Young people's attitudes to religious diversity : quantitative approaches from social psychology and empirical theology

This essay discusses the design of the quantitative component of the ‘Young People’s Attitudes to Religious Diversity’ project, conceived by Professor Robert Jackson within the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit, and presents some preliminary findings from the data. The quantitative component followed and built on the qualitative component within a mixed method design. The argument is advanced in seven steps: introducing the major sources of theory on which the quantitative approach builds from the psychology of religion and from empirical theology; locating the empirical traditions of research among young people that have shaped the study; clarifying the notions and levels of measurement employed in the study anticipating the potential for various forms of data analysis; discussing some of the established measures incorporated in the survey; defining the ways in which the sample was structured to reflect the four nations of the UK, and London; illustrating the potential within largely descriptive cross-tabulation forms of analysis; and illustrating the potential within more sophisticated multivariate analytic models

On Signatures of Twisted Magnetic Flux Tube Emergence

Recent studies of NOAA active region 10953, by Okamoto {\it et al.} ({\it Astrophys. J. Lett.} {\bf 673}, 215, 2008; {\it Astrophys. J.} {\bf 697}, 913, 2009), have interpreted photospheric observations of changing widths of the polarities and reversal of the horizontal magnetic field component as signatures of the emergence of a twisted flux tube within the active region and along its internal polarity inversion line (PIL). A filament is observed along the PIL and the active region is assumed to have an arcade structure. To investigate this scenario, MacTaggart and Hood ({\it Astrophys. J. Lett.} {\bf 716}, 219, 2010) constructed a dynamic flux emergence model of a twisted cylinder emerging into an overlying arcade. The photospheric signatures observed by Okamoto {\it et al.} (2008, 2009) are present in the model although their underlying physical mechanisms differ. The model also produces two additional signatures that can be verified by the observations. The first is an increase in the unsigned magnetic flux in the photosphere at either side of the PIL. The second is the behaviour of characteristic photospheric flow profiles associated with twisted flux tube emergence. We look for these two signatures in AR 10953 and find negative results for the emergence of a twisted flux tube along the PIL. Instead, we interpret the photospheric behaviour along the PIL to be indicative of photospheric magnetic cancellation driven by flows from the dominant sunspot. Although we argue against flux emergence within this particular region, the work demonstrates the important relationship between theory and observations for the successful discovery and interpretation of signatures of flux emergence.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Solar Physic

Implementation and the Governance Problem: A Pressure Participant Perspective

This article has two aims: to qualify the UK government's ‘problem' of governance in a comparison with Scotland and Wales, and to use implementation studies (the ancestors of the new governance literature) to explore policy developments since devolution in Britain. It presents a puzzling finding from extensive interview research: that while we may expect UK government policy to suffer a bigger ‘implementation gap' based on distinctive governance problems (such as greater service delivery fragmentation and the unintended consequences of top-down policy styles), pressure participants in Scotland and Wales are more likely to report implementation failures. Using a ‘top-down' framework, it explores three main explanations for this finding: that the size of the implementation gap in England is exaggerated by a focus on particular governance problems; that pressure participant dissatisfaction follows unrealistic expectations in the devolved territories; and that the UK government undermines devolved policy implementation, by retaining control of key policy instruments and setting the agenda on measures of implementation success

State energy price system. Volume I: overview and technical documentation

This study utilizes existing data sources and previous analyses of state-level energy prices to develop consistent state-level energy prices series by fuel type and by end-use sector. The fuels are electricity, natural gas, coal, distillate fuel oil, motor gasoline, diesel, kerosene, jet fuel, residual fuel, and liquefied petroleum gas. The end-use sectors are residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, and electric utility. Based upon an evaluation of existing data sources, recommendations were formulated on the feasible approaches for developing a consistent state energy price series. The data series were compiled based upon the approaches approved after a formal EIA review. Detailed documentation was provided, including annual updating procedures. Recommendations were formulated for future improvements in the collection of data or in data processing. Generally, the geographical coverage includes the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Information on state-level energy use was generally taken from the State Energy Data System (SEDS). Corresponding average US prices are also developed using volumes reported in SEDS. To the extent possible, the prices developed are quantity weighted average retail prices. Both a Btu price series and a physical unit price series are developed for each fuel. The period covered by the data series is 1970 through 1980 for most fuels, though prices for electricity and natural gas extend back to 1960. (PSB