Measuring Political Brands: An Art and a Science of Mapping the Mind

The field of political brands has developed a host of approaches and explored a variety of cases over the last years. However, less attention has been devoted to brand measurement—specifically efforts to construct a measure that attempts to explain the relationship between voters and parties. Against this backdrop, this article discusses how to measure a political brand by first selecting one part of the diverse brand concept for further investigation. Next, the two existing brand measures in the literature are evaluated, and the article proposes an alternative measure that underlines a stronger connection to the immense political science literature on voters and parties. Then, the three measures are compared by empirically investigating which measure is best at explaining voters' party sympathy. Here, it is demonstrated that the alternative measure seems to be the most valid and reliable construct when it comes to explaining voters' sympathy for a particular party. Finally, the proposed alternative measure is further validated in a representative sample (N = 2251), establishing a preliminary correlation between party brand and voter sympathy.     

国际法视野下的标准治理

全球化带来的世界转型,使国际体系呈现一体化和碎片化交织的复杂模式。而依循国际法进行的全球治理,则因其治理乏力而饱受争议。究其原因,公私治理主体间的矛盾、治理方式的僵硬,导致治理价值的受损。以标准作为全球治理的技术(以下简称"标准治理"),更好地折射出全球治理的优势和限度。一方面,多元多层级标准治理主体之间的合作和互动,增进了决策权的复制与移转,使治理方式更为灵活有序。另一方面,国家导向与市场导向权威之间的可能摩擦,恐使全球治理屈从于"排除知识落伍者"的单一治理模式。更为重要的是,标准治理激发了对国际法秩序,特别是国际法传统渊源的反思和重塑,对于如何更好地推动公私标准的融合、改善国际立法及其遵守,继而推动全球治理的可持续发展提供了新契机。     

传统及趁鲜加工工艺对何首乌饮片质量的影响

目的 以二苯乙烯苷及结合蒽醌含量为测定指标,比较传统和趁鲜加工工艺对何首乌饮片质量的影响。方法 采用高效液相色谱法对传统及趁鲜加工所得何首乌饮片中二苯乙烯苷及结合蒽醌的含量进行测定。结果 趁鲜加工制得的饮片中二苯乙烯苷及结合蒽醌的含量均高于传统加工所得饮片,且趁鲜工艺节约时间。结论 趁鲜加工工艺省时省力,所制得饮片质量较好,可以用于工业化生产。     

International financial reporting standards convergence in the Indian context: Insights from practitioners

The purpose of this paper is to first, understand the existing status of Indian Accounting Standards (Ind-AS) and its convergence from the perspective of accounting practitioners in India; and second, to elucidate the benefits and challenges while implementing Ind-AS. The paper exemplifies the Ind-AS convergence to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) thereon cited as Ind-AS. The study considers exploratory research design and uses an in-depth interview approach, a qualitative research method of 32 practitioners in India from a heterogeneous group of 6 regulating institutions, 8 conglomerate companies and 18 audit firms including the Big four. The preparedness of the Ind-AS transition was studied from the perspective of accounting practitioners interviewed revealing three critical perspectives. First, the respondents believed that a greater understanding of the benefits of IFRS convergence can be built by professional education and proper training. Second, the main challenges reflected by the respondents on the implementation of Ind-AS can be summarised in two key areas: the complexity and interpretation of the accounting standards, since there are fundamental differences between IFRS and the converged Ind-AS. Third, by strengthening the regulatory framework for monitoring, enforcing accounting and auditing requirements concerning listed companies.     

Validating a novel tool for coding body worn camera footage of police-community member interactions

Objectives

This study aimed to validate a tool for coding police body-worn camera (BWC) footage to measure the dynamics of police–community encounters, including items related to community members, officer performance, and situational outcomes.

Methods

Over 1000 BWC videos were scored by five coders who participated in an iterative interrater reliability exercise to improve the agreement. Krippendorf's alphas and a multilevel simultaneous component analysis were used to assess interrater reliability and the component structure of ratings, respectively. Bootstrapped and multilevel exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to ascertain any underlying dimensions supporting officer and community member behavior, and cluster analyses were performed to examine whether interactions could be grouped into coherent categories.

Results

The lower bound of unweighted means of bootstrapped alphas ranged from 0.67 to 0.96 depending upon item type, and 21.60% of the total variance in raters was between-subjects. Factor analyses revealed only a single factor (“defensiveness”) underlying four items related to hostility directed toward officers by community members. Cluster analyses described seven categories that were highly overlapping but conceptually plausible with cluster silhouette means ranging from −0.06 to 0.13.

Conclusions

We validated a collection of interval-level coding metrics on a random sample of over 1000 interactions between police officers and community members recorded through BWCs. In doing so, we provide a roadmap for researchers and practitioners to effectively measure the dynamics of police–community encounters and officer performance within those encounters and a framework for addressing the validity and reliability of items in future studies involving the measurement of BWC footage.