The research methods we use to assess prosociality in young children are the ultimate arbiter for our understanding of prosocial development. The theoretical conclusions we base on empirical data are nested, if not entirely rooted, in the ways in which we measure and statistically model children’s prosociality. This chapter focuses on early ontogeny and systematizes the landscape of research methodologies currently used to study prosocial development. It offers a critical reflection on some of the methodological and statistical constraints under which current research on prosocial development is being conducted. The chapter closes by arguing that new technological advances have paved the way for a more inclusive and systematic study of prosociality in the early years of development. Embracing these ongoing efforts will require a new kind of discussion about the ways in which we statistically model development and how we draw inferences about “significant” effects in early ontogeny.

This chapter introduces the concept of framing in civil war and introduces the twelve main ex-combatants whose stories illustrate these framing contests. The chapter lays out the central argument of the book, which is that gendered framing contests influence individual commitment to an armed group and the decisions that ex-combatants make to stay or go, and that these contests are particularly harmful to women and deserters. The chapter then outlines the theoretical framework, case selection, research sites, and data collection. It concludes with a discussion of why a better understanding of framing contests and their effects on ex-combatants is integral for more comprehensive reintegration programming and to establish inclusive, long-term peace.

This initial chapter introduces marine protected areas as the preferred tool of marine conservation law and the four main themes around which the monograph is organised, namely space, rationality, democracy and adaptation. The methodology used for the study is also introduced and the structure of the book explained and summarised.

Methods of biblical historical criticism are interpretive strategies analyzing texts and significance and the infinite contexts and contacts of history. Examining the histories of individual biblical writings, noncanonical writings, and biblical canons encompass a variety of endeavors deployed in limitless configurations.

This introdutory chapter describes events leading to the introduction of the Abortion Act. It explains the use of ’biography’ to frame the analysis, offers a brief synospsis of each chapter, discusses the sources used in the research and explains the choices made regarding terminology.

The Introduction provides the context of contemporary antislavery movement, the value and source of survivor narratives, an explanation of the methodology adopted, and overview of the books aims and contents.

In the volume’s afterword, the founder of the Discourse–Pragmatic Variation and Change Research network assesses how the field has expanded over recent decades, and offers suggestions for its future development. The afterword discusses the strengths of this volume, including the breadth and diversity of topics covered. It calls for further studies of discourse–pragmatic variation in contact settings, for cross–linguistic comparisons, and for studying languages other than English, arguing that such analyses will facilitate exploration of how discourse–pragmatic variation and change manifests across languages. It also recommends an expansion of data sources, methodological approaches and theoretical frameworks, arguing that such expansion will diversify the kind of research questions discourse variationists can be pursue.

It seems so obvious that good decisions on innovations in medical and hospital management – or on anything – should be based on good evidence. Decision-makers are advised by business school professors (and their mothers) that decisions should be based on the best available evidence – and who could argue against that? However, despite the general reverence for evidence in medical practice and drug approval, there is a consensus (discussed later in this chapter) that decision-making on medical delivery or insurance innovations – which also can have effects on health, life, death, and spending – is often not evidence-based, sometimes contradictory to evidence, and surely not as evidence-based as it could be. In this introductory chapter we explore two related questions: (1) what is the value of evidence for these decisions, and (2) where in health care management is evidence not being generated or used as it should be? This chapter will in a sense discuss “evidence on evidence,” and ask when and what kind of evidence is needed to improve not only decision-making, but also final outcomes in terms of spending and quality.

Anyone who studies design today is confronted with a professional field that places a variety of demands on future designers. Designers are expected to solve problems of all kinds in innovative ways: They should be able to implement briefings reliably and keep the production method and its costs in mind; they should be able to predict trends reliably; they should know their target groups and deliver products tailored to them. Of course, designers should also be able to communicate, visualize, and present their ideas convincingly. Rarely are these skills combined in one person, which is why designers also need to be able to work in a team. Students should therefore not only be sensitized to design, but also to intercultural differences, and be familiar with and able to classify different social milieus in order to design accordingly for specific target groups (families with small children, for example, hardly ever buy tables with sharp edges). Students should also become aware of their own esthetic preferences and staging strategies. This chapter presents an example of undergraduate research in design and discusses theoretical and conceptual problems of research in design.

The different methods of female sterilization are described with their efficacy, indications, contraindications and complications