A Measure for Measures

A Measure for Measures PDF Author: R Pawson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113497289X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 499

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Book Description
First Published in 2004. This challenging and pioneering work aims to provide a measure (a set of standards) for measures (empirical data) in sociological research. It argues that the critique of positivism has resulted in a methodological impasse. Criticism has pulled the rug from under positivist method but left nothing in its place. In a devastating and systematic critique the author rejects phenomenological and relativist objections to sociological measurement. A wholly new model for the empirical substantiation of sociological theory is developed based on an examination of scientific measurement techniques and a reading of realist philosophical principles. Unlike many books heralding a new direction in sociology, A MEASURE FOR MEASURES goes beyond meta-theory, providing detailed examples to show how the 'new realism' can provide a viable empirical method.

A Measure for Measures

A Measure for Measures PDF Author: R Pawson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113497289X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 499

Get Book Here

Book Description
First Published in 2004. This challenging and pioneering work aims to provide a measure (a set of standards) for measures (empirical data) in sociological research. It argues that the critique of positivism has resulted in a methodological impasse. Criticism has pulled the rug from under positivist method but left nothing in its place. In a devastating and systematic critique the author rejects phenomenological and relativist objections to sociological measurement. A wholly new model for the empirical substantiation of sociological theory is developed based on an examination of scientific measurement techniques and a reading of realist philosophical principles. Unlike many books heralding a new direction in sociology, A MEASURE FOR MEASURES goes beyond meta-theory, providing detailed examples to show how the 'new realism' can provide a viable empirical method.

Encyclopedia of Distances

Encyclopedia of Distances PDF Author: Michel Marie Deza
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3662443422
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 731

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Book Description
This updated and revised third edition of the leading reference volume on distance metrics includes new items from very active research areas in the use of distances and metrics such as geometry, graph theory, probability theory and analysis. Among the new topics included are, for example, polyhedral metric space, nearness matrix problems, distances between belief assignments, distance-related animal settings, diamond-cutting distances, natural units of length, Heidegger’s de-severance distance, and brain distances. The publication of this volume coincides with intensifying research efforts into metric spaces and especially distance design for applications. Accurate metrics have become a crucial goal in computational biology, image analysis, speech recognition and information retrieval. Leaving aside the practical questions that arise during the selection of a ‘good’ distance function, this work focuses on providing the research community with an invaluable comprehensive listing of the main available distances. As well as providing standalone introductions and definitions, the encyclopedia facilitates swift cross-referencing with easily navigable bold-faced textual links to core entries. In addition to distances themselves, the authors have collated numerous fascinating curiosities in their Who’s Who of metrics, including distance-related notions and paradigms that enable applied mathematicians in other sectors to deploy research tools that non-specialists justly view as arcane. In expanding access to these techniques, and in many cases enriching the context of distances themselves, this peerless volume is certain to stimulate fresh research.

The Covid Consensus

The Covid Consensus PDF Author: Toby Green
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 1787386155
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 170

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Book Description
Since the onset of the pandemic, progressive opinion has been clear that hard lockdowns are the best way to preserve life, while only irresponsible and destructive conservatives like Trump and Bolsonaro oppose them. But why should liberals favor lockdowns, when all the social science research shows that those who suffer most are the economically disadvantaged, without access to good internet or jobs that can be done remotely; that the young will pay the price of the pandemic in future taxes, job prospects, and erosion of public services, when they are already disadvantaged in comparison in terms of pension prospects, paying university fees, and state benefits; and that Covid's impact on the Global South is catastrophic, with the UN predicting potentially tens of millions of deaths from hunger and declaring that decades of work in health and education is being reversed. Toby Green analyses the contradictions emerging through this response as part of a broader crisis in Western thought, where conservative thought is also riven by contradictions, with lockdown policies creating just the sort of big state that it abhors. These contradictions mirror underlying irreconcilable beliefs in society that are now bursting into the open, with devastating consequences for the global poor.

The Practice of Enterprise Modeling

The Practice of Enterprise Modeling PDF Author: Paul Johannesson
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642248489
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 293

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Book Description
This volume constitutes the proceedings of the 4th IFIP WG 8.1 Working Conference on the Practice of Enterprise Modeling, held in Oslo, Norway, during November 2-3, 2011. The conference series is a dedicated forum where the use of enterprise modeling (EM) in practice is addressed by bringing together researchers, users, and practitioners in order to develop a better understanding of the practice of EM, to contribute to improved industrial EM applications, and to share knowledge and experiences. The 18 papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 38 submissions. Authored by both researchers and practitioners, they reflect the fact that EM encompasses human, organizational issues as well as technical aspects related to the development of information systems. The papers are organized in five thematic sessions on process modeling, business modeling, enterprise architecture, EM, and model-driven development. In addition, two keynotes on EM in an agile world and on intra- and inter-organizational process mining complete the volume.

Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics

Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics PDF Author: Neil J. Salkind
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1412916119
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 1417

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Book Description
Publisher Description

Uncertainty-Based Information

Uncertainty-Based Information PDF Author: George Klir
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9783790812428
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
Information is precious. It reduces our uncertainty in making decisions. Knowledge about the outcome of an uncertain event gives the possessor an advantage. It changes the course of lives, nations, and history itself. Information is the food of Maxwell's demon. His power comes from know ing which particles are hot and which particles are cold. His existence was paradoxical to classical physics and only the realization that information too was a source of power led to his taming. Information has recently become a commodity, traded and sold like or ange juice or hog bellies. Colleges give degrees in information science and information management. Technology of the computer age has provided access to information in overwhelming quantity. Information has become something worth studying in its own right. The purpose of this volume is to introduce key developments and results in the area of generalized information theory, a theory that deals with uncertainty-based information within mathematical frameworks that are broader than classical set theory and probability theory. The volume is organized as follows.

Society's Choices

Society's Choices PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309051320
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 560

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Book Description
Breakthroughs in biomedicine often lead to new life-giving treatments but may also raise troubling, even life-and-death, quandaries. Society's Choices discusses ways for people to handle today's bioethics issues in the context of America's unique history and cultureâ€"and from the perspectives of various interest groups. The book explores how Americans have grappled with specific aspects of bioethics through commission deliberations, programs by organizations, and other mechanisms and identifies criteria for evaluating the outcomes of these efforts. The committee offers recommendations on the role of government and professional societies, the function of commissions and institutional review boards, and bioethics in health professional education and research. The volume includes a series of 12 superb background papers on public moral discourse, mechanisms for handling social and ethical dilemmas, and other specific areas of controversy by well-known experts Ronald Bayer, Martin Benjamin, Dan W. Brock, Baruch A. Brody, H. Alta Charo, Lawrence Gostin, Bradford H. Gray, Kathi E. Hanna, Elizabeth Heitman, Thomas Nagel, Steven Shapin, and Charles M. Swezey.

Consensual Processes

Consensual Processes PDF Author: Enrique Herrera-Viedma
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642205321
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 426

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Book Description
The word consensus has been frequently used for centuries, perhaps millenia. People have always deemed it important that decisions having a long lasting impact on groups, countries or even civilizations be arrived at in a consensual manner. Undoubtedly the complexity of modern world in all its social, technological, economic and cultural dimensions has created new environments where consensus is regarded desirable. Consensus typically denotes a state of agreement prevailing in a group of agents, human or software. In the strict sense of the term, consensus means that the agreement be unanimous. Since such a state is often unreachable or even unnecessary, other less demanding consensus-related notions have been introduced. These typically involve some graded, partial or imprecise concepts. The contributions to this volume define and utilize such less demanding - and thus at the same time more general - notions of consensus. However, consensus can also refer to a process whereby the state of agreement is reached. Again this state can be something less stringent than a complete unanimity of all agents regarding all options. The process may involve modifications, resolutions and /or mitigations of the views or inputs of individuals or software agents in order to achieve the state of consensus understood in the more general sense. The consensus reaching processes call for some soft computational approaches, methods and techniques, notably fuzzy and possibilistic ones. These are needed to accommodate the imprecision in the very meaning of some basic concepts utilized in the definition of consensus as a state of agreement and as a process whereby this state is to be reached. The overall aim of this volume is to provide a comprehensive overview and analysis of the issues related to consensus states and consensual processes.

The Cambridge Handbook of Meeting Science

The Cambridge Handbook of Meeting Science PDF Author: Joseph A. Allen
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316368521
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 1085

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Book Description
This first volume to analyze the science of meetings offers a unique perspective on an integral part of contemporary work life. More than just a tool for improving individual and organizational effectiveness and well-being, meetings provide a window into the very essence of organizations and employees' experiences with the organization. The average employee attends at least three meetings per week and managers spend the majority of their time in meetings. Meetings can raise individuals, teams, and organizations to tremendous levels of achievement. However, they can also undermine effectiveness and well-being. The Cambridge Handbook of Meeting Science assembles leading authors in industrial and organizational psychology, management, marketing, organizational behavior, anthropology, sociology, and communication to explore the meeting itself, including pre-meeting activities and post-meeting activities. It provides a comprehensive overview of research in the field and will serve as an invaluable starting point for scholars who seek to understand and improve meetings.

An Introduction to Probability and Statistics

An Introduction to Probability and Statistics PDF Author: Vijay K. Rohatgi
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118799658
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 722

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Book Description
A well-balanced introduction to probability theory and mathematical statistics Featuring updated material, An Introduction to Probability and Statistics, Third Edition remains a solid overview to probability theory and mathematical statistics. Divided intothree parts, the Third Edition begins by presenting the fundamentals and foundationsof probability. The second part addresses statistical inference, and the remainingchapters focus on special topics. An Introduction to Probability and Statistics, Third Edition includes: A new section on regression analysis to include multiple regression, logistic regression, and Poisson regression A reorganized chapter on large sample theory to emphasize the growing role of asymptotic statistics Additional topical coverage on bootstrapping, estimation procedures, and resampling Discussions on invariance, ancillary statistics, conjugate prior distributions, and invariant confidence intervals Over 550 problems and answers to most problems, as well as 350 worked out examples and 200 remarks Numerous figures to further illustrate examples and proofs throughout An Introduction to Probability and Statistics, Third Edition is an ideal reference and resource for scientists and engineers in the fields of statistics, mathematics, physics, industrial management, and engineering. The book is also an excellent text for upper-undergraduate and graduate-level students majoring in probability and statistics.