Kindergartners’ Development of Privileged Subjectivities within an Elite School

This case study investigates how kindergarten children thought and talked about their school in three socially stratified school settings: public, charter and private, and the extent to which they grasped sociocultural understandings related to social class. Data included field notes, interviews with the children and teachers, and parent surveys. A Bourdieuian lens illuminated emergent themes. Results indicate that children in the elite setting had developed sophisticated understandings of their privileged social locations and understood their position as distinct from other children.     

‘It’s better if someone can see me for who I am’: stories of (in)visibility for students with a visual impairment within South African Universities

Issues of visibility, invisibility and the non-disabled gaze are very relevant to the lives of many disabled persons. With this article we tentatively show that, despite the physical ‘over’-visibility of disabled bodies, many intricate parts of their personhood remain obscured and invisible. Interviews with 23 students with a visual impairment revealed that they sometimes experienced stares and averted gazes from their sighted counterparts. In response, they often hid their entire impairment, or parts thereof, in an effort to conform and gain acceptance and to earn membership to a non-disabled peer group. Acceptance was often found in companionship with fellow disabled peers. Since these stories told of continuing exclusion for disabled students on tertiary grounds, further participatory research is recommended.     

Auditing biochemical research data: A case study

There is little documentation in the literature of how to conduct a data audit of laboratory research. The purpose of such an audit is to verify the extent to which the published data agree with the corresponding laboratory notebook data and whether the data thus examined appear to be sufficient to justify the published conclusions. A case study is presented, which demonstrates a step by step approach towards conducting a data audit of a published research study.     

Evaluating Item Discrimination Power of WHOQOL-BREF from an Item Response Model Perspectives

Quality of life (QOL) has become an important component of health. By using the methodology of psychometric theory, we examine the item properties of the WHOQOL-BRIEF. Samejima’s graded response model with natural metrics of the logistic response function was fitted. The results showed items with negative natures were less discriminating. Items written in a specific way were more suitable to assess certain subgroups. The national items showed variation in discriminatory power. Questions measuring objective and specific issues performed worse than items assessing general aspects of the QOL.     

Peacebuilding through the Electoral Participation of Displaced Populations

The participation of displaced populations in elections organizedas part of a peacebuilding process is increasingly recognizedas fundamental to the goal of peacebuilding itself. Guaranteesfor their electoral participation are important, first and foremost,as a matter of rights. They also are critical for the legitimacyof the election and its results, and thus for national and regionalstability. However, translating these provisions into practicecan be a complex task, which requires addressing a range oflegal, administrative, practical, and political issues. Thisarticle explores the relationship between peacebuilding andthe electoral participation of displaced populations, arguingthat it is not possible to build peace when exclusion is dejure or de facto built into the process.