Search

Susanne Langer sees the 'the public importance of art' as one of 'the ultimate questions in a philosophy of art'. Indeed, Langer is often referred to as an authority on the justification of art education and is cited as providing good reasons for incorporating the arts in the curriculum. It is therefore surprising to note, as Elliot Eisner does, that Langer's theory has had little influence on actual art education. For while many theoreticians in the social sciences and education have found Langer's contribution to the understanding of the arts highly significant, Eisner laments that 'alas, the lesson Susanne Langer was trying to teach ... in her remarkable book, never took hold in ... American public schools'. It seems that policy-makers outside of art education circles remain sceptical regarding the need for art education. The substantiation of art education requires firm ground against scepticism. It is therefore important to understand the ways in which Langer's project fails to fulfil its promise. In examining Langer's aesthetic theory, I will show that despite its philosophical acuity, Langer's argument fails to persuade the art education sceptic who believes that art occupies a minor role in education and should therefore remain marginal in the school curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented to a forum that discusses how publics can be studied within a global framework as noted through different modes of public-making.

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) or local ecological knowledge (LEK) has only recently gained traction as "legitimate" science in Western academic discourse. Such approaches to inclusivity continue to face institutional, sociocultural, and equity barriers to being fully accepted in academic discourse in comparison to Western-based frameworks. Postcolonial studies have attempted to rectify this Western-domination in characterizing diverse forms of bird--human relationships. However, the integration of multiple cosmologies (worldviews) and ontologies (realities) in research or management creates challenges that we discuss. We elucidate commonalities and antithetical positions between Western-derived bird knowledge and management with that of TEK or LEK in both local and global contexts. We combine ecological/ornithological studies with key terms, theories, and methods from the social sciences to integrate the approaches and facilitate understanding. For example, we follow a "theory synthesis" approach in this conceptual paper to question epistemological and ontological assumptions of bird knowledge and how we acquire it to question, "how do we move from a decolonial approach (discussions and acknowledgement) to decolonization (action)?" This paper is a product of ongoing discourse among global researchers of an academic ethno-ornithology research lab based in the United Kingdom, who partner with global collaborators. The 3 case studies draw from ongoing research in Southeast Asia, South America, and decolonializing policy efforts in New Zealand. We analyzed these case studies using a postcolonial theoretical lens to provide insights into how Western scientists can embrace TEK and LEK and actively work to decolonize ethno-ornithology and ornithology in theory and practice. Further, we discuss perceived core tenets to equity and inclusion in community-based TEK and LEK conservation projects from the Global South. Diversity, equity, inclusivity, and justice in bird--human relations and knowledge were identified as targets for systemic change within the academic institutions of Western scientists. By recognizing, discussing, and embracing non-Western cosmologies and ontologies, non-Indigenous scientists can help influence the decolonization of ethno-ornithology, ornithology, and bird--human relations through respectful, participatory, equitable, culturally considerate, and "non-extractive" community-based initiatives in partnership with local groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on one main producer of knowledge about sexual subjects in the twentieth century: the social sciences. Sociological interest in issues relating to sex and sexuality intensified in the 1950s, along with the rise of post-war social science deployed to gather information on a changing post-war British nation. Family planning surveys were central to this new academic sociology, and increasingly framed women respondents as experts on family planning practices. This article argues that social surveys related to contraceptive and sexual health practices became increasingly interested in questions of subjectivity from the 1970s, reflecting a broader shift in the social sciences. This led researchers to turn their attention towards men as valid contributors. In doing so, this article charts the development of sexual knowledge and makes broader interventions into the history of knowledge production, by providing insights into the changing ideas regarding legitimate sources of knowledge and expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the importance of unwritten norms to written constitutions and the study of comparative constitutional law. Topics include the deepening of understanding of fundamental constitutional commitments, broadening of constitutionalism beyond the courts, and highlighting the importance of relationships in constitutional law.

So far, interest in policy and political sciences has mostly centered around the varieties of policy advisory systems (PASs) and knowledge regimes in consolidated democracies rather than in consolidated autocracies, which largely remain as black boxes. Drawing on a hybrid literature review, this article aims to fill this gap. It reviews selected articles published between 1992 and February 2023 in the Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge Social Science Citation Index database to not only to reveal the current state of empirical and theoretical knowledge and persistent knowledge gaps but also to offer an integration of the literature that leads to a preliminary conceptual framework in this emerging topic. In doing so, it contributes to the body of knowledge on this topic in three main ways. First, it provides a comprehensive review of PASs in consolidated autocracies to identify the central features of policy knowledge production within and across autocracies. Second, it proposes "the vicious circle of authoritarian PAS and knowledge regime" as a conceptual approach. In doing so, it takes a modest step toward a holistic conceptualization and synthesis of this literature to date. Third, it establishes connections between fragmented literature studies; identifies theoretical, conceptual, empirical, and methodological gaps; and proposes suggestions concerning promising paths for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transparency has often been hailed as a golden tool to bolster citizens' trust in government and improve public governance. However, there is a considerable disparity in theoretical reasoning and empirical findings. Through a meta-analysis of 49 studies with 436 effect sizes, this study provides novel perspectives for understanding the effect of transparency on citizens' trust in government. To test these mechanisms, we draw on various social science theories such as agency theory, deliberative democracy theory, procedural justice theory, a disappointment effect view, and a misinformation/information overload view. The meta-analysis indicates that the overall effect of transparency on trust is positive and significant, with an average effect size being 0.13 points. The meta-regression results further show that the impact of transparency on trust is negatively moderated by computer-mediated transparency and decision-making transparency, and it varies in a non-linear pattern with the level and the color of transparency. The findings from this article advance the theoretical development of the contextual conditions under which transparency may or may not lead to more trust in government. They also suggest helpful strategies for governments to foster a trusting relationship with their citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although frailty is an important, well-characterized concept in the provision of medical care to older adults, it has not been linked to the concept of vulnerability developed in the humanities and social sciences. Here, we distinguish between the two main dimensions of vulnerability: a fundamental, anthropological dimension in which people are exposed to a risk of injury, and a relational dimension in which people depend on each other and on their environment. The relational notion of vulnerability might provide healthcare professionals with a better understanding of frailty (and its potential interaction with precarity). Precarity situates people in their relationship with a social environment that might threaten their living conditions. Frailty corresponds to individual-level changes in adaptation to a living environment and the loss of ability to evolve or react in that environment. Therefore, we suggest that by considering the geriatric notion of frailty as a particular form of relational vulnerability, healthcare professionals could better understand the specific needs of frail, older people—and thus provide more appropriate care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting in the 2010s, researchers in the experimental social sciences rapidly began to adopt increasingly open and reproducible scientific practices. These practices include publicly sharing deidentified data when possible, sharing analytical code, and preregistering study protocols. Empirical evidence from the social sciences suggests such practices are feasible, can improve analytical reproducibility, and can reduce selective reporting. In academic epidemiology, adoption of open-science practices has been slower than in the social sciences (with some notable exceptions, such as registering clinical trials). Epidemiologic studies are often large, complex, conceived after data have already been collected, and difficult to replicate directly by collecting new data. These characteristics make it especially important to ensure their integrity and analytical reproducibility. Open-science practices can also pay immediate dividends to researchers' own work by clarifying scientific reasoning and encouraging well-documented, organized workflows. We consider how established epidemiologists and early-career researchers alike can help midwife a culture of open science in epidemiology through their research practices, mentorship, and editorial activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies gender bias in early-stage academic evaluations in Italy and investigates whether this bias depends on various types of authorship in collaborative work across three academic fields: humanities, economics, and social sciences. We test our hypotheses via a factorial survey (vignette) experiment on a sample from the entire population of associate and full professors employed at Italian public universities in 2019. This is one of the few experiments conducted with university professors to consider hiring propensities in academia. Contrary to our general expectations, we do not find gender bias in relation to co-authorship in our general population of interest. However, the results provide some evidence that when the evaluator is a man, highly collaborative women academics in Italy receive less favourable evaluations of their qualifications compared to male colleagues with identical credentials. This gender bias is found in economics, a field where the conventions of co-authorship allow for greater uncertainty about individual contributions to a joint publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Swiss Job Market Monitor (SJMM) is a data collection of job ads for a national labour market from 1950 onwards. It is a prime example for demonstrating how to turn digital data into a high-quality social science data set. It is also exemplary for combining digital data with historically grown job ads data to provide a comparable time series covering the past 70 years. Paying close attention to sampling procedures, coverage, and key variables, the Data Brief shows how the SJMM profits from opportunities offered by computational social science and computational linguistics to navigate a wholly new set of challenges involved in creating such a data set. It closes with a discussion of new research opportunities this data set is opening for investigating the labour market as a core institution of modern society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Private land management is an essential component of bird conservation. How private landowners manage their farms, rangelands, forests, and yards, influences the resources and hazards birds encounter, with associated impacts on bird abundance. We describe 6 principles, based on recent research, that conservation practitioners should incorporate into their bird conservation efforts with landowners: (1) use social and natural science and stakeholder input to decide how and where to work; (2) tailor strategies to local ecological and social conditions; (3) build relationships and support landowner interests; (4) reduce barriers to participation; (5) offer a menu of options to support landowner conservation behavior; and (6) promote persistence of landowner conservation behavior. These principles emphasize the importance of recognizing the considerations of landowners, customizing interventions to local conditions, and making interventions as easy to implement as possible. Developing relationships with landowners, along with a diverse menu of conservation interventions, takes time and effort but should improve both the uptake and persistence of conservation practices on private lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social connection is an understudied target of intervention for the health of individuals providing care for a family member with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). To guide future research, we discuss considerations for interventions to promote social connection, with a particular focus on reducing loneliness: (a) include caregiver perspectives in designing and delivering interventions; (b) adapt to stages of dementia; (c) consider caregiving demands, including the use of brief interventions; (d) specify and measure mechanisms of action and principles of interventions; (e) consider dissemination and implementation at all stages of research. With support from the National Institute on Aging for a Roybal Center for Translational Research in the Behavioral and Social Sciences of Aging, we are developing a portfolio of mechanism-informed and principle-driven behavioral interventions to promote social connection in ADRD caregivers that can be flexibly applied to meet a diverse set of needs while maximizing resources and reducing demands on caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Birth of the Mexican Problem is a historian's version of a postcolonial analysis. I use the narrative history and research materials of one of the earliest think tanks in U.S. history to show how and why Mexico was made legible to U.S. audiences. Not just a response to early twentieth-century Mexican migration, the so-called Mexican problem was also deeply tied to U.S. capitalists' economic interests in Mexico. I argue for the centrality of ties between big business, academics, and government in constructing ideas about Mexico and Mexican transnational labor. The story begins with an oilman named Edward Doheny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives The present study provides a meta-analytic assessment of how gaze-cued attention—a core social-cognitive process—is influenced by normal adult aging. Methods A multilevel meta-analysis of standardized mean changes was conducted on gaze-cueing effects. Age effects were quantified as standardized mean differences in gaze-cueing effect sizes between young and older adult samples. Results We identified 82 gaze-cueing effects (k = 26, N = 919 participants). Of these, 37 were associated with young adults (k = 12, n = 438) and 45 with older adults (k = 14, n = 481). Relative to younger adults, older adults had a reduced gaze-cueing effect overall, g = −0.59, with this age effect greater when the cues were predictive, g = −3.24, rather than nonpredictive, g = −0.78. Discussion These results provide the clearest evidence to date that adult aging is associated with a reduction in gaze-cued attention. The results also speak to potential mechanisms of this age effect. In line with cognitive decline models of aging, it was demonstrated that when gaze cues were predictive, only younger adults seem to benefit, suggesting that older adults exhibit a particularly reduced capacity to use gaze cues volitionally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community work and empowerment are contested concepts that have been co-opted for political purposes. With the rising focus in welfare provision for older adults in light of the ageing population worldwide, there is a need to understand the current forms of empowerment in community work with older adults. This review plugs the research gap by reviewing studies of community work with older adults in the social work field. An electronic search of studies published between 2009 and 2019 on three major databases for social science research was conducted. Eleven papers were included in the review and compared through a coding frame. The conceptualization of empowerment, the theoretical framework, approach to community intervention and the nature of the intervention was examined. Most of the reviewed interventions involved social planning where the participation of older adults was enlisted to address a problem identified by professionals, but there was little theoretical overlap in the studies. The findings underscore gaps present in the theoretical understanding of empowerment and how the well-being of older adults is advanced through community work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past few decades, collaboration has flourished in the public administration and policy fields as a rational means to solve complex issues and improve public service performance. Through a meta-analysis of 26 studies with 251 effect sizes, this investigation provides novel perspectives for understanding the effects of different collaborative partnerships on performance. To test these mechanisms, we applied various social science theories, such as institutional theory, resource dependence theory, a resource-based view, and transaction cost theories. Our findings indicate that the overall effect of collaborative performance is positive and significant. Moreover, meta-regression results show that public–public collaboration results in better performance than public–nonprofit or public–business collaboration, while involving all three entity types in collaborative efforts yields similar outcomes to public–public collaboration. Several implications of these findings are outlined for researchers and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars continue to debate the relationship of academic international relations to policy. One of the most straightforward ways to discern whether policymakers find IR scholarship relevant to their work is to ask them. We analyzed an elite survey of US policy practitioners to better understand the conditions under which practitioners use academic knowledge in their work. We surveyed officials across three different policy areas: international development, national security, and trade. We also employed multiple survey experiments in an effort to causally identify the impact of academic consensus on the views of policy officials and to estimate the relative utility of different kinds of research outputs. We found that policymakers frequently engage with academic ideas, find an array of research outputs and approaches useful, and that scholarly findings can shift their views. Key obstacles to using academic knowledge include practitioners' lack of time as well as academic work being too abstract and not timely, but not that it is overly quantitative. Additionally, we documented important differences between national security officials and their counterparts who work in the areas of development and trade. We suggest that this variation is rooted in the nature of the different policy areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on depth of understanding of multiple social science disciplines, theories, and research traditions extending beyond the field of public administration. Topics include phenomena being attached to the value and purpose as well as the creation and distribution of a great range of public services and public goods; and investigating individual motivation, cognition, and behavior, group dynamics and performance, institutions, and organizational development.

The objective of this article is to document the strategies developed by actors from different sectors during the processes of intersectoral governance. As a case study, the article focuses on the process of renegotiating the Terms of Reference of the Montreal Initiative for Local Social Development, a regional intersectoral intervention with the mission of guiding and supporting the actions of local intersectoral coalitions referred to as Neighbourhood Round Tables. The renegotiation process was marked by crisis in intersectoral governance. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 16 actors representing the four sectors involved in the intersectoral governance process, about four systematically selected critical incidents. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded using QDAMiner software. Interpretive and cross-sectional thematic analysis was conducted to assign meaning to the results. Results show that the actors developed intersectoral (shared or mediated) strategies and intrasectoral (creative unilateral, power-based unilateral or multilateral) strategies to influence collective decisions. The strategies, presented in a proposed typology, were distinguishable by their goals, their organizational origin, the actors involved and their fundamental mechanisms. Intersectoral strategies were developed at the regional level and aimed to promote or defend collective interests. In contrast, intrasectoral strategies sought to protect sectoral interests. The findings illustrate how actors' strategies operate within intersectoral governance processes. They show that collective decisions are shaped by the strategies created both at the boundaries of, and within, sectors. The proposed typology, if validated and applied to other cases, may help better understand how partners interact to influence collective decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter covers selected research in postcolonial theory published in 2021. It begins with a discussion of how postcolonial theory can be said to take a local turn with reference to a volume that treats the phenomenon of BrexLit, before focusing on two texts that take postcolonial theory into the arena of the social sciences. The chapter then reviews a book that parses how postcolonial theory is embroiled in matters ideological before ending with a discussion of a text that provides an alternative history of gender and sexualities. The varied work discussed in this chapter demonstrates how postcolonial theory remains a productive resource in attempts to revitalize already established fields of study and, by extension, that postcolonial theory continues to hold critical and explanatory traction. The essay is divided into five sub-sections: 1. Introduction; 2. BrexLit; 3. The Social Sciences; 4. Ideology; 5. Sexualities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on role of Comparative Law in the Social Sciences. Topics include serving as a scholarly forum for the field of comparative legal studies and providing researchers with a broad understanding of the utility of comparative studies; and judicialization of politics, the commodification of legal entitlements, or the juridification of social spheres.

Objectives Disability in late life has been associated with increases in receiving care and loss of autonomy. The Disablement Process Model suggests that physical impairments lead to functional limitations that contribute to disabilities in managing household, job, or other demands. Yet, we know surprisingly little about how functional limitations are related to activities throughout the day among community-dwelling adults or the possible moderating role of social integration on these associations. Methods Community-dwelling adults (N = 313) aged 65 and older completed a baseline interview assessing their functional limitations, social ties, and background characteristics. Over 5–6 days, they answered questions about daily activities and encounters with social partners every 3 h on handheld Android devices. Results Multilevel logistic models revealed that functional limitations are associated with an increased likelihood of activities associated with poor health (e.g. TV watching, medical appointments) and reduced likelihood of social activities, or physical activities, chores, or leaving the home. Most moderation analyses were not significant; family and friends did not mitigate associations between functional limitations and daily activities, with the exception of medical appointments. Individuals with functional limitations were more likely to attend medical appointments when with their social partners than when alone. Discussion This study provided a modest indication that functional limitations in community-dwelling older adults are associated with patterns of activity that may lead to further limitations, disability, or loss of autonomy. Findings warrant longitudinal follow-up to establish subsequent patterns of decline or stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After showing discipline's centrality in Kant's pedagogy, I briefly highlight Montessori's alternative and then turn to three fundamental differences between Kant and Montessori that partly explain their divergent accounts. My goal is not to assess whether Kant or Montessori gets the role of discipline 'right', but to highlight broader stakes of their disagreement and ways deeper features of Kant's psychology and moral theory ground his emphasis on discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that term ‘Anthropocene', proposed by the atmospheric chemist Paul J. Crutzen and biologist Eugene Stoermer refers to a new geological epoch in which humans are perceived to be the singular driving force of the Earth's system. Topics include considered that despite being popularized as a critical framework in the sciences in the early 2000s, and subsequently embraced by the social sciences and the arts and humanities.

We explore the apparent disruption of legal scholarship wrought by leximetrics—variable-oriented, predictive methods. We view the skepticism surrounding leximetrics as healthy, in that it focuses attention on some central inferential challenges relevant to most empirical methods. Scholarly anxiety may be a natural by-product of this disruption, as scholars navigate the rise and fall in popularity of various ideas and approaches. Some of this anxiety is related to a perceived hierarchy of methodological approaches in social science. Nonetheless, we are hopeful that broadminded, ecumenical tastes will prevail. One likely future for legal scholars is similar to that of political science, whose practitioners have largely embraced methodological pluralism, and maintained the value of case-oriented research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent study published in The Lancet predicts a remarkable drop in population numbers following a peak that will be reached by 2064. A unique feature of the upcoming population drop is that it will be almost exclusively caused by decreased reproduction, rather than factors that increase rates of mortality. The reasons for decreased reproduction are also unique, as, unlike previous centuries, limited reproduction today is hardly due to a shortage in resources. In other words, the predicted population drop is almost exclusively due to changes in reproductive behavior and reproductive physiology. Today, global changes in reproductive behavior are mostly explained by social sciences in a framework of demographic transition hypotheses, while changes in reproductive physiology are usually attributed to effects of endocrine-disrupting pollutants. This review outlines a complementary/alternative hypothesis, which connects reproductive trends with population densities. Numerous wildlife and experimental studies of a broad range of animal species have demonstrated that reproductive behavior and reproductive physiology are negatively controlled via endocrine and neural signaling in response to increasing population densities. The causal chain of this control system, although not fully understood, includes suppression of every level of hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal cascade by hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, activated in response to increasing stress of social interactions. This paper discusses evidence in support of a hypothesis that current trends in reproductive physiology and behavior may be partly explained by increasing population densities. Better understanding of the causal chain involved in reproduction suppression by population density–related factors may help in developing interventions to treat infertility and other reproductive conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers often encounter reminders of resource scarcity. However, relatively little is known about the psychological processes that such reminders instantiate. In this article, we posit that reminders of resource scarcity activate a competitive orientation, which guides consumers' decision making towards advancing their own welfare. Further, we reveal that this tendency can manifest in behaviors that appear selfish, but also in behaviors that appear generous, in conditions where generosity allows for personal gains. The current research thus offers a more nuanced understanding of why resource scarcity may promote behaviors that appear either selfish or generous in different contexts, and provides one way to reconcile seemingly conflicting prior findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented to learn the Language of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. The article discusses that the fields of pathology and laboratory medicine have a long-standing pipeline problem; and most students do not have medical laboratory sciences or pathology on their list of possible future careers, partly because their exposure to those fields as careers is extremely limited.

As a vital tool for advancing cumulative science and guiding evidence-based practice, meta-analysis has advanced many research fields of the behavioral and social sciences, including worker age and aging. Nonetheless, there is still room for improvement, particularly in terms of meta-analytic methods and procedures. In this article, we overview some influential meta-analyses on worker age and aging concerning their psychometric correction methods and procedures, identify potential controversies and issues, and offer suggestions for improvement, particularly in corrections for two major methodological artifacts (i.e. range variation and measurement error). We also debunk some myths that both researchers and journal reviewers may encounter regarding how to conduct psychometric meta-analyses and discuss implications and agendas for future research on worker age and aging. We hope this article will help researchers in the field of age and aging and beyond to conduct a psychometric meta-analysis while harnessing the benefits of psychometric corrections and meta-analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of digital technologies to conduct large-scale research with limited interaction (i.e. no in-person contact) and objective endpoints (i.e. biological testing) has significant potential for the field of epidemiology, but limited research to date has been published on the successes and challenges of such approaches. We analyzed data from a cohort study of sexual minority men across the United States, collected using digital strategies during a 10-month period from 2017 to 2018. Overall, 113,874 individuals were screened, of whom 26,000 were invited to the study, 10,691 joined the study, and 7,957 completed all enrollment steps, including return of a human immunodeficiency virus–negative sample. We examined group differences in completion of the steps towards enrollment to inform future research and found significant differences according to several factors, including age and race. This study adds to prior work to provide further proof-of-concept for this limited-interaction, technology-mediated methodology, highlighting some of its strengths and challenges, including rapid access to more diverse populations but also potential for bias due to differential enrollment. This method has strong promise, and future implementation research is needed to better understand the roles of burden, privacy, access, and compensation, to enhance representativeness and generalizability of the data generated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is a global tendency for parents to conceive children later in life. The maternal dimension of the postponement transition has been thoroughly studied, but interest in the paternal side is more recent. For the moment, most literature reviews on the topic have focused on the consequences of advanced paternal age (APA) on fertility, pregnancy and the health of the child.Objective and Rationale: The present review seeks to move the focus away from the biological and medical dimensions of APA and synthesise the knowledge of the other face of APA.Search Methods: We used the scoping review methodology. Searches of interdisciplinary articles databases were performed with keywords pertaining to APA and its dimensions outside of biology and medicine. We included scientific articles, original research, essays, commentaries and editorials in the sample. The final sample of 177 documents was analysed with qualitative thematic analysis.Outcomes: We identified six themes highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of APA research. The 'terminological aspects' highlight the lack of consensus on the definition of APA and the strategies developed to offer alternatives. The 'social aspects' focus on the postponement transition towards reproducing later in life and its cultural dimensions. The 'public health aspects' refer to attempts to analyse APA as a problem with wider health and economic implications. The 'psychological aspects' focus on the consequences of APA and older fatherhood on psychological characteristics of the child. The 'ethical aspects' reflect on issues of APA emerging at the intersection of parental autonomy, children's welfare and social responsibility. The 'regulatory aspects' group different suggestions to collectively approach the implications of APA. Our results show that the field of APA is still in the making and that evidence is lacking to fully address the issues of APA. The review suggests promising avenues of research such as introducing the voice of fathers of advanced age into the research agenda.Wider Implications: The results of this review will be useful for developing policies and preconception health interventions that consider and include prospective fathers of advanced age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Role models can exert considerable influence in shaping individuals' values, attitudes, and beliefs. A large body of work in the social sciences has investigated the influence of celebrity role models, and in the context of education, several disciplines have a rich research history in this area (e.g. medical education). However, in the context of second language acquisition, research centred on role models has largely remained on the periphery. This study presents a large-scale international survey investigating the role models of English language learners. With data collected from 8,472 participants, analysis investigated whether these learners had English language role models, who the role models were and what characteristics learners valued in them, and investigated systematic variation among subgroups. Results showed that 68 per cent of respondents reported having an English language role model, and four key role model dimensions emerged: overall command of English, paralinguistic features, personal attributes and accent/variety of English. We argue that role modelling may be a highly influential component of the psychological context of second-language acquisition, and conclude by highlighting several valuable areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors reflect on how to foster intergenerational solidarity and avoid ageism amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics include the use of evidence from behavioral science of aging to address the pandemic, the stereotype embodiment theory, as well as the different cultural backgrounds, genetics, health histories, and life experiences of older people.

Objective: Although women in the field of biomedical informatics (BMI) are part of a golden era, little is known about their lived experiences as informaticians. Guided by feminist standpoint theory, this study aims to understand the impact of social change in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia- in the form of new policies supporting women and health technological advancements-in the field of BMI and its women informaticians.Materials and Methods: We conducted semistructured telephone interviews with 7 women managers in the field of BMI, identified through LinkedIn. We analyzed interview transcripts to generate themes about their lived experiences, how they perceived health information technology tools, identified challenges that may hinder the advancement of the field, and explored the future of BMI from their perspectives. During our analysis, we utilized a feminist theoretical approach.Results: Women managers in the field of BMI shared similar experiences and perspectives. Our analysis generated 10 themes: (1) career beginning, (2) opportunities given, (3) career achievements, (4) gender-based experiences, (5) meaning of BMI, (6) meaning of health information technology tools, (7) challenges, (8) overcoming challenges, (9) future and hopes, and (10) meaning of "2030 Saudi vision." Early in their careers, participants experienced limited opportunities and misperceptions in understanding what the field of informatics represents. Participants did not feel that gender was an issue, despite what feminist theory would have predicted.Conclusions: Recognizing the lived experiences of women in the field of BMI contributes to our collective understanding of how these experiences may enhance our knowledge of the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the role of social science research in the family law system has been the subject of scholarly research for some time, less attention has been paid to how operating within the legal system might influence the work of social science and related expert witnesses who perform in that space. This article reports on interviews with family report writers, social science or similar expert witnesses, who provide assessments for the Australian family courts in contested cases about post-separation children's arrangements. It explores the impact of the law, or how those professionals perceive the law is applied, and the complexity of the family law system on these expert witnesses, particularly when working with families with allegations of domestic and family violence. The study shows that the participants are deeply acculturated to the legal system. They know how to speak its language and are aware of the different audiences they speak to including the court, the lawyers and the parents. Although an understanding of the legal context is essential for expert witnesses, the study suggests that the legal system, and their experience of it, may influence their assessment framework, affect their recommendations, and consequently impact parenting orders. Although this article investigates the situation in Australia, the results raise questions for similar family law jurisdictions which rely on family assessment reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter reviews important research in affect studies published in 2020, a year that saw the appearance of a rich selection of scholarly books that further develop the insights and methods of affect theory or that apply established approaches to investigations of affective phenomena in a variety of areas of study. The chapter is divided into the following sections: 1. Critique and Affect, which focuses on Critical Affect: The Politics of Method , by Ashley Barnwell; 2. Literary Affect, which focuses on Affect and Literature , edited by Alex Houen; 3. Cultural Histories of Affect, which focuses on Peculiar Attunements: How Affect Theory Turned Musical , by Roger Mathew Grant, and Unfelt: The Language of Affect in the British Enlightenment , by James Noggle; 4. Race and Political Affect, which focuses on Black Feelings: Race and Affect in the Long Sixties , by Lisa M. Corrigan, and Reading Affect in Post-Apartheid Literature: South Africa's Wounded Feelings , by Mark Libin; and 5. Reflections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that human–animal relationships are a key conceptual terrain for applied linguists to intervene in emerging interdisciplinary debates on how to address problematic human–environment relations in a time of growing ecological degradation. The scientific diagnosis of the Anthropocene has further generated critical discussion in the social sciences on the need to understand the diversity of local cultural responses to global environmental crises, ranging from climate change to species extinction. This article proposes that a 'green applied linguistics' can offer empirical insights into the role of language and discourse in mediating diverse human relationships with animals and nature. Taking human interactions with protected wildlife as one aspect of these wider socio-environmental debates, this article builds on recent embodied, materialist and posthumanist research in applied linguistics to suggest that nexus analysis offers a holistic methodology to examine the problematic ways people become caught up with threatened species through their semiotic practices. I illustrate these ideas through examples from my ethnographic research on the convergence of sea turtle conservation and ecotourism practices at Laniākea Beach, Hawai'i. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Document analysis is one of the most commonly used and powerful methods in health policy research. While existing qualitative research manuals offer direction for conducting document analysis, there has been little specific discussion about how to use this method to understand and analyse health policy. Drawing on guidance from other disciplines and our own research experience, we present a systematic approach for document analysis in health policy research called the READ approach: (1) ready your materials, (2) extract data, (3) analyse data and (4) distil your findings. We provide practical advice on each step, with consideration of epistemological and theoretical issues such as the socially constructed nature of documents and their role in modern bureaucracies. We provide examples of document analysis from two case studies from our work in Pakistan and Niger in which documents provided critical insight and advanced empirical and theoretical understanding of a health policy issue. Coding tools for each case study are included as Supplementary Files to inspire and guide future research. These case studies illustrate the value of rigorous document analysis to understand policy content and processes and discourse around policy, in ways that are either not possible using other methods, or greatly enrich other methods such as in-depth interviews and observation. Given the central nature of documents to health policy research and importance of reading them critically, the READ approach provides practical guidance on gaining the most out of documents and ensuring rigour in document analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Longitudinal research cohorts are uniquely suited to answer research questions about morbidity and mortality. Cohorts may be comprised of individuals identified by specific conditions or other shared traits. We argue that research cohorts are more than simply aggregations of individuals and their associated data to meet research objectives. They are social communities comprised of members, investigators and organizations whose own interests, identities and cultures interact and evolve over time. The literature describes a range of scientific and ethical challenges and opportunities associated with cohorts. To advance these deliberations, we report examples from the literature and our own research on the Thai SEARCH010/RV254 cohort, comprising individuals diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) during acute infection. We reflect on the impact of cohort experiences and identity, and specifically how people incorporate cohort participation into meaning making associated with their diagnosis, the influence of cohort participation on decision making for early-phase clinical trials recruited from within the cohort, and the impact of the relationships that exist between researchers and participants. These data support the concept of cohorts as communities of persons, where identity is shaped, in part, through cohort experiences. The social meanings associated with cohorts have implications for the ethics of cohort-based research, as social contexts inevitably affect the ways that ethical concerns manifest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on conferences to be held from December 2020 to May 2021 include 4th Annual Academic International Conference on Social Sciences and Education; 7th International Conference on Humanity and Social Sciences and 11th Asian Conference on Ethics, Religion & Philosophy.

In this essay, I propose that a focus on research validity can improve communications among scholars of international studies who use a variety of methodological approaches because validity as a unifying standard allows for greater flexibility of methodological and empirical approaches to theoretical concepts. Social science disciplines have recently been more concerned with replication and transparency as the standards by which social science research is measured and valued. I apply transparency, replication, and validity to five identified inefficiencies in international studies communication and an examination of judicial independence/international studies research. This application indicates that validity is the more useful standard in that it addresses four of the five communication inefficiencies. Linking validity to advancing causal inference research, creating incentives for multimethod research teams, and improving social science communication to the lay public can also facilitate communication among international studies scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]