Intergenerational Relationships

Intergenerational relationships within family and kinship have become a salient issue in scientific research. Major reasons were intense demographic changes in the 20th century, such as the increased life expectancy in combination with decreased fertility, and its implications for major institutions of the social welfare state. This has resulted in the realization of several larger studies, which may serve for the analysis of the situation of old aged people, such as the German Socio-economic Panel, the Generations and Gender Survey, the Family Survey, the German Aging Survey, the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, and the Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics. However, an overarching theoretical and research perspective on intergenerational relationships from their creation (fertility) over parenting to the most long-lasting relationship between adults of different generations is still missing. In order to overcome this deficiency, the paper recommends for future data structures to obtain information on intergenerational relationships (1) simultaneously and complete, (2) in a life-span perspective, (3) from a panel design, and (4) a multi-actor design. Studies should (5) account for cultural variability of intergenerational relationships and (6) for institutional settings in cross-national comparisons.Intergenerational Relationships, Intergenerational Solidarity, Life Course, Demographic Change, Ageing, Panel Studies

Information compression in the context model

The Context Model provides a formal framework for the representation, interpretation, and analysis of vague and uncertain data. The clear semantics of the underlying concepts make it feasible to compare well-known approaches to the modeling of imperfect knowledge like that given in Bayes Theory, Shafer's Evidence Theory, the Transferable Belief Model, and Possibility Theory. In this paper we present the basic ideas of the Context Model and show its applicability as an alternative foundation of Possibility Theory and the epistemic view of fuzzy sets

Affection and Conflict in Intergenerational Relationships of Women in Sixteen Areas in Asia, Africa, Europe, and America

Studies of intergenerational solidarity in affluent societies suggest that relationships between generations consist simultaneously of both emotional closeness and conflicts. This analysis extends the standard model of intergenerational relationships, which until now has been applied only to countries with bilineal kinship systems, to culturally and economically diverse areas with varying kinship systems. Latent class analysis was applied to measure affection and conflict in the ongoing relationships of young and middle-aged women with their mothers (7,522 relationship pairs) and fathers (5,338 relationship pairs). The empirical analysis was based on standardised oral interviews with mothers from areas in China, Indonesia, North and South India, South Africa, Palestine, Israel, Turkey, Russia, Estonia, Poland, East and West Germany, France, Jamaica, and the United States (n = 8,756). The best fitting model of relationship differences consisted of four latent classes: „amicable“ (45 percent), “detached“ (28 percent), “ambivalent” (22 percent), and “disharmonious“ (5 percent). Based on a cross-culturally largely invariant measurement model, results revealed significantly different distributions for fathers and mothers and across areas. Multinomial three-level regression analysis was used to analyse the complex cross-level interdependence of area effects, individual characteristics, and the respective relationship on class membership. In patrilineal societies, relationships of women with their biological parents are more likely to be ambivalent, less likely to be detached, and very likely to become disharmonious in case of spatial proximity. In affluent societies, the relationships are less likely to be disharmonious and most likely to be harmonious. Whereas the frequency of contact decreases the likelihood of detached or disharmonious relationships in affluent societies, functional exchange with the parents increases the likelihood of disharmonious relationships.Dieser Beitrag liegt nur in englischer Sprache vor.Studies of intergenerational solidarity in affluent societies suggest that relationships between generations consist simultaneously of both emotional closeness and conflicts. This analysis extends the standard model of intergenerational relationships, which until now has been applied only to countries with bilineal kinship systems, to culturally and economically diverse areas with varying kinship systems. Latent class analysis was applied to measure affection and conflict in the ongoing relationships of young and middle-aged women with their mothers (7,522 relationship pairs) and fathers (5,338 relationship pairs). The empirical analysis was based on standardised oral interviews with mothers from areas in China, Indonesia, North and South India, South Africa, Palestine, Israel, Turkey, Russia, Estonia, Poland, East and West Germany, France, Jamaica, and the United States (n = 8,756). The best fitting model of relationship differences consisted of four latent classes: „amicable“ (45 percent), “detached“ (28 percent), “ambivalent” (22 percent), and “disharmonious“ (5 percent). Based on a cross-culturally largely invariant measurement model, results revealed significantly different distributions for fathers and mothers and across areas. Multinomial three-level regression analysis was used to analyse the complex cross-level interdependence of area effects, individual characteristics, and the respective relationship on class membership. In patrilineal societies, relationships of women with their biological parents are more likely to be ambivalent, less likely to be detached, and very likely to become disharmonious in case of spatial proximity. In affluent societies, the relationships are less likely to be disharmonious and most likely to be harmonious. Whereas the frequency of contact decreases the likelihood of detached or disharmonious relationships in affluent societies, functional exchange with the parents increases the likelihood of disharmonious relationships

Immigrant families in Germany: family change between situational adaptation, acculturation, segregation and remigration

'Der Beitrag basiert auf amtlichen Statistiken und Ergebnissen sozialwissenschaftlicher Umfragedaten und gibt einen Überblick über den Wandel in Migrantenfamilien in den letzten 40 Jahren. Dabei werden drei Themen herausgegriffen: Heiraten, generatives Verhalten und Generationenbeziehungen. Bezüglich der Heirat wird der Wandel in den bi-nationalen Ehen nachgezeichnet, für die sich auch für Deutschland der typische U-kurvenförmige Verlauf zeigt. Das generative Verhalten ist durch einen starken Rückgang der Geburten höherer Parität gekennzeichnet, wobei die Geschwindigkeit von der Migrationskarriere und dem Bildungsniveau der Migrantinnen abhängt. Vergleiche zwischen den Generationen zeigen starke Niveauunterschiede in der Akkulturation der ersten und zweiten Migrantengeneration. Jedoch sind diese Generationen stark miteinander verbunden, durchlaufen den Akkulturationsprozess als Konvoi und erhalten sich so ihre intergenerationalen Bindungen.' (Autorenreferat)'Based on available register data and social surveys, an overview on changes in migrant families in Germany during the last 40 years is provided. Three major issues are selected, namely marriage behavior, fertility behavior and intergenerational relations. With regard to marriage, special emphasis is given to binational marriages, for which the typical U-curve shape is observed for Germany, too. Major changes have occurred in the nationalities of foreign marriage partners and in the willingness of immigrants to accept binational marriages. The fertility behavior is characterized by a fast decline of births of higher parity, depending in its speed on the migration career and formal education. Intergenerational comparisons show high level differences in acculturation between first and second generation immigrants. However, these generations are linked and pass the acculturation process as a convoy, thus maintaining intergenerational bonds.' (author's abstract

Intergenerational Relationships

"Intergenerational relationships within family and kinship have become a salient issue in scientific research. Major reasons were intense demographic changes in the 20th century, such as the increased life expectancy in combination with decreased fertility, and its implications for major institutions of the social welfare state. This has resulted in the realization of several larger studies, which may serve for the analysis of the situation of old aged people, such as the German Socio-economic Panel, the Generations and Gender Survey, the Family Survey, the German Aging Survey, the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, and the Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics. However, an overarching theoretical and research perspective on intergenerational relationships from their creation (fertility) over parenting to the most long-lasting relationship between adults of different generations is still missing. In order to overcome this deficiency, the paper recommends for future data structures to obtain information on intergenerational relationships (1) simultaneously and complete, (2) in a lifespan perspective, (3) from a panel design, and (4) a multi-actor design. Studies should (5) account for cultural variability of intergenerational relationships and (6) for institutional settings in cross-national comparisons." (author's abstract

Intergenerationale Transmission von kulturellem Kapital unter Migrationsbedingungen. Zum Bildungserfolg von Kindern und Jugendlichen aus Migrantenfamilien in Deutschland

Anhand der Daten des Sozio-ökonomischen Panels (SOEP) wird untersucht, auf welche Faktoren die bestehenden ethnischen Ungleichheiten im deutschen Bildungssystem zurückzuführen sind. Die hier gewählte theoretische Perspektive verbindet einen lebensverlaufs- mit einem humankapitaltheoretischen Ansatz. Dabei wird die Bedeutung der intergenerationalen Transmission von Bildung als kulturellem Kapital in Verbindung mit ökonomischem und sozialem Kapital in der Migrationssituation untersucht. Hierzu durchgeführte multiple Regressionsanalysen ergeben, daß der Bildungserfolg der Migrantenkinder in einem zwar signifikant positiven, aber sehr schwachen Zusammenhang mit dem in der Herkunftsfamilie vorhandenen ökonomischen und kulturellen Kapital steht. Die Analyse der Bedeutung eingliederungsspezifischer Variablen für die schulische Bildung von Migrantenkindern ergab, daß deren Abiturwahrscheinlichkeit stark von den familiären Sozialisationsbedingungen abhängt. Unterschiede im Bildungserfolg zwischen Migrantenkindern unterschiedlicher Nationalitäten sind weitgehend auf die jeweiligen mit der Nationalität systematisch variierenden Ausprägungen der familiären Sozialisationsbedingungen zurückzuführen. Diskriminierungs- oder Institutioneneffekte konnten dagegen nicht festgestellt werden. (DIPF/Orig.)On the basis of the data provided by the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), the authors examine which factors lead to the existing ethnic inequalities within the German educational system The theoretical perspective chosen here combines a hfe-span approach with a human capital approach The significance of the intergenerational transmission of education as cultural capital in combination with economic and social capital is analyzed in the specific Situation of migration The multiple regression analyses revealed that the link between the educational achievement of migrant children and the economic and cultural capital of the family of origin was significantly positive, however, it is a very weak link The analysis of the impact of mtegration-specific variables on the school career of migrant children showed that the probabihty of a migrant child passing the final examination at a secondary school depends to a high degree on family background variables. Dispanties in the educational achievement of migrant children of different nationality are largely due to the respective forms of famihal conditions of socialization which vary systematically with nationality Effects of discrimination or of institutional settings, however, could not be ascertained. (DIPF/Orig.

Waking up the gut in critically ill patients

Multiorgan failure frequently develops in critically ill patients. While therapeutic efforts in such patients are often focused on the lungs, on the cardiovascular system as well as on the kidneys, it is important to also consider the functional alterations in gut motility and hormone secretion. Given the central regulatory functions of many gut hormones, such as glucagon-like peptide 1, glucagon-like peptide 2, ghrelin and others, exogenous supplementation of some of these factors may be beneficial under conditions of critical illness. From a pragmatic point of view, the most feasible way towards a restoration of gut hormone secretion in critically ill patients is to provide enteral nutritional supply as soon as possible

AdaptiveVLE: an integrated framework for personalised online education using MPS JetBrains domain-specific modelling environment

This paper contains the design and development of an Adaptive Virtual Learning Environment (AdaptiveVLE) framework to assist educators of all disciplines with creating adaptive VLEs tailored to their needs and to contribute towards the creation of a more generic framework for adaptive systems. Fully online education is a major trend in education technology of our times. However, it has been criticised for its lack of personalisation and therefore not adequately addressing individual students’ needs. Adaptivity and intelligence are elements that could substantially improve the student experience and enhance the learning taking place. There are several attempts in academia and in industry to provide adaptive VLEs and therefore personalise educational provision. All these attempts require a multiple-domain (multi-disciplinary) approach from education professionals, software developers, data scientists to cover all aspects of the system. An integrated environment that can be used by all the multiple-domain users mentioned above and will allow for quick experimentation of different approaches is currently missing. Specifically, a transparent approach that will enable the educator to configure the data collected and the way it is processed without any knowledge of software development and/or data science algorithms implementation details is required. In our proposed work, we developed a new language/framework using MPS JetBrains Domain-Specific Language (DSL) development environment to address this problem. Our work consists of the following stages: data collection configuration by the educator, implementation of the adaptive VLE, data processing, adaptation of the learning path. These stages correspond to the adaptivity stages of all adaptive systems such as monitoring, processing and adaptation. The extension of our framework to include other application areas such as business analytics, health analytics, etc. so that it becomes a generic framework for adaptive systems as well as more usability testing for all applications will be part of our future work

Classification Algorithms Framework (CAF) to enable Intelligent Systems using JetBrains MPS domain-specific languages environment

This paper describes the design and development of a Classification Algorithms Framework (CAF) using the JetBrains MPS domain-specific languages (DSLs) development environment. It is increasingly recognized that the systems of the future will contain some form of adaptivity therefore making them intelligent systems as opposed to the static systems of the past. These intelligent systems can be extremely complex and difficult to maintain. Descriptions at higher-level of abstraction (system-level) have long been identified by industry and academia to reduce complexity. This research presents a Framework of Classification Algorithms at system-level that enables quick experimentation with several different algorithms from Naive Bayes to Logistic Regression. It has been developed as a tool to address the requirements of British Telecom’s (BT’s) data-science team. The tool has been presented at BT and JetBrains MPS and feedback has been collected and evaluated. Beyond the reduction in complexity through the system-level description, the most prominent advantage of this research is its potential applicability to many application contexts. It has been designed to be applicable for intelligent applications in several domains from business analytics, eLearning to eHealth, etc. Its wide applicability will contribute to enabling the larger vision of Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption in context