FAMILY THERAPY AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH*

Qualitative research is becoming accepted by the scientific community as a viable way to explore and understand socialscience phenomena. The purpose of this paper is to describe the essential features of the qualitative research paradigm and to encourage further development of that paradigm in the field of family therapy. First, typical characteristics of qualitative research designs are delineated; these characteristics are illustrated with two extended examples from the qualitative research literature in the field of education. Next, possible applications of the qualitative paradigm to research issues in the field of family therapy are discussed. Finally, potential pitfalls that could inhibit the development of qualitative family therapy research are examined. It is hoped that this paper will serve as a stimulus for the development of qualititative research in the field of family therapy.     

MATRIX ANALYSIS OF THE CASH FLOWS AND RESERVES OF A LIFE OFFICE

Matrix projection methods have been used by demographers to prove a number of powerful general theorems concerning population growth and development. The methods have also been applied to the study of graded social systems and to problems of manpower planning. The policy-holders of a life office and the members of a superannuation fund belong to graded systems with age as the important hierarchical variable. The abovementioned methods can therefore be used to study the growth and development of the membership of these institutions.
Recent articles by Sherris (1977), and Pollard and Sherris (1979a, 1979b) have shown that matrix analysis is also very useful for projecting the cash flows and reserves of life assurance companies and superannuation funds.
In this paper the use of these methods is illustrated by the projection of the reserves of a life office writing whole-life assurance contracts. We find that as the fund matures, it grows exponentially.     

AN ANALYSIS OF CLASSICAL AND TIE-BREAKER TENNIS

Expressions for the probability that a player wins a game, set or match of classical or tie-breaker tennis are obtained. Also, expressions for the distribution, the mean and the variance of the number of points in a game, set or match of classical or tie-breaker tennis are obtained. These results explain the long matches often previously observed in classical tennis between two players each with very effective serves on fast grass-court surfaces. The methodology used to derive these expressions could be used to obtain corresponding expressions for other "nested-type" scoring systems. For example, tennis is 3-nested (game, set, match) whereas squash is only 2-nested (game, match).     

Life after retirement. Interview by Barbara J. Linney

Are you thinking about retirement? Here are interviews with four physician executives who have made the transition. Some are recently retired, while others have been retired for many years. The good news is that all of them are productive and exploring interests and hobbies that their careers had taken precedence over. All of them were asked the following: (1) How have you felt about retirement? (2) What are some interesting things you've done? (3) What advice would you give to others who are planning for it?     

Skills needed by physician CEOs. Interview by Barbara J. Linney

How do you transition from physician executive to physician CEO? Three physician CEOs were interviewed to explore the skills they needed to land in the top position. They share their views on what it takes to be a successful CEO. They describe the skills that they needed when they moved into the CEO role and how they acquired them. Some of the qualities it takes to be a CEO include the ability to: Articulate your values; use your people skills; describe a vision; solve problems; listen; walk around; and use analytical skills.     

Methods for Measuring Mechanisms of Contention

A substantial intellectual movement has been growing in the social sciences around the adoption of mechanism- and process-based explanations as complements to variable-based explanations, or even as substitutes for them. But once we have recognized the validity and dignity of studying mechanisms and processes, what is the next step? Recently, both political scientists’ and sociologists’ discussions have begun to turn away from correlation to mechanism-based approaches to causation. But there is still a widespread assumption that mechanisms are unobservable. We maintain that ways can be developed to observe the presence or absence of mechanisms either directly or indirectly. In this paper, by way of example, we put forward four methods—two direct and two indirect—for measuring mechanisms of contention.     

A Systems Approach to the Policy‐Level Risk Assessment of Exotic Animal Diseases: Network Model and Application to Classical Swine Fever

Exotic animal diseases (EADs) are characterized by their capacity to spread global distances, causing impacts on animal health and welfare with significant economic consequences. We offer a critique of current import risk analysis approaches employed in the EAD field, focusing on their capacity to assess complex systems at a policy level. To address the shortcomings identified, we propose a novel method providing a systematic analysis of the likelihood of a disease incursion, developed by reference to the multibarrier system employed for the United Kingdom. We apply the network model to a policy‐level risk assessment of classical swine fever (CSF), a notifiable animal disease caused by the CSF virus. In doing so, we document and discuss a sequence of analyses that describe system vulnerabilities and reveal the critical control points (CCPs) for intervention, reducing the likelihood of U.K. pig herds being exposed to the CSF virus.     

Book reviews

The US campaign for ‘pure food’ from the 1880s through 1906 featured a diverse coalition of groups with quite different ways of defining the problem, identifying the relevant actors, and balancing political and consumerist tactics. This paper examines how these differences in framing, rather than undermining cooperation or impeding success, helped to broaden the coalition for pure food and to win passage of the 1906 Food and Drug Act. It pays particular attention to the ways in which women's groups acted as frame brokers, translating pure food issues into a maternalist language and, in so doing, contributing both new support and new tactics to the campaign. The case study is used to address more general issues in the relationship between framing and (1) coalition-building and (2) tactical repertoires.