Public Administration Research in Norway: Organization theory, institutionalism and empirical studies in a democratic context

This article gives a broad overview of Norwegian research on public administration over the past 40 years. The main picture that emerges is that a Norwegian public administration built primarily on Webernian principles has lost some but not all these original properties. It describes a research tradition based on organizational theory and democratic theory. It also paints a picture of public administration as integrated into a complex network of domestic political institutions, public agencies, organized interests and clients, as well as extensive European and international networks. It shows how a strong theoretical tradition, based on bounded rationality, is supplemented by different types of institutional theories and increased theoretical pluralism. Finally, the paper underlines the importance of considering public administration not simply from an internal technical viewpoint, but of placing the discipline in a wider political and democratic context.     

Changes and Fluctuations in Issue Ownership: The Case of Sweden, 1979–2010

Issue ownership (IO) has been an important concept in the analysis of party behaviour, party strategy and party competition for several decades. More recently, it has also been of growing interest for research on voting behaviour. Traditionally, IO has been regarded as a stable phenomenon where parties have different issue profiles and are advantaged by different political issues or issue‐areas. Recently, however, many studies have reported change and fluctuations of IO, and the same studies also makes it clear that we know surprisingly little about what might cause, or facilitate, change in issue ownership. In fact, we do not even have systematic studies of how stable issue ownership is, or how frequent shifts in issue ownership actually are. The aim of this article is to explore the extent of change and stability in issue ownership in Sweden. For this purpose, the Swedish national election studies from 1979 to 2010 are utilised. Although recent research has indicated that changes in IO have increased over time, this is not supported in the Swedish case. Instead, issue ownership seems never to have been a particularly stable phenomenon. However, in line with our theoretical expectations, we show that ownership of economic issues is more volatile compared to ownership of other issues.     

Elemental Analysis of Variably Contaminated Cremains Using X‐ray Fluorescence Spectrometry

Analyzing and identifying skeletal remains becomes increasingly difficult when remains have been cremated, especially in cases where the cremated material may have been intentionally contaminated with nonskeletal material. This study examined the potential of X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) to detect the presence of nonskeletal contaminants in samples of cremains. Eleven samples of cremains were variably combined with concrete mix and analyzed using XRF. Photon counts of elements in each sample were analyzed, and the coefficient of determination (R²) using unweighted linear regression as a function of percent cremains was calculated. Results showed that with changes in the proportion of skeletal material and contaminant, there were significant (R² > 0.90) changes in detected levels of phosphorus, potassium, zinc, aluminum, and sulfur. The use of XRF is concluded to be a valid approach in the identification of the presence of nonskeletal material in potentially contaminated cremains.     

The Use of Femoral Neck Axis Length to Estimate Sex and Ancestry

Having multiple reliable methods of estimating sex and ancestry from various skeletal features increases the likelihood of identifying skeletal remains. Femoral neck axis length (FNAL), as measured in living individuals, has been shown to vary by sex and ancestry. FNAL has not, however, been previously measured directly from skeletonized remains and investigated for its potential use in forensic anthropological applications. This research proposes a method for measuring FNAL from skeletal remains, determines the reliability and repeatability of the measurement, and assesses the validity of FNAL in sex and ancestry estimation. Results showed low interobserver error in the measurement of FNAL (TEM = 0.33 mm, R = 0.99). Significant differences in FNAL were found between sexes as well as between American Black, American White, and Native American groups. FNAL can correctly classify sex in ~86% of all cases and is considered valuable to sex estimation. The value of FNAL to ancestry estimation, however, is considered limited.     

Validation of X-ray fluorescence spectrometry for determining osseous or dental origin of unknown material

Forensic anthropological examinations typically involve the analysis of human skeletal remains, but in cases where samples are very small and/or physically compromised, it may first be necessary to determine whether the material is even osseous or dental in origin. X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) is a technique that reveals the elemental composition of materials and is hypothesized to have utility in such cases. XRF analysis was conducted on a variety of tissues and materials in unaltered and altered (damaged) states. With few exceptions, osseous and dental tissues in unaltered and altered conditions contained characteristic levels of calcium and phosphorus, while other materials did not. Materials could be accurately identified as osseous or dental in origin based on the calcium and phosphorus levels identified by XRF, and we therefore conclude that XRF analysis is a valid and effective means of determining osseous or dental origin of unknown material.     

Primary and secondary skeletal blast trauma

This study examines primary (resulting from blast wave) and secondary (resulting from disintegrated, penetrating fragments) blast trauma to the skeleton. Eleven pigs were exposed to semi-controlled blast events of varying explosive type, charge size, and distance, including some cases with shrapnel. Skeletal trauma was found to be extensive, presenting as complex, comminuted fractures with numerous small, displaced bone splinters and fragments. Traumatic amputation of the limbs and cranium was also observed. Fractures were concentrated in areas nearer the blast, but there was generally no identifiable point of impact. Fractures were more random in appearance and widespread than those typically associated with gunshot or blunt force injury events. These patterns appear to be uniquely associated with blast trauma and may therefore assist forensic anthropologists and other forensic examiners in the interpretation of skeletal trauma by enabling them to differentiate between blast trauma and trauma resulting from some other cause.     

The Effect of Household Oxidizing Cleaners on Chemiluminescence of Blood Using Bluestar®

This study tests the effect of three common oxidizing cleaners on the ability of the Bluestar Forensic® presumptive test for blood to identify the presence of blood on ceramic tile after cleaning. The cleaners tested were Lysol®, OxiClean®, and Arm & Hammer®. This study also tested which cleaner was the most effective at removing blood, measured by the intensity of chemiluminescence, which was quantified using RGB values in ImageJ. A “hasty” 1‐min cleaning of a blood droplet was simulated using the three cleaners. The chemiluminescence of the Bluestar® reactions after cleaning the blood‐treated region was compared to an untreated region of the same tile for each cleaner, as well as to the treated regions of tiles between the three cleaners. Results indicate that none of the three cleaners removed all of the blood (all p < 0.001) and that Lysol® removed more blood compared to the OxiClean® and Arm & Hammer®.