This article concludes with some reflections on the state of the discipline of evaluation, reflections which synthesize a number of considerations. In this respect it is like many evaluations which close with an overview-a synthesis of preceding sub-conclusions-but it is unlike them in that its content consists of a discussion of the methodology of the last synthesis step in an evaluation-of wh...

Some patients have no chance of surviving if not treated, but very little chance if treated. A number of medical ethicists and physicians have argued that treatment in such cases is medically futile and a matter of physician discretion. This paper critically examines that position. According to Howard Brody and others, a judgment of medical futility is a purely technical matter, which physician...

Abstract There has been a longstanding controversy in research as to whether moral judgment is the result of an analytical or intuitive process. Today, researchers increasingly recognize that judgments can be both intuition and analysis, two paths lead different results. This raises question which processes leads better judgment. The article develops typology problems depending on their uncerta...

In Germany the public awareness on ethical problems of the application of medicine and life sciences on human beings is very high. It can be observed that German Society is rather sensitive concerning bioethical issues. Politics supports this attitude. Many articles in professional journals as well as in newspapers cover bioethical issues. Conferences and workshops on a professional and an educ...

This article argues for a systems approach to learning how to improve performance, conceptualising child protection services as complex, adaptive systems. This requires an acceptance of the complexity of the work, the essential role of professional judgment, and the need for feedback loops in the system where lower level workers are not afraid to communicate honestly about their experiences, bo...

Important discussions about limiting care based on professional judgment often devolve into heated debates over the place of physicians in bedside rationing. Politics, loaded rhetoric, and ideological caricature from both sides of the rationing debate obscure precise points of disagreement and consensus, and hinder critical dialogue around the obligations and boundaries of professional practice...

The Hand Therapy Certification Commission, Inc., in consultation with the Professional Examination Service, completed a practice analysis of hand therapy in 2001. One goal was to obtain information about the competencies shown by therapists at specific points of experience. Six competency areas were identified and included in the final survey: scientific knowledge, clinical judgment/clinical re...

As governmental auditing is involved in evaluating the legitimacy, economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of how the various administrative branches use their allocated resources to optimize the government's functions, it is expected that the performance of the auditors in charge are strongly influenced by their respective qualities such as self-efficacy and experience, etc. To further understa...

Despite a recent focus on the mental health of students, primary and middle school mental health education in China has been hampered by a lack of resources fand inadequate professional training. This study assessed the mental health education competency of primary and middle school head teachers using the Mental Health Education Competency Questionnaire, a measure based on data from documentar...