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Handbook of Public Administration Reform (Elgar Handbooks in Public Administration and Management)
Reform is a politicized, ideological, sometimes drifting, and chaotic process. As such, what public administration reform means, why it occurs, whose interests it serves, and whether it makes the world a better place, remain contested. Addressing these questions, this major comparative study sheds new light on existing and emerging issues in the field of public administration reform.Through a global range of country-focused case studies, chapters look closely at the key strands of public administration reform, including bureaucratic models, new public management, post-new public management, big data, integrity, and human resources. Spanning the Anglo-Celtic democracies, Brazil, Central Europe, South Asia, and the developing countries of the South Pacific, they analyze how public sectors have been reformed in recent decades, what factors have contributed to this, and what we can learn from these reforms to achieve better governance in the future.Broad in scope and accessible in approach, this topical Handbook will be an invaluable resource to students and scholars of public administration and management and of policy and politics. With practical applications, it will also prove vital to policy-makers concerned with public administration reform, alongside relevant civil servants, think tanks, and pressure groups.
Handbook of Public Funding of Research
Given the recent re-evaluation of research funding policy as an issue central to national governments and the EU, it is imperative that underlying rationales and channels for investment in research and development are examined. A pioneering analysis of the complexity, allocation and management of public funding of research, this Handbook explores the strategies whereby research can be successfully targeted and supported to resolve problems of broad public concern.Used effectively, the Handbook finds, research has the potential to support economic growth, create jobs, enhance social welfare, protect the environment and expand the frontiers of human knowledge. Taking a multi-level approach, chapters strategize ways to address various funding objectives through analysis of policy design, policy instruments, research organizations and researchers, while remedying disparities resulting from the distribution of research funds. The Handbook’s expansive scope, which covers variation in goals and instrument management over time and across countries, facilitates an approach that not only scrutinizes existing paradigms of public research funding but also looks to the future.With authoritative analysis and theoretical frameworks by leading scholars, the Handbook employs an interdisciplinary approach that combines sociology of sciences, political sciences and economics. It will prove a useful resource for scholars and researchers in science policy studies, alongside policy analysts in ministries and research funding organizations seeking to better understand their working environment.
Handbook of Public Management in Africa (Elgar Handbooks in Public Administration and Management)
This forward-thinking Handbook provides a thorough and comprehensive guide on the positive prospects for public management and governance across the African continent. Exploring best practices learned by public management and governments in the region, this book examines Africa’s ability to leapfrog developed nations in the adoption and adaptation of managerial models, techniques and applications for government.Literature on governance on the African continent is often pervaded with examples of poor leadership, low managerial competency, failing infrastructure, corruption and malpractice. Adopting a comparatively constructive and pragmatic approach, this Handbook explores the broad spectrum of government functions and operations across the continent to outline examples of optimal public policy implementation and performance improvement of public institutions. Bringing together over 30 eminent scholars from the five main African regions, it delivers a comparative analysis of cases and examples in order to ascertain best practice and build effective frameworks for the future.This essential Handbook will appeal to students and scholars of public administration and management, political science, developmental studies and planning and policy development. It will also be of great benefit to public sector practitioners, political representatives and development agencies looking to learn from African public management.
Handbook of Public Participation in Impact Assessment (Research Handbooks on Impact Assessment series)
This Handbook provides a clear overview of how to achieve meaningful public participation in impact assessment (IA). It explores conceptual elements, including the democratic core of public participation in IA, as well as practical challenges, such as data sharing, with diverse perspectives from 39 leading academics and practitioners.Critically examining how different engagement frameworks have evolved over time, this Handbook underlines the ways in which tokenistic approaches and wider planning and approvals structures challenge the implementation of meaningful public participation. Contributing authors discuss the impact of international agreements, legislation and regulatory regimes, and review commonly used professional association frameworks such as the International Association for Public Participation core values for practice. They demonstrate through case studies what meaningful public participation looks like in diverse regional contexts, addressing the intentions of being purposeful, inclusive, transformative and proactive. By emphasising the strength of community engagement, the Handbook argues that public participation in IA can contribute to enhanced democracy and sustainability for all.This visionary Handbook is an indispensable resource for IA public participation practitioners, including industry, consultants, government and non-government organisations as well as participants to IA processes. It will similarly be beneficial to IA researchers, academics, and managers in regulation, public administration and management.
Handbook of Public Policy and Public Administration in China (Handbooks of Research on Contemporary China series)
This Handbook offers a critical analysis of the major theoretical and empirical issues in public policy and public administration in China. Investigating methodological, theoretical, and conceptual themes, it provides an insightful reflection on how China is governed. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, expert international contributors explore the complex challenges and facets of public administration, inwards and outwards civil service issues, and policy configurations and implementations in China. Chapters provide in-depth analyses of government capacity-building and policy making, local bureaucracy, anti-corruption regimes, civil service evaluation, and the effectiveness of the public sector. This comparative study uniquely tests Western theories of public policy and administration in a non-Western country, evaluating and dimensionalizing the relevance of such perspectives. Through the examination of key areas of research, the Handbook also illuminates the present state of research and teaching on public administration in China and establishes a broad framework for future studies of the field. Offering a detailed discussion of the characteristics of governance in China, this comprehensive Handbook will be a valuable resource for academics and students of public policy and administration, politics, sociology and Chinese studies. Its focus on management and performance will also be beneficial for public policy makers and analysts.
Handbook of Public Policy Evaluation (Handbooks of Research on Public Policy series)
This comprehensive Handbook examines public policy evaluation in democracies. Focusing on the political dimension of the evaluation process, it argues that policy evaluation can be an emancipatory tool, reducing social inequalities and exclusion, and offers novel suggestions on how evaluations can be used to improve democratic policymaking.Laying out how evaluation relates to policy design, law-making, performance auditing and policy learning, this Handbook explores how policy evaluation can foster public participation, strengthen governance and enhance democracy. It uses experimental, constructivist and participatory approaches to analyse global case studies, offering epistemological, theoretical, methodological and normative insights. Contributors examine the institutionalisation of policy evaluation in national and international political systems, how to build evaluation capacity, the transformation of evaluation practice through digitalisation, and the challenges posed to evaluators by post-truth politics and artificial intelligence.This Handbook will be an invaluable resource for academic and professional policy evaluators seeking to deliver effective evaluation processes. It will also be essential reading for students and scholars of public policy, public administration and management, and political research methods.
Handbook of Public Policy Implementation (Handbooks of Research on Public Policy series)
In this comprehensive Handbook, international experts examine theoretical and empirical research to analyse a core element of the public policy process: implementation. Traversing numerous sub-disciplines and traditions including top-down and bottom-up approaches to public policy implementation research, the chapters present a synthesis of the state of scholarship and stimulate future thinking in the field.The Handbook of Public Policy Implementation covers both mainstream approaches and newly emerging perspectives towards implementation. Placing emphasis on the intersection between politics and implementation, authors outline how policy success depends on practical application as much as it depends on design. Chapters link the policy process to the different branches of government, investigating various forms of policy implementation across international political systems. They dissect the organizational and individual levels of implementation, using examples from various countries as well as multilevel regimes such as the European Union.Providing an informed overview of the breadth of research on policy implementation, this Handbook is a key resource for academics, researchers, and students of public policy, public administration and management, political science and sociology, and regulation and governance. It is also a crucial resource for policy practitioners and implementing agents.
Handbook of Qualitative Research in Education
by Michael R.M. Ward. Sara DelamontThis updated second edition extends the discussions surrounding the key qualitative methods used in contemporary educational research. Featuring comprehensive coverage of research across all stages of education, it provides sophisticated and concise discussions on both the building blocks of the field and the latest advances in research. Bringing together international scholars, this Handbook offers exceptional insights into the theories and disciplinary approaches to qualitative study and the processes of data collection, analysis and representation, offering fresh ideas to inspire and re-invigorate researchers in educational research. Blending the ideas of both emerging authors and established academics, this Handbook explores research in formal, informal and non-formal education settings internationally. Informative and comprehensive, this Handbook is crucial reading for academics and graduate students in educational research in search of exciting opportunities and avenues for new projects in the field. It will also be useful for practitioners and policymakers in educational settings who need a fresh and diverse illustration of the latest research.
Handbook of Qualitative Research Methodologies in Workplace Contexts
This comprehensive Handbook explores both traditional and contemporary interpretations of qualitative research in the workplace, examining a variety of foundational and innovative qualitative methodological approaches. Expert international contributors discuss how organisations have undergone substantial changes, prompting novel research agendas, which, in turn, required inventive applications of qualitative methodologies in a range of workplace contexts. The Handbook comprises three parts, which consider the foundational knowledge of qualitative methodologies; innovative additions to these methodologies; and their application in a range of workplace contexts and disciplines, including management, health and education policy. Chapters focus on context and the role of reflexivity as central issues for decision making about appropriate methodologies, highlighting how qualitative research has responded to contemporary developments in workplaces, such as the global dispersal of organisations, flexible work arrangements and changes to stakeholder relationships. Analysing the challenges and opportunities for conducting qualitative research in modern organisations, this Handbook will be critical reading for academics and students of organisation studies and qualitative research methods, particularly those with a focus on business and management.
Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods for Family Business (Handbooks of Research Methods in Management series)
by Alfredo De Massis Nadine KammerlanderThis indispensable Handbook provides a timely and comprehensive guide to the methodological challenges of qualitative research in family business. Written by an international, multidisciplinary team of experts in the field, the Handbook takes a hands-on approach, offering valuable insights into a range of methods and related questions. Providing practical guidance based on the experiences of senior researchers, as well as expanding conceptual understanding of qualitative methods, chapters explore existing practices and issues common to many research projects, such as getting access to informants and technical or publication hurdles. Featuring reflective discussion on how to craft insightful, rigorous studies, the Handbook will increase scholars’ confidence in using qualitative methods in their own research, from traditional case studies to more recent methods such as QCA. This Handbook will prove invaluable to instructors of qualitative research methods, as well as scholars and students of family business and entrepreneurship. Researchers using qualitative methods in other social sciences will also find its recommendations relevant and useful.
Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods for Information Systems: New Perspectives (Research Handbooks in Information Systems)
This vital new Handbook brings together cutting-edge contributions from experts in Information Systems (IS) to explore how qualitative research can be undertaken in the IS discipline.The Handbook critically surveys contemporary trends in qualitative IS studies and offers detailed examples of how IS research methods can be taught. The leading group of contributors provide future-oriented analyses of key research methodologies, covering important topics such as the nature of theory and philosophy in qualitative IS research and new developments in the field. Engaging in an exploratory analysis of where opportunities for qualitative IS research might be heading, the Handbook concludes by identifying a need to consolidate existing research methodologies and develop new ones. The Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods for Information Systems will be beneficial for students studying areas such as information systems, qualitative research methods, research method innovation and knowledge management.
Handbook of Quality of Life Research: Place and Space Perspectives
This erudite Handbook demonstrates how multiple approaches have been used to conceptualize, measure, and model the complex issue of quality of life (QOL) and individual well-being, emphasizing place and space as critical factors in a meaningful QOL experience.The Handbook of Quality of Life Research brings together an international array of esteemed academics who examine QOL through a series of case studies and empirical investigations, covering a range of environmental settings from rural and metropolitan regions to neighbourhoods and home environments to hospitals. Chapters use a range of methodologies and theoretical perspectives to investigate QOL in relation to place and space and their unique impacts on people. In light of the current threat posed by the climate crisis and changing worldwide demographic trends, the Handbook explores issues of migration, the impact of urbanization, the effect of natural environments and environmental degradation on QOL, and a sub-section dedicated to the importance of place for the well-being of older adults.Offering critical methodological insight into the complex and elusive concept of QOL, this book will be crucial reading for students and scholars of urban geography, social and cultural geography, sociology and sociological theory, and environmental psychology. Also, given presentation of timely empirical findings, it will be an invaluable read for urban and regional planners.
Handbook of Quantifiers in Natural Language (Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy #90)
by Edward L. Keenan and Denis PapernoCovering a strikingly diverse range of languages from 12 linguistic families, this handbook is based on responses to a questionnaire constructed by the editors. Focusing on the formation, distribution and semantic interpretation of quantificational expressions, the book explores 17 languages including German, Italian, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Malagasy, Hebrew, Pima, Basque, and more. The language data sets enable detailed crosslinguistic comparison of numerous features. These include semantic classes of quantifiers (generalized existential, generalized universal, proportional, partitive), syntactically complex quantifiers (intensive modification, Boolean compounding, exception phrases) and several others such as quantifier scope ambiguities, quantifier float, and binary quantifiers. Its theory-independent content extends earlier work by Matthewson (2008) and Bach et al. (1995), making this handbook suitable for linguists, semanticians, philosophers of language and logicians alike.
Handbook of Quantifiers in Natural Language: Volume II (Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy #97)
by Denis Paperno Edward L. KeenanThis work presents the structure, distribution and semantic interpretation of quantificational expressions in languages from diverse language families and typological profiles. The current volume pays special attention to underrepresented languages of different status and endangerment level. Languages covered include American and Russian Sign Languages, and sixteen spoken languages from Africa, Australia, Papua, the Americas, and different parts of Asia. The articles respond to a questionnaire the editors constructed to enable detailed crosslinguistic comparison of numerous features. They offer comparable information on semantic classes of quantifiers (generalized existential, generalized universal, proportional, partitive), syntactically complex quantifiers (intensive modification, Boolean compounds, exception phrases, etc.), and several more specific issues such as quantifier scope ambiguities, floating quantifiers, and binary (type 2) quantifiers. The book is intended for semanticists, logicians interested in quantification in natural language, and general linguists as articles are meant to be descriptive and theory independent. The book continues and expands the coverage of the Handbook of Quantifiers in Natural Language (2012) by the same editors, and extends the earlier work in Matthewson (2008), Gil et al. (2013) and Bach et al (1995).
Handbook of Quantitative Research Methods in Entrepreneurship
by George Saridakis Marc CowlingThis Handbook of Quantitative Research Methods in Entrepreneurship provides an overarching perspective on the methods and approaches critical to quantitative analysis of research on entrepreneurship. Representing the research efforts of 28 international scholars in entrepreneurship, this Handbook offers guidance for quantitative analysts at a time of increasing availability of economic, financial and business data. Contributions focus on a range of important empirical issues, including business survival, job creation, internationalisation, bank financing and specific types of entrepreneurial activity such as social enterprise and family business. The combined chapters synthesise and experiment with useful methods to navigate and unpack crucial entrepreneurial data. Informative and accessible, this Handbook is crucial reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students looking for a broad overview of the field. It will also be useful to established academics and researchers who require state of the art research, and policymakers and practitioners, who may use this book as an indispensable guide for reflecting on public interventions in the entrepreneurial arena.
Handbook of Race and Refusal in Higher Education: Like a Path in Tall Grasses (Elgar Handbooks in Education)
This cutting-edge Handbook goes beyond discourses of equity, inclusion, and diversity, carving a space for critical discussions about the relationships between Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and the university. In doing so, it forges new paths and alternative conceptual starting points to consider in making a commitment to social justice in higher education.Kenjus T. Watson, Nora Cisneros, Lindsay Pérez Huber and Verónica Vélez bring together a dynamic collective of scholars, educators, students, community members, and activists to ask the critical question: how do we work towards justice through a lens of refusal in higher education (HE)? The Handbook presents both traditional and non-traditional scholarship, including creative and artistic work, to explore the distinctive ways white supremacy, settler colonialism, and antiblackness impact students, faculty, and communities within HE, with chapters providing insight into everyday strategies of refusal, radical imaginaries of abolitions and futurities, and projects of decolonization. Taking stock of the tensions and contradictions in ‘undoing’ the university while occupying positions within it, the Handbook concludes that the study of education cannot be divorced from the sociohistorical, political, and economic architectures that have shaped it.This path-breaking Handbook will be a crucial resource for BIPOC students, scholars and faculty within HE institutions, as well as students of the sociology of education, the sociology of discrimination, education policy, and race, ethnicity, and colonial studies.
Handbook of Racism, Xenophobia, and Populism: All Forms of Discrimination in the United States and Around the Globe (Springer Handbooks of Political Science and International Relations)
by Adebowale AkandeThis handbook presents the roots of symbolic racism as partly in both anti-black antagonism and non-racial conservative attitudes and values, representing a new form of racism independent of older racial and political attitudes. By doing so, it homes in on certain historical incidents and episodes and presents a cogent analysis of anti-black, Jim Crowism, anti-people of color (Black, Latino, Native Americans), and prejudice that exists in the United States and around the world as a central tenet of racism. The book exposes the reader to the nature and practice of stereotyping, negative bias, social categorization, modern forms of racism, immigration law empowerment, racialized incarceration, and police brutality in the American heartland. It states that several centuries of white Americans’ negative socializing culture marked by widespread negative attitudes toward African Americans, are not eradicated and are still rife. Further, the book provides a panoramic view of trends of racial discrimination and other negative and desperate challenges that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color face across the world. Finally, the volume examines xenophobia, racism, prejudice, and stereotyping in different contexts, including topics such as Covid-19, religion and racism, information manipulation, and populism. The book, therefore, is a must-read for students, researchers, and scholars of political science, psychology, history, sociology, communications/media studies, diplomatic studies, and law in general, as well as ethnic and racial studies, American politics, global affairs, populism, and discrimination in particular.
Handbook of Real Estate and Macroeconomics
This Handbook collects a set of academic and accessible chapters to address three questions: What should real estate economists know about macroeconomics? What should macroeconomists know about real estate? What should readers know about the interaction between real estate and macroeconomics? Content is focused on four widely discussed themes: real estate-related wealth and macroeconomics, housing price dynamics and affordability, financial crises and structural change, and non-residential real estate. The chapter authors, active researchers from around the world, present evidence from various countries and datasets that are of interest to audiences across the globe, summarize insights from previous research and shed light on current issues.The Handbook of Real Estate and Macroeconomics assists researchers on the big picture as well as a hot spots in frontier research, and facilitates worldwide policy discussions and analysis for practitioners in financial markets, corporate economists, and policy analysts in governments and NGOs.
Handbook of Regional Conflict Resolution Initiatives in the Global South (Europa International Perspectives)
by Jerónimo Delgado-CaicedoDuring the first half of the twentieth century, the international system was largely dominated by the USA and the colonial powers of western Europe. After the two world wars, the political and economic dominance of these states guaranteed them and their allies an almost complete control of world politics. However, as it is the norm in the international system, power structures are not immutable. After the end of the Cold War, rapid changes to the existing international hierarchies took place, as new countries from the so-called ‘‘developing world’’ began to emerge as crucial actors capable of questioning and altering the power dynamics of the world. It is therefore unthinkable to ignore emerging countries such as Russia, the People’s Republic of China, India, Brazil or South Africa in the decision-making process in today’s world order. In addition, there is a group of smaller, yet increasingly important countries that, while acknowledging their inability radically to change the rules of the international system, are still eager to shift power relations and enhance their influence in the world. Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, South Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Vietnam are generally recognised as part of this grouping of emerging powers from the Global South. While there is a consensus amongst academics that emerging powers from the Global South must have a stabilising role within their own regions, previous analyses have focused primarily on the impact that emerging powers have had in their own regions’ conflict resolution initiatives. This volume, instead, aims to go beyond these analyses and provide new insights regarding the effect that this stabilising role has on the continental and global positioning of emerging powers. In other words, this book explores the relation between a country’s involvement in conflict resolution initiatives and its positioning in the international system. The volume will contribute to this approach using the perspective of academics and practitioners from countries of the Global South, particularly from states that have strengthened - or sometimes weakened - their position in the international hierarchy of power through a leading role in regional conflict resolution initiatives.
Handbook of Regional Conflict Resolution Initiatives in the Global South (Europa International Perspectives)
by Jeronimo Delgado-CaicedoDuring the first half of the twentieth century, the international system was largely dominated by the USA and the colonial powers of western Europe. After the two world wars, the political and economic dominance of these states guaranteed them and their allies an almost complete control of world politics. However, as it is the norm in the international system, power structures are not immutable. After the end of the Cold War, rapid changes to the existing international hierarchies took place, as new countries from the so-called ‘‘developing world’’ began to emerge as crucial actors capable of questioning and altering the power dynamics of the world. It is therefore unthinkable to ignore emerging countries such as Russia, the People’s Republic of China, India, Brazil or South Africa in the decision-making process in today’s world order. In addition, there is a group of smaller, yet increasingly important countries that, while acknowledging their inability radically to change the rules of the international system, are still eager to shift power relations and enhance their influence in the world. Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, South Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Vietnam are generally recognised as part of this grouping of emerging powers from the Global South. While there is a consensus amongst academics that emerging powers from the Global South must have a stabilising role within their own regions, previous analyses have focused primarily on the impact that emerging powers have had in their own regions’ conflict resolution initiatives. This volume, instead, aims to go beyond these analyses and provide new insights regarding the effect that this stabilising role has on the continental and global positioning of emerging powers. In other words, this book explores the relation between a country’s involvement in conflict resolution initiatives and its positioning in the international system. The volume will contribute to this approach using the perspective of academics and practitioners from countries of the Global South, particularly from states that have strengthened - or sometimes weakened - their position in the international hierarchy of power through a leading role in regional conflict resolution initiatives.
Handbook of Regional Cooperation and Integration
This timely Handbook offers a detailed cross-policy assessment on the need, locale and impact of regional cooperation and integration, addressing how the principles of regional integration have affected multi-level governance and subsequent public policy. Individual chapters provide explanations of what regional cooperation means in a specific policy area, identify relevant theories, and present empirical evidence to support the arguments outlined. The Handbook of Regional Cooperation and Integration brings together a diverse range of expert contributors who deftly explore regional cooperation across a number of key policy areas, including migration, trade, the digital sphere, finance, security, democracy and higher education. Through a comprehensive analysis of the nature of and need for regional cooperation in today’s world, this Handbook argues for greater and more pressing discussions on regional policy, the value of integration and its resulting application in organisations. A crucial text for global governance, international relations and public policy academics and students, this is also an invigorating read for regional studies scholars. The Handbook ’s in-depth study of practical applications makes this suitable for public officials in the sector, as well as regional organisation and think tank staff.
Handbook of Regional Growth and Development Theories: Revised and Extended Second Edition
by Peter Nijkamp Roberta CapelloIn recent years, economic crises, regional fragmentation trends, radical technological innovation and the failures of regional policies have expanded the knowledge horizon of experts in regional growth and development. This fully updated, revised and expanded Second Edition contains ten new chapters as well as exploring theories prevalent in the first edition in the face of recent changes in the field. With 30 chapters from leading experts from across the globe, this Handbook looks at new pathways in regional economics, presenting the most cutting-edge theories explaining regional growth and local development. It thoroughly examines recent advances in theories, the normative potentialities that they have and the cross-fertilization of ideas between regional and mainstream economists, providing crucial insights to the topic. This will be an essential source of reference and information for scholars and advanced students of regional science and regional economics. It will also be a useful tool for experts in international institutions researching regional growth.
Handbook of Regulatory Authorities
Featuring a comprehensive analytical collection of interdisciplinary research on regulatory authorities, this innovative Handbook presents the fundamental concepts, theories, practices, and empirical achievements and challenges in the contemporary study of regulatory authorities.Opening with a comparative overview of regulators across global regions, regulatory sectors, and regulatory types, the Handbook discusses the key regulatory conceptual issues of independence, politicization, and quality. Contributions from leading scholars and regulatory practitioners provide cutting-edge research on reputation, performance, and control in regulatory authorities. Chapters combine foundational theoretical concepts with empirical research to consider the emerging advances, challenges, and questions in the field, while also giving weight to critical examinations of complex and underexplored issues in research on regulatory authorities. Forward-thinking, the Handbook concludes by expanding its focus to analyse behavioural insights, innovation, agenda-setting, and new frontiers in regulation.With a cross-disciplinary approach, this all-encompassing Handbook will prove invaluable for students and scholars of politics, law, and economics with a regulatory governance perspective. Global in scope, it will be an essential point of reference for policy analysts, practitioners, and policymakers working in regulation and regulatory authorities.
Handbook of Relationship Initiation
by Susan Sprecher Amy Wenzel John HarveyThe Handbook of Relationship Initiation is the first volume to focus specifically on the very beginning stage of relationships – their origin. In this Handbook, leading scholars on relationships review the literature on various processes related to the initiation of relationships: how people meet, communicate for the first time, and begin to define themselves as being in a relationship. Topics include attraction, mate selection, influence of social networks on relationship initiation, initiation over the internet, hook-ups among young adults, and flirting and opening gambits. In addition, the dark side of relationship initiation is considered, including unwanted relationship pursuit and barriers to relationship initiation including social anxiety. This volume provides an overdue synthesis of the literature on this topic. It is especially timely in view of the growing prevalence on relationship initiation online, through matchmaking and other social networking sites, which has increased awareness that science can be used to understand, create, and facilitate compatible matching. This Handbook provides an essential resource for an interdisciplinary range of researchers and students who study relationships, including social psychologists, communication scientists and scholars of marriage and the family.
Handbook of Relationship Initiation
by SUSAN SPRECHER, AMY WENZEL and JOHN HARVEYThe Handbook of Relationship Initiation is the first volume to focus specifically on the very beginning stage of relationships – their origin. In this Handbook, leading scholars on relationships review the literature on various processes related to the initiation of relationships: how people meet, communicate for the first time, and begin to define themselves as being in a relationship. Topics include attraction, mate selection, influence of social networks on relationship initiation, initiation over the internet, hook-ups among young adults, and flirting and opening gambits. In addition, the dark side of relationship initiation is considered, including unwanted relationship pursuit and barriers to relationship initiation including social anxiety. This volume provides an overdue synthesis of the literature on this topic. It is especially timely in view of the growing prevalence on relationship initiation online, through matchmaking and other social networking sites, which has increased awareness that science can be used to understand, create, and facilitate compatible matching. This Handbook provides an essential resource for an interdisciplinary range of researchers and students who study relationships, including social psychologists, communication scientists and scholars of marriage and the family.