Utilizing “On Tap” Experts in Deliberative Forums: Implications for Design

Experts play important roles in supporting public deliberation. These roles include developing and vetting background materials, participating in question-and-answer sessions with citizens, and giving pubic presentations. Rarely, though, are experts asked to be on hand during deliberative forums, whereby they have the opportunity to interact with deliberating groups. The inclusion of experts during forums presents a tension because, although they can elevate the quality of the conversation by correcting factual errors, they can also, perhaps unknowingly, crowd out and silence citizen, or “nonexpert,” participation. Careful consideration of communication design can help public deliberation practitioners manage this tension so that experts, when involved in forums, enhance rather than undermine the deliberative process. Taking communication as design, we analyze the interaction of an invited expert at a water scarcity forum in Northern Colorado who derailed discussion and hindered dialogue by “going rogue.” We then turn to stasis theory to conceptualize the effective inclusion of technical experts in public deliberations. Through forum design and training practices, we propose that experts can help resolve issues of conjecture and definition in a manner that frees deliberating groups to discuss substantive and subjective issues of quality and policy.     

Broadening out and opening up technology assessment: Approaches to enhance international development,co-ordination and democratisation

Technology assessment (TA) has a strong history of helping to identify priorities and improve environmental sustainability, cost-effectiveness and wider benefits in the technology policies and innovation strategies of nation-states. At international levels, TA has the potential to enhance the roles of science, technology and innovation towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, effectively implementing the UN Framework on Climate Change and fostering general global transitions to ‘green economies’. However, when effectively recommending single ostensibly ‘best’ technologies or strategies, TA practices can serve unjustifiably to ‘close down’ debate, failing adequately to address technical uncertainties and social ambiguities, reducing scope for democratic accountability and co-ordination across scales and contexts. This paper investigates ways in which contrasting processes ‘broadening out’ and ‘opening up’ TA can enhance both rigour and democratic accountability in technology policy, as well as facilitating social relevance and international cooperation. These methods allow TA to illuminate options, uncertainties and ambiguities and so inform wider political debates about how the contending questions, values and knowledges of different social interests often favour contrasting innovation pathways. In this way TA can foster both technical robustness and social legitimacy in subsequent policy-making. Drawing on three empirical case studies (at local, national and international levels), the paper discusses detailed cases and methods, where recent TA exercises have contributed to this ‘broadening out’ and ‘opening up’. It ends by exploring wider implications and challenges for national and international technology assessment processes that focus on global sustainable development challenges.     

The impact of past dating relationship solidarity on commitment,satisfaction, and investment in current relationships

The purpose of this study was to determine how previous romantic relationships impact subsequent romantic relationships. Specifically, this study examined if past relationship solidarity is related to current relationship commitment, satisfaction, and investment among individuals in dating relationships. Participants were 204 undergraduates at an Eastern university who were currently in a dating relationship. Results indicated that past relationship solidarity is significantly and negatively related to current relationship commitment and satisfaction, but not significantly related to current investment. Several moderating variables were also examined, including the nature and attribution of individuals' breakups, the length of past and current relationships, and participant sex. Results revealed that the nature and style of past breakups were particularly salient moderating variables, such that past solidarity was related to future relationship commitment and satisfaction only when breakups were mutual and somewhat ambiguous. Furthermore, these relationships were significant only for women and not men.     

Teaching and Betrayal

Increasing attention is being paid to the importance of trust in organizations generally, and schools in particular, as an essential ingredient of improvement and effectiveness. The role of trust in leadership and in leaders' interactions with subordinates has been especially emphasized. In a study of the emotions of teaching that included data concerning teachers' recollections of emotionally positive and negative interactions with their colleagues, teachers made almost no explicit references to trust as a source of positive emotion among their colleagues. In other words, in their lateral relations with colleagues, trust was absent or taken for granted. However, what teachers did report as one of the strongest sources of negative emotion with their colleagues was evidence of the opposite of trust--betrayal. The present paper draws on this interview-based study with 50 Canadian teachers in 15 elementary and secondary schools to examine the nature and effects of betrayal among colleagues in teaching. It documents three forms of betrayal: competence, contract, and communication betrayal. Betrayal in teaching is significant not only in a moral sense, but also because its consequence is to lead to teachers to avoid conflict and interaction with each other, and thereby insulate themselves from the opportunities for learning and constructive disagreement. The paper concludes by arguing that if schools are going to become stronger professional learning communities, they must seek not only to establish trust in teaching, but also to avoid the causes of pervasive betrayal.     

Effect of a health-improvement pilot programme for older adults delivered by a professional football club: the Burton Albion case study

Older adults are a priority within policy designed to facilitate healthy lifestyles through physical activities. Golden Goal is a pilot programme of physical activity-led health improvement for older adults, 55?years and older. Activities were delivered at Burton Albion Football Club. Sessions involved weekly moderate to vigorous intensity exercise sessions including exer-gaming (exercise-orientated video-games), indoor bowls, cricket, new age curling, walking football, and traditional board games and skittles. Secondary analysis of data collected through the original programme evaluation of Golden Goal investigated the impact of the intervention on participants. Older adults completed self-reports for demographics, health screening/complications and quality of life. Attendees, n?=?23 males (42.6%) and n?=?31 females (57.4%) with a mean age of 69.38 (±5.87) (n?=?40), ranging from 55–85?years took part. The mean attendance was 7.73 (±3.12) sessions for all participants, (n?=?51). Older adults with two or more health complications (n?=?22, 42.3%) attended fewer sessions on average (6.91?±?3.322) compared to those reporting less than two health complications (8.65?±?2.694). Self-rated health was higher for women (87.32?±?9.573) vs. men (80.16?±?18.557), although this was not statistically significant (U?=?223.500, p?=?0.350). Results support the potential of football-led health interventions for recruiting older adults, including those reporting health problems.     

From bastard child to a place in Australia’s family; the Federal Government’s role in repositioning Australian soccer as a legitimate,mainstream sport: a qualitative study

Abstract

Following over a century on the margins, soccer moved into the mainstream of Australian sports culture in 2003. This resulted from the intervention of the Federal Government via a review into the sport’s governance and structure, the reform led by high-profile recruit Frank Lowy. By 2015, the men’s national team had won the Asian Cup, qualified for three consecutive FIFA World Cup Finals’ appearances and the men’s professional A-League had successfully completed its tenth season. Australian Soccer was now perceived to be part of the sporting mainstream. This qualitative study utilized semi-structured interviews of a purposive sample from politics, sport and business (N?=?22), and identified four key transformative mechanisms: Federal Government intervention, the recruitment of Frank Lowy, implementing credible governance and structure, and leveraging the game’s traditional popularity. Soccer’s reformation was aimed, in part, to provide Australia greater leverage in Asia, the region where Australia’s interests are significantly influenced by the geo-political axis between the USA and China.     

3D与2D电视体育收看体验的对比研究

3D技术是体育电视发展的必然趋向。运用传播心理学的方法,通过心率监测仪等器械的实证研究,我们对受众对3D和2D的体育节目观测体验进行了对比研究。虽然仍有很多人对这一技术存在疑问,但研究结果证明3D体育转播的前景仍然是值得期待的。