The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between social structure and crime in rural counties of the United States. Social structures are assumed to be associated with informal control of crime, and as well, it is assumed that structural changes in rural communities influence changes in the level of informal social control of crime, hence, crime itself. Social disorganization th...

This paper investigates changes in the variety and intensity of formal and informal control mechanisms in offshore software development (OSD) projects. Based on a comparative case study approach our results confirm existing findings such as that the amount of control varies across different projects stages, but also contribute with new findings. For example, we found that particularly the quali...

Background and aims: Informal workplace learning research suggests that it is highly contextual and social. Early models of such learning emphasized individual agency and control, but subsequent theorizing based on sociocultural and complexity theory unveils different interpretations of the dynamics of informal and incidental learning. The aim of this article is to critique and revisit conceptu...

Background: Informal payments can cause delayed access to health care services, forcing people to sell their properties for cost of treatment; and as a result, they lose trust in the health system. Considering the importance of this issue, this study was conducted in 2016 to identify solutions to reduce and eliminate informal payments in Iran’s health system.    Methods: Initia...

The study examined the sources of informal finance in aiding climate change adaptation in South eastern Nigeria. Random sampling was adopted in the selection of 6 out of the 9 communities in the study area. From each of these selected communities, 10 crop farmers were randomly selected giving a total number of 60 respondents. Descriptive statistics such as percentages and frequency, as well as ...

Recent literature has not only recognized the implementation limitations of formal regulation, but also appreciated the significance of informal regulation for achieving environmental goals for developing countries. Since most units in developing world fall under unorganized sector, even utility of some of the informal channels like public-disclosures is limited. Under the scenario, a localized...

BACKGROUND The inverse care law proposing that medical services are distributed inversely to population health needs, and that this law operates more completely where medical care is most exposed to market forces, was first suggested by Tudor Hart in 1971. This paper considers whether an inverse care law can be observed for the provision of informal care as well as for medical care. AIM Using...

The paper discusses the shift to narrative studies and the growth of biographical research in the social sciences as a way of knowing persons. Dangers inherent in false assumptions of knowledge of interviewing and semi-structured probes are noted. The author's experience with the Biographic Narrative Interpretive Method is discussed, using examples from his research on identity and the informal...