bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Guest editorial: comparative research at the frontier of planning law
Authors: Alterman Rachelle
Published: July 2011

Purpose

This paper aims to present the merits of cross‐national comparative research as a method for pushing the frontier of knowledge about planning laws. Since in every country there is usually some dissatisfaction with its present planning laws or certain aspects of them, cross‐national research can open an arena of alternatives based on real‐life experiences. To demonstrate this argument the paper focuses on a shared dilemma – how should the law handle the negative effects of some planning decisions on land values. This case is used to demonstrate both the comparative method and the usefulness of comparative findings. The conclusions point out the opportunities for cross‐learning.

Design/methodology/approach

The overall argument about the comparative research draws on the author's extensive experience in conducting cross‐national research on a variety of issues in planning laws. The research on compensation rights reported here draws on the author's recent book which analyses the laws and practices in 13 countries. To ensure a “common platform” for comparison, the author developed a method based on a set of factual scenarios and a shared framework of topics. A team of country‐based researchers conducted the legal analysis, and the team leader conducted the comparative analysis.

Findings

The 13‐country analysis shows that there is a great variety of approaches to compensation rights around the world and a broad range of degrees, from no compensation at all to extensive compensation rights. There is no “consensual approach”. The search for similarities based on region in the world, legal family, cultural background, density or demography, shows that the differences cannot be “explained” on the basis of these variables. The degree of political controversy on this issue also varies greatly. The breadth of laws and practices offer a range of alternative models to enrich local debates.

Research limitations/implications

Any comparative research on a new topic is bound to be exploratory. There are not yet any established theories in planning law (or in comparative research) from which hypotheses can be derived and tested. However, the large sample of countries, covering 40 per cent of the OECD countries (at the time), and the careful shared method have likely produced reliable findings.

Originality/value

Most of the comparative research that the author has conducted over the years charted new grounds in both its topics and its comparative breadth. The paper reports in brief on cross‐national comparative research on compensation rights. The full research, on which this paper draws (published as a book in 2010), is the first to look at this specific issue globally with a large 13‐country sample of OECD countries.
Women's enterprise and the Scottish economy
Authors: Waring Jackie , Brierton Jackie
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to quantify the impact of women's enterprise on Scotland's economy and to provide policy recommendations to the Scottish Government on increasing women's business ownership.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper has been developed in collaboration with the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS Group) and has utilised existing business data and research sources which have not recently been analysed to provide gender‐based information on businesses within Scotland. Where possible, calculations of gross value added (GVA) contribution by gender have been made. In addition, a review of relevant entrepreneurship data was carried out and comparative studies from other parts of the UK and North America were used to benchmark findings.

Findings

The impact of women's business ownership on Scotland's economic performance is not consistently measured by the Scottish Government. An increased commitment to women's enterprise policy development from the UK Government has not been emulated in Scotland despite devolved responsibility for economic development.

Practical implications

Practical outcomes from this research include: policy recommendations for the Scottish Government; practical recommendations for business support providers; actions for the RBS Group “Women in Business” team; recommendations for improved data disaggregation.

Originality/value

This is the first report to evaluate the impact of women's enterprise on the Scottish economy since 2005. Its findings and recommendations are of value to the Scottish Government and Scotland's economic development and business support agencies.
The politics of gendered growth
Authors: Fleck Emma , Hegarty Cecilia , Neergaard Helle
Published: July 2011

Purpose

Against a backdrop of global economic recession, high production costs and increased international competition, the performance, survival and growth of small businesses is high on the global political agenda. However, like many other nations, Ireland is lagging behind in terms of a co‐ordinated approach to the specific challenge of supporting women‐owned ventures, hence possibly reducing their opportunity to act as economic agents. Based on a review of growth‐oriented support programmes for women in business in Ireland, this short viewpoint seeks to identifiy a number of gaps in the current support system and to propose a range of possible alternative intervention strategies that the authors believe can help facilitate business growth.

Design/methodology/approach

Using secondary data, a review of the current government support programmes was carried out. Further, evidence obtained through an in‐depth qualitative study of 33 women entrepreneurs in Ireland and Northern Ireland which identified a number of specific barriers inhibiting the development of these firms was used.

Findings

The analysis of current government practices revealed that whilst women are making progress in starting more businesses in Ireland, the current statistics indicate that they still tend to start small and stay small. This points towards a need to reassess and understand the issue of growth among women entrepreneurs and, in doing so, develop new mechanisms that can have real impact on growth‐oriented women‐owned firms whilst also respecting and supporting those who choose not to grow their business. The qualitative study identified a number of specific barriers, which hinder the development of their firms. These included financial, regulatory and employability challenges; a lack of management skills and confidence. Motherhood and personal goals were also found to be inhibiting factors for women entrepreneurs.

Practical implications

The paper proposes a number of possible government and personal intervention strategies to overcome the identified barriers. These include encouraging lending within the small growth sectors, conducting a regional skills audit, reducing the administration and paperwork associated with trading and accessing support and develop customised training and up‐skilling designed to meet the specific needs of women entrepreneurs.

Originality/value

The paper argues that government agencies in Ireland must now act on the evidence provided and confront the issues affecting women entrepreneurs.
Can there only be one? Towards a post‐paradigmatic service marketing approach
Authors: Hultman Johan , Ek Richard
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to unlock positions regarding the goods/services dichotomy in service marketing and to offer an argument that treats goods and services on an ontologically equal basis.

Design/methodology/approach

A close reading of influential texts that argue in favor of a service‐dominant logic (SDL) and new paradigms in service marketing.

Findings

Both the SDL proposal and calls for new service paradigms can be understood as ad hoc solutions that serve to reproduce and even strengthen the asymmetry between goods and services. A post‐paradigmatic analysis opens up new possibilities for service marketing research and practice.

Research limitations/implications

By showing how goods and services can be positioned equally, hitherto invisible sites of value creation become potential subjects for analyses in service marketing.

Practical implications

Service marketing practices are situated so as to explain the value creating interactions between service providers and customers in a more transparent way than is usual.

Originality/value

An ontologically grounded critique of the ad hoc nature of contemporary service marketing theory.
Issues of delivering quality customer service in a higher education environment
Authors: Julia Vauterin Johanna , Linnanen Lassi , Marttila Esa
Published: July 2011

Purpose

This paper seeks to redress the lack of academic attention being given to the relationship between academia and industry in the competitive environment of international higher education‐related service delivery and use. It adopts a relational marketing approach to value creation in service interactions and explore the expectations and perceptions of employers and university academics and practitioners. The research focuses on a comprehensive mapping of gaps in the international higher education service at large, and specifically in the context of degree programme development, recruiting international students and associated service interactions with industry. It highlights some of the issues pertaining to service quality, customer orientation and sustainability in international higher education and associated service delivery.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is an exploratory case study set in the context of Finnish higher education. It relies on qualitative research methods and applies the GAP model for the analysis of the empirical data.

Findings

Five gaps and a surplus gap are identified in the delivery of high‐quality customer service in the context of university‐industry interactions in international higher education. To close the gaps between academia and industry, the relationship marketing approach is proposed.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the research stream on university‐industry relationships. The results should help to enhance understanding of customer service delivery in the linkage between academia and industry. The novelty of the paper lies in the integration of the language and logic associated with customer‐oriented service delivery into the operational context of higher education service interaction between academia and industry.
The (revised) future of financial markets
Authors: Bennett Paul
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate recent financial system reforms in the USA by placing them in the context of major structural trends currently underway in the markets, due to technology and globalization of trading.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper describes trends underway in markets and examines how the new rules recently agreed to in the USA and among regulators globally will bear on them.

Findings

The paper finds that the financial system reforms in the USA can be expected to have modest beneficial effects in terms of making markets more robust and efficient, and that key trends affecting markets need to be taken into account as regulators implement the new rules and evaluate the need for future amendments. Our findings imply that regulators should be willing to closely monitor the reforms and adjust them quickly as needed.

Originality/value

This article adds the perspective of interacting key secular trends in the structure of the banking and financial system with the latest regulatory initiatives.
Pro‐market reforms and allocation of capital in India
Authors: Desai Sameeksha , Eklund Johan , Högberg Andreas
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the efficiency of capital allocation, across levels of ownership, in the aftermath of pro‐market reforms in India.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper measures investment efficiency using the accelerator principle and examines the effect of ownership type on capital allocation.

Findings

No significant improvement in capital allocation during the period studied is found. The findings suggest firms face significant costs in adjusting their capital stock.

Originality/value

The paper uses unique data to estimate the elasticity of capital with respect to output.
Boundary‐crossing and governance “space”
Authors: Dawkins Adam
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to provide a personal, reflexive examination of the negotiation of the professional identity of governance services personnel as a specific role set in professional services in higher education (HE).

Design/methodology/approach

A reflexive framework is adopted, drawing on the author's own professional positioning and practice in a UK higher education institution (HEI). Drawing on, and challenging aspects of Whitchurch's typology of professional identities in HE, a “weak” social constructivist approach is adopted, through examination of the author's inter‐professional interfaces with the external members populating institutional governance structures. This epistemological approach resonates with an exploration in the paper of the author's interventions as secretary to the institution's audit committee, in production of documentation as a form of corporate knowledge‐creation and narrative production in a wider scheme of accountability.

Findings

The paper proposes that in contrast to Whitchurch's notion of “bounded” professionalism, the HE governance professional, in migrating to and from governance “space”, constitutes a mode of boundary‐crossing unexamined in the literature and policy.

Research limitations/implications

While adopting a self‐reflexive stance, the paper provides a basis for undertaking empirical research into professional identity configurations in the corporate governance of HEIs, grounded in the experience of the actors populating governance structures, including professional services staff,ex officio, elected and external members of HE governing bodies.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to an emerging literature on professional identities in HE, and to qualitative approaches to HE governance.
From segments and lifestyles to communities‐light
Authors: Mossinkoff Marco , Corstanje Charlotte
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The ethnic marketing field has long recognized the need to address specific needs and tastes of ethnic minorities in traditionally Western‐dominant societies. However, it has done so mainly by considering socio‐demographic indicators such as ethnic provenance. The growing importance of ethnic minorities in Western societies calls for a further refinement of existing segmentation models which takes into account the development of specific sub‐cultures within ethnic groups. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how Islamic minorities in Europe are developing into a complex set of micro‐cultures.

Design/methodology/approach

Ethnographic methods, such as participant observation, photographic analysis and phenomenological interviewing helped identifying extant sub‐cultures within the Islamic youth minority in The Netherlands. By applying interpretive methods, the aim is not external generalization but rather theory informing.

Findings

Five sub‐cultures/neo‐tribes have been identified, which differ consistently in terms of preferences, values and behaviour.

Research limitations/implications

This paper advocates a shift from conceiving markets in terms of socio‐demographic, or psychometric, variables to considering markets as sub‐cultural systems or communities‐light.

Social implications

A more realistic approach to segmenting markets helps marketers and consumers to develop more meaningful products and marketing activities. The paper also adds to knowledge about the increasingly important Islamic minority in The Netherlands.

Originality/value

To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study addressing the importance of Islamic minorities for marketers, from a sociological perspective, in Europe.
Association between audit opinion and provision of non‐audit services
Authors: Ahadiat Nasrollah
Published: July 2011

Purpose

While a few US studies on the impact of the provision of non‐audit services on auditor judgment have found potential harm to independence, it is the purpose of this study to investigate whether the British and Australian auditors' involvement with both audit and non‐audit services for the same clients may also produce similar results.

Design/methodology/approach

The parametrict‐tests and the nonparametric Mann‐Whitney tests are used in this study on the empirical data from the British and Australian companies to examine the potential for loss of independence when high levels of non‐audit services are provided to audit clients.

Findings

The results corroborated the US Securities and Exchange Commission's contention that the provision of non‐audit services may indeed impair independence.

Research limitations/implications

No attempts were made to isolate the effects of other factors that could result in the issuance of qualified opinions. In addition, the sample used in this investigation is comprised of firms that had voluntarily disclosed non‐audit fees in the early years of the study. This could potentially introduce a self‐selection bias. Nevertheless, this study is one of a kind in the international arena.

Originality/value

This paper extends the line of research examining the impact of non‐audit services on the auditor's independence.
The acceptance of mixed methods in business and management research
Authors: Cameron Roslyn , Molina‐Azorin Jose F.
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of mixed methods research across several business and management fields and to gauge the level of acceptance of mixed methods within these fields.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology employed for this study involved synthesizing the findings from six large‐scale methodological scans of business and management discipline journals in seven fields: marketing, international business, strategic management, organizational behaviour, operations management, entrepreneurship and human resource management.

Findings

The study finds that quantitative studies dominate all seven fields (76 per cent of empirical articles) followed by mixed methods (14 per cent of empirical articles) and qualitative studies (10 per cent of empirical articles). In applying the framework for acceptance levels, it would seem there exists minimal acceptance of mixed methods across these fields.

Research limitations/implications

The study has limitations related to the coverage of different disciplines and differences in sample sets. More extensive research is planned for the future and will involve an expanded mixed method prevalence rate study across additional business and management fields.

Practical implications

The growing use of mixed methods has practical implications for research training and capacity building within business schools. The study points to the need to develop research capacity through the introduction of postgraduate courses in mixed methods and advanced research skills training for existing researchers.

Originality/value

Mixed methods is a relatively new and emerging methodological movement. This paper attempts to gauge the use and level of acceptance of mixed methods across a diverse range of business and management discipline areas.
Extending and embedding work‐based learning across the university
Authors: Workman Barbara A.
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the higher education learning and teaching development strategies used to implement a university‐wide project to extend and embed work‐based learning (WBL) across all four university schools as part of a Centre for Excellence project in Teaching and Learning (CETL).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper considers the change and engagement strategies that were used and gives a flavour of the range of activities that were undertaken to integrate different modes of WBL into all the university schools. Different change approaches are considered in relation to how WBL pedagogies were adopted in different subject disciplines and are examples of approaches to introducing WBL into subject areas not previously involved. Factors which facilitated the embedding of WBL into subject disciplines will be considered in relation to the implications for future higher educational development projects. These factors include support and involvement at senior management level, the use of demonstrator projects within distinct areas as illustrations of good practice, and funding support from the Centre for Excellence for projects.

Findings

Effective embedding of WBL requires high‐level champions as well as innovators and risk takers who are educational developers to apply the change approaches within their own discipline in order to bring about change. Funding of educational evaluations and small projects encouraged engagement of educational developers.

Practical implications

Undertaking change in a higher education institution needs to consider the type of institution and the opportunities that present themselves through university policies and personal and professional networks, and to capitalise on the opportunities that are offered. Additionally, the use of funds and other inducements can ease reluctance to engage, and modelling of successful outcomes encourages further engagement.

Originality/value

This CETL was unusual in that it was pan‐university and endeavoured to share good practice and embed WBL across all subject disciplines. The paper demonstrates a range of change strategies that were used and offers practical examples of effective ways of involving a university in WBL.
Building the capacity of higher education to deliver programmes of work‐based learning
Authors: Major David , Meakin Denise , Perrin David
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to inform colleagues working in the field of work‐based learning (WBL) about the development of a Post Graduate Certificate in Work Based Learning Facilitation at the University of Chester.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach is to describe and comment on the Post Graduate Certificate and to provide comment on the context within which it originated and the rationale for it.

Findings

Not applicable other than in the sense that this programme has now been delivered successfully to a number of cohorts.

Practical implications

This is a model for others to consider and an offer to assist others who may be interested in building their capacity to deliver programmes of WBL.

Originality/value

The university believes that, at the time of its development, there was no similar provision available. It is a model that has proved of value in terms of supporting the quality of the university's WBL provision.
Preserving heritage places under a new paradigm
Authors: Araoz Gustavo F.
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the consequences on conservation theory and practice resulting from contemporary global trends, including the increasing involvement in the field by the general public and the broader social, economic and political roles that cultural heritage is being called upon to play in contemporary society.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on observations and discussions in various international fora, it is argued that alongside traditional heritage places, a new paradigm for heritage sites has emerged whose values no longer rest entirely on material culture, but on intangible concepts for which traditional conservation practice often is neither effective nor applicable.

Findings

Besides evidencing the evolution of the cultural conservation field as a continuous attempt to reconcile the conservation of cultural heritage and development, this paper reflects upon the role of the World Heritage Convention. It also puts forward several innovative ideas and potential research topics to bridge cultural heritage management and sustainable development.

Originality/value

The paper suggests how conservation of heritage sites fitting the characteristics of this new paradigm will require a re‐examination and expansion of the field's theoretical foundations, as well as the development of a new set of tools for their adequate protection.
Managerial overconfidence and debt maturity structure of firms
Authors: Wei Jiang , Min Xiao , Jiaxing You
Published: July 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze the effects of managerial overconfidence on debt maturity structure decisions in terms of liquidity risk and asset match in Chinese listed companies.

Design/methodology/approach

Combining data from CSMAR with some default data collected by hand, this paper selects age, tenure, education, education background and whether the board chair and CEO positions are consolidated in Chinese listed companies as proxies of managerial overconfidence. Thus, the authors acquired needed and credible empirical data.

Findings

It was found that, the younger the CEO, the shorter the tenure, the lower the education, having economics or management education and being chairman concurrently, CEOs have stronger managerial overconfidence. Thus, corporate debt maturity structure is more weakly correlated with debt ratio and asset structure.

Research limitations/implications

The findings in this study suggest that managerial irrationality, especially overconfidence, does have an effect on the financing decisions of firms.

Originality/value

This is the first paper to analyze the effects of managerial overconfidence on debt maturity structure decisions in terms of liquidity risk and asset match. The findings inspire firm risk management policies from managerial overconfidence.
Global loans in entrepreneurship (GLIE): ready, set, disaster
Authors: Kher Romi , Streeter Deborah
Published: July 2011

Subject area

This case is designed for an undergraduate entrepreneurship course dealing with the launch and growth of an entrepreneurial venture, including strategies for effective team building, especially with teams based in different countries.

Study level/applicability

This case has been used in 300 and 400 level entrepreneurship courses.

Case overview

The case tells the story of John Lee (CEO) and Regina Adams (President), the founders of a new business called global loans in entrepreneurship (GLIE) based in Singapore. GLIE facilitates micro-loans for small business owners in the developing world and specifically targets entrepreneurial development projects for the poor. Many social enterprises start their operations on a shoestring budget. Typically, the deficit of cash pushes the leadership to use creative strategies to move things forward, including recruiting individuals who are willing to work in the startup phase without monetary compensation. This case sheds light on what can happen when founders recruit and rely on a volunteer for essential technology development, vesting the individual with substantial power, and creating the possibility for him/her to delay or purposefully hold up the launch of the company.

Expected learning outcomes

The case highlights the importance for someone on the founding team to have whatever core competencies are most critical to the firm. Additional themes are the importance of raising adequate funds at startup, the pitfalls of using volunteers in the wrong capacity, and the disastrous impact the wrong employee can have in a small firm setting.

Supplementary materials

Teaching note.
Spatial aggregation of tropical trees at multiple spatial scales
Authors: Réjou‐Méchain Maxime , Flores Olivier , Bourland Nils , Doucet Jean‐Louis , Fétéké Richard F. , Pasquier Alexandra , Hardy Olivier J.
Published: July 2011

1. In tropical forests, species distribution patterns may be strongly context‐dependent owing to local stochasticity of recruitment and/or to the specific history and environment of each site. Recent studies have reported, however, that the degree of spatial aggregation of tropical tree species is partly determined by some species traits irrespectively of site conditions, at least at a very local scale (<200 m).

2. Here, we used standardized large‐scale forest inventories of five Central African tropical forests (9670 0.5‐ha plots spread over 5550 km²) to quantify the spatial aggregation of 106 tropical tree species at larger spatial scales. For this purpose, we developed a new statistic to quantify the respective contributions of different spatial scales to the aggregation patterns, and we tested whether patterns were consistent across sites. We finally asked whether species characteristics related to dispersal ability, to response to disturbances and to biogeographical range could significantly explain aggregation patterns.

3. Although aggregation patterns varied substantially among sites within each species, they displayed inter‐site consistencies (21–24% of the total variance explained by species identity) at the local scale (0.2–1 km) and at the mesoscale (1–10 km) but not at the landscape scale (>10 km). At the two former scales, upper taxonomical levels (family and/or order) significantly explained variation in the degree of species aggregation, while at the landscape scale, aggregation was entirely contingent on the site considered. Few species characteristics, except dispersal syndromes and wood density, were able to significantly explain aggregation patterns.

4. Synthesis. One of our most striking results is the high context dependence of species aggregation patterns, whatever the spatial scale considered. However, we showed that species distribution patterns can be predicted, to an extent, at spatial scales much larger than previously investigated in this context. Such patterns may be explained by traits displaying phylogenetic conservatism (such as dispersal syndrome), but further studies are necessary to clearly identify them.
Identifying population‐ and community‐level mechanisms of diversity–stability relationships in experimental grasslands
Authors: Roscher Christiane , Weigelt Alexandra , Proulx Raphael , Marquard Elisabeth , Schumacher Jens , Weisser Wolfgang W. , Schmid Bernhard
Published: July 2011

1. While positive effects of biodiversity on temporal stability of communities have been demonstrated in theoretical and empirical studies, diversity–stability relationships at the population level remain poorly understood.

2. We investigated temporal variability of plant populations in experimental grassland plots of varying species richness (1, 2, 4, 8, 16–60 species), functional group richness and composition (presence/absence of legumes × grasses × small herbs × tall herbs) in a long‐term biodiversity experiment from 2003 to 2009 (‘Jena Experiment’).

3. Average population stability, defined as the reciprocal of the coefficient of variation of above‐ground biomass production over time, differed largely between species but was generally higher in grasses and small herbs than in legumes and tall herbs. Furthermore, population stability was positively related to a species’ proportional contribution to community biomass. Thus, an increasing number of subordinate species explained lower average population stabilities at higher diversity levels.

4. A negative covariance (CV) across all species‐richness levels suggested negatively correlated species dynamics. Species belonging to different functional groups fluctuated asynchronously, while species dynamics within functional groups were more synchronous. Community‐wide species synchrony decreased with increasing species richness, and temporal stability at the community level increased.

5. Synthesis: Our results suggest that diversity–stability relationships are driven by fluctuations in the population biomass of individual species which are less synchronized in more diverse than in less diverse mixtures and monocultures. Dominant plant species tend to be more stabilized than subdominant species, independently of community species richness. However, asynchrony of population dynamics outweighs decreasing population stability with increasing species richness, resulting in higher temporal stability at the plant community level.
Role of Natural Killer T Cells in the Mouse Colitis‐Associated Colon Cancer Model
Authors: Yoshioka K. , Ueno Y. , Tanaka S. , Nagai K. , Onitake T. , Hanaoka R. , Watanabe H. , Chayama K.
Published: August 2011

Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are considered innate‐like lymphocytes, and regulate the immunity against inflammation and tumorigenesis. However, the impact of iNKT cells in inflammation‐associated tumorigenesis remains unclear. In this study, we examined the physiological role of iNKT cells in a mouse colitis‐associated colorectal cancer model. C57BL/6 (B6) and Jα18 NKT cell‐deficient KO (KO) mice were used. Colitis‐associated colorectal cancer was induced by azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sodium sulfate (DSS). The resulting inflammation and tumours were examined. The surface markers of mononuclear cells from the liver and the colon were assessed by FACS. The levels of IL‐13 from the colon were measured by ELISA. α‐galactosylceramide (GC), or its close analog OCH, was administered intraperitoneally on the first day of each cycle of DSS‐administration. In the AOM/DSS model, hepatic iNKT cells were significantly decreased. In KO mice there were significantly greater numbers of colon tumours and more severe inflammation than in B6 mice. FACS analysis revealed that the population of NK1.1 + T cells (non‐invariant NKT cells) in the colon was increased when compared to B6 mice. The secretion of IL‐13 was increased in the colon of KO mice after AOM/DSS. The number of colon tumours was significantly decreased in the GC‐treated group compared to the control group. GC‐treatment significantly inhibited IL‐13 secretion from the colonic mononuclear cells and the number of colonic NK1.1 + T cells was significantly decreased. These results suggest that iNKT cells may play a critical role in the prevention of tumour progression and inflammation in the AOM/DSS model.
Reduction in glycated albumin can predict change in HbA1c: comparison of oral hypoglycaemic agent and insulin treatments
Authors: Won H. K. , Kim K. J. , Lee B.‐W. , Kang E. S. , Cha B. S. , Lee H. C.
Published: July 2011

Diabet. Med. 29, 74–79 (2012)

Aim  To investigate whether the change in glycated albumin 3 weeks after initiating anti‐diabetes treatment (oral hypoglycaemic agent or insulin) could predict the corresponding change in HbA1c 3 months later in Korean patients with Type 2 diabetes.

Methods  A total of 140 patients were enrolled into two groups: group I (insulin‐based; n = 100) and group II (oral hypoglycaemic agent‐based; n = 40). Both glycated albumin and HbA1c levels were measured as ‘glucose control markers’ during hospitalization. Glycated albumin was measured again at 3 weeks (first visit) after the initial measurement, and HbA1c was measured at 3 months (second visit) after the initial measurement.. The change in glucose control marker was defined as 100 × (follow‐up glucose control marker – hospital glucose control marker)/hospital glucose control marker.

Results  In both groups, the change in glycated albumin at the first visit and in HbA1c at the second visit showed a moderate linear relationship (r = 0.735; P < 0.01). In group II (r = 0.778; P < 0.01), a slightly stronger linear relationship was demonstrated than in group I (r = 0.738; P < 0.001); however, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. A correlation coefficient between the change in glycated albumin and HbA1c was not affected by sex, age, BMI, haemoglobin, serum creatinine or albumin.

Conclusion  The reduction in glycated albumin 3 weeks after the initiation of treatment corresponded with the reduction in HbA1c 3 months after starting treatment in both the group treated with a oral hypoglycaemic agent and the insulin‐treated group of Korean patients with Type 2 diabetes.
On the Sociology of Women's Unemployment, its Neglect and Significance
Authors: Marshall Gordon
Published: August 2011

Although there is an extensive and varied literature on the nature and consequences of unemployment very little has been written about the experiences of jobless women. This is unfortunate since there are good sociological reasons why the reactions to job loss among women may be different from those of men. Empirical data tend to support this expectation although more research is needed and called for. Sociological studies of unemployed women could contribute to the development of theories about wage-work, family life and domestic labour. Women's unemployment also has a broader significance in that it bears directly upon theories of social stratification and social order that are central to sociological study as a whole.
Which ‘Ethnic Question’? The Development of Questions Identifying Ethnic Origin in Official Statistics
Authors: Booth Heather
Published: August 2011

Questions identifying foreigners have been included in official statistics since the census of 1841 when place of birth was first asked. This question has since been used in many sources. It was later supplemented by a question on each parent's birthplace so that the children of immigrants could be identified. More recently, direct questions on ethnic origin have been introduced.

One notable exception to the use of a direct question is the census, which for political reasons has so far been unable to include such a question. The Home Affairs Committee recommended that a direct question be asked in the next census, and also recommended a form of that question. This recommended form is technically poor. In light of the political objections to a direct question, there is a need to address political issues rather than dwell on technical detail.
Thematization in Everyday Life: A Critical Approach
Authors: Karapostolis Vasilis
Published: August 2011

This paper presents an examination of some of the ways in which social criticism can be developed on the basis of the analysis of everyday life in modern societies. An attempt is made to combine the results of phenomenological (Schutz), ethnomethodological (Garfinkel), and dialectical (Kosik) approaches to the everyday world as the world-taken-for-granted, with the study, founded on semiological theory, of social images and the ideological elements implicit in them. At the centre of the discussion lies the mechanism of thematization by which the subjects assign predicates to persons, objects and events in a given social context.
In Search of ‘The Family’ — Analysis of the 1981 United Kingdom Census: A Research Note
Authors: Bernardes Jon
Published: August 2011

This article reviews previous estimates of the frequency of ‘normal families’1 in the UK and USA. Using evidence from the 1981 UK Census it is found that ‘normal families’ account for a very small percentage of all ‘families’ in England and Wales. No single central type of ‘family’ exists and there is therefore an urgent need to develop theoretical approaches which address this issue.
The Subcontracting of Cleaning Work: A Case in the Casualisation of Labour
Authors: Bernstein Deborah
Published: August 2011

Casual labour is defined in this article as labour lacking security of income and employment. It is argued that such labour has remained an integral type of labour organization in modern capitalist economies, and has even been expanding both in advanced and declining sectors. The article studies in detail one specific process of casualisation-the transition to subcontracting in the case of cleaning work, as it took place in Israel. The major considerations leading to such a transition are specified – the desire to cut costs and to find new sources of labour. The basic differences between subcontracted labour and direct wage labour are discussed, focusing on the intensification of labour, the deterioration of wages and benefits and the obstacles to workers organization. The relation is then examined between subcontracted labour and the composition of the labour force, primarily the displacement of Jewish by Arab women workers and the differentiation which has developed between groups of subcontracted workers on the basis of gender, nationality and citizenship. The role of the state and the labour movement in this process of casualisation is highlighted throughout the discussion. Concluding with some final comments of the more general significance of casual labour for the highly organized Israeli labour force and working class.
Moral Reform and the Anti-Abortion Movement
Authors: Clarke Alan
Published: August 2011

Throughout the 1970s protest against abortion was organised by two main pressure groups, the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child and the LIFE organisation. This paper considers the rhetoric employed by the anti-abortion movement during this period by focusing on the campaign literature, the evidence submitted to various committees of inquiry and public statements made by leading anti-abortionists. The findings from a study of a small sample of anti-abortion protestors are also reported. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by sixty-four members of two local branches of the two national pressure groups and semi-structured interviews were conducted with local campaign activists. In the subsequent analysis the anti-abortion movement is depicted as adopting a position of cultural fundamentalism in the face of changing social mores and moral values. Protest against abortion is placed within the wider framework of moral reform. In studying the movement and its supporters use is made of the analytical distinction between assimilative and coercive reform (Gusfield, 1963).
Language and Ideology: A Framework for Analysis
Authors: Thompson John B.
Published: August 2011

This essay re-examines the concept of ideology and the relations between language, ideology and power. Two basic concepts of ideology are distinguished, a ‘neutral’ conception and a ‘critical’ conception, and the latter conception is developed and defended. To study ideology, it is proposed, is to study the ways in which meaning serves to sustain relations of domination. The analysis of language is thus central to the study of ideology, since language is one of the principal mediums through which meaning is mobilized in the social world. This reorientation of the study of ideology enables one to criticize certain misleading assumptions and provides a basis upon which one can pursue problems of interpretation, justification and critique.
Darts, Drink and the Pub: The Culture of Female Drinking
Authors: Hunt Geoffrey , Satterlee Saundra
Published: August 2011

Sociologists and anthropologists have paid little attention to women's role in the pub. This article, based on fieldwork reseach, sets out to describe the use of two pubs by two different groups of women in an English village. Through these examples, we seek to illustrate not only the social class differences between the two groups of women but also their differential use of the pub.

For many working-class women, as opposed to their middle-class counterparts, the pub represents an important social centre in the village – joining the darts team provides one of a limited range of available options to get away from responsibilities of home and kin. This is not the case for middle-class women. For them the pub represents only one of many options in their social lives and as a result they make less use of the pub and its facilities.
‘Doing Things with Words’: Sociology and ‘Family Policy’ Debates
Authors: Bernardes Jon
Published: August 2011

In examining ‘family policy’, previous work on ‘family ideology’ is developed to demonstrate that ‘traditional family sociology’ has been ‘doing things with words’. In this area sociology, far from being innocuous, has had real impact upon society and may well have been oppressive and deeply reactionary.
Masculinity and Male Dominance
Authors: Craib Ian
Published: August 2011

The problems with established sociological and socio-psychological conceptions of masculinity are discussed, and it is argued that object-relations theory can provide a clearer understanding of masculinity. An ideal type of the development of masculinity is built up in contrast to similar ideal types of human development and the development of femininity as portrayed by recent feminist writers. The status of the ideal type is then discussed, drawing out its implications for the relationship between psychoanalysis and sociological analysis, and for the nature of social change.
On the Altered Appetites of Pregnancy: Conceptions of Food, Body and Person
Authors: Murcott Anne
Published: August 2011

Ethnographic interview data recording the experience of alterations in appetite in pregnancy, notably aversions to and cravings for food are reported. These data are interpreted in the light of symbolic interactionist insights into the process of self-indication, the process whereby people's sense of self and identity entails the attribution of meaning to the world in which they find themselves, a world that includes their own bodily self. Aversions appear unequivocally identifiable, but doubts arise about cravings – doubts that are conceptualised with reference to a sense of body, of self and conception of moral worth.
Whose ‘Family’? A Note on ‘The Changing Sociological Construct of the Family’
Authors: Bernardes Jon
Published: August 2011

It is encouraging to read ethnographic research that addresses the way actors understand their own ‘family lives' which also includes some debate about the way sociologists use the term ‘the family’.
Tranquillisers as a Social Problem
Authors: Gabe Jonathan , Bury Michael
Published: August 2011

This paper attempts to highlight the value of the ‘social problem’ perspective for the sociology of health and illness by applying it to the issue of tranquilliser use and dependence. The approach involves focusing on the emergence of benzodiazepine tranquilliser dependence as a social problem and the extent to which it has been legitimated by the media and by the state. In the conclusion we draw out the implications of our case study for the development of a ‘natural history’ of social problems.
Weber, Simmel, and the Sociology of Culture
Authors: Scaff Lawrence A.
Published: August 2011

Max Weber and Georg Simmel began their long and important association not later than the mid-1890s. Both emerged from the upper middle class intellectual life of Berlin, but with different starting points: Protestant political and moralistic culture for Weber; the Jewish experience and the new aesthetic culture of modernism for Simmel. Despite such a contrast, Weber and Simmel were drawn together essentially because of a shared interest in problems of modern culture. The historical evidence shows that this interest developed around an assessment of Nietzsche's significance and a critique of ‘psychologism’. The German Sociological Society both helped to establish in 1909 then became a notable, if brief, episode in the attempt to clarify the tasks of sociology as a ‘science of culture’. Their relationship (and Marianne Weber's) to the debate over the prospects for a unique ‘female culture’ illustrates a neglected aspect of the cultural problem. Notwithstanding their different sociologies, Weber and Simmel can be seen as raising a similar question about the ‘fate’ of our culture, and it is this question that continues to make their work significant.