1,720,965 research outputs found
African Philosophers and the Quest for Development in Contemporary Africa
Full text linkThe tasks for African philosophers in crisis-ridden Afri a is the focus of this work. It examines the effect of the three decades debate on the existence, 'who is', as well as 'who is not', an African Philosopher on how they define their roles in channeling a path for African growth and development. It argues that the debate, while vital to the philosophical enterprise, need not distract those that claimed to be 'philosophers' or with 'Philosophy degrees' from contributing their quota to the discourse on African development. It ends by outlining the role(s) that contemporary African philosophers should play, both for the sake of relevance and justification of devoting hours to contemplations and rigorousthinking
DISCOURSE ON MORALITY, CORRUPTION AND CHANGE IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICA: DOES INTENTION MATTER?
Full text linkCorruption is widely regarded as a condemnable act because of its effects on the wellbeing of the populace. More than the
reason(s) for the supposed act of corruption, most scholars are of the view that the very act of „diverting‟ public funds, with
likely severe consequence(s), is unacceptable, and therefore immoral. But the question is: should the morality of an act be
decided strictly based on the consequence(s) of such an action or should the intent of the „performer‟ be considered? In
this paper we shall be examining the „consequences versus intent‟ factor in the definition of corruption within the public
space, using T.M. Scalon‟s „Predictive Significance‟. In the final analysis, the work suggests that neither consequences nor
intent is solely sufficient in evaluating the morality of corruption. We therefore suggest that both intent and consequences
should be duly considered within the ambit of Scalon‟s „Predictive Significance‟ when moralising corruption, most
especially in Africa where change is much needed
How Not to Define Poverty: An Anthropological Understanding of Poverty in Yoruba Philosophy
Full text linkThere is an agreement among scholars that there is no 'one fits all' definition of poverty. Diverse reasons can be adduced for this agreement. This paper seeks to unravel the definition and cultural perception of poverty using the Yorubas of Southwestem Nigeria as a case study. Poverty among the Yorubas is generally perceived as an amalgam of diseases that requires more than money/income, capability development or empowerment, but also spiritual efforts to 'cure'. The essence of this preoccupation is to call the attention of scholars, and public policy experts, to the need to be mindful of local understanding of poverty and consider a holistic analysis of poverty while formulating or reviewing poverty reduction or eradication policies
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Autoethnography: Unpacking a Method and Lived Experience(s) as Data
Full text linkIt is not unusual for new research tools and approaches to be viewed with some level of skepticism before their eventual acceptance, and popularity. Autoethnography, a qualitative research method, has found itself in similar quagmire as it presently struggles with the question of acceptance and popular usage, three decades after its introduction by Carolyn Ellis (1995). This worrisome attitude, to its use, most especially in studies where it is the most suitable (yet unused), underscores the need to revisit its nature and application. In this review, we examine the definitions of autoethnography, its strengths and limitations, and provide some guidelines to writing a good autoethnographic work, with the hope that more scholars will consider its use where it will be invaluable in knowledge production
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Proverbs and conflict management in Africa: A study of selected Yoruba proverbs and proverbial expressions
Full text linkThis paper examines the role of proverbs and their use in conflict management and in enhancing
peaceful human co-existence. This is achieved through a content analysis of twenty-four (24)
randomly selected Yoruba proverbs, and proverbial expressions, with particular reference to the
themes of warning, cooperation, and diversity. The paper argues that proverbs are useful in
conflict management, and conflict resolution, and in making people have a peace-loving frame of
mind. The paper concludes that proverbs and proverbial expressions are, indeed, vital in
relationship management. It avers that anybody with a good understanding of proverbs and their
implications for peaceful coexistence would appreciate conflicts as an intricate part of existence
and harmonious living; and such person(s) would therefore avoid actions and inactions that
would promote violence
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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