Suchergebnisse

This essay reviews post-1980 & especially post-1990 scholarship in the two interrelated fields of sociological study about reform-era China: sociology in the People's Republic of China & China studies in Western sociology. Sociology as a subject of study was officially banned shortly after the 1949 communist revolution in the PRC, & its rebirth in 1979 was part of the post-Mao leadership's new reform policy to modernize China. Since then, sociology has been under the ideological & political influence of a durable communist party-state, but its development surely has been shaped by persistent search for both a rooting in Chinese society & a recognition by & acceptance into the world community of sociology. Meanwhile, China studies in Western, especially American, sociology has moved into the mainstream of the discipline, benefiting from the adoption of standard survey methods to collect systematic data & from theoretical & substantive analyses about such issues as institutional change, changing patterns of social stratification, mechanisms of social mobility, & the centrality of social networks in social life. Looking ahead, the author calls for closer scholarly dialogue between Western & Chinese sociologists, arguing that such communication will not only benefit each side but also create opportunities for advancing new sociological explanations of a fast-changing Chinese society. 2 Figures, 134 References. Adapted from the source document.

The first section of this article is a discussion by Checkel, which analyzes questions regarding EU integration via a constructivist approach. In the second section, Moravcsik refers to the criticism regarding constructivist ideas & the EU, particularly noting Checkel's work on the topic. The third section is a response by Checkel to the various criticisms he has received on his constructivist ideas. 1 Table, 71 References. E. Miller

In the context of a call for public health research to address social challenges and transform communities and society, research translation has increasingly become an imperative in South Africa. Research translation seeks to improve real-world settings and enhance quality of life by applying research-generated knowledge. These goals are shared by proponents of participatory action research (PAR). However, the way in which research is pursued constitutes a major focus for PAR, where the paradigmatic position influences how we relate to knowledge and people, and whether and how we achieve the goals concerned. This article contrasts the meta-theoretical positioning of PAR with that of research translation as it is pursued within public health circles, and then argues how PAR both challenge and optimise the espoused goals of research translation through its accent on co-learning, knowledge co-construction, social action and the dialectic between research and action. We offer two African-centred examples of community-engaged research focusing on violence prevention, and safety and peace promotion to illustrate how the participatory mechanisms of empowerment and agency, knowledge co-construction and knowledge sharing foster research translation. Attention to power dynamics, exemplified through researcher reflexivity is emphasised as a key challenge for researchers wishing to address public health challenges.

Res on group tension, conflict & aggression is briefly reviewed & it is noted that during the 1960's soc psychol'ts & educators appear to have been influenced by the technological revolution introduced by computers. Mathematical modelbuilding, systems theory, information theory, decision-making, risk-taking, etc, have received particular attention. However, neither personality-oriented studies nor leadership studies have led to any new understanding of group aggression, nor has small-group res on face-to-face group stiuations contributed to the understanding of group aggression in industry, educ, gov & community life. It is observed that behind the perceptual reason for violence lies a `readiness,' & a 'threshhold' concept is needed to understand why some groups perceive threats so readily & others do not. The nearer in time to a previous arousal, the greater the chances of a group being aroused again. What kind of aggressive act will follow an arousal depends on the pay-off function. Once the aggressive act is committed, there are various ways in which violence is justified, depending on history, culture, the legal or admin'ive situation, the future program of action, etc. In view of the present crisis of civilization, some res suggestions are made. Res on violence should focus (1) on what aspects of modernization in traditional society bring about changes in soc stratification & pop distribution, make for the concentration of a goal area in a narrow soc space, favor an unequal distribution of wealth; (2) what aspects of modern society tend to frustrate large numbers of groups & individuals; (3) how group aggression develops, is reinforced through child-rearing practices, & is learned in Sch, etc; & (4) how adolescents & adults learn aggressive behavior in groups at play & at work. M. Maxfield.

A summary of res on COMM among immigrants, which was carried out in Israel in the yrs 1950-1952, immediately after the period of mass immigration. The study contains a comparison of patterns of COMM among diff immigrants' communities, & a study of the processes & conditions of change in these patterns of COMM & of the differential receptivity to various types of COMM. The main types of COMM transmitted were: (i) technical, (2) general cognitive orientation, (3) normative COMM, ie, simple normative COMM - indicating general forms of behavior, for all members of a particular group, & prescribing behavior for particular soc roles,& hierarchical normative COMM, - behavior in ambigious situations, & outlining possible role choices. The data indicate the following changes in the patterns of COMM with the growth of societal differentiation & modernization: (A) marked differentiation between various types of COMM but less differentiation between the simple & hierarchial COMM; (B) growing differentiation among diff opinion leaders; (C) less formalization of the communicative situation & the development of impersonal MM. It was shown that the effectiveness of the transmission of COMM was dependent on: (a) transmission through communal (or other) opinion leaders in face to face relations, (b) the existence of some consensus between diff leader or elite groups & the sources of COMM, (c) the degree of assimilation of the leaders, (d) the compatibility of the COMM with the status image of recipients. The position of the traditional leaders became problematic because of increasing direct flow of COMM from the new soc setting to the immigrants (esp technical COMM transmitted by officials & teachers, & exposure of the immigrants to MM COMM). All the immigrants, those who maintained allegiance to the old elites & those who had detached themselves, emphasized the central function of the leaders was as mediators of COMM, & as confirmes of status images. Conditions of lack of receptivity of COMM were also studied, re the absence of the conditions specified above & re the weakness of coherent status images among the recipients. AA.

AbstractAlthough research with hard‐to‐reach populations is necessary to deepen the social work knowledge base and improve services to these groups, recruiting members of hard‐to‐reach populations for research projects is often a challenging process. Frequently, non‐probability sampling is used to obtain participants. However, the difficulties and limitations associated with this process in quantitative research are rarely discussed in depth in the literature. Sampling issues can significantly impact a research project, delaying it, extending it or even causing the premature termination of a project. Challenges to recruitment can limit the type of research that is completed, impact the knowledge base or introduce threats to validity through sampling bias. Using a preliminary quantitative study on parental engagement with child protective services as an illustration for the discussion, the challenges of non‐probability sampling with a hard‐to‐reach population and the implications for research practice are explored and discussed. Implications for future research practice are considered.

Background and data portfolioSince 2004, the Research Data Centre of the German Federal Employment Agency at the Institute for Employment Research (RDC-IAB) has been offering comprehensive individual data on employees, unemployed persons, job seekers and participants in active labour market policy programmes for scientific labour market research. For this purpose, data from employer notifications and from different administrative processes in the labour market administration are linked. These administrative data are also combined with survey data. In addition, linked employer-employee data allow simultaneous analyses of the supply and demand sides of the labour market.
Data linkageThe data can be linked using unique identifiers, such as social insurance numbers, client numbers from local employment agencies, or establishment numbers. Since the foundation of the German Record Linkage Center (GRLC) in 2011, the RDC-IAB also applies methods for linking with non-unique and error-prone linkage identifiers like names, addresses and birth dates.
Data accessGerman data protection law classifies the data offered by the RDC-IAB as highly sensitive and strictly regulates their use by external researchers. The RDC-IAB has therefore established various data access modes. Although data can be transferred directly to research institutions in anonymised form, this procedure is generally not effective for linked data, as the loss of information due to the necessary anonymisation would be too great. For this reason, the RDC-IAB focuses on the access modes on-site use and remote data execution. In cooperation with other data centres, RDC-IAB has therefore established on-site data access at currently 16 locations worldwide.

India's investments in agricultural research, extension, and irrigation have made it one of the largest publicly funded systems in the world. But some policymakers who perceive that the benefits to research may be declining are advocating a cut back on public spending on research. This research report, which examines the effects of research and development on productivity in India, finds that India is still benefiting from these investments. The main sources of agricultural productivity growth in India during 1956–87 were public agricultural research and extension; expansion of irrigated area and rural infrastructure and improvement in human capital were also important contributors. The report also shows that the public benefits from private research can be sub stantial, indicating that private firms capture only part of the real value of improved inputs through higher prices. Private agricultural research accounted for more than 10 per cent of growth of total facto productivity (TFP) during 1956–87, and in 1966–75, when India was more open to foreign technology, private research contributed 22 per cent of productivity gowth. Industrial policy and technology policy, including intellectual property rights policy, will require careful evaluation and reform in order to encourage private investment in agriculture. Even so, Pray and Rosegrant argue that barriers to technology transfer should be removed in order to stimulate technology transfer and growth. Nevertheless, public investment in agricultural research will likely retain its primary role. Contrary to concerns that growth in TFP has decreased over time, the report finds that during 1977–87, the period when the results in regions that adopted high-yielding varieties early on could be expected to taper off, TFP growth was 50 per cent higher than before the Green Revolution and 17 per cent higher than in the early years of the Green Revolution, indicating that gains are far from over. The rates of return to public agricultural research are high, and it appears that the government is under investing in agricultural research. Expanding public investment in research and extension would lead to even greater gains. (Forward by Per Pinstrup-Andersen) ; PR ; IFPRI1

The purpose of this action research study was to critically examine the use of action research as a mechanism to enhance graduate students' development as emerging qualitative researchers. Although action research has been recognized as an effective means of transforming teaching practices, studies examining its use among graduate students learning to become qualitative researchers are lacking. Participants profiled in this study include two graduate students and one teacher educator. The context of the study was a graduate level course on action research where all three participants identified starting points, employed distinct action strategies, engaged in sustained, critical reflection, and developed metaphors representing their living educational theories of their practice. Results from this study indicate that each participant gained a deeper self-awareness and understanding of enacting qualitative research and furthermore, recognized action research as a powerful humanizing agent.

Im vergangenen Jahrzehnt hat die Bedeutung reflexiver Organisationsforschung stark zugenommen. Die Diskussion zeigt die hohe Bedeutung der eigenen Interpretationen und der Veröffentlichung von Forschungsergebnissen. Demgegenüber steht die Beziehung zwischen den Forschungspartner/innen in der Praxis und den Forschenden kaum im Fokus der Betrachtung. Jedoch ist diese Beziehung die Basis, auf der Daten generiert werden und Interpretationen entstehen. In diesem Beitrag verfolgen wir das Ziel, eine methodologische Heuristik als Orientierung anzubieten, welche diese Beziehung zum Ausgangspunkt nimmt. Die von der Theorie sozialer Systeme inspirierte "reflexive system theory heuristic" wird empirisch anhand einer longitudinalen Einzelfallstudie zu einem Veränderungsprozess in einem Krankenhaus illustriert. Die Heuristik unterstützt die Beobachtung und Erklärung der Dynamik in der Feldbeziehung und hilft dabei, den Status der forscherischen Ergebnisse zu klären. Die beforschte Praxis und die Forschungspraxis werden als Kommunikationssystem konzeptualisiert. Forschung erhält damit eine generative Komponente und wird als reflexiver Zusammenhang aufgefasst. Die Berücksichtigung des jeweiligen Kontextes von Praxis und von Wissenschaft erlaubt es zudem, die bisherigen Erkenntnisse zu reflexiver Organisationsforschung einzubinden. Für die Forschung im Bereich der Systemtheorie wiederum kann die hier vorgestellte Heuristik als Ausgangspunkt für eine bislang marginalisierte methodologische Diskussion dienen.