House Price Prediction: Hedonic Price Model vs. Artificial Neural Network

The objective of this paper is to empirically compare the predictive power of the hedonic model with an artificial neural network model on house price prediction. A sample of 200 houses in Christchurch, New Zealand is randomly selected from the Harcourt website. Factors including house size, house age, house type, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, number of garages, amenities around the house and geographical location are considered. Empirical results support the potential of artificial neural network on house price prediction, although previous studies have commented on its black box nature and achieved different conclusions.Hedonic Model, Artificial Neural Network (ANN), House Price., Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, C53, L74,

Factors Affecting Pure Orange Juice Purchasing Decisions of Consumers

This paper analyzes factors affecting pure orange juice purchasing decisions of consumers in Bangkok Metropolitan area. The data used in this research were from interviewing 400 consumers in Bangkok Metropolitan area who used to buy pure orange juice. The data were collected during September to October 2008. The descriptive analysis techniques and Conjoint Analysis were applied. The results showed that certificate of standard and quality assurance was the most important factor which influences pure orange juice purchasing decisions of consumers followed by nutrition and price factors, respectively. Types of oranges and packaging were relatively insignificant factors affecting the consumer’s decisions.Orange Juice, Conjoint Analysis, Consumers’ Preferences

Spectrum clients visit Bangladesh

The Clean Clothes Campaign’s fifth update regarding the Spectrum factory collapse summarizes the results of visit to Bangladesh by various companies, trade unions, and labor organizations

Why People Visit Allopathic Doctors

South Asia in general, and India specifically, are regions with immense diversity in culture and language. Because of this conversations about medicine between doctors and patients takes different forms from one region to another. This is especially true when we look at urban, suburban and rural doctor-patient interactions. Added to these is the element of gender. Owing to the somewhat conservative worldview of gender interactions, even doctor-patients conversations might become colored by it. The clips in this section show variations of patterns of conversation in the practice of conventional medicine.Asian StudiesHindi Urdu FlagshipSouth Asia Institut

CHA visit to the War Museum

During CHA council meetings last November of 2006 CHA council members were given a first-rate tour of the recently completed Canadian War Museum, located on the LeBreton Flats, a plain of wetland and former industrial land adjascent to networks of mill races and hydro dams on the right bank of the Ottawa River. The tour was given by CWM World War. One curator and historian Tim Cook. The tour allowed visitors to take in the remarkable breadth, chronological and thematic, of the CWM permanent exhibition, from the pre-contact(native) ways of fighting to the Seven Years War and all the way up to and well into the 20th century marked by two World Wars, the Korean War etc. Dr. Cook shared with visitors the challenges of preparing a display — what works, what does not work

Visit to Pakistani Women's Madrasas: April 2007

I visited five women's madrasas, in addition to meeting separately with other male madrasa leaders and briefly sitting in on Hafiz Khalil and Shabbir Ahmed's own 10-day workshop. The report documents the experiences of the author touring women's madrasas in Pakistan