Reflexive Theory Research Articles

The Biopsychosocial Model in Health Research: Its Strengths and Limitations for Critical Realists

The biopsychosocial (BPS) model has been of considerable utility to those researching health and illness. This has been particularly the case for critical realists and those with a systemic orientation to their work. Whilst the strengths of the model are conceded in this article, its limitations are also examined. These relate to its ontological sophistication being compromised by its proneness to epistemological naivety. It is a model to explain the emergence of disease and disability, not a reflexive theory applicable to the whole field of health research. This tension is linked to the emergence of a re-orientation of medical knowledge away from bio-medical reductionism. From the outset the model was not about a general critique, or a grand theory, of health and illness. Instead it was a useful intervention, on the part of medical practitioners, like George Engel and Adolf Meyer, to create a reformed medical model on behalf of their profession. Case studies of the problematics of diagnosis and medicalization are offered to illuminate the limitations of the BPS model for health researchers.

Risk and Disability: Towards a Reflexive Theory

This paper analyses the concept of ‘risk’, which both as a theoretical tool and dimension of modern society, is slowly being developed within the humanistic and social sciences (Delanty, 1999). Notwithstanding this, the concept of risk and the meaning and implications associated with it, have not been fully explored in relation to disability. Risk is shrouded in historical and contemporary political debate about whose ‘role’ and ‘responsibility’ is it for ‘disability’ in society – does it reside with the state or the individual?

Diagnosis and treatment of patients with nonacid gastroesophageal reflux-induced chronic cough.

Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is one of the most common causes of chronic cough, and chronic cough due to GER represents a subtype of GER-related diseases. Gastroesophageal reflux-induced chronic cough (GERC) can be divided into two subgroups based on the pH of the GER. Nonacid GERC is less common than acid GERC, and its diagnosis and treatment strategy have not been standardized. However, nonacid GERC usually presents with its unique set of characteristics and features upon diagnosis and treatment in the clinic. Although the underlying molecular mechanism of nonacid GERC is not fully understood, it is considered to be associated with reflux theory, reflex theory and airway hypersensitivity. Multi-channel intraluminal impedance combined with pH monitoring is a promising new technique that can detect both acid and nonacid reflux, and our findings as well as those of others have shown its usefulness in diagnosing nonacid GERC. Development of new diagnostic techniques has led to an increased rate of nonacid GERC diagnosis. We summarize our experience in the diagnosis and treatment of nonacid GERC and provide a guide for future therapeutic approaches.

Protección jurídica del ambiente en la contratación mercantil. Estudio práctico del caso colombiano

This article makes a practical study of the juridical protection of the environment in commercial contracts in Colombia, analyzing the situation of green contracting of corporations under the scope of precautionary principle. After observing the few and isolated examples of the subject in Colombia, and how the law must embody the issue in its discourse, the main conclusion is that the protection of the environment and the commercial contracts correspond, not only in a theoretical approach but also in a practical one, to different discourses. The relation of these discourses can be studied using a tool like the collision of discourses that is offered by reflexive law theory.

Fair-Value Accounting’s Role in the Global Financial Crisis?: Lessons for the Future

This paper debates how fair-value accounting (FVA) that were deeply affected by the global financial crisis. Theglobal financial crisis started in advanced economies spreading to emerging markets and low-income countries.Thus, it has been affected in the middle of 2007 and into 2009, which have examined the role of FVA in thefinancial crisis. This paper is used the value-relevance of fair-value reported under FAS 157 that estimates assetsand liabilities in terms of a simple theoretical and empirical analysis literature framework. This empirical studyproposed is a global crisis that not a normal cyclical crisis of capitalism. Also, it requires a change in themanagement policy to be tackled with new regulatory frameworks for financial institutions in order to stimulateeconomic activities. In other words, FVA may have amplified the crisis. Future research is needed to meetup-to-date information regarding the nature of capital markets and financial institutions. This requires a newtheory of economics; for instance, a change from equilibrium theory to reflexivity theory which requires achange in the underlying model of the economic activity framework. Therefore, this study has concluded a newtheory of the change of equilibrium to reflexivity that led to develop the model in the framework of the economicactivity.

Reflexive writers: Re-thinking writing development and assessment in schools

Writing is a complex and highly individual activity, which is approached in different ways by different writers. Writers reflexively mediate subjective and objective conditions in specific and nuanced ways to produce a product in time and place. This paper uses a critical realist theory of reflexivity to argue that the teaching and assessment of writing must account for the different ways that students manage and make decisions in their writing. Data from linguistically and culturally diverse primary students in Australia are used to illustrate how four distinct reflexive modalities constitute the ways in which students approach writing. The paper offers a new approach to assessing writing for and of learning that considers writers as reflexive and agentic in different ways. It posits the importance of making visible and explicit the context and reflexive decision-making as writers shape a product for a purpose and audience.

Using Critical Realism to Explain Indeterminacy in Role Behaviour Systematically

We demonstrate in this article how critical realism can be used to explain indeterminacy in role behaviour systematically. In so doing, we both rebut various criticisms of critical realism made recently by Kemp and Holmwood and attempt to illustrate the weaknesses and absences of approaches that concentrate unduly on the collection of expectations of (different groups of) actors concerning roles and the behaviour of incumbents. Within a framework that recognises that structure and agency are ontologically distinct but necessarily empirically related entities, we argue that structures should be seen as sources of indeterminacy within role behaviour for at least four reasons: the co-determination of roles through the intersection of structures; conflicting role expectations caused by contradictions inhering within structures; asymmetries of power within social relations; and asymmetric repetition within structural reproduction/transformation. In light of this discussion of structural sources of indeterminacy, we then go on to demonstrate how critical realism is also able to analyse systematically the agential sources of indeterminacy within role behaviour and expectations through theories of psychobiography and reflexivity. We thus conclude that critical realism contains the conceptual tools required to illuminate the point(s) of intersection between structure, culture and agency which is central to understanding both role behaviour and the plurality of expectations concerning such behaviour.

Defining personal reflexivity

Margaret Archer plays a leading role in the sociological analysis of the relation between structure and agency, and particularly in the study of reflexivity. The main aim of this article is to discuss her approach, focusing on the main contributions and limitations of Archer’s theory of reflexivity. It is argued that even though her research is a pioneering one, proposing an operationalization of the concept of reflexivity in view of its empirical implementation, it also minimizes crucial social factors and the dimensions necessary for a more complex and multi-dimensional study of the concept, such as social origins, family socialization, processes of internalization of exteriority, the role of other structure–agency mediation mechanisms and the persistence of social reproduction.

Critically Reflexive Theory: A Proposal for Nursing Education

Nursing is a discipline in transition. As the complexity and acuity of patients increase, nurses are taking on a more comprehensive role in health care leadership and patient outcomes. As the discipline has evolved so has the curricular framework of nursing educational programs, moving from being based on a specific nursing theory, to a general metaparadigm, to the current focus on meeting curricular content standards developed by national accrediting agencies. When considering the skills needed to fully engage in critical thinking and patient advocacy there may be room for an additional curricular focus: that of metacognitive development based on critical theory and constructivism. The empowerment of students via metacognitive and self-evaluative practices also supports the critical theory pedagogy. If graduating nurses are presented with a cohesive and comprehensive curriculum that meets the need for competent and critically reflexive nurses the discipline of nursing can continue to expand in function and voice. The use of metacognition, constructivism, competency, and critical pedagogies in a unified and broad curricular framework allows for the development of these essential skills in contemporary nursing practice. This paper presents this innovative curricular framework that embodies these various teaching and learning perspectives.

Roles and Practices in Accounting: Did Fair-Value Cause the Global Financial Crisis?

This paper debates how did fair-value accounting (FVA) that were deeply affected by the global financial crisis (GFC). The GFC that started in advanced economies spreading to emerging markets and low-income countries, which has been affected in the middle of 2007 and into 2009, as have various empirical studies which have examined the role of FVA in the GFC. In this paper, using the quantitative methodology where value-relevance of fair value estimates of assets and liabilities reported under FVA provided by FAS 157, in terms of a simple theoretical and empirical analysis literature framework. This empirical study proposed that this is not a normal cyclical crisis of capitalism but a global crisis, which requires a change in the management policy to be tackled with new regulatory frameworks for financial institutions in order to stimulate economic activities. In other words, FVA may have amplified the crisis. These findings could be fruitful and helpful for outside users of accounting reports and also for regulators and legislators in their attempts to constrain the incidence of earnings accounting practises and to enhance the quality of accounting information. Future research is needed to meet up-to-date information regarding the nature of capital markets and financial institutions. This requires a new theory of economics; for instance, a change from equilibrium theory to reflexivity theory which requires a change in the underlying model of the economic activity framework and valuation challenges that arise from the use of FVA in financial reporting.

Reflectivity, reflexivity and situated reflective practice

This paper describes an aspect of reflective practice referred to as situated reflective practice. The overarching theory is derived from social theories of structuration and reflexivity. In particular, from Giddens’ theory of structuration, which sees social life as an interplay of agency and structure. Discussion of the research reported here centres on the nature of such situated reflection, considers related literature and presents the data collected in a recent small-scale study. The original purpose of the research was to explore the perceptions of corporate trainers on a course for Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector. As a result of this research, the concept of situated reflective practice was generated. It is argued that there exist some situations where a person will find themselves in a position over which they have little control, avoidance or veto. The major conclusion of this study was that key interview themes enabled the delineation of a series of five characteristics representing increasing structural distance in space and time between the reflective practitioner and the professional situation in which they work.

An Empirical Study of Perceptual Factors Underlying Customer Reactions for New Product Positioning in Notebook Industry

Customer reactions to products are an important way to explore trends in new product development. The reputation of a brand represents the perceived corporate image that is held by its ultimate customers. Complaints from the ultimate customers to brands are messages that can be used to obtain their true demands with regard to products. Therefore, this research depicts the mental simulation of customer cognition for brands and creates a product positioning model based on cognitive psychology and the theory of reflexivity. The perceptual factors as a pioneering examination used to analyze customer complaints, include appearance, function, and cosmetic elements, are used for the measurement of the trend of future product positioning.

Agentive Motility Meets Structural Viscosity: Australian Families Relocating in Educational Markets

This paper will develop and illustrate a concept of institutional viscosity to balance the more agentive concept of motility with a theoretical account of structural conditions. The argument articulates with two bodies of work: broad social theory of reflexivity as negotiating agency and social structures; and sociology of mobility and mobility systems . It then illustrates the concept of viscosity as a variable (low to high viscosity) through two empirical studies conducted in the sociology of education that help demonstrate how degrees of viscosity interact with degrees of motility, and how this interaction can impact on motility over time. The first study explored how Australian Defence Force families cope with their children’s disrupted education given frequent forced relocations. The other study explored how middle class professionals relate to career and educational opportunities in rural and remote Queensland. These two life conditions have produced very different institutional practices to make relocations thinkable and doable, by variously constraining or enabling mobility. In turn, the degrees of viscosity mobile individuals meet with over time can erode or elevate their motility.

The Theory of Reflexivity A Non-Stochastic Randomness Theory for Business Schools Only?

'The Alchemy of Finance', a book written by George Soros (1987) on the workings of financial markets, 'has found a place in the reading lists of business schools as distinct from economics departments', according to the author (2003, 4). His theory of reflexivity, which is at the center of the book, states that interdependence exists between the cognitive and manipulative functions of market participants. While Soros claims that imperfect knowledge rules on financial markets, academic orthodoxy assumes perfect knowledge and hence displays – in the absence of external shocks – financial markets as efficient. We review the work of Soros on reflexivity and follow up his claim that it can be used to attack the efficient market hypothesis. Both are discussed and then the ideas of Soros are compared to those of Post-Keynesian economics. We argue that Soros’ book is mainly ignored by neo-classical economists because they disagree with his axioms, and by heterodox economists because his ideas are not new.

¿Tiene la autoconciencia un fundamento lingüístico? Ernst Tugendhat y la Escuela de Heidelberg

Clarifying the structure of self-awareness is a key point in the controversy between supporters of the “linguistic turn” and followers of the “philosophy of consciousness”, because as far as self-awareness is a linguistic phenomenon, language gets to the root of subjectivity. in the light of this fundamental issue, this paper examines the debate between Ernst Tugendhat and the Heidelberg School (dieter Henrich and Manfred Frank) on self-awareness. Tugendhat understands self-awareness as an essentially linguistic phenomenon, while the Heidelberg School finds in Tugendhat’s theory the same problems that can be found in the classical reflexive theory of self-awareness. after considering both theories, this paper shows the unexpected symmetry between them and briefly points to two open issues an alternative approach should solve – namely, discriminating various levels in self-awareness and clarifying the relation between the pre-linguistic and the conceptual level.

On the role of reflexivity in economic analysis

Soros' theory of reflexivity is meant to apply to a variety of social processes. In economics, it implies that many processes will be subject to “boom-bust” patterns in which expected outcomes deviate for a considerable time from the actual path, and that the actual path in turn deviates from the underlying fundamentals. This is in sharp contrast to the reigning notions in orthodox economics. The hypothesis of Rational Expectations (RE) requires that the views of all participants will converge to a “single set correct of expectations” and the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) posits that actual outcomes deviate from equilibrium in a random manner save for occasional exogenous shocks. In this paper I show that Soros' argument is similar to the classical and Keynesian notions of equilibration as a turbulent process in which actual and expected variables gravitate around some fundamental value. But Soros makes the important further contribution of emphasizing that the fundamental value itself will generally be affected, but not fully determined, by (diverse) expectations and actual outcomes. I demonstrate that Soros' theory of reflexivity can be formalized and that the resulting system is stable in in the sense that expected and actual variables will gravitate around a possibly moving fundamental value. The paper ends with a discussion of an alternate economic paradigm in which the principle of reflexivity would be central.

Reflexivity unpacked: performativity, uncertainty and analytical monocultures

This paper analyses Soros' theory of reflexivity by breaking it down into several component concepts that are individually well analysed in existing literature – including performativity, self-reinforcing feedback loops and uncertainty. By focusing on the cognitive myopia implied by analytical monocultures and on the indeterminacy implied by innovation, it helps establish boundaries of applicability for reflexivity (as opposed to standard economic) models. It argues that Soros largely ignores a key element in the formation of self-reinforcing delusions or market bubbles – the role played in conditions of uncertainty by homogeneous social narratives and shared mental models. This paper also examines how social learning, rhetoric, power, emotional contagion, the discourse of ‘best practice’, ‘and Keynes' beauty contest may lead to such shared narratives and analytical homogeneity in markets. It concludes that market instability results when there is insufficient cognitive diversity or heterogeneity of beliefs among actors to enable them to spot anomalies and novelties.

Introduction to symposium on ‘reflexivity and economics: George Soros's theory of reflexivity and the methodology of economic science’

Nature does not care … whether we penetrate her secrets and establish successful theories about her workings and apply these theories successfully in predictions. In the social sciences, the matter is more complicated and in the following fact lies one of the fundamental differences between these two types of theories: the kind of economic theory that is known to the participant in the economy has an effect on the economy … There is thus a “backcoupling” or “feedback” between the theory and the object of the theory, an interrelation which is definitely lacking in the natural sciences … In this area are great methodological problems worthy of careful analysis.” (Oskar Morgenstern, 1972, p. 707).

Reflexivity and Reflexive Predicates in Korean

Korean has sentences that contain no overt reflexives but show reflexivity of predicates. Based on Park’s (1985) observation, and following his terminology, we call predicates occurring in such sentences reflexive predicates. The paper is an attempt at providing an account of the nature of reflexive predicates mainly depending on the theory of reflexivity presented by Reinhart and Reuland (1993). In the course of the discussion, we will also review the weaknesses of the canonical binding theory and see that the theory of reflexive binding based on reflexivity of predicates fits well in accounting for Korean reflexive predicates.

Durkheim as a sociologist of knowledge: Rudiments of a reflexive theory of the concept

Although Durkheim founded his sociology on his unique epistemology and his corresponding sociology of knowledge, it is the positivist and structuralist interpretations of his work which have mainly influenced sociology, while the foundational sociology of knowledge has languished. This article explores Durkheim’s sociology of knowledge and the theoretical grounding it offers to contemporary fields of inquiry that are focused on an empirical analysis of practical knowledge and its uses in action, particularly those initiated by Erving Goffman and Harold Garfinkel.