bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Selecting Repertoires of Action in Environmental Movement Organizations
Authors: Carmin Joann , Balser Deborah B.
Published: July 2003

Environmental movement organizations (EMOs) that have similar goals frequently rely on different tactics and strategies to advance their agendas. This article uses an interpretive perspective to examine the factors influencing EMO selection of a repertoire of action. Building on concepts from organization and social movement theories, and relying on interview and archival data from Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, this study suggests that experience, core values and beliefs, environmental philosophy, and political ideology work together to create distinct organizational interpretations of the political environment, efficacy of action, acceptability of tactics, significance of an issue, and source of the problem. These interpretations combine to shape EMO determinations of what types of action will be most appropriate and effective. Although structural factors influence the decisions that are made within EMOs, organizations also rely on interpretive processes in their selection of a repertoire of action.
The Indigenous Environmental Movement in the United States
Authors: Clark Brett
Published: July 2003

Social movement theory emphasizes the importance of resource mobilization and the strategic political processes of struggles within a society. Although it yields useful insights into the dynamics involved in a struggle, social movement theory ultimately is too narrow to grapple with all social struggles. The indigenous environmental movement breaks the mould, revealing unconsidered historical forces and variables involved in social struggles. The economic dynamics of capitalism and the history of internal colonialism must be incorporated into an account of the evolution of the indigenous environmental movement. Struggles over treaty rights and sovereignty are unique to the Native population, making their movement one of the most powerful and effective groups for protecting the environment. Although the indigenous environmental movement is connected to other environmental movements, the Native struggle remains fundamentally grounded in a challenge to the whole of society, as presently constituted, as they fight for the survival of their nations and ways of life.
The Social Significance of the Environmental Crisis
Authors: Egan Michael
Published: July 2003

Among the many monographs written on the environmental crisis during the 1960s and 1970s, Barry Commoner’s The Closing Circle (1971) has arguably maintained its immediate relevance more than any other because of Commoner’s ability to articulate the social ramifications of environmental decline. This close reading of The Closing Circle proposes to situate Commoner’s most important book in its social and historical context. Particular attention is paid to the significance of Commoner’s four laws of ecology and to his role in changing the fight for the environment from a scientific debate to a public one.
The Institutionalization of Bird Protection
Authors: Forbes Linda C. , Jermier John M.
Published: July 2003

The purpose of this feature is to introduce activists and organizational and environmental scholars to a relatively unknown segment of the early American conservation movement. The authors focus on the period around 1900, a time in which birds were being slaughtered at an alarming rate, in part to supply milliners who used plumes and other bird parts to decorate women’s hats. These practices led to a groundswell of opposition that eventually turned the tide in favor of bird protection and appreciation. They also formed a foundation for today’s activism on behalf of beleaguered birds. One of the key figures leading this movement was Mabel Osgood Wright. Wright is only now beginning to receive the recognition she deserves, as is the case for many women of this era who made major contributions to the conservation movement. The authors highlight three major projects to which Wright devoted her energy (the early Audubon Society, children’s nature writing and education, and the Birdcraft Sanctuary) and discuss them as institutional manifestations of the early conservationists’ bird-loving philosophy. The authors also reprint three of her important publications. The authors believe that the reprints provide relevant insights for contemporary environmental protection and organizing.
Issues in the Design and Implementation of Psychoneuroimmunology Research
Authors: Robinson F. Patrick , Mathews Herbert L. , Witek-Janusek Linda
Published: July 2003

Research that uses a psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) framework seeks to determine whether valid associations exist among stress, immune function, and health. These associations are difficult to conclusively determine due to the fact that PNI research is fraught with methodological difficulties. These difficulties arise from the multifaceted and complex nature of the neuro-endocrine-immune network that is the phenomenon of interest in PNI. This article discusses multiple issues of which investigators should be aware when designing and implementing PNI research including (1) the control of potentially immunomodulating variables related to demographics, behavior, and lifestyle; (2) the manner in which stress, endocrine function, immunity, and health outcomes are measured in consideration of the theoretical relevance to the research question, population, or disease entity under study; (3) the way physiological specimens are procured and stored; and (4) the methods by which assays are performed.
The Effect of Opioid Antagonismon Food Intake Behavior and Body Weight in a Biobehavioral Model of Obese Binge Eating
Authors: Jarosz Patricia A. , Metzger Bonnie L.
Published: July 2003

The obese Zucker rat (OZR) exhibits a hyperphagic eating pattern similar to the obese binge eater. Dynorphin, an endogenous agonist of the kappa receptor, is associated with regulation of food intake. Lessened sensitivity to opioid antagonists and/or increased central dynorphin levels may contribute to the hyperphagic eating pattern observed in the OZR. This study examined the temporal effect of a single intracerebroventricular (ICV) dose of nor-binaltorphimine (NBNI), a specific and long-lasting kappa opioid antagonist, on food intake, body weight, and satiety measures (meal size and the shape of the cumulative food intake curve [CFIC]) in adult male OZRs. Analysis of individual subjects revealed a differential response to opioid antagonism with respect to weight loss, reduction in food intake, and change in the slope of the CFIC, with some responding and others responding poorly. Repeated-measures analysis of variance showed a significant decrease in body weight (P = 0.001) and food intake (P = 0.03) in responders compared to poor responders and controls. Satiation was influenced to a greater extent in responders, who showed a significant reduction in meal size and a greater change in the CFIC for the largest meal of the day toward a pattern of satiation. These data suggest that a differential response to chronic opioid antagonism may exist in the OZR.
Making the Most of Collaboration: Exploring the Relationship Between Partnership Synergy and Partnership Functioning
Authors: Weiss Elisa S. , Anderson Rebecca Miller , Lasker Roz D.
Published: July 2003

Considering the challenges inherent to collaboration and the time it takes to achieve measurable outcomes, partnerships need a way to determine, at an early stage, whether they are making the most of collaboration. The authors have developed a new measure, partnership synergy, which assesses the degree to which a partnership’s collaborative process successfully combines its participants’ perspectives, knowledge, and skills. This article reports the results of a national study designed to examine the relationship between partnership synergy and six dimensions of partnership functioning: leadership, administration and management, partnership efficiency, nonfinancial resources, partner involvement challenges, and community-related challenges. Data were collected from 815 informants in 63 partnerships. Results of regression analysis conducted with partnership-level data indicated that partnership synergy was most closely related to leadership effectiveness and partnership efficiency. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.
Predictors of Perceived Control Among African American Women in Detroit: Exploring Empowerment as a Multilevel Construct
Authors: Becker Adam B. , Israel Barbara A. , Schulz Amy J. , Parker Edith A. , Klem Laura
Published: July 2003

Efforts to enhance empowerment toward the aim of improved health require an understanding of factors that contribute to perceived control at multiple levels, as a dimension of empowerment. In this article, the authors examine hypothesized predictors of perceived control at multiple levels among urban, African American women. Variables that predict perceived control include greater participation in change-related action; level of activity within respondents’ most important organizations; and attempts made by those organizations to influence public officials, businesses, and other groups. Results suggest that (1) perceived control is a context-specific, multilevel construct; (2) citizen participation is an important factor in control and influence at multiple levels; and (3) organizations that are involved within neighborhoods and in the broader community can help to increase control and influence at multiple levels in marginalized communities. Implications for health education practice and research are discussed.
Analysis of the Cost-Effectiveness of Mammography Promotion by Volunteers in Rural Communities
Authors: Andersen M. Robyn , Hager Michelle , Su Celina , Urban Nicole
Published: July 2003

The Community Trial of Breast Cancer Screening Promotion assessed the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of mammography promotion by community volunteer groups in rural areas using three different intervention approaches: individual counseling, community activities, and a combined intervention including both. Societal costs of the interventions were calculated and used in conjunction with measures of effectiveness to calculate cost-effectiveness in terms of cost per additional mammogram and cost per year of life saved. Methods of collecting and using cost information to assess the cost-effectiveness of community interventions are described. The Community Activities intervention was found to be the most cost-effective, at approximately $2,000 for each additional regular mammography user in the community. The cost per year of life saved associated with mammography promotion was approximately $56,000 per year of life saved. Exploratory analyses suggest that the most cost-effective method of promoting mammography use may vary with the target population.
Strategies for Integrating Capacity With Demand in Service Networks
Authors: Pullman Madeleine E. , Thompson Gary
Published: July 2003

Service managers face the problem of simultaneously developing and implementing both capacity and demand management strategies. Often they must chose between marketing options, for shifting or increasing demand, or operations management options such as adding additional capacity via more equipment or employees. The interaction of these two functional area strategies can have surprising, unintended, and often detrimental outcomes from a profit perspective. This article looks at the outcomes of various combinations of these decisions in a service network, a service with multiple activities within one site. We develop and apply an integrative model for determining the profit-maximizing capacity management strategy for a service network. We implement the model by combining a conjoint analysis-based optimal product design model from marketing with a simulation model investigating capacity and demand management strategies from operations management. We tested the model using data from an actual service network, a ski resort. Our results indicated that queue information signage was the most effective strategy for improving profitability. We also found that a decision that management believed would increase revenues—changing the customer class mix—actually decreased profitability substantially.
Intentions to Use Self-Service Technologies: A Confluence of Multiple Attitudes
Authors: Curran James M. , Meuter Matthew L. , Surprenant Carol F.
Published: July 2003

The introduction of self-service technologies (SSTs) into the service encounter necessitates research to better understand customers’ attitudes toward service providers and technologies, and their intentions to use technology-based service delivery systems. In this research, the authors develop and empirically test three nested structural models that include a hierarchy of consumer attitudes toward both the interpersonal and the technological aspects of the encounter to better understand their intentions to use SSTs. The findings indicate that intentions to use SST options are driven by multiple, hierarchical attitudes. In addition to the direct effects of attitudes toward specific SSTs and individual employees, the findings confirm that higher order global attitudes toward service technologies influence intentions to use SSTs. Interestingly, the findings indicate that heavy SST users rely more on attitudes toward specific SSTs than do light SST users, who rely more heavily on global attitudes toward SSTs when determining intention to use an SST.
Organizational Responses to Customer Complaints: What Works and What Doesn’t
Authors: Davidow Moshe
Published: July 2003

The purpose of this article is to summarize the current research in the field of complaint handling, specifically to focus on how the organizational response to a customer complaint affects the postcomplaint customer behavior. A model framework is presented that divides these organizational responses into six separate dimensions (timeliness, facilitation, redress, apology, credibility, and attentiveness) and takes an in-depth look at each dimension in turn. Major questions and conclusions are presented for each dimension, which attempt to clarify what is really known or not known about the effect of that dimension on postcomplaint customer behavior. Special topics of future areas of research are discussed and a revised framework is presented to facilitate future research.
Application of Fairness Theory to Service Failures and Service Recovery
Authors: Mccoll-Kennedy Janet R. , Sparks Beverley A.
Published: July 2003

This article presents a fairness theory-based conceptual framework for studying and managing consumers’ emotions during service recovery attempts. The conceptual framework highlights the central role played by counterfactual thinking and accountability. Findings from five focus groups are also presented to lend further support to the conceptual framework. Essentially, the article argues that a service failure event triggers an emotional response in the consumer, and from here the consumer commences an assessment of the situation, considering procedural justice, interactional justice, and distributive justice elements, while engaging in counterfactual thinking and apportioning accountability. More specifically, the customer assesses whether the service provider could and should have done something more to remedy the problem and how the customer would have felt had these actions been taken. The authors argue that during this process situational effort is taken into account when assessing accountability. When service providers do not appear to exhibit an appropriate level of effort, consumers attribute this to the service provider not caring. This in turn leads to the customer feeling more negative emotions, such as anger and frustration. Managerial implications of the study are discussed.
Training the Police in Ukraine
Authors: Kenney Dennis Jay
Published: July 2003

Beginning in 1999, the Police Executive Research Forum, with researchers from the Ukrainian Academy of Law Sciences, was funded by the National Institute of Justice to document and assess the U.S.-sponsored training for Ukrainian law enforcement. As part of that effort, project staff met with U.S. and Ukrainian officials, held focus groups with Ukrainian officers who had participated in trainings, interviewed providers of previous training courses, and conducted round-table discussions with Ukrainian law enforcement managers. During the summer of 2000, the U.S. and Ukrainian project staff completed a series of surveys of Ukrainian police, prosecutors, and judicial officials at both national and local levels. Although a far more difficult process than anticipated, the results of the effort offer added light on the quality and scope of the training offered. This article presents results of those efforts.
Performance of a Cohesive Layer Model in the Prediction of Interfacial Crack Growth in Sandwich Beams
Authors: El-Sayed S. , Sridharan S.
Published: July 2003

A cohesive layer model is employed for the prediction of initiation and tracking of interfacial crack growth in sandwich composite beams. A feature of the model is that it can be used for geometrically non-linear problems as it is formulated in terms of appropriate stresses and strains. Two types of sandwich specimens are selected for study: a sandwich beam specimen carrying a delamination at the top facing core interface with its bottom edge restrained, and a delaminated column specimen carrying axial compression. The beam was used to investigate the influence of the properties of cohesive layer material on its ability to predict the onset and progress of crack growth. It is found that the cohesive layer model is fairly robust and is not sensitive to change in parameters other than the critical strain energy release rate in the opening mode. Thus there is wide a latitude in the selection of parameters of the cohesive layer. The compression specimen exhibited a variety of phenomena, viz. delamination buckling, stable delamination growth, intervention of overall buckling, and finally unstable crack growth as the specimen sheds the load. The finite element analysis coupled with the cohesive layer model was able to follow all these stages of sandwich beam behavior. Good agreement between the model predictions and experimental results is found to exist in all the cases studied.
Scaling and Curvature Effects on the Damage Tolerance of Impacted Composite Sandwich Panels
Authors: Moody R. Clifton , Harris James S. , Vizzini Anthony J.
Published: July 2003

An experimental program was conducted to investigate the effects of specimen width and specimen curvature on the residual compression strength of composite sandwich panels after low-energy impact. Flat and curved (1.1 m radius) specimens of three widths (83, 152, and 305 mm) were manufactured from thin-gage (four plies) graphite/epoxy facesheets and 25.4-mm-thick Nomex core. A drop mechanism was used to create barely visible impact damage on one facesheet of the panels (convex face of the curved panels) maintaining the energy level as constant in all cases. All specimens were then loaded axially in compression to failure. Above a certain panel width, the panel width and curvature had noeffect on the ultimate strength of the panel. Although width and curvature increased the size of the damage caused by an identical energy impact, the indentation growth was delayed with respect to farfield strain (stress). Because indentation growth is chiefly a local phenomenon, the delay was probably due to the variations in the damage state. The baseline specimen (flat, 83 mm in width) serves as an adequate coupon-level test even though it is conservative when compared to wider plates.
On the Choice of Shear Correction Factor in Sandwich Structures
Authors: Birman Victor , Bert Charles W.
Published: July 2003

The first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) is a relatively simple tool that has been found to yield accurate results in the non-local problems of sandwich structures, such as buckling and free vibration. However, a key factor in practical application of the theory is determination of the transverse shear correction factor (K), which appears as a coefficient in the expression for the transverse shear stress resultant. The physical basis for this factor is that it is supposed to compensate for the FSDT assumption that the shear strain is uniform through the depth of the cross section. In the present paper, the philosophies and results of K determination for homogeneous rectangular cross sections are first reviewed, followed by a review and discussion for the case of sandwich structures. The analysis presented in the paper results in the conclusion that K should be taken equal to unity, as a first approximation, for both two-skin as well as for multi-skin sandwich structures.
Engineering Method for Prediction of Impact Response and Damage in Sandwich Panels
Authors: Olsson Robin
Published: July 2003

An engineering method is suggested for prediction of impact response and damage of flat sandwich panels. The approach accounts for local core crushing, delamination and large face sheet deflections and does not rely on empirical indentation laws. Different models are suggested depending upon the impactor mass being either larger or significantly smaller than the mass of the impacted panel. The solution for large mass impact is based on closed form expressions. The solution for small mass impact is obtained from a dimensionless two-parameter integral equation. The validity of the approach is demonstrated on a number of static indentation experiments and impacts on sandwich panels.
Imperfection-Sensitivity of Integral and Debonded Sandwich Beams Under Compression
Authors: El-Sayed S. , Sridharan S.
Published: July 2003

The compressive behavior of sandwich columns with relatively thin facing sheets is investigated. Nonlinear analyses are performed on columns with and without delaminations incorporating a variety of imperfections. The characteristic buckling mode of the columns investigated is one of face-sheet wrinkling. With the onset of wrinkling, the column loses much of its stiffness and buckles in the overall mode. As a result, the column is found to be considerably sensitive to both wrinkling mode imperfections and overall bending introduced by the application of small lateral loads. The sense of imperfection plays a significant role in delaminated specimens. If the imperfection tends to keep the delamination open, it results in a more significant reduction of the load carrying capacity. A comparison of the responses of the beams with and without delamination indicates that the presence of the delamination of relatively short length (1/15 of span) can reduce the maximum load carrying capacity by about 30%.
Contact Law for Composite Sandwich Beams
Authors: Abot J. L. , Daniel I. M. , Gdoutos E. E.
Published: July 2003

In sandwich structures with soft foam core materials, the relationship between load and deflection under the load, also called contact law or indentation, plays a very important role. This work presents a combined experimental and analytical study of the contact behavior of sandwich beams with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foam cores. The mechanical properties of the sandwich constituents were fully determined and sandwich beams, facesheet-foam and foam blocks were tested under quasi-static loading. These experimental results were used to model the load-deflection curve that includes a linear range followed by a nonlinear portion. The linear model was derived from the Winkler foundation theory and the nonlinear one was obtained by fitting experiments.
Dynamic Numerical Modeling and Simulation of Interfacial Cracks in Sandwich Structures for Damage Detection
Authors: Kwon Y. W. , Lannamann D. L.
Published: July 2003

Dynamic modeling of interfacial cracks between the skin and core materials was performed and numerical simulation was undertaken to study the feasibility of crack detection. The cracks were modeled in the way as they were physically in the sandwich beam structures using the finite element method. Numerical simulation of impact-hammer hit was applied to the finite element models to calculate the time history of strain responses along the sandwich beams. Dynamic crack opening and closure was considered with friction at the surfaces of interfacial cracks. Thus, nonlinear dynamic analysis was conducted. Then, the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) was used to transform the time responses to frequency responses. The effects of interfacial cracks were examined in both time and frequency plots by comparing those responses between the damaged structure and the intact structure. The present study showed that the effect of crack closure was important so that nonlinear analysis was necessary to represent the interfacial crack behaviors properly. The strain response from nonlinear dynamic analysis (i.e. simulated impact hammer hit) had great potential for detecting and locating a small size of interfacial crack in a sandwich beam structure.
Non-Linear Behaviour of Foam Cores and Sandwich Materials, Part 1: Materials and Modelling
Authors: Berthelot Jean-Marie , Lolive Éric
Published: July 2003

The paper develops the modelling used to evaluate the non-linear behaviour of two-dimensional test specimens of foams or foam sandwich materials. The stress-strain curves derived from the different tests carried out on the sandwich constituents are incrementally linearised and the modelling introduces an incremental procedure during which the strain and stress state is evaluated by finite element analysis. At each step of the procedure, the principal strains are calculated in every element of the test specimen under consideration, allowing the compressive or tensile strain and the shear strain to be evaluated. Then, the different moduli of the sandwich constituents are adjusted according to the values of the compressive or tensile strain and of the shear strain. Modelling also considers large deformations and displacements, as well as fracture processes.
Optimization of Sandwich Beams for Concentrated Loads
Authors: Swanson Stephen R. , Kim Jongman
Published: July 2003

The optimization of sandwich structures for stiffness has been considered by a number of authors, but the optimization for strength, and particularly under concentrated loading, appears to be much less well understood. Part of the difficulty is that simplified structural theories, such as classical or first order shear deformation theory, do not give sufficient accuracy under concentrated loading. In the present work, an elasticity solution is employed that agrees well with both finite element and experimental strain gage readings. It is shown that strength values from three point bend test experiments on sandwich beams with polyurethane foam cores and carbon/epoxy faces can be successfully interpreted. An algorithm is then developed that gives the optimum design of sandwich structures for strength to weight under concentrated loading.
Response of Syntactic Foam Core Sandwich Structured Composites to Three-Point Bending
Authors: Gupta Nikhil , Woldesenbet Eyassu , Kishore  , Sankaran S.
Published: July 2003

Use of syntactic foams as core materials gives several distinct advantages over traditionally used core materials. Syntactic foams have an excellent combination of compressive strength, low density, low radar detectability and low moisture absorption coefficient among others. The present work aims at studying the behavior of sandwich-structured composites containing syntactic foam as core material under three-point bending conditions. Flexural and short-beam shear tests are conducted, where large (16: 1) and small (5: 1) aspect ratio (span length/thickness ratio) specimens are tested, respectively. It is observed that the specimen failure mode changes completely with the change in the aspect ratio. Specimens are found to fracture under the effect of shear stresses in the smaller aspect ratio specimens, whereas compressive stresses lead to the fracture in higher aspect ratio specimens. The observations of fracture features are correlated with the test data and the load-displacement curves obtained in the tests. A method of analysis is also presented for syntactic foams and the sandwich structures containing syntactic foam as core material.
Flexural Strength of Curved Sandwich Beams with Face/Core Debond
Authors: Layne Andrew M. , Carlsson Leif A.
Published: July 2003

The influence of a face/core (F/C) debond on the flexural stiffness and strength of curved sandwich beams under opening bending moments has been experimentally examined. The sandwich beams consisted of glass/polyester face sheets over a PVC foam core. Debonds of various sizes were defined by inserting thin non-stick Teflon films at the outer F/C interface in the curved region of the beam prior to processing. The beams were tested in flexure in a specially designed four-point bend test fixture. The load versus displacement and surface strains at the apex of the beam were recorded to examine the response. It was observed that the debonded face sheet lifted off of the core and underwent a bifurcation associated with strain reversal. Beam failure occurred by propagation of the debond. It was observed that the beams suffered marginal reductions in stiffness, but substantial reductions in strength due to the presence of a debond. Linear finite element analysis was performed to examine the initial response of the beams.
Reading Plans as an Exercise in Evaluation
Authors: Khakee Abdul
Published: July 2003

The communicative turn in policy analysis and planning has resulted in increasing interest in the issue of what the text of the plan has to narrate to different categories of readership. The quality of the text of the plan is a central aspect of this new concern. According to rational planning theory, a plan should be an exposition of various directives. The plan is based on the scientific examination of issues and the readership is assumed to consist of persons with technical and/or juridical proficiency. Evaluation in rational planning amounts to the examination of the effectiveness and legitimacy of the plans. Communicative planning theory, on the other hand, conceives of the plan as the result of a broad democratic discourse, comprising a large number of stakeholders. The plan acquires different functions according to different readerships. Besides examining effectiveness and legitimacy, evaluation in communicative planning involves an appraisal of how plans promote a broad stakeholder involvement and help in building relational resources. The reading of plans becomes a rich assessment of the policy discourses that characterize the planning process.

This article presents three approaches to reading plans as part of evaluation in communicative planning: (1) the plan as an account of a drama with many actors; (2) the plan as an instrument for uniting rational rhetoric with a multitude of opinions; and (3) the plan as the product of a democratic discourse. The empirical analysis consists of a reading of five Swedish strategic spatial plans. The aim of this exercise is to examine the attributes of the plans when their texts are analysed from different perspectives, and in turn to determine the implications for the quality of the planning process and the programme of actions.
A Discourse on Impact Evaluation
Authors: Bhola H. S.
Published: July 2003

Evaluation of the impact of a social intervention is complex. A social intervention cannot be designed as an invariant input for un-mixed and singular results. Agents and conditions of implementation confound outcomes. But evaluators of impact in search of certainties have often focused on direct and more immediate outputs. When intermediate and long-term outcomes are studied, the focus is on the concrete and the measurable. The discourse on impact evaluation presented here includes a model and methodology for the evaluation of impact. The model as elaborated posits three categories of impact: (1) impact by design– outputs resulting directly and immediately from the intervention; (2) impact by interaction– outcomes arising from interactivity with concurrent interventions by other agents; and (3) impact by emergence– unimagined outcomes emerging from the original intervention through its interactions with other interventions and its interfaces with historical and cultural processes in place but not easily discernable. The methodology proposed for the study of impact is pluralistic. The model and methodology are confirmed in the context of the Ghana Literacy and Functional Skills Programme (LFSP) at the end of its first phase, 1992–7, showing how the comprehensive conceptualization of impact, together with methodological pluralism, can deliver rich data on the impact of interventions which can serve the needs of both policymakers and the public.
Problematizing Participation
Authors: Gregory Amanda
Published: July 2003

It is widely accepted that evaluation is a social process which implies the need for a participatory approach. In this article, it will be argued that the blanket use of the term ‘participation’ has masked the heterogeneity evident in its realization in practice. This article highlights a lack of transparency in participatory methods in evaluation by, first of all, critically discussing Rebien's (1996) definition of a set of criteria for distinguishing participative projects from interventions that are non-participative or have a low level of participation. Rebien's work is important because it not only discusses participation from a practical perspective, but also from a methodological point of view, advancing the argument that Guba and Lincoln's (1989) Fourth Generation Evaluation is an appropriate methodology for supporting participation. Fourth Generation Evaluation will be described and critiqued with reference to Oakley's (1991) obstacles to participation. In the light of this critique, the argument will be advanced, through an examination of Patton's Utilization-Focused Evaluation (1986, 1997) and Pawson and Tilley's Realistic Evaluation (1997), that the notion of participation is ill-understood and is an important problem across a range of methodologies in evaluation. Guidance on how best to realize a participatory approach in practice will then be sought through examination of an approach to evaluation which has emerged from the systems field (Taket and White, 1995, 1996, 1997). Consequently, it will be argued that the problem of participation can only be approached through an understanding of power and its realization in practices that prohibit or promote participation.
Non-Hierarchical Evaluation of Policy
Authors: Carlsson Lars
Published: July 2003

An important task for policy evaluation is to develop methods that are based on the fact that political power is fragmented and that every policy area is complex. This article demonstrates, using an empirical example, how different strands of the policymaking process are related to different logics of evaluation. Also discussed is how these differences may result in quite opposite conclusions about the possible failure or success of single programmes. However, it is concluded that policy research does not have to abandon the idea of rationality and adopt a more postmodern or hermeneutic line of analysis. Policy evaluation is still, it is argued, a matter of finding relevant units of analysis, and in contemporary society these units are networks rather than political–administrative entities. Thus, in order to be able to scrutinize and understand such processes of policy creation, policy evaluation must adopt a non-hierarchical attitude and this requires a bottom-up methodology.
Evaluation as Usable Knowledge for Public Management Reforms
Authors: Thoenig Jean-Claude
Published: July 2003

Do public sector reforms use evaluation? What good practices has experience brought to light? Does evaluation have a future? In this article, evaluation shall be defined as an instrument or means for improving the capacity to learn about conducting successful change and defining achievable outcomes in the fields of public efficiency and effectiveness. Whilst many forms of evaluation exist, in general it may be characterized as an activity that is devoted to the production and analysis of rigorous and relevant information about relationships between, on the one side, public acts and non-acts and, on the other, outcomes and impacts.
Learning from Evaluations
Authors: Balthasar Andreas , Rieder Stefan
Published: July 2003

This article presents select results of a study on the forms and the conditions of learning through evaluation, based on case studies of evaluations of the Swiss Energy 2000 Programme. Taking into account current approaches to learning theory, the analysis makes it clear that evaluations trigger different kinds of learning effects that act on different levels. The study concludes that the majority of effects on the operational level concerning the programme's fine-tuning (i.e. development of guidelines for implementation, optimization of the database, clarifying target groups etc.) are essentially dependent on how well the evaluators and their commissioning clients accomplish their tasks. The most relevant factors influencing direct learning from evaluation are thus: the involvement of affected parties in the formulation of the evaluation questions, the use of feedback circuits during the course of the evaluation and the production of a report whose language is appropriate to its intended audience. Effects at the strategic and structural level are equally positively influenced by the abovementioned factors. However, they also depend on the occurrence of socalled ‘windows of opportunity’. Although evaluators and their clients cannot control these, they can try to take advantage of them when they occur.
The Evaluation of Educational Innovation
Authors: Jacobs Cecilia
Published: July 2003

This article presents a model for the evaluation of educational innovation in a context of transformation. The model incorporates formative, summative and illuminative evaluation goals and emphasizes the need to locate the innovation which is being evaluated within the context and policy framework of its operation. The evaluation framework provided by the model takes into account the full range of variables impacting on innovative educational practice and subjects the innovation, along with its transforming educational context, to the scrutiny of evaluation. The article thus presents a 10-stage generalized evaluation model which can be used as a framework for the evaluation of any type of educational innovation. Each stage in this 10-stage evaluation process is expanded on, discussed in detail in the article and illustrated with examples from the evaluation of an innovative intervention at a tertiary institution in South Africa.
The Local Construction and Enactment of Standards for Research Evaluation
Authors: Borum Finn , Hansen Hanne Foss
Published: July 2003

The local adaptation of research evaluation at faculty and departmental level is analysed in terms of the processes through which an evaluation standard is stipulated and enacted. Three aspects of the interplay of the standard with the local evaluation context are discussed: conflict regulation; activity coordination; and processing of local problems and issues. A ‘soft’ standard appears as a compromise between different interested parties, which allows for some coordination between loosely coupled actors, and which functions as an open garbage can for departmental problems and issues. The evaluation standard is discussed in relation to local sense-making processes, the introduction of ‘managerialism’ in academia, and organization development and exploration.
Comparative Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in French Non-Experimental Evaluation of Regional and Local Policies
Authors: Basl… Maurice
Published: July 2003

This article examines a number of French cases of unemployed adult training programme evaluation. In France, as in many countries, experimental policies are not the norm, for many reasons. Therefore, no experimental database exists for evaluation purposes and data are not available (comparisons with a reference group, for example). However, adequate results from a Non-Experimental Gross Outcome approach (NEGO) do exist. This article examines the qualities, reliability and the limits of results published in reports for three regional official authorities: the regional office of the Department of Labour; the regional council; and the Ille-et-Vilaine council in Brittany (France). This leads on to a discussion of the nonexperimental gross outcome approach.
Performance Management and Policy Evaluation in the Netherlands
Authors: Van Der Knaap Peter
Published: July 2003

In June 1999, the Netherlands government presented its new proposals on the structure, content and presentation of budget documents. The new style government budget should give answers to three simple questions: ‘What do we want to achieve? What will we do to achieve it? What will be the costs of our efforts?’After the budgetary year, the government annual report will have to answer the logical equivalents to these questions: ‘Have we achieved what we intended? Have we done what we should have done in achieving it? Did it cost what we had expected?’

The general purpose of the proposals is to make budget documents, and hence the budgetary process, more policy-oriented by presenting information on (intended and achieved) policy objectives, policy measures or instruments, and their costs.

In this article, I will focus in on the merits of the new style budget from a performance management and policy evaluation point of view. The central question is: will the new style budget indeed allow for a better geared employment of periodic (annual or cyclic) and less frequent information on policy outcomes and management output? And, if so, what are the chances of enhancing the utilization of the results of evaluation research by tuning its employment to the systematically available data of performance-oriented systems of planning and control?
Health Technology Assessment and Evaluation
Authors: Reuzel R. P. B. , Van Der Wilt G. J.
Published: July 2003

This article deals with the question of whether health technology assessment (HTA) should be regarded as a kind of evaluation. Following Michael Scriven, we define evaluation as the determination of value – value covering the merit or worth for all those affected – by use of valid methods. Mainstream HTA entails scientific research into the effects and associated costs of health technologies. It shows a tendency towards judging rather than improving technology; employs a positivist rather than a constructivist scientific paradigm; and features a strong emphasis on internal validity. If HTA is regarded as a kind of evaluation, it has limited scope. Although we agree that information on costs and effects is important for policy making in the field of healthcare, our view is that HTA as it is commonly practised is a goal-based tool rather than a type of evaluation. To ameliorate this problem, commissioners of HTA should take more risks in financing research that is still experimental, but has the potential of revitalizing HTA as a science of valuing. In this respect, social constructivism may have something to offer.
Local Evaluation in a National Early Years Excellence Centres Pilot Programme
Authors: Biott Colin , Cook Tina
Published: July 2003

This article is focused on the evaluation of one of New Labour's area-based initiatives in the UK. It traces local evaluators' changing concerns in the face of increasing control from a national evaluation programme. It shows how strains are being felt in relation to evaluators' roles, timescales and approaches to reporting. A pre-specified framework of indicators and a template for reporting are tending to concentrate effort upon finding the ‘looked for’ or confirming the ‘asked for’, at the expense of new learning. We look at the difficulties in trying to integrate participatory evaluation and performance management, and in particular in trying to make evaluation meaningful and educative, rather than a bureaucratic burden, for local participants.
Abduction: A Logical Criterion For Programme and Project Evaluation
Authors: Levin-Rozalis Miri
Published: July 2003

Evaluation is afflicted by a number of ethical and methodological problems. A major problem is the difficulty evaluation has in maintaining itself as an independent, autonomous discipline. An answer to these problems is often sought by recourse to the more structured field of research, even though the canonical logic of research and its criteria are not suitable for most work in which evaluation as a discipline is required. A possible solution for this dilemma can be found in the work of the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce. According to Peirce, the decision to adopt a new hypothesis by a scientist, researcher or, for our purposes, evaluator is as logical a process as deduction or induction. Peirce calls this process ‘abduction’. The evaluator, much like the scientist working through a process of discovery, raises hypotheses that stem from the field being evaluated. By adopting Peirce's methods we can build a logical methodological framework for the process of evaluation. Such a methodology can then provide criteria similar to those used for research, but without losing the unique approach provided by the discipline of evaluation.
Evaluation in Complex Policy Systems
Authors: Sanderson Ian
Published: July 2003

The renewed emphasis in the UK on ‘evidence-based policy making’ has sharpened the focus on the utilization debate in the evaluation community. Traditionally, the emphasis is placed on methodological concerns but this article argues for a sharper focus on the underpinning theoretical bases of policy evaluation, both in terms of its role in policy making and in terms of the substantive theories which inform policy development and implementation. In particular, the article seeks to assess the implications of complexity theory for our theoretical assumptions about policy systems. It is argued that, together with ‘new institutionalist’ thought and recent work on policy implementation structures, notions of complexity have substantial ramifications for the way in which we approach policy evaluation, given the contemporary concern to address ‘cross-cutting’ social problems through ‘joined-up’ policy initiatives. It is suggested that our thinking about evaluation reflects the broader reaction against ‘modernist’ conceptions of the role of social science in our quest to change and improve the world.
Co-ordinated Care
Authors: Magney Alix G. , Berglund Catherine A.
Published: July 2003

Co-ordinated care is being trialled in Australia. People with long-term complex and chronic conditions are participating in satellite trials to see if different management and care co-ordination leads to better quality of care, more efficiently delivered. While the trials are under way, significant public statements have been made about co-ordinated care by the government, the professions, notably the medical and pharmaceutical professions, and the community. This paper examines some of those statements, and comments on the input into an ongoing ethics debate of resource allocation in healthcare. Efficiency and quality are recurring themes in this public debate. The process of change is compared to initiatives in the US and UK.
Whether a Sociologist, Economist, Psychologist or Simply a Skilled Evaluator
Authors: Maynard Rebecca A.
Published: July 2003

The following is based on a keynote address presented at III Congresso Nazionale Dell’Associazione Italiana Di Valutazione, Torino, Villa Gaulina, 24 March, 2000.