This book provides an overview of the developments in the area of Bayesian evaluation of informative hypotheses that took place since the publication of the ?rst paper on this topic in 2001 [Hoijtink, H. Con?rmatory latent class analysis, model selection using Bayes factors and (pseudo) likelihood ratio statistics. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 36, 563-588]. The current state of a?airs was presented and discussed by the authors of this book during a workshop in Utrecht in June 2007. Here we would like to thank all authors for their participation, ideas, and contributions. We would also like to thank Sophie van der Zee for her editorial e?orts during the construction of this book. Another word of thanks is due to John Kimmel of Springer for his con?dence in the editors and authors. Finally, we would like to thank the Netherlands Organization for Scienti?c Research (NWO) whose VICI grant (453-05-002) awarded to the ?rst author enabled the organization of the workshop, the writing of this book, and continuation of the research with respect to Bayesian evaluation of informative hypotheses.

Imagination and Arts-Based Practices for Integration in Research explores the philosophical assumptions, defining concepts, and methodological issues related to the introduction of intentional imaginative mental processes and arts-based practices into some or all phases of investigation, and data integration of particular research approaches. Although typically central to mixed, multi-method, and arts-based research, the practice of integrating diverse forms of data might be applied to other research traditions. The integration of data diversity represents a deviation from traditional scientific thinking demanding a dramatic paradigm shift inclusive of multi-dimensional, nondiscursive, aesthetic, rhizomatic, and imaginative mental processes. In this book, imaginative mental processes and arts-based practices are described and illustrated as approaches to investigating, revealing, and understanding the elusive yet essential meanings hidden in the crevices, shadows, and liminal spaces in between diverse data sets leading to integration, illumination, and synthesis. The book will appeal to arts-based, mixed methods, and adventurous researchers. It walks the reader through the revisionist philosophical assumptions and offers aligned methodological suggestions to the induction of imaginative mental processes and arts-based practices into research.

This book highlights recent advancements and innovations in trenchless technology via the adoption of combined micro-tunnelling and pipe-jacking techniques. This technique is more environmentally friendly, cost effective, less time-consuming and less disruptive compared to conventional open trench excavations for urban construction and urban infrastructure renewal projects. Pipe jacking is a non-destructive technique used in the installation of underground pipelines using a tunnel boring machine (TBM) and thrust forces derived from the hydraulic jack set-up in a deep jacking shaft. It is popular and commonly used worldwide for the installation of sewer and common services cable tunnels as well as for oil and gas pipelines.

This book acts as an introductory guide to understanding and using the mapping sentence as a tool in social science and humanities research. The book fills the need for a concise text that simply instructs how and when to use a mapping sentence and provides practical examples. Mapping sentences are a major research component and tool of facet theory. The book begins by covering the background to mapping sentence, including the philosophy and theory underpinning it. The following chapter discuss what mapping sentence is, what different kinds of mapping sentences exist, and knowing when and which to use it in a given situation. The book then moves into describing how to write a mapping sentence and how to analyse the information gained from mapping sentence research. It ends with a consideration of the future developments of mapping sentences and their applications across the social sciences and humanities, including in particular psychology, marketing, behavioural biology, art and health.

This book offers an innovative perspective on the intersection of politics, education, and social problems. It considers how we can create social change by talking about politics and social problems in more open, direct, and inclusive ways in educational spaces. Drawing on data from a range of settings, this book closely examines how and when complicated conversations take place in classrooms, schools, and communities. The book tackles a series of hot-button, timely issues, including race, religion, politics, and gender, and turns a critical eye to schools and the communities in which they are situated; the conversations adults have-and pointedly ignore-with one another; and, perhaps most critically, the politics that shape our society.

Statistical illiteracy can have an enormously negative impact on decision making. This volume of collected papers brings together applied and theoretical research on risks and decision making across the fields of medicine, psychology, and economics. Collectively, the essays demonstrate why the frame in which statistics are communicated is essential for broader understanding and sound decision making, and that understanding risks and uncertainty has wide-reaching implications for daily life. Gerd Gigerenzer provides a lucid review and catalog of concrete instances of heuristics, or rules of thumb, that people and animals rely on to make decisions under uncertainty, explaining why these are very often more rational than probability models. After a critical look at behavioral theories that do not model actual psychological processes, the book concludes with a call for a "heuristic revolution" that will enable us to understand the ecological rationality of both statistics and heuristics, and bring a dose of sanity to the study of rationality.

For centuries, Muslim countries and Europe have engaged one another through theological dialogues, diplomatic missions, political rivalries, and power struggles. In the last thirty years, due in large part to globalization and migration from Islamic countries to the West, what was previously an engagement across national and cultural boundaries has increasingly become an internalized encounter within Europe itself. Questions of the Hijab in schools, freedom of expression in the wake of the Danish Cartoon crisis, and the role of Shari'a have come to the forefront of contemporary European discourse.
The Oxford Handbook of European Islam is the first collection to present a comprehensive approach to the multiple and changing ways Islam has been studied across European countries. Parts one to three address the state of knowledge of Islam and Muslims within a selection of European countries, while presenting a critical view of the most up-to-date data specific to each country. These chapters analyze the immigration cycles and policies related to the presence of Muslims, tackling issues such as discrimination, post-colonial identity, adaptation, and assimilation. The thematic chapters, in parts four and five, examine secularism, radicalization, Shari'a, Hijab, and Islamophobia with the goal of synthesizing different national discussion into a more comparative theoretical framework. The Handbook attempts to balance cutting edge assessment with the knowledge that the content itself will eventually be superseded by events. Featuring eighteen newly-commissioned essays by noted scholars in the field, this volume will provide an excellent resource for students and scholars interested in European Studies, immigration, Islamic studies, and the sociology of religion.

Women are more religious than men. Despite being excluded from leadership positions, in almost every culture and religious tradition, women are more likely than men to pray, to worship, and to claim that their faith is important to them. Women also dominate the world of 'New Age' spirituality and are far more superstitious than men. This book reviews the now sizeable body of social research to consider if the gender gap in religion is indeed universal. Marta Trzebiatowska and Steve Bruce extensively critique competing explanations of the differences found. They conclude that the gender gap is not the result of biology but is rather the consequence of important social differences over-lapping and reinforcing each other. Responsibility for managing birth, child-rearing and death, for example, and attitudes to the body, illness and health, each play a part. In the West, the gender gap is exaggerated because the social changes that undermined the plausibility of religion bore most heavily on men first. Where the lives of men and women become more similar, and where religious indifference grows, the gender gap gradually disappears. Written in an accessible style whilst drawing some robust conclusions, the book's main purpose is to serve as a state-of-the-art review for those interested in one of the largest differences between male and female behaviour.

In Available to be Poisoned: Toxicity as a Form of Life, Dipali Mathur contends that the saturation of the planet with toxic chemicals is not the "inevitable" price of progress but marks a deliberate, violent relationship with the Earth and its "others," born of colonialism and capitalism's entwined histories. Mathur offers the innovative concept of "toxicity as a form of life" to signpost the normalization of toxic exposure. Mathur analyzes how states use toxicity to control populations on the fringes of our global political economy. Drawing on three case studies from India, Mathur shows how exposure to toxicity is weaponized to make certain populations "available for poisoning."

This book seeks to introduce students to the challenges of 'real life' social research through a detailed consideration of eight recent empirical studies. Designed to complement existing introductory methods texts, it emphasises the importance of context in understanding and interpreting both the practice and 'product' of empirical research. The book focuses on research from eight key sub-areas of sociology, making it a useful secondary text for introductory courses on contemporary British society.

Social movement studies have grown enormously in the last few decades, spreading from sociology and political science to other fields of knowledge, as varied as geography, history, anthropology, psychology, economics, law and others. With the growing interest in the field, there has been also an increasing need for methodological guidance for empirical research. This volume addresses this need by introducing the main methods of data collection and data analysis as they have been used in past research on social movements. Unlike other volumes, the book offers a practical, how-to approach and not simply a review of the methodological literature. Each author writes on a method they are very familiar with, having used it extensively in their own work. And each chapter presents specific discussions on every stage of research: from research design to data collection and the use of the information gathered. Throughout, research dilemmas and choices are presented, illustrated, and discussed. The volume offers an essential point of references for anyone undertaking research on social movements.

There is no other source that provides in one place the wide range and depth of insight found in Vital Statistics on American Politics (VSAP), published since 1988. VSAP provides historical and statistical information on all aspects of American politics: Political parties Voter turnout Public opinion Campaign finance Media perspective and influence, congressional membership and voting patterns The presidency and executive branch Military policy and spending Supreme Court and federal court make-up and caseloads Foreign, social, and economic policy In over 230 tables and figures, students and professional researchers will find chapters devoted to key subject areas such as elections and political parties, public opinion and voting, the media, the three branches of U.S. government, foreign, military, social and economic policy, and much more. This book provides a vivid and multifaceted portrait of the broad spectrum of United States politics and policies. Along with updated and new data content, this edition offers brand new data literacy lessons that take a "guide on the side" approach to teach data researchers how to wade through the sea of data and do the difficult work of grappling for the meaning of the data on their own. Lessons include understanding descriptive representation data, comparing data over time, noticing gaps in data, unpacking dichotomies of public opinion, and more.

While access to higher education has increased globally, student retention has become a major challenge. This book analyses various aspects of the learning pathways of black students from a range of disciplinary backgrounds at a relatively elite, English-medium, historically white South African university. The students are part of a generation of young black people who have grown up in the new South Africa and are gaining access to higher education in unprecedented numbers. Based on two longitudinal case studies, Negotiating Learning and Identity in Higher Education makes a contribution to the debates about how to facilitate access and graduation of working-class students. The longitudinal perspective enabled the students participating in the research to reflect on their transition to university and the stumbling blocks they encountered in their senior years. The contributors show that the school-to-university transition is not linear or universal. Students had to negotiate multiple transitions at various times and both resist and absorb institutional, disciplinary and home discourses. The book describes and analyses the students' ambivalence as they straddle often conflicting discourses within their disciplines; within the institution; between home and the institution, and as they occupy multiple subject positions that are related to the boundaries of place and time. Each chapter also describes the ways in which the institution supports and/or hinders students' progress, explores the implications of its findings for models of support and addresses the issue of what constitutes meaningful access to institutional and disciplinary discourses.

Biographical data provide unique insights into social life, but they also pose some significant challenges for social science researchers. This book offers a systematic, flexible guide to using biographical narrative methods in your research project. Drawing upon the authors' own research, as well as case studies from a range of international contexts and disciplines, the book illustrates how biographical approaches can be tailored to different research questions and environments. This book will help you to: * Navigate any complexities or missteps when undertaking real-world research * Apply your analytical and research tools to your research question * Choose the right research design for your project, whether single or mixed methods * Ground your understanding within diverse real-world research examples. Clear, adaptable, and applied, this is your definitive guide to working with biographical methods.

During the last two decades, structural equation modeling (SEM) has emerged as a powerful multivariate data analysis tool in social science research settings, especially in the fields of sociology, psychology, and education. Although its roots can be traced back to the first half of this century, when Spearman (1904) developed factor analysis and Wright (1934) introduced path analysis, it was not until the 1970s that the works by Karl Joreskog and his associates (e. g., Joreskog, 1977; Joreskog and Van Thillo, 1973) began to make general SEM techniques accessible to the social and behavioral science research communities. Today, with the development and increasing avail ability of SEM computer programs, SEM has become a well-established and respected data analysis method, incorporating many of the traditional analysis techniques as special cases. State-of-the-art SEM software packages such as LISREL (Joreskog and Sorbom, 1993a, b) and EQS (Bentler, 1993; Bentler and Wu, 1993) handle a variety of ordinary least squares regression designs as well as complex structural equation models involving variables with arbitrary distributions. Unfortunately, many students and researchers hesitate to use SEM methods, perhaps due to the somewhat complex underlying statistical repre sentation and theory. In my opinion, social science students and researchers can benefit greatly from acquiring knowledge and skills in SEM since the methods-applied appropriately-can provide a bridge between the theo retical and empirical aspects of behavioral research."

Research Methods: A Practical Guide for the Social Sciences is an essential resource for the social researcher. It offers a comprehensive introduction for first time researchers right through to thorough and practical advice for those undertaking more advanced work. The book draws on real life experiences from a wide variety of disciplines to show how theory translates into practice, and offers a rigorous analysis of why researchers choose the methods they use. Think about it boxes throughout the text offer questions and ideas to help the researcher to focus on core issues and practical considerations, whilst your research summaries present questions, activities and checklists to help the researcher to develop their ideas. The book is supported by a fantastic companion website that contains learning materials, interactive exercises, videos, questionnaires, datasets and much more. The website can be found at: www.pearsoned.co.uk/matthews Written to reflect the breadth of the social sciences, Research Methods is essential for anyone conducting research in sociology, health policy, social work, criminology, social policy, cultural studies, political studies, public policy and related fields.

Investigates theoretically and empirically what it means to design technological artefacts while embracing the large number of practices which practitioners engage with when handling technologies. The authors discusses the fields of design and sociomateriality through their shared interests towards the basic nature of work, collaboration, organization, technology, and human agency, striving to make the debates and concepts originating in each field accessible to each other, and thus moving sociomateriality closer to the practical concerns of design and providing a useful analytical toolbox to information system designers and field researchers alike. Sociomaterial-Design: Bounding Technologies in Practice takes on the challenge of redefining design practices through insights from the emerging debate on sociomateriality. It does so by bringing forward a comparative examination of two longitudinal ethnographic studies of the practices within two emergency departments - one in Canada and one in the United States of America. A particular focus is placed upon the use of current collaborative artefacts within the emergency departments and the transformation into digital artefacts through design.

Design Research uses scientific methods to evaluate designs and build design theories. This book starts with recognizable questions in Design Research, such as A/B testing, how users learn to operate a device and why computer-generated faces are eerie. Using a broad range of examples, efficient research designs are presented together with statistical models and many visualizations. With the tidy R approach, producing publication-ready statistical reports is straight-forward and even non-programmers can learn this in just one day. Hundreds of illustrations, tables, simulations and models are presented with full R code and data included. Using Bayesian linear models, multi-level models and generalized linear models, an extensive statistical framework is introduced, covering a huge variety of research situations and yet, building on only a handful of basic concepts. Unique solutions to recurring problems are presented, such as psychometric multi-level models, beta regression for rating scales and ExGaussian regression for response times. A "think-first" approach is promoted for model building, as much as the quantitative interpretation of results, stimulating readers to think about data generating processes, as well as rational decision making. New Statistics for Design Researchers: A Bayesian Workflow in Tidy R targets scientists, industrial researchers and students in a range of disciplines, such as Human Factors, Applied Psychology, Communication Science, Industrial Design, Computer Science and Social Robotics. Statistical concepts are introduced in a problem-oriented way and with minimal formalism. Included primers on R and Bayesian statistics provide entry point for all backgrounds. A dedicated chapter on model criticism and comparison is a valuable addition for the seasoned scientist.

The decades after 1800 saw a fundamental redefinition of the role of the state in Ireland. Many of the most pervasive and enduring forms of official intervention and regulation date from this period, such as a permanent centralised police force, a system of elementary education, a network of small courts, and a national system of poor relief. Many of these were preceded by large-scale official investigations whose results were published as parliamentary reports, another novel aspect of state activity. The book analyses the construction and dissemination of an official image of Irish society in those reports. It takes as its principal example a state inquiry into poverty: the largest social survey of Ireland: lasting from 1833 to 1836, running to thousands of pages, and offering a unique insight into pre-famine society and official perceptions of it. This volume also illuminates two other contemporary aspects of the development of the state. The 1820s saw the beginning in Ireland of a comprehensive engagement with the parliamentary process by the population at large, with the appearance of the first mass electoral organisation in Europe, the Catholic Association. Finally, the Union of 1801 meant that Irish legislation was now discussed and enacted in Britain rather than in Ireland, and by a parliament and public newly informed by official reports on Ireland. This was therefore a crucial period in the construction of the public understanding of Ireland in both Britain and Ireland, a process in which the state and its publications played a fundamental role.

"Jarvis does a real service by introducing a new vision of research into the current debates over the nature and mission of the academy."
--Continuing Higher Education Review

"Jarvis has managed to bridge the worlds of theory and professional practice in a way that will help each better understand the other."
--Jon Wergin, professor of educational studies, School of Education, Virginia Commonwealth University

Genuine understanding of any field can only be developed through practice in that field. Peter Jarvis, an internationally known authority in the field of professional adult and continuing education, shows how theories of practice evolve from the practice itself and are unique to each practitioner. Doing professional work gives practitioners many opportunities to question, test, and revise theories taught in graduate programs. Such practice-based research gives rise to personalized theories of practice and also raises new questions for personal exploration.

Using examples and vignettes drawn from professional fields and settings around the world, Jarvis provides valuable insights into the nature of professional practice, the ways professionals learn, and how education for practice can be enhanced at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Jarvis examines why so many practitioners find their professional education inadequate preparation for actual practice, and he calls for a partnership between higher education and the professional workplace that will meet the challenges of the relationship between the two.

The Practitioner-Researcher is designed to help all practitioners for whom research is a tool in improving practice--from graduate students and their professors to employees in diverse industries or professional groups--and to facilitate an understanding of the relationship between practice and theory within the worlds of work and learning.

This open access book proposes a conceptual framework for understanding measurement across a broad range of scientific fields and areas of application, such as physics, engineering, education, and psychology. It addresses contemporary issues and controversies within measurement in light of the framework, including operationalism, definitional uncertainty, and the relations between measurement and computation, and describes how the framework, operating as a shared concept system, supports understanding measurement’s work in different domains, using examples in the physical and human sciences. This revised and expanded second edition features a new analysis of the analogies and the differences between the error/uncertainty-related approach adopted in physical measurement and the validity-related approach adopted in psychosocial measurement. In addition, it provides a better analysis and presentation of measurement scales, in particular about their relations with quantity units, and introduces the measurand identification/definition as a part of the "Hexagon Framework" along with new examples from the physical and psychosocial sciences. Researchers and academics across a wide range of disciplines including biological, physical, social, and behavioral scientists, as well as specialists in measurement and philosophy appreciate the work’s fresh and provocative approach to the field at a time when sound measurements of complex scientific systems are increasingly essential to solving critical global problems.

This book presents the proceedings from ECONOPHYS-2015, an international workshop held in New Delhi, India, on the interrelated fields of "econophysics" and "sociophysics", which have emerged from the application of statistical physics to economics and sociology. Leading researchers from varied communities, including economists, sociologists, financial analysts, mathematicians, physicists, statisticians, and others, report on their recent work, discuss topical issues, and review the relevant contemporary literature. A society can be described as a group of people who inhabit the same geographical or social territory and are mutually involved through their shared participation in different aspects of life. It is possible to observe and characterize average behaviors of members of a society, an example being voting behavior. Moreover, the dynamic nature of interaction within any economic sector comprising numerous cooperatively interacting agents has many features in common with the interacting systems of statistical physics. It is on these bases that interest has grown in the application within sociology and economics of the tools of statistical mechanics. This book will be of value for all with an interest in this flourishing field.

This book focuses on the latest developments in behaviormetrics and data science, covering a wide range of topics in data analysis and related areas of data science, including analysis of complex data, analysis of qualitative data, methods for high-dimensional data, dimensionality reduction, visualization of such data, multivariate statistical methods, analysis of asymmetric relational data, and various applications to real data. In addition to theoretical and methodological results, it also shows how to apply the proposed methods to a variety of problems, for example in consumer behavior, decision making, marketing data, and social network structures. Moreover, it discuses methodological aspects and applications in a wide range of areas, such as behaviormetrics; behavioral science; psychology; and marketing, management and social sciences. Combining methodological advances with real-world applications collected from a variety of research fields, the book is a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners, as well as for applied statisticians and data analysts.