Trustworthiness in evaluation practice: an emphasis on the relational

As canons for trustworthiness developed explicitly in the discourse of qualitative inquiry, the emphasis was on procedural matters rather than fundamentally relational ones. A nod was made to the relational in such strategies as “member checks” but the issues of how the evaluator actually relates to participants and to the larger communities of practice and discourse—matters subsumed under moral principles and ethical standards—were often marginalized. This chapter posits that the first consideration in designing and conducting rigorous evaluation inquiry, and in critiquing the results of any research, should be the study's trustworthiness. Judging a study's trustworthiness, however, should focus on much more than procedural matters; it should also rely on moral principles and ethical standards which specifically address how we relate to an evaluation's participants. Central to these considerations are cross-cultural sensibilities about the nuanced meanings associated with any principles and standards. The chapter provides a theoretical framework for this position and offers two illustrative examples in the form of dialogues.     

Ordering competition: the interactional accomplishment of the sale of art and antiques at auction

Auctions provide an institutional solution to a social problem; they enable the legitimate pricing and exchange of goods where those goods are of uncertain value. In turn, auctions raise a number of social and organizational issues that are resolved within the interaction that arise in sales by auction. In this paper, we examine sales of fine art, antiques and objets d'art and explore the ways in which auctioneers mediate competition between buyers and establish a value for goods. In particular, we explore how bids are elicited, co-ordinated and revealed so as to rapidly escalate the price of goods in a transparent manner that enables the legitimate valuation and exchange of goods. In directing attention towards the significance of the social interaction, including talk, visual and material conduct, the paper contributes to the growing corpus of ethnographic studies of markets. It suggests that to understand the operation of markets and their outcomes, and to unpack issues of agency, trust and practice, we need to place the 'interaction order' at the heart of analytic agenda.     

The changing practice of eating: evidence from UK time diaries, 1975 and 2000

This paper examines some central themes about change in consumption behaviour through an empirical investigation of the practice of eating. It analyses patterns of food consumption in the UK using time diary data from 1975 and 2000. The practice of eating is decomposed into four component activities which are used to explore systematically the inter-relationships between social processes - such as commodification and temporal fragmentation - and ways of providing and consuming food. It charts the expansion of eating out, the degree to which it substitutes for other eating activities, and the implications of its development for social relations and the temporal organization of daily life. Analysis reveals that food consumption continues to be differentiated along established lines of social division, although the content of those divisions has changed and varies across components of the practice. Increasing commodification of the food chain is documented, but without appearing to have a corrosive impact on household organization or social relationships. While tendencies indicative of temporal fragmentation are revealed, counter-tendencies exist which suggest that the practice of eating is resilient to many forms of external pressure. Finally, the application of a practice-based analytical approach permits critical evaluation of theories of social transformation.     

20世纪20年代末京津地区外报的衰落评析

本文展现了20世纪20年代京津地区外文报纸从北洋军阀统治晚期到南京政府统一全国初期被层层挤压、无法立足的衰落过程,并对后期中国政府和中国人民打击外报的缘由、手段,以及效果进行深入分析。外报的衰落标志着中国民族报业逐步摆脱外国势力,进入一个新阶段。     

浅谈音乐表演专业课程合理设置的构想

随着现代化教育改革的不断深化,高等学校对音乐文化教育和音乐专业的课程设置都进行了改革和创新:本文在借鉴以往音乐专业人才培养模式的基础上,行了大胆的改革和创新:一是重视专业基础和技能的培养;二是增加实践环节,提高动手能力;三是提高文化素养,培养综合素质较高的复合型人才。     

The Media Abuse of Children. Jake's Progress from Demonic Icon to Restored Childhood Innocent

While scholarly analysis of child protection and the media has grown substantially during the 1990s (Aldridge, 1994; Franklin and Parton, 1991; Kitzinger and Skidmore, 1995), studies have ignored a crucial dimension which forms the focus for discussion here. We wish to suggest that media reporting of children and child abuse may itself constitute an abusive activity. Media presentations of children and childhood, since press coverage of the Bulger case in 1993, have assumed a distinctive and sinister guise which, we argue, fundamentally revises the previously held perception of children and childhood. We suggest that this new understanding of childhood is damaging to children and, because of the impact of such media presentations on the public mood and policy climate, harms their interests. The discussion is in three parts. First, newspaper reporting of the Bulger case is analysed to reveal how coverage challenged the idea of childhood as a period of innocence and replaced it with a perception of childhood as essentially ‘evil’. Second, the characterization of Jake, the central figure in Alan Bleasdale's recent television dramaJake's Progress, is analysed to serve as an illustrative exemplar of this new construction of childhood. Finally, we consider the possible messages conveyed by such presentations to perpetrators and victims of abuse.     

试析美国司法对外交案例的规避行为

在美国外交领域里,关于国会与总统间权力纷争的诉讼不断,法院却不愿涉足,往往采用政治问题原则、成熟性原则等加以规避。其原因在于司法部门尊从政治机构的惯例、固守权力分立的立国之本,以及对政治问题原则的盲从。然而这种规避行为却饱受质疑。随着司法部门的能动发展,这一状况势必有所改观。     

国际教育服务贸易:我国的对外贸易地位与对策

近年来国际教育服务贸易的发展呈现出了贸易额增长迅速、留学服务成为国际教育服务的主要提供方式、发达国家在国际教育服务贸易领域占据巨大优势和主导地位、高等教育日益国际化等特点。这对我国教育产业面临严峻的挑战,我国教育产业应正视挑战参与国际竞争。     

数控技术课程教学浅探

通过对当前机械制造业发展状况的分析,说明机械类专业开设数控技术课程教学的必要性。同时针对我院数控技术课程教学过程中存在的问题,提出新形势下提高数控技术课程教学质量的途径和方法。     

对我国银行间外汇市场的SCP范式分析

通过运用产业组织理论的SCP分析范式对我国的银行间外汇市场的市场结构、行为和绩效的特征进行了分析。在对我国现实外汇市场的集中度、参与者、交易量以及进入壁垒等基本因素进程讨论的基础上,强调我国的银行间外汇市场结构呈现出“买方垄断,卖方寡头”的总体特征。在这一结构下,银行间外汇市场内的银行的外汇经营行为是被动的行为,因而市场也是缺乏绩效的。这样的市场结构决定了人民币汇率在较长时期内缺乏弹性。