Comparative Journalism Research – An Overview

This overview focuses on the most common type of comparative journalism research, which is cross‐national comparative research. The overview presents a typology for different types of comparative journalism research, based on whether the research interest is in journalism as an activity or as a product; and, in the case of journalism as an activity, whether the interest is in the system level, the organizational level, or the individual level of journalism. The overview finds that the analysis of journalism on the individual level and of journalism as a product are the most common types of comparative research, whereas comparative analysis of journalism on the organizational level is much under‐studied.     

Schulstruktur und Bildungsungleichheit: Die Bedeutung von bundeslandspezifischen Unterschieden beim Übergang in die Sekundarstufe I für den BildungserfolgStructure of the education system and educational inequality: the relevance of regional differences in the institutional conditions for educational attainment

The relevance of institutional arrangements concerning the German school system for social inequalities remains comparatively unclear, due to the prevalent use of only simple and mostly static categories. The present study adds to this debate and analyses the effect of different regulations at the transition to upper secondary schools on educational achievement and social inequality. Duration of primary schooling and tracking recommendations are taken into account. Empirical analyses are based on information of the related Education Acts (1985–2010) as well as data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP). This approach constitutes a significant advancement as it allows for an overall identification of changes in the institutional features between and within states. Results indicate that children who attend primary schools that cover six instead of four years are more likely to be enrolled in an academic-track Gymnasium. These effects are especially strong for children with lower social background. There is no significant difference between secondary school systems with overall pure early tracking and school systems with fewer school tracks and delayed tracking in the sense that only students who don’t attend upper secondary school aren’t tracked after the fourth grade. Furthermore, the results reveal that the relative importance of (mandatory) track recommendations tends to be lower for children of parents with higher socioeconomic status, even if children in general are more likely to attend the Gymnasium at age 15, when the parents’ freedom of choice isn’t restricted by teachers’ recommendations.     

Gentrifikation in zwei Wohngebieten von KölnGentrification in two residential areas of Cologne

We examine the process of Gentrification in two residential areas of Cologne, Germany: Deutz and Mülheim. The theory underlying the study is a phase (or stage) model of Gentrification in which indicators and their values are attributed to each phase. The hypotheses derived from the model pertain to changes in the social structure, rents and the spatial distribution of social groups such as “pioneers”, “gentrifiers” and “others”. We further assume both areas to be in different phases of Gentrification.     

Der Hawthorne-Effekt – ein Effekt für viele Gelegenheiten?

It is shown that the concept of ?Hawthorne effect‘ was created many years after the Hawthorne studies in Western Electric Company. Presently, the ?Hawthorne effect‘ concept is increasingly used in social sciences and many other sciences. The concept is however used in different and occasionally digressive meanings. The question arises whether such a concept is useful at all. In addition, it is discussed why the rather imprecise reports of single Hawthorne field experiments have been spread as academic folklore, and why rather undefined concepts like the ?Hawthorne effect‘ are used so widely in psychology and social sciences.     

Fetishizing the health sciences: Queer theory as an intervention

Queer theory often falls impotent in its palatability across disciplinary lines. I offer a conceptual article that interrogates the dis-ease and divide when considering queer theory in and for the health sciences. In so doing, I look to foster a process of making queer theory more tenable to applied practice—and to make practice in social work, at least, more queer. The exemplar of HIV is deconstructed as a preeminent discourse and health disparity. In the end, it is argued that queer theory may be an essential intervention in the arsenal of the helping professions.     

Exact estimability of the transfer functions of linear systems

In this paper we show the exact estimability of the transfer functions of linear stochastic systems under two sets of conditions.The main point is to demonstrate the measurability of the “identifying” function.The estimability od the transfer functions is not only of interest for its own but also for the estimability of the system parameters.