Public debates driven by incomplete scientific data: the cases of evolution theory, global warming and H1N1 pandemic influenza

Public debates driven by incomplete scientific data where nobody can claim absolute certainty, due to current state of scientific knowledge, are studied. The cases of evolution theory, global warming and H1N1 pandemic influenza are investigated. The first two are of controversial impact while the third is more neutral and resolved. To adopt a cautious balanced attitude based on clear but inconclusive data appears to be a lose-out strategy. In contrast overstating arguments with wrong claims which cannot be scientifically refuted appear to be necessary but not sufficient to eventually win a public debate. The underlying key mechanism of these puzzling and unfortunate conclusions are identified using the Galam sequential probabilistic model of opinion dynamics. It reveals that the existence of inflexible agents and their respective proportions are the instrumental parameters to determine the faith of incomplete scientific data public debates. Acting on one's own inflexible proportion modifies the topology of the flow diagram, which in turn can make irrelevant initial supports. On the contrary focusing on open-minded agents may be useless given some topologies. When the evidence is not as strong as claimed, the inflexibles rather than the data are found to drive the opinion of the population. The results shed a new but disturbing light on designing adequate strategies to win a public debate.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figure

A systematic literature review on information systems for disaster management and proposals for its future research agenda

Emergency management information systems (EMIS) are fundamental for responding to disasters effectively since they provide and process emergency-related information. A literature stream has emerged that corresponds with the increased relevance of the wide array of different information systems that have been used in response to disasters. In addition, the discussion around systems used primarily within responder organizations broadened to systems such as social media that are open to the general public. However, a systematic review of the EMIS literature stream is still missing. This literature review presents a timeline of EMIS research from 1990 up to 2021. It shows the types of information system scholars focused on, and what disaster response functions they supported. It furthermore identifies challenges in EMIS research and proposes future research directions

The Impact of Contact Tracing on the Spread of COVID-19: An Egocentric Agent-Based Model

At its core, contact tracing is a form of egocentric network analysis (ENA). One of the biggest obstacles for ENA is informant accuracy (i.e., amount of true contacts identified), which is even more prominent for interaction-based network ties because they often represent episodic relational events, rather than enduring relational states. This research examines the effect of informant accuracy on the spread of COVID-19 through an egocentric, agent-based model. Overall when the average person transmits COVID-19 to 1.62 other people (i.e., the R0), they must be, on average, 75% accurate with naming their contacts. In higher transmission contexts (i.e., transmitting to at least two other people), the results show that multi-level tracing (i.e., contact tracing the contacts) is the only viable strategy. Finally, sensitivity analysis shows that the effectiveness of contact tracing is negatively impacted by the timing and overall percent of asymptomatic cases. Overall, the results suggest that if contact tracing is to be effective, it must be fast, accurate, and accompanied by other interventions like mask-wearing to drive down the average R0

The Role of Linguistics Studies on the Political Debate

The paper is to find out the linguistics role contribution towards the political debate event at the election party. The presidential debate\u27s primary purpose is to sponsor and produce debates for the United States presidential and vice-presidential candidates and to undertake research and educational activities relating to the debates. A leaders\u27 debate or presidential debate is a public debate held during a general election campaign, where the candidates expose their political opinions and public policy proposals, and criticism of them, to potential voters. They are normally broadcast live on radio, television and the internet. Increasing learners\u27 confidence, poise, and self-esteem. Providing an engaging, active, learner-centered activity. Improving rigorous higher-order and critical thinking skills. Enhancing the ability to structure and organize thoughts

Book reviews: On commodifying intangibles

Book reviews of: 1) James Boyle, Shamans, Software, and Spleens: Law and the Construction of the Information Society. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996. Pp. xvi, 270. $35.00 (cloth),$15.95 (paper). 2) Margaret Jane Radin, Contested Commodities. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996. Pp. xiv, 279. $35.00

Product Information Quality : A sustainability challenge in design and construction

The adverse consequences of building product performance pose sustainability problems for the built environment. Effective approaches to these problems require a clear understanding of building product information and its provision by manufacturers. This is an essential need for sustainable growth in industrialized construction, a system characterized by the expanded role of the manufacturing sector. Furthermore, a sustainable transition to digitalization in the construction industry needs digital interfaces capable of providing the information required for sustainable design and construction. The aim of this research is to contribute to an increased understanding of how building product information can support sustainability in the built environment. To this end, two fundamental aspects have been examined: the quality of information on the sustainability performance of building products and the usability of the digital interfaces providing such information. This research relies on critical realism and adopts a qualitative methodology to analyze and explain the mechanisms of creating and providing product information in four sequential case studies. Systems thinking and process tracing method have been applied to analyze the flow of product information in the construction industry, the operative processes that can support sustainability, and the stakeholders involved. In the first three case studies, the operative process is the diffusion of innovative ventilation products with superior indoor environmental performance. The first case study identifies the problems affecting this process. The second and third case studies, respectively, explore how product information and information exchange on building information modeling (BIM) library platforms can support the process. Influenced by the Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017, the fourth case identifies the product information problems that can contribute to harmful facade fires threatening sustainability in the built environment. The study examines the capabilities for avoiding the identified problems and explores how an operative process of design, manufacturing, and construction of fire-safe facades can be supported. The findings reveal problems concerning the quality of information on the sustainability performance of products and the methods used by manufacturers for presenting such information. These problems have limited the availability and usability of the information in product databases and BIM object libraries. This defective flow of information affects the design process and can lead to unacceptable consequences such as facade fires. In addition, the inefficient methods of supplying product information have impeded the adoption of innovative products with improved sustainability performance. To address these issues, this research proposes the standardization of product information in collaboration with effective legislation and establishes a framework for evaluating the provision of information on the sustainability performance of building products. The theoretical contributions of this work include five tools: (1) a model for applied critical realism towards sustainability, (2) a matrix for the qualitative analysis of BIM object library platforms, (3) a matrix for evaluating the quality of information and digital interfaces, (4) a model of the functions of the standards on product information, and (5) a conceptual model of product information for sustainable design and construction

Understanding Interdiscursivity: A Pragmatic Model?

In Japan, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) revised the Course of Study in English education twice in the last decade (in 2002 and in 2011), and the drastic changes have been made especially in the section of communicative skills: introduction of English study in elementary school, teaching English in English in high school, requirement of the subject ‘Oral Communication I’ in high school, etc. The aim of the revisions is to produce international individuals, who have high English proficiency not only in input-skills but also in output-skills, especially in speaking (MEXT 2004: 90, MEXT 2011). Despite the revisions of the Course of Study, Japan is still ranked low in English proficiency not only among the developed countries but also among the Asian countries (Sakamoto 2012: 409; Sullivan and Schatz 2009: 586; Educational Testing Service 2012). Inputs on different cultures and languages take an important role in language learning especially in the modern society where students have high chances to encounter cross-cultural communication. The politeness strategy is one of those factors that the social actors must learn for the sound relationships with others. Each culture has its own politeness strategy; therefore, miscommunication is observed more often in intercultural conversations due to the various conceptualization of politeness in different cultures (Sifianou 1992: 216). That is, comprehending the diversity in politeness strategy seems to be a clue of smooth communication and better apprehension of different cultures in cross-culture conversations. The Course of Study for foreign languages and English language also refers to the significance of comprehending various cultures and languages (MEXT 2009); however, as previous studies represent the Japanese students studying abroad or the Japanese businessman in intercultural communications seem to lack the understanding of the western politeness strategy (cf. Fujio 2004, Nakane 2006). Besides, it is vague what ‘different cultures’ refers to in the Course of Study for English. Based on the attitudes of the Japanese students towards cross-cultural communication and ambiguous explanation on ‘cultural learning’ by the Course of the Study, I assume that one of the reasons why Japan cannot achieve the communication-focused curriculum might be attributed to the lack of politeness theory perspective in English learning. Taking differences in politeness strategies between the western societies and the Japanese ones into consideration, it seems to be unfeasible and insufficient to only increase the number of communicative lessons and compel students into speaking English. The differences in politeness strategy should be applied into English learning in order to boost the English proficiency of Japanese students and produce globalized students. The present paper focuses on the following two aspects of English learning in Japan in order to test the hypothesis: The Course of Study in English learning in Japan does not specify what is ‘cultural learning’, which triggers the lack of politeness perspective The lack of politeness learning obstruct Japanese students to successful crosscultural communication In the present paper, in order to observe the application of the politeness theory in English learning, firstly English textbooks used in Japan are analyzed in terms of the politeness theory by focusing on the following four aspects: silence, speech style, ambiguity, and hierarchical relationship. Previous studies have shown that extinctive differences between the western politeness and the Japanese politeness in communication are obviously revealed in those four points (cf. Fujio 2004; Kameda  2001; Nakane 2006). In addition to the analysis of the English textbooks, an interview on the correlation between English learning and politeness theory is conducted on international Japanese in order to observe how they acquire the western politeness strategy, how English learning at school functioned to learn the western politeness strategy, etc. (cf. see 3. for details). To contextualize this paper, the politeness theory and the previous studies on the relation between the Japanese politeness and crossculture communication will be presented first, and a brief overview of English education in Japan and tendencies in Japanese schooling will follow