scholarly journals Enhancing flood resilience through improved risk communications

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2271-2282 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. O'Sullivan ◽  
R. A. Bradford ◽  
M. Bonaiuto ◽  
S. De Dominicis ◽  
P. Rotko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flood Risk ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Deficit Model ◽  
Statistical Correlations ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Flood Warning ◽  
Questionnaire Surveys ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Eleven Case ◽  
Conceptual Relationship

Abstract. A framework of guiding recommendations for effective pre-flood and flood warning communications derived from the URFlood project (2nd ERA-Net CRUE Research Funding Initiative) from extensive quantitative and qualitative research in Finland, Ireland, Italy and Scotland is presented. Eleven case studies in fluvial, pluvial, coastal, residual and "new" flood risk locations were undertaken. The recommendations were developed from questionnaire surveys by exploring statistical correlations of actions and understandings of individuals in flood risk situations to low, moderate and high resilience groupings. Groupings were based on a conceptual relationship of self-assessed levels of awareness, preparedness and worry. Focus groups and structured interviews were used to discuss barriers in flood communications, explore implementation of the recommendations and to rank the recommendations in order of perceived importance. Results indicate that the information deficit model for flood communications that relies on the provision of more and better information to mitigate risk in flood-prone areas is insufficient, and that the communications process is very much multi-dimensional. The recommendations are aimed at addressing this complexity and their careful implementation is likely to improve the penetration of flood communications. The recommendations are applicable to other risks and are transferrable to jurisdictions beyond the project countries.

When Less is More: The Dominance of Subject-Content in the Teaching of Undergraduate Social Policy

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoë Irving ◽  
Pat Young
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Deficit Model ◽  
Less Is More ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This article explores the implications of expanding content in undergraduate Social Policy. Although the problem of curriculum content is not unique to Social Policy, particular features exacerbate the issue. These include the relationship of the subject to other disciplines, and to wider political and social issues. Dominance of content is argued to limit the aims of teaching, squeezing out skills development. It also restricts the methods employed. Content dominance also contributes to the development of a deficit model of students. The article is based on data drawn from semi-structured interviews with 46 lecturers working in universities across the UK.

Velosatiksmes pārvaldība Valmieras pašvaldībā: sistēmpieejas izpratnes un pārvaldības attīstība

2021 ◽  
pp. 208-221
Author(s):  
Roberts Pūgulis ◽  
◽  
Līga Bieziņa ◽  
Raimonds Ernšteins ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Transport ◽  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Sustainable Mobility ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Mobility System ◽  
Working Groups ◽  
Systemic Governance

Cycling and general sustainable mobility has become a topical issue around Europe, and gradually also in Latvia, including Valmiera – a medium size town, which is a research-base for this study where the governance and development of the municipal cycling infrastructure is analysed. The rapid growth of cycling in Valmiera not only highlights some deficiencies in urban infrastructure developments, but also reveals the management problems: the expectations and needs of users of different means of transportation and also pedestrians are not met. Looking towards solving various cycling development issues, it is necessary, first of all, to develop an understanding of system’s approach and the systemic governance of the cycling infrastructure. The urban transport/mobility system must be developed as a whole, integrating cycling mobility in it as an independently and continuously developing component, promoting a process of cooperation between all parties involved. Thus, to facilitate the cycling mobility of inhabitants in Valmiera, the involvement/participation of all the interested parties shall be pro-actively communicated – informed, educated/trained, pro-cycling behaviour encouraged. During this integrative case study, both quantitative and qualitative research methods were applied complementary: analysis of documents, infrastructure observations in the town with photo documentation, survey of inhabitants, also in-depth semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions. Additionally, a participatory observation was conducted through participation in cycling activities, forums, working groups, etc., elaborating suggestions for the municipal planning document - Transport Infrastructure Development Concept of Valmiera.

scholarly journals Depression in Parkinson's disease: study of 60 cases

2005 ◽  
Vol 63 (3b) ◽  
pp. 766-771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto César Pereira do Prado ◽  
Egberto Reis Barbosa
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Hamilton Depression Scale ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Clinical Criteria ◽  
Disease Study ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Relationship Of

Depression is very frequent in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and largely unrecognized by neurologists, emphasizing the need of an approach to psychiatric symptoms by non psychiatrists in order to ensure an early diagnosis of depression in PD; clinical characteristics and the prevalence rate of depression in PD were evaluated and the relationship of depression in PD with other variables were determined. Sixty PD subjects, who fulfilled the clinical criteria for primary PD, 56,6% males, age range from 44 to 85 years old, in different stages of the disease were investigated. All subjects were submitted to the UPDRS-III, V and VI, Clinical Interview Schedule and the Hamilton depression scale. A significant correlation was found between depression and UPDRS-III, V and VI, anxiety and irritability. The frequency of depression in PD in this study was nearly 40% possessing specific features. Structured interviews and evaluation scales are essential for an accurate diagnosis and proper treatment of depression in PD.

scholarly journals A metric-based assessment of flood risk and vulnerability of rural communities in the Lower Shire Valley, Malawi

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 ◽  
pp. 139-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Adeloye ◽  
F. D. Mwale ◽  
Z. Dulanya
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Spatial Variability ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Flood Hazard ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Flood Depth ◽  
Inundation Area ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract. In response to the increasing frequency and economic damages of natural disasters globally, disaster risk management has evolved to incorporate risk assessments that are multi-dimensional, integrated and metric-based. This is to support knowledge-based decision making and hence sustainable risk reduction. In Malawi and most of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), however, flood risk studies remain focussed on understanding causation, impacts, perceptions and coping and adaptation measures. Using the IPCC Framework, this study has quantified and profiled risk to flooding of rural, subsistent communities in the Lower Shire Valley, Malawi. Flood risk was obtained by integrating hazard and vulnerability. Flood hazard was characterised in terms of flood depth and inundation area obtained through hydraulic modelling in the valley with Lisflood-FP, while the vulnerability was indexed through analysis of exposure, susceptibility and capacity that were linked to social, economic, environmental and physical perspectives. Data on these were collected through structured interviews of the communities. The implementation of the entire analysis within GIS enabled the visualisation of spatial variability in flood risk in the valley. The results show predominantly medium levels in hazardousness, vulnerability and risk. The vulnerability is dominated by a high to very high susceptibility. Economic and physical capacities tend to be predominantly low but social capacity is significantly high, resulting in overall medium levels of capacity-induced vulnerability. Exposure manifests as medium. The vulnerability and risk showed marginal spatial variability. The paper concludes with recommendations on how these outcomes could inform policy interventions in the Valley.

scholarly journals Causes of government construction projects’ abandonment

2021 ◽  
pp. 179-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac Sakyi Damoah ◽  
Anthony Ayakwa ◽  
Desmond Kwadjo Kumi
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Construction Project ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Sequential Data ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Leadership Culture ◽  
Questionnaire Surveys ◽  
External Forces ◽  
Government Construction

Government construction projects are vital to the economic development of developing countries. However, although most of these projects suffer from abandonment, little evidence exists concerning the causes that account for this setback. This paper investigates the causes of government construction project abandonment in Ghana. We used a sequential data collection approach, in-depth semi-structured interviews, and questionnaire surveys to solicit the views of project management practitioners, contractors, and clients associated with Ghana government construction project implementation. Using factor analysis and structural equation modelling, we find that Ghanaian government construction project abandonment is influenced by five sets of causes: political leadership, culture, external forces, resources (including funding) and administrative/institutional bottlenecks. Three of these sets of causes – political leadership, cultural and external forces, are the primary causes, while resources (including funding) and administrative/institutional causes are secondary causes.

scholarly journals Comprehensive Assessment of Flood Hazard, Vulnerability, and Flood Risk at the Household Level in a Municipality Area: A Case Study of Nan Province, Thailand

Water ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Tawatchai Tingsanchali ◽  
Thanasit Promping
Keyword(s):  
Flood Risk ◽  
Flood Hazard ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Return Periods ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Pertinent Data ◽  
Hazard Vulnerability ◽  
Questionnaire Surveys

Estimating flood hazard, vulnerability, and flood risk at the household level in the past did not fully consider all relevant parameters. The main objective of this study is to improve this drawback by developing a new comprehensive and systematic methodology considering all relevant parameters and their weighting factors. This new methodology is applied to a case study of flood inundation in a municipal area of Nan City in the Upper Nan River Basin in Thailand. Field and questionnaire surveys were carried out to collect pertinent data for input into the new methodology for estimating flood hazard, vulnerability, and risk. Designed floods for various return periods were predicted using flood simulation models for assessing flood risk. The flood risk maps constructed for the return periods of 10–500 years show a substantial increase in flood risk with the return periods. The results are consistent with past flood damages, which were significant near and along the riverbanks where ground elevation is low, population density is high, and the number of household properties are high. In conclusion, this new comprehensive methodology yielded realistic results and can be used further to assess the effectiveness of various proposed flood mitigation measures.

Ethics

2020 ◽  
pp. 508-521
Author(s):  
James A. Hynds ◽  
Joseph A. Raho
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Medicine ◽  
Mutual Trust ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
Fundamental Goal ◽  
Practice Of Medicine ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Eleven Case ◽  
Moral Expectation

The practice of medicine is an intrinsically ethical endeavor because its fundamental goal is health, a good necessary for and integral to human flourishing. This goal also helps define and identify what counts as ethical behavior in the practice of medicine. Fundamentally, actions that promote the possibility of health are generally to be accounted as ethically good actions. Conversely, those that tend to frustrate or destroy the possibility of health are to be accounted as ethically bad. In addition to having an identity-defining goal, clinical medicine also has a nature or structure proper to it. That structure is relational. The authentic and effective practice of medicine requires a relationship of deep mutual trust between the physician and the physician’s patient and the patient’s family. Therefore, a commitment to and an ability to create and sustain such a relationship is a legitimate moral expectation of a physician and is the source of many of the physician’s ethical responsibilities. In the eleven case studies that follow, common ethical challenges that pediatricians might reasonably expect to encounter in their practice are explored. In each case, it is recommended that the pediatrician adopt the course of action that is most consistent with the nature and goal of medicine understood as a healing profession rooted in and requiring a relationship of mutual trust.

scholarly journals A Study on Reducing the Sleeping in Class Phenomenon in Japanese Universities through Student Motivation

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Kei Mihara
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
University Students ◽  
English Education ◽  
Vocabulary Test ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
School Students ◽  
Daily Routines ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Questionnaire Surveys

Sleeping in class is a common phenomenon among students in Japanese universities. There are several possible reasons for this: tiredness from daily routines such as commuting, difficulty concentrating in 90-minute classes, or a lack of motivation to study. As for English as a foreign language (EFL) classes, it is possible that university students are not as motivated as high school students, considering that English education in Japan is generally aimed at preparing students for university entrance examinations. The main purpose of this study is, therefore, to examine ways to prevent students from sleeping in class by improving their motivation. Based on the results of questionnaire surveys and focus group interviews, this study seeks to identify ways in which student attention and alertness in class can be improved. The participants in this study were asked to take a vocabulary test before completing exercises in their textbook. After four weeks, follow-up research was conducted using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The study results showed that taking a vocabulary test at the beginning of class is an effective method of motivating students, but that motivation alone cannot prevent university students from sleeping in class.

scholarly journals Community Theater as social support for youth: agents in the promotion of health

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 1353-1362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise Diba ◽  
Ana Flavia d'Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Community Theater ◽  
Health Community ◽  
Liberation Pedagogy ◽  
Actual Operation ◽  
One Year ◽  
Relationship Of

There has been much discussion on promotion of the health of young people in vulnerable situations; but little work has been done analyzing its actual operation - and this is especially true in relation to programs and projects that are outside the health services. This article aims to analyze the relationship of an experience in Community Theater with the promotion of health. It is a qualitative, ethnographic study made at the Pombas Urbanas Institute, in the Cidade Tiradentes district of the municipality of São Paulo, and is coordinated by a theater group with a history that is relevant to the objective of the study. Participatory observation was carried out for one year, with semi-structured interviews with young people, and with actors of the Pombas Urbanas group, and analysis of documents. The theoretical framework that was used is made up of concepts from the fields of collective health, Community Theater, and liberation pedagogy. The results are presented in two interlinked sub-categories which have arisen from the empiric material and from the references adopted: (i) 'True friends', and (ii) 'Dialog'. The analysis clearly shows the importance of this type of theatrical joint experience for the promotion of health by transforming the quality of relationships between people. Concepts of health, culture and education were used in analysis of the results.

Muslim Perceptions of Biological Evolution: A Critical Review of Quantitative and Qualitative Research

2019 ◽  
pp. 147-170
Author(s):  
Jessica Carlisle ◽  
Salman Hameed ◽  
Fern Elsdon-Baker
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Or Education ◽  
Deficit Model ◽  
Theory Of Evolution ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
Science In Society

The topic of Muslims’ attitudes towards the theory of biological evolution has received increasing attention at the margins of the fields of public understanding of society, science communication or education and science in society. The methodology and methods employed in this work are primarily informed by research on attitudes towards evolution in the ‘West’, particularly in the US where the issue is highly politicized. Small, interview based qualitative and larger, survey based quantitative studies have explored degrees of acceptance or rejection of non-human and human evolution in a number of Muslim majority and Muslim minority contexts. The underlying rationale for these studies is often underpinned by a ‘deficit model’ in which Islam, or being Muslim, is usually posited as a particular obstacle to public understanding and acceptance of theory of evolution. This chapter summarizes these studies, analyzes the particularities of how deficit model approaches might be implicitly informing their findings, and reflects on the lack of reflexivity in much public understanding of science research on Muslim contexts.

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