Methodological dualism in linguistics occurs when its theories are subjected to standards that are inappropriate for them qua scientifi c theories. Despite much opposition, methodological dualism abounds in contemporary thinking. In this paper, I treat linguistics as a scientifi c activity and explore some instances of dualism. By extracting some ubiquitous aspects of scientifi c methodology fr...

This article asserts that traditionally dominant models of health promotion in the US are fairly characterized by methodological individualism. This schema produces a focus on the individual as the node of intervention. Such emphasis results in a number of scientific and ethical problems. I identify three principal ethical deficiencies: first, the health promotions used are generally ineffectiv...

While devices of all shapes and sizes currently dominate the technological landscape, human-computer interaction as a field which is not yet theoretically equipped to match this reality. In this paper we develop the Human-Artifact Model, which has its roots in activity theoretical HCI. By reinterpreting the activity theoretical foundation, we present a framework that helps addressing the analys...

New possibilities such as online crowdsourcing (Amazon Mechanical Turk), open data repositories (Open Science Framework), and online analysis (Ipython notebook) offer rich possibilities to improve, validate, and speed up research. However, until today there is no cross-platform integration of these subsystems. Furthermore, implementation of online studies still suffers from the complex implemen...

The evaluation of an evaluation is not a mere play on words or simply an investigation into the person who evaluates the evaluation. It is far more than that. It is about how to evaluate the diverse components of the evaluation process and the evaluators per se. In this paper, we discuss some promising possibilities for meta-evaluation in the field of evaluation of programs and services. These ...

The Six Sigma programme has developed into a standard for quality and efficiency improvement in business and industry. This fact makes scientific research into the validity and applicability of this methodology important. This article explores the possibilities of a scientific study of the methodological aspects of the Six Sigma programme, and its Breakthrough Cookbook in particular. The object...

Computing brought new possibilities to define, storage, retrieve and communicate knowledge in computer system based teaching from simple personal application of computers to teaching organizations in computer networks. Internet and modeling techniques from the advanced information technology offer high amount of methodological elements well appropriate for distance learning in an integrated vir...

The Dutch basic health insurance is based on the principles of regulated competition. This implies that insurers and providers compete on price and quality while the regulator sets certain rules to achieve public objectives such as solidarity. Two regulatory aspects of this scheme are that insurers are not allowed to risk rate their premiums and are compensated for predictable variation in indi...

The author explores the relationship between rationality, ethics, and space. He argues that the contemporary ethical project involves a derationalisation of ethics through a recorporealisation of space. There is a move away from the abstract space of liberal ^ individualist notions of justice to more enclosed and local spaces of communitarian loyalties and intersubjective communication. Postmod...

OBJECTIVES To compare the methodological and reporting quality of systematic reviews by authors from China and those from the United States (USA). STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING From systematic reviews of randomized trials published in 2014 in English, we randomly selected 100 from China and 100 from the USA. The methodological quality was assessed using the Assessing the Methodological Quality of ...