What's wrong with sociology? Its public image

In response to editor Stephen Cole's question—"What's wrong with sociology?"—the answer is nothing that cannot be overcome by clearer communications and better public relations. The problem is that the field is not held in high esteem by college administrators, legislators, and the public. Many see us as rebels of the 1960s, political liberals, and impractical thinkers with a penchant for jargon. Even our research is derided by some as a waste of money. The solution consists of strategies for overcoming our poor public image. Seven strategies for doing so are discussed: (1) Write clearly. (2) Write for a mass audience. (3) Seek board positions. (4) Strengthen our identity. (5) Teach sociology in high school. (6) Develop academic partnerships. (7) Emphasize outcomes: increase in tolerance and research skills.     

Any complete preference structure without circuit admits an interval representation

This article proves that all complete preference structures where the strict preference relation (P) has no circuit admit a representation by intervals of the real line; the rule for deciding whether an interval is indifferent or preferred to another is less straightforward than for interval orders: strict preference is indeed compatible with a certain degree of overlapping of intervals, the allowed degree being specified by means of a so-called tolerance function.     

Three Object Relations Models of Couple Treatment

This article describes three different approaches to the treatment of couples, all based on different versions of object relations theories. Object relations as a term has various meanings embodying different theoretical assumptions. It is used differentially to highlight certain aspects of clinical phenomena, to connote certain developmental paradigms, and to signal the importance of real, interactional aspects of human behavior. The three therapeutic approaches to work with couples illustrate some of the ways that the greater conceptual complexity of object relations theories affects how love is explained, couple conflicts defined, and what makes for change in couples treatment. Understanding the basic assumptions of a given theory will enable us to increase our informed consent to the use of theory in our practices.     

Three pseudo-paradoxes in ‘quantum’ decision theory: Apparent effects of observation on probability and utility

In quantum domains, the measurement (or observation) of one of a pair of complementary variables introduces an unavoidable uncertainty in the value of that variable's complement. Such uncertainties are negligible in Newtonian worlds, where observations can be made without appreciably disturbing the observed system. Hence, one would not expect that an observation of a non-quantum probabilistic outcome could affect a probability distribution over subsequently possible states, in a way that would conflict with classical probability calculations. This paper examines three problems in which observations appear to affect the probabilities and expected utilities of subsequent outcomes, in ways which may appear paradoxical. Deeper analysis of these problems reveals that the anomalies arise, not from paradox, but rather from faulty inferences drawn from the observations themselves. Thus the notion of quantum decision theory is disparaged.     

网络时代农产品质量安全事件风险放大机制研究——基于价值累加理论的扎根分析

随着互联网的飞速发展,农产品质量安全事件借助网络媒体持续关联与聚合、发酵与扩散,极大地影响着公众的情感和态度,易引发集体非理性恐慌,网络时代信息扩散和迭代呈现全新特征和趋势,故加强农产品质量安全事件风险放大机制研究具有重要意义。基于斯梅尔塞的价值累加理论,结合“土坑酸菜”事件,利用Python技术获取媒体原始资料,对资料进行扎根编码分析,构建农产品质量安全事件风险放大机制模型。根据编码结果识别出农产品质量安全事件风险放大六大主范畴,包括结构性诱因、结构性紧张、一般化信念、(有效的)组织动员、社会控制、风险放大,将主范畴内容纳入价值累加理论六大因素中,分析表明农产品质量安全事件风险放大是以突发事件为分界点,分为前期蓄势、中期造势、紧急处理三个阶段,前期蓄势和中期造势阶段通过多轮循环相互反馈影响,最终放大农产品质量安全事件风险。在整个风险扩散过程中,网络是农产品质量安全事件风险的“社会放大站”,其加速了信息传播,强化了公众风险感知。本研究运用价值累加理论、基于宏观和微观整合层面,细化探究了网络时代农产品质量安全事件风险放大的完整过程机制,进一步完善了风险放大SARF研究框架,为相关研究做了有益补充。     

个人生物识别信息的公益诉讼保护路径优化

生物识别信息作为敏感的个人信息,深度体现个人的生理和行为特征。数字时代下,个人信息保护与经济价值产出之间产生对立,同时个人信息权益逐渐由个体私益向社会公益交织演变,构建优化多维的公益诉讼保护路径、维护个人基本权利符合发展要义。坚持行政公益诉讼为主,发挥行政机关守护社会公共利益的第一顺位作用,民事公益诉讼为辅,拓宽多元主体参与守护公共利益通道,创新刑事附带民事诉讼,发挥传统检察优势力量与新时期救济手段相结合,完善公益诉讼救济内涵路径、增设惩罚性规则等体制机制,符合我国司法信息保护能动治理之路。     

以公共政策为导向的户外广告规划研究——《深圳市户外广告设置指引》的探索

为了提升城市户外广告环境品质,改进规划工作的不足,提出以公共政策为导向的户外广告规划研究方法。在《深圳市户外广告设置指引》的编制实践中,通过多视角的目标建构、"规范"加"规划"的导控策略以及"手册式"的成果表达手段,取得了良好的实践效果。因此提出:为了提高户外广告规划成果的可操作性,增强实施实效性,必须正确认识户外广告的双重属性,将规划工作从传统的技术导向转变为以公共政策导向,做到导控中的因势"利导"与"力导"。     

A global meaning of supply chain social sustainability

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to help reduce tensions in supply chain social sustainability (SCSS) decisions by providing a common global, contextual definition of social sustainability. This exploratory study utilised an inductive structured interview method to capture SCSS concept meanings. Those interviewed are from, have lived, and worked in developed economies, emerging economies and the base of the pyramid (BOP) economies. The results present a new global baseline definition of SCSS to inform theory and practice by finding that SCSS meanings differ not only between the different levels of economic development, but also within the levels as well. Culture, community and whether basic human needs are met all weigh into perspectives of what this concept is and should entail; a broad, contingent definition is most appropriate moving forward for sustainability planning and execution. Further research with stakeholders in more countries and communities is needed to validate our proposal.     

Reconciliation with the Utility of Chance by Elaborated Outcomes Destroys the Axiomatic Basis of Expected Utility Theory

Expected utility theory does not directly deal with the utility of chance. It has been suggested in the literature (Samuelson, 1952, Markowitz, 1959) that this can be remedied by an approach which explicitly models the emotional consequences which give rise to the utility of chance. We refer to this as the elaborated outcomes approach. It is argued that the elaborated outcomes approach destroys the possibility of deriving a representation theorem based on the usual axioms of expected utility theory. This is shown with the help of an example due to Markowitz. It turns out that the space of conceivable lotteries over elaborated outcomes is too narrow to permit the application of the axioms. Moreover it is shown that a representation theorem does not hold for the example.     

欠发达地区政府行为公共性弱化探析

公共性是政府的根本属性,它决定了政府必须将公共利益作为政府行为的首要原则,确保公共利益得到切实维护和实现。然而,由于各种主客观原因,目前欠发达地区政府行为表现出了利益化、法外化、低效化的不良特征,导致政府行为公共性弱化。本文讨论了欠发达地区政府行为公共性弱化的现实原因,并提出了规避欠发达地区政府行为公共性弱化的路径选择。