Introduction to Python Programming And Data Structure By Liang

The Companion is an essential, interdisciplinary tool for those both familiar and unfamiliar with Wagner's Ring. It opens with a concise introduction to both the composer and the Ring, introducing Wagner as a cultural figure, and giving a comprehensive overview of the work. Subsequent chapters, written by leading Wagner experts, focus on musical topics such as 'leitmotif', and structure, and provide a comprehensive set of character portraits, including leading players like Wotan, Brünnhilde, and Siegfried. Further chapters look to the mythological background of the work and the idea of the Bayreuth Festival, as well as critical reception of the Ring, its relationship to Nazism, and its impact on literature and popular culture, in turn offering new approaches to interpretation including gender, race and environmentalism. The volume ends with a history of notable stage productions from the world premiere in 1876 to the most recent stagings in Bayreuth and elsewhere.

In the age of data-driven problem-solving, applying sophisticated computational tools for explaining substantive phenomena is a valuable skill. Yet, application of methods assumes an understanding of the data, structure, and patterns that influence the broader research program. This Element offers researchers and teachers an introduction to clustering, which is a prominent class of unsupervised machine learning for exploring and understanding latent, non-random structure in data. A suite of widely used clustering techniques is covered in this Element, in addition to R code and real data to facilitate interaction with the concepts. Upon setting the stage for clustering, the following algorithms are detailed: agglomerative hierarchical clustering, k-means clustering, Gaussian mixture models, and at a higher-level, fuzzy C-means clustering, DBSCAN, and partitioning around medoids (k-medoids) clustering.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, Egypt experienced swift economic growth resulting from a regional oil boom. Oddly, this economic growth hardly registered in Egyptian public discourse, which continuously claimed that the country was experiencing multiple economic, social, and cultural crises. This book sets out to investigate this discrepancy and to offer a revisionist history of the period. It documents the massive socio-economic mobility in Egypt by analysing relevant statistical data and ethnographic evidence, indicating the changes in the employment structure and the spread of mass consumption. Relli Shechter further examines a wide array of cultural resources, such as Egyptian academic writing, the press, the cinema, and the literature, in which critics lamented 'what went wrong' in Egypt. By doing so, he offers a local version of a wider Middle Eastern and international story: the global formation of middle-class societies whose members strove for respectable lives with only par

Livy's Ab urbe condita Book XXII narrates Hannibal's massive defeats of the Romans at Trasimene (217 BC) and Cannae (216 BC). It is Livy's best and most dramatic book, and the one most likely to appeal to students at every level. Livy drew on the Greek historian Polybius, but transformed his drier treatment into a rhetorical masterpiece, which by a series of insistent thematic contrasts brings out the tensions between the delaying tactics of Fabius and the costly rashness of Flaminius, Minucius and Varro. A substantial and accessibly written introduction by two experienced commentators covers historical, religious, literary and linguistic matters, including the place of Book XXII in the structure of Livy's long work. A new text by Briscoe is followed by a full commentary, covering literary and historical aspects and offering frequent help with translation. The volume is suitable for undergraduates, graduate students, teachers, and scholars.

Biostatistics with R provides a straightforward introduction on how to analyse data from the wide field of biological research, including nature protection and global change monitoring. The book is centred around traditional statistical approaches, focusing on those prevailing in research publications. The authors cover t-tests, ANOVA and regression models, but also the advanced methods of generalised linear models and classification and regression trees. Chapters usually start with several useful case examples, describing the structure of typical datasets and proposing research-related questions. All chapters are supplemented by example datasets, step-by-step R code demonstrating analytical procedures and interpretation of results. The authors also provide examples of how to appropriately describe statistical procedures and results of analyses in research papers. This accessible textbook will serve a broad audience, from students, researchers or professionals looking to improve their

Livy's Ab urbe condita Book XXII narrates Hannibal's massive defeats of the Romans at Trasimene (217 BC) and Cannae (216 BC). It is Livy's best and most dramatic book, and the one most likely to appeal to students at every level. Livy drew on the Greek historian Polybius, but transformed his drier treatment into a rhetorical masterpiece, which by a series of insistent thematic contrasts brings out the tensions between the delaying tactics of Fabius and the costly rashness of Flaminius, Minucius and Varro. A substantial and accessibly written introduction by two experienced commentators covers historical, religious, literary and linguistic matters, including the place of Book XXII in the structure of Livy's long work. A new text by Briscoe is followed by a full commentary, covering literary and historical aspects and offering frequent help with translation. The volume is suitable for undergraduates, graduate students, teachers, and scholars.

Biostatistics with R provides a straightforward introduction on how to analyse data from the wide field of biological research, including nature protection and global change monitoring. The book is centred around traditional statistical approaches, focusing on those prevailing in research publications. The authors cover t-tests, ANOVA and regression models, but also the advanced methods of generalised linear models and classification and regression trees. Chapters usually start with several useful case examples, describing the structure of typical datasets and proposing research-related questions. All chapters are supplemented by example datasets, step-by-step R code demonstrating analytical procedures and interpretation of results. The authors also provide examples of how to appropriately describe statistical procedures and results of analyses in research papers. This accessible textbook will serve a broad audience, from students, researchers or professionals looking to improve their

Tackling structural geology problems today requires a quantitative understanding of the underlying physical principles, and the ability to apply mathematical models to deformation processes within the Earth. Accessible yet rigorous, this unique textbook demonstrates how to approach structural geology quantitatively using calculus and mechanics, and prepares students to interface with professional geophysicists and engineers who appreciate and utilize the same tools and computational methods to solve multidisciplinary problems. Clearly explained methods are used throughout the book to quantify field data, set up mathematical models for the formation of structures, and compare model results to field observations. An extensive online package of coordinated laboratory exercises enables students to consolidate their learning and put it into practice by analyzing structural data and building insightful models. Designed for single-semester undergraduate courses, this pioneering text prepares

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare is more than a comprehensive introduction to artificial intelligence as a tool in the generation and analysis of healthcare data. The book is split into two sections where the first section describes the current healthcare challenges and the rise of AI in this arena. The ten following chapters are written by specialists in each area, covering the whole healthcare ecosystem.First, the AI applications in drug design and drug development are presented followed by its applications in the field of cancer diagnostics, treatment and medical imaging. Subsequently, the application of AI in medical devices and surgery are covered as well as remote patient monitoring. Finally, the book dives into the topics of security, privacy, information sharing, health insurances and legal aspects of AI in healthcare.

Galactic dynamics is fundamental to understanding the formation of galaxies, their internal evolution and their current structure. While galactic dynamics has traditionally focused on the evolution of the stellar components of galaxies, studies over the past two decades have shown that all aspects of galaxy evolution are strongly influenced by the interplay between the dynamics of stars, gas, and dark matter. IAU Symposium 353, is the first major symposium in more than a decade focused on the dynamics of galaxies and stellar systems, covering the recent explosion in the availability of kinematical data both for individual stars in the Milky Way and wide field line-of-sight kinematics for large samples of external galaxies. These proceedings describe recent developments that aim to transform our understanding of the dynamics, structure, formation and evolution of our own host galaxy, the Milky Way, as well as galaxies in the universe at large.

Construction grammar (CxG) is a framework for syntactic analysis that takes constructions - pairings of form and meaning that range from the highly idiomatic to the very general - to be the building blocks of sentence meaning. Offering the first comprehensive introduction to CxG to focus on both English words and the constructions that combine them, this textbook shows students not only what the analyses of particular structures are, but also how and why those analyses are constructed, with each chapter taking the student step-by-step through the reasoning processes that yield the best description of a data set. It offers a wealth of illustrative examples and exercises, largely based on real language data, making it ideal for both self-study and classroom use. Written in an accessible and engaging way, this textbook will open up this increasingly popular linguistic framework to anyone interested in the grammatical patterns of English.

Construction grammar (CxG) is a framework for syntactic analysis that takes constructions - pairings of form and meaning that range from the highly idiomatic to the very general - to be the building blocks of sentence meaning. Offering the first comprehensive introduction to CxG to focus on both English words and the constructions that combine them, this textbook shows students not only what the analyses of particular structures are, but also how and why those analyses are constructed, with each chapter taking the student step-by-step through the reasoning processes that yield the best description of a data set. It offers a wealth of illustrative examples and exercises, largely based on real language data, making it ideal for both self-study and classroom use. Written in an accessible and engaging way, this textbook will open up this increasingly popular linguistic framework to anyone interested in the grammatical patterns of English.

Being an educator involves continual reflection on practice to improve student learning and engagement. Learning to Research and Researching to Learn is an essential introduction to developing research skills and conducting practitioner research in the field of education. Learning to Research and Researching to Learn covers all aspects of educational research, from how to conduct and engage with research, to how to collect, organise and analyse data. Using real-world examples and practitioner findings, the text encourages student and practitioner engagement through discussion questions and case studies relevant to educators in early childhood, primary and secondary contexts. Written by authors with extensive experience as both teachers and researchers, Learning to Research and Researching to Learn is an invaluable resource for educators in all stages of their professional careers.

This book brings together an extensive and varied collection of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies's written and spoken-word items for the first time. Spanning the composer's entire career, this compendium offers a balanced selection of Davies's articles and essays, speeches and lectures, interviews, radio broadcasts, programme notes, tributes and letters to newspapers. A number of items are published for the first time, including a new article from Davies himself (commissioned specially for this book), and several BBC radio broadcast interviews and talks from the 1960s. The structure of the book is chronological and divided into three parts, allowing readers to trace the development of Davies's thought and work over time, and to place each item in its biographical and historical context. The introduction and notes by Nicholas Jones place the writings in context, making this volume invaluable for those interested in the music and wider culture of post-war Britain.

Accompanied by a new translation of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics X, this volume presents a hybrid between a traditional commentary and a scholarly monograph. Aristotle's text is divided into one hundred lemmata which not only explore comprehensively the content and strength of each of these units of thought, but also emphasise their continuity, showing how the smaller units feed into the larger structure. The Commentary illuminates what Aristotle thinks in each lemma (and why), and also shows how he thinks. In order to bring Aristotle alive as a thinker, it often explores several possible ways of reading the text to enable the reader to make up their own mind about the best interpretation of a given passage. The relevant background in Plato's dialogues is discussed, and a substantial Introduction sets out the philosophical framework necessary for understanding Book X, the final and most arresting section of the Ethics.

Concise and self-contained, this textbook gives a graduate-level introduction to the physical processes that shape planetary systems, covering all stages of planet formation. Writing for readers with undergraduate backgrounds in physics, astronomy, and planetary science, Armitage begins with a description of the structure and evolution of protoplanetary disks, moves on to the formation of planetesimals, rocky, and giant planets, and concludes by describing the gravitational and gas dynamical evolution of planetary systems. He provides a self-contained account of the modern theory of planet formation and, for more advanced readers, carefully selected references to the research literature, noting areas where research is ongoing. The second edition has been thoroughly revised to include observational results from NASA's Kepler mission, ALMA observations and the JUNO mission to Jupiter, new theoretical ideas including pebble accretion, and an up-to-date understanding in areas such as disk

Innovative and evidence-based, this introduction to the main concepts and issues in language teaching uses a 'key questions' structure, enabling the reader to understand how these questions have been addressed by researchers previously, and how the findings inform language teaching practices. Grounded in research, theory and empirical evidence, the textbook provides students, practitioners and teachers with a complete introductory course in language teaching. Written in a clear and user-friendly style, and avoiding use of jargon, the book draws upon real-life teaching experiences and scenarios to provide practical advice. A glossary of key terms, questions for discussion and further reading suggestions are included. The book is perfectly suited to language teaching modules on English language, TESOL and applied linguistics courses.

When machine learning engineers work with data sets, they may find the results aren't as good as they need. Instead of improving the model or collecting more data, they can use the feature engineering process to help improve results by modifying the data's features to better capture the nature of the problem. This practical guide to feature engineering is an essential addition to any data scientist's or machine learning engineer's toolbox, providing new ideas on how to improve the performance of a machine learning solution. Beginning with the basic concepts and techniques, the text builds up to a unique cross-domain approach that spans data on graphs, texts, time series, and images, with fully worked out case studies. Key topics include binning, out-of-fold estimation, feature selection, dimensionality reduction, and encoding variable-length data. The full source code for the case studies is available on a companion website as Python Jupyter notebooks.

This enduringly popular undergraduate textbook has been thoroughly reworked and updated, and now comprises twelve chapters covering the same breadth of topics as earlier editions, but in a substantially modernized fashion to facilitate classroom teaching. Covering both theoretical and applied aspects of geophysics, clear explanations of the physical principles are blended with step-by-step derivations of the key equations and over 400 explanatory figures to explain the internal structure and properties of the planet, including its petroleum and mineral resources. New topics include the latest data acquisition technologies, such as satellite geophysics, planetary landers, ocean bottom seismometers, and fibre optic methods, as well as recent research developments in ambient noise interferometry, seismic hazard analysis, rheology, and numerical modelling - all illustrated with examples from the scientific literature. Student-friendly features include separate text boxes with auxiliary exp

This enduringly popular undergraduate textbook has been thoroughly reworked and updated, and now comprises twelve chapters covering the same breadth of topics as earlier editions, but in a substantially modernized fashion to facilitate classroom teaching. Covering both theoretical and applied aspects of geophysics, clear explanations of the physical principles are blended with step-by-step derivations of the key equations and over 400 explanatory figures to explain the internal structure and properties of the planet, including its petroleum and mineral resources. New topics include the latest data acquisition technologies, such as satellite geophysics, planetary landers, ocean bottom seismometers, and fibre optic methods, as well as recent research developments in ambient noise interferometry, seismic hazard analysis, rheology, and numerical modelling - all illustrated with examples from the scientific literature. Student-friendly features include separate text boxes with auxiliary exp

Innovative and evidence-based, this introduction to the main concepts and issues in language teaching uses a 'key questions' structure, enabling the reader to understand how these questions have been addressed by researchers previously, and how the findings inform language teaching practices. Grounded in research, theory and empirical evidence, the textbook provides students, practitioners and teachers with a complete introductory course in language teaching. Written in a clear and user-friendly style, and avoiding use of jargon, the book draws upon real-life teaching experiences and scenarios to provide practical advice. A glossary of key terms, questions for discussion and further reading suggestions are included. The book is perfectly suited to language teaching modules on English language, TESOL and applied linguistics courses.

Get ready to code with this easy-to-use series full of projects and tips to get kids programming. Each book in the Ready, Steady Code! series has 4 step-by-step projects with an introduction section (

Seismic data must be interpreted using digital signal processing techniques in order to create accurate representations of petroleum reservoirs and the interior structure of the Earth. This book provides an advanced overview of digital signal processing (DSP) and its applications to exploration seismology using real-world examples. The book begins by introducing seismic theory, describing how to identify seismic events in terms of signals and noise, and how to convert seismic data into the language of DSP. Deterministic DSP is then covered, together with non-conventional sampling techniques. The final part covers statistical seismic signal processing via Wiener optimum filtering, deconvolution, linear-prediction filtering and seismic wavelet processing. With over sixty end-of-chapter exercises, seismic data sets and data processing MATLAB codes included, this is an ideal resource for electrical engineering students unfamiliar with seismic data, and for Earth Scientists and petroleum pr

This book explores noun phrase (NP) complexity in English, showing that it is best accounted for both by a linear and a hierarchical parameter: its length and its type of postmodifier(s). The study is methodologically unique in that it combines univariate and multivariate analyses in an investigation of four different syntactic variables. Drawing on more than three billion words of British and American data, Eva Berlage shows that the length and the structure of the NPs, along with language-external factors such as the regional variety of English, work as powerful determinants of the variation. On a theoretical level, the book reveals that the structural complexity of NPs cannot be sufficiently captured by (phrasal) node counts but that we need to incorporate the degree to which NPs are sentential. The book is designed for researchers and students interested in syntax, language variation, sociolinguistics, structural complexity and the history of English.

In this book, self-defence against non-state actors is examined by three scholars whose geographical, professional, theoretical, and methodological backgrounds and outlooks differ greatly. Their trialogue is framed by an introduction and a conclusion by the series editors. The novel scholarly format accommodates the pluralism and value changes of the current era, a shifting world order and the rise in nationalism and populism. It brings to light the cultural, professional and political pluralism which characterises international legal scholarship and exploits this pluralism as a heuristic device. This multiperspectivism exposes how political factors and intellectual styles influence the scholarly approaches and legal answers and the trialogical structure encourages its participants to decentre their perspectives. By explicitly focussing on the authors' divergence and disagreement, a richer understanding of self-defence against non-state actors is achieved, and the legal challenges and

In this book, self-defence against non-state actors is examined by three scholars whose geographical, professional, theoretical, and methodological backgrounds and outlooks differ greatly. Their trialogue is framed by an introduction and a conclusion by the series editors. The novel scholarly format accommodates the pluralism and value changes of the current era, a shifting world order and the rise in nationalism and populism. It brings to light the cultural, professional and political pluralism which characterises international legal scholarship and exploits this pluralism as a heuristic device. This multiperspectivism exposes how political factors and intellectual styles influence the scholarly approaches and legal answers and the trialogical structure encourages its participants to decentre their perspectives. By explicitly focussing on the authors' divergence and disagreement, a richer understanding of self-defence against non-state actors is achieved, and the legal challenges and

This book is a readable, digestible introduction to exponential families, encompassing statistical models based on the most useful distributions in statistical theory, including the normal, gamma, binomial, Poisson, and negative binomial. Strongly motivated by applications, it presents the essential theory and then demonstrates the theory's practical potential by connecting it with developments in areas like item response analysis, social network models, conditional independence and latent variable structures, and point process models. Extensions to incomplete data models and generalized linear models are also included. In addition, the author gives a concise account of the philosophy of Per Martin-Löf in order to connect statistical modelling with ideas in statistical physics, including Boltzmann's law. Written for graduate students and researchers with a background in basic statistical inference, the book includes a vast set of examples demonstrating models for applications and exerc

Finite-state methods are the most efficient mechanisms for analysing textual and symbolic data, providing elegant solutions for an immense number of practical problems in computational linguistics and computer science. This book for graduate students and researchers gives a complete coverage of the field, starting from a conceptual introduction and building to advanced topics and applications. The central finite-state technologies are introduced with mathematical rigour, ranging from simple finite-state automata to transducers and bimachines as 'input-output' devices. Special attention is given to the rich possibilities of simplifying, transforming and combining finite-state devices. All algorithms presented are accompanied by full correctness proofs and executable source code in a new programming language, C(M), which focuses on transparency of steps and simplicity of code. Thus, by enabling readers to obtain a deep formal understanding of the subject and to put finite-state methods t

This book is a readable, digestible introduction to exponential families, encompassing statistical models based on the most useful distributions in statistical theory, including the normal, gamma, binomial, Poisson, and negative binomial. Strongly motivated by applications, it presents the essential theory and then demonstrates the theory's practical potential by connecting it with developments in areas like item response analysis, social network models, conditional independence and latent variable structures, and point process models. Extensions to incomplete data models and generalized linear models are also included. In addition, the author gives a concise account of the philosophy of Per Martin-Löf in order to connect statistical modelling with ideas in statistical physics, including Boltzmann's law. Written for graduate students and researchers with a background in basic statistical inference, the book includes a vast set of examples demonstrating models for applications and exerc

This book provides a self-contained introduction to the simulation of flow and transport in porous media, written by a developer of numerical methods. The reader will learn how to implement reservoir simulation models and computational algorithms in a robust and efficient manner. The book contains a large number of numerical examples, all fully equipped with online code and data, allowing the reader to reproduce results, and use them as a starting point for their own work. All of the examples in the book are based on the MATLAB Reservoir Simulation Toolbox (MRST), an open-source toolbox popular popularity in both academic institutions and the petroleum industry. The book can also be seen as a user guide to the MRST software. It will prove invaluable for researchers, professionals and advanced students using reservoir simulation methods. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

A clear introduction to lexical-functional grammar (LFG), this outstanding textbook sets out a formal approach to the study of language using a step-by-step approach and rich language data. Data from English and a range of other languages is used to illustrate the main concepts, allowing those students not accustomed to working with cross-linguistic data to familiarize themselves with the theory, while also enabling those interested in how the theory can account for more challenging data sets to extend their learning. Exercises ranging from simple technical questions to analyses of a data set, as well as a further resources section with a literature review complete each chapter. The book aims to equip readers with the skills to analyze new data sets and to begin to engage with the primary LFG literature.

A clear introduction to lexical-functional grammar (LFG), this outstanding textbook sets out a formal approach to the study of language using a step-by-step approach and rich language data. Data from English and a range of other languages is used to illustrate the main concepts, allowing those students not accustomed to working with cross-linguistic data to familiarize themselves with the theory, while also enabling those interested in how the theory can account for more challenging data sets to extend their learning. Exercises ranging from simple technical questions to analyses of a data set, as well as a further resources section with a literature review complete each chapter. The book aims to equip readers with the skills to analyze new data sets and to begin to engage with the primary LFG literature.

Primary Mathematics: Integrating Theory with Practice provides a comprehensive introduction to teaching and learning mathematics in today's classrooms. Closely aligned with the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics, this text covers the core learning areas of measurement, space and geometry, early number concepts, data and statistics, chance and probability, and patterns and algebra. The text also addresses key considerations for teachers, such as planning, assessment, differentiation and teaching outside traditional contexts. The third edition has been thoroughly revised and features three new chapters focusing on the General Capabilities and Cross-Curricular Priorities, implementing STEM strategies in the primary setting, and the transition to practice. Each chapter highlights how the theory of teaching mathematics can be put into practice effectively and includes new guided reflective questions and student tasks. Written by an expert author team, Primary Mathematics remains an essentia

This unique text provides a thorough, yet accessible, grounding in the mathematics, statistics, and programming that students need to master for coursework and research in climate science, meteorology, and oceanography. Assuming only high school mathematics, it presents carefully selected concepts and techniques in linear algebra, statistics, computing, calculus and differential equations within the context of real climate science examples. Computational techniques are integrated to demonstrate how to visualize, analyze, and apply climate data, with R code featured in the book and both R and Python code available online. Exercises are provided at the end of each chapter with selected solutions available to students to aid self-study and further solutions provided online for instructors only. Additional online supplements to aid classroom teaching include datasets, images, and animations. Guidance is provided on how the book can support a variety of courses at different levels, making i

Technology entrepreneurship has been receiving growing importance as an effective instrument to promote national economic growth, both from empirical researchers and policymakers. India has emerged as the third largest base for high-tech start-ups in the world. Although there is a surge in start-up creation rates in India, little is known about factors required for these start-ups to survive, sustain and grow into large enterprises, particularly in the context of emerging economies like India. This book reviews the entrepreneurial, firm-specific and external environment-specific aspects that influence the key lifecycle stages of high-tech start-ups and identifies the key factors that influence each milestone. Existing literature in this subject has limited studies on the structure of the high-tech start-up sector and processes and strategies adapted by them. This book aims to address this gap, analyzing case studies and empirical data, and provides a multidimensional framework to under

An accessible and thorough introduction to implicatures, a key topic in all frameworks of pragmatics. Starting with a definition of the various types of implicatures in Gricean, neo-Gricean and post-Gricean pragmatics, the book covers many important questions for current pragmatic theories, namely: the distinction between explicit and implicit forms of pragmatic enrichment, the criteria for drawing a line between semantic and pragmatic meaning, the relations between the structure of language (syntax) and its use (pragmatics), the social and cognitive factors underlying the use of implicatures by native speakers, and the factors influencing their acquisition for children and second language learners. Written in non-technical language, Implicatures will appeal to students and teachers in linguistics, applied linguistics, psychology and sociology, who are interested in how language is used for communication, and how children and learners develop pragmatic skills.

The Earth and environmental sciences are becoming progressively more quantitative due to the increased use of mathematical models and new data analysis techniques. This accessible introduction presents an overview of the mathematical methods essential for understanding Earth processes, providing an invaluable resource for students and early career researchers who may have missed (or forgotten) the mathematics they need to succeed as scientists. Topics build gently from basic methods such as calculus to more advanced techniques including linear algebra and differential equations. The practical applications of the mathematical methods to a variety of topics are discussed, ranging from atmospheric science and oceanography to biogeochemistry and geophysics. Including over 530 exercises and end-of-chapter problems, as well as additional computer codes in Python and MATLAB®, this book supports readers in applying appropriate analytical or computational methods to solving real research questi

Methods and perspectives to model and measure productivity and efficiency have made a number of important advances in the last decade. Using the standard and innovative formulations of the theory and practice of efficiency and productivity measurement, Robin C. Sickles and Valentin Zelenyuk provide a comprehensive approach to productivity and efficiency analysis, covering its theoretical underpinnings and its empirical implementation, paying particular attention to the implications of neoclassical economic theory. A distinct feature of the book is that it presents a wide array of theoretical and empirical methods utilized by researchers and practitioners who study productivity issues. An accompanying website includes methods, programming codes that can be used with widely available software like MATLAB® and R, and test data for many of the productivity and efficiency estimators discussed in the book. It will be valuable to upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, and professional

What is a focus group? Why do we use them? When should we use them? When should we not? Focus Groups for the Social Science Researcher provides a step-by-step guide to undertaking focus groups, whether as a stand-alone method or alongside other qualitative or quantitative methods. It recognizes the challenges that focus groups encounter and provides tips to address them. The book highlights three unique, inter-related characteristics of focus groups. First, they are inherently social in form. Second, the data emerge organically through conversation; they are emic in nature. Finally, focus groups generate data at three levels of analysis: the individual, group, and interactive level. The book builds from these three characteristics to explain when focus groups can usefully be employed in different research designs. This is an essential text for students and researchers looking for a concise and accessible introduction to this important approach to data collection.

What is a focus group? Why do we use them? When should we use them? When should we not? Focus Groups for the Social Science Researcher provides a step-by-step guide to undertaking focus groups, whether as a stand-alone method or alongside other qualitative or quantitative methods. It recognizes the challenges that focus groups encounter and provides tips to address them. The book highlights three unique, inter-related characteristics of focus groups. First, they are inherently social in form. Second, the data emerge organically through conversation; they are emic in nature. Finally, focus groups generate data at three levels of analysis: the individual, group, and interactive level. The book builds from these three characteristics to explain when focus groups can usefully be employed in different research designs. This is an essential text for students and researchers looking for a concise and accessible introduction to this important approach to data collection.