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This book is an accessible introduction to quantitative data analysis, concentrating on the key issues facing those new to research, such as how to decide which statistical procedure is suitable, and how to interpret the subsequent results. Each chapter includes illustrative examples and a set of exercises that allows readers to test their understanding of the topic. The book, written for graduate students in the social sciences, public health, and education, offers a practical approach to making sociological sense out of a body of quantitative data. The book also will be useful to more experienced researchers who need a readily accessible handbook on quantitative methods. The author has posted stata files, updates and data sets at his website http://tinyurl.com/Treiman-stata-files-data-sets.

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Written by acclaimed school reform advocate Phillip C. Schlechty, Leading for Learning offers educators the framework, tools, and processes they need to transform their schools from bureaucracies into dynamic learning organizations. Schlechty explains how to move beyond some of the deeply ingrained and negative conceptions of schooling that guide so much of their practice. He shows educators how they can take advantage of new learning technologies by increasing their organization's capacity to support continuous innovation. «Clearly not for the fainthearted, Schlechty's engrossing appraisal of American education calls for a bold, truly fundamental transformation of how we run our public schools. Some books are thought-provoking; this one is action-provoking.» —W. James Popham, professor emeritus, UCLA «Dr. Schlechty has once again written an insightful book that educational leaders can use as a road map in transforming our schools into learning organizations designed to serve twenty-first century students.» —Dr. Randy Bridges, superintendent, Alamance-Burlington School System, NC «Because education is ultimately a community responsibility, Schlechty's proposal to shift school systems from bureaucracies to learning organizations can open doors to citizens who are frustrated by the bureaucracy in their efforts to reclaim their role in education. This book is as much for them as it is for professional educators.» —David Mathews, president, Kettering Foundation «Anyone in a school leadership position—from the board room to the classroom—should read this engaging and thought-provoking book. It's a must?-read for all immersed in or contemplating the transformation of public education.» – Claudia Mansfield Sutton, chief communications and marketing officer, American Association of School Administrators

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An invaluable resource for any college and university striving to meet the National Cost Commission's call to make what colleges do and what it costs more 'transparent' to the public. –Jacqueline E. King, director, federal policy analysis, American Council on Education Defining and measuring faculty productivity are among the most central issues for quality and accountability in higher education. Known for assembling some of the most authoritative research on faculty productivity–and for analyzing its impact on academic and institutional accountability–Michael F. Middaugh presents this comprehensive volume to help campus professionals build greater accountability for students, parents, foundations, governmental organizations, and other concerned constituents. Middaugh first draws from a research study funded by TIAA-CREF's Cooperative Research Grant Program and the Fund for Postsecondary Education within the U.S. Department of Education. He then provides a new framework for analyzing faculty efficiency and emphasizes how the results of faculty work can become the best indicators of productivity. He also applies the joint study findings to the task of developing benchmarks for faculty productivity. Practitioners from any type of campus will find a rich array of data, valuable recommendations, and relevant examples.

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Medieval English Drama provides a fresh introduction to the dramatic and festive practices of England in the late Middle Ages. The book places particular emphasis on the importance of the performance contexts of these events, bringing to life a period before permanent theatre buildings when performances took place in a wide variety of locations and had to fight to attract and maintain the attention of an audience. Showing the interplay between dramatic and everyday life, the book covers performances in convents, churches, parishes, street processions and parades, and in particular distinguishes between modes of outdoor and indoor performance. Katie Normington aids the reader to a fuller understanding of these early English dramatic practices by explaining the significance of the place of performance, the particularities of spectatorship for each event and how the conventions of the form of drama were manipulated to address its reception. Audiences considered range from cloistered members, congregations and parish members to urban citizens, nobles and royalty. Undergraduate students of literature of this period will find this an approachable and illuminating guide.

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Simulation is the art of using tools – physical or conceptual models, or computer hardware and software, to attempt to create the illusion of reality. The discipline has in recent years expanded to include the modelling of systems that rely on human factors and therefore possess a large proportion of uncertainty, such as social, economic or commercial systems. These new applications make the discipline of modelling and simulation a field of dynamic growth and new research. Stanislaw Raczynski outlines the considerable and promising research that is being conducted to counter the problems of uncertainty surrounding the methods used to approach these new applications. It aims to stimulate the reader into seeking out new tools for modelling and simulation. Examines the state-of-the-art in recent research into methods of approaching new applications in the field of modelling and simulation Provides an introduction to new modelling tools such as differential inclusions, metric structures in the space of models, semi-discrete events, and use of simulation in parallel optimization techniques Discusses recently developed practical applications: for example the PASION simulation system, stock market simulation, a new fluid dynamics tool, manufacturing simulation and the simulation of social structures Illustrated throughout with a series of case studies Modelling and Simulation: The Computer Science of Illusion will appeal to academics, postgraduate students, researchers and practitioners in the modelling and simulation of industrial computer systems. It will also be of interest to those using simulation as an auxiliary tool.

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The worldwide market for SAN and NAS storage is anticipated to grow from US $2 billion in 1999 to over $25 billion by 2004. As business-to-business and business-to-consumer e-commerce matures, even greater demands for management of stored data will arise. With the rapid increase in data storage requirements in the last decade, efficient management of stored data becomes a necessity for the enterprise. A recent UC-Berkeley study predicts that 150,000 terabytes of disk storage will be shipped in 2003. Most financial, insurance, healthcare, and telecommunications institutions are in the process of implementing storage networks that are distributed to some degree. For these institutions, data integrity is critical, and they will spend much time and money on planning. One of the primary obstacles to implementing a storage network cited by enterprise IT managers is a lack of knowledge about storage networking technology and the specific issues involved in extending a Storage Area Network (SAN) or Network Attached Storage (NAS) over the Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN) or Wireless Area Networks (WAN). Distributed Storage Networks : Architecture, Protocols and Management addresses the «terminology gap» between enterprise network planners and telecommunications engineers, who must understand the transport requirements of storage networks in order to implement distributed storage networks. Jepsen comprehensively provides IT managers, planners, and telecommunications professionals with the information they need in order to choose the technologies best suited for their particular environment. * Addresses a hot topic that will become increasingly important in the coming years * Enables high-level managers and planners to make intelligent decisions about network needs. * Includes example network configurations providing solutions to typical user scenarios * Fills the «terminology gap» between enterprise network managers and telecommunications engineers who must understand the transport requirements of storage networks in order to implement distributed storage area networks A fundamental resource for all network managers, planners and network design engineers, as well as telecommunications engineers and engineering, computer science, and information technology students.

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This book is designed for professionals and students in software engineering or information technology who are interested in understanding the dynamics of software development in order to assess and optimize their own process strategies. It explains how simulation of interrelated technical and social factors can provide a means for organizations to vastly improve their processes. It is structured for readers to approach the subject from different perspectives, and includes descriptive summaries of the best research and applications.

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A breakthrough sourcebook to the challenges and solutions for mobile database systems This text enables readers to effectively manage mobile database systems (MDS) and data dissemination via wireless channels. The author explores the mobile communication platform and analyzes its use in the development of a distributed database management system. Workable solutions for key challenges in wireless information management are presented throughout the text. Following an introductory chapter that includes important milestones in the history and development of mobile data processing, the text provides the information, tools, and resources needed for MDS management, including: * Fundamentals of wireless communication * Location and handoff management * Fundamentals of conventional database management systems and why existing approaches are not adequate for mobile databases * Concurrency control mechanism schemes * Data processing and mobility * Management of transactions * Mobile database recovery schemes * Data dissemination via wireless channels Case studies and examples are used liberally to aid in the understanding and visualization of complex concepts. Various exercises enable readers to test their grasp of each topic before advancing in the text. Each chapter also concludes with a summary of key concepts as well as references for further study. Professionals in the mobile computing industry, particularly e-commerce, will find this text indispensable. With its extensive use of case studies, examples, and exercises, it is also highly recommended as a graduate-level textbook.

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Bestselling author Bruce Schneier offers his expert guidance on achieving security on a network Internationally recognized computer security expert Bruce Schneier offers a practical, straightforward guide to achieving security throughout computer networks. Schneier uses his extensive field experience with his own clients to dispel the myths that often mislead IT managers as they try to build secure systems. This practical guide provides readers with a better understanding of why protecting information is harder in the digital world, what they need to know to protect digital information, how to assess business and corporate security needs, and much more. * Walks the reader through the real choices they have now for digital security and how to pick and choose the right one to meet their business needs * Explains what cryptography can and can't do in achieving digital security

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The Growing Imperative Need for Effective Information Security Governance With monotonous regularity, headlines announce ever more spectacular failures of information security and mounting losses. The succession of corporate debacles and dramatic control failures in recent years underscores the necessity for information security to be tightly integrated into the fabric of every organization. The protection of an organization's most valuable asset information can no longer be relegated to low-level technical personnel, but must be considered an essential element of corporate governance that is critical to organizational success and survival. Written by an industry expert, Information Security Governance is the first book-length treatment of this important topic, providing readers with a step-by-step approach to developing and managing an effective information security program. Beginning with a general overview of governance, the book covers: The business case for information security Defining roles and responsibilities Developing strategic metrics Determining information security outcomes Setting security governance objectives Establishing risk management objectives Developing a cost-effective security strategy A sample strategy development The steps for implementing an effective strategy Developing meaningful security program development metrics Designing relevant information security management metrics Defining incident management and response metrics Complemented with action plans and sample policies that demonstrate to readers how to put these ideas into practice, Information Security Governance is indispensable reading for any professional who is involved in information security and assurance.

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