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In my social science training, I encountered the term “the Hawthorne effect,” in which – in the context of a study – “the subjects may respond differently just because they are being studied” [1].  (For example, imagine you’re involved in a study of a diet pill, and you change your eating habits just because you’re keeping track of your eating.)  Yesterday I encountered the “John Henry effect,” and I wondered where these terms come from.

The Hawthorn effect comes from the Hawthorne Works, a factory complex in Cicero, Illinois, in which a series of studies were carried out on factory workers between 1924 and 1932.  Researchers increased light intensity and found that worker productivity increased.  Then they reduced light intensity and found that – again – worker productivity increased.  The fact that both studies increased productivity suggested that the fact of being studied increased productivity, rather than the intensity of the lights [2].

The John Henry effect is when people in your control group views itself as being in competition with the treatment group and so changes its behavior.  (If you watch The Office, think of when Dwight tried to beat the company website in sales.)  This comes from the story of John Henry trying to lay railroad track faster than the machine.

[1] See Source 1

[2] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_Works, and Source 1 again.

One of my favorite songs is “Something Old,” by Susan Levine. It’s a love song in a folk style about enduring, real, marital love. And it has a reference to the Wizard of Oz. And my wife and I heard her perform it at Club Passim on one of our early dates.

You can hear the song (and a couple of others from her) for free here.

If you’re a 24 fan, you may enjoy this enactment of 24 with 1994 technology. It’s the funniest thing I’ve had to try not to laugh at work to in a long time. [Note: it has a little bit of strong language; no more than you’d hear on the actual 24.]

Here’s the link.

Twenty-three years ago today, a group of pop stars (Boy George, Sting, George Michael, Bono, etc) got together and recorded “Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?” I heard this song every Christmas growing up on my local soft rock station. As a youth, I really liked the obvious lyrics and the apparently heartfelt performances. Once I started working in Africa (Kenya, specifically, and several other countries since), the portrait of Africa as this total basket case grated on me more and more. (There are parts of Africa that are very bad off; there are parts that are doing very well. The broad strokes painting a pathetic continent are not true and don’t help anyone.)

Now I both appreciate the obvious lyrics and am bothered by them. Last night I watched the video of the new recording from 2004 (with Dido, Chris Martin, Bono again, etc): not a bad watch.

Here is the video from the original 1984 recording. Here is the video from the 2004 version.

If you’re interested in who’s singing the different parts in the different versions, here’s a guide.

Miss Landmine Angola

Insofar as you’re going to have a beauty pageant at all, having one that highlights the beauty of landmine victims is – I think – good. I’m not a big fan of the industry (okay, industries: beauty pageants and landmines) overall. Although I confess to a touch of inconsistency here, as I personally crowned Miss Busia 2000 (one of the preliminary pageants to Miss Kenya). 

(Thanks to Blattman for the tip.)

The website for the World Toilet Organization starts out strong

International statistics (WHO and UNICEF 2000; WHO and UNICEF 2004) indicates that over 2.6 billion people in the world today are without any form of “improved sanitation”. The real situation is even worse: the statistics include toilets that are so bad, or shared by so many people that it cannot be regarded as “improved sanitation”.

But weakens later on

World Toilet Day has been declared to be on the 19th of November each year. The purpose of having this day is to have people in all countries to take action, increase awareness of toilet user’s right to a better toilet environment , and to demand for it from toilet owners. As such, it is also the toilet user’s duty to contribute towards its maintenance, cleanliness and hygiene. The public marks the day to practice toilet etiquette.

While I was in both Sierra Leone and the Gambia recently, I saw many flocks of a certain bird on the beach. I got one picture while on Lumley Beach in Freetown. (I know I should crop the photo, but I like the backdrop.)

I sent the picture to a birder friend of mine and she identified it as the pied crow (corvus albus). Here is a clearer picture from Wikipedia, plus a bit of wiki-info.

The Pied Crow (Corvus albus) is a widely distributed African bird species in the crow genus.

Structurally, the Pied Crow is perhaps better thought of as a small crow-sized Raven, especially as it can hybridise with the Somali Crow (Dwarf Raven), Corvus edithae where their ranges meet in the Horn of Africa. Its behaviour though is more typical of the Eurasian Carrion Crows and it may perhaps prove to be a modern day link (along with the Somali Crow) between the Eurasian Crows and the Common Ravens.

I can’t help but get excited about something that might “prove to be a modern day link” between – well, anything.

Welcome to my new blog, formerly Thoughts.