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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“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
Socioeconomic impact of low volume in rural gravel roads in three selected communities of South Africa, Makhado Local Municipality
No full textMURPDepartment of Urban and Regional PlanningThe transport network (including roads, railways, airports etc.) constitute the backbone of a country’s infrastructure and the frame of a country’s socioeconomic development (Ayele, 2017:34). A well planned, located, designed, constructed, and maintained low-volume rural gravel road system is essential for community development, flow of goods and services between communities, and resource management activities (Low-Volume Roads BMPs, 2017:21). Thus, the study is aimed at examining the socioeconomic impacts of low volume rural gravel roads within three selected communities in Makhado Local Municipality, South Africa. To accomplish the research objectives, the study made use of both primary and secondary data sources. In line with this adopted approach, both qualitative and quantitative data type were employed. A sample size of 75 households was selected from the study area by making use of the random sampling technique. The researcher adopted use of surveys, observations, questionnaires, focus groups, interviews as a method of data collection. The study applied both quantitative and qualitative data analysis method. The literature shows that the contribution of low volume rural gravel roads on the socioeconomic growth is high. The study shows that there was a serious challenge of rural road provision in Ward 37. The residents did not have adequate access to educational facilities, public health care centres, agricultural sector, and shopping complex due to poor gravel road condition, lack of public transport, lack of community participation, and lack of employment opportunities etc. The study findings reveal that there were other factors contributing to socioeconomic and rural roads provision challenges. These include lack of effective socioeconomic and rural roads enhancement strategies or development plans by the municipality and responsible sector departments to provide access to improved socioeconomic and rural roads services. The study showed that Ward 37 had a serious backlog in provision of an improved rural road and maintenance of the existing low volume rural gravel road by Makhado LM which needs to be addressed urgently. The study recommended the following; Involvement of the community in the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of the road, application of funding to assist in improving the condition of the existing low volume rural gravel road, the immediate road maintenance and rehabilitation of the existing low volume rural gravel road, as well as upgrading of the existing gravel to tar road, the implementation of Shova Kalula program to assist learners, and lastly, the local municipality should acquire the district roads management rights to district roads, in order to mitigate the identified problems in the study area.NR
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe 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
Urban Households' Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change in Mopani District, Limpopo Province, South Africa
No full textPhDURPDepartment of Urban and Regional PlanningThe surreptitious impact of climate change on human society is a recurrent issue among scholars and policy makers in the 21st century. While the literature is replete with theoretical discussion and empirical analysis, particularly studies focusing on the major cities of developed economies, there is dearth of empirical studies on the cities of developing economies generally, and South Africa in particular where current dimension of human vulnerability, adaptation and response pattern are very abnormal and pathetically problematic. This thesis therefore examines Urban Households' Vulnerability, adaptation and response to Climate Change in Mopani District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. It assesses the households', communities‘ and spatial planning coping strategies in response to extreme climate change events in both spatial planning policies and households' practices. Purposive method was used to select six towns (Giyani, Hoedspruit, ModjadjisKloof, Nkowankowa, Phalaborwa, and Tzaneen) in the Mopani District as case studies. Using Multistage sampling techniques, 500 respondents, proportionally distributed among the selected towns were randomly chosen for the purpose of questionnaire administration to elicit information on socioeconomic characteristics and adaptation strategies. 60 years records (1958 to 2017) of rainfall and Temperature were obtained from monthly gridded and high-resolution satellite dataset from the global data to detect climatic trends and cycles in annual and monthly Temperatures and Rainfall during the period. Google earth pro and ‗gps visualizer‘ are used to conduct topographical analysis to assess the influence of terrain on the occurrence of climate related disasters. The use of geospatial analysis of available LandSat imageries was adopted for the examination of Land use and Land Cover Changes to monitor the trend in land and land resources consumption as an influencer of exposure to rainfall and temperature. Household Vulnerability Index (HVI) developed by United Nations (UN) Habitat was used to examine Households‘ and communities‘ degrees of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Ordered Logit Regression Model was used to examine the contributions of factors to HVI and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was employed in weight assignments. Pearson‘s Correlation Coefficient was used to measure the strength of association that exists between the Households vulnerability Index and some selected socioeconomic attributes (such as age, gender, income, highest qualification) in the selected towns. Livelihood Diversification Index (LDI) was calculated, using the Herfindahl index of diversification to scrutinise the influence of diversification of households‘ Livelihood on their overall vulnerability level in Mopani. A mobile x
application and web-based technology and tools are employed to design and develop the Disaster Hotspot Reporting and Monitoring System, for timely reporting and record keeping of climate related incidences. The results reveal that the selected towns across the Mopani District have exhibited increasing warm Temperature (with varying heat waves) throughout the period under examination. Upward correlations that imply increase in the variations in both mean minimum and mean maximum Temperatures are observed over the period, with seasonal variations recorded from year to year. However, the trend in rainfall shows a reducing trend during the same period with yearly seasonal variations in precipitation. Most towns are characterised by gentle slopes, thus flash floods occur in varying intensities and frequencies across the selected towns. Developments (buildings, roads, asphalts, floor tiles etc) consistently invade vegetation, water bodies and bare land. Household exposure and adaptive capacity are observed to be high in the district with about 92% households in exposed category; Nkowankowa town claims the highest proportion (96.58%), while ModjadjisKloof town accounted for 60%, being the least. The HVI is equally high in these towns with Tzaneen being the town with the highest (over 78%) Community Vulnerability Index (CVI), while Hoedspruit town is the most resilient, with the least CVI of 55.56%. The high vulnerability levels observed in these towns were attributed to poor housing conditions, lack of access to essential services, and lack of insurance cover (of any form) among the households, among other factors. However, a point increase in LDI instigates a reduction of HVI by 0.729 points. A point increase in household age has increased HVI by 0.333, while that of educational qualifications significantly decreases the impacts on HVI by -0.0706. Other factors such as physical, statutory, and system failures contributed to high HVI in the study area. The result further reveals that tree planting and fans/air conditioners were the most popular with adoption by 100% respondents as coping strategies to deal with increasing Temperature in the District. In contrast, water treatment and storage tanks in homes were the most commonly embraced adaptation strategies for changes in water levels by 100% and 81% respondents respectively. The findings further show that, local municipalities' plans and policies recognised the impacts of climate change on urban households and the roles urban planning plays a central role in responding to climate change impacts. However, there is little evidence to indicate substantial efforts to pragmatically and coherently address the problems; the municipalities still rely on the national government for urban-related and climate change disaster response policies and strategies.
While emphasising greening (in homes and at the city centres) to reduce heat waves and curtail surface runoff, the study led to the development of a framework with an incorporated disaster hotspot reporting and monitoring system for sustainable adaptation planning in the district.NR
An evaluation of Intelligent Transport System: A case study of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Rea-Vaya in Johannesburg, South Africa
Get PDFMURPDepartment of Urban and Regional PlanningThis study focuses on the evaluation of intelligent transport systems making use of the BRT-Rea-vaya in Johannesburg as a case study. This study was motivated by the observation that few studies have been conducted in the study area that tackle explicitly intelligent transport systems evaluation. Intelligent transport systems can assist in improving private and public transportation systems and operations performance. In the public sector where various modes of transport such as the taxi, metro bus, metro rail, Gautrain and the BRT Rea-vaya operates, intelligent transport systems present opportunities for improving Level of Service (LOS) delivery. In Johannesburg, the BRT Rea vaya system was adopted by the Johannesburg metropolitan municipality to provide a safe, reliable, efficient and accessible public transport system. The BRT Rea vaya system is aimed at providing a better public transport, operating systems and service. For the BRT Rea vaya systems to achieve its primary goals and objectives, an intelligent transport system was incorporated to better manage the BRT Rea-vaya systems operations and activities. The study disclosed the status quo, opinions and attitudes of commuters regarding their experiences with the BRT Rea vaya public transport systems in Johannesburg. Furthermore, the study investigated whether the original objectives and aims of intelligent transport system in the BRT Rea-vaya have been meet. A central theme of the investigation is seeking to understand constraints and opportunities regarding BRT Rea-vaya intelligent transport systems‘ operations and activities in Johannesburg. The use of primary and secondary data such as questionnaires, key informant interviews, observation, journals and previous researches related to intelligent transport systems were used to acquire an in-depth understanding of the operational management of BRT Rea-vaya intelligent transport system. Collected data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) with the aid of Microsoft Excel making use of descriptive statistics, regression analysis, cross tabulation and chi-square test. This was presented using tables, graphs, maps etc. Qualitative data was analyzed making use of a thematic approach. The study resonates in the need for rapid public transport systems to provide lessons for improving and adopting intelligent transport systems. As an end product, the research provided a framework of analysis on how to integrate intelligent transport systems in the context of Bus rapid transit systems
L' industrie pétrolière et l'aménagement de la distribution de ses produits au Nigéria impact et perspectives dans l'Est nigérian
No full textDispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe 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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