Participation and poverty reduction

This paper examines the relationship between community participation and the efficacy of interventions designed to reduce poverty. We develop some simple analytics that are used to structure a review of the extant literature and motivate the analysis of the impact of participation on the efficacy of public works interventions in South Africa.Community participation. ,Poverty alleviation. ,South Africa. ,Public works. ,

Participation and poverty reduction

This paper examines the relationship between community participation and the efficacy of interventions designed to reduce poverty. We develop some simple analytics that are used to structure a review of the extant literature and motivate the analysis of the impact of participation on the efficacy of public works interventions in South Africa.Community participation. ,Poverty alleviation. ,South Africa. ,Public works. ,

Disparities in science literacy

Much is known about how adult science literacy varies internationally and over time, and about its association with attitudes and beliefs. However, less is known about disparities in science literacy across racial and ethnic groups. This is particularly surprising in light of substantial research on racial and ethnic disparities in related areas such as educational achievement, math and reading ability, representation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) occupations, and health literacy. Given the importance of science literacy to securing and sustaining many jobs, to understanding key health concepts to enhance quality of life, and to increasing public engagement in societal decision-making, it is concerning if the distribution of science literacy is unequally stratified, particularly if this stratification reflects broader patterns of disadvantage and cultural dominance as experienced by minorities and educationally underserved populations. We describe here such disparities in science literacy in the United States and attempt to explain underlying drivers, concluding that the science literacy disadvantage among black and Hispanic adults relative to whites is only partially explained by measures of broader, foundational literacies and socioeconomic status (SES)

Strategic science communication as planned behavior: Understanding scientists’ willingness to choose specific tactics

Strategic science communicators need to select tactics that can help them achieve both their short-term communication objectives and long-term behavioral goals. However, little previous research has sought to develop theory aimed at understanding what makes it more likely that a communicator will prioritize specific communication tactics. The current study aims to advance the development of a theory of strategic science communication as planned behavior based on the Integrated Behavioral Model. It does so in the context of exploring Canadian scientists’ self-reported willingness to prioritize six different tactics as a function of attitudinal, normative, and efficacy beliefs. The results suggest that scientists’ beliefs about ethicality, norms, response efficacy, and self-efficacy, are all meaningful predictors of willingness to prioritize specific tactics. Differences between scientists in terms of demographics and related variables provide only limited benefit in predicting such willingness

New scales can be used to measure the short-term impact of public engagement on scientists

Most evaluations of public engagement work focus on the impacts on the public participants. But what about the benefits of public outreach on the scientists themselves? Karen Peterman, Elana Kimbrell, Emily Cloyd, Jane Roberston Evia and John Besley have created new scales to document the mutual exchange of ideas that is central to the public engagement approach, and the influence of this approach on scientists

The influence of surface charge on the coalescence of ice and dust particles in the mesosphere

Agglomeration of charged ice and dust particles in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere is studied using a classical electrostatic approach, which is extended to capture the induced polarisation of surface charge. Collision outcomes are predicted whilst varying the particle size, charge, dielectric constant, relative kinetic energy, collision geometry and the coefficient of restitution. In addition to Coulomb forces acting on particles of opposite charge, instances of attraction between particles of the same sign of charge are discussed. These attractive forces are governed by the polarisation of surface charge and can be strong at very small separation distances. In the mesosphere and lower thermosphere, these interactions could also contribute to the formation of stable aggregates and contamination of ice particles through collisions with meteoric smoke particles

Party control, party competition and public service performance

publication-status: Acceptedtypes: ArticleThis article assesses party effects on the performance of public services. A policy-seeking model, hypothesizing that left and right party control affects performance, and an instrumental model, where all parties strive to raise performance, are presented. The framework also suggests a mixed model in which party effects are contingent on party competition, with parties raising performance as increasing party competition places their control of government at increasing risk. These models are tested against panel data on English local governments’ party control and public service performance. The results question the traditional account of left and right parties, showing a positive relationship between rightwing party control and performance that is contingent on a sufficiently high level of party competition. The findings suggest left–right models should be reframed for the contemporary context

Auger electron angular distributions following excitation or ionization of the I 3d level in methyl iodide

Auger electron spectra following excitation or ionization of the I 3d level in CH3I have been recorded with horizontally or vertically plane polarized synchrotron radiation. These spectra have enabled the Auger electron angular distributions, as characterized by the β parameter, to be determined. The I 3d photoionization partial cross section of CH3I has been calculated with the continuum multiple scattering approach, and the results show that in the photon energy range over which Auger spectra were measured, the I 3d cross section exhibits an atomic-like behavior and is dominated by transitions into the εf continuum channel. In this limit, the theoretical value of the alignment parameter (A20) characterizing the core ionized state in an atom becomes constant, independent of photon energy. This theoretical value has been used to obtain the Auger electron intrinsic anisotropy parameters (α2) from the β parameters extracted from our normal (non-resonant) molecular Auger spectra. The resulting anisotropy parameters for the M45N45N45 transitions in CH3I have been compared to those calculated for the corresponding transitions in xenon, and the experimental and theoretical results are in good agreement. Anisotropy parameters have also been measured for the M45N1N45, M45N23N45, and M45N45O23 transitions. For the M45N1N45 and M45N23N45 Auger decays in CH3I, the experimentally derived angular distributions do not exhibit the strong dependence on the final ionic state that is predicted for these transitions in xenon. Resonantly excited Auger spectra have been recorded at 620.4 and 632.0 eV, coinciding with the I 3d5/2 → σ* and 3d3/2 → σ* transitions, respectively. The resulting Auger electron angular distributions for the M4N45N45 and M5N45N45 decays were found to exhibit a higher anisotropy than those for the normal process. This is due to the larger photo-induced alignment in the neutral core excited state. For a particular Auger transition, the Auger electron kinetic energy measured in the resonantly excited spectrum is higher than that in the normal spectrum. This shift, due to the screening provided by the electron excited into the σ* orbital, has been rationalized by calculating orbital ionization energies of I 3d excited and I 3d ionized states in CH3I