A Pragmatic Guide to Qualitative Historical Analysis in the Study of International Relations

Researchers using qualitative methods, including case studies and comparative case studies, are becoming more self–conscious in enhancing the rigor of their research designs so as to maximize their explanatory leverage with a small number of cases. One aspect of qualitative research that has not received as much attention is the use of primary and secondary source material as data or evidence. This essay explores the potential problems encountered by political scientists as they conduct archival research or rely on secondary source material produced by historians. The essay also suggests guidelines for researchers to minimize the main problems associated with qualitative historical research, namely, investigator bias and unwarranted selectivity in the use of historical source materials. These guidelines should enable advanced undergraduates and graduate students to enhance the quality of their historically minded political science scholarship.     

Entangling carbon lock-in: India’s coal constituency

This article investigates how energy security in the Anthropocene is entangled in diffuse ways with materiality. In particular we examine the social-material entanglement of humans and coal in India and how coal manifests itself differently across social life in the country. Focusing on a single material allows us to study how the Anthropocene creates, and is created by, particular appropriations of the material world. It offers a corrective to some Anthropocene literature that avoids discussing the complex, “everyday,” social impacts that fossil fuels have, particularly in the developing world. These intertwined impacts add to the complexity and difficulty in the process of decarbonizing societies, or in transitioning to a sustainable energy future.     

COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE IN THE CANADIAN LANDSCAPE

This article looks at the growth of collaborative practice in Canada in the last decade and the legal and Canadian cultural underpinnings influencing this growth. Government recognition of and support for collaborative process has come from both the federal and provincial governments. Statutory support in family law statutes and in ethical standards for lawyers encourage alternate dispute resolution and have helped normalize consensual dispute resolution options. The article also looks at decisions from Canadian courts relating to the practice of collaborative law, including the confidentiality of collaborative process negotiations as set out in the participation agreement and the standard of care necessary for collaborative lawyers.     

Sudden death after exercise in an adolescent with hemoglobin SE

Hemoglobin (Hb) S and Hb E are the most common variant hemoglobins, but because of the geographical separation of the areas where they are prevalent, the combination of the 2 is uncommon. Approximately 46 cases of hemoglobin SE compound heterozygosity have been reported. No deaths from the condition have been reported previously, whereas death after vigorous physical activity in individuals with sickle cell trait (hemoglobin AS) has been described in a few case reports. Here we report previously undiagnosed hemoglobinopathy SE in a 12-year-old American boy who collapsed during football practice and had a cardiac arrest on the field after a brief lucid interval. The autopsy was significant only for postmortem intravascular sickling. A postmortem hemoglobin electrophoresis test revealed 57% S, 34% E, and 1% F hemoglobins. The death is attributed to cardiac ischemia from functional vaso-occlusion by sickled erythrocytes.     

Cyanide quantification in post-mortem biological matrices by headspace GC-MS

Cyanide is a powerful chemical asphyxiant found in some forensic cases following voluntary (suicide) or involuntary ingestion (fire, accidental exposure). A quantification method for cyanide that is specifically suited to post-mortem forensic purposes was developed. Determination was performed by headspace gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry using a GS-GASPRO column on an HP-6890 gas chromatograph with an HP-5973N mass detector. The biological sample was treated with an internal standard, frozen, glacial acetic acid was added and the sample was then incubated at 60°C for 15min. The headspace was sampled with a disposable syringe, and analyzed to quantify hydrogen cyanide. Isotopically labeled cyanide ((13)C(15)N) was used as the internal standard to minimize matrix effect and sampling error. The method produced an extended linear dynamic range (0.07-50μg/mL), and a method detection limit of 0.02μg/mL. Identical calibration curves were obtained when blood, gastric contents and aqueous solutions were used as the calibration standard matrix. This method was also successful in quantitating cyanide in gastric contents, one of the most variable biological fluids. The method has been validated and is being used for current forensic cases such as fire victims and suicides.     

Religious perspectives on umbilical cord blood banking

Umbilical cord blood is a valuable source of haematopoietic stem cells. There is little information about whether religious affiliations have any bearing on attitudes to and decisions about its collection, donation and storage. The authors provided information about umbilical cord blood banking to expert commentators from six major world religions (Catholicism, Anglicanism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism) and asked them to address a specific set of questions in a commentary. The commentaries suggest there is considerable support for umbilical cord blood banking in these religions. Four commentaries provide moral grounds for favouring public donation over private storage. None attach any particular religious significance to the umbilical cord or to the blood within it, nor place restrictions on the ethnicity or religion of donors and recipients. Views on ownership of umbilical cord blood vary. The authors offer a series of general points for those who seek a better understanding of religious perspectives on umbilical cord blood banking.