1,720,962 research outputs found
The application of a conventional adoption-diffusion model to the adoption of soil conservation practices by Iowa farmers: the interface of technology, social change and development
Full text linkA major negative effect of the development of American agriculture is increased rates of soil erosion. The problem of soil erosion in Iowa thus can be seen as the interface of technology, social change and development. Its resolution behooves agricultural scientists and kindred professionals to work together to facilitate an understanding of the seriousness of the problem and enhance the rapid adoption of appropriate soil conservation practices or technologies;The purpose of this dissertation, then, is to attempt to apply a conventional adoption model to predict the adoption of soil conservation practices in Iowa, using the structural-functional conceptual framework. Thus, it is postulated that the adoptability of soil conservation technologies is influenced by the personal/social characteristics of the farmers, their economic considerations, and the structural/institutional factors that govern their behavior;This is an exploratory study. The data for this study were collected by means of mailed questionnaires to 299 farmers in 39 counties in Iowa. A total of 249 acceptable questionnaires were returned, providing a response rate of 83.3%. The relationships between 20 independent variables and 4 dependent variables are determined using means, standard deviations, and percentages. The chi-square statistic is used for nominal and ordinal data, while correlation analysis is used for those variables treated as interval or proximate interval measures. Partial correlation is used as a method of control for selected variables;The results obtained indicate that, although the majority of farmers studied feel that soil erosion is a problem in Iowa, only a small proportion of them seek assistance from the Soil Conservation Service. It is also found that the rate of adoption of the four practices (no tillage, chisel plowing, forage-crop rotations, and residue management) varies between soil conservancy districts. The analyses using zero-order correlation show that the independent variables are either positively or negatively related to one or more of the practices. This tendency persists even after the partial correlation analyses. Suggestions are made for agricultural policy. The implications of the study are discussed;Finally, the relevance of soil conservation for Africa is demonstrated in the last chapter. This section serves two main purposes. First, the chapter is intended to present, in a rather discreet fashion, the requirement for a minor in technology and social change in a developing area vital to the professional interests of the author. Second, it seeks to show the international ramifications of the causes and consequences of soil erosion for world food supply.</p
Roadblocks In University Governance as Impediment to Educational Innovativeness: A Case Study of the Distance Education Programme at the University of Dschang, Cameroon
No full textPCF5 Sub-theme: Governance and social justice // The distance education project at the University of Dschang was conceived in 1988 to establish a diploma in Tropical Agriculture by distance learning.. It started in 1991 through a bilateral partnership between the University of Dschang, and the University of Guelph, Canada. Funding was provided by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for an initial period of five years that later extended to seven years as a result of social, economic and political changes in Cameroon. Project implementation achieved a number of favourable outcomes (national acceptance of distance education to increase access and improve the quality of education), outputs (e.g., the effective establishment of a diploma programme in agriculture by distance), and impacts ( flexibility in learning and improvements in the quality of agricultural training at the University of Dschang). But implementation encountered a number of institutional governance problems including policy vacuum, stone-walling, blackmail, oppressive gate-keeping, and back-stabbing. The experience shows that strong leadership qualities, dialogue, accountability, consensus building, trust and the support and confidence of donors and partners contribute to overcome governance barriers in bilateral development projects. // Paper ID 73
The Distance Education Project at the University of Dschang, Cameroon: Challenges And Opportunities
Full text linkPCF1 // The Distance Education project at the University of Dschang was started in l991 against a backdrop of restricted access to higher education in agriculture in Cameroon. The University of Dschang is the only institution of higher learning offering tertiary agricultural education at or above the Bachelor’s level. // The Agricultural Programme at the University of Dschang is for five years. It is open to holders of the GCE Advanced level and Baccalaureate in the sciences (12-14 years of formal elementary and secondary school education). Admission was, and still is by an entrance examination. // This situation limits access to agricultural education and creates a scarcity of trained human resources in the agricultural sector. At the time the project was designed, students paid no fees. On the contrary, government largesse paid students substantial stipends for their keep. Students also benefited from several privileges (e.g. free transit bus services between the campuses, heavily subsidized meals and single room student housing). These privileges were enjoyed by students attending the so-called Grandes Ecoles (Professional Schools) in Cameroon. // Funds for the project came from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the government of Cameroon. The University of Guelph collaborated jointly with the University of Dschang in implementing the project. /
Empirical Evidence of the spread of HIV/AIDS in a rural area in Cameroon.
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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
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
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