bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Taxonomy of Parametric and Operational Approaches in International Marketing
Authors: Kramer Hugh E. , Dahlstrom Robert
Published: March 2007

This article identifies two categories of approaches to international marketing, those that are related to the content (parametric approaches) and those that refer to the process (operational approaches). Parametric approaches are concerned with effectiveness issues, while operational approaches address the efficiency of one's research. Parametric approaches can be distinguished by their relationship to spatial or categorical experience. In contrast, operational approaches focus on the efficiency of the technique to be applied; these approaches include the goal-directed, relevance, cognitive, quantitative, logical, synthetic, and linguistic concerns of the academic. The taxonomy provided is intended as a first step toward developing a mechanism for evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of alternate approaches to understanding international marketing.
The Marketing Concept as the Foundation of Marketing in the Classroom: An Educational Dilemma
Authors: Blotnicky Karen A.
Published: March 2007

Marketers within academic and business circles have both praised and criticized the marketing concept. Despite some apparent disadvantages, the theory still is central to marketing thought and still is presented in business schools as the key to business success. This article examines some of the criticisms of the marketing concept, as well as its strengths, and makes recommendations regarding the presentation of the marketing management concept as a theoretical framework for marketing management in business schools.
Grading Differences between Graduate Teaching Assistants and Faculty Members in the Introductory Marketing Class
Authors: Sonner Brenda S. , Sharland Alex
Published: March 2007

This study compared the final course grades given by first time teaching assistants, experienced teaching assistants, and full-time faculty members. The results clearly showed that inexperienced graduate teaching assistants awarded higher grades than either experienced graduate teaching assistants or faculty members, and these grades were usually much higher than the student's overall grade point average.
Toward Enhancing the Quality and Quantity of Marketing Majors
Authors: LaBarbera Priscilla A. , Simonoff Jeffrey S.
Published: March 2007

This article reports the findings of a survey of undergraduate students designed to examine the key factors involved in selecting a marketing major. A discussion follows, dealing with the initiatives undertaken by marketing departments at various universities in an attempt to enhance the quality and quantity of marketing majors.
The University President in Germany
Authors: Thieme Werner
Published: March 2007

Problems of university administration are of crucial importance in our days. The Forum in this issue brings a series of views on authority in university administration. Some time ago (see vol. 2, number 1 of the Review) we published an article on university presidents. This article prompted a reaction from one of our readers in Germany, whose views we are publishing below. It shows that university administration is a problem in other countries as well and that the issues facing university administrators are remarkably similar regardless of their cultural setting.
State Legislative Developments
Authors: Carlson Loren M.
Published: March 2007

This section continues to encounter growing pains as this journal makes its transition to the American Review of Public Administration. Because of timing problems, this edition of State Legislative Developments reflects, in most cases, the developments of the 1981 and 1982 legislative sessions. The patience of the state reporters in helping with this combined approach is appreciated. Meanwhile, an expanded list of reporters is being recruited to develop a more widely national outlook. Editor.
Sources of Reputation among Public Administration and Public Affairs Programs
Authors: Ferris James M. , Stallings Robert A.
Published: March 2007

Various rankings describing the perceived reputation of public administration and public affairs programs have been published over the years, but to date no empirical efforts explaining these ratings have appeared. This paper examines measures of the quality of research and teaching that are conventionally regarded as indicators of program quality to see which if any are related to subjective assessments of program reputation. Using ordinary least squares regression, three models are estimated to explain the program ratings of samples of NASPAA representatives, university faculty, and public-sector practitioners. Independent program status and faculty research productivity were program characteristics positively and significantly related to reputation as perceived by NASPAA representatives and faculty. Offering a doctoral degree and awarding large numbers of MPA degrees were positively and significantly related to program reputation as perceived by practitioners. These differences in the perceived reputation of public administration and public affairs programs seem to reflect underlying differences in the way research and practice are viewed in these fields.
Strategic Planning in U.S. Cities: Patterns of Use, Perceptions of Effectiveness, and an Assessment of Strategic Capacity
Authors: Streib Gregory , Poister Theodore H.
Published: March 2007

For this study of the use of strategic planning in American cities, data were collected by a survey of all American cities with populations between 25,000 and one million. Key issues covered were strategic planning applications, perceptions of effectiveness, strategic capacity, and methods of monitoring and evaluation. The findings show that a large number of cities use strategic planning with a high level of satisfaction; however, questions are raised about the true level of strategic capacity.
Implementing Economic Development in Middle America: An Analysis of Political, Administrative, and Organizational Constraints
Authors: Riposa Gerry , Andranovich Greg
Published: March 2007

Economic development was the synonym for urban policy in the 1980s. No longer an exclusive policy concern for older, larger cities located in the economically ravaged areas suffering from capital flight, now urban economic development is the preoccupation of city governments regardless of size or region. Although this policy terrain has received scholarly attention, most of this effort has been focused on large cities located in the industrial midwest and the densely populated coastal zones. In this research, the authors examine the administrative, political, and organizational constraints of one midsize city in rural middle America. They demonstrate that although economic development goals and basic problems may be similar among cities, strategies must be tailored to size and regional differences. They offer organizational recommendations and topics for future research that may provide small and midsize cities with more feasible approaches to economic development.
The Size and Scope of Strategic Planning in State Agencies: The New York Experience
Authors: Miesing Paul , Andersen David F.
Published: March 2007

Recent years have witnessed a surge of interest in strategic planning in the public sector. However, a wide variety of structural arrangements, funding levels, and purposes and objectives are all grouped together under the rubric of strategic planning. This article is the first phase of a two-part research effort. The authors set out to promote a better understanding of the status of strategic planning in the public sector by examining the organization, funding, and mission of strategic planning units within New York State agencies. They report top state officials' reactions to strategic planning and how they explicitly use it.
Employee Commitment to the AIDS Service Organization: A Study of the Comprehensive AIDS Program in Palm Beach County, Florida
Authors: Liou K. T.
Published: March 2007

This study analyzes factors affecting employees' commitment to the AIDS Service Organization (ASO). Based on a survey in a community-based ASO, the study reveals that these employees have a high level of commitment to their organization and that their trust and confidence in the organization and dissatisfaction with government's involvement are two major determinants of their commitment. Implications concerning the results of this study are discussed.
Sunset as Oversight: Establishing Realistic Objectives
Authors: Opheim Cynthia , Curry Landon , Shields Patricia M.
Published: March 2007

After an auspicious beginning, sunset reform remains an institutionalized form of legislative oversight in 26 states. This study moves beyond the simplistic notion that the success or failure of sunset review is a function of its ability to terminate agencies and toward a more complete understanding of the role that sunset review has come to play in state government. This understanding can help us establish more realistic objectives by which to judge the sunset process.
Autonomy Grounded in Subordination: A Framework for Responding to Competing Institutional Norms
Authors: Barth Thomas J.
Published: March 2007

This article uses the normative framework provided by the concept of autonomy grounded in subordination to view competing institutional pressures in three government agencies (the Office of Management and Budget, the General Accounting Office, and the Department of Justice). This framework suggests that the proper perspective for viewing an agency in a government of separate but shared powers is one of balancing responsibility to multiple masters. The use of the subordinate autonomy framework fosters an attitude that embraces the ambiguity and tensions of governance, and will heighten awareness of what it means to practice administrative statesmanship.
The Long Recoil from Regulation
Authors: Frumkin Peter
Published: March 2007

The Tax Reform Act of 1969 (TRA 1969) imposed the first real set of regulations on private philanthropic foundations. The effect of these regulations has been profound, long lasting, and for the most part, entirely unintended. TRA 1969 ultimately pushed foundations to mount a strategic defense for the field, a strategy that has included professionalizing foundation staffs, changing grant making practices, and forming a powerful national association. Philanthropy's ongoing quest for legitimacy and public acceptance following TRA 1969-not the provisions of the regulations themselves-has created a new set of pressing management challenges that the foundation field must now address.
1988 Macromarketing Seminar Abstracts
Authors: Dominguez Luis V.
Published: March 2007

The thirteenth annual Macromarketing Conference was held at San Jose State University, San Jose, August 11-14. The 65 attendees heard the 28 presentations and one panel discussion that are abstracted below. The 1989 Conference will be held August 10-13 in Toledo.
Fourth Conference on Historical Research in Marketing Abstracts
Authors: Hollander Stanley C. , Nevett Terence R. , Whitney Kathleen R.
Published: March 2007

The Fourth Conference on Historical Research in Marketing was held in Charleston, South Carolina, in collaboration with Michigan State University, the Academy of Marketing Science, and The Citadel on April 29—May 1, 1989. Twenty-three presentations are abstracted below.
Counterculture, Criticisms, and Crisis: Assessing the Effect of the Sixties on Marketing Thought
Authors: Arnold Mark J. , Fisher James E.
Published: March 2007

To assess the effect of "the Sixties" on the development of marketing thought, a framework is developed that embodies three broad paradigms that existed or were emerging during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Marketing scholars have labeled these the Apologist, the Social Marketer, and the Reconstructionist Paradigms. Through the in-depth presentation of various authors' positions, it is argued that these three perspectives largely capture the essence of academic marketing's response to the Sixties. The Apologists sought to maintain the status quo. The Social Marketers attempted to reconcile the fundamental worth of marketing with the idealistic goals propounded by society, but they largely avoided addressing many of the core ideas and criticisms of the Sixties. This was left to the Reconstructionists, who seemed to challenge the very foundations of the marketing discipline. While the intellectual contributions of the Reconstructionists and the Social Marketers are evident today, primarily in the broadened concept of marketing, from the vantage point of the 1990s it appears that the Apologists' more circumspect view of marketing has been validated.
Farmers Bargaining: Buying and Selling as a Subject in American Genre Painting, 1835-1868
Authors: Witkowski Terrence H.
Published: March 2007

This article uses genre painting as a data source for investigating the exchange activities of buyers and sellers in nineteenth-century America. Examples of this art are broken down into three subject categories (rural bargaining, itinerant peddlers, and African-American marketing exchange) and are examined in terms of their narrative content and artistic context. To better understand the sociocultural meaning of exchange during this period, four interpretive themes that cross the subject categories—social typing, retrospection, emotion, and morality are also considered.
Robotic Grasping of Unknown Objects: A Knowledge-based Approach
Authors: Stansfield S.A.
Published: March 2007

In this article we describe a general-purpose robotic grasping system for use in unstructured environments. Using computer vision and a compact set of heuristics, the system automatically generates the robot arm and hand motions reqrsired for grasping an unmodeled object. The utility of such a system is most evident in environ ments where the robot will have to grasp and manipulate a variety of unknown objects, but many of these manipu lation tasks may be relatively simple. Examples of such domains are planetary exploration and astronaut assis tance, undersea salvage and rescue, and nuclear waste site clean-up. This work implements a two-stage model of grasping: stage one is an orientation of the hand and wrist and a ballistic reach toward the object; stage two is hand preshaping and adjustment. Visual features are first extracted from the unmodeled object. These features and their relations are used by an expert system to generate a set of valid reach/grasps for the object. These grasps are then used in driving the robot hand and arm to bring the fingers into contact with the object in the desired configu ration. Experimental results are presented to illustrate the functioning of the system.
Stabilization of the Fast Modes of a Flexible-Joint Robot
Authors: Readman M.C. , Bélanger P.R.
Published: March 2007

In this work the robot is assumed to be an open kinematic chain with only revolute joints. Each joint is modeled as a linear torsional spring. The model equations consist of two coupled dy namic systems, one representing the usual rigid body or slow dynamics and the other the fast dynamics introduced by the joint flexibility. The model presented in this article is in aform that brings out the influence on the fast subsystem dynamics of the rigid body parameters and the robot geometry. The model clearly shows the effect that link and drive parameters have on the dynamics of the fast subsystem.

It is shown that under certain assumptions there exists a decen tralized velocity control law that asymptotically stabilizes the fast subsystem dynamics. In general this control law is gain scheduled. For sufficiently small drive inertias there always exists a fixed de centralized control law that will asymptotically stabilize the fast dynamics. This is true even for large drive ratios. For sufficiently large drive inertias it may not be possible to use a fixed decentral ized control law. Under certain conditions a gain-scheduled velocity feedback law can be designed to give attractive pole damping factors. Some examples are given to illustrate these ideas.
A Study of the Passive Gait of a Compass-Like Biped Robot
Authors: Goswami Ambarish , Thuilot Benoit , Espiau Bernard
Published: March 2007

The focus of this work is a systematic study of the passive gait of a compass-like, planar, biped robot on inclined slopes. The robot is kinematically equivalent to a double pendulum, possessing two kneeless legs with point masses and a third point mass at the "hip" joint. Three parameters, namely, the ground-slope angle and the normalized mass and length of the robot describe its gait. We show that in response to a continuous change in any one of its parame ters, the symmetric and steady stable gait of the unpowered robot gradually evolves through a regime of bifurcations characterized by progressively complicated asymmetric gaits, eventually arriving at an apparently chaotic gait where no two steps are identical. The robot can maintain this gait indefinitely.

A necessary (but not sufficient) condition for the stability of such gaits is the contraction of the "phase-fluid" volume. For this frictionless robot, the volume contraction, which we compute, is caused by the dissipative effects of the ground-impact model. In the chaotic regime, the fractal dimension of the robot's strange attractor

We present a novel graphical technique based on the first return map that compactly captures the entire evolution of the gait, from symmetry to chaos. Additional passive dissipative elements in the robot joint result in a significant improvement in the stability and

the versatility of the gait, and provide a rich repertoire for simple control laws.
Modelling Music as Input-Output and as Process
Authors: West Robert , Cross Ian , Howell Peter
Published: March 2007

One answer to the question "How is such and such a piece of music heard?" is to describe the experience of that piece, with a set of rules for determining what aspects of that experience arise out of what constituents of sound input. Models which do this may be termed "input-output" models. Another answer is to describe the mental processes which give rise to musical percepts. This paper considers the input-output approach to modelling music perception and indicates how a general modelling system could be produced using "frames" linked to the time domain. It then discusses limitations in the input-output approach and outlines features of a system for modelling music-perceptual processes in terms of specialised encoding mechanisms combined with associative memory. Both input- output and process approaches have a part to play in modelling music perception.
Determinants of Melody Span in a Developmentally Disabled Musical Savant
Authors: Miller Leon K.
Published: March 2007

Sensitivity to various constraints present in simple strings of notes was investigated in a 7-year-old musical savant using a short-term memory task. Analysis of the subject's renditions of strings suggested particular attention was paid to the general complexity, key signature, and repeated configurations within a string. Implications of these results for concepts of savant behavior are discussed.
Music Preference and the Five-Factor Model of the NEO Personality Inventory
Authors: Rawlings David , Ciancarelli Vera
Published: March 2007

Student subjects completed an updated version of Litle and Zuckerman's Music Preference Scale, a questionnaire measuring musical preference. They also completed the NEO Personality Inventory (Revised), a measure of the Five-Factor Model of personality. Factor analysis identified three patterns of preference associated with liking for most types of Rock Music, general Breadth of Musical Preference, and liking for Popular Music (such as easy listening). The three factors were employed as dependent variables in canonical correlations to examine relationships with personality. As predicted, most relationships with music preference involved the personality measures extraversion and openness. Extraverts obtained high scores on the Popular Music factor. Open individuals liked a wide range of music types. It was also found that females liked popular music styles more than did males. Particular personality "facets" were examined, as were the effects of musical training and interest. The research extends previous investigations relating preference and personality.
Regulation of Learning Strategies during Practice: A Case Study of a Single Church Organ Student Preparing a Particular Work for a Concert Performance
Authors: Nielsen Siw
Published: March 2007

This case study of a church organ student focuses on the student's use of learning strategies during the initial phase of preparing a complex piece for public concert performance. It explores whether the results of regulatory decisions on speed and intensity of cognitive activities can be identified in the observed practice behaviour. The subject's use of learning strategies in different tasks during practice indicates to some degree that the results of regulatory decisions of intensity and speed of cognitive activities can be found in the observed behaviour. Chi-square analyses revealed that the transitions from mastering identical to mastering new patterns, and from mastering identical to mastering related patterns, caused the student to increase intensity and subsequently decrease speed of cognitive activities, while the transition from mastering new to mastering identical patterns, and from mastering related to mastering identical patterns, caused the student to decrease intensity and increase speed of his cognitive activities.
Star Crushing:
Authors: Kennefick Daniel
Published: March 2007

This paper presents a case study of a recent controversy among theoretical physicists modelled on case studies of experimental science conducted in recent times by sociologists and historians. The principal source is a series of interviews with leading participants in the controversy. I have also read published papers pertaining to the debate and the study is informed by my own experience as a researcher in the relevant field of theoretical physics during the earliest period of the controversy. I argue, on the basis of this study, that the work of theorists can be very like the work of experimentalists. Concepts such as `tacit knowledge', and problems of replicability, may be just as relevant to the study of theorists as they are to experimenters. In analogy with Collins' `Experimenters' Regress', I propose the existence of a `Theoreticians' Regress' which expresses the difficulty theorists have in judging the correctness of rival calculations when the best or only test of their validity is their own result, which is itself in dispute.
Enlightenment Science in Portugal:
Authors: Carneiro Ana , Simões Ana
Published: March 2007

This paper focuses on the rôle of the estrangeirados (`Europeanized' intellectuals) as significant diffusion channels for the new scientific and technological ideas and practices stemming from the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. A definition of `network' is introduced in this paper as a methodological tool to characterize the estrangeirados. We argue that given their heterogeneous social origins, backgrounds and careers, they should not be seen as a homogeneous group. Rather, they were part of a fluid network, although they did not consider themselves as such. What they definitely shared was a common scientific culture. Analysis of the links they established on a voluntary and often informal basis accordingly enables us to identify the aims and strategies deployed to introduce the new sciences in 18th-century Portugal, and to understand better why their reforming endeavours had so little practical impact. In effect, the estrangeirados formed an élite which remained marginal to Portuguese society at large. In many instances their political options and their links to central power made them vulnerable to political and religious persecution. This considerably undermined their agenda, which aimed at bringing the country into the forefront of advanced European nations.
Marginality and Innovation in Science
Authors: Gieryn Thomas F. , Hirsh Richard F.
Published: March 2007

Sociologists and historians of science have frequently used the concept of the `marginal man' to describe those most likely to contribute major scientific innovations. An examination of X-ray astronomy during its formative years (1960-75) suggests that `marginal' scientists are no more likely than others to contribute innovations, a finding contrary to most other studies. Moreover, the concept of marginality is, in its present use, so ambiguous as to be almost worthless as a conceptual tool for systematic inquiry into the sources of scientific innovation.
Attitudes Towards Work: A Comparison of Soviet and American Immigrant Scientists in Israel
Authors: Toren Nina
Published: March 2007

This study examines the attitudes of scientists of different cultural backgrounds towards work. Two samples of scientists who have recently emigrated to Israel, from the USSR and USA, are investigated. The findings show considerable transnational similarity in respondents' importance rankings of a set of work characteristics pertaining to the professional role per se. However, the meanings that scientists attach to particular work characteristics — namely, the 'opportunity to contribute to society' — are conceived within different frameworks and contexts of meaning by the two national groups. The effect of other contextual factors on work orientation, such as academic degree, discipline, and organizational setting, are also investigated.
Practising Western Science Outside the West: Personal Observations on the Indian Scene
Authors: Choudhuri Arnab Rai
Published: March 2007

Modern science, which was an indigenous product of Western culture, is now being practised in many non-Western countries. This paper discusses the peculiar social, cultural and intellectual problems which scientists of these non-Western countries face in adopting Western science in their situations, with special reference to India. It is pointed out that, in addition to money and communication, it is necessary to have a proper psychological gestalt to practise science satisfactorily. The author analyzes his experience as a physics student in India and in the United States to clarify the nature of this psychological gestalt, and to explain what makes it difficult for non-Western scientists to acquire it.
Anomalies and Social Experience: Backcasting with Simulation Models
Authors: Bloomfield Brian P.
Published: March 2007

This paper applies Bloor's extension of Douglas's grid/group theory to a novel case-namely, a debate which took place concerning the `retrodiction' or `backcasting' of system dynamics global simulation models. The paper has two aims: first, in terms of understanding this debate, it seeks to link the different treatments of anomalies within it both to the strategies for dealing with mathematical counter-examples described by Lakatos, and to the social experiences of the different protagonists; secondly, in terms of methodology, it attempts to illuminate both the possibilities and the difficulties of applying Bloor's scheme to cases outside pure mathematics.
The Flexible University: Some Historical Reflexions on the Analysis of Education and the Modern British Economy
Authors: Fox Robert , Guagnini Anna
Published: March 2007

In recent years, cultural conservatism and the associated shortcomings of scientific and technical education have come to be widely regarded as important causes of Britain's industrial difficulties. But what hope is there that the educational reforms now being advocated by the British government will be any more effective than many similar ones that have been tried in Europe since the mid-nineteenth century? Historical evidence suggests that the British government's present strategy, with its emphasis on the need for institutions of higher education to respond sensitively to the immediate demands of industry, could prove ineffective or even damaging. In particular, we should beware of the beguilingly attractive notion of `flexibility', which is in reality fraught with ambiguity.
Medical and Biological Constraints: Early Research on Variation in Bacteriology
Authors: Amsterdamska Olga
Published: March 2007

Studies of the role of social and institutional contexts of scientific research have rarely paid attention to the manner in which, in some fields, the formulation of scientific problems and research strategies is structured jointly by the theoretical and methodological commitments of scientists, and by considerations arising out of an interest in practical problem-solving. Because bacteriology was institutionalized predominantly as a medical field whose major professional goal was the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases, the development of research on bacterial variation before World War I is examined here in terms of an interaction between two sets of cognitive constraints imposed by the biological knowledge of the time, and by the changing concerns of the clinical practice of bacteriology.
Technological Trajectories, Cultural Values and the Labour Process: The Development of NC Machinery in the Norwegian Shipbuilding Industry
Authors: Andersen Håkon With
Published: March 2007

This paper deals with the shaping of a particular technology (numerically controlled devices, `NC') in two different contexts. It compares the development of NC technology at MIT (with funding from the US Air Force), with the development of an NC steering unit, and later computer programs, in a public research institution in Norway, with grants for doing industrial research. Different institutional settings, different funding, and different traditions, make the two research communities raise different questions, and find different solutions, involving different sets of actors. While the US project had to be broken down, in order to make it usable in industry, the Norwegian project was built up by adding bits all the time, involving new actors and new types of funding. The question of `deskilling' is then discussed against a background of different cultures.
Social Determinants of Engineering Practice: A Comparative View of France and America in the Nineteenth Century
Authors: Kranakis Eda
Published: March 2007

This paper makes a comparative analysis of the distinct engineering cultures of France and the United States in the nineteenth century. The object is to explain why French engineers characteristically excelled in theoretical analysis while tending to neglect empirical research, whereas just the opposite was true of American engineers. Toward this end, the paper considers differences in the structure and organization of the engineering community in each country. It also looks at differences in the French and American systems of technical education, in their reward systems, and in their ideologies of engineering (especially the way they conceptualized the relation between theory, experiment and practice in engineering research). Finally, the paper attempts to show, in a specific case, how these social, institutional and ideological differences led to distinct paths of technological development — that is, to the elaboration of distinct bodies of knowledge and design traditions. The paper closes with some more general reflections on the methodological value of comparative analysis for social studies of technology. Brief attention is also given to the question of the possible influence of engineering cultures on rates of technological and economic development.
The Butterfly and the Frigate: Social Studies of Science in Japan
Authors: Low Morris Fraser
Published: March 2007

In recent years there has been a vast amount of commentary on the state of Japanese science, little of which has added to our understanding of its social role. This paper explores some of the models which have helped to structure the manner in which the growth of Japanese science has been depicted. While some of the models which are employed may be European by origin, their subsequent use has often been by the Japanese themselves. Models have served to constrain science studies in Japan, and the lack of institutional support has acted to further inhibit activity in the area. It is argued that, despite some exceptions, much of the stimulating work on Japanese science has come from outside the country.
Issues for STS Raised by Defence Science and Technology Policy
Authors: Gummett Philip
Published: March 2007

This paper discusses a surprisingly understudied aspect of science studies, namely, the area of defence science and technology policy. It reviews work done in the past, and outlines a number of more recent developments that show that the interest taken in the field is growing. It discusses new directions that might be followed from sociological and economic perspectives, and suggests that the analysis of defence science and technology policy offers scope for integration between different fields within the social studies of science.
In Search of Epistemic Networks
Authors: Leydesdorff Loet
Published: March 2007

The organization of bodies of scientific literature has hitherto been studied mainly in order to analyze the relations among documents — that is, from the perspective of information retrieval. The use of words and co-occurrences of words, however, makes it possible in principle to analyze the relations among words within documents, and to raise the question of the extent to which it is possible to reconstruct sciences by means of lexigraphical tools. In this study, I discuss various `network models' in science studies, using co-occurrences of words (terms, predicates) as indicators of organization within a scientific text. This approach is fully explored in the case of one research paper published in FEBS-LETTERS, at various levels of aggregation — sentences, paragraphs and sections. The major findings are: (1) the three-dimensional word structure at the section level cannot be found nor reconstructed at lower levels of aggregation; however, this structure can be most clearly identified as `theoretical', `observational' and `methodological'; and (2) word usage within sentences and within paragraphs is specific for the position of sentences in paragraphs, sentences in sections and paragraphs in sections. I argue that words and their relations can be used as an operationalization of epistemic networks in scientific literature as conceptualized in the pragmatic tradition in the philosophy of science, but that one has to add the notion of `nested structures' of networks at different levels of aggregations, as proposed by the French co-word analysts, in order to achieve a fuller understanding of the organization of texts.
The Construction of Expert Advice on Health Risks
Authors: van Eijndhoven José , Groenewegen Peter
Published: March 2007

The management of health risks in the human environment is usually supported by expert assessment of the risk. We studied two cases of cancer risk in the Netherlands (connected with dioxin and formaldehyde respectively) in which reassessment of the risk was needed shortly after a first assessment. From the change in the assessment in these two cases, we could reach a number of conclusions about the role of expertise in the process of health risk management. First, the experts already include the evaluation of risk in their assessment. Second, they do not seem to be paradigmatically predisposed to adhere to a certain line of argument, but use whatever data are available to enable them to reach conclusions on risk management problems. Experts are seen to act as service engineers, able to use a scientific toolbox to help solve such problems. This `service engineering' model of the role of expertise demonstrates the strong interrelationship and `fine tuning' between experts and policy decisions.
Czech Physicist Jaroslav ŠSafránek and His Television
Authors: Efmertová Marcela
Published: March 2007

This paper is devoted to the personality, scientific and social activities of Jaroslav ŠSafránek (1890-1957), a Czechoslovak professor of experimental physics who, in the second half of the 1930s, designed a system for the transmission of visual images by low-line mechanical television, which made the production of an authentic spatial impression of the picture, transmitted on the screen, possible. Although experts and the general public acclaimed this invention, the innovation failed to find practical application in Czechoslovakia at that time. That one of the most interesting innovations in television could not be implemented was due to the prevailing red tape in state authorities, internal political quarrels, the political situation prior to World War II, and subsequent postwar developments.
The Chrysler Automotive Gas Turbine Engine, 1950-80
Authors: Braun Hans-Joachim
Published: March 2007

In the late 1940s, Chrysler, in response to government contracts, started research and development work on the automotive gas turbine engine. George F. Huebner, Jr, later head of the research and development department at Chrysler, was the most optimistic champion of this new technology. The gas turbine engine had obvious advantages — especially the absence of vibrations, low maintenance needs, multi-fuel capability, and low emission levels due to continuous combustion. On the other hand, poor fuel economy at part-load, slow acceleration response, high manufacturing costs and the lack of appropriate materials for extremely high temperatures were problems which have only partly been solved. Therefore, large-scale production of this engine has, so far, not been possible. By using engineering ceramic materials, Chrysler and other automobile manufacturers hope to overcome the latter problem, and make full use of the advantages of the gas turbine engine. From the end of World War II, government has acted as both a support (defence R & D projects) and impediment (anti-air-pollution acts, fluctuations in defence spending) to the development of the automotive gas turbine.
Objectivity and the Escape from Perspective
Authors: Daston Lorraine
Published: March 2007

Scientific objectivity is neither monolithic nor immutable: our current usage is compounded of several meanings - metaphysical, methodological and moral - and each meaning has a distinct history, as well as a history of fusion within what now counts as a single concept of `objectivity'. The rise of aperspectival history in nineteenth-century science is one strand of this plaited history of objectivity, as embodied in scientific ideals and practices. It is conceptually and historically distinct from the ontological aspect of objectivity that pursues the ultimate structure of reality, and from the mechanical aspect of objectivity that forbids interpretation in reporting and picturing scientific results. Whereas ontological objectivity is about the fit between theory and the world, and mechanical objectivity is about suppressing the universal human propensity to judge and aestheticize, aperspectival objectivity is about eliminating individual (or occasionally group) idiosyncracies. It emerged first in the moral and aesthetic philosophy of the late eighteenth century and spread to the natural sciences only in the mid-nineteenth century, as a result of a reorganization of scientific life that multiplied professional contacts at every level, from the international commission to the well-staffed laboratory.
The Eighteenth-Century Scientific Community: A Prosopographical Study
Authors: Gascoigne John
Published: March 2007

The object of this Note is to provide a prosopographical analysis of the eighteenth-century scientific community with a view to explaining the gradual breakdown over the course of that century of the traditional general categories of `natural philosophy' and `natural history', and their replacement by a wide range of separate scientific disciplines.
An Academy in Transition: Organizational Success and Failure in the Process of German Unification
Authors: Wolf Hans-Georg
Published: March 2007

This paper analyzes the transformation of East Germany's R&D system in the unification period after 1989. East Germany's transformation process was more profound and rapid than those in the other formerly communist countries: the difference lay in the fact that it moved alongside a complete institutional model (the West German) which gave the process a clear direction. This paper briefly describes the transformation at an institutional level, but then focuses on a set of individual research organizations: the institutes of the old DDR Academy of Sciences. A constrained-choice model is used to explain the wide variety of transformation outcomes (dissolution or preservation). This analysis shows that the Academy's institutes were threatened to varying degrees by the turbulent changes in their environment; that various opportunities for strategic action were open to them; that they used these opportunities in different ways; and that these factors together can plausibly explain the outcomes of the transformation.
Automating Blood Pressure Measurements: The Division of Labour and the Transformation of Method
Authors: Hartland Joanne
Published: March 2007

To what extent can computers undertake `human' tasks, and what role do people play when computers begin to do `their' jobs? This paper offers an empirical analysis of the scope of medical computers in everyday applications, using, as a vehicle for investigation, a machine that is designed to detect and measure human blood pressure (BP). The paper describes experiments using `novice' volunteers who, following written instructions, attempted to measure BP with a traditional sphygmomanometer. Producing reasonable results proved extremely difficult: the procedure is inherently complicated. It is clear that more experienced staff also deviate from the ideal instruction-based model: variations in techniques and results are widespread. But fieldwork shows that the machine, introduced to standardize the process, is successful: it produces acceptable readings that are comparable over time. The paper investigates how the machine is able to do this. I argue that the division of tasks between human and sphygmomanometer, and between human and computer, has changed. The computer now performs what was previously a human task — but only a slice of the overall task. Furthermore, the computer uses a technique that is different from that traditionally used by people. The task is transformed during its automation. I suggest why some other tasks may be suitable for computerization, and why some that are not should remain essentially human, social activities.
Rebels and Pioneers: Technocratic Ideologies and Social Identities in the French Nuclear Workplace, 1955-69
Authors: Hecht Gabrielle
Published: March 2007

This paper compares the cultural meanings of `work' and `risk' at two French nuclear sites, run by different institutions in the 1950s and 1960s. Differences between the two sites stemmed not from technological constraints, but from differences in the political, social and cultural ideologies espoused by each institution. Responses to risk, for example, were as much responses to larger ideological constructs as they were responses to danger. Through this case study, the paper argues that we should find broader uses for analytic tools like `social constructivism' and `technological style'. It proposes analyzing the meanings given to technologies and risks after they are constructed, and examining the ways in which technological activity continues to be social, cultural or political, even after technologies are `black-boxed' or reach `closure'. Doing so leads to new ways of seeing critical connections between artefacts, structures and practices of technological activity and broader social, cultural or political issues.
The Discursive Production of Uncertainty
Authors: Lynch Michael
Published: March 2007

DNA `fingerprinting' and other methods of genetic profiling have been used in connection with hundreds of criminal trials in the UK, USA and other nations. These molecular biological techniques are employed by the prosecution (and less often by the defense) to produce forensic evidence. By means of these techniques, selected DNA fragments extracted from a suspect's blood sample or cheek swab are compared with residues of blood, semen, skin, excreta, saliva and hair follicles collected at a crime scene. DNA-profiling evidence has been successfully challenged in a few highly publicized cases, but in the vast majority of cases such evidence has been accepted. The extensive testimony and documentation arising from cases like the 1994-95 double-murder trial of OJ Simpson in Los Angeles enable a close study of how the credibility of experts and their practices is fashioned and undermined in testimony. The arguments by the Simpson defense team delved into the practical contingencies and sources of uncertainty associated with forensic uses of DNA-profiling techniques. These arguments resemble many of the general conceptions of scientific practice within the sociology of scientific knowledge. Indeed, the resemblance is so close that the paper faces an interesting dilemma: what can be said about this case that has not already been said as part of the production and public discussion of its details?
Coping Strategies of Street Children
Authors: Foley Matthew
Published: March 2007

Street children are usually failures and drop outs at school, but their skill and creativity in surviving and entertaining themselves in the streets show that they do not lack intellig ence. Most of them will admit that they have felt the lack of an adult "model" and their aggression and gang style are born out of the necessity to cope. Teachers and adults in general see only the negative side of their behaviour. What is needed is to build on the positive aspects. A successful program of dealing with such children is described; the focus is on personality develop ment. The program has to fit the child-not the child the program. The adult has to prove unwilling to accept aggression from a child or between children. Firmness has to be combined with caring and personal interest, and it is essential to provide interesting activities.
Behavioral and Situational Clues to a Psychiatrist's Murder by Her Brother
Authors: Roman Deborah Decker , Annis Lawrence V.
Published: March 2007

The homicide of a psychiatrist by her brother, a chronic schizophrenic, is reviewed. Precipitating events and early warning signs are considered with suggestions on how these signs could have been utilized to avert this tragedy. The victim's inability to remain objective regarding the treatment of her brother is also discussed.
Characteristics of Homicide Victims and Victimizations in Prisons: A Canadian Historical Perspective
Authors: Porporino Frank J. , Doherty Phyllis D. , Sawatsky Terrence
Published: March 2007

This article presents an analysis of some of the characteristics of homicide victimizations in Canadian federal correctional institutions. Two historical periods are compared; from 1967 to 1978 and from 1979 to 1984. The findings suggest the incidence of prison homicides has increased over the years, and the character of victims and victimizations has changed. More recent prison homicides were more likely to have been carried out by multiple assailants, were more commonly associated with revenge motives or drug and gambling debts, and involved victims were more likely to have violent backgrounds. The article concludes that a more complete understanding of the causes of prison homicides will require detailed analysis of the process of conflict escalation in these settings.