More is not always better: Unpacking the cognitive process underlying introspective psychological measurement

For decades, psychometricans have measured non-cognitive constructs with little attention paid to the underlying cognitive processes of response. Previous advancement in psychometrics suggests that traditional cognitive oriented approaches may, in fact, yield construct deficiency and spurious results when applied to non-cognitive measurement. This thesis highlights the importance of specifying an ideal point response process for non-cognitive measurement and empirically demonstrates that an ideal point response processes undergirds self-reported personality and attitude measurement. Furthermore, this thesis also advances current understanding on the limitations of ideal point assumptions by exploring the moderating effects of various individual differences in motivation and ability

No smoking! A critical examination of how Quebec tobacco control discourse may affect social inequalities in smoking

Au Canada, la prévalence du tabagisme a diminué de façon significative. Ce succès est attribué aux politiques populationnelles de lutte contre le tabagisme telles que les campagnes anti-tabac, les interdictions de fumer, les hausses de taxation et les restrictions sur la vente des produits tabagiques. Néanmoins, les inégalités sociales en matière de tabagisme s’accroissent; la prévalence de tabagisme demeure élevée au sein des groupes défavorisés, notamment ceux ayant un faible statut socio-économique (SSE). Malgré la recherche existante qui porte sur les effets des politiques de lutte contre le tabagisme selon le SSE, comment ces politiques affectent ces inégalités est peu documentée. Ainsi, dans le contexte où le Québec s’est engagé dans une lutte contre le tabagisme avec l’adoption d’une politique populationnelle en 2015, « Loi visant à renforcer la lutte contre le tabagisme » (L44), et le développement d’une stratégie populationnelle en 2020 qui priorisent la réduction des inégalités sociales en matière de tabagisme, cette thèse aborde une question de grande pertinence pour la santé publique : comment les politiques publiques populationnelles, telles que L44, pourraient-elles affecter les inégalités sociales de la santé? Cette thèse explore cette question de recherche par l’entremise de trois articles : un article conceptuel et deux articles empiriques. L’article conceptuel présente l’intérêt de la théorie de l’intersectionnalité pour la recherche sur les inégalités sociales de la santé, particulièrement lorsque cette recherche intègre les deux principes de l’intersectionnalité : le principe soulignant le rôle des structures sociales dans la reproduction d’inégalités sociales étant souvent négligé pour privilégier le principe faisant valoir les expériences des groupes sociaux défavorisés. Cet article permet donc d’encadrer cette thèse afin qu’elle considère les politiques de lutte contre le tabagisme et les pratiques des praticiens en lutte contre le tabagisme (PLT) comme étant des facteurs structuraux qui influencent les inégalités sociales en matière de tabagisme. Guidés par un devis qualitatif basé sur l’analyse critique du discours, les deux articles empiriques (articles 2 et 3) examinent le discours des politiques de lutte contre le tabagisme comme un mécanisme reliant ces politiques et les pratiques des PLT aux inégalités sociales en matière de tabagisme. D’abord, l’article 2 applique l’analyse poststructuraliste de Bacchi aux transcriptions des consultations parlementaires pour le projet de loi L44 avec des acteurs québécois de lutte contre le tabagisme. Cette analyse démontre que L44 renforce et avance des discours problématisant « le fumeur » comme groupe moralement déviant et duquel les non-fumeurs doivent être protégés. Il y est discuté la façon dont cette problématisation concrétise les relations de pouvoir entre les non-fumeurs et les personnes qui fument, ce qui donne le « droit » aux non-fumeurs de réguler ces dernières personnes. Il apparaît ainsi que L44 renforce l’identité sociale du fumeur qui se retrouve aux intersections du SSE, du genre, ou de la race. En employant un tel discours, il est soutenu que L44 pourrait perpétuer les inégalités sociales en matière de tabagisme. L’article 3 emprunte le concept poststructuraliste des « pratiques discursives » afin d’analyser des entrevues faites avec des PLT au Québec. Cet article illustre comment leurs pratiques sont issues de discours sur la prévention du risque et le changement de comportement. Ces pratiques favorisent les interventions visant la réduction de la prévalence du tabagisme auprès de groupes « à risque » au détriment d’interventions ciblant les facteurs structuraux inéquitables dont découlent les inégalités sociales en matière du tabagisme. Toutefois, les PLT qui travaillent avec des personnes défavorisées qui fument, contrairement à ceux qui travaillent en prévention du tabagisme, tiennent un discours plus nuancé qui attribue une importance à l’amélioration des conditions sociales liées au risque de fumer. Cet article suggère que d’élargir les discours dominants en santé publique, notamment en intégrant l’expérience vécue des groupes défavorisés, a le potentiel de produire des discours et des politiques axés vers la promotion de l’équité en santé. Bien qu’ancrée dans le contexte de la lutte contre le tabagisme, les connaissances générées par cette thèse pourront éclairer d’autres discours et politiques de santé publique. En utilisant une approche critique et théorique novatrice, l’importance d’adopter une perspective réflexive envers les connaissances, présuppositions et valeurs qui sous-tendent la problématisation d’un phénomène de la santé (p.ex. le tabagisme), est établie. Cette recherche démontre également qu’il est impératif d’intégrer l’expérience vécue dans l’élaboration de politiques publiques, de cibler les déterminants structuraux ainsi que d’engager les praticiens en santé publique dans le travail intersectoriel afin de réduire les inégalités sociales de la santé.Significant reductions in smoking prevalence in Canada are attributed to population-level tobacco control policies, such as media campaigns, smoke-free policies, tax increases, and restrictions on the sale of tobacco products. Despite this public health success, social inequalities in smoking have been increasing, with smoking prevalence remaining high in certain socially disadvantaged groups, notably those of low socio-economic status (SES). Although research investigates potential effects of tobacco control policies across SES groups, evidence on how such policies come to have these inequitable effects is lacking. With Quebec’s implementation of a 2015 population-level tobacco control policy, An Act to Bolster Tobacco Control (L44), and a 2020 strategy addressing the reduction of social inequalities in smoking, this thesis attends to a pressing public health question: how might population-level policies, such as L44, impact social inequalities in health? To answer this question, the thesis is comprised of one conceptual article and two empirical articles. The conceptual article discusses the important insights that can be gained from using intersectionality theory when researching social inequalities in health, notably when examining both tenets of intersectionality – the tenet highlighting the role of intersecting social structures in the reproduction of social inequalities is often neglected to privilege the tenet underlining the experiences of intersecting social identities – to better understand the complexity of such inequalities. This article led the thesis to focus on tobacco control policies and practices of tobacco control practitioners (TCP) as structural factors influencing social inequalities in smoking. Using a qualitative critical discourse analysis design, the two empirical articles (articles 2 and 3) critically examine tobacco control discourse as a mechanism linking tobacco control policies and TCP practices to social inequalities in smoking. Article 2 applies a Bacchian post-structuralist approach to policy discourse analysis to documents detailing L44 parliamentary consultations with Quebec tobacco control policy stakeholders. This article demonstrates that L44 reinforces and advances anti-smoking discourses by problematising “the smoker” as a distinct morally deviant category of people from which non-smokers need to be protected. This problematisation is further shown to reify power relations between non-smokers and people who smoke, providing non-smokers the “right” to regulate people who smoke. It appears that by subjectifying and regulating people who smoke, L44, via its discourse, contributes to anchoring smoking status as a social identity intersecting with other social identities such as SES, gender, and/or race. In this way, it may contribute to perpetuating social inequalities in smoking. In article 3, the post-structural concept of “discursive practices” is used to analyse interviews with Quebec TCP. This article illustrates how their practices are shaped by discourses of risk prevention and behaviour change. This was observed through their practices, which reproduced stigmatising representations of “the smoker” (echoing findings from article 2) and supported interventions targeting reductions in smoking prevalence for “at-risk” groups, rather than those addressing inequitable structural determinants of smoking. However, TCP working directly with socially disadvantaged people who smoke, compared to those working in policy, held comparatively more nuanced discursive practices, leading to reduced stigma and attention to the social conditions placing their patients at greater risk of smoking. This article concludes that broadening dominant public health discourses to integrate the lived experiences of socially disadvantaged people who smoke will likely produce more inclusive discourses and favour social policies that reduce social inequalities. This in contrast to risk prevention and behaviour change discourses that may entrench such inequalities. The insights from this thesis can be applied to the relationships between a range of public health policies and social inequalities in health. By offering a critical perspective on tobacco control discourse through a novel theoretically-combined approach, this thesis ultimately aims to inform public health policy design by demonstrating strategies to reduce social inequalities in health and promote health equity. Chiefly, it underlines the importance of questioning unexamined knowledge, assumptions, and values shaping conceptualisations of health problems (e.g., smoking) and policy responses (e.g., tobacco control policies). It also demonstrates the importance of integrating lived experience in policy design and for public health practitioners to work intersectorally in order to achieve reductions in social inequalities in health

Public sector purchasers as curators and value creators in the food system.

The 3P Mentorship Program is a community of practice that convenes institutional food buyers around a shared vision to use the $750 million purchasing power of the Ontario public sector to foster resilient local food systems. Five design principles emerged from the program, which ran as a pilot in 2014-2015 with a cohort of four institutional mentees: a hospital, university, college, and long term care home, each represented by a manager influencing the institutions’ procurement. System mapping and informal interviews revealed that the point of purchase was a high leverage, low friction point of intervention where procurement mechanisms, such as the RFP, make institutions passive consumers of value from the food system. A challenge emerged to design a minimally disruptive intervention that would enable managers to re-claim these mechanisms and to re-imagine their institutions as creators of value, in a position to curate the “reconfiguration of roles and relationships among [the] constellation of actors” for a more resilient food system (Normann and Ramirez, 1993). The pilot generated evidence of the ability of networked institutions to collaborate on a shared vision to increase the social good generated through purchasing, and to play a transformative role in food systems

French Homophones

In the August 1969 issue of Word Ways, J. A. Lindon introduced the concept of a homophone -- a sentence whose sound is such that it can be written down and interpreted as regards meaning in two distinct ways. The following French homophones were proposed by Alphonse Allais

Data-to-Text Bilingual Generation

This document illustrates the use of pyrealb for generating two parallel texts (English and French) from a single source of data. The data selection and text organisation processes are shared between the two languages. only language dependent word and phrasing choices are distinct processes. The realized texts thus convey identical information in both languages without the risk of being lost in translation. This is especially important in cases where strict and simultaneous bilingualism is required. We first present the types of applications targeted by this approach and how the pyrealb English and French realizer can be used for achieving this goal in a natural way. We describe an object-oriented organization to ensure a convenient realization in both languages. To illustrate the process, different types of applications are then briefly sketched with links to the source code. A brief comparison of the text generation is given with the output of an instance of a GPT.Comment: 30 page

Caractéristiques associées au trouble oppositionnel, au trouble des conduites et à leur cooccurrence

L’objectif de cette étude est de déterminer si des corrélats (ou des combinaisons de corrélats) personnels, familiaux et sociaux permettent de discriminer des enfants (n = 336) qui présentent un trouble oppositionnel (TO), un trouble des conduites (TC) ou ces deux troubles en cooccurrence (TC + TO). Les enfants sont âgés entre 6 ans et 13 ans et ont été recrutés parmi des enfants recevant des services spécialisés de l’école ou du centre jeunesse pour des difficultés comportementales ou familiales. Les résultats suggèrent que la personnalité antisociale des parents et le manque de supervision parentale sont davantage associés au TC, tandis que le trouble déficitaire de l’attention avec hyperactivité et l’inconstance de la discipline caractérisent davantage les enfants ayant un TO. Les enfants du groupe TO + TC semblent cumuler les corrélats associés à chaque trouble. Ces différences devraient être prises en compte dans l’intervention à offrir aux enfants.The purpose of the study is to determine whether pattern of association with psychological, social and family correlates are similar for oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder (CD), and ODD + CD. Participants were 336 boys and girls (age range from 6 to 13 years) in treatment for disruptive behaviour disorders including 123 children with ODD, 39 with CD “only”, and 174 with ODD + CD. Results showed that parent’s antisocial personality and poor supervision characterized children with CD whereas children with ODD presented with more attention deficit/hyperactivity symptoms and inconsistent discipline. All these correlates characterized children with ODD + CD. These results suggest the importance of taking into account these differences between groups in children treatment.El objetivo de este estudio es determinar si los correlatos (o las combinaciones de correlatos) personales, familiares y sociales permiten discriminar a los niños (n=336) que presentan un trastorno de oposición (TO), un trastorno de la conducta (TC) o ambos trastornos en co-ocurrencia (TC+TO). Los niños tienen entre 6 y 13 años y fueron reclutados entre los niños que reciben servicios especializados para las dificultades comportamentales o familiares por parte de la escuela o del centro para la juventud. Los resultados sugieren que la personalidad antisocial de los padres y la falta de supervisión parental están más asociados al TC, mientras que el trastorno de déficit de la atención con hiperactividad y la inconstancia de la disciplina caracterizan más a los niños que sufren de un TO. Los niños del grupo TO +TC parecen acumular los correlatos asociados a cada trastorno. Estas diferencias deberían tenerse en cuenta durante la intervención ofrecida a los niños.O objetivo deste estudo é determinar se correlações (ou combinações de correlações) pessoais, familiares e sociais permitem discriminar crianças (n=336) que apresentam um transtorno oposicional (TO), um transtorno de conduta (TC) ou os dois transtornos em concomitância (TC+TO). As crianças do estudo têm entre 6 e 13 anos e foram recrutadas entre as crianças que recebiam serviços especializados da escola ou do centro da criança e do adolescente por dificuldades comportamentais ou familiares. Os resultados sugerem que a personalidade antisocial dos pais e a falta de supervisão parental são mais associadas ao TC, ao passo que o transtorno deficitário de atenção com a hiperatividade e a inconstância da disciplina caracterizam mais as crianças que sofrem de um TO. As crianças do grupo TO+TC demonstram acumular correlações associadas a cada transtorno. Estas diferenças deveriam ser levadas em consideração na intervenção feita junto às crianças

Self-Organizing is not Self-Managing: A Case Study about Governance Challenges in an Agile IT Unit and its Scrum Projects

This paper presents a case study on the internal governance of Scrum projects and their relationships with their organization’s governance within a rich research setting: an IT agile unit and its mature Scrum project teams. This study reveals ambiguities about the meaning of self-organizing versus self-managing, and the associated challenges for governance processes, especially those related to HR governance, which can lead to unresolved issues and conflicts. Interestingly, these ambiguities are also found in the current IS literature, which rarely differentiates self-organizing from self-managing in agile projects. Thus, this paper enhances our knowledge of governance processes and associated challenges, particularly for mature Scrum project teams, which are still little covered in the IS literature

The Effect on Stock Price from Changes to the Russell Indexes

This paper examines the pricing anomalies resulting from the annual reconstitution of the Russell 2000 index and quarterly Initial Public Offering (IPO) additions to the Russell 1000 index and Russell 2000 index. We based our research partly on the earlier work of Biktimirov, Cowan, and Jordan (2004), which was essentially one of the first to examine the effect of index listing on smaller stocks. Our research differs, however, in that we used a later sample period for our tests, investigated the effects of IPOs now being added to the indexes on a quarterly basis, rather than just at the annual reconstitution, and ignored the trading volume analysis as well as the influences of institutional ownership. The results we found were mixed relative to the earlier paper as we obtained evidence of both temporary and permanent price effects stemming from changes to the indexes. In addition, we observed a much greater degree of volatility in the abnormal returns of the affected stocks, most of which were very significant at the various event intervals measured

Welfare, work, and the conditions of social solidarity: British campaigns to defend healthcare and social security

When the welfare state is under attack from neoliberal reformers, how can trade unionists and other campaigners build solidarity to defend it? Based on 45 qualitative interviews, this article compares campaigns to defend British health services and social security benefits between 2007 and 2016. Building on the macro-insights of comparative welfare-state literature and the more micro-level insights of studies on mobilisation, community unionism, and union strategy, we examine the effects of welfare-state architectures on the building of solidarity. We find that building solidarity is more difficult when defending targeted benefits than universal ones, not only because of differences in public opinion and political support for services, but also because the labour process associated with targeting benefits, namely the assessing and sanctioning of clients, can generate conflicts among campaigners

Voracité comparative de trois coccinelles prédatrices contre le tétranyque rouge du pommier [Acarina : Tetranychidae]

La voracité de la coccinelle à sept points, Coccinella septempunctata, de la coccinelle à quatorze points, Propylea quatuordecimpunctata, et de la coccinelle orientale, Harmonia axyridis, [Coleoptera : Coccinellidae] a été évaluée en laboratoire face au tétranyque rouge du pommier, Panonychus ulmi [Acarina : Tetranychidae]. Les trois espèces ont consommé le tétranyque rouge. H. axyridis était significativement plus vorace que les autres espèces et présente le potentiel le plus élevé comme ennemi naturel du tétranyque. Malgré sa grande taille, C. septempunctata possédait une voracité très faible, ce qui confirme son inefficacité comme agent de lutte face aux acariens phytophages.Voracity of the seven-spotted ladybeetle, Coccinella septempunctata, the fourteen-spotted ladybeetle, Propylea quatuordecimpunctata, and the oriental ladybeetle, Harmonia axyridis [Coleoptera : Coccinellidae], was evaluated in laboratory on the European red mite, Panonychus ulmi [Acarina : Tetranychidae]. The three species fed on the European red mite. H. axyridis was significantly more voracious than the other species and has the greater potential as a natural enemy of the mite. Despite its large size, C. septempunctata showed a very low voracity, confirming its inefficacy as a biological control agent against phytophagous mites