Anthropologists behaving badly? Impact and the politics of evaluation in an era of accountability

This paper discusses the move within UK social science funding to use non-academic ‘impact’ as a measure of quality and success for social research. It suggests that behind this move are a set of unspoken assumptions about what constitutes ‘good’ and ‘bad’ impact, and the paper seeks to problematize these. By way of provocation, it presents three classic cases of anthropological research, in which the impact of anthropologists on the societies in which they worked was at worst reprehensible, and at best controversial. These controversies – Darkness in El Dorado, the Human Terrain System and Fields of Wheat, Hills of Blood – are used to demonstrate the difficulty with which we can assess impacts as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, and the problems with attempting to do so

The impact of educational technology: A radical reappraisal of research methods

How can we decide whether some new tool or approach is valuable? Do published results of empirical research help? This paper challenges strongly entrenched beliefs and practices in educational research and evaluation. It urges practitioners and researchers to question both results and underlying paradigms. Much published research about education and the impact of technology is pseudo‐scientific; it draws unwarranted conclusions based on conceptual blunders, inadequate design, so‐called measuring instruments that do not measure, and/or use of inappropriate statistical tests. An unacceptably high portion of empirical papers makes at least two of these errors, thus invalidating the reported conclusions

Advanced expander test bed engine

The Advanced Expander Test Bed (AETB) is a key element in NASA's Space Chemical Engine Technology Program for development and demonstration of expander cycle oxygen/hydrogen engine and advanced component technologies applicable to space engines as well as launch vehicle upper stage engines. The AETB will be used to validate the high pressure expander cycle concept, study system interactions, and conduct studies of advanced mission focused components and new health monitoring techniques in an engine system environment. The split expander cycle AETB will operate at combustion chamber pressures up to 1200 psia with propellant flow rates equivalent to 20,000 lbf vacuum thrust

Who are the Agents of Europeanization? EC Competition Policy and Germany's Public Law Banks

competition policy; Europeanization; Germany

The eye gaze direction of an observed person can bias perception, memory, and attention in adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorder

The reported experiments aimed to investigate whether a person and his or her gaze direction presented in the context of a naturalistic scene cause perception, memory, and attention to be biased in typically developing adolescents and high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A novel computerized image manipulation program presented a series of photographic scenes, each containing a person. The program enabled participants to laterally maneuver the scenes behind a static window, the borders of which partially occluded the scenes. The gaze direction of the person in the scenes spontaneously cued attention of both groups in the direction of gaze, affecting judgments of preference (Experiment 1a) and causing memory biases (Experiment 1b). Experiment 2 showed that the gaze direction of a person cues visual search accurately to the exact location of gaze in both groups. These findings suggest that biases in preference, memory, and attention are caused by another person's gaze direction when viewed in a complex scene in adolescents with and without ASD (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

The eye gaze direction of an observed person can bias perception, memory, and attention in adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorder

The reported experiments aimed to investigate whether a person and his or her gaze direction presented in the context of a naturalistic scene cause perception, memory, and attention to be biased in typically developing adolescents and high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A novel computerized image manipulation program presented a series of photographic scenes, each containing a person. The program enabled participants to laterally maneuver the scenes behind a static window, the borders of which partially occluded the scenes. The gaze direction of the person in the scenes spontaneously cued attention of both groups in the direction of gaze, affecting judgments of preference (Experiment 1a) and causing memory biases (Experiment 1b). Experiment 2 showed that the gaze direction of a person cues visual search accurately to the exact location of gaze in both groups. These findings suggest that biases in preference, memory, and attention are caused by another person's gaze direction when viewed in a complex scene in adolescents with and without ASD (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Do gaze cues in complex scenes capture and direct the attention of high functioning adolescents with ASD? evidence from eye-tracking

Visual fixation patterns whilst viewing complex photographic scenes containing one person were studied in 24 high-functioning adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and 24 matched typically developing adolescents. Over two different scene presentation durations both groups spent a large, strikingly similar proportion of their viewing time fixating the person’s face. However, time-course analyses revealed differences between groups in priorities of attention to the region of the face containing the eyes. It was also noted that although individuals with ASD were rapidly cued by the gaze direction of the person in the scene, this was not followed by an immediate increase in total fixation duration at the location of gaze, which was the case for typically developing individuals

Fractal templates in the escape dynamics of trapped ultracold atoms

We consider the dynamic escape of a small packet of ultracold atoms launched from within an optical dipole trap. Based on a theoretical analysis of the underlying nonlinear dynamics, we predict that fractal behavior can be seen in the escape data. This data would be collected by measuring the time-dependent escape rate for packets launched over a range of angles. This fractal pattern is particularly well resolved below the Bose-Einstein transition temperature--a direct result of the extreme phase space localization of the condensate. We predict that several self-similar layers of this novel fractal should be measurable and we explain how this fractal pattern can be predicted and analyzed with recently developed techniques in symbolic dynamics.Comment: 11 pages with 5 figure

Survey of psychosocial support provided by UK paediatric oncology centres

Aim: To obtain a comprehensive overview of current patterns of psychosocial support provided by National Health Service ( NHS) paediatric oncology treatment centres across the UK. Methods: A postal questionnaire was sent to co-ordinators in the UK Children's Cancer Study Group ( a professional body that is responsible for the organisation of treatment and management of childhood cancer in the UK) in 21 treatment centres and three separate Teenage Cancer Trus units. A range of psychosocial topics were explored, including ratio of staff providing support to patients; facilities provided for children and families; psychosocial support services such as support groups; information provision; and transition support. Results: There were many good areas of support provided by centres, but there was also a lack of standard practices and procedures. All centres employed social workers, play specialists, and paediatric oncology outreach nurses, but patient to staff ratios varied across centres. The poorest staff provision was among psychologists, where patient to staff ratios ranged from 132:1 to 1100:1. Written information was standard practice, while provision of other types of information (audiovisual, online) varied; none of the centres provided audio information specifically for children/young people. Conclusion: This variability in practices among centres frequently occurred, as centres rarely had procedures formally agreed or recorded in writing. British government policy currently seeks to develop standards and guidelines of care throughout the National Health Service. This study further demonstrates the importance of standards and the need to agree guidelines for the provision of psychosocial support for children/young people and their families throughout the course of the illness