Technical Uncertainty in Quantitative Policy Analysis — A Sulfur Air Pollution Example

Expert judgments expressed as subjective probability distributions provide an appropriate means of incorporating technical uncertainty in some quantitative policy studies. Judgments and distributions obtained from several experts allow one to explore the extent to which the conclusions reached in such a study depend on which expert one talks to. For the case of sulfur air pollution from coal-fired power plants, estimates of sulfur mass balance as a function of plume flight time are shown to vary little across the range of opinions of leading atmospheric scientists while estimates of possible health impacts are shown to vary widely across the range of opinions of leading scientists in air pollution health effects.     

审美现象新探——兼评关于审美现象的若干说法

审美现象不是自然现象而是文化现象,不是物质文化现象而是精神文化现象;审美现象是真与幻、虚与实、确定性与非确定性的统一;审美现象相关于主体而非主观的心绪、情感、感性观念,相关于客体也非客观的实体。审美的秘密可能隐藏于主体客体之间——存在于主体客体之间的关系之中,存在于两方面互动关系所生发的意义之中,表现于那可感受、可体味的意义、意蕴、意味之中,或者可以说就是那可感受、可体味的意义、意蕴、意味。     

多元视野中幸福理论及其对主观生活质量研究的现实意义

生活质量意义上的幸福研究代表了当代幸福研究的重要取向,生活质量包括主观生活质量和客观生活质量两个部分,与主观生活质量密切相关的是主观幸福感。研究一个国家人民的生活质量,会在不同程度上涉及到主观幸福感测量问题。主观生活质量测量力图对主观幸福感调查建立起科学而严格的标准,使得幸福测量具有稳定性、可信性和有效性。     

The importance of social circumstances for Swedish women's subjective wellbeing

The importance of social circumstances for middle-age women's general subjective wellbeing (SWB) was investigated in a representative sample of Swedish women, aged 43 (N = 369). The results showed non-existent to moderate relationships between a number of social circumstances variables and general SWB. The strongest relationship was found between marital status and global life satisfaction. Being off work because of illness and household income were the strongest predictors of negative affect. A moderate relationship was found between a cumulated social disadvantage index and SWB, indicating that extreme differences in this index were related to fairly large differences in SWB. In person-oriented analyses, social circumstances were compared between women with a typical profile of generalised low SWB and women with a typical profile of generalised above-average SWB. The results indicated stronger relationships between SWB and the cumulative disadvantage index and unemployment than was the case in the variable-oriented analyses. When personality factors were controlled for, they eliminated nearly all relationships between the social circumstances variables and SWB, except for those between global life satisfaction and marital status or unemployment.     

The Divergent Meanings of Life Satisfaction: Item Response Modeling of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in Greenland and Norway

Cultural differences in response to the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) items is investigated. Data were fit to a mixed Rasch model in order to identify latent classes of participants in a combined sample of Norwegians (N = 461) and Greenlanders (N = 180). Initial analyses showed no mean difference in life satisfaction between the two subsamples. After transforming the ordinal raw scores into interval scales while simultaneously controlling for response bias, different results appeared. First, approximately 80% of the participants in the Greenlandic subsample fit a latent class with a large degree of random responding to the SWLS. Second, relative to the Norwegians, more Greenlanders were using extreme categories in responding to the SWLS. After statistically controlling for this tendency, Norwegians were in general more satisfied with their lives than Greenlanders. Third, Greenlanders who belonged to one specific latent class were more satisfied than their Norwegian counterparts. A salient feature of this class was the relative unwillingness of respondents to change the circumstances of their lives if they were given such an opportunity. The above results are a reminder of the care that must be used in analyzing survey data across cultures. The analytical strategy applied in the article offers an improved approach to handling such data.     

Dimensions Of Well-Being And Their Measurement: The Spf-Il Scale

What are the dimensions of well-being? That is, what universal goals need to be realized by individuals in order to enhance their well-being? Social production function (SPF) theory asserts that the universal goals affection, behavioral confirmation, status, comfort and stimulation are the relevant dimensions of subjective well-being. Realization of these substantive goals and the perspective on opportunities to realize these goals in the future contributes to the affective and cognitive component of well-being. The theoretical elaboration of this theory has been published elsewhere. This paper provides a measurement instrument for the dimensions of well-being. To measure levels of affection, behavioral confirmation, status, comfort and stimulation and empirically validate the dimensions of well-being, the SPF-IL scale was developed. This paper presents findings from a pilot study (n=145), the main study (n=1094), a test–retest examination (n=163), and a validation study (n=725). The measurement model was tested by means of structural equation modeling. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the dimensional structure of well-being indicating construct validity. The overall fit of the model was sufficient, in spite of the somewhat problematic measurement of status, and the test–retest study showed an acceptable level of stability. As for the content validity of the dimensions and their measurement, various sub-studies showed that the SPF-IL scale is a valid instrument, doing at least as well as popular measures of overall well-being but also specifying its dimensions.     

Attitudes Toward Managing Hazardous Waste: What Should Be Cleaned Up and Who Should Pay for It?

Hazardous waste policy in the United States uses a liability-based approach, including strict, retroactive, and joint and several liability. To assess attitudes toward these basic principles of liability, and toward priorities for clean-up of wastes, a questionnaire was mailed to legislators, judges, executives of oil and chemical companies, environmentalists, and economists. The questionnaire consisted of abstract, simplified cases, which contrasted basic principles rather than dealing with real-world scenarios. Subjects were asked how they would allocate clean-up costs between companies and government as a function of such factors as adherence to standards, adoption of best available technology (BAT), and influence of penalties on future behavior. Most subjects felt that, if the company followed government standards or used the best available technology (BAT), it should pay for only a portion of the clean-up cost, with the government paying the rest. In general, responses did not support the principles underlying current law–strict, retroactive, and joint-and-several liability. Most subjects were more interested in polluters paying for damages than in deterrence or future benefit–even to the extent that they would have "harmless" waste sites cleaned up. A bias was found toward complete clean-up of some sites, or "zero risk." Different groups of subjects gave similar answers, although more committed environmentalists were more willing to make companies pay and to clean up waste regardless of the cost.     

关于大学生思想政治教育主体契合的思考

学习领会中共中央颁发的《关于进一步加强和改进大学生思想政治教育的意见》精神,坚持真理尺度和价值尺度相统一即美的尺度,着眼于大学生思想政治教育的主体契合问题,得出如下几点思考:一是必须把理想信念教育同大学生成长、成就、成功的内在需求契合;二是必须把爱国主义教育同大学生自尊、自强、自立的内在需求契合;三是必须把基本道德规范教育同大学生社会化、公民化、职业化的内在需求契合;四是必须把完整素质教育同大学生铸人、铸身、铸才的内在需求契合。     

基于信息技术的高职教师评价专家体系研究

教师评价系统不仅要对已经完成的工作进行评价,更要为学校未来发展提供有效的决策支持.专家、同行、在校生、毕业生及其它客观因素都是必须具备的评价因素.合理分配各因素的权重、详实客观地采集信息、科学地推理判断是保证评价信息全面真实的关键.利用现代信息技术的统计分析和渗透功能,使用“一专三化法”建立教师评价专家系统,有效地提高了教师评价的客观性,全面真实反映出教师的当前工作状态,同时为教师未来发展提供了有效的决策支持.     

农民工对教育价值的认知及影响因素分析

教育关系着国计民生,不同社会群体对于教育价值的感知存有差异。基于2012年遍及10省“外出务工人员问卷调查”的数据资料,尝试分析农民工群体对教育价值的认知及影响因素。研究发现：在农民工看来,教育依然是改变其生存境遇的主要期待途径;但不同境遇和心态的农民工在认知方面存在差异,生活境遇低、命运观念重、求职困难、工作心态积极的农民工对教育的期望较高;不同年龄的农民工会有不同判断,年纪较轻的农民工更易于对教育价值产生质疑。农民工群体因为职业的转变而带来的生活、工作空间的变化,使得他们在教育价值判断上产生了一些新的认知特点。