A Computational Model of Worker Protest

This paper presents an agent-based model of worker protest. Workers have varying degrees of grievance depending on the difference between their wage and the average of their neighbors. They protest with probabilities proportional to grievance, but are inhibited by the risk of being arrested – which is determined by the ratio of coercive agents to probable rebels in the local area. We explore the effect of similarity perception on the dynamics of collective behavior. If workers are surrounded by more in-group members, they are more risk-taking; if surrounded by more out-group members, more risk-averse. Individual interest and group membership jointly affect patterns of workers protest: rhythm, frequency, strength, and duration of protest outbreaks. Results indicate that when wages are more unequally distributed, the previous outburst tends to suppress the next one, protests occur more frequently, and they become more intensive and persistent. Group identification does not seriously influence the frequency of local uprisings. Both their strength and duration, however, are negatively affected by the ingroup-outgroup assessment. The overall findings are valid when workers distinguish \'us\' from \'them\' through simple binary categorization, as well as when they perceive degrees of similarity and difference from their neighbors.Workers Protest, Tags, Group Identity, Trust, Netlogo

The evolution of a citation network topology: The development of the journal Scientometrics

By mapping the electronic database containing all papers in Scientometrics for a 26-year period (1978-2004), we uncover the topological measures that characterize the network at a given moment, as well as the time evolution of these quantities. The citation network of the journal displays the characteristic features of a “small-world” network of local dense clusters of highly specialized literature. These clusters, however, are efficiently connected into a large single component by a small number of “hub” papers that allow short-distance connection among increasingly large numbers of papers. The patterns of evolution of the network toward this “small-world” are also explored

Teaching Social Dilemma through Simulating Cooperation: A Classroom Experiment

Despite an increased number of case studies simulating social problems in the classroom, due attention has been rarely paid to social dilemma games in light of teaching the key concepts of sociology. We propose a paper-and-pencil experiment designed for sizeable students to simultaneously explore various conditions of sustainable cooperation in a Prisoner’s Dilemma game, with five steps of in-class activities presented in details. We evaluate experimental results quantitatively and the usefulness of game-based learning on the basis of debriefing interviews. Beside positive effects of repeated dyadic interaction and direct communications on cooperation, it is shown that sharing a common goal with group members in the presence of intergroup competition tends to strengthen reputation-based indirect reciprocity. Students seem to learn more deeply and see wider relevance as a product of engaging in the experiment, generating findings from the simulated data, and associating them with real-world examples of reciprocity. Our case study on teaching social dilemma through a simple but novel classroom experiment may provide valuable information to educators and practitioners interested in the effective use of economic games as an interactive teaching method for undergraduates in the setting of higher education

Lunar lander conceptual design

A conceptual design is presented of a Lunar Lander, which can be the primary vehicle to transport the equipment necessary to establish a surface lunar base, the crew that will man the base, and the raw materials which the Lunar Station will process. A Lunar Lander will be needed to operate in the regime between the lunar surface and low lunar orbit (LLO), up to 200 km. This lander is intended for the establishment and operation of a manned surface base on the moon and for the support of the Lunar Space Station. The lander will be able to fulfill the requirements of 3 basic missions: A mission dedicated to delivering maximum payload for setting up the initial lunar base; Multiple missions between LLO and lunar surface dedicated to crew rotation; and Multiple missions dedicated to cargo shipments within the regime of lunar surface and LLO. A complete set of structural specifications is given

The evolution of social networks through the implementation of evidence-informed decision-making interventions: a longitudinal analysis of three public health units in Canada

BACKGROUND: We studied the evolution of information-seeking networks over a 2-year period during which an organization-wide intervention was implemented to promote evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) in three public health units in Ontario, Canada. We tested whether engagement of staff in the intervention and their EIDM behavior were associated with being chosen as information source and how the trend of inter-divisional communications and the dominance of experts evolved over time. METHODS: Local managers at each health unit selected a group of staff to get engage in Knowledge Broker-led workshops and development of evidence summaries to address local public health problems. The staff were invited to answer three online surveys (at baseline and two annual follow-ups) including name generator questions eliciting the list of the staff they would turn to for help integrating research evidence into practice. We used stochastic actor-oriented modeling to study the evolution of networks. We tested the effect of engagement in the intervention, EIDM behavior scores, organizational divisions, and structural dynamics of social networks on the tendency of staff to select information sources, and the change in its trend between year 1 and year 2 of follow-up. RESULTS: In all the three health units, and especially in the two units with higher levels of engagement in the intervention, the network evolved towards a more centralized structure, with an increasing significance of already central staff. The staff showed greater tendencies to seek information from peers with higher EIDM behavior scores. In the public health unit that had highest engagement and stronger leadership support, the engaged staff became more central. In all public health units, the engaged staff showed an increasing tendency towards forming clusters. The staff in the three public health units showed a tendency towards limiting their connections within their divisions. CONCLUSIONS: The longitudinal analysis provided us with a means to study the microstructural changes in public health units, clues to the sustainability of the implementation. The hierarchical transformation of networks towards experts and formation of clusters among staff who were engaged in the intervention show how implementing organizational interventions to promote EIDM may affect the knowledge flow and distribution in health care communities, which may lead to unanticipated consequences. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13012-015-0355-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Informing the implementation of evidence-informed decision making interventions using a social network analysis perspective; a mixed-methods study

BACKGROUND: Workforce development is an important aspect of evidence-informed decision making (EIDM) interventions. The structure of formal and informal social networks can influence, and be influenced, by the implementation of EIDM interventions. METHODS: In a mixed methods study we assessed the outcomes of a targeted training intervention to promote EIDM among the staff in three public health units in Ontario, Canada. This report focuses on the qualitative phase of the study in which key staff were interviewed about the process of engagement in the intervention, communications during the intervention, and social consequences. RESULTS: Senior managers identified staff to take part in the intervention. Engagement was a top-down process determined by the way organizational leaders promoted EIDM and the relevance of staff’s jobs to EIDM. Communication among staff participating in the workshops and ongoing progress meetings was influential in overcoming personal and normative barriers to implementing EIDM, and promoted the formation of long-lasting social connections among staff. Organization-wide presentations and meetings facilitated the recognition of expertise that the trained staff gained, including their reputation as experts according to their peers in different divisions. CONCLUSION: Selective training and capacity development interventions can result in forming an elite versus ordinary pattern that facilitates the recognition of in-house qualified experts while also strengthening social status inequality. The role of leadership in public health units is pivotal in championing and overseeing the implementation process. Network analysis can guide and inform the design, process, and evaluation of the EIDM training interventions

Art for Democracy\u27s Sake? Group Membership and Political Engagement in Europe

Theorists contend that private social groups-particularly those that have no overt political missions such as bowling leagues, sports clubs, and choral societies-make major contributions to democracy by generating engagement with democracy in the form of political interest and participation. Although this discussion is generally at an aggregate level, it is based on seldom-tested assumptions about individual-level phenomena. This study expands our understanding of how (and where) memberships in various groups are associated with political engagement of individual citizens. We test if the effects of group membership vary across eleven European democracies and test which types of groups have the strongest association with political engagement. We find that major social groups differ in their relationship with engagement, and we also find that formal political arrangements for group accommodation may condition the effects of some memberships on engagement

Association between co-authorship network and scientific productivity and impact indicators in academic medical research centers: A case study in Iran

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We aimed to examine the co-authorship networks in three successful Iranian academic research centers, in order to find the association between the scientific productivity and impact indicators with network features in a case study.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We searched for English articles of the three research centers. We drew co-authorship maps of each center and calculated social network measures.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The collaboration networks in centers shared many structural features, including a "star-like" pattern of relations. Centers with more successful scientific profile showed denser and more cooperative networks. Key figures in each center were interviewed for their understandings of the reasons for the emergence of these patterns.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Star shape network structure and dependency on a single big member is a common feature observed in our case study. Scientific output measures correlate with the network structure of research centers. Network analysis seems a useful method to explore the subtle scientific contexts in research organizations.</p