Taste Heterogeneity, IIA, and the Similarity Critique

The purpose of this paper is to show that allowing for taste heterogeneity does not address the similarity critique of discrete-choice models. Although IIA may technically be broken in aggregate, the mixed logit model allows neither a given individual nor the population as a whole to behave with perfect substitution when facing perfect substitutes. Thus, the mixed logit model implies that individuals behave inconsistently across choice sets. Estimating the mixed logit on data in which individuals do behave consistently can result in biased parameter estimates, with the individuals' tastes for desirable attributes being systemically undervalued.Heterogeneity, Mixed Logit, Independence from Irrelevant Alternatives, IIA, Similarity Critique, Ecological Fallacy

Harnessing the ancestors: mutuality, uncertainty and ritual practice in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

In the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, chronic economic uncertainty has seen social relations stretched to breaking point. Informants speak of a 'war between men and women'. While grinding poverty, death in the shape of the 'axe' (HIV/AIDS) and suspicion stalk the land, and the project of building the umzi (homestead) falters, hope for the future and with it, trust between people, leaches away. One response to such uncertainty is a turn to ritual. Through a nearly relentless schedule of ritual activity which invokes the ancestors and the Christian deity in various forms, Xhosa people attempt to dam up trust, secure ongoing investment in the rural homestead and sustain ties of reciprocity both among rural people and between them and their urban kin. It is also through the staging of these rituals that women, acting together and in support of each other, are increasingly assertive – often in the face of a violent, rearguard opposition from men - in their efforts to exercise agency over the differentiated, fragmented and fragile social and economic relationships within their homesteads and across their villages

The contested space that local knowledge occupies: understanding the veterinary knowledges and practices of livestock farmers in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

The chapter examines the local knowledge system implicated in the production and husbanding of livestock, and specifically in relation to the management of tick-borne diseases of cattle in rural South Africa. It critically explores the nature of both local and scientific knowledges and their complex interplay. It considers the implications of this for veterinary programmes more widely

Development Studies Working Paper, no. 60

In 1978, a Rev. John Galela, then a minister at St.Mark's, launched a project which included pig-farming and the growing of vegetables for human consumption and to feed the pigs. With a grant from the South African Council of Churches (SACC), a pump was installed on the banks of the river and vegetables were grown under irrigation on 2,4 ha of land. This pilot project did not affect the leasing arrangements mentioned above. The project apparently enjoyed the approval and support of the local community, until the chief, Chief M.D. Feketha (an influential member of the Ciskeian cabinet at this time), came to hear of it and forbade the people of Newlands, who fall under his "tribal" jurisdiction, to participate in the project.Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER

Harnessing the ancestors: uncertainty and ritual practice in the Eastern Cape

In this chapter, I explore how rural and urban-based women and men – through their selective engagement with specific cultural norms – contest the spaces opened up by their shared desire to fund, prepare for and perform rituals. I demonstrate how people across Ngqushwa Municipality rhetorically and practically link ritual to the central cultural tropes that stress mutual support and reciprocity at two levels: (1) intrahomestead through ukwakh’umzi (to build the home) and (2) inter-homestead through masincedisane (let us help each other). I suggest that their activities and interactions during the consumption of traditional beer, brandy and the meat of ritually slaughtered animals are geared towards performing and contesting these two cultural scripts

Understanding the resurgence of traditional authorities in post-apartheid South Africa

Drawing their power not from the ballot box but from a supposedly ancient wellspring of power, hereditary traditional authorities in postcolonial Africa have frequently posed challenges for incoming ‘democratic’ governments. The situation in post-apartheid South Africa is no different. However contentious their role under the colonial and apartheid systems of government was, the Constitution of the new South Africa (1996) recognised traditional authorities and afforded them opportunities for a political resurgence. This paper reviews the changing status of traditional authorities in the Eastern Cape Province over the twenty years since 1994. It explores the resurgence of the chiefs in relation to the consolidation of both democratic processes and of emergent, neo-patrimonial modes of government. It briefly considers the role of traditional authorities in three key and closely related spheres, namely the institution of the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders, the question of how gender is handled by and within traditional institutions, and the continuing challenges of land administration and development in rural areas. In all these spheres, and in the face of real opposition, the voice and influence traditional authorities have emerged stronger than ever. We conclude by suggesting that as they are drawn deeper into governance and have to play a formal role in addressing the myriad institutional challenges, new questions will and should be asked about the status and influence of traditional authorities, and their substantive contribution to democracy in South Africa

A THEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF MOOCS - 2008 TO 2018

From around 2008, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) promised a new way in which universities could better position themselves for future disruptions to the Higher Education (HE) sector. Anyone with an internet connection was now able to access vast numbers of courses, without having to pay expensive tuition fees. Now, ten years later, MOOCs as a disruptive technology, have been tried and tested. In this article, a thematic literature review is conducted to evaluate the implementation of MOOCs. The main findings are that HE institutions offering MOOCs often rate their successes or challenges in terms of the monetary returns, course uptake and completion rates, the authentication of students and the formal accreditation of courses. Other important factors include the nature and role of student engagement, the sustainability of MOOCs and the urgent need for course materials to be available and accessible. While this study focuses on the UK HE experience, future research will need to examine the usefulness of MOOCs in different country and learning contexts

Shape-shifting nature in a congested landscape in Guinea-Bissau

Studying people and wild animals based only on their strict and present-day interactions is not enough to develop a comprehensive understanding of social constructions of animal species. People encounter other species (and other people) from within particular historical, social, ecological and economic settings. In 13 months of fieldwork, I adopted a multi-disciplinary perspective, using qualitative ethnographic tools alongside quantitative ecological and interviewing approaches to seek for an in-depth understanding that provides access to multiple views about nature and nature conservation. In southern Guinea-Bissau, space and its history, magic and religion, changes in the landscape and environment, local livelihoods and trade, as well as local relations of power for accessing resources, all shape the social and cosmological terrain of the interactions between people and other living and non-living things. On the one hand, magical territories, the role animal figures play in witchcraft, local knowledge and its management, all portray nature as part of society, both as an element and an actor in society. On the other hand, when nature conservation initiatives based on fines and fences are emphasised, the social appropriation of nature envisions people and nature as separate, even antagonistic entities that negotiate each other’s existence. Land is the most important component of livelihoods as it is tightly connected to labour allocation and knowledge exchange. Therefore, by constraining people’s access to land, nature conservation policies are largely seen as affecting local people’s ability to secure their livelihoods. Consequently, constraints and benefits bestowed by conservation are negotiated locally through complex mechanisms of storytelling, witchcraft, meetings, and protests. These all play a role in challenging standing agreements, as well as expressing social tension and marking out morality. The chimpanzee, the flagship species of Cantanhez National Park, appears as a multi-faceted character capable of shape-shifting into various forms and signifiers that challenge existing power asymmetries, including those inherent within local nature conservation

Hydrogeologic implications of a buried linear morphological feature in Essex County, Ontario.

The feature investigated in this study is located in Rochester Township east of Woodslee, and trends northwest-southeast. The purpose of this study is to verify the young groundwater noted by Cmokrak (1991), verify the presence of the feature noted by Morris (1989), and determine the hydrogeologic effect of this buried feature on groundwater recharge to the freshwater aquifer. Another objective is to determine if the feature is a recharge area. Water samples were analyzed for oxygen-18, tritium, and major ions. Soil samples were analyzed for grain size distribution, lithology, and stratigraphy. Pore water analyzed for oxygen-18. Hydraulic heads, and hydraulic conductivities were determined at the wells to determine groundwater velocities along and perpendicular to the feature. The young water is confirmed by the isotope study. Stratigraphy supports the theory that the feature is an esker. The tritium data indicates rapid infiltration over the feature. Groundwater flow along the feature from south to north is demonstrated by hydraulic heads, isotopic data, and chemical data. Groundwater flow away from the feature is also indicated by the hydraulic heads. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)Dept. of Geology and Geological Engineering. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1991 .A458. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 31-01, page: 0249. Supervisor: M. G. Sklash. Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1991