Impact Assessment: assessing the social dimensions of fisheries research projects in the Asia-Pacific Region

Interest in understanding the social impact of publicly funded science research is growing globally. However, practical examples demonstrating how the social impacts of research for development are measured are negligible. This paper illustrates the utility of Impact Assessment (IA), Social Impact Assessment (SIA) in particular to measure and articulate the social dimensions of research for development. We employed substantive aspects of SIA to assess the social impacts of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) funded fisheries research projects across Southeast Asia and the Pacific Island Countries. Data were collected through a survey, in-depth interviews, and case studies. Results illustrate that SIA can offer a nuanced understanding of the contribution of research for development to changes in culture, community health and wellbeing, livelihood and economy, and governance and politics, among others. We suggest that researchers, policymakers and research for development organisations consider incorporating SIA in their projects not only as a tool to assess impact but also as a process to manage and understand the social dimensions of science research.     

Developing social impact assessment guidelines in a pre-existing policy context

Few jurisdictions have translated internationally agreed social impact assessment (SIA) principles into statutory provisions. Governments and regulatory bodies tend to provide developers with high-level frameworks, or require that social impacts be ‘considered’, without specifying how this is to be done. In Australia, this lack of clarity leaves all parties uncertain about requirements for SIA. The New South Wales (NSW) Government’s 2017 release of the SIA guideline for State-significant mining, petroleum and extractive industry development represents an attempt to clarify requirements and provide guidance. In this paper, we describe the process of bringing this guideline to fruition from the perspective of being directly involved in its development, and highlight the challenges involved in integrating leading-practice principles into the state’s pre-existing policy framework. While the guideline represents a significant advance in policy-based SIA guidance, some aspects leave room for improvement. The real test of the guideline’s impact will lie in its influence on SIA practice in NSW, and ultimately in social outcomes for communities affected by resources projects.     

Can social impact assessment contribute to social development outcomes in an emerging economy?

Social impact assessment (SIA) addresses the ‘people aspect’ of development-induced change by empowering communities with a voice in the environmental impact assessment process. Globally, poverty and inequality is growing. Countries with emerging economies are especially affected, and SIA conducted within this context necessitates mitigation of both the direct impacts of particular developments as well as the social legacies that entrench poverty and inequality. Social development is an approach that can be used to reduce poverty and inequality. This paper analyses the practice of SIA and its potential to contribute to social development outcomes in emerging economies. SIA, as practised in South Africa, was analysed from the theoretical framework of social development using an exploratory sequential mixed methods design. The findings indicate that weak implementation of mitigation, monitoring and management measures dilute the potential for SIA to achieve social development outcomes. Through minor evolution of SIA practice, the process can lay a firm foundation to facilitate social development outcomes, especially considering its potential contribution to poverty reduction through the social protection floor, skills development and job creation.     

Social impact assessment in the Russian Federation: does it meet the key values of democracy and civil society?

Contemporary social impact assessment (SIA) is rooted in the concepts of civil society and democracy. We analyse whether SIA as practiced in the Russian Federation as part of environmental impact assessment (EIA) is consistent with the key values of civil society and democracy. We consider whether the Russian EIA requirements enable preparation of meaningful assessments that effectively contribute to the decision-making processes that affect people’s lives. We review the Rsussian EIA legislation and its requirements for SIA and social baseline, and consider the EIA/SIA practice undertaken in response to these requirements. We specifically analyse the Karmen coal mining project in South Yakutia. We compare the EIA documents completed according to national requirements against the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) documents prepared to be consistent with international standards, as defined by the International Finance Corporation Performance Standards. We conclude that the national requirements for SIA in Russia and the way they are implemented do not encourage the development of meaningful SIAs that comply with the key concepts and social values of SIA, civil society and democracy.     

Effect characterization in social impact assessment: a scan of current practice

Good-practice guidance for impact assessment (IA) consistently recommends that IA practitioners characterize impacts using parameters such as magnitude, likelihood and geographic extent. In practice, however, this guidance is not always followed. In order to identify the extent to which impacts are characterized for social topics, this paper reviewed of the social assessment sections of 57 environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports from 12 countries. The review found that 61% attempted to characterize impacts for social topics, while 39% did not. Of the 61% that characterized impacts, just over half (54%) provided transparent definitions for effect levels (e.g. low, medium and high). The research results shine a light on the lack of consistency in thoroughly, appropriately and transparently characterizing social effects. Advancing this discussion amongst SIA professionals is important, as it will benefit the quality of SIAs and mitigation approaches in the future. Finally, this paper puts forward a proposed model for social effect characterization parameters that can be used and adapted for future assessments.

Abbreviation: EIA: environmental impact assessment; IA: impact assessment; SIA: socio-economic impact assessment.     

Application of discrete‐time Bayesian network on reliability analysis of uncertain system with common cause failure

With the increasing complexity of engineering systems, reliability analysis and evaluation of systems with traditional methods can't meet practical engineering requirements. Based on limited experimental conditions, lack of data, complex structure models, insufficient cognitive abilities, and many other issues, people have to consider many uncertain factors in system reliability research. Besides, common cause failure (CCF) has become an important factor of system failure. In this paper, a discrete‐time Bayesian network (DTBN) associated with an eight‐rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system is presented to discuss above problems. In this approach, the system is assumed as a two‐state system. After that, interval analysis theory is employed to deal with uncertainty. We consider the four sets of auxiliary propellers in the auxiliary power group as a 3/8 voting system, and β factor model is used to process CCF in the auxiliary power group. The proposed methods prove the validity of proposing interval analysis theory to solve uncertain problems and it is necessary to consider reducing or avoiding CCFs in system.     

针对信息流广告原生性调节方法的设计研究

目的 通过对信息流广告原生性的影响因素进行分析,得到可以调整原生性强弱的广告设计方法,从而达到既满足用户体验又提升广告传播效果的目的。方法 通过文献研究法,得到信息流广告本身的影响因素,并对其进行简要分析说明。对信息流广告在国内主流社交媒体软件上的投放情况进行分析,并发现其他的影响因素,得到广告推送频率与广告面积因素的研究价值并提出相应的解决方法。结果 针对信息流广告原生性的影响因素,提出广告包含广告标签、形式原生、内容原生3个因素,在广告投放中存在的因素有推送频率与广告面积,并总结了各个因素的调节方法。结论 基于信息流广告的原生性,为广告设计提供理论依托,从而更好地为设计师在权衡用户体验与广告商利益时提供解决方法。     

直流大电流比较仪谐波影响问题的研究

本提出了在谐波影响下直流大电流比较仪的等效电路模型及计算方法,通过仿真给出了该模型的频率特性,通过试验数据与仿真结果的比较证实了电路模型的可行性,对研究直流大电流比较仪和电流互感器的谐波影响具有指导意义。     

Structured information analysis for human reliability analysis of emergency tasks in nuclear power plants

Being supported by scarce empirical data, most of the performance influencing factors in human reliability analysis (HRA) have to be assessed on the basis of the analyst's knowledge on the human performance in given tasks and their context. Therefore, the outcome of HRA may only be warranted by a proper application of their knowledge based on sufficient information about the tasks and situations. However, most of the HRA methodologies, including the newly developed ones, focus on the provision of cognitive models, error mechanisms, error types and analysis method while leaving the information collection mostly in the hands of the analyst. This paper suggests structured information analysis (SIA), which helps HRA analysts in collecting and structuring such information on tasks and contexts. The SIA consists of three parts: the scenario analysis, the goal-means analysis, and the cognitive function analysis. An expert evaluation showed that this three-part information analysis allowed more expressiveness and hence more confidence on the error prediction than ASEP HRA.     

Social impact assessment and ethical research principles: ethical professional practice in impact assessment Part II

This paper considers a range of ethical issues in social impact assessment (SIA) providing a commentary from a professional practice perspective. Drawing on its companion paper (Vanclay et al. 2013 Principles for ethical research involving humans: Ethical professional practice in impact assessment Part I. Impact Assess Proj Appraisal, 31(4):243–253), the 18 principles of ethical research are discussed as they pertain to SIA practice. While the ethical principles are highly relevant and align well with good practice SIA, there will be situations where the specific requirements suggested by the principles need to be carefully thought through by practitioners. Although making some general conclusions, the paper’s main purpose is to stimulate further debate about ethical issues within the impact assessment profession. Key recommendations that emerge for SIA practice include the need for SIA practitioners to use information sheets routinely, and to increase the use of signed consent forms. It is also recommended that the International Association for Impact Assessment provide a service to allow practitioners to gain ethical approval for their projects in non-routine cases.     

Understanding the use of mobile banking in rural areas of Brazil

The main purpose of this study is to analyze the adoption of mobile banking by farmers and some of its potential determining factors. Our sample comprises 115 complete questionnaires answered through the paper-and-pencil method. The respondents are farmers who have properties located close to 20 different cities in Brazil, specifically in the state of Minas Gerais. We employed the confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate the constructs and the structural equation modeling to test the study hypotheses. The main results indicate that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and trust are the main constructs related to the use of mobile banking by the farmers who answered the questionnaire. However, the relationship between social influence and the use of mobile banking was negative. This result is opposite to the one usually found in the literature. This research contributes to expand the understanding about the benefits of information technology to the financial routine of farmers, since they operate in a relevant economic sector in Brazil.     

Estimation of the social costs of home injury: a comparison with estimates for road injury

Home injury is thought to constitute a major health burden in most developed countries. However, efforts to address this burden have been hampered by reluctance from outside agencies to interfere with the home environment of individuals, even if it benefits the occupant's safety. This paper outlines cost–benefit evaluation methods established in the transport safety domain applied to home safety to estimate the social cost of unintentional home injury in New Zealand. Estimates of costs imposed on society by home injury can provide an important motivator for initiating research and programmes to reduce home injury risk. Data sources used included mortality data, hospitalisation data and data on minor injuries that required medical treatment, but not hospital admission. We estimated that unintentional home injuries in New Zealand impose an annual social cost of about $NZ 13 billion (about $US 9 billion), which is about 3.5 times the annual social cost of road injury. These estimates provide a rational evidence base for decisions on housing-focused safety regulation or interventions that always carry some cost, and therefore need to be weighed against the benefits of injuries potentially prevented.     

Bridging corporate social responsibility and social impact assessment

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social impact assessment (SIA) share foundational values. Yet even where a single corporation espouses CSR and carries out SIA, the two often pass like ships in the night. Drawing upon recent literature and experiences from a decade of applied social research in CSR and SIA in the resources industry, this professional practice paper identifies three key bridging points through which CSR and SIA could be better linked and strengthened in future: policy–practice gaps, voluntary versus involuntary regulation and internal versus independent implementation.     

Accuracy and efficiency of higher-order boundary element methods for steady convective heat diffusion in three-dimensions

Higher-order boundary element methods (BEM) are presented for three-dimenisonal steady convective heat diffusion at high Peclet numbers. The boundary element formulation is facilitated by the definition of an influence domain due to convective kernels. This approach essentially localizes the surface integrations only within the domain of influence which becomes more narrowly focused as the Peclet number increases. The outcome of this phenomenon is an increased sparsity and improved conditioning of the global matrix. Therefore, iterative solvers for sparse matrices become a very efficient and robust tool for the corresponding boundary element matrices. In this paper, we consider an example problem with an exact solution and investigate the accuracy and efficiency of the higher-order BEM formulations for high Peclet numbers in the range from 1000 to 100,000. The bi-quartic boundary elements included in this study are shown to provide very efficient and extremely accurate solutions to this problem, even on a single engineering workstation.     

基于Akers社会学习理论的司机超速驾驶的影响因素研究

本研究基于Akers社会学习理论,通过对北京288名司机进行抽样调查,探索了各个社会学习变量对司机超速驾驶频次的影响。研究结果表明:Akers社会学习理论对于超速驾驶行为有着较好解释力。具体表现为,司机对超速驾驶态度将显著影响其超速驾驶行为的发生,而司机所处的社群以及其身边的家人和朋友对超速驾驶行为的态度显著影响其超速驾驶行为的发生;他们接触到身边越多的超速驾驶行为促使其超速驾驶;最后,司机预期超速驾驶行为所产生的积极后果作为差异强化变量之一,将显著提高其超速驾驶的频次。     

步态分析研究综述

目的 梳理步态分析的发展脉络,介绍步态分析中常用的实验和仿真方法,了解步态分析的主要应用领域,预测步态分析未来的发展方向。方法 收集步态分析领域的国内外主要文献,梳理该领域的主要研究内容、研究方法、研究现状和主要应用领域。结果 步态分析的主要研究内容是对运动学、动力学参数及其变化规律的定量研究,多数学者将研究集中在临床诊断与康复评价、穿戴式机器人及康复辅具研发与竞技体育科学训练方式探索上;步态分析的研究方法包括实验研究和仿真分析法;步态分析的研究成果可以为医疗领域中相关疾病的临床诊断、疗效评估和康复训练提供指导意见,为工程领域中双足机器人、助行器及康复辅具、人工关节的设计开发提供数据支撑。结论 未来步态分析手段将更精准、应用领域将更广泛,步态分析的应用也将扩展到更多领域,工业设计也将持续引入步态分析的方法与成果,为用户带来更好的产品和更舒适的体验。     

The practice of social impact assessment background

The goal of social impact assessment is to help individuals and communities, as well as government and private-sector organizations, understand and better anticipate the possible social consequences for human populations and communities of planned and unplanned social change resulting from proposed policies, plans, programmes and projects. Like all assessments, the SIA model is comparative. We look to similar settings for direction as to what will happen in the future. Based on decades of research, we have organized SIA indicators under the general headings of population characteristics, community and institutional structures, political and social resources, individual and family changes, and community resources. The SIA process identifies alternatives to a proposed action as well as guidelines for enhancement and mitigation.     

An investigation of factors reducing seat belt use amongst Spanish drivers and passengers on urban roads

Seat belt use on Spain's highways is more than 80%, while on the urban roads this figure is around 50%. As there was little information available to explain the difference in seat belt use rates, the main aim of this study was to investigate why there is a lower rate of seat belt use on urban roads. A number of perceptions, beliefs and expectancies about seat belt use were examined to identify variables that discriminated between seat belt users and non-users on urban roads. The subjects were 398 undergraduate students (aged 17-47) studying at the University of Girona, Spain. On the urban roads reported discomfort from using the seat belt was higher, while perceptions of risk (for non-users), safety perceptions (for those using a seat belt), beliefs about the seriousness of a crash or the effectiveness of the seat belt were all lower than on the highway. Perceptions of safety, discomfort, and social influence predicted seat belt use on urban roads. Concern about being fined for not using a seat belt did not predict seat belt use. The results of this research suggest that in order to increase seat belt use on urban roads, the issue of discomfort must be addressed. In addition, prevention campaigns should include information about the effectiveness of the seat belt in preventing/reducing injuries or deaths on urban roads. The results also highlight the importance of social influence for determining seat belt use/non-use and the potential role social influence could play in increasing seat belt usage.     

Safety culture and accident analysis--a socio-management approach based on organizational safety social capital

One of the biggest challenges for organizations in today's competitive business environment is to create and preserve a self-sustaining safety culture. Typically, the key drivers of safety culture in many organizations are regulation, audits, safety training, various types of employee exhortations to comply with safety norms, etc. However, less evident factors like networking relationships and social trust amongst employees, as also extended networking relationships and social trust of organizations with external stakeholders like government, suppliers, regulators, etc., which constitute the safety social capital in the Organization—seem to also influence the sustenance of organizational safety culture. Can erosion in safety social capital cause deterioration in safety culture and contribute to accidents? If so, how does it contribute? As existing accident analysis models do not provide answers to these questions, CAMSoC (Curtailing Accidents by Managing Social Capital), an accident analysis model, is proposed. As an illustration, five accidents: Bhopal (India), Hyatt Regency (USA), Tenerife (Canary Islands), Westray (Canada) and Exxon Valdez (USA) have been analyzed using CAMSoC. This limited cross-industry analysis provides two key socio-management insights: the biggest source of motivation that causes deviant behavior leading to accidents is ‘Faulty Value Systems’. The second biggest source is ‘Enforceable Trust’. From a management control perspective, deterioration in safety culture and resultant accidents is more due to the ‘action controls’ rather than explicit ‘cultural controls’. Future research directions to enhance the model's utility through layering are addressed briefly.     

A review of social media-based public opinion analyses: Challenges and recommendations

Compared with survey polls, social media can yield a better and more comprehensive understanding of public perceptions of special topics in a more scientific manner. However, despite this advantage, there seem to be limited investigations into the challenges in social media-based public opinion analysis. This study offers an understanding of the challenges in this field and some corresponding recommendations. Through a systematic literature review, we identify 54 papers to analyze and discuss issues related to data collection, data quality, and data mining. This paper summarizes a framework for social media-based public opinion analysis as well as the commonly employed data mining methodologies. We found that collecting public opinion data from Facebook and Weibo is difficult because of their restricted application programming interface and measures against Web Crawler. How to effectively and conveniently delete invalid data and how to design data mining methods for social media data, especially for those in Chinese, are still two main challenges in social media-based public opinion analysis. We claim that using multiple data sources, optimizing keyword settings, enhancing interdisciplinary cooperation, and paying more attention to the functional role of social media can benefit the development of social media-based public opinion analysis. This study also highlights the potential risks of releasing the personal information of the public in the use of social media data in research.