Combining a range of case studies with theoretical research, this volume analyzes current developments and best practice. The contributors discuss innovative approaches in assessment, peer assessment, the NCVQ model, the positive side of assessment, staff training for assessment, and much more.

Why are Americans today so fascinated by the X-Files? How did rumors emerge about the origins of the AIDS virus as a weapon of biowarfare? Why does the Kennedy assassination provoke heated debate nearly forty years after the fact, and what do we make of Hillary Clinton's accusation of a -vast right-wing conspiracy- against her husband? The origins of these ideas reveal important facets of American culture and politics.

Placing conspiracy thinking at the center of American history, and challenging the knee-jerk dismissal of conspiratorial thought as deluded and sometimes dangerous,...

Why are Americans today so fascinated by the X-Files? How did rumors emerge about the origins of the AIDS virus as a weapon of biowarfare? Why does the Kennedy assassination provoke heated debate nearly forty years after the fact, and what do we make of Hillary Clinton's accusation of a -vast right-wing conspiracy- against her husband? The origins of these ideas reveal important facets of American culture and politics.

Placing conspiracy thinking at the center of American history, and challenging the knee-jerk dismissal of conspiratorial thought as deluded and sometimes dangerous,...