Quantifying Accidents: Cars, Statistics, and Unintended Consequences in the Construction of Social Problems Over Time

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Itai Vardi
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth B. Hunter ◽  
Luis A. Rodriguez

PurposeRecent teacher evaluation reforms around the globe substantially increased the number of teacher observations, consequently raising observers' (typically school administrators') observational loads. The purpose of this study is to examine associations between observational loads and school administrator turnover, reported time use and strain.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses education administrative data from the state of Tennessee to examine the link between observational loads and school administrator outcomes of interest. The results present credible regression estimates that isolate variation in observational loads within schools over time and within observers over time.FindingsThe evidence suggests individual school administrators allocate a set amount of time to observations that is insensitive to observational load and seemingly assign observations to colleagues strategically. School administrator reports do not suggest observational loads are associated with negative unintended consequences on administrator strain or observer turnover.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the literature on teacher evaluation by shedding light on how the constraints posed by an evaluation system may affect the work of school administrators. It also extends the job demands-resources theory that describes worker responses to new job demands.


2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Jussim ◽  
Kent D. Harber

This article shows that 35 years of empirical research on teacher expectations justifies the following conclusions: (a) Self-fulfilling prophecies in the classroom do occur, but these effects are typically small, they do not accumulate greatly across perceivers or over time, and they may be more likely to dissipate than accumulate; (b) powerful self-fulfilling prophecies may selectively occur among students from stigmatized social groups; (c) whether self-fulfilling prophecies affect intelligence, and whether they in general do more harm than good, remains unclear, and (d) teacher expectations may predict student outcomes more because these expectations are accurate than because they are self-fulfilling. Implications for future research, the role of self-fulfilling prophecies in social problems, and perspectives emphasizing the power of erroneous beliefs to create social reality are discussed.


2002 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie C. Palmer

William Dean Howells was committed to determining what would inspire people from different economic, political, and religious backgrounds to imagine each other as respected members of a human community. Scholars have debated whether his realist aesthetic was suited to do that. Some have argued that realism works to contain the lower classes, and others have argued that it portrays a heterogeneous society in which social problems can be solved through human negotiation between the middle classes and others. Scholars have not, however, addressed how Howells performs the necessary shift in his fiction from a space in which characters focus on their own interests to a space in which they seek to enact justice through negotiating with disparate people. This article identifies and names what enacts that necessary shift: the literary device of accident. In Howells's fiction chance meetings, feelings of accidental connection, and injuries during travel force his middle-class characters into understanding labor politics, slum dwellers, and morally compromised millionaires. His use of accident changes over time, from The Undiscovered Country (1880) to Annie Kilburn (1889) and A Hazard of New Fortunes (1890). This essay traces that change in order to reflect on the democratic and antidemocratic implications of Howells's realist aesthetic.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Laure Fayard ◽  
John Van Maanen

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and reflect on the experience as corporate ethnographers working in (and for) a large, multinational company with a remit to study and articulate “the culture of the firm.” Design/methodology/approach – The research relied heavily on interviews and some (participant) observation carried out periodically – in North America, Europe and Asia – over an eight-year period. Findings – The authors discuss how the studies were produced, received, and occasionally acted on in the firm and the realization over time of the performativity of the work as both expressive and constitutive of firm’s culture. Research limitations/implications – The increasing entanglement in the organization raises questions regarding emic and etic perspectives and the possibility (or impossibility) of “enduring detachment” or “going native” and the associated, often unintended consequences of being both outsiders and insiders. Practical implications – The authors start with the premise that ethnography is about producing a written text and conclude by arguing that ethnography is not fully realized until the writing is read. Social implications – The ethnographic reports, when read by those in the company, made visible a version of Trifecta culture that was interpreted, framed and otherwise responded to in multiple ways by members of the organization. Originality/value – Corporate ethnography is a growing pursuit undertaken by those inside and outside firms. This paper focusses on how and in what ways corporate ethnography sponsored by and written for those in the company shifts the positioning of the ethnographer in the field, the kinds of texts they produce, and the meanings that readers take away from such texts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 324-329
Author(s):  
N. Baltabayeva ◽  
◽  
A. Yerkinbekova ◽  

In this article, there is a need for a new study and teaching of modern Kazakh literature in the science of Kazakh literature. We know that the teaching of Kazakh literature is analyzed and studied in a new way, as the task is to examine it in detail. However, over time, each area of education has not yet been fully studied from the point of view of systematic scientific and methodological training. The relevance of the research lies in the artistic features of Kazakh literature, with a broad focus on current social problems and the topics covered in it, the selection of information, the formation of one's own scientific and methodological approach, effective methods of technology. Systematization, comprehensive analysis of modern effective technologies and methods of teaching Kazakh literature. The goal is to determine the consistency of teaching technologies, the specifics of teaching, and methodological relevance.


Author(s):  
Taylor St John

Chapter eight analyzes why institutions persist, even when they generate unintended consequences for the states that created them. The chapter sets out a typology of possible actions that governments can take to exit from investor–state arbitration. To date, governments have engaged in remarkably little exit. The second section explores how positive feedback has created a new constituency of law firms and investors with an interest in arbitration and therefore has led to a new politics of ISDS. The third section discusses other types of feedback that have stabilized and developed a dense web of commitments enshrining investor–state arbitration. The fourth section observes that over time, competitive dynamics emerged and define investor–state arbitration today: competition between law firms, arbitration organizations, and even jurisdictions hoping to host arbitrations makes exit and reform more difficult. The barriers to exit may be highest for capacity-constrained states.


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