Role-Playing Computer Ethics: Designing and Evaluating the Privacy by Design (PbD) Simulation

Science and Engineering Ethics - There is growing consensus that teaching computer ethics is important, but there is little consensus on how to do so. One unmet challenge is increasing the capacity...     

Implications of Contemporary Social Science for the Field of Guidance

Since the mid-19th century, a dominant trend in the social sciences has been the development of a rigorous technique for devising predictive models of empirical social systems. Central to this development has been the assumption that unexplained variation is simply error in a given model, rather than the generally held view that human beings have a special capacity for acting independently of the universe of empirioals. The increasing predictive accuracy resulting from this axiom of determinism has, in turn, tended to stimulate the interest of applied fields. A predictable side-effect of such interest, however, appears to be an intra-field re-examination of its own philosophical foundations. It is suggested that the field of guidance has reached this juncture, that the resulting internal conflict has emerged, and that the strategic value of prediction will insure a continued transition from an art to an applied science.     

An Examination of the Psychometric Properties and Factor Structure of the Feelings of Stigmatization Questionnaire

As the experience of stigma and its psychological dimensions require careful measurement, the purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Feelings of Stigmatization Questionnaire (FSQ). A total of 170 participants with psoriasis and 124 with atopic dermatitis (AD) completed the FSQ. AD participants self-rated AD severity, while psoriasis severity was determined by a clinician. Confirmatory (CFA) and exploratory factor analytic (EFA) techniques were used to examine the factor structure of the FSQ. The FSQ total score was not related to age, age at onset, illness duration or psoriasis severity but it was negatively associated with AD severity (r = −.25, p < .01). The original six-factor structure of the FSQ was not replicated in our sample. Using EFA, a fixed three-factor solution proved the most stable, with the dimensions of feeling flawed, anticipation of rejection and secrecy, and positive attitudes towards skin disease being identified.