A KNOWLEDGE-BASED DSS FOR MANAGERIAL PROBLEM DIAGNOSIS

A knowledge-based system supporting managerial problem diagnosis is described. The system provides the capability to monitor values of selected variables for problem situations. When problems are located, a list of problem symptoms is delivered to a problem processor for structuring and diagnosis. Problem structuring is based on a combination of concepts from expert systems and structural modeling. User assertions about cause-effect relationships between pairs of variables are maintained in a semantic network. Problem diagnosis uses the relationships in the semantic network to construct causation trees, the branches of which represent potential explanations of the problem symptoms. Mathematical models are constructed based on causation-tree branches, and values from the data base are used to test whether the model confirms the diagnosis. If so, the source of the problem has been located and it is then up to the user to resolve the problem. If the model fails to explain the problem, the model apparently is deficient and the user may perform “what if…” type scenarios in attempts to improve the model and search for problem causes. Realistic applications in the accounting and health care areas are discussed.     

Investigation of a typology of life and death among hospice workers

A typology of life and death was investigated in relation to demographic characteristics, social comparisons, work orientation, and depressive symptoms among 240 hospice workers who replied to a mail questionnaire. Even though conceptions of life and death are part of the same life cycle, they have often been studied separately among those who work with the dying. There was evidence for the usefulness of the typology in the study of indicators of quality of life. A discriminant analysis indicated that four types (positivists, temporal optimists, resigned futurists, and negativists) were differentiated by social‐psychological and demographic characteristics. Implications for application are suggested.     

The evolution of a project involving an integrated analysis of structured qualitative and quantitative data: From N3 to NVivo

Developments in Qualitative Solutions and Research (QSR software) from N3 through to NVivo have impacted not only on the convenience of using the program but also on the capacity of the researcher to undertake interpretive analysis. Perhaps reflective of changes in the broader context of social research, developments through succeeding generations of this software have also increased its capacity to contribute to integrated mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) analysis. New tools in the software have facilitated bringing quantitative (demographic, categorical and other numeric) data into a qualitative project, primarily to use for comparison of texts across subgroups. In addition, with N4 it has became possible to display tabulated data showing either the presence or absence of coding in particular documents or matrix displays (cross-tabulations) of grouped data. NVivo allows for both greater flexibility and greater specificity of quantitative output. Quantitative outputs from the qualitative database allow for graphical display or statistical manipulation of the data. Numeric output might be combined with existing statistical data to expand analytic possibilities. Interpretation of numeric data is supported throughout by the availability of the text on which such data are based, while patterns in the text can be elucidated through numeric displays. This ability to treat data both qualitatively and quantitatively, using software, can move mixed methods research beyond comparative, convergent or sequential designs toward truly integrated analysis.     

Election 2016 Postscript: Blurred Realities and Why Liberals Lost

Two professors of social work debate the dynamics of the 2016 presidential election sharing opposing views of President Obama’s message integrity and the electorate’s search for a candidate more “real.”     

CARING ABOUT POVERTY

Entry to institutional care is being used as an ineffective and expensive response to child and family poverty in a number of countries. In this paper, the practice of using institutional care for children in poverty is examined, drawing on case studies from three countries–the Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria, and Sri Lanka. Research findings reveal that poverty is a major underlying cause of children being received into institutional care and that such reception into care is a costly, inappropriate, and often harmful response to adverse economic circumstances. We suggest that alternatives to care may be funded from resources currently committed to institutions by developing a policy of gatekeeping. However, alternative strategies must be responsive to local conditions, and all such strategies need to be developed in consultation with children, their families, and communities.     

The adult mother/daughter relationship:a uniquely and universally dose relationship?

Despite developments in the sociology of welfare and in feminism, the examination of young adult mother/daughter relationships has been relatively neglected. Such relationships are still popularly seen as ‘very close’, although studies such as Branneti and Collard's (1982) have shown that they are not intimate. In this paper the content and quality of such mother/daughter relationships is examined using a small scale intensive study of sixty married or cohabiting women randomly selected from medical records in north London. Their relationships with their mothers were typically characterised by high levels of visual contact, felt attachment and identity enhancement. The majority of the women did not see their relationships with their mother as very close. Furthermore, even those who did see them in this way, did not have relationships characterised by high levels of practical help, dependency or intimacy. In arguing that mother/daughter relationships are neither universally nor uniquely close, such relationships are juxtaposed with relationships with sisters who were identified as very close. Finally it is argued that the continued popular perception of mother/daughter relationships as very close reflects current definitions of feminity; the idealization of the mother role and an equation between closeness and tending.     

Levels of analysis,theoretical orientations and degrees of abstraction

This article suggests that what often appear to be fundamental conflicts of opinion among sociologists regarding appropriate levels of analysis and theoretical orientations are much less problematic when considered in terms of differences in degrees of abstraction. The critical factor in the compatibility of various levels of analysis and theoretical orientation is the use of degrees of abstraction by the researcher. The impact of this issue on sociological knowledge and some of its applications are examined. Pat Lauderdale is professor of justice and adjunct professor of law at Arizona State University and is completing a book on social conflict and disputes. Steven D. McLaughlin is the director of Battelle’s Health and Populations Research Center in Seattle and presently is conducting research on adolescent fertility and educational attainment. Annamarie Oliverio has completed graduate work in political science and criminology at Simon Fraser University and currently is working on her doctoral dissertation at Arizona State University.     

Environmental Exposures to Metals in Native Communities and Implications for Child Development: Basis for the Navajo Birth Cohort Study

Two disparate statistics often cited for the Western United States raise concern about risks for developmental disabilities in Native American children. First, 13 of the states with the highest percentage of Native American population are located in the Western United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 U.S. Census Bureau. (2012). The American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2010 (U.S. Census Briefs, January, #C2010BR-10). Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-10.pdf [Google Scholar]). Second, more than 161,000 abandoned hard-rock mines are located in 12 Western states (General Accounting Office, 2014 General Accounting Office. (2014, July 14). GAO-11–834T: Abandoned Mines. Information on the number of hardrock mines, cost of cleanup, and value of financial assurances. Statement of Anu K. Mittal, Director, Natural Resources and Environment Team, Testimony before the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, Committee on Natural Resources, House of Representatives. Retrieved from http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-834T [Google Scholar]). Moreover, numerous studies have linked low-level metals exposure with birth defects and developmental delays. Concern has emerged among tribal populations that metals exposure from abandoned mines might threaten development of future generations.