Adapting Feedback to Personality to Increase Motivation

Peer reviewedPostprin

Generalizing the Network Scale-Up Method: A New Estimator for the Size of Hidden Populations

The network scale-up method enables researchers to estimate the size of hidden populations, such as drug injectors and sex workers, using sampled social network data. The basic scale-up estimator offers advantages over other size estimation techniques, but it depends on problematic modeling assumptions. We propose a new generalized scale-up estimator that can be used in settings with non-random social mixing and imperfect awareness about membership in the hidden population. Further, the new estimator can be used when data are collected via complex sample designs and from incomplete sampling frames. However, the generalized scale-up estimator also requires data from two samples: one from the frame population and one from the hidden population. In some situations these data from the hidden population can be collected by adding a small number of questions to already planned studies. For other situations, we develop interpretable adjustment factors that can be applied to the basic scale-up estimator. We conclude with practical recommendations for the design and analysis of future studies

Adapting Recommendation Diversity to Openness to Experience : A Study of Human Behaviour

Postprin

Nietzschean self-cultivation : connecting his virtues to his ethical ideal

Interpretations of Nietzsche as a virtue theorist have proliferated in recent years as commentators have sought to read him as a modern eudaimonistic philosopher while also attempting to show what makes his contribution to this tradition valuable and distinctive.1While some commentators still contend that interpreting Nietzsche as a eudaimonist is antithetical to his overtly-stated philosophical aims,2 over the last decade there has been a upsurge of support for such readings, especially from commentators who emphasise what they claim is the pervasive influence of the Hellenistic tradition on his work. Keith Ansell-Pearson has argued that Epicurus was a key influence on Nietzsche’s middle period, for example; whereas Michael Ure has claimed that the Stoic thought of Seneca and Epictetus was also highly influential.3 Nevertheless, even those commentators who agree that Nietzsche can be informatively situated, or is even best situated, within the Hellenistic tradition cannot agree on two seemingly-intractable puzzles which any virtue-theoretical reading must solve in order to give a full account of his moral philosophy. The puzzles can be stated as follows: Puzzle 1: Which character traits does Nietzsche endorse as virtues? Puzzle 2: What is Nietzsche’s ethical ideal? This article offers an exegetical strategy to shed light on both puzzles, especially the first one regarding which character traits Nietzsche endorses as virtues which, as we shall see, is tougher to answer by a straightforward appeal to his texts. To elucidate this puzzle, I will propose that his approving comments regarding excellence-based moral philosophy indicate that his own ethics is also structured in terms of an ethical ideal with a requisite set of virtues which, following his ancient philosophical influences, he views as fundamentally connected. As Julia Annas notes, one the most distinctive ‘assumptions which ancient theories make [is] the relationship of [our] virtues to our final end’,4 and given Nietzsche’s interest in, and apparent endorsement of, ancient eudaimonism – especially compared to his invariably scathing remarks on the modern deontological and utilitarian traditions – we have reason to think that he shares this view.5 What is significant for this article, however, is that Nietzsche’s commitment to a kind of eudaimonism modelled on the ancient world offers a potential way to solve both puzzles. If his virtues and ethical ideal are connected in a similar way to ancient eudaimonistic theories, then understanding his ethical ideal allows us to infer which character traits he endorses as virtues, and vice versa. Although it might be objected that a method tackling both puzzles in tandem would be unworkable if their solutions were contained in each other, in what follows I will show that Nietzsche’s extensive comments on his ethical ideal of ‘becoming what one is’ positions us in a strong position to infer which character traits he prizes most highly. I will call these character traits ‘virtues of self-cultivation’

The Network Survival Method for Estimating Adult Mortality: Evidence From a Survey Experiment in Rwanda.

Adult death rates are a critical indicator of population health and well-being. Wealthy countries have high-quality vital registration systems, but poor countries lack this infrastructure and must rely on estimates that are often problematic. In this article, we introduce the network survival method, a new approach for estimating adult death rates. We derive the precise conditions under which it produces consistent and unbiased estimates. Further, we develop an analytical framework for sensitivity analysis. To assess the performance of the network survival method in a realistic setting, we conducted a nationally representative survey experiment in Rwanda (n = 4,669). Network survival estimates were similar to estimates from other methods, even though the network survival estimates were made with substantially smaller samples and are based entirely on data from Rwanda, with no need for model life tables or pooling of data from other countries. Our analytic results demonstrate that the network survival method has attractive properties, and our empirical results show that this method can be used in countries where reliable estimates of adult death rates are sorely needed

Comparison of methods for numerical calculation of continuum damping

Continuum resonance damping is an important factor in determining the stability of certain global modes in fusion plasmas. A number of analytic and numerical approaches have been developed to compute this damping, particularly in the case of the toroidicity-induced shear Alfv\'en eigenmode. This paper compares results obtained using an analytical perturbative approach with those found using resistive and complex contour numerical approaches. It is found that the perturbative method does not provide accurate agreement with reliable numerical methods for the range of parameters examined. This discrepancy exists even in the limit where damping approaches zero. When the perturbative technique is implemented using a standard finite element method, the damping estimate fails to converge with radial grid resolution. The finite elements used cannot accurately represent the eigenmode in the region of the continuum resonance, regardless of the number of radial grid points used.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure

Following the creative capital model: the social consequences for urban and suburban counties

Many cities have tried different solutions to develop the city economically. The creative capital model of economic development is gaining acceptance as a viable model of development for city planners and mayors (Dreher 2002; Kratke 2010; Long 2009; Peck 2007; Ponzini and Rossi 2010). According to Florida (2002) a city should attract what he termed creative people to aid the city\u27s economic development. These creative class individuals will bring their creative ideas to the city, which will then attract businesses to the city. The arrival of businesses and creative class individuals should create an economic and social panacea for the city. Many studies have examined the economic benefits of the creative capital model (McGranahan and Wojan\u27s 2007; Lee, Florida, and Acs 2004; Ward 2007), but few studies have examined how the social aspects of life would be affected by the creative capital model. The current study used data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the FBI Uniform Crime report to examine the effects of creative capital on social development. Urban and suburban counties were examined with age structure, creative segregation, creative exposure, and crime. The findings indicate that the creative capital model produces segregation along class lines, exposure to creative class ideas has been overstated by Florida, and the age structure of the city affects the creativity in the county. Crime may be reduced in creative areas, but with increased segregation some areas may experience an increase in crime