Contradictory Implications Research Articles

The Flexibility Debate: Part Time Work

Abstract Part time workers constitute an important element in the currently fashionable advocacy of a flexible workforce. Unions, in response, have feared the displacement of full time workers and the undermining of hard won job conditions and security. Both sides have ignored the entrenched nature of existing, gender-split mechanisms for responding to market fluctuations and the diverse forms and functions of part time work. Neither flexibility in general, nor part time work in particular, are unitary concepts: they may have contradictory implications and serve quite different interests, depending on how, and by whom, they are initiated and controlled. Union attempts to block them may actually reinforce the negative effects, as well as alienating members. An alternative strategy of regulating, integrating and raising the status of part time work is already producing some positive results.

Properties of components of covariance of inbred relatives and their estimates in a maize population

Properties of three parameterizations, denoted as the C-model, D-model and Q-model, for covariances of inbred relatives under assumptions of no linkage or epistasis are explored and compared. Additive variance in an inbred population with inbreeding coefficient F, σ2AF=(1+F)σ2A where σ2A is additive variance in a panmictic population, if Q-model parameters Qxx and Qxy are both zero. Conditions sufficient for this to hold are presented in terms of gene frequencies and dominance contrasts (homozygotes vs. heterozygotes). Some other properties and potential uses of estimates of components in the models are also discussed. Estimates of components in the D-model and Q-model were calculated from a maize (Zea mays L.) study from which estimates of components in the C-model were previously published. Of particular interest were the covariance (Qxy) of effects of alleles at complete homozygosity with “inbreeding depression effects”, the covariance (D1) of additive effects at panmixia with inbreeding depression effects and the within-locus variance (D2, alias Qxx) of inbreeding depression effects. Estimates of Qxy, D1, and D2 were small and nonsignificant in most cases. For ear height in the second year of the study, D2 appeared to be a major component. In some cases, results were obtained which had contradictory implications (negative D2 coupled with positive Qxy or D1, and positive D2 coupled with negative σ2D). A negative estimate of one or the other of σ2D or σ2A was obtained in one of the two within-year analyses for every character. Problems in getting realistic results were thought to be owing to excessive multicollinearity among the coefficients of the components in the expectations of the covariances of the kinds of relatives included in the study. Implications for future studies of this kind are discussed.

Orthodoxy and Attitudes of Clergymen Towards Homosexuality and Abortion

Attitudes of clergymen toward homosexuality and abortion are examined vis-a-vis two main variables: orthodoxy and the often experienced contradictory implications of clergymen's moral and civil views. The relationship between orthodoxy and attitudes toward homosexuality and abortion is controlled for size of city of upbringing, age, and political party preference. The results indicate a moderately negative relationship between orthodoxy and acceptance of homosexuality and abortion; the relationship holds in the face of the controls. It was also found that those clergymen with a less unidimensional approach to life-i.e., who distinguish between what they feel is right from a moral, religious standpoint and what is right from a civil standpoint-are the most accepting of the two social issues. The significance of religious orientation in determining attitudes toward social issues is noted.

Hierarchists, individualists and mutualists: Three paradigms among planners

In planning which involves many disciplines, the failure to communicate often impedes progress from the outset. In this article the author exposes the fundamental cause of this failure : people use diverse paradigms without realising it and are often unwilling or unable to apply different kinds of logic to a problem. Three broad categories of paradigm are analysed: one-way causal, random process and mutual causal. The author illustrates that a situation has apparently contradictory implications according to the system of logic used.

Economic and political activism in Islam∗

The view that world religions contain inherent implications for economic and political action is examined and criticised. Some of the inherent implications attributed to Islam are reviewed. Various authors have attributed contradictory implications to Islamic doctrines. This is because they have referred to different parts and aspects of Islamic religion and society, which like all other complex religions and civilisations have manifested a great variety of forms. The historical development of Islam is divided into three stages and these are in turn related to the economic and political processes basic to all pre-capitalist empires. Patterns of economic and political activism are related to the conditions prevailing at the different stages and to the religious formations within Islam. In particular, it is argued that the failure of the bourgeoisie of Muslim cities to achieve political autonomy and dominance (in contrast to their Western European counterparts) is not a consequence of religious attitudes favouring passivity, but results from the position of these classes in relation to the State and the dominant military classes.

On Davis and Moore Again, or: Dissensus and the Stability of Social Systems

It has been almost twenty-five years since Davis and Moore published their paper, 'Some Principles of Stratification',' and it still continues to receive critical attention. One of the reasons for this attention, I would suggest, is the fact that the thesis of their paper is remarkably uncomplicated for a functionalist statement, and so its points can be more easily assessed. Another reason, paradoxically, is the pervasive sense that Davis and Moore seem to be stating something that is either importantly true or outrageously false, although, judging by much of the commentary upon their paper, it is not certain which one it is.2 I believe that Davis and Moore do point to something important, but that the argument they advance is contradictory in certain of its implications and therefore defective. The source of the difficulty is to be found in one of the premises of their argument. To state it most simply, the premise asserts, 'people desire rewards'. This assertion is incontestable, but it is not adequately qualified in their argument. I will show in the first part of this paper how their argument, containing this premise, leads to contradictory implications. Then, in the second part of this paper, I will attempt to provide the qualifications which I believe will allow the Davis and Moore argument to avoid the contradictions and thus give it greater force.

Status Consistency and Political Attitudes

Research and theory concerning the relationship between status consistency and political attitudes have produced contradictory implications. The research reported here is an attempt to specify the nature of these contradictory implications and to empirically evaluate them. Questionnaire responses from a sample of residents in Seattle indicate that status consistency is not as good a predictor of political attitudes as are the variables of social class and minority group membership.