Sociological Knowledge and Transformation at ‘Diversity University’, UK

This chapter is based on a case study of one UK university sociology department and shows how sociology knowledge can transform the lives of ‘non-traditional’ students. The research from which the case is drawn focused on four departments teaching sociology-related subjects in universities positioned differently in UK league tables. It explored the question of the relationship between university reputation, pedagogic quality and curriculum knowledge, challenging taken-for-granted judgements about ‘quality’ and in conceptualising ‘just’ university pedagogy by taking Basil Bernstein’s ideas about how ‘powerful’ knowledge is distributed in society to illuminate pedagogy and curriculum. The project took the view that ‘power’ lies in the acquisition of specific (inter)disciplinary knowledges which allows the formation of disciplinary identities by way of developing the means to think about and act in the world in specific ways. We chose to focus on sociology because (1) university sociology is taken up by all socio-economic classes in the UK and is increasingly taught in courses in which the discipline is applied to practice; (2) it is a discipline that historically pursues social and moral ambition which assists exploration of the contribution of pedagogic quality to individuals and society beyond economic goals; (3) the researchers teach and research sociology or sociology of education - an understanding of the subjects under discussion is essential to make judgements about quality. ‘Diversity’ was one of four case study universities. It ranks low in university league tables; is located in a large, multi-cultural English inner city; and, its students are likely to come from lower socio-economic and/or ethnic minority groups, as well as being the first in their families to attend university. To make a case for transformative teaching at Diversity, the chapter draws on longitudinal interviews with students, interviews with tutors, curriculum documents, recordings of teaching, examples of student work, and a survey. It establishes what we can learn from the case of sociology at Diversity, arguing that equality, quality and transformation for individuals and society are served by a university curriculum which is research led and challenging combined with pedagogical practices which give access to difficult-to-acquire and powerful knowledge

Diversity, Disadvantage and Differential Outcomes: An analysis of Samoan students narratives of schooling

Social justice discourses, particularly those attentive to the politics of difference, suggest that the perspectives of least-advantaged groups need to be taken into account when endeavouring to realise social justice in education for these groups. In this paper, we analyse narratives on schooling produced by one cohort of least-advantaged students, namely Samoan students attending state-designated disadvantaged secondary schools in Queensland, Australia. Specifically, the narratives of educational disadvantage provided by Samoan students are analysed. The focus is on 'the what' (the knowledge to be transmitted) and 'the how' (the teacher-student relations) of pedagogy in state-designated disadvantaged schools. Attention is paid to the contradictory and ambivalent discourses inherent in these narratives, particularly in terms of realising socially just pedagogic practices

Relation between obesity and the oestrogen receptor status of breast cancer

Introduction: Obesity is a growing problem in the Western world. Correlations have been found between increasing body mass index (BMI) and breast cancer. The objectives were to establish whether a relationship exists between BMI and breast cancer and to investigate any association between BMI and tumour oestrogen receptor expression. Method: Clinical and socio-demographic details (age, menopausal status, height and weight) of a sample of women with breast cancer operated in 2010 were collected, dividing the group into oestrogen receptor positive (ER+) and negative (ER–) subgroups. The average BMI of each subgroup was compared to the mean BMI of a sample of the general Maltese female population obtained from the European Health Examination Survey 2010 Report (Pilot Study) by virtue of an ANOVA test. Subsequently, the relations between oestrogen receptor expression and each of menopausal status, age and BMI were statistically analysed using chi-squared analysis and two-sample t-tests. Results: A total of 103 patients were studied. 72 patients (age range: 40 – 90 years) had ER+ malignancy and 31 patients (29 – 81 years) had ER- malignancy. The mean BMI’s of the ER+ and ER- subgroups were 30.1 and 27.1 respectively, while that of the female general population (29 – 90 years) was 28.4. Analysis revealed a significant difference between the BMI’s of the ER+ and ER- subgroups (p<0.05) but no difference between each receptor subgroup and the general population. Neither menopausal status nor age was found to correlate with positive oestrogen receptor expression. Conclusions: Women with ER+ malignancy tended to be significantly more obese than those with ER- breast cancer. However, neither subgroup had a mean BMI significantly different from that of the general population.peer-reviewe

Recodifications of academic positions and reiterations of desire: change but continuity in gendered subjectivities

This paper argues that the analysis of changes in the social position of women needs to distinguish between levels of social practice and psychic subjectification. The argument draws on Lacan's conception of the relationship between subjectivity, desire and sexual difference to describe gendered aspects of subjectivity embedded within the (re)organisation of social fields. The data is taken from a comparative case study of undergraduate modules in four universities, and the analysis identifies gendered differences in the tutors? pedagogic and disciplinary practice. These differences suggest that while the practice of the female tutors, in different ways, constituted recodifications of existing disciplinary and pedagogic practices, these instances of recodification can simultaneously be interpreted as gendered identifications with an external, feminine position in relation to the dominant structures of the Symbolic Order. Thus, while change may be instituted at the level of practice within specific social fields, at the level of subjectification the recodifications that mark such changes can be read as a reiteration of primary gendered identifications

Criteria used by social workers in assessing movement in groups

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

The Myth of the Reliability Test

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and subsequent revisions to Federal Rule of Evidence 702, was supposed to usher a reliability revolution. This modern test for admissibility of expert evidence is sometimes described as a reliability test. Critics, however, have pointed out that judges continue to routinely admit unreliable evidence, particularly in criminal cases, including flawed forensic techniques that have contributed to convictions of innocent people later exonerated by DNA testing. This Article examines whether Rule 702 is in fact functioning as a reliability test, focusing on forensic evidence used in criminal cases and detailing the use of that test in states that have adopted the language of the 2000 revisions to Rule 702. Surveying hundreds of state court cases, we find that courts have largely neglected the critical language concerning reliability in the Rule. Rule 702 states that an expert may testify if that testimony is “the product of reliable principles and methods,” which are “reliably applied” to the facts of a case. Or as the Advisory Committee puts it simply, judges are charged to “exclude unreliable expert testimony.” Judges have not done so in state or federal courts, and in this study, we detail how that has occurred, focusing on criminal cases

Spartan Daily, March 14, 2007

Volume 128, Issue 28https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/10342/thumbnail.jp

Spartan Daily, March 14, 2007

Volume 128, Issue 28https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/10342/thumbnail.jp

Health SPHere

Alumni magazine of the Boston University School of Public Healt