The shift toward private sector service delivery: Restructuring child welfare systems in the name of children

This article reviews the current condition of some of the worst child welfare systems in the country, focusing on several of the reforms these systems have adopted in order to meet compliance standards enforced by consent decrees and lawsuits. Section I covers the historical background of government intervention in social welfare systems and the funding of these systems. Section II profiles top media cases involving abused children, and addresses the implications of lawsuits and decrees. Section III discusses the implications of privatization, observing both the purported benefits and the disadvantages. Section IV introduces the concept of managed care.     

Status Attainment and Social Mobility

This paper discusses why and how the consideration of inter-individual genetic variation can enhance the explanatory power of sociological inquiries of status attainment and social stratification. We argue that accounting for genetic variation may help to address longstanding and in some cases overlooked causality problems in explaining the emergence of social inequalities—problems which may interfere with both implicit and explicit interpretations of a society as “open” or “closed,” as meritocratic or non-meritocratic. We discuss the basic methodological tenets of genetically informative research (Sect. 2) and provide empirical examples and theoretical conceptualizations on how genetic variation contributes to status attainment (Sect. 3). This is followed by a discussion of gene-environment interplay in relation to more abstract ideas about social mechanisms that generate inequality, touching on normative implications of these ideas as well as considerations from a social justice perspective (Sect. 4). Finally, we briefly review the potential benefits as well as pitfalls of incorporating genetic influences into sociological explanations of status attainment. As we will argue, understanding how social influences impinge on the individual and how genes influence our lives requires sophisticated research designs based on sound sociological theory and methodology (Sect. 5).     

Going back: ‘Stalking’, talking and researcher responsibilities in qualitative longitudinal research

This paper explores the process of going back in qualitative longitudinal research (QLR) to gather later accounts of unfolding personal experiences. The design of interview-based QLR is usually premised on collecting data, over-time, around an unfolding experience or event. This design facilitates the establishment of an on-going research relationship and ‘rapport’ and the accessing of fluid and time-sensitive accounts of individual experiences, leading to more nuanced understandings of temporal subjectivities. However in practice maintaining a sample in QL research, which may span a number of years, can be challenging and the process of going back, complicated. This paper reflects on issues and responsibilities which can arise when researchers try to access and go back to participants, especially where experiences once optimistically narrated and future-oriented have unfolded in unplanned and personally unwelcome ways. Using researcher experiences and the data from later phases of two UK based QLR studies on transition to first-time motherhood and first-time fatherhood, the practical steps of maintaining contact, reconnecting with participants and going back are documented. How does the passage of time and changes in participant’s lives alter research relationships, interpretations of data and researcher responsibilities?     

A mixed-methods investigation of successful aging among older women engaged in sports-based versus exercise-based leisure time physical activities

This mixed-methods study compares active older women in different physically based leisure activities and explores the difference in subjective ratings of successful aging and quantifiable predictors of success. A survey was administered to 256 women, 60–92 years of age, engaged in a sports- or exercise-based activity. Quantitative data were analyzed through ANOVA and multiple regression. Qualitative data (n = 79) was analyzed using the approach associated with means-end theory. While participants quantitatively appeared similar in terms of successful aging, qualitative interviews revealed differences in activity motivation. Women involved in sports highlighted social/psychological benefits, while those involved in exercise-based activities stressed fitness outcomes.     

Top United Nations Peacebuilders and Advocacy for Women, Peace, and Security

A strong correlation between the sex of United Nations (UN)peace operation managers and their advocacy for the role ofwomen in peacebuilding was found in an internet study carriedout in May 2008. Senior female UN managers involved in peaceprocesses are ten times more likely than male colleagues publiclyto address women's roles as peacebuilders, yet of the sixty-sixSpecial Representatives of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG),Deputy Special Representatives of the UN Secretary-General (DSRSG),and Special Envoys addressing peacebuilding who were listedon the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) web sitein May 2008, only six were women. In view of the large numbersof women who become refugees or are internally displaced dueto armed conflict, it is paramount that peace processes includethem at all levels and in all aspects on an equal footing withmen. Appointing more women to senior level positions in theUN is one way to achieve this aim.     

基于奇异值分解去势的非线性趋势序列单位根检验研究

 如何克服ADF与PP单位根检验法对非线性趋势平稳序列的伪检验,提高单位根检验的功效,是非平稳时间序列分析的重要问题。本文基于奇异值分解的思路,构造出检验非平稳时间序列单位根的SVD-RMA检验法,此方法将时间序列的趋势项与干扰项分离,然后用递归均值调整法对干扰项进行检验。仿真实验表明,SVD-RMA法对线性与非线性趋势、甚至结构突变过程的检验功效都非常好;对非线性趋势平稳的检验而言,SVD-RMA检验得到正确结论的可能性要远远好于ADF与PP检验。     

Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing of Vocalizations: A Systematic Replication

The current study replicated an enhanced stimulus-stimulus pairing (SSP) procedure used by Esch et al. (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 42: 42–225, 2009) for increasing vocalizations in children with autism. The enhanced SSP procedure consisted of pairing target vocalizations with high-preference items, interspersed target and nontarget trials, an observing response, and the presentation of the vocalizations in “motherese” speech. Results showed substantial increases in target vocalizations above baseline levels and above nontarget vocalizations for two of three participants.