1,721,029 research outputs found
The challenge of assessing the performance of multilateral development agencies: lessons for WHO programmes in Myanmar and Nepal
Full text linkDevelopment organisations have moved from reporting on 'what they do' to addressing 'what difference they make' in an environment that forces them to compete for resources. Thus, measuring their effectiveness has evolved from accountability reporting to results enquiries and to evaluation of the impact of interventions at the end user's level. To adapt to these changes, most development organizations and donors have adhered to results based management and use logical framework approaches for their operations. These approaches and systems have recognised usefulness in project planning, although their utility in project monitoring and organizational performance assessment is more contested. The analysis of recent experiences calls for alternative approaches to assessing performance to improve the effectiveness of development and technical organisations at the country level. This research explores the use of logframes to assess the programmatic performance in a multilateral organization at country level, in the context of an increased focus on results based management. It uses a qualitative methodology to a) assess the comparative advantages and challenges of various assessment tools and systems that WHO uses to measure its performance in EPR in Myanmar and in Nepal; b) address the WHO contribution in terms of results and impact in the area studied; and c) propose options for addressing WHO accountability performance and cooperation effectiveness in EPR at country level. The two case studies uncover the importance of contextual factors, and stakeholders' perceptions and intemctions. They further highlight the role that organisational setting and team profile play in using systems and tools to measure progmmmatic performance. Logframes proved useful for planning and financial accountability, although they confronted major difficulties when assessing the core contribution of the teams to the programme achievements and stakeholders' expectations. The research contributes to the understanding of how routine performance assessment systems work in practice. The comparison of the findings in the two countries raises institutional issues and offers the possibility for organizational learning. Finally, the research proposes alternative options that WHO may adopt to measure its programmatic performance in countries
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
A new tool for measuring the brutality of war.
Full text linkEgbert Sondorp discusses the public health uses and implications of a new tool, the Dirty War Index, that measures prohibited war outcomes inflicted on populations during conflict
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
Enhancing the Quality of Humanitarian Assistance: Taking Stock and Future Initiatives
No full textDuring the last five years, the debate on the performance of humanitarian assistance has intensified. The motivation to "do better” has come both from within the humanitarian agencies as well as from pressure exerted by the donors and the media. Paradoxically, until now, the voice of those who are to benefit from this assistance has not been heard. This paper is an overview of the most important initiatives to increase the quality of humanitarian assistance. The introduction of the logical framework and the increasing body of knowledge made available through guidelines have improved project management by measuring process and outcomes. Increasingly, evaluations are used to give account and to learn from experiences. But, current evaluation practice must develop in a wider variety of approaches more appropriate to create change of the operations in the field. Some agencies oppose new developments like the Sphere and the Humanitarian Accountability Projects, arguing that standards and regulation would undermine necessary flexibility to adjust responses to the local context, or be a threat to their independence. Nonetheless, standards are considered to be a prerequisite as reference to assess performance. Furthermore, it is hoped that a new breakthrough will be achieved by improved accountability towards beneficiaries. An option to address some of the gaps in the current quality assessment tools was to widen the perspective on performance from projects to the organisations behind them. Quality management models may provide the required framework, and they also can be used to embed current initiatives by organisations. Humanitarian organisations may want to develop forms of self-regulation rather than waiting for accreditation by donors. Another area in which progress is needed is a system-wide approach to performance. At this level, the influence of political actors, donors, national governments, and other representatives of the parties in a conflict also should be assessed. It is their legal obligation to protect the basic right to assistance of persons affected by disasters, as enshrined in international la
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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