Suchergebnisse

The Institute of Economic Research (IER) at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) was the organizer and host of the traditional autumn international scientific conference held on 29-30 November 2018. The conference was attended by researchers from Bulgaria, Macedonia, Slovenia, Poland and Kazakhstan. During the two-day forum, 48 papers were presented by 65 authors - representatives of 5 foreign academic institutions, 3 subdivisions of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS, BAS, RAS, Ruse), the Agricultural Academy, 14 universities from the country, as well as from the business and non-profit sectors, which enabled a multidisciplinary exchange of ideas, opinions and results of analyses of the state and prospects for the development of the economy of Bulgaria and other countries. Young scientists showed a keen interest in the conference theme - nearly half of the papers were prepared individually or in co-authorship with habilitated scientists and lecturers and presented by senior assistants, assistant professors and PhD students from the country and abroad.

Purpose: This article discusses the use of mixed methods research in tourism. It provides the rationale for the use of mixed methods and discusses the context in which this was chosen and used. It outlines the major research philosophies, and their advantages and disadvantages, and discusses the systematic, sequential, step-by-step research processes that were employed. The article also analyses the potential usefulness of specific qualitative data collection techniques.

Method: The context of the article was a study investigating what tourists associate with tourism destination quality (henceforth referred to as the TDQ study). The article indicates the nature of the phases of research in the TDQ study, beginning with the qualitative exploratory research involved. It discusses how questions were designed, and the pre-testing and piloting of questions and research techniques. It provides details on the main qualitative and subsequent quantitative phases of the research.

Findings: The article argues that an initial systematic qualitative phase of research can be used within an overall mixed methods approach to precede a quantitative phase with a successful outcome in terms of robust and rigorous research findings. Additionally, the results of the pilot study data indicate the superiority of the in–depth interviews technique over focus group interviews and open-ended questionnaires in terms of the technique's effectiveness, efficiency, and ability to generate in-depth, detailed and unique data.

Research and conclusion limitation: The article discusses only one case study in detail.

Practical implication: Although not intended to be prescriptive, this article could be used as a blueprint for those involved in research involving similar methodology.

Originality: This article advances knowledge of the effectiveness of mixed method methodologies and techniques in tourism studies. By providing a detailed account of a systematic sequential mixed method approach, the paper provides insights into and a potential blueprint for researchers interested in conducting such research.

Type of paper: research methodology article.

AbstractAlthough there are now several instruments available to measure social capital in a quantitative manner, very few of them have been validated, and no published study has examined respondents' interpretation of the meaning of the questions. This article represents one of the first attempts to measure the validity of a quantitative social capital instrument. Young Lives is a study that includes quantitative measures of caregivers' social capital using the Short Adapted Social Capital Assessment Tool (Short A-SCAT). Vietnamese respondents' interpretations of questions on social capital were compared to the original intended meaning of the questions and to fieldworkers' interpretations. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two interpreters who were involved in translating the original questionnaire from English to Vietnamese, two supervisors and six interviewers. In-depth interviews were conducted with 24 female caregivers similar to the original respondents. Key concepts in social capital, like trust and sense of belonging, were interpreted similarly by all actors. Support was perceived narrowly by caregivers (limited to money and goods). Most problems arose from changes originating from translation from English to Vietnamese and by the changing nature of local political structures and how one refers to them. Overall validity appeared fairly high with a "correct interpretation" rate of 77 percent. There is now a valid tool for quickly and cheaply assessing social capital in a quantitative manner in Vietnam.

The focus of this chapter is on the knowledge base for social work practice with children and families and its relationship to current social work policy development in England and Wales for the foreseeable future. It is argued that over the last ten years, the nature of the knowledge base for children and family social work, including the way it is generated, accessed and applied, has been increasingly subject to politically initiated change. This article argues that over the previous ten years of 'austerity', knowledge for social work has been purposely, and increasingly, 'weaponised' as a component of the same political system which introduced and now sustains neo-liberalism and austerity. Deliberate decisions have been taken by government in order to initiate- through a variety of inter-linked and mutually reinforcing strategies- the reframing and repackaging of the role of knowledge in social work practice with children and families. Following a review of current approaches to understanding social work knowledge, the article identifies five key inter-linked projects , which have been established by the Conservative government . It argues that these are intended to deliver a far-reaching political colonisation of the existing knowledge base for social work, which should be resisted by all social work stakeholders.

IntroductionIn a large biobank of over half a million people, we have several pairs of participants who appear to share their genome. As more individuals are sequenced, more pairs are likely to be found. If these are twins then this is great news, but it isn't quite that simple.
Objectives and ApproachWhere 2 people share a genome we need to be able to confirm that these pairs are twins. However, there are a number of issues which could cause 2 people to appear to share a genome; for example being recruited twice, donating blood on another's behalf, etc. We already identify and exclude participant data based on these conditions. We developed our methodology by looking at the first identified pair in great detail, looking for evidence which specifically ruled out possible alternate explanations, and then applying and refining the method on later pairs.
ResultsWe were able to demonstrate the pair were almost certainly twins using their biochemistry and family questionnaire data as principal sources. We also identified a number of variables which were useful in indicating the likelihood of a twin, and now form part of a methodology which we are still developing. Even more usefully, we identified a number of variables that seemed like useful measures but proved extremely misleading. To date we have 26 pairs of possible twins, with 9 confirmed as twins and the remainder looking likely to be twins but falling short of a threshold for confidence. We also have 75 pairs which confirm duplicate participants we have already excluded.
Conclusion/ImplicationsWe formed two lessons: even very simply linkages come with pitfalls, and you should gather more administrative data than you think. We're proposing the collection of additional familial relationship data in our third resurvey. We are also looking into machine learning and statistical techniques to better identify twins and duplicates.

The aim of this research is to analyze the historical process of continuity and change that led to the socio-economic transformation associated with irrigation sector development in nineteenth-century Multan, thus supplying a missing piece in South Asian Regional economic history and it became unplanned revolution and modernization as happened with colonial Multan. The introduction of the perennial canal system and the commercialization of agricultural crops provided a real opportunity for the economic development of this region. What were the socio-cultural impacts of regional economic policies, and how it penetrates as processes of continuity and change? This research derives its frame of reference by mixing historical, qualitative and quantitative methods of research. The selected data is analyzed from a dialectical rationale approach to critical discourse. This research is based on original, unpublished official reports from British Indian Library London, Punjab Civil Secretariat Lahore.

International audience ; E n los últimos años una serie de interpretaciones ha salido a la luz para reparar un olvido : el del papel de las mujeres en la Guerra Civil española. Los trabajos de las historiadoras Mary Nash y Shirley Mangini son ejemplos sobresalientes de este nuevo dinamismo historiográfico y editorial dedicado al análisis de la condición femenina entre 1931 y 1939 1. De hecho, tanto interés ha despertado el tema que en 2002 se celebró una tertulia electrónica internacional en la Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes con la participación de las principales autoras expertas en la materia 2. La figura femenina que más capta la imaginación colectiva sigue siendo la de la miliciana republicana. Un indicio de ello es que una misma fotografía de la miliciana con gorra militar, mono-sin duda azul-adornado con una estrella-sin duda roja-, fusil en bandolera y niño en brazos ilustra la tapa de Recuerdos de la resistencia de Mangini y La voz dormida de Dulce Chacón 3. La imagen es potente y duradera porque ilustra mejor que otras a la mujer totalmente entregada a la causa. Sin embargo, el coger un fusil no fue la única manera abierta a las mujeres de apoyar la lucha antifascista, ni mucho menos la más frecuente. Estos estudios sobre el papel femenino en la guerra se centran en las mujeres españolas y no cubren la aportación de las de otros países. Dicha participación sigue omitiéndose en los trabajos sobre la participación extranjera en el conflicto. Hasta hace poco la única información de que se disponía sobre ellas era la referencia ocasional a enfermeras en estudios globales. Tanto Peter Carroll como Amirah Inglis, por ejemplo, evocan respectivamente las actividades de enfermeras estadounidenses y australianas, pero las vivencias y peripecias de los combatientes masculinos ocupan la mayor parte de sus estudios 4. Sin embargo, en 2002, la historiadora británica Angela Jackson se convirtió en pionera al publicar una excelente monografía dedicada a las voluntarias británicas en la Guerra Civil española 5 .

International audience ; E n los últimos años una serie de interpretaciones ha salido a la luz para reparar un olvido : el del papel de las mujeres en la Guerra Civil española. Los trabajos de las historiadoras Mary Nash y Shirley Mangini son ejemplos sobresalientes de este nuevo dinamismo historiográfico y editorial dedicado al análisis de la condición femenina entre 1931 y 1939 1. De hecho, tanto interés ha despertado el tema que en 2002 se celebró una tertulia electrónica internacional en la Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes con la participación de las principales autoras expertas en la materia 2. La figura femenina que más capta la imaginación colectiva sigue siendo la de la miliciana republicana. Un indicio de ello es que una misma fotografía de la miliciana con gorra militar, mono-sin duda azul-adornado con una estrella-sin duda roja-, fusil en bandolera y niño en brazos ilustra la tapa de Recuerdos de la resistencia de Mangini y La voz dormida de Dulce Chacón 3. La imagen es potente y duradera porque ilustra mejor que otras a la mujer totalmente entregada a la causa. Sin embargo, el coger un fusil no fue la única manera abierta a las mujeres de apoyar la lucha antifascista, ni mucho menos la más frecuente. Estos estudios sobre el papel femenino en la guerra se centran en las mujeres españolas y no cubren la aportación de las de otros países. Dicha participación sigue omitiéndose en los trabajos sobre la participación extranjera en el conflicto. Hasta hace poco la única información de que se disponía sobre ellas era la referencia ocasional a enfermeras en estudios globales. Tanto Peter Carroll como Amirah Inglis, por ejemplo, evocan respectivamente las actividades de enfermeras estadounidenses y australianas, pero las vivencias y peripecias de los combatientes masculinos ocupan la mayor parte de sus estudios 4. Sin embargo, en 2002, la historiadora británica Angela Jackson se convirtió en pionera al publicar una excelente monografía dedicada a las voluntarias británicas en la Guerra Civil española 5 .

Exploring digital twins and structural vibration in collaborative research
In discussion of their collaboration and funding in their Horizon Europe project on structural vibration, Prof. Bhaskar from the University of Sheffield and Dr. Claus Ibsen from Vestas aircoil A/S met during the application for the Horizon 2020 project which was to be the InDEstruct project. At that time, Professor Bhaskar was affiliated with the University of Southampton as the project coordinator. The project was qualified for funding under the Horizon 2020 programme and has recently been completed. Vestas aircoil A/S have agreed to co-finance 2 PhDs to be enrolled at the University of Sheffield, with Professor Bhaskar securing co-financing with funding from the research council in the UK. The long-term ambition is to produce a hi-fidelity model in the spirit of digital twins, so that design changes could be quickly accommodated. This industrial funding from Vestas will be supplemented by additional funding from the UK Research Council to support the work of a PhD student for the duration of three and a half years.

This study conceptualizes the cultivation effect in terms of the accessibility of information in memory. Contemporary social cognition research indicates that individuals consistenly use the most accessible information in memory as a basis for a variety of judgments. Consistent with this body of literature, the current study demonstrates that, based on a reaction time task, those subjects who watch comparatively more television not only overestimate frequency or probability but also give faster responses to various types of cultivation questions. These results support the notion that relevant information, presumably "cultivated" from television viewing, is more accessible in memory for heavier viewers, and, consistent with predictions made by the availability heuristic literature, overestimations of frequency or probability are associated with this enhanced accessibility. Moreover, when controlling for speed of response in the correlation between television viewing and social reality estimates, the relationship is diminished or disappears entirely, suggesting that enhanced accessibility of relevant information for heavier viewers can at least partially account for the cultivation effect.