On “lab rats”

Experimental subjects usually self-select to the laboratory and this may introduce a bias to the conclusions derived from observing their behavior. We analyze data stored by a subject-pool management program at an experimental laboratory and speculate about the effect of individual decisions on returning. Specifically, we test whether experience and earnings in previous sessions together with demographic variables explain the decision to return to the laboratory. We find that males and (in monetary terms) well-performing subjects are more likely to participate in experiments again.     

Will gay and bisexually active men at high risk of infection use over-the-counter rapid HIV tests to screen sexual partners?

The Food and Drug Administration may license OraQuick?, a rapid HIV test, for over-the-counter (OTC) sale. This study investigated whether HIV-uninfected, non-monogamous, gay and bisexual men who never or rarely use condoms would use the test with partners as a harm-reduction approach. Sixty participants responded to two computer-assisted self-interviews, underwent an in-depth interview, and chose whether to test themselves with OraQuick. Over 80% of the men said they would use the kit to test sexual partners or themselves if it became available OTC. Most participants understood that antibody tests have a window period in which the virus is undetectable, yet saw advantages to using the test to screen partners; 74% tested themselves in our offices. Participants offered several possible strategies to introduce the home-test idea to partners, frequently endorsed mutual testing, and highlighted that home testing could stimulate greater honesty in serostatus disclosure. Participants drew distinctions between testing regular versus occasional partners. Non-monogamous men who have sex with men, who never or rarely use condoms, may nevertheless seek to avoid HIV. Technologies that do not interfere with sexual pleasure are likely to be used when available. Studies are needed to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using OTC rapid HIV tests as one additional harm-reduction tool.     

‘The whole is always smaller than its parts’ – a digital test of Gabriel Tardes' monads

In this paper we argue that the new availability of digital data sets allows one to revisit Gabriel Tarde's (1843–1904) social theory that entirely dispensed with using notions such as individual or society. Our argument is that when it was impossible, cumbersome or simply slow to assemble and to navigate through the masses of information on particular items, it made sense to treat data about social connections by defining two levels: one for the element, the other for the aggregates. But once we have the experience of following individuals through their connections (which is often the case with profiles) it might be more rewarding to begin navigating datasets without making the distinction between the level of individual component and that of aggregated structure. It becomes possible to give some credibility to Tarde's strange notion of ‘monads’. We claim that it is just this sort of navigational practice that is now made possible by digitally available databases and that such a practice could modify social theory if we could visualize this new type of exploration in a coherent way.     

Neighborhood processes, self-efficacy, and adolescent mental health

Self-efficacy beliefs are central to mental health. Because adolescents' neighborhoods shape opportunities for experiences of control, predictability, and safety, we propose that neighborhood conditions are associated with adolescents' self-efficacy and, in turn, their internalizing problems (i.e., depression/anxiety symptoms). We tested these hypotheses using three waves of data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (N = 2,345). Results indicate that adolescents living in violent neighborhoods tended to report lower self-efficacy beliefs, partly because they were more likely to experience fear in their neighborhood. However, moving out of Chicago neighborhoods marked by violence and low collective efficacy to neighborhoods outside of the city was associated with adolescents' increased self-efficacy (vs. staying in such neighborhoods), an association explained by adolescents' school-related experiences. Finally, through self-efficacy, these neighborhood processes had an indirect association with adolescents' internalizing problems. Results partially support a model linking neighborhood conditions, cognitions about the self, and emotions.     

Humanitarian action in developing countries: who evaluates who?

Humanitarian NGOs and intergovernmental organisations are usually assessed by their funders, not their beneficiaries. In most cases, their evaluation relies on interviews with “professionals”, neglects field surveys, does not use opinion polls and seldom tries to assess the socioeconomic impact of relief. Moreover, it is commissioned by stakeholders at the risk of being judge and party. Such a system brings several conflicts of interest: (1) it needs to be approved by those who are evaluated and so does not deal with “bad eggs” that refuse to be investigated; (2) it produces biased analysis, does not name names and passes over fundamental issues; (3) it is very formal and technocratic, if not meaningless; (4) it does not help to learn from past mistakes. Hence this article proposes a framework to develop third party evaluations. It is suggested that, to be really independent, evaluation should neither be paid or commissioned by stakeholders, i.e. NGOs and institutional funders. To facilitate learning, its methodology and its results must also be available to the general public. To be accepted by those who are evaluated, finally, it should highlight the difficulties, explain the political context, acknowledge its subjectivity, recognize its limits, focus on processes more than results and develop qualitative analysis out of quantitative indicators.     

An evaluability assessment of a West Africa based Non-Governmental Organization's (NGO) progressive evaluation strategy

While program evaluations are increasingly valued by international organizations to inform practices and public policies, actual evaluation use (EU) in such contexts is inconsistent. Moreover, empirical literature on EU in the context of humanitarian Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) is very limited. The current article focuses on the evaluability assessment (EA) of a West-Africa based humanitarian NGO's progressive evaluation strategy. Since 2007, the NGO has established an evaluation strategy to inform its maternal and child health care user-fee exemption intervention. Using Wholey's (2004) framework, the current EA enabled us to clarify with the NGO's evaluation partners the intent of their evaluation strategy and to design its program logic model. The EA ascertained the plausibility of the evaluation strategy's objectives, the accessibility of relevant data, and the utility for intended users of evaluating both the evaluation strategy and the conditions that foster EU. Hence, key evaluability conditions for an EU study were assured. This article provides an example of EA procedures when such guidance is scant in the literature. It also offers an opportunity to analyze critically the use of EAs in the context of a humanitarian NGO's collaboration with evaluators and political actors.     

A Matrix Approach to TU Games with Coalition and Communication Structures

The aim of this article is to present a technique to construct extensions of the Shapley value. Only basic matrix algebra is used. We concentrate on TU games with coalition structures and with communication structures. We define an efficient Aumann–Drèze value and an efficient Myerson value. We also define two families of values for TU games, the first being a convex combination of the efficient Aumann–Drèze value and of the Shapley value and the second a convex combination of the efficient Myerson value and of the Shapley value. We show that the Myerson value, the Aumann–Drèze value, the Shapley value and the four new solutions above are linked by a relationship of “similarity”.