자연주의적 탐구조사(Naturalistic Inquiry)

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.2307%2F3343168.pdf

Development as Freedom

This article reviews the recent literature on diversification as a livelihood strategy of rural households in developing countries, with particular reference to sub‐Saharan Africa. Livelihood diversification is defined as the process by which rural families construct a diverse portfolio of activities and social support capabilities in order to survive and to improve their standards of living. The determinants and effects of diversification in the areas of poverty, income distribution, farm output and gender are examined. Some policy inferences are summarised. The conclusion is reached that removal of constraints to, and expansion of opportunities for, diversification are desirable policy objectives because they give individuals and households more capabilities to improve livelihood security and to raise living standards.

Household strategies and rural livelihood diversification

Summary Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive disease of the CNS that is characterised by widespread lesions in the brain and spinal cord. MS results in motor, cognitive, and neuropsychiatric symptoms, all of which can occur independently of one another. The common cognitive symptoms include deficits in complex attention, efficiency of information processing, executive functioning, processing speed, and long-term memory. These deficits detrimentally affect many aspects of daily life, such as the ability to run a household, participate fully in society, and maintain employment—factors that can all affect the overall quality of life of the patient. The increased use of neuroimaging techniques in patients with MS has advanced our understanding of structural and functional changes in the brain that are characteristic of this disease, although much remains to be learned. Moreover, examination of efforts to treat the cognitive deficits in MS is still in the early stages.

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/laneur/PIIS1474-4422(08)70259-X.pdf

Cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis

http://jtoomim.org/brain-training/Zeidan2010_Mindfulness_Meditation.pdf

Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: Evidence of brief mental training☆

* Acknowledgements * Introduction 1. Current debates in microfinance * Subsidised credit provision * The move to market-based solutions * Making use of social collateral * Savings Can microfinance interventions reduce poverty? o Poverty as powerlessness o Credit for micro-enterprises o Reaching the poorest * Financial interventions and social change * Treading carefully in microfinance interventions 2. Informal financial services * Introduction User-owned informal financial services o Some examples of user-owned financial services * Turning the informal into the formal * What can be learned from informal finance? * Deciding when and how to intervene o Research questions on existing informal financial services * Filling the gaps o Some examples of innovative services * Promotion: an alternative strategy for NGOs o Formation of savings groups and development of internal credit facilities o Promotion of small-scale formalised approaches o Linking groups to the formal system o Linking with specialised financial service NGOs o Advocacy * Summary and conclusions 3. The design of savings and credit schemes for poor people * Introduction * Targeting savings and credit to poor people * Women as users of financial services * Lending through groups o Functions of the group in microfinance schemes o Including the poorest o Other examples of group-based schemes * Savings o The value of savingd facility o Compulsory or valuntary savings? o Linking savings to credit * Forms of loan o Credit in cash or kind? o Directed or undirected credit? * Loan disbursement and repayment schedules * Interest rates * Integrating financial services with other activities 4. Savings and credit group formation and institution-building 5. Social development programmes 6. Economic development activities 7. Summary and conclusion 8. Financial performance and sustainability * Introduction * Managing and assessing financial performance o The repayment rate o Arreas and default * Financial sustainability o The pros and cons of 'scaling up o Issues in sustainability: the experience of 'village banking' o Sustainability through exstending coverage o Measuring financial sustainabilty * Managerial and organisational sustainability o The role of staff in microfinance interventions o Organisational sustainability and change * Summary and conclusions 9. Assessing impact * Introduction * The difficulties of assessing impact o Establishing loan use o Measuring change: controls and baselines o Proving causality * Innovations in impact assessment o Researching usefulness: a case study o Assessing impact on social relationships o Impact assessment as a dynamic process o Validating quantitative data in impact assessment o Using quantitative data in impact assessment * Learning and adaptability * Summary and conclusions 10. Case studies * Introducing the case studies * Union Regional de Apoyo Campesino (URAC), Mexico o Background o Design o Financial performance and sustainability o Impact assessment o Conclusions * SUNGI Developent Foundation, Pakistan o Background o Design o Financial performance and sustainability o Impact assessment o Conclusions * Ladywood Credit Union, UK o Background o Design o Financial performance and sustainability o Impact assessment o Conclusions * ACTIONAID in The Gambia o Background o Design o Financial performance and sustainability o Impact assessment o Conclusions * Casa Campesina Cayambe, Ecuador o Background o Design o Financial performance and sustainability o Impact assessment o Conclusions * Conclusions * Annex 1 Table 1 Six microfinance institutions * Annex 2 Repayment rate and arrears rate * References

Microfinance and poverty reduction

Expectations are high, but evidence of the impact of microcredit remains in short supply. This article estimates the impact of an urban credit programme in Zambia on business performance and on a range of indicators of wellbeing. Borrowers who obtained a second loan experienced significantly higher average growth in business profits and household income. Inflexible group enforcement of loan obligations resulted in some borrowers, especially amongst those who had taken only one loan, being made worse off. Our methodological investigations suggest that the supply of rigorous impact studies can be increased by basing them on data collection that serves a wider range of purposes, including market research.

Assessing the impact of microcredit: A Zambian case study

The present study was designed to examine whether verbal memory impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) is attributable to impaired information acquisition or compromised retrieval. Twenty-three MS and 23 control subjects were administered a 10-item verbal list-learning task. Subjects were trained to a specific criterion on the verbal test in order to assure equal information acquisition. Following a 30-min delay, retrieval and recognition performance was evaluated. MS subjects required significantly more trials to reach criterion on the task relative to controls, but the groups did not differ on tests of recall and recognition. Performance was correlated with rate of information processing speed. These results suggest that verbal memory impairment among MS subjects is a consequence of inadequate initial learning and not a function of impaired retrieval.

Susan Johnson

Papers

Microfinance and poverty reduction

Assessing the impact of microcredit: A Zambian case study

The nature of memory impairments in multiple sclerosis: Acquisition versus retrieval

Ventral somatosensory determinants of nursing behavior in Norway rats. I. Effects of variations in the quality and quantity of pup stimuli.

Gender norms in financial markets: Evidence from Kenya