Book Review: Participation of the Poor in Development Initiatives: Taking their Rightful Place,by Carolyn Long. Earthscan Publications,London 2001

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations -     

Understanding the use of rural space: the need for multi-methods

Although the late 1990s saw increasing use of qualitative data in rural studies and a turn towards issues such as identities and the construction of rurality, many rural researchers still rely on a range of different methods and use both qualitative and quantitative data. However, the challenge of combining quantitative and qualitative data and using different methods is a theme not often dealt with in rural studies, at least not explicitly. This paper (re-)turns the attention to implications of using various methods and combining different types of data for studying a subject matter called ‘the use of rural space’. It concerns both physical land use and the practice and values of individual actors influencing the land use. We emphasise interplay between methodology and philosophy throughout the research process and argue for using multi-methods without compromising the integrity of the different methods. The methodological approach is a combined study of practice and values of individual actors. Two examples—one concerning Senegalese pastoralists’ livelihoods and their use of mobility and one concerning landowners’ location of field afforestation in Denmark—illustrate how the approach facilitates quite different studies of both practice and values and how quantitative and qualitative data can be combined in a non-eclectic way.     

Resources for scholars,practitioners, and policymakers two introductions to the nonprofit sector

The Charitable Nonprofits: An Analysis of Institutional Dynamics and Characteristics, by William G. Bowen, Thomas I. Nygren, Sarah E. Turner, and Elizabeth A. Duffy. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994. 326 pp., $39.95 cloth. America's Nonprofit Sector: A Primer, by Lester M. Salamon. New York: Foundation Center, 1992. 110 pp., $14–95. paper.     

Welfare production: Public versus private

Welfare is one of the highest values in modern societies and refers primarily to the living conditions and the perceived life quality of individuals and families. This paper is asking how welfare is generated in society, what are the producers, the products, the production processes, the limits of particular productions, and new innovative “mixes”. After a survey of the literature (theory of social production, well-being accounting, political productivity, social policy intervention), a scheme of four major institutions of welfare production is discussed: markets, bureaucracies, associations, private households. Next, the present dilemmas and the innovative potential of each particular institution and of pair-and triple combinations are briefly explored, e.g. new “corporatist” patterns. Two case studies (“shadow economy”, household production) are investigating the policy question of how private initiatives, the resources of associations and private households, and new combinations of public and private efforts may overcome some of the deadlocks in the present “market failure” and “state failure”.     

Asymptotic properties of maximum likelihood estimation in the mixed analysis of variance model

Consistency and asymptotic normality of maximum likelihood estimates in the mixed analysis of variance model are presented. These results are direct consequences of the method of Hoadley [2] concerning the case where the observations are independent but not identical. Asymptotic efficiency is given in the sense of the limit of the Cramér-Rao lower bound for the covariance matrix.     

Quality of life in South Africa: Towards an instrument for the assessment of quality of life and basic needs

Conducting comparative quality of life research in a socio-economically and socio-politically divided society such as South Africa is methodologically challenging and worthwhile in that it provides a means for evaluating subtle social changes taking place. This is demonstrated on the basis of a study of perceptions of well-being involving white, Indian and black residents of Durban, South Africa. Survey findings generally reflected the differential social circumstances of the three groups represented in the sample, in particular it highlighted the materially underprivileged situation of Blacks in comparison to the other groups. Drawing upon the experience gained in the study, the rationale is given for developing a research instrument for measuring comparative qualities of life at the national level.     

Gesellschaft-Markt-Gerechtigkeit

Of what kind are the relationships between nature and society, nature and sociology? How does the relation between economic system and welfare state develop? Which role can normative demands play for that matter? And which role can sociology play? Questions addressed to Günter Dux.     

Kriminalitätsfurcht im urbanen raum

Ziel ist die Erkl?rung von Kriminalit?tsfurcht auf verschiedenen Dimensionen (affektiv, kognitiv, konativ). Es werden drei theoretische Modelle zur Erkl?rung von Kriminalit?tsfurcht empirisch überprüft (Viktimisierungsmodell, Disorder-Modell, Modell sozialer Integration). Auf der Grundlage einer postalischen Bev?lkerungsumfrage (N = 3.612) in 49 Hamburger Stadtteilen werden Mehrebenenmodelle getestet. Dabei zeigt sich, dass die Kriminalit?tsfurcht zwischen den Stadtteilen signifikant variiert. In der Mehrebenenanalyse best?tigen sich Effekte von Individualvariablen (perzipierte physical und social incivilities, pers?nliche und indirekte Viktimisierungen, Vertrauen zu Nachbarn, perzipierte Polizeistreifen, Alter, Geschlecht) und Kontextvariablen (problematische Sozialstruktur, Bev?lkerungsdichte) auf die verschiedenen Dimensionen der Kriminalit?tsfurcht.