Small-scale Program Research Articles

CAI: Its Cost and its Role

A practical and theoretical review is made of CAI system costs for small-scale instructional and training programs. CAI costs are broken down into its components, with each component described and evaluated in terms of its contribution to total system costs. A detailed example of an educational system is provided as an illustration of a CAI cost analysis. Future developments in CAI are briefly sketched, and presented in terms of their potential effect on CAI costs in the future. The effectiveness and role of CAI is examined in relation to costs, and a breakeven analysis is applied to cost-justify a computer-based training program. Finally, conclusions are drawn concerning CAI's current affordability and applications in both public and private environments.

Design Issues for Evaluations of Community Care Demonstrations

The evaluation of community care demonstrations poses a number of interdependent program and methodological design choices. Whether or not the program to be tested has a system-wide mission, for example, determines whether the program should be implemented on a small or large scale. This in turn has important implications for whether a randomized or a comparison site design is the appropriate evaluation methodology. This paper examines the relation between system-wide mission and scale considerations, on the one hand, and appropriate choice of methodology, on the other. It concludes that a small scale program with a randomized evaluation design is easiest to implement, costs less, and is more likely to provide defensible answers to a limited set of policy questions than a large scale program with a system-wide mission evaluated using a comparison site methodology. Despite the greater difficulty and cost of a large scale demonstration, however, such a demonstration should be seriously considered whenever increased funding makes it a feasible option, because it is able to address a number of significant policy questions that cannot be answered within the constraints of a small scale demonstration.

The modern development of nomadic living space in Southeast Arabia — the case of Dhofar (Sultanate of Oman) 1

Sweeping changes have recently taken place in the life and economic circumstances of nomadic peoples in the countries of the Islamic East. In this respect, the ‘small’ oil-rich Gulf states are in a somewhat different position. In contrast to many other countries with nomadic populations, the prospects for the integration of the non-sedentary elements of the population into the process of modern development are more favourable in the Gulf states, chiefly because of their wealth in oil. The Omani government has devoted special attention to the development of the nomadic environment in the southern province of Dhofar following the end of the Dhofar conflict. A speedy expansion of the technological and social infrastructure took place on the basis of a newly created central place system of government centres. This covered the extension or provision of transport facilities, water supply, education, rural health services, religious establishments, the distribution of basic requisites to the population and the stimulation of retail trade. Additional government measures comprised the construction of low-cost housing for refugees, the allocation of building sites, financial assistance to the socially deprived and subsidies to shaykhs, as well as various small-scale programmes for the improvement of agriculture, livestock and fisheries. A further essential contribution to modern development has been the creation of thousands of new jobs, above all in the state's public service sector. The effects of the new opportunities for employment, together with relatively high cash incomes now available for many nomadic families, can be seen in numerous changes. The most important new trends can be summarised as the decline of the caravan trade, the advent of motor transport, an increasing rate of permanent settlement accompanied by a switch to gardening, the practice of commuting to fixed employment instead of nomadism, dependence on external food and outside markets and economic dependence on allowances, standardized tents and stone houses in place of the traditional dwellings. It can generally be confirmed that the nomadic population of Dhofar has shared in modern development in a variety of ways. However, a marked gap in development exists between the coastal area in the south with its settled population and the nomadic living space in the interior of Dhofar. Only the speedy introduction of a development programme that caters for the specific interests of the nomads can satisfactorily achieve their ultimate integration. If such measures fail to materialise one must fear a long-term social and economic decline for the majority of nomads in Dhofar and their reduction to a marginal status.

A Defence Against the Public? Aspects of Intake in a Social Services Department

Since 1978, a small scale programme of research into social work practice has been under way in Wandsworth Social Services Department. Efforts have been made to look systematically at different aspects of practice and to evaluate some of the services provided by the department. Research projects are initiated by the assistant director responsible for field social work, in collaboration with area officers and their equivalents in hospitals. They are carried out by a senior social worker (the author) who is attached to the department's headquarters staff. Early in 1980, staff in the field social work division were asked to put forward ideas for a new project. Senior social workers in one of the six area offices responded by asking for an investigation of intake procedures. They had become concerned about the quality of service offered to members of the public when they first approached the department for help, and they felt that some of the administrative arrangements which had been made for receiving these 'new clients' might prevent, rather than enable, easy access to the department's resources. Specifically, they suggested that these arrangements might encompass identifiable 'organisational defences', similar to those described by Isobel Menzies in her classic paper on how nurses dealt with the anxiety which they experienced in the course of their work.1 This proposal aroused a good deal of interest, and it was agreed that the project should focus on duty and intake systems, with a view to

Screening for Colorectal Cancer

A voluntary colorectal screening program was carried out in North Carolina to evaluate the public's willingness to perform a do-it-yourself bowel test, to educate the public on the importance of routine colorectal screening, and to assess the efficacy of a small-scale screening program in detecting colorectal cancer. A screening kit was requested by 1,204 individuals after hearing or reading about the program; 770 kits were returned. Of 29 (3.7%) positive test results, six were negative after retesting. Adequate follow-up was available for 18 of the remaining 23 positive results. Thirteen were due to anal bleeding, diverticulosis, or heavy ingestion of aspirin; five were considered false-positive results, since no evidence of disease could be found. No cases of polypoid tumors or carcinoma were detected. The main value of such a program in an area with a small population base is to increase the awareness of the public of the importance of routine screening for colorectal cancer.

Transmigration: a new concept?

Permit me to offer a few comments on the new model for transmigration suggested by H. W. Arndt and R. M. Sundrum in their review article on Transmigration in Indonesia. In putting forward a concept based on labour supply for development projects in the islands other than Java and Bali the authors are in effect proposing that the existing antar kerja antar daerah labour program be expanded to a point where it would handle far more people than the present transmigration program. In other words they would reverse the Governments current policy of a large-scale land settlement program and a comparatively small-scale labour supply program. Several aspects of this alternative approach are by no means new. The supply of labour for non- agricultural as well as agricultural undertakings outside Java and Bali has been proposed more than once in government policies and policy-makers today would undoubtedly favour the idea. As in the case of many other proposals related to economic development in the islands other than Java and Bali however the concept has broken down at the implementation stage. (excerpt)

Weather Modification in the Soviet Union—1976

Abstract The U.S.S.R. has a large investment in weather modification research and operations. Major cloud physics experimental facilities exist at the Institute of Experimental Meteorology and at the Institute of Geophysics of the Georgian Academy of Sciences. Hail suppression operations are being carried out over about 5 000 000 ha of farmland. Although claims of success in these activities are more modest than they were in 1969, it is still reported that the benefits far exceed the costs. There is relatively little research and, at this time, apparently only one small-scale operational program dealing with precipitation augmentation. Research in the Ukraine over the last three years has led scientists there to conclude that ice nuclei seeding of cumulonimbus clouds, over a substantial area, caused rainfall increases of about 30%. It also was reported that snow from frontal clouds was increased.

Should potential sources of hospital-acquired infections be monitored?

Microbiological monitoring of potential sources of hospital-acquired infections requires a knowledge of the risk of infection connected with each item that may be monitored. While there are large numbers of potential sources for infection present in a hospital, it seems — in the light of past experience — impossible to devise a program that would serve to pinpoint all “dangerous” sources before transmission would occur. It is recommended, however, that small-scale programs be instituted in every hospital so as to mainly ensure the maintenance of aseptic and antiseptic techniques.