Concept mapping-An effective method for identifying diversity and congruity in cognitive style

This is a pre-print version of the paper published in Evaluation and Program Planning, 2017, 60This paper investigates the effects of cognitive style for decision making on the behavior of participants in different phases of the group concept mapping process (GCM). It is argued that cognitive style should be included directly in the coordination of the GCM process and not simply considered as yet another demographic variable. The cognitive styles were identified using the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory, which locates each person’s style on a continuum ranging from very adaptive to very innovative. Cognitive style could explain diversity in the participants’ behavior in different phases of the GCM process. At the same time, the concept map as a group’s common cognitive construct can consolidate individual differences and serves as a tool for managing diversity in groups of participants. Some of the results were that: (a) the more adaptive participants generated ideas that fit to a particular, well-established and consensually agreed paradigm, frame of reference, theory or practice; (b) the more innovative participants produced ideas that were more general in scope and required changing a settled structure (paradigm, frame of reference, theory or practice); and (c) the empirical comparison of the map configurations through Procrustes analysis indicated a strong dissimilarity between cognitive styles

Concept mapping—An effective method for identifying diversity and congruity in cognitive style

This is a pre-print version of the paper published in Evaluation and Program Planning, 2017, 60This paper investigates the effects of cognitive style for decision making on the behavior of participants in different phases of the group concept mapping process (GCM). It is argued that cognitive style should be included directly in the coordination of the GCM process and not simply considered as yet another demographic variable. The cognitive styles were identified using the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory, which locates each person’s style on a continuum ranging from very adaptive to very innovative. Cognitive style could explain diversity in the participants’ behavior in different phases of the GCM process. At the same time, the concept map as a group’s common cognitive construct can consolidate individual differences and serves as a tool for managing diversity in groups of participants. Some of the results were that: (a) the more adaptive participants generated ideas that fit to a particular, well-established and consensually agreed paradigm, frame of reference, theory or practice; (b) the more innovative participants produced ideas that were more general in scope and required changing a settled structure (paradigm, frame of reference, theory or practice); and (c) the empirical comparison of the map configurations through Procrustes analysis indicated a strong dissimilarity between cognitive styles

Data driven estimation of imputation error-a strategy for imputation with a reject option

Missing data is a common problem in many research fields and is a challenge that always needs careful considerations. One approach is to impute the missing values, i.e., replace missing values with estimates. When imputation is applied, it is typically applied to all records with missing values indiscriminately. We note that the effects of imputation can be strongly dependent on what is missing. To help make decisions about which records should be imputed, we propose to use a machine learning approach to estimate the imputation error for each case with missing data. The method is thought to be a practical approach to help users using imputation after the informed choice to impute the missing data has been made. To do this all patterns of missing values are simulated in all complete cases, enabling calculation of the "true error" in each of these new cases. The error is then estimated for each case with missing values by weighing the "true errors" by similarity. The method can also be used to test the performance of different imputation methods. A universal numerical threshold of acceptable error cannot be set since this will differ according to the data, research question, and analysis method. The effect of threshold can be estimated using the complete cases. The user can set an a priori relevant threshold for what is acceptable or use cross validation with the final analysis to choose the threshold. The choice can be presented along with argumentation for the choice rather than holding to conventions that might not be warranted in the specific dataset

Beetle diversity of chalk river floodplains

Anthropogenic land use changes have increasingly altered and fragmented floodplain landscapes. While the impacts of these alterations are being recognised for many plant and vertebrate taxa, limited information is available for highly diverse invertebrate families. Using a variety of approaches to diversity measurement, this thesis investigates carabid and staphylinid beetle assemblages across a range of chalk floodplain habitats in Norfolk, England. It aims to establish the roles anthropogenic and environmental factors play in shaping their communities in order to inform tailored conservation practices. Site management was identified as the dominant influence on beetle assemblages, underpinning the development of distinct communities amongst floodplain meadow, fen and woodland habitats. Surrounding landscape configuration also influenced beetle assemblages, confirming the wide-ranging, multi-faceted impacts of anthropogenic land use changes. Beetle communities in floodplain woodlands were both specimen- and species-rich across the highly heterogeneous forest microhabitats hosted within. Functional diversity analysis highlighted the vulnerability of certain functional groups to management and fragmentation. It confirmed the importance of conserving remaining remnants of natural floodplain woodlands to support vulnerable beetle communities. Floodplain fens harboured rare species, while their overall beetle diversity was surprisingly low. This was attributed to their limited habitat extent, fragmented distribution, and potentially legacies of past land use. This thesis suggests that traditional management regimes must be maintained in fen habitats, and their connectivity promoted, to safeguard and restore the unique biological communities supported within. Anthropogenic land use changes have increasingly altered and fragmented floodplain landscapes. While the impacts of these alterations are being recognised for many plant and vertebrate taxa, limited information is available for highly diverse invertebrate families. Using a variety of approaches to diversity measurement, this thesis investigates carabid and staphylinid beetle assemblages across a range of chalk floodplain habitats in Norfolk, England. It aims to establish the roles anthropogenic and environmental factors play in shaping their communities in order to inform tailored conservation practices. Site management was identified as the dominant influence on beetle assemblages, underpinning the development of distinct communities amongst floodplain meadow, fen and woodland habitats. Surrounding landscape configuration also influenced beetle assemblages, confirming the wide-ranging, multi-faceted impacts of anthropogenic land use changes. Beetle communities in floodplain woodlands were both specimen- and species-rich across the highly heterogeneous forest microhabitats hosted within. Functional diversity analysis highlighted the vulnerability of certain functional groups to management and fragmentation. It confirmed the importance of conserving remaining remnants of natural floodplain woodlands to support vulnerable beetle communities. Floodplain fens harboured rare species, while their overall beetle diversity was surprisingly low. This was attributed to their limited habitat extent, fragmented distribution, and potentially legacies of past land use. This thesis suggests that traditional management regimes must be maintained in fen habitats, and their connectivity promoted, to safeguard and restore the unique biological communities supported within. This study highlights the importance of adopting habitat-specific conservation objectives to ensure the persistence of specialist species, whilst maintaining a matrix of different floodplain habitats to preserve wider catchment diversity. As anthropogenic impacts on floodplain environments will continue, the potential role of beetles in biodiversity research and conservation, and in particular of staphylinid beetles that dominate the floodplain ground fauna, warrants increasing interest and recognition

A critical cluster analysis of 44 indicators of author-level performance

This paper explores the relationship between author-level bibliometric indicators and the researchers the "measure", exemplified across five academic seniorities and four disciplines. Using cluster methodology, the disciplinary and seniority appropriateness of author-level indicators is examined. Publication and citation data for 741 researchers across Astronomy, Environmental Science, Philosophy and Public Health was collected in Web of Science (WoS). Forty-four indicators of individual performance were computed using the data. A two-step cluster analysis using IBM SPSS version 22 was performed, followed by a risk analysis and ordinal logistic regression to explore cluster membership. Indicator scores were contextualized using the individual researcher's curriculum vitae. Four different clusters based on indicator scores ranked researchers as low, middle, high and extremely high performers. The results show that different indicators were appropriate in demarcating ranked performance in different disciplines. In Astronomy the h2 indicator, sum pp top prop in Environmental Science, Q2 in Philosophy and e-index in Public Health. The regression and odds analysis showed individual level indicator scores were primarily dependent on the number of years since the researcher's first publication registered in WoS, number of publications and number of citations. Seniority classification was secondary therefore no seniority appropriate indicators were confidently identified. Cluster methodology proved useful in identifying disciplinary appropriate indicators providing the preliminary data preparation was thorough but needed to be supplemented by other analyses to validate the results. A general disconnection between the performance of the researcher on their curriculum vitae and the performance of the researcher based on bibliometric indicators was observed.Comment: 28 pages, 7 tables, 2 figures, 2 appendice

How to Normalize Co-Occurrence Data? An Analysis of Some Well-Known Similarity Measures

In scientometric research, the use of co-occurrence data is very common. In many cases, a similarity measure is employed to normalize the data. However, there is no consensus among researchers on which similarity measure is most appropriate for normalization purposes. In this paper, we theoretically analyze the properties of similarity measures for co-occurrence data, focusing in particular on four well-known measures: the association strength, the cosine, the inclusion index, and the Jaccard index. We also study the behavior of these measures empirically. Our analysis reveals that there exist two fundamentally different types of similarity measures, namely set-theoretic measures and probabilistic measures. The association strength is a probabilistic measure, while the cosine, the inclusion index, and the Jaccard index are set-theoretic measures. Both our theoretical and our empirical results indicate that co-occurrence data can best be normalized using a probabilistic measure. This provides strong support for the use of the association strength in scientometric research

Unraveling the population history of the Xiongnu to explain molecular and archaeological models of prehistoric Mongolia

This dissertation explores the prehistory of Mongolia during a time when nomadic tribes created the world\u27s first steppe empire in Inner Asia. These aggregated tribes, known to Chinese historians as Xiongnu, ruled from the 3rd century BCE to the 2nd century CE. They came to define steppe polity construction later used by the Mongol Empire under the reign of Chinggis Khan. These nomads moved extensively over the eastern steppe and interacted, both in trade and intermarriage, with peoples from southern Siberia to Xinjiang. However, the Xiongnu as a people are relatively unknown to scholars since they did not possess a written language of their own. Although analysis on ancient skeletal remains of the Xiongnu have opened new avenues of research into their origins, scholars still do not have a comprehensive understanding of these ancient nomads. This study makes an attempt to elucidate questions of the Xiongnu\u27s history and biological structure by examining craniofacial diversity using a methodology known as geometric morphometrics. Using a suite of multivariate statistical analyses to explain group relationships within and among the Xiongnu to groups in the region, this study explains the origins of the Xiongnu in a biological context and makes inferences about genetic exchanges. A quantitative genetic model is used to test group relationships and infer levels of gene flow between groups. Results indicate the Xiongnu were composed of at least two biologically distinct groups. One sample from an elite cemetery in northern Mongolia shares their ancestry with a Bronze Age population from Mongolia, and possibly, to a later migration of Turks, who came to dominate the eastern steppe between the 6th and 8th centuries CE. The Xiongnu also evidence biological similarity with nomads who composed the Mongol Empire, modern-day Mongolians, and some Siberian groups. These results are similar to genetic studies suggesting a mix of Eastern and Western Eurasian haplogroups while also achieving consensus with models of steppe polity formation proposed by archaeologists, who suggest local ties to extra-local groups through interactive exchange networks. Overall, the Xiongnu nomads are very much a part of Mongolia\u27s past with links to its modern peoples

Virtual Morphology and Evolutionary Morphometrics in the new millenium.

EDITED VOLUME; abstract N/