scholarly journals Socio-economic factors do also matter: comments on the article “can climatic factors explain the differences in COVID-19 incidence and severity across the SPANISH regions?: an ecological study”

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Muñoz Cacho ◽  
José L. Hernández ◽  
Marcos López-Hoyos ◽  
Víctor M. Martínez-Taboada

AbstractPhosri et al., commented on our previous study about the influence of climate variables at the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Spain. They showed the impact of the association of gross domestic product (GDP) with the cumulative COVID-19 incidence per 105 inhabitants in our country and the rise of several methodologic issues. Here we discussed the main advantages and disadvantages of ecological studies and we advocate to test the hypothesis created in this type of studies using individual-level research designs.

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthit Phosri ◽  
Yang Cao ◽  
Mariko Harada Sassa ◽  
Kouji H. Harada

AbstractA report published in this journal showed an inversely significant association between ultraviolet radiation (UVR) before the pandemic and cumulative COVID-19 cases in Spain. The analyses employed several meteorological factors, but socio-economic factors were not included. We examined the associations of COVID-19 cases with selected factors and found a significance on gross domestic product per capita (p = 0.037 by Spearman’s correlation). Hence, simple regression analyses of UVR would be confounded with regional difference in economic activities. In addition, we raised several questions for limitations due to the study design and analyses.


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-54
Author(s):  
Tadeusz A. Grzeszczyk ◽  
Waldemar Izdebski ◽  
Michał Izdebski ◽  
Tadeusz Waściński

Poland is not one of the leaders in the use of renewable energy sources (RES), and most energy is still produced using hard coal and lignite. Therefore, there are noteworthy emissions of air pollution (including ashes and greenhouse gases), and the Polish energy sector is characterized by a substantial degree of carbonization, which, as a result, threatens to expressively increase the costs of electricity production, leading to financial penalties imposed by the EU. The aim of this paper is to analyze socio-economic factors influencing the development of the RES sector in Poland. According to this aim, expert research was carried out, in which the factors influencing development potential of RES were assessed at two levels (level II – 5 factors, level III – 15 factors) according to the factor tree analysis. Based on the analysis of the level II factors, it can be concluded that the development of the RES sector in Poland will depend to a decisive extent on factors such as: EU decisions and Polish legislation affecting the development of the RES sector in Poland, prices and availability of conventional energy carriers. Other two factors – regional policy on ecology and ecological awareness in Poland – have so far little impact on the development of this sector in the state. The analysis of the level III factors shows that the greatest impact on the development of the RES sector in Poland is the influence of European lobbying of manufacturers of machinery and equipment for renewable energy production on EU law, the impact of Polish lobbying of conventional energy producers on Polish law in the production of renewable energy and the influence of European lobbying of renewable energy producers into EU law.


Author(s):  
Shuai Li ◽  
Xinyang Hua

AbstractSeveral ecological studies of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have reported correlations between group-level aggregated exposures and COVID-19 outcomes. While some studies might be helpful in generating new hypotheses related to COVID-19, results of such type of studies should be interpreted with cautions. To illustrate how ecological studies and results could be biased, we conducted an ecological study of COVID-19 outcomes and the distance to Brussels using European country-level data. We found that, the distance was negatively correlated with COVID-19 outcomes; every 100 km away from Brussels was associated with approximately 6% to 17% reductions (all P<0.01) in COVID-19 cases and deaths in Europe. Without cautions, such results could be interpreted as the closer to the Europe Union headquarters, the higher risk of COVID-19 in Europe. However, these results are more likely to reflect the differences in the timing of and the responding to the outbreak, etc. between European countries, rather than the ‘effect’ of the distance to Brussels itself. Associations observed at the group level have limitations to reflect individual-level associations – the so-called ecological fallacy. Given the public concern over COVID-19, ecological studies should be conducted and interpreted with great cautions, in case the results would be mistakenly understood.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-55
Author(s):  
Hasta Herlan Asymar

Abstract  – The calculation of the value of the Reasonable Land Turnover Terdamapak Job Reaktifasi railway line for arbitration was Muaro Logas was part of the study of the action of liberation/land and buildings for the reform plan of the reaktifasi railway line between Muaro-Logas is part of the planning of the reactivation railway line. This study analyzes regulations and policies, perceived an inventory and survey/census by identifying the affected community land procurement, with regard to the characteristics and the types of harm experienced, agreement agreement between the local government, the province and the Center in funding the acquisition of land; analyze optimum land procurement and analyse livelihood for the population affected by socio-economic factors, analyzing the parameters with the social, cultural, and economic related to population, the impact of the procurement of land and influence implementation of the work against the poor, residents of the tribal minorities, alienated, and other vulnerable groups, including women, as well as the institutional framework in planning the liberation of land and the settlements back including duties and responsibilities each institution. In the calculation of the Reasonable Replacement Value using Standar Penilaian Indonesia306 (SPI 306) about the assessment of the provision of Land for development for the benefit of the public


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 571-580
Author(s):  
Tshilidzi O. Ramakulukusha ◽  
Sunday S. Babalola ◽  
Ntsieni S. Mashau

Background: Violent behaviour in youth is regarded as a significant public health problem associated with severe physical and psychological consequences. Despite the availability of rehabilitation programmes rendered at child and youth care centres (CYCC's) in the Limpopo Province, South Africa, there is an escalation and repetition of violent behaviours among the youth due to some underlying socio-economic factors. Objective: The study sought to explore and describe the factors contributing to violent behaviours among the youth. Methods: A qualitative, explorative, and descriptive research design was used. A non-probability, purposive sampling method was used to select participants in this study. The study population consisted of youth, from the age of 15-20 years old, who were admitted to the child and youth care centres due to violent behaviours. Focus group discussions and in-depth individual interviews were used to collect data from participants. A semi-structured interview guide and focus group discussion guide were used to collect data until data saturation which occurred after interviewing 48 participants. Data were analysed following Tesch’s open code data analysis technique. Measures to ensure trustworthiness and ethical principles were adhered to. Results: Two themes emerged from the analysed data, namely, the socio-economic factors contributing to violent behaviours among the youth in CYCCs and the effectiveness of rehabilitation programmes for violent youth behaviours in CYCCs. Eight sub-themes were derived from the two main themes. The home environment, the influence of delinquent peers, availability, and misuse of drugs and alcohol were most cited as the factors contributing to violent behaviours among the youth in CYCCs in the Limpopo Province. The study's findings revealed that youth had little knowledge of the impact that violent behaviour has on the victim, themselves, their families, and society. Conclusion: Rehabilitation programmes for violent behaviours among the youth will have better outcomes by involving the youth's family, especially the parents/guardians. Also, the child and youth care centres and youth violence policymakers need to emphasise family education as one of the most crucial violence prevention strategies in vulnerable youth.


2011 ◽  
pp. 273-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alev M. Efendioglu ◽  
Vincent F. Yip

The number of Internet users around the world has been steadily growing and this growth has provided the impetus and the opportunities for global and regional e-commerce. However, as with the Internet, different characteristics (infrastructure and socio-economic) of the local environment have created a significant level of variation in the acceptance and growth of e-commerce in different regions of the world. Our research focuses on the impact of these infrastructure and socio-economic factors on e-commerce development in China and the findings provide insights into the role of culture in e-commerce, and the factors that may impact a broader acceptance and development of e-commerce in China. In this chapter, we present and discuss our findings, and propose some strategies for success for e-commerce in China.


2008 ◽  
pp. 2929-2947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Yap ◽  
Jayoti Das ◽  
John Burbridge ◽  
Kathryn Cort

Why are some countries successful with e-commerce while others flounder? The purpose of this article is to study the impact of technology, cultural, and socio-economic factors on the global diffusion of e-commerce. While past studies have focused on technology reasons alone, this research includes cultural and socio-economic factors as well. Having access to the Internet does not necessarily translate to e-commerce usage. Fundamentally, culture and socio-economic factors are pivotal in bridging the gap between Internet usage and e-commerce diffusion. The objective is to provide a model that quantifies the aggregated influences of all factors on global e-commerce diffusion. A cross-country regression model analyzes the determinants of e-commerce diffusion and the results used in a cluster analysis to provide further evidence that the propensity for e-commerce depends on the interplay among the different factors. The results can provide firms with an improved understanding of strategies to employ while implementing e-commerce.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (23-24) ◽  
pp. 4860-4880
Author(s):  
April M. Zeoli ◽  
Jennifer K. Paruk ◽  
Jesenia M. Pizarro ◽  
Jason Goldstick

Ecological research is important to the study of violence in communities. The phrases “ecological research” and “ecologic study” describe those research studies that use grouped or geographic units of analysis, such as zip codes, cities, or states. This type of research allows for the investigation of group-level effects and can be inexpensive and relatively quick to conduct if the researcher uses existing data. And, importantly, ecological studies are an efficient means for hypothesis generation prior to, and can be used to justify, costlier individual-level studies. Ecological research designs may be employed to study violence outcomes when the research question is at the population level, either for theoretical reasons, or when an exposure or intervention is at the population level, or when individual-level studies are not feasible; however, ecological research results must not be used to make individual-level inferences. This article will discuss reasons to conduct ecological-level research, guidelines for choosing the ecological unit of analysis, frequently used research designs, common limitations of ecological research, including the ecological fallacy, and issues to consider when using existing data.


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