Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Creating A Culture Of Meaningful Evaluation In Public Libraries: Moving Beyond Quantitative Metrics, Bill Irwin, Paul St-Pierre

Bill Irwin

The current state of practice sees public libraries, like all public institutions, enduring funding challenges within the dominant political-economic environment, which is shaped by the tenets of new public management and the neoliberal audit society. Libraries, feeling threatened and unsure about their future stability, seek new ways to demonstrate their value. However, they face institutional cultural constraints when attempting to introduce new assessment methods to meet this challenge. The new dynamics require them to go beyond output measures (counts). With research findings supported by survey and interview data from Ontario public libraries, and in agreement with the current literature on …

Issues On Voter Participation Among African Americans And Bureaucratic Behavior, Andrew Ewoh, Maruice Mangum

Maruice Mangum

No abstract provided.

Better Inputs For Better Outcomes: Using The Interface To Improve E-Rulemaking, Cynthia Farina, Claire Cardie, Thomas Bruce, Erica Wagner

Cynthia R. Farina

We believe that e-rulemaking does indeed have potential to increase both the transparency of, and participation in, regulatory policymaking. We argue in this paper that this potential can be realized only if the public interface at www.regulations.gov is substantially redesigned.

The Value Of Words: Narrative As Evidence In Policymaking, Dmitry Epstein, Josiah Heidt, Cynthia Farina

Cynthia R. Farina

Policymakers today rely primarily on statistical, financial, and other forms of technical data as their basis for decision-making. Yet, there is a potentially underestimated value in substantive reflections of the members of the public who will be affected by a particular piece of regulation. We discuss the value of narratives as input in the policy making process, based on our experience with Regulation Room–a product of an interdisciplinary initiative using innovative web technologies in real-time online experimentation. We describe professional policymakers and professional commenters as a community of practice that has limited shared repertoire with the lay members of the …

Control And Resilience Within The Maritime Traffic Management Domain, Gesa Praetorius

Gesa Praetorius

This article presents research conducted within the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) domain. VTS is a service that is provided close to ports and geographically challenging areas to support merchant vessels in their navigation. Although VTS is legally an advice and assistance service, applying concepts from Cognitive Systems Engineering and Resilience Engineering can highlight how the joint human-machine system works to promote safe and efficient traffic movements. The VTS is a Joint Cognitive System that maintains control through a mixture of opportunistic and tactical control. Strategic control is only partially supported by the higher levels of system aggregation that provide the …

Value Focused Thinking For Community-Based Organizations: Objectives And Acceptance In Local Development, Jeffrey Keisler, David A. Turcotte, Rachel B. Drew, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

A multi-site case study applies value-focused thinking methods in a community engaged research framework within three organizations. All three organizations are community development corporations (CDCs), a type of community based organization (CBO) who direct assets and efforts toward housing stock and neighborhood improvement. Objectives hierarchies were developed for the three sites. A set of common aspects of these structures suggest ways to operationalize the generic mission of CDCs. Other aspects which vary across sites can be related to specific characteristics of the organizations and the communities in which they operate. The process of applying value-focused thinking is also compared across …

Electronic Supplement: Value Focused Thinking For Community-Based Organizations: Objectives And Acceptance In Local Development, Jeffrey Keisler, David A. Turcotte, Rachel B. Drew, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

This is an electronic supplement to the manuscript "Value Focused Thinking for Community-Based Organizations: Objectives and Acceptance in Local Development", published by the EURO Journal on Decision Processes.

Voting By Elderly Persons With Cognitive Impairment: Lessons From Other Democratic Nations, Jason Karlawish, Richard Bonnie

Jason Karlawish

No abstract provided.

超級星期天台北遊行 營造社會族群融合的願景 - 一個台僑的觀察和建議, Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

『多元參與』對照於『多元』參與

海外台灣人觀察台北市長選舉辯論, Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

人品及適合度、社會階層向上流動，以及對人的同理心。這些是除了口頭承諾的選舉語言─比如說創造就業機會和增加退休公教人員年金政見─以及所謂人民與權貴之類的抽象修辭之外，台北市長候選人柯文哲和連勝文在11月7日全國轉播電視辯論會裡，向選民展露出來的個人特質和信念。

An Assessment Of Goal-Free Evaluation: Case Studies Of Four Goal-Free Evaluations, Brandon Youker, Allyssa Ingraham, Nicholas Bayer

Brandon W. Youker Ph.D

This article provides a descriptive review of four goal-free program evaluations (GFE). GFE is an evaluation model where the independent evaluator is intentionally screened from the program’s stated goals and objectives in hopes of reducing potential goal-related tunnel vision. The findings from these GFE case studies are focused in three areas: (1) elements of the programs that were evaluated and their existing evaluation contexts (e.g., pre-evaluation conditions, size of evaluation budget), (2) design of the GFEs (e.g., screening method, data collection methods), and (3) expertise of the goal-free evaluators (e.g., training, degrees attained). The findings indicate that, when employed, GFE …

China’S New Identity Crisis, Zheng Wang

Zheng Wang

No abstract provided.

China's Democracy Challenge, Zheng Wang

Zheng Wang

No abstract provided.

The Move From Protectionism To Outward-Looking Industrial Development: A Critical Juncture In Irish Industrial Policy?, Paul Donnelly, John Hogan

John Hogan

This paper utilises a new framework for examining critical junctures to help us understand whether the changes to Irish industrial policy at the end of the 1950s constituted a critical juncture, breaking cleanly with what came before, or were a continuation of policy pathways previously established. The framework is made up of three elements, which must be identified in sequence, for us to be able to declare a critical juncture. Irish industrial policy is examined here, as it constitutes a core tenet of wider economic policy.

The Nine-Dashed Line: ‘Engraved In Our Hearts’, Zheng Wang

Zheng Wang

No abstract provided.

The Perception Gap Between China And Its Neighbors, Zheng Wang

Zheng Wang

No abstract provided.

Swimming Upstream: A Study Of Black Males And The Academic Pipeline, Rhonda Wilkins

Rhonda D Wilkins PhD

ABSTRACT SWIMMING UPSTREAM: A STUDY OF BLACK MALES AND THE ACADEMIC PIPELINE Rhonda D. Wilkins Post secondary participation and graduation rates of Black males are declining rapidly. Black women, however, are realizing substantial growth in both of these areas and account for the majority of the increase in Black student college enrollment. This qualitative case study addresses the decline in Black male participation in higher education by focusing on six Black men who completed college programs and the academic pipeline that brought them to their degree. The purpose of the research inquiry was to determine various factors that either helped …

Willingness To Pay For Flood And Ecological Risk Reduction In An Urban Watershed, David Clark, Diane Novotny, Robert Griffin, Douglas Booth, Alena Bartosova, M Hutchinson

Robert Griffin

Urban watershed managers frequently must address alternative policy goals; flood control and ecological risk reduction. This study combines hydrologic models of flood control and biotic models of ecologic risk with economic models of willingness-to-pay and psychological models of risk processing and planned behavior to evaluate these two alternative policy objectives. The findings reveal that flood risk exposure, especially for those individuals who would remain outside the 100 year flood plain if the project were enacted, does influence the financial support that local residents would be willing to make to a flood control project. Other important determinants include demographic factors such …

The Arab League: To Dissolve Or Not To Dissolve, Lee Nave

Lee Nave Jr.

From the inability to speak with one voice, a lack of shared norms, and being chronically conflict prone, one must wonder how the Arab League has managed to exist for as long as it has. Suspending, then either reinventing or dissolving the Arab League seems to be the best route in addressing future conflicts within the region.

The Shagri-La Dialogue: Troublemaker Or Peacemaker, Zheng Wang

Zheng Wang

No abstract provided.

In China, ‘History Is A Religion’, Zheng Wang

Zheng Wang

No abstract provided.

Theorising The ‘Fifth Migration’ In The United States: Understanding Lifestyle Migration From An Integrated Approach, Brian Hoey

Brian A. Hoey, Ph.D.

This chapter is an empirically-informed discussion of relevant social theory for examining the phenomenon of lifestyle migration in the United States in both rural and urban settings. Specifically, the chapter explores key explanatory models born of research into so-called non-economic migration occurring since the early twentieth century—models that may be characterized as primarily either production or consumption oriented in their emphasis—as a context for outlining an integrated approach. The author then highlights changes in how some Americans appear to calculate personal and collective quality of life as engendered by an emerging economic order—based on principles of flexibility and contingency—whose affects …

Partners Or Competitors? The Evolution Of The Department Of Defense/Central Intelligence Agency Relationship Since Desert Storm And Its Prospects For The Future, David Oakley

David P Oakley

Over the last decade, wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and global counterterrorism operations have led to a significant increase in the partnership between the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Department of Defense (DoD). While recent conflicts helped develop the CIA/DoD relationship, legislative action and organizational changes that began in the 1990s in response to Desert Storm and the changing post-Cold War landscape set the foundation for partnership development. Although the CIA/DoD partnership appears to be closer than ever before, there are certain issues and conditions that could, for better or worse, affect how the partnership evolves in the future. Understanding …

中国の歴史認識はどう作られたのか (How Historical Memories Have Been Forged In China), Zheng Wang

Zheng Wang

the Japanese version of Never Forget National Humiliation: Historical Memory in Chinese Politics and Foreign Relations, New York: Columbia University Press, 2012.

History Education: The Source Of Conflict Between China And Japan, Zheng Wang

Zheng Wang

No abstract provided.

Using The Morphogenetic Model To Examine Broadband Adoption: A Critical Realist Argument, Paul Jackson, Philip Dobson, Denise Gengatharen

Denise E Gengatharen

In this paper we use Archer’s morphogenetic model (Archer, 1995) to help explain community attitudes and expectations of adoption of broadband in rural communities in Australia. Broadband infrastructure is currently being implemented throughout Australia as part of a government backed National Broadband Network (NBN). Attitudes to this “nation building project” are deeply divided along political, ideological and demographic lines: some see it as transformational, others as a white elephant. Some anticipate great benefits, others would not bother to subscribe. Given this situation and the ambivalent results in other countries with similar programs, we propose to use critical realism as a …

Location-Allocation Planning Of Stockpiles For Effective Disaster Mitigation, Jomon Aliyas Paul, Govind Hariharan

Jomon Aliyas Paul

In the existing framework for receiving and allocating Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) assistance, there are three noticeable delays: the delay by the state in requesting federal assets, the delay in the federal process which releases assets only upon the declaration of a disaster and lastly the time it takes to reach supplies rapidly from the SNS stockpile to where it is needed. The most efficient disaster preparedness plan is one that addresses all three delays taking into account the unique nature of each disaster. In this paper, we propose appropriate changes to the existing framework to address the first two …

"The Global Origins Of China’S Domestic Conflicts” (With Vance Crowe), Zheng Wang

Zheng Wang

No abstract provided.

Financial Security Scorecard: A State-By-State Analysis Of Economic Pressures Facing Future Retirees, Christian Weller, Nari Rhee, Carolyn Arcand

Christian Weller

As Americans increasingly worry about their retirement prospects, states play an important and growing role in retirement security policy. States already manage long-term care programs for the elderly through Medicaid. Concerned about the impact of future elder poverty on state and local budgets and their local economies, a number of states are exploring the creation of low-cost and low-risk retirement savings plans for private sector workers who lack access to pensions or 401(k)s on the job. Some states have developed programs to help older workers find work.

This report presents the Financial Security Scorecard, designed to inform state-level stakeholders and …

Three Suggestions For Ambassador Max Baucus, Zheng Wang

Zheng Wang

No abstract provided.