Official Statistics 4.0 : Verified Facts for People in the 21st Century
Explores official statistics and their social function in modern societies. Digitisation and globalisation are creating completely new opportunities and risks, a context in which facts (can) play an enormously important part if they are produced with a quality that makes them credible and purpose-specific. In order for this to actually happen, official statistics must continue to actively pursue the modernisation of their working methods.
Methodological Investigations in Agent-Based Modelling : With Applications for the Social Sciences
Examines the methodological complications of using complexity science concepts within the social science domain. The opening chapters take the reader on a tour through the development of simulation methodologies in the fields of artificial life and population biology, then demonstrates the growing popularity and relevance of these methods in the social sciences. Following an in-depth analysis of the potential impact of these methods on social science and social theory, the text provides substantive examples of the application of agent-based models in the field of demography. This work offers a unique combination of applied simulation work and substantive, in-depth philosophical analysis, and as such has potential appeal for specialist social scientists, complex systems scientists, and philosophers of science interested in the methodology of simulation and the practice of interdisciplinary computing research.
Introduction to PHP for Scientists and Engineers : Beyond JavaScript
This text presents key information needed to write your own online science and engineering applications, including reading, creating and manipulating data files stored as text on a server, thereby overcoming the limitations of a client-side language.
Introduction to development engineering
Introduces the emerging field of development engineering and its constituent theories, methods, and applications. It is both an instructional text for students and a resource for researchers and practitioners involved in the design and scaling of technologies for low-resource communities. The scope is broad, ranging from the development of mobile applications for low-literacy users to hardware and software solutions for providing electricity and water in remote environments. It is also highly interdisciplinary, drawing on methods and theories from the social sciences as well as engineering and the natural sciences.
ICCS 2007 ; Proceedings of the 15th International Workshops on Conceptual Structures
The 15th International Conference on Conceptual Structures (ICCS 2007) is the latest in a series of annual conferences that have been held in Europe, Australia, and North America since 1993. Some of the world's best minds in information technology, arts, humanities and social science converged to explore novel ways that information and communications technology (ICT) can augment human intelligence.
Geographic Information Science ; 4th International Conference, GIScience 2006, Münster, Germany, September 20-23, 2006, Proceedings
The GIScience conference series (www. giscience. org) was created as a forum for all researchers who are interested in advancing research in the fundam- tal aspects of geographic information science.The conferences focus on emerging topics and basic research ?ndings across all s- tors of geographic information science. After three highly successful conferences in the United States, this year’s GIScience conference was held in Europe for the ?rst time. The GIScience conferences have been a meeting point for researchers coming from various disciplines, including cognitive science, computer science, engine- ing, geography,information science, mathematics, philosophy, psychology,social science, and statistics. The advancement of geographic information science - quiressuchinterdisciplinarybreadth,andthisisalsowhatmakestheconferences so exciting. In order to account for the di?erent needs of the involved scienti?c disciplines with regard to publishing their research results.
Fun and Games ; 2nd International conference, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, October 20-21, 2008. Proceedings
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Second International Conference on Fun and Games, held in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in October 2008.The 17 revised full papers, presented together with 2 invited talks were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 36 submissions. The papers encompass the study of computer games, game development and experiences by researchers from social sciences, computing, electrical engineering, design, etc. Main focus is given to topics such as tightly-coupled embodied control of movement-sensitive mobile devices, hypercomputation and cultural computing, emerging gaming paradigms.
Conceptual Modeling - ER 2005
Conceptual modeling is fundamental to any domain where one must cope with complex real-world situations and systems because it fosters communication - tween technology experts and those who would bene?t from the application of those technologies. Conceptual modeling is the key mechanism for und- standing and representing the domains of information system and database - gineering but also increasingly for other domains including the new “virtual” e-environmentsandtheinformationsystemsthatsupportthem.Theimportance of conceptual modeling in software engineering is evidenced by recent interest in “model-drivenarchitecture”and“extremenon-programming”.Conceptualm- eling also plays a prominent rolein various technical disciplines and in the social sciences. The Annual International Conference on Conceptual Modeling (referred to as the ER Conference) provides a central forum for presenting and discussing current research and applications in which conceptual modeling is the major emphasis.
Machine Ethics : From Machine Morals to the Machinery of Morality
Offers the first systematic guide to machine ethics, bridging between computer science, social sciences and philosophy. Based on a dialogue between an AI scientist and a novelist philosopher, the book discusses important findings on which moral values machines can be taught and how. In turn, it investigates what kind of artificial intelligence (AI) people do actually want.
Learning and Adaption in Multi-Agent Systems ; 1st International Workshop, LAMAS 2005, Utrecht, The Netherlands, July 25, 2005, Revised Selected Papers
Contains selected and revised papers of the International Workshop on Lea- ing and Adaptation in Multi-Agent Systems (LAMAS 2005), held at the AAMAS 2005 Conference in Utrecht, The Netherlands, July 26. An important aspect in multi-agent systems (MASs) is that the environment evolves over time, not only due to external environmental changes but also due to agent int- actions. For this reason it is important that an agent can learn, based on experience, and adapt its knowledge to make rational decisions and act in this changing environment autonomously. Machine learning techniques for single-agent frameworks are well established. Agents operate in uncertain environments and must be able to learn and act - tonomously. This task is, however, more complex when the agent interacts with other agents that have potentially different capabilities and goals. The single-agent case is structurally different from the multi-agent case due to the added dimension of dynamic interactions between the adaptive agents. Multi-agent learning, i.e., the ability of the agents to learn how to cooperate and compete, becomes crucial in many domains. Autonomous agents and multi-agent systems (AAMAS) is an emerging multi-disciplinary area encompassing computer science, software engineering, biology, as well as cognitive and social sciences. A t- oretical framework, in which rationality of learning and interacting agents can be - derstood, is still under development in MASs, although there have been promising ?
Communicating Science in Social Contexts : New models, new practices
Science communication, as a multidisciplinary field, has developed remarkably in recent years. It is now a distinct and exceedingly dynamic science that melds theoretical approaches with practical experience. Formerly well-established theoretical models now seem out of step with the social reality of the sciences, and the previously clear-cut delineations and interacting domains between cultural fields have blurred. Communicating Science in Social Contexts examines that shift, which itself depicts a profound recomposition of knowledge fields, activities and dissemination practices, and the value accorded to science and technology.
Communicating science and technology in society
Addresses the engagement between science and society from multiple viewpoints. At a time when trust in experts is being questioned, misinformation is rife and scientific and technological development show growing social impact, the volume examines the challenges in involving the public in scientific debates and decisions. It takes into account societal needs and concerns in research, and analyses the interface between the roles of institutions and individuals. From environmental challenges to science communication, participatory technological design to animal experimentation, and transdisciplinarity to norms and values in science, the volume brings together research on areas in which scientists and citizens interact, across diverse, often understudied, socio-cultural contexts in Europe.
Citation Analysis in Research Evaluation
This book is written for members of the scholarly research community, and for persons involved in research evaluation and research policy. More specifically, it is directed towards the following four main groups of readers: – All scientists and scholars who have been or will be subjected to a quantitative assessment of research performance using citation analysis. – Research policy makers and managers who wish to become conversant with the basic features of citation analysis, and about its potentialities and limitations. – Members of peer review committees and other evaluators, who consider the use of citation analysis as a tool in their assessments. – Practitioners and students in the field of quantitative science and technology studies, informetrics, and library and information science. Citation analysis involves the construction and application of a series of indicators of the ‘impact’, ‘influence’ or ‘quality’ of scholarly work, derived from citation data, i.e. data on references cited in footnotes or bibliographies of scholarly research publications. Such indicators are applied both in the study of scholarly communication and in the assessment of research performance. The term ‘scholarly’ comprises all domains of science and scholarship, including not only those fields that are normally denoted as science – the natural and life sciences, mathematical and technical sciences – but also social sciences and humanities.
Bioethics in Cultural Contexts : Reflections on Methods and Finitude
This book discusses a range of methodological issues for an interdisciplinary bioethics. How can bioethics be an enterprise that does not only isolate issues and moral reasons but also (re)contextualises them? What are the strengths and weaknesses of different traditional and innovative modes of ethical work in terms of these tasks?
Bioeconomy and Global Inequalities Socio-Ecological Perspectives on Biomass Sourcing and Production
This book explores bioeconomy and bioenergy policies across South America, Asia and Europe. It discusses how a transition away from a fossil and towards a bio-based economic order alters, reinforces and challenges socio-ecological inequalities. A series of conceptual discussions and case studies with a multidisciplinary background in the Social Science illuminate how the deployment of biomass sources from the agricultural and forestry sectors affect societal changes concerning knowledge production, land and labour relations, political participation and international trade
Binocular astronomy
Anyone who has used a binocular telescope or even wide-field binoculars to look at the night sky will know just how breathtakingly beautiful the view can be when you observe with both eyes. Observing galaxies and nebulae with ‘regular’ prismatic binoculars is just a beginning. Binocular eyepieces and adapters can be added to almost any commercially-made astronomical telescope, and of course specialized astronomical binoculars can be assembled or purchased complete. These range from modest instruments to giants that are basically two large telescopes mounted together. Binocular Astronomy contains everything you’ll need to know about this exciting branch of astronomical observing.
Big Data : An Art of Decision Making
Manipulating and processing masses of digital data is never a purely technical activity. It requires an interpretative and exploratory outlook - already well known in the social sciences and the humanities - to convey intelligible results from data analysis algorithms and create new knowledge. Big Data is based on an inquiry of several years within Proxem, a software publisher specializing in big data processing. The book examines how data scientists explore, interpret and visualize our digital traces to make sense of them, and to produce new knowledge. Grounded in epistemology and science and technology studies, Big Data offers a reflection on data in general, and on how they help us to better understand reality and decide on our daily actions.
Beyond the apparent Banality of the mathematics classroom
New research in mathematics education deals with the complexity of the mathematics’ classroom. The classroom teaching situation constitutes a pertinent unit of analysis for research into the ternary didactic relationship which binds teachers, students and mathematical knowledge. The classroom is considered as a complex didactic system, which offers the researcher an opportunity to gauge the boundaries of the freedom that is left with regard to choices about the knowledge to be taught and the ways of organizing the students’ learning, while giveing rise to the study of interrelations between three main elements of the teaching process the: mathematical content to be taught and learned, management of the various time dimensions, and activity of the teacher who prepares and manages the class, to the benefit of the students' knowledge and the teachers' own experience.
Beyond knowledge : The legacy of competence : Meaningful computer-based learning environments
The edited and peer reviewed volume presents selected papers of the conference "Beyond knowlegde: the legacy of competence" It reflects the current state-of-the-art work of scholars worldwide within the area of learning and instruction with computers. Mainly, areas of computer-based learning environments supporting competence-focused knowledge acquisition but also foundational scientific work are addressed. More specific, contents cover cognitive processes in hypermedia and multimedia learning, social issues in computer-supported collaborative learning, motivation and emotion in Blended Learning and e-Learning.
Beyond Cartesian Dualism : Encountering affect in the teaching and learning of science.
There is surprisingly little known about affect in science education. Despite periodic forays into monitoring students’ attitudes-toward-science, the effect of affect is too often overlooked. Beyond Cartesian Dualism gathers together contemporary theorizing in this axiomatic area. In fourteen chapters, senior scholars of international standing use their knowledge of the literature and empirical data to model the relationship between cognition and affect in science education. Their revealing discussions are grounded in a broad range of educational contexts including school classrooms, universities, science centres, travelling exhibits and refugee camps, and explore an array of far reaching questions. What is known about science teachers’ and students’ emotions? How do emotions mediate and moderate instruction? How might science education promote psychological



















