The Regional Municipality of Durham, informally referred to as Durham Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located east of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York, Durham forms the east-end of the Greater Toronto Area and the core part of the Golden Horseshoe region, it has an area of 2,500 km2. The regional government is headquartered in Whitby; the southern portion of the region, on Lake Ontario is suburban in nature, forming the eastern end of the 905 area code belt of suburbs around Toronto. The northern area comprises small towns; the city of Pickering, town of Ajax and the township of Uxbridge are part of the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area, while the communities of Oshawa and Clarington comprise the Oshawa Census Metropolitan Area. Durham Region consists of the following municipalities: It contains one First Nations reserve: Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation; the Region of Durham was established in 1974 as one of several new regional governments in the Province of Ontario in fast-growing urban and suburban areas.

It encompasses areas, part of Ontario County and the United Counties of Northumberland and Durham, was the culmination of a series of studies into municipal governance in the "Oshawa-Centred Region" that had begun in the late 1960s. The boundaries of the region were different from what had been anticipated and announced in late 1972. For example, it was expected that Pickering would be annexed to Metropolitan Toronto, which residents had supported in a ballot question. In addition, the region was proposed to extend further east to include Hope Township and the town of Port Hope, did not include the northern townships of Scott and Thorah. Under the Köppen climate classification, the Durham Region has a humid continental climate; the Regional Municipality of Durham is predominately white representing 70.1% of the population. There is a large population of South Asians totaling 8.6% of the population and Black Canadians totaling 8.0% of the population. Smaller ethnic groups include Filipino with 2.3% of the population, Aboriginal with 2.0%, Chinese with 1.9%, Mixed visible minority with 1.3%, Latin American with 1.0% and West Asian with 1.0%.

The regional government, within its geographic area, has sole responsibility for the following: Durham Regional Police Service provides local policing for all municipalities. The Ontario Provincial Police patrol provincial highways Durham Region Transit provides public transit service Main roads, traffic lights and controls Strategic land use planning Subdivision and condominium approval Water supply and distribution Sewage collection and treatment Collection of recyclable materials Waste collection, except in Whitby and Oshawa Waste disposal Public health and social servicesThe region provides services in: Economic development TourismLocal municipalities have responsibility for: Local planning Local streets and sidewalks Fire protection Parks and recreation Tax collection Building inspection and permits Public libraries Licensing Waste collection in Whitby and Oshawa With a current population of 645,000, the population is expected to exceed one million by 2041. Of considerable potential impact to the future of the economy in Durham Region is the proposed federal airport in north Pickering.

The federal government acquired 18,600 acres of land in Pickering under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1972 for the construction of a future airport. However, the project has remained in limbo. In January 2018, a report released by Urban Strategies, Inc. indicated that the Pickering airport lands provide the best opportunity to meet the growing demand for air travel and goods movement in the Greater Toronto Area, demand that Toronto Pearson airport will be unable to accommodate. As of December 2016, Durham Region had over 250 energy and engineering related businesses that employed over 11,000 individuals, making Durham Region the top employer of EN3 professionals in the Greater Toronto and Hamiton Area. Durham Region's agricultural sector is one of the largest primary goods-producing sectors in the region; the agriculture sector is supported by local organizations such as Durham Farm Fresh who assist in the marketing and advocacy for local food. In 2018, the Canadian motion picture and video exhibition industries generated $1.9 billion in operating revenue, marking a 5.7% increase from 2016.

The majority of this operating revenue was contributed by Ontario, at 42.7%. The film industry is active and growing in Durham Region, due to increasing demands for locations and talent across Ontario. In June of 2015, a major film studio development was announced in Pickering; the innovative technology sector is emerging in Durham Region, supported by a Regional Innovation Centre in Oshawa and a technology accelerator in Whitby. Whitby is the location of the headquarters of 360 Insights, the global leader in incentives industry technology and a significant employer in Durham Region.83 percent of Durham residents over 18 have a certificate, diploma or degree. Youth unemployment is a major issue in the region: at 23% by the Durham Workforce Authority in 2013, it is 17% higher than the provincial average. Emerging employment sectors in Durham Region include sustainable energy, local food production, bio-sciences, next-generation automotive, advanced manufacturing and technology. Major employers in Durham Region include General Motors of Canada, Ontario Power Generation, Lakeridge Health, Durham District School Board, Durham College, the Ontario Ministry of Finance, Minacs Worldwide, TDS Automotive, University of Ontari

Participation bias or non-response bias is a phenomenon in which the results of elections, polls, etc. become non-representative because the participants disproportionately possess certain traits which affect the outcome. These traits mean the sample is systematically different from the target population resulting in biased estimates. For instance, a study found that those who refused to answer a survey on AIDS tended to be "older, attend church more are less to believe in the confidentiality of surveys, have lower sexual self disclosure." It may occur due to several factors. Non-response bias can be a problem in longitudinal research due to attrition during the study. If one selects a sample of 1000 managers in a field and polls them about their workload, the managers with a high workload may not answer the survey because they do not have enough time to answer it, and/or those with a low workload may decline to respond for fear that their supervisors or colleagues will perceive them as surplus employees.

Therefore, non-response bias may make the measured value for the workload too low, too high, or, if the effects of the above biases happen to offset each other, "right for the wrong reasons." For a simple example of this effect, consider a survey that includes, "Agree or disagree: I have enough time in my day to complete a survey." In the 1936 U. S. presidential election, The Literary Digest mailed out 10 million questionnaires, of which 2.4 million were returned. Based on these, they predicted that Republican Alf Landon would win with 370 of 531 electoral votes, whereas he only got eight. Research published in 1976 and 1988 concluded that non-response bias was the primary source of this error, although their sampling frame was quite different from the vast majority of voters. Non responders have been shown to be associated with younger patients, poorer communities and those who are less satisfied and subsequently could be a source of bias by a study published by Imam et al. in 2014. There are different ways to test for non-response bias.

A common technique involves comparing the first and fourth quartiles of responses for differences in demographics and key constructs. In e-mail surveys some values are known from all potential participants and can be compared to the values that prevail in the subgroup of those who answered. If there is no significant difference this is an indicator. In e-mail surveys those who didn't answer can systematically be phoned and a small number of survey questions can be asked. If their answers don't differ from those who answered the survey, there might be no non-response bias; this technique is sometimes called non-response follow-up. Speaking, the lower the response rate, the greater the likelihood of a non-response bias in play. Self-selection bias is a type of bias in which individuals voluntarily select themselves into a group, thereby biasing the response of that group. Response bias is not the opposite of non-response bias, but instead relates to a possible tendency of respondents to give inaccurate or untruthful answers for various reasons.

Selection bias Special issue of Public Opinion Quarterly about "Nonresponse Bias in Household Surveys": http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/content/70/5.toc Slonim, R. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. 90: 43–70. Doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2013.03.013

Global Philanthropy Group is a consulting firm that provides philanthropic services for high-net-worth individuals, charitable foundations and corporations. Their clients include John Legend, Avril Lavigne, Madonna and Sara, Miley Cyrus, Eva Longoria, Task Rabbit and Tory Burch, they have offices in New York. Global Philanthropy Group was founded in 2006 by Trevor Neilson and Ann Kelly. In 2017, Global Philanthropy Group was acquired by Charity Network, joining digital fundraising companies Charitybuzz and Prizeo. Maggie Neilson is a founding board member of the Center for Women & Democracy, sits on the Parent Revolution Board and the New Leadership Board for the International Women's Health Coalition, she spoke at the 2014 South by Southwest Interactive Conference about feminism and technology. Trevor Neilson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, serves on the advisory boards of the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation, the Los Angeles Police Foundation, the Wikimedia Foundation, the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health and the Genocide Intervention Network.

Trevor was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and was a member of the Clinton Global Initiative. Trevor speaks about the topic of philanthropy, including panels at the TEDxWomen conference and American Express Luxury Summit, he wrote a column for the Huffington Post about philanthropy and other topics. Trevor is the co-founder and CEO of i investments a permanently capitalized, multi-strategy impact investing platform. Global Philanthropy Group's services include consulting on philanthropic strategy and briefing for clients on important issues, helping clients identify issues and causes to support and connecting clients with well-known D. C. figures, nonprofit organizations, development leaders. In 2013, Global Philanthropy Group announced the formation of Global Philanthropy Digital, designed to leverage technology and social media for social good, their website lists the following philanthropy services: Strategic planning services Strategy implementation and support Performance vetting, monitoring & evaluation Advocacy and communications services Legal and governance structure support Trust and estate planning Human rights record verification service Digital and social media strategy & management Global Philanthropy Group co-published “The 25 Best Givers” list with Barron's, an American weekly financial newspaper.

The list is calculated based on resource management, innovative practices, scalability, relationship management, transparency reporting, issue severity. The top five philanthropists on the 2010 list included the Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation, The Omidyar Network, The Meth Project, the Skoll Foundation, The Children's Investment Fund Foundation. In 2018, Robb Report published an interview with Global Philanthropy Group CEO Maggie Neilson about consumer purchases making a philanthropic impact. Global Philanthropy Group partner Trevor Neilson co-hosted a television series called “Giving” with Plum TV, “a multi-platform lifestyle network that targets the most active and educated audience in the world.” The series focused on the creative ways that philanthropists bring awareness and change to important global issues. Official website