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Abstract. Estimations of flood frequencies in small catchments are difficult due to a lack of measured discharge data. This problem is usually solved in the Czech Republic by hydrologic modelling when there is a reason not to use the data provided by the Czech hydrometeorological institute, which are quite expensive and have a very low level of accuracy. Another way is to use a simple method which provides sufficient estimates of flood frequency based on the available spatial data. A new methodology is being developed considering all important factors affecting flood formation in small catchments. The relationship between catchment descriptors and flood characteristics has been analysed first to get an overview of the importance of each considered descriptor. The results for different descriptors vary from a highly correlated relationship of an expected shape to a relationship which is opposite to that expected, mainly in the case of land use. The parameterisation of the methodology is also presented, including the sensitivity tests on each involved catchment descriptor and cross-validation of achieved results. In its present form, the methodology achieves an Radj2 value of about 0.61 for 10- and 0.60 for 100-year return periods.

This paper discusses the process of designing a quantitative measure of student beliefs and attitudes about social responsibility, global competence, and global civic engagement. First, it includes an overview of the development of a global citizenship Q-sort, the tool used in Q methodology, for assessment. Second, it involves an explanation of the validation process of the Q-sort in three phases to include feedback from scholars in the field, high school teachers, and high school students. Finally, it discusses implications that using this tool can have for researchers analyzing global citizenship coursework and for teachers implementing this coursework.

Although having been practised in the Social Sciences for decades, it was only in recent years that process tracing has gained prominence in methodological debates in political science. In spite of its popularity, however, there has been little success in formalising its methodology, defining its standards, and identifying its range of applicability. This symposium aims at furthering our understanding of the methodology by discussing four essential aspects: the underlying notion of causality, the role of theory, the problem of measurement in qualitative research, and the methodology's relationship with other forms of qualitative inquiry. It brings together methodological and substantive articles by young European scholars and summarises a round-table discussion with Peter A. Hall held at a workshop at the University of Oldenburg, Germany, in November 2010. Adapted from the source document.

Innovation and Health investigates both the origin and the diffusion of novelty in the field of health. It also provides a critical discussion of the methodology and theory of health economics. Neoclassical and evolutionary elements are combined to produce a comprehensive view of the commodity of 'health' beyond a pure 'market' perspective. Thus, the intangible dimension of health is taken into account. The methodological framework developed serves as a basis for several theoretical and empirical applications such as the creation of medical knowledge, the evolution of networks and the process of invention, innovation and diffusion in the health care sector.

HCIHEALTH is a project funded by the Valencian Institute for Business Competitiveness (IVACE) and the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). The HCIHEALTH project aims to investigate and apply Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) techniques for the design and development of an innovative technological solution to improve well-being and mental health through technology. This paper describes the methodology employed during the execution of the project, the development of the proposed prototype, and the evaluation of the prototype in a mental health case scenario, outlining future lines of research to be explored. ; HCIHEALTH. Project funded by the Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness (IVACE) and European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), within the public grant program adressed to Technological Institutes of the Valencian Community for the development of non-economic R&D projects carried out in cooperation with companies during 2021 with 201.666,76€. File number: IMDEEA/2020/72

PurposeAchieving goals of better integrated and responsive government services requires moving away from stand alone applications toward more comprehensive, integrated architectures. As a result there is a mounting pressure to integrate disparate systems to support information exchange and cross‐agency business processes. There are substantial barriers that governments must overcome to achieve these goals and to profit from enterprise application integration (EAI).Design/methodology/approachIn the research presented here we develop and test a methodology aimed at overcoming the barriers blocking adoption of EAI. This methodology is based on a discrete‐event simulation of public sector structure, business processes and applications in combination with an EAI perspective.FindingsThe testing suggests that our methodology helps to provide insight into the myriad of existing applications, and the implications of EAI. Moreover, it helps to identify novel options, gain stakeholder commitment, let them agree on the sharing of EAI costs, and finally it supports collaborative decision‐making between public agencies.Practical implicationsThe approach is found to be useful for making the business case for EAI projects, and gaining stakeholder commitment prior to implementation.Originality/valueThe joint addressing of the barriers of public sector reform including the transformation of the public sector structure, gaining of stakeholders' commitment, understanding EAI technology and dependencies between cross‐agency business processes, and a fair division of costs and benefits over stakeholders.

In landslide areas, after assessing the risk level, the obligatory questions from government authorities, communities, civil protection managers, and researchers are: What can we do? What should we do? What must we do? There are different strategies to reduce the vulnerability and risk: (a) increasing the knowledge of the population, (b) establishing an early warning system, and (c) selecting and constructing structures. The aim of this chapter is to present the methodology to select stabilizing construction works to avoid a landslide, through the "valuation factors," which are parameters to assess the intrinsic and trigger instability factors (morphology, geology, hydrogeology, vegetation, rainfall, earthquake, erosion, human activity, etc.). The valuation factors are presented in graphs, equations, and tables; based upon them, the different construction works are selected, including (a) geometric adjusting for reducing destabilizing forces; (b) reinforcement elements, anchors, and pile barriers to increase the resistive forces; (c) drainage for eliminating surface runoff water or lowering the hydrostatic pressure; (d) retaining walls to support the horizontal pressure; and (e) surface protection to prevent rock falls and reduce erosion and infiltration. The methodology has been used successfully in several mountainous regions: Puebla, Hidalgo, Chiapas, Baja California in México, and Ocaña in Colombia.

Chapter 1. Constituents of Evaluation Practice -- Chapter 2. Credible Methodology -- Chapter 3. Validity in Framing an Evaluation's Purpose and Questions -- Chapter 4. Validity in Evaluation Designs and Methods -- Chapter 5. Validity in Measures and data collection -- Chapter 6. Validity in Analysis, Interpretation, and Conclusions -- Chapter 7. Validity in Evaluation Utilization -- Chapter 8. Validity in performance measurement -- Chapter 9. Explication of Methodological Assumptions: A Metaevaluation -- Chapter 10. Working with assumptions in humanitarian assistance evaluation -- Chapter 11. Conclusion.

ABSTRACTMany political science students struggle in quantitative methods courses because they have never been taught how to learn math. Learning math is different from learning in other fields, so the techniques students have used successfully in other classes are inappropriate in mathematically oriented classes. However, most students have never been told this, so they blame their difficulty with math on the impenetrability of the subject rather than tactical studying errors. This brief article discusses some of the reasons that common studying techniques do not work in quantitative methodology classes, and discusses some simple techniques to help students develop learning habits that are better suited to quantitative courses.

AbstractIn this paper, the authors propose a new methodology relative to earlier work on the Viable System Ontology Theory. This theory links Beer's Viability theory and Dietz's Performance in Social Interaction (PSI) theory and aims at supporting the business process design of a viable system. This work extends the Viable System Ontology Theory by a detailed methodology that alternates the VSM functional diagnosis and design with the construction design as recommended by the Generic System Development Process (GSDP). The proposed methodology consists of three iterative phases: the environment construction, the function design, and the construction design of a viable system. Those steps are discussed in the light of the Viable System Ontology Theory propositions. In addition, they are illustrated by the case study of the Moroccan public medicine procurement system.

The article proposes methodological guidelines for studies on a new tool in communication and gift-giving: online donations. It looks at donations in the context of gift culture, with particular emphasis on the changes introduced by digitisation. The author argues that online donations are a source of valuable data, which could prove useful for many sciences. As a very specific and relatively new form on the media market, donations are not an easy research material. An outline is provided of the methodology in studies on online donations, including challenges and problems that researchers may encounter. The solutions presented in the article are the result of the author's three years of work in the field of collecting and analysing online donation data.

A methodology for quantifying expert system usability is presented. Usability is considered from a designer's perspective: the designer must ultimately address any design Issues that may affect usability. A linear multivariate function for measuring usability is described. The function's independent variables represent user perceptions and performance. In an example a function of this form is developed and used to assign a usability score to a given expert system. The usefulness of the usability function as a design tool is also investigated.

Abstract
The paper discusses the concept of adequacy central for Pertażycki's methodology. According to Petrażycki any valuable scientific theory should be adequate, that is, neither limping (to broad with respect its actual scope) nor jumping (too narrow with respect to its actual scope). Consequently, adequacy of a theory is a stronger condition than its truth. Every adequacy theory is true, but not conversely. However, there is problem, because scientific laws are conditionals (implications). This suggests that adequacy is too strong conditions, because the consequence of an implication has a wider scope than its antecedent. Thus, laws should have the form of equivalence. The paper shows how model-theoretic characterization of theories allows to recognize truth and adequacy, consistently with Petrażycki's claims.