Information measures and design issues in the study of mortality deceleration: findings for the gamma-Gompertz model

Lifetime Data Analysis - Mortality deceleration, or the slowing down of death rates at old ages, has been repeatedly investigated, but empirical studies of this phenomenon have produced mixed...     

Multi-criteria decision support and evaluation of strategies for nuclear remediation management

Environmental emergency situations can differ in many ways, for instance according to their causes and the dimension of their impacts. Yet, they share the characteristic of sudden onset and the necessity for a coherent and effective emergency management. In this paper we consider decision support in the event of a nuclear or radiological accident in Europe. RODOS, an acronym for real-time on-line decision support system, is a decision support system designed to provide support from the early phases through to the medium and long-term phases. This work highlights the role of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) within RODOS in ensuring the transparency of decision processes within emergency and remediation management. Special emphasis is placed on the evaluation of alternative remediation or countermeasure strategies using the multi-criteria decision support tool Web-HIPRE in scenario focused decision making workshops involving different stakeholder and expert groups. Decision support is enhanced by a module that generates natural language explanations to facilitate the understanding of the evaluation process, therefore contributing to the direct involvement of the decision makers, with the aim of increasing their confidence in the results of the analyses carried out, forming an audit trail for the decision making process and improving the acceptability of the system as a whole.     

Datenverfügbarkeit und Datenzugang am Forschungsdatenzentrum der Bundesagentur für Arbeit im Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung

Zusammenfassung: Die Bundesagentur für Arbeit (BA) geh?rt zu den wichtigsten Produzenten statistischer Daten über den Arbeitsmarkt und die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung in Deutschland. Bislang bestand kein institutionalisierter Datenzugangsweg für Forschende au?erhalb des Instituts für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB). Das Forschungsdatenzentrum (FDZ) der BA im IAB wurde mit dem Ziel eingerichtet, den Zugang zu den Daten der BA und des IAB für externe Forscher zu erschlie?en und systematisch auszubauen. In dem Beitrag beschreiben wir die im FDZ für die Fach?ffentlichkeit zug?nglich gemachten Daten der BA und des IAB sowie die verschiedenen Zugangsm?glichkeiten der wissenschaftlichen Forschung zu diesen Daten.

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Summary: The Federal Agency of Labour (BA) is one of the most important producers of offcial data on the labour market and the economic development in Germany. Until recently, there has been no institutionalized way of data access for researchers outside the Institute of Employment Research (IAB). The research data centre (FDZ) of the BA in the IAB has been established in order to develop and systematically extend the data access for scientists. In this paper we describe the data of the BA and the IAB which will be made accessible via the FDZ as well as the different modes of access to those data.

     

Scope insensitivity in health risk reduction studies: A comparison of choice experiments and the contingent valuation method for valuing safer food

Scope insensitivity and embedding are fundamental concerns in contingent valuation studies for health risk reductions. Recently, choice experiments have increasingly been used to obtain contingent willingness to pay (WTP) estimates. We juxtapose the WTP estimates of a choice experiment (CE) to those of the contingent valuation method (CVM) for different health risk reductions and compare them in the extent of scope insensitivity and embedding. WTP using CVM is scope sensitive for single health risks, but embedding is observed for multiple disease risks. In contrast, WTP based on the CE is highly scope sensitive and convex in risk reduction levels.

The development of interindividual differences in sympathy: The role of child personality and adults’ responsiveness to distress

In a three‐wave longitudinal study of 85 children (43 girls) at 5, 6, and 7 years of age, the role played by child personality (inhibition, aggressiveness) and adults’ responsiveness to distress in children's sympathy was examined. At all three times, sympathy was measured via standardized observations as well as children's self‐reports. Child inhibition and aggressiveness were assessed with reports by teachers at T1 and T2. Parents’ and teachers’ responsiveness to distress were inferred from interviews with the children at T1 and T2. Longitudinal analyses via latent regression using structural equation models showed that earlier sympathy explained most of the variance in later sympathy. Additionally, higher inhibition at T1 predicted less sympathy at T2. Higher sympathy at T1 predicted more adult responsiveness at T2. Higher aggressiveness at T2 predicted less sympathy at T3. Within time, at T1, sympathy was positively related to adults’ responsiveness. At T2, inhibition and sympathy were negatively related. The discussion focuses on the question of how child personality as well as parental and non‐parental socialization experiences work in concert to explain interindividual differences in sympathy.     

Das Potenzial der Video-Interaktionsanalyse als Beratungskonzept von Gr��ndungsteams

Consulting for entrepreneurs is an ambitious and multidimensional consulting business. Beside formal operations and guidelines, this consulting should be the focus of collaboration and learning processes in groups and teams, which is necessary for integration into the consulting process. What happens in the face-to-face interaction in these entrepreneur groups and teams? What do they negotiate and solve on the interactional level to increase their chances of success? The authors describe video interaction analysis as an optional relevant practice for consulting entrepreneurs. This analysis is the groundwork for developing a learning workshop design which focuses on the dynamic team-learning aspect and facilitates the learning process of the team.     

Aushandeln von Kulturunterschieden im 30 Minuten-Takt

This paper is meant to be a contribution to critical issues in the development of intercultural competence based on a case study (two days workshop for consultants working in a social profit organisation). It focuses on cross cultural encounter situations as a specific form of interaction situation in the context of professional acting. The core of this article is constituted both by a discussion of the applicability of intercultural and transcultural concepts, diversity management and the role of groups??dynamics and the case study which highlights practical questions of the entire consulting process concerning diagnostic, planning of interventions, performance and transfer.     

Goal Engagement During the School–Work Transition: Beneficial for All,Particularly for Girls

The school‐to‐work transition presents a substantial regulatory challenge for youth in modern societies. Based on the action‐phase model of developmental regulation, we investigated the effects of goal engagement on transition outcomes in a high‐density longitudinal study of noncollege‐bound German adolescents (N=362). Career‐related goal engagement was important for attaining a desired career goal (i.e., apprenticeship) for girls who generally faced unfavorable employment opportunities. For boys, goal engagement did not predict the attainment of an apprenticeship. Goal engagement was nonetheless beneficial for well‐being, predicting positive affect for both girls and boys. This effect was not mediated by attainment of an apprenticeship. The findings elucidate the role of goal engagement under structural and temporal constraints and suggest possible avenues for intervention.