Social Psychological Factors in Lifestyle Change and Their Relevance to Policy

Crises in obesity and changes in the environment illustrate the need to change problematic behaviors and lifestyles in large segments of the population. This article uses social psychological theory and research to understand methods for facilitating lifestyle change. A basic assumption in the social psychological perspective is that the environment and the person interact to determine behavior. Both factors are important for understanding "upstream" and "downstream" approaches to lifestyle change ( McKinlay, 1993 ; Verplanken & Wood, 2006 ) and consideration of one factor without the other may be disastrous. We review evidence from within and outside of the health context to illustrate the upstream and downstream approaches and then describe implications for public policy and intervention. The evidence and recommendations encompass a wide range of behaviors, ranging from speeding and intoxicated driving to eating an unhealthy diet and energy conservation. When armed with the relevant social psychological theory and evidence, lifestyle change campaigns are likely to be successful.     

Degree and Direction of Paid Employee/Volunteer Interchange in Nonprofit Organizations

This study builds on an earlier one (Handy, Mook, and Quarter 2008) that examined the degree of interchangeability between volunteers and paid employees in nonprofit organizations. In the current study, we surveyed 836 nonprofits in Canada to understand what factors determine the degree of interchange between paid employees and volunteers, bearing in mind that this interchange can go in two directions: paid employees for volunteers and volunteers for paid employees. We found the degree of interchange to be widespread and in both directions. One of the most important predictors of the likelihood of interchange was the number of full‐time employees, suggesting that interchangeability occurs less frequently in organizations with a larger number of employees than in those with fewer employees. Religious congregations and organizations with workload increases were more likely to interchange tasks among volunteers and paid staff.     

The Academic History of Literature and Art as a “ Disease of Interpretation”: On the Paradoxical Nature of Interdisciplinary Boundaries

This article represents an academic response to Professor Zhang Jiang’s article “On Imposed Interpretation” published in Russian in the journal October (no. 1, 2015). It argues that the problems observed by Zhang arise from the reality of Western literary criticism over the past decades, and are associated with the contention between philosophy and philology that had its orgins in the West’s Platonic heritage. In outlining the complex symbiotic relationship between the two disciplines in Western literary history, this article finds that two theoretical motive forces catalyzed the process: the “philologization of philosophy” and the “philosophization of philology.” The writer argues that based on a full understanding of the paradoxical relationship between philosophy and philology, which are distinct from and yet attracted to each other, contemporary literary criticism can adopt the principles of “practical conservatism” and “cutting back of methodologies” as a means of healing the ever worsening “disease of intepreretation” in literary history.     

Collaboration outcomes in a public sector: impact of governance,leadership, interdependence and relational capital

Collaboration between public agencies is critical to address social issues effectively. The main objective of this research was to identify the factors that lead to successful achievement of desired collaboration outcomes that could eventually lead to societal outcomes. The factors identified were: transformational leadership, governance, interdependence, and relational capital. An integrated framework was developed based on collaboration governance framework (CGF) of Ansell and Gash (J Public Adm Res Theory 18:543–571, 2008). The CGF framework has integrated the following four broad variables that are responsible for achieving the desired collaboration outcomes: starting conditions, institutional design, leadership, and collaborative process. The study was conducted in Malaysia by sending questionnaires to 500 officers in various ministries who were involved in planning, formulating, and implementing public policies. The main findings of this study are: (1) transformational leadership influences governance, interdependence, relational capital, and collaboration outcomes; (2) governance has impact on relational capital, interdependence, and collaboration outcomes; (3) relational capital and interdependence result in positive collaboration outcomes; (4) dimensions of governance are inter-related; and (5) interdependence and relational capital are strongly correlated. This research adds significantly to the literature on collaborative governance. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.     

Case study in Six Sigma methodology: manufacturing quality improvement and guidance for managers

This article discusses the successful implementation of Six Sigma methodology in a high precision and critical process in the manufacture of automotive products. The Six Sigma define–measure–analyse–improve–control approach resulted in a reduction of tolerance-related problems and improved the first pass yield from 85% to 99.4%. Data were collected on all possible causes and regression analysis, hypothesis testing, Taguchi methods, classification and regression tree, etc. were used to analyse the data and draw conclusions. Implementation of Six Sigma methodology had a significant financial impact on the profitability of the company. An approximate saving of US$70,000 per annum was reported, which is in addition to the customer-facing benefits of improved quality on returns and sales. The project also had the benefit of allowing the company to learn useful messages that will guide future Six Sigma activities.     

Human development and the optimal size of government

Previous studies have found evidence for an optimal size of government with respect to GDP growth. In this paper, I look at the impact of the size of government consumption expenditures on social welfare as measured by the Human Development Index. Utilizing dynamic GMM estimation in a panel data framework, I find that evidence for an optimal size of government with respect to social welfare.     

Non-parametric estimation of lifetime distribution of competing risk models when censoring times are missing

There are situations in the analysis of failure time or lifetime data where the censoring times of unfailed units are missing. The non-parametric estimator of the lifetime distribution for such data is available in literature. In this paper we consider an extension of this situation to the univariate and bivariate competing risk setups. The maximum likelihood and simple moment estimators of cause specific distribution functions in both univariate and bivariate situations are developed. A simulation study is carried out to assess the performance of the estimators. Finally, we illustrate the method with real data set.     

Interpellation in the late Soviet period: contesting the de-ideologization narrative

Most literature on ideology in the late Soviet period notes the progressive de-ideologization of Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) politics under Mikhail Gorbachev. Looking specifically at the legitimating functions of ideology, the article contests this generalization. In doing so, it proposes the concept of ideological interpellation to clarify the relationship between doctrine and regime legitimation. The author argues that interpellation – the construction of the ideal Soviet subject, in a way that sustained the relations of domination and production – was a consistent goal throughout the last decade of communist rule. However, while the party approached interpellation in different ways, it was unable to resolve official ideology’s rigidity and narrowness of appeal. These conclusions are supported by a discourse analysis of the 26th, 27th, and 28th CPSU congress proceedings.