1,685 search results

Is blocking migrant benefits missing the point?
Society, Politics & Law

Is blocking migrant benefits missing the point?

...system can’t cope with demand. Now, most countries are not against welfare restrictions. Some central European states do see it as discriminating against their citizens, but it is not unfeasible that Cameron will be able to get a deal. In fact, a timely focus group study revealed that Poles and Bulgarians themselves are not against welfare restrictions in the UK. But...
Methods in Motion: The magpie
Society, Politics & Law

Methods in Motion: The magpie

...systemic explanations of how the world is ordered. Rather, I want to see why and how certain themes were used by states (in my case, Iran) in their diplomacy and wider foreign policy. So, I learnt Persian, I went to Iran - I ‘immersed’ myself in the culture of my object of study during my PhD. One might see this as me acting like a true 19th Century orientalist...
The devil is in the (complex) detail
Health, Sports & Psychology

The devil is in the (complex) detail

...system uses shortcuts to simplify the task. When there is information conflict in such highly complex situations, this creates a state psychologists refer to as “cognitive dissonance”. Human beings generally seek to reduce such dissonance by trying to restore the consistency of the information they are exposed to, such as by integrating new information into their...
Soil could save Earth from overheating
Nature & Environment

Soil could save Earth from overheating

...systems, use charcoal-based composts, and exploit a suite of more efficient practices tailored to their crops and terrain. Schemes such as Cool Farm Tool could help farmers measure and manage emissions from their own land. There would not be one big answer, but a host of varied responses. These range from better crop rotation to low tillage as opposed to deep ploughing,...
The Bottom Line Expert Opinion: Customer Service
Money & Business

The Bottom Line Expert Opinion: Customer Service

...system] Customer service must also be forward thinking. It cannot just meet the needs of present customers. It additionally must consider new ways of doing business and therefore the needs of new consumers. This future-oriented perspective is perhaps especially relevant in the current period as technology and evolving social values are rapidly changing the 21st century...
Assisted dying or non-assisted living?
Society, Politics & Law

Assisted dying or non-assisted living?

...system that does not prolong a life of suffering. When Mother Nature says it’s time to go, we should be able to choose whether to acquiesce or rebel, whether to accept the inevitable or fight for one last hurrah. It might be that the legislation is already in place to allow this, but anecdotal evidence suggests it is, in practice, a grey area that serves no one well. I...
Weighing up the reliability of expert criminal evidence
Society, Politics & Law

Weighing up the reliability of expert criminal evidence

...system, and through its Codes of Practice and Conduct (Codes) recognises how factors such as bias and uncertainty of measurement can undermine the reliability of evidence. Mitigation of these types of issues can vary between the different disciplines of forensics. For example, some would argue uncertainty of measurement is not relevant to digital forensics, where there is...
What does climate change mean for Pakistan?
Nature & Environment

What does climate change mean for Pakistan?

...systems. Rasul observes that March and April used to be cool to mild months, which helped the soil to retain moisture. “It is startling to observe March becoming warmer every year. The high temperatures we used to record in the peak summer months (June and July) about eight years ago are now being recorded in March,” he tells SciDev.Net. In June 2015, more than 1,200...