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Mathematics and politics

01 Jan 1965-
About: The article was published on 1965-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 106 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Philosophy of mathematics education & Math wars.
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In a very crucial sense there is no methodology without logos, without thinking about thinking as mentioned in this paper, and if a firm distinction is drawn between methodology and technique, the latter is no substitute for the former.
Abstract: “To have mastered ‘theory’ and ‘method’ is to have become a conscious thinker, a man at work and aware of the assumptions and implications of whatever he is about. To be mastered by ‘method’ or ‘theory’ is simply to be kept from working.” The sentence applies nicely to the present plight of political science. The profession as a whole oscillates between two unsound extremes. At the one end a large majority of political scientists qualify as pure and simple unconscious thinkers. At the other end a sophisticated minority qualify as overconscious thinkers, in the sense that their standards of method and theory are drawn from the physical, “paradigmatic” sciences. The wide gap between the unconscious and the overconscious thinker is concealed by the growing sophistication of statistical and research techniques. Most of the literature introduced by the title “Methods” (in the social, behavioral or political sciences) actually deals with survey techniques and social statistics, and has little if anything to share with the crucial concern of “methodology,” which is a concern with the logical structure and procedure of scientific enquiry. In a very crucial sense there is no methodology without logos, without thinking about thinking. And if a firm distinction is drawn—as it should be—between methodology and technique, the latter is no substitute for the former. One may be a wonderful researcher and manipulator of data, and yet remain an unconscious thinker.

2,207 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared the equality of student participation in two modes: face-to-face discussion and electronic discussion and found a tendency toward more equal participation in computer mode and revealed some factors which correlated with increased student participation.
Abstract: One of the supposed benefits of computer-mediated communication is that it can result in more equal participation among students. This study tested that claim by comparing equality of student participation in two modes: face-to-face discussion and electronic discussion. In a counter-balanced, repeated measures study, small groups of ESL students conducted discussion face-to-face and electronically. Amount of participation was calculated per person for each mode and was correlated to factors such as nationality, language ability, time in the U.S., and student attitude. In addition, a global measure of equality of participation was calculated and compared across the two modes. The findings showed a tendency toward more equal participation in computer mode and revealed some factors which correlated with increased student participation in that mode.

982 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify the determinants of innovation in public agencies, i.e., the degree to which they adopt and emphasize programs that depart from traditional concerns, and suggest that innovation is the function of an interaction among the motivation to innovate, the strength of obstacles against innovation, and the availability of resources for overcoming such obstacles.
Abstract: The present study is an attempt to identify the determinants of innovation in public agencies, i.e., the degree to which they adopt and emphasize programs that depart from traditional concerns. Innovation is suggested to be the function of an interaction among the motivation to innovate, the strength of obstacles against innovation, and the availability of resources for overcoming such obstacles.The significance of the research can be viewed in terms of Hyneman's observation nearly twenty years ago that bureaucratic agencies “… may fail to take the initiative and supply the leadership that is required of them in view of their relation to particular sectors of public affairs. …” His concern was the responsiveness of the public sector not only to expressed wants but to public wants that may go unexpressed, or be only weakly expressed, and whose utility is much more easily recognized by the informed bureaucratic official than by the ordinary citizen.While the results and conclusions to be reported appear to be largely valid for organizations in general, the empirical focus will be local departments of public health which, as a class, have had a rather dramatic succession of opportunities to respond to new public problems over the past twenty-five years. A brief introductory paragraph will orient the reader to the applied setting.

802 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A striking and unexpected result was that "first" advocacy was shared by high-and low-status members in discussions using electronic mail, which resulted in increased equality of influence across status and expertise.
Abstract: New computer-based communications technologies make possible new or expanded forms of group work. Although earlier researchers suggest that scant social information in these technologies might cause status equalization in groups, no experimental test of this phenomenon has been made. In a laboratory experiment, we compared face-to-face communication with electronic mail in decision-making groups whose members differed in social status. We examined status in two ways: by varying the external status of group members, and by varying the decision task to manipulate expertise. When the groups made decisions in face-to-face meetings, the high-status member dominated discussions with the three low-status members. Also, the high-status member more often was a "first advocate" in the face-to-face discussions, and first advocates were more influential than later advocates. These status inequalities in face-to-face decision making were pronounced just when the high-status member's expertise was relevant to the decision task. When the same groups made comparable decisions using electronic mail, status and expertise inequalities in participation were reduced. A striking and unexpected result was that "first" advocacy was shared by high-and low-status members in discussions using electronic mail. This behavior resulted in increased equality of influence across status and expertise. We discuss the implications of these results for research and for design of new communication technologies.

792 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Ted Gurr1
TL;DR: In this paper, a causal model of the general conditions of several forms of civil strife, using cross-sectional analyses of data collected for 114 polities, is presented, and the results show that measures of five independent variables jointly account for two-thirds of the variance among nations in magnitude of civil unrest (R =.80, R2 =.64).
Abstract: This article describes some results of a successful attempt to assess and refine a causal model of the general conditions of several forms of civil strife, using cross-sectional analyses of data collected for 114 polities. The theoretical argument, which is discussed in detail elsewhere, stipulates a set of variables said to determine the likelihood and magnitude of civil strife. Considerable effort was given here to devising indices that represent the theoretical variables more closely than the readily-available aggregate indices often used in quantitative cross-national research. One consequence is an unusually high degree of statistical explanation: measures of five independent variables jointly account for two-thirds of the variance among nations in magnitude of civil strife (R = .80, R2 = .64).It should be noted at the outset that this study does not attempt to isolate the set of conditions that leads specifically to “revolution,” nor to assess the social or political impact of any given act of strife except as that impact is reflected in measures of “magnitude” of strife. The relevance of this kind of research to the classic concern of political scholarship with revolution is its attempt at identification and systematic analysis of conditions that dispose men to strife generally, revolution included.

548 citations