This paper examines the role of evaluation in promoting and sustaining professionalism in agricultural research organizations.
The evaluation experience of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) reveals a series of attempts to review and
institutionalize the essential features of professionalism: expertise, credentialism, and autonomy. The central thesis is
that when evaluations inform or enable major changes in one or more of these features of professionalism, over a period of
time, it is a sign of increasing professionalization of research. Following a brief introduction, the evaluation experiences
of ICAR are examined in the context of the evolution of the profession of agricultural research. Specific evaluation experiences
are then analyzed, with an emphasis on the role of evaluation in resolving the tension between bureaucratic and professional
decision making. The paper concludes that unless stringent evaluations are introduced in ICAR, the professionalization of
agricultural research in India will remain incomplete.
Graduated in agricultural sciences at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, she obtained her doctoral degree at the Kerala
Agricultural University in 1994. She started her professional career as an agricultural extension officer at the State Department
of Agriculture in Kerala. She has published on research organization, measurement of research efforts, history and evolution
of agricultural science, priority setting, research decision-making, and reforms in agricultural education and training. Her
current research focuses on impact of soil-science technologies, development of key disciplines in agricultural chemistry
within an evolutionary economics perspective, and institutional and policy implications of changes in agricultural science. 相似文献
This paper analyses how agricultural policy and science deal with the problem of increasing exploitation of low quality irrigation
water and consequent deterioration of water quality in the States of Punjab and Haryana in India. In these cereal growing
tracts the policy objective of food security is translated into production technologies, price protection and subsidies. Deterioration
of water quality is countered with technocentric solutions. The paper argues that the response of science to the complexities
involved in natural resource problems or in the scientific understanding of farmers partial response to technological solutions
recommended to improve degraded resources, is due to the existing “administrative rationalism” of natural resource bureaucracies.
This administrative rationalism, “the problem-solving discourse which emphasizes the role of the expert rather than the citizen”
allows policy and science to maintain their hierarchy in determining policy goals and technological solutions with scant ecological
or democratic concerns. Sustainable use of water demands institutional reform in agricultural policy and the agricultural
sciences.
With an inter-disciplinary training in the agricultural sciences and economics, her publications address the history of and
institutional reform in agricultural science, the evaluation of agricultural research, and the organization and measurement
of agricultural research effort. This paper is based on an in-house project on “Ex-post evaluation of soil science technologies,” conducted during 1997–2001, in collaboration with Sunita Sangar (then QHS Fellow,
NISTADS) whose Ph.D. thesis on the same topic has been submitted to IIT, Delhi in January 2002. Sunita Sangar has a degree
in the life sciences, and is interested in science and technology policy issues related to soil and water resources. The authors
are currently working on the NATP sponsored project, on an ecological economics framework for the evaluation of soil science
research in India. 相似文献
Dissociation is a prevalent disorder in India, however there is a lack of evidence-based psychological interventions worldwide. The present paper includes two case studies of dissociative motor disorder with onset in the perinatal period, seeking treatment in the Indian tertiary mental health set-up. Both cases presented with disabling symptoms of paraparesis, and mutism in one. The case series discusses similarities in presentation, socio-cultural contexts, and the psychotherapeutic approach. The psychotherapy process is discussed in detail, with a focus on challenges encountered, therapist reflections and supervision. Insights from treatment are presented, including the melding of approaches, and sensitivity of interventions to the larger socio-cultural framework.
Two family therapy training instruments, the Family Concept Assessment (FCA) and Rating Scale and Family Therapy Assessment Exercise (FTE), developed in the United States were adapted to suit the Indian cultural context. Several changes were made to the instruments while at the same time maintaining the equivalency of the scales to the original. Both the instruments were tested for face validity by a panel of cultural and content experts in the United States. The FTE was then pilot tested with an Indian sample. The psychometric properties of the adapted instrument are reported in this article including feedback from the participants. 相似文献
Repetitive loading of the upper extremity musculature during activities like wheelchair propulsion can lead to fatigue of surrounding musculature causing irregular segment kinematics. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of increase in load on the kinematics of the scapula in users with paraplegia and tetraplegia. Data were collected on 18 participants (11 with paraplegia and 7 with tetraplegia) using an electromagnetic motion tracking system (100Hz) and force sensing pushrim (200Hz). The participants propelled under no load and loaded conditions at their customary propulsion velocity. On average a 60N increase in force was elicited with the experimental protocol. Users with tetraplegia showed significant increases (p<.05) in the rate of change of scapular angles in the upward/downward rotation and the retraction/protraction direction under the loaded conditions, whereas users with paraplegia only showed difference in the retraction/protraction rotation direction. Overall both user populations moved towards position of increased downward rotation, anterior tilt and protraction with increase in load hence increasing the risk of impingement. This experiment adds depth to our understanding of dynamic scapular kinematics during wheelchair propulsion under different loading conditions and differences in scapular control between users with paraplegia and tetraplegia. 相似文献
In this article the first author (MG) examines her experiences, reflections, and questions after traveling to Kenya and then
attempting to integrate those experiences into her Western life. Using an autoethnographic format, different implications
for the author are explored as she becomes more culturally aware both of other ways of being as well as of her own identity.
MG publically shared her experiences on three different occasions, and then used a reflective stance to consider the implications
of the questions posed for her personally, for the therapy field, and for the meaning of maintaining multicultural competencies. 相似文献