Choice Of Methodological Approach Research Articles

Methodological basis for studying the ethical component of the Buddhist creed

The subject of the study is a methodological toolkit for a comprehensive study of ethical ideas contained in the creed of traditional Russian Buddhists — Kalmyks, Buryats, Tuvans, Altaians. The purpose of this study is to substantiate philosophical understanding of the ethical component of the text “Refuge”, recited by traditional Buddhists of Russia. The choice of methodological approaches, principles and methods is determined by the philosophical orientalist paradigm, when Buddhist materials are considered in their integrity, in their inextricable connection with human and culture. Important addition is taking into account ideas of Buddhologist O. O. Rosenberg, who advocated the study of the “living” tradition of Buddhism. The novelty of the study lies in substantiation that a holistic understanding of the ethical component of the Russian Buddhists' creed can be obtained by combining three approaches: philosophy of culture, philosophy of religion, and philosophical anthropology. Philosophical cultural dimension will allow focusing on categories of Buddhist ethics set out in the text “Refuge” and taking into account comments of Buddhist authors in accordance with the principle of “cognitive modesty” of intercultural philosophy. The philosophical religious approach allows to consider the ethical component of the text “Refuge” in a soteriological context and show its place in the Buddhist religious complex. Philosophical anthropology will make it possible to identify the probable subjective meaning of the ethical component of the text “Refuge” for Buddhists. Such a comprehensive philosophical analysis of Russian Buddhists' creed will lead to the discovery of the foundations of their spiritual and moral values.

AНГAЖOВAЊE СTУДEНATA У ВИСOКOШКOЛСКИM УСTAНOВAMA – ПРEГЛEД ИСTРAЖИВAЊA

This paper shows out different ways and approaches in the research of student engagement. The paper aim is to present various aspects of the study, the impact of the entire context of higher education institutions on the character and scope of student engagement. Content analysis as a method enables the observation, interpretation and identification of key elements in the research of student engagement during the study process. The research studies differ among themselves depending on the theoretical starting points and the choice of methodological approaches. The research findings clearly point to certain laws when it comes to student engagement as well as its importance for student achievements in the study process. The teacher’s sincere concern for the students and timely support in learning proved to be very significant aspects of the students’ understanding of the study process. Accordingly, one of the most effective ways in which institutions can provide adequate support to students and encourage them to engage is the preparation and training of teachers for an interactive approach. Key words: higher education, higher education institutions, teaching, extracurricular activities, student engagement.

Religion – a Significant Factor in Law-Making and Law Enforcement Processes

The relevance of this study is conditioned upon the fact that scientific papers have almost no attempts to theoretically develop the correlation between religion and law. Legal scholars ignore the forms of influence of religion on law-making and law enforcement activities. Available research in this area is often fragmentary. The purpose of this study was to prove the relationship between religion and law based on modern legal understanding of the main principles, to clarify the role of religion in the legal sphere. The philosophical and methodological framework of this study involved the principle of pluralism in the choice of methodological approaches, methods, and techniques because they form the foundation of the scientific and cognitive process, ensure unity and purposefulness in the study of common features of religion and law in the law-making and law enforcement procedure, such as ritualism, tradition, authority, and universality. It is argued that in modern society, religious values, albeit losing their former meaning of the”sacred image” of the world, and even if Christian principles do not have a direct impact on the legal system, still play a considerable role in legal life because European legal culture was created under the influence of Christianity, a Christian view of the world. Modern European legal systems operate in a social system that has absorbed Christian religious values. This study is aimed at further development of the general theory of law, expanding the knowledge about the correlation between religion and law in the system of social regulation, improvement of legislation. The results obtained can be used in the field of law-making and law enforcement, for the preparation of textbooks, manuals, for lawyers, philosophers, sociologists, and all those who are not indifferent to the development of legal awareness.

«СТОЛИЦА» И «ПРОВИНЦИЯ»: ФИЛОЛОГИЯ В СИСТЕМЕ МЕЖДУНАРОДНОГО ИНТЕЛЛЕКТУАЛЬНОГО ОБМЕНА

The paper, written on the basis of a report read at Tyumen University, is devoted to the prospects of international exchange in philology in the context of widely spread institutional and disciplinary preconceptions about “metropolitan” and “provincial” science. The focus is on the specifics of the subject and prevailing practices in both cases (the study of concepts / the study of contacts); the specifics of the treatment of the national literary canon; the choice of methodological approach and research contexts, etc. The main vectors of philological exchanges that overcome the “peripheral” limitations of local philological research, mostly seen in its subordinate informative function for world science, are comprehended. Among them, the methodological reflection, independent of specific national and cultural material, stands out. The assumption is made that general ideas and theoretical questions asked to the subject are best derived from a separate tradition into international circulation and have the greatest chance of being picked up by researches from other countries to enter into a dialogue with their own concepts. Such questions are asked to masterpieces of national classics, “big data” studied by specialists in “world literature”, and to great theorists of the past, whose legacy reconfigured the history of ideas. It is also indicated that the export of ideas is especially effective in the situation of revision of disciplinary divisions, the collapse of old and the formation of new research paradigms. Philology in this perspective acts as an epistemological reference point, helping to clarify the relationship between a culturally limited “science for oneself” and a cosmopolitan “science for everyone”.

Summary of Clinical Laboratory Studies Performed During Preclinical Safety Evaluation of Medicinal Products (Part I: Haematological Studies)

Preclinical safety evaluation is an important stage in the development of medicinal products. Clinical laboratory studies, including haematological, biochemical and pathomorphological studies, are an essential part of chronic toxicity studies. A careful choice of methodological approaches to examination of toxicological characteristics of drug candidates makes it possible to assess the degree of risk associated with their subsequent clinical use, identify potential target organs, determine the extent of damage, as well as the possibility and dynamics of restoring damaged systems. Key prerequisites for obtaining adequate results of the studies are correct methodological implementation of all the stages of sample preparation and careful consideration of all factors during interpretation of the obtained data. Thus, the choice of methodological approaches to blood tests is often determined by the species, age and sex of laboratory animals, as well as by specific characteristics of the tested drug. The aim of the study was to summarise data on haematological studies performed in the Drug Toxicology Laboratory of the Federal State Budgetary Institute «Zakusov Institute of Pharmacology» when conducting chronic toxicity studies.

Методологический аспект взаимосвязи науки и научного исследования

The present research features the relationship between science and scientific research as internal elements of scientific knowledge. The subject is the methodological aspect in the study, namely, the theoretical self-consciousness of science in a specific historical period, the analysis of the evolution of socio-cultural forms of life of science – monodisciplinary, interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, supra-disciplinary. Each of these forms once had historically formed methodological potential-techniques, methods, principles, ideals, and norms of knowledge. At each stage, new ways of understanding are formed, and new meanings that revolutionize science, practice, and culture are created. The increase in methodological equipment of science expands cognitive horizons. The changes in socio-cultural forms of science and the nature of scientific research are not synchronized, but they are internally determined. Approach as a methodological tool acts as a connecting link. The choice of methodological approach is determined by the methodological culture of the researcher and, as a rule, reflects the dynamics of scientific knowledge. The authors use the following methodological tools: dialectics of the historical and the logical, dialectics of content and form. They highlight the immanent connection of scientific research and science as the most important components of a specific form of cognition, i. e. science; show the interrelation between the socio-cultural form of science and its epistemological content; demonstrate the dynamics of the complexity of methodological tools in the history of science – from techniques and methods of research to such a methodological phenomenon as the approach, which, in turn, has yet to be investigated.

Резерви зростання ефективності зовнішньоекономічної діяльності підприємства

The theoretical and practical approaches concerning revealing the reserves of growth of foreign economic efficiency of domestic enterprises activity are investigated. The essence, conditions of formation and components of organizational and economic mechanism of efficiency determination of enterprises foreign economic activity have been substantiated. Two methodological approaches to determining the efficiency of enterprises foreign economic activity are investigated. One of which is based on the calculation of the overall indicator of the efficiency of foreign economic activity of the enterprise – the profitability of foreign trade operations. The other one is based on the calculation the effectiveness of particular concluded foreign trade agreements. The choice of methodological approaches has been argued as to the analysis of enterprises foreign economic activity, the technique of carrying out of such analysis has been elaborated which is based on application of particular economic-statistical and economic-mathematical methods. The system of estimated indicators has been defined, as well as the criteria of enterprises foreign economic activity efficiency by calculation of economic efficiency indicators and indicators of the effect. The main directions of the search for reserves are outlined: resource, technological, organizational.

An examination of dissertation research: The relationship between gender, methodological approach, and research design

ABSTRACTIn the fields of public administration, policy, and public affairs, more women are earning PhD degrees and entering male-dominated academic and public sector job markets. This trend raises questions about the future of dissertation research and implications of gender on methodological approach and research design. This study examines the state of dissertation methods and research design in public administration, policy, and public affairs doctoral programs through the lens of gender between the years 2010 and 2014. A total of 986 dissertations are reviewed from PhD programs housed in universities that have NASPAA accredited MPA programs. Chi-square tests of independence and multinomial logistic regression illustrate that choice of methodological approach is not independent of gender, but rather there is a significant association between the two, and choice of research design also impacts methodological approach. Descriptive statistics show an increased trend in females using quantitative approaches to dissertation research.

Stroke and thromboembolic event rates in atrial fibrillation according to different guideline treatment thresholds: A nationwide cohort study.

Contemporary guidelines suggest anticoagulant treatment decisions in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients to be based on risk stratification for stroke. However, guidelines do not agree on the threshold for treatment initiation. We explored the variation in thromboembolic event rates in a non-anticoagulated AF population, according to different guideline threshold and methodological approaches. AF patients between 1998 and 2014 free from anticoagulant treatment were identified. Event rates for ischemic stroke and ischemic stroke/systemic embolism were explored. The overall ischemic stroke rate was 3.20 per 100 person-years (‘formal rate assessment’). For patients with a CHA2DS2-VASc score of 1 the ischemic stroke rate was 0.97 when using a ‘formal rate assessment’, 0.62 when using a ‘conditioning on the future’ approach, and 0.93 when using a ‘censoring approach’. Rates for thromboembolism for the ‘European treatment threshold’ (CHA2DS2-VASc score of 1, males only) ranged 1.17 to 1.53. Rates for the ‘U.S. treatment threshold’ (CHA2DS2-VASc of 2) ranged from 1.95 to 2.33. Thromboembolic event rates differed markedly in non-anticoagulated AF patients according to the conflicting European and U.S. guideline treatment thresholds. Second, the choice of methodological approach has implications, thus we recommend using the censoring approach for event rate estimation among AF patients not on treatment.

The teacher's role in selecting a methodological approach to the interpretation of a literary work

The paper looks at the teacher's role in selecting a methodological approach to the interpretation of a literary work. The choice of methodological approach is dependent on: 1) the semiotic structure of the literary text; 2) the specific educational goals of interpretation; 3) the students' age, psychophysical abilities and knowledge, and 4) the planned circumstances of instruction. In selecting a method of interpretation, the teacher should take into consideration not only these factors, but also contemporary literary theory and its methodological apparatus. This can be a challenging task whose fulfillment does not guarantee that the interpretation will be successful, since the validity and functionality of the methodological approach cannot be established in theory but rather through teaching practice. It is up to the teacher to be creative, because a literary work cannot be interpreted by means of a single method but always through a combination of methods, certain of which have their origins in literary theory. There is a widespread belief among teachers that these methods, which have the status of technical/special methods in literary methodology, cannot be used in the first four grades of elementary school. This paper offers an example illustrating that the interpretive model can be used as early as first grade. A teacher's knowledge, as well as their creativity in selecting a method and their openness to creative methodological combinations and skill in applying them, directly affect the effectiveness of interpretation, either succeeding in developing a fondness for books and reading, or, failing that, resulting in a permanent loss of interest in the world of literature.

Structured causal pluralism in poverty analysis

This article illustrates Sheila Dow's notion of ‘structured pluralism’ drawing on a recent empirical body of literature in which multiple research, or ‘Q-Squared’, approaches to causal analysis of poverty analysis have been used in the Global South. It maintains that understanding linguistic differences between schools of thought is quite integral to methodologically-aware critique and to improved methodological practice. The various strands in the Q2 literature together provide a case for methodological pluralism based on claims that knowledge is partial, empirical adjudication is imperfect, the world is complex and combining multiple research approaches adds value. The goals of understanding and explanation are best served if research questions dictate choice of methodological approach rather than the other way around.

Classifying Hospitals as Mortality Outliers: Logistic Versus Hierarchical Logistic Models

The use of hierarchical logistic regression for provider profiling has been recommended due to the clustering of patients within hospitals, but has some associated difficulties. We assess changes in hospital outlier status based on standard logistic versus hierarchical logistic modelling of mortality. The study population consisted of all patients admitted to acute, non-specialist hospitals in England between 2007 and 2011 with a primary diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction, acute cerebrovascular disease or fracture of neck of femur or a primary procedure of coronary artery bypass graft or repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm. We compared standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) from non-hierarchical models with SMRs from hierarchical models, without and with shrinkage estimates of the predicted probabilities (Model 1 and Model 2). The SMRs from standard logistic and hierarchical models were highly statistically significantly correlated (r > 0.91, p = 0.01). More outliers were recorded in the standard logistic regression than hierarchical modelling only when using shrinkage estimates (Model 2): 21 hospitals (out of a cumulative number of 565 pairs of hospitals under study) changed from a low outlier and 8 hospitals changed from a high outlier based on the logistic regression to a not-an-outlier based on shrinkage estimates. Both standard logistic and hierarchical modelling have identified nearly the same hospitals as mortality outliers. The choice of methodological approach should, however, also consider whether the modelling aim is judgment or improvement, as shrinkage may be more appropriate for the former than the latter.

Relationship between age and measures of balance, strength and gait: linear and non-linear analyses

An age-related decline in balance, gait and lower-extremity muscle strength measures may lead to increased risk of falls and fractures. Previous studies have reported a possible non-linear age-related decline in these measures, but the choice of methodological approach has limited its interpretation. Healthy community-dwelling women (n=212) 21-82 years of age were evaluated for strength [Nicholas MMT (manual muscle tester)], gait [CSA (clinical stride analyser)], activity [HAP (human activity profile)] and static and dynamic balance [CBS (Chattecx balance system), LBT (Lord's balance test) and the ST (step test)]. A GAM (generalized additive model) was developed for each outcome variable to estimate the functional relationship, with age as a continuous variable. Performance was maintained until 45-55 years of age, depending on the outcome measure. Thereafter a decline in performance was evident with increasing age in all measures. Overall, a significant non-linear relationship with age was demonstrated for lower-extremity strength measures (MMT), velocity and double support duration of gait (CSA) and some clinical and laboratory balance tests [ST, LBT (eyes open) and the CBS]. Linear relationships were demonstrated by the LBT with eyes closed and activity measures. Balance, lower-extremity muscle strength and gait may decline non-linearly with age. Our study suggests possible threshold effects between age and balance, muscle strength and gait measures in women. Further research into these threshold effects may have implications for the optimal timing of exercise and other interventions to reduce the risk of falls and fractures.

METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO STRATEGIC PLANNING OF PUBLIC SECTOR INSTITUTIONS

In order to implement strategic planning institutions confront with a great number of problems the basic of which is the choice of methodological approach. In this article particularity of strategic management approaches within institutions is revealed. Special literature does not provide clear methodological recommendations for strategic planning of institutions. Opinions of strategic management commentators are more polemic than recommendations. In the literature two essential approaches to strategic planning are provided, i.e. prescriptive and emergent. Fulfilled researches create preconditions to specify and systematize essential characteristics of approaches. Prescriptive strategic planning can be defined by sufficient foresight of future, systemic complexity, necessary definition, large possibilities of formalization, one‐sided adaptation of strategic decisions with organizational structure, petty stimulation of initiative, stable consistency of planning steps. Emergent strategic planning can be defined by petty foresight of future, fragmentary complexity, weak definition, limited formalization, double‐sided adaptation of strategic decisions with organizational structure, large creativity, unstable sequence of planning steps. This characteristics are being handled as assumptions. According to the prescriptive approach they are favorable for preparing decisions, which are oriented to increase opportunities of institution strategic accordance with its environment demands. According to the emergent approach ‐ they are favorable for preparing decisions which are oriented to emerge institution potential for opportunities used. With regard to inside and external environment factors of institution which predetermine the choice of methodology, the regularities of coherency of factors and methodologies which are suggested to apply for integral combination of approaches in specific institutions situation are defined.

Methodological approaches to strategic planning of public sector institutions

Abstract In order to implement strategic planning institutions confront with a great number of problems the basic of which is the choice of methodological approach. In this article particularity of strategic management approaches within institutions is revealed. Special literature does not provide clear methodological recommendations for strategic planning of institutions. Opinions of strategic management commentators are more polemic than recommendations. In the literature two essential approaches to strategic planning are provided, i.e. prescriptive and emergent. Fulfilled researches create preconditions to specify and systematize essential characteristics of approaches. Prescriptive strategic planning can be defined by sufficient foresight of future, systemic complexity, necessary definition, large possibilities of formalization, one‐sided adaptation of strategic decisions with organizational structure, petty stimulation of initiative, stable consistency of planning steps. Emergent strategic planning c...

STRATEGIC NETWORKS AMONG SMALL FIRMS: IMPLICATIONS FOR STRATEGY RESEARCH METHODOLOGY*

ABSTRACTThis paper deals with the choice of methodological approach within strategic network research. Network‐oriented research approaches indicate a broader set of organizational and environmental variables. the issue of trust in network relations implicates contextual aspects such as the socio‐cultural foundation of people's interaction. the striving toward more complex, multi‐level models of strategy is seen to put a heavy burden on the development of adequate strategy research methods. the paper reports and interprets experience from a case study of inter‐organizational exchange governance in small firms. the discussion suggests a need for more in‐depth knowledge of cultural contexts, and of socio‐economic relations of actors within strategic networks. the paper recommends a search for new methodological inputs from other academic disciplines more experienced with human interaction research. In particular, methodological tools found within the field of social anthropology are recommended.

Soldiers, Nazis, and War in the Third Reich

From its very inception until the present day the Wehrmacht has presented admirers and foes alike with a series of conflicting images. This was evident in the disagreements surrounding its character and capacities during the 1930s and the Second World War as well as in the heated postwar debates between critics and apologists, lately given new impetus by the Historikerstreit.' Moreover, widely differing interpretations of the Wehrmacht have been rooted not only in ideologically determined positions concerning the extent of its collaboration with the Nazi regime but also in the choice of methodological approach. Thus, while some historians have treated the army as a separate institution,2 this article will emphasize the need for an anatomy of the Wehrmacht precisely because it increasingly came to reflect German civilian society.3 This will be illustrated by a brief examination of five major debates concerning the army's image and reality: first, the issue of tradition and modernism in the Wehrmacht;4 second, the relationship between group loyalty and ideological motivation among soldiers; third, the connection between combat discipline and the legalization of criminality; fourth, the contradictions between the army's image as a haven from the regime and that of being the Nazi school of the nation; and fifth, the still contentious debate as to whether the Wehrmacht had retained its shield untarnished or whether it had in fact served as Hitler's main instrument.5

Factor substitution and manpower planning reconsidered

This paper explores anew the factor substitution assumptions of manpower planning activities. It finds several flaws in the oft-repeated argument that manpower planning studies should be abandoned in favor of rate of return analysis because the planning approach depends upon the assumption of fixed-coefficient production functions and the latter approach does not. For one thing, the choice of methodological approach depends upon matters other than the observed value of the elasticity of substitution. For another, it is not clear that factor substitutability has necessarily been ignored in either the theory or practice of manpower planning.