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Parfit advertised the priority view as a new and fundamental theory in the ethics of distribution. He never discusses risk, and many writers follow suit when discussing the priority view. This article formalizes two popular arguments for a commonly accepted risk-free definition of the priority view. One is based on a direct attempt to define the priority view, the other is based on a contrast with utilitarianism and egalitarianism. But it argues that neither argument succeeds, and more generally, that it is not possible to make sense of the priority view in a risk-free framework. As a diagnosis, the article suggests that the literature on the priority view has paid insufficient attention to axiomatization and has most likely mistaken the proper role of the use of evaluative measurements in theorizing about the ethics of distribution. Reasons are eventually offered for thinking that despite appearances, approaching the priority view in terms of risk from the outset is quite natural. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication to promote behaviours like energy saving can use significant resources. What is less clear is the comparative value of different approaches available to communicators. While it is generally agreed that 'bottom-up' approaches, where individuals are actively involved rather than passive, are preferable to 'top-down' authority-led projects, there is a dearth of evidence that verifies why this should be. Additionally, while the literature has examined the mechanics of the different approaches, there has been less attention paid to the associated psychological implications. This paper reports on an exploratory comparative study that examined the effects of six distinct communication activities. The activities used different communication approaches, some participative and others more top-down informational. Two theories, from behavioural studies and communication, were used to identify key variables for consideration in this field-based evaluation. The evaluation aimed to assess not just which activity might be most successful, as this has limited generalisability, but to also gain insight into what psychological impacts might contribute to success. Analysis found support for the general hypothesis that bottom-up approaches have more impact on behaviour change than top-down. The study also identified that, in this instance, the difference in reported behaviour across the activities related partly to the extent to which intentions to change behaviour were implemented. One possible explanation for the difference in reported behaviour change across the activities is that a bottom-up approach may offer a supportive environment where participants can discuss progress with like-minded individuals. A further possible explanation is that despite controlling for intention at an individual level, the pre-existence of strong intentions may have an effect on group success. These suggestive findings point toward the critical need for additional and larger-scale studies. The challenges associated with field-based evaluative research and the role of theory are discussed. The design approach and measures used in this study may be useful to other evaluations that seek to compare different communicative approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this report is to examine the process of validation of new screening tests designed to detect the problem gambler in research and practice settings. A hierarchical or phases of evaluation model is presented as a conceptual framework to describe the basic features of the validation process and its implications for application and interpretation of test results. The report describes a number of threats to validity in the form of sources of unintended bias that when unrecognized may lead to incorrect interpretations of study results and the drawing of incorrect conclusions about the usefulness of the new screening tests. Examples drawn from the gambling literature on problem gambling are used to illustrate some of the more important concepts including spectrum bias and clinical variation in test accuracy. The concept of zones of severity and the bias inherent in selecting criterion thresholds are reviewed. A definition of reference or study gold standard is provided. The use of 2-stage designs to establish validity by efficiently using reference standards to determine indices of accuracy and prevalence is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To undertake a systematic review of the extent to which geographically focused policing initiatives appear to displace crime (simply relocate it to other places) or diffuse benefits (lead to reductions elsewhere). Methods: Evaluation research which assessed whether such schemes may have led to displacement or diffusion of benefit to nearby areas was identified, obtained and coded. Research reports were assessed in terms of their methodological rigor and the quantitative estimates of outcomes collected. A hierarchy for estimates of displacement was established. For 16 studies, meta-analysis was used to produce a collection of results that had two sets of outcome information in terms of effect sizes (the success of the intervention and the extent to which it may have caused displacement or diffusion). Results: The main findings of the meta-analysis suggested that on average geographically focused policing initiatives for which data were available were (1) associated with significant reductions in crime and disorder, and (2) that, overall, changes in catchment areas were non-significant but there was a trend in favor of a diffusion of benefit. Conclusion: The results demonstrate that in the case of geographically focused police efforts, displacement is far from inevitable, and in fact, on balance, that the opposite, a diffusion of crime control benefits, appears to be the more likely outcome. This in turn demonstrates that such endeavors on average have an overall reductive impact on crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of the capability approach as an evaluative tool for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy and programs in developing countries, in particular at a grass-roots community level, is an emerging field of application. However, one of the difficulties with ICT for development (ICT4D) evaluations is in linking what is often no more than a resource, for example basic access, to actual outcomes, or means to end. This article argues that the capability approach provides a framework for evaluating the strength of this linkage and that the latter is a key determinant of whether or not communities sustain ICT4D programs beyond the initial start-up phase. The argument is made by describing an evaluative application of the capabilities approach to community ICT4D programs using two Indigenous community case studies conducted in Cape York, in the far north-east of Australia. Key to the evaluative approach is the identification of community defined, context specific concepts of well-being and constitutive valued functionings and the derivation from this of required capabilities. This move away from normative definitions of capabilities or capability types to a definition that reflects the Indigenous culture, history, circumstances, and well-being aspirations of each community is intended to give a voice to the people and at the same time provide a deeper informational base-through narrative-for policy and program design than has previously been available. The article concludes that by operationalising the capability approach in a context and purpose specific way, policy and program design can be improved so as to include more communities on the margin and thereby achieve more socially inclusive ICT based development. A process is also outlined for using the evaluative application of the capability approach for community ICT4D within a policy feedback loop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

comprehensive and evaluative review of empirical research published between 2000 and 2010 specific to long distance caregiving is provided to identify what is known about this subgroup of caregivers and to identify gaps in knowledge. We searched peer-reviewed journals included in the following databases: Academic Search Premier (EBSCO), PROQuest Direct, Social Work Abstracts, CINAHL, MEDLINE, and PsychInfo. Searches were restricted to English language publications between 2000 and 2010. Search terms included: 'review + caregiving + dementia', 'meta-analyses + caregiving + dementia,' 'caregiving + dementia + not institutional,' 'informal + caregiving,' 'family + caregiving', 'caregiving + technology'. Any searches including the term 'dementia' were repeated without that term. These same searches were repeated with the term 'distance' added to each. Empirical research specific to long distance caregiving is reviewed in detail. A brief review is provided of other closely related research. Long distance caregivers report being heavily involved in the care of their family member, regardless of distance and surprisingly, are often the only or primary caregiver. The specific needs for future research to inform best practice that goes beyond description of this important subgroup of caregivers is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses sociologist John Kitsuse's contribution to social problems theory and social constructionism in the field of sociology. It is noted that Kitsuse advanced the social constructionist approach to social problems in direct opposition to structural functionalist approaches. Kitsuse insisted that social problems could not be separated from the perceptions and practical activities undertaken by those menaced by those problems. It is argued that constructionist insight has enabled social problems researchers to examine social processes by which remedies for public problems are socially produced, implemented, revised, combined, replaced, and/or forgotten.

This paper reports the results of the first of a series of co-laboratories organized by Cypriot peace pioneers 30 months after the negative outcome of the referendum concerning UN General Secretary’s plan for reunification of the island. The purpose of this co-laboratory was to support a diverse group of disengaged and disappointed peace pioneers and activists representing Turkish and Greek communities of Cyprus develop a shared understanding of factors contributing to the perceived widening of the gap between the two divided communities in Cyprus. The co-laboratory was organized using the structured dialogic design process (SDDP) approach within the context of a rich web-based communication environment. The root causes contributing to the widening of the gap are discussed and are also compared with those identified during a similar co-laboratory employing the Interactive Management methodology 12 years earlier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gambling has become increasingly popular among minors and is easily accessible to them. This is alarming since research has indicated that minors are more susceptible to gambling pathology than adults. Additionally, gambling has devastating effects on minors that gamble as well as their families and communities. The Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery (IIAR) developed a gambling awareness prevention program called “ Don’ t Gamble Away our Future™” to educate minors about gambling and the dangers associated with it. The IIAR started collecting data for the purpose of evaluation in 2005. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the program’s effectiveness at changing knowledge about gambling and to assess the frequencies of problem and pathological gambling among participants at program implementation (year one). The program was evaluated with a sample of 8,455 Midwestern youth. Findings indicated that 10% of the participants were probable pathological gamblers and that the program was successful at increasing knowledge of gambling and the negative effects it can have, over the short term. Teaching minors about the risks of gambling and the effects it can have is an important preventative measure that can help protect youth from the dangers associated with problem and pathological gambling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science is praxis relevant to the extent that it guides goal-directed action by telling us how to act in order to achieve the goals. Investigations aiming at high praxis relevance are performed in various disciplines under names such as clinical trials, evaluation research, intervention research and social experiments. In this contribution, the notion of (direct) praxis relevance is delineated, and it is distinguished from related properties of science such as those of being applied and being practically useful in a wider sense. Recommendations for the achievement of praxis relevance are offered in the form of five principles: the prerogative of direct experiments, minimized theory-induced uncertainty, multiple approximations, causal chain decomposition and successive improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Research Council’s report on evaluating anticrime programs contains sensible suggestions for improving evaluation research in criminal justice but neglects the important role of substantive theory in linking evaluations of anticrime initiatives to variation in crime rates across time and place. A working knowledge of crime rates is essential for designing and evaluating anticrime programs. This essay calls for the development of a policy evaluation infrastructure that would support the continuous monitoring of crime rates, generate knowledge of crime-producing conditions, and link evaluation research findings to one another and to expected policy outcomes, notably crime reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Research Council (NRC) Report on Improving Evaluation of Anticrime Programs raises a fundamental question about the mission of evaluation research. The implicit premise of the report is that the mission of evaluation is to answer questions about programs developed by others; in short, to test anti-crime programs. In contrast, the mission of experimental criminology has, historically, been to develop anti-crime programs as well as to test them. There are times when an arm’s-length relationship between program and evaluation may be appropriate. Yet, such a separation necessarily produces a courtroom-like adjudication role for evaluators, rather than the laboratory-like, participant–inventor role that has characterized the best of experimental criminology. The recent case of the Chicago police’s “evaluating” the use of sequential suspect identification methods developed by academic psychologists shows the many flaws of the “testing-only” model. This suggests that providing “effective guidance of criminal justice policy and practice,” as the NRC report defines its focus [Lipsey, M. ed (2005). http://newton.nap.edu/pdf/0309097061/pdf_image/R1.pdf] will not only require evaluation research (defined as arm’s-length testing) but the full toolbox of experimental criminology to develop and test anti-crime programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important question often asked when counselors-in-training read textbook discussion of gender role stereotypes, especially of older work such as the classic study by the Brovermans and their colleagues, is “Haven’t these biases been eliminated or at least reduced?” The current study was designed to replicate the work of the Brovermans and their colleagues to answer that specific question and to determine how current counselors-in-training perceive healthy adult women, healthy adult men, and healthy adults. As in the prior research, initial ratings of the social desirability of traditional gender role stereotypes were conducted, and the findings showed many similarities to past research. That investigation was followed by a modified Stereotype Questionnaire, based on the original work of Rosenkrantz, Vogel, Bee, I. Broverman, and D. M. Broverman (1968). Healthy adult women were found to be significantly different from healthy adult men as well as from healthy adults. In addition, the results suggest that there have been changes in counselors’ perceptions of healthy adults. Counselors-in-training were found to hold two standards for mental health—one for women and another for men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern view of child protection services implies that to help young people, simply intervening on their behalf is not sufficient. It suggests that involving parents in the assistance process is essential in order to ensure that they are most likely to play their role as parents to their children in the fullest possible way. Although several articles have dealt with the issue of parent involvement, very few have attempted to document the practices used by practitioners to encourage such involvement. This article presents the findings of a study on child protection practices for involving parents in a child protection context. It is exploratory in nature, and uses a qualitative methodology. The study population is made up of 38 child protection service workers. An analysis of the practitioners' discourse reveals that the behaviour and attitudes used by them to encourage parent involvement are very diverse. There also appear to be key moments in securing their involvement, that is, making contact, setting objectives and means of action, and applying the case plan. In addition to corroborating earlier studies on the issue of parent involvement, our findings indicate that the majority of the caseworkers interviewed practice an approach that aims to empower clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to multiple problems faced by pregnant and parenting teens, many alternative school-based comprehensive programs have been established throughout the United States. By collecting data from a sample of enrollees of such a school-based comprehensive program and comparing them with data collected from a sample of non-enrollees, the present study systematically evaluates the program. The results of the study seem to suggest that the program participants were more likely to have higher educational aspiration, better reproductive health outcomes, higher contraceptive use, and more breast-feeding practice and intention than those of their non-participating counterparts. The implications of the study findings for comprehensive school-based program for pregnant and/or parenting teens are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The axioms that characterize the generalized Gini social evaluation orderings for one-dimensional distributions are extended to the multidimensional attributes case. A social evaluation ordering is shown to have a two-stage aggregation representation if these axioms and a separability assumption are satisfied. In the first stage, the distributions of each attribute are aggregated using generalized Gini social evaluation functions. The functional form of the second-stage aggregator depends on the number of attributes and on which version of a comonotonic additivity axiom is used. The implications of these results for the corresponding multidimensional indices of relative and absolute inequality are also considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the general theoretical support for the value and use of randomized controlled experiments in determining ‘what works’ in criminal justice interventions, they are infrequently used in practice. Reasons often given for their rare use include that experiments present practical difficulties and ethical challenges or tend to over-simplify complex social processes. However, there may be other reasons why experiments are not chosen when studying criminal justice-related programs. This study reports the findings of a survey of criminal justice evaluation researchers as to their methodological choices for research studies they were involved in. The results suggest that traditional objections to experiments may not be as salient as initially believed and that funding agency pressure as well as academic mentorship may have important influences on the use of randomized controlled designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduces several selected papers presenting paradigms and case studies of action research published in the "AI & Society." Examination of politically engaged research genre; Rehabilitation of the assembly line workers to the creation of a training center; Description of a highly specific Italian action research experience connected with trade unions.

We report the development and a preliminary analysis of the Evaluative Beliefs Scale (EBS). The EBS measures negative person evaluations, a key class of beliefs within cognitive psychotherapy and thought to be closely linked to emotional disturbance. Three hundred ninety-four members of a UK-based self-help group called Depressives Anonymous completed the EBS and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The EBS was found to have good internal reliability, a clear factor structure and concurrent validity when compared with the HADS. We believe the EBS might have utility for clinical research and practice, not only as an assessment and outcome measure but also for testing hypotheses about connections between cognitions and emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the consequences of the large investment placed by the U.S. in evaluation research. Evolution of evaluation research in the 1960s; Role of evaluation research in the formation of the conservative movement; Lessons learned from evaluation research.

In sum, a study planned to yield equivalent treatment groups and highly interpretable results, based on promises of cooperation from enlightened judges and police officers, was greatly compromised by a variety of failures of the decision-makers involved to follow the experimental prescriptions. The reasons for these failures appear to be that the weight of promises by top-level representatives of bureaucracies is considerably attenuated at the bottom of the organizational structure, absent strong control procedures, and that the day-to-day pressures of bureaucratic "clients"--even when these are law violators--are more weighty than those which researchers can bring to bear.
The main lesson to be gleaned from this experience is that to assure the realization of random or arbitrary procedures in research designs, choice must be eliminated from non-scientific personnel, no matter how well motivated they may appear to be. We have learned that gross departures eau take place from the simple stipulation that a given kind of sentence will be meted out in a given month. Even the clear and simple instruction that a clerk is to administer one procedure to forms bearing a certain last digit and a different procedure to those bearing a different digit could not be accomplished without bias. Our experience has led us to the following suggestions for other researchers planning experimental studies in the legal system and in other similar bureaucratic settings:. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on the integration of social indicators within the community and social programming-evaluation process. Indepth look at the program structure; Speculation on the relationship between objectives and the program structure; Information on the continuity of research on this topic.

Provides insights into evaluation purposes, processes, products and probity in developing countries. Experiences with evaluations of agricultural research, health and social development projects; Expectation for evaluations to achieve multiple objectives; Influence of conclusions and recommendations on the course of a program.

Examines the participatory evaluation of agricultural research in the Philippines. Importance of evaluation in the information needs of research managers and policy makers; Relationship between researchers and farmers; Inquiry on farming practices.

Focuses on the evaluation of agricultural research in Latin America and the Caribbean. Assessment of the status of evaluation in agricultural research; Identification of the priorities for the improvement of evaluation; Patterns in evaluation practice.

Focuses on the evaluation of agricultural research in Africa. Constraints in agricultural research; Types of evaluation; Description of comprehensive impact assessment methods in agricultural research.

Examines the role of evaluation in promoting and sustaining professionalism in agricultural research organizations in India. Implication of the evaluation experience of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for the institutionalization of professionalism; Analysis of specific evaluation experiences; Need for stringent evaluations in ICAR.

Provides an overview on the evaluation of agricultural research and development organizations in developing countries. Highlights of the first international evaluation conference; History of evaluation in agricultural research organizations; Evolution of the evaluation process.

Focuses on the case of Switzerland's political system as an illustrative material for investigating the strain placed by grassroots politics on the institutional design of evaluations. Opposing trends; Social problems calling for evaluations; Genesis of implementation and evaluation research; Evaluations and other results analysis instruments; Methodology; Types of evaluations; Legal ramifications.

Focuses on the emergence of the evaluation profession in European countries and proposes to speak of the four different kinds of evaluation suppliers: professionals, specialists, craftsmen and amateurs. Evaluation of structural policies; Methods for evaluating structural policies; Interviews done in 1992; Demand growth; Evaluation as a profession in Europe.

Discusses the evaluation function in the setting of the European Commission's expenditures. Essentials of evaluation; Political impulses and Commission responses; Seven stylized facts.

Focuses on the evolution in evaluation research, described from the viewpoint of varying rationales and their methodologies. Progress so far; Experimental method; Pragmatic evaluation; Naturalistic evaluation; Pluralist evaluation; Outlook for the future of evaluation research in Europe; Advantages offered by realistic evaluation.

Provides an overview of developments in evaluation theory and practice. Expectations regarding evaluation; Changes that characterize the use of existing methods; Lessons to be learned about evaluation credibility and its importance for the use of evaluation findings.

This article makes the case that it is usually inappropriate for management to require mental health counselors to be data-takers from their clients on descriptive research projects that pose as necessary evaluative research. This is true because the goals of descriptive research and those of clinical treatment differ. Group methodology and exhaustive descriptive questioning are unhelpful and sometimes even destructive to the development of a positive clinical relationship between counselor and client. Numerous problems are cited which arise when descriptive research is done as evaluation and counselors are drafted into service as data-takers. The article concludes by urging the use of single-case quantitative methodology when counselors are required to perform service effectiveness evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the use of triangulation in social research. Discussions about whether and how to combine social research methods go back to debates about the use of surveys and fieldwork, or the use of interviews and participant observation. More recently, the debates about the relationship between qualitative and quantitative methods, particularly in evaluation research, have advocated a combination of methods. The common theme in discussions of triangulation has been the desire to overcome problems of bias and validity. It has been argued that the deficiency of any one method can be overcome by combining methods and thus capitalizing on their individual strengths. However, the use of triangulation has been plagued with a lack of awareness of the different and incommensurate ontological and epistemological assumptions associated with various theories and methods. While some combinations of methods have been used with common ontologies and epistemologies, serious problems have been created, although not usually recognized, when methods based on different assumptions have been used.

The article discusses follow-up research carried out to evaluate social programs targeted at such problem areas as housing redevelopment, compensatory education, employment for welfare clients and criminals, and attenuation of psychological illness. The focus of discussion is on the mixed methodology, derived from both natural and social science, which has been adopted for such research.

In the past several years it has not been uncommon for the caseworker to take on the responsibilities of research interviewer in addition to his regular social work duties. This has come about for a number of reasons and is mainly to be seen in the action-research type program. It is assumed, often without question, that the caseworker qua caseworker, by virtue of his training and experience in human relations, is admirably suited for the position of research interviewer. The argument of this paper is that he is not so qualified. This erroneous impression has created unnecessary problems in social work-research endeavors. The successful completion of the action-research program is heavily contingent upon the caseworker's ability and willingness to accept the dual role researcher and caseworker. The focus is on the caseworkers in the organization that found themselves with the prospect of accomplishing two diverse tasks casework and research. They were faced with the predicament of reconciling a basic job orientation to a system whose demands they saw as deviating from some rather fundamental tenets of their profession. For a successful action-research program the individual in the focal position must be equipped to act in the capacity of caseworker and researcher simultaneously and with equal effectiveness, but the two roles must remain independent to prevent contamination of one by the other.

The article presents several reports pertaining to the social sciences. U.S. social action programs designed to reduce gang violence among youth through philanthropy are evaluated. The Fall 2009 issue of "The Future of Children," a collaboration of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and the Brookings Institution, focuses on how to prevent the mistreatment of children. According to Daniel Griswold, Director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, an increase in low-skilled alien labor does not increase poverty in the U.S.

This article looks at the implications of official evaluations made by independent observers for the accountability of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). There have been few attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of the FAO. And Juliana Geran Pilon, a specialist on the United Nations and its subsidiary institutions, has produced a wide-ranging examination and assessment of the current performance of the FAO. Ordinarily, official evaluations are expected to be available from the U.S. government. But such evaluations are not provided by the government. It may thus come as less of a surprise that independent observers of the FAO have had such difficulty in gaining access to the data upon which an informed assessment of the institution's performance must necessarily be based.

Previously in this series I have given an overview of the main types of study design and the techniques used to minimise biased results. In this article I describe more fully ecological studies, their uses, advantages and limitations.Evidence-Based Dentistry (2003) 7, 60–61. doi:10.1038/sj.ebd.6400454 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]