International experience of microcredit

The authors analyze international experience of microcredit development and made appropriate conclusions about the advantages and disadvantages of microcredit organization. Microcredit organizations are self-sufficient and stable institutions which are regulated by bank and state legislation

Parenthood and the Wayana People

This paper presents the first results obtained from an exploratory study which is conducted within the Amerindian Wayana communities who inhabit the Amazon sector of the High Maroni area, in French Guiana. Based on an ecological and interactionist approach and employing comprehensive methods to analyze observed facts (to bypass the nostalgic attitude fostering the paradigmatic anthropological dichotomy “tradition vs; modernity”), this study describes educational family practices among Wayana and analyses parents’ expectations visà-vis their children in the framework of the postcolonial dynamic, with the aim to understand the influence of the national public policies to diffuse certain domestic praxis. The ethnographic corpus is gathered during a long fieldwork and it is accompanied by seventeen semi-open interviews. The interpretative approach attempts to link the observed behaviours observed to contextual and cultural variables. Following the analysis of the data, the authors propose 1) a diagram of the structure of Wayana family kinship Microsystems (with a description and a diagram of the Wayana matrilineality scheme); 2) a description of roles and educational functions within their communities and, finally, 3) an overview of parental expectations interpreted taking into account the influences of contemporary inter-systemic interactions (and above all the dynamics generated by the recent introduction of compulsory schooling into the area)

Международная проектная деятельность: как один из механизмов конструирования Балтийского регионa

The article analyzes the processes of regional construction and their specific features in the Baltic Sea region. The article provides insights into main approaches to defining the notion of the Baltic Sea Region, its geography, rationales and preconditions of the Baltic Sea Region construction. The author makes conclusion that currently the construction process is being continued, and it involves a wide range of actors: NGOs, local and regional authorities, scientific organizations, higher education institutions, business structures, international organizations. All these actors use different tools and act in different spheres. Although there is no clear answer to the question "Who and how constructs the Baltic Sea Region?", it is concluded that the cooperation played a significant role in this process, for example, by determining the geography of the region and creating communication networks. Projects, in turn, become a widespread form of cooperation which are used by large Baltic interregional organizations, such as the Northern Dimension, Interregional programmes, the Council of the Baltic Sea States. International project activity of the described above actors, being the point of pooled resources application and also narratives on the regional issues, became one of the mechanisms of the region construction. The article proves that a wide variety of projects in various fields with the participation of different actors creates a picture of the Baltic Sea region building some of its features and providing common identity and responsibility ideas. (author's abstract

Maximizing data quality using mode switching in mixed-device survey design: nonresponse bias and models of demographic behavior

"Conducting survey interviews on the internet has become an attractive method for lowering data collection costs and increasing the frequency of interviewing, especially in longitudinal studies. However, the advantages of the web mode for studies with frequent reinterviews can be offset by the serious disadvantage of low response rates and the potential for nonresponse bias to mislead investigators. Important life events, such as changes in employment status, relationship changes, or moving can cause attrition from longitudinal studies, producing the possibility of attrition bias. The potential extent of such bias in longitudinal web surveys is not well understood. We use data from the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life (RDSL) study to examine the potential for a mixed-device approach with active mode switching to reduce attrition bias. The RDSL design allows panel members to switch modes by integrating telephone interviewing into a longitudinal web survey with the objective of collecting weekly reports. We found that in this design allowing panel members to switch modes kept more participants in the study compared to a web only approach. The characteristics of persons who ever switched modes are different than those who did not - including not only demographic characteristics, but also baseline characteristics related to pregnancy and time-varying characteristics that were collected after the baseline interview. This was true in multivariate models that control for multiple of these dimensions simultaneously. We conclude that mode options and mode switching is important for the success of longitudinal web surveys to maximize participation and minimize attrition." (author's abstract

Диалектика социально-культурной Глобализации в современном мире

The article provides a collection of modern views on the socio-cultural globalization in its relationship with glocalization. The author concludes that there is a dialectical interaction between them

Modele "srebrnej gospodarki" w Unii Europejskiej w ujęciu porównawczym: próba wprowadzenia do dyskusji

Some phenomena associated with ageing populations are transition of economies to focus more on the production and distribution of goods and services for older adults as well as for younger age groups as part of their preparation for old age. The paper presents the main features of the concept of "silver economy" in the context of active ageing policies. The study presents a typology of the silver economy models in the European Union at national and regional levels based on the use of the Active Ageing Index in comparison to the typology of differences and cultures of capitalism as well as the typology of welfare states. The summary contains conclusions for practical interventions and proposals for further research.Jednym ze zjawisk związanych z procesem starzenia się społeczeństw są przemiany systemów gospodarczych zorientowane na produkcję i dystrybucję dóbr i usług dla osób starszych, jak również dla młodszych grup wiekowych w ramach ich przygotowania do starości. Artykuł przybliża główne cechy koncepcji "srebrnej gospodarki" w kontekście realizacji polityki aktywnego starzenia się. Opracowanie przedstawia typologię modeli srebrnej gospodarki w krajach Unii Europejskiej na poziomach krajowym i regionalnym na podstawie wykorzystania porównań indeksu aktywnego starzenia się (Active Ageing Index) do typologii zróżnicowań i kultur kapitalizmu oraz typologii państw dobrobytu. W podsumowaniu przybliżono wnioski dla działań praktycznych oraz propozycje dalszych kierunków badań

Идеологическое измерение партийно-политического пространства современной турции

The article is devoted to ideological issues in the Turkish party system in the context of the electoral process. The authors analyze the internal content and principles of ideological platforms of the leading parties in Turkey. The formal analysis of party programs allowed to determine the value of the ideology for the functioning of the parties. Besides, analysis of the results of opinion polls conducted by the Turkish public opinion research centers revealed the functionality of ideology in the context of election campaigns. The object of the study was the ideologies of 4 major political parties of Turkey, which entered National Parliament after elections in November 2015. These are conservative Justice and Development Party, the center-left Republican People's Party, the National Movement Party, the Democratic Party of peoples. Analysis of party programs and other official documents showed that all four parties clearly define their ideological identity and political position. However, despite the clarity of such ideological identification, analysis of the last two election campaigns in Turkey revealed a trend among major parties to refuse from the traditional ideological rhetoric and to practice populist methods of voters attracting. The paper discloses the contents of the political stratification of Turkish society, depending on the ideological preferences of representatives of various social groups. Causative factors of ideological discourse rise are considered in the context of inter-party competition of leading political forces of the Turkish Republic. A comparative analysis shows that the Republican People's Party and the Nationalist Movement Party are both doctrinal with distinct ideological postulates that have a national base. In contrast, the Justice and Development Party, as well as the People's Democratic Party are more pragmatic and charismatic at the same time. (author's abstract

Interviewer behavior and interviewer characteristics in PIAAC Germany

"Interviewers are the first in line when it comes to data collection. Therefore, it is important that they perform their tasks diligently, so that the data they collect are comparable and that errors are minimized. This paper analyzes how interviewers conducted interviews for the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and which kinds of mistakes they made. We approached these questions with audio interview recordings collected during the fieldwork of PIAAC in Germany (carried out in 2011/ 2012), as well as with an interviewer survey conducted with the German PIAAC interviewers. First, we introduce the data and the coding scheme used to evaluate interviewers' behavior with audio recordings. Subsequently, we describe the interviewers' actual behavior with regard to standardized interviewing techniques and investigate whether interviewer characteristics are associated with data quality. Our results demonstrate that interviewers do deviate from the expected behavior in all the aspects we examined. However, we identified only few associations with interviewers' background characteristics." (author's abstract

The main problems of the young Kazahstani families

This article formulates recommendations to address the main challenges for young families in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The recommendations are based on the results of a rapid survey conducted by two Departments of Social Work at two universities