A dialogue on dialectics

The following comments are intended as a constructive critique of the questions posed by Lima, Osterman and Rezende. The issues raised by the authors advocate for a return in research and teaching to the impetus of dialectical materialist approaches in the originators of the sociocultural school, including Vygotsky. The focus of this response is directed toward the need to historicize dialectics itself, as a tradition, method and approach. The relation between dialectics and materialist critique requires a critical scrutiny that also provides pedagogical spaces and temporalities for an entwining of dialectical practices with dialogic interchange. The intent of the following comments is to engage with the authors in shaping a materialist critique of some of the ways through which the sociocultural school and ‘Vygotskyian inspired practices have been domesticated within the neoliberal university.     

Becoming More Reflective about the Role of Design in Communication

Robert Craig's constitutive meta-model of communication reminds us that while communication scholarship may feel like discovery of communication's natural properties, it is also often (if not always) on a path to invention of new possibilities and reconstitution. The constitutive meta-model suggests that every theory of communication is also a design language for communication, and that design itself may be a path to theory development. Design inquiry can be conducted in all subdisciplines of communication, incorporating and contributing to widely disparate communication theories. Design work itself takes many forms, producing artifacts as diverse as individual messages, persuasive campaigns, interaction protocols, large-scale participation frameworks for public decision-making, and more. This special issue explores design scholarship in the field of communication, with five original essays representing different subfields and different theoretical approaches. In this introduction, we argue that design work is more than application of theory; design itself is a theory-building enterprise. It is a distinct form of inquiry that builds new knowledge, complementary to, but different in kind from, empirical and critical scholarship.     

A simultaneous model of nonprofit symphony orchestra behavior

In this paper, we test a six equation simultaneous model of nonprofit symphony orchestra behavior. The model is based on Hansmann's theory of nonprofit behavior in the performing arts. The results show that the most prestigious of the orchestras practise a pricing policy that encourages patrons to make a tax deductible contribution. In this manner, they achieve a pattern of price discrimination that, instead of increasing revenues, reduces revenues. Following conditions suggested by Hansmann, we are also able to draw conclusions about the objectives of nonprofit symphony orchestras.     

A Conceptual Framework for a Psychometric Theory for Standard Setting with Examples of Its Use for Evaluating the Functioning of Two Standard Setting Methods

A conceptual framework is proposed for a psychometric theory of standard setting. The framework suggests that participants in a standard setting process (panelists) develop an internal, intended standard as a result of training and the participant's background. The goal of a standard setting process is to convert panelists' intended standards to points on a test's score scale. Psychometrics is involved in this process because the points on the score scale are estimated from ratings provided by participants. The conceptual framework is used to derive three criteria for evaluating standard setting processes. The use of these criteria is demonstrated by applying them to variations of bookmark and modified Angoff standard setting methods.