Right or Wrong? Toward a Theory of IRBs’ (Dis)Approval of Research

No one would disagree that scientific research has been unethical—even criminal—at times. Institutional review boards (IRBs) play a fundamental role in protecting people from unethical criminological research. At the same time, IRBs, as social entities, are subject to a wide range of influences that may affect their decisions regarding the ethicality of research. This research note draws on the paradigm of pure sociology and the logic underpinning Black’s theory of law to propose a preliminary theory of IRBs’ (dis)approval of research. Specifically, it suggests that IRBs apply less social control to criminological research involving higher status researchers and lower status research participants and, therefore, those persons are more often involved in research. The paper concludes with theoretically situated, practical advice for how (1) IRBs can reduce their discrimination, and (2) criminological researchers can reduce IRBs’ disapproval of their projects and thereby increase their research output.     

30 min of treadmill walking at self-selected speed does not increase gait variability in independent elderly

Walking is one of the preferred exercises among elderly, but could a prolonged walking increase gait variability, a risk factor for a fall in the elderly? Here we determine whether 30 min of treadmill walking increases coefficient of variation of gait in elderly. Because gait responses to exercise depend on fitness level, we included 15 sedentary and 15 active elderly. Sedentary participants preferred a lower gait speed and made smaller steps than the actives. Step length coefficient of variation decreased ~16.9% by the end of the exercise in both the groups. Stride length coefficient of variation decreased ~9% after 10 minutes of walking, and sedentary elderly showed a slightly larger step width coefficient of variation (~2%) at 10 min than active elderly. Active elderly showed higher walk ratio (step length/cadence) than sedentary in all times of walking, but the times did not differ in both the groups. In conclusion, treadmill gait kinematics differ between sedentary and active elderly, but changes over time are similar in sedentary and active elderly. As a practical implication, 30 min of walking might be a good strategy of exercise for elderly, independently of the fitness level, because it did not increase variability in step and stride kinematics, which is considered a risk of fall in this population.     

Formation des Enseignants et Petites Communautes Europeennes: finalités culturelles spécifiques?

A parity of prestige is fundamental to tomorrow's multi‐cultural, multilingual Europe. It is an obligation for all educational systems, whether large or small, sovereign or second‐tier, autonomous or struggling for independence.

This mini‐tour of Europe's small communities is dedicated to the promotion of this parity, and it takes teacher education as its entry‐point. A real first’ for the European Journal of Teacher Education, this introduction is dedicated to the examination of teacher‐education policies in those communities which history has marginalised in territory, in population or in legal status. Do they have specific characteristics? Are there ways in which they are interdependent?

This survey presents five case studies, most of them located in the centre of Europe (Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Ticino, the Orisons). But Europe offers many instances: Malta, Cyprus, Friesland, the German communities in Belgium and Denmark, Monaco, San Marino, Scotland, Ireland, the Basque countries, Catalonia, the south Tirol, the Swiss Jura, the Welsh, Bretons, Alsatians, Corsicans, etc.

Multi‐cultural Europe is theirs too, and this study invokes others which may contribute to the evolution of our simple, closed, national technosystems into European ecosystems which will be both complex and open.     

Ready for university? A cross-national study of students’ perceived preparedness for university

Students’ preparedness for higher education is seen as one of the main factors affecting first-year attrition or study success. In this paper we report on a cross-national study in which students’ preparedness for university was measured before students commenced their study at a university in New Zealand or in the Netherlands. This cross-national project provided a unique opportunity to compare students’ perceptions of readiness for university where students are prepared for higher education in quite different secondary school systems. Departing from a transition framework, and comparing the results in both countries using logistic regression techniques to investigate which aspects of readiness could predict perceived preparedness, we discovered similarities in as well as differences between students’ perceived readiness for university study. It could be argued that differences are caused by the different educational systems at secondary level. However, overall we can conclude that, in spite of differences between the educational systems in the two countries, many differences were not remarkable or very significant. This has clear implications for how we view the relative importance of secondary school preparation and tertiary induction. We can expect greater benefit from implementing first-year pedagogical practices in universities that would assist students to develop their academic skills, than from demanding that high schools prepare students better.     

Mathématique et affectivité

Summary This article sums up a survey carried out on pupils of 15 to 18 years of age to study the relations existing between mathematics and affectivity. Pupils were considered according to their sex and whether they were in literary or scientific streams.This work has been carried out according to a clinical method based on 60 recorded interviews and also according to an experimental method based on 600 sets of questions. Its objective was to show in which way mathematics can be considered as a support for libidinal cathexis used by the unconscious through various mechanisms.This research work has been published in: Mathématique et Affectivité, Édition Stock, Paris.