Data based Calibration System for Radar used by Vehicle Activated Signs

The accurate measurement of a vehicle’s velocity is an essential feature in adaptive vehicle activated sign systems. Since the velocities of the vehicles are acquired from a continuous wave Doppler radar, the data collection becomes challenging. Data accuracy is sensitive to the calibration of the radar on the road. However, clear methodologies for in-field calibration have not been carefully established. The signs are often installed by subjective judgment which results in measurement errors. This paper develops a calibration method based on mining the data collected and matching individual vehicles travelling between two radars. The data was cleaned and prepared in two ways: cleaning and reconstructing. The results showed that the proposed correction factor derived from the cleaned data corresponded well with the experimental factor done on site. In addition, this proposed factor showed superior performance to the one derived from the reconstructed data.

The Compromised Researcher : Issues in Feminist Research Methodologies

This article centres on issues of vulnerability and being compromised in feminist research where the focus has frequently been on researching the same. Compromise, here used in its pejorative sense, may for instance occur in terms of one’s research topic, the methods one utilizes, or the participants chosen for a study. Drawing on a range of examples including the methodological work of Ann Oakley (1981, 2000) as well as three articles on researching men that appeared in the journal Signs in 2005, I argue that feminist researchers, possibly because they work in an identity-based discipline, may be diversely vulnerable when researching the same and/or researching the different, and can be compromised both by how they are treated by those whom they encounter in their research and by their own behaviour in that context. I suggest that these concerns are under-articulated in feminist research and conclude with a series of questions that need to be raised.