Participation rates for organized colorectal cancer screening programmes: an international comparison.

OBJECTIVE: Participation, an indicator of screening programme acceptance and effectiveness, varies widely in clinical trials and population-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening programmes. We aimed to assess whether CRC screening participation rates can be compared across organized guaiac fecal occult blood test (G-FOBT)/fecal immunochemical test (FIT)-based programmes, and what factors influence these rates. METHODS: Programme representatives from countries participating in the International Cancer Screening Network were surveyed to describe their G-FOBT/FIT-based CRC screening programmes, how screening participation is defined and measured, and to provide participation data for their most recent completed screening round. RESULTS: Information was obtained from 15 programmes in 12 countries. Programmes varied in size, reach, maturity, target age groups, exclusions, type of test kit, method of providing test kits and use, and frequency of reminders. Coverage by invitation ranged from 30-100%, coverage by the screening programme from 7-67.7%, overall uptake/participation rate from 7-67.7%, and first invitation participation from 7-64.3%. Participation rates generally increased with age and were higher among women than men and for subsequent compared with first invitation participation. CONCLUSION: Comparisons among CRC screening programmes should be made cautiously, given differences in organization, target populations, and interpretation of indicators. More meaningful comparisons are possible if rates are calculated across a uniform age range, by gender, and separately for people invited for the first time vs. previously.

Sciences et technologies émergentes : pourquoi tant de promesses?

Les technosciences (numériques, bio- et nanotechnologies, neurosciences, médecine personnalisée, biologie de synthèse) sont accompagnées de promesses fabuleuses à l'attention du public et des décideurs. L'économie des promesses qui en résulte affecte le régime de financement de la recherche et la gouvernance du changement sociotechnique. Elle crée de l'engouement, soutient la compétition scientifique, attire des ressources financières et légitime d'importantes dépenses publiques. Cet ouvrage met en évidence les cycles accélérés d'enthousiasme et de désillusion, les décalages entre horizons d'attente et les questions démocratiques qu'ils soulèvent. Fondé sur des recherches de terrain relevant de l'étude sociale des sciences et des techniques, de la philosophie et de l'histoire, il examine les formes alternatives d'organisation de la recherche, de participation citoyenne et de répartition des droits de propriété et des bénéfices, et montre qu'une forme de ralentissement des promesses, non des sciences, favoriserait l'articulation de ces dernières avec les besoins de la société. L'ambition des textes réunis ici est d'ouvrir le débat en langue française en interrogeant directement le régime des promesses technoscientifiques.

The comparability of quantitative surveys on sport participation in France (1967-2010)

Results from quantitative surveys enable historians, sociologists and demographers to describe and analyse the evolution of sport participation in France from 1967 to 2010. However, most of these social scientists use the results of these surveys to create very different methodologies without having studied the surveys' empirical data or databases. In this article, we demonstrate how we have attempted to establish a basis for comparability of the surveys by analysing these databases. As a result of our work, certain affirmations on which the history of sport participation in France has long been based may be called into question or even changed.

La contribution bolivienne à la COP 21 au prisme de la justice environnementale

La contribution présentée lors de la Conférence sur le climat (COP 21) en décembre 2015 à Paris par les représentants boliviens a joui d'un certain écho médiatique. Elle entendait proposer des pistes d'action à double dividende, permettant à la fois d'aboutir à une gouvernance climatique plus « juste » et de construire un nouvel « horizon de civilisation » rompant avec le modèle de développement consumériste, extractiviste et capitaliste. Cet article a pour objectif de questionner, au prisme des différentes dimensions de la justice actuellement mobilisées (redistribution, reconnaissance et participation), les notions de justice sur lesquelles se fonde la contribution bolivienne, en différenciant deux niveaux: celui du discours et celui des outils proposés. Nous montrons qu'en privilégiant une conception redistributive de la justice, la contribution bolivienne tend paradoxalement in fine à ne pas pouvoir dépasser le « modèle de civilisation » et de développement qu'elle dénonçait.

The international standardisation arena and the civil society participation stakes : results of the INTERTERM project

International standards are playing an increasingly important role in market governance while frequently exerting direct effects on health, safety and the environment. Yet civil society, more often than not, is absent from the standardisation procedures. The recommendation made here is to foster the participation of civil society actors in standardisation by framing standardisation topics in a way that will encourage the mobilisation of these actors in accordance with their repertoire of actions and interests and by organising the plural expertise required for the effective participation that is necessary if they are to exert an influence.

An Explanatory Approach to the Political Uses of ICT Initiatives for Participation : Institutions, Context, and Characteristics of the Actors

Political actors use ICTs in a different manner and in different degrees when it comes to achieving a closer relationship between the public and politicians. Usually, political parties develop ICT strategies only for electoral campaigning and therefore restrain ICT usages to providing information and establishing a few channels of communication. By contrast, local governments make much more use of ICT tools for participatory and deliberative purposes. These differences in usages have not been well explained in the literature because of a lack of a comprehensive explanatory model. This chapter seeks to build the basis for this model, that is, to establish which factors affect and condition different political uses of ICTs and which principles underlie that behaviour. We consider that political actors are intentional and their behaviour is mediated by the political institutions and the socioeconomic context of the country. Also, though, the actor¿s own characteristics, such as the type and size of the organization or the model of e-democracy that the actor upholds, can have an influence in launching ICT initiatives for approaching the public.

Online and Offline Participation at the Local Level : A Quantitative Analysis of the Catalan Municipalities

This paper presents a first analysis on local electronic participatory experiences in Catalonia. The analysis is based on a database constructed and collected by the authors. The paper carries out an explanatory analysis of local initiatives in eparticipationand off line participation taking into account political variables (usually not considered in this kind of analysis) but also classical socio-economic variables that characterise municipalities. Hence, we add a quantitative analysis to the numerous case studies on local e-participation experiences. We have chosen Catalonia because is one of the European regions with more initiatives and one that has enjoyed considerable local governmental support to citizen participation initiatives since the 80s. The paper offers a characterisation of these experiences and a first explanatory analysis, considering: i) the institutional context in which these experiences are embedded, ii) the characteristics of the citizen participation processes and mechanisms on-line, and iii) a set of explanatory variables composed by the population size, thepolitical adscription of the mayor, the electoral abstention rate, age, income and level ofeducation in the municipality. The model that we present is explanatory for the municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants but it is not for the fewer than 20,000inhabitants. Actually, the number of participatory activities developed by these last municipalities is very low. Among all the variables, population size becomes the mostinfluential variable. Political variables such as political party of the mayor and the localabstention rate have a certain influence but that have to be controlled by population size.

Surfing the Net: A Pathway to Participation for the Politically Uninterested?

This article explores whether use of the Internetchanges the role that political motivation hastraditionally played in classic explanations ofparticipation. We ask if, by reducing so dramatically the costs of political participation,the Internet causes interest in politics to loseimportance as a causal factor of participation.We examine this issue analysing a representativesurvey of the Spanish population which deals withpolitical participation and Internet use. Theresults show that use of Internet has a directeffect on participation independently of motivation, and that, in order to participate online, skilled Internet users do not need to be motivated or interested in politics.