Methodological Positions Research Articles

Charting the Skies from a Moving Earth: Relativity and Position in Comparative Law

This article brings the insights produced by comparative legal analysis to bear on comparative legal discourse itself, in order instructively to recontextualize enduring methodological debates taken to concern the “philosophy” of comparative law. It grounds several such methodological arguments in fundamental positions of legal theory and philosophy, reflecting in doing so on the broader philosophical consequences of specific positions, and emphasizing the resulting problems of incommensurable positionality. It challenges the unvoiced but widely exhibited assumption within comparative law that sufficient reflection, abstraction and care can avoid the privileged reification of contingent legal concepts and categories. It explores the inevitable positionality of all comparative inquiry particularly in connection with the comparatist’s status as both product and reconstituter of legal facts and ideation. It introduces a focus on relative perspective, urging increased attention to how the axioms of general jurisprudence which ground methodological positions within comparative law express a system of law’s relative position within the legal historical process.

Professional self-determination theory of senior pupils in Russian psychology

The article analyses the psychological literature on the problem of senior pupils’ professional self-determination. The author’s theoretical and methodological position is elaborated and the results of its approbation are presented. It is shown that the available approaches can be divided into two main groups. Some researchers focus on the goal and end result of vocational self-determination, while others seek to reveal the algorithm of the process itself and/or its stages. Researchers are unanimous in their opinion that the choice of an occupation by senior pupils is the first and most responsible stage of professional self-determination for the individual as a whole. At the same time, the senior pupils’ professional self-determination concepts, which would reflect the unity of theoretical positions and methods of its study, are practically not presented in national psychology. To overcome the existing limitations, the article proposes to consider the senior pupils’ professional self-determination from the position of the activity approach as a special kind of activity with its own structure. The motivational component is the motives for choosing a career, while the operational component is the senior pupils’ professional identity status. The empirical study results of the of formation level of senior pupils’ professional self-determination are discussed on the basis of the activity methodology.

Conflict Management, a New Challenge in Workplace Case Study Hospital in North Lebanon

Nevertheless, whether managing organizational conflicts improves or degrades employee performance is a point of contention. The purpose of this study was to see how managing organizational conflict approaches, such as negotiation, mediation, cooperation, and denial, affected performance of employees in a private hospital in Lebanon. Human capital, human relations, and contingency theories were used in the research. On a daily basis, every organization faces conflicts. Conflicts are inevitable but they can be managed and detected early. It is vital to keep track of the organizational signals that indicate their presence on a constant basis. There are many ways to manage conflicts, relying on the reasons of conflicts, this study concentrates on communications role in managing conflict because it is considered to be a key element in solving conflicts. Conflicts are regional in the whole society. The research followed a positivist quantitative methodology, which is “a methodological process” that aims to record the results and generalize conclusions from different studies employing statistical means. The research embraced the research of descriptive design. The employees of this research were chosen from hospitals in Lebanon. Stratified and random sampling technique procedures were used to choose an 80-person sample.

Processes of reforming the educational policy of Ukraine and the countries of the European Union: a comparative analysis

A comparative comprehensive analysis of the socio-pedagogical problem field of modernization of the educational system of Ukraine and the EU in the context of administrative reform and taking into account economic needs and the establishment of universal democratic values has been conducted.
 A comparative pedagogical study of the theoretical, organizational, methodological and regulatory principles of reforming the educational system of Ukraine, which is currently acquiring national features and integrated into the world educational space, has been carried out.
 Conceptual principles of reforming the educational system of Ukraine as a basis for improving the quality of life of citizens from the standpoint of an innovative educational project in the context and professional psychological and pedagogical aspects of training in the field of educational policy have been theoretically substantiated. The provision is that education, like other institutions of public life, requires operational and strategic management actions, aimed at its modernization and renewal.
 A conceptual integral dynamic model of reforming educational policy in Ukraine with substantiation of methodological approaches and theoretical positions has been developed on the basis of comparative pedagogical research.
 A necessity of expansion and qualitative improvement of the network of preschool educational institutions has been proved.
 There are trends that Ukrainian secondary education will eventually become on a par with the world standards of secondary school.
 A need to create and coordinate a strong system of out-of-school education in Ukraine has been justified, as the mass unemployment of children and youth in out-of-school time entails huge negative consequences.
 Peculiarities of reforming the system of training of working professions and vocational education in Ukraine have been specified.
 A strategic issue is the state policy on teacher training.
 Ukrainian origins of the phenomenon of pedagogical skill as a fundamental basis of the theory and practice of educational policy to improve the quality of teaching and learning in EU countries have been revealed.
 A necessity of development of a target program of professional and pedagogical selection and preparation of experts in the field of educational policy for Ukraine and an algorithm of estimation of its efficiency on the basis of the comparative analysis has been proved.
 The content of the concept of "educational policy" has been clarified, knowledge of the regulatory framework for reforming educational policy in the EU has been deepened.

Headlines against Democracy: Operational Code Analysis of the Serbian Daily Informer’s Headlines in Relation to the Anti-Government Protests’ First Phase (2018–2019)

Since late 2019, Serbia has been gripped in a wave of protests against, as scholarly research has dubbed it, the semi-authoritarian regime of President Aleksandar Vučić. Having in mind that the President’s regime has by known been uncovered to rule by direct and indirect control of the media, the arguably main government-supporting daily newspaper, the Informer, has been covering the protests avidly, and with significant vitriol. With the understanding a headline is seen by the reader more commonly than the whole body of the article and having in mind the Informer’s pro-clivity towards exaggeration and hyperbole, we have analyzed all of the daily’s headlines that refer to the protests, protesters, or protest/opposition leaders during the so-called ‘First phase of the protests’ via the methodo-logical position of Operational Code Analysis. The paper shows a fairly extreme OPCODE for the Informer.

Axiological problematics in scientific and pedagogical research

Introduction. In modern pedagogy, research and thought on upbringing and personal development in a significant number of cases come to the problem of values such as identifying values in educational process, definition of basic values, forming values in an individual, etc. The purpose of the article is to analyze the specifics of pedagogical researches related to axiological aspects in education, to identify existing problems in the same studies and ways to overcome these problems. Materials and methods. As basic research methods we used a literary review on the problem of values in philosophy and psychology, as well as a critical analysis of the problems of pedagogical researches related to values in education. Results. The authors quite often demonstrate a lack of understanding of the scope and concepts related to value problems, inability to focus on concretization of values and, as a result, adequately construct a formative experiment that gives result appropriated to the set goal. Referred to the studies of philosophers and psychologists on problem of values, we have found various methodological approaches to understanding essence and meaning of those values, the need for a clear division of the concept "value" and the definition of generic and specific concepts, as well as its content. Using the example of identifying the concept of "Christian values" based on certain methodological positions, the authors demonstrate possible variants of values concretization when formulating topics of pedagogical studies for students of pedagogical universities. Conclusions. The authors attract attention of researchers to the problem of the classification of values; identify and define such concepts as "values", "value orientations", "value ideas" of the individual; as well consider that it is possible for pedagogical studies, limited in time, to focus on the creation of the value perceptions of individuals.

Developing Universal Methodology of Estimating Competitiveness at Enterprises of Maintenance and Technical Service

At the current stage of the new technological structure development, when nano-technologies, artificial intellect and biotechnical objects are progressing very fast the system of technical maintenance and repair-technical service has become an important element in the process of these project functioning. This field of technical service has a lot of lines of application: repair and technical agro-service, automobile technical service, carriage technical service, repair and technical service in municipal utilities, etc. Depending on lines of production and rendering services fixed factors are in operation, which influence on objects on micro-, mezzo- and macro-levels. Today's situation connected with the pandemic makes this topic even more acute, when sustainability of enterprises of technical service is tested by the dropping level of these services. Thus it is important to develop a universal methodology of estimating organization competitiveness that can allow us to study the level of functioning of such enterprises from common methodological positions. The article gives the author's definition of the term ‘repair and technical service', explains the idea of competitiveness, puts forward a universal methodology of estimating competitiveness of the enterprise of the sphere of repair and technical service, which gives an opportunity in today's conditions to identify the level of competitive sustainability of the given enterprise and on this basis to find the place of the enterprise on the market and in case of the low level of sustainability - to plot a plan of resolving the problem. The research findings can be useful for executives of enterprises of technical service in order to find their sustainability in current conditions on concrete market of rendering services and to develop a long-term strategy of enterprise progressing.

Analysis of the Research Methodology in Spanish Doctoral Theses on Handball. A Systematic Review.

The objective of this investigation was to analyze scientific production assessed by indexed doctoral theses in the Ordered Spanish Theses (TESEO) database, on the topic of the sport of handball in Spain. Productivity was analyzed on the basis of variables grouped by contextual information, methodologies and procedures. Seventy-two indexed theses from between 1976 and 2021 were analyzed. A progressive increase was identified in scientific production based on these theses during this period. The scientific disciplines that presented the highest number of theses were Sport Sciences (n = 33) and Sport Pedagogy (n = 19). The main results show that quantitative approaches are the most common (n = 49), doctoral theses using descriptive studies based on systematic observation represent the majority (73%), the predominant type of data collection was the use of cross-sectional studies (70.8%) versus longitudinal studies (26.4%), and the most used sampling method was that of convenience (n = 65). The results make it possible to ascertain the reality of this research topic, the methodological positioning and research tendencies, and to draw the basic lines for development.

Deferred Tax Accounting Concepts and Their Bond to the Accounting Ideologies

Deferred taxes are an important object of accounting observation to judge the degree of discrepancies between financial and tax accounting. Meanwhile, the information discloses to users the effects arising from the tax planning tools usage for corporate management and forecasting cash outflows associated with the payment of income tax in the future. The paper formalized two concepts of accounting for deferred taxes in the form of models: temporary and timing differences associated with accounting ideologies. The author ha structured the logic of reflecting deferred taxes on accounting accounts using the balance sheet and “cost” methods. Analysis of foreign experience and domestic practice made it possible to conclude that there are controversial issues on the assessment of deferred taxes in reporting, including at present value. Also, the author revealed discrepancies in Russian Accounting Standard (PBU) 18/02 which were conceptually different from a similar international standard and conflicting with it in a number of theoretical and methodological positions. The research results are aimed at scientific and practical workers in the field of financial accounting, taxation and audit.

Landscape and climate potential of the Yeysk resort of the Krasnodar Region

The article examines the landscape and climatic potential of the Yeysk resort in the Krasnodar Region, which is not used sufficiently in resort practice, from new methodological positions and modern problems of resort medicine. The results of the study showed the possibility of introducing the global recommendations of the World Health Organization on physical activity, landscape therapy, climatotherapy (recommended by the Pyatigorsk Research Institute of Balneology) into the resort practice of Yeysk to improve the health of people with various socially significant diseases, including post-COVID syndrome, based on more rational use of newly identified natural medicinal resources.

Role of Perceptual Processes in the Formation of the Phenomenon of Giftedness

Currently, there is an obvious shortage of Russian studies of perceptual processes in the gifted. The study is focused on theoretical and organizational issues of research in the cognitive sphere of giftedness, in particular, perception, which is relevant not only in its fundamental but also applied aspects, - this explains the high research activity of foreign psychologists in this area nowadays. The empirical data presented in the literature on the importance of perceptual processes in the formation of the phenomenon of giftedness are considered from the methodological positions of the perceptual psychology, which allows to identify new approaches in the study of giftedness. The array of empirical evidence that is emerging today is systematized according to the main tasks to be solved in the research: (1) to identify (to measure) the cognitive characteristics of the gifted and to establish connections between them; (2) to determine the parameters of cognitive processes specific to giftedness; (3) to establish the connections between the phenomenon of giftedness and specific cognitive resources. The typical organizational features of modern cognitive psychology of giftedness are highlighted: the use of psychometric tools and comparative research methods, the predominance of child and adolescent samples, the preoccupation with the phenomenon of mathematical giftedness and the involvement of neuroscientific research resources; their capabilities and limitations are shown. Using the neurocognitive studies of mathematical giftedness as an example, the theoretical and organizational threats to the validity of the conclusions drawn in them are discussed, as well as the ways to increase the argumentativeness of the research in the cognitive sphere of giftedness, i.e., to ensure its ecological validity, integrity, ontologicality, particularly by covering a larger number of studied variables on significant groups of participants. The empirical evidence of the key role of visual-spatial processing (spatial thinking) in the cognitive structure of giftedness is systematized. Based on the thesis about the special functional significance of the direct sensory perception, the task of determining the functional characteristics of perceptual processes under the conditions of giftedness is set. The integration of knowledge from different subject areas of psychology for studying the problems of unique cognitive and social functioning, the personality organization of a gifted person is also provided.

Применение активной стратегии актуализации потенциальных свойств человеко-машинных комплексов в процессах их проектирования и эксплуатации

The analysis of the literature, reflecting the problem of potentiality in creating complex systems, including human-machine complexes (HMC) is carried out. On the basis of the generalized data, potentiality is defined as a fundamental property of objective reality, an integral part of the integrity structure of complex objects, which in the process of their functioning manifests itself in the form of engineering control situations unforeseen by the developers.
 A strategy for solving the problem of revealing the potential properties of HMC is considered from the viewpoint of comparing two approaches of “passive” and “active” strategies.
 A “passive” strategy means that the situations that arise unforeseen by the developers are taken into account by them, usually in the future when improving the technique. This approach does not consider the specifics of manifesting the systemic properties of the HMC and is incorrect from the methodological positions of modern systemic studies that assert the equivalence of subject-object relations in HMC.
 An “active” strategy for solving the problem under study includes a targeted search, disclosure and actualization of the potential properties of an object not only at the stages of its design and creation, but also at the stages of the exploitation in the joint activity of all professionals, namely developers, operators, engineering psychologists. This approach is based on forecasting and studying the potential properties of an exploited object on the basis of organizing a systematic and controlled cognitive process and studying the dynamics of changes in its operational characteristics under conditions of external factors that go beyond normal situations.
 It is concluded that to assess the characteristics of the HMC and determine the rational organization of its structures, it is necessary to develop an “active” strategy that allows using any type of information, including accurate data obtained on the basis of the deterministic methods of analysis, and inaccurate data obtained on the basis of an analysis of intuition, experience, considering all specialists’ values of judgments and figurative guesses, which will contribute to disclosing the potential of the created technical objects in the process of ergonomic support for their design and operation.

Towards Religious Ways of Knowing: Reflections on the REL Symposium and the Future of the Field

The article issues a call for scholars of religion and global politics to reach beyond dominant positivist epistemologies and methodologies—which it does not reject—and to engage in “ways of knowing” that adopt a “first person standpoint” that aims to adopt, or at least get as close as possible to, the perspective of people and communities who practice religion. These might include understanding the phenomenon of religion itself from this standpoint; engaging in practical reasoning; crediting knowledge gained through testimony; and crediting faith as a mode of access to truth.

Transformation of the legal regulation of tax relations in the digital economy context

The subject. The modern world is constantly changing, which makes it necessary to update the means and methods of legal regulation of public relations. Moreover, these relations themselves are changing, new areas of public relations are emerging, for which it is necessary to create a legal framework. The sphere of financial and legal regulation is no exception. The most important issue, which has been on the agenda of the international community for several years, is the development of the digital economy. The legal realities of digitalization largely determine what place the Russian economy will occupy in the emerging global digital market. It is necessary to develop a comprehensive legal concept that allows ensuring compliance with the fiscal interests of the state in the context of digital transformation. In this regard, the transformation of tax relations and their legal regulation is particularly important.Purpose of the study. The article is devoted to the transformation of the legal regulation of tax relations in the digital economy. In order for Russian financial and legal regulation to contribute to an effective response to the challenges posed by digitalization, it is necessary to develop a comprehensive legal concept that allows ensuring compliance with the fiscal interests of the state in the context of digital transformation. In this regard, the transformation of tax relations and their legal regulation is of particular importance.Methodology. The research was carried out with the application of the formally legal interpretation of legal acts as well as the comparative analysis of Russian and European legal literature. Structural and systemic methods are also the basis of the research. The main results. The necessity to develop legal solutions in the field of taxation of the digital economy is determined by the focus on legal support for the stability of financial and legal regulation and the principle of certainty of taxation. In these circumstances, it is important to implement the control function of financial law. The need to ensure compliance with the fiscal interests of the state, both at present and in the long term, requires the transformation of essential approaches to the legal regulation of the system of taxes and fees, the principles and elements of taxation, tax administration and tax control. In this regard, it is proposed to provide for special rules for calculating and paying income tax on foreign digital companies and, in parallel, to expand tax incentives for Russian companies.Сonclusions. The authors come to the conclusion that the actual scientific task is to develop a methodological position on the directions of reforming the national tax legislation and the international tax doctrine of the Russian Federation in the context of the digital transformation of public relations. According to the results of the study, it is concluded that it is necessary to ensure compliance with the fiscal interests of the state. This requires the transformation of essential approaches to the legal regulation of tax relations, both in the context of determining the appropriate legal forms for regulating the tax base levied in Russia in the context of the emerging digital economy, and for influencing international tax policy in order to use all the advantages provided by international tax cooperation and neutralize the threats caused by international tax competition.

Методологические особенности исследования интересов субъектов права собственности

Introduction: the problem of identifying the features of studying the interests of the subjects of property rights is of great methodological importance. The question of what are the specifics of the study of a particular scientific problem is the key one that sets the beginning of the entire process of scientific knowledge. The purpose of the study: to identify the features of studying the legal institute of the interests of the subjects of property rights. Methods: the research involved both general methods of scientific knowledge and private law methods, namely, formal legal, the method of interpretation of legal norms, comparative legal analysis. Results: the problems of the interests of the subjects of property rights were studied from different conceptual and methodological positions. Along with the applied and theoretical level, a theoretical and cognitive approach to the study of the interests of property rights subjects is proposed. Special attention is focused on the development of linguistichermeneutical and anthropological components of the modern methodology of cognition. The opinion on the need to take into account these trends in the study of the problems of interests of subjects of various forms of ownership is justified. Conclusions: the features of studying the interests of the subjects of property rights are that highlighting the applied and theoretical levels, it is advisable to focus on the actual theoretical and cognitive core of the study of this legal institute, on the positioning of the content, features of the legal vision, understanding of the legal reality. The models and mechanisms for the realization of the interests of owners in modern Russian law should be studied from a philosophical and sociological perspective, as well as from the perspective of the development of modern theoretical jurisprudence. One of the current trends in the field under study is the strengthening of the role of linguistic and anthropological components in studying the interests of subjects of private, state, and other forms of property. These developing areas of the methodology of knowledge of law open up new opportunities for the interpretation and understanding of legal texts and legal vocabulary.

“Pavlovian” session: a new reading

An attempt was made to take a fresh look at a significant event for Soviet science that happened more than 70 years ago – the Joint scientific session of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, dedicated to the problems of the physiological doctrine of academician I.P. Pavlov (June 28 – July 4, 1950). The memoirs of contemporaries of that memorable event were analyzed based on a new reading of the speeches of the participants, published in the verbatim record of the scientific session. For the first time, authors examined the report of the physiologist M.M. Koltsova, who was considered one of those who wanted and offered to “close” psychology. Also, for the first time in historiography of the “Pavlovian” session, authors analyzed the unfulfilled (but published in the verbatim record) speech of the employee of the Institute of philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences S.A. Petrushevsky, in which he highlighted the state of contemporary psychology in the USSR and outlined the prospects for its development. As a significant result of the analysis of the materials reflected in the verbatim record authors considered the fact that in the texts of the speeches and in the resolution of the session there was not found an extremely (sharply) negative mention of psychology and psychologists, therefore, the opinion of some authors about the existing decision to “close” psychology, expressed in the session, has not yet been confirmed. Some consequences of this scientific event were considered: the teaching of I.P. Pavlov began to spread directively; after the death of I.V. Stalin the interest in Pavlov's works declined; there were words about the urgent need to create a special psychological institution in the system of the USSR Academy of Sciences. It is shown that the session caused a high activity of psychologists, which led to the strengthening of its methodological positions and scientific-organizational structures.

«Личное - это политическое»: основные положения феминистической методологии анализа социальных процессов

The paper aims to identify features of the feminist methodology as one of the concepts of studying social processes. Starting from the classic quotation “The personal is political” by C. Hanisch, the author presents the logic of creating a fundamentally different research methodology that refuses to obtain absolute, reliable and universal knowledge. The paper examines its main differences from the positivist methodology, the features of using qualitative and quantitative research methods. Scientific novelty lies in carrying out a comprehensive analysis of the philosophical and methodological features of the feminist approach to analysing social phenomena. As a result, it has been determined that the consideration of an issue proceeding not only from the particular to the general but also from the individual reflection to the political one is peculiar to the feminist methodology.

Sociodynamics of Students’ Digital Capital in the Context of the COVID-19 Epidemiological Crisis: an Experience of a Mixed Strategy of Empirical Research

Introduction. The sociodynamics of students’ digital capital in the context of an epidemiological crisis has acquired special characteristics. The speed, focus and technologies for the formation of digital capital have changed significantly and are expressed in new content features and characteristi cs of sociodynamics.Methodology and sources. An integrative approach to the study and analysis of the digital capital sociodynamics is used, which consists a set of theoretical and methodological positions in the study of digital capital proposed by resea rchers earlier. An approach to the sociological interpretation of the concept of digital capital, which is characterized by systemic and integrative characteristics, is presented. The formed theoretical and methodological platform served as the basis for c onstructing an empirical research methodology.Results and discussion. Methodological approaches to the digital capital definition as an object of research are generalized. The contradictions and fragmentation in the interpretation of digital capital in private research and the relevance of sociological understanding of the essence of digital capital are shown. The tendencies and trends of the sociodynamics of digital capital during the pandemic have been empirically confirmed.Conclusion. The article presents some trends in the sociodynamics of students’ digital capital in a pandemic: first, the stimulating role of the pandemic in the development of digital competencies; secondly, changes in the direction of mastering digital competencies; third, analysis of the activity and intensity of changes in digital competencies; fourth, the intensification of the development of digital technologies related to the social aspects of interaction in the context of a lockdown.

Adapting to Environmental Changes: the Risks of Social and Technological Innovations

The initial methodological position mentioned in the article is the following statement: changes at any level contain a potential threat of damage — that is, a risk — and require developing a strategy for taking on these risks. The article expands on why scientific research is relevant, and speaks of how important it is for management practices to accumulate and generalize sociological knowledge about the social and personal determinants affecting how the population chooses its adaptation strategies in response to such changes in the institutional environment that violate their traditional way of life. The study object is the population, the subject — the main determinants that define how one adapts to the risks of environmental innovations. Adaptation in the context of this article is interpreted by the author as the process of choosing and implementing a decision pertaining to the types of actions that ensure the subject’s minimal vulnerability when dealing with the risks of a changing living environment. In order to identify the factors that influence choice of strategy for adapting to such environmental changes that may cause damage to a human being’s health and lifestyle, the projective situation method was used. Data from the 27th wave of RLMS–HSE was used as the empirical data base. The author correlates the interpretation of empirical data with the resource approach, specifically with the idea of “total life resource” (N.F. Naumova). The goal is to identify the relationship between choosing a particular strategy for adapting to the risks of environmental innovations and individual elements and indicators of total life resource. Our analysis allowed for us to propose an expanded typology of strategies for forced adaptation to the risks of environmental changes, as well as to identify a number of factors that determine the choice. Overall it can be argued that such a type of resource as one’s natural abilities seems to contribute to differentiation in the most significant way. If we look into individual factors, the following contribute to strategy differentiation: age, presence of and desire to achieve life goals, ability to adapt, emotional and psychological status, preferred method for solving problems, health, life satisfaction, gender, level of education, social status.

How radical is radical realism?

AbstractRadical realism is distinguished in part from other forms of political realism by its more explicit anti‐status quo objectives. In particular, radical realists generally reject the legitimacy of liberal political institutions, and often defend some version of Marxism or anarchism. However, critics of radical realism sometimes argue that radical realist's aversion to certain kinds of normative theorising hinders their capacity to criticize the status quo. This objection may therefore be best understood as one of “self‐frustration,” rather than “status quo bias.” According to the objection, radical realists want to criticise the status quo, but their own methodological positions prevent them from doing so effectively. I have three aims in this article. First, I will clarify the kinds of normativity which radical realists do (and do not) object. Second, I will then show how this enables us to see that the self‐frustration objection fails. Third, I will suggest that it is not radical realism but its critics who may have a problematic relationship with the status quo.