Sampling refugee groups: The example of Syrians in Turkey

Quantitative surveys among refugees not only advance our scientific understanding of forced migration, but they also provide political and civil society actors with the information they need to take measures to improve their protection and living conditions. These actors often need to acquire such information within a short period of time. However, the methods to access and survey this group to gain valid findings are subject to scientific debates. Based on a survey among Syrian refugees in Turkey, this article demonstrates a study design that generated valid knowledge about this population within a limited amount of time and resources. As a unique feature of the article, we compare our sample with four other sources of information to scrutinize how well it resembles the target population. As we can show, although point estimations differ to some extent, the internal distributions of sample characteristics are comparable across sources confirming the success of our sampling method.     

Exploring Potential for Information Technology Innovation in Nonprofit Organizations

This article investigated user perceptions of innovative information technology. A qualitative analysis of information technology innovation award applications submitted by a variety of nonprofits was conducted to explore two research questions: (a) in what areas of organizational functioning can information technology innovations be implemented, and (b) what are the expected benefits associated with the implementation of those information technology innovations? The results showed that technological innovations can occur in administrative, service, and marketing areas; and that the applicants believed that those innovations have a potential to provide numerous positive benefits. Those benefits were associated with clients and programs, internal and external functioning, fundraising and financial aspects, and public image and relationships with stakeholders. Human service organizations proposed the highest numbers of IT innovations in the administrative and technological areas.     

Health Benefits of Pets for Families

During the last decade, the common belief that pets are good for their owners has gained concrete scientific support. In this paper we review the evidence for the health benefits of pets, discuss the importance of pets in the family system, and explore the implications of this information for therapists. Pets play a variety of health promoting roles which are particularly important for individuals lacking support from family members or close friends. We present research evidence supporting the health benefits of pets ranging from the facilitation of social interaction while walking dogs to the physiological effects of the presence of animals on cardiovascular responses to mild stressors.     

THE ECONOMICS OF JOB SEARCH: A SURVEY

Part I of this survey presents a comprehensive and inte- grated analysis of job search. The labor market is characterized by incomplete information and search is conducted in an optimal manner. A variety of job search models are studied in this microeconomic setting. The paper contains a number of new results. Part 11 of the survey [to appear in the September 1976 issue of Economic Inquiry] addresses the empirical and policy implications of search theory.     

Neuro-technical interfaces to the central nervous system

Neuro-technical interfaces are technical devices that bridge the electronic world to neurons with the objective to establish a long term stable contact for bidirectional information exchange. What does that mean in detail and to what kind of machine and for what purpose should the central nervous system, i.e. the brain, be connected? Science fiction literature and movies offer a tremendous variety of usually uncomfortable scenarios including cyborg and robocop super-humans and mass control. Do these implants change the psyche in general and what is feasible in nowadays therapeutic and rehabilitative approaches? In this overview, the author will not answer these questions but tries to deliver an overview of the technological background, the opportunities and the limitations of neuro-technical interfaces to the central nervous system. The fundamental specifications for neuro-technical interfaces will be introduced. Different degrees of implant invasiveness will be discussed and lead to a summary of clinical systems with their application-specific complexity. Actual technological opportunities and limitations will be addressed as well as general physical limitations. Current and future scenarios of neuro-technical interfaces to the central nervous system will be presented from an engineering point of view arising some questions that might be of interest with respect to ethical and societal implications when those interfaces are transferred into clinical practice and public applications.     

统筹城乡发展对科技创新的需求分析研究

科技作为促进经济增长的外生力量,其在农村经济发展中的作用至关重要.只有依靠科技进步,在统筹城乡发展中树立起科技创新的观念,以软要素突破硬约束,才能有效地促进农村经济增长.因此,从统筹城乡发展角度对科技创新需求进行分析,探索科技创新对城乡统筹发展的作用具有极其重要的意义.     

以科技资源开放共享提升上海科研公共服务水平

上海处于“创新驱动、转型发展”、建设创新型城市的关键时期,迫切需要充分利用各类科技资源,完善创新服务体系,不断提升自主创新能力：一方面,要进一步强化科技资源共享和优化配置,提升科技资源综合利用率;另一方面,更要推动“创新资源集聚”向“创新支撑服务”升级,促进科技研发公共服务发展,服务企业发展和产业技术创新。为此,上海应完善科技研发公共服务平台体系,推动企业创新发展;建立“科技资源数据中心”,优化科技创新资源配置;打造科技创新服务基地,培育壮大科技公共服务产业。     

Effects of mobile information-seeking on the intention to obtain reproductive cancer screening among chinese women: testing an integrative model

Because the cognitive perspective has often been used in health behavior research, the influence of information and communication technology has been neglected although it plays a significant role in healthcare in the increasingly mobile age. The aim of this study is to test an integrative model including technological and cognitive variables to demonstrate that perceived usefulness and ease of mobile media use, health consciousness, and risk perception predict reproductive cancer information-seeking through mobile media and the intention to obtain cancer screening. The analyses of data collected in a survey of 1,065 young and middle-aged women in Nanjing, China showed that the cognitive variables of health consciousness and risk perception directly predicted cancer screening. In addition, the cognitive variables and the technological variables (i.e., perceived usefulness and ease of mobile media use, respectively) indirectly predicted cancer screening through mobile information-seeking. The implications of these results are discussed.     

Knowledge and information about drugs in Australia

This article uses a national population survey conducted in 1988 to examine drug information needs within the Australian population. The analysis concentrates on three types of informational needs--knowledge and contact with drug services, the nature of the drug information sought, and the sources of drug information. The results show that almost half of the respondents in the survey considered that they had an adequate amount of information about drugs and there were generally high levels of factual knowledge about the drug and alcohol services available in the community. Knowledge of drug services was found to be unrelated to the need for information, although high levels of knowledge did correlate with a willingness to use a variety of medical, welfare, and social support services to obtain information. The data indicated that contact significantly correlated with both a desire for information and a willingness to consult a variety of services. Finally, users of all types of drugs reported higher levels of knowledge, with users of illicit drugs, in particular, expressing a greater desire for information about all types of drugs and an increased willingness to use a variety of welfare and social support agencies.     

WHEN 'VIRTUAL' MEETS VALUES: INSIGHTS FROM THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR

Electronic networking can support strategic re-positioning within organizations seeking to respond effectively to deep shifts in the social, economic and political regimes in which they operate today. Evidence, though, from our large-scale survey of core UK voluntary organizations suggests that voluntary organizations do not always seek to exploit this capability. Instead, our survey indicates that voluntary organizations are exploiting information and communication technologies (ICTs) in conventional ways to enhance administrative and operational efficiency and effectiveness. There is little evidence of more strategic applications supporting reconfiguration of the organization internally, redefinition of relationships across organizational networks or the extension of business scope. Further research based upon in-depth case studies demonstrated that social conditions are active in shaping the uptake and application of information and communication technologies within voluntary organizations. Within volunteer-intensive settings in particular,founding philosophies and the deeply rooted values that accompany these can have a profound effect. Ultimately,the technologically supported transformations, which occur within the organizations that we examine here, emerge from the inter-play between historically institutionalized values, strategic objectives and technological capability.     

Scientist and non-scientists share a diversity of dimensions in their relations to urban nature

In the current biodiversity crisis, conservation scientists are urgently asked to involve themselves in education and communication initiatives toward non-scientists, who are considered as lacking knowledge to correctly value biodiversity. This is particularly argued in urban areas.In this paper, we showed however with an anthropological survey that urban citizens do express a variety of relations toward surrounding urban nature. Then, in an independent survey, we showed that these ways of being connected with nature were shared by students in conservation sciences. Conservation scientists and non-scientific city dwellers have therefore much more in common than is taken for granted in their relations and perceptions of urban nature, notably concerning emotional, sensorial and memorial relationships. Acknowledging these common features in the scientific community could improve the communication between science and the general public about urban nature, help bridge the gap between science and the society and eventually participate to build a new social contract on nature.     

上海科技成果产业化的瓶颈与对策研究

科技成果产业化是实现科技第一生产力的根本途径。科技成果产业化是上海经济转型发展面临的一个关键问题。必须从上海实际出发,找准科技成果产业化中存在的瓶颈问题,积极探索促进科技成果产业化的有效实现模式。     

Venue Staff Knowledge of Their Patrons’ Gambling and Problem Gambling

In several jurisdictions around the world, venue staff are encouraged to make reasonable attempts to determine whether patrons may be experiencing problems associated with their gambling. Although a number of visible indicators and behaviours are recognised as being indicative of gambling problems, no research has investigated how effective staff might be in identifying problem gamblers in venues. The aim of this field test was to examine the level of patron familiarity amongst staff working in small to moderate-sized venues. Patrons (n = 303) were asked to complete a short survey including the Problem Gambling Severity Index and venue staff were asked to describe their knowledge of the same patrons independently. The results showed that patrons rated as more at risk by staff scored significantly higher on the PGSI, but that point-in-time staff ratings were not sufficiently accurate to allow effective identification of problem gamblers. The importance of using accumulated information over multiple sessions as well as technological monitoring of behaviour was emphasised by these results.     

American College Health Association National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA) Spring 2005 Reference Group Data Report (Abridged)

Assessing and understanding the health needs and capacities of college students is paramount to creating healthy campus communities. The American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA) is a survey instrument developed by the ACHA in 1998 to assist institutions of higher education in achieving this goal. The ACHA-NCHA contains approximately 300 questions assessing student health status and health problems, risk and protective behaviors, access to health information, impediments to academic performance, and perceived norms across a variety of content areas (eg, injury prevention; personal safety and violence; alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; sexual health; weight, nutrition, and exercise; mental health). Twice a year, the ACHA compiles aggregate data from participating institutions in a reference group report for data comparison. Results from the Spring 2005 Reference Group (N = 54,111) are presented in this article.     

American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA) Spring 2004 Reference Group data report (abridged)

Assessing and understanding the health needs and capacities of college students is paramount to creating healthy campus communities. The American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA) is a survey instrument developed by the ACHA in 1998 to assist institutions of higher education in achieving this goal. The ACHA-NCHA contains approximately 300 questions assessing student health status and health problems, risk and protective behaviors, access to health information, impediments to academic performance, and perceived norms across a variety of content areas, including injury prevention; personal safety and violence; alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; sexual health; weight, nutrition, and exercise; and mental health. Twice a year, the ACHA compiles aggregate data from participating institutions in a reference group report for data comparison. Results from the Spring 2004 Reference Group (N = 47,202) are presented in this article.     

上海建设国际创新中心战略研究

国际创新中心是指科技创新资源密集、科技创新实力雄厚、创新文化发达、创新氛围浓郁、科技辐射带动能力较强,具有良好科技发展潜力和人文自然环境、较强国际竞争力和影响力的城市或区域,是全球新知识、新技术和新产品的创新源地和产生中心之一。上海科技创新实力雄厚,稳居全国各地区前列,具备建设国际创新中心的先天优势。上海要实现创新驱动转型发展,必须在城市总体发展格局中进一步凸显科技创新功能,全面实施科教兴市战略、人才强市战略和文化强市战略,全力以赴抓好张江国家自主创新示范区建设,使科技创新功能成为城市功能的核心和关键,着力增强城市科技创新实力和国际综合竞争力,到2020年基本建设成为具有雄厚竞争力、强大辐射力和广泛影响力的国际创新中心城市,成为全球创新资源配置中枢、国际创新知识生产源地、世界创新经济战略高地和国际科技创新竞合平台。     

Breaking ground on the virtual frontier: Surveying civic life on the internet

The Internet provides a virtual frontier to expand our access to information and to increase our knowledge and understanding of public opinion, political behavior, social trends and lifestyles through survey research. Comparable to other technological advancements, such as the telephone and the computer, the Internet presents opportunities that will impact significantly on the process and quality of survey research now and in the twenty-first century. Cyberspace permits us to move beyond traditional face-to-face, mail and telephone surveys, yet still to examine basic issues regarding the quality of data collection: sampling, questionnaire design, survey distribution, means of response, and database creation. This surveys include those posted on LISTERV mailing lists, USENET newsgroups, and the World Wide Web. A survey on politics and civic life, conducted by the authors, is used as a case study. She is currently pursuing interests in methodological issues concerning surveying using the Internet, and in policy issues concerning student victimization on college and university campuses. His publications includeViable Democracy (1979);Manipulating Public Opinion (1989);Free Expression, Public Support and Censorship: Examining Government’s Role in the Arts in Canada and the United States (1994); and numerous articles in scholarly and popular journals. His current research interests are contemporary democratic theory and political participation, as well as the political thought of John Locke.     

Collaborative Care at a Distance: Student Therapists' Experiences of Learning and Delivering Relationally Focused Telemental Health

There is mounting evidence that telemental health is an effective delivery method for treating a variety of mental, emotional, behavioral, and relational health problems. While many of the therapeutic skills leading to the effectiveness of face-to-face treatments are transferable, the effectiveness of telemental health requires unique skills. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to determine the experience of learning how to use videoconferencing to deliver relationally focused mental health care. Participants included 10 graduates of a COAMFTE-accredited master's degree program emphasizing training in telemental health. Each student had practicum placements that required videoconferencing to deliver relationally based psychotherapy. Analysis of interview data revealed (a) personal reservations about distance delivery; (b) the importance of scaffolding student learning through curriculum, supervision, and mental health-care delivery protocols; (c) the technological barriers associated with this delivery method; and (d) overcoming technological barriers through intentionality.