bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sustainable Development and the Informal Sector: An Uneasy Relationship?
Authors: Briassoulis Helen
Published: April 2009

This article offers a preliminary analysis of the influence of informal activities on the sustainability of development, as well as their policy and planning implications. Most sustainable development policies are directed toward the formal sector—activities that are regulated by the state. The role of informal activities has not been recognized, although the literature shows that informal activities are pervasive and influence significantly socioeconomic and spatial development in both developed and developing countries. The article presents the principal characteristics of informal activities based on a review of the international literature, then examines how informal activities impinge on the three criteria/objectives of sustainability: environmental protection, social equity, and economic efficiency. Various examples of informal activities are used, and their influence on sustainable development is sketched. Finally, the implications of this analysis for sustainable development policy making and planning are examined. Potential avenues to overcome the problems identified are outlined.
Determination of the Global Sensitivity of the Vibrostability Limit for Improving Machine Tools Dynamics
Authors: Marchelek K. , Powałka B.
Published: April 2009

The paper presents a method for determining the global sensitivity indices of the vibrostability limit to the change of mass-damping-spring parameters in machine tool models. The non-stationary character of the models is handled by the analysis of variants. The global sensitivity indices are calculated on the basis of the frequency of variant appearance and the vibrostability limit that corresponds to each variant. To compute the global sensitivity indices fuzzy set theory is applied.
Multimode Interactions in Suspended Cables
Authors: Nayfeh Ali H. , Arafat Haider N. , Chin Char-Ming , Lacarbonara Walter
Published: April 2009

We investigate the nonlinear nonplanar responses of suspended cables to external excitations. The equations of motion governing such systems contain quadratic and cubic nonlinearities, which may result in two-to-one and one-to-one internal resonances. The sag-to-span ratio of the cable considered is such that the natural frequency of the first symmetric in-plane mode is at first crossover. Hence, the first symmetric in-plane mode is involved in a one-to-one internal resonance with the first antisymmetric in-plane and out-of-plane modes and, simultaneously, in a two-to-one internal resonance with the first symmetric out-of-plane mode. Under these resonance conditions, we analyze the response when the first symmetric in-plane mode is harmonically excited at primary resonance. First, we express the two governing equations of motion as four first-order (i.e., state-space formulation) partial-differential equations. Then, we directly apply the methods of multiple scales and reconstitution to determine a second-order uniform asymptotic expansion of the solution, including the modulation equations governing the dynamics of the phases and amplitudes of the interacting modes. Then, we investigate the behavior of the equilibrium and dynamic solutions as the forcing amplitude and resonance detunings are slowly varied and determine the bifurcations they may undergo.
Passive Control of the Vibration and Sound Radiation from Submerged Shells
Authors: Oh J. , Ruzzene M. , Baz A.
Published: April 2009

Vibration and noise radiation from fluid-loaded cylindrical shells are controlled using multiple stiffeners and Passive Constrained Layer Damping treatment. Dynamic and fluid finite element models are developed to study the fundamental phenomena governing the interaction between the stiffened shell, with and without damping, and the fluid domain surrounding it. The models are used to predict the response of the shell and to evaluate the effect of the stiffening rings and damping treatment on both the structural vibration and noise radiation in the fluid domain. The prediction of the models are validated experimentally and against the predictions of a commercial FE software package (ANSYS). It is shown that stiffening of the shell reduces the amplitude of the vibration and noise radiation, particularly for high order lobar modes. The attenuation of the shell response and sound radiation can be significantly increased through the application of Passive Constrained Layer Damping treatment on the inner surface of the stiffening rings. The numerical and experimental validations demonstrate the accuracy of the developed models and emphasize its potential extension to the application of smart materials for active control of vibration and noise radiation from fluid-loaded shells.
PEBB System Stability Margin Monitoring
Authors: Feng Xiaogang , Ye Zhihong , Lee Fred C. , Borojevic Dushan
Published: April 2009

PEBB (power electronics building block) systems are typical nonlinear systems. Under the conventional but still popular linear control design, the system stability margin varies from one operating point to another. This paper introduces a novel approach to monitoring the DC bus stability margin of a PEBB system online. At the steady state of the system, a small-signal perturbation current î p is injected into the DC bus, and the load-side response current î L is measured. By checking the validation |î L ( jw)| < |î p ( jw)|, the system stability margin can be examined. Experiments on a 48 V DC DPS demonstrate the proposed measurement approach. An implementation approach is also proposed for an 800 V DC PEBB-based testbed system.
Frequency Response of a Three-Node Finite Element for Thick and Thin Plates
Authors: Kabir Humayun R. H. , Al-Khaleefi Abdullateef M.
Published: April 2009

A shear-locking free isoparametric three-node triangular finite element is presented to study the frequency response of moderately thick and thin plates. Reissner/Mindlin theory that incorporates shear deformation effects is included into the element formulation. A shear correction term is introduced in transverse shear strain components to avoid the shear-locking phenomenon. The element is developed with a full integration scheme, hence, the element remains kinematically stable. Natural frequencies and mode shapes are obtained and compared with the available analytical and finite element solutions.
Flexural Vibrations of Piezolaminated Slender Beams: A Balanced Model
Authors: Abramovich H. , Livshits A.
Published: April 2009

A balanced model describing the behavior of piezolaminated composite beams was developed based on a first order shear deformation theory. The model takes into account the additional induced stiffness due to the direct piezoelectric effect for the case of “closed electrodes”, for symmetric and non-symmetric lay-ups. To comply with the condition of “closed electrodes” two cases were considered, E x = 0 or D x = 0. The three-coupled equations of motion were solved to yield eigenfrequencies and eigenmodes for various boundary conditions, materials and lay-up configurations. For the cases studied, the influence of the induced stiffness due to the direct piezoelectric effect on the natural frequencies was found to increase the natural frequencies by a few percent.
Hybrid Active-Passive Damping Treatments Using Viscoelastic and Piezoelectric Materials: Review and Assessment
Authors: Trindade Marcelo A. , Benjeddou Ayech
Published: April 2009

Hybrid active-passive damping treatments combine the reliability, low cost and robustness of viscoelastic damping treatments and the high performance, modal selective and adaptive piezoelectric active control. Numerous hybrid damping treatments have been reported in the literature. They differ mainly by the relative positions of viscoelastic treatments, sensors and piezoelectric actuators. Therefore, the present article provides a review of the open literature concerning geometric configurations, modeling approaches and control algorithms for hybrid active (piezoelectric)-passive (viscoelastic) damping treatments of beams. In addition, using a unified finite element model able to represent sandwich damped beams with piezoelectric laminated faces and an optimal control algorithm, the geometric optimization of four hybrid treatments is studied through treatment length and viscoelastic material thickness parametric analyses. A comparison of the performances of these hybrid damping treatments is carried out and the advantages and drawbacks of each treatment are identified. Beside the literature review of more than 80 papers, the present assessment has the merit to present for the first time detailed parametric and comparative analyses for these already known hybrid active (piezoelectric)-passive (viscoelastic) damping configurations. This may be of valuable help for researchers and designers interested in this still growing field of hybrid active-passive damping systems.
Effectiveness of Active Constrained Layer Damping Treatments in Attenuating Resonant Oscillations
Authors: Gandhi Farhan , Munsky Brian
Published: April 2009

This paper highlights the importance of considering the piezoelectric constraining layer voltage (or electric field) limits when evaluating the effectiveness of an active constrained layer damping treatment in attenuating resonant vibration. It is seen that, when position feedback is used, intermediate viscoelastic layer stiffness values are always optimal, and maximum allowable control gains and possible vibration attenuation progressively decrease with increasing excitation force levels. On the other hand, with velocity feedback, the optimal viscoelastic layer stiffness is dependent on the excitation level. For low excitation force amplitudes, stiff viscoelastic layers are most effective, with large velocity feedback gains producing substantial vibration attenuation without exceeding piezoelectric layer voltage limits. However, for higher excitation force levels, stiff viscoelastic layers result in excess voltages even at very small velocity feedback gains, and are unable to provide any vibration attenuation. In such a case, intermediate viscoelastic layer stiffness values are preferable, and maximum velocity feedback gains and possible vibration attenuation progressively decrease with increasing excitation level, as in the case of position feedback. For both position and velocity feedback, when excitation forces are beyond a certain level the allowable control gains are so limited that no additional damping is obtained beyond that already available through the passive treatment.
Obstruction Identification in a Compliant Tube with Application to Airway Passages
Authors: Al-Jumaily A. M. , Du Y.
Published: April 2009

Using the acoustic input impedance, an appropriate theoretical technique for identifying constrictions in a tube with wall inertance and elastance being considered is developed. Although the technique could work for various types of tubes, it is applied to identifying occlusion in an upper airway passage. The frequency spectrum of the input impedance is examined for three types of constrictions, namely localized, uniform and gradual models. The result demonstrates that the input impedance resonant frequencies can map the location, severity and degree of the constriction.
Distributed Control of Truss Structures
Authors: Kevorkian Sandrine , Pascal Madeleine
Published: April 2009

Continuous element methods have frequently been used in the modal analysis of structures modeled as flexible beams, extensible strings and rods, but only rarely for purposes of control. In this paper, we define a strategy of active control using the exact transfer matrix of a two-cell planar truss. The closed-loop performance predictions of both collocated and non-collocated controllers are compared as a function of feedback controller parameters.
Comparison of Analytical and Experimental Results for Longitudinal Impacts on Elastic Rods
Authors: Hu Bin , Schiehlen Werner , Eberhard Peter
Published: April 2009

In this paper, the dynamic problem of a rigid body colliding with an elastic rod is studied in some detail. Different contact theories for modeling impact responses are compared with experimental measurements. Based on an idea originally presented by Sears for collisions of two rods with rounded ends, a boundary approach combining Hertzian contact law and St. Venant's elastodynamics is developed to describe longitudinal waves in rods. It is shown that this boundary approach agrees very well with experimental results. For the simulation of long-term dynamic behavior after impact, a traditional rigid-body approach is advantageous because the elastic vibration of the rod will decay fast due to the structural damping and the elastic rod then moves like a rigid body. Hence, for modeling longitudinal impacts, it is suggested that both elastodynamics and rigid-body dynamics are combined into a two-timescale model. The short time behavior of wave propagation due to impacts is modeled using elastodynamics, and the state of the rigid-body mode is transferred to the rigid-body approach as the initial condition for the motion. The long-term behavior after impact is then computed using the rigid-body approach.
A Family of Efficient Sloshing Liquid Dampers for Suppression of Wind-Induced Instabilities
Authors: Modi V. J. , Akinturk A. , Tse W.
Published: April 2009

Bluff structures in the form of tall buildings, smokestacks, control towers, bridges, etc., are susceptible to vortex resonance and galloping type of instabilities. One approach to vibration control of such systems is through energy dissipation using sloshing liquid dampers. In this paper we focus on enhancing the energy dissipation efficiency of a rectangular liquid damper through the introduction of two-dimensional obstacles as well as floating particles. The investigation has two phases. To begin with, a parametric free vibration study aimed at the optimization of the obstacle geometry is undertaken to arrive at configurations promising increased damping ratio and hence higher energy dissipation. The study is complemented by an extensive wind tunnel test program, which substantiates the effectiveness of this class of damper in suppressing both vortex resonance and galloping type of instabilities. Simplicity of design, ease of implementation, minimal maintenance, reliability as well as high efficiency make such liquid dampers quite attractive for real-life applications.
Stabilization Control of a Simply Supported Buckled Beam
Authors: Yabuno Hiroshi , Ando Kazuya , Aoshima Nobuharu
Published: April 2009

A stabilization control scheme for a simply supported buckled beam subjected to a compressive force is proposed theoretically and experimentally. It is easily predicted that the application of a control force based on P-control (control force is proportional to the deflection) increases the stiffness of the beam as well as the critical compressive force for the buckling. However, P-control cannot stabilize the buckled beam into the trivial steady state (straight position) for the following reason. Because the simply supported point is composed of rotatingequipment such as radial bearing, there is Coulomb friction in the circumferential direction around the rotatingaxis at that point and this friction causes the bendingmoment at the supporting point. As theoretically and experimentally clarified in our former study, in the neighborhood of the critical point, this effect of Coulomb friction produces an infinite number of fixed points for a compressive force. Then because the sum of the equivalent destabilization force in the lateral direction owing to the compressive force, originally existing stiffness of the beam, and the control force is spontaneously balanced with the effect of the bendingmoment due to the Coulomb friction, the beam cannot be stabilized to the trivial steady state by using the P-control. Also, in the same manner, the beam cannot be stabilized to the trivial steady state even by proportional derivative (PD) control. In this paper, we regard the effect of the Coulomb friction as a disturbance, and by estimating the disturbance with the aid of a disturbance observer, we stabilize the simply supported buckled beam to the trivial steady state. Furthermore, we conduct experiments using simple apparatus and we confirm the validity of the theoretically proposed control method.
Isoperimetric Problems on Time Scales with Nabla Derivatives
Authors: Almeida Ricardo , Torres Delfim F.M.
Published: April 2009

We prove a necessary optimality condition for isoperimetric problems under nabla-differentiable curves. As a consequence, the recent results of Caputo (2008), that put together seemingly dissimilar optimal control problems in economics and physics, are extended to a generic time scale. We end with an illustrative example of the application of our main result to a dynamic optimization problem from economics.
Does System Membership Enhance Financial Performance in Hospitals?
Authors: Tennyson Debra H. , Fottler Myron D.
Published: April 2009

While hospitals continue to join multi-institutional systems, empirical data on the benefits of system membership are ambiguous. This study examines the same 166 Florida hospitals in 1986 and 1992. System membership, in general, did not enhance financial returns (measured by operating margin, total margin, and return on assets) for the pooled data or for either year. In fact, a significant negative relationship is noted in 1986. However, when only hospitals affiliated with national systems (in this study, American Medical International, Hospital Corporation of America, or Humana) are analyzed, a positive statistically significant association is found for two of the above three profitability indicators for both the pooled data and for 1986. However, there was no statistically significant impact noted for 1992. Reasons for the apparent discrepancy in the impact of national versus local/regional systems on hospital financial performance and the apparent declining ability of national systems to generate above-average returns are explored.
The Cost of Health Conditions in a Health Maintenance Organization
Authors: Ray G. Thomas , Collin Francois , Lieu Tracy , Fireman Bruce , Colby Chris J. , Quesenberry Charles P. , Van Den Eeden Stephen K. , Selby Joseph V.
Published: April 2009

In this retrospective cohort analysis of all adults who were members of Kaiser Permanente, Northern California, between July 1995 and June 1996 (N = 2,076,303), the authors estimated the prevalence, average annual costs per person, and percentage of total direct medical expenditures attributable to each of 25 chronic and acute conditions. Ordinary least squares regression was used to adjust for age, gender, and comorbidities. The costs attributable to the 25 conditions accounted for 78 percent of the health maintenance organization’s total direct medical expense for this age-group. Injury accounted for a higher proportion (11.5 percent) of expenditures than any other single condition. Three cardiovascular conditions—ischemic heart disease, hypertension, and congestive heart failure—together accounted for 17 percent of direct medical expense and separately accounted for 6.8 percent, 5.7 percent, and 4.0 percent, respectively. Renal failure ($22,636), colorectal cancer ($10,506), pneumonia ($9,499), and lung cancer ($8,612) were the most expensive conditions per person per year.
Vulnerable Populations and Health Insurance
Authors: Shi Leiyu
Published: April 2009

This study provided a national profile of health insurance of certain vulnerable populations including children, racial/ethnic minorities, low-income families, non-metropolitan statistical area (MSA) residents, and those with poor health status. The study shows an increase in the proportion of uninsured nonelderly population. While public insurance helped reduce the employment- and health-related disparities in private coverage, it has not overcome other disparities related to vulnerable characteristics including race/ethnicity, wages, education, and area of residence. Comparison between health maintenance organization (HMO) and fee-for-service insurance indicates that younger although not much healthier people, racial/ethnic minorities, MSA residents, and those residing in the West and Northeast regions were more likely to have HMO coverage. To reduce significant disparities in health insurance coverage, policy makers will have to consider expanding public insurance coverage, targeting vulnerable groups, particularly those with multiple vulnerable characteristics rather than merely the economically distressed. Expecting managed care to achieve cost containment for services provided to vulnerable populations may be unrealistic.
Exploring the Use of Qualitative Methods in Published Health Services and Management Research
Authors: Hoff Timothy J. , Witt Lori C.
Published: April 2009

There is interest in promoting greater use of qualitative methods in health care research. However, little is known about the volume or characteristics of published studies that use qualitative methods. This article explores these issues through a systematic review of 3 years (1995-1997) of articles classified as research in nine core health services research and management journals. The findings show that only about one in seven published research articles used qualitative methods. Two of the nine journals reviewed contributed 45 percent of the total number of articles using qualitative methods. Four journals contributed a combined 2 percent of this total number. The primary purposes in using these methods are description and articulating stakeholder perspectives. There is no standard number of pages devoted by journals to these studies or evidence that they require more journal space on average than quantitative studies. Most of the studies reviewed presented little or no information on methodology. These findings clarify future areas of emphasis for both editors and researchers wishing to promote the use of qualitative methodology in published health care research.
Expenditures for Physician Services under Alternative Models of Managed Care
Authors: Kapur Kanika , Joyce Geoffrey F. , Van Vorst Krista A. , Escarce José J.
Published: April 2009

This study compares expenditures for physician services in a closed panel gatekeeper health maintenance organization (HMO) and an open panel point of service HMO that share the same physician network. The study uses administrative files of the two study HMOs for 1994-1995 to assess differences in spending for primary care physicians’ (PCPs’) services, specialists’ services, and total physician services. When the copayments for PCP visits and PCP-referred specialist visits were $0, total physician expenditures were 4 percent higher in the gatekeeper HMO than in the point of service plan (p < .05). When the copayments for PCP visits and PCP-referred specialist visits were $10, total physician expenditures ranged from equal in both HMOs to 7 percent higher in the gatekeeper HMO (p < .01), depending on the copayment for self-referred visits. Expenditures for specialists’services were not higher in the point of service plan. The authors conclude that direct patient access to specialists does not necessarily result in higher physician or specialist expenditures in HMOs.
Drive-through Delivery: Where are the “Savings”?
Authors: Tai-Seale Ming , Rodwin Marc , Wedig Gerard
Published: April 2009

Using a natural experiment, this study estimates the effects of Medicaid managed care on total hospital costs of a birth. The authors study 5,585 vaginal deliveries from 1993 through 1995. Hospital length of stay for maternity care has been reduced by 21 percent after the introduction of managed care. The resultant program saving, however, is $280 in total hospital cost per delivery, 12 percent of the total hospital costs before managed care. Furthermore, when the full costs of an earlier discharge, including costs to patients and their families, are taken into account, the savings associated with a shortened hospital stay may be even smaller.
The Conceptualization of Health
Authors: Larson James S.
Published: April 2009

The meaning of health is complex and subject to change. In this article, four conceptual models of health are presented to summarize the current meanings for health. The medical model is the most widely used definition in the United States, but the World Health Organization model has gained in popularity during the past several decades. In addition, there are other newer models—the wellness model and the environmental model—that are adding new meanings to the definition of health. By understanding and combining these different meanings, the prospects for improving medical outcomes and the quality of care are enhanced. This conceptual work is a prelude to improving health status assessment in a variety of contexts.
When the Subject Is Difference: Conditions of Voice in Policy-Oriented Qualitative Research
Authors: Schick Ruth S.
Published: April 2009

This article reflects on Me Mahi Tahi Tatou, a government-sponsored study of race relations in New Zealand schools. It focuses on ways in which the New Zealand bicultural framework shaped conditions of communication and voice among those involved in conducting the study. In Me Mahi Tahi Tatou, well-intentioned attempts to support the voice of a historically marginalized group were undermined by a reductive identity politics. Political and institutional pressures and a positivist-empiricist research culture further supported a mechanistic approach to social inclusion. The article argues that a meaningful approach to difference and voice in inclusive research requires critical attention to the conditions of communication and the micro-politics of the day-to-day interactions that shape the meaning of social categories in practice.
Is Childbirth With Midwives Natural? The Gaze of the Feminine and the Pull of the Masculine
Authors: Turner Paaige K.
Published: April 2009

Joining the ongoing dialogue regarding the need for reflexivity in qualitative research, this tale of the author’s “natural” childbirth and subsequent research into the field of midwifery explores the tension between postmodern and modern aspects of her Self. The former accepts a lived experience of fragmented, separate selves and partial truth, whereas the latter wants an integrated, whole Self and absolute truth. Using introspection, this tension is understood in terms of two different forms of cultural patterning, the female gaze and the masculine pull. Moreover, the author believes that the term natural serves as a self-contained opposite that allows mothers and researchers to bridge these two cultural patterns.
Shifting Landscapes/Shifting Langue: Qualitative Research From the In-Between
Authors: Oliva Maricela
Published: April 2009

This article describes Dialogic Educational Criticism as a method for research that explicitly accounts for and values multiple perspectives and voices including the researcher’s. This method is based on Eisner’s “connoisseurship” method and incorporates a dialogic dimension through the theoretical concepts of Mikhail M. Bakhtin. Concepts from Bakhtin’s and related authors’ work include dialogism, zones of influence, refraction, and thirdness. The author contends that dialogic educational criticism is grounded in a Chicano epistemology in which shifting language and cultural codes are used in communicative discourse. This method as a way of knowing belies the structuralist notion that language’s variable parole is produced from a necessarily stable langue. Dialogic validity is added to Eisner’s structural corroboration, consensual validation, and referential adequacy as a validity criterion appropriate for the new method. Finally, the author describes the application of dialogic educational criticism to a case of North American higher education collaboration.
Comments on Setting Criteria for Experimental Writing
Authors: Clough Patricia Ticineto
Published: April 2009

In response to a call for discussion of criteria for judging ethnographic experimental writing, the author felt it necessary to address the relationship of politics and experimental writing. Given that recent experimental writing was initiated with the critique of traditional ethnographic writing in sociology and anthropology that was part of the larger criticism of the authority of Western discourse, she wanted to speculate on the future to which experimental writing points and for which it prepares ethnographers to think politically. For her, this is the primary value of experimental writing: It links ethnographers to the future of politics and to the politics of the future. It is in terms of this two-way link that experimental writing might be judged.
a RoUGH, ramBling, strAnGe, muDDy, CONfusing, elLIPtical Kut: from An Archaeology of Plain Talk
Authors: Scheurich James Joseph
Published: April 2009

The idea that anyone can speak or write plain talk is poked, pondered, pushed, prodded, satirized, and problematized. Furthermore, the article argues that calls for plain talk are elitist, but not in an individual, conscious-choice sense. Instead, the article contends that such calls are social circulations that spiral through elite discourse networks that then get (unconsciously) spoken through the voices of those who inhabit these elite networks. Compelling these calls is the enactment of the same-other binary within which the same plays out the only story it knows, its superiority to and dominance of the other, and its anxious attempted erasure of the other, for the purpose of maintaining its positional perch.
Knocking on Doors: On Constructing Culture
Authors: Freeman Melissa
Published: April 2009

This reflective piece employs a layered text format and uses data from a pilot study on parents’ conceptualizations of parental involvement in schools to think theoretically about such issues as access, voice, and representation in interpretive research. As the researcher engages with the process of selecting participants for her research, a different kind of understanding of cultural access emerges. Access is eventually understood as not being solely a methodological tool for theoretical sampling purposes but an ontological framework that shapes the inquiry process from beginning to end. This researcher eventually adopts a narrative ontology that necessitates the participants’ active involvement in interpreting the meanings that the participants’ stories have on their lives.
Five Holiday Letters: A Fiction
Authors: Banks Stephen P.
Published: April 2009

Moved by a desire to evoke in readers some possibilities for subjective meaning and emotional experiences available in reading personal correspondence, the author offers a set of five fictional holiday letters. The decision to use fiction is justified by recourse to current scholarship on nontraditional narratives in qualitative research. The author further discusses the grounds for this fictional presentation of research results by explaining his ambition to share his understanding of the structural properties of the holiday letters epistolary genre and its situated writers, which he acquired in earlier, more traditional qualitative studies, without minimizing the gains of fiction writing. More central to the purposes of this effort is his desire to create a unique character who gives voice to particular human struggles and values at the juncture of the modern and postmodern experience: Ginny Balfour is inspired by specific women letter writers but is a construction of his imagination.
See Spot Run: Movement as an Object of Textual Analysis
Authors: Markula Pirkko , Denison Jim
Published: April 2009

As physically active people and researchers of physical activity, the authors have trouble translating their movement experiences into words. To them, words seem inadequate for expressing the physical, therefore, “How does one research movement?” The authors first questioned textual representations of movement and sport in a 1996 conference presentation. This article includes their personal movement experiences as a dancer and a runner, respectively, to discuss the nature of contemporary social science research. The authors demonstrate how any experience, not just movement, is always transferred into an object of textual analysis. This conclusion has led the authors to question the privileged nature of language and written research, which they believe turns movement into a disembodied practice. Furthermore, always representing movement experiences with words may mean failing to ask critical questions concerning what it means to be human.
Educational Research and Intertextual Forms of (Re)Presentation: The Case for Dancing the Data
Authors: Bagley Carl , Cancienne Mary Beth
Published: April 2009

Contemporary dialogues concerning qualitative methodology focus increasingly on alternative forms of data (re)presentation. This article explores the use of dance as a medium for such (re)presentation. The article contextualizes, describes, and reflects on a performance by the authors staged at the 1998 Annual Conference of the American Educational Research Association. The (re)presentation in words and movement was choreographed from research on school choice policy and its impact on families whose children have special educational needs, undertaken by one of the authors in the United Kingdom. In reflecting on the process, the article discusses some of the difficulties and advantages derived from the performance and stresses the need for creating a space for intertextual forms of data (re)presentation within the academy.
Strategies of Power: An Analysis of an Encounter in the Andaman Islands
Authors: Venkateswar Sita
Published: April 2009

If ethnographic inquiry is premised on securing rapport, what is the status of research that is structured on the presumed failure of rapport? Does the existence of rapport actually confer legitimacy on the research, besides endorsing the “truth” claims of information obtained by engaging in the process of fieldwork? The author raises these questions in an attempt to decipher an incident that occurred at the end of her research in India’s Andaman Islands. In the process, the author has begun to conclude that in some cases, the inability to construct rapport, or its breakdown, leads to greater self-reflection and eventually a more critical understanding of the fieldwork situation. Hence, self-awareness and reflexivity are at the cost of intersubjective understanding and perhaps of uncertain standing in the hierarchy of value ascribed to ethnographic knowledge.
Subjects of Desire: Academic Armor, Intimate Ethnography, and the Production of Critical Knowledge
Authors: Lerum Kari
Published: April 2009

Although critiques of objectivity have been vast, and experimental, postmodern approaches have been important and inspiring, the author argues that the pursuit of objectivity per se is not the biggest roadblock to producing critical knowledge. Rather, problems of objectivity are rooted in the larger issue of emotional detachment, which is facilitated by academic armor. Emotional detachment is implicit in the standard scientific method, but such detachment can also be found in some postmodern approaches. In both cases, the academic’s expert jurisdiction is preserved. In contrast, emotionally engaged, subjective experiences ignite one’s work with passion and make one more invested in institutionalizing the truth of one’s informants. Yet, emotionally engaged reflections alone are not enough to sustain an effective cultural and institutional critique. For this, one needs comparisons that can be observed and verified on interpersonal, organizational, and structural levels.
Inside Out: Narrative Autoethnography as a Path Toward Rapport
Authors: Berger Leigh
Published: April 2009

This article addresses the connection of rapport and autoethnography. Focusing on her own ethnographic work, the author explores how including her own stories in her ethnographies complexifies the narratives told about the field and increases rapport between her and her participants. The author addresses the benefits and ethical implications of this method, using descriptions and examples not only from her work but from work others have done. The author’s hope is to show not only how an autoethnographic method allows her to be more empathic toward those engaged in her study but also how sharing her stories with her field participants fosters their openness as well.
From Rapport Under Erasure to Theaters of Complicit Reflexivity
Authors: Marcus George E.
Published: April 2009

This article offers a sketch of the past uses of the concept of rapport in anthropological discussions of its core identifying method of fieldwork. The trope of collaboration, emphasized in the 1980s critiques of ethnographic authority, failed to displace the rhetorical power of rapport in defining the ethos of fieldwork. Only the changing conditions of many contemporary fieldwork projects have dislodged the naturalness and symbolic strength of the concept in anthropology’s professional culture, but without offering any alternative. Instead, the complicities of fieldwork relations emerge in the shadow of rapport “under erasure” as a focus for reimagining the elements of the classic, regulative ideals of fieldwork.
Writing and Reading Feminist Poststructural Criticism in U.S. Sociology: Retrospectives on Patricia Clough’s The End(s) of Ethnography: From Realism to Social Criticism
Authors: Kassabian Anahid , McCall Michal M. , Schneider Joseph , Neitz Mary Jo
Published: April 2009

At the 1999 meetings of the Midwest Sociological Society, a session was organized to mark the 1998 publication of the second edition of Patricia Clough’s 1992 book The End(s) of Ethnography: From Realism to Social Criticism. Presenters had been asked to comment on the significance of Clough’s book and its arguments in their own work and thought. There were four brief presentations, and Clough responded to questions and comments afterward. Slightly edited versions of those four presentations are given here, interspersed with bracketed quotations from the book selected to mark some of what participants considered its most insightful arguments and claims.
Memory-Work: The Method
Authors: Onyx Jenny , Small Jennie
Published: April 2009

Memory-work is a social constructionist and feminist research method that was developed in Germany by Frigga Haug and others explicitly to bridge the gap between theory and experience. It provides a way of exploring the process whereby individual women become part of society, and the ways in which women themselves participate in that process of socialization. It is a group method, involving always the collective analysis of individual written memories. It is feminist in being explicitly liberationist in its intent. The use of memory-work as a method in feminist social research has become well established in Australia and New Zealand. Increasingly, its use as a qualitative research method has come to challenge conventional mainstream research practices. However, for feminist researchers too, the method brings with it many fascinating dilemmas and issues of both a theoretical and methodological nature. This article identifies some of those issues.
Critical Race Theory and Method: Rendering Race in Urban Ethnographic Research
Authors: Duncan Garrett Albert
Published: April 2009

North American critical race theorists maintain race is a central feature in the social and economic organization of the United States. Rather than describing an objective reality or a psychological operation, according to these theorists, race is best understood as power relationships that define dominant and subjugated positions in society. In this article, the author situates a discussion of the theoretical and practical applications of critical race theory in ethnographic methodology within an analysis of its usefulness in rendering visible racialized relationships that researchers take for granted. Specifically, he analyzes data, generated during a 3-year period, to explicate how these relationships play out in a qualitative methods course at a large Midwest research university with an urban elementary educational facility field site. This analysis renders the mechanisms of race explicit in ways to subject them to critique and to lay foundations for alternative ways to imagine and do qualitative research.
Transcription in Research and Practice: From Standardization of Technique to Interpretive Positionings
Authors: Lapadat Judith C. , Lindsay Anne C.
Published: April 2009

Transcription is an integral process in the qualitative analysis of language data and is widely employed in basic and applied research across a number of disciplines and in professional practice fields. Yet, methodological and theoretical issues associated with the transcription process have received scant attention in the research literature. In this article, the authors present a cross-disciplinary conceptual review of the place of transcription in qualitative inquiry, in which the nature of transcription and the epistemological assumptions on which it rests are considered. The authors conclude that transcription is theory laden; the choices that researchers make about transcription enact the theories they hold and constrain the interpretations they can draw from their data. Because it has implications for the interpretation of research data and for decision making in practice fields, transcription as a process warrants further investigation.
The Abyss: Exploring Depression Through a Narrative of the Self
Authors: Smith Brett
Published: April 2009

This article explores particular processes, vulnerabilities, and difficulties of living with clinical depression. To do so, the author draws upon moments from his own narrative of self to highlight how his embodied illness story collides with different selves. In the showing, he attempts to evoke the ambiguities, ongoing struggles, and gendered nature of depression in ways that display how the past continues in the present and crafts the future. Finally, the author discusses the therapeutic implications of writing, telling, enacting, and witnessing stories within a political and cultural framework of narrative resources.
Redefining Culture Through the Memorias of Elderly Latinas
Authors: Olmedo Irma M.
Published: April 2009

The reminiscences of elderly Latinas can be a valuable source for understanding how migrants define cultural accommodation and capitalize on aspects of their own culture to make necessary adjustments to a new one. This article is based on an oral history project carried out with elderly Latinas in the Midwest in which the women share their life stories, including their reminiscences on the adjustments they made to living in the mainland United States. The reminiscences were avenues for rediscovering and reconceptualizing culture. The article addresses several methodological issues in narrative research: the roles and status of the researcher, the meaning of reciprocity, and the nature and meaning of the group sharing of stories.
Doing Audience Ethnography: A Narrative Account of Establishing Ethnographic Identity and Locating Interpretive Communities in Fieldwork
Authors: Murphy Patrick D.
Published: April 2009

This article is an account of how ethnographic identity was constituted and how audiences were located during the early stages of an ethnography of television viewers in Mexico. The description takes a narrative form and details the field experience and acknowledges the visibility and self-interest of the ethnographer. Writing about the field experience in such a fashion is motivated by the fact that few studies of media reception provide discussion about the events that shaped the direction of the inquiry, the productive discomfort of the field encounter, selection and movements within the interpretive communities represented in studies, or relationships with various members of those communities. Moreover, a narrative account is helpful in demonstrating how the methodology that was developed evolved as a result of emerging relationships and contextual processes, not as a systematic design for finding a research “sample.”
A Framework for Understanding Women's Use of Nonlethal Violence in Intimate Heterosexual Relationships
Authors: Dasgupta Shamita Das
Published: April 2009

This article reviews current research on domestic violence by women and attempts to answer two questions: (a) Are women who assault their heterosexual partners different from male batterers? If so, (b) how are they different from male batterers? Pertinent studies have been categorized as research promoting gender symmetry of intimate abuse, research claiming women's violence toward abusive male partners as self-defense and/or retaliatory action, and research focusing on multiple corollaries of women's violence. The ecological nested model is recommended for research, so the full context is taken into account to understand women's use of violence.
Dialogue on Dialogue
Authors: Abma Tineke A. , Greene Jennifer C. , Karlsson Ove , Ryan Katherine , Schwandt Thomas A. , Widdershoven Guy A.M.
Published: April 2009

The text you are about to read is a dialogical text on dialogue and evaluation. It is a conversation between a group of scholars who have studied and published on the concept of dialogue and the value of dialogue for the practice of evaluation. The text is based on the field notes of a panel meeting held during a gathering of the European Evaluation Society to discuss this topic. It also contains an analysis of essays written in preparation for the panel in answer to the following carefully selected questions. What is your concept of dialogue? Why do you think dialogue is important for evaluation, especially for programme evaluation in the public sector and civil society? During an evaluation, what are the essential characteristics of a meaningful dialogue? Who participates? What do they talk about? What is the evaluator's role? What prior value commitments or facilitating conditions are necessary? What are desired outcomes? What are the most important cautions we should take when conducting a more dialogical evaluation and finally, how ‘good’ are the dialogues we conduct, and what in fact constitutes ‘good’ dialogue?
Critical Dialogue: Its Value and Meaning
Authors: Karlsson Ove
Published: April 2009

Dialogue is today commonplace in evaluation discourse. It represents an ambition to involve different stakeholders in an open and power-free exchange of opinions and ideas about what is being evaluated. The aim of this article is to discuss how to manage dialogue in practice. An evaluation case is used to illustrate how the evaluator manages a dialogue in different phases of the evaluation process. In order to handle the, sometimes, difficult situation resulting from many different views on the subject, the evaluator developed various methods, some new and innovative, to make the exchange of ideas possible. The article argues that dialogue in evaluation needs to be adjustable to different situations and the needs of the participants.
Refiguring the Antique
Authors: Desrochers Brigitte
Published: April 2009

The article addresses the relationship between architecture and time. It engages contemporary reflections about weathering, durability and ephemerality and it considers whether this line of research could not open towards new ways of picturing history. It presents an overview of interpretations of Ancient precedent from the late Antiquity to the present, and it sketches the possibility of a new, material-based and environmentally-conscious refiguration of the Antique.
Appropriating Anthropology?
Authors: De Lorenzo Catherine
Published: April 2009

The use of Copyright Registers by photographers and other artists provides a useful barometer of cultural assumptions over the period from the 1870s to the 1950s. This paper will explore images that both appropriate and subvert anthropological claims about Aboriginality. It is possible to demonstrate that whilst the field appears to require an engagement with anthropologically-derived visual constructions of ‘authenticity’ and ‘Aboriginality’, commercial photographers used this anchoring as a base from which to project diverse and contested claims of Aboriginality. I will argue, however, that commercial photographers did not so much diminish or contaminate an anthropological paradigm as extend a rhetorical activity of inventing and reinventing authenticity.