Outcome Uncertain


Book Description

This casebook presents both classic and current cases in bioethics, as well as the biomedical and social framework needed to understand the moral and social issues they raise. The text draws its cases from the author's market leading text, INTERVENTION AND REFLECTION, 6th Edition, and provides up-to-date introductions and a strong theoretical foundation for the critical study of bioethics.




Uncertain Outcome


Book Description

After two years of political and economic chaos, democracy emerged in Portugal. This book examines the fascinating period from 1974-1976 when the Portuguese transition to democracy was far from a simple question of volunteeristic engineering. The author emphasizes that it involved a complex dynamic of interests, strategies, fears, wants, and goals among the multitude of players. The analytical focus on political factors in this book helps to reveal these crucial factors in a process that resulted in this successful emergence of democracy. Contents: Rethinking the Portuguese Transition to Democracy: Theoretical Issues; Origins of the 25 April Coup d'Ètat; The Transition's First Phase: Military Rank Versus Revolutionary Legitimacy (25 April 1974 to 30 September 1974); The Transition's Second Phase: Ideological Cleavages in the MFA (30 September 1974 to 12 March 1975); The Transition's Third Phase: Opening to Civil Society (12 March 1975 to 8 September 1975); The Transition's Fourth Phase: Battle Over Control of the Armed Forces (9 September 1975 to 23 July 1976); Uncertain Outcome: Summary and Conclusion; Appendix: Interview and Newspaper Sources; Bibliography; Index.




Uncertain Outcomes


Book Description




Uncertain Outcomes


Book Description




Handbook of the Uncertain Self


Book Description

This Handbook explores the cognitive, motivational, interpersonal, clinical, and applied aspects of personal uncertainty. It showcases both the diversity and the unity that defines contemporary perspectives on uncertainty in self within social and personality psychology. The contributions to the volume are all written by distinguished scholars in personality, social psychology, and clinical psychology united by their common focus on the causes and consequences of self-uncertainty. Chapters explore the similarities and differences between personal uncertainty and other psychological experiences in terms of their nature and relationship with human thought, emotion, motivation, and behavior. Specific challenges posed by personal uncertainty and the coping strategies people develop in their daily life are identified. There is an assessment of the potential negative and positive repercussions of coping with the specific experience of self-uncertainty, including academic, health, and relationship outcomes. Throughout, strategies specifically designed to assist others in confronting the unique challenges posed by self-uncertainty in ways that emphasize healthy psychological functioning and growth are promoted. In addition, the contributions to the Handbook touch on the psychological, social, and cultural context of the new millennium, including concepts such as Friedman’s "flat world," confidence, the absence of doubt in world leaders, the threat of terrorism since 9/11, the arts, doubt and religious belief, and views of doubt as the universal condition of humankind. The Handbook is an invaluable resource for researchers, practitioners, and senior undergraduate and graduate students in social and personality psychology, clinical and counseling psychology, educational psychology, and developmental psychology.




Public Policy in an Uncertain World


Book Description

Manski argues that public policy is based on untrustworthy analysis. Failing to account for uncertainty in an uncertain world, policy analysis routinely misleads policy makers with expressions of certitude. Manski critiques the status quo and offers an innovation to improve both how policy research is conducted and how it is used by policy makers.




Quantifying the Qualitative


Book Description

Quantifying the Qualitative presents a systematic approach to comparative case analysis based on insights from information theory. This new method, which requires minimal quantitative skills, helps students, policymakers, professionals, and scholars learn more from comparative cases. The approach avoids the limitations of traditional statistics in the small-n context and allows analysts to systematically assess and compare the impact of a set of factors on case outcomes with easy-to-use analytics. Rigorous tools reduce bias, improve the knowledge gained from case studies, and provide straightforward metrics for effectively communicating results to a range of readers and leaders.




Extraordinary Outcomes


Book Description

Steel your team against the unexpected by planning for uncertainty Extraordinary Outcomes presents an innovative approach to thinking and planning, giving leaders a playbook for dealing with uncertainty. Written by internationally recognized authorities on problem solving and creativity in organizations, this book provides an alternative outlook on business strategy and people management for leaders navigating uncertain waters, where the future is anything but guaranteed. The framework is the result of research in multiple fields and the authors' experiences with individuals, teams, and organizations, with examples from real-world situations that illustrate the concepts and dynamics at work to give readers deeper insight. The focus is on conquering uncertainty – eliminating it where possible, reducing it where it can be reduced, and embracing it when it's inevitable. Traditional ways of thinking and planning do not work in the face of an uncertain future. Frequently there are just no guarantees, nothing written in stone, and even a fortune-teller couldn't accurately predict the outcome. Extraordinary Outcomes helps leaders prepare for that, with strategies geared toward preparedness and embracing uncertainty. Learn why skills and talent are only two pieces of a bigger puzzle Discover how to better galvanize the team, and keep them motivated long-term Connect to a purpose that inspires enthusiastic engagement Conquer uncertainty, and develop a strategy for dealing with mistakes No one likes to be caught off guard, and the consequences can be severe at the organizational level. Leaders can't be psychic, but they can plan for possible outcomes and always have a solution at the ready. For those who like to have an answer for everything, Extraordinary Outcomes provides a roadmap toward an uncertainty-proof strategy for doing business.




Expert Systems


Book Description

This six-volume set presents cutting-edge advances and applications of expert systems. Because expert systems combine the expertise of engineers, computer scientists, and computer programmers, each group will benefit from buying this important reference work. An "expert system" is a knowledge-based computer system that emulates the decision-making ability of a human expert. The primary role of the expert system is to perform appropriate functions under the close supervision of the human, whose work is supported by that expert system. In the reverse, this same expert system can monitor and double check the human in the performance of a task. Human-computer interaction in our highly complex world requires the development of a wide array of expert systems. Expert systems techniques and applications are presented for a diverse array of topics including Experimental design and decision support The integration of machine learning with knowledge acquisition for the design of expert systems Process planning in design and manufacturing systems and process control applications Knowledge discovery in large-scale knowledge bases Robotic systems Geograhphic information systems Image analysis, recognition and interpretation Cellular automata methods for pattern recognition Real-time fault tolerant control systems CAD-based vision systems in pattern matching processes Financial systems Agricultural applications Medical diagnosis




Risk, Uncertainty and Profit


Book Description

A timeless classic of economic theory that remains fascinating and pertinent today, this is Frank Knight's famous explanation of why perfect competition cannot eliminate profits, the important differences between "risk" and "uncertainty," and the vital role of the entrepreneur in profitmaking. Based on Knight's PhD dissertation, this 1921 work, balancing theory with fact to come to stunning insights, is a distinct pleasure to read. FRANK H. KNIGHT (1885-1972) is considered by some the greatest American scholar of economics of the 20th century. An economics professor at the University of Chicago from 1927 until 1955, he was one of the founders of the Chicago school of economics, which influenced Milton Friedman and George Stigler.