1,721,165 research outputs found
Can we keep the lights on? Investment, regulation & sustainability in the UK electricity industry
No full textThe United Kingdom (UK) electricity generation industry is shrouded in uncertainty, particularly as a consequence of new environmental regulations. Using a longitudinal case study, this thesis analyses how, following the introduction of the Large Combustion Plant Directive – LCPD, the industry used investment appraisal techniques to strategically mobilise power and effect change to UK policy.Through the use of interpretive research and drawing on the ontological framework of structuration, this thesis will interpret how actors1 used the rules and resources associated with investment appraisal techniques to manage the balance of power. Although the LCPD directive was a ‘command and control’ regulation, the generators were able to use the existence of contradictory structures, the absence of resources, and weak rules to negotiate a significant consultation process to effect policy change. Their actions resulted in the introduction of the 2011 Whitepaper ‘Energy Market Reform’ (DECC, 2011).This study will analyse those actors who take part in the decision making process by examining how environmental directives, such as the Pollution and Prevention Control (PPC) and the LCPD, were implemented within the UK and their consequences. This process will reveal how industry reluctance to commit capital to developing new technology resulted in the threat of blackouts in the UK, creating a debate as to who would supply the £200 billion capital required.This study identifies the complex struggle for power within the generation industry set within the paradox of achieving strict environmental targets, creation of profit and the security of supply, with the winner being determined via the investment decision process. International generators demonstrated a ‘wait and see’ approach to investment, using accounting techniques to justify a strategic policy that placed them in a position of power. This power was then used as a means to provoke a discourse that enabled the generators to establish their own needs.This is not a direct study of accounting change, but of how existing accounting structures were used to facilitate a process of political and social change to establish new business models within liberalised industries; thereby lending great significance to some of the rules and resources connected to accounting
Interactions between instructional approaches, students' reasoning processes, and their understanding of elementary algebra
No full textThis research explored the effectiveness of various teaching strategies used for introducing early algebraic concepts. The research focused on investigating three\ud
approaches commonly used for introducing the concept of a variable, namely, generalising from tables of data, generalising from visual patterns, and establishing the\ud
links between algebra the structural aspects of the number system. The research also identified specific reasoning processes that interact with these strategies.\ud
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The research incorporated two investigations, an introductory and main study. One hundred and sixteen students participated in the introductory study and 379 students participated in the main study. The age of the students ranged from 12 years 6 months to 15 years and 10 months. The introductory study incorporated the development and trialing tests used for measuring students' reasoning processes, their preference for a visual or symbolic approach to solution, and their understanding of pre-algebra and early algebra ideas. These tests were reformulated for the main study. An analysis of the students' responses indicated a number of areas where more in-depth information would help identify the ways in which students reflected on basic algebraic concepts. Forty one\ud
students were selected for a semi-structured interview.\ud
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The research employed a multiple measurement approach. The first stage consisted of a correlational analysis. This analysis teased out the relationships among the three written test. The next stage in the study entailed the use of a semi-structured interview. This phase was considered an important part of the methodology as it provided insights into the ways students think, and enabled clarification, extension, and interpretations of the\ud
information recorded in the written responses. Implications for further research, for classroom teaching, and for curriculum development for introducing the concept of a\ud
variable are discussed
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
Introducing Equivalence and Inequivalence in Year 2
No full textOutlines a language framework that will assist teachers to integrate algebra into their daily work with students by exploring the concepts of equivalence and inequivalence. Uses for the equal sign in mathematics; Plan of the equivalence lesson
Arithmetic Pathways towards Algebraic Thinking: Exploring Arithmetic Compensation in Year 3
No full textHighlights the importance of involving students in patterns of generalized thinking to help them understand the underlying structure of arithmetic. Main areas of algebra in primary education; Discussion on the concept of arithmetic compensation; Models and materials that can be used to teach the compensation rule
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
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe 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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