Introduction: Canadian Anthropology in an International Context

L'anthropologie est sur le point de vivre un renouvellement sans precedent de personnel dans les départements des différentes universités canadiennes. Les articles de ce numéro spécial passent en revue les thèmes majeurs de l'anthropologie au Canada durant la dernière décennie: la recherche sur les Premieres Nations, un sujet qui a jeté les fondements de l'anthropologie canadienne anglophone; les changements dans la recherche ethnographique, illustrés par l'exemple de Terre-Neuve; le travail, la mondialisation et la culture locale; quelques difficultés pratiques de la recherche dans le domaine de la justice sociale; et les questions soulevées par la création d'une perspective environnementale dans l'anthropologie médicale. L'examen de chaque thème démontre que, malgré l“élan implacable” vers l'nterprétation étroite qui afflige certaines des sciences sociales au Canada depuis quelque temps, la génération sortante d'anthropologues a maintenu une approche relativement “holistique” envers leur domaine. Ils ont pu garder cette approche en faisant face aux dilemmes inhèrents à la recherche qualitative locale sur des questions nationales ou mondiales et en redèfinissant la portée de l'interprétation anthropologique. Quoique les thèmes développés relèvent surtout de l'anthropologie anglophone au Canada, notre introduction affirme que l'on peut déceler les mêmes thèmes dans l'anthropologie francophone. Anthropology in Canada is about to undergo an unprecedented turnover in department personnel and by way of review, this special issue presents articles on major themes in anthropology in Canada during the last decade. They include First Nations research, a foundational subject for anglophone anthropology in Canada; the changing face of ethnographic research, with Newfoundland as an example; work, globalization and local culture; some practical difficulties of research in the field of social justice; and issues inherent in creating an environmental perspective within medical anthropology. When each theme is examined it becomes apparent that in spite of a “relentless drive” toward narrowness of interpretation that has afflicted some social sciences in Canada, the departing generation of anthropologists has maintained a relatively open, “holistic” approach to their subject matter. They have done so by confronting dilemmas inherent in undertaking locale-based qualitative research on issues of national or global scale and redefining the scope of anthropological interpretation. While the subject matter developed here is confined to anglophone anthropology in Canada, this introduction argues that its counterpart can be found in francophone anthropology as well.     

Representing knowledge: instances of management information

Against the backdrop of discussions about the 'Information Society', the 'Informational Economy' and the role of IT in realizing organizational change we examine how representations of 'organizational knowledge' are constructed and used in work settings. We do this through the explication of ethnographic materials that detail the realization and use of Management Information (MI) in a major UK retail bank undergoing massive organizational change. We focus in particular on explicating how existing metric information was drawn upon to construct a representation of the work of the bank for those involved in managing that work. Systems designers have been increasingly interested in offering ways of conceptualizing the problem of 'knowledge' with a view to embedding these properties in systems. In the quest to develop representations of procedural knowledge to support work we argue that it is first necessary to understand how representations are actually created and used in work to support existing work practices.     

The Sexual Inhibition (SIS) and Sexual Excitation (SES) Scales: I. Measuring sexual inhibition and excitation proneness in men

This study involves the development and initial validation of a questionnaire measuring the propensity for sexual inhibition and excitation in men: the Sexual Inhibition Sexual Excitation Scales (SIS/SES). The underlying theoretical model postulates that sexual response and associated behavior depend on dual control mechanisms, involving excitatory and inhibitory neurophysiological systems. The scales and their discriminant and convergent validity and test-retest reliability are described. In a sample of 408 sexually functional men (mean age = 22.8 years), factor analyses identified three higher-level factors: two related to sexual inhibition and one to sexual excitation. Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analyses revealed that the factor structure provided an acceptable fit to the data obtained in a second (N = 459; mean age = 20.9 years) and third (N = 313; mean age = 46.2 years) sample of men, with similar distributions and relationships with other measures. Theoretical issues and areas for further research, including male sexual dysfunction and risk taking, are discussed.     

The Sexual Inhibition (SIS) and Sexual Excitation (SES) Scales: II. Predicting psychophysiological response pattens

This study evaluated the predictive value of a newly developed measure of the propensity for sexual inhibition and excitation; the Sexual Inhibition Sexual Excitation Scales (SIS/SES). Sexual, cardiovascular, and startle responses were measured in a group of 40 sexually functional men during the presentation of threatening and nonthreatening erotic films. Two levels of performance demand were created and two films were combined with a distraction task. Participants were assigned to high and low groups for each of the three SIS/SES scales. As predicted, men with high SES scores showed generally higher sexual responses. High and low SIS1 groups did not differ in their responses. Men with high and low SIS2 scores did not differ in their responses to nonthreatening stimuli; however, low SIS2 men showed greater genital response to the threatening stimuli. The findings provide support for the value of the SIS/SES scales in predicting sexual responses.     

Correlates of load carriage and obstacle course performance among women

To examine correlates of the speed at which female soldiers carrying loads could cover 3.2 km on foot and traverse an obstacle course, 12 volunteers (mean +/- SD: 25.3 +/- 6 years, 166 +/- 7 cm, 61.3 +/- 7 kg) were timed over 3.2 km while carrying loads of 14, 27, and 41 kg, and while traversing an obstacle course with the two lighter loads. Pearson correlations showed that absolute VO_[2 max] and 3.2 km run time without a load were the best predictors of 3.2 km load carriage time for all loads. Also, larger subjects with greater muscle mass were able to carry the heaviest load faster than smaller, less muscular subjects, likely because the 41 kg load represented a smaller percentage of the former's bodyweight. Maximum number of sit-ups and push-ups, composite score of the Army Physical Fitness Test as well as body height were positively correlated with the speed at which some course segments were traversed.     

Social Area Analysis in Comparative Perspective: Moscow in 1897 as a Preindustrial City

Shevky-Bell social area analysis was a postwar attempt to isolate the essential dimensions delineating intraurban subareas in modern communities. The premise of the present paper is that the Shevky-Bell model has not been given adequate study through comparative research. The purpose of the study is to test the usefulness of the Shevky-Bell model in an analysis of prerevolutionary Moscow, a major city with a preindustrial urban structure. The basic finding reported in this paper is that the rotated factors that emerge in an analysis of prerevolutionary Moscow resemble the Shevky-Bell model. However, the rotated factor matrix more specifically fits a deviant case found earlier by Van Arsdol et al. of Kansas City and of Schwirian and Matre of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, in which fertility appears more clearly as a dimension of social rank than of familism. The factors also tend to be complex, suggesting a less differentiated community system. These results suggest that an advanced stage of community development is a pre-condition of the Shevky-Bell model as it was originally formulated.