Codes of Ethics: What Are They Really and What Should They Be?

Codes of ethics are prevalent in major corporations around the world. They are seen as the first tangible commitment to being ethical. This paper examines codes of ethics and tries to establish what they are, how they are developed and their net utility. We then proffer the idea of codes as the first part of a five-stage process that leads to an overall corporate commitment to being ethical in one's business dealings.     

Modelling the effects of repellent chemicals on foraging bees

Summary.  Many pesticide sprays that are used for crop protection are harmful to honey-bees. It can therefore be beneficial to add to the spray chemical compounds that are repellent to bees, to discourage them from feeding on recently sprayed crops. Experiments were conducted using an artificial feeding station to assess the repellent effects of various compounds. In this system, bees arrive at the feeding station, choose between feeding dishes to which different chemicals have been added, feed for a variable period and then depart. The number of bees at each feeding dish is recorded at intervals of 1 min. We discuss the analysis of data from this type of experiment, based on a queuing theory model.     

The public and private purposes of case records

Social welfare agencies have official reasons and requirements for the construction of case records. Sociologists have detected a set of unofficial reasons that shape case records in practice. This paper suggests that case records that record the lives of children in child welfare systems are written, inter alia, to deny the failure of interventions, to justify the refusal to serve “bad clients,” and to justify the decision to extend hegemony over “good” clients.     

"It's not cricket": colonial legacies and contemporary inequalities

Cricket has been historically significant in defining notions of English national identity and continues to feature in debates over the inclusion/exclusion of immigrants in British society. British-African-Caribbean players are well represented in the English game but participation appears mediated by ethnic group membership. This contemporary pattern can only be understood when contextualized within the historical development of cricket in the Caribbean and, in particular, the struggles between whites and blacks and between the white elites. Over-representation in certain cricketing roles has been an ever-present feature of this negotiation; contemporary inequality is, therefore, largely a consequence of the legacy of British Imperialism.     

Models and methods for pairing data

This paper deals with models and methods for count data derived from observations on pairing phenomena. Pairs formed from “similar” members are excluded. Various models are considered and analyzed. Particular emphasis is on developing methods for testing whether particular pairs are prone to occur more or less often than expected by chance.     

The Devil is in the Detail: Clinicians,Academics and Researchers Resolving the Problems of Clinical Research

The difficulties associated with conducting valid family therapy research within a clinical practice discourage many potential researchers. This article will describe collaboration between a group of academics, researchers and clinicians who decided to explore the process and efficacy of systemic family therapy conducted within a working private practice. The specific questions we are addressing are, whether the requests clients bring to their first session of therapy can be reliably classified by practitioners, whether these requests change over time, and whether the nature of the request is associated with therapist and client ratings of therapeutic outcome. Additional questions about the form and nature of the therapeutic alliance as experienced by both client and practitioner are also being explored. This paper will map the passage of the work from inception to its current state where over 140 clients are active participants. In doing so attention will be paid to the obstacles encountered: practical, financial and ethical, and the solutions devised to address these.