Control via concentration?: Political and business evidence

This paper explores the relationship between concentration and control, in terms of both markets and hierarchies in economics and their analogues of polities and parties in politics. It is argued that the relationship is not always a positive one. In some cases the relationship is negative and in other cases there is no relationship at all. Insight into the determinants of the nature of this relationship can be gained by explaining apparent inconsistencies which appear when contrasting the economic and political spheres. For example, why is it that a market which meets the criteria for perfect competition—many small producers—is considered socially optimal but not so a polity comprised of many small parties? The two-party system, considered desirable in our national politics, corresponds to the much maligned duopoly in the economic sphere. This paper posits that there are three major types of systems found in both the economic and political spheres, which apply to both levels of aggregation—firms and markets, and parties and polities, respectively—and which have different implications for the relationship between concentration and control. It is also argued that these two levels of aggregation, however useful or necessary for purposes of discussion, are not analytically distinct.     

Can Mathematics Be Social? Flexible Representations for Interaction Process and Its Sociocultural Constructions

Mathematics is needed especially and primarily for helping coax social phenomena sufficiently into view to permit the sorts of reconstruing, manipulation, and measurement on which productive insight depends. I develop this view in two themes, language use and social space-times, along with two morals, and several object lessons, all leading up to the Knotty Future. I conclude with a discussion of pitfalls in this view.     

Problem gambling: One view from the gaming industry side

An experienced lawyer for the gaming industry argues that the very appellation of compulsive gambling is misleading. Advocates of the medical model of compulsive gambling have created a strange new disease, where individuals are viewed as not responsible for their misdeeds but as solely responsible for their own cure. The fact that some individuals have problems because of gambling does not lead to the conclusion that casinos bear the ultimate legal or moral responsibility. More research and dialogue is needed; but so is the acceptance by problem gamblers and those who study and treat them that individuals have to take responsibility for their own conduct.     

Nutrition and child feeding patterns in the Sudan

Only 14% of the 208 million potentially cultivable acres in the Sudan are being cultivated. Insufficient infrastructure keeps the Sudan from reaching its socioeconomic potential. Recurring localized drought, agricultural pests, and environmental degradation plague the country. Studies estimate that moderate to severe undernutrition ranges from 15% to 75% in the Sudan. Geographical location of residence and age of child were the most significant predictors of malnutrition. Geographic differences were due to local food availability and differential availability of food aid in different regions at different times. Chronic and acute malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies in children are endemic in the Sudan. Some relatively common micronutrient deficiencies include vitamin A deficiency, iodine deficiency, and scurvy. Child eating patterns depend largely on the cereal staple in the region. Wheat is an important cereal staple in Northern Province, while millet is important in North and South Darfour and in Kordofan. Men and older boys eat meals before women and young children. In wealthy traditional households, the two groups eat in separate areas of the house. Almost every mother breast feeds her infant. In fact, traditional breast feeding is the single most important factor protecting the health of Sudanese children. Children are breast fed for 15-21 months. A 1987 study shows that 62% of mothers in rural Khartoum supplemented breast milk with bottle feeding as early as the first few days of life. Mothers tend to directly introduce children to a household diet without transitional weaning foods at around 9 months. Mothers tend to withhold breast milk during illness. The Sudan has some taboos against some foods. For example, pregnant women should avoid fattening foods to keep the fetus small and to make for an easier delivery. These findings should be used to strengthen the nutrition communications project in the Sudan.     

Analysis of variance for circular data

Over the last 25 years, increasing attention has been given to the problem of analysing data arising from circular distributions. The most important circular distribution was introduced by Von Mises (1918) which takes the form:

[Formulas]

where Io(k) is a modified Bessel function, u0 is the mean direction and k is the concentration parameter of the distribution. Watson & Williams (1956) laid the foundation of analysis of variance type techniques for the two-dimensional case of circular data using the Von Mises distribution. Stephens (1962a,b; 1969, 1972). Upton (1974) and Stephens (1982) made further improvements to Watson & Williams’ work. In this paper the authors will discuss the pitfalls of the methods adopted by Stephens (1982) and present a unified analysis of variance type approach for circular data.     

No hiding place: on the discomforts of researching the contemporary policy process

It has never been easy to conduct research into currently sensitive policy issues, but there is now accumulating evidence to indicate that various forms of resistance to scholarly investigation are on the increase. Such a climate handicaps all social policy research, but may have the greatest impact on ethnographic projects. Yet, it is argued, ethnography is increasingly widely recognised among academics as having a particularly valuable contribution to make to the study of the policy process. Unfortunately, many policy practitioners (and occasionally some academic colleagues) perceive ethnographic research as being of questionable validity and low helpfulness. This behaves policy-oriented ethnographers to demonstrate that they do indeed have procedures for assuring validity, even if their style of investigation is never likely to be popular with government.     

Gender Performances During Labor and Birth in the Midwives Model of Care

Previous research suggests many middle-class white women attempt to maintain femininity during labor and birth. There is also evidence that women who give birth outside the medical model may engage in more gender-deviant behaviors. The current study examines women’s accounts of gender performances during birth in the midwives model of care. Participants describe themselves engaging in a number of gender-deviant behaviors, without apology or overt remorse. However, participants also describe themselves engaging in activities during labor and birth that are traditionally considered feminine, including domestic tasks, care-giving and adhering to beauty norms; some defined childbirth itself as a feminine activity. Thus, participants are not simply adhering to or defying dominant notions of femininity, but are engaging in a complex set of gender behaviors. It is argued that study participants are prioritizing certain aspects of femininity—in particular, the “good mother”—over others.     

A postcolonial perspective on language and difference in social work: bilingual practitioners working in the linguistic borderlands

This paper employs a postcolonial perspective to explore the issue of language identity and difference in social work. It presents a case study of three bilingual practitioners who acquired English either as a result of colonial or postcolonial language policies in their respective countries of birth and who at the time of the study were residing in Australia. These informants demonstrate a variety of patterns of cross-border mobility currently being exercised by social workers in an era marked by transnational activities such as education and practice. The three accounts are mediated through a postcolonial lens in order to reveal some of the distinct linguistic dimensions of social work in terms of how and why personal language biography may become a salient issue in practice. The discussion that follows illustrates the potential of a postcolonial perspective for enhancing understandings of language in social work in terms of four themes: the relocation of difference from the margins to the centre; the historical dimensions of language identity; the spatial dimensions of linguistic relations; and the role of English in knowledge production.