1,720,955 research outputs found
Health and socioeconomic analysis of waste picking activities in Durban.
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The main aim of this study was to unpack the health and socio-economic status of waste picking activities in Mayville, Cato Manor and Westville in Durban. It analysed the quality of life of waste pickers, their awareness of the risks associated with this kind of work and the extent of their uptake of health protective measures. A quantitative approach was adopted, and a questionnaire was used to gather data from 81 waste pickers. The findings revealed that unemployment was the main reason for taking up waste picking and that this was the
respondents’ main source of income. It was also found that most of the respondents resided in shacks and had no access to running water. Most were unaware of the risks associated with this kind of work. Based on these findings, it is recommended that economic development be pursued to create employment opportunities and that delivery of basic services such as potable water be improved, especially in informal settlements. Awareness campaigns should be launched to educate waste pickers on handling waste and on the risks associated with this kind of work as well as the need to adopt protective health measures. Finally, the researcher ecommends that further research should be conducted on waste picking in Durban as there is a paucity of information on this activity in the city
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The 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
“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
We 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
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
We 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
Qualitative Design in Political Communication Research, Surveys and Public Opinion
The main aim of this study was to unpack the health and socioeconomic status of waste-picking activities in Mayville, Cato Manor, and Westville in Durban. It analyzed the quality of life of waste pickers, their awareness of the risks associated with this kind of work, and the extent of their uptake of health-protective measures. A quantitative approach was adopted, and a questionnaire was used to gather data from 81 waste pickers. The findings revealed that unemployment was the main reason for taking up waste picking and that this was the respondents' primary source of income. It was also found that most respondents resided in shacks and had no access to running water. Most were unaware of the risks associated with this kind of work. Based on these findings, it is recommended that economic development be pursued to create employment opportunities and that delivery of essential services such as potable water be improved, especially in informal settlements. Awareness campaigns should be launched to educate waste pickers on handling waste, the risks associated with this kind of work, and the need to adopt protective health measures. Finally, the researcher recommends further research on waste picking in Durban as there is a paucity of information on this activity in the city
Waste pickers’ money management practices and attitude towards entrepreneurship: Evidence from Durban-eThekwini municipality
This study aimed to identify the financial management techniques of waste pickers and their perspectives on entrepreneurship. The research concentrates on the Durban metropolitan region and employs a sample of 100 rubbish pickers from three suburbs adjacent to significant informal populations. A quantitative methodology is utilised, employing a questionnaire as the data gathering instrument. The questionnaire was translated into IsiZulu to accommodate non-English speaking individuals. The questionnaire comprised three sections: biographical information, financial management techniques, and attitudes towards entrepreneurship. The results indicate that most waste pickers originate from single-parent households and receive a government payment for an average of two children. Several respondents, predominantly female, reported that they often utilise \u27omatshonisa\u27 (informal moneylenders) while anticipating revenue from the sale of their goods. The majority of respondents said that, despite opening bank accounts, these accounts had remained inactive for at least one year due to minimal revenues. Women possess the majority of bank accounts. Waste pickers earn an average of R607 monthly, with a minimum of R200 and a maximum of R2,000. The waste pickers do not save the earnings from the sale of salvaged goods, as the funds are allocated for purchasing meals for children. The study additionally reveals that age has a positive correlation with both waste picking experience and the frequency of days worked per week. These associations exhibit statistical significance. The majority of waste pickers expressed a willingness to initiate cooperatives and small businesses, contingent upon the availability of mentoring and money. This study influences entrepreneurship, environmental, and health policies for municipal, provincial, and central governments. This research will direct scholars to pursue other investigations on the topi
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
We have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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