May I start by saying how happy OECD is to have been asked to take part in this meeting on documentation for the chemical industry. One of the many problems of the international…
Abstract
May I start by saying how happy OECD is to have been asked to take part in this meeting on documentation for the chemical industry. One of the many problems of the international civil servant is the lack of contact with the persons who use our publications in their daily work. As you know, OECD's regular publications on the chemical industry are limited in fact to an annual report which we, of course, consider serves a useful purpose. We sometimes wonder, however, how far it meets the reader's requirements. In order to find this out, we enclosed an enquiry card in our 1965/66 report and, while we had a fairly good response, we gained the impression that readers wished us to expand the statistical coverage without giving us any clear indication as to those parts of the report which they considered satisfactory and those which were rather weak. We have our own views on this subject but realize that opinions formed in the isolation of an office in Paris may not always be valid. It would, therefore, be useful to have confirmation of our views on those chapters which need expanding and of our impression that other parts of the report could be condensed.
Ann Lazenbatt and Frances McMurray
Gender inequalities in income and wealth make women particularly vulnerable to poverty. Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) is a research process, which enables practitioners to…
Abstract
Gender inequalities in income and wealth make women particularly vulnerable to poverty. Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) is a research process, which enables practitioners to uncover an unmet need or an under‐served group within a community. The study focuses on a case study chosen to illustrate the strengths and limitations of using PRA as a method to assess the health and social needs of women in a deprived inner city area of North Belfast. The study demonstrates that PRA can provide a greater insight into gender inequalities and unmet health and social needs.
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Gregori Galofré-Vilà, Andrew Hinde and Aravinda Meera Guntupalli
This chapter uses a dataset of heights calculated from the femurs of skeletal remains to explore the development of stature in England across the last two millennia. We find that…
Abstract
This chapter uses a dataset of heights calculated from the femurs of skeletal remains to explore the development of stature in England across the last two millennia. We find that heights increased during the Roman period and then steadily fell during the “Dark Ages” in the early medieval period. At the turn of the first millennium, heights grew rapidly, but after 1200 they started to decline coinciding with the agricultural depression, the Great Famine, and the Black Death. Then they recovered to reach a plateau which they maintained for almost 300 years, before falling on the eve of industrialization. The data show that average heights in England in the early nineteenth century were comparable to those in Roman times, and that average heights reported between 1400 and 1700 were similar to those of the twentieth century. This chapter also discusses the association of heights across time with some potential determinants and correlates (real wages, inequality, food supply, climate change, and expectation of life), showing that in the long run heights change with these variables, and that in certain periods, notably the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the associations are observable over the shorter run as well. We also examine potential biases surrounding the use of skeletal remains.
Marisha L. Humphries and Iheoma U. Iruka
Inequalities in education have existed since the beginning of formal education. Educational disparities often emerge as you compare groups of students based on race, ethnicity…
Abstract
Inequalities in education have existed since the beginning of formal education. Educational disparities often emerge as you compare groups of students based on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, gender, and geography. This chapter seeks to stress the important role that early childhood experiences, including specific structures and processes during these foundational years play in potentially preventing the educational gaps of Black students. This requires intentional shifting from solely focusing on educational gaps to one that focuses on specific practices and policies that must be implemented to ensure that Black children are afforded the opportunities to meet their potential.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide a literature review of investigations into the specific disability of deafness in the field of sociology and other closely related fields.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a literature review of investigations into the specific disability of deafness in the field of sociology and other closely related fields.
Methodology/approach
After a pilot search using databases appropriate to social science research, we developed key search terms and, using an inductive approach, we identified major themes in the literature.
Findings
Our review shows that deafness has been investigated for a long time in sociology and other related fields, that there is a wide range of themes in scholarly work on the experiences of deaf communities and deaf people, and that conceptualizations of deafness and d/Deaf communities have changed over time. We organize this paper around six major themes we identified, and a few highlighted pieces of scholarship illustrate these themes along the way. We particularly focus on scholarship from the late 1960s through the early 1990s as emblematic of seismic shifts in studying deafness, although we do highlight little known nineteenth century work as well.
Research implications
This paper captures the legacy of this past scholarship and reveals that deafness is a rich site of inquiry that can contribute to the field of sociology. It is also a valuable resource for any future sociological research into deafness, deaf people, and deaf communities. We conclude with a discussion of our findings, commentary on the extent to which previous scholarship on the sociology of deafness has or has not figured into current scholarship and suggestions for future research.
Bob Gates, Colin Griffiths, Paul Keenan, Sandra Fleming, Carmel Doyle, Helen L. Atherton, Su McAnelly, Michelle Cleary and Paul Sutton
Keith Stevenson, Paul Sinfield, Vince Ion and Marilyn Merry
A sample of 92 UK patients volunteered to take part in focus groups to discuss what elements of local primary care provision were important to them. Issues raised were prioritised…
Abstract
A sample of 92 UK patients volunteered to take part in focus groups to discuss what elements of local primary care provision were important to them. Issues raised were prioritised by the patients and then fashioned into 18 quality indicators which nine local practices were invited to assess themselves against. At the assessment meeting three months later over 40 changes in service provision were noted in the nine participating practices. A patient questionnaire carried out in each practice, however, indicated a tendency for practices to overestimate the services they felt they provided. Patients rated the experience of generating standards as very worthwhile and enjoyed being asked. Further research needs to be carried out to assess the effectiveness of this methodology in different settings.
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Women leaders operate within multiple roles, managing both work and nonwork obligations. Exploring work-life balance constructs, this study examined role integration, social…
Abstract
Women leaders operate within multiple roles, managing both work and nonwork obligations. Exploring work-life balance constructs, this study examined role integration, social support sources, and work-family conflict to determine their influence on women leaders. Findings suggested that women leaders felt the benefit of a variety of social support services, but especially from sources external to the organization. Women leaders were diverse in role integration strategies, with respondents largely divided between blurring and segregating their work and nonwork roles. Time-based work-family conflict was slightly more apparent than strain-based conflict. Women leaders also indicated that their work interfered with their family more than their family interfered with their work. Findings provide valuable insights as to how women view work-life balance within their roles as leaders.