Manh-Tung Ho

Bio: Manh-Tung Ho is an academic researcher from Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences. The author has contributed to research in topics: Vietnamese & Bayesian statistics. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 3 publications receiving 32 citations.

Improving Bayesian statistics understanding in the age of Big Data with the bayesvl R package

Abstract: The exponential growth of social data both in volume and complexity has increasingly exposed many of the shortcomings of the conventional frequentist approach to statistics. The scientific community has called for careful usage of the approach and its inference. Meanwhile, the alternative method, Bayesian statistics, still faces considerable barriers toward a more widespread application. The bayesvl R package is an open program, designed for implementing Bayesian modeling and analysis using the Stan language’s no-U-turn (NUTS) sampler. The package combines the ability to construct Bayesian network models using directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation technique, and the graphic capability of the ggplot2 package. As a result, it can improve the user experience and intuitive understanding when constructing and analyzing Bayesian network models. A case example is offered to illustrate the usefulness of the package for Big Data analytics and cognitive computing.

People as the Roots (of the State): Democratic Elements in the Politics of Traditional Vietnamese Confucianism

Abstract: Abstract In this paper, the concept of “people as the roots” (of the state) is explored through its myriad expressions in Vietnamese history: the emphasis of Vietnamese feudal rulers on fulfilling the people’s will, loving the people, and ensuring peace for the people. From these historical examples, the authors argue that in the politics of Vietnamese traditional Confucianism, there has been the presence of democratic elements. Yet, they do not reflect a full-fledged democracy and should be seen only as signs of village democracy. This view holds an important implication for the process of democratization of modern Vietnamese society: while the concept of “people as the roots” is essential for a village democracy and is valuable for building a democracy, it does not necessarily mean a straightforward translation to a modern democracy. Here, the authors suggest that civil society will play an important role in making this transition smoother.

Entrepreneurship, economic development and institutions

Abstract: textThis paper is an introduction to the special issue from the 3rd Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Research Conference held in Washington, D.C., in 2008. The paper has three objectives. First, to discuss the importance of the three stages of economic development, the factor-driven stage, the efficiency-driven stage and the innovation-driven stage. Second, to examine the empirical evidence on the relationship between stages of economic development and entrepreneurship. Third, to present a summary of the papers in the context of the theory.

How digital natives learn and thrive in the digital age: Evidence from an emerging economy

Abstract: As a generation of ‘digital natives,’ secondary students who were born from 2002 to 2010 have various approaches to acquiring digital knowledge. Digital literacy and resilience are crucial for them to navigate the digital world as much as the real world; however, these remain under-researched subjects, especially in developing countries. In Vietnam, the education system has put considerable effort into teaching students these skills to promote quality education as part of the United Nations-defined Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4). This issue has proven especially salient amid the COVID−19 pandemic lockdowns, which had obliged most schools to switch to online forms of teaching. This study, which utilizes a dataset of 1061 Vietnamese students taken from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s “Digital Kids Asia Pacific (DKAP)” project, employs Bayesian statistics to explore the relationship between the students’ background and their digital abilities. Results show that economic status and parents’ level of education are positively correlated with digital literacy. Students from urban schools have only a slightly higher level of digital literacy than their rural counterparts, suggesting that school location may not be a defining explanatory element in the variation of digital literacy and resilience among Vietnamese students. Students’ digital literacy and, especially resilience, also have associations with their gender. Moreover, as students are digitally literate, they are more likely to be digitally resilient. Following SDG4, i.e., Quality Education, it is advisable for schools, and especially parents, to seriously invest in creating a safe, educational environment to enhance digital literacy among students.

Blessed Are the Organized: Grassroots Democracy in America

Abstract: Jeffrey Stout Blessed Are the Organized: Grassroots Democracy in America Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010 344 pp $2995 ISBN: 978-1-4008-3607-9 The notion of grassroots or bottom-up citizen political activism regained popularity during the 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama Having been a community organizer working with citizens groups on Chicago's far South Side, Obama emphasized the crucial role played by an active, involved citizenry in working to bring about social change In his book, Blessed are the Organized: Grassroots Democracy in America, Jeffrey Stout provides an interesting examination of modern-day grassroots organizations as they fight to overcome economic devastation, community dissolution, and governmental apathy wreaked on their lives by Hurricane Katrina, gang warfare, and abject poverty Stout focuses on three main areas in his investigation of the nature of organized grassroots political activism First, he discusses the role of the citizen in a democratic republic Here he articulates what he considers to be the inherent responsibilities of citizenship and why an activist public is essential to maintaining this form of government The second area relates to the organizational structure of effective activist groups The model he observes is that of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), a confederation of community organizations founded by the dean of radical grassroots organizing, Saul Alinsky Stout's third area of consideration is the activist role of the religious community in furthering progressive social causes The central idea giving rise to citizens' organizations seems to be that the impetus for progressive political change must come from the bottom rung of the political power ladder (the citizens) and push its way up to the halls of legislative policy making In the first chapter (entitled "The Responsibilities of a Citizen"), Stout lays out his views regarding the shared obligations that are incumbent upon the citizens of a democratic republic On page 12 he states: "Central to the spirit of democracy, as I understand it, is a people's disposition to care about liberty and justice for all and to act in ways to make this concern manifest" (emphasis added) He continues: "Grassroots democracy is an evolving collection of practices intended to perfect the exercise of political responsibility by citizens in a republic that officially aspires to be democratic" (13) Chapter eleven, which is one of Stout's most philosophically rigorous and interesting, examines the apparently inconsistent notion of a "democratic republic …