A Realist Theory of Empirical Testing Resolving the Theory-Ladenness/ Objectivity Debate

The subject of this paper encompasses US policy towards Poland and the Baltic States regarding energy security during Donald Trump’s presidency. It is discernible that vast domestic energy resources have created an opportunity for the US to project more power to these countries, and the surrounding region. We argue that Trump and his administration’s perceptions have served as an intervening variable in that opportunity assessment, in accordance with the neoclassical realist theory. The main research question addressed in this paper is whether US has used that opportunity to contribute to energy security in countries it has traditionally deemed as allies. Two aspects of US approach to energy security of the designated countries are taken into consideration: liquified natural gas exports and support for the Three Seas Initiative. The way Trump presented his policy and its results in his public statements has also been considered in this paper. The article will proceed as follows. The first subsection of the paper represents a summary of energy security challenges in Poland and the Baltic States. The second subsection is dedicated to the opportunity for the US to project energy power and to Trump’s perceptions relevant for the opportunity assessment. The third subsection deals with American LNG exports to these countries as a possible way for contributing to energy security in Poland and the Baltic States. The last part of the paper addresses the Three Seas Initiative and US approach to this platform.

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From Abbott Thayer to the present day: what have we learned about the function of countershading?

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2008.0261 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 364 (1516) ◽

pp. 519-527 ◽

Cited By ~ 51

Author(s):

Hannah M Rowland

Keyword(s):

Empirical Work ◽

Quantitative Measure ◽

Convincing Evidence ◽

Colour Pattern ◽

Protective Effects ◽

Empirical Testing ◽

Background Matching ◽

Visual Characteristics ◽

Subjective Evidence ◽

The Many

Of the many visual characteristics of animals, countershading (darker pigmentation on those surfaces exposed to the most lighting) is one of the most common, and paradoxically one of the least well understood. Countershading has been hypothesized to reduce the detectability of prey to visually hunting predators, and while the function of a countershaded colour pattern was proposed over 100 years ago, the field has progressed slowly; convincing evidence for the protective effects of countershading has only recently emerged. Several mechanisms have been invoked for the concealing function of countershading and are discussed in this review, but the actual mechanisms by which countershading functions to reduce attacks by predators lack firm empirical testing. While there is some subjective evidence that countershaded animals match the background on which they rest, no quantitative measure of background matching has been published for countershaded animals; I now present the first such results. Most studies also fail to consider plausible alternative explanations for the colour pattern, such as protection from UV or abrasion, and thermoregulation. This paper examines the evidence to support each of these possible explanations for countershading and discusses the need for future empirical work.

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Share Contract Revisited: A New Transaction Cost Approach

Man and the Economy ◽

10.1515/me-2021-0001 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Jian Ding ◽

Yixiao Zhou

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Transaction Cost ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Theoretical Explanation ◽

Empirical Testing ◽

Cost Approach ◽

Satisfactory Answer ◽

The Impact

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to explore how sharecropping contracts are chosen over fixed-rent contracts. There are two concerning issues. First, theoretical explanation has been criticized for not providing a satisfactory answer to the question as to why share contracts are chosen. Second, among the existing empirical studies, there are great controversies about the impact of variance of output. Inspired by the latest insights from (Cheung, S. N. S. 2014. Economic Explanation. Hong Kong: Arcadia Press.), this paper not only provides an explanation for the choice of share contract that is suitable for empirical testing, but also solves the puzzle over variance of output.

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Mixed Judicial Selection and Constitutional Review: Evidence from Spain

European Constitutional Law Review ◽

10.1017/s1574019621000110 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-27

Author(s):

Nuno Garoupa ◽

Marian Gili ◽

Fernando Gómez Pomar

Keyword(s):

Constitutional Court ◽

Empirical Testing ◽

Judicial Selection ◽

Constitutional Review

Spanish Constitutional Court – Judicial behaviour – Mixed judicial selection – Empirical testing – Decisions of the Spanish Constitutional Court, 1980-2018 – Judicial background – Government – Senate – Congress – Spanish Judicial Council – Invalidation of statutes –Dissent opinions – Shaping politicisation.

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Defining and conceptualizing news literacy

Journalism ◽

10.1177/14648849211005888 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 146488492110058

Author(s):

Melissa Tully ◽

Adam Maksl ◽

Seth Ashley ◽

Emily K Vraga ◽

Stephanie Craft

Keyword(s):

Mass Communication ◽

Empirical Testing ◽

News Production ◽

Knowledge And Skills ◽

Flexible Approach ◽

Production Distribution ◽

News Literacy ◽

Definition Of

Interest in news literacy inside and outside the academy has grown alongside related concerns about the quality of news and information available. Attempts to fully define, explicate and operationalize news literacy, however, are scattered. Drawing on literature across journalism and mass communication, we propose a definition of news literacy that combines knowledge of news production, distribution and consumption with skills that help audiences assert control over their relationship with news. We propose that knowledge and skills should be conceptualized across five domains: context, creation, content, circulation and consumption. This explication offers a clear, concise and cohesive path for research about news literacy, especially empirical testing to evaluate news literacy and its effectiveness in contributing to relevant behaviours. This framework also offers a consistent, yet flexible, approach to measuring news literacy across diverse contexts.

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Problems of empirical solutions to the theory-ladenness of observation

Synthese ◽

10.1007/s11229-021-03363-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Themistoklis Pantazakos

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

Epistemological Problem ◽

Common Observation ◽

Choice Testing ◽

Empirical Approaches ◽

Theory Ladenness

AbstractRecent years have seen enticing empirical approaches to solving the epistemological problem of the theory-ladenness of observation. I group these approaches in two categories according to their method of choice: testing and refereeing. I argue that none deliver what friends of theory-neutrality want them to. Testing does not work because both evidence from cognitive neuroscience and perceptual pluralism independently invalidate the existence of a common observation core. Refereeing does not work because it treats theory-ladenness as a kind of superficial, removable bias. Even if such treatment is plausible, there is likely no method to ascertain that effects of this bias are not present. More importantly, evidence from cognitive neuroscience suggests that a deeper, likely irremovable kind of theory-ladenness lies within the perceptual modules.

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