1,720,963 research outputs found
Teaching adults to read better and faster : results from an experiment in Burkina Faso
Get PDFTwo cognitively oriented methods were tested in Burkina Faso to help illiterates learn to read more efficiently. These were (a) speeded reading of increasingly larger word units and (b) phonological awareness training to help connect letters to speech. Learners were given reading tests and a computerized reaction time test. Although the literacy courses were shortened by the arrival of rains and government delays, the piloted methods helped adults read better than those in the standard"control"classes. Learners enrolled in the experimental classes performed better on the outcome tests than did learners enrolled in control classes. Ninety percent of the possible comparisons between treatment classes and control classes favored classes receiving treatments, and 72 percent of the measurements in favor of treatments were statistically significant. The evidence suggests that phonological awareness training is particularly effective in situations where the training period was short, and that rapid reading was more advantageous in longer training situations. Overall, the results are indicative of the potential that scientifically backed methods have in making adult literacy instruction more effective. However, due to the short duration of the classes (3-4 months) learners apparently did not receive sufficient practice to consolidate skills. Literacy skills may still be prone to being forgotten if readers do not learn to read automatically and if opportunities to read are few.Curriculum&Instruction,Teaching and Learning,Nonformal Education,Primary Education,ICT Policy and Strategies,Nonformal Education,ICT Policy and Strategies,Primary Education,Teaching and Learning,Curriculum&Instruction
The effects of fiscal consolidation in the OECD
Get PDFDespite the current recession in many parts of the OECD, fiscal consolidation is likely in many OECD economies in the 1990s. The author asks: is fiscal consolidation in the OECD in a period of low growth a recipe for global stagnation? In particular, what effects are likely in developing countries? The author starts with an overview of cuts in the U.S. fiscal deficit proposed by the Clinton administration and the extent to which European governments must cut fiscal deficits between now and 1997 to satisfy deficit targets in the Maastricht Treaty. How changes in fiscal policy are transmitted within an economy and between that economy and the rest of the world depends on whether those changes lead to permanent or temporary changes in government saving; whether they are implemented through government spending or taxes; and whether the taxes fall on households or firms. The main channels of transmission are through changes in: agents'expectations about future taxes, interest rates, exchange rates, and economic activity. The author uses the MSG2 multicountry models to quantify the ramifications of those changes. He concludes, among other things, that fiscal contraction in the OECD will probably lead to slower growth over the next several years. But the current and likely paths of fiscal policy are such that deficit reduction programs may have stimulating effect in the short run, as long as future fiscal contraction is credible. And fiscal deficit reduction will probably increase long-run output in the OECD through its effects on savings and investment. Finally, growth in the developing countries (at least total growth) may not be impaired at all by fiscal consolidationin the OECD. The negative effects of fiscal contraction will occur through lower net exports of non-OECD economies. For developing countries with open capital markets, the initial reduction in demand through lower exports can be offset by the reduction in interest rates following an inflow of capital from the countries with contracting fiscal policy. A significant decline in real global interest rates is likely to increase growth in developing countries that are debt-constrained, either directly (through private capital inflows) or indirectly (by relaxing the balance of payments constraint, allowing more resources to be channeled to domestic investment needs).Economic Theory&Research,Economic Stabilization,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Macroeconomic Management
Institutional Investors, Contractual Savings and Capital Market Development in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia
No full textGoing 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
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
Antitrust-based remedies and dumping in international trade
Get PDFThe authors explore the possibility of government's seeking to agree to apply competition policy based considerations and disciplines in addressing unfair-trade allegations before turning to"standard"antidumping remedies. The premise of proponents of antidumping actions is that the existence of market power in exporter's home markets, or potential market dominance in the importing (host) market, is an important source of perceived"unfairness."But antidumping authorities do not investigate the existence of such situations. The authors propose that allegations of dumping first be investigated by competition authorities to determine the contestability of the relevant markets. Their proposal does not involve harmonization of competition laws. All that would change from the status quo is that a necessary condition for an antidumping action is that competition authorities find that the exporting firm's home market is not contestable, and conclude that no remedial action is possible through the application of competition law. Ideally, agreement along these lines would be sought in the multilateral (GATT) context, but bilateral or regional trade agreements could also be concluded. For example, European Union cooperationor association agreements might be extended along the lines proposed.TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Access to Markets,Markets and Market Access
Dispelling 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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