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Critical Examination (critical + examination)
Selected AbstractsA CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE SUITABILITY AND LIMITATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS IN FAMILY COURTFAMILY COURT REVIEW, Issue 2 2007Steven K. Erickson Psychologists are frequently consulted by the courts to provide forensic evaluations in a variety of family court proceedings. As part of their evaluations, psychologists often use psychological tests to assess parents, guardians, and children. These tests can have profound effects on how psychologists arrive at their opinions and are often cited in their reports to the court. However, psychological tests vary substantially in their suitability for these purposes. Most projective tests in particular appear to possess little scientific merit for evaluations within family court proceedings. Despite these serious limitations, expert testimony derived from evaluations using both projective and objective tests is often admitted uncontested. This article reviews the psychometric properties of psychological tests that are widely used in family court proceedings, cautions against their unfettered use, and calls upon attorneys to inform themselves of the limitations of evaluations that incorporate these tests. [source] Der Mechanismus der Alken-Ozonolyse , eine kritische BetrachtungHELVETICA CHIMICA ACTA, Issue 8 2004Kurt Schank The Mechanism of Alkene Ozonolysis , a Critical Examination. Alkene ozonolyses have been carried out in experimental organic chemistry for more than a century, and a lucid description of the underlying reaction mechanism has been developped and integrated in most chemistry textbooks. Nevertheless, there are a great number of exceptions hard to rationalize by the accepted mechanism. Attempts in the past to give more-convincing answers to this problem failed. Therefore, the search for an alternative mechanistic model without contradictions is compelling. The present paper offers a redox model based upon the known properties of ozone both as a strong oxidant and an O-atom-transferring agent, especially when reacted with alkenes of sufficiently high electron density to act as reducing partners. [source] Two-Photon Absorption Cross-Sections of Reference Dyes: A Critical ExaminationCHEMPHYSCHEM, Issue 1 2008Prakash Chandra Jha Dr. Abstract The electronic structure and one- and two-photon absorption spectra of four fluorophores, p -bis(o -methoxystyryl)benzene (Bis-MSB), coumarin 307, fluorescein and rhodamine B, commonly used as reference compounds for two-photon absorption spectra, have been theoretically calculated and compared with available experimental data. The possible reasons for the wide discrepancies in two-photon absorption cross-sections reported in the literature are discussed on the basis of the theoretical findings. The role of a solvent environment on the electronic one- and two-photon absorption spectra is also studied. We highlight some necessary precautions that one needs to take when comparing literature results of two-photon absorption cross-sections. [source] The potential contribution of emancipatory research methodologies to the field of child healthNURSING INQUIRY, Issue 2 2006Lori G. Irwin The knowledge production of researchers interested in improving the health-care of young clients through the employment of emancipatory research methodologies may be limited by the complexity that working with young children presents to the research process. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether emancipatory research methodologies have application within the context of research with children. Critical examination of the challenges inherent in emancipatory research with children reveals that the application of aspects of these approaches presents possibilities for contributing significantly to our knowledge development for the nursing of children. [source] Immigration, employment relations, and health: Developing a research agendaAMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 4 2010Joan Benach Abstract Background International migration has emerged as a global issue that has transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of persons. Migrant workers contribute to the economic growth of high-income countries often serving as the labour force performing dangerous, dirty and degrading work that nationals are reluctant to perform. Methods Critical examination of the scientific and "grey" literatures on immigration, employment relations and health. Results Both lay and scientific literatures indicate that public health researchers should be concerned about the health consequences of migration processes. Migrant workers are more represented in dangerous industries and in hazardous jobs, occupations and tasks. They are often hired as labourers in precarious jobs with poverty wages and experience more serious abuse and exploitation at the workplace. Also, analyses document migrant workers' problems of social exclusion, lack of health and safety training, fear of reprisals for demanding better working conditions, linguistic and cultural barriers that minimize the effectiveness of training, incomplete OHS surveillance of foreign workers and difficulty accessing care and compensation when injured. Therefore migrant status can be an important source of occupational health inequalities. Conclusions Available evidence shows that the employment conditions and associated work organization of most migrant workers are dangerous to their health. The overall impact of immigration on population health, however, still is poorly understood and many mechanisms, pathways and overall health impact are poorly documented. Current limitations highlight the need to engage in explicit analytical, intervention and policy research. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:338,343, 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Elucidation of the solution structure of cardiotoxin analogue V from the Taiwan cobra (Naja naja atra),Identification of structural features important for the lethal action of snake venom cardiotoxinsPROTEIN SCIENCE, Issue 4 2000Gurunathan Jayaraman Abstract The aim of the present study is to understand the structural features responsible for the lethal activity of snake venom cardiotoxins. Comparison of the lethal potency of the five cardiotoxin isoforms isolated from the venom of Taiwan cobra (Naja naja atra) reveals that the lethal potency of CTX I and CTX V are about twice of that exhibited by CTX II, CTX III, and CTX IV. In the present study, the solution structure of CTX V has been determined at high resolution using multidimensional proton NMR spectroscopy and dynamical simulated annealing techniques. Comparison of the high resolution solution structures of CTX V with that of CTX IV reveals that the secondary structural elements in both the toxin isoforms consist of a triple and double-stranded antiparallel ,-sheet domains. Critical examination of the threedimensional structure of CTX V shows that the residues at the tip of Loop III form a distinct "finger-shaped" projection comprising of nonpolar residues. The occurrence of the nonpolar "finger-shaped" projection leads to the formation of a prominent cleft between the residues located at the tip of Loops II and III. Interestingly, the occurrence of a backbone hydrogen bonding (Val27CO to Leu48NH) in CTX IV is found to distort the "finger-shaped" projection and consequently diminish the cleft formation at the tip of Loops II and III. Comparison of the solution structures and lethal potencies of other cardiotoxin isoforms isolated from the Taiwan cobra (Naja naja atra) venom shows that a strong correlation exists between the lethal potency and occurrence of the nonpolar "finger-shaped" projection at the tip of Loop III. Critical analysis of the structures of the various CTX isoforms from the Taiwan cobra suggest that the degree of exposure of the cationic charge (to the solvent) contributed by the invariant lysine residue at position 44 on the convex side of the CTX molecules could be another crucial factor governing their lethal potency. [source] The first two centuries of Saint Martin of ToursEARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE, Issue 2 2006Allan Scott McKinley This paper presents a critical examination of the evidence for the cult of St Martin in the fifth and sixth centuries. Through examination of the various manifestations of Martin's cult, it argues that the cult had different meanings and significance at different times and places, and that the commonly perceived popularity of Martin's cult was in fact an illusion created by the constant reinvention and promotion of various interpretations of Martin by interested parties, from aristocratic ascetics to politically active bishops. [source] Corporate Social Responsibility European StyleEUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 2 2008Olivier De Schutter This article explains how, while CSR may have been initially an idea about the scope of the responsibility of companies towards their environment, it has now become a process in which the representatives of the business community have come to occupy the main role, and whose purpose is to promote learning among business organisations, rather than to identify the components of a regulatory framework for CSR. The central question now, therefore, is whether the so-called ,business case' for CSR is strong enough, so that we may hope that the forces of market will suffice to encourage companies to behave responsibly, over and above their obligation to comply with their legal obligations. The article shows, however, that this case rests on certain presuppositions about markets and the business environment, which cannot be simply assumed, but should be affirmatively created by a regulatory framework for CSR. Following the introduction, it proceeds in four stages. First, it examines the development of CSR in the EU. Second, it offers a critical examination of the so-called ,business case' for CSR, taking into account the growing diversity within the enlarged EU. It then discusses, as an alternative, what a regulatory framework for CSR could resemble, highlighting a number of initiatives which have been taken in this regard by the EU. The article finally concludes that, since the failure of the European Multi-Stakeholder Forum on CSR in 2004, the debate has made a turn in the wrong direction, both because of the mistaken view that the establishment of a regulatory framework for CSR would threaten the competitiveness of European companies, and because of the naive (and contradictory) view that reliance on market mechanisms will suffice to ensure that corporations will seek to minimise the negative social and environmental impacts of their activities, even in circumstances where they are not legally obliged to do so. [source] From Boundary Drawing to Transitions: the Creation of Normativity under the EU Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and ControlEUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 2 2002Bettina Lange This article aims to make a contribution to debates about how to conceptualise normativity. It argues that normativity can not be just understood through defining it and in particular through identifying conceptual boundaries around the normative and the non-normative. Instead the article suggests that it is important to explore how transitions between the non-normative and the normative occur in practice. This argument is developed through a critical examination of literature on legal pluralism and an analysis of qualitative empirical data on the drafting of technical guidance documents under the European Union Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (96/61/EC). [source] Recent expansion of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1: a critical reviewIBIS, Issue 2 2007M. GAUTHIER-CLERC Wild birds, particularly waterfowl, are a key element of the viral ecology of avian influenza. Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus, subtype H5N1, was first detected in poultry in November 1996 in southeast China, where it originated. The virus subsequently dispersed throughout most of Asia, and also to Africa and Europe. Despite compelling evidence that the virus has been dispersed widely via human activities that include farming, and marketing of poultry, migratory birds have been widely considered to be the primary source of its global dispersal. Here we present a critical examination of the arguments both for and against the role of migratory birds in the global dispersal of HPAI H5N1. We conclude that, whilst wild birds undoubtedly contribute to the local spread of the virus in the wild, human commercial activities, particularly those associated with poultry, are the major factors that have determined its global dispersal. [source] The development and neural bases of face recognitionINFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1-2 2001Charles A. Nelson Abstract Evidence from fields as diverse as cognitive, evolutionary, and developmental psychology, as well as cognitive neuroscience, has increasingly pointed to the ,special' nature of face recognition. A critical examination of the literature supports the view that faces begin to be seen as a separate class of objects within the first 6 months of life. Not surprisingly, the neural systems that underlie face recognition also come on line during this period of time. Less clear, however, are the mechanisms whereby these events occur. It seems likely that face recognition reflects an experience-expectant process, whereby exposure to faces during a sensitive period of development likely leads to perceptual and cortical specialization. However, it is unknown what the role of experience is in maintaining this ability, and how long this sensitive period lasts. After reviewing three related models that attempt to account for the way the ability to recognize faces develops, a number of suggestions are offered for testing the hypothesis that face recognition depends on experience for acquisition, and for evaluating the role of experience in maintaining this ability. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Persistent problems and practices in information systems developmentINFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 3 2007Karlheinz Kautz Abstract.,This paper identifies and discusses the persistent problems and development practices of information systems development (ISD). A critical examination and comparison of past times',traditional' and present-day ,web-based' development shows that contemporary ISD can be seen as an accentuated evolution , rather than a revolution , of well-known challenges and solutions. On this basis, (1) diversity; (2) knowledge; and (3) structure are identified as inherent and interrelated problems, while the practices for coping with these three challenges are (a) organization and specialization; (b) constant verbal communication and negotiation; and (c) pragmatic application of certain development methods and methodical concepts. We conclude that more research on the occurrence and interaction of problems and practices at, and between, different contextual levels (e.g. the business environment, company, project, team and individual levels) is needed to understand and assess (the gap between) ,observed practice' and ,good practice' across the many types of Web and non-Web ISD projects conducted today. We outline a possible research agenda to investigate these issues. [source] Symptom burden in inflammatory bowel disease: Rethinking conceptual and theoretical underpinningsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NURSING PRACTICE, Issue 5 2010Dawn Farrell BSC RGN Farrell D, Savage E. International Journal of Nursing Practice 2010; 16: 437,442 Symptom burden in inflammatory bowel disease: Rethinking conceptual and theoretical underpinnings Symptom control is fundamental to the nursing management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, symptom control can be problematic for individuals with IBD, which could result in symptom burden. Symptom burden is an evolving concept in the discipline of nursing and to date little is known about how the defining characteristics of this concept have been applied to symptom research in IBD. In this discussion paper, the concept of symptom burden and the theory of unpleasant symptoms are explored as a basis for understanding symptom research in IBD. This is followed by a critical examination of previous symptom research in IBD. Our conclusion is that there is a need to rethink conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of symptom burden when researching IBD to take account of its defining characteristics, namely symptom severity, frequency and duration, quality and distress. Research knowledge on these defining characteristics will be important to inform nursing assessment of symptom burden in clinical practice. [source] Is Bt Cotton a Pro-Poor Technology?JOURNAL OF AGRARIAN CHANGE, Issue 4 2010A Review, Critique of the Empirical Record Policy makers, journalists and other commentators have hailed genetically modified (GM) crops as a ,pro-poor' success in the developing world. Their confidence appears to be justified by the encouraging conclusions reached by academic studies on the performance and impacts of GM crops, which seem to provide convincing evidence of substantial benefits for smallholders in developing countries. However, a detailed, critical examination of studies on transgenic, insect-resistant cotton in China, India and South Africa demonstrates that the technology's impacts have been evaluated and represented in selective and misleading ways. The performance and impacts of GM crops have in fact been highly variable, socio-economically differentiated and contingent on a range of agronomic, socio-economic and institutional factors. The shortcomings of the GM crop-impacts literature have done a disservice to public and policy debates about GM crops in international development and impeded the development of sound, evidence-based policy. [source] On Euthanasia: Blindspots in the Argument from MercyJOURNAL OF APPLIED PHILOSOPHY, Issue 2 2002Sarah Bachelard In the euthanasia debate, the argument from mercy holds that if someone is in unbearable pain and is hopelessly ill or injured, then mercy dictates that inflicting death may be morally justified. One common way of setting the stage for the argument from mercy is to draw parallels between human and animal suffering, and to suggest that insofar as we are prepared to relieve an animal's suffering by putting it out of its misery we should likewise be prepared to offer the same relief to human beings. In this paper, I will argue that the use of parallels between human and animal suffering in the argument from mercy relies upon truncated views of how the concept of a human being enters our moral thought and responsiveness. In particular, the focus on the nature and extent of the empirical similarities between human beings and animals obscures the significance for our moral lives of the kind of human fellowship which is not reducible to the shared possession of empirical capacities. I will suggest that although a critical examination of the blindspots in these arguments does not license the conclusion that euthanasia for mercy's sake is never morally permissible, it does limit the power of arguments such as those provided by Rachels and Singer to justify it. I will further suggest that examination of these blindspots helps to deepen our understanding of what is at stake in the question of euthanasia in ways that tend otherwise to remain obscured. [source] The ED strategy: how species-level surrogates indicate general biodiversity patterns through an ,environmental diversity' perspectiveJOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 8 2004D. P. Faith Abstract Biodiversity assessment requires that we use surrogate information in practice to indicate more general biodiversity patterns. ,ED' refers to a surrogates framework that can link species data and environmental information based on a robust relationship of compositional dissimilarities to ordinations that indicate underlying environmental variation. In an example analysis of species and environmental data from Panama, the environmental and spatial variables that correlate with an hybrid multi-dimensional scaling ordination were able to explain 83% of the variation in the corresponding Bray Curtis dissimilarities. The assumptions of ED also provide the rationale for its use of p-median optimization criteria to measure biodiversity patterns among sites in a region. M.B. Araújo, P.J. Densham & P.H. Williams (2004, Journal of Biogeography31, 1) have re-named ED as ,AD' in their evaluation of the surrogacy value of ED based on European species data. Because lessons from previous work on ED options consequently may have been neglected, we use a corroboration framework to investigate the evidence and ,background knowledge' presented in their evaluations of ED. Investigations focus on the possibility that their weak corroboration of ED surrogacy (non-significance of target species recovery relative to a null model) may be a consequence of Araújo et al.'s use of particular evidence and randomizations. We illustrate how their use of discrete ED, and not the recommended continuous ED, may have produced unnecessarily poor species recovery values. Further, possible poor optimization of their MDS ordinations, due to small numbers of simulations and/or low resolution of stress values appears to have provided a possible poor basis for ED application and, consequently, may have unnecessarily favoured non-corroboration results. Consideration of Araújo et al.'s randomizations suggests that acknowledged sampling biases in the European data have not only artefactually promoted the non-significance of ED recovery values, but also artefactually elevated the significance of competing species surrogates recovery values. We conclude that little credence should be given to the comparisons of ED and species-based complementarity sets presented in M.B. Araújo, P.J. Densham & P.H. Williams (2004, Journal of Biogeography31, 1), unless the factors outlined here can be analysed for their effects on results. We discuss the lessons concerning surrogates evaluation emerging from our investigations, calling for better provision in such studies of the background information that can allow (i) critical examination of evidence (both at the initial corroboration and re-evaluation stages), and (ii) greater synthesis of lessons about the pitfalls of different forms of evidence in different contexts. [source] Seizing possibilities for positive family caregiving in nursing homesJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 8 2007Ursula Kellett PhD Aims., This paper explores the ways family members reconstruct meaning through seizing possibilities for positive caregiving in nursing homes. Background., The importance of the ability of family caregivers to adapt and accommodate has been well documented in international family caregiving research. Through engagement in caregiving activities, families learn to modify, adapt and accommodate to changes in their situation and relationships. The support family caregivers experience in learning to accommodate change is crucial in enabling them to reconstruct positive aspects of caregiving in a long-term aged care context. Method., In this study, a hermeneutic phenomenological approach was adopted informed by the philosophical world views of Heidegger and Gadamer. Data collected by in-depth interviews and participant observations, from a purposeful sample of 14 family caregivers, underwent hermeneutic analysis. Results., Five shared meanings associated with seizing possibilities for positive caregiving were revealed: accommodating new and different ways of caring; feeling a part of the nursing home community; seeing the whole picture; learning to care in stress-reducing ways and learning to seize possibilities for self. Conclusion., This paper illustrates how families, through caregiving experience in nursing homes, learn to become active managers, negotiating, accommodating and redeveloping a sense of future viewed with hope, strength and positive anticipation. Relevance to clinical practice., By highlighting what is attributed significance by families, a critical examination of the difficult issues which obstruct the development of meaningful partnerships among nurses, family and their relatives is facilitated. In particular, an examination of tensions at an ideological level supports the need for future research to focus its efforts on examining the ways of implementing nursing care that facilitates partnerships that incorporate and build upon positive and equal relations among staff, families and residents in the context of the nursing home setting. [source] The 90-Second Collaboration: A Critical Study of Collaboration Exercises at Extensive Accident SitesJOURNAL OF CONTINGENCIES AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2008Johan M. Berlin In this study, a critical examination of collaboration, focusing on the alternatives, is carried out. The study is based on empirical data from four inter-organizational exercises involving ambulance police and fire departments. We studied collaboration between the three organizations, from the arrival of the first units, until the mission was completed. It was found that collaboration was practiced to a relatively small degree, and that it primarily took place due to understaffing. In summary, the different organizational phenomena are sorted on a scale of stability vs. change. The result of the study shows that the organizations observed strive for stability, preferring repeated and well-known behaviour. [source] The burgeoning field of statistical phylogeographyJOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2004L. L. Knowles Abstract In the newly emerging field of statistical phylogeography, consideration of the stochastic nature of genetic processes and explicit reference to theoretical expectations under various models has dramatically transformed how historical processes are studied. Rather than being restricted to ad hoc explanations for observed patterns of genetic variation, assessments about the underlying evolutionary processes are now based on statistical tests of various hypotheses, as well as estimates of the parameters specified by the models. A wide range of demographical and biogeographical processes can be accommodated by these new analytical approaches, providing biologically more realistic models. Because of these advances, statistical phylogeography can provide unprecedented insights about a species' history, including decisive information about the factors that shape patterns of genetic variation, species distributions, and speciation. However, to improve our understanding of such processes, a critical examination and appreciation of the inherent difficulties of historical inference and challenges specific to testing phylogeographical hypotheses are essential. As the field of statistical phylogeography continues to take shape many difficulties have been resolved. Nonetheless, careful attention to the complexities of testing historical hypotheses and further theoretical developments are essential to improving the accuracy of our conclusions about a species' history. [source] ORGANIZATIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL COMMITMENT: KNOWLEDGE WORKERS IN LARGE CORPORATIONS*JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 6 2002TAM YEUK-MUI MAY Previous discussion of knowledge work and workers tends to overlook the importance of contextual knowledge in shaping the organizational form of knowledge workers who are employees in large corporations. This paper proposes a model to understand the way knowledge base and organizational form are related to the work commitment, effort and job satisfaction of knowledge workers. The model is derived from (1) a critical examination of the market model of knowledge work organization, and (2) the results of empirical research conducted in two large corporations. We argue that contextual knowledge is important in the relationships between the corporation and knowledge workers. A dualistic model and an enclave organizational form are suggested to examine the relationships between the commitment, work effort and job satisfaction of knowledge workers. We noted from our empirical cases that enclave-like work teams enhanced the expertise and job autonomy of knowledge workers vis-à-vis management. These work teams together with the performance-based pay system, however, led to unmet job expectations including limited employee influence over decision-making and careers, and communication gaps with senior management. Under these circumstances, and in contrast to the impact of occupational commitment, organizational commitment did not contribute to work effort. The study highlights the importance of management's strategy in shaping the organizational form of knowledge work. The paper concludes by noting general implications of our study for the management of expertise and for further research. [source] A multiproxy climate record from a raised bog in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland: a critical examination of the link between bog surface wetness and solar variability,JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, Issue 7 2007Graeme T. Swindles Abstract A proxy climate record from a raised bog in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, is presented. The record spans the interval between 2850,cal.,yr,BC and cal. yr AD 1000 and chronological control is achieved through the use of tephrochronology and 14C dating, including a wiggle-match on one section of the record. Palaeoclimatic inferences are based on a combination of a testate amoebae-derived water table reconstruction, peat humification and plant macrofossil analyses. This multiproxy approach enables proxy-specific effects to be identified. Major wet shifts are registered in the proxies at ca. 1510,cal.,yr,BC, 750,cal.,yr,BC and cal. yr AD 470. Smaller magnitude shifts to wetter conditions are also recorded at ca. 380,cal.,yr,BC, 150,cal.,yr,BC, cal. yr AD 180, and cal. yr AD 690. It is hypothesised that the wet shifts are not merely local events as they appear to be linked to wider climate deteriorations in northwest Europe. Harmonic analysis of the proxies illustrates statistically significant periodicities of 580, 423,373, 307 and 265 years that may be related to wider Holocene climate cycles. This paper illustrates how the timing of climate changes registered in peat profiles records can be precisely constrained using tephrochronology to examine possible climatic responses to solar forcing. Relying on interpolated chronologies with considerable dating uncertainty must be avoided if the climatic responses to forcing mechanisms are to be fully understood. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Rhyme and reading: a critical review of the research methodologyJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 1 2002Bonnie M. Macmillan There is debate over whether children's early rhyme awareness has important implications for beginning reading instruction. The apparent finding that pre-readers are able to perform rhyme tasks much more readily than phoneme tasks has led some to propose that teaching children to read by drawing attention to rime units within words is ,a route into phonemes' (Goswami, 1999a, p. 233). Rhyme and analogy have been adopted as an integral part of the National Literacy Strategy (DfEE, 1998), a move which appears to have been influenced by three major research claims:1) rhyme awareness is related to reading ability, 2) rhyme awareness affects reading achievement, and 3) rhyme awareness leads to the development of phoneme awareness. A critical examination of the experimental research evidence from a methodological viewpoint, however, shows that not one of the three claims is sufficiently supported. Instructional implications are discussed. [source] Thinking about Generations: Conceptual Positions and Policy ImplicationsJOURNAL OF SOCIAL ISSUES, Issue 4 2007Simon Biggs Three traditions of social theory are examined in this article, with a special emphasis being given to the ways that the concept of "generation" has been conceived and developed over time. These include Psychodynamic, Sociological, and Gerontological approaches with attention drawn to the similarities and differences among them. It is concluded that while conceptual development has been uneven, taken together, they provide a rich basis for a critical examination of contemporary social problems with implications for policy toward intergenerational relationships. [source] The Bar Examination and the Dream Deferred: A Critical Analysis of the MBE, Social Closure, and Racial and Ethnic StratificationLAW & SOCIAL INQUIRY, Issue 3 2004William C. Kidder In this article, the author applies social closure theory to help explain why more than a dozen states have recently enacted more stringent bar exam passing standards and why others are considering similar changes. While higher standards are usually advocated as a way to protect the public from lower student "quality," the author applies social closure theory and argues that changes in passing standards are a response to a perceived oversupply of lawyers, especially among solo practitioners. In the 1990s, crowding among solo practitioners reached record levels, and real earnings eroded substantially. The author then links this labor market analysis to a critical examination of the knowledge claims that justify the bar exam to the legal profession and the public at large. The article's conclusion is that the psychometric research sponsored by the National Conference of Bar Examiners consistently minimizes and obscures the disparate impact and unfairness of the bar exam for people of color. [source] Rethinking the management of transboundary freshwater resources: a critical examination of modern international law and practiceNATURAL RESOURCES FORUM, Issue 1 2000Jeffrey AlbertArticle first published online: 9 OCT 200 Abstract Available freshwater stocks are being depleted and impaired on a widespread basis, with acute shortages an increasingly frequent condition in arid climates. In transboundary basins, water scarcity and pollution compound interstate tension and contribute to human suffering and ecological damage. This article provides theoretical perspectives on shared freshwater disputes and on the evolution of the international law of shared water resources. It argues that the UN Convention on the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (ratified by some countries, but not yet in force) is inadequate as a framework convention in terms of providing general obligations on the future parties or an institutional framework for future action. The paper suggests that three critical concepts be considered in future management of shared water resources: (1) the unitary character of watersheds (where the absence of extra-basin diversions allows); (2) joint or "communitarian" watershed management; and (3) the relevance of international trade to alleviating regional food stress, resulting from local water scarcity. Finally, it proposes the establishment of an international advisory body on shared water disputes, modelled after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), whose role is codified in the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. [source] Culture theorizing past and present: trends and challengesNURSING PHILOSOPHY, Issue 4 2010Helen E.R. Vandenberg RN MSc (Nursing) Abstract Over the past several decades, nurses have been increasingly theorizing about the relationships between culture, health, and nursing practice. This culture theorizing has changed over time and has recently been subject to much critical examination. The purpose of this paper is to identify the challenges impeding nurses' ability to build theory about the relationships between culture and health. Through a historical overview, I argue that continued support for the essentialist view of culture can maintain a limited view of complex race relations. I also argue that attempts to apply culture theory, without knowledge of important historical, political, and economic factors, has often resulted in oversimplified versions of what was originally intended. Furthermore, I argue that individual-level interventions alone will be insufficient to address health inequities related to culture. Despite new critical conceptualizations of culture and the uptake of cultural safety, nursing scholars must better address the broader organizational, population, and political interventions needed to address inequities in health. I conclude with suggestions for how nurses might proceed with culture theorizing given these challenges. [source] Professional knowledge and the epistemology of reflective practiceNURSING PHILOSOPHY, Issue 1 2010Elizabeth Anne Kinsella PhD Abstract Reflective practice is one of the most popular theories of professional knowledge in the last 20 years and has been widely adopted by nursing, health, and social care professions. The term was coined by Donald Schön in his influential books The Reflective Practitioner, and Educating the Reflective Practitioner, and has garnered the unprecedented attention of theorists and practitioners of professional education and practice. Reflective practice has been integrated into professional preparatory programmes, continuing education programmes, and by the regulatory bodies of a wide range of health and social care professions. Yet, despite its popularity and widespread adoption, a problem frequently raised in the literature concerns the lack of conceptual clarity surrounding the term reflective practice. This paper seeks to respond to this problem by offering an analysis of the epistemology of reflective practice as revealed through a critical examination of philosophical influences within the theory. The aim is to discern philosophical underpinnings of reflective practice in order to advance increasingly coherent interpretations, and to consider the implications for conceptions of professional knowledge in professional life. The paper briefly examines major philosophical underpinnings in reflective practice to explicate central themes that inform the epistemological assumptions of the theory. The study draws on the work of Donald Schön, and on texts from four philosophers: John Dewey, Nelson Goodman, Michael Polanyi, and Gilbert Ryle. Five central epistemological themes in reflective practice are illuminated: (1) a broad critique of technical rationality; (2) professional practice knowledge as artistry; (3) constructivist assumptions in the theory; (4) the significance of tacit knowledge for professional practice knowledge; and (5) overcoming mind body dualism to recognize the knowledge revealed in intelligent action. The paper reveals that the theory of reflective practice is concerned with deep epistemological questions of significance to conceptions of knowledge in health and social care professions. [source] Luck, Mystery and Supremacy: D. Z. Phillips Reads Nagel and Williams on MoralityPHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS, Issue 3 2007Stephen Mulhall This paper critically examines D. Z. Phillips' critical examination of Nagel's and Williams's famous exchange about moral luck. It argues that Phillips fails properly to identify the fundamental issues at stake in the exchange , particularly with respect to the role of scepticism, of the picture of the will as an extensionless point, and of the putative supremacy of morality , and so fails to recognise a certain commonality of interest between himself and those he criticises. [source] Semiempirical equations for the viscosity of amphiphilic polymer solutions: A critical examinationPOLYMER ENGINEERING & SCIENCE, Issue 4 2007A. Durand The associative behavior of amphiphilic polysaccharides derived from dextran, a neutral bacterial polysaccharide, is studied in dilute and moderately concentrated aqueous solutions using viscosity measurements. It is shown that the viscosity of the aqueous solutions can be conveniently depicted over a wide concentration range by several semiempirical equations. The Martin equation as well as the Matsuoka-Cowman equation is shown to depict conveniently the experimental results. These two equations involve only viscometric parameters determined in the dilute range (intrinsic viscosity and Huggins constant). The modification of Lyons and Tobolsky is discussed. The Fedors equation is shown to be similar to the Heller equation over a large concentration domain. Their respective empirical parameters are correlated and can be calculated from the Huggins coefficient. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 47:481,488, 2007. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers. [source] Constitution-making in Africa: assessing both the process and the contentPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2001M. Ndulo This article examines the relationship between governance and development, and concludes that underlying the litany of Africa's development problems is a crisis of governance. Good governance would result in institutions that are more likely to adopt economic policies that would resolve the constraints that hinder economic development. In addition, it would make a major contribution to the reduction of war and conflict. It would do this by creating an environment for sustainable development to take place and thereby reduce poverty, the root cause of war and conflict. This calls for a critical examination of the question of governance in Africa with a view to identifying the obstacles to its establishment and the possible approaches to the development of systems of governance that give political space to all groups. Since the most important legal instrument in the scheme of good governance is the national constitution, the article seeks to identify some of the key issues that must be considered in the process of developing a national constitution if it is to be durable. It also addresses the conditions under which such constitutions should be developed if they are to be acceptable to the people of the country they are intended to govern. Running through the article is the theme that the establishment of good governance in Africa depends on the development of political systems that give people a sense of ownership of the political process. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||