Evaluating Community Safety Programmes and Community Engagement: The Role of Qualitative Methods and Collaborative Approaches to Policy Research

This article explores the role of qualitative and collaborative methods when undertaking evaluation research into local community safety partnerships and neighbourhood strategies. It draws on recent examples of research and evaluation studies of regeneration and community safety programmes in a number of cities and towns in England. The discussion is set against the background of the major changes in policy relating to crime and community safety, particularly the introduction of Crime and Disorder Partnerships and their engagement with local communities. The value of qualitative methods in exploring some key questions is discussed, particularly within a collaborative approach to policy research.     

The world’s most intense online gaming culture: Addiction and high-engagement prevalence rates among South Korean adolescents and young adults

Failure to establish agreed-upon criteria by which to measure and identify online video game addiction has resulted in a lack of reliable evidence of the actual percentage of individuals who are pathologically dependent. Building upon prior research, the present study sought to better determine the magnitude of pathological online video game play using a distinction between core and peripheral criteria for behavioral addiction. Preferences and perceptions towards online video games and addiction were also examined to better understand players’ habits. A questionnaire was administered to 1332 South Korean students across 11 high schools and 1 middle school in an area surrounding the capital of Seoul. Using a monothetic and a polythetic classification system, findings showed rates ranging between 1.7% and 25.5%, with a 2.7% addiction rate when distinguishing core from peripheral criteria. These results may suggest that online video game addiction rates in intense gaming cultures such as South Korea are not as high as otherwise believed. The findings will be of assistance to educators, policymakers, clinicians, and researchers in understanding the challenges in deriving meaningful video game addiction prevalence rates, and thus being able to better separate reality from conjecture with regard to the notion of pathological game play.     

Linking care felt to engagement in innovative behaviors in the workplace: The mediating role of psychological conditions.

This study examines the relationships between care felt and engagement in innovative behaviors at work. We posit that when an individual perceives that coworkers care for him or her (i.e., care felt), this cultivates psychological conditions such as safety, meaningfulness, and availability, which result in a higher level of motivation and by implication engagement in innovative behaviors at work. A sample of 218 employees took part in the assessment of the relationship between the psychological conditions linked to care felt (measured at Time 1) and motivation and engagement in innovative behaviors (measured at Time 2). The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) indicate that care felt is positively linked to psychological conditions. The latter is positively related directly and indirectly (through motivation) to engagement in innovative behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Failure analysis of threaded connections in large-scale steel tie rods

Steel tie rods are very important load-carrying components in applications where high levels of pre-stresses are required. The bearing capacity of a steel tie rod is determined not only by the strength of the rod body, but also by the strength of the threaded connection that resists force. Analysis of the strength of the threaded connection and determining the optimal number of turns of thread engagement is critical to ensure structural safety. This paper reports the results of full-scale tensile rupture experiments on two categories of large-scale steel tie rods provided by China JULI Corporation: (i) LG75-00 steel tie rods with triangle threaded connection, and (ii) LG100-00 steel tie rods with trapezoidal threaded connection. The full-scale tensile rupture experiments were carried out to test the maximum allowable axial working load under different numbers of turns of engaged threads. The results of these experiments suggest strong guidelines on the minimum number of turns of thread engagement for preventing the failure of thread teeth of steel tie rods in practical shear and bending applications.     

What’s the middle ground? Institutionalized vs. emerging water-related stakeholder engagement processes

Abstract

In this day and age, it is widely argued that stakeholder engagement in water-related decision-making processes yields many benefits, including legitimacy, acceptance and trust. Key legal frameworks, such as the European Water Framework Directive and the Aarhus Convention, have spurred the emergence of formal forms of stakeholder engagement. On the other hand, many engagement processes are spontaneous and self-organized. This article investigates the strategies used in formal (government-led) and informal (bottom-up) engagement processes in search of a middle ground. To this end, case studies in the Netherlands, the United States, Uganda and Ethiopia are analyzed using the OECD’s stakeholder engagement checklist. We conclude with reflection on the ways forward to make formal and informal stakeholder engagement complementary.     

基于评价理论的小说《凉亭》中介入资源分析

雷蒙德·卡佛是美国著名的小说家和诗人,其作品语言平铺直叙、精干冷硬。目前大多数研究都从其文本的"极简主义"特点出发,而鲜有研究从系统功能语法的评价理论角度入手。对小说中的评价性资源,如介入资源的自言、借言以及不同性质介入资源的使用和分布进行分析,对于探究其作品风格、语言特点等都有着重大的作用,同时,也为研究雷蒙德·卡佛的作品提供了新的视角和途径。     

花键滚刀齿形设计的计算机图解法

花键滚刀齿形设计的计算机图解法,综合了图解法和分析计算法的优点,同时避免了各自的缺点。简便、直观、可靠;计算速度快、精度高;可任意取计算点。且点数不受限制,各点均不需反复计算,立即得到所需结果。而且,对于不同规格的花键滚刀,即不同形圆半径和不同节圆半径的花键滚刀,都可利用本文所拟的同一程序通过对微机的响应提示,立即得到相应的结果。程序稍加改进,还可用于不同齿形的花键滚刀。