40,471 research outputs found
Aspects of Estimation Procedures at Eurostat with Some Emphasis on Over-Space Harmonisation
It is of high interest for Eurostat, the investigation of the different estimation procedures that are applied, or discussed, internally. We focus our interest on three estimation domains i.e. the micro-aggregation techniques for producing confidential data, the backward calculation methods for obtaining homogeneous time series and some aspects of the sampling procedures that are discussed by Eurostat and are applied in the Member State level. With regard to each domain of estimation, we describe the different estimation procedures that are applied and the criteria for assessing the quality of the results obtained, and we make some proposals for the adoption of better practices. Due to the multinational character of the third estimation domain and in order to achieve the targets of our description, we used as exploratory tools three sample surveys that are conducted in all Member State i.e. the Labour Force survey, the European Household Panel survey and the Household Budget survey. Especially for those estimation domains that are applied at National level, we examined attempts that aim at the over space harmonization of the estimation procedures or of the measured concepts, and the role that Eurostat adopts in relation to those harmonization attempts
Managing Interacting Criteria: Application to Environmental Evaluation Practices
The need for organizations to evaluate their environmental practices has been recently increasing. This fact has led to the development of many approaches to appraise such practices. In this paper, a novel decision model to evaluate companyâs environmental practices is proposed to improve traditional evaluation process in different facets. Firstly, different reviewersâ collectives related to the companyâs activity are taken into account in the process to increase company internal efficiency and external legitimacy. Secondly, following the standard ISO 14031, two general categories of environmental performance indicators, management and operational, are considered. Thirdly, since the assumption of independence among environmental indicators is rarely verified in environmental context, an aggregation operator to bear in mind the relationship among such indicators in the evaluation results is proposed. Finally, this new model integrates quantitative and qualitative information with different scales using a multi-granular linguistic model that allows to adapt diverse evaluation scales according to appraisersâ knowledge
Outsourcing labour to the cloud
Various forms of open sourcing to the online population are establishing themselves as cheap, effective methods of getting work done. These have revolutionised the traditional methods for innovation and have contributed to the enrichment of the concept of 'open innovation'. To date, the literature concerning this emerging topic has been spread across a diverse number of media, disciplines and academic journals. This paper attempts for the first time to survey the emerging phenomenon of open outsourcing of work to the internet using 'cloud computing'. The paper describes the volunteer origins and recent commercialisation of this business service. It then surveys the current platforms, applications and academic literature. Based on this, a generic classification for crowdsourcing tasks and a number of performance metrics are proposed. After discussing strengths and limitations, the paper concludes with an agenda for academic research in this new area
An Integrated Impact Indicator (I3): A New Definition of "Impact" with Policy Relevance
Allocation of research funding, as well as promotion and tenure decisions,
are increasingly made using indicators and impact factors drawn from citations
to published work. A debate among scientometricians about proper normalization
of citation counts has resolved with the creation of an Integrated Impact
Indicator (I3) that solves a number of problems found among previously used
indicators. The I3 applies non-parametric statistics using percentiles,
allowing highly-cited papers to be weighted more than less-cited ones. It
further allows unbundling of venues (i.e., journals or databases) at the
article level. Measures at the article level can be re-aggregated in terms of
units of evaluation. At the venue level, the I3 creates a properly weighted
alternative to the journal impact factor. I3 has the added advantage of
enabling and quantifying classifications such as the six percentile rank
classes used by the National Science Board's Science & Engineering Indicators.Comment: Research Evaluation (in press
Measuring the Sustainability of Cities: A Survey-Based Analysis of the Use of Local Indicators
We analyze 17 studies of the use of sustainable development indicators (SDI) in an urban setting. The analysis reveals a lack of consensus not only on the conceptual framework and the approach favored, but also on the selection and optimal number of indicators. First, by performing different classifications and categorizations of SDI we identify problems inherent in territorial practices that use SDI. Second, we argue that the lack of consensus in several steps of the creation of SDI stems notably from the ambiguity in the definitions of sustainable development, objectives for the use of such indicators, the selection method and the accessibility of qualitative and quantitative data. Third, we propose a selection strategy for SDI through which we demonstrate the need to adopt a parsimonious list of SDI covering the sustainable development components and their constituent categories as broadly as possible while minimizing the number of indicators retained. Nous analysons 17 Ă©tudes traitant de lâutilisation dâindicateurs de dĂ©veloppement durable (IDD) en milieu urbain pour diffĂ©rents pays, provinces ou Ă©tats occidentaux. 188 IDD diffĂ©rents sont recensĂ©s dans ces Ă©tudes dont 135 (72 %) ne sont utilisĂ©s quâune ou deux fois. Lâanalyse de ces Ă©tudes rĂ©vĂšle ainsi un faible consensus non seulement au niveau du cadre conceptuel ou de lâapproche prĂ©conisĂ©e, mais aussi en ce qui concerne la sĂ©lection et le nombre dâindicateurs optimal. PremiĂšrement, diffĂ©rents classements et catĂ©gorisations des IDD recensĂ©s nous permettent dâobserver et dâidentifier les problĂšmes inhĂ©rents aux pratiques territoriales ayant recours aux IDD. DeuxiĂšmement, nous argumentons que lâabsence de consensus Ă plusieurs Ă©tapes de la crĂ©ation des IDD Ă©mergent entre autres de lâambiguĂŻtĂ© occasionnĂ©e par la dĂ©finition du dĂ©veloppement durable, des objectifs visĂ©es par lâutilisation de tels indicateurs, de la mĂ©thode de sĂ©lection prĂ©conisĂ©e et de lâaccessibilitĂ© des donnĂ©es qualitatives et quantitatives en cette matiĂšre. TroisiĂšmement, nous proposons une stratĂ©gie de sĂ©lection des IDD (que nous appelons SuBSeleC) oĂč nous dĂ©montrons la nĂ©cessitĂ© dâadoption dâune liste parcimonieuse dâIDD couvrant le plus largement possible les volets du dĂ©veloppement durable et des catĂ©gories qui les composent tout en minimisant le nombre dâindicateurs retenus. Le rĂ©sultat est une liste concise et moins redondante dâindicateurs moins sectoriels et plus intĂ©grateurs ayant lâavantage dâenglober les dimensions intĂ©grĂ©es du dĂ©veloppement durable.Cities, Indicators, Sustainable Development, Environment, Local Governance., Villes, indicateurs, dĂ©veloppement durable, environnement, gouvernance locale.
Pan-European grading scales: lessons from national systems and the ECTS
This article assesses the impact of the Bologna Process on the grading schemes of EU member countries. In light of some problems regarding the implementation of the European Credit Transfer system (ECTS), the author proposes further reforms and offers some elements of a unified grading system for European higher education. The author explores the variation among Europeâs grading systems and the resulting lessons learned are shared here. Lastly, this article also argues that principles of justice and fairness, deemed central to academic freedom, are best upheld by the use of a unified grading system at national and European levels
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