A response to paper "systems thinking" by D. Cabrera et al.: additional thoughts on systems thinking

The paper by Cabrera, Colosi, and Lobdell presents a valuable explanation of ST and its relationship to evaluation. Given the complexity of the processes addressed by evaluators, it seems evident that ST is a valuable perspective and tool for evaluators as it facilitates the perception, analysis, and communication of complex issues and topics. It is my interpretation that the practice of evaluation may be becoming increasingly oriented to the future. I want to thank the authors for sharing their insights regarding ST and evaluation. I hope newcomers to ST find my comments useful.     

Fiscal externalities of becoming a parent

Theoretical and empirical results suggest that there are externalities to childbearing, but those results usually assume that these externalities accrue uniformly within a homogeneous population. We advance this argument by developing separate estimates of the fiscal externalities associated with parents—those who devote time or material resources to minor children—and nonparents. Our analysis uses data from the US Panel Study of income Dynamics on the age profiles of taxes paid and publicly funded benefits consumed by parents and nonparents, together with a previously developed intertemporal economic-demographic accounting model. The accounting framework takes into account the net fiscal impacts of future generations as well as the present population. Our findings indicate that, with a 3 percent discount rate, parents produce a substantial net fiscal externality, about $217,000 in 2009 dollars. This is equivalent to a lifetime annuity of nearly $8,100 per year beginning at age 18. The results are sensitive to both the discount rate used and the proportion of parents within the cohort.     

ON EXTENSIONS OF PROBABILISTIC PROFIT BUDGETS

Previous work on probabilistic profit budgets has dealt with the construction of probability intervals for the items in the planning and control statements (e.g., direct costs, marginal contributions, profits, etc.). This paper expands that work by demonstrating the potential benefits for managerial accounting in constructing confidence limits for the mean, the standard deviation, and the coefficient of variation. The adequacy of the confidence interval for any account balance depends on the credibility of the sample standard deviation, s, as an estimate of the population standard deviation, σ. The confidence interval of the standard deviation assesses, in a sense, the precision of the point estimate, s. Furthermore, it takes on a meaning similar to risk measures discussed in the finance literature. Given confidence intervals for the mean and standard deviation, one can construct corresponding bands for the coefficient of variation. These bands give insight into the goodness of the accounting system and the stability of the budgetary model.     

DECISION MAKING WITH FUZZY SETS

When goals and constraints are stated imprecisely, decision problems grow in importance, particularly in the investigation of complex and social systems. In this paper the methodology of Zadeh's fuzzy set theory is summarized and applied to fuzzy decision making.     

THE SIGNIFICANCE AND INTERPRETATION OF CANONICAL ANALYSIS

With the increasing complexities involved in analyzing marketing problems, it is often necessary to use complex multivariate-statistical techniques. Although canonical analysis in many respects is similar to other multivariate techniques, it is not as easy to interpret the results as in the case of the more familiar techniques of multiple regression and discriminant analysis. This article provides insights into the problems which arise in interpreting the results of canonical analysis. Specifically, it deals with the two tests of significance and the three analytical phases–canonical correlation, extracted variance, and redundancy.     

Workaholism in organizations: concepts,results and future research directions

This review examines the literature on workaholism in organizations. Although the topic of workaholism has received considerable attention in the popular press, relatively little research has been devoted to increasing our understanding of it. Workaholism is acknowledged to be a stable individual characteristic, though how it is distinguished from other characteristics is often unclear. The review addresses the following areas: types of workaholics, definitions of workaholism, measures of workaholism, the prevalence of workaholism, validating job behaviors, antecedents of workaholism, work outcome consequences, health consequences, extra-work satisfactions and family functioning, evaluating workaholism components, possible gender differences, reducing workaholism and future research directions. Research programs begun by Robinson and his colleagues and by Spence and Robbins, though having different emphases, serve as useful starting points for future research efforts.     

The racial canons of American sociology: Identity across the lifespan as biracial alternative

The utilization of racial canons in American sociology has dictated traditional models of identity. Biracial Americans are consistently identified based upon the presumed race category of their African heritage. The result is that biracial Americans are ambiguous pertaining to racial identity without consideration of their lifespan experience, i.e.: social, cultural, and familial. To enable a more applicable model of identity will require that sociologists terminale the use of racial canons as a dictate of identity. Accordingly, development across the lifespan is heretofore both commensurate with biracial identity and the unique biracial experience. He has published numerous articles on the subject of race identity issues and is currently working on a book Beyond Black and White: Racism Among People of Color.     

Supporting Adoptive Parents: A Study on Personal Self-Care

This study explored the personal self-care practices of adoptive parents (N?=?229) in one southeastern state. Overall, findings indicate that adoptive parents only engage in moderate modest self-care practices. Significant differences in self-care practices were detected by health status (self-report) and current financial status. In summary, the healthier one perceived themselves to be and the more financially stable they were, the more they tended to engage in self-care practices. Data suggest the need for entities involved with potential and/or adoptive parents need to explicitly engage adoptive parents in education about self-care and training in support of self-care practices. As well, data indicate the need for reframing self-care from an ancillary activity to an integrated tool to assuage the challenges facing adoptive parents.     

‘What would it be reasonable for the kid to be called?’ – negotiating the racialised essentialism of names

In this article I assert that the importance of names within the process of racialisation has been under-explored in the UK context. I consider data from seven qualitative interviews, which suggest that names are racialised in the UK and that this racialisation can affect the naming choices of multiracial/ethnic parents. My participants indicated that, when choosing children’s forenames and surnames, there are juxtaposing concerns: a fear of potential discrimination faced by children on the basis of them bearing a ‘foreign’ name, and a desire to reflect the children’s multiracial and/or ethnic heritage. I describe and discuss two consequential strategies that my participants suggested: to give the child a white British name in an attempt to help them pass as white British, or to oppose the fears of racism/discrimination and give them a name that displays their Otherness. I discuss these ideas in relation to racial passing and whiteness literature.     

The complexion connection: Ideal light skin as vehicle of adoption process discrimination vis-à-vis social work practitioners

As it pertains to the adoption process, social work practice is in fact not a color-blind profession. The incidence of skin color discrimination by practitioners who place children is a consequence of the somatic norm image rooted in the mulatto hypothesis. Subsequently, light-skinned children are idealized at the expense of their dark-skinned counterparts as both are objectified. Discrepancies relative to skin color in the adoption process are a formidable challenge to investigate, given the limited available social work literature. While skin color as a demographic category may exist in the peer-reviewed literature, it is conspicuously absent from the databases which archive such literature. What is more, skin color discrimination is a breach of the National Association of Social Workers code of ethics. The elimination of adoption process discrimination will require macrostrategies grounded in policy. Said strategies for ethical adoptions couched in macropolicy must be fashioned from an evidence-based practice model.