228 research outputs found
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The Effects of Social Capital and Migration on Agricultural Practices and Well-Being among Farmers in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh: Evidence from Household Surveys
Agriculture is a small but key economic sector globally, providing food security and livelihoods for millions, with upwards of half of household incomes in some regions. Farming is inherently reliant on environmental conditions and thus high risk. Despite this, development of the agricultural sector is widely viewed as one of the better ways for improving the lives of many of the world’s poor, facilitating upward social and economic mobility. Climate change, however, threatens farms and farmers, who will need to adapt. Social capitals, broadly conceived, are often thought of as a sort of social safety net and may include things like support, trust and cohesion. Social capitals can help farmers respond and adapt to changing conditions and have been widely explored in agricultural contexts across multiple disciplines. Relatively few studies, however, incorporate multiple measures or levels of social capital, and the range of outcome variables considered within smallholding agriculture settings is relatively narrow.
Using data from two household surveys and diverse statistical approaches, I explore how multiple measures of social capital (support, trust, cohesion, ties) are correlated with farmer knowledge and adoption of potentially adaptive on-farm practices, changes to agricultural livelihoods, and farm and farmer well-being. I also consider how social capital intersects with migration, another critically important livelihood strategy in agricultural settings. In doing so, I examine the significance of social ties to migrants on agricultural livelihoods and well-being. Throughout this work, I find support for the importance of social capitals for farmers, but the conditions and contexts vary. In Chapter 2, I find that multiple dimensions of social capital positively predict on-farm adaptation practices. In Chapter 3, results revealed that households that have sent a migrant are significantly less likely to leave agricultural livelihoods. Results in Chapter 4 complicate some of these findings, revealing that social capital is sometimes positively predictive and sometimes negatively predictive of agricultural outcomes and farmer well-being.
These findings may be of interest for food and agriculture development programs, for both rural and urban planners (related to migration), and for researchers in fields such as sociology, anthropology, health, and social and environmental psychology, and for broad programs whose focus is on sustainable development.</p
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Electrified: What Twitter Data Can Tell Us About Public Energy Discussions
Researchers and policy-makers interested in assessing public communication to better inform the decision-making process are increasingly utilizing data harvested from social media. Twitter is one of the largest online sources of near-instantaneous information about a myriad of topics socially relevant in the public sphere. Renewable energy (RE) is a socially relevant topic that has emerged in recent years as a critical and contentious public policy issue. Yet little is known about whether RE discussions are happening on Twitter and if so whether any of that information would be valuable to decision-makers or for the policy-making process. This research – as a proof of concept – indicates there are a multitude of substantive, public discussions about renewable- and other forms of energy occurring on Twitter. These discussions vary by energy-related topic (e.g., solar, wind, etc.) and through time. We conclude the energy-related Twitter discussions provide both challenges and opportunities for researchers and policy-makers, yet may be important for understanding the public discourse and how it shapes or is shaped by the agenda-setting process
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Science Communication in a Digital Age: Social Media and the American Fisheries Society
Social media platforms are effective tools used
to help communicate and increase involvement in cultural, political,
and scientific circles. In 2012, an ad hoc committee was
established to explore online fisheries science communication
and how social media platforms can be utilized by the American
Fisheries Society (AFS). A survey was disseminated to all AFS
units (chapters, sections, divisions) and student subunits to better
understand the current use of social media within the AFS.
A relatively high response rate (82%) provided some confidence
in the survey results—namely, that nearly 69% or more of units
and subunits used social media. Facebook was the dominant
platform used (59%; all others < 15%) and almost exclusively
(97%) for the purpose of communication. Education, outreach,
and member recruitment were other reasons for social media
use. Finally, whether units currently use social media or not at
all, it was recommended that AFS-led workshops and assistance
would increase the usefulness of social media
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US Television Coverage of Climate Change or Global Warming, 2000-2021 - March 2021
The Media and Climate Change Observatory Data monitors 120 sources (across newspapers, radio and TV) in 54 countries in seven different regions around the world. Data is assembled by accessing archives through the Lexis Nexis, Proquest and Factiva databases via the University of Colorado libraries. More information may be found at: http://mecco.colorado.edu.</p
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US Television Coverage of Climate Change or Global Warming, 2000-2020 - July 2020
The Media and Climate Change Observatory Data monitors 117 sources (across newspapers, radio and TV) in 53 countries in seven different regions around the world. Data is assembled by accessing archives through the Lexis Nexis, Proquest and Factiva databases via the University of Colorado libraries. More information may be found at: http://mecco.colorado.edu.</p
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US Television Coverage of Climate Change or Global Warming, 2000-2020 - May 2020
The Media and Climate Change Observatory Data monitors 120 sources (across newspapers, radio and TV) in 55 countries in seven different regions around the world. Data is assembled by accessing archives through the Lexis Nexis, Proquest and Factiva databases via the University of Colorado libraries. More information may be found at: http://mecco.colorado.edu.</p
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US Television Coverage of Climate Change or Global Warming, 2000-2022 - January 2022
The Media and Climate Change Observatory Data monitors 126 sources (across newspapers, radio and TV) in 58 countries in seven different regions around the world. Data is assembled by accessing archives through the Lexis Nexis, Proquest and Factiva databases via the University of Colorado libraries. More information may be found at: http://mecco.colorado.edu.</p
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US Television Coverage of Climate Change or Global Warming, 2000-2021 - January 2021
The Media and Climate Change Observatory Data monitors 120 sources (across newspapers, radio and TV) in 54 countries in seven different regions around the world. Data is assembled by accessing archives through the Lexis Nexis, Proquest and Factiva databases via the University of Colorado libraries. More information may be found at: http://mecco.colorado.edu.</p
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US Television Coverage of Climate Change or Global Warming, 2000-2023 - August 2023
The Media and Climate Change Observatory Data monitors 131 sources (across newspapers, radio and TV) in 59 countries in seven different regions around the world. Data is assembled by accessing archives through the Lexis Nexis, Proquest and Factiva databases via the University of Colorado libraries. More information may be found at: http://mecco.colorado.edu.</p
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US Television Coverage of Climate Change or Global Warming, 2000-2020 - October 2020
The Media and Climate Change Observatory Data monitors 120 sources (across newspapers, radio and TV) in 54 countries in seven different regions around the world. Data is assembled by accessing archives through the Lexis Nexis, Proquest and Factiva databases via the University of Colorado libraries. More information may be found at: http://mecco.colorado.edu.</p
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