Response to the Comments by Larichev,Korhonen and Vargas on ‘Power Relations and Group Aggregation in the Multiplicative AHP and SMART’

We are pleased to continue the open discussion in this journal and we hope that it will contribute to the clarification of the main issues. Aggregation by geometric means has been accepted as a technically sound procedure. The critical comments now seem to concentrate on the establishment of the Multiplicative AHP, the publication of a method for weighted voting before empirical verification, and the significance of negotiations in decision making. Several numerical examples illustrate the arithmetic-mean and geometric-mean calculations, and the legitimacy of rank reversal is revisited. We discuss the issues in the same order here. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Multi-Crit. Decis. Anal. 6 : 171–174 (1997) No. of Figures: 0. No. of Tables: 5. No. of References: 9.     

Scale sensitivity in the multiplicative AHP and SMART

We consider first a variant of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) with a one-parametric class of geometric scales to quantify human comparative judgement and with a multiplicative structure: logarithmic regression to calculate the impact scores of the alternatives at the first evaluation level and a geometric-mean aggregation rule to calculate the final scores at the second level. We demonstrate that the rank order of the impact scores and final scores is scale-independent. Finally we show that the multiplicative AHP is an exponential version of the simple multi-attribute rating technique (SMART). In fact, the multiplicative AHP is concerned with ratios of intervals on the dimension of desirability, whereas SMART analyses differences in the corresponding orders of magnitude.     

The Multiplicative AHP,SMART and ELECTRE in a Common Context

This paper presents a comparative study of three popular methods for multicriteria decision analysis based on a particular model of human preferential judgement. Since decisions are invariably made within a given context, we model relative preferences as ratios of increments or decrements in an interval on an axis of desirability. Next we sort the ratio magnitudes into a small number of categories, represented by numerical values on a geometric scale. We explain why the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the French collection of ELECTRE methods, typically based on pairwise comparison methods, are concerned with categories of ratio magnitudes, whereas the simple multiattribute rating technique (SMART) essentially uses orders of magnitude of these ratios. This phenomenon provides a common basis for the analysis of the methods in question and for a cross-validation of their results. We illustrate the approach via a well-known case study, the choice of a location for a nuclear power plant. We conclude by discussing the scope of the comparative study. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stochastic pairwise comparative judgements and direct ratings of alternatives in the REMBRANDT system

The REMBRANDT system for multicriteria decision analysis consists of both the multiplicative variant of the AHP (which employs a method of pairwise comparative judgements by a decision maker to arrive at final impact scores for the alternatives under consideration) and SMART, the simple multiattribute rating technique (which utilizes direct rating of alternatives to achieve final impact scores). This paper examines the effect of imprecision or uncertainty in the decision maker's pairwise judgements or ratings of alternatives by expressing each pairwise judgement or rating as a probability distribution, and the structure of REMBRANDT's component models is exploited to derive interval judgements or interval ratings of the alternatives’ final impact scores. These interval judgements or interval ratings can be used to determine the probability of rank reversal amongst alternatives, i.e. to assess the stability of the final impact score vector. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Issues of Power, Control, and Status in Group Interaction: From Ferenczi to Foucault

Examination of the issues of power, control, and status in human interaction is made from the works of Kafka, Ferenczi, and Foucault. Ferenczi's confusion of tongues theory as a model is used to describe the dynamics of charismatic group leadership in training group for analyst group candidates.     

Self Psychology, Dreams and Group Psychotherapy: Working in the Playspace

This paper presents one leadership style within a self-psychological approach to working with dreams in group psychotherapy. It stresses an empathic attunement, the creation of safety, and an experience-near playful relationship. Playful is not used lightly here. It is used in the spirit of Winnicott's intermediate space where a mother suspends questions of what is real or not real and what is me and not me. Freud's analogy to a playspace forms a metaphor for the creation of a special atmosphere in a group, or for that matter in individual work as well, that encourages exploration, risk taking, and vulnerability. Working with dreams in this playspace deepens the curative process, not only for the dreamer, but for the entire group.     

同伴团体对儿童青少年学业成就和社会功能关系的影响

运用同伴评价、教师评估和学校记录等多种渠道收集关于同伴团体、社会功能、同伴接纳以及学业成就的资料,旨在考察同伴团体与儿童青少年学业成就和社会功能的关系。研究发现：绝大多数儿童青少年都有自己的同伴团体。这些同伴团体在学业成就上有很高的同质性。学业成就与社会适应无论在团体内的个体水平还是在团体水平上都密切相关。而且,团体的学业表现是个体学业成就和社会适应间的重要调节因素,表明团体学业规范对个体水平上学业成就与社会功能的关系有增强或是减弱的作用。这项研究再一次证明同伴团体在儿童个体发展中的重要意义。     

Multiculturalism and Group Therapy in the United States: A Social Constructionist Perspective

Multiculturalism encourages the inclusion of the broad range of cultural differences that exist in society into our therapeutic dialogues. This paper examines multicultural group therapy through the perspective of social constructionism. Emphasis is given to the unacknowledged and unspoken imbalance of power that exists in psychotherapeutic contexts. The concepts of multiple individual identity and cultural representation are discussed and illustrated with case examples. Clinical considerations for the multicultural group therapist are provided.     

Large Group Intervention to Encourage Dialogue Between Directors and Workers in the Context of Organizational Ambiguity

In the postmodern era the entire sphere of employment is undergoing changes that create feelings of ambiguity. These changes are reflected in the use of defense mechanisms such as splits between management and employees, and alienation and dissociation. Occupational social workers are also experiencing insecurity. Although their function is to assist individuals and the organization during crises, they are not able to detach themselves from their experiences. It is more difficult for them resort to bridging and dialogue in order to ameliorate feelings of anxiety. This article will describe how a large group intervention can provide practical experience that raises self-awareness and facilitates coping with organizational ambiguity.     

Political Power and Race Relations in South Africa: African Attitudes Before and After the Transition

When an oppressed majority finally gains political power, what happens to its attitudes to its erstwhile oppressor, and to its perceptions and feelings about its socioeconomic disadvantages that were established during its oppression? Longitudinal data from pre- and post-transition surveys of black South African college and high school students indicate marked reductions in perceptions of and outrage about intergroup socioeconomic inequity and deprivation relative to English-speaking and Afrikaans-speaking whites, but no change in attitudes toward these groups or toward whites in general. The findings are discussed in terms of contemporary theory and research on justice, intergroup relations, and group conflict. Some tentative implications for the prospects for a democratic political culture in South Africa are noted.     

肿瘤相关物质在肿瘤诊断及疗效观察中的意义

探讨TSGF（tumor supplied group of factors肿瘤相关物质）检测在肿瘤诊断及疗效观察中的意义。用比色法测定恶性肿瘤患者、良性疾病患者及健康查体者血清TSGF含量,用SPSS软件包进行分析。结果是I期肿瘤患者TSGF阳性率66.67％和总阳性率75.67％之间统计学无明显差异;恶性肿瘤组阳性率（75.67％）明显高于良性疾病组（18.76％）和健康查体组（8.27％）;特异性达84.57％;6种恶性肿瘤患者TSGF含量及阳性率无显著差异;恶性肿瘤治疗有效组TSGF阳性率（38.24％）明显低于治疗前（94.12％）。结论认为TSGF具有早期性、敏感性、特异性、广谱性。     

Dual identities in intergroup contact: Group status and size moderate the generalization of positive attitude change

To explore the effects of various categorization strategies on intergroup bias within and beyond a contact situation, two experiments were conducted involving groups of different size and/or status that worked together on a cooperative task. Three categorization strategies (decategorization, recategorization, and dual identity) were compared, and bias was measured through symbolic reward allocations to people who were and were not actually encountered. In Experiment 1 (N = 129), we varied group size (minority or majority) and found that it affected bias within the contact situation—minority groups were more biased than majority groups. All of the categorization strategies limited bias and they did so equally well. Outside the contact situation, however, only the recategorization and dual identity strategies limited bias. In Experiment 2 (N = 156), we varied both group status (low or high) and group size. Both of these variables affected bias within the contact situation—high status groups were more biased than low status groups, and minority groups were again more biased than majority groups. Once again, all three categorization strategies limited bias and they did so equally well. Outside the contact situation, however, an interaction among the independent variables was observed. For minority groups, only the dual identity strategy limited bias, but none of the categorization strategies limited bias for majority groups.     

团体辅导改善大学生人际关系及心理健康水平的实证研究

目的:探讨团体心理辅导对改善大学生人际关系及心理健康水平的有效性及可行性。方法:采用单因素重复测量设计自然实验,对16名有改善人际关系愿望的大学生进行为期2个月,共10次的团体心理辅导干预;使用人际关系综合诊断量表和症状自评量表前后施测,结合团体成员的反馈自评和表现进行质的分析。结果:被试人际关系综合诊断量表前后测有差异(t=2.55,p<0.05),症状自评量表总分有显著差异(t=3.12,p<0.01),其中抑郁、敌对因子有显著差异(抑郁因子t=2.95,敌对因子t=2.71),人际关系和偏执因子有差异(人际关系因子t=2.53,偏执因子t=2.57)。结论:人际交往团体辅导对改善大学生的人际关系,提高心理健康水平是有效的。     

Theorizing Gerontology: The Case of Old Age, Professional Power, and Social Policy in the United Kingdom

This article examines the interrelationship between old age, professional power, and social policy. In particular, dominant theoretical models in social gerontology are reviewed and an alternative framework for understanding social gerontological issues—Foucauldian gerontology—is advanced. Foucauldian narratives are employed to delineate the historical relationship between professional social work and recent social policy for older people in the United Kingdom. In addition, a Foucauldian framework employed to examine identity formation, professional practices, and policy narratives enriches and widens the disciplinary subject matter of theorizing aging studies. The structure of this article is in three parts: review of theories of aging with an introduction of Foucault's potential contribution to gerontological analysis, the historical overview of the instigation of professional intervention in modernity and the changing roles and responsibilities in relation to older people utilizing Foucault's (1977) genealogical method, and the exploration and application of Foucault's key notion of governmentality (1977; Rose & Miller, 1992) in the analysis of social policy for older people.     

Using the Theory of Gender and Power to Examine Experiences of Partner Violence,Sexual Negotiation,and Risk of HIV/AIDS Among Economically Disadvantaged Women in Southern India

This article uses the Theory of Gender and Power to examine women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS in order to: understand the vulnerability of female sex workers/poor women due to poverty and lack of educational resources; explore women's vulnerability in the context of client/partner violence, alcohol use, male partner's high-risk behaviors, and women's lack of control in their intimate relationships; and explore the role of traditional heterosexual gender norms in the outcomes of sexual negotiation. Ethnographic data were collected from 32 women and 38 men in India as part of an ongoing National Institute of Mental Health study. Results highlighted women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS stemming from partner violence, alcohol use, poverty, dangers of sex work environments, and tacit acceptance of cultural/gender norms.