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Anchoring vignettes are an increasingly popular tool for identifying and correcting for group differences in use of subjective ordered response categories. However, existing techniques to maximize response consistency (use of the same standards for self-ratings as for vignette-ratings), which center on matching vignette characters' demographic characteristics to respondents' own characteristics, appear at times to be ineffective or to pose interpretive difficulties. Specifically, respondents often appear to neglect instructions to treat vignette characters as age peers. Furthermore, when vignette characters' sex is matched to respondents' sex, interpretation of sex differences in rating style is rendered problematic. This study applies two experimental manipulations to a national American sample (n=1,765) to clarify best practices for enhancing response consistency. First, an analysis of two methods of highlighting vignette characters' age suggests that both yield better response consistency than previous, less prominent means. Second, a comparison of ratings of same- and opposite-sex vignette characters suggests that, with avoidable exceptions, the sex of the respondent rather than of the vignette character drives observed sex differences in rating style. Implications for interpretation and design of anchoring vignette studies are discussed. Findings also show significant sex, educational, and racial/ethnic differences in styles of rating health, and racial/ethnic differences in styles of rating political efficacy. These findings underscore the incomparability of unadjusted subjective self-ratings across demographic groups.

This study considers the social, cultural, and political production of black women's humor, making the case that humor becomes more than merely a technique of entertainment. Instead, I argue that humor is a mode of literacy and site of self-authorship for African American women across a variety of discursive fields, including literature, sketch comedy, stand-up comedy, and electoral politics. Usually described as a "routine," the professional stand-up comics of this study are in fact presenting new ways of thinking about race, class, sex, culture, and power. Using archival research, ethnographic interviews, participant observation, and close readings of performances, this dissertation engages several questions: how do black women use humor to express emotions like desire, anger, and contempt? What are the effects of black women's public performances on their own identities? What do their performances tell us about black culture? How do ideas about black womanhood and feminism factor into their dialogue? What personal, political, and economic opportunities does stand-up comedy offer African American comediennes? Finally, how do black women engage in practices of self-fashioning in and through stand-up comedy? A deeper understanding of the affective and political dimensions of black women comedians' practices highlights stand-up comedy as a renegade space in which performers move literally and figuratively from outrageous comics to become audacious thinkers and potent social critics.

The purpose of this project is to argue that in order for social and emotional learning (SEL) goals to achieve their intended outcomes for students and society, religious pluralism must be reflected in student instruction. SEL involves the use of evidence-based practices to provide opportunities to develop competencies related to self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making which are intended to enable students to demonstrate morally appropriate actions and ethical decisions, which I am calling "right behavior." It is my argument that one's understanding of right behavior embodies both implicit and explicit moral beliefs based on one's worldview which reflects a certain conception of the good life and the good society. In many cultures this concept is shaped by the dominant, organized religion of the group. However, the religious diversity in the United States since its inception led to an American tendency to privatize religion and avoid meaningful public deliberation of competing views of the good life and the good society. However, I contend that this paradigm is no longer adequate for equipping twenty-first century students with the background knowledge, critical thinking, problem-solving, and ethical judgment skills required for full participation in the social, political, and economic spheres of society. Instead, I am proposing a SEL-religious studies model that values religious freedom, equality, and neighborly affection, and recognizes the presence of moral and religious pluralism in American society.

Physical education fosters personal and community wellness by empowering students to attain healthy, lifelong attitudes and behaviors through physical activity as part of the total educational experience. It: promotes a physically active lifestyle; o is a link to good health; o is a preventive measure against disease; o is a program for muscle strength and fitness; o promotes academic learning; o builds self esteem; and o develops cooperation, teamwork and sportsmanship skill The purpose of physical education is to instill in students, at an early age, the value of self preservation and choosing a lifestyle that is good for both the mind and body. Most physical education programs are holistic. The program allows student to interact together to a common goal and that is to win and excel physically. It brings out the competitive sides of students working both body and mind but also promotes sportsmanship. This paper primarily aims to ?give an insight into the health benefits of physical education programs for students within the school system. It also provides legislative / regulatory recommendations for the purpose of improving the quality of physical education. The paper concludes that by addressing the quality, quantity and intensity of physical education across the country (the educational as well as the activity component), policymakers will maximize children's potential for a lifetime of: physical activity, health, and wellness.

High commodity prices in 2007-2008 and again in 2011, particularly for crops such as rice and corn, have forced countries in Southeast Asia to look more closely at their agricultural and trade policies for rice and grains. While all countries in the region are heavily dependent on rice for food security, there is significant variation in countries' abilities to be self-sufficient in rice production. This paper examines the factors that contribute to food insecurity in SEA, which communities are hit hardest, and the diversity of responses to this situation. And, the paper asks what the prospects might be for greater cooperation in coordinating rice (and other crops more generally) policies so as to better ensure reliable access for more citizens in the region. Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia are all major exporters of rice; whereas Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines are all importers of rice. Since the sharp spike in prices in 2008, countries which import rice have developed more comprehensive plans to become self sufficient in rice production. Individual country's policies will have dramatic effects on regional trade relations and dynamics. There have been some regional attempts to create a more cooperative framework for addressing food security, but these efforts have not yet played a significant role in reshaping domestic policies. This paper will assess the chances of further cooperation and success (or the chance of failure and less engagement) in the future. (Pac Rev/GIGA)

This article proposes a better way to understand endogenous processes of institutional changes, by exploring the dynamic evolution of the Irish social partnership. The dynamic changes of the Irish social partnership challenge the prevailing theories of comparative political economy. Unlike neoliberal and Marxist accounts of national economies converging toward a neoliberal free market, Ireland developed a social concertation model under globalization. However, despite this development, the institutionalist arguments cannot account for the dynamics of path-breaking adjustments and why two similar crises in the late 1980s and 2008-2011 resulted in different outcomes. Even the recently updated versions of rationalist and institutionalist accounts of endogenous institutional changes cannot encompass the dynamic changes of creative recomposition -- neither self-reinforcing nor self-undermining adjustments, as demonstrated by the emergence of a third type of coordination in Ireland in 2010-2011. To better account for the endogenous process of institutional changes, this article, taking a pragmatic view, emphasizes changes in the actors' ideas and actions in the process of experiencing an institution, unlike the rationalist and institutionalist assumption of repetition of the same practices and perception. This article argues that understanding the continuous changes in rules, action and perception in the practical interaction within the formal stability is critical to understanding the dynamics of creative recomposition leading to a new creation of institution at a critical juncture. Adapted from the source document.

Авторы статьи вскрывают некоторые характеристики положения человека в современном обществе, проводя анализ в форме междисциплинарного проблемного исследования во всей его сложности и запутанности. Они стремятся дать анализ этой специфической проблемы на основе социальных, исторических и культурных, политических и юридических, моральных и этических, эстетических и коммуникационных сфер многомерной человеческой деятельности, проясняя исторический путь к современности. Авторы приходят к заключению, что процесс идет от природы к культуре, от индивидуума к массе, от иерархии к свободе эгоизма, от самоограничения к гедонизму, от божественного к человеческому и т. д. Они также показывают (опираясь на Н. Бердяева, Э. Фромма и др.), что этот процесс обладает саморазрушающей диалектикой для человека. ; The authors of the article examine some characteristics of the situation of a person in modern society in the form of interdisciplinary problematic analysis in all its complexity and complicacy. They try to analyse this specific problem on the base of general social, historical and cultural, political and legal, moral and ethical, aesthetical and communicational spheres of multi-dimensional human activity, clarifying historical way to the present day. The authors come to conclusion, that the process goes from nature to culture, from individual to mass, from hierarchy to freedom of egoism, from self-restriction to hedonism, from divinity to humanity, etc. They also show (according to N. Berdyaev, E. Fromm, etc.) that this process has self-destructing dialectics for human being.

Since late 2011, Iran has suggested that it could close the Strait of Hormuz (SOH) in response to economic sanctions or an attack on its nuclear facilities. In any scenario, naval mining will likely be part of an Iranian anti-access, area denial (A2AD) strategy. As a result, policymakers and military commanders must consider options required to maintain freedom of navigation through this vital chokepoint. A thorough understanding of the legal issues related to mining is essential to formulating courses of action that will be perceived as legitimate. This article addresses the most significant legal issues and reaches three conclusions for consideration by decision makers during course of action development. First, nations can lawfully conduct intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); maintain a "fires" presence; and conduct mine warfare information-gathering activities in the SOH during peacetime. Second, nations may use proportionate force against assets about to mine, or in the act of mining, the SOH either in self-defense or to ensure the freedom of maritime commerce, depending on the circumstances. Third, nations may use proportionate force in self-defense to protect assets engaged in mine hunting and sweeping, to possibly include attacking targets ashore that represent an imminent threat to MCM forces. This site displays abstracts of MOC Warfighter articles. Department of Defense CAC-authenticated users may download full copies of the articles at this site. Others may request copies of specified articles by contacting the MOC Warfighter administrator.

В условиях перехода российского образования на уровневую систему студентам предоставляется большая свобода выбора, больше времени отводится на самоподготовку. Возникает необходимость подготовки студента университета к осуществлению свободного выбора. На основе проведенного анализа научной литературы рассмотрены структурные компоненты выбора как механизма ценностного самоопределения студента: гносеологический, аксиологический, праксеологический. Выделенные компоненты выбора не существуют изолированно друг от друга. Напротив, наблюдаются случаи их переплетения и взаимоперехода, что существенно осложняет выбор как деятельность. Диапазон выбора студента чрезвычайно широк. Это не только выбор образовательной и самообразовательной деятельности, но и способов общения, спортивной деятельности, а также выбор в сфере политики культуры и искусства. Выбор пронизывает все формы жизнедеятельности человека. Выбор является универсальным феноменом человеческого бытия, основополагающим способом самоосуществления человека. ; Bologna process in Russian education provides students with the freedom of choice. According to the analysis of the scientific literature the components of the category of choice are considered. They are gnosiological, axiological and praxiological. The given components don't exist separately. On the contrary they often interwine that makes the choice activity more difficult. Students' choice range is very wide. It's not only the choice of educational and self-educational activity but it's also the choice of communication ways, sport activity and the choice in political, cultural field and also in the field of art. The category of choice runs through the whole people's life. The choice is the universal phenomenon of being and the main way of people's self-expression.

In Purity and Danger, Douglas theorizes purity and impurity in terms of the instantiation and disruption of a shared symbolic order. Purity/impurity discourses act, according to Purity and Danger, as a homeostatic system which ensures the preservation of this social whole, generally encoding that which threatens social equilibrium as impurity. There have been calls for new social theory on this 'under-theorized' topic. Presenting such further reflections, I argue that Douglas' account is less a full explanation than a regularity. Representations of purity are only secondarily symbols of the social order. Rather, purity/impurity discourses are only associated with 'matter out of place' when phenomena are assessed for their relative deviation from an imputed state of 'self-identity': qualitative homogeneity and correspondence with their essence. Purity and impurity do more than judge self-identity, however. They can play a fundamental role in its performative construction; they are well adapted for smuggling assumptions into our discourses regarding the essence of particular phenomena and forms of subjectivity, simplifying a complex world into a stark contrast between the dangerous and the innocent, the valuable and the valueless, the necessary and the contingent, the originary and the prosthetic, the real and the apparent, and the unitary and the fragmented.

Considering the importance of quality culture as a strong driver of companies future success, this study looked at the relationship between total quality mangement implementation and quality culture. Meanwhile public awareness in total quality management (TQM) adoption has increased rapidly in both the private sector and the public sector. The implementation purpose was to stimulate the culture of continuous improvement in the school system. Thus this study was carried out at education institutions because the institutions are considered to play important role in yielding high quality human resources in a nation. The sample of the study was teachers from some government junior high schools located in Banyumas Regency. The tool of analysis use in this study was multiple regression analysis. To test the validity and reliability of the instruments, factor analysis, Pearson correlation as well as Cronbach Alpha were applied. The finding of the study showed that customer focus and empowerment have significant influence on quality culture. Moreover, the developed quality tool and technique to work were adapted in most of school organizations. One of the developed quality improvement tool at school. This technique has been developed and supported by various quality awards. Self-assessment is often defined as a process of evaluating an organization against a specified model. Self-assessment is a fruitful way to stimulate quality improvements in the school system which is among the core values or cornerstones that must work together to constitute the culture of the organization.

This article examines the practice of piercing and stretching the lip in order to accommodate a labret in two regions: the North American Northwest Coast (with historical examples from Tlingit and Haida groups) and lowland South America (utilizing ethnographic writings on Suya and Kayapo communities). Drawing on the recent 'sensorial turn' within anthropology, I suggest an approach which goes beyond considerations of the symbolism of body ornaments and analyses how the infliction of pain they involve can be manipulated to serve social ends at a local level. Also discussed is the use of labrets within global 'mediascapes' (Appadurai 1996) by Kayapo and Northwest Coast groups in the context of self-representation and the politicization of 'culture' (Wright 1998). ; This article examines the practice of piercing and stretching the lip in order to accommodate a labret in two regions: the North American Northwest Coast (with historical examples from Tlingit and Haida groups) and lowland South America (utilizing ethnographic writings on Suya and Kayapo communities). Drawing on the recent 'sensorial turn' within anthropology, I suggest an approach which goes beyond considerations of the symbolism of body ornaments and analyses how the infliction of pain they involve can be manipulated to serve social ends at a local level. Also discussed is the use of labrets within global 'mediascapes' (Appadurai 1996) by Kayapo and Northwest Coast groups in the context of self-representation and the politicization of 'culture' (Wright 1998).

Purpose. To examine relationships between physical activity (PA) and awareness and treatment status of low bone mineral density (BMD) among adults. Design. Cross-sectional. Setting. Stratified sample of adults living independently in the community. Subjects. A total of 1928 adults aged 50 years and older who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005–2006 were included in the analysis. Among those, about 54% were women, 84% were non-Hispanic whites, 65% were married, and 44% were between 50 and 59 years of age. Measures. Objective measures: femoral neck BMD and duration of PA and step counts measured by accelerometers. Self-report: strength exercise, and awareness and treatment of low bone density. Analysis. Multivariate regression analyses using SUDAAN. Results. Despite a high prevalence of low BMD, self-reported awareness, treatment, and PA were very low. After controlling socio-demographic and health-related factors, those who were aware of their low bone density status and who received treatment for it were less physically active than those who were unaware of their bone condition or who did not have any treatment. Conclusions. PA levels are below the recommended level for bone health benefits. Health care providers should consider screening individuals at risk of low bone density and encourage them to implement prevention and treatment regimen including increasing daily levels of PA.

This article presents a critical analysis of a recurring interpretation of Émile Durkheim's sociology, namely that it views society as fixed in a rigid, instituted form, doomed to self-repetition, and impervious to any type of change except that of its own necessary internal development (see the work of Albert Bayet, Georges Sorel, Georges Gurvitch, Talcott Parsons, Robert Nisbet, or Raymond Boudon). It is argued here that this reproductive interpretation is based on Chapter 3 of The Rules of Sociological Method (1895), but that Durkheim himself rejected it altogether in his later writings. From his 1898 article, 'Individual and Collective Representations,' to The Elementary Forms of Religious Life of 1912, Durkheim came to see one activity of society – the transformative activity of collective ideation – as unconcerned with the satisfaction of purely morphological needs. The point, however, is not that Durkheim's sociology developed from a morphological approach governed by a principle of self-reproducibility to a psychological approach that transcends the production/reproduction dichotomy. The article argues instead that by neglecting the contribution of the discipline of sociology, and of the epistemological principles on which it is based, to the instituting activity of collective ideation, the reproductive interpretation offers only a partial reading of The Rules of Sociological Method: sociology, as a scientific form of collective ideation, actually instantiates its transformative, even subversive, force.