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Assessing Judicial Reforms in Developing Countries: Trust in Law and Criminal Procedure Reform in Chile

This book examines how judicial reform can be effectively assessed through a procedural justice approach. It provides a practical framework for assessment of judicial reform, examining a successful reform in Chile through large scale surveys and longitudinal research.Judicial reform is a key element to democratization and modernization processes in the developing world. Practitioners have struggled with ways to analyze the effects of judicial reform, and to define success. Procedural justice theorists propose that people will obey the law if they consider it fair; this affects willingness to collaborate with the police and the courts, and the general approach that the public has towards social regulations. Judicial reforms such as criminal procedure reforms, which explicitly guarantee the development of a fairer judicial process, represent a scenario that puts these theoretical assumptions to the test. With policy recommendations and applications for international judicial reform, this book tests the real conditions of a procedural justice approach with empirical assessment and analysis. With implications for Latin America and countries undergoing judicial or political reforms worldwide, this book will be an important resource for researchers, policy makers and all those interested in the analysis of judicial reforms, democratization processes and the psychology of justice.

Assessing Model-Based Reasoning using Evidence- Centered Design: A Suite of Research-Based Design Patterns (SpringerBriefs in Statistics)

This Springer Brief provides theory, practical guidance, and support tools to help designers create complex, valid assessment tasks for hard-to-measure, yet crucial, science education standards. Understanding, exploring, and interacting with the world through models characterizes science in all its branches and at all levels of education. Model-based reasoning is central to science education and thus science assessment. Current interest in developing and using models has increased with the release of the Next Generation Science Standards, which identified this as one of the eight practices of science and engineering. However, the interactive, complex, and often technology-based tasks that are needed to assess model-based reasoning in its fullest forms are difficult to develop. Building on research in assessment, science education, and learning science, this Brief describes a suite of design patterns that can help assessment designers, researchers, and teachers create tasks for assessing aspects of model-based reasoning: Model Formation, Model Use, Model Elaboration, Model Articulation, Model Evaluation, Model Revision, and Model-Based Inquiry. Each design pattern lays out considerations concerning targeted knowledge and ways of capturing and evaluating students’ work. These design patterns are available at http://design-drk.padi.sri.com/padi/do/NodeAction?state=listNodes&NODE_TYPE=PARADIGM_TYPE. The ideas are illustrated with examples from existing assessments and the research literature.

Assessing Organizational Behaviors: A Critical Analysis of Measuring Instruments

This book fills a gap in international literature by providing critical reviews on variables of organizational behavior and the main psychological instruments developed to measure them. Measuring instruments developed with theoretical and methodological rigor in the field of Organizational and Work Psychology can contribute to the development of diagnostic analyses to enable organizations to implement the evidence-based changes required for their survival. These changes demand diagnoses based on precise assessments of organizational and individual variables, but many times the professionals responsible for conducting these assessments are not sure of what is the best measuring instrument available. This book is intended to serve as a guide to these professionals. The volume is divided in two parts. The first part brings together chapters dedicated to the following micro-organizational variables: Job Crafting, reactions to organizational change, Psychological Wellbeing at Work, Bridge Employment Assessment in the Work-Retirement Transition, Resilience at Work, and Leadership in Organizations. The second part presents the state-of-the-art of research on the following macro-organizational constructs: Quality of Life at Work, Organizational Climate for Creativity, Values and Organizations, Assessments of Organizational Support, and Contributions by Social Networks Analysis and Organizational Effectiveness. The last chapter presents a critical discussion about the nature and future of organization behavior measuring. Assessing Organizational Behaviors: A Critical Analysis of Measuring Instruments is intended to help market professionals select the diagnostic instruments that best fit into their organizational reality in order to correctly assess organizational behavior. The book will also be of interest to researchers and students in the field of Organizational and Work Psychology as it provides comprehensive overviews of a wide range of instruments developed to measure different variables of organizational behavior.

Assessing Outcomes in Child and Family Services: Comparative Design and Policy Issues (Modern Applications Of Social Work Ser.)

In this collective portrait, editors and authors do not attempt to draw systematic, country-by-country comparisons. Given the magnitude of the issues, they believed that it would be inappropriate to paint with too broad a stroke. What they have accomplished, however, is to codify and identify what the participants repeatedly noted in regard to issues and difficulties inherent in conducting outcome evaluation. These include: varying definitions of outcome; complexities in measuring outcomes of particular interventions with different groups of consumers and documenting the effectiveness of the intervention; the tendency to focus on evaluation of process more than outcome; the challenge of involving practitioners in the evaluation task, in part because its value is unclear to them or perceived as distant or untrustworthy; the typical inadequacy of resources available for systematic evaluation; and the need to inject rigor into the design and execution of evaluation projects. The authors demonstrate strong conviction about sharing research expertise across national boundaries; learning through each other how to cope with organizational impediments to cross-national collaboration; and strengthening the interaction between practice and research. Their contributions suggest that there is wide interest in pursuing cross-national collaboration. In recent years, largely in response to demands by their funding sources for accountability, assessment of performance, and cost effectiveness, researchers in human services have been devoting increased attention to outcome evaluation. Limited attention, however, has been given to the findings of evaluation studies conducted in different countries. The present volume has been organized and edited to address the task of learning from outcome research across the world. Its goal, an extension of a major goal of the human services in any one country, is to improve life chances of vulnerable children and youth.

Assessing Outcomes in Child and Family Services: Comparative Design and Policy Issues

In this collective portrait, editors and authors do not attempt to draw systematic, country-by-country comparisons. Given the magnitude of the issues, they believed that it would be inappropriate to paint with too broad a stroke. What they have accomplished, however, is to codify and identify what the participants repeatedly noted in regard to issues and difficulties inherent in conducting outcome evaluation. These include: varying definitions of outcome; complexities in measuring outcomes of particular interventions with different groups of consumers and documenting the effectiveness of the intervention; the tendency to focus on evaluation of process more than outcome; the challenge of involving practitioners in the evaluation task, in part because its value is unclear to them or perceived as distant or untrustworthy; the typical inadequacy of resources available for systematic evaluation; and the need to inject rigor into the design and execution of evaluation projects. The authors demonstrate strong conviction about sharing research expertise across national boundaries; learning through each other how to cope with organizational impediments to cross-national collaboration; and strengthening the interaction between practice and research. Their contributions suggest that there is wide interest in pursuing cross-national collaboration. In recent years, largely in response to demands by their funding sources for accountability, assessment of performance, and cost effectiveness, researchers in human services have been devoting increased attention to outcome evaluation. Limited attention, however, has been given to the findings of evaluation studies conducted in different countries. The present volume has been organized and edited to address the task of learning from outcome research across the world. Its goal, an extension of a major goal of the human services in any one country, is to improve life chances of vulnerable children and youth.

Assessing Prostitution Policies in Europe (Interdisciplinary Studies in Sex for Sale)

Once again, prostitution occupies a prominent position on public and political agendas, both nationally and internationally. A topic of concern and interest within social and academic realms, it is a highly moralised, contested issue that is at the centre of heated and drawn-out debates. With each chapter dedicated to a separate country and written by a national authority on the subject, Assessing European Prostitution Policies seeks to explore how prostitution is regulated in 21 European countries, thus drawing out important implications for an effective and humane prostitution policy. Indeed, this innovative volume brings together systematic accounts of how national and local forms of governance influence the commercial market for sex as well as the lives of sex workers and third parties. All chapters cover the history of prostitution policy, national laws regulating prostitution, policy formulation and implementation, the national discourse on prostitution, the gap between national and local regulation, the impact of policy on the lives and rights of sex workers, and sex worker advocacy organizations. In addition to this, the authors examine and highlight how immigration, labour, fiscal and welfare law have as much impact on the sex trade as designated prostitution law. A unique interdisciplinary title that is comprehensive in its coverage, Assessing European Prostitution Policies will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students, postdoctoral researchers, sex worker advocacy organisations and policy makers interested in fields such as Sexuality and Prostitution, Public Policy, Criminology and Gender Studies.

Assessing Prostitution Policies in Europe (Interdisciplinary Studies in Sex for Sale)

Once again, prostitution occupies a prominent position on public and political agendas, both nationally and internationally. A topic of concern and interest within social and academic realms, it is a highly moralised, contested issue that is at the centre of heated and drawn-out debates. With each chapter dedicated to a separate country and written by a national authority on the subject, Assessing European Prostitution Policies seeks to explore how prostitution is regulated in 21 European countries, thus drawing out important implications for an effective and humane prostitution policy. Indeed, this innovative volume brings together systematic accounts of how national and local forms of governance influence the commercial market for sex as well as the lives of sex workers and third parties. All chapters cover the history of prostitution policy, national laws regulating prostitution, policy formulation and implementation, the national discourse on prostitution, the gap between national and local regulation, the impact of policy on the lives and rights of sex workers, and sex worker advocacy organizations. In addition to this, the authors examine and highlight how immigration, labour, fiscal and welfare law have as much impact on the sex trade as designated prostitution law. A unique interdisciplinary title that is comprehensive in its coverage, Assessing European Prostitution Policies will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students, postdoctoral researchers, sex worker advocacy organisations and policy makers interested in fields such as Sexuality and Prostitution, Public Policy, Criminology and Gender Studies.

Assessing Quality in European Educational Research: Indicators and Approaches

Competition-based models for research policy and management have an increasing influence throughout the research process, from attracting funding to publishing results. The introduction of quality control methods utilizing various forms of performance indicators is part of this development. The authors presented in this volume deal with the following questions: What counts as ‘quality’ and how can this be assessed? What are the possible side effects of current quality control systems on research conducted in the European Research Area, especially in the social sciences and the humanities?

Assessing Quality of Life and Living Conditions to Guide National Policy: The State of the Art (Social Indicators Research Series #11)

This book is a useful "how to" book for researchers and government offices wanting to start or improve their own QOL survey, and contains "best practices" from all over the world. It is a valuable resource for researchers, policy and for those wishing to effect changes in public policy.

Assessing Social Impact of Social Enterprises: Does One Size Really Fit All? (SpringerBriefs in Business #0)

This book explores the diversity of Social Impact Assessment (SIA) models and outlines a self-assessment on models to support social entrepreneurs. The chapters trace the concept and origins of social entrepreneurship and elicits current implementation of SIA models by social enterprises. The comprehensive review of over seventy five SIA models will be especially useful for social entrepreneurs and researchers.

Assessing Sociologists in Higher Education

This title was first published in 2001. A detailed investigation of the practice of teaching sociology in a climate of increasing scrutiny from external stakeholders. The book explores an academic community accustomed to deconstructing the practices of other professional groups, but now facing a challenge to some of its own beliefs and assumptions.

Assessing Sociologists in Higher Education

This title was first published in 2001. A detailed investigation of the practice of teaching sociology in a climate of increasing scrutiny from external stakeholders. The book explores an academic community accustomed to deconstructing the practices of other professional groups, but now facing a challenge to some of its own beliefs and assumptions.

Assessing Spirituality in a Diverse World (Religion, Spirituality And Health: A Social Scientific Approach Ser. #6)

This volume addresses an important problem in social scientific research on global religions and spirituality: How to evaluate the role of diverse religious and spiritual (R/S) beliefs and practices within the rapid evolution of spiritual globalization and diversification trends. The book examines this question by bringing together a panel of international scholars including psychologists, sociologists, and researchers in religious studies, public health, medicine, and social work. The content includes chapters describing innovative concepts of post-Christian spirituality, Eastern forms of meditation, afterlife beliefs associated with the three dominant cultural legacies, various non-religious worldviews, spiritual Jihad, and secular and religious reverence. The book also covers such important themes as spiritual well-being, faith, struggle, meaning making, modeling, and support, as well as mysticism and using prayer to cope with existential crises. This book advances the understanding of the role of R/S across different faiths and cultural systems, including both Western and non-Western ones, and enriches the mainstream of psychological sciences and practices. It appeals to students, educators, researchers, and clinicians in multiple related fields and disciplines.

Assessing the Contributions of Higher Education: Knowledge for a Disordered World

Despite the broad engagement of higher education institutions in most social sectors, limited thinking and hyper-individualistic approaches have dominated discussions of their value to society. Advocating a more rigorous and comprehensive approach, this insightful book discusses the broad range of contributions made by higher education and the many issues entailed in theorising, observing, measuring and evaluating those contributions.Prepared by a group of leading international scholars, the chapters investigate the multiple interconnections between higher education and society and the vast range of social, economic, political and cultural functions carried out by universities, colleges and institutes and their personnel. The benefits of higher education include employable graduates, new knowledge via research and scholarship, climate science and global connections, and the structuring of economic and social opportunities for whole populations, as well as work and advice for government at all levels. Higher education not only lifts earnings and augments careers, it also immerses students in knowledge, helps to shape them as people, and fosters productivity, democracy, tolerance and international understanding. The book highlights the value added by higher education for persons, organisations, communities, cities, nations, and the world. It also focuses on inequalities in the distribution of that value, and finds that the tools for assessing higher education are neither adequate nor complete as yet.International and interdisciplinary in scope, this book will prove an invaluable resource to students and scholars of higher education, educational policy and social policy. It will also prove a useful resource to both university executives and tertiary education policymakers who want to make higher education more effectively accountable to the public.

Assessing the Evidence in Indigenous Education Research: Implications for Policy and Practice (Postcolonial Studies in Education)

This book explores the current state of research on Indigenous education Australia. In particular, these chapters focus on exploring deep and enduring questions about the failures of schooling to address the needs of Aboriginal communities. This book provides a systematic analysis of existing research to explain how connection to culture - and the recognition of Indigenous sovereignties and knowledges - are the keys to Aboriginal excellence in schooling.

Assessing the Social Impact of Immigration in Europe: Renegotiating Remoteness

Focusing on the social impact of migration, this book explores migration as an inevitable part of rural development and transition in light of the sharp political divides in European and national political arenas on the topic. It provides an innovative immigration impact assessment based on recently conducted empirical work to enhance local development in European rural and remote regions, looking to promote change in the perception of migration and related policies and practices.The book concentrates on third country nationals (TCNs), considering the spaces in which TCNs settle down as both the input and output of a process of collective production of places. Chapters analyse how the particular traits of rural and remote contexts interact with TCNs’ integration paths and impact, looking at how demographic trends, socio-economic dynamics and migration patterns to a specific region affect the opportunities, policy responses, societal attitudes and perceptions towards TCNs.With empirically grounded recommendations and advice on strategies and solutions to improve the local governance of migration, this book will be a useful tool for European policymakers. It will also be an informative and interesting read for regional studies, governance and human geography scholars focusing on migration.

Assessing the Support Needs of Adopted Children and Their Families: Building Secure New Lives

Written in consultation with a range of experts, clinicians and practitioners as well as adoptive children, families and birth relatives, this book gives helpful guidance on making evidence-based assessments and planning successful adoption support. Key features include: a discussion of the main themes of adoption and pointers for practice in relation to the Assessment Framework a guide to the use of evidence-based approaches to assessment, including the tools commissioned by the Department of Health and the Department for Education a model for analysis and planning, and planning support and interventions an investigation of the source, range and value of support services and interventions that can promote the wellbeing of adopted children, their adoptive families and birth relatives. Packed with practical advice, case examples and models of good practice, this book is invaluable for social workers and managers involved with the adoption process and the well-being of children and families. It is also essential reading for social work students learning about working with children and families.

Assessing the Support Needs of Adopted Children and Their Families: Building Secure New Lives

Written in consultation with a range of experts, clinicians and practitioners as well as adoptive children, families and birth relatives, this book gives helpful guidance on making evidence-based assessments and planning successful adoption support. Key features include: a discussion of the main themes of adoption and pointers for practice in relation to the Assessment Framework a guide to the use of evidence-based approaches to assessment, including the tools commissioned by the Department of Health and the Department for Education a model for analysis and planning, and planning support and interventions an investigation of the source, range and value of support services and interventions that can promote the wellbeing of adopted children, their adoptive families and birth relatives. Packed with practical advice, case examples and models of good practice, this book is invaluable for social workers and managers involved with the adoption process and the well-being of children and families. It is also essential reading for social work students learning about working with children and families.

Assessing the Viva in Higher Education: Chasing Moments of Truth (The Enabling Power of Assessment #6)

This book makes the case for a revival in interest in the viva. As an oral assessment of a treatise or dissertation or of a student’s performance in art or dance the viva has a long history dating back to the time of the Greeks. It can be found today in the form of professional, vocational and academic vivas, where a judgment of oral performance is required to gain entry into a profession or community of scholars.In a time when there are scandals about students selling essays to other students, the viva provides a fertile ground for probing the student to see whether they are in fact the authors of the work being assessed and know its content and how to think cognitively or otherwise.Given that we actually know so little about the viva, the book theorises the viva based on a unique sample of vivas that have been filmed or in which the author himself has been participant, and discusses why its format is so different in Anglo-Saxon languages and Latin and other languages.The book offers educational policy-makers and examiners a trade-off between arguments in support of the viva and the demand for other, ever more cost-effective forms of assessment as the numbers of both undergraduate and postgraduate students threaten to increase. It also argues that with demand in the labour market for qualified graduates who are better equipped with transferable skills, such as the ability to communicate complex ideas verbally in a competent, well-argued fashion and not merely through the use of rhetoric, what appear to be cost-effective forms of assessment in the short run (e.g. written exams with standardised questions or multiple choice) may actually in the long run be of less value if we are investing in a future workforce with so-called 21st century communication skills.If the viva were abandoned, the student would be robbed of the opportunity to stage a defence.

Assessing Well-Being: The Collected Works of Ed Diener (Social Indicators Research Series #39)

The Sandvik, Diener, and Seidlitz (1993) paper is another that has received widespread attention because it documented the fact that self-report well-being scales correlate with a number of other methods of measuring the same concepts, such as with reports by knowledgeable “informants” (family and friends), expe- ence sampling measurement, and the memory for good versus bad life events. A single factor was found to underlie measures using different methods, and a n- ber of different well-being self-report measures were found to correlate with the non-self-report measures. Thus, although the self-report measures of well-being are imperfect, and can be in uenced by response artifacts, they have substantial validity as shown by their correlations with measurements based on alternative methods. Whereas the Pavot and Diener article reviewed the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Lucas, Diener, and Larsen (2003) paper reviews various approaches to assessing positive emotions. As we wrote in the chapter in this volume in which we present new measures, we do not consider any of the existing measures of positive affect to be entirely acceptable for measuring subjective well-being in the affect area, and that is why we have created and validated a new measure.

Assessment and Communication of Risk: A Pocket Text for Health and Safety Professionals

This is the long-awaited pocket text on risk assessment for students and professionals in all health and safety fields. Risk assessment and risk-based decision-making are essential skills in today’s health and safety fields, but a convenient pocket or desk reference has been needed with enough theory to begin a preliminary risk assessment, together with clear explanations, applications, and worked examples. This book addresses that need. It provides a practical resource for estimating risks in various applications, as well as assisting with the design of larger project-based assessments. It explains the two main numeric procedures: probabilistic, or “catastrophic”, and quantitative, or “chronic”, risk assessment, along with chapters on qualitative risk assessment and approaches to food-related risks. A final chapter examines how people perceive risk, and provides advice and assistance in the development of essential, effective risk communication with the public and with the media. Numerous case studies are analyzed. Assessment and Communication of Risk: A Pocket Text for Health and Safety Professionals is a one-stop resource for students in all health and safety fields, and provides a valuable guide for existing field practitioners in public health, occupational health and safety, hospitals, environmental assessment offices, and ministries of health, labour, and the environment.

Assessment and Culture: Psychological Tests with Minority Populations (ISSN)

Assessment and Culture challenges the classical approach to the assessment of minority populations by pointing out the deficiencies in this approach and offers instead a bio-cultural model of assessment. The principle objective of this book is to help mental health professionals to more accurately assess individuals from various ethnic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The culture-fair techniques and strategies of the book tap into a broad range of the abilities and aptitudes of the examinee. Assessment and Culture provides a cultural frame of reference which allows the examiner to take into account the individual's social and cultural factors in development, coping style and personal history. Individual chapters consider the practical aspects of assessing the intellectual, linguistic, academic, visual-motor, emotional and vocational functioning of culturally diverse children. An entire section of the book is devoted to writing the assessment report.

Assessment and Evaluation of Health and Medical Care (UK Higher Education OUP Humanities & Social Sciences Health & Social Welfare)

A comprehensive methods text describing the variety of approaches available in the assessment and evaluation of health and medical care. The text not only describes the principles of randomized controlled trials, case control studies, cohort studies and social surveys but also the value of qualitative methods in gaining an understanding of healthcare. Chapters are also included on the principles and problems of measuring outcomes in terms of patient satisfaction and quality of life, and assessing the economic value of treatments. The specific methodological problems of screening are discussed, and a final chapter outlines the issues surrounding meta-analysis and systematic reviews.

Assessment and Modification of Emotional Behavior: (pdf) (Advances in the Study of Communication and Affect #6)

Assessment-Center: Entwicklung und Anwendung – mit 57 AC-Übungen und Checklisten

AC-Experten zeigen in diesem praxisnahen Buch, wie man Assessment-Center professionell, kreativ, sozialverträglich und gleichzeitig kosteneffizient und flexibel gestaltet und durchführt – im Einsatzgebiet Personalentwicklung ebenso wie in der Personalauswahl. Neben Grundsätzlichem zur Personaldiagnostik, -beratung und Personenbeurteilung bietet das Buch konkrete Anleitungen zur Konstruktion, Durchführung und Evaluation von ACs in der Praxis. Dabei werden diverse AC-Varianten vorgestellt (Einzel-Assessment, Gruppen-Assessment, 360˚-Feedback) sowie Tipps zur Anbindung an die Unternehmensstrategie gegeben. Zahlreiche Ablaufpläne, Checklisten und Übungen finden sich nicht nur im Buch sondern auch zum Download und eigener Bearbeitung im Internet. Ein Werkzeugkasten für Personalentwickler, Personalmanager, Berater und Führungskräfte.