Measure

In this study, measures of irrational beliefs based on the principles of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) were reviewed and contrasted based on psychometric characteristics and quality of guidelines for interpretation. The use of measures of irrational beliefs is an important component of the assessment of presenting problems in psychotherapy and may inform clinical decision making. Additionally, these measures are a helpful way to identify change in irrational beliefs and to measure the effectiveness of specific interventions to facilitate such change. While there are a number of measures of beliefs, there is considerable variability in their psychometric properties and utility for assessment. The majority of the tests are not produced by a publishing company, nor do they provide test manuals. The reliability and validity evidence presented in the publications varies considerably as do the size and quality of standardization samples, which impacts upon the ability to draw normative conclusions. Analyses demonstrated that most measures of irrational beliefs do not provide the evidence needed to adequately address the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (Standards; American Educational Research Association [AERA], American Psychological Association [APA], National Council on Measurement in Education [NCME] 1999). Discussion of the implications of this review for the development of future measures of irrational thinking by researchers as well as recommendations in the test selection process for an REBT practitioner is offered.

Biodiesel, as an alternative fuel, is gradually receiving more popularity for use in internal combustion engines. However questions continue to arise with regard to its compatibility with elastomeric materials. The present work aims to investigate the comparative degradation of physical properties for different elastomers [e.g. ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), silicone rubber (SR), polychloroprene (CR), polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE) and nitrile rubber (NBR)] upon exposure to diesel and palm biodiesel. Static immersion tests in B0(diesel), B10 (10% biodiesel in diesel), B20, B50 and B100(biodiesel) were carried out at room temperature (25 °C) for 1000 h. Different physical properties like, changes in weight and volume, hardness and tensile strength were measured at every 250 h of immersion time. Compositional changes in biodiesel due to exposure of different elastomers were investigated by Gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (GCMS). The overall sequence of compatible elastomers in palm biodiesel is found to be PTFE > SR > NBR > EPDM > CR.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544210007139

The Children's Knowledge of Abuse Questionnaire (CKAQ) was designed to evaluate elementary school-aged children's learning of the key concepts taught in most sexual abuse prevention programs. The psychometric properties of the original 40-item CKAQ were established with a group of children ranging from age 6 to 12 (N = 332). A new factor analysis suggests that a 24-item version would adequately measure knowledge of abuse prevention concepts. The psychometric properties of the revised version are presented including item-corrected-total correlations, internal consistency (r = .87), inter-item correlations, and one month test-retest reliability (r = .88). The analyses suggest several ways in which the CKAQ-Revised could be further improved.

Empathy is an extensively used concept in the psychotherapeutic field. It is often mentioned as an indispensable aspect of therapists, and many training programs for psychotherapists have empathy training. However, the wide range of conceptual and operational definitions generates a variety of measures. The present article describes different empathy measures for general use, as well as those specifically developed to measure empathy in the therapeutic field. por esta causa, muchos programas de formación para psicoterapeutas cuentan con cursos de entrenamiento empático. Sin embargo, el concepto cuenta con gran variedad de definiciones conceptuales y operacionales que dan lugar a diferentes instrumentos para medirla. En el siguiente artículo se reúnen los instrumentos más utilizados para medir la empatía; así como los que específicamente se han desarrollado para medir empatía en el ámbito terapéutico

This report has been divided into two sections. The first section consists of defining TQM in the context of product and service and applying TQM methodology to the development of product. The second section is based on to consider five objectives of operations management against a budget airline (i.e. Ryanair).

The paper deals with the beginnings of the Greek ethical discourse in elegies of an archaic lyric poet Theognis of Megara. In the introduction author shortly discusses the question of origin and influence of the Theognidea. Then he gradually follows and interprets the occurrences of the expression “μηδὲν ἄγαν” (Nothing in excess), of the words σωφροσύνη (soundness of mind), σάοφρων (temperate), μέτρον (measure) and μέτριος (moderate), according to the problem of ἀρετή (excellence). On the basis of symposium description in the Theognidea and its functions, author shows the crucial social dimension of researched capabilities. He also tries to show how Theognis grasps the wisdom as a quality that has to be tried for and cared for. In the end author states that for Theognis the excellences such as wisdom, justice, sound mind and proper measure are conditio sine qua non for functioning of all social relations – from erotic relations through symposium to polis itself.

Background The PGWBI is a 22-item health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) questionnaire developed in US which produces a self-perceived evaluation of psychological well-being expressed by a summary score. The PGWBI has been validated and used in many countries on large samples of the general population and on specific patient groups. Recently a study was carried out in Italy to reduce the number of items of the original questionnaire, yielding the creation of a shorter validated version of the questionnaire (PGWB-S). The purpose of the present paper is to describe the methods adopted and to report and discuss the relevance of results. Methods Data for this study were collected from 4 different population samples: two general population samples a student and a patient sample. On the basis of the results of the first (development) sample population, six relevant items were identified statistically from the original questionnaire and grouped to assemble a new summary scale. Following the newly created 6-item questionnaire was administered in three independent population samples. Descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients, univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to compare the performance of the long and short questionnaire, within and between population samples and across relevant subgroups. A further independent sample extracted by an ongoing cancer clinical trial served as final validation step. Results Overall, the questionnaires were administered to 1443 subjects. Six items were selected by a step-wise approach to explain 90% of the variance of the summary measure of the original questionnaire. Response rates reached 100%, while missing items were not observed. University students (n = 400) showed the highest mean value of the summary measure (75.3); while the patient sample (n = 28) had the lowest score (71.5). The correlation coefficients between the summary measures and the single items according to the different studies were satisfactory, reaching the highest estimates in the student sample. The internal consistency showed high values of the Cronbach's alpha coefficient (range 0.80 – 0.92) for all three study samples, coming close to the value of the coefficient established for the original questionnaire (0.94). A cross-validation in an independent sample of 755 cancer patients confirmed the item selection procedure and amount of variance explained by the new shorter questionnaire (ranging from 90. 2 to 95.1 %, across age and sex strata). Conclusion The newly identified PGWB-S showed good acceptability and validity for the use in various settings in Italy. The translation of the PGWB-S into different languages, and its use in other linguistic settings will add evidence about its cross-cultural validity.

There is a need for a brief specific measure of anger for use in assessment of posttraumatic mental health problems. One unpublished short scale is the Dimensions of Anger Reactions (DAR; R. Novaco, 1975). This study examined the psychometric properties of the DAR using intake and 12-month data for 192 Australian Vietnam veterans with combat-related PTSD. Results showed the DAR to be unidimensional, reliable, and sensitive to change over time, and removal of two items improved the scale's properties. The DAR measures anger disposition directed towards others. Assessment of convergent validity indicated that the DAR primarily measures Trait Anger. Results suggest that the DAR is a psychometrically strong measure, potentially useful for the evaluation of anger in PTSD.

Issues of measure and value are emerging as central in current debates concerning the capacity of social science and cognate disciplines to engage contemporary social and cultural life. Debates on the restructuring of time, scale, number, pattern and sequence, for example, as well as those on the changing character and properties of data, evidence and the empirical, point to a need for a re–evaluation of the conventions, devices and practices of measure and value in the social sciences and humanities. Do we need new forms of measure? And what do different forms of measure do? This Sociological Review monograph addresses these and related questions to place issues of measure and value at the core of contemporary social science debate.

Résumé Cadre de la recherche : Cet article propose une revue de la littérature sur les déterminants et la mesure du bien-être des enfants, et une analyse secondaire de bases de données internationales dans le but de repérer des questions encore relativement inexpliquées. Objectifs : Il vise à proposer des hypothèses pour expliquer les écarts entre le niveau d’investissement public dans des politiques visant les enfants et leur niveau de bien-être subjectif. Méthodologie : Cette enquête repose sur une revue de questions et des analyses secondaires de bases de données internationales. Résultats : L’article met en lumière l’importance de la communication entre parents et adolescents dans le sentiment de bien-être subjectif exprimé par les adolescents. Conclusions : Des recherches qualitatives et comparatives sont nécessaires pour mieux saisir les mécanismes en cause. Contribution scientifique : Les travaux de la chaire CNAF-EHESP « Enfance, bien-être, parentalité » sur lesquels s’appui...

Il volume è un omaggio a Luigi del Grosso Destreri. Esso comprende un suo saggio inedito sull’epistemologia delle scienze sociali che dalla formazione della “coscienza scientifica moderna” arriva fino alla sociologia sistemica e alla sua critica. L’idea di fondo – che collega questo saggio con i successivi - è che la conoscenza scientifica non deriva necessariamente dalla misurazione sempre più esatta dei fenomeni politici e sociali, ma può anche derivare «da osservazioni casuali che spingono la ricerca a indirizzarsi in nuove direzioni». Questa tensione verso un’epistemologia aperta viene ripresa da Alberto Brodesco che ripercorre la fortuna popolare della teoria dell’indeterminatezza scientifica di Heisenberg, mentre Massimiano Bucchi ricostruisce l’introduzione della categoria di serendipity da parte di Robert K. Merton. Pierangelo Schiera, infine, introduce l’approccio storiografico della random history, come approccio che dovrebbe tentare di dare conto del carattere non necessariamente ordinato dell’esperienza storica.
PAROLE CHIAVE: Indeterminatezza; Serendipity; Random; Epistemologia.


The Supplement n. 3
Uncertainty, Serendipity, Random: Three “Measures” of the Indeterminacy
This volume is an homage to Luigi del Grosso Destreri. It contains an unpublished essay written by him on the epistemology of the social sciences that goes from the “modern scientific knowledge” to systemic sociology and its critic. The general idea – which links this essay to the following – is that scientific knowledge does not necessarily derive from the always more exact measurement of political and social phenomena, but can also derive «from casual observations that move the research towards new directions». This tension towards an open epistemology is recalled by Alberto Brodesco who retraces the popular fate of Heisenberg’s theory of scientific uncertainty, while Massimiano Bucchi reconstructs the introduction of the category of serendipity by Robert K. Merton. Pierangelo Schiera, ultimately, introduces the historiographic approach of random history, which takes the not necessarily ordered character of historic experience into account.
KEYWORDS: Uncertainty; Serendipity; Random; Epistemology