TY - JOUR A1 - Post, Julia C. A1 - Class, Fabian A1 - Kohler, Ulrich T1 - Unit nonresponse biases in estimates of SARS-CoV-2 prevalence JF - Survey research methods N2 - Since COVID-19 became a pandemic, many studies are being conducted to get a better understanding of the disease itself and its spread. One crucial indicator is the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Since this measure is an important foundation for political decisions, its estimate must be reliable and unbiased. This paper presents reasons for biases in prevalence estimates due to unit nonresponse in typical studies. Since it is difficult to avoid bias in situations with mostly unknown nonresponse mechanisms, we propose the maximum amount of bias as one measure to assess the uncertainty due to nonresponse. An interactive web application is presented that calculates the limits of such a conservative unit nonresponse confidence interval (CUNCI). KW - COVID-19 KW - prevalence KW - probability samples KW - unit nonresponse KW - conservative confidence limits KW - nonresponse bias Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.18148/srm/2020.v14i2.7755 SN - 1864-3361 VL - 14 IS - 2 SP - 115 EP - 121 PB - European Survey Research Association CY - Duisburg ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Hamann, Julian A1 - Schmidt-Wellenburg, Christian ED - Schmidt-Wellenburg, Christian ED - Bernhard, Stefan T1 - The double function of rankings BT - consecration and dispositif in transnational academic fields T2 - Charting transnational fields N2 - Rankings have grown in importance in the last decades. This is particularly evident in, but not limited to, academia. In this paper, we propose a power analytical take on academic rankings as a transnational(izing) phenomenon. In doing so, we make two contributions. First, we develop a conceptual definition of rankings as consecratory institutions. After providing an overview of the most prominent types of rankings in the academic field and discussing the different forms they can take, we suggest that rankings operate through subjectivation, zero-sum comparisons, quantification, publication and generating a doxical belief. Second, we propose that rankings fulfil a strategic double function. As a particularly momentous consecratory institution, rankings propel power shifts in the academic field and beyond by preferring (and being pushed by) specific academic milieus, types of agents, paradigms, and strategies. As a dispositif, rankings operate at the intersection of different fields, open academic fields up for a lay audience and advance processes of transnationalization by facilitating new modes of governance for hubs of state institutions, private corporations, media corporations, and data providers. Concluding, we argue that the consecration and dispositif functions rely on some basic principles of the practical functioning of rankings. Y1 - 2020 SN - 978-0-429-27494-7 SN - 978-0-367-22418-9 U6 - https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429274947-10 SP - 160 EP - 177 PB - Routledge CY - Abingdon ; New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmitz, Andreas A1 - Schmidt-Wellenburg, Christian A1 - Witte, Daniel A1 - Keil, Maria T1 - In welcher Gesellschaft forschen wir eigentlich? BT - Struktur und Dynamik des Feldes der deutschen Soziologie JF - Zeitschrift für theoretische Soziologie Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3262/ZTS1902245 SN - 2195-0695 SN - 2751-4552 VL - 8 IS - 2 SP - 245 EP - 281 PB - Beltz Juventa CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fühner, Thea Heidi A1 - Kliegl, Reinhold A1 - Arntz, Fabian A1 - Kriemler, Susi A1 - Granacher, Urs T1 - An update on secular trends in physical fitness of children and adolescents from 1972 to 2015 BT - a systematic review JF - Sports medicine N2 - Background There is evidence that physical fitness of children and adolescents (particularly cardiorespiratory endurance) has declined globally over the past decades. Ever since the first reports on negative trends in physical fitness, efforts have been undertaken by for instance the World Health Organization (WHO) to promote physical activity and fitness in children and adolescents. Therefore, it is timely to re-analyze the literature to examine whether previous reports on secular declines in physical fitness are still detectable or whether they need to be updated. Objectives The objective of this systematic review is to provide an 'update' on secular trends in selected components of physical fitness (i.e., cardiorespiratory endurance, relative muscle strength, proxies of muscle power, speed) in children and adolescents aged 6-18 years. Data Sources A systematic computerized literature search was conducted in the electronic databases PubMed and Web of Science to locate studies that explicitly reported secular trends in physical fitness of children and adolescents. Study Eligibility Criteria Studies were included in this systematic review if they examined secular trends between at least two time points across a minimum of 5 years. In addition, they had to document secular trends in any measure of cardiorespiratory endurance, relative muscle strength, proxies of muscle power or speed in apparently healthy children and adolescents aged 6-18 years. Study Appraisal and Synthesis Methods The included studies were coded for the following criteria: nation, physical fitness component (cardiorespiratory endurance, relative muscle strength, proxies of muscle power, speed), chronological age, sex (boys vs. girls), and year of assessment. Scores were standardized (i.e., converted to z scores) with sample-weighted means and standard deviations, pooled across sex and year of assessment within cells defined by study, test, and children's age. Results The original search identified 524 hits. In the end, 22 studies met the inclusion criteria for review. The observation period was between 1972 and 2015. Fifteen of the 22 studies used tests for cardiorespiratory endurance, eight for relative muscle strength, eleven for proxies of muscle power, and eight for speed. Measures of cardiorespiratory endurance exhibited a large initial increase and an equally large subsequent decrease, but the decrease appears to have reached a floor for all children between 2010 and 2015. Measures of relative muscle strength showed a general trend towards a small increase. Measures of proxies of muscle power indicated an overall small negative quadratic trend. For measures of speed, a small-to-medium increase was observed in recent years. Limitations Biological maturity was not considered in the analysis because biological maturity was not reported in most included studies. Conclusions Negative secular trends were particularly found for cardiorespiratory endurance between 1986 and 2010-12, irrespective of sex. Relative muscle strength and speed showed small increases while proxies of muscle power declined. Although the negative trend in cardiorespiratory endurance appears to have reached a floor in recent years, because of its association with markers of health, we recommend further initiatives in PA and fitness promotion for children and adolescents. More specifically, public health efforts should focus on exercise that increases cardiorespiratory endurance to prevent adverse health effects (i.e.
, overweight and obesity) and muscle strength to lay a foundation for motor skill learning. Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01373-x SN - 0112-1642 SN - 1179-2035 VL - 51 IS - 2 SP - 303 EP - 320 PB - Springer CY - Northcote ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Schmidt-Wellenburg, Christian A1 - Bernhard, Stefan ED - Schmidt-Wellenburg, Christian ED - Bernhard, Stefan T1 - How to chart transnational fields BT - introduction to a methodology for a political sociology of knowledge T2 - Charting transnational fields N2 - In this programmatic introduction, we lay out the foundations of an approach to analyzing knowledge-based political phenomena beyond the nation state from a field perspective. We understand transnational field analysis as a research program comprising genuine theoretical and methodological assumptions. While extant research is well aware of the theoretical assumptions of transnational field analysis, there is thus far relatively little awareness of the importance of its methodological premises. Addressing this imbalanced picture, we identify five methodological principles and specify consequences for studies of transnational fields. Our approach emphasizes that performing transnational field analysis goes beyond “taking a theory to the field”; it means engaging in and reflecting upon a complex research process that simultaneously draws upon and constructs theories of fields. Y1 - 2020 SN - 978-0-429-27494-7 SN - 978-0-367-22418-9 U6 - https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429274947-1 SP - 1 EP - 33 PB - Routledge CY - Abingdon ; New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wolf, Hannah A1 - Mackert, Jürgen T1 - Introduction JF - Urban Change and Citizenship in Times of Crisis N2 - The processes of neo-liberalisation, coined as ‘actually existing neo-liberalism’ are by their very nature variegated and context-specific and can appear in multi-faceted and contradictory forms. Consequentially, sociological reflection has tried to conceptualise ongoing processes of transforming the city under the concept of urban neo-liberalism which is generally understood as the contextually specific and path-dependent realisation of neo-liberal restructuration projects, embedded in varying social, political, economic, and cultural ‘regulatory landscapes’. As much as neo-liberalism as ideology and political programme aims at erasing any democratic participation in society, its proponents have taken sides pushing ahead the re-conceptualisation of the city as a market with the right of the stronger ‘to do down the weaker’. The city has become a focal point for neo-liberalism’s war against democracy and citizens. Turning social relations into market transactions in order to restructure cities is not a new idea from the neo-liberals but one of the non-negotiable dogmas of their religion called science. Y1 - 2020 SN - 978-0-429-26228-9 SN - 978-0-367-20564-5 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Routledge CY - London ER -