Implicit Value Research Articles

The Metric Used in the Global Health Impact Project: Implicit Values and Unanswered Questions

Abstract The core aims of the Global Health Impact Project include incentivizing pharmaceutical companies for socially conscious production and promoting socially conscious consumption among consumers. Its backbone is a metric that computes the amount of illness burden alleviated by a pharmaceutical drug. This essay aims to assess the connection between values and numbers in the Global Health Impact Project. Specifically, I concentrate on two issues, the anonymity of illness burden and the distribution of health benefits. The former issue asks whether we should treat the illness burden of every person the same. The latter issue asks among whom health benefits should be fairly distributed. Examination of these issues begs for clarification of some of the key concepts of the Global Health Impact Project, such as the definition of essential medicines and the significance of national borders. Although this essay focuses on the two particular metric issues in the Global Health Impact Project, its core argument is applicable to other metrics for ethically motivated initiatives—to construct a metric for an ethically motivated initiative, it is not only important to articulate underlying concepts and values, but it is also important to operationalize them, so they are consistently reflected in the metric.

DISCOURSE STRATEGIES MARKERS IN A. CHEKHOV’s PLAYS “THREE SISTERS” AND “THE SEAGULL” AND WAYS OF TRANSLATION INTO PORTUGUESE

A. Chekhov’s plays “Three sisters” and “The Seagull” are characterized by at least one linguistic innovation: the speech of the characters is as close as possible to colloquial speech, typical for educated people. The absence of a traditional plot and the characters’ vivid and natural, “non-theatrical” speech provide for the conventional, spoken stylistic coloring of the text. However, the spoken Russian discourse, in contrast to its artificial literary imitation, has a wide range of pragmatic means that specify the discourse strategies of speakers. For example, in Russian, unlike in Brazilian Portuguese, the speaker often presupposes some part of the information without explicitly articulating it by lexically determined means, and in this way one marks his or her actual discourse strategy. By using non-descriptive lexis one can also form implicit value judgements or mark the involvement in some actions on the part of their non-participants. Such lexical means are usually language-specific, which makes their translation a really intricate task (if possible at all), which results in discrepancies between the original text and its translations. This fact by no means undermines the translator’s mission; it just highlights the difference in discourse structuring patterns that exist in different languages.

Exploration of value arguments in applied linguistics research articles

The marketization of all public spheres, including the academic community, and the growing competitiveness to publish papers have led to the increasing importance of promotion in Research Articles (RAs). One realization of promotion in the introduction sections of RAs is the use of value arguments, which are the arguments made to accentuate the importance (value) of the research. The present study explores value arguments in the introduction sections of Applied Linguistics (AL) RAs. To this end, the introduction sections of 30 RAs from several AL journals were selected as the corpus of the study. The forms and functions of value arguments were analyzed using Carter's (2016) framework. The results revealed that writers in the discipline of AL mainly use implicit value arguments – a type of value arguments that tacitly underscore the importance of research – and that different functions have disparate rates of occurrence and tend to appear in relatively predictable places in the introduction sections. It is hoped that the findings of this study could raise awareness about promotion through such arguments in scholarly writing practices.

Beyond Good Intentions: Developing and Operationalizing Values in the Structure of Digital Library Programs

Defining values for an organizational unit has become a standard practice for creating and supporting successful teams across sectors in business, government, and nonprofits. Given the centrality of professional values for librarians and archivists, this practice is particularly salient for work in library and archives organizations. At the same time, implicit values in technology sector organizations have been widely criticized for leading to staff burnout and contributing to increased precarity and harm to employees. This presents a significant challenge for digital library organizations that often straddle aspects of start-up and information technology organizational culture and library and archives culture. This case study presents the development of a set of values for the newly created Digital Content Management (DCM) section at the Library of Congress. The authors provide general context and background on this effort, then describe the approach to collaboratively developing shared values and the resulting work to refine how those values are operationalized in ongoing work activities and processes. This case study also aims to provide useful information to others working in digital library programs to support this same kind of reflective praxis.

Enabling and Empowering Lens-based Workers: An Analysis of the Photo Bill of Rights

ABSTRACT In June 2020, representatives of eight photography organizations addressed ongoing challenges to the industry by introducing the “Photo Bill of Rights,” asserting “the rights of all lens-based workers and defining actions that build a safer, healthier, more inclusive, and transparent industry.” The bill centers what “lens-based workers” are owed by the media organizations that employ them. This study analyzes the bill’s contents and the explicit and implicit values within it, finding that the bill presents a normative view of the work environment lens-based workers should expect as a baseline. In so doing, the bill connects what lens-based workers owe their respective publics to what their employers owe those same workers. The bill highlights the enabling environment that these workers need to satisfy their obligations to the public. The bill reminds employers of their duty to create an equitable environment that can enable the fulfillment of public responsibility.

Makna Grebeg Pancasila Sebagai Upaya Pelestarian Nilai Pancasila di Kota Blitar

Abstraction
 The city of Blitar is a small city dubbed as the city of Patriarchs which has a culture, namely Grebeg Pancasila, which aims to commemorate the birthday of Pancasila. This research uses descriptive qualitative research in the form of research with case study method. The instrument used in this study was the researcher himself, with data collection techniques in the form of direct observation. From the findings of the data, it was found that the Grebeg Pancasila celebration is a cultural ceremony held by the people of Blitar. This was born as a result of social protests from artists and community leaders of Blitar, for fear of historical corruption on June 1 as the birth of Pancasila which was abolished. Grebeg Pancasila was held into five processions, each of which had its own value. Grebeg Pancasila aims to preserve Javanese culture and commemorate the birthday of Pancasila. In addition, the celebration of Grebeg Pancasila has implicit values ​​in it, namely the value of togetherness in the Blitar community, mutual cooperation, living in harmony and peace with mutual respect for religious differences and each person's background.
 Keywords: Grebeg Pancasila, culture, history, value.

Kinship and Community in Climate-Change Theatre: Ecodramaturgy in Practice

Abstract Ecodramaturgy, a critical framework that interrogates the implicit ecological values in any play or production, is explained here and then used to demonstrate the central tenets of climate theatre, including theatre’s potential for decolonisation, interspecies understanding, and community engagement. Burning Vision (2002) by Marie Clements employs a ceremonial performance form to unearth the hidden history of uranium mining on Dene lands as it argues for environmental justice and the authority of Indigenous oral traditions. Sila (2014) by Chantal Bilodeau foregrounds the interdependence of culture and community across species. Finally, Salmon Is Everything (2006) by Theresa J. May amplifies the voices of Indigenous communities most affected by ecological loss. Taken together, these plays and their productions underscore the potential for theatre-making to function as a democratising force in the Anthropocene.

Studi Analisis Kontrastif Padanan Peribahasa Arab dan Inggris Perspektif Hermeneutika Budaya

This paper discusses the equivalent of Arabic proverbs and English proverbs through a study of contrastive analysis. Contrastive analysis is a method that plays an important role in linguistic analysis whether it is a comparison between two or more languages to explore similarities and differences between the two languages. This type of research is a qualitative descriptive study using a hermeneutic and cultural communicative approach. The author uses this hermeneutic approach to find the meaning of the interpretation of the Arabic proverbial text and the English proverb. Meanwhile, the communicative culture approach is used as an attempt to translate the meanings of symbols of two or more cultures that are reflected in the literary text, then the two are contrasted. The implicit cultural value can be found in the communication process through the terms found in the translation and equivalent of the proverb text, which can be in harmony with the original meaning of the two. The findings in this study are that the application of contrastive analysis has shown the equivalent and appropriate meaning and function represented by Arabic and English proverbs about patience, determination, indiscipline, youth, and truth. So this analysis has implications for understanding communication in social life.

Unearthing the value of wet markets from urban housing prices: Evidence from Beijing, China

Wet markets, recently thrust into the limelight during the coronavirus pandemic, play a necessary role in daily life in Asia. Yet, the value of wet markets has not ever been sufficiently explored. While an increasing body of work has studied the implicit value of urban public amenities through the hedonic price model and traditional measurements of accessibility and density, the subjective perceptions of amenities have been neglected, specifically for consumption amenity. This is especially the case with wet markets: traditional approaches are unable to capture their comprehensive effects. By employing data on Beijing housing transactions in 2019 and online review scores of wet markets, we reduce this knowledge gap by exploring both the amenity and dis-amenity effects of wet markets and capturing the objective and subjective perspectives. Our results indicate a nonlinear relationship between wet market accessibility and urban housing prices. Considering the perceived quality of wet markets, this paper further indicates that housing prices near high-scoring wet markets appreciate while housing prices depreciate near low-scoring markets. Interestingly, the negative influence of low-scoring markets is statistically larger than the positive influence of high-scoring wet markets. Taking the housing price as a reflection of an owner's wealth and income level, we argue that high-income dwellers tend to pay more for perceived quality than for convenience. Our findings, therefore, offer new and refined insights for scholars and urban planning decision-makers.

Association of Nursing Home Organizational Culture and Staff Perspectives With Variability in Advanced Dementia Care

Regional, facility, and racial and ethnic variability in intensity of care provided to nursing home residents with advanced dementia is well documented but poorly understood. To assess the factors associated with facility and regional variation in the intensity of care for nursing home residents with advanced dementia. In the ADVANCE (Assessment of Disparities and Variation for Alzheimer Disease Nursing Home Care at End of Life) qualitative study, conducted from June 1, 2018, to July 31, 2021, nationwide 2016-2017 Medicare Minimum Data Set information identified 4 hospital referral regions (HRRs) with high (n = 2) and low (n = 2) intensity of care for patients with advanced dementia based on hospital transfer and tube-feeding rates. Within those HRRs, 14 facilities providing relatively high-intensity and low-intensity care were recruited. A total of 169 nursing home staff members were interviewed, including administrators, directors of nursing, nurses, certified nursing assistants, social workers, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, dieticians, medical clinicians, and chaplains. Data included 275 hours of observation, 169 staff interviews, and abstraction of public nursing home material (eg, websites). Framework analyses explored organizational factors and staff perceptions across HRRs and nursing homes in the following 4 domains: physical environment, care processes, decision-making processes, and implicit and explicit values. Among 169 staff members interviewed, 153 (90.5%) were women, the mean (SD) age was 47.6 (4.7) years, and 54 (32.0%) were Black. Tube-feeding rates ranged from 0% in 5 low-intensity facilities to 44.3% in 1 high-intensity facility, and hospital transfer rates ranged from 0 transfers per resident-year in 2 low-intensity facilities to 1.6 transfers per resident-year in 1 high-intensity facility. The proportion of Black residents in facilities ranged from 2.9% in 1 low-intensity facility to 71.6% in 1 high-intensity facility, and the proportion of Medicaid recipients ranged from 45.3% in 1 low-intensity facility to 81.3% in 1 high-intensity facility. Factors distinguishing facilities providing the lowest-intensity care from those providing the highest-intensity care facilities included more pleasant physical environment (eg, good repair and nonmalodorous), standardized advance care planning, greater staff engagement in shared decision-making, and staff implicit values unfavorable to tube feeding. Many staff perceptions were ubiquitous (eg, adequate staffing needs), with no distinct pattern across nursing homes or HRRs. Staff in all nursing homes expressed assumptions that proxies for Black residents were reluctant to engage in advance care planning and favored more aggressive care. Except in nursing homes providing the lowest-intensity care, many staff believed that feeding tubes prolonged life and had other clinical benefits. This study found that variability in the care of patients with advanced dementia may be reduced by addressing modifiable nursing home factors, including enhancing support for low-resource facilities, standardizing advance care planning, and educating staff about evidence-based care and shared decision-making. Given pervasive staff biases toward proxies of Black residents, achieving health equity for nursing home residents with advanced dementia must be the goal behind all efforts aimed at reducing disparities in their care.

Introduction to the Special Issue: Far from Colorblind. Reflections on Racialization in Contemporary Europe

European history is to a significant extent also a history about racialization and racism. Since the colonizers of past centuries defined boundaries between “civilized” and “savages” by applying value standards in which the notions of race, ethnicity, culture, and religion were interwoven and imposed on human beings perceived as fundamentally different from themselves, racialization became deeply inherent in how (white) Europeans viewed the world, themselves, and others. In this Special Issue, we assume that colonialist racialization constitutes the base of a persistent and often unreflective and indirect racism. Implicit value systems according to which white people are automatically considered as more competent, more desirable, preferable in general terms, and more “European” translate into patterns of everyday racism affecting the self-image and life chances of white and non-white Europeans. In this introductory article, which defines the conceptual framework for the special issue, we contest the idea of a “post-racial” condition and discuss the consequences of ethno-racial differentiation and stigmatization for racialized groups such as Black Europeans, European Roma, and non-white migrants in general. Finally, we argue for the need to further problematize and critically examine whiteness.

Pattern-Moving-Based Parameter Identification of Output Error Models with Multi-Threshold Quantized Observations

This paper addresses a modified auxiliary model stochastic gradient recursive parameter identification algorithm (M-AM-SGRPIA) for a class of single input single output (SISO) linear output error models with multi-threshold quantized observations. It proves the convergence of the designed algorithm. A pattern-moving-based system dynamics description method with hybrid metrics is proposed for a kind of practical single input multiple output (SIMO) or SISO nonlinear systems, and a SISO linear output error model with multi-threshold quantized observations is adopted to approximate the unknown system. The system input design is accomplished using the measurement technology of random repeatability test, and the probabilistic characteristic of the explicit metric value is employed to estimate the implicit metric value of the pattern class variable. A modified auxiliary model stochastic gradient recursive algorithm (M-AM-SGRA) is designed to identify the model parameters, and the contraction mapping principle proves its convergence. Two numerical examples are given to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the achieved identification algorithm.

On economic modeling of carbon dioxide removal: values, bias, and norms for good policy-advising modeling

Non-technical summary Integrated assessment models (IAMs) are important scientific tools for advising policymakers and the public on climate mitigation. Recent results of modeling exercises relied upon large amounts of techniques that can capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, undoing current and past emissions. I argue that the reliance on such techniques unduly shifts risk to future generations and away from current high emitting countries. From an ethical point of view, this is problematic. IAM studies need to be more explicit about the value positions that evidence of mitigation pathways depends upon and should represent a wider array of plausible value positions. Technical summary This paper analyzes the nonepistemic value judgments involved in modeling Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) techniques. The comparably high uncertainty of these techniques gives rise to epistemic risk when large-scale CDR is relied upon in most scenario evidence. Technological assumptions on CDR are thus entangled with nonepistemic value judgments. In particular, the reliance on large-scale CDR implies shifting risk to future generations and thereby gives a one-sided answer to questions of intergenerational justice. This bias in integrated assessment modeling is problematic given the policy-advising role of integrated modeling. Modeling climate mitigation should focus on transforming these implicit value positions into explicit scenario parameters and should aim to provide scenario evidence on the complete array of value-laden mitigation strategies. Social media summary The ethics of mitigation pathways, for example in relation to CDR, must be made transparent and plural.

PRACTICING CHILD BIRTH RITUALS: REPRODUCING MOTHERHOOD AND PATRIARCHY

This paper seeks to investigate the birth rituals described in Hindu scriptures and the indigenous birth rituals performed by the Bengali community in order to comprehend the implicit value system they embody. The rituals’ ingrained value system is viewed primarily in two categories- first, the conditioning of women for motherhood through birth rituals and, second, the extent to which these rituals sustain patriarchy. This socialisation through birth rites contributes to a woman’s social and self-identification as a mother. To analyse these processes, attempts are undertaken to examine birth rites in the social life of Bengali folk culture and in Hindu scripture sources. This study will concentrate solely on Hindu birth rites found in scriptural texts and folk birth rituals performed by Hindus. A field study was also conducted in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of traditional ceremonies.

Rethinking flourishing: Critical insights and qualitative perspectives from the U.S. Midwest

In recent years, human flourishing and its relationship to mental health have attracted significant attention in a wide range of fields. As an interdisciplinary, mixed-methods team with strong roots in critical medical anthropology and critical public health, we are intrigued by the possibility that a focus on flourishing may reinvigorate health research, policy, and clinical care in transformative ways. Yet current proposals to this effect, we contend, must be met with caution. In particular, we call attention to the troubling disconnect between current research on flourishing, on one hand, and the voluminous body of scholarship demonstrating the detrimental impact of structural inequities on health, on the other. We illuminate this blind spot in two ways. We begin with a critical assessment of leading conceptions of flourishing in positive psychology, which are compared to current approaches in the critical social sciences of health. In the second half of the paper, we support our argument by presenting original findings from a mixed-methods study with a diverse sample of interviewees in the Midwestern U.S. city of Cleveland, Ohio (n=167). Our interviewees’ rich narrative accounts, which we analyze both quantitatively and qualitatively, highlight important ways in which everyday understandings of flourishing diverge from prevailing scholarly accounts. Given these gaps and blind spots, now is an opportune time for robust interdisciplinary discussion about the implicit values and presumptions underpinning leading approaches to flourishing and their wide-ranging implications for research, policy, and clinical care in mental health fields and beyond.

Willingness to Pay for Irrigation Services in the Cold Winter Deserts of Uzbekistan

Irrigation facilities in the cold winter deserts (CWDs) of Uzbekistan are very traditional and poorly managed, resulting in low water use efficiency and low productivity. Improving the irrigation facilities in these deserts is a key priority for the country. This study intended to contribute towards the development of the irrigation systems through identification and quantification of the relative implicit values smallholder farmers confer to the key characteristics of irrigation facilities. We elicited preferences with discrete choice experiments, estimated willingness to pay for these attributes using random parameters logit models, and analyzed heuristics in the choice process using a series of latent class models. Our results show that farmers have clear preferences for higher watering frequency and no interest in sharing irrigation water with downstream users. We also observed that there are distinct groups of farmers with comparable but different levels of preference. The development of irrigation facilities in the water-scarce parts of Uzbekistan would benefit from careful consideration of the preferences of the target communities and targeting of the schemes based on the broad heterogeneities within the communities. This will aid in the maintenance of irrigation systems and, as a result, increase agricultural production and productivity.

Interplay of governance elements and their effects on deforestation in tropical landscapes: Quantitative insights from Ecuador

After state-centered and market-centered approaches have driven international development cooperation activities in previous decades, improved governance has now come into the focus as a means to help reversing global trends of tropical deforestation. Yet, “good governance” remains a normative, broad and often underspecified concept consisting of a wide range of elements and implicit value judgements. Specific knowledge is missing on the relative importance of single elements, on their interdependencies and their specific effects. Following an analytical approach, we aimed to investigate if single governance elements affect each other and whether they relate to decreasing deforestation. We conducted a quantitative field study in twelve selected landscapes across 160,000 ha of tropical lowland forest in Ecuador. We mapped governance arrangements and land use in participatory exercises. The performance of single governance elements including tenure, forest management practices, law enforcement, institutions, and participation was quantified based on the governance assessment framework of the World Resource Institute. We assessed context information and used satellite based deforestation data. Principal component analysis showed that all governance elements loaded positively on the first axis. This shows that specific governance elements acted conjointly. They are in general not antagonistic, but interact positively and might reinforce each other. Policy and development work may therefore focus on a smaller number of well-selected governance elements. High performance of specific governance elements, in particular tenure and participation was linked to reduced deforestation. This supports the notion of a number of governance elements as being indeed “good” for low deforestation. This functional understanding draws a more differentiated picture for single governance elements and supports outcome oriented decisions instead of value-oriented principles that underlie “good governance”. Direct deforestation drivers such as agriculture and infrastructure explained larger shares of deforestation as compared to governance. A number of conclusions and recommendations for the specific governance situation in tropical lowland forests of Ecuador are given.

Frames, fantasies, and culture: Applying and comparing different methodologies for identifying energy imaginaries in American policy discourse

Although energy imaginaries are increasingly the focus of empirical study, little research has explored the methodological complications associated with studying imaginaries as an empirical concept. To help expand the methodological toolkit of energy imaginaries researchers, this paper examined whether systematic methods of identifying energy imaginaries in policy discourse could be constructed from the operationalizable components of three imaginary cognates—frames, fantasies, and cultural models—and how the visions uncovered by these methods resemble and deviate from each other. The case study research applied frame analysis, rhetorical analysis, and conventional discourse analysis to a single sample of energy policy documents published in Maine (United States) between 1996 and 2019 to discover potential commonalities and synergies among the results, and to shed light on the unique strengths, shortcomings, and limitations of the imaginary identification approaches. Similarities and differences in the results were analyzed and discussed in terms of three comparison criteria: number of unique visions detected, implicit moral values, and conceptions of renewable energy’s role in creating a desirable future. Results show an overall similarity and complementarity between the three analysis methods, but also reveal differences that suggest certain methods may be more suitable for specific types of studies and research questions.

Estimation risk and the implicit value of index-tracking

We study [Roll, R., A mean/variance analysis of tracking error. J. Portfolio Manage., 1992, 18, 13–22.] conjecture that there exists an implicit value in index-tracking (IVIT) relative to forming mean-variance (MV) optimal portfolios under estimation error. We derive an analytical definition for the opportunity cost facing the MV investor who does not index-track. Our findings indicate that the opportunity cost is positive and statistically significant. The existence of an IVIT (positive opportunity cost) is strongly associated with a reduction in the portfolio's induced estimation risk under index-tracking relative to an MV-efficient portfolio of equal target mean return. Under high estimation error cases, increased IVIT translates to higher risk-adjusted returns, lower volatility, higher Sharpe-ratio, lower turnover, and larger certainty equivalent returns. Empirically, a one standard deviation increase in IVIT translates to an annual increase of 4%–5% in the out-of-sample Sharpe-ratio and a 6%–15% decrease in the monthly turnover.

Implicit Values of Functional Attributes in Fluid Milk Products: Hedonic Analysis of Korean Fluid Milk Market

Competition in the Korean milk market is being intensified with the emergence of a variety of product-differentiated milk. The purpose of this study is to measure implicit values of functional attributes of fluid milk products in Korea, which is a representative example of product differentiation. Hedonic price analysis and households’ milk purchase data were employed for this study. Our findings suggest that Korean consumers have a high value for lactose-free property (25.4% price premium) over conventional milk. This reflects the fact that many Korean adults have lactose intolerance and the lactose-free properties can help digest milk without negative symptoms. In addition, the estimated price premium for the calcium-fortified attribute was positive but a little higher over the base case at 2.4% level. In the case of vitamin fortification, it was found to have a negative value (-34.6%). Our results are expected to be useful for the milk industry to make decisions about the investment, production, or pricing strategy.