study 1. Study 3 showed that the two-question method also worked in community samples, producing near-zero missing data. The two-question method also identified cisgender identities (same birth-assigned and current gender identity), making it a dynamic and desirable measurement tool for the social and medical sciences.     

ASSIMILATION AND CONTRAST EFFECTS IN PART-WHOLE QUESTION SEQUENCES: A CONVERSATIONAL LOGIC ANALYSIS

A theoretical model of the emergence of assimilation and contrasteffects in part-whole question sequences is presented. Whenone specific question precedes a general question and the twoare not assigned to the same conversational context, respondentsuse the information primed by the specific question to formthe general judgment. This results in part-whole assimilationeffects. If both questions are perceived as belonging to gether,however, conversational norms of nonredundancy prohibit therepeated use of information that has already been provided inresponse to the specific question when making the general judgment.Accordingly, respondents interpret the general question to referto aspects other than the ones covered by the specific question.Contrast effects may emerge in that case under specified conditions.If several specific questions precede the general question,however, the general one is always interpreted as a requestfor a summary judgment. This results in assimilation effects,even under conditions that would foster contrast effects ifonly one specific question is asked. The model is supportedby experimental data and provides a coherent account of apparentlycontradictory findings previously reported in the survey literature.     

State Government Funding of Research on Science and Technology: A Report on Michigan

Abstract

The question of this paper is: what factors explain the decisions of state governments to fund research on science and technology? The theoretical problem underlying the research question is patronage in the classical sense, that is, the support by one person or group for the activities of another person or group. Three models of explanation are proposed: “budget incrementalism,” a “rational” model, and a power model. The models are evaluated with information from a case study of a state government program in Michigan. The rational model best explains the state's selection of some proposals out of all the proposals submitted by each state university for funding. The power model best explains the overall allocation of program funds among Michigan's public universities. The budget incrementalism model helps explain the considerable stability from year to year in funding both for the entire program and for each university's share.     

Sustainability and Risk: The Case of Russia

The majority of recent concepts of sustainable development assume that all societies will sooner or later reach the state of sustainable development, the question being how. For Russia, the question is another one: how can a society survive in the course of the long-term process of its devolution. At present, Russia and several other of the so-called transition societies are maintaining their sustainability at the expense of de-modernization, and the over-exploitation of natural and human resources, and there is a return to the values and structures of a traditional society. The paper attempts to adapt the concepts of the risk society developed by Ulrich Beck and Antony Giddens for a comprehension of Russian reality with a focus on the relationships between risk production, dissemination and sustainability.     

Perceived acquaintanceship and interpersonal trust: The cases of Hong Kong and China

The relationship between a person's perception of others and how many acquaintances he thinks he has is analyzed with data from a quota sample of 978 respondents in Hong Kong and 94 in China. Respondents in Hong Kong perceive one another as not trustworthy, selfish and unfair, much as in Japan, but this is not the case for China, nor for the U.S. It is competitiveness rather than culture that seems to account for this. People who don't trust one another tend not to perceive themselves as having many acquaintances.     

People for sale: the need for a multidisciplinary approach towards human trafficking

The article addresses the question of how to develop appropriate measures to tackle trafficking in women, based on the findings of a study of trafficking between the Philippines and Belgium. It argues that there is no easy or uni-dimensional solution to human trafficking, since it is influenced by a complex set of factors, often working in combination with one another. It concludes that control measures alone cannot stop the flow of trafficking in women and that a legal approach which relies solely on one type of legislation would be too narrow. An effective strategy must combine and balance punitive measures with protection of human rights, stricter border control and the removal of the root causes of irregular movements. Measures must be agreed and coordinated between origin, transit and receiving countries.     

Getting Clear About the "Sign Rule"

The question of the "validity" of the "sign-rule" has been a source of continuing disagreement among sociologists. Some of the confusion surrounding this question can be dispelled by focusing on the problem of providing satisfactory interpretations for calculi constructed to represent various commentators' versions of acceptable "sign-rule" arguments. It is shown that the formulae of a calculus constructed to represent standard sign rule arguments must be interpreted in terms of propositions asserting that rankings of objects in virtue of one property are identical to rankings in virtue of another property. A system constructed on the basis of "the assumption of high correlations" is shown to involve distinctions between the logical forms of the premises and the conclusions of key arguments. This sharply limits the deductive power of this system. A third system, constructed on the basis of the "causal modeling" view of the sign rule, is shown to require an interpretation which renders the procedure irrelevant to the construction and testing of general theories.     

A lesbian-feminist journey through queer nation

This article is an auto-ethnographical review of the political experiences and literary career of one of the early lesbian feminist critics and theorists. It poses the question: what does it mean to be shaped by one theoretical and political discourse (Lesbian Feminism) and then thrust by historical change into another (Queer Theory)? With the author's life and work as a frame and exemplar, it illustrates the development of lesbian feminist thought. Ultimately, it argues that the insights and values of Lesbian Feminism should not be suppressed by those of Queer Theory, and calls upon lesbian feminists to re-insert themselves into current scholarly and theoretical debates.     

Selection of portfolios with risky and riskless assets: Experimental tests of two expected utility models

Two expected utility models are considered for a multi-period portfolio selection task of a special nature: the generalized logarithmic and negative exponential models. A weak version of the models is formulated in which the single parameter of each of the models is allowed to vary freely from one period to another in order to account for observed individual differences between subjects as well as trial-to-trial variations within subjects. Employing parameter-free predictions, the models are tested experimentally with individual data from six different groups varying from one another in the savings or return rates. The experimental results refute the two models conclusively. Alternative approaches to model portfolio selection behavior are mentioned briefly.     

Does the prevention of brain ageing constitute anti-ageing medicine? Outline of a new space of representation for Alzheimer's Disease

In this paper we pose the question: Does the prevention of brain ageing constitute anti-ageing medicine? We answer the question by looking at recent changes in the knowledge and organisational structure of dementia research, practice and policy and investigating the boundary relations between this disease-specific field and anti-ageing medicine. Drawing on a qualitative study of the ways in which different clinical and scientific constituencies work to define, organise and negotiate the boundaries between normal and abnormal cognitive aging, we suggest that the field of dementia research, practice and policy has experienced internal diversification forming a ‘new space of representation'. We show how this space is structured by two axes: one that relates to how AD is conceptualised and another that concerns the modes of intervention or actions that will prevent the condition in individuals or populations. We argue that while these changes have blurred the epistemic boundaries between dementia and other fields of research, there are still strong institutional, economic and political factors that glue the field together.     

中国青年审美活动状况研究

现有的对中国当代青年审美活动状况的研究有两种类型，一是将问题放置在消费主义的背景下，指出青年人审美活动的偏差，二是借助问卷调查描述青年审美活动状况并呈现其中的问题。这些研究或者在逻辑上有待商榷，或者在调查方法上值得推敲。因此，应当在审美泛化背景下采用科学的方法，客观有效地考察当代中国青年的审美活动状况，为推进美育提供参考。     

1D and 3D anthropometric data application on public transport vehicle layout and on oil and gas laboratories work environment design

The goal of this paper is to present 1D and 3D anthropometric data applied to two distinct design situations: one related to the interior layout of a public transport vehicle and another one related to oil and gas laboratories work environment design. On this study, the 1D anthropometric data were extracted from the Brazilian anthropometric database developed by INT and the 3D anthropometric data were obtained using a Cyberware 3D whole body scanner. A second purpose of this paper is to present the 3D human scanning data as a tool that can help designers on decision making.     

Value Chain Development and the Agrarian Question: Actor Perspectives on Native Potato Production in the Highlands of Peru

Value chain development seeks to integrate smallholder farmers into competitive markets to promote economic and social development. This article, conceptually based on the agrarian question, considers how the perspectives of various value chain actors, with particular focus on smallholders, have important implications for the outcomes of these market‐oriented initiatives. Utilizing Long’s concept of social interface, we present a mixed‐methods case study that analyzes how smallholders, an NGO, and agrifood corporations, including PepsiCo, partnered to establish value chains for native potatoes in the Peruvian highlands. We find that a thorough understanding of the various perspectives held by value chain actors provides important insight into why value chain initiatives have divergent trajectories. Based on the findings, we conclude that accounting for how actors are responding to development initiatives and one another helps explain development outcomes and that therefore the agrarian question remains relevant in current agricultural development discourse and practice.     

The Impact of Question and Respondent Characteristics on Comprehension and Mapping Difficulties

Behavior coding is one technique researchers use to detect problemsin survey questions, but it has been primarily explored as apractical tool rather than a source of insight into the theoreticalunderstanding of the cognitive processes by which respondentsanswer survey questions. The latter is the focus of the currentinvestigation. Using data from a large study in which face-to-faceinterviews were taped and extensive behavior coding was done,we tested whether sets of respondent behavior codes could beused to distinguish respondent difficulties with comprehensionof the question from difficulties associated with mapping ajudgment onto the response format provided, and whether characteristicsof the survey questions and respondents could be used to predictwhen and for whom such difficulties would occur. Sets of behaviorcodes were identified that reflected comprehension and mappingdifficulties, and these two types of difficulties were associatedwith different question and respondent characteristics. Thisevidence suggests that behavior coding shows promise as a toolfor researchers studying the cognitive processes involved inanswering survey questions.