Trading psychology

Good afternoon 

Respected chairpersons, distinguished delegates on and off the dias, Sri Sourav Roy of NSE.

As Psychologist, I am grateful to know that National Stock Exchange of India Limited along with Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), National Institute of Securities Market (NISM) along with 6 other Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs) are participating in the 45th Kolkata International Book Fair and is organising one academic platform to empower the Investors through Education and Awareness. 

People are afraid of investing the money in market as investment is treated as the process of action for profit. Here lies the misconception about investment as investment is related to both profit and loss just like our lifestyle. We are reading the book to get high marks in the examination. But sometimes we are not getting the expected high marks. Does it lead us to be depressed ?. No, it creates challenge in us. 

I am Psychologist, I perceive investment from two perspectives- investment as reinforcement and investment as life skills.

INVESTMENT AS REINFORCEMENT  Reinforcement theory is a psychological principle maintaining that behaviors are shaped by their consequences and that, accordingly, individual behaviors can be changed through rewards and punishments. After investing, investors are getting good returns so it is considered as reward. On the other side, investor when experienced loss, it is treated as punishment. Here investor is shareholder.  A shareholder, also referred to as a stockholder, is a person, company, or institution that owns at least one share of a company's stock, known as equity. Because shareholders essentially own the company, they reap the benefits of a business's success. These rewards come in the form of increased stock valuations or financial profits distributed as dividends. Conversely, when a company loses money, the share price invariably drops, which can cause shareholders to lose money or suffer declines in their portfolios. A shareholder is any person, company, or institution that owns shares in a company's stock. A company shareholder can hold as little as one share. Shareholders are subject to capital gains (or losses) and/or dividend payments as residual claimants on a firm's profits. Shareholders also enjoy certain rights such as voting at shareholder meetings to approve the members of the board of directors, dividend distributions, or mergers. In the case of bankruptcy, shareholders can lose up to their entire investment. There are two types of reinforcement as proposed by B.F. Skinner. These are positive and negative reinforcement.  Positive reinforcement involves the use of rewards to reinforce behaviors. Negative reinforcement involves the removal of aversive stimuli to reinforce the target behavior. Company's good amount of dividend is considered as positive reinforcement and failure of giving dividend is considered as negative reinforcement. Dividend refers to a reward, cash or otherwise, that a company gives to its shareholders. Dividends can be issued in various forms, such as cash payment, stocks or any other form. A company’s dividend is decided by its board of directors and it requires the shareholders’ approval. However, it is not obligatory for a company to pay dividend. Dividend is usually a part of the profit that the company shares with its shareholders. Company can give the dividend following fixed time interval. This is fixed interval schedule. Similarly company can vary the interval for giving dividend. This is called the variable interval schedule. Incase of former, investor is less anxious and can make out better investment planning as dividend will reinforce the investor to make more investment in the market. In variable interval schedule, investor’s uncertainty level is very high. Investor can invest in market other than fixed company market. Instead of interval schedule, company can give dividend following ratios. Here ratio means fixed ratio and variable ratios. There are few fundamental financial ratios namely working capital ratio, quick ratio, earning per share ratio, price earning and debt equity ratio. All the ratios are indicative of company performance. Fixed ratio: A fixed-ratio schedule is a schedule of reinforcement where a dividend  is reinforced only after a specified company performance. Therefore, investor should pay attention to  workflows, projects, and other pertinent day-to-day activities in order to identify strengths and weaknesses of the company. Financial statements used in evaluating overall financial performance include the balance sheet, the income statement, and the statement of cash flows.Financial performance indicators are quantifiable metrics used to measure how well a company is doing. No single measure should be used to define the financial performance of a firm. Variable ratio:  Variable-ratio schedules occur when a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses. This schedule creates a high steady rate of responding. Gambling and lottery games are good examples of a reward based on a variable ratio schedule. In sharemarket, this might involve delivering incentive to investor after purchasing one share, again after four share purchase, and then again after two share purchase. bar presses. In the field of investment, there are two broad ratios - fixed exchange and floating exchange ratios. Investor must be aware of few fundamental ratios before investment as working capital ratio, Earnings per share, P/E : Share price / EPS, Debt to Equity ratio. Probable mindset of investors

Investment as life skills following Rabindrik Values.

SELF-AWAKENING - It means motivating self to know own needs, competencies, limitations. It develops self awareness. Self-awareness simply means that you are aware of what you are doing and how you are doing it. Investor should not be blind in purchase of share. Investor should analyze the trade market educating self on reading chart characteristics and price action. Here mind set should have positive weightage. Investor imagines positive power and energy in him. EMOTIONAL CONTROL: Trading in the stock market requires years of practice and thorough understanding of market dynamics to maximize gains. Unlike investing, where the holding period is long, trading involves frequent buying and selling of securities. Among the several things that you should not do while trading is to trade under emotions. Emotional trading has several pitfalls, and doing so can result in significant capital loss. Here are reasons why emotions shouldn’t cloud your trading activity. It’s prudent to trade (buy and sell) securities with robust fundamentals to enhance your riches. However, when you trade emotionally, more often than not, you tend to ignore these essential aspects. For instance, during these times, when markets are experiencing an exhilarating bull run, there’s a fear of missing out doing rounds. Many investors feel that they will miss the bus if they don’t invest now.  In the process, they tend to overlook the vital aspects of trading and may end up banking on stocks with weak fundamentals. This elevates the quantum of risk significantly, and there are high chances of capital loss. So, it’s prudent to keep your emotions under control and go about the entire activity. On the other hand, when you trade unemotionally, your judgments are based on logic, facts, and figures. You trade according to the goal you wish to achieve and get your calls right. This not only enhances your wealth but gives you a pleasing experience. Forbes suggests few unemotional investment skills as : forget the short cut success, navigating the market better, understanding the impact of various market forces, and developing a solid strategy to augment your gains further, making trading experience better. Irrespective of whether you trade under fear or greed, there are chances of your experience going sour. A bad experience, especially during formative trading days, can act as a dampener and turn you off markets once and forever. Many investors have turned their back on markets following a not-so-good experience, thus robbing themselves of the opportunity to maximize their wealth. Stock markets, particularly equities, have the potential to generate inflation-beating returns. Also, with various other financial instruments on the offering, they help you diversify your portfolio. However, if a sour experience leads to you giving up on markets altogether, the loss is yours in the long run.      SYSTEMATIC - Systematic trading is related to quantitative trading. Quantitative trading includes all trading that use quantitative techniques; most quantitative trading involves using techniques to value market assets like derivatives but the trading decision may be systematic or discretionary. Systematic trading associates with a number of risks, the returns can be very volatile and funds can quickly amass substantial trading losses without proper risk management.[5] Therefore, systematic trading should take into account the importance of risk management, using a systematic approach to quantify risk, consistent limits and techniques to define how to close excessively risky positions. Systematic trading, in fact, lends itself to control risk precisely because it allows money managers to define profit targets, loss points, trade size, and system shutdown points objectively and in advance of entering each trade. No self-sabotage: Self-sabotage refers to behaviors or thought patterns that hold you back and prevent you from doing what you want to do. Self-sabotage occurs when we destroy ourselves physically, mentally, or emotionally or deliberately hinder our own success and wellbeing by undermining personal goals and values (Brenner, 2019). It is “insidious, profound, and universal” and emanates from negative mindsets (Berg, 2015). Self-sabotage, also known as behavioral dysregulation, can be conscious or unconscious depending on level of awareness. An example of conscious self-sabotage is deciding to eat cake, despite a goal to eat healthy. Unconscious self-sabotage happens when a personal goal or value has been undermined but not initially recognized. Someone with a fear of failure might wait until the last minute to work on an important project, unconsciously avoiding the prospect of advancement (Wignall, 2020). Another dimension of self-sabotage is cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is the internal imbalance or discomfort experienced when words or actions do not align with beliefs and values. When this happens, we act to ease the discomfort by changing our words or behaviors or by reframing our goals and values. It seems unlikely that anyone would intentionally sabotage themselves, yet they do, and the consequences can be caustic. Chronic self-sabotage depletes drive and motivation and leaves us sad, anxious, and with damaged self-esteem. NISKAM PRINCIPLE - Working without expectation of reward _____ In Sanskrit, nishkam means “action without motive,” “work without desire" or "desire-less.” FEARLESS - Feeling of overcoming fear ______ CLEANLINESS - Neat and tidy ______ NO WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT - Maintaining balance between family and work demand ______ NISKAM PRINCIPLE - Working without expectation of reward ______ CHALLENGING - Competing against one ______ SELF-UNDERSTANDING- Feedback to self about own success and failure ______ DOUBTLESS - Free from uncertainty in belief ______ FREE FROM FEAR OF FAILURE - Free from anticipated failure ______  RESOLUTE- Determined in purpose ______ ACTIVE - Avoiding laziness ______

This may sound trivial, and you probably think that you know what you are doing at all times. However, that is likely false. After all, most traders can remember asking themselves “What was I thinking?!” at one point or another after closing out a losing trade.

A trader who lacks self-awareness goes through their trading day without fully having a sense of what they are doing. I was guilty of this myself. I would research for random trade setups to take, execute and manage orders to the best of my ability (or so I thought), and try to squeeze out some gains where I could. Later that same evening, I would wonder what went wrong, why I didn’t make any money, and simply hope things would turn out better the next trading day.

During that stage of my trading career, I did not fully understand that my lack of consistency (and thus lack of trading success) had something to do with my overall approach to trading, and not with my actual methodology. I considered myself a well educated trader, as I was strong with technical analysis, and decent with risk management - I had assumed it was only matter of time before things clicked and I discovered what worked!

A study completed on day traders found that “Very few rated themselves as below average. They attributed their losses to difficult market conditions and situational mistakes. Surprisingly, they rationalized losses as part of their learning curves--even when those losses extended for many months and even years!” This point thoroughly demonstrates that an absence of self-awareness hinders traders from reaching their full potential.

As most new traders do, I was losing money for an uncomfortably long time - Of course, this approach is not sustainable and can only go on for so long. I knew I needed a change. This moment of forced self-awareness was an important and very humbling step in my journey as a trader. When I reflect on this period, I recall a handful of principles that became essential to my continued success and profitability - I still use these concepts daily.

 Imagining positive power or energy ______                   

EMOTIONAL CONTROL-Controlling unwanted emotion   ______          

SYSTEMATIC - Following planned step ______

SELF-INSULTING LESS - Not offending to self ______

FEARLESS - Feeling of overcoming fear ______

CLEANLINESS - Neat and tidy ______

NO WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT - Maintaining balance between family and work demand ______

NISKAM PRINCIPLE - Working without expectation of reward ______

CHALLENGING - Competing against one ______

SELF-UNDERSTANDING- Feedback to self about own success and failure ______

DOUBTLESS - Free from uncertainty in belief ______

FREE FROM FEAR OF FAILURE - Free from anticipated failure ______ 

RESOLUTE- Determined in purpose ______

ACTIVE - Avoiding laziness ______

is life skill just like man learns how to run after repeated fall on the ground. Investment means sharing your feelings with others, investment means social responsibility. 

Investment is life skills

Self-awareness 

Monitoring the trading Market and the company

Trade marketing is a wider marketing discipline that aims to increase demand with supply chain partners such as wholesalers, retailers, or at the distributor level, rather than just at the customer level. Trade Marketing is also called B2B marketing or business-to-business marketing. All the promotional activities are aimed at increasing the demand of the product among the various supply chain partners. Before investment, investors will pay much attention to the company activities: Organizational structure, climate, leadership, employer-employee relationship, organizational culture, organizational coping, organizational resilience, technology adoption, marketing strategy, brand making, market volatility.

Stop expecting and start acceptance

In investment theory, there is one fuzzy concept- stop happiness and expect happiness.  It means that when market is vulnerable or volatile, reduce expectations otherwise errors of expectations will be coming. And accept the return. 

Accept market volatility : Volatility is a statistical measure of the dispersion of returns for a given security or market index. In most cases, the higher the volatility, the riskier the security. Volatility is often measured as either the standard deviation or variance between returns from that same security or market index. Volatility often refers to the amount of uncertainty or risk related to the size of changes in a security's value. A higher volatility means that a security's value can potentially be spread out over a larger range of values. This means that the price of the security can change dramatically over a short time period in either direction. A lower volatility means that a security's value does not fluctuate dramatically, and tends to be more steady.

When market is very much volatile, you can expect vulnerable behavior in the market. At this juncture, it is better not to encourage your obsessions to invest much. Rather, it is better to stop much expectation. So, as investor, you are supposed to know more about some basic statistical tools - standard deviation, variance, coefficient of variation, 

covariance, correlation, moving average, weighted moving average, regression and correspondence analysis. They have to know few data visualization tools as box whisker plot, time series plot. 

6 ratios 

EPS: Earnings per share.

Earnings per share (EPS) is calculated as a company's profit divided by the outstanding shares of its common stock. The resulting number serves as an indicator of a company's profitability. It is common for a company to report EPS that is adjusted for extraordinary items and potential share dilution.The higher a company's EPS, the more profitable it is considered to be.Do not invest if there is more ups and downs in EPS. Compare EPS with EPS of other similar companies. 

P/E : Share price / EPS.

Debt to Equity ratio

Invitation from NSE

National Stock Exchange of India Limited along with Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), National Institute of Securities Market (NISM) along with 6 other Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs) are participating in the 45th Kolkata International Book Fair. We as a consortium have set up a stall at the Kolkata Book Fair with the objective of empowering the Investors through Education and Awareness. 

We have got an opportunity to further our objective and reach a larger audience from the Centre stage of the Kolkata Book Fair (Central Park, Salt lake) from 01:00 PM to 1:45 PM on March 2nd, 2022 on the Topic (Financial Market – A Unique Perspective). In view of the same we take great pleasure in inviting you as our GUEST Speaker for the event. Your expertise and enriching experience will be an excellent addition to our program as many of our visitors including all of us look forward to hearing and learning from your experience.

We request you to make it convenient to attend the program as a Guest speaker from 01:00 PM to 1:45 PM on March 2nd, 2022 at Central Park, Salt lake.

Enthusiastically anticipating for a positive response. 

In case of any further query, please feel free to contact with Mr. Sourav Roy (09831439387)

 

Thanks & Regards, 

 

Sourav Roy 

National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) 

1st Floor, Park View Apartments, 99, Rash Behari Avenue, Kolkata – 700029 

Web: www.nseindia.com | Email: souravr@nse.co.in 

 

Project Management: CPM & PERT

 Critical path method (CPM) is a resource-utilization algorithm for scheduling a set of project activities. The essential technique for using CPM is to construct a model of the project that includes the following:

• A list of all tasks required to complete the project
• The dependencies between the tasks
• The estimate of time (duration) that each activity will take to complete With this information, you can determine the critical path by identifying the longest stretch of dependent activities and measuring them from start to finish.
• Once you’ve identified which activities are on the longest, or critical path, you can more easily discern which have total float, or can be delayed without making the project longer.

Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) is a project management planning tool used to calculate the amount of time it will take to realistically finish a project. ... PERT is similar to critical path in that they are both used to visualize the timeline and the work that must be done for a project. It can deal with non-dependent events also.

DIfference

Data collection in Forensic Psychology

Observation

Observational research is a type of descriptive research that differs from most other forms of data gathering in that the researcher’s goal is not to manipulate the variables being observed. While participants may or may not be aware of the researchers’ presence, the researchers do not try to control variables (as in an experiment), or ask participants to respond to direct questions (as in an interview or survey based study). Instead, the participants are simply observed in a natural setting, defined as a place in which behavior ordinarily occurs, rather than a place that has been arranged specifically for the purpose of observing the behavior. Unlike correlational and experimental research which use quantitative data, observational studies tend to use qualitative data.

For example, social psychologists Roger Barker and Herbert Wright studied how a sample of children interacted with their daily environments. They observed the children go to school, play with friends, and complete daily chores, and learned a great deal about how children interact with their environments and how their environments shape their character. Similarly, anthropologist Jane Goodall studied the behavior of chimpanzees, taking careful notes on their tool making, family relationships, hunting, and social behavior. Her early work served as the basis for future research on chimpanzees and animal behavior in general.

Advantages of Observational Studies

By observing events as they naturally occur, patterns in behavior will emerge and general questions will become more specific. The hypotheses that result from these observations will guide the researcher in shaping data into results.

One advantage of this type of research is the ability to make on-the-fly adjustments to the initial purpose of a study. These observations also capture behavior that is more natural than behavior occurring in the artificial setting of a lab and that is relatively free of some of the bias seen in survey responses. However, the researcher must be careful not to apply his or her own biases to the interpretation. Researchers may also use this type of data to verify external validity, allowing them to examine whether study findings generalize to real world scenarios.

Laboratory Observation: Laboratory observation can feel artificial to participants and influence their behavior. Observation in a natural setting allows researchers to document behavior without this influence.

There are some areas of study where observational studies are more advantageous than others. This type of research allows for the study of phenomena that may be unethical to control for in a lab, such as verbal abuse between romantic partners. Observation is also particularly advantageous as a cross-cultural reference. By observing people from different cultures in the same setting, it is possible to gain information on cultural differences.

Disadvantages of Observational Studies

While observational studies can generate rich qualitative data, they do not produce quantitative data, and thus mathematical analysis is limited. Researchers also cannot infer causal statements about the situations they observe, meaning that cause and effect cannot be determined. Behavior seen in these studies can only be described, not explained.

There are also ethical concerns related to observing individuals without their consent. One way to avoid this problem is to debrief participants after observing them and to ask for their consent at that time. Overt observation, where the participants are aware of the researcher’s presence, is another option to overcome this problem. However, this tactic does have its drawbacks. When subjects know they are being watched, they may alter their behavior in an attempt to make themselves look more admirable.

This type of research can also be very time consuming. Some studies require dozens of observation sessions lasting for several hours and sometimes involving several researchers. Without the use of multiple researchers, the chances of observer bias increase; because behavior is perceived so subjectively, it is possible that two observers will notice different things or draw different conclusions from the same behavior.

===============

The activities of forensic psychologists include the assessment of competency to stand trial and criminal responsibility, determining the validity of defenses (such as intoxication, amnesia, dissociative identity disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder), predicting violent behavior, assessing eyewitness testimony and personal injury, providing testimony on appropriate sentencing, profiling, and contributing to child custody evaluations. The most important forensic assessment procedures are the forensic interview and psychological testing, while forensic hypnosis is also sometimes used. Because reliability is questioned, the polygraph is seldom employed. 

Competency to Stand Trial 

Mental health professionals often conduct evaluations to assist courts in determining whether a criminal defendant is competent to participate in the adjudicatory process.In Dusky v. United States (1960), the U.S. Supreme Court articulated specific functional abilities that defendants must have to participate competently in the adjudicatory process: They must be able to assist counsel, and they must have both a rational and a factual understanding of the proceedings against them.

Most, if not all, jurisdictions recognize only mental impairment—often characterized as “mental disease or defect”—as a basis for incompetence to proceed to adjudication. When questions about a defendant’s mental capacities arise, the courts almost invariably solicit the assistance of mental health professionals (primarily psychiatrists and psychologists) in resolving the issue. These forensic evaluators attempt to inform the court whether, and the extent to which, the defendant’s functional abilities required by Dusky are compromised by psychiatric problems.

 A variety of instruments have been developed to help structure these forensic assessments; this entry describes one of the more contemporary competence assessment instruments, the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Criminal Adjudication (MacCAT-CA).

=================================== 

MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Criminal Adjudication (MacCAT-CA).=

--------------------------------------------------------------

In the United States, people accused of crimes have certain rights with respect to the adjudicatory process that are guaranteed by the Constitution. In particular, they have the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination and rights articulated in the Sixth Amendment, which include the assistance of legal counsel, the right to confront their accusers, and the right to trial by a jury of their peers.

Competency to stand trial (CST) is related to the defendant's capacity to engage in a satisfactory level of participation in the court process. While the extant studies focus mainly on assessment-related issues such as assessment methods, guidelines for competency evaluations, and quality of competency evaluations,

or Fitness to Stand Trial requires that a defendant understands the nature and purpose of the legal proceedings against him and be able to effectively cooperate with counsel in his defense. It consists of two components: (1) foundational competence- a basic understanding of the trial process as well as the capacity to provide a lawyer with informational relevant to the trial: and (2) decisional competence- the capacity to make informed, independent decisions. Forensic Psychologist's function is to assess mental retardation, hallucination, delusion etc.

What factors are considered in competency to stand trial CST determinations?

(1) ability to understand the charge; (2) ability to plead to the charge and exercise the right to challenge; (3) understanding of the basic nature of the proceedings; (4) ability to follow the course of the proceedings in broad terms; (5) ability to understand the substantial effect of any evidence and be able to make 

According to the American Psychological Association, forensic psychology is narrowly defined as a “specialty in professional psychology characterized by activities primarily intended to provide professional psychological expertise within the judicial and legal systems.” 

The American Board of Forensic Psychology defines forensic psychology as “the application of the science and profession of psychology to questions and issues relating to law and the legal system.” 

Forensic science examines the scientific evidence at a crime scene—DNA collection and analysis, fingerprinting, ballistics studies and other laboratory work. Forensic psychology applies the study of psychology within a legal framework. Yet both are integral parts of today’s judicial system.

Practicing Forensic Psychology

In an article for the Psychology Student Network in September 2013, Dr. Jane Tyler Ward broadens the original definition of forensic psychology when talking about the practice today. “The practice of forensic psychology, and perhaps the most frequent duty of forensic psychologists, is the psychological assessment of individuals who are involved, in one way or another, with the legal system. Therefore, although it is necessary to have training in law and forensic psychology, the most important skills a forensic psychologist must possess are solid clinical skills.”

Important clinical skills that a psychologist should develop to work within the field of forensic psychology include:

• Clinical assessment
• Interviewing
• Report writing
• Strong verbal communication skills
• Case presentation
• Investigation techniques
• Research studies
• Assessments and consultations

According to the American Board of Forensic Psychology, “the practice of forensic psychology refers to the application of scientific, technical, or specialized knowledge of psychology to inform matters of law within the judicial system, legislative bodies, and administrative agencies.” The board goes on to describe how important it is for new forensic psychologists to learn how to conduct psychological evaluations, treatment, or research in anticipation of legal proceedings; offer expert psychological opinions in the form of testimony or amicus briefs; and to provide trial consultation.

Working as a Forensic Psychologist

What type of work can a psychologist expect to find after studying the science of forensic psychology? According to Marisa Mauro, Psy.D., in an article for Psychology Today, a psychologist might find work in prisons, jails, rehabilitation centers, police departments, law firms, schools, government agencies or private practice. As Dr. Mauro describes, the psychologist provides everything from assessments to screenings, counseling services to crisis management. “The field seems limitless,” say Dr. Mauro. “Psychologists working in forensic psychology research or academic settings may teach or research on any topic in which psychology and the law interact.”

Northcentral University’s Master of Science in Forensic Psychology program* helps prepare you to apply psychological principles in forensic settings and equips you to work within the justice system, with law enforcement, the courts, corrections, and departments of victim services. In this 100% online program, you will be immersed in the psychology of criminality through seven courses specific to succeeding in this cutting edge field, as well as three electives to augment your depth of knowledge. As a master’s student, you will be expected to think critically and apply your problem-solving and creative thinking skills to practical application of forensic psychology, while adhering to ethical principles in research and academics.

According to James Billings, Dean, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, “NCU’s Master of Science in Forensic Psychology degree has been designed to equip students for the important work of understanding the criminal mind, and the root causes of criminal and antisocial behavior. They will be prepared for a variety of career paths that rely on the expertise of forensic psychologists.”

Forensic science examines the scientific evidence at a crime scene—DNA collection and analysis, fingerprinting, ballistics studies and other laboratory work. Forensic psychology applies the study of psychology within a legal framework.

Criminal justice theory for forensic psychology

Criminal justice theory :

The theory of criminal justice is the branch of philosophy of law that deals with criminal justice and in particular punishment. The theory of criminal justice has deep connections to other areas of philosophy, such as political philosophy and ethics, as well as to criminal justice in practice.

What is justice?

Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve.

Discuss different types of justice. 

There are four different types of justice: distributive (determining who gets what), procedural (determining how fairly people are treated), retributive (based on punishment for wrong-doing) and restorative (which tries to restore relationships to "rightness.") 

Distributive justice is defined as perceived fairness of how rewards and costs are shared by (distributed across) group members.

The theory consists of three core components: the equality of people in rights and liberties;the equality of opportunities for all; and an arrangement of economic inequalities focused on benefit maximisation for those who are least advantaged.

Procedural justice:

Procedural justice focuses on the way police and other legal authorities interact with the public, and how the characteristics of those interactions shape the public's views of the police, their willingness to obey the law, and actual crime rates.

Procedural justice speaks to four principles, often referred to as the four pillars: 1) being fair in processes, 2) being transparent in actions, 3) providing opportunity for voice, and 4) being impartial in decision making.

The idea of the outcomes model of procedural justice is that the fairness of process depends on the procedure producing correct outcomes. For example, if the procedure is a criminal trial, then the correct outcome would be conviction of the guilty and exonerating the innocent.

Retributive: Retributive justice is a theory of punishment that when an offender breaks the law, justice requires that they suffer in return, and that the response to a crime is proportional to the offence.

When the punishment involves a fine, the theory does not allow the financial position of an offender to be considered, leading to situations in which a poor individual and a millionaire could be forced to pay the same amount. Such a fine would be punitive for the poor offender while insignificant for the millionaire. Instead of pure retribution, many jurisdictions use variants such as the European Union's emphasis on punitive equality, which base the amount of a fine not just on the offense but also on the offender's income, salary, and ability to pay.

Restorative justice: It is based on an understanding that crime is a violation of people and relationships. The principles of restorative justice are based on respect, compassion and inclusivity. Restorative justice encourages meaningful engagement and accountability and provides an opportunity for healing, reparation and reintegration. 

Workshop on Health Informatics

1. Title : Workshop on Health Informatics

2. Learning objectives : Data collection, Data analysis, Data interpretation, Presentation of Results 

3. Date and time : 3.4.2020, 3-6 pm

4. Organized by :Rabindrik Psychotherapy Research institute Trust 

5. Eligibility : Researchers in Physical and Mental health.

6. Educational qualifications : Post graduate.

7. Program schedule :

3pm : Registration

3-30: Inauguration

4-00 : Technical session 1: Importance and applications.

4-30: Technical session 2: Methods of Data collection.

5-15: Data Analysis : Tools and Techniques

6 - 00: Closing ceremony

8. Registration fee :

Rs. 200 for external of the Rabindrik psychotherapy research institute.

Rs. 100 for in-house students and academic assistants.

9. Payment mode :Google Pay

10.Location :WhatsApp

Social Audit

What is this? 

What is a social audit?

A social audit is a way of measuring, understanding, reporting and ultimately improving an organization’s social and ethical performance. A social audit helps to narrow gaps between vision/goal and reality, between efficiency and effectiveness. It is a technique to understand, measure, verify, report on and to improve the social performance of the organization.

Impacts

Social auditing creates an impact upon governance. It values the voice of stakeholders, including marginalized/poor groups whose voices are rarely heard. Social auditing is taken up for the purpose of enhancing local governance, particularly for strengthening accountability and transparency in local bodies.

Difference from Development audit

The key difference between development and social audit is that a social audit focuses on the neglected issue of social impacts, while a development audit has a broader focus including environment and economic issues, such as the efficiency of a project or programme.

Objectives of social audit

1. Assessing the physical and financial gaps between needs and resources available for local development.
2. Creating awareness among beneficiaries and providers of local social and productive services.
3. Increasing efficacy and effectiveness of local development programmes.
4. Scrutiny of various policy decisions, keeping in view stakeholder interests and priorities, particularly of rural poor.
5. Estimation of the opportunity cost for stakeholders of not getting timely access to public services.

Advantages of social audit

(a) Trains the community on participatory local planning.
(b) Encourages local democracy.
(c) Encourages community participation.
(d) Benefits disadvantaged groups.
(e) Promotes collective decision making and sharing responsibilities.
(f) Develops human resources and social capital

To be effective, the social auditor must have the right to:

1. seek clarifications from the implementing agency about any decision-making, activity, scheme, income and expenditure incurred by the agency;
2. consider and scrutinize existing schemes and local activities of the agency; and
3. access registers and documents relating to all development activities undertaken by the implementing agency or by any other government department.

This requires transparency in the decision-making and activities of the implementing agencies. In a way, social audit includes measures for enhancing transparency by enforcing the right to information in the planning and implementation of local development activities.

Box 6.1 Public documents for social audit (a) All budget allocations, beneficiary lists, muster rolls, bills, vouchers, accounts, etc. must be available for public scrutiny. (b) All applications for licenses/permits and certificates issued by local self-government institutions must have a serial number. Registers indicating date of application and date of clearance in each case should be available for reference by any applicant. If possible, copies should be publicly displayed. (c) Public assessment of tax, exemptions, grants, etc., to ensure there are no complaints of undue preferential treatment.

Randomized experimental design

Experimentation

An experiment deliberately imposes a treatment on a group of objects or subjects in the interest of observing the response. This differs from an observational study, which involves collecting and analyzing data without changing existing conditions. Because the validity of a experiment is directly affected by its construction and execution, attention to experimental design is extremely important.

Treatment

In experiments, a treatment is something that researchers administer to experimental units. For example, a corn field is divided into four, each part is 'treated' with a different fertiliser to see which produces the most corn; a teacher practices different teaching methods on different groups in her class to see which yields the best results; a doctor treats a patient with a skin condition with different creams to see which is most effective. Treatments are administered to experimental units by 'level', where level implies amount or magnitude. For example, if the experimental units were given 5mg, 10mg, 15mg of a medication, those amounts would be three levels of the treatment.
(Definition taken from Valerie J. Easton and John H. McColl's Statistics Glossary v1.1)

Factor

A factor of an experiment is a controlled independent variable; a variable whose levels are set by the experimenter.

A factor is a general type or category of treatments. Different treatments constitute different levels of a factor. For example, three different groups of runners are subjected to different training methods. The runners are the experimental units, the training methods, the treatments, where the three types of training methods constitute three levels of the factor 'type of training'.
(Definition taken from Valerie J. Easton and John H. McColl's Statistics Glossary v1.1)

---

Experimental Design

We are concerned with the analysis of data generated from an experiment. It is wise to take time and effort to organize the experiment properly to ensure that the right type of data, and enough of it, is available to answer the questions of interest as clearly and efficiently as possible. This process is called experimental design.

The specific questions that the experiment is intended to answer must be clearly identified before carrying out the experiment. We should also attempt to identify known or expected sources of variability in the experimental units since one of the main aims of a designed experiment is to reduce the effect of these sources of variability on the answers to questions of interest. That is, we design the experiment in order to improve the precision of our answers.
(Definition taken from Valerie J. Easton and John H. McColl's Statistics Glossary v1.1)

Control

Suppose a farmer wishes to evaluate a new fertilizer. She uses the new fertilizer on one field of crops (A), while using her current fertilizer on another field of crops (B). The irrigation system on field A has recently been repaired and provides adequate water to all of the crops, while the system on field B will not be repaired until next season. She concludes that the new fertilizer is far superior.

The problem with this experiment is that the farmer has neglected to control for the effect of the differences in irrigation. This leads to experimental bias, the favoring of certain outcomes over others. To avoid this bias, the farmer should have tested the new fertilizer in identical conditions to the control group, which did not receive the treatment. Without controlling for outside variables, the farmer cannot conclude that it was the effect of the fertilizer, and not the irrigation system, that produced a better yield of crops.

Another type of bias that is most apparent in medical experiments is the placebo effect. Since many patients are confident that a treatment will positively affect them, they react to a control treatment which actually has no physical affect at all, such as a sugar pill. For this reason, it is important to include control, or placebo, groups in medical experiments to evaluate the difference between the placebo effect and the actual effect of the treatment.

The simple existence of placebo groups is sometimes not sufficient for avoiding bias in experiments. If members of the placebo group have any knowledge (or suspicion) that they are not being given an actual treatment, then the effect of the treatment cannot be accurately assessed. For this reason, double-blind experiments are generally preferable. In this case, neither the experimenters nor the subjects are aware of the subjects' group status. This eliminates the possibility that the experimenters will treat the placebo group differently from the treatment group, further reducing experimental bias.

Randomization

Because it is generally extremely difficult for experimenters to eliminate bias using only their expert judgment, the use of randomization in experiments is common practice. In a randomized experimental design, objects or individuals are randomly assigned (by chance) to an experimental group. Using randomization is the most reliable method of creating homogeneous treatment groups, without involving any potential biases or judgments. There are several variations of randomized experimental designs, two of which are briefly discussed below.

Completely Randomized Design

In a completely randomized design, objects or subjects are assigned to groups completely at random. One standard method for assigning subjects to treatment groups is to label each subject, then use a table of random numbers to select from the labelled subjects. This may also be accomplished using a computer. In MINITAB, the "SAMPLE" command will select a random sample of a specified size from a list of objects or numbers.

Randomized Block Design

If an experimenter is aware of specific differences among groups of subjects or objects within an experimental group, he or she may prefer a randomized block design to a completely randomized design. In a block design, experimental subjects are first divided into homogeneous blocks before they are randomly assigned to a treatment group. If, for instance, an experimenter had reason to believe that age might be a significant factor in the effect of a given medication, he might choose to first divide the experimental subjects into age groups, such as under 30 years old, 30-60 years old, and over 60 years old. Then, within each age level, individuals would be assigned to treatment groups using a completely randomized design. In a block design, both control and randomization are considered.

Example

A researcher is carrying out a study of the effectiveness of four different skin creams for the treatment of a certain skin disease. He has eighty subjects and plans to divide them into 4 treatment groups of twenty subjects each. Using a randomized block design, the subjects are assessed and put in blocks of four according to how severe their skin condition is; the four most severe cases are the first block, the next four most severe cases are the second block, and so on to the twentieth block. The four members of each block are then randomly assigned, one to each of the four treatment groups.
(Example taken from Valerie J. Easton and John H. McColl's Statistics Glossary v1.1)

Replication

Although randomization helps to insure that treatment groups are as similar as possible, the results of a single experiment, applied to a small number of objects or subjects, should not be accepted without question. Randomly selecting two individuals from a group of four and applying a treatment with "great success" generally will not impress the public or convince anyone of the effectiveness of the treatment. To improve the significance of an experimental result, replication, the repetition of an experiment on a large group of subjects, is required. If a treatment is truly effective, the long-term averaging effect of replication will reflect its experimental worth. If it is not effective, then the few members of the experimental population who may have reacted to the treatment will be negated by the large numbers of subjects who were unaffected by it. Replication reduces variability in experimental results, increasing their significance and the confidence level with which a researcher can draw conclusions about an experimental factor.

Ref :http://www.stat.yale.edu/Courses/1997-98/101/expdes.htm