Teaching Note—Integrating Theory and Research Methods in a First-Year Doctoral Sequence or Program

This teaching note describes an innovative process in which faculty members worked collaboratively to create an integrated three-course sequence of requisite course content in a PhD program, developed complementary assignments, and coordinated a classroom experience that led to the creation of an individualized area statement and eventual integrated literature review. Lessons learned from this experience are discussed.     

Muir,Roosevelt, and Yosemite National Park as an Emergent Sacred Symbol: An Interaction Ritual Analysis of a Camping Trip

We argue that interaction ritual (IR) theory provides a temporal and interactional point of origin from which to trace an influential IR chain that became a deciding factor in the unification of Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove under federal control within present‐day Yosemite National Park. The emotions generated by the rituals of Roosevelt's and Muir's camping trip in May, 1903 in the short term, however, failed to result in a lasting consensus on ideology. This is a point that Roosevelt's lack of support for Muir in the subsequent controversy over the damming of the Hetch Hetchy Valley clearly documents. A video abstract is available at http://tinyurl.com/myv74yd     

Additive time-dependent hazard model with doubly truncated data

For doubly truncated data, i.e. the variables of interest are only observable if they lie in a certain random interval, an additive hazard model with time-dependent regression coefficients is investigated. Consistency and asymptotic normality are proven under mild assumptions. A simulation study investigates the finite sample properties and the influence of the truncation distribution on the estimation error. Finally, the method is applied to a doubly truncated data set of German companies, where the age at insolvency is of interest.     

Five dimensions of effectiveness for nonprofit annual reports

Annual reports are an important communication device through which nonprofit entities can satisfy their duty to be accountable to donors and the public at large. The primary objective of this article is to identify best practices for annual reports based on five dimensions: completeness, accessibility, transparency, full disclosure, and relevance. This article reports on both the financial and nonfinancial content in voluntarily provided annual reports. Based on our survey, we include recommendations and examples to help nonprofit leaders improve communication with stakeholders. While many of the recommendations can be adopted at little or no additional cost, achieving the most important criterion, relevance, will require nonprofit leaders to substantially improve their reporting of organizational goals and accomplishments.     

On regression-based tests for persistence in logarithmic volatility models

Building on the work of Pantula (1986), this paper discusses how the hypothesis of conditional variance nonstationarity in the logarithmic family of generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) and stochastic volatility processes may be tested using regression-based tests. The latter are easy to implement, have well-defined large-sample distributions, and are less sensitive to structural changes than tests based on the quasimaximum likelihood estimator.     

Attitudes as an Expression of Knowledge and “Political Anchoring”: The Case of Nuclear Power in the United Kingdom

Attitudes toward the use of nuclear energy pose fundamental issues in the political debate about how to meet future energy needs. Development of new nuclear power facilities faces significant opposition both from knowledgeable individuals who display an understanding of the risks attached to various forms of power generation and those who follow strict politically based ideological dogmas. This article employs data from a 2005 Eurobarometer survey of UK citizens to examine the influence of both political preferences and knowledge in explaining support of nuclear power. Findings reveal that attitudes about nuclear power are highly politically motivated while the influence of knowledge about radioactive waste is dependent upon beliefs about the consequences of nuclear energy use. Perceptions of being informed about radioactive waste and trust in sources providing information about radioactive waste management also predict attitudes toward nuclear power generation.     

A theory of instrumental and existential rational decisions: Smith,Weber, Mauss,Tönnies after Martin Buber

This paper proffers a dialogical theory of decision-making: decision-makers (DMs) are engaged in two modes of rational decisions, instrumental and existential. Instrumental rational decisions take place when the DM views the self externally to the objects, whether goods or animate beings. Existential rational decisions take place when the DM views the self in union with such objects. While the dialogical theory differs from Max Weber’s distinction between two kinds of rationality, it follows Martin Buber’s philosophical anthropology. The paper expounds the ramifications of the dialogical theory in understanding structures of exchange considering assessments of diverse thinkers.