This is the first book on the U.S. presidential election system to analyze the basic principles underlying the design of the existing system and those at the heart of competing proposals for improving the system. The book discusses how the use of some election rules embedded in the U.S. Constitution and in the Presidential Succession Act may cause skewed or weird election outcomes and election stalemates. The book argues that the act may not cover some rare though possible situations which the Twentieth Amendment authorizes Congress to address. Also, the book questions the constitutionality of the National Popular Vote Plan to introduce a direct popular presidential election "de facto," without amending the Constitution, and addresses the plan's "Achilles' Heel." In particular, the book shows that the plan may violate the Equal Protection Clause from the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. Numerical examples are provided to show that the counterintuitive claims of the NPV originators and proponents that the plan will encourage presidential candidates to "chase" every vote in every state do not have any grounds. Finally, the book proposes a plan for improving the election system by combining at the national level the "one state, one vote" principle - embedded in the Constitution - and the "one person, one vote" principle. Under this plan no state loses its current Electoral College benefits while all the states gain more attention of presidential candidates.

Revised for the first time in over thirty years, this edition of Emile Durkheim's masterful work on the nature and scope of sociology is updated with a new introduction and improved translation by leading scholar Steven Lukes that puts Durkheim's work into context for the twenty-first century reader.
"The Rules of Sociological Method" represents Emile Durkheim's manifesto for sociology. He argues forcefully for the objective, scientific, and methodological underpinnings of sociology as a discipline and establishes guiding principles for future research.
The substantial new introduction by leading Durkheim scholar Steven Lukes explains and sets into context Durkheim's arguments. Lukes examines the still-controversial debates about "The Rules of Sociological Method"'s six chapters and explains their relevance to present-day sociology. The edition also includes Durkheim's subsequent thoughts on method in the form of articles, debates with scholars from other disciplines, and letters. The original translation has been revised and reworked in order to make Durkheim's arguments clearer and easier to read.
This is an essential resource for students and scholars hoping to deepen their understanding of one of the pioneering voices in modern sociology and twentieth-century social thought.

Game theory is rapidly becoming one of the cornerstones of the social sciences. The articles gathered here chart the intellectual history of game theory from its place in the Enlightenment tradition, through the explosion of literature in the late 1970s, to issues of current and emerging debates. This extensively indexed set will be a valuable reference tool to researchers in sociology and politics, as well as economics.

This book extends the current discourse on the role of cultural knowledge in qualitative research, especially research conducted by women of color within their own community. Each author reports on her attempts to conceptualize herself as a researcher while simultaneously trying to honor her cultural connectedness and knowledge.
As women researchers analyzing the personal and professional contexts in which their research was conducted, the authors argue that their gender, race, religion, and status have played critical roles in their research agendas. They offer a female perspective, though not a feminist critique per se, for they believe that gender does play a significant role in their research efforts. Equally important, they explore the role that race has played in their research, whether as women of color or white women conducting research among people of color.
In reflecting on how their unique positionality allows them to understand relationships across many boundaries, the authors observe how, in most cases, because of their position as women and/or people of color, they have not had some of the traditional problems associated with access to multicultural sites. However, they have encountered other issues and they share how, as researchers, they met and resolved these issues for their particular settings. Each author also discusses how, in addressing these issues, she labored to meet the standards of academia, often at a personal cost.
This book challenges existing paradigms by questioning the assumption of objectivity in research. It is essential reading--informative, provocative, and engaging--for researchers and students in research methods, women's studies, critical theory, and cross-cultural studies.

In April 2009, an inspiring international conference was held at Bielefeld on the topic "Children and the Good Life: New Challenges for Research on Children." The focus was on how we can define and measure a "good life" for children growing up in the modern world. This tied in with discussions on how convincing universalistic theories are, what research on children can contribute, and how children themselves can be integrated into the research process and debates on the "good life."

Discourses and the production of knowledge on the "good life" or "well-being" require a guiding idea or a theoretical frame. This frame can come from the feminist ethic of care or from the Human and Children's Rights Convention, from the idea of welfare, or from the Capability Approach.

Research in Human Social Conflict

Our book is a useful "how to" book for researchers and government offices wanting to start or improve their own QOL survey, and contains "best practices" from all over the world. We discuss cutting-edge surveys that are being adopted by all countries in the European community as a standardized measure of each country's progress. We also discuss how developing countries can begin the measurement of Quality of Life in ways that will increase political credibility and require smaller budgets. Other chapters describe policy applications of the Quality of Life surveys, including nations' health goals, smoking cessation, child welfare, and poverty reduction.

The authors of these chapters are the world's top experts on assessing Quality of Life. For example, the author of the first chapter is Sten Johansson, former Director of Statistics Sweden, responsible for creating the first comprehensive QOL assessment systems in the world, beginning in the 1960's. The author of the second chapter is Professor Ruut Veenhoven, known as the premier researcher on national happiness, having developed the largest database in the world on the subjective measures of well-being. Heinz-Herbert Noll is responsible for developing the unified Quality of Life measurement system for the new European Union, where up to 25 countries will be assessed using the same methodology and questionnaires.

This volume is a valuable resource for four groups of readers. To researchers interested in best practices for well-established surveys of living conditions, the papers by Boelhouwer, Noll, Vogel, and Berger-Schmitt will be of special interest. To researchers and policy analysts interested in establishing a living-conditions report in their country, the papers by Kamen, Moller and Dickow, Estes, Andersen and Poppel, May, Stevens and Stols and Aasland and Tyldum give invaluable information about developing credibility, consensus-building, and survey design. For researchers interested in cross-national comparison, the papers by Hudler and Richter, and Delhey, Bohnke, Habich, and Zapf describe the rich resources already available, as well as problems of different wording, interpretation, etc. Finally, for citizens wishing to effect changes in public policy, and for researchers studying that process, the papers by Ferris, Estes, Hagerty, and Behrendt outline how organizations should select goals, utilize social indicators, and develop programs that improve the Quality of Life in their nations. "

"Interpreting Economic and Social Data" aims at rehabilitating the descriptive function of socio-economic statistics, bridging the gap between today's statistical theory on one hand, and econometric and mathematical models of society on the other. It does this by offering a deeper understanding of data and methods with surprising insights, the result of the author's six decades of teaching, consulting and involvement in statistical surveys. The author challenges many preconceptions about aggregation, time series, index numbers, frequency distributions, regression analysis and probability, nudging statistical theory in a different direction. "Interpreting Economic and Social Data" also links statistics with other quantitative fields like accounting and geography. This book is aimed at students and professors in business, economics demographic and social science courses, and in general, at users of socio-economic data, requiring only an acquaintance with elementary statistical theory.

This is a scholarly assessment of broad-ranging research on the Vietnam War over the last seventeen years by the editor of the prize-winning Dictionary of the Vietnam War. James Olson and his contributors offer fascinating insights as they evaluate the significant literature, films, and TV programs, offering different perspectives on the historical background; strategy and conduct of the war; the perspectives of Americans, the Indochinese, women, minorities, and veterans; the impact of the war on the homefront; and major problems and issues in the aftermath of the war.

This one-volume major reference covers all genres of literature, primary and secondary sources, personal narratives and oral histories, fiction and non-fiction, popular accounts, expert studies of military strategy and operations, Indochinese studies, books about the involvement and role of women and blacks, and discussions about Indochinese refugees, prisoners of war, those missing in action, veterans and post-traumatic shock. Films, TV programs, comic books and studies pointing to the effect of the war on the homefront and on others make up an important part of the book. A full index makes the volume easily accessible to students, scholars, and professionals in military studies, American and world history, American studies and popular culture, political science and international relations--an important acquisition for libraries of all kind.

Past, Present and Future of Research in the Information Society examines the role of research and the production of knowledge in the information society, with special emphasis on developing areas of the world. Past, Present and Future of Research in the Information Society is based on a three day conference that immediately precedes the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), in Tunisia (November 2005). Core issues of the conference lie at the intersection of computer science and engineering, information and communication technologies, the world wide web and development. Past, Present and Future of Research in the Information Society is designed for a professional audience, composed of researchers and practitioners in industry. This book is also suitable for graduate-level students in computer science, engineering and sociology.

Based on large research material collected in Hungary, Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria Social change, Gender and Violence is the book which explores the impact of transition from communism and war on everyday life of women and men, as well as the way how everyday life and gender related changes affect women's vulnerability to domestic violence and trafficking in women. The book also explores the impact of micro level changes on development of civil society, women's movement, and legal and policy changes regarding violence against women. This is a unique book, which tries to look at violence against women as connected to oppression of both women and men. It argues that violence against women in post-communist and war affected societies is significantly connected to the increase of social stratification, economic hardship, unemployment, instability, uncertainty and related social stresses, changes in gender identity and structural inequalities brought by new world order. Using largely accounts of more than hundred interviewed people, the author shows vividly how, in post-communist societies, the contradictions of capitalism are interlaced with the mostly negative relics of communism. Moreover, the book shows how contradictory processes in post-communist societies have led to a rather paradoxical result: political pluralism and a capitalist economic system generated both violence against women and a women's movement, albeit not the conditions for a reduction of violence.

"Volume 18 of Research in Economic History" contains six contributions, evenly divided between British and U.S. topics. The first discusses the use of the Charity Commission Reports as a new source for the study of British economic history. These data challenge received wisdom on crowding out during the Napoleonic Wars, the contributions of enclosures to agricultural productivity, and the role of the Glorious Revolution in establishing secure property rights. The second study revisits the more than century old debate about whether nineteenth century industrialization in Britain worsened or improved conditions for child labour. Data from the Parliamentary Papers and the censuses of 1841, 1851 and 1871 confirm high labour force participation rates for older (but not younger) children, particularly in textiles. The third paper investigates the impact of fluctuations in the weather on agricultural output in Britain, and consequently on the level of GDP. Remaining on agricultural topics, but shifting venue to the United States, the fourth essay explores the induced innovation hypothesis using state data. The authors question many of the stylized facts which have been adduced in support of the hypothesis at the national level, and argue that state level investigations permit greater sensitivity to the substantial geophysical and factor price variation within the boundaries of the United States. The fifth paper examines the role of the National Banking System in reducing exchange rate variations (deviations from par) within the United States. The final contribution considers the impact of the introduction of two parallel but completely separate telegraph systems on the operation of U.S. financial markets.

Este libro pretende acercar a las ninas y a los ninos de primaria a la biblioteca y a la informacion. Para ello, las autoras, Judith Licea, profesora universitaria y Rebeca Arenas, psicoterapeuta psicoanalitica, presentan actividades graduadas conforme al grado escolar de los pequenos que les ayuden a conseguir una cultura informacional para llegar a ser, cuando mayores, personas libres, responsables y conscientes, capaces de entender y resolver problemas. Asimismo, las autoras, conocedoras de la necesidad de contar con auxiliares que contribuyan a eliminar practicas viciadas para cumplir con las tareas escolares dirigen sus esfuerzos para que la alfabetizacion informacional tenga presencia entre los escolares de las instituciones educativas. Las autoras del libro estaran satisfechas cuando las leoncitas y los leoncitos, es decir las ninas y los ninos que leen mucho sientan interes por averiguar, por conocer, por investigar, por no limitarse a las clases dictadas por sus maestros. De esta manera, la ayuda del bibliotecario o del bibliotecologo se valorara o revalorara cuando las leoncitas y los leoncitos se introduzcan en los secretos que guardan las bibliotecas, sus recursos o la Internet.

This is Volume III of seven in a collection on Social Psychology. Originally published in 1932, the study upon which this volume is based was conducted under the auspices of The Inquiry, an organization devoted to the analysis and improvement of conference methods. The project began as a fact-finding investigation directed toward newer phases of industrial management, particularly managerial instruments in which both employees and employers participated. (Such instruments are usually called ' employee representation ' or ' company unions.') So the study developed in the direction of exploration with newer research techniques and it finally became a project in research method rather than a conventional fact-finding inquiry.

Routledge is now re-issuing this prestigious series of 204 volumes originally published between 1910 and 1965. The titles include works by key figures such asC.G. Jung, Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, Otto Rank, James Hillman, Erich Fromm, Karen Horney and Susan Isaacs. Each volume is available on its own, as part of a themed mini-set, or as part of a specially-priced 204-volume set. A brochure listing each title in the "International Library of Psychology" series is available upon request.

This book focuses on how statistical reasoning works and on training programs that can exploit people's natural cognitive capabilities to improve their statistical reasoning. Training programs that take into account findings from evolutionary psychology and instructional theory are shown to have substantially larger effects that are more stable over time than previous training regimens. The theoretical implications are traced in a neural network model of human performance on statistical reasoning problems. This book apppeals to judgment and decision making researchers and other cognitive scientists, as well as to teachers of statistics and probabilistic reasoning.

Now updated for web-based research, the third edition of The Data Game introduces students to the collection, use, and interpretation of statistical data in the social sciences. Separate chapters are devoted to data in the fields of demography, housing, health, education, crime, the national economy, wealth, income and poverty, labor, business, government, and public opinion polling. The concluding chapter is devoted to the common problem of ambiguity in social science statistics.

Designing Social Research is a uniquely comprehensive and student-friendly guide to the core knowledge and types of skills required for planning social research. The authors organize the book around four major steps in social research - focusing, framing, selecting and distilling - placing particular emphasis on the formulation of research questions and the choice of appropriate 'logics of inquiry' to answer them. The requirements for research designs and proposals are laid out at the beginning of the book, followed by a discussion of key design issues and research ethics. Four sample research designs on environmental issues illustrate the role of research questions and the application of the four logics of inquiry, and this third edition includes new material dedicated to social research in a digital, networked age. Fully revised and updated, Designing Social Research continues to be an invaluable resource to demystify the research process for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. Together with the authors' Social Research: Paradigms in Action and Blaikie's Approaches to Social Enquiry, it offers social scientists an informative guide to designing social research.

What is age? A simple question but not that easy to answer. "Unmasking Age" addresses it using data from a series of research projects relating to later life. This is supplemented by material from a range of other sources including diaries and fiction. Drawing on a long career in social research, Bill Bytheway critically examines various methods and discusses ways of uncovering the realities of age.

Gaming technologies have become effective learning tools within education. Gamification has the potential to increase engagement using real-time feedback on learning activities, which allows students to reflect on their completion and retention of a learned activity. Gaming Innovations in Higher Education: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an essential reference work featuring the latest scholarly knowledge on the application of different gaming techniques within education to make learning activities more enjoyable and successful. Including research on a number of topics such as virtual laboratories, interaction media, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, this publication is ideally designed for academicians, researchers, and students interested in the benefits of providing an entertaining and intellectually-stimulating learning environment. The many academic areas covered in this publication include, but are not limited to: Comprehension Awareness Extrinsic Motivation Interaction Media Intrinsic Motivation Learning Disabilities Self-Determination Theory (SDT) User-Centered Design Virtual Laboratories

The 398 tables, graphs, and charts in this handbook focus on this growing segment of America's population. Census data are supplemented by statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics and special interest groups such as the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). A special glossary defines census and demographic terms, and relevant sources of additional data are included.

An understanding of each of the critical components of the funding process is key to meeting the challenges posed by the increasingly intense competition for research funds. This book is a vital tool for those who want to build and maximize their grant support. Although many publications provide valuable information about proposal preparation, few cover the full spectrum of issues--from planning through execution--in the funding process. The book leads off with a discussion of the relationship between researchers and the funding environment, features of good short- and long-range funding plans, characteristics of funding organizations in terms of funding power, mission, and priorities, and the manner in which funding information is disseminated. Succeeding chapters focus on the actual development of the many different types of opportunities--research projects, multicomponent research programs, career development and training programs, and small business innovation research. These chapters emphasize conceptualizing an idea, optimizing the researcher-sponsor match, and testing the concept for competitiveness. Further chapters deliver strategies for translating research ideas into written proposals, preparing administrative sections and communicating with a sponsor. The final chapters are dedicated to the outcomes of the proposal process: reviews, rebuttals, and resubmissions; and to progress reports and future proposals for maintaining and building on funding. Flowcharts, examples, and summary tables are used throughout the text to highlight key points.

Having spent forty years teaching education and philosophy at Harvard, and publishing widely on these topics during this period, Israel Scheffler has now written a more personal book, looking at education through the prism of his own early experience, primarily of religious learning. The book consists mainly of portraits of his early teachers, most of whom belonged to a transitional generation of immigrant Hebrew scholars -- unsung heroes of Jewish education on the American scene. Through the medium of such portraits of teaching personalities and styles, as well as firsthand descriptions of various educational settings in the New York City of the 30s and 40s, he comments on aspects of immigrant life, the tensions between religious and secular worlds, the psychology of learning and teaching, the relations between universalism and particularism, the contrasts between intensive education and instrumental schooling, and related themes. These themes, although exemplified in the details of his own experience, are of quite general significance. The book will be of special interest for those concerned with Jewish life, with religious education, with the immigrant experience and with the recent American past.