Analyzing the 2000 National Election Study

Nancy Burns Center for Political Studies 4246 ISR, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106-1248 e-mail: nburns{at}umich.edu (corresponding author) Michael J. Ensley Department of Political Science, 210 Woodburn Hall, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 e-mail: ensley{at}indiana.edu Donald R. Kinder Center for Political Studies 4258 ISR, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106-1248 e-mail: drkinder{at}umich.edu In an earlier report, two of us (Bowers and Ensley, 2003, NationalElection Studies Technical Report, www.umich.edu/nes) provideda general framework for understanding the particular strategyoutlined by Fogarty et al. (in this issue). Fogarty et al.'sstrategy is to make the face-to-face variables more like therandom digit dial (RDD) telephone variables by trimming theends in order to reduce the variance of the face-to-face (FTF)variables. Perhaps some scholars will want the FTF variablesto look like the RDD variables, but that would be a fix fora specific research question. Given the significant differencesin the representativeness of the samples, the processes of surveynonresponse, and the quality and character of the responsesbetween data taken from a National Area Probability sample inperson and data taken from an RDD telephone sample, researchquestions involving comparisons with other years in the 50-yeartime series will require different remedies.     

Systematic objective setting for effective issue management

• While a great deal of academic and practitioner effort has been devoted to understanding and formalizing objective setting in corporate strategic planning and in strategic communication, far less effort has been committed to objective setting for issue management. Within this context, setting a proper objective is sometimes swept aside in the ‘rush for results’ and, as a consequence, issue management efforts can be misdirected, misapplied and poorly evaluated. Objective setting for issue management has unique requirements which distinguish it from broader corporate planning processes, and this paper develops a rationale and proposes specific guidelines to help to establish strategic objectives for effective issue management.

Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

English Law's Epistemology of Expert Testimony

The decision whether to believe an expert witness raises difficult epistemological and ethical questions for a lay juror or judge. This article examines the English courts' approach to these questions in the light of a series of cases which endorse the test of admissibility formulated in the Australian case o/R v. Bonython . It argues that, if interpreted more rigorously than it generally has been to date, Bonython could provide the framework for an approach which avoids the pitfalls of either a 'scientistic' or a 'constructivist' epistemology of expert testimony. Such an approach needs to distinguish between different types of expertise and the differing degrees of deference that they call for on the part of a lay fact-finder.     

Culture and Consumerism: Citizenship, Public Service Broadcasting and the BBC's Fair Trading Obligations

The authors examine the future of public service broadcasting in the context of current debates about, and commercial pressures on, the BBC. They describe the European Community constraints on public service broadcasting and the need for a clearer definition of such broadcasting, noting that such a definition is not currently provided in UK law. The BBC is also under increasing pressure from fair trading rules derived from competition law, some of which may weaken its ability to deliver its public service mission. Original research undertaken within the BBC suggests that external and internal pressures have undermined the conditions for a distinctive public service output, although there remains the basis for such an output within the culture of programme-making. The authors develop theoretical bases for a redefinition of public service broadcasting centred on the principles of citizenship, universality and quality in relation to services and output, and examine the implications for the structure of channels in the digital era. Finally, the authors discuss the legal and regulatory implications of their analysis in the context of the Government's Communications White Paper, arguing that the social and cultural purposes of public service broadcasting must not be made subordinate to competition-based concerns.     

An Unravelling Development Strategy? Garment Assembly in the Caribbean Basin after the Multifibre Arrangement

The purpose of this article is to assess the likely impact of the ending of the Multifibre Arrangement (MFA) on garment assembly in the Caribbean Basin. Over the last fifteen years or so garment assembly has come to represent one of the region's few economic ‘success stories’ and has accordingly helped to offset the loss of export revenue from traditional commodities such as coffee and sugar. With the ending of the MFA on 1 January 2005, however, the long‐term viability of this trade has been thrown into doubt. This article thus seeks to assess the prospects for continued garment assembly in the Caribbean Basin against the backdrop of these developments.