5,452 research outputs found
The management of volunteers
V olunteers can and should be an important part of every nonprofit organization.
This is not only to save money though it can do that but because
it is a right of people to have an active share in those institutions which
are supported by their tax or philanthropic dollars. The volunteer portion
of our society is undergoing some dramatic changes today which offer new
challenges and many new opportunities to all organizations which are alert
to what is happening. I don't know a great deal about the detailed operations
of libraries (although I worked in one at one time) , but the basic principles
of volunteer participation and management, I am sure, apply to libraries
as they do to hospitals, school systems, and social welfare agencies.
To understand these changes, we must look at what is happening to
people today which has an effect on volunteering.published or submitted for publicatio
Assessing the effects of abstract attributes and brand familiarity in conjoint choice experiments
The paper considers a (static) portfolio system that satisfies adding-up contraints and the gross substitution theorem. The paper shows the relationship of the two conditions to the weak dominant diagonal property of the matrix of interest rate elasticities. This enables to investigate the impact of simultaneous changes in interest rates on the asset demands.
Clans, Cliques, and Captured States: Rethinking 'Transition' in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union
Informal social networks, Corruption, Social capital, Economies in transition
Mixed Tree and Spatial Representation of Dissimilarity Judgments
Whereas previous research has shown that either tree or spatial representations of dissimilarity judgments may be appropriate, focussing on the comparative fit at the aggregate level, we investigate whether there is heterogeneity among subjects in the extent to which their dissimilarity judgments are better represented by ultrametric tree or spatial multidimensional scaling models. We develop a mixture model for the analysis of dissimilarity data, that is formulated in a stochastic context, and entails a representation and a measurement model component. The latter involves distributional assumptions on the measurement error, and enables estimation by maximum likelihood. The representation component allows dissimilarity judgments to be represented either by a tree structure or by a spatial configuration, or a mixture of both. In order to investigate the appropriateness of tree versus spatial representations, the model is applied to twenty empirical data sets. We compare the fit of our model with that of aggregate tree and spatial models, as well as with mixtures of pure trees and mixtures of pure spaces, respectively. We formulate some empirical generalizations on the relative importance of tree versus spatial structures in representing dissimilarity judgments at the individual level.Multidimensional scaling;tree models;mixture models;dissimilarity judgments
The neck of Barosaurus was not only longer but also wider than those of Diplodocus and other diplodocines
Caudal pneumaticity and pneumatic hiatuses in the sauropod dinosaurs Giraffatitan and Apatosaurus
Skeletal pneumaticity is found in the presacral vertebrae of most sauropod dinosaurs, but pneumaticity is much less common in the vertebrae of the tail. We describe previously unrecognized pneumatic fossae in the mid-caudal vertebrae of specimens of Giraffatitan and Apatosaurus. In both taxa, the most distal pneumatic vertebrae are separated from other pneumatic vertebrae by sequences of three to seven apneumatic vertebrae. Caudal pneumaticity is not prominent in most individuals of either of these taxa, and its unpredictable development means that it may be more widespread than previously recognised within Sauropoda and elsewhere in Saurischia. The erratic patterns of caudal pneumatization in Giraffatitan and Apatosaurus, including the pneumatic hiatuses, show that pneumatic diverticula were more broadly distributed in the bodies of the living animals than are their traces in the skeleton. Together with recently published evidence of cryptic diverticula--those that leave few or no skeletal traces--in basal sauropodomorphs and in pterosaurs, this is further evidence that pneumatic diverticula were widespread in ornithodirans, both across phylogeny and throughout anatomy
Why sauropods had long necks; and why giraffes have short necks
The necks of the sauropod dinosaurs reached 15 m in length: six times longer
than that of the world record giraffe and five times longer than those of all
other terrestrial animals. Several anatomical features enabled this extreme
elongation, including: absolutely large body size and quadrupedal stance
providing a stable platform for a long neck; a small, light head that did not
orally process food; cervical vertebrae that were both numerous and
individually elongate; an efficient air-sac-based respiratory system; and
distinctive cervical architecture. Relevant features of sauropod cervical
vertebrae include: pneumatic chambers that enabled the bone to be positioned in
a mechanically efficient way within the envelope; and muscular attachments of
varying importance to the neural spines, epipophyses and cervical ribs. Other
long-necked tetrapods lacked important features of sauropods, preventing the
evolution of longer necks: for example, giraffes have relatively small torsos
and large, heavy heads, share the usual mammalian constraint of only seven
cervical vertebrae, and lack an air-sac system and pneumatic bones. Among
non-sauropods, their saurischian relatives the theropod dinosaurs seem to have
been best placed to evolve long necks, and indeed they probably surpassed those
of giraffes. But 150 million years of evolution did not suffice for them to
exceed a relatively modest 2.5 m.Comment: 39 pages, 11 figures, 3 table
Differentiated Bayesian Conjoint Choice Designs
Previous conjoint choice design construction procedures have produced a single design that is administered to all subjects. This paper proposes to construct a limited set of different designs. The designs are constructed in a Bayesian fashion, taking into account prior uncertainty about the parameter values. A computational procedure is developed that enables fast and easy implementation in practice. Even though the number of such different designs in the optimal set is small, it is demonstrated through a Monte Carlo study that substantial gains in efficiency are achieved over aggregate designs.experiments;consumer preferences;multinomial logit;discrete choice;estimator efficiency
Practitioners\u27 Views of Family Strengths: A Delphi Study
Reported is a research study to assess the opinions of family practitioners on the status of families in Oklahoma. Researchers employed the Delphi method to achieve consensus among key informants in the family practice field about the strengths and weaknesses of Oklahoma families, threats facing families in the state, and means to strengthening family life in Oklahoma. The study yielded qualitative data from the key informants, which the researchers then condensed into response categories to feed back to informants to rate. Family practitioners identified resilience, spirituality, and access to support systems as the greatest strengths, and listed substance abuse, poverty, and generational cycles of dysfunction as the greatest weaknesses of Oklahoma families. Recommendations by these practitioners are given for improvements in addressing family needs
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