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Applied research with co-researchers, new collaborations with the researched target group
Max Axel Huber & Simona Karbouniaris
The participation of co-researchers, people who are part of the researched target group, is becoming more common. This article wants to contribute to the ongoing debate around this subject. Based on three recent experiences with the employment of co-researchers, this article explores the characteristics of co-researchers and the intended collaboration with them. Some lessons learned for further development are discussed, focusing on the purpose, limitations and facilitation of the co-researchers.

An article on how the Flemish government has used the new legislation to found its own international cultural policy and if its aims were solely cultural, or mixed with political and/or economic gains. Up till now cultural policies have been mainly policies of subvention and not enough autonomous, since political and economical aims were found too important. Regarding autonomy, the results have not been brilliant; international subventions, regulated by external factors, have been mainly of a political and economical nature, which diminishes the structural practices, leaving a tight budget for an autonomous, authentic policy. However, compared with Holland and the Walloon provinces, the results seem better. The functionality in Walloon remains highly influenced by international merchandising goals, and Holland has accepted the existing and hard to avoid co-relation with other domains, but their idea of an autonomous policy seems rather individualistic. As regards the EU: its nature is too economical to make for a successful autonomy. Future aims seem worthwhile however in a cooperation of a Dutch language union, an international cooperation thus, between the Netherlands and Flemish cultural strategies. It is a costly business, but promoting Dutch language contributions to the international scene provide some good basics for an internationalized policy, to which the Flemish-Dutch Cultural Policy Committee (Commissie Cultureel Verdrag Vlaanderen-Nederland) has given its approval. References. O. van Zijl

Explicating yields of co-creation
For the purpose of applied research in and quality improvement of co-creation processes, we present an approach by which the yields of co-creation are made explicit. Firstly, participants reflect individually on perceived yields, supported by key questions and competency-goal reflection matrices. Subsequently these reflections bring focus to a joint dialogue and agreements related to co-creation efficacy. Both individual reflections as well as (summaries of) the joint dialogue can be used both as research data for the study of specific partnerships and for cross-case comparisons. The proposed approach fits a pragmatic research paradigm and contributes to both ecological and catalytic validity. We clarify our approach, illustrate it with practical examples, and reflect on the usability.

Visualizing social networks using qualitative data
Visualizing social networks using qualitative data
Studying co-offending and group crime has contributed to our understanding of crime. Co-offending and group crime are studied through the analyses of social ties between offenders. Qualitative information on social ties is needed to get more insight in the ways offenders organize crime together. This contribution shows how sociograms of a criminal network can be constructed using qualitative information on social ties derived from court rulings and two journalistic books. Strengths and limitations are discussed and it is argued that a sociogram is a valuable instrument in the toolbox of a (qualitative) social science researcher interested in studying social ties.

Participatory Action Research on and with experiential expertise
Some of the principles of participatory action research raise questions and concerns when conducting PAR. In this article we reflect on three of these principles: cyclical change and learning, co-ownership of the research and generalizability of results. Our own PAR research on the introduction of experiential expertise in mental health practice forms the case for the reflections. We conclude that PAR asks for flexibility, good observation skills for things that arise and courage to use ways other than the usual ways to analyze or present results.

A study of the relation between the nature of municipal elections in Belgium & the degree of Ur'ization of municipalities. 5 categories of electoral patterns are discerned: elections without competition; totally local; predominantly local; mixed; predominantly nat'l. Operationalizations of Ur'ization in Belgium from previous res are used. A positive r is found between growing Ur'ization & a shift from local to predominantly nat'l electoral pattern. This does not mean that the predominantly nat'l electoral pattern is found exclusively in the highest category of Ur'ization, nor that the exclusively local electoral figure & elections without competition occur only in Ru regions. But it is a fact that the gravity center of the more nat'l electoral patterns lies in the Ur'ized municipalities & towns, whereas the gravity center of local electoral patterns lies in Ru municipalities. Findings support the hyp of the "tenuous zone," formulated by S. Groenman (see SA A1165). 2 Graphs, 1 Table. Modified HA.

State formation is defined as the growth of power resources of the state apparatus, the growth of state autonomy, & the growth of societal regulations, sanctioned by state power resources. The relationship between state formation & economic development is investigated, using the method of historical case study. It is hypothesized that growing state regulation is to be expected in periods of acute labor shortage & economic growth. It is found that "houses of correction" were founded in times of overwhelming labor surplus & mass unemployment. The reasons for the foundations of these institutions, however, are not seen as economic, but social: they were a means to fight the social & political consequences of mass unemployment, eg, poverty, crime, & political rebellion. It is concluded that state formation can be found in times of economic prosperity as well as in times of depression, when the depression has severe political or social consequences. It is the result of social & political conflicts possibly due to economic development. Modified HA.

From 1980 to 1982 there were many conflicts between the youth movement & the authorities in Zurich, Switzerland. A study by H. Kriesi (Die Zuricher Bewegung. Bilder, Interaktionen, Zusammenhange [The Zurich Movement: Representations, Interactions, Correlations], Campus Verlag: Frankfurt am Main, 1984) revealed three different social images held by authorities, members of the youth movement, & others concerned. Here, a replication of this study is described in which Q-sort data were collected in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where there is a youth movement of squatters, & the social situation is comparable to that of Zurich in some respects. Rs, who included squatters, local authorities, & others, were found to hold the same social images as found in Zurich, although squatters in Amsterdam do not seem to isolate themselves as much as in Zurich, & the authorities seem to tolerate more. A subsequent exploratory factor analysis of the Q-sort data supports the findings. 4 Tables, 3 Figures, 7 References. Modified HA

Four articles on political participation of political scientists, a matter that is not as simple as it seems. The article starts with an introduction, stating that political sciences cover a much larger field than party politics, and that one of the objects of a political scientist is the division between opinions and engagement on the one hand, and scientific analysis on the other. The articles are 1) on the difference between affiliation to a political party and governmental responsibilities, against a background of deontological argumentation (Van Praag); 2) the same subject as before, but within a pragmatic context (Van Aelst); 3) practical political expertise as enrichment for education and research (Koole); 4) neutrality, objectivity and engagement in co-habitation of political science and party politics (Bake). References. O. van Zijl

An assessment of Belgian foreign policies promulgated since the summer of 1999 by the current government of prime minister Guy Verhofstadt is presented. The following issues, identified as the most important in the 1999-2002 period, are discussed: (1) the handling of the dioxin crisis of 1999 by the state secretary for international commerce Pierre Chevalier & the minister of foreign affairs Louis Michel, (2) an engagement in peace diplomacy in Central Africa, (3) the European Union (EU) chairmanship by Belgium begun in May 2001, (4) Belgian support & criticism of American military reactions to September 11, & (5) the principles of ethical diplomacy in action. Belgian assertive diplomacy to defend national economic & commercial interests threatened by the dioxin crisis & the country's contribution to solidifying the EU are recognized as positive developments. However, the lukewarm solidarity with the US in the wake of September 11 is found to be damaging to the country on the international arena, & the ad-hoc policies developed for Central Africa are criticized for being only a damage control resulting from "fence-sitting" throughout the 1990s. The three year foreign policy of the current government is found to produce "mixed results" & contain both positive & negative elements. Z. Dubiel

During the last 10 years, 2 different approaches to automatic content analysis have been developed. The 1st makes use of a theory about the meaning of words, as formulated in "dictionaries." The best example of such a program is the "General Inquirer." In the 2nd procedure, no assumptions are made about the meaning of the words, but an attempt is made to discover the content of a text by analyzing the co-occurrence of the words. Both procedures have been illustrated with RIQS, a retrieval program, which is available in the Netherlands. RIQS cannot be used for the dictionary procedure, because of the limits of the dictionaries; however RIQS can be used for the other procedures because the files produced by RIQS are written as SPSS-files, so that several types of analysis procedures can be used. Some important developments over the last years are mentioned: "disambiguation," validation of dictionaries, more flexible versions of the General Inquirer, dictionaries for non-English languages, & new computer programs for automatic content analysis. 7 Tables. HA Tr & Modified by I. Verluyten.