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Das Kernproblem internationaler Querschnittstudien ist das Problem der Vergleichbarkeit. Hier setzt der Beitrag an. Nachdem einleitend Beispiele für international vergleichende Forschungsprojekte vorgestellt worden sind, behandelt der Beitrag typische Aspekte des Forschungsdesigns bei Querschnittstudien, Fragen der Planung und Organisation der Datengewinnung, den Einfluss unterschiedlicher nationaler Rahmenbedingungen, die Bedeutung kultureller Faktoren, Aspekte der Standardisierung, die Umsetzung des Forschungsdesigns sowie Datenanalyse und Berichterstattung über die Ergebnisse. Die Verfasser betonen abschließend die Notwendigkeit, sich über die idealen Designeigenschaften international vergleichender Untersuchungen klar zu werden, den Einfluss dieser Eigenschaften auf die Forschungsergebnisse zu kennen und Grundlagen eines stabil und vorhersehbar ablaufenden Forschungsprozesses zu schaffen. (ICE)

The authors analyze international experience of microcredit development and made appropriate conclusions about the advantages and disadvantages of microcredit organization. Microcredit organizations are self-sufficient and stable institutions which are regulated by bank and state legislation.

Der Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit der Harmonisierung des International Social Survey Programme (ISSP). Er stellt das ISSP mit seinem Harmonisierungskonzept vor, fragt nach der Harmonisierung der Hintergrundvariablen und greift dann exemplarisch eine zentrale Hintergrundvariable und deren Konstruktion heraus. Der Beitrag schließt mit Anmerkungen zur künftigen Entwicklung der Hintergrundvariablen des ISSP. (ICEÜbers)

Die Verfasser stellen Fragen und Ergebnisse zur Einkommensmessung in zwei internationalen Umfrageprojekten vor, dem European Community Household Panel und dem European Social Survey. Vorgelegt werden Ergebnisse für Deutschland, Großbritannien, Italien und Luxemburg. Die Verfasser diskutieren fünf Merkmale, die einen Einfluss auf die Qualität der Antworten haben können: Haushaltsgröße, Stellung des Antwortenden in der Familie, Haupteinkommensquelle, Zusammensetzung des Einkommens, kognitive Fähigkeit des Befragten, sich an das Einkommen zu erinnern. Abschließend wird nach der optimalen Bestimmung der Einkommensklassen für Untersuchungen in verschiedenen Ländern gefragt. (ICE)

"In cross-cultural (and cross-national) survey research, the equivalence of survey questions rivals the importance of their reliability and validity. This paper presents a review of the multiple dimensions of equivalence that must be addressed when conducting comparative survey research. Available methodologies for establishing one or more forms of equivalence are also identified and the strengths and limitations of each approach are examined. It is concluded that multiple methodologies must be implemented in order to insure the cross-cultural equivalence of survey measures." (author's abstract)

"In this article the author addresses the question of the ontology of power and rule-setting in the international monetary system. By distinguishing between two dimensions of monetary power - autonomy and influence - he offers an innovative approach towards power in the international monetary system. Within this context he examines and analyses different developments, outlining a diffusion of power among states as well as between states and non-state actors rather in the dimension of autonomy than in the dimension of influence. The author introduces the concept of leaderless diffusion, meaning that leadership in the system has been more scattered than relocated. He argues that a power shift has taken place from few very powerful states towards a growing number of autonomous actors, especially when it comes to rule-setting abilities within the monetary system. Furthermore, he outlines that on the level of governance, a distinction should be made between the individual state and the global system and thus offers an elaborated approach towards understanding monetary and economic power in the 21st century." (author's abstract)

The annual Conference of Parties (COP) of the Framework Convention on Climate Change takes place since the establishment of the Berlin Mandate in 1995. Since then the on-going climate change negotiations have produced little
progress in preventing the ultimate objective of the Framework Convention that is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
Mainly responsible are three overarching conflicts, which have overshadowed all effort for an effective agreement so far. While the first and second conflict is within the developing and within the developed countries, the third conflict is between developing and developed countries. The latter conflict debates the question of how much and by whom emissions should be reduced in the future. The discipline of international relations provides two theoretical perspectives to predict the success of this year´s climate change negotiations. Whereas Realism perceives power to be the main reference for explaining international cooperation, constructivism puts the recognition of material as well as ideational factors in the centre of observation. If applied on the different negotiation parties, the realist perspective provides a far more pessimistic outlook for a successful agreement than constructivism.

The main aim of this essay is to discuss how international large-scale assessments can be utilized for policy evaluation studies. The authors overview key findings from previous studies and propose the curriculum as an organizing concept in considering firstly, how educational opportunities are provided to students around the world, and secondly, the factors that influence how students use these opportunities. Thereafter, they discuss recent developments in the design of the international studies and methodological advances that allow for robust inferences about the causal mechanisms that cause the observed differences in student outcomes. Finally, the authors identify major challenges for future research including the demand for studies that utilize the trend design of modern studies, more focus on educational equity, and strengthening interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaborations. (DIPF/Orig.).

"This chapter deals with the challenge of policy definition, cooperation and coordination in a complex system of multi-level governance faced by decision-makers in international politics today, using the example of international climate governance. The practical, as well as the analytical challenge, of said system of multi-level governance lies in its dynamic structure, which includes the vertical (i.e. domestic and foreign; subnational, national, and international) and horizontal levels (structure of decision-making processes in international institutions) of international politics, the participation of non-state actors, and the inter-linkages and interdependencies between all policy fields and levels involved. More often than not, intentions and interests on the different levels are disparate and difficult to harmonize, which can result in less than ideal policy strategies, are likely to 'get lost' in the multi-level governance system. International climate governance and the difficulties with institutionalizing an all-encompassing climate protection strategy can be seen as an example of a policy field that is 'lost in multi-level governance.' This will be illustrated in the following chapter by analyzing five dimensions of climate governance and how they hamper successful climate governance-and thus climate protection-at the international level." (author's abstract)

The multilingual European Thesaurus on International Relations and Area Studies (European Thesaurus) is a special subject thesaurus for the field of international affairs. It is intended for use in libraries and documentation centres of academic institutions and international organizations. The European Thesaurus was established in a collaborative project involving a number of leading European research institutes on international politics. It integrates the controlled terminologies of several existing thesauri. The European Thesaurus comprises about 8,200 terms and proper names from the 24 subject areas covered by the thesaurus. Because of its multilinguality, the European Thesaurus can not only be used for indexing, retrieval and terminological reference, but serves also as a translation tool for the languages represented. The establishment of cross-concordances to related thesauri extends the range of application of the European Thesaurus even further. They enable the treatment of semantic heterogeneity within subject gateways. The European Thesaurus is available both in a seven-lingual printversion as well as in an eight-lingual online-version. To reflect the changes in terminology the European Thesaurus is regularly being amended and modified. Further languages are going to be included.

"Center of attention in the chapter is EU trade. According to the author, this is arguably the EU's most highly centralized policy domain. It is for this reason that EU trade represents a significant case study for characterizing the EU as a global actor. This chapter examines EU trade policy with regard to its objectives, instruments, style and decision-making procedures. A variety of examples, including the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations with developing countries, will be emphasized. The author comes to the conclusion that, concerning trade policy, the EU's actions bear more resemble to a great power than a civilian or normative power." (author's abstract)