Conducting Meta-Analyses of Evaluations of Government-Funded Training Programs

Government‐funded training programs in the United States have often been subject to rigorous evaluation. Indeed, many of these programs have been evaluated with random assignment, although sophisticated quasi‐experimental methods have also been used. Until very recently, however, there has been little systematic attempt to use the cumulative information vested in these evaluations to attempt determine which kinds of programs work best in which setting and with respect to which types of client. Meta‐analysis—a set of statistical procedures for systematically synthesizing findings from separate studies—can, in theory at least, address these and other topics that evaluation of individual programs cannot. This article discusses the steps in conducting such a synthesis, summarizes the results of three recently conducted meta‐analyses of training and welfare‐to‐work programs, identifies limitations to the meta‐analytic approach, and considers ways in which some of these limitations can be overcome.     

Reziproker Interessenausgleich in internationalen Verhandlungssystemen und Konkordanzdemokratien

Der Aufsatz bietet in seinem ersten Teil eine spieltheoretische Erklärung für jenes Muster der “zeitverschobenen gegenseitigen Kompensationen” (Sartori 1992), das sich als häufiges Einigungsmuster sowohl in nationalen Verhandlungsdemokratien beziehungsweise Konkordanzdemokratien als auch in zwischenstaatlichen Verhandlungssystemen findet. In seinem zweiten Teil diskutiert der Aufsatz die Rationalität von "zeitverschobenen Kompensationen" im Kontext der Mehr-Ebenen-Problematik, die für das Verständnis von politischen Verhandlungen zentral ist – seien es Verhandlungen innerhalb des Nationalstaats zwischen wichtigen gesellschaftlichen Gruppen, oder seien es Verhandlungen zwischen den souveränen Nationalstaaten. Der Aufsatz bietet auch für den Mehr-Ebenen-Charakter nationaler oder supranationaler Verhandlungssysteme eine einheitliche spieltheoretische Formulierung. Mit ihr lässt sich insbesondere die Frage nach demokratischer Authentizität und wohlfahrtstheoretischer Effektivität von Verhandlungssystemen (Scharpf 1970) diskutieren.     

Mothers' and Fathers' Perceptions of Their Adolescent Daughters' Shape, Weight, and Body Esteem: Are They Accurate?

This study examined parents' awareness of their daughters' attitudes, beliefs, and feelings about their bodies. Sixty-six daughters aged 12–15 years completed the Stirling Eating Disorder Scale, a body figure rating scale, and made ratings of their shape and weight. They also completed a more comprehensive measure of body satisfaction, the Body Esteem Scale (BES). Mothers and fathers estimated their daughters' shape and weight, and completed the BES with instructions to complete the measure from their daughters' perspective. While there were few differences between mothers' and fathers' reports, parent–daughter congruence scores varied according to methodology and attribute measured. That is, parents' ratings of objective daughter characteristics on single-item rating scales were more congruent with daughters' self-reports than parents' estimates of daughters' feelings about their bodies using a more comprehensive measure. Greater discrepancies between parents' estimates of daughters' body esteem and daughters' self-reported body esteem were associated with greater body dissatisfaction in daughters.     

Doing Rawls Justice: An Experimental Study of Income Distribution Norms

Distributive justice has been the focus of political theory with the postwar rise of the social welfare state, and Rawls' A Theory of Justice (1971) is arguably the most important work of political philosophy during that period. Parallel to this theoretical literature is a body of empirical research into distributive justice. We offer a synthesis of the theoretical and empirical approaches with an experimental study of how individuals use allocation principles in making judgments concerning income distribution under conditions of strict impartiality. Our experiment is designed in part to examine the extent to which they prioritize them consistent with Rawls' theory. We find that distributive justice judgments are complex but structured, with individuals tending to use several principles simultaneously and weighing them according to predictable factors, with sex and race being particularly important. We also find that individuals use several strategies in using competing allocation principles and that a considerable minority prioritize them consistent with a Rawlsian maximin strategy.     

The changing role of social experiments in policy analysis

Since 1968 more than thirty-five social policy experiments have been conducted in the United States. During this period through 1976 these experiments were generally long-term, large-scale tests of major new programs; thereafter, experiments became markedly more modest in scope. Although hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on the earlier programs, the experiments probably had only a negligible impact on policies. This result stemmed from a variety of factors: Social testing actually tends to exert a conservative influence on policymaking; and the time required to complete experiments and interpret results is often incompatible with the needs of policy makers. In addition, test results are often not effectively communicated to Congress, the administration and the public, and even when the results are conveyed, policy makers are frequently skeptical about the soundness of the methodologies employed. If recent experimental programs are to exert more influence on policymaking, program oficials will need to address these dificulties.     

Notes on the empirical analysis of cyclical processes

Abstract. This short note discusses a few general data-related problems which occur in analyses of cyclical processes, and offers a brief overview of the advantages and disadvantages of the various approaches and techniques that can be employed. The conclusion is that one should be flexible in approach; it is always possible to model data in more than one way. A prudent strategy will always include the specification and testing of various models.     

MI 6's Requirements Directorate: Integrating Intelligence into the Machinery of British Central Government

The following article examines the relationship between the British Secret Intelli-gence Service (SIS, a.k.a. MI 6) and the machinery of central government, particularly departments of state and other agencies which employ information generated by the SIS. It is argued the main link between the SIS and its consumers in British government is the SIS's requirements 'side', embodied throughout most of the post-war era in the form of a Requirements Directorate. The article argues that the Requirements mechanism operates as a line of communication between the SIS and its consumers separate from the Cabinet Office Joint Intelligence Organisation (JIO), although there is overlap and interdependency between the two architectures. This discussion traces the development of the 'requirements side' from the interwar period up to the post-Cold War era using information from archival sources and a programme of interviews with former UK intelligence officials. It is further argued that the structure and process of the SIS 'requirements side' has developed and changed as a consequence of changes in the structure of demand in the machinery of British government, including adapting to the increasingly central role of the JIO. However, despite that increasingly central role of the JIO, the 'requirements side' has continued to serve as the first point of contact between the SIS and its customers in Whitehall.