This book combines an overview of validity theory, trends in validation practices and a review of standards and guidelines in several international jurisdictions with research synthesis of the validity evidence in different research areas. An overview of theory is both useful and timely, in view of the increased use of tests and measures for decision-making, ranking and policy purposes in large-scale testing, assessment and social indicators and quality of life research. Research synthesis is needed to help us assemble, critically appraise and integrate the overwhelming volume of research on validity in different contexts. Rather than examining whether any given measure is valid, the focus is on a critical appraisal of the kinds of validity evidence reported in the published research literature. The five sources of validity evidence discussed are: content-related, response processes, internal structure, associations with other variables and consequences. The 15 syntheses included here, represent a broad sampling of psychosocial, health, medical and educational research settings, giving us an extensive evidential basis to build upon earlier studies. The book concludes with a meta-synthesis of the 15 syntheses and a discussion of the current thinking of validation practices by leading experts in the field."

This collection provides a comparative analysis of care arrangements in relation to issues of gender and transnational migration, social policy and labour migration in East Asia. Bridging the key topics of migration and gendered cared work through cross country comparisons, it examines how care work and welfare arrangements have been shaped by national and global forces against the backdrop of changing gender relationships, the rise of female labour force participation, low fertility rates and population aging in East Asia. It particularly addresses the 'feminization of migration' which is a salient feature of migration in Asia today as more women from developing countries undertake domestic work and care work in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong. Addressing the issue of care in relation to employment, care and migration regimes in East Asia and the interaction among welfare regimes, labour markets and work-care balance, this collection provides an up-to-date assessment of gendered transnational migration in the region and sheds light on local and transnational policies and practices which aim to improve the welfare of families and migrant workers.

This book presenting the latest thinking on Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility is truly international as the authors hail from no less than four different continents (North America, Europe, Australia and Asia). The idea for this book was conceived during the XII World Congress On Fertility and Sterility where the unique confluence of our distinguished authors occurred in Singapore in October 1986. The authors were involved in the Pre And Post Congress Scientific Programmes which we organised. The overwhelming success of the Congress and the Pre And Post Congress Scientific Programmes prompted this book so that those unable to attend the meeting will still be able to benefit from the vast range of topics covered. This book will be a valuable addition to the knowledge in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and will be useful reading for those wishing to pursue this subspecialty. The authors are indebted to Lee Foundation (Singapore) for help in the publication of this book. We would also like to thank Miss Jam Siew Fong and Miss Tang May Mey for their excellent secretarial assistance. Singapore, January 1988 Charles SANg F H Maurine Tsakok S LTan K H Chan ix 1 Hypothalamic and Pituitary Disorders in Reproduction ROGER J PEPPERELL 1 HYPOTHALAMIC AND PrruITARY DISORDERS Disorders of ovulation are present in 15 to 25% of couples with infertility.

This is a comparative analysis of the micro and macro characteristics of self-help organizations of people with disabilities (SHOPs) in seven selected countries and territories in Asia, namely China Mainland, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Since the 1980s, SHOPs have prospered in this region and were given a major role in the United Nations' forum and the International Year of Disabled Persons in 1981. The analysis shows the differences among the SHOPs in terms of the complexity of their structure, government's affirmative policy, legislation, and leadership qualities. These differences are due to the complex interplay among factors at local, national, and international levels.

SHOPs in this region present a rather homogenous perception in their organization, leadership, social inclusion, and globalization, despite the marked differences in their societies. SHOPs tends to be domocratic and consensual in nature, and led by elected members with assistance from paid professional and clerical support. The self-help organizations are positively regarded in these countries.

Social policy in modern industrialised societies is increasingly challenged by new social risks. These include insecure employment resulting from ever more volatile labour markets, new family and gender relationships resulting from the growing participation of women in the labour market, and the many problems resulting from very much longer human life expectancy. Whereas once social policy had to be in step with a standardised, relatively stable and predictable life course, it now has to cope with non-standardised individual preferences, life courses and families, and the consequent increased risks and uncertainties. This book examines these new life courses and their impact on social policy across a range of East Asian societies. It shows how governments and social welfare institutions have been slow to respond to the new challenges. In response, we propose a life-course sensitised policy as an approach to manage these risks. Overall, the book provides many new insights which will assist advance social policy in East Asia.

Contemporary Asian society is marked by social processes associated with the loss of stable economic growth and high employment; family structures capable of caring for family members in need; and governmental economic and political competence. Post-financial crisis job uncertainty and income and labor market polarization have become important issue in Asian societies. Family structures are viewed as have been weakened, with a corresponding rise in divorce and domestic violence. Trust in the government is in decline. Against this backdrop it is timely to review three critical issues: 1) policies addressing work-related risks and socio-economic security; 2) changes regarding the structure and stability of families; and 3) issues concerning governance in times of weakened state capacity, declining trust, and the emergence of new politics. Containing chapters written by international scholars, this book introduces the concepts and theoretical approaches of risk and risk and governance and places them within the context of Asian societies.

Social policy in modern industrialised societies is increasingly challenged by new social risks. These include insecure employment resulting from ever more volatile labour markets, new family and gender relationships resulting from the growing participation of women in the labour market, and the many problems resulting from very much longer human life expectancy. Whereas once social policy had to be in step with a standardised, relatively stable and predictable life course, it now has to cope with non-standardised individual preferences, life courses and families, and the consequent increased risks and uncertainties. This book examines these new life courses and their impact on social policy across a range of East Asian societies. It shows how governments and social welfare institutions have been slow to respond to the new challenges. In response, we propose a life-course sensitised policy as an approach to manage these risks. Overall, the book provides many new insights which will assist advance social policy in East Asia.

Contemporary Asian society is marked by social processes associated with the loss of stable economic growth and high employment; family structures capable of caring for family members in need; and governmental economic and political competence. Post-financial crisis job uncertainty and income and labor market polarization have become important issue in Asian societies. Family structures are viewed as have been weakened, with a corresponding rise in divorce and domestic violence. Trust in the government is in decline. Against this backdrop it is timely to review three critical issues: 1) policies addressing work-related risks and socio-economic security; 2) changes regarding the structure and stability of families; and 3) issues concerning governance in times of weakened state capacity, declining trust, and the emergence of new politics. Containing chapters written by international scholars, this book introduces the concepts and theoretical approaches of risk and risk and governance and places them within the context of Asian societies.

Information technology (IT) use has generally been regarded as a positive phenomenon which always generates desirable outcomes. Recent years, however, have witnessed increasing negative consequences resulted from IT use. Emerging issues include individual users have experienced technostress from personal social media usage as well as IT use in the workplace; and organisations have experienced a loss in productivity and assets due to employees' non-compliance with information security policies.Themes explored throughout the book include: AI and its Implications for Organisations Augmented Reality Cognitive Absorption of Technology Information Technology in Organisations and Societies: Multidisciplinary Perspectives from AI to Technostress represents a collective effort that not only consolidates studies on key issues and phenomena concerning the positive and negative aspects of IT use but also prescribes future research avenues in related research domains. It is particularly relevant to academics and researchers working on IT use research and can be used as a handy reference guide by those working in the field.

This collection provides a comparative analysis of care arrangements in relation to issues of gender and transnational migration, social policy and labour migration in East Asia. Bridging the key topics of migration and gendered cared work through cross country comparisons, it examines how care work and welfare arrangements have been shaped by national and global forces against the backdrop of changing gender relationships, the rise of female labour force participation, low fertility rates and population aging in East Asia. It particularly addresses the 'feminization of migration' which is a salient feature of migration in Asia today as more women from developing countries undertake domestic work and care work in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong. Addressing the issue of care in relation to employment, care and migration regimes in East Asia and the interaction among welfare regimes, labour markets and work-care balance, this collection provides an up-to-date assessment of gendered transnational migration in the region and sheds light on local and transnational policies and practices which aim to improve the welfare of families and migrant workers.

This book combines an overview of validity theory, trends in validation practices and a review of standards and guidelines in several international jurisdictions with research synthesis of the validity evidence in different research areas. An overview of theory is both useful and timely, in view of the increased use of tests and measures for decision-making, ranking and policy purposes in large-scale testing, assessment and social indicators and quality of life research. Research synthesis is needed to help us assemble, critically appraise and integrate the overwhelming volume of research on validity in different contexts. Rather than examining whether any given measure is "valid", the focus is on a critical appraisal of the kinds of validity evidence reported in the published research literature. The five sources of validity evidence discussed are: content-related, response processes, internal structure, associations with other variables and consequences. The 15 syntheses included here, represent a broad sampling of psychosocial, health, medical and educational research settings, giving us an extensive evidential basis to build upon earlier studies. The book concludes with a meta-synthesis of the 15 syntheses and a discussion of the current thinking of validation practices by leading experts in the field.

Increasingly, we live in an environment of our own making: a 'world as design' over the natural world. For more than half of the global population, this environment is also thoroughly urban. But what does a global urban condition mean for the human condition? How does the design of the city and the urban process, in response to the issues and challenges of the Anthropocene, produce new ethical categories, shape new moral identities and relations, and bring about consequences that are also morally significant? In other words, how does the urban shape the ethical-and in what ways? Conversely, how can ethics reveal relations and realities of the urban that often go unnoticed? This book marks the first systematic study of the city through the ethical perspective in the context of the Anthropocene. Six emergent urban conditions are examined, namely, precarity, propinquity, conflict, serendipity, fear and the urban commons.

Increasingly, we live in an environment of our own making: a 'world as design' over the natural world. For more than half of the global population, this environment is also thoroughly urban. But what does a global urban condition mean for the human condition? How does the design of the city and the urban process, in response to the issues and challenges of the Anthropocene, produce new ethical categories, shape new moral identities and relations, and bring about consequences that are also morally significant? In other words, how does the urban shape the ethical-and in what ways? Conversely, how can ethics reveal relations and realities of the urban that often go unnoticed? This book marks the first systematic study of the city through the ethical perspective in the context of the Anthropocene. Six emergent urban conditions are examined, namely, precarity, propinquity, conflict, serendipity, fear and the urban commons.

This book presenting the latest thinking on Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility is truly international as the authors hail from no less than four different continents (North America, Europe, Australia and Asia). The idea for this book was conceived during the XII World Congress On Fertility and Sterility where the unique confluence of our distinguished authors occurred in Singapore in October 1986. The authors were involved in the Pre And Post Congress Scientific Programmes which we organised. The overwhelming success of the Congress and the Pre And Post Congress Scientific Programmes prompted this book so that those unable to attend the meeting will still be able to benefit from the vast range of topics covered. This book will be a valuable addition to the knowledge in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and will be useful reading for those wishing to pursue this subspecialty. The authors are indebted to Lee Foundation (Singapore) for help in the publication of this book. We would also like to thank Miss Jam Siew Fong and Miss Tang May Mey for their excellent secretarial assistance. Singapore, January 1988 Charles SANg F H Maurine Tsakok S LTan K H Chan ix 1 Hypothalamic and Pituitary Disorders in Reproduction ROGER J PEPPERELL 1 HYPOTHALAMIC AND PrruITARY DISORDERS Disorders of ovulation are present in 15 to 25% of couples with infertility.

In the past few decades, societies in Asia have experienced rapid and dramatic changes in their economic, social and political spheres. Despite the wide diversity among these countries, a few general trends can be observed. Globalization has swept across Asia, bringing intensive economic interactions, with a strong commitment to liberalism and market capitalism. Wage labour has become the common form of employment. Individuals, as well as countries, are increasingly exposed to the competitive and uncertain global market. Employment protection, particularly for vulnerable labour groups - youth, women, seniors and migrants - has become a pressing issue for most Asian governments.Industrialization and urbanization have had a major impact on demographics, family structures and normative frameworks. The declining fertility rate has been recognized as a defining feature of a modern society, leading to small families and reducing instances of multi-generational co-residency. Changing family structures have contributed to changes in family values and roles, especially the role of women. Sometimes willingly, sometimes compelled, women are entering the workplace in increasing numbers, particularly as migrant workers. Similarly, the elderly are experiencing changes in their roles and participation in society. Family duties compete, and are often in conflict with, the demands of work. The issue of providing adequate and quality care to family members has been exacerbated by the fact that Asian societies are ageing.It is commonly acknowledged that, in Asian societies, personal care and support needs are primarily met by family - both immediate and extended - and, to a lesser degree, by community networks. Governments had gradually established their own social welfare systems in an effort to support economic growth and sustain their legitimacy by meeting certain recognized social needs. The success of these ventures varies across societies, and, naturally, there have been criticisms of the breadth and depth of these provisions.This book addresses social issues related to family, ageing and work that arise from these changes in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Philippine and Sri Lanka. These societies represent different levels of economic and social development, but face similar challenges and their social interventions can be usefully compared. This variety of subjects provides the reader with a more comprehensive understanding of the changes that have occurred, the problems that have emerged and the strategies that have been adopted. This volume provides insight into ways of addressing social issues in this rapidly changing part of the world.