Performance assessment and league tables. Comparing like with like.

We formulate performance assessment as a problem of causal analysis and outline an approach based on the missing data principle for its solution. It is particularly relevant in the context of so-called league tables for educational, health-care and other public-service institutions. The proposed solution avoids comparisons of institutions that have substantially different clientele (intake).

Performance assessment and league tables. Comparing like with like

We formulate performance assessment as a problem of causal analysis and outline an approach based on the missing data principle for its solution. It is particularly relevant in the context of so-called league tables for educational, health-care and other public-service institutions. The proposed solution avoids comparisons of institutions that have substantially different clientele (intake).

The determinants of football match attendance revisited: Empirical evidence from the Spanish Football League

An attendance equation is estimated using data on individual games playedin the Spanish First Division Football League. The specification includesas explanatory factors: economic variables, quality, uncertainty andopportunity costs. We concentrate the analysis on some specificationissues such as controlling the effect of unobservables given the paneldata structure of the data set, the type of functional form and thepotential endogeneity of prices. We obtain the expected effects onattendance for all the variables. The estimated price elasticities aresmaller than one in absolute value as usually occurs in this literaturebut are sensitive to the specification issues.

Outcomes from studies of Antineutrophil Cytoplasm Antibody Associated Vasculitis: a systematic review by the European League Against Rheumatism systemic vasculitis task force.

Objectives: We undertook a systematic literature review as a background to the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) recommendations for conducting clinical trials in anti-neutrophil cytoplasm antibody associated vasculitis (AAV), and to assess the quality of evidence for outcome measures in AAV. Methods: Using a systematic Medline search, we categorised the identified studies according to diagnoses. Factors affecting remission, relapse, renal function and overall survival were identified. Results: A total of 44 papers were reviewed from 502 identified by our search criteria. There was considerable inconsistency in definitions of end points. Remission rates varied from 30% to 93% in Wegener granulomatosis (WG), 75% to 89% in microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) and 81% to 91% in Churg¿Strauss syndrome (CSS). The 5-year survival for WG, MPA and CSS was 74¿91%, 45¿76% and 60¿97%. Relapse (variably defined) was common in the first 2 years but the frequency varied: 18% to 60% in WG, 8% in MPA, and 35% in CSS. The rate of renal survival in WG varied from 23% at 15 months to 23% at 120 months. Methods used to assess morbidity varied between studies. Ignoring the variations in definitions of the stage of disease, factors influencing remission, relapse, renal and overall survival included immunosuppressive therapy used, type of organ involvement, presence of ANCA, older age and male ender. Conclusions: Factors influencing remission, relapse, renal and overall survival include the type of immunosuppressive therapy used, pattern of organ involvement, presence of ANCA, older age and male gender. Methodological variations between studies highlight the need for a consensus on terminology and definitions for future conduct of clinical studies in AAV.

Efectes que tenen les jugades posteriors a la primera en els gols de la Premier League en la temporada 2011-2012 Estudi de la relació entre la posició final a la taula de classificació i els gols encaixats en jugades posteriors a la primera

L’objectiu d’aquest estudi ha estat comprovar si existeix una relació significativa entre els gols encaixats de jugades posteriors a la primera i la posició final en la taula de classificació de la Premier League durant la temporada 2011-2012. Per verificar-ho es van analitzar durant 30 jornades de la Premier League els gols que encaixaven els tres equips capdavanters i els tres últims classificats. Es va determinar com a variable independent el gol, i com a variable dependent quantes jugades s’han produït abans del gol, és a dir, si el gol és de primera jugada o de jugada posterior a la primera. Els resultats obtinguts indiquen que no hi ha una correlació significativa en els gols encaixats de jugades posteriors a la primera i la posició final a la classificació. Tot i no existir aquesta relació s’ha observat que entre un 24% i un 31% dels gols s’encaixen en jugades posteriors a la primera.

The Coverage of the European independence movements from a Canadian perspective: Comparisons of the francophone online press in Quebec with the English Canadian press on the independence movements in Scotland and Catalonia

This research paper provides the basis of a future doctoral thesison the construction of foreign news. We aim to highlight similarities and differences in the online news coverage of the nationalist movments in Scotland and Catalonia in the Canadian Anglophone and Francophone press. Through a qualitative and quantitative content analysis of The Montreal Gazette, The National Post, The Globe and Mail, Le Devoir and La Presse, we attempt to show the frames used in the coverage of the political developments in both “stateless regions” from January 2011 to September 2014, when a referendum on the constitutional status of Scotland has beenagreed on. In parallel to the analysis of daily online newspapers, we will use semi-structured interviews of journalists from each news organization to obtain more in-depth knowledge of the factors influencing the construction of news. Lastly, we want to find out to the extent to which the coverage on the nationalist movements in Scotland and Catalonia serve to revive the debate on the independence question of Québec

“La lliga dels magnats”. La Premier League i el negoci del futbol en l’era dels mitjans globals

The relationship between the mass media and sport has reached a state of symbiosis. The great media companies and sports organizations have combined synergies to get the best return on their products, both communicationrelated and sports-related. To define this situation, some authors have spoken of the “new sport oligopoly” or of the “global media sports complex”. This article analyzes the formation of this complex based on real examples of financial relations between media companies and sports organizations and, finally, draws attention to how these relations took place in the Premier League during the 2009-2010 season, taking into account the fact that this was the European football league which consolidated the process of international commercialization the soonest, which has the most highly valued football brand (Manchester United) and which has the clubs that make the most money from television rights and commercials.