TY  - JOUR
A1  - Balint, Miklos
A1  - Marton, Orsolya
A1  - Schatz, Marlene
A1  - Düring, Rolf-Alexander
A1  - Grossart, Hans-Peter
T1  - Proper experimental design requires randomization/balancing of molecular ecology experiments
JF  - Ecology and evolution
N2  - Properly designed (randomized and/or balanced) experiments are standard in ecological research. Molecular methods are increasingly used in ecology, but studies generally do not report the detailed design of sample processing in the laboratory. This may strongly influence the interpretability of results if the laboratory procedures do not account for the confounding effects of unexpected laboratory events. We demonstrate this with a simple experiment where unexpected differences in laboratory processing of samples would have biased results if randomization in DNA extraction and PCR steps do not provide safeguards. We emphasize the need for proper experimental design and reporting of the laboratory phase of molecular ecology research to ensure the reliability and interpretability of results.
KW  - batch effect
KW  - bias
KW  - DNA extraction
KW  - environmental DNA
KW  - laboratory practice
KW  - lake community
KW  - metabarcoding
KW  - nondemonic intrusions
KW  - PCR
KW  - sediment
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3687
SN  - 2045-7758
VL  - 8
IS  - 3
SP  - 1786
EP  - 1793
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Heinzel, Mirko Noa
A1  - Richter, Jonas
A1  - Busch, Per-Olof
A1  - Feil, Hauke
A1  - Herold, Jana
A1  - Liese, Andrea
T1  - Birds of a feather?
BT  - the determinants of impartiality perceptions of the IMF and the World Bank
JF  - Review of international political economy
N2  - The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank ascribe to impartiality in their mandates. At the same time, scholarship indicates that their decisions are disproportionately influenced by powerful member states. Impartiality is seen as crucial in determining International Organizations' (IOs) effectiveness and legitimacy in the literature. However, we know little about whether key interlocutors in national governments perceive the International Financial Institutions as biased actors who do the bidding for powerful member states or as impartial executors of policy. In order to better understand these perceptions, we surveyed high-level civil servants who are chiefly responsible for four policy areas from more than 100 countries. We found substantial variations in impartiality perceptions. What explains these variations? By developing an argument of selective awareness, we extend rationalist and ideational perspectives on IO impartiality to explain domestic perceptions. Using novel survey data, we test whether staffing underrepresentation, voting underrepresentation, alignment to the major shareholders and overlapping economic policy paradigms are associated with impartiality perceptions. We find substantial evidence that shared economic policy paradigms influence impartiality perceptions. The findings imply that by diversifying their ideational culture, IOs can increase the likelihood that domestic stakeholders view them as impartial.
KW  - Impartiality
KW  - bias
KW  - International Financial Institutions
KW  - International
KW  - Monetary Fund
KW  - World Bank
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2020.1749711
SN  - 0969-2290
SN  - 1466-4526
VL  - 28
IS  - 5
SP  - 1249
EP  - 1273
PB  - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
CY  - Abingdon
ER  -