The Determinants of the Distribution of Mortality in Mountain States Counties

There has been significant concern about economic equity, expressed in legislation at federal, state, and local levels affecting income distribution and access to public services. Such a large interest in equity must also extend, then, to the ultimate inequality: distribution of life spans. The purpose of this paper is to determine the significant factors that affect the distribution of mortality by county in the Mountain States. Mortality distribution is the span of differences of age at death. This is an interesting topic because mortality affects everyone. Hence, individuals who care about living longer would be interested in knowing the factors that lead to discrepancies in the distribution of mortality. In addition, local and state government officials, public health officials, health economists, and other public-policy makers interested in the factors affecting mortality and the distribution of mortality will benefit from the results of this study. Information regarding the factors affecting the distribution of mortality will allow society to direct the resources allocated to equity in a more economically efficient way. Section II will discuss previous literature done in the area of mortality, and will also include a look at a few pertinent life expectancy studies. Section III will provide a description of the data used in this analysis, how the data was collected, and the expected results of this research. Section IV will detail the different methods and models used to analyze the data, and why each was used in this study. Section V will give the regression results and discuss the findings. Section VI will give conclusions that can be drawn from these findings. Section VII will discuss opportunities for further research in this area

An analytical ethnography of children's agency, power and social relations: an actor-network theory approach

This thesis connects with and extends inter alia the recent but as yet peripheral move within the sociology of childhood to open up children's agency to empirical analysis. Drawing heuristically upon actor-network theory and thought of this kind its aim is to expose the networks of heterogeneous associations upon which children's agency and power depends. Focusing upon children's every day play activities; the analytical lens is extended to consider the role of nonhumans that are embedded in children's mundane play interactions within their local neighbourhood and within their school playground. In doing so, this thesis argues that nonhumans are crucial participants in social interaction that are implicated in and pivotal to the heterogeneous networks of associations that children, as heterogeneous engineers, actively create to achieve their particular goals and desires. As a corollary to this, an analytical incorporation of nonhumans has drawn attention to the wider role that nonhumans play in the life worlds of children. In respect to this, the argument this thesis advances is that nonhumans,in their diverse forms, are functionally important in holding children's social relations in place. Drawn from ethnographic fieldwork with children, this thesis argues that children's agency, power and social relations, take their form and are an outcome of the heterogeneous associations that take place between humans and `things'

Researching the Powerful: A Call for the Reconstruction of Research Ethics

This article analyses the contradictions that arise when the widely accepted ethical principles we use as social researchers are applied in the context of researching the powerful. It does so in order to encourage a debate about how we might reconstruct a workable ethical framework in the context of ‘studying up’. This article draws on prolonged debates on the relevance and appropriateness of ethical codes, exploring how the concepts and the guidelines that codify them might be reframed. The people thus analyses the dominant ethical principles adopted in professional codes of conduct, foregrounding a twin obsession with professional (the social scientist) and institutional (the university) autonomy that hampers the development of a research ethics that meaningfully contributes to enhancing the public or common interest. Instead, we argue for a reconstruction of social science research ethics based on a collectivist understanding of the ‘public interest’ that is not exclusively defined for and by the academy but connects to all groups interested in knowing about the closed-off worlds of the powerful. </jats:p

Transforming teacher-family relationships: Shifting roles and perceptions of home visits through the Funds of Knowledge approach

Education has embraced the idea of an ‘asset approach’ to working with families and children, creating a focus on developing collaborative relationships with families by building on what they bring to the table. In this paper we explore what happened when early childhood teachers entered homes to learn from families and identify their Funds of Knowledge. The findings show how issues of power and perception surfaced when teachers attempted to shift their role from that of teacher to learner. In analyzing teachers’ experience before, during, and after ethnographic home visits we saw their general desire to adopt an asset-based mentality. However, the hegemonic structure of schooling, previous experiences, and traditional teachers’ roles shaped their experience with the Funds of Knowledge framework. We end by discussing the implications for teachers and teacher educators who are interested in using home visits to develop an asset approach to their work with families

Mid-term assessment of the ACACIA program of IDRC, 1997-2000

‘Acacia’ has invested $3.7 million in community telecentre activities, representing the most important area of program concentration. This review looks at outcomes of Acacia's projects; assesses how far the program is integrated; mechanisms which are in place to support integration and synthesis; looks at shared vision and understanding of Acacia's purpose and objectives among the National Acacia Advisory Committees, project leaders, and within Acacia and IDRC. It reviews whether projects are demand- or supply-driven, and which recipients are traditional IDRC partners

Landscape Analysis of Donor Trends in International Development

Looks at donor organizations -- multilateral organizations, bilateral donors, foundations and others -- and the different capacity-building tools that they use, and the assumptions that underlie their capacity-building strategies

The power of improvisational teaching

In this study we examine how improvisation can facilitate understanding how teachers respond to children\u27s multiple resources, interests, experiences, and skills in early childhood programs. Improvisation is conceptualized as a responsive, partnered activity through which teachers and children generate meaning and knowledge together. In our analysis we show improvisation is taken up differently in two classrooms and how it variably provides opportunities for learning. Two cases from a professional development program designed to support culturally and developmentally appropriate early mathematics are used to demonstrate the possibilities improvisation creates in era of increasing standardization of curriculum

Assessing community telecentres : guidelines for researchers

French version available in IDRC Digital Library: Évaluation des télécentres communautaires : un guide à l'intention des chercheur

Data compression for the microgravity experiments

Researchers present the environment and conditions under which data compression is to be performed for the microgravity experiment. Also presented are some coding techniques that would be useful for coding in this environment. It should be emphasized that researchers are currently at the beginning of this program and the toolkit mentioned is far from complete