Das Eignungsfeststellungsverfahren für angehende Hauptfachstudierende der Soziologie

This article presents preliminary experience with a selection procedure for the diploma study course in sociology at the LMU Munich, which was first implemented in the winter term 2004/05. Furthermore, it examines the consequences of this procedure. The selection procedure, which is limited in time, was established due to high discontinuation rates and a remarkable congestion of the scientific personnel who are particularly involved in the foundation courses. Judicial fundament of the procedure is an “experimental clause” in the Bavarian University Act. First of all we point out that the number of newly registered undergraduates remarkably declined. Even the total number of applicants is lower than in the years before the initiation of the selection procedure. Secondly, we consider the dwindling during the process of the selection procedure. Contrary to some apprehensions it is obvious that applicants with a good university-entrance diploma do not choose possible alternatives, but still consider the diploma study course in sociology. Concerning the overall evaluation of the selection procedure’s consequences our results show thirdly, that the procedure is highly accepted by all parties concerned and that it therefore has to be regarded as an efficient solution to lower the discontinuation rates as well as to cope with the capacity overload.     

Ungleichheit und Vorurteil

The authors take a look at how established sociological research in Germany deals with two distinct subjects: migrants in the German school system and New Fascists. The article highlights surprising, contrary feeling rules social scientists active in these two research areas develop regarding their objects of investigation. As it turns out in both cases social disintegration serves as an explanatory research frame. But feeling rules derived from this frame point in opposite directions. New Fascists are cast in the roles of victims of social change and institutional failure, thus calling for empathy and/or sympathy as the feeling to be directed towards them. Migrants, in contrast, are blamed for their situation, which invokes indifference and antipathy as a feeling rule. Comparing both research areas reveals how they connect to each other. Together they establish a dichotomous emotional regime which traces the lines of simultaneous inclusion in and exclusion from the German society.     

Die Öffentliche Zuschreibung von Verantwotung

Whether actors failed or succeeded in their political efforts, even who is in charge of finding solutions in the first place, depends on the public attribution of responsibility. The attribution of responsibility is one of the key elements of public discourse. However, social sciences by now failed to provide an instrument for systematic content analysis concerning attribution statements. The article presents an instrument which was developed for the systematic coding of claims on responsibility. Firstly, we give an overview on content analysis methods both, quantitative and qualitative. Secondly, we unfold our concept. We define a statement of responsibility attribution as consisting of three parts: the attribution sender (a), who directs a claim of responsibility at the attribution addressee (b) concerning a specified issue (c). This basic concept is further differentiated. In the final section we report our experiences during the coding phase.     

Wozu keine Wertsch?tzung?

The article follows the question why it is likely to find the request for more appreciation in most organizations, while everybody seems to agree that amelioration in this regard would be of help. To find an answer it uses empirical data to illustrate what most employees actually mean when they formulate their request for appreciation. This analysis offers some reasons why appreciation is less likely in organizations and gives first hints to reframings and questions that could be of help in coaching and supervision processes. It is followed by an interpretation of the communicated lack of appreciation based on social systems theory. It will reveal the benefit of this apparently unsolvable bad state of affairs and draws further consequences for coaching and consulting.     

Income Security During Sickness Absence. What Do British Middle‐classes Do?

Income maintenance during sickness absence is an under‐researched field within social policy analysis, and yet it is conducive to exploring the interplay between statutory, corporate and private forms of income protection. Drawing on original qualitative interview data, the article shows that British middle‐class couples largely ignore or dismiss public provision, which is due to a relatively low level of sickness benefits, but also based on misconceptions about social rights and the role of employers as mandatory (and voluntary) sick pay providers. Despite a considerable degree of mistrust, mortgage‐related private sickness insurance mattered to some extent, although this does not necessarily reflect policyholders’ strategic choices vis à vis current household needs for income security. Other potential sources of income replacement, such as savings, are relied on much less. In general, the analysis shows a heavy middle‐class reliance on, and strong confidence in, employer‐based sickness pay. This finding may be contrasted with questions about the sustainability of voluntary corporate provision, as well as its capacity to provide income security for the workforce as a whole.     

Benefit dependency: The pros and cons of using “caseload” data for national and international comparisons

Policy‐makers in advanced welfare states have increasingly expressed concerns over large numbers of working‐age people claiming social security support. Accordingly, policies aimed at reducing the level of “benefit dependency” have gained prominence. However, such policies rest on shaky empirical evidence. Systematic collections of national “caseload” data are rare, social security programmes overlap and administrative categories vary over time. The internationally inconsistent treatment of national transfer programmes provides a further challenge for cross‐national comparisons. This article first identifies and discusses several of these problems, and ways in which they may be addressed. It then employs administrative claimant data from six European countries as a way of illustrating trends over time and across countries. The underlying aim is to explore the scientific potential of benefit recipient numbers as an indicator for welfare state change over time and across countries.     

Change-making problems revisited: a parameterized point of view

The change-making problem is the problem of representing a given amount of money with the fewest number of coins possible from a given set of coin denominations. In the general version of the problem, an upper bound for the availability of every coin value is given. Even the special case, where for each value an unlimited number of coins is available, is NP-hard. Since in the original problem some amounts can not be represented, especially if no coin of value one exists, we introduce generalized problems that look for approximations of the given amount such that a cost function is minimized. We recall algorithms for the change-making problem and present new algorithms for the generalized version of the problem. Motivated by the NP-hardness we study fixed-parameter tractability of all these problems. We show that some of these problems are fixed-parameter tractable and that some are \(\hbox {W}[1]\)-hard. In order to show the existence of polynomial and constant-size kernels we prove some general results and apply them to several parameterizations of the change-making problems.     

Quantification of follow-up time in oncology clinical trials with a time-to-event endpoint: Asking the right questions

For the analysis of a time-to-event endpoint in a single-arm or randomized clinical trial it is generally perceived that interpretation of a given estimate of the survival function, or the comparison between two groups, hinges on some quantification of the amount of follow-up. Typically, a median of some loosely defined quantity is reported. However, whatever median is reported, is typically not answering the question(s) trialists actually have in terms of follow-up quantification. In this paper, inspired by the estimand framework, we formulate a comprehensive list of relevant scientific questions that trialists have when reporting time-to-event data. We illustrate how these questions should be answered, and that reference to an unclearly defined follow-up quantity is not needed at all. In drug development, key decisions are made based on randomized controlled trials, and we therefore also discuss relevant scientific questions not only when looking at a time-to-event endpoint in one group, but also for comparisons. We find that different thinking about some of the relevant scientific questions around follow-up is required depending on whether a proportional hazards assumption can be made or other patterns of survival functions are anticipated, for example, delayed separation, crossing survival functions, or the potential for cure. We conclude the paper with practical recommendations.     

Wage and (un-)employment effects of an ageing workforce

Given the empirical fact that workers of different ages are not perfect substitutes in production, this paper explores how change in the age pattern affects wages and (un)employment. We develop a general equilibrium model where wages for young and old workers are set by monopoly unions. Contrary to the common wisdom on this topic, we show that an increase in the relative number of older workers has no effect on young and old unemployment. If, however, unions attach a higher weight to the wishes of the old, the unemployment rate of the old (young) will increase (decrease). In this case, we observe a redistribution of wage income from the young to the old.