Frame-critical policy analysis and frame-reflective policy practice

Our primary purpose in this article is to explore some of the issues, practical and conceptual, that arise in the attempt to study and cope with public policy controversies. We have organized the article into four sections. The first considers what problems a frame-critical approach seeks to address and explores, in particular, why social science methods seem unable to contribute to the resolution of public controversies. The second section asks what “frames” are and why they are critical to the study of controversy. Section three gives an overview of the elements in a frame-critical policy analysis and of the relationships between it and frame-reflective policy practice. In conclusion, section four examines the main issues that need to be addressed in analyzing and coping with policy controversies.     

Somatisierung

Zusammenfassung Somatisierung meint die Erfahrung und den Bericht von k?rperlichen Beschwerden, für die kein hinreichender medizinischer Befund vorliegt, verbunden mit einem hohen Ausma? von organ-medizinischer Hilfesuche. Gegenüber früheren Definitionen, die st?rker auf psychosoziale Faktoren bei der Somatisierung abheben, wird gegenw?rtig eine ausschlie?lich beschreibende Begriffsfestlegung bevorzugt. Somatisierung liegt als Normenvariante bis zur schweren pathologischen Auspr?gung vor. Die ICD-10 fa?t sehr heterogene Krankheitsbilder von Somatisierung in der Klasse der somatoformen St?rungen zusammen. Fraglich ist, ob Somatisierung eher als Proze? denn als diskrete Krankheitseinheit zu konzeptualisieren ist. Somatisierung enth?lt drei Komponenten: Auf der Wahrnehmungsebene erh?hte Sensibilit?t gegenüber K?rpersensationen (“somatosensorische Amplifikation”), auf der Erlebensebene negative Affekte in Form von psychischem und somatischen Distre?erleben, auf der Verhaltensebene inad?quate Inanspruchnahme der Gesundheitsressourcen (“abnormes Krankheitsverhalten”). Trotz z. T. vielversprechender Behandlungsvorschl?te unter verhaltenstherapeutischer, psychodynamischer und psychoedukativer Orientierung erscheint die Prognose von Somatisierung bisher wenig günstig. Es gibt Hinweise, da? der Sicherung der therapeutischen Beziehung besondere Bedeutung für den Behandlungserfolg zukommt.      

Jñānagarbha and the “God's‐eye view”

In trying to define the difference between conventional and ultimate truth, the Mādhyamika Buddhist author Jñānagarbha ends up in paradoxical formulations. Putnam's discussion of Nietzsche's remark that “as the circle of science grows larger it touches paradox at more places” is presented as an illustration for Jñānagarbha's case. No comparison of Putnam and Jñānagarbha is intended as regards the contents of their presentations, the focus being only on the logical form of their argumentation. The paradoxical nature of Jñānagarbha's doctrinal system is explained to derive from the logical incompleteness of formal systems. The paradox is also explained to work as a direction arrow pointing to what can only be realised in a mystical experience.     

Job stressors,Type A behavior,coping responses,and psychological burnout among teachers

This study examined a research model developed to understand psychological burnout in work settings. Data were collected from 473 teachers and school administrators using questionnaires completed anonymously. Four groups of predictor variables identified in previous research were considered: individual demographic and situational variables, Type A behavior, job Stressors and coping responses. Type A behavior, job Stressors and coping responses were significantly and independently related to levels of psychological burnout.     

The Impact of Social Influences in the Context of Attitude,Self-Efficacy,Intention, and Previous Behavior as Predictors of Smoking Onset1

Three different constructs for measuring social influence were utilized in the present study to explain adolescents' present and future smoking behavior at 6 (T2), 12 (T3), and 18 months (T4) after the first test. Social influence was assessed by measuring the social norms, perceived smoking behavior, and direct pressure. The impact of the social influence constructs was also assessed in the context of broader models, including attitudes and self-efficacy expectations, intention, and previous behavior. The three social influence measures correlated significantly with intention and behavior. Stepwise regression analyses showed that perceived behavior and pressure made significant contributions, after entering social norms, in explaining actual and future adolescent smoking behavior. Adding attitudes and self-efficacy increased the predictive power of the model significantly. In agreement with the theory of Fishbein & Ajzen (1975), intention was the most powerful predictor in explaining present and future smoking behavior. Attitudes, self-efficacy, and the social influences also made small unique contributions improving the explanatory power by approximately 5%. Previous behavior, however, had a substantial unique contribution in predicting future behavior after attitudes, social influences, self-efficacy, and intention were entered in the equations. Since social influences may exert their impact via different routes, it is recommended that smoking prevention programs discuss not only overt pressures such as direct pressure from peers, parents, and media, but also address the more covert social pressures such as modeling and the adolescents' ability to cope with these covert influences. Furthermore, norms on nonsmoking should be made explicit.     

Fitting a simplex symmetrically

A method for fitting a perfect simplex [Guttman, 1954] is suggested which, in contrast to Kaiser's [1962], is independent of the order of the manifest variables. It is based on a procedure for scaling a set of points from their pairwise distances [Torgerson, 1958; Young & Householder, 1938] which is reviewed in compact notation in the Appendix. The method is extended to an iterative algorithm for fitting a quasi-simplex. Some empirical results are included.This work was done while the author held a Visiting Research Fellowship at the Educational Testing Service. The gracious hospitality of this institution, as well as its scenic surroundings, are beyond praise. An earlier version of this paper (ETS Research Bulletin RB-68-31) was reviewed by Drs. Karl G. Jöreskog and Bruce Bloxom who contributed to its improvement. For a critical reading of the final draft, I owe thanks to Miss Ming-Mei Wang.     

Variation of the Subjective Vertical on the parallel swing at different body positions

Summary Subjects on a horizontally moving parallel swing perceive a change of the position of the body and of the Subjective Vertical (SV). The magnitude of the SV-change was recorded at different body-positions on the swing. The SV-change was smaller when the vertex-base head-axis was oriented parallel or close to parallel to swing movement than when the vertex-base head axis was oriented perpendicular to this movement. Perpendicular orientation implies either head vertex-up or head vertex-down. The results are discussed with respect to other findings on the various sensory input systems.

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Zusammenfassung Versuchspersonen auf einer horizontal schwingenden Parallel-Schaukel nehmen eine Änderung der Lage des eigenen Körpers und der Stellung der Subjektiven Vertikalen (SV) wahr. Die Größe der im Schwingrhythmus wechselnden SV-Änderung wurde bei verschiedenen Körperstellungen auf der Schaukel untersucht. Sie war kleiner, wenn die Scheitel-Basis-Achse des Kopfes in oder nahe der Schwingungsrichtung und größer, wenn sie senkrecht oder nahezu senkrecht dazu stand; die senkrechte Stellung konnte entweder Scheitel-aufwärts oder Scheitel-abwärts sein. Die Ergebnisse werden im Zusammenhang mit anderen Befunden über die beteiligten sensorischen Systeme diskutiert.