an article by Kentaro Yamamoto and Mary Louise Lennon (Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey, USA) published in Quality Assurance in Education Volume 26 Issue 2 (2018)
Abstract
Purpose
Fabricated data jeopardize the reliability of large-scale population surveys and reduce the comparability of such efforts by destroying the linkage between data and measurement constructs. Such data result in the loss of comparability across participating countries and, in the case of cyclical surveys, between past and present surveys. This paper aims to describe how data fabrication can be understood in the context of the complex processes involved in the collection, handling, submission and analysis of large-scale assessment data. The actors involved in those processes, and their possible motivations for data fabrication, are also elaborated.
Design/methodology/approach
Computer-based assessments produce new types of information that enable us to detect the possibility of data fabrication, and therefore the need for further investigation and analysis. The paper presents three examples that illustrate how data fabrication was identified and documented in the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and discusses the resulting remediation efforts.
Findings
For two countries that participated in the first round of PIAAC, the data showed a subset of interviewers who handled many more cases than others. In Case 1, the average proficiency for respondents in those interviewers’ caseloads was much higher than expected and included many duplicate response patterns. In Case 2, anomalous response patterns were identified. Case 3 presents findings based on data analyses for one PISA country, where results for human-coded responses were shown to be highly inflated compared to past results.
Originality/value
This paper shows how new sources of data, such as timing information collected in computer-based assessments, can be combined with other traditional sources to detect fabrication.
The authors of this article are writing about specific instances but I think it is fair to assume that this is not the only example that could have been chosen.
Wednesday, 27 June 2018
Tuesday, 26 June 2018
How I've Learned to Free Myself from Depression When It Hits
a post by James Leatherman for the Tiny Buddha blog
I’ve battled depression for most of my life. In my younger years, it gripped me pretty frequently. I was first hit with suicidal thoughts at the age of fifteen, and it scared the bejesus out of me. I was young and dumb and had no idea what was happening.
When I was twenty-five it hit again. This time, however, I understood the cause. I was getting divorced, and my entire life was in turmoil.
It was at this time that I decided that I was going to do something about it. So, I dove into the world of personal development. I read every book I could get my hands on.
The following are some realizations I’ve had about depression and what's helped me break free from it. This may not work for everyone, but perhaps there’s something here that can help you.
Continue reading
There are some really useful ideas in there. The one I hadn’t really realised was about money. I am so much more at peace now that I have more income and less outgoings. Yes, it has been a sacrifice over some things but on balance it has been good.
The eleven years between me reaching 60 and getting my state pension and unemployed hubby reaching 65 and getting his were a version of hell continually juggling food against heat. Taking buses because they're free with my bus pass when train is so much quicker but costs!
I’ve battled depression for most of my life. In my younger years, it gripped me pretty frequently. I was first hit with suicidal thoughts at the age of fifteen, and it scared the bejesus out of me. I was young and dumb and had no idea what was happening.
When I was twenty-five it hit again. This time, however, I understood the cause. I was getting divorced, and my entire life was in turmoil.
It was at this time that I decided that I was going to do something about it. So, I dove into the world of personal development. I read every book I could get my hands on.
The following are some realizations I’ve had about depression and what's helped me break free from it. This may not work for everyone, but perhaps there’s something here that can help you.
Continue reading
There are some really useful ideas in there. The one I hadn’t really realised was about money. I am so much more at peace now that I have more income and less outgoings. Yes, it has been a sacrifice over some things but on balance it has been good.
The eleven years between me reaching 60 and getting my state pension and unemployed hubby reaching 65 and getting his were a version of hell continually juggling food against heat. Taking buses because they're free with my bus pass when train is so much quicker but costs!
The European economy since 2000
103/2018 - 21 June 2018
“The European economy since the start of the millennium – a statistical portrait” is a brand new digital publication issued today by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. It has been designed to be accessible to the public at large and aims to show in an easy and interactive way statistics on the EU’s economy, its households, businesses and governments from the year 2000 until today.
The publication illustrates a large range of statistical data. It includes brief descriptions of the main findings, completed with interactive visualisations which allow country comparisons to be made. For example, you can test your knowledge of macro-economic indicators or you can see where the income of your household is situated compared to others in your country.
As Eurostat’s Director General, Mariana Kotzeva explained: "I am proud of this latest addition to our series of “easy-to-digest” digital publications. I believe that through these more modern forms of communication, we can reach a larger audience, increase statistical literacy and improve understanding about the world in which we live.”
Continue reading
“The European economy since the start of the millennium – a statistical portrait” is a brand new digital publication issued today by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. It has been designed to be accessible to the public at large and aims to show in an easy and interactive way statistics on the EU’s economy, its households, businesses and governments from the year 2000 until today.
The publication illustrates a large range of statistical data. It includes brief descriptions of the main findings, completed with interactive visualisations which allow country comparisons to be made. For example, you can test your knowledge of macro-economic indicators or you can see where the income of your household is situated compared to others in your country.
As Eurostat’s Director General, Mariana Kotzeva explained: "I am proud of this latest addition to our series of “easy-to-digest” digital publications. I believe that through these more modern forms of communication, we can reach a larger audience, increase statistical literacy and improve understanding about the world in which we live.”
Continue reading
What imperial preference can teach us about post-Brexit trade deals
a column by Brian Varian for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Brexit has sparked interest in trade agreements between Britain and the Commonwealth. This has a precedent in the Edwardian era, when the Dominions adopted policies of imperial preference toward imports from Britain. This column argues that New Zealand’s policy of imperial preference, enacted in 1903, was ineffective in diverting trade toward Britain, suggesting that trade policies within the British Empire or Commonwealth do not always achieve what they intend.
Continue reading
Brexit has sparked interest in trade agreements between Britain and the Commonwealth. This has a precedent in the Edwardian era, when the Dominions adopted policies of imperial preference toward imports from Britain. This column argues that New Zealand’s policy of imperial preference, enacted in 1903, was ineffective in diverting trade toward Britain, suggesting that trade policies within the British Empire or Commonwealth do not always achieve what they intend.
Continue reading
Science Says: Having a Pet Can Help Support Your Mental Health
a post by Steven Feldman, Executive Director of HABRI, for the World of Psychology blog
The relationship between man and animal dates back centuries. Time has transformed this relationship from being one based on utility to one based on love and family.
Now more than ever, pets are kept for companionship over all else; they are an important and valued part of the family. Dogs and cats have moved from sleeping outside to sleeping next to us in bed.
Through the advancement of scientific research focused on human-animal interaction, we know that this companionship provides a host of benefits – both to the people and animals involved. The Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) is a non-profit organization that funds research into the health benefits of pets and human-animal interaction. HABRI’s vision is for the human-animal bond – the mutually beneficial relationship between pets and people – to become universally embraced as an essential element of human wellness, for quality of life, physical and mental health.
Continue reading
It's such a shame that so many social housing projects do not allow pets. Even a gerbil or a guinea pig can be a companion.
The relationship between man and animal dates back centuries. Time has transformed this relationship from being one based on utility to one based on love and family.
Now more than ever, pets are kept for companionship over all else; they are an important and valued part of the family. Dogs and cats have moved from sleeping outside to sleeping next to us in bed.
Through the advancement of scientific research focused on human-animal interaction, we know that this companionship provides a host of benefits – both to the people and animals involved. The Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) is a non-profit organization that funds research into the health benefits of pets and human-animal interaction. HABRI’s vision is for the human-animal bond – the mutually beneficial relationship between pets and people – to become universally embraced as an essential element of human wellness, for quality of life, physical and mental health.
Continue reading
It's such a shame that so many social housing projects do not allow pets. Even a gerbil or a guinea pig can be a companion.
No, the poorest don’t pay higher taxes than the richest
a post by Adam Corlett for the Resolution Foundation blog
We all know that parts of the tax system are very progressive – and this should be very apparent in the Autumn Statement when the Chancellor unveils perhaps £10 billion of tax rises that will target the wealthy. But wait, some say, when you factor in taxes such as VAT it’s actually poorer households that pay more tax.
That claim is usually based on the annual “Effects of taxes and benefits on UK household income” release, which was updated today with results for 2016-17. This looks at different sources of household incomes, including employment income and benefits, as well as the amounts paid in direct taxes like income tax and indirect taxes like VAT or tobacco duty. The data also allocates the benefits associated with the consumption of some public services, such as subsidised rail travel or the NHS, across different households. As such, it’s a fairly unique and invaluable resource.
Taken at face value, today’s 2016-17 data seems to confirm that the poorest tenth of households do pay more of their income (49 per cent) in tax than the richest tenth do (34 per cent). But the bottom line is that this data for the poorest is incorrect.
Continue reading
We all know that parts of the tax system are very progressive – and this should be very apparent in the Autumn Statement when the Chancellor unveils perhaps £10 billion of tax rises that will target the wealthy. But wait, some say, when you factor in taxes such as VAT it’s actually poorer households that pay more tax.
That claim is usually based on the annual “Effects of taxes and benefits on UK household income” release, which was updated today with results for 2016-17. This looks at different sources of household incomes, including employment income and benefits, as well as the amounts paid in direct taxes like income tax and indirect taxes like VAT or tobacco duty. The data also allocates the benefits associated with the consumption of some public services, such as subsidised rail travel or the NHS, across different households. As such, it’s a fairly unique and invaluable resource.
Taken at face value, today’s 2016-17 data seems to confirm that the poorest tenth of households do pay more of their income (49 per cent) in tax than the richest tenth do (34 per cent). But the bottom line is that this data for the poorest is incorrect.
Continue reading
Monday, 25 June 2018
Mining the Panama Papers and other leaks to reveal the hidden looting of West Africa by its corrupt elite
a post by Cory Doctorow for the Boing Boing blog
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists teamed up with the Norbert Zongo Cell for Investigative Journalism (Cenozo) to delve deep into 27.5 million files from the Offshore Leaks, Swiss Leaks, Panama Papers and Paradise Papers to investigate how the super-rich in 15 West African countries have looted their countries’ wealth and then smuggled it offshore through a network of tax-havens, even as their countries starve.
The resulting package is dizzying and infuriating. West Africa is one of the world’s poorest, slowest-developing region, and yet it has produced a coterie of super-rich, super-corrupt strongmen who have spread their wealth out among enablers from the rich world (such as Canada’s SNC Lavalin, who laundered millions through Mauritius, depriving Senegal of desperately needed tax funds)
Continue reading
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists teamed up with the Norbert Zongo Cell for Investigative Journalism (Cenozo) to delve deep into 27.5 million files from the Offshore Leaks, Swiss Leaks, Panama Papers and Paradise Papers to investigate how the super-rich in 15 West African countries have looted their countries’ wealth and then smuggled it offshore through a network of tax-havens, even as their countries starve.
The resulting package is dizzying and infuriating. West Africa is one of the world’s poorest, slowest-developing region, and yet it has produced a coterie of super-rich, super-corrupt strongmen who have spread their wealth out among enablers from the rich world (such as Canada’s SNC Lavalin, who laundered millions through Mauritius, depriving Senegal of desperately needed tax funds)
Continue reading
The relationship between flexible employment arrangements and workplace performance in Great Britain
an article by Eleftherios Giovanis (University of Verona, Italy) published in International Journal of Manpower Volume 39 Issue 1 (2018)
Abstract
Purpose
There is an increasing concern on the quality of jobs and productivity witnessed in the flexible employment arrangements. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between various flexible employment arrangements and the workplace performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Home-based working, teleworking, flexible timing and compressed hours are the main employment types examined using the Workplace Employee Relations Survey (WERS) over the years 2004 and 2011 in Great Britain. The workplace performance is measured by two outcomes – the financial performance and labour productivity. First, the determinants of these flexible employment types are explored. Second, the ordinary least squares (OLS) method is followed. Third, an instrumental variable (IV) approach is applied to account for plausible endogeneity and to estimate the causal effects of flexible employment types on firm performance.
Findings
The findings show a significant and positive relationship between the flexible employment arrangements and the workplace performance. Education, age, wage, quality of relations between managers-employees, years of experience, the area of the market the workplace is operated and the competition are significant factors and are positively associated with the propensity of the implementation of flexible employment arrangements.
Social implications
The insights derived from the study can have various profound policy implications for employees, employers and the society overall, including family-work balance, coping with family demands, improving the firm performance, reducing traffic congestion and stress among others.
Originality/value
It is the first study that explores the relationship between flexible employment types and workplace performance using an IV approach. This allows us to estimate the causal effects of flexible employment types and the possible associated social implications.
Abstract
Purpose
There is an increasing concern on the quality of jobs and productivity witnessed in the flexible employment arrangements. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between various flexible employment arrangements and the workplace performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Home-based working, teleworking, flexible timing and compressed hours are the main employment types examined using the Workplace Employee Relations Survey (WERS) over the years 2004 and 2011 in Great Britain. The workplace performance is measured by two outcomes – the financial performance and labour productivity. First, the determinants of these flexible employment types are explored. Second, the ordinary least squares (OLS) method is followed. Third, an instrumental variable (IV) approach is applied to account for plausible endogeneity and to estimate the causal effects of flexible employment types on firm performance.
Findings
The findings show a significant and positive relationship between the flexible employment arrangements and the workplace performance. Education, age, wage, quality of relations between managers-employees, years of experience, the area of the market the workplace is operated and the competition are significant factors and are positively associated with the propensity of the implementation of flexible employment arrangements.
Social implications
The insights derived from the study can have various profound policy implications for employees, employers and the society overall, including family-work balance, coping with family demands, improving the firm performance, reducing traffic congestion and stress among others.
Originality/value
It is the first study that explores the relationship between flexible employment types and workplace performance using an IV approach. This allows us to estimate the causal effects of flexible employment types and the possible associated social implications.
Everything You Need to Know About Panic Attacks and How to Stop Them
a post by Haleigh Missildine for the World of Psychology blog
Your heart is racing. The world is spinning. You feel like you might throw up. You’re just sitting in class — it’s a normal day, nothing has happened. Yet you feel terrible. You can’t think straight — or you’re thinking too much. You might feel like you’re going crazy. You consider calling an ambulance.
Sound familiar? You’re not alone; 22.7% of people in the United States have experienced a panic attack. In fact, one million Americans experience this monthly.
Now, what’s really happening?
Continue reading
And find that this writer provides the advice that I have been giving for a very long time!
Be sure to practice these techniques regularly, even when you aren’t having a panic attack. That way, it will become more natural and second nature to do these when you are having a panic attack.
Your heart is racing. The world is spinning. You feel like you might throw up. You’re just sitting in class — it’s a normal day, nothing has happened. Yet you feel terrible. You can’t think straight — or you’re thinking too much. You might feel like you’re going crazy. You consider calling an ambulance.
Sound familiar? You’re not alone; 22.7% of people in the United States have experienced a panic attack. In fact, one million Americans experience this monthly.
Now, what’s really happening?
Continue reading
And find that this writer provides the advice that I have been giving for a very long time!
Be sure to practice these techniques regularly, even when you aren’t having a panic attack. That way, it will become more natural and second nature to do these when you are having a panic attack.
These 104 countries restrict women's right to work
a post by Frank Jacobs for the Big Think blog
[Useful map will not reproduce]
When it comes to employment, there's more than the gender pay gap holding women back. In most countries around the world, some jobs are by law reserved for men only and forbidden for women.
For its 2018 edition, the World Bank publication Women, Business and the Law focused on legal restrictions on female employment and found that this 'gender employment gap' existed in 104 out of 189 economies around the globe.
In absolute figures, this means that over 2.7 billion women are legally restricted from having the same employment choices as men.
Continue reading
[Useful map will not reproduce]
When it comes to employment, there's more than the gender pay gap holding women back. In most countries around the world, some jobs are by law reserved for men only and forbidden for women.
For its 2018 edition, the World Bank publication Women, Business and the Law focused on legal restrictions on female employment and found that this 'gender employment gap' existed in 104 out of 189 economies around the globe.
- In 40% of the all economies examined, women are restricted from working in certain industries (including mining, construction and transportation).
- In 30%, they are not allowed to work in jobs that are deemed hazardous, arduous or 'morally inappropriate'.
- And in 15%, women are restricted from working the same night hours as men.
In absolute figures, this means that over 2.7 billion women are legally restricted from having the same employment choices as men.
Continue reading
Monday, 18 June 2018
Monopsony in online labour markets
a column by Arindrajit Dube, Jeff Jacobs, Suresh Naidu and Siddharth Suri for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Monopsony refers to the market power that employers wield in labour markets. This column explores monopsony power in online labour markets, using observational and experimental data from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform.
Both datasets suggest an employer labour supply elasticity of close to 0.1, suggesting that a 10% reduction in wages would only see a 1% drop in willing labour. This points to substantial employer market power in a supposedly frictionless setting.
Continue reading
Monopsony refers to the market power that employers wield in labour markets. This column explores monopsony power in online labour markets, using observational and experimental data from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform.
Both datasets suggest an employer labour supply elasticity of close to 0.1, suggesting that a 10% reduction in wages would only see a 1% drop in willing labour. This points to substantial employer market power in a supposedly frictionless setting.
Continue reading
5 Breathing Exercises for Anxiety (Simple and Calm Anxiety Quickly)
a post by Chris Skoyles for the Lifehack blog
Time and time again, we’re told what a powerful tool breathing exercises can be for reducing anxiety and more specifically, the physical effects anxiety has on our body.
Yet how often have you gone hunting to find suitable breathing exercises for anxiety only to bump into a string of complex yoga jargon and techniques that take so long to master that they’re just not fit for purpose?
After all, when you’re in the grip of crippling anxiety or, worse, a full-blown panic attack, you simply don’t have the time to assume the lotus position and start worrying pranayama, whatever that is.
What you need is quick, simple solutions you can apply right there on the spot to relax your breathing and return to feeling calm and in control within seconds.
Today, we’ll look at five of the best breathing techniques for doing just that, ranging from powerful techniques you can use to curtail anxiety before it escalates, to quick-fixes you can use in an emergency whenever a panic attack strikes.
Continue reading
Please remember one thing about any breathing exercise.
Never, ever, wait to come to grips with whichever one you prefer to use. Train yourself, practice and then practice some more when you are calm.
Secondly, nothing works for everybody!
Time and time again, we’re told what a powerful tool breathing exercises can be for reducing anxiety and more specifically, the physical effects anxiety has on our body.
Yet how often have you gone hunting to find suitable breathing exercises for anxiety only to bump into a string of complex yoga jargon and techniques that take so long to master that they’re just not fit for purpose?
After all, when you’re in the grip of crippling anxiety or, worse, a full-blown panic attack, you simply don’t have the time to assume the lotus position and start worrying pranayama, whatever that is.
What you need is quick, simple solutions you can apply right there on the spot to relax your breathing and return to feeling calm and in control within seconds.
Today, we’ll look at five of the best breathing techniques for doing just that, ranging from powerful techniques you can use to curtail anxiety before it escalates, to quick-fixes you can use in an emergency whenever a panic attack strikes.
Continue reading
Please remember one thing about any breathing exercise.
Never, ever, wait to come to grips with whichever one you prefer to use. Train yourself, practice and then practice some more when you are calm.
Secondly, nothing works for everybody!
Sunday, 17 June 2018
Investigation into government-funded inquiries
a press release from the National Audit Office
The government has spent more than £200 million on inquiries completed since 2005, but it is not always clear to taxpayers what action government has taken in response to recommendations and whether inquiries have had the intended impact, according to an investigation carried out by the National Audit Office (NAO). The focus of the NAO’s investigation was on completed inquiries, not those that have yet to conclude.
The government can decide to hold an inquiry in response to public concerns about a particular event. Inquiries often investigate complex issues and their nature, size and subject matter can vary significantly. However, all inquiries face the challenge of maintaining public confidence and accomplishing what they set out to achieve within an acceptable timescale and cost.
The NAO found that the government has spent at least £239 million on the 26 inquiries which have concluded since 2005, and that the average duration of these inquiries was 40 months. Departments were not able to provide the NAO with evidence that they had consistently monitored and scrutinised the cost and progress of the inquiries they have sponsored.
No single department is responsible for running inquiries across government and there are no formal criteria to determine the type of inquiry. Since 2014, the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Justice have committed to various actions to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of inquiries originating from two parliamentary select committee reports. None of these commitments have been fulfilled. For example, they have not acted on recommendations to share best practice from inquiries, or update and publish guidance for inquiry chairs and sponsor departments.
There is no overall oversight across government for monitoring and tracking whether inquiries have achieved their intended impact and whether recommendations, where made, have been implemented. Departments vary in how transparent they are about actions taken in response to recommendations. For example, of the eight inquiries examined by the NAO that made recommendations, readily accessible information on progress was only available for half of these.
The scale of these inquiries is much larger than other forms of inquiry, such as select committee inquiries. The costs for the ten inquiries examined by the NAO ranged from £0.2 million to £24.9 million, and the nature of expenditure varied significantly. Overall, legal staff costs were the largest item of expenditure (an average of 36% of an inquiry’s cost, although this varied from less than 1% for the Morecambe Bay Investigation to 67% for the Mid Staffordshire Inquiry). The ten inquiries also varied in length, from 16 months (the Harris Review and Leveson Inquiry) to 84 months (for the Iraq Inquiry). For those inquiries for which information was available, teams spent an average of 102 days hearing testimony from 200 witnesses and considered more than 52,000 documents.
Full report and summary
Seems as though there&rsquo's a lot of money being spent on reaching conclusions, making recommendations and then nothing.
The government has spent more than £200 million on inquiries completed since 2005, but it is not always clear to taxpayers what action government has taken in response to recommendations and whether inquiries have had the intended impact, according to an investigation carried out by the National Audit Office (NAO). The focus of the NAO’s investigation was on completed inquiries, not those that have yet to conclude.
The government can decide to hold an inquiry in response to public concerns about a particular event. Inquiries often investigate complex issues and their nature, size and subject matter can vary significantly. However, all inquiries face the challenge of maintaining public confidence and accomplishing what they set out to achieve within an acceptable timescale and cost.
The NAO found that the government has spent at least £239 million on the 26 inquiries which have concluded since 2005, and that the average duration of these inquiries was 40 months. Departments were not able to provide the NAO with evidence that they had consistently monitored and scrutinised the cost and progress of the inquiries they have sponsored.
No single department is responsible for running inquiries across government and there are no formal criteria to determine the type of inquiry. Since 2014, the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Justice have committed to various actions to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of inquiries originating from two parliamentary select committee reports. None of these commitments have been fulfilled. For example, they have not acted on recommendations to share best practice from inquiries, or update and publish guidance for inquiry chairs and sponsor departments.
There is no overall oversight across government for monitoring and tracking whether inquiries have achieved their intended impact and whether recommendations, where made, have been implemented. Departments vary in how transparent they are about actions taken in response to recommendations. For example, of the eight inquiries examined by the NAO that made recommendations, readily accessible information on progress was only available for half of these.
The scale of these inquiries is much larger than other forms of inquiry, such as select committee inquiries. The costs for the ten inquiries examined by the NAO ranged from £0.2 million to £24.9 million, and the nature of expenditure varied significantly. Overall, legal staff costs were the largest item of expenditure (an average of 36% of an inquiry’s cost, although this varied from less than 1% for the Morecambe Bay Investigation to 67% for the Mid Staffordshire Inquiry). The ten inquiries also varied in length, from 16 months (the Harris Review and Leveson Inquiry) to 84 months (for the Iraq Inquiry). For those inquiries for which information was available, teams spent an average of 102 days hearing testimony from 200 witnesses and considered more than 52,000 documents.
Full report and summary
Seems as though there&rsquo's a lot of money being spent on reaching conclusions, making recommendations and then nothing.
Mom I want it: impact of anthropomorphism on pester power among children
an article by Vandana (Jagannath International Management School, New Delhi, India) and Vinod Kumar (International Management Institute, New Delhi, India) published in International Journal of Business Innovation and Research Volume 16 Number 2 (2018)
Abstract
The present research investigated the impact of anthropomorphised product and animal on pester power among children.
To achieve this objective, a scale on anthropomorphism is developed and two independent studies have been carried out to test the reliability and validity of the developed scale taking children and parents as respondents. Findings of the study revealed a significant impact of anthropomorphism on pester power.
However, anthropomorphic animals are found to be more impactful than anthropomorphic products in influencing pester behaviour among children. Moreover, parent respondents revealed that anthropomorphic stimuli create significant impact in generating pester behaviour among children.
On the contrary, child respondents did not disclose their impact on their behaviour in similar way. The study thus provides implications for marketers, academician and government.
Abstract
The present research investigated the impact of anthropomorphised product and animal on pester power among children.
To achieve this objective, a scale on anthropomorphism is developed and two independent studies have been carried out to test the reliability and validity of the developed scale taking children and parents as respondents. Findings of the study revealed a significant impact of anthropomorphism on pester power.
However, anthropomorphic animals are found to be more impactful than anthropomorphic products in influencing pester behaviour among children. Moreover, parent respondents revealed that anthropomorphic stimuli create significant impact in generating pester behaviour among children.
On the contrary, child respondents did not disclose their impact on their behaviour in similar way. The study thus provides implications for marketers, academician and government.
Cultural alignment can make bedfellows out of autocracy and literacy
a column by Nuno Palma and Jaime Reis for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Can less democratic forms of government lead to higher literacy rates?
This column uses a sample of over 4,000 individuals from military archives in Portugal to show that an autocracy can have greater educational success than a democracy if it has closer cultural alignment with the preferences of the masses. This understanding has implications for development policy in poor countries today.
Continue reading
Can less democratic forms of government lead to higher literacy rates?
This column uses a sample of over 4,000 individuals from military archives in Portugal to show that an autocracy can have greater educational success than a democracy if it has closer cultural alignment with the preferences of the masses. This understanding has implications for development policy in poor countries today.
Continue reading
Acceptability of a custom-designed game, CityQuest, aimed at improving balance confidence and spatial cognition in fall-prone and healthy older adults
an article by Niamh A. Merriman, Eugenie Roudaia and Fiona N. Newell (Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland) and Matteo Romagnoli and Ivan Orvieto (Testaluna, Milan, Italy) Behaviour & Information Technology Volume 37 Issue 6 (2018)
Abstract
Virtual reality or video games show great potential as low-cost and effective interventions for improving balance and cognitive function in older adults.
This research describes the design and acceptability of a serious game (CityQuest) aimed at improving balance confidence, spatial navigation, and perceptual function in older adults with the use of a virtual environment and a balance board.
Community-dwelling healthy (N = 28) and fall-prone (N = 28) older adults were pseudo-randomly assigned to train with CityQuest or one of two control games developed to evaluate the specific effects of the CityQuest game.
Following completion of 10 training sessions, participants completed questionnaires measuring their acceptability of the game as a falls-related intervention, game experience, and subjective cognitive or balance confidence changes associated with the game.
The results revealed high acceptance scores of the game and positive game experiences for all three game conditions. Older adults prone to falls reported a greater reduction in fear of falling and greater improvement in vigilance following training, compared to healthy older adults.
These findings suggest that a serious game based on VR technology that trains both motor and cognitive processes is perceived to be beneficial and acceptable to healthy and fall-prone older adults.
Abstract
Virtual reality or video games show great potential as low-cost and effective interventions for improving balance and cognitive function in older adults.
This research describes the design and acceptability of a serious game (CityQuest) aimed at improving balance confidence, spatial navigation, and perceptual function in older adults with the use of a virtual environment and a balance board.
Community-dwelling healthy (N = 28) and fall-prone (N = 28) older adults were pseudo-randomly assigned to train with CityQuest or one of two control games developed to evaluate the specific effects of the CityQuest game.
Following completion of 10 training sessions, participants completed questionnaires measuring their acceptability of the game as a falls-related intervention, game experience, and subjective cognitive or balance confidence changes associated with the game.
The results revealed high acceptance scores of the game and positive game experiences for all three game conditions. Older adults prone to falls reported a greater reduction in fear of falling and greater improvement in vigilance following training, compared to healthy older adults.
These findings suggest that a serious game based on VR technology that trains both motor and cognitive processes is perceived to be beneficial and acceptable to healthy and fall-prone older adults.
Student psychological distress and degree dropout or completion: a discrete-time, competing risks survival analysis
an article by Stefan Cvetkovski, Anthony F. Jorm and Andrew J. Mackinnon (University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) published in Higher Education Research & Development Volume 37 Issue 3 (2018)
Abstract
Studies of psychological distress (PD) in university students have shown that they have high prevalence rates. These findings have raised concerns that PD may be leading to poorer student outcomes, such as elevated dropout rates.
The aim of this study was to examine the association of PD in undergraduate university students with the competing risks of degree dropout or completion. It analysed data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey.
The sample comprised 1265 university students. PD (i.e., probable depression and/or anxiety) was measured with a validated cut-off score of ≤65 on the 5-item Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5) from the Short Form 36 (SF-36). The study used an accelerated longitudinal design with student year of study as the metric of time and estimated dynamic discrete-time, competing risks survival models.
Contrary to expectations, the study found that students with PD had lower odds of degree dropout and higher odds of degree completion than students without PD in year 4 of their degrees.
This study contributes to the empirical literature on university student mental health by showing that, while PD can be debilitating and negatively affect students’ general educational experience, it is not as harmful to academic progress as might be assumed.
Abstract
Studies of psychological distress (PD) in university students have shown that they have high prevalence rates. These findings have raised concerns that PD may be leading to poorer student outcomes, such as elevated dropout rates.
The aim of this study was to examine the association of PD in undergraduate university students with the competing risks of degree dropout or completion. It analysed data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey.
The sample comprised 1265 university students. PD (i.e., probable depression and/or anxiety) was measured with a validated cut-off score of ≤65 on the 5-item Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5) from the Short Form 36 (SF-36). The study used an accelerated longitudinal design with student year of study as the metric of time and estimated dynamic discrete-time, competing risks survival models.
Contrary to expectations, the study found that students with PD had lower odds of degree dropout and higher odds of degree completion than students without PD in year 4 of their degrees.
This study contributes to the empirical literature on university student mental health by showing that, while PD can be debilitating and negatively affect students’ general educational experience, it is not as harmful to academic progress as might be assumed.
Why We Fear Ending Destructive Habits (Try this Experiment)
a post by Mike Bundrant for the NLP Discovewries blog [via World of Psychology]
Are we really afraid to end bad habits? Here’s how to know.
Try this simple thought experiment:
I will never (insert bad habit) again. For as long as I live, I will simply abstain from (insert bad habit).
Notice what happens next. If you have a destructive habit that you’ve tried in vain to quit – and if you declared with firmness to yourself that you will NEVER do it again, the most common emotion that arises is fear (in my experience).
A few people experience relief – as if they never realized that they could just quit their bad habit. Like an affirmation, the statement just hits home.
Some people laugh at themselves after making this statement. Yeah, right, like I’ll never do again. And Mickey Mouse is real, too!
Continue reading
Are we really afraid to end bad habits? Here’s how to know.
Try this simple thought experiment:
- Think of your bad habit. It could be anything. Biting your nails, smoking, raging, spending too much money, overeating, dating the wrong people; you name it.
- Say to yourself, with firmness and a matter-of-fact tone, the following:
I will never (insert bad habit) again. For as long as I live, I will simply abstain from (insert bad habit).
Notice what happens next. If you have a destructive habit that you’ve tried in vain to quit – and if you declared with firmness to yourself that you will NEVER do it again, the most common emotion that arises is fear (in my experience).
A few people experience relief – as if they never realized that they could just quit their bad habit. Like an affirmation, the statement just hits home.
Some people laugh at themselves after making this statement. Yeah, right, like I’ll never do again. And Mickey Mouse is real, too!
Continue reading
Using Storytelling as a Job-Search Strategy
an article by Karl L. Smart and Jerry DiMaria (Central Michigan University, USA) published in Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Volume 81 Issue 2 (2018)
Abstract
This article demonstrates and reinforces the role that well-told stories play in the success of the job-search process. Building on narrative theory, impression management, and an increased use of behavioral-based questions in interviews, well-crafted stories about work and educational experiences demonstrate skills applicants possess and convey them to interviewers in memorable ways.
The article shows how to construct stories based on an applicant’s experiences and shaped to the needs of a potential employer.
Additionally, the article demonstrates how a job seeker can create a collection of personal stories that can be adapted to varying job interview situations.
Abstract
This article demonstrates and reinforces the role that well-told stories play in the success of the job-search process. Building on narrative theory, impression management, and an increased use of behavioral-based questions in interviews, well-crafted stories about work and educational experiences demonstrate skills applicants possess and convey them to interviewers in memorable ways.
The article shows how to construct stories based on an applicant’s experiences and shaped to the needs of a potential employer.
Additionally, the article demonstrates how a job seeker can create a collection of personal stories that can be adapted to varying job interview situations.
Saturday, 16 June 2018
Russian information troops, disinformation, and democracy
an article by Volodymyr Lysenko and Catherine Brooks (University of Arizona, USA) published in First Monday Volume 23 Number 5 (May 2018)
Abstract
This research examines the contemporary landscape relative to information-driven strategies used for global gain by analyzing Russian activities in particular. With Russia functioning as a cause of global democratic disruption, this exploratory project focuses on information-based, computational, and media-related political strategies.
The findings provide a way to see patterns over time offering further evidence of ‘hybrid’ warfare identified in recent literature. This work allows readers to connect events in recent years in order to view them together as a strong case of ‘hybrid’ war.
These findings also provide scholars, practitioners, and citizens interested in democratic processes around the globe the opportunity to consider the many threats to contemporary political processes, and contributes to ongoing academic conversations about digital political disruptions and warfare. Particularly for readers concerned about political influence via social media and digital security, this study of Russia’s information-related activity as a case of international interference will be of particular interest.
Full text (HTML)
Abstract
This research examines the contemporary landscape relative to information-driven strategies used for global gain by analyzing Russian activities in particular. With Russia functioning as a cause of global democratic disruption, this exploratory project focuses on information-based, computational, and media-related political strategies.
The findings provide a way to see patterns over time offering further evidence of ‘hybrid’ warfare identified in recent literature. This work allows readers to connect events in recent years in order to view them together as a strong case of ‘hybrid’ war.
These findings also provide scholars, practitioners, and citizens interested in democratic processes around the globe the opportunity to consider the many threats to contemporary political processes, and contributes to ongoing academic conversations about digital political disruptions and warfare. Particularly for readers concerned about political influence via social media and digital security, this study of Russia’s information-related activity as a case of international interference will be of particular interest.
Full text (HTML)
What share of tax do the top 1 per cent pay? Less than you might have heard
a post by Adam Corlett for the Resolution Foundation blog
Late last year in a PMQs exchange about tax, the Prime Minister said that “the top 1 per cent of earners in this country are paying 28 per cent of the tax burden” – “the highest percentage ever”. She’s not alone in saying this. As statistics go, this one is remarkably popular in newspapers, parliament and other political debate. We can expect to hear it a lot more this week as well, as on Friday we will get an update of this and related data from HMRC.
But users of these statistics should be cautious. Firstly, they do not refer to all ‘earners’, just those who pay Income Tax. And of course the ‘tax burden’ stretches far wider than Income Tax. As this blog explores, these important distinctions make these statistics far less meaningful.
The HMRC data shows that the share of Income Tax paid by the top 1 per cent of people who paid Income Tax has indeed risen to 28 per cent, while the share paid by the top 10 per cent has risen to 59 per cent. This can be put down to tax policies that have made Income Tax more top-heavy, including a higher tax-free allowance and the ‘additional rate’ for top earners (now 45p but briefly 50p).
Continue reading
Really useful charts show just where the money comes from.
Late last year in a PMQs exchange about tax, the Prime Minister said that “the top 1 per cent of earners in this country are paying 28 per cent of the tax burden” – “the highest percentage ever”. She’s not alone in saying this. As statistics go, this one is remarkably popular in newspapers, parliament and other political debate. We can expect to hear it a lot more this week as well, as on Friday we will get an update of this and related data from HMRC.
But users of these statistics should be cautious. Firstly, they do not refer to all ‘earners’, just those who pay Income Tax. And of course the ‘tax burden’ stretches far wider than Income Tax. As this blog explores, these important distinctions make these statistics far less meaningful.
The HMRC data shows that the share of Income Tax paid by the top 1 per cent of people who paid Income Tax has indeed risen to 28 per cent, while the share paid by the top 10 per cent has risen to 59 per cent. This can be put down to tax policies that have made Income Tax more top-heavy, including a higher tax-free allowance and the ‘additional rate’ for top earners (now 45p but briefly 50p).
Continue reading
Really useful charts show just where the money comes from.
Anatomy of a trade collapse: The UK, 1929-33
a column by Alan de Bromhead, Alan Fernihough, Markus Lampe and Kevin O'Rourke for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
The literature has identified several stylised facts which characterise the nature and causes of the collapse in international trade during 2008 and 2009.
This column uses detailed, commodity-specific information on UK imports between 1929 and 1933 to document several similarities between the trade collapses of the Great Depression and the Great Recession.
The findings are in line with theories emphasising the composition of expenditure changes during major economic crises, or the relative sizes of firms operating closer to or further away from the margin between exporting or not.
Continue reading
The literature has identified several stylised facts which characterise the nature and causes of the collapse in international trade during 2008 and 2009.
This column uses detailed, commodity-specific information on UK imports between 1929 and 1933 to document several similarities between the trade collapses of the Great Depression and the Great Recession.
The findings are in line with theories emphasising the composition of expenditure changes during major economic crises, or the relative sizes of firms operating closer to or further away from the margin between exporting or not.
Continue reading
Friday, 15 June 2018
Promoting mental health versus reducing mental illness in art therapy with patients with personality disorders: A quantitative study
an article by Suzanne Haeyen (Centre for Mental Health, Warnsveld, The Netherlands; HAN University of Applied Sciences, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Research Centre for the Arts Therapies, Heerlen, The Netherlands), Susan van Hooren (Research Centre for the Arts Therapies, Heerlen, The Netherlands; Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, Heerlen, The Netherlands; Open University, Heerlen, The Netherlands), William M. van der Veld (Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands) and Giel Hutschemaekers (Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Pro Persona, Centre for Mental Health, Renkum, The Netherlands)
Highlights
The distinction between mental health and mental illness has long been the subject of debate, especially in the last decade where there has been a shift in focus in mental health care from symptom reduction to the improvement of positive mental health.
Art therapists have been influenced by this shift. In this study, we investigated
We used repeated measures ANOVA and effect sizes to examine the effects of art therapy and the Pearson correlation to examine the relationship between illness and health outcomes.
Results indicated significant effects of art therapy in both domains.
Furthermore, after creation of a single mental health and a mental illness score we found that the correlation between them was high.
We conclude that art therapy both promotes mental health and reduces mental illness. The large correlation between these domains in patients with personality disorders suggests that we might be dealing with two sides of the same coin.
Highlights
- A further data analysis was performed from a randomised control trial about the effects of art therapy for patients with personality disorders.
- Art therapy had large effects on symptom distress, flexibility, well-being, mindfulness and schema modes.
- Art therapy was as effective at reducing mental illness as it was at improving positive mental health.
- Positive mental health and mental illness should be considered as two sides of the same coin.
The distinction between mental health and mental illness has long been the subject of debate, especially in the last decade where there has been a shift in focus in mental health care from symptom reduction to the improvement of positive mental health.
Art therapists have been influenced by this shift. In this study, we investigated
- whether art therapy improves mental health and/or reduces mental illness; and
- what the relationship is between mental health and mental illness.
We used repeated measures ANOVA and effect sizes to examine the effects of art therapy and the Pearson correlation to examine the relationship between illness and health outcomes.
Results indicated significant effects of art therapy in both domains.
Furthermore, after creation of a single mental health and a mental illness score we found that the correlation between them was high.
We conclude that art therapy both promotes mental health and reduces mental illness. The large correlation between these domains in patients with personality disorders suggests that we might be dealing with two sides of the same coin.
Wednesday, 13 June 2018
Can job insecurity be managed? Evaluating an organizational-level intervention addressing the negative effects of restructuring
an article by Johan Simonsen Abildgaard (The National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark), Karina Nielsen (Institute of Work Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK) and Magnus Sverke (Stockholm University, Sweden; North-West University, Potchedstroom, South Africa) published in Work & Stress: An International Journal of Work, Health & Organisations Volume 32 Issue 2
Abstract
Although downsizing and reorganisation are recognised as serious threats to the psychological well-being of employees, intervention strategies for addressing these events are limited.
This study evaluated the effects of a participatory organisational-level intervention in which employees and managers chose to address the psychosocial consequences, specifically job insecurity, of restructuring.
The intervention was conducted among postal service letter carriers in Denmark and was evaluated based on quantitative and qualitative data. Using interviews (N = 24) and observations, the programme theory of the intervention and to what extent the intervention had been implemented were assessed. Using survey data (N = 238), repeated measures ANOVAs were conducted to test for differences in the development of job insecurity between the intervention group and a comparison group.
The results indicate that the intervention group had a significantly smaller increase in one dimension of job insecurity as compared to the comparison group.
Therefore, we conclude that employees’ experiencing of job insecurity, which typically follows in the wake of restructuring, can be addressed by planned efforts at the workplace level.
Abstract
Although downsizing and reorganisation are recognised as serious threats to the psychological well-being of employees, intervention strategies for addressing these events are limited.
This study evaluated the effects of a participatory organisational-level intervention in which employees and managers chose to address the psychosocial consequences, specifically job insecurity, of restructuring.
The intervention was conducted among postal service letter carriers in Denmark and was evaluated based on quantitative and qualitative data. Using interviews (N = 24) and observations, the programme theory of the intervention and to what extent the intervention had been implemented were assessed. Using survey data (N = 238), repeated measures ANOVAs were conducted to test for differences in the development of job insecurity between the intervention group and a comparison group.
The results indicate that the intervention group had a significantly smaller increase in one dimension of job insecurity as compared to the comparison group.
Therefore, we conclude that employees’ experiencing of job insecurity, which typically follows in the wake of restructuring, can be addressed by planned efforts at the workplace level.
The creative class: do jobs follow people or do people follow jobs?
an article by Stein Østbye and Mikko Moilanen (UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway), Hannu Tervo (University of Jyväskylä Finland) and
Olle Westerlund (Umeå University, Sweden) published in Regional Studies Volume 53 Issue 6 (June 2018)
Abstract
Regional adjustment models are applied to explore causal interaction between two types of people distinguished by educational attainment, and two types of jobs: creative class jobs and other jobs.
Data used are for labour market regions in Finland, Norway and Sweden from the 2000s. Creative class jobs follow people with high educational attainment (one way causation), but creative class jobs also follow other jobs and vice versa (circular causation).
The results suggest that stimulating creative class job growth could be accomplished through attracting people with higher education, but also by attracting other jobs with the added benefit that the initial stimulus would be reinforced through circular and cumulative causation between job creation in the two sectors.
JEL Classification: C33, O18, R11
Olle Westerlund (Umeå University, Sweden) published in Regional Studies Volume 53 Issue 6 (June 2018)
Abstract
Regional adjustment models are applied to explore causal interaction between two types of people distinguished by educational attainment, and two types of jobs: creative class jobs and other jobs.
Data used are for labour market regions in Finland, Norway and Sweden from the 2000s. Creative class jobs follow people with high educational attainment (one way causation), but creative class jobs also follow other jobs and vice versa (circular causation).
The results suggest that stimulating creative class job growth could be accomplished through attracting people with higher education, but also by attracting other jobs with the added benefit that the initial stimulus would be reinforced through circular and cumulative causation between job creation in the two sectors.
JEL Classification: C33, O18, R11
10 for today starts with underwater marble racing
==============================
Watch these thrilling underwater marble races
via Boing Boing by Andrea James
The MarbleLympics dodecathlon just concluded, but the real excitement came in the 11th round, an underwater marble race that encompassed the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
Continue reading
==============================
A Short Analysis of T. S. Eliot’s ‘Mr Apollinax’
via Interesting Literature
A summary of a surprisingly comic poem
‘Mr Apollinax’ is one of the twelve poems included in Prufrock and Other Observations, T. S. Eliot’s debut collection of poems from 1917. The collection is highly sought after now in a first edition, but the initial print run of 500 copies wouldn’t sell out for five years. Nevertheless, the poems contained in this volume are among the first great modernist poems written in English. ‘Mr Apollinax’ displays the arresting imagery and serio-comic vein that run through the whole of the collection, as we’ll try to demonstrate in our analysis and discussion of it.
Continue reading
==============================
The beauty and mystery of Arabic calligraphy
via 3 Quarks Daily: Robert Irwin in The Spectator
Arabic script has always had a special prestige among Muslims. But too many ravishing manuscripts have been tragically lost
Hard cover image of a book edited by Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom
The title is a quotation from the Qur’an and comes from the opening of the ‘Surah al-Qalam’ (Chapter of the Pen), in which the authority of the cosmic scribes in heaven, whose writing determines the fate of humanity, is invoked in order to authenticate the revelation that follows. According to Islamic tradition, the Prophet Muhammad was illiterate (and so presumably were most of his audience).
Continue reading and discover, as I did, that “Baghdad, a city with a population many times that of medieval London and Paris combined, had an unprecedentedly large literate population”. This in the eighth century when very few people in what became the UK would be able to read anything.
==============================
Everything, even a rock, has some degree of consciousness
via Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder
Philip Goff, associate professor in philosophy at Central European University in Budapest, argues that the idea of panpsychism ("mind is everywhere") shouldn't be dismissed just because it sounds crazy.
Continue reading
==============================
The wartime origins of plastic surgery
via The National Archives blog by Louise Bell
This blog contains images of injury some readers might find upsetting.
Before the First World War, plastic surgery was rarely practiced as a specialist area of study; in most circumstances, work was undertaken by whatever surgeon or specialist received the case.
The rise in the number of face mutilations from the Battle of the Somme onwards, as well as improvements in asepsis and general anaesthesia, encouraged the development of a separate medical speciality treating all kinds of superficial mutilation.
The person most linked to facial reconstruction in the First World War is Harold Gillies. Born in New Zealand, he studied medicine at Cambridge and qualified as a surgeon in the UK.
After heading to France to serve in the war with the Royal Army Medical Corps, Gillies met Charles Auguste Valadier, a dentist who was enthusiastic in trying to replace jaws which had been destroyed by gunshot wounds. It was then that he turned his attentions to plastic surgery of the face.
Continue reading
a) I did not think the images were that bad.
b) "Sidcup can truly be said to be the birthplace of plastic surgery" caught my attention since Sidcup is my own birthplace.
==============================
Ideas were not enough
via Arts & Letters Daily: an essay by Mark Koyama published in AEON
Locke, Spinoza and Voltaire were all brilliant, but religious freedom in Europe was driven by statecraft not philosophy
Religious freedom has become an emblematic value in the West. Embedded in constitutions and championed by politicians and thinkers across the political spectrum, it is to many an absolute value, something beyond question. Yet how it emerged, and why, remains widely misunderstood.
According to the conventional narrative, freedom of religion arose in the West in the wake of devastating wars fought over religion. It was catalysed by powerful arguments from thinkers such as John Locke, Baruch Spinoza, Pierre Bayle and Voltaire. These philosophers and political theorists responded to the brutality of the religious wars with support for radical notions of toleration and religious freedom. Their liberal ideals then became embedded in the political institutions of the West, following the American and French Revolutions.
Continue reading
==============================
Mathematical secrets of ancient tablet unlocked after nearly a century of study
via the Guardian by Maev Kennedy
Dating from 1,000 years before Pythagoras’s theorem, the Babylonian clay tablet is a trigonometric table more accurate than any today, say researchers
Mathematician Dr Daniel Mansfield with the Plimpton 322 tablet.
Photograph: UNSW/Andrew Kelly
At least 1,000 years before the Greek mathematician Pythagoras looked at a right angled triangle and worked out that the square of the longest side is always equal to the sum of the squares of the other two, an unknown Babylonian genius took a clay tablet and a reed pen and marked out not just the same theorem, but a series of trigonometry tables which scientists claim are more accurate than any available today.
The 3,700-year-old broken clay tablet survives in the collections of Columbia University, and scientists now believe they have cracked its secrets.
Continue reading
==============================
Going Nowhere: Daniel Judt on Tony Judt's love of trains
via 3 Quarks Daily: Daniel Judt in The Point
Before my dad died in August 2010, he had begun work on his next book. “The time has come”, he had decided, “to write about more than just the things one understands; it is just as important if not more so to write about the things one cares about.” The thing my dad understood was twentieth-century European history. The thing he cared about – more than almost anything or anyone – was trains. His next book would be titled Locomotion: a history of the railway.
Continue reading
==============================
The world of Jane Austen [timeline]
via OUP Blog by the Oxford Reference marketing team
Three young woman are sitting at table in a garden having afternoon tea by Kate Greenaway, from Wellcome Images. CC-BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Jane Austen was a British author whose six novels quietly revolutionized world literature. She is now considered one of the greatest writers of all time (with frequent comparisons to Shakespeare) and hailed as the first woman to earn inclusion in the established canon of English literature. Despite Austen’s current fame, her life is notable for its lack of traditional ‘major’ events. She did not marry, although she had several suitors, and any references to private intimacies or griefs were excised from Jane’s letters by her sister Cassandra after the author’s death. Austen struggled to get many of her novels published, and some of her best-loved writings (including Northanger Abbey and Persuasion) were published posthumously.
Continue reading
==============================
Watch hard candies get made on a candy press from 1871
via Boing Boing by Andrea James
Producing hard candy in bulk still required a lot of skill in Victorian times, as Lofty Pursuits demonstrated by making cinnamon hearts on this hard candy press from 1871.
Continue reading (yes, there is a video)
Watch these thrilling underwater marble races
via Boing Boing by Andrea James
The MarbleLympics dodecathlon just concluded, but the real excitement came in the 11th round, an underwater marble race that encompassed the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
Continue reading
==============================
A Short Analysis of T. S. Eliot’s ‘Mr Apollinax’
via Interesting Literature
A summary of a surprisingly comic poem
‘Mr Apollinax’ is one of the twelve poems included in Prufrock and Other Observations, T. S. Eliot’s debut collection of poems from 1917. The collection is highly sought after now in a first edition, but the initial print run of 500 copies wouldn’t sell out for five years. Nevertheless, the poems contained in this volume are among the first great modernist poems written in English. ‘Mr Apollinax’ displays the arresting imagery and serio-comic vein that run through the whole of the collection, as we’ll try to demonstrate in our analysis and discussion of it.
Continue reading
==============================
The beauty and mystery of Arabic calligraphy
via 3 Quarks Daily: Robert Irwin in The Spectator
Arabic script has always had a special prestige among Muslims. But too many ravishing manuscripts have been tragically lost
Hard cover image of a book edited by Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom
The title is a quotation from the Qur’an and comes from the opening of the ‘Surah al-Qalam’ (Chapter of the Pen), in which the authority of the cosmic scribes in heaven, whose writing determines the fate of humanity, is invoked in order to authenticate the revelation that follows. According to Islamic tradition, the Prophet Muhammad was illiterate (and so presumably were most of his audience).
Continue reading and discover, as I did, that “Baghdad, a city with a population many times that of medieval London and Paris combined, had an unprecedentedly large literate population”. This in the eighth century when very few people in what became the UK would be able to read anything.
==============================
Everything, even a rock, has some degree of consciousness
via Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder
Philip Goff, associate professor in philosophy at Central European University in Budapest, argues that the idea of panpsychism ("mind is everywhere") shouldn't be dismissed just because it sounds crazy.
Continue reading
==============================
The wartime origins of plastic surgery
via The National Archives blog by Louise Bell
This blog contains images of injury some readers might find upsetting.
Before the First World War, plastic surgery was rarely practiced as a specialist area of study; in most circumstances, work was undertaken by whatever surgeon or specialist received the case.
The rise in the number of face mutilations from the Battle of the Somme onwards, as well as improvements in asepsis and general anaesthesia, encouraged the development of a separate medical speciality treating all kinds of superficial mutilation.
The person most linked to facial reconstruction in the First World War is Harold Gillies. Born in New Zealand, he studied medicine at Cambridge and qualified as a surgeon in the UK.
After heading to France to serve in the war with the Royal Army Medical Corps, Gillies met Charles Auguste Valadier, a dentist who was enthusiastic in trying to replace jaws which had been destroyed by gunshot wounds. It was then that he turned his attentions to plastic surgery of the face.
Continue reading
a) I did not think the images were that bad.
b) "Sidcup can truly be said to be the birthplace of plastic surgery" caught my attention since Sidcup is my own birthplace.
==============================
Ideas were not enough
via Arts & Letters Daily: an essay by Mark Koyama published in AEON
Locke, Spinoza and Voltaire were all brilliant, but religious freedom in Europe was driven by statecraft not philosophy
Religious freedom has become an emblematic value in the West. Embedded in constitutions and championed by politicians and thinkers across the political spectrum, it is to many an absolute value, something beyond question. Yet how it emerged, and why, remains widely misunderstood.
According to the conventional narrative, freedom of religion arose in the West in the wake of devastating wars fought over religion. It was catalysed by powerful arguments from thinkers such as John Locke, Baruch Spinoza, Pierre Bayle and Voltaire. These philosophers and political theorists responded to the brutality of the religious wars with support for radical notions of toleration and religious freedom. Their liberal ideals then became embedded in the political institutions of the West, following the American and French Revolutions.
Continue reading
==============================
Mathematical secrets of ancient tablet unlocked after nearly a century of study
via the Guardian by Maev Kennedy
Dating from 1,000 years before Pythagoras’s theorem, the Babylonian clay tablet is a trigonometric table more accurate than any today, say researchers
Mathematician Dr Daniel Mansfield with the Plimpton 322 tablet.
Photograph: UNSW/Andrew Kelly
At least 1,000 years before the Greek mathematician Pythagoras looked at a right angled triangle and worked out that the square of the longest side is always equal to the sum of the squares of the other two, an unknown Babylonian genius took a clay tablet and a reed pen and marked out not just the same theorem, but a series of trigonometry tables which scientists claim are more accurate than any available today.
The 3,700-year-old broken clay tablet survives in the collections of Columbia University, and scientists now believe they have cracked its secrets.
Continue reading
==============================
Going Nowhere: Daniel Judt on Tony Judt's love of trains
via 3 Quarks Daily: Daniel Judt in The Point
Before my dad died in August 2010, he had begun work on his next book. “The time has come”, he had decided, “to write about more than just the things one understands; it is just as important if not more so to write about the things one cares about.” The thing my dad understood was twentieth-century European history. The thing he cared about – more than almost anything or anyone – was trains. His next book would be titled Locomotion: a history of the railway.
Continue reading
==============================
The world of Jane Austen [timeline]
via OUP Blog by the Oxford Reference marketing team
Three young woman are sitting at table in a garden having afternoon tea by Kate Greenaway, from Wellcome Images. CC-BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Jane Austen was a British author whose six novels quietly revolutionized world literature. She is now considered one of the greatest writers of all time (with frequent comparisons to Shakespeare) and hailed as the first woman to earn inclusion in the established canon of English literature. Despite Austen’s current fame, her life is notable for its lack of traditional ‘major’ events. She did not marry, although she had several suitors, and any references to private intimacies or griefs were excised from Jane’s letters by her sister Cassandra after the author’s death. Austen struggled to get many of her novels published, and some of her best-loved writings (including Northanger Abbey and Persuasion) were published posthumously.
Continue reading
==============================
Watch hard candies get made on a candy press from 1871
via Boing Boing by Andrea James
Producing hard candy in bulk still required a lot of skill in Victorian times, as Lofty Pursuits demonstrated by making cinnamon hearts on this hard candy press from 1871.
Continue reading (yes, there is a video)
Tuesday, 12 June 2018
The best laid schemes
o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft agley,
And of women too.
Just over a week ago I said to myself “I will get back to blogging on Monday”. I seriously thought that my body had adjusted to all the new drugs I had to take as a result of a health scare, and to the abrupt change of antidepressants which left me feeling considerably less in control of myself and my mind than I wanted to be.
Ah well, tomorrow it is and I will manage to ignore the ‘newsy’ items because some of them are really, really old in blogging terms.
I have nearly caught up with the backlog of unread journal abstracts, just not done anything with them!
As for mental health issues I will probably try to get three into each day instead of two as I have been doing. I don't want to leave anything out that could be useful.
Gang aft agley,
And of women too.
Just over a week ago I said to myself “I will get back to blogging on Monday”. I seriously thought that my body had adjusted to all the new drugs I had to take as a result of a health scare, and to the abrupt change of antidepressants which left me feeling considerably less in control of myself and my mind than I wanted to be.
Ah well, tomorrow it is and I will manage to ignore the ‘newsy’ items because some of them are really, really old in blogging terms.
I have nearly caught up with the backlog of unread journal abstracts, just not done anything with them!
As for mental health issues I will probably try to get three into each day instead of two as I have been doing. I don't want to leave anything out that could be useful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
