A theory of revolution

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66981/2/10.1177_002200276701100302.pd

Analysis of Research Efficiency: Costs and Information Gain

This study provides a method for the examination of research efficiency in terms of costs to the subjects, and information gain for the researcher. The basic problem of maximizing the differentiations among subjects on a dependent variable is equivalent to the problem of maximizing information gain for a given cost in behavioral science research procedures. The distribution resulting from this maximization process, under certain circumstances, also minimizes two cost quantities of interest in such procedures, the average cost per subject and the average cost per unit information. Two data sets are examined in order to illustrate the use of this criterion of research efficiency. </jats:p

The Killing Trap

The Killing Trap, first published in 2005, offers a comparative analysis of the genocides, politicides and ethnic cleansings of the twentieth century, which are estimated to have cost upwards of forty million lives. The book seeks to understand both the occurrence and magnitude of genocide, based on the conviction that such comparative analysis may contribute towards prevention of genocide in the future. Manus Midlarsky compares socio-economic circumstances and international contexts and includes in his analysis the Jews of Europe, Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Tutsi in Rwanda, black Africans in Darfur, Cambodians, Bosnians, and the victims of conflict in Ireland. The occurrence of genocide is explained by means of a framework that gives equal emphasis to the non-occurrence of genocide, a critical element not found in other comparisons, and victims are given a prominence equal to that of perpetrators in understanding the magnitude of genocide.</jats:p