Latest News Events
Dr Gizelis features in Science Magazine
Dr Ismene Gizelis from the Department of Government at the University of Essex has had her research featured in a new article on gender and conflict published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science magazine.
Dr Gizelis has been researching the role of women in peacekeeping and in violent conflict more generally. She has recently conducted field research in Liberia. The article in Science examines the possible relationship between gender inequality and violent conflict.
For more information, please see:
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/336/6083/839.summary
For the whole series on Human Conflict see:
http://www.sciencemag.org/site/special/conflict/index.xhtml
BBC covers IDCR Olympic Dream Project
In the run up to London 2012, the BBC has featured the work of the IDCR on the Olympic Dream web resource. See the story here:
Going for Gold: Country Conditions and London 2012
Going for Gold
Press Release
© 2012 University of Essex all rights reserved.
Why do some countries always seem to strike Olympic gold, while others trail behind in the medals table? Is it down to their Olympian spirit, or their competitive edge? Not entirely, according to research by the Institute for Democracy and Conflict Resolution (IDCR) at the University of Essex.
Research by the institute has shown the countries which do best in the games are likely to be wealthier, with higher levels of literacy and higher life expectancy. Although these are certainly not the only factors at work, there is a significant correlation between a country’s position on the UN’s Human Development Index (HDI)[i] and its position on the medals table.[ii]
In 2008 the USA, with a high score of 0.9 on the HDI, was the top performer in the games with a total of 110 medals, while poor countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, close to the bottom of the HDI with a score of 0.24, went home without any medals at all.
Professor Todd Landman, Director of the IDCR, believes spectators at the games will be watching a display not just of human skill, strength and agility, but also of the conditions under which many of the Olympic athletes have grown up and trained.
“As we celebrate the wonder of the Olympics this year, it is important to reflect on the politics and economics that shape the games, as well as the many challenging obstacles that this year’s dedicated athletes have had to overcome to take part,” he says. “The financial crisis, the fallout of the Arab Spring and the continued rise of the BRIC countries will certainly be at the forefront of our minds this summer. The Olympic Dream is a small window into the complex world of today.”
IDCR has been working with a partner, The Mackman Group[iii], to create a series of interactive web-based ‘Olympic Dream’ maps (CLICK HERE for ACCESS), which allow users to see the relationships between Olympic success and deeper social or economic conditions.
Using data on economic development, political conditions and medal totals from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, users can look at global maps, create descriptive charts and analyse relationships between different indicators.
While the correlation between medals and wealth is positive and statistically significant, the overall relationship is not perfect and some countries buck the trend – for instance, Ethiopia is 157th on the HDI, with an index of 0.33, but was 29th on the 2008 medals table with seven medals. And while Norway is at the top of the HDI, with a score of 0.94, it was 21st on the 2008 scoreboard, with 10 medals.
Many of the big winners on the medals table are countries with large populations, like China and the USA. But even after population size has been taken into account, the relationship between development and medal totals is a significant one.
The research will be launched on Tuesday May 1 as part of British Universitite Week, which has an Olympic theme this year.
[i] The Human Development Index is a UN measure that combines data on per capita income levels, literacy and life expectancy. It ranges from 0 (low human development) to 1 (high human development).
[ii] The correlations, (1 is a perfect correlation and 0 is no correlation), are as follows:
Medals and Development .41
Medals and GDP: .37
Medals and population size: .35
[iii] The Mackman Group is an award-winning research, marketing, PR and design company based in Sudbury, on the Essex/Suffolk border.
