Not one of the guys: The female researcher in a male-dominated setting

An important, but frequently overlooked, issue in qualitative research is how the status characteristics of the researcher affect the process of gaining access to, establishing, and maintaining rapport with respondents or informants in a setting. Some researchers may never succeed in achieving more than superficial acceptance from their respondents because of the status each researcher occupies. Female researchers studying male-dominated groups frequently find themselves in just such a position or do not attempt to gain entry in certain male-dominated settings. Sex-role expectations may hamper women's work in the field. Until recently, little attention was given to these issues.This paper discusses the dilemmas faced by female researchers in male-dominated settings. It begins by examining how the instructional fieldwork literature addresses this issue and finds that it generally does not. In addition, the literature's advice to novice fieldworkers, while perhaps appropriate for males, may be inappropriate for females, given stereotypical sex-role expectations. Novice female researchers must turn to accounts of experienced female researchers for discussions of problems they may encounter in field settings. The paper then turns to my study of a prosecutor's office. Similarities between my experiences and those of other female researchers are noted, and suggestions are made about how women in the field can manage and even overcome these problems.     

Developing an interactive approach in social work research: the example of a research study on head injury

Summary The paper examines the processes of a research project aboutthe continuing care needs of head-injured people in order toillustrate an interactive approach in social work research.Influenced by the social work values of empowerment and workingin partnership, the key function of the interactive approachinclude a multidisciplinary research team analysing the researchtopic through different disciplinary perspectives, and selectingresearch methods and dissemination strategies that promote interactiverelationships amongst researchers, respondents and sponsors.Social work practice supplies transferable knowledge, valuesand skills for the interactive approach. The skill of negotiationis used to mitigate unequal distributions of power between researchersand respondents. The paper concludes that the interactive approachis a distinctive characteristic of social work research thatdeserves wider recognition.     

Subjective Well-Being,Poverty and Ethnicity in South Africa: Insights from an Exploratory Analysis

South Africa has one of the highest inequality levels in the world. In 1993, nearly half of the population were considered poor. These poverty and inequality levels were and still are a legacy of South Africa’s colonial and apartheid past. Since the end of apartheid, there has been a strong governmental effort to combat poverty and in this light a ‘social indicators movement’ has emerged. The aim of this article is to contribute to the South African social indicators research in three ways: Firstly, this article introduces ethnicity as a unit of analysis in the context of poverty and well-being. It is argued that racial categorisations are not justifiable and in the case of South Africa hide valuable insights. The results of an exploratory analysis suggest that ethnicity allows a more insightful analysis of poverty and well-being than race. Secondly, this article introduces a multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) in the context of subjective well-being research. Many studies regarding subjective well-being in South Africa use ordered probit regression models. It is argued here that these models are based on false assumptions and that a MCA can be seen as a suitable alternative since it constitutes an assumption free model. Lastly, the insights gained from the exploratory analysis are discussed. The MCA seems to show that subjective well-being can be regarded as an outcome measure. Furthermore, it is argued that there are cultural differences (between the ethnic groups) regarding subjective well-being. It seems that the ethnic groups in South Africa have different conceptions of well-being and that different factors influence their subjective well-being assessments. This work is partly based on a Master thesis from 2004 at the Institute for Development Policy and Management at the University of Manchester. I am grateful for the intellectual guidance, the constant support and encouragement by Wendy Olsen and for the comments on earlier drafts from Peter Edward, David A. Clark and two anonymous reviewers.     

Matching Performance of Continuous Sampling Plans with Single Sampling Plans

Single sampling plans are widely used for appraising incoming product quality. However, for situations where a continuous product flow exists, lot-by-lot demarcations may not exist, and it may be necessary to use alternate procedures, such as CSP-1, for continuous processes. In this case, one would like to be able to understand how average performance of the continuous sampling procedures compares to the more commonly used single sampling plans.

In this study, a model is devised which can be used to relate plan performance between single sample lot acceptance procedures and Dodge's(1943) CSP-1 continuous sampling plan. It is shown that it is generally not possible to match up performance based upon operating characteristic curve expressions for the two plans. Instead, the plans are matched by equating expressions for π(p), the long run proportion of product which is accepted, under both procedures. This is shown to be equivalent to matching up properties on an average outgoing quality basis. The methodology may be extended for any derivative plan under MIL-STD-1235B (1982), the military standard for continuous acceptance sampling.     

Further remarks on estimating the parameter of a noncentral chi-square distribution

Perlman and Rasmussen (1975) have found estimators of the non-centrality parameter of a noncentral chi-square distribution which have lower mean square error than the maximum likelihood estimator. This paper studies some extensions of their estimators and some related problems.     

Experimental Research As Practical Action: Stooge Detection And Bias*

A discussion of experimental research as practical action applies the ethnomethodological critique to research in experimental social psychology. While research on demand characteristics may meet some of the ethnomethodological criticisms, it may not provide a set of exemplars around which the practical activity of experimentation can be organized. “Stooge detection” is a practical problem often faced by experimenters. My data suggest that stooge detection may, in certain circumstances, be a member's strategy for dealing with a problematic experimental setting. This view has implications for notions of experimental “bias”.     

Attitudes to Chronic Poverty in the ‘Global Village’

The paper explores attitudes to chronic poverty in a cross-section of developed and developing countries contributing data to the World Values Survey Wave Three (1994–1998). The analysis finds a consistent belief among a majority of respondents that poverty is persistent. The paper also explores the factors influencing public attitudes to chronic poverty, and finds that interests, position, knowledge, and shared values relating to social justice, are important.     

ON GENDER GAPS AND SELF‐FULFILLING EXPECTATIONS: ALTERNATIVE IMPLICATIONS OF PAID‐FOR TRAINING

This paper presents a model of self‐fulfilling expectations by firms and households which generates multiplicity of equilibria in pay and housework time allocation for ex‐ante identical spouses. Multiplicity arises from statistical discrimination exerted by firms in the provision of paid‐for training to workers, rather than from incentive problems in the labor market. Employers' beliefs about differences in spouses' reactions to housework shocks lead to symmetric (ungendered) and asymmetric (gendered) equilibria. We find that: (1) the ungendered equilibrium tends to prevail as aggregate productivity in the economy increases (regardless of the generosity of family aid policies), (2) the ungendered equilibrium could yield higher welfare under some scenarios, and (3) gender‐neutral job subsidies are more effective that gender‐targeted ones in removing the gendered equilibrium. (JEL J16, J70, J71)