Browsing by Subject "regression"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    A formative evaluation of LPC’s Montessori Preschool Programme
    (2019) Ubisse, Amosse Francisco; Boodhoo, Adiilah
    Research shows that early childhood interventions with fidelity to Montessori model generate learner’s outcomes that outperform the traditional model. The evidence is confirmed in developed and in developing countries. This formative evaluation reports the results of a Montessori model in implementation in township of Mfuleni, located in Cape Town, South Africa. Providing insights into the functioning of the programme, the evaluation confirms that the roll out of the Montessori model is still underway which may explain the reason of the learners not outperforming the comparison group.
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    Open Access
    Interannual memory effects for spring NDVI in semi-arid South Africa
    (2008) Richard, Yves; Martiny, Nadège; Fauchereau, Nicolas; Reason, Chris; Rouault, Mathieu; Vigaud, Nicolas; Tracol, Yann
    Almost 20 years of Normalized Difference Vegetative Index (NDVI) and precipitation (PPT) data are analysed to better understand the interannual memory effects on vegetation dynamics observed at regional scales in Southern Africa (SA). The study focuses on a semi-arid region (25°S–31°S; 21°E–26°E) during the austral early summer (September–December). The memory effects are examined using simple statistical approaches (linear correlations and regressions) which require the definition of an early summer vegetation predictand (December NDVI minus September NDVI) and a consistent set of potential predictors (rainfall amount, number of rainy days, rainfall intensity, NDVI and Rain-Use-Efficiency) considered with 4 to 15-month time-lag. An analysis over six SA sub-regions, corresponding to the six major land-cover types of the area reveals two distinct memory effects. A “negative” memory effect (with both rainfall and vegetation) is detected at 7 to 10-month time-lag while a “positive” memory effect (with vegetation only) is observed at 12 to 14-month time-lag. These results suggest that interannual memory effects in early summer vegetation dynamics of semi-arid South Africa may preferably be driven by biological rather than hydrological mechanisms.
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    Open Access
    Poverty, Sex and HIV
    (Springer Verlag (Germany), 2009) Nattrass, Nicoli
    There is an ongoing debate about the relative importance of economic factors (notably poverty) and sexual behavior in driving the AIDS epidemic. This paper draws on relevant research and cross-country regression analysis to argue that the impact of economic determinants is dwarfed by contextual factors within Africa. The regression analysis suggests that controlling for per capita income, calories per capita and the ratio of female to male participation rates (none of which were statistically significant): being a Southern African country increases expected HIV prevalence 8.3 times; being in the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa 3 times; being a predominantly Protestant country 2.5 times; and being a predominantly Muslim country reduces expected HIV prevalence to 62% of the base case. Including the share of income going to the poor did not improve the model and was itself statistically insignificant. The analysis suggests that poverty may play a role in the HIV epidemic in some countries (and may well be a factor affecting the vulnerability of some people to HIV infection in all countries) but that its overall impact is dwarfed by social and behavioral factors.