The Metaphor of a “Level Playing Field” in Games and Sports

2019 ◽  
pp. 137-154
Author(s):  
Leslie Francis

In sports, the concept of a “level playing field” is much praised but not well understood. One way to construct the idea is in terms of the rules of the game: if the rules are public, consistently enforced, and respected by players, the game is fair. Another approach to construction is in terms of justice: some rules of the game are unfair and thus the field is not level. Interestingly, although the “rules of the game” metaphor is drawn from games to sports, the corresponding idea of a level playing field is not incorporated into the design of games. This chapter explores the relationship between ideas of a level playing field and rules of games. It argues that how games are constructed sheds light on constructivist accounts of level playing fields in sports. Games take many forms and are fluid rather than static; rules develop and change over time. Sports do so as well, responding to pressures for inclusion and fairness. There is no one perfectly level field; there are fields that are more or less level, in different directions and dimensions.

1996 ◽  
Vol 21 (02) ◽  
pp. 285-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves Dezalay ◽  
Bryant Garth

This article seeks to show the way that professional competition, including academic competition, about the definitions and categories of dispute resolution transforms the field of business disputing. It draws on extensive interviews and focuses on two case studies. The first is “international commercial arbitration,” and the second is the ADR movement, especially “mediation,” in the United States. In each case, the article shows that there is competition about what can legitimately be termed arbitration or mediation; that there is competition more generally for the business of business disputing; that the competition is not played on a level playing field; that competitors compete in terms of the symbolic capital that they have to offer, which is changing over time and in relation to what others possess; and that the (always provisional) results are important for transforming the “rules of the game” for governing business transactions. The internal transformations in the field of business disputing also take place in close conjunction with transformations that can be seen as outside, above all, the international restructuring of business relations in the 1970s and 1980s.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peggy Levitt ◽  
Deepak Lamba-Nieves

This article explores how the conceptualization, management, and measurement of time affect the migration-development nexus. We focus on how social remittances transform the meaning and worth of time, thereby changing how these ideas and practices are accepted and valued and recalibrating the relationship between migration and development. Our data reveal the need to pay closer attention to how migration’s impacts shift over time in response to its changing significance, rhythms, and horizons. How does migrants’ social influence affect and change the needs, values, and mind-frames of non-migrants? How do the ways in which social remittances are constructed, perceived, and accepted change over time for their senders and receivers?


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danqi Hu ◽  
Andrew Stephan

We provide initial evidence that stock exchange procedures around closing auctions advantage speed traders at the expense of auction participants. We show that, on Nasdaq and NYSE Arca, 4:00 pm earnings releases result in informed trading in the continuous regular-hour session in the short window between 4:00 pm and the closing auction; this trading subsequently moves closing prices in the direction of the earnings news. The ability of speed traders to submit 4:00 pm-news orders to the auction through the continuous session earns them up to 1.5% profit and creates an unlevel playing field because most auction participants are not allowed to cancel their orders. When stock exchanges recommended that firms delay disclosures until after the market close, those with higher institutional ownership were more likely to do so voluntarily. Our study has implications regarding the timing of information releases and the design of the closing process.


Author(s):  
Kathryn E. Wilson ◽  
Andrew Corbett ◽  
Andrew Van Horn ◽  
Diego Guevara Beltran ◽  
Jessica D. Ayers ◽  
...  

Background: Physical activity (PA) mitigated psychological distress during the initial weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet not much is known about whether PA had effects on stress in subsequent months. We examined the relationship between change over time in COVID-related stress and self-reported change in PA between March and July 2020. Methods: Latent growth modeling was used to examine trajectories of change in pandemic-related stress and test their association with self-reported changes in PA in an international sample (n = 679). Results: The participants reported a reduction in pandemic-related stress between April and July of 2020. Significant linear (factor mean = −0.22) and quadratic (factor mean = 0.02) changes (Ps < .001) were observed, indicating a deceleration in stress reduction over time. Linear change was related to change in PA such that individuals who became less active during the pandemic reported less stress reduction over time compared with those who maintained or increased their PA during the pandemic. Conclusions: Individuals who experienced the greatest reduction in stress over time during the pandemic were those who maintained their activity levels or became more active. Our study cannot establish a causal relationship between these variables, but the findings are consistent with other work showing that PA reduces stress.


2021 ◽  
pp. e20210011
Author(s):  
Megan D. Muise ◽  
Charlene F. Belu ◽  
Lucia F. O’Sullivan

Although monogamy (i.e., romantic and/or sexual exclusivity) remains the most common arrangement for romantic partnerships, there is little research exploring how couples communicate about exclusivity to one another. The current study assessed the ways in which couples discuss and negotiate exclusivity agreements, and whether those agreements change over time. Participants were 573 North American adults (mean age = 28.86 years; 52% identified as female) in romantic relationships who completed an online survey asking them to describe their current exclusivity agreements using both structured and open-ended survey questions. Open-ended data were subjected to inductive content analysis, and eight primary themes were identified. Although most (91%) indicated that they have an agreement to remain romantically and sexually exclusive in their relationships, only 43% reported coming to the agreement during an explicit conversation with their partner. More often (52%) the agreements were described as implied, meaning they had never actually been discussed. Of those with exclusivity agreements, 87% reported no change to their agreement throughout the relationship. Implications are discussed in terms of the value of direct communication between partners about exclusivity and infidelity.


Author(s):  
Claire Annesley ◽  
Karen Beckwith ◽  
Susan Franceschet

Chapter 2 sets out the book’s theoretical, conceptual, and methodological approaches for explaining gendered patterns and processes of cabinet formation. Employing a feminist institutionalist approach, the chapter explains how formal and informal rules create and maintain gendered hierarchies that have historically advantaged men in the cabinet appointment process. The chapter also shows how rules change over time, emphasizing the importance of agency, ambiguity, and ideas. The chapter offers a model of the relationship among sets of rules to produce cabinets that include women. The chapter provides justification of the case selection, methods of data collection and organization, and a description of each country case.


Author(s):  
Morgan E. Reynolds ◽  
Michael F. Rayo ◽  
Morgan Fitzgerald ◽  
Mahmoud Abdel - Rasoul ◽  
Susan D. Moffatt - Bruce

Changes in alarm perception and response after prolonged daily exposure is not well studied due to the difficulties in setting up rigorous longitudinal studies in real work domains. A prime example of this is the absence of research studying how conveyed urgency and identifiability of auditory alarms change over time. We conducted a three-year study to understand how alarm performance with respect to these two measures changed over time, ostensibly due to prolonged nurse exposure. Gaining a better understanding of the relationship between these two aspects of a sound’s sensory dimension could be extremely valuable to acoustical alarm designers, as it allows them to anticipate changes in the sounds’ sensory performance over time, and not be overly sensitive to first impressions of the auditory alarm set.


Author(s):  
Vivian L. Vignoles

Identity refers to how people answer the question, “Who are you?” This question may be posed and answered explicitly or implicitly, at a personal or a collective level, to others or to oneself. Perspectives on identity tend to emphasize either personal or social contents and either personal or social processes. This chapter outlines key parameters for an integrative understanding of identity, arguing that identities are inescapably both personal and social, in their content and in the processes by which they are formed, maintained, and changed over time. Drawing on perspectives from psychology and neighboring disciplines, it examines the extensive and interconnected nature of identity content and the confluence of sociocultural, relational, and individual processes by which identities are formed, maintained, and change over time. The simultaneously personal and social nature of identity gives the construct its greatest theoretical potential: to provide insight into the relationship between the individual and society.


Author(s):  
Jutta Brunnée ◽  
Stephen J. Toope

SummaryCanadian courts are approaching the task of mediating the relationship between international law and domestic law with newfound energy. Yet, for all their declared openness to international law, courts are still inclined to avoid deciding cases on the basis of international law. This does not mean that international law is given no effect or that its broad relevance is denied. The avoidance strategy is more subtle: even when they invoke or refer to international law, Canadian courts generally do not give international norms concrete legal effect in individual cases. Although international law is brought to bear on a growing range of questions, its potential impact is tempered — and we fear largely eviscerated — because it is merely one factor in the application and interpretation of domestic law. Within the Canadian legal order the question of “bindingness” of international law is closely intertwined with the manner in which it comes to influence the interpretation of domestic law. In the case of norms that are binding on Canada under international law, Canadian courts have an obligation to interpret domestic law in conformity with the relevant international norms, as far as this is possible. By contrast, norms that do not bind Canada internationally (for example, soft law or provisions of treaties not ratified by Canada) can help inform the interpretation of domestic law and, depending on the norm in question and the case at issue, may even be persuasive. Courts may, and in some cases should, draw upon such norms for interpretative purposes, but they are not strictly speaking required to do so. However, especially following the Supreme Court’s decision inBaker, there appears to be a trend towards treating all of international law, whether custom or treaty, binding on Canada or not, implemented or unimplemented, in the same manner — as relevant and perhaps persuasive, but not as determinative, dare we say obligatory. Our concern is that if international law is merely persuasive, it becomes purely optional, and can be ignored at the discretion of the judge. We argue that it is not enough to treat all normative threads in this fashion — over time this approach risks weakening the fabric of the law.


1979 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Jo shepard ◽  
Michael B. Bracken

SummaryThe relationship between abortion experience and contraceptive practice is examined among women having a first or repeat induced abortion at the same clinic(n=443 in each group). A previous abortion was the single most important predictor of past contraceptive practices and of contraception at the conception of the pregnancy being terminated. A previous abortion was associated with greater use of all methods of contraception among women not on welfare (P < 0·001). During the 18–month study the proportion of patients who had had previous abortions rose from 13·3% to 21·1%, and those undergoing repeat abortions appeared increasingly likely to be on welfare. Contraceptive practies did not change over time except for women on welfare having repeat abortions who became less likely to have used contraception at the time of conception (p < 0·05). While the experience of abortion is generally associated with improved contraceptive practice, many women in this population, particularly those on welfare, appear to remain exposed to unprotected coitus and subsequent repeat abortion.


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