Applying Single-Case Evaluation in Social Work

Summary This article reports on a research project involving the useof single-case designs on an agency-wide basis within KirkleesMetropolitan Education Social Work Service. Following a programmeof training, 21 social workers (69 per cent of the service)applied the methodology in 83 cases. The extent of practitionerinvolvement in this project prompted Bruce Thyer (Professorat the University of Georgia, USA and editor of Research onSocial Work Practice and author of Thyer, 1993) to state ina letter to the authors, ‘Please allow me to offer mycongratulations on a most valuable project. To my knowledge,this is the largest agency-based study of this type which hasever been conducted. Your agency social workers are especiallyto be commended for their implementation of single-case designswith real life clients and families’ (6 May 1994). Theproject's strategy was to concentrate on the prerequisites ofsingle-case methodology which include specifying target problemsand selecting an appropriate measure to monitor progress. Thetype of single-case design used was determined by the courseof natural practice, hence indicating the flexible nature andviability of this methodology in the evaluation of social workpractice. The use of single-case designs encouraged a systematicapproach in the definition of target problems, identificationof goals, selection of intervention procedures and in monitoringoutcomes. The practitioners found that single-case designs enabledcontinuous assessment of outcome data by both the clients andthe practitioners, providing a model of accountability and collaborativeworking. A paper based on this article was presented by MansoorKazi at the ADSS Research Group Conference, Stafford, 17–18November 1994.     

Institutionalized Ambivalence: Social Work and the Children and Young Persons Act 1969

Summary Partly through political ambivalence, partly through internalcontradictions, the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 hasfailed to reconceptualize the relationship between justice andwelfare in the juvenile court. The social work role is now characterizedby the potential for role conflict and inappropriate exerciseof discretion. Nevertheless, it is argued that the Act raisesissues which must be addressed and the capacity of the ‘backto justice’ movement to do so is critically assessed.     

EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ON ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND OPERATIONS

To date, it is unclear as to how Environmental Management Systems (EMS) are implemented and what effects these systems have on other environmental and operational practices. This study reports empirical insights to EMS practices based on the largest EMS survey of manufacturing firms in the United States. The objective of the study is to test for a relationship between environmental management systems and perceived operations performance while considering direct and indirect effects of various environmental practices. The results of this study are supported by several field studies and provide a new source of information regarding EMS theory development. The results also indicate a positive relationship between an EMS, the environmental practices a firm engages, and operations performance measures.     

A CLEAR AND PRESENT MINORITY: HETEROGENEITY IN THE SOURCE OF ENDOWMENTS AND THE PROVISION OF PUBLIC GOODS

We conduct public goods experiments in which participant groups are heterogeneous in regards to the source of their endowments. We find that this dimension of heterogeneity significantly reduces contributions to the public good, yielding strong support for the Nash prediction of minimal contributions. These minimal contributions arise in environments in which there exists a clear minority in terms of source of endowments. We discuss these results in light of current research on the influence of heterogeneous populations on public goods provision and redistributive policies. (JEL C9, D63, H4, J15)     

Intrinsically Dynamic Multistate Models

Multistate life table models, which follow persons through more than one living state, have found increasing use in demographic analyses. Multistate stable populations, however, are infrequently used because the constant rate assumption is quite strong and such populations can take centuries to approach stability. Dynamic models, that is models where the rates can change over time, are examined to derive a new solution for the size and composition of a multistate population in terms of the sequence of underlying population projection matrices (PPMs). Constraints on the subordinate eigenvalues and the subordinate eigenvectors of the time-varying PPMs produce a model population that grows according to the dominant eigenvalues of each time-specific PPM and has a state composition that depends only on the most recent PPM. The two living state model is examined in detail, relationships between the PPM elements and the size and composition of the model are explored, and two illustrative applications of the model are presented.     

蒙古尔部族的组织

本文介绍了蒙古尔部族的组成、形成和发展,并对其族长、土司的特点和承继作了详尽的描述。本文介绍了蒙古尔部族的组成、形成和发展,并对其族长、土司的特点和承继作了详尽的描述。     

蒙古尔部族的组织(续二)

本文对蒙古尔部族的组成、形成和发展作了介绍,其中对族长、土司的特点和承继作了详尽的描述。