Analysis and visualization of the dynamics of research groups in terms of projects and co-authored publications : A case study of library and information science in Argentina

Objective: The present study offers a novel methodological contribution to the study of the configuration and dynamics of research groups, through a comparative perspective of the projects funded (inputs) and publication co-authorships (output). Method: A combination of bibliometric techniques and social network analysis was applied to a case study: the Departmento de Bibliotecología (DHUBI), Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina, for the period 2000-2009. The results were interpreted statistically and staff members of the department, were interviewed. Results: The method makes it possible to distinguish groups, identify their members and reflect group make-up through an analytical strategy that involves the categorization of actors and the interdisciplinary and national or international projection of the networks that they configure. The integration of these two aspects (input and output) at different points in time over the analyzed period leads to inferences about group profiles and the roles of actors. Conclusions: The methodology presented is conducive to micro-level interpretations in a given area of study, regarding individual researchers or research groups. Because the comparative input-output analysis broadens the base of information and makes it possible to follow up, over time, individual and group trends, it may prove very useful for the management, promotion and evaluation of science

Théorie des jeux expérimentale & action motrice

How do sportspeople succeed in a non-collaborative game? An illustration of a perverse side effect of altruism Are team sports specialists predisposed to collaboration? The scientific literature on this topic is divided. The present article attempts to end this debate by applying experimental game theory. We constituted three groups of volunteers (all students aged around 20): 25 team sports specialists; 23 individual sports specialists (gymnasts, track & field athletes and swimmers) and a control group of 24 non-sportspeople. Each subgroup was divided into 3 teams that played against each other in turn (and not against teams from other subgroups). The teams played a game based on the well-known Prisoner's Dilemma (Tucker, 1950) - the paradoxical "Bluegill Sunbass Game" (Binmore, 1999) with three Nash equilibria (two suboptimal equilibria with a pure strategy and an optimal equilibrium with a mixed, egotistical strategy (p= 1/2)). This game also features a Harsanyi equilibrium (based on constant compliance with a moral code and altruism by empathy: "do not unto others that which you would not have them do unto you"). How, then, was the game played? Two teams of 8 competed on a handball court. Each team wore a distinctive jersey. The game lasted 15 minutes and the players were allowed to touch the handball ball with their feet or hands. After each goal, each team had to return to its own half of the court. Players were allowed to score in either goal and thus cooperate with their teammates or not, as they saw fit. A goal against the nominally opposing team (a "guardian" strategy, by analogy with the Bluegill Sunbass Game) earned a point for everyone in the team. For an own goal (a "sneaker" strategy), only the scorer earned a point - hence the paradox. If all the members of a team work together to score a goal, everyone is happy (the Harsanyi solution). However, the situation was not balanced in the Nashian sense: each player had a reason to be disloyal to his/her team at the merest opportunity. But if everyone adopts a "sneaker" strategy, the game becomes a free-for-all and the chances of scoring become much slimmer. In a context in which doubt reigns as to the honesty of team members and "legal betrayals", what type of sportsperson will score the most goals? By analogy with the Bluegill Sunbass Game, we recorded direct motor interactions (passes and shots) based on either a "guardian" tactic (i.e. collaboration within the team) or a "sneaker" tactic (shots and passes against the player's designated team). So, was the group of team sports specialist more collaborative than the other two groups? The answer was no. A statistical analysis (difference from chance in a logistic regression) enabled us to draw three conclusions: ?For the team sports specialists, the Nash equilibrium (1950) was stronger than the Harsanyi equilibrium (1977). ?The sporting principles of equilibrium and exclusivity are not appropriate in the Bluegill Sunbass Game and are quickly abandoned by the team sports specialists. The latter are opportunists who focus solely on winning and do well out of it. ?The most altruistic players are the main losers in the Bluegill Sunbass Game: they keep the game alive but contribute to their own defeat. In our experiment, the most altruistic players tended to be the females and the individual sports specialists

La potencia en la escena. Teatro Comunitario de Rivadavia : Historicidad, política, actores y sujetos en juego/s (2010-2014)

La tesis titulada "La potencia en la escena. Teatro Comunitario de Rivadavia: historicidad, política, actores y sujetos en juego/s (2010-2014)", propone un análisis histórico-político de las prácticas del Grupo de Teatro Comunitario de Rivadavia: los modos de intervención en el territorio y los niveles de transformación/ reproducción de las dinámicas sociales en las comunidades en las cuales se desarrolla. A su vez, aborda el estudio de los procesos subjetivos que atraviesan a los miembros del grupo, generando interrogantes en torno al modo de sentir, significar y enunciar de los participantes en su articulación individual/colectiva. Partimos de la hipótesis de que la conformación del grupo teatral creó prácticas estéticas novedosas que motivaron la constitución de nuevos actores, proyectos políticos, culturales y sociales concretos, como la Cooperativa La Comunitaria. Como en todo proceso de transformación, los movimientos inscriptos en el orden de lo social involucran diversos actores e intereses en pugna que se entrecruzan dinámicamente en el espacio público, y las luchas por el poder que se desarrollan en el ámbito político-institucional y en espacios de construcción colectiva configuran un mapa poco claro de las lógicas de fondo que delinean estas propuestas. Buscando explorar estos ?grises?, proponemos construir un análisis en torno al proyecto que sustenta los procesos generados por el grupo y las diversas dimensiones que lo configuran. Planteamos reconstruir y analizar las diversas dimensiones que atraviesan las prácticas del grupo de teatro para rescatar el "estar siendo" del mismo y estudiar articulaciones entre niveles de realidad y niveles de abstracción en campos diversos