Explore the vast range of titles available.

\"Evaluation research has been subject to a tremendous boom in recent years advancing to become an important instrument for analysing the effectiveness of government programmes as well as reviewing the performance of and auditing both public and private sector organisations. The purpose of this book is to explore the advances that have taken place in evaluation research and to place these advances in their correct context thus providing a comprehensive and impelling overview of the subject. As well as exploring various concepts, theories and methods used in evaluation, this volume also presents the societal function of evaluation and the social processes associated with performing effective evaluations. By using examples from all over the world the books shows the typical way in which evaluations are processed and how they can be used in a variety of policy fields. It is a must-read for students and scholars with a background in evaluation as well as newcomers to the subject who will find this new contribution to the literature on the subject an invaluable tool\"-- Provided by publisher.

Background Amplicon deep sequencing permits sensitive detection of minority clones and improves discriminatory power for genotyping multi-clone Plasmodium falciparum infections. New amplicon sequencing and data analysis protocols are needed for genotyping in epidemiological studies and drug efficacy trials of P. falciparum . Methods Targeted sequencing of molecular marker csp and novel marker cpmp was conducted in duplicate on mixtures of parasite culture strains and 37 field samples. A protocol allowing to multiplex up to 384 samples in a single sequencing run was applied. Software “HaplotypR” was developed for data analysis. Results Cpmp was highly diverse (H e  = 0.96) in contrast to csp (H e  = 0.57). Minority clones were robustly detected if their frequency was >1%. False haplotype calls owing to sequencing errors were observed below that threshold. Conclusions To reliably detect haplotypes at very low frequencies, experiments are best performed in duplicate and should aim for coverage of >10′000 reads/amplicon. When compared to length polymorphic marker msp2 , highly multiplexed amplicon sequencing displayed greater sensitivity in detecting minority clones.

In this article, we have discussed the basic knowledge to calculate sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value. We have discussed the advantage and limitations of these measures and have provided how we should use these measures in our day-to-day clinical practice. We also have illustrated how to calculate sensitivity and specificity while combining two tests and how to use these results for our patients in day-to-day practice.

In this paper the authors propose a more precise and encompassing definition of case study than is usually found. They support their definition by clarifying that case study is neither a method nor a methodology nor a research design as suggested by others. They use a case study prototype of their own design to propose common properties of case study and demonstrate how these properties support their definition. Next, they present several living myths about case study and refute them in relation to their definition. Finally, they discuss the interplay between the terms case study and unit of analysis to further delineate their definition of case study. The target audiences for this paper include case study researchers, research design and methods instructors, and graduate students interested in case study research.

This book fills a gap in literature on finance and economics of higher education. It covers history, definitions, data sources, and research methods. The book is divided into four parts: history and organization, data and metrics, accountability concepts, and presenting research to policy audiences.

Publishing manuscripts is the only way by which scientists communicate with each other. In recent times, there is an increasing desire to publish manuscripts from the developing world for a variety of reasons. Though, performing a research study is challenging in itself, writing it for publication is the final frontier that can be daunting, especially for the novice. Work that remains unpublished in one form or the other is essentially incomplete or undone. Hence, it is critically important for one to publish one′s findings in a reputed journal. The purpose of this paper is to alleviate the mystique involved in manuscript writing and provide a blueprint where the subheadings given under each of the sections of introduction, methods, results and discussion can be expanded as per the particular study and the manuscript can be constructed in a stepwise manner. We hope that by following this approach, potential researchers and practicing ophthalmologists will develop the skill and aptitude for medical writing, and that the developing world shall do justice to its tremendous intellectual capital by making meaningful contributions to global scientific literature.

This collection draws insights from an interdisciplinary group of scholars who specialize in diverse methods ranging from ethnography, archival research, and oral histories, to quantitative data analysis and experiments used in the social sciences and humanities to reflect on the empirical, methodological, and practical implications of conducting research beyond one's national borders. The goal of this book is to help researchers contemplate existing orientations that dominate current research processes and consider the need for transnational multidisciplinary practices that remain aware of the inequalities which continually inform research practices. With this focus, this collection is also a resourceful initiative that seeks to share experiences as well as extract key ideas and approaches likely to overlap or resonate in different disciplines.

Leading phonologists discuss contemporary work on the topics of metrical theory, feature theory, syllable theory, and the relation among grammatical modules. The essays in this volume address foundational questions in phonology that cut across different schools of thought within the discipline. The theme of modularity runs through them all, however, and these essays demonstrate the benefits of the modular approach to phonology, either investigating interactions among distinct modules or developing specific aspects of representation within a particular module. Although the contributors take divergent views on a range of issues, they agree on the importance of representations and questions of modularity in phonology. Their essays address the status of phonological features, syllable theory, metrical structure, the architecture of the phonological component, and interaction among components of phonology. In the early 1990s the rise of Optimality Theory—which suggested that pure computation would solve the problems of representations and modularity—eclipsed the centrality of these issues for phonology. This book is unique in offering a coherent view of phonology that is not Optimality Theory based. The essays in this book, all by distinguished phonologists, demonstrate that computation and representation are inherently linked; they do not deny Optimality Theory, but attempt to move the field of phonology beyond it.

Violence, democracy and rights are issues that are not fully addressed in research methodology literatures, yet violence is of vital interest in substantive and theoretical debates across the social sciences, education, philosophy, politics and cultural studies. Methodology needs to be informed by, and be relevant to, the debates and practices within and across these perspectives on the worlds of everyday life. Research is fundamentally entwined with the political, the ethical and the legal. When it presumes the neutrality of method and ignores its radical roots of inquiry, it is in danger of being politically co-opted and ethically naïve. Research that reveals what is at stake politically, ethically and legally is typically open to accusations of being partisan and therefore political. It cannot avoid being political in the broadest sense of the word, and consequently the researcher cannot escape – through some mystical notion of being ‘objective’ – the political, ethical and legal consequences of undertaking research. Research is vital to the construction of public spaces for debate, decision making and action. Hence, there is a close relationship between methodological practices, research design and the conditions under which violence, democracy and rights can be addressed. Researching Violence, Democracy and the Rights of People explores what is at stake methodologically (both theoretically and practically) for researchers seeking to expand opportunities for people to become visible upon the public stages of debate, decision making and action, and thus make audible their experiences of wrongs and injustices, express their rights, and engage democratically in processes of change. Drawing on international contributions and contexts, this book introduces readers to the complex realities of real research and the substantive issues that their methodological approaches strive to deal with. It will benefit undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as post-doctoral and experienced researchers across a range of cultural and social science disciplines, as well as educational and sociological researchers. Its aim is to explore and contribute to the development of innovatory approaches to engaging in research that make a difference in the lives of people. Introduction - John and Jill Schostak Part A – Design, Values, Violence and Rights Ch 1 Values, Violence, Rights - Jill and John Schostak Part B Research Accounts Introduction to Part B - John and Jill Schostak Ch 2 Rethinking justice in education and training Jean-Louis Derouet, INRP Ch 3. Between justice and pathologisation: juxtapositions of epistemic and material violence in transnational research around migration and domestic violence. Erica Burman, MMU Ch 4 The scarf unveiled: proximity to the test of law in a French school Ch 5 Social Research and ‘Race’: Developing a critical paradigm, Gurnam Singh Ch 6 Violence, Social Exclusion and Construction of Identities in Early Childhood Education. Concepción Sánchez Blanco, University of A Coruña, Spain METHODOLOGICAL DISCUSSION SECTION ii - resisting identities and boundaries Ch 7 The construction of Violence/non-violence by schools and the media, João Menelau Paraskeva, Universidade do Minho Ch 8 Charlie Why Ya Hideing: The Role of Myth and Emotions in the Lives of Young People Living in a High Crime Area Kaye Haw, University of Nottingham Ch 9 Passionate Places and Fragmented Spaces Cathie Pearce, MMU Ch 10 The Return of the Repressed, Loic Wacquant METHODOLOGICAL DISCUSSION SECTION iii places: visible, invisible and their ‘dis/contents’. Ch 11 Discursive and Material forms of Violence in the US in a post 9/11 Era, Ch 12 . Militarizing Higher Education: Resisting the Pedagogy of Violence, Henry Giroux METHODOLOGICAL DISCUSSION SECTION iv – The language of critical resistance, emancipatory practices and the construction of the conditions for action and the containment of change. Part C Framing the Design and Writing Up Ch 14 Writing for Emancipatory Research - Jill and John Schostak Conclusion The key themes of the book will be drawn together. John F. Schostak is Research Professor of Education at the Education and Social Research Institute, Manchester Metropolitan University. Jill Schostak is Visiting Fellow at the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of East Anglia, and most recently has undertaken contract research with the College of Emergency Medicine.