Number Of Distinct Dimensions Research Articles

Bringing the conceptualization and measurement of teaching into alignment

There is a growing use of standardized observation systems to directly measure teaching quality in classrooms. These systems are based on conceptual understandings of teaching that lead to carefully operationalized rubrics that decompose teaching quality into a number of distinct dimensions. In this paper, we argue that measurement and analysis choices used by observation systems may not fully align with the conceptual understandings of teaching upon which observation systems are based. We discuss three key assumptions that undergird many views of teaching quality and highlight how common analytical approaches violate these assumptions, proposing alternative analytical approaches that would better conform to the conceptual understandings of teaching quality. We end with a discussion of the importance of carefully aligning conceptual understandings with measurement approaches.

Why Do You Believe in God? Relationships between Religious Belief, Analytic Thinking, Mentalizing and Moral Concern.

Prior work has established that analytic thinking is associated with disbelief in God, whereas religious and spiritual beliefs have been positively linked to social and emotional cognition. However, social and emotional cognition can be subdivided into a number of distinct dimensions, and some work suggests that analytic thinking is in tension with some aspects of social-emotional cognition. This leaves open two questions. First, is belief linked to social and emotional cognition in general, or a specific dimension in particular? Second, does the negative relationship between belief and analytic thinking still hold after relationships with social and emotional cognition are taken into account? We report eight hypothesis-driven studies which examine these questions. These studies are guided by a theoretical model which focuses on the distinct social and emotional processing deficits associated with autism spectrum disorders (mentalizing) and psychopathy (moral concern). To our knowledge no other study has investigated both of these dimensions of social and emotion cognition alongside analytic thinking. We find that religious belief is robustly positively associated with moral concern (4 measures), and that at least part of the negative association between belief and analytic thinking (2 measures) can be explained by a negative correlation between moral concern and analytic thinking. Using nine different measures of mentalizing, we found no evidence of a relationship between mentalizing and religious or spiritual belief. These findings challenge the theoretical view that religious and spiritual beliefs are linked to the perception of agency, and suggest that gender differences in religious belief can be explained by differences in moral concern. These findings are consistent with the opposing domains hypothesis, according to which brain areas associated with moral concern and analytic thinking are in tension.

The significance of the People Factor in project cost estimates

AbstractPeople and major projects are vitally important to the future of Qatar. The development of methodologies is important to the research community. This study brings together people, megaproject and research methodology by investigating in detail the interactions of people and project management systems at the conceptual cost estimate stage in order to identify implications and improvements. The research problem has a number of distinct dimensions; technical and human aspects operate and interact at the different levels of the individual, project team, organization and society. In addition, external factors, the nature of the project and the approach to project management also impact on the events and interactions involved. The problem situation generates the following objectives; to identify the technical and people factors and issues influencing the preparation and application of conceptual cost estimates, to understand how these factors interact, to ascertain the relative importance of different f...

Social Work, Risk, Power

Contemporary ideas and strategies of both ‘risk’ and ‘power’ are significant and dynamic influences in social theory and social action, and they can therefore be expected to have a substantial impact on the ways in which social work is constituted, practiced and evaluated. In this article, I shall articulate distinct conceptualisations and debates about each of these, before considering their inter-relationships and the implications of these for our thinking about what social work is, and what it should be. Firstly, I will consider social work's contested and problematic place within the broader welfare domain. It is recognised as being a form of activity which inhabits an ambiguous and uncertain position at the interface between the individual and the social, and between the marginalised and the mainstream. Building on this, ‘power’ will be shown to infuse social work ideas and practices in a number of distinct dimensions, linking and bridging ‘personal’, ‘positional’ and ‘relational’ domains. This discussion will be juxtaposed with a discussion of ‘risk’ and the part it has come to play in shaping and infusing social work practices, especially but not exclusively with children. The deconstruction of contemporary understandings and uses of risk as a central and ‘authoritative’ feature of assessment and decision-making will inform the argument that it can be viewed as a vehicle for the maintenance and legitimation of power relations which disenfranchise and oppress those who are most vulnerable. In conclusion, I will summarise the ways in which conventional understandings and inter-related material realities of power and risk are often hierarchical, uni-directional and oppressive; and on this basis, how they can be laid open to challenge. The reconceptualisation and remaking of power relations will be shown to have direct consequences for the ways in which risk is defined and addressed as a social work ‘problem’.

‘It's okay, it helps me to breathe’: the experience of home ventilation from a child's perspective

There are few studies that focus on children's subjective responses to home ventilation and how this in turn affects their daily lives. This multiple case study explored the experience of home ventilation from the children's perspective. Data were collected from five children through observation and audiotaped interviews. Children expressed their physical and emotional relationship with the ventilator, stating: 'It's okay. It helps me to breathe' - a theme that had a number of distinct dimensions. Other themes included the medicalization of childhood, being a child and hopes for the future. Unlike other study findings to date, the children in this study concluded that the technology was only one small part of their lives. Nurses must ensure that these children have an opportunity to communicate their perspectives, in order to provide care that is clinically effective and child-centered.

Perfectionism and depressive affect: the pros and cons of being a perfectionist

Recent research indicates that perfectionism may be best viewed as a number of distinct dimensions which are differentially related to depressive affect. The first hypothesis was that an increasing tendency for individuals to procrastinate because they fear making a mistake (i.e. passive perfectionism) would be related to higher levels of depressive affect, while an increasing tendency for individuals to strive for achievement (i.e. active perfectionism) would be unrelated to higher levels of depressive affect. The second hypothesis was that passive perfectionism, but not active perfectionism, would moderate the impact of stressful life events upon depressive affect. Both hypotheses were supported. Moreover, higher levels of organisational perfectionism may actually reduce the levels of depressive affect because higher levels of organisational perfectionism were found to correlate with lower levels of depressive affect. Overall, being a perfectionist may be beneficial as well as detrimental when considering the relationship between perfectionism and depressive affect.

Convergence between sources of service job analysis data

Indentifies the dimensions of a higher customer contact food and beverage operative′s job as perceived by managers, supervisors and operatives and examines within‐source and between‐source differences in these perceptions. Uses two instruments, the repertory grid and the work profiling system. Shows a number of distinct dimensions which are defined in terms of the worker behaviours necessary for the job tasks to be performed. Managers/supervisors and operatives generally agree on a number of dimensions. Discusses variations occurring both with and between groups and implications for the choice of sources of job analysis data and the use of job analysis in a personnel selection and training context.