![]() |
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
|
Your cart is empty |
||
Showing 1 - 25 of 45 matches in All Departments
Recent events have vividly underscored the societal importance of science, yet the majority of the public are unaware that a large proportion of published scientific results are simply wrong. The Problem with Science is an exploration of the manifestations and causes of this scientific crisis, accompanied by a description of the very promising corrective initiatives largely developed over the past decade to stem the spate of irreproducible results that have come to characterize many of our sciences. More importantly, Dr. R. Barker Bausell has designed it to provide guidance to practicing and aspiring scientists regarding how (a) to change the way in which science has come to be both conducted and reported in order to avoid producing false positive, irreproducible results in their own work and (b) to change those institutional practices (primarily but not exclusively involving the traditional journal publishing process and the academic reward system) that have unwittingly contributed to the present crisis. There is a need for change in the scientific culture itself. A culture which prioritizes conducting research correctly in order to get things right rather than simply getting it published.
Whom a prime minister or president will not shake hands with is still more noticed than with whom they will. Public identity can afford to be ambiguous about friends, but not about enemies. Rodney Barker examines the available accounts of how enmity functions in the cultivation of identity, how essential or avoidable it is, and what the consequences are for the contemporary world.
Too Simple to Fail presents a startling dissection of what is wrong with our educational system and a set of simple, common-sense steps for improving it. This simplicity, Bausell argues, characterizes both the schooling process and the science of education, as witnessed by legions of researchers who have discovered precious little that their grandmothers didn't already know. Yet surprisingly, based upon the author's own studies and a review of the past 30+ years of educational research, these discoveries boil down to a simple but powerful theory: The only way schools can increase learning is to increase the amount of relevant instructional time for all students. Here, Bausell demonstrates that classroom instruction is hopelessly obsolete, as are our current testing practices, both contributing to the widening opportunity gap between socioeconomic and racial groups. But with an understanding of what is wrong with education today comes the revelation that the answer to these deficiencies has been available to us all along in the form of the tutorial model, the most effective instructional paradigm ever developed. Only in recent years has it become feasible to simulate this extremely effective instructional medium as a universal option that, in effect, would allow schools to provide relevant instruction as a rule and not an exception. If implemented, a new world of opportunity and potential will finally be available to children, whose learning is so crucial for our future. The new model presented in this book has implications for identifying not only what is wrong with the way we educate our young, but also why it is wrong, and how the educational process can be made more efficient, effective, and fair.
The technological means now exists for approaching the fundamentallimiting scales of solid state electronics in which a single carrier can, in principle, represent a single bit in an information flow. In this light, the prospect of chemically, or biologically, engineered molccular-scale structures which might support information processing functions has enticed workers for many years. The one common factor in all suggested molecular switches, ranging from the experimentally feasible proton-tunneling structure, to natural systems such as the micro-tubule, is that each proposed structure deals with individual information carrying entities. Whereas this future molecular electronics faces enormous technical challenges, the same Iimit is already appearing in existing semiconducting quantum wires and small tunneling structures, both superconducting and normal meta! devices, in which the motion of a single eh arge through the tunneling barrier can produce a sufficient voltage change to cut-off further tunneling current. We may compare the above situation with today's Si microelectronics, where each bit is encoded as a very !arge number, not necessarily fixed, of electrons within acharge pulse. The associated reservoirs and sinks of charge carriers may be profitably tapped and manipulated to proviele macro-currents which can be readily amplified or curtailed. On the other band, modern semiconductor ULSI has progressed by adopting a linear scaling principle to the down-sizing of individual semiconductor devices.
This book poses and ultimately answers the question of whether the public schools would have been affected if no educational research had been conducted during this century. To answer this question, 12 genres of educational research are evaluated. The genres are accompanied by non-technical, annotated synopses examples of each. A case is made that the science of education as a whole is repetitive, non-cumulative, and is characterized by a circular rather than a linear trajectory.
Biblical Foundations of Spirituality invites readers to "touch a finger to the flame" of the Bible by offering guidance on what, how, and why to read Scripture as a source of spiritual nourishment. The second edition builds on Barbara Bowe's acclaimed book with two new chapters by Laurie Brink and John R. Barker introducing key theological concepts and exploring how biblical spirituality was first experienced and expressed in early Christian communities. The book begins by exploring the many meanings of the word "spirituality," then leads readers through the Bible-from Genesis to Revelation-to develop a biblically based spirituality that can serve as a compass in the challenges of life. Updated to reference the latest scholarship, this book helps make the Bible more accessible and shows how it can be relevant to life today. The book stresses the spiritual dimension of biblical figures' search for God and shows how their insights about God-from successes to dead ends-can reflect our contemporary searching and struggles. Biblical Foundations of Spirituality reveals the spiritual wisdom of the Bible, connecting it with everyday life and spirituality. With a chronology, reflection questions, a glossary, and updated notes and bibliography, as well as two new chapters, the second edition of Biblical Foundations of Spirituality is ideal for classroom, parish, or individual reading.
The human race has altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere, as evidenced by the notorious London smog, photochemical air pollution, acid rain, stratospheric ozone depletion, and elevated greenhouse gas concentrations. The aim of this book series is to present invited summaries of important current research on atmospheric chemistry in a changing world. The summaries range from comprehensive scholarly reviews of major subject areas to more narrowly focused accounts of recent advances by individual research groups. The topics are tied to the important societal issues of air quality, stratospheric ozone depletion, acid deposition, the environmental fate of toxics, and climate change. By gathering these new Advances in one series, we aim to catalyze communication among the many researchers who are studying our changing, contemporary atmosphere.
Every year millions of people flock to complementary and alternative therapists offering a vast array of treatments ranging from acupuncture to biofeedback to urine injections. Millions more purchase over-the-counter alternative medications, such as glucosamine, herbs, and homeopathic remedies. While consumer motivations for turning to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) vary, there is one common element among them all: a belief in their effectiveness. This belief appears to be prevalent among all elements of society, from scientists and physicians to celebrities such as Prince Charles and Oprah Winfrey to clerical workers and senior citizens. Do these therapies actually work? And if they work, how do they work? This book is about the science of complementary and alternative medicine, about how that science is conducted, how it is evaluated, and how it is synthesised to arrive at a conclusion about whether CAM therapies work. It is also about the phenomenon of the placebo effect, and the extent to which it is at play in a given CAM therapy's efficacy. Are CAM therapies in fact nothing more than creatively packaged placebos? In exploring this question, Barker Bausell provides an authoritative and engaging look at the nature of scientific evidence and at the logical, psychological, and physiological impediments that can confound such evidence in the world of CAM research. Ultimately, the book is not so much opposed to CAM as to the shoddy science upon which CAM claims are based, and in fact it closes with a chapter about how one might maximise the placebo effect that Bausell asserts is the main 'ingredient' of most CAM therapies. This book is a learned, witty examination not just of the scientific process as it is applied to CAM but also of the wonders of the human mind/body system.
Published in 1998. This collection of papers, written by leading lawyers and sociologists in the UK, focuses on the relationships between gender and the law in the context of three areas of law: family law, criminal law and equal rights. The papers argue that gender roles within society affect the legal rights of individuals and impact on procedures they go through to enforce their rights or to gain redress for wrongs done to them. By failing to recognize the social and economic situations in which men and women are placed, the law perpetuates inequalities in their positions. Where attempts are made to ensure equality between the sexes, the result is often the exact opposite, because the legal system treats individuals as equals operating in a vacuum, ignoring the argument that equal treatment does not necessarily mean the same treatment, but can mean different treatment to ensure equality of result. Topics include: c Disputes in the area of parental child custody rights c The rights of surviving spouses to their deceased partner's estate c Theories for violent behaviour in women as contrasted with men c Gender bias in criminal sentencing c The role of European law in promoting sex equality in the work place c Pornography and free speech c Homosexuality as a civil right of citizenship
Published in 1998. This collection of papers, written by leading lawyers and sociologists in the UK, focuses on the relationships between gender and the law in the context of three areas of law: family law, criminal law and equal rights. The papers argue that gender roles within society affect the legal rights of individuals and impact on procedures they go through to enforce their rights or to gain redress for wrongs done to them. By failing to recognize the social and economic situations in which men and women are placed, the law perpetuates inequalities in their positions. Where attempts are made to ensure equality between the sexes, the result is often the exact opposite, because the legal system treats individuals as equals operating in a vacuum, ignoring the argument that equal treatment does not necessarily mean the same treatment, but can mean different treatment to ensure equality of result. Topics include: c Disputes in the area of parental child custody rights c The rights of surviving spouses to their deceased partner's estate c Theories for violent behaviour in women as contrasted with men c Gender bias in criminal sentencing c The role of European law in promoting sex equality in the work place c Pornography and free speech c Homosexuality as a civil right of citizenship
Bausell provides a restrictive but defensible view of the purpose of educational research which is to produce instructional, curricular, or assessment products rather than seldom read and soon forgotten academic papers.This book poses and answers two questions: (a) whether it is possible for the science of education to develop into a discipline that could constructively impact the education of students and, if so (b) what type of research would be required for this transformation. Three genres of research were identified that possess the potential for impacting school instruction if the end result of this work is an instructional product capable of increasing learning by increased access to instruction or engagement therewith. Finally, specific suggestions are tendered for creating the infrastructure needed to realize this unique vision of what the science of education should be.
A new playbook for effective crisis management in higher education. Unlike other industries, in higher education an institution's most important asset is its reputation. Yet as fundamental as it is, many leaders continue to view managing reputation as dishonest and counterproductive, a suspect process that undermines the very idea of reputation as an organic outcome of reality. When leadership credibility is on the line, though, and an institution's reputation is facing potentially irreparable damage, the concept of reputational risk moves from being nebulous to all too tangible. In Preventing Crises at Your University, Simon Barker demonstrates how critical it is for colleges and universities to align strategy and values with decision-making during times of crisis. Arguing that leaders must stop considering the discussion of reputational risk as unseemly, he demonstrates that this discussion is in fact a strategic imperative for every leader. Significant reputational damage, Barker asserts, is not the inevitable outcome of a crisis but of a poor response. Defining a new crisis leadership playbook to deal with self-inflicted crises, he also * explains what typically goes wrong in a crisis; * describes how to prevent crises from escalating; * demonstrates how a stakeholder-centric model of communications can help mitigate reputational damage; and * introduces a number of original concepts, including a Reputational Risk Management Framework, a Reputational Risk Maturity Model, and a Culture and Capability matrix. Moving beyond the theoretical by presenting case studies of real crises involving sexual assault, freedom of speech, student protests, faculty misconduct, and a broad range of financial, social, and ethical issues, the book highlights and underscore key concepts around effective management of reputational risk. Ultimately, Preventing Crises at Your University serves as a wake-up call for all higher education leaders and board members.
Full indexes by topic, keyword and individual work\author form a complete subject-index, based on the indexes in source bibliographies. This is a complete bibliography of Arthurian literature to 1978, the result of five years' work by Professor Cedric Pickford and Dr Rex Last of the University of Hull. It consists of a complete alphabetical author-listing, with key numbers for each item, of all critical material recorded in the standard Arthurian bibliographies (Bruce, Modern Languages Quarterly, BBSIA and various other minor lists) with full indexes by topic, keyword and individual work, /author. The total is over 10,000 main entries, with all recorded reviews listed after each entry. Where summaries exist in BBSIA, this is indicated in the main entries. The computer programs have been specially devised and written for this bibliography by Dr Last, and programming and editing of the material has taken more than two years. Updating volumes are planned to appear at five-year intervals
This series presents authoritative invited summaries of research on atmospheric chemistry in a changing world. These range from comprehensive reviews of major subject areas to focused accounts by individual research groups. The topics may include laboratory studies, field measurements, in situ monitoring and remote sensing, studies of composition, chemical modeling, theories of atmospheric chemistry and climate, feedback mechanisms, emissions and deposition, biogeochemical cycles, and the links between atmospheric chemistry and the climate system at large.Volume 2 comprises chapters describing research on multiphase chemistry affecting air quality in China, on multiphase chemistry of organic compounds leading to secondary organic aerosol formation, on biogeochemical cycles involving ammonia, on oxidation of aromatic compounds, on reactions of Criegee intermediates (important in oxidation of alkenes), and on laboratory and field measurements of isotopic fractionation in the atmosphere.
The technological means now exists for approaching the fundamentallimiting scales of solid state electronics in which a single carrier can, in principle, represent a single bit in an information flow. In this light, the prospect of chemically, or biologically, engineered molccular-scale structures which might support information processing functions has enticed workers for many years. The one common factor in all suggested molecular switches, ranging from the experimentally feasible proton-tunneling structure, to natural systems such as the micro-tubule, is that each proposed structure deals with individual information carrying entities. Whereas this future molecular electronics faces enormous technical challenges, the same Iimit is already appearing in existing semiconducting quantum wires and small tunneling structures, both superconducting and normal meta! devices, in which the motion of a single eh arge through the tunneling barrier can produce a sufficient voltage change to cut-off further tunneling current. We may compare the above situation with today's Si microelectronics, where each bit is encoded as a very !arge number, not necessarily fixed, of electrons within acharge pulse. The associated reservoirs and sinks of charge carriers may be profitably tapped and manipulated to proviele macro-currents which can be readily amplified or curtailed. On the other band, modern semiconductor ULSI has progressed by adopting a linear scaling principle to the down-sizing of individual semiconductor devices.
Designing and conducting experiments involving human participants requires a skillset different from that needed for statistically analyzing the resulting data. The Design and Conduct of Meaningful Experiments Involving Human Participants combines an introduction to scientific culture and ethical mores with specific experimental design and procedural content. Author R. Barker Bausell assumes no statistical background on the part of the reader, resulting in a highly accessible text. Clear instructions are provided on topics ranging from the selection of a societally important outcome variable to potentially efficacious interventions to the conduct of the experiment itself. Early chapters introduce the concept of experimental design in an intuitive manner involving both hypothetical and real-life examples of how people make causal inferences. The fundamentals of formal experimentation, randomization, and the use of control groups are introduced in the same manner, followed by the presentation and explanation of common (and later, more advanced) designs. Replete with synopses of examples from the journal literature and supplemented by 25 experimental principles, this book is designed to serve as an interdisciplinary supplementary text for research-methods courses in the educational, psychological, behavioral, social, and health sciences. It also serves as an excellent primary text for methods seminar courses.
Since the 1980s, the language used around market-based government has muddied its meaning and polarized its proponents and critics, making the topic politicized and controversial. Competition, Choice, and Incentives in Government Programs hopes to reframe competing views of market-based government so it is seen not as an ideology but rather as a fact-based set of approaches for managing government services and programs more efficiently and effectively. Published in cooperation with IBM.
Power analysis is an essential tool for determining whether a statistically significant result can be expected in a scientific experiment prior to the experiment being performed. This comprehensive, accessible book provides practicing researchers with step-by-step instructions for conducting power/sample size analyses, assuming only basic prior knowledge of summary statistics and normal distribution. It contains a unified approach to statistical power analysis, with numerous easy-to-use tables that make further calculations or statistical expertise unnecessary.
Hailed in the New York Times as "entertaining and immensely educational," Snake Oil Science is not only a brilliant critique of alternative medicine, but also a first-rate introduction to interpreting scientific research of any sort. The book's ultimate goal is to illustrate how the placebo effect conspires to make medical therapies appear to be effective--not just to consumers, but to therapists and poorly trained scientists as well. Bausell explores this remarkable phenomenon and explains why research on any therapy that does not factor in the placebo effect (and other placebo-like effects) will inevitably produce false results. Moreover, as the author shows in an impressive survey of research from high-quality scientific journals, studies employing credible placebo controls do not indicate positive effects for alternative therapies beyond those attributable to random chance. Readers will come away from this book with a healthy skepticism of claims about the latest "miracle cure," be it St. John's Wort for depression or acupuncture for chronic pain.
Power analysis is an essential tool for determining whether a statistically significant result can be expected in a scientific experiment prior to the experiment being performed. Many funding agencies and institutional review boards now require power analyses to be carried out before they will approve experiments, particularly where they involve the use of human subjects. This comprehensive, yet accessible, book provides practising researchers with step-by-step instructions for conducting power/sample size analyses, assuming only basic prior knowledge of summary statistics and the normal distribution. It contains a unified approach to statistical power analysis, with numerous easy-to-use tables to guide the reader without the need for further calculations or statistical expertise. This will be an indispensable text for researchers and graduates in the medical and biological sciences needing to apply power analysis in the design of their experiments.
|
You may like...
Effective Use of Social Media in Public…
Kavita Batra, Manoj Sharma
Paperback
R2,941
Discovery Miles 29 410
Artificial Intelligence in Capsule…
Miguel Mascarenhas, Helder Cardoso, …
Paperback
R3,443
Discovery Miles 34 430
Effect of High-Pressure Technologies on…
Bruno Ricardo de Castro Leite Junior, Alline Artigiani Lima Tribst
Paperback
R3,447
Discovery Miles 34 470
|