Suchergebnisse

This article examines the boundary perceptions and images that three groups have of the Appalachian region. The analysis is based on data gathered from 2366 questionnaires administered to students in 63 colleges and universities located in and adjacent to the Appalachian region. The groups analyzed include the "in-siders" (those who perceive themselves to be from Appalachia), the "cognitive outsiders" (perceive themselves as not from Appalachia but actually reside in the region), and the "residential outsiders" (reside outside region). Results demonstrate that insiders perceive the region to be much larger and in much more postive images than do either of the outsider groups. The practical implications of such findings should include a review of the perceptions of regional residents in defining regional problems, goals, and objectives.

Though more than 150,000 AIDS-related deaths have been reported worldwide and between 5 and 10 million people are now infected with its precursor, HIV-1, the deadly and relatively new AIDS virus is still a mystery. AIDS and the Social Sciences: Common Threads, an enlightening examination of the AIDS epidemic from the viewpoints of various social sciences, provides us with clues to that mystery. The essays' original research and firsthand accounts from social scientists offer an excellent overview of the research agendas and directions for a disease that is an increasing presence in our societ

This article offers insights into the identification of cases with a significant potential for ethnic conflict over a 2‐3 year time horizon through an examination of the application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to the analysis of ethnic conflict potential in those cases. The goal is to suggest an analytical framework with applicability to the assessment of ethnic conflicts in Southeast Asia and beyond; thus, factors are identified that tend to precipitate or facilitate ethnic conflict in a world dominated by the norms of the modern state system.Twenty‐four ethnic minority groups are identified in Southeast Asia that havesome potential for conflict over the next 2‐3 years. The AHP methodology is then employed as a means to measure the potential for ethnic conflict among these twenty‐four groups. Potential is defined as the product of desire or motivation to act (i.e., the motivating factors) and the ability or capability to act (i.e., the enabling conditions), such that: POTENTIAL = (MOTIVATION) X (ABILITY). This approach to ethnic conflict analysis promotes consideration of the contextual factors that influence feelings of marginalization and capacity to effect change—a considerable step forward over approaches that are based on (inevitably problematic) generalizations about the shared attributes or historically rooted prejudices toward ethnic groups.