Under situations of limited resources, soft powers such as technology development and innovation become critical capabilities for a nation’s continuous growth and sustainability. Therefore, we used analytical hierarchy process (AHP), data envelopment analysis (DEA), and Malmquist productivity index (MPI) to evaluate the performance of research projects in 6 main fields of study managed by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) in Taiwan from 2002 to 2012. Among the 6 fields of study, Agriculture and Humanities were two research fields as efficiency; and the sequence of inefficiency 4 fields were sociology, medicine, science, and engineering. Although the field of sociology was inefficiency, it was the only field show continuous growth in result of MPI analysis. Taking the fields as a whole, the result of the analysis of total factor productivity showed recession. However, as seen from the growth in technical change and in scale efficiency change, the MOST was effective to a certain extent during the period. However, the recession in technical efficiency change showed that further improvement in the planning and distribution of manpower and funds is needed.

This research was the first research integrating decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to analysis factors, including interest in science, value in science and confidence in science, affecting female students’ science achievements from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011. The research constructed two causal models base on mutual effect of value in science and confidence in science by DEMATEL analysis. The causality of two factors in model 1 was value in science affected confidence in science and model 2 vice versa. According to the results of SEM analysis, fit indices of CFI, GFI and AGFI in model 1 were 0.851, 0.796 and 0.745; in model 2 were 0.818, 0.772, and 0.873. And results showed that female students had better fitness in model 1; in other words, the causality of value in science to confidence in science might have an important effect on the science achievement of female students. Lastly, these findings could provide not only a different perspective for future researches but also a useful insight as a reference for policy making and improvement by relevant decision makers.

From the perspective of sustainable development and based on literature review, this paper introduces modified Delphi and Decision Making and Trial Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) to explore the critical factors of sustainable development in rural areas and their correlation. Through literature review and modified Delphi analysis, nine key factors of rural sustainable development are first identified, namely industrial activation, working environment, living conditions, infrastructure, public involvement, rural culture, government-related departments, educational resources, and health and welfare. DEMATEL is then adopted to determine the classification of the aforementioned factors, in which four (government-related departments, public involvement, infrastructure, and educational resources) are classified in the cause group and five (health and welfare, living conditions, rural culture, working environment, and industrial activation) are classified in the effect group. According to the centrality and relation of these factors, the causal network diagram is finally drawn before making practical suggestions based on the overall results, with a view to providing a reference for decision-makers in their follow-up rural sustainable development planning.

The purpose of this study is to propose a hybrid method for disaster prevention and relief (DPR) evaluation for Taiwan. Through the hybrid method and evaluation results, the central and local governments of Taiwan could continuously improve and strengthen their DPR system. The main structure of the evaluation is based on the balanced scorecard (BSC), and 15 indicators are gathered from the literature on related issues. These indicators are further analyzed by data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the Malmquist productivity index (MPI) to assess the DPR efficiency of 13 administrative regions in Taiwan. The analysis shows that the DPR system in Taiwan might be improved in Yunlin and Hsinchu City, two administrative regions analyzed during the three stages and time frame studied. The indicators that most significantly affect DPR efficiency are the average number of people served by each government employee or teacher (L1), the supervision score of the Department of Medical Services (DMS) of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (I4), the number of licensed medical practitioners per 10,000 people (C1) and the number of social welfare workers per 10,000 people (C2). These indicators also reflect Taiwan's current shortages in DPR-related and medical personnel.