A Simplified Map of the Real World


Book Description

In A Simplified Map of the Real World, intimate boundaries are loosened by divorce and death in a rural community where even an old pickle crock has an unsettling history—and high above the strife and the hope and the often hilarious, geese seek the perfect tailwind. Stevan Allred’s stunning debut deftly navigates the stubborn geography of the human heart.




The Alehouse at the End of the World


Book Description

When a fisherman receives a mysterious letter about his beloved’s demise, he sets off in his skiff to find her on the Isle of the Dead. The Alehouse at the End of the World is an epic comedy set in the sixteenth century, where bawdy Shakespearean love triangles play out with shapeshifting avian demigods and a fertility goddess, drunken revelry, bio-dynamic gardening, and a narcissistic, bullying crow, who may have colluded with a foreign power. A raucous, aw-aw-aw-awe-inspiring romp, Stevan Allred’s second book is a juicy fable for adults, and a hopeful tale for out troubled times.




Artificial Intelligence in Real-Time Control 1989


Book Description

Papers presented at the workshop are representative of the state-of-the art of artificial intelligence in real-time control. The issues covered included the use of AI methods in the design, implementation, testing, maintenance and operation of real-time control systems. While the focus was on the fundamental aspects of the methodologies and technologies, there were some applications papers which helped to put emerging theories into perspective. The four main subjects were architectural issues; knowledge - acquisition and learning; techniques; and scheduling, monitoring and management.




Geographic Information Systems for the Social Sciences


Book Description

"The Steinbergs have produced a very relevant book for the times. . . . While many books have emerged on the details of GIS, few resources exist to help teach the merger of GIS with more standard research methods. The Steinbergs accomplish this goal in a way that is readily accessible even to undergraduates." —Theodore Wagenaar, Miami University "The Steinbergs take the reader through all of the essential foundations of GIS... using examples drawn from the social sciences throughout. This book will be essential reading for any social scientist looking for a straightforward introduction to GIS." —Mike Goodchild, University of California, Santa Barbara Geographic Information Systems for the Social Sciences: Investigating Space and Place is the first book to take a cutting-edge approach to integrating spatial concepts into the social sciences. In this text, authors Steven J. Steinberg and Sheila L. Steinberg simplify GIS (Geographic Information Systems) for practitioners and students in the social sciences through the use of examples and actual program exercises so that they can become comfortable incorporating this research tool into their repertoire and scope of interest. The authors provide learning objectives for each chapter, chapter summaries, links to relevant Web sites, as well as suggestions for student research projects. Key Features: Presents step-by-step guidance for integrating GIS with both quantitative and qualitative research Provides an introduction to the use of GIS technology written at an accessible level for individuals without GIS experience while providing depth and guidance appropriate to experienced GIS users Offers an associated interactive Web site—http://www.socialsciencegis.org—to provide a forum for sharing experience and ideas, input to the authors, and a variety of other examples, data, and information related to the topics covered in the text Geographic Information Systems for the Social Sciences offers a nuts-and-bolts introduction to GIS for undergraduate and graduate students taking methods courses across the social sciences. It is an excellent textbook for courses dedicated to GIS research and its applications in the fields of Sociology, Criminology, Public Health, Geography, Anthropology, Political Science, and Environmental Studies. It is also a valuable resource for any social scientist or practitioner interested in applying GIS technology to his or her work. An Instructor′s Resource CD, containing PowerPoint slides, test questions, and suggested Web site links, among other items, is also available to all professors adopting this text.




Strategic Intelligence–Community Security Partnerships


Book Description

This book examines the need to bridge strategic intelligence and community collaboration. It explores intelligence collection, analysis, and operations as they relate to conflicts that can be solved through community collaboration. Its argument sits at the nexus of intelligence collection, operations and academic research, supporting the use of analytical frameworks, process theories, critical thinking, and pragmatic approaches in intelligence data analysis to provide a seamless end-product for effective decision making by policy makers, business, and military strategists. The book insists that public opinion matters, in the sense that leaders must shape it using collected intelligence and not wait for things to just happen. For any intelligence–community collaboration to succeed, intelligence agencies must succeed in framing and setting public opinion. The book also sheds light on competitive intelligence, arguing that turbulent times and threatening environments necessitate that corporate organizations engage in competitive intelligence the same way security organizations and agencies constantly shift and change paradigms. They must be innovative, create new labor practices, and use self-motivating management approaches and dynamic imaginative models to invent new strategic intelligence tactics and resolutions for optimal performance and productivity.




RealWorld Evaluation


Book Description

This book addresses the challenges of conducting program evaluations in real-world contexts where evaluators and the agencies face budget and time constraints and where critical data is missing. The book is organized around a seven-step model developed by the authors, which has been tested and refined in workshops. Vignettes and case studies—representing evaluations from a variety of geographic regions and sectors—demonstrate adaptive possibilities for small projects with budgets of a few thousand dollars to large-scale, long-term evaluations. The text incorporates quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method designs and this Second Edition reflects important developments in the field over the last five years.




Aspects of Teaching Secondary Science


Book Description

A key new textbook which is part of a new series co-published with The Open University Written to be used in conjunction with its counterpart in the Teaching in the Secondary School series. Between them they address both the theoretical and practical issues in science teaching Examples of good practice are underpinned by reference to research and other literature




Microeconomic Theory second edition


Book Description

This book introduces the main concepts of microeconomics to upper division undergraduate students or first year graduate students who have undergone at least one elementary calculus course. The book fully integrates graphical and mathematical concepts and offers over 150 analytical examples demonstrating numerical solutions. The book has a strong theoretical basis but shows how microeconomics can be brought to bear on the real world. New Features for this edition include: an incorporation of the theory of stock externalities associated with greenhouse gases development of the section on insurance with particular reference to the new US healthcare program greater integration of game theoretic concepts throughout the book. The book’s style is accessible, but also rigorous. Mathematical examples are provided throughout the book, in particular for key concepts and the result is a balanced approach in terms of prose, graphics, and mathematics.




Microeconomic Theory


Book Description

This book introduces the main concepts of microeconomics to students who have undergone at least one elementary calculus course. It fully integrates graphical and mathematical concepts and offers analytical examples demonstrating numerical solutions. The book has a strong theoretical basis but shows how microeconomics can be brought to bear on the real world. New Features for this edition include: An incorporation of the theory of stock externalities associated with greenhouse gases ; Development of the section on insurance with particular reference to the new US healthcare program ; greater integration of game theoretic concepts throughout the book. The book's style is accessible, but also rigorous. Mathematical examples are provided throughout the book, in particular for key concepts and the result is a balanced approach in terms of prose, graphics, and mathematics.




The Handbook of Emergent Technologies in Social Research


Book Description

New technologies are breaking the boundaries of how social researchers practice their craft, and it has become clear these changes are dramatically altering research design from the way data is collected to what is considered data. Bringing together all the emerging social science research technologies in one place, The Handbook of Emergent Technologies in Social Research offers comprehensive and up-to-date thinking on emerging technologies and addresses their impact on research methods, and in turn how new technologies lead to new research questions and areas of inquiry. The Handbook is organized into five sections, covering internet technologies, emergent data-collection methods, audio/visual, mobile, and geospatial technologies, and technology's impact on studying social life in natural settings, all after taking a look at emergent technologies from a broad, social-research context. Many of the twenty-nine chapters provide a commentary on and summary of specific technologies, like global surveys on the internet, mobile phones, data mining, and remote sensing, with a central focus on the most effective ways to use them. Others discuss the ethical and moral implications, especially issues of privacy and confidentiality, and collaborations across disciplines and outside the academy. The Handbook of Emergent Technologies in Social Research is indispensable for any social researcher looking to incorporate emerging technologies into their methods and practice.