Big experimenter is watching you! Anonymity and prosocial behavior in the laboratory

Social preference research has received considerable attention in recent years. Researchers have demonstrated that the presence of people with other-regarding preferences can have important implications in many economic dimensions. However, it is important to be aware of the fact that the empirical basis of this literature relies to a large extent on experiments that do not provide anonymity between experimenter and subject. It has been argued that this lack of experimenter-subject anonymity may create selsh incentives to engage in seemingly other-regarding behavior. If this were the case these experiments would overestimate the importance of social preferences. Previous studies provide mixed results and methodological dierences within and across studies make it difcult to isolate the impact of experimenter-subject anonymity on prosocial behavior. In this paper we use a novel procedure that allows us to examine the impact of the exact same ceteris-paribus variation in anonymity on behavior in three of the most commonly used games in the social preference literature. Our data reveals that introducing experimenter-subject anonymity has only minor, insignicant, eects on prosocial behavior.Scrutiny, anonymity, laboratory experiments, prosocial behavior

The evaluation of writing in unit curriculum English

The assessment and grading of writing in Unit Curriculum English plays a major role in the determination of a student\u27s summative, and hence, public, letter grade. Through teachers\u27 adherence to the assessment and grading procedures for writing in Unit curriculum English, the Ministry of Education lay claims on comparability and statewide standards. The claim warranted the investigation of the guidelines and procedures used. A review of literature on the evaluation of writing was conducted. In order that local application and relevance be possible, the holistic mode of evaluating writing was focused on. Problems were identified in the research concerning score reliability. The pre-requisites for obtaining statistically reliable scores were outlined. The pre-requisites include training and monitoring scorers to apply the established evaluative criteria to pieces of writing. The research highlighted that, in spite of extensive training and monitoring, problems of reliability remained. This was attributed to the fact that scorers cannot always adhere to the evaluative criteria specified in holistic grading procedures. It was pointed out that scorers\u27 conceptualisations of writing proficiency differ. The face validity of the evaluative criteria were therefore subject to disagreement. These findings were discussed in relation to the assessment and grading procedures for writing in Unit Curriculum English. It was pointed out that as many teachers of English are inexperienced and untrained in holistic evaluative procedures, the validity of the evaluative criteria for writing in Unit Curriculum English were open to question. This exacerbated problems of the reliability of grades awarded under Unit Curriculum English. In the light of these findings, the credibility of the Ministry of Education\u27s claims on comparability and statewide standards in Unit Curriculum English were questioned. A conceptualisation of writing proficiency in Unit curriculum English was offered. The conceptualisation highlighted the product emphases for writing in Unit curriculum English. Determining the degree to which the current assessment and grading procedures addressed these emphases highlighted problems and shortcomings. The findings supported the research by identifying a number of factors which placed the reliability of grades in Unit curriculum English at risk. The paper establishes that the current guidelines and procedures for assessing and grading writing in Unit curriculum English are lacking as they fail to adequately address the pre-conditions of reliable scoring. Concomitantly, the credibility of the Ministry of Education is at risk. In order to achieve comparability and statewide standards, reliable scoring must occur. To redress the risk, the insufficiencies of the guidelines and procedures, to which teachers of Unit curriculum English comply, need to be addressed. Considering the political and ideological dimensions of education policy, it was felt that failure to redress these insufficiencies would reflect more poorly upon teachers of Unit Curriculum English than it would the Ministry of Education

한국 거주 이주민의 모국중심 크리켓 클럽참여를 통한 역량강화 과정에 관한 고찰

학위논문(석사)--서울대학교 대학원 :사범대학 체육교육과,글로벌스포츠매니지먼트전공,2019. 8. 권순용.This study was undertaken to learn about the influence of the migrants native country-oriented cricket club activities at the individual and social level. Migrants empowerment is becoming more important to in achieving multicultural integration and policy makers have recently paid greater attention to this issue. One reason for this is that the marginalization of the migrants in our societies is deepening. Therefore this study aims to contribute to policy making decisions promoting cultural integration within Korean society as this becomes more multi-cultural. To meet the goal of the study, the researcher selected in-depth study methods among five qualitative research methods (Creswell, 2003). Interviews with eight captains, who had participated in the Chairmans Cup T20 Cricket League of Korea Cricket Association in 2017, formed the basis for this research. The research examines their cricket club activity experience and analyses meaning through it. This research concludes that native country cricket club participation contributes to empowerment for the migrants and this study presents the migrant empowerment process through native cricket club participation. It identifies four phases: Powerless by Migration; Gaining basic resources; Catalyst to empowerment; and Changed social role.본 연구는 한국에 거주하고 있는 이주민들의 모국중심의 크리켓 클럽활동의 개인적, 사회적 의미와 그 영향을 탐색해 보는데 목적이 있다. 이주민의 역량강화는 우리 사회의 소외된 계층에 대한 우려가 커짐에 따라 점차 그 중요성이 강조되고 있으며, 이주민의 스포츠 클럽활동을 통한 자발적인 역량강화는 앞으로 이주민 관련 정책수립에 있어 매우 유용한 개념이므로, 본 연구를 통해 다문화 사회로 나아가고 있는 한국의 문화통합 정책수립에 기여하고자 한다. 본 연구에서는 2017년도에 대한크리켓협회에서 개최한 대한크리켓협회장배 동호인 크리켓리그에 참가한 팀 중에서, 모국 중심의 크리켓 클럽인 8개 팀의 크리켓 클럽의 주장들이 연구대상으로 참여하였다. 이 연구에서는 심층인터뷰와 참여관찰을 통한 질적 연구(Creswell, 2003)를 실시하였다. 연구결과 이주민의 모국중심 크리켓활동 참여는 이주민들의 역량강화에 기여하며 본 연구에서는 이 과정을 4단계로 나누고 각각 역량부족, 기본자원 습득, 역량강화의 촉매제로서의 활동, 사회적 역할의 변화로 특징지었다. 이주민들의 모국중심 크리켓 클럽활동은 이주민의 민족성을 바탕으로 동질감, 소속심, 애국심 등을 고양시키며, 소셜미디어를 통한 초국가적 네트워크 확장, 리더십 기회, 자아효율감 고취, 유형무형의 지원 확대 등의 긍정적 결과를 이끌어 내서 한국 내 모국커뮤니티의 역할변화에 특히 기여하며 이를 통해 지원을 받는 존재에서 기여하는 존재로 거듭나는 역량강화의 장점이 드러났다.Table of Contents Acknowledgements i Abstract ii Table of Contents iii List of Tables v List of Figures vi Chapter 1. Introduction 1 1.1. Current Context 1 1.2. Migrant Workers Physical Activities and Relationship with Local Korean 3 1.3. Research Significance 6 1.4. Research Questions 8 1.5. Definition of Terms 11 Chapter 2. Review of Literature 12 2.1. Migrants Sport Activities 12 2.1.1. Formation of Network 14 2.1.2. Exclusive Sport Activity 15 2.2. Acculturation and Sport 17 2.2.1. The Theory of Acculturation 17 2.2.2. Acculturation through Sport 19 2.2.3. South Asians and Cricket 21 2.3. Empowerment 22 Chapter 3. Methodology 25 3.1. Research Method 25 3.2. Research Procedures 26 3.3. Research Participants 27 3.4 Collecting and Analyzing Data 28 3.4.1. In-depth Interviews 29 3.4.2. Participation Observation 30 3.5. Strategy for Validating Findings 31 3.5.1.Triangulation 31 3.5.2. Peer Debriefing 31 3.5.3. Member Check 32 3.6. Research Ethics 32 Chapter 4. Findings and Discussion 34 4.1. Powerless by migration 35 4.2. Gaining Basic Resources 39 4.3. Catalyst to Empowerment 44 4.3.1. Characteristics of native country oriented cricket team 45 4.3.1.1. Ethnicity 49 4.3.1.2. Pride of Native Country 51 4.3.2. Leadership 54 4.3.3. Network 58 4.3.4. Support from Others 60 4.3.5. Self-efficacy 62 4.4. Changed social role 65 Chapter 5. Conclusion 67 5.1. Limitation of the research 68 Bibliography 68 Appendix A 81 국 문 초 록 82Maste

A Language of Silence: Analyzing the Effects of Sexist Language on Women’s Classroom Experiences

The English language has been defined and dominated by the male voice throughout all of history. Consequently, language has played a strong role in upholding the existing patriarchal structure of society. The extent to which this affects women is still widely unaddressed in past and current research; and much of this research fails to directly address how sexist language affects women in learning environments. For my thesis, I have conducted and assessed in-depth, face-to-face interviews with 10 high school seniors and 10 college seniors. With a significant focus on female shame, silence, and self-perception, this study reveals that the language used by both educators and peers in the classroom space has a strong influence on a female’s comfort level in the classroom—especially in regard to participation. This research supports existing literature that the classroom space and the language used within it remains patriarchal, and continues to function in a way that silences, and shames, women in various speaking situations

Towards a framework to make robots learn to dance

A key motive of human-robot interaction is to make robots and humans interact through different aspects of the real world. As robots become more and more realistic in appearance, so has the desire for them to exhibit complex behaviours. A growing area of interest in terms of complex behaviour is robot dancing. Dance is an entertaining activity that is enjoyed either by being the performer or the spectator. Each dance contain fundamental features that make-up a dance. It is the curiosity for some researchers to model such an activity for robots to perform in human social environments. From current research, most dancing robots are pre-programmed with dance motions and few have the ability to generate their own dance or alter their movements according to human responses while dancing. This thesis explores the question Can a robot learn to dance? . A dancing framework is proposed to address this question. The Sarsa algorithm and the Softmax algorithm from traditional reinforcement learning form part of the dancing framework to enable a virtual robot learn and adapt to appropriate dance behaviours. The robot follows a progressive approach, utilising the knowledge obtained at each stage of its development to improve the dances that it generates. The proposed framework addresses three stages of development of a robot s dance: learning ability; creative ability of dance motions, and adaptive ability to human preferences. Learning ability is the ability to make a robot gradually perform the desired dance behaviours. Creative ability is the idea of the robot generating its own dance motions, and structuring them into a dance. Adaptive ability is where the robot changes its dance in response to human feedback. A number of experiments have been conducted to explore these challenges, and verified that the quality of the robot dance can be improved through each stage of the robot s development

Cultural Influences on the Weight, Diet, and Physical Activity of Pregnant Immigrant Latinas

The problem addressed in this phenomenological study is how culture and acculturation can potentially influence gestational weight during pregnancy, leading to overweight and obesity among immigrant Latinas. To understand the possible influence of culture and acculturation on the diet, exercise, and weight of pregnant immigrant Latinas, the experiences of immigrant Latinas who had undergone a pregnancy in Mexico and were pregnant in California were examined. The ecological model theory was applied as a framework for exploring the participants\u27 experiences regarding nutrition, physical activity, and weight gain. Semistructured interviews with 10 qualified participants were conducted. Data analysis entailed an inductive approach based on the following phases of qualitative data analysis: data reduction, data display, and conclusion and verification. Clustered responses were presented around the major themes. Six major themes were derived from the data. These were: (a) bicultural lifestyles; (b) personal adjustments relating to pregnancy and prenatal care; (c) low levels of social and relational support; (d) adjustments regarding diet, nutrition, food security, and access; (e) changes in the form and extent of physical activity in the United States; and (f) rapid weight gain experienced during pregnancies undergone in the United States. Social change implications include encouraging public health professionals, health educators, and community health workers to focus on the importance of culture and acculturation on the health of Latinas in order to ensure positive infant and maternal health outcomes

Goalsetting as a tool for involving people with learning disabilities in healthcare.

Background: This research was undertaken during a period of rapid change within the NHS including the deinstitutionalisation of care, and increased emphasis on partnership working. The main aim of the study was to examine collaborative goalsetting as a means of (a) involving people with learning disabilities in healthcare decision making and (b) measuring the impact of treatment interventions. Study Design: Initially a qualitative approach was taken. Case study methods centred on the introduction of Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) as an individualised measure of outcome within two acute specialist in-patient units. Views of co-operative care planning and evaluation were elicited from patients and clinicians through the use of GAS. A unique patient interview schedule was developed incorporating pictures as a supplementary method of establishing users' views. Following this a two-phase interview survey included views of care from eight practitioners and 10 managers and service commissioners. Finally a survey of 94 key stakeholders within Scottish learning disabilities services was undertaken. Findings: Practitioners had difficulties implementing GAS. Twelve patients were selected for the GAS study by members of the multidisciplinary team. In total 16 goals were set and scaled and impact measured. Six patients participated in interviews, describing the users' view of the therapeutic process. The findings highlighted barriers to the inclusion of people with learning disabilities such as rapid discharge, extreme behaviour and severe learning disabilities. In all surveys outcome measurement was viewed as complex as well as open to manipulation. A consistent preference for individualised measures of outcome for people with learning disabilities emerged. The research indicated multiple perspectives on stakeholders' attitudes to partnership working, regarding, for example, power differentials, professional terriorialism and interagency mistrust

What elements are required to achieve sustainable business change using health and safety as a lens?

Business change continues to be an ongoing challenge. New consultancy models are required to suit the changing financial landscape, which requires businesses to outperform their competitors in order to survive; minimising overheads and removing waste in processes. Whilst business change is a broad topic area, the use of health and safety as a lens through which change can be made is less widely-discussed. This model for change has been utilised successfully in this business with great success. This D Prof project analyses that change programme to establish which elements of it can be applicable to other businesses undertaking change in a first-generation family business, but is applicable to any business. The starting point for the business was to facilitate a cultural shift by approaching the change through a behavioural programme that made safety personal to each employee. It focused on behavioural safety as the lens for change within the business over two iterations/interventions. This D Prof Project is the third iteration. The co-researchers have been immersed in the transformation programme, as insider researchers with the defined objectives of lowering the Accident Frequency Rate (AFR), preventing a fatality, increasing turnover and profitability as well as getting the business fit for rail and nuclear projects. The business has a proven ‘balanced’ safety culture, with much work having been done on Systems, People, and Culture to therefore establishing balance in all areas. The researchers had undertaken Iteration One and Iteration Two of the transformation change programme over a period of five years using health and safety as the focal lens for change, the work represented here in the D Prof project is Iteration Three, providing a new and fresh perspective.We found that to make improvement to safety culture it is essential to already have a ‘balanced safety culture’. Our project work uncovered key issues relating to the cultural differences between different nationalities when working together in close proximity and in a polymorphic society such as London, where our company is based. National identities possess varied power distance and uncertainty avoidance types and when people from diverse cultural mixes are concentrated in small areas such as construction projects there is an impact upon how they work together, how they are able to assimilate information, how they best receive instruction and how they communicate with their peers and managers. We found that the works of Hofstede and Choudray are particularly relevant to improving the way in which construction projects and construction businesses further improve their safety culture and performance once a balanced safety culture has been achieved. Sampling 900 individuals across our business identified 47% as foreign nationals whereas suddenly when you review the London region there is a larger percentage which is around 60% migrant workers or foreign nationals. This indicates that the project findings are relevant to a number of businesses who operate not only in London but in polymorphic environments. We are now reviewing the nationalities and culture of our projects to access the underlying key cultural differences within a polymorphic London environment and concentrating of the Power Distance (PDI) and Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) of the various work crews and the supervisor nationality to gain a shared understanding of risk and further improve communication and safety performance. Given the complexity of the issues Hofstede’s work on nationality is not a panacea but it is an area of consideration when undertaking high risk construction based projects this has been overlooked particularly in the UK and the South East with a polymorphic London workforce inside the M25. We had to consider ‘Power Distance’ PDI and its relationship to safety performance. The indicators in relation to nationality have led the business to start looking at how we change our methodology and risk assessment into visual method statements and visual risk assessments. Work commenced in the business outside of the Doctorate and we are starting to get varied nationalities to create these visual method statements so it is not only being created from an Irish/English paradigm. The project provides the opportunity for other stakeholders, clients and the wider construction industry to use the model for delivering change within their businesses where they may not have access to the significant resources required to make business change on a large scale. Understanding the elements which are critical to such change upfront will enable efficient and effective targeting of their valuable and scarce resources. The project was carried out in its entirety and completed while both parties were employed within the business. Since completing the project both parties have moved on to other carrier opportunities and the change has been sustained in their absence