Approaches to sample size calculation for clinical trials in rare diseases

We discuss 3 alternative approaches to sample size calculation: traditional sample size calculation based on power to show a statistically significant effect, sample size calculation based on assurance, and sample size based on a decision‐theoretic approach. These approaches are compared head‐to‐head for clinical trial situations in rare diseases. Specifically, we consider 3 case studies of rare diseases (Lyell disease, adult‐onset Still disease, and cystic fibrosis) with the aim to plan the sample size for an upcoming clinical trial. We outline in detail the reasonable choice of parameters for these approaches for each of the 3 case studies and calculate sample sizes. We stress that the influence of the input parameters needs to be investigated in all approaches and recommend investigating different sample size approaches before deciding finally on the trial size. Highly influencing for the sample size are choice of treatment effect parameter in all approaches and the parameter for the additional cost of the new treatment in the decision‐theoretic approach. These should therefore be discussed extensively.     

The transition to adulthood from care as a struggle for recognition

This article explores young people's experiences in the transition to adulthood from child welfare services and how Honneth's theory of recognition can be useful as an analytical tool to help us understand these experiences. The underpinning empirical research consisted of interviews and focus groups with 43 adolescents who had been in contact with Norwegian child welfare services. Three themes emerged as particularly important: having good relationships to caring adults, being listened to and able to influence their own lives, and receiving support and encouragement. The research shows how young people's difficulties in leaving care can be understood as experiences of misrecognition and points to some ways in which these can be overcome.     

"The Approved Bureaucratic Torpor": Goodwin Watson, Critical Psychology, and the Dilemmas of Expertise, 1930–1945

The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) played an important role in expanding the mandate and influence of American psychology. This article examines the nature of that role through a consideration of the early career of SPSSI's first president, Goodwin Watson. During the Depression, Watson encouraged psychologists to abandon value neutrality and political disinterestedness in favor of politically committed activist science. Government service and political persecution during World War II prompted Watson to conclude that his Depression-era views had neglected the problematic interface between psychological expertise and policy formation. Responding to these concerns, Watson adopted a professional model that emphasized psychology's neutrality and objectivity. The article also considers the implications of his experience for contemporary debates on psychology's professional orientation.     

Female leaders and board performance in member‐serving nonprofit organizations

Despite an active stream of “good governance” research, there is not yet much nonprofit scholarship examining how the gender composition of a board or its leadership relates to board performance. This article helps to fill this gap, focusing on the governance practices of US‐based nonprofits serving a domestic or international membership. A structural equation model finds that the presence of female leaders relates to the performance of nonprofit boards both directly and indirectly through these leaders' presumed influence on board characteristics and operation. This research advances the field by empirically testing a longstanding theory that board performance is both multidimensional and contingent on the market and labor environment, organizational capacity and other characteristics—in this case, gender dynamics. We find there are some positive relationships between female board leadership and clearly defined measures of board performance. These findings also suggest that a strategy to balance a board's gender may serve many nonprofits, but gender representation works in tandem with other board characteristics.     

The Effects of Capital Campaigns on Other Nonprofits’ Fundraising

This study focuses on the effects of capital campaigns on the fundraising performance of other nonprofits within the same geographic region. Drawing from research in organizational ecology and charitable giving, we offer a theory of capital campaign impact that says any impact of a campaign must be looked for in a carefully circumscribed area or population of organizations, and that campaigns raise awareness of the need for services within a particular area. We use data on capital campaigns at arts nonprofit organizations in forty‐eight counties across the United States between 1999 and 2007, coupled with financial data on nonprofits in the arts in the same county to test our hypotheses. The results from our analyses show that a major capital campaign positively affects other nonprofits’ fundraising, and the effect varies depending on the phase of the capital campaign. We discuss possible mechanisms that drive the positive effects of capital campaigns, and conclude with a short illustration.     

The specter of Fanon: the student movements and the rationality of revolt in South Africa*

The largest student revolt since Soweto 1976, the student movements of 2015, were historic, challenging the lack of serious reform in the university systems and bringing to the fore the question of decolonization. Named ‘the Fanonian moment,’ it was the latest expression of the disillusion of rainbow politics. Marked by the Marikana massacre and the death of Nelson Mandela, Fanon’s name is almost as popular as Steve Biko’s and his name is often referenced in newspaper articles. While Fanon’s critique of post-apartheid has been well rehearsed in South Africa, this paper considers ‘the Fanonian Moment’ and the current popularity of Fanon as well as Steve Biko’s idea of Black consciousness as critical elements of decolonial liberation. With a focus on the student movements, the paper suggests that Fanon’s thought, and his notion of the rationality of revolt, is especially alive in intentional spaces where decolonization and liberation are linked with everyday questions of movement democracy and organization.     

Children's Experience of Sport: What Do We Really Know?

Internationally, children's participation in leisure activities, including sport, is considered to be of such importance that it is enshrined as a human right. However, there is a growing awareness that children's experience of sport is not always benign; abuse and harm frequently occur within a broad range of organised sport contexts. This systematic literature review examines the international research evidence from both peer reviewed and grey literature on the abuse and harm of children that can occur in sport. Four areas of focus were apparent in this literature: first, types of abuse encountered by children in sport and the harm caused to them; second, persons responsible for the abuse and harm; third, circumstances under which children may be most vulnerable; and fourth, the role that culture plays in facilitating abuse in sport. The paper concludes identifying the need for further research in this domain.     

Sensegiving,Leadership, and Nonprofit Crises: How Nonprofit Leaders Make and Give Sense to Organizational Crisis

This study examined how 43 nonprofit leaders across 15 U.S. states make sense of organizational crises in nonprofit contexts, as well as what they think effective leadership is during crises. Findings revealed perceived nonprofit organizational crises emerging from disasters, disruption of mission delivery, internal stakeholder challenges, and unanticipated occurrences, while six major characteristics of effective crisis leadership emerged including being a team player, being strategic, being transparent with stakeholders, being quick to respond, being self-composed, and being prepared. Comparisons to previous empirical investigations of nonprofit leadership and crisis response yielded additional insights into effective crisis leader sensemaking in nonprofit contexts—most notably that nonprofit crisis leaders leverage sensegiving frameworks of instrumental knowledge, normalcy, and dynamic learning. Further analysis demonstrated these diagnostic and prognostic sensegiving activities to be more clearly observed than motivational sensegiving activities across crisis leaders in nonprofit contexts.     

Independent Advocacy for Children and Young People: Developing an Outcomes Framework

This article draws on a study of the outcomes and impact of independent advocacy for children and young people to explore how the value of advocacy is understood by them and by professionals, and what differences advocacy can make to the lives of children and young people. Findings indicate that outcomes of advocacy can be significant and wide‐ranging, including both direct effects on the child or young person and wider impact on services. This has implications for how to capture and report the outcomes of advocacy, for which this article offers a new conceptual framework.