Segmenting Publics

This research synthesis was commissioned by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to examine audience segmentation methods and tools in the area of public engagement. It provides resources for assessing the ways in which segmentation tools might be used to enhance the various activities through which models of public engagement in higher education are implemented. Understanding the opinions, values, and motivations of members of the public is a crucial feature of successful engagement. Segmentation methods can offer potential resources to help understand the complex set of interests and attitudes that the public have towards higher education. Key findings: There exist a number of existing segmentations which address many of the areas of activity found in Universities and HEIs. These include segmentations which inform strategic planning of communications; segmentations which inform the design of collaborative engagement activities by museums, galleries, and libraries; and segmentations that are used to identify under-represented users and consumers. Segmentation is, on its own, only a tool, used in different ways in different contexts. The broader strategic rationale shaping the application and design of segmentation methods is a crucial factor in determining the utility of segmentation tools. Four issues emerged of particular importance: 1. Segmentation exercises are costly and technically complex. Undertaking segmentations therefore requires significant commitment of financial and professional resources by HEIs; the appropriate interpretation, analysis, and application of segmentation exercises also require high levels of professional capacity and expertise 2. Undertaking a segmentation exercise has implications for the internal organisational operations of HEIs, not only for how they engage with external publics and stakeholders 3. Segmentation tools are adopted to inform interventions of various sorts, and superficially to differentiate and sometime discriminate between how groups of people are addressed and engaged. 4. For HEIs, the ethical issues and reputational risks which have been identified in this Research Synthesis as endemic to the application of segmentation methods for public purposes are particularly relevant

Do private equity buyouts represent value for target shareholders? Premiums in the boom of the early 2000s

This study compares the takeover premiums for 55 private equity buyouts with 59 takeovers involving a public acquirer, from the US takeover market between 2004 and 2007. This investigation takes place amidst accusations of anti-competitive behavior against some of the most active private equity groups in the US. While controlling for several other factors that might affect the takeover premium, we find weak evidence that bid premiums are significantly lower for target firms undergoing a private equity takeover than those subject to takeovers by public companies. We also demonstrate that abnormal returns earned by targets around takeover announcements can be a biased and misleading proxy for takeover premium.

Nonlinear Attitude Filtering: A Comparison Study

This paper contains a concise comparison of a number of nonlinear attitude filtering methods that have attracted attention in the robotics and aviation literature. With the help of previously published surveys and comparison studies, the vast literature on the subject is narrowed down to a small pool of competitive attitude filters. Amongst these filters is a second-order optimal minimum-energy filter recently proposed by the authors. Easily comparable discretized unit quaternion implementations of the selected filters are provided. We conduct a simulation study and compare the transient behaviour and asymptotic convergence of these filters in two scenarios with different initialization and measurement errors inspired by applications in unmanned aerial robotics and space flight. The second-order optimal minimum-energy filter is shown to have the best performance of all filters, including the industry standard multiplicative extended Kalman filter (MEKF)

Accidental immersion and unintentional drowning of rural children: An investigation for the Child Accident Prevention Foundation of New Zealand

In New Zealand drowning amongst preschoolers is one of the leading causes of death. The monetary and emotional costs to society are devastating and cannot be underestimated . The need to reduce the high number of deaths and the monetary and emotional costs prompted this research. This research presents the possibility for proactive measures to be taken in this area. In addition, it provides insightful knowledge for parents and educators alike. Ultimately, it seeks to reduce the number of child drownings that occur in the rural environment