Bridging the old and new worlds

Chester S. Chard. Northeast Asia In Prehistory. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1974. xvi + 214 pp. Tables, illustrations, maps, chapter bibliographies, and index. $12.50 (cloth).     

Human Genetics As a Bridging Science

Abstract

The history of the biological sciences since 1900 shows that genetic theory has to act as a unifying principle bringing together various, and sometimes quite different, fields in the analysis of common problems. This historical process can be studied especially well in the development of human genetics – a branch of science that, mainly through hybridisation, first with biochemistry, then with cytogenetics, and recently with molecular biology, developed from an outsider's hobby into one of the most challenging fields of biological and medical research. Concepts and approaches derived from genetic theory are now influencing and, in part, determining the structure of an increasing number of scientific specialities – especially in medicine – leading to important practical applications. Genetic theory and methods might also become increasingly useful for analysis of brain function in relation to behaviour.     

Bridging Positivist and Interpretivist Approaches to Qualitative Methods

The usual juxtaposition of qualitative research against quantitative research makes it easy to miss the fact that qualitative research itself encompasses at least two traditions: positivist and interpretivist. Positivist work seeks to identify qualitative data with propositions that can then be tested or identified in other cases, while interpretive work seeks to combine those data into systems of belief whose manifestations are specific to a case. In this paper, I argue that discovering causal relationships is the province of positivist research, while discovering causal mechanisms is the province of interpretivists. I explain why absolutist claims for one or the other approach are mistaken, and argue that the combination of both makes more sense. Finally, I offer suggestions for combinations of positivist and interpretive work, both at the level of thought experiment and in actual data collection and analysis. Throughout, I draw my examples from recent studies of poverty, a field in which a small but distinguished tradition of qualitative studies of the poor has been joined by a growing body of both positivist and interpretive work.     

刘邦的性格与其成功之关系

性格对一个人的事业成败有着不可忽视的影响。刘邦外向,豁达大度,外示宽厚,却又暗藏心机。这些性格因素受到他远大抱负的驱动,在长期的军事政治斗争中不断优化,与刘邦成为一个成功的政治家和中国历史上第一个平民帝王有着密不可分的关系。     

Bridging prehistory and history in the archaeology of cities

Abstract

Archaeology is ideally suited for examining the deep roots of urbanism, its materialization and physicality, and the commonalities and variability in urban experiences cross-culturally and temporally. We propose that the significant advances archaeologists have made in situating the discipline within broader urban studies could be furthered through increased dialog between scholars working on urbanism during prehistoric and historical periods, as a means of bridging concerns in the study of the past and present. We review some major themes in urban studies by presenting archaeological cases from two areas of the Americas: central Mexico and Atlantic North America. Our cases span premodern and early modern periods, and three of the four covered in greatest depth live on as cities of today. Comparison of the cases highlights the complementarity of their primary datasets: the long developmental trajectories and relatively intact urban plans offered by many prehistoric cities, and the rich documentary sources offered by historic cities.     

Road Followed by Penmo Cedain to Success

CONTRIBUTIONTOHOMET0WNPenmoCedainhasfinallystruckrichthoughhehastraversedaruggedroad.In1988,hedonatedtensofthousandsofyuantobuildtheDaohanMiddleSchoolTeachingBuilding.Duringthisperiod,hesupportedmorethan20students.TherearemanyculturalrelicsinDaohanwhichneededmoneyfortheirprotection.WhenPenmoCedainheardthis,hedonatedtensofthousandsofyuan.In1991,followingthewillofthelateLivingBuddhaJamyang,hedonatedtosupportsportsmeetintheGulaiMonastery,heldevery15thdayofthe6thTibetanyear.In1996,…     

Development Thinking—Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice

Theoretically, Development Studies has been claimed to be moving out of its previous impasse. However, its policy implication has traditionally been rather weak, and on this account no large improvements are presently visible. A strong call for relevancy has emerged in the middle of the 1990s, from the same writers who claim that we are now moving beyond the impasse in development theory. Somehow this opens up a niche for development geography, if its strong background in field work can be combined in a dialogue based on theoretical issues. This paper illustrates how the teaching of development in the field can bring up new issues, to be discussed thoroughly within some kind of a dialectical dialogue. The teaching of development finds itself trapped in a controversy, that could be termed as a development crisis. However, existing contradictions in the debate can nurture the more intense probing into the nature of development. Combined with field work experience, this paves the way for a dialogue in which many of the axiomatic truths are turned upside-down. Matters—such as the conflict between modernization and traditional values, the meaning of development, and the role of various actors in the development process—are all focused in an intensive discussion.     

Legal Pluralism and Hybrid Governance: Bridging Two Research Lines

Legal pluralism and hybrid governance are two lines of research that address the interactions between state (official) and non‐state (unofficial) norms. Both come to similar observations, yet they seem hardly aware of each other's existence. With very few exceptions, the one does not refer to the other. This article seeks to explore whether links can be established. It presents both lines of research, identifies common ground, explores what they can learn from each other, and seeks to find whether the distance can be bridged. It concludes that legal pluralism and hybrid governance could be mutually reinforcing if scholars in the two lines were aware of and used each other's findings and methods, and saw each other as complementary.     

Vom GIS zur Geodateninfrastruktur

Geographische Informationssysteme sind nicht mehr ausschlie?lich ein Werkzeug für Spezialisten. In immer mehr Bereichen der raumbezogenen Dokumentation, Planung und Analyse werden diese Werkzeuge eingebunden. Der Beitrag beschreibt die Entwicklung und analysiert die technologischen Hintergründe. Viel wichtiger als technologische Ver?nderungen aber sind organisatorische und gesellschaftliche Ver?nderungen, die auf dem Wege zur Informations- und Wissensgesellschaft eine neue Bewertung des Nutzens von Geoinformation bewirken. Geoinformation wird zunehmend als Wirtschaftsgut betrachtet, das am Markt gehandelt werden kann und ein erhebliches Wirtschaftspotential aufweist. Allerdings ist der Markt für Geoinformationen durch Strukturen gepr?gt, die die Nutzung des wirtschaftlichen Potentials deutlich behindern. Geodateninfrastrukturen gelten als ein wichtiges Instrument zur überwindung der Marktbarrieren und zur Etablierung neuartiger Wertsch?pfungsketten und innovativer Jobchancen für Experten für die Veredlung und Verdichtung von raumbezogenen Informationen.     

Teachers' Attitudes and the Success of School Choice

The 1990s witnessed growing attention to the adoption of choice-based school reforms, particularly charter schooling and school vouchers. Although researchers have approached the school choice debate from theoretical, normative, and empirical directions, little attention has been paid to examining how teachers view school choice or what factors shape their attitudes. This oversight is significant because teachers can impact the success of school choice experiments in many ways, such as through their willingness to launch and staff schools of choice, adopt new practices developed in schools of choice, and support choice-based reform efforts in their unions and communities. Using a survey of Arizona and Nevada teachers, we find that White, experienced, unionized, Democratic educators and those working in a "positive" school environment are less supportive of school choice. Arizona teachers, who live in close approximation of a free market for education, are particularly hostile to choice, but teachers who have had personal contact with a charter school are more supportive. The results indicate that the success of school choice will likely be influenced by the characteristics of the teacher workforce and teachers' familiarity with competition.     

Success(ion): Second-Generation Iranian Americans

More than a generation has passed since the substantial immigration of Iranians to the United States in the late 1970s, resulting in a sizable second-generation population (defined by convention as persons born in the United States and those who immigrated under the age of thirteen). This article presents a first look at the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the second generation at the national level, and compares them with those of the first generation (Iran- or foreign-born population). It uses the 2005–07 merged data set compiled by the United States Census in the American Community Survey (ACS). The results indicate a preliminary continuation of economic and educational success from the first- to the second-generation Iranians. Moreover, this achievement has become more balanced across gender lines in the second generation. Specifically, in terms of educational attainment and labor force participation, females have quickly closed the gap with their male counterparts. Because the second generation is still young, it is premature to assess the extent of intergenerational mobility among Iranians. But given this generation's initial achievements, one can only expect an upward trajectory.     

Success Stories of Democratic Elections in Nedong Villages

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乾隆《常州府志》纂修未果之憾

清代修志盛极一时,成者不胜枚举,败者间亦有之。乾隆《常州府志》的纂修过程及其最终流产,无疑给后人提供了一个发人深思的案例。从纂修府志的倡议到修志资金的筹集使用,从修志人才的选拔使用到修志过程中的认识分歧,无一不透露出以卢文诏、臧墉等乾嘉学者对于修志之举的殚精竭虑,亦无一不折射出一个足以令后世深思的问题,即修志之举诚非易事。     

Bridging and Bonding Capital in Two‐Mode Collaboration Networks

Public management and policy scholars have empirically demonstrated that in complex policy arenas, governments depend on the collaboration of policy actors outside their direct control to produce needed goods and services. Government‐sponsored shared‐cost programs are one of the premier mechanisms to foster such cooperation, yet little is known about the inner patterns of participation in such programs and whether they are conditional on specific resource needs that partners may have. In this article, I study the participation of organizations in projects seeking funds from the Cooperative Funding Initiative, a program sponsored by the Southwest Florida Water Management District that finances projects dealing with the management of water resources. Through the estimation of a series of Exponential Random Graph Models in the networks that form when organizations participate in projects (two‐mode networks), I show that centralization around popular organizations results in greater bridging network capital, which facilitates the flow of nonoverlapping information from project to project. I analyze the implications of these findings and discuss how the formation of these bridging structures may enhance the capacity of the program to find innovative solutions to the problems the projects are designed to deal with.