Community Studies as Formative Evaluations for Citizens

1989 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 14-16
Author(s):  
Marion Dobbert
Keyword(s):  
Rural Community ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Community Studies ◽  
Evaluation Theory ◽  
Road Signs ◽  
Ghost Towns ◽  
General Store ◽  
Rural Depopulation

Evaluation has been defined by Blaine Worthen and J. R. Sanders (1973, Educational Evaluation: Theory and Practice. Worthington, Ohio: C.A. Jones Publishing Company, p. 19) as making a "determination of the worth of a thing." The thought of evaluating a community is one that, at first hearing, is likely to give any anthropologist a cold chill. But actually, communities are evaluated all the time; the evolutionary socioeconomic processes of a region continually, although impersonally, evaluate communities. In the process, some are selected to live and others to die and become ghost towns (or future archaeological discoveries). My region, Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas, is filled with towns that have been evaluated by this process. While they are not ghost towns, they have been reduced to two road signs announcing their names, a tavern, and a deserted general store. This type of evaluation is occurring through the rural areas of the world. It results in rural depopulation and the demise of rural community forms which have been highly valued historically. We might call this process a summative evaluation of a community—a very final one with little chance of successful appeal.

scholarly journals A Capabilities-Led Approach to Assessing Technological Solutions for a Rural Community

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1398
Author(s):  
Xinfang Wang ◽  
Rosie Day ◽  
Dan Murrant ◽  
Antonio Diego Marín ◽  
David Castrejón Botello ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Community ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Energy Services ◽  
Grid Systems ◽  
Technological Interventions ◽  
Solution Design ◽  
Improve Access

To improve access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy in rural areas of the global south, off-grid systems using renewable generation and energy storage are often proposed. However, solution design is often technology-driven, with insufficient consideration of social and cultural contexts. This leads to a risk of unintended consequences and inappropriate systems that do not meet local needs. To address this problem, this paper describes the application of a capabilities-led approach to understanding a community’s multi-dimensional energy poverty and assessing their needs as they see them, in order to better design suitable technological interventions. Data were collected in Tlamacazapa, Mexico, through site visits and focus groups with men and women. These revealed the ways in which constrained energy services undermined essential capabilities, including relating to health, safety, relationships and earning a living, and highlighted the specific ways in which improved energy services, such as lighting, cooking and mechanical power could improve capabilities in the specific context of Tlamacazapa. Based on these findings, we propose some potential technological interventions to address these needs. The case study offers an illustration of an assessment method that could be deployed in a variety of contexts to inform the design of appropriate technological interventions.

scholarly journals Hematological Features in Sheep with IgG and IgM Antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato

Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 164
Author(s):  
Labrini V. Athanasiou ◽  
Victoria M. Spanou ◽  
Eleni G. Katsogiannou ◽  
Panagiotis D. Katsoulos
Keyword(s):  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Blood Analysis ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi Sensu Lato ◽  
Igm Antibodies ◽  
Group A ◽  
Group B ◽  
Group D ◽  
Immunofluorescence Antibody

Exposure of sheep to Borreliaburgdorferi sensulato (s.I.) complex, the causative agent of Lyme borreliosis (LB), has been reported in tick-abundant areas worldwide, while no data have been reported in Greece. The aim of the study was to identify the hematological alterations in sheep with seropositivity against Borrelia burgdorferi (s.I.). Blood samples were obtained from 318 tick infested sheep for blood analysis and serological determination of IgG and IgM antibodies against B. burgdorferi by indirect immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) assay after exclusion of endo-ectoparasites and other tick-borne infections. A total number of 162 sheep met the inclusion criteria, allocated in four groups based on the presence or absence of IgG and/or IgM; sheep found negative for IgM and IgG (Group A), positive for IgM (Group B), positive for both IgM and IgG (Group C) and positive for IgG (Group D). Anemia, thrombocytopenia and normal or decreased leukocyte count, mainly due to lymphopenia were the main hematological features observed in seropositive sheep. The presence of these features raises the suspicion of Borrelia infection in tick infested sheep. The seropositivity of 23.58% in sheep raises concerns of Borrelia circulation, especially in rural areas and potential risk of transmission to humans.

scholarly journals China: A New Trajectory Prioritizing Rural Rather Than Urban Development?

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 514
Author(s):  
Hongzhang Xu ◽  
Jamie Pittock ◽  
Katherine A. Daniell
Keyword(s):  
Rural Development ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Rural Community ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Policy ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
National Development ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Global Concern

The adverse effects of rapid urbanization are of global concern. Careful planning for and accommodation of accelerating urbanization and citizenization (i.e., migrants gaining official urban residency) may be the best approach to limit some of the worst impacts. However, we find that another trajectory may be possible: one linked to the rural development plan adopted in the latest Chinese national development strategy. This plan aims to build rural areas as attractive areas for settlement by 2050 rather than to further urbanize with more people in cities. We assess the political motivations and challenges behind this choice to develop rural areas based on a literature review and empirical case analysis. After assessing the rural and urban policy subsystem, we find five socio-political drivers behind China’s rural development strategy, namely ensuring food security, promoting culture and heritage, addressing overcapacity, emphasizing environmental protection and eradicating poverty. To develop rural areas, China needs to effectively resolve three dilemmas: (1) implementing decentralized policies under central supervision; (2) deploying limited resources efficiently to achieve targets; and (3) addressing competing narratives in current policies. Involving more rural community voices, adopting multiple forms of local governance, and identifying and mitigating negative project impacts can be the starting points to manage these dilemmas.

Kaupapa Māori Theory-based Evaluation

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Kerr
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Evaluation Theory ◽  
Kaupapa Māori ◽  
Evaluation Approaches

In an environment where Māori approaches to evaluation are developing quickly, with ever-widening influence, this article is an attempt to capture the theoretical roots of Kaupapa1 Māori evaluation approaches. From a range of Kaupapa Māori theorists, six principles are drawn and their relevance to evaluation theory and practice is discussed. These principles are then mapped to major movements in evaluation theory, illustrating how Kaupapa Māori theory-based evaluation, arising as a unique praxis within the context of Aotearoa2 New Zealand, has strong alignment with international developments.

An Organisational Evaluation Capability Hierarchy Model for Self-diagnosis1

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 27-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin A Sharp
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Evaluation Theory ◽  
Information Systems Management ◽  
Capability Maturity ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Hierarchy Model ◽  
Management Project

The use of Capability Maturity Models in financial management, project management, people management and information systems management in a wide variety of organisations indicates the potential for an Organisational Evaluation Capability Hierarchy to guide the self-diagnosis of organisations in building their evaluation maturity. This paper is about the theory behind this growing trend in organisational governance and organisational diagnosis, and explores its relevance to evaluation theory and practice. This theoretical analysis may have long-term practical benefits for evaluation practitioners, as is being developed in the fields of project management, financial management, and people management in a wide range of organisations.

scholarly journals 'To do or not to do'? The neurobiology of decision-making in daily life: I. Getting the basics

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Palmini ◽  
Victor Geraldi Haase
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Moral Issues ◽  
Temporal Perspective ◽  
Prefrontal Cortical ◽  
Cortical Regions

Abstract The constant conflict between decisions leading to immediate pleasurable consequences versus behaviors aiming at long-term social advantages is reviewed here in the framework of the evolutionary systems regulating behavior. The inescapable temporal perspective in decision-making in everyday life is highlighted and integrated with the role of the executive functions in the modulation of subcortical systems. In particular, the representations of the 'non-existent' future in the prefrontal cortical regions and how these representations can bridge theory and practice in everyday life are addressed. Relevant discussions regarding the battle between emotions and reasons in the determination of more complex decisions in the realm of neuroeconomics and in moral issues have been reserved for a second essay.

Empowerment in a Supplementary Food Program in a Rural Community in Ghana

1993 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kofi Bobi Barimah ◽  
Geoffrey Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Rural Community ◽  
Service Provider ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Outcome Data ◽  
Program Improvement ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Supplementary Food ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Methods

This article examines the concept of empowerment in the context of a supplementary food program in a rural community in Ghana. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to understand key empowerment processes and outcomes for women and their children. While the women felt positively about the outcomes of the program, they were less satisfied with program processes. Self-determination of the mothers and service-provider conduct were predictive of positive outcomes. The qualitative data served to temper the positive quantitative outcome data in showing that mothers are dependent on the food program. The findings were discussed in terms of the concept of empowerment and its implications for social change and program improvement.

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