QUESTIONING SEQUENCES IN CANADIAN POLICE INTERVIEWS: CONSTRUCTING AND CONFIRMING THE COURSE OF EVENTS?

A content analysis of 19 Canadian police interviews with adult witnesses revealed that several of the interviewing strategies used by officers ran counter to the recommendations in the literature. Specifically, interviewers interrupted the witness more than was necessary, rarely employed any cognitive techniques to enhance memory recall and asked far more closed than open-ended questions. Further, in terms of the sequencing of questions, a pattern emerged across interviews that suggested that officers first “help” the witness construct the event and then, through a rapid sequence of “yes/no” questions, seek to confirm the account. We argue that this pattern of questioning may suggest that officers are pursuing an assumed version of events and that exploring interviews from a sequencing perspective may prove beneficial in identifying possible biased versions of events.     

Building on Solid Ground: Robust Case Selection in Multi‐Method Research

The social sciences are currently witnessing a trend toward multi‐method research (MMR). However, many important issues have not been sufficiently addressed so far. The focus of this paper is case selection for process tracing on the basis of regression results, which is the main point of intersection between the two methods. Based on a review, we first show that the current empirical and methodological literature does not fully appreciate the implications of modeling uncertainty and non‐robust quantitative results. The major problem is that non‐robust regression results may lead to invalid choices and faulty inferences. We develop a novel selection procedure that takes these issues into account and improves causal inference in MMR.     

Knowledge generation,political action and African development: A polycentric approach

ABSTRACT

Knowledge generated to meet societal needs is the bedrock of development. Africa's development crisis is marked by the persistent gap between the application of intellectual rigours and political action. Despite abundant development potential (human and natural resources, and scientific knowledge), coupled with reform declarations and commitments by African leaders over the past four decades, development remains illusory. This article examines the relationship between key development players (African public officials and African scholars), and how generated knowledge is applied to respond to the needs of African citizens. Using the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework (otherwise known as new institutionalism) this article examines weaknesses in the interaction of knowledge, political action and development, while at a local level African citizens, through shared strategies and problem-solving interdependency, are effectively transforming indigenous knowledge inherited from their parents to confront daily challenges. The article suggests ways of bridging the gap between development players by proposing an African Development Institutional Mechanism (ADIM) aimed at enabling key development players to operate in synergy.     

Discrimination between sediment and soil samples for forensic purposes using elemental data: an investigation of particle size effects

This paper reports the results of an investigation to quantify variations in elemental concentrations amongst different particle size fractions obtained from a suite of sediment samples collected from the River Avon, UK. Concentrations of 49 elements determined by inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP-AES and ICP-MS) were compared using conventional and multivariate statistical methods in order to assess compositional differences between different size fractions and between different samples. The results showed significant differences between different size fractions and the bulk sediments, but indicated that all of the size fractions considered (<150, 63-150, 20-63 and <20microm) provided an adequate basis on which to identify associations and differences between samples. It was concluded that, while in certain specific circumstances it may be most appropriate to make forensic comparisons based on a very narrowly defined particle size range, for the majority of purposes the <150microm fraction provides the best compromise between sample size requirements and data resolution.     

负重对步法特征影响的实验研究

利用Footscan足底压力步态分析系统采集青年人抬重物行走足底各个区域的压力数据,通过对实验数据的定量分析、比较,研究压力分布变化规律,同时捺印穿鞋样本足迹进行对照研究,为利用足迹压痕等步法特征分析遗留足迹人的行走方式,进而分析其人身特点提供可靠的理论依据和实用方法。     

论法律的经济分析的逻辑起点

逻辑起点是理论体系构建的＂阿基米德点＂,是理论体系赖以合理存在和深入发展的基础和依据。目前,法律的经济分析的逻辑起点存在的认识误区以及选择混乱,业已松动了法律的经济分析的根基。有鉴于此,对法律的经济分析的逻辑起点的正确定位不仅十分必要,而且意义深远。为此,将主流法律的经济分析的逻辑起点正确定位于理性人假设,这不仅能夯实法律的经济分析的根基,而且也因其放松对真实性的要求进而能有力地促进法律的经济分析的＂中兴＂。     

我国商业银行的营销策略

借助SWOT分析法,对我国商业银行自身反我国宏、微观的银行营销环境进行综合分析,提出选择目标市场、进行金融服务定位、不断创新产品和服务、树立自己的品牌形象、制定适当的价格策略、建立通畅的分销渠道等一系列适合我国商业银行实际的市场营销策略。     

基于BP神经网络的高校院系科研绩效评价模型

本文在分析当前各种高校院系的科研绩效评价指标体系的基础上．针对目前各种评价指标多、定量难、人为干扰因素多等问题,采用主成分法从大量评价因素中筛选出绩效评估的主要因素,即在保留评价信息的前提下对数据进行有效降维。并通过BP神经网络的自学习功能计算出高校院系的科研绩效。该模型能较为科学地评估高校院系科研团队的科研成效、核心竞争力及研究潜力,为高校科研管理提供一种新方法。     

Female student athletes’ perceptions of acceptability and the occurrence of sexual-related behaviour by their coaches in India

The current study assessed the perceptions of acceptable sexual behaviour of coaches and the occurrence of sexual harassment among female student in India. A sample of 180 Indian female student-athletes at intercollegiate and inter-university levels with male coaches participated in this study. A questionnaire on sport-specific Touch and Behaviour versus Unwanted Intimacy from coaches (Vanden Auweele et al., 2008), consisting of 41 items on a 5-point rating scale was used. The participants were asked to indicate the acceptability of specific coaching behaviour as well as the occurrence of the behaviour represented in each item. The acceptability of the behaviour was determined by means and standard deviations, while the occurrence was determined by frequencies. Factor analysis was performed to determine the structure of the coaches’ behaviour and athletes’ acceptability thereof, which yielded four factors. Cronbach’s alpha was used to determine the internal consistency of the extracted items on each factor. Two factors, namely, unwanted sexual behaviour and inappropriate verbal and physical sexual behaviour, were regarded by athletes as very serious and unacceptable coach behaviour, while a third factor represented context-dependent suspicious behaviour (a grey area in which athletes differ in their opinion) and was perceived to be serious and unacceptable. A fourth factor represented acceptable behaviour. The occurrence of very serious and unacceptable behaviour was reported by 31% of the female athletes.     

Variation of δ2H, δ18O & δ13C in crude palm oil from different regions in Malaysia: Potential of stable isotope signatures as a key traceability parameter

A total of 33 crude palm oil samples were randomly collected from different regions in Malaysia. Stable carbon isotopic composition (δ¹³C) was determined using Flash 2000 elemental analyzer while hydrogen and oxygen isotopic compositions (δ²H and δ¹⁸O) were analyzed by Thermo Finnigan TC/EA, wherein both instruments were coupled to an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. The bulk δ²H, δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C of the samples were analyzed by Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Orthogonal Partial Least Square-Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA). Unsupervised HCA and PCA methods have demonstrated that crude palm oil samples were grouped into clusters according to respective state. A predictive model was constructed by supervised OPLS-DA with good predictive power of 52.60%. Robustness of the predictive model was validated with overall accuracy of 71.43%. Blind test samples were correctly assigned to their respective cluster except for samples from southern region. δ¹⁸O was proposed as the promising discriminatory marker for discerning crude palm oil samples obtained from different regions. Stable isotopes profile was proven to be useful for origin traceability of crude palm oil samples at a narrower geographical area, i.e. based on regions in Malaysia. Predictive power and accuracy of the predictive model was expected to improve with the increase in sample size. Conclusively, the results in this study has fulfilled the main objective of this work where the simple approach of combining stable isotope analysis with chemometrics can be used to discriminate crude palm oil samples obtained from different regions in Malaysia. Overall, this study shows the feasibility of this approach to be used as a traceability assessment of crude palm oils.