Bernstein's languages of description: Some generative principles

There are numerous ways of displaying Likert‐type scales but only a few investigators have investigated these differences systematically. In this study we report the results that we found when we compared four different layouts: scales that went numerically from ‘0’ to ‘10’, or from ‘10’ to ‘0’, and scales that went verbally from ‘clear’ to ‘unclear’, or ‘unclear’ to ‘clear’. Over 450 participants rated each of seven aspects of a structured abstract in a web‐based study, with each one using only one of the four scale formats listed above. The resulting data showed that the scale ‘Clear – 10 … 0 – Unclear’ consistently led to significantly higher ratings in all seven cases. Such findings have implications for the design of Likert‐type scales and for the data that are gathered from them.     

On choosing between fixed and random block effects in some no-interaction models

The purpose of this article is to strengthen the understanding of the relationship between a fixed-blocks and random-blocks analysis in models that do not include interactions between treatments and blocks. Treating the block effects as random has been recommended in the literature for balanced incomplete block designs (BIBD) because it results in smaller variances of treatment contrasts. This reduction in variance is large if the block-to-block variation relative to the total variation is small. However, this analysis is also more complicated because it results in a subjective interpretation of results if the block variance component is non-positive. The probability of a non-positive variance component is large precisely in those situations where a random-blocks analysis is useful – that is, when the block-to-block variation, relative to the total variation, is small. In contrast, the analysis in which the block effects are fixed is computationally simpler and less subjective. The loss in power for some BIBD with a fixed effects analysis is trivial. In such cases, we recommend treating the block effects as fixed. For response surface experiments designed in blocks, however, an opposite recommendation is made. When block effects are fixed, the variance of the estimated response surface is not uniquely estimated, and in practice this variance is obtained by ignoring the block effect. It is argued that a more reasonable approach is to treat the block effects to be random than to ignore it.     

从一条款行文透析法律文件名称引用问题

为了具有权威性、严肃性和说服力，我国现行规范性法律文件大多是以其立法依据开篇的，然而在引用其他法律文件名称时却存在着这样那样的问题。文章以2004年的《律师执业行为规范（试行）》第2条的行文问题为切入点，从立法学、语言学等角度，通过对大量立法实例的行文进行分析，探讨了引用法律文件名称时被忽略且普遍存在的辅助性信息处置不当、简称使用不规范、标点符号误用、发文字号引用不规范等诸多问题。     

A quick response production strategy to market demand

The reason for considering the quick response production strategy to market demand is due to the rapid technology change, which results in decreasing market price and obsolescence. This study considers a production strategy of locating final production line in response to the changes in market demand and the continuous deterioration in stock. The demand rate is assumed to decrease exponentially with time while the price is assumed to decrease linearly with time. The purpose of this study is to derive the most economical site of final-production line that assembles products with short life cycle. The model considered in this research takes into account the sales revenue, the deteriorating cost, the carrying cost, the variable cost and the fixed cost of production. Although there is a higher labour and material cost when the production site is located near market point, the total profit increases due to quicker responsive time, smaller import tax, lower inventory and lesser deteriorating cost.     

Accurate Response with Refurbished Consumer Returns

Centering around anticipative and reactive capabilities of firms, accurate response is an important supply‐side strategy to deal with demand uncertainty. Clearly, the structure of the possible reaction will crucially influence the optimal anticipative decision making. In this article, we extend the existing literature in this area by including a new reactive capability, namely the utilization of refurbished consumer returns from early sales to react to demand later in the selling season. Because consumer returns depend on previous sales, there is also a direct link to the anticipative supply decision. We capture this effect in a newsvendor‐type model and provide both analytical and numerical insights into the optimal anticipative and reactive decisions as well as the value of refurbishing in terms of the retailer's expected profitability.     

美国科学证据可采性规则的分析与借鉴

为深入理解关国科学证据可采性规则的内涵和要求,结合经典判例与成文法规定,对美国科学证据可采性规则的历史发展过程进行了梳理与分析。分析认为：可采性标准从Frye标准之机械的“普遍接受”原则,历经《联邦证据规则》第702条和Daubert规则,逐渐发展成为法官依据法律原则对可采性进行自由裁量;法官以科学的经验性为哲学基础进行自由裁量,是判别科学证据可靠性与科学性的发展趋势;借鉴美国的历史经验,中国的鉴定意见可采性制度可以从可采性判断的程序设置、深入实质进行审查判断、加强司法领域与各领域联系3个方面加以完善。     

An Ethical Interpretation of the Nash Choice Rule

This paper provides an ethical intepretation of the Nash choice rule. In a setting in which (cardinal) utilities are interpersonally comparable, this procedure is characterised by an impartiality requirement and by the assumption that choices are not responsive to the agents' relative ability to convert resources into utility.     

The relative impact of interviewer effects and sample design effects on survey precision

One of the principal sources of error in data collected from structured face-to-face interviews is the interviewer. The other major component of imprecision in survey estimates is sampling variance. It is rare, however, to find studies in which the complex sampling variance and the complex interviewer variance are both computed. This paper compares the relative impact of interviewer effects and sample design effects on survey precision by making use of an interpenetrated primary sampling unit–interviewer experiment which was designed by the authors for implementation in the second wave of the British Household Panel Study as part of its scientific programme. It also illustrates the use of a multilevel (hierarchical) approach in which the interviewer and sample design effects are estimated simultaneously while being incorporated in a substantive model of interest.     

Understanding the resilience of mail-back survey methods: An analysis of 20 years of change in response rates to national park surveys

Coverage and response rate challenges facing telephone and internet surveys have encouraged scientists to reconsider mail data collection methods. Although response rates to telephone surveys have declined sharply in the last 20 years, it is unclear how response rates to mail have fared during this time. This study analyzes 179 mail-back surveys of visitors to US National Parks from 1988 to 2007, which used virtually the same administration procedures throughout the period. Results show that response rates, based on only those who initially agreed to return a questionnaire, have remained at a high level with a 76% average while the number of questions and pages steadily increased. Despite this rise in response burden, rates have declined only moderately from about 80% in the late 1980s to about 70% more recently. The roles of additional contacts and survey salience in maintaining high response rates are examined. Results suggest that mail-back surveys for obtaining information from quasi-general public populations remain an effective data collection procedure.     

价格促销对品牌资产的影响:竞争反应的高地作用

在价格促销对品牌资产的影响方面,学者们并没有形成共识,原因之一是学者们忽视了竞争者的反应行为,本文旨在探讨竞争反应对这种影响关系的调节作用。本文通过2(品牌资产梯队)×8(竞争反应)的实验设计研究表明,对不同品牌资产梯队的品牌,价格促销对品牌资产的影响存在差异;竞争反应对这种影响关系具有调节作用;竞争对手的影响主要来自同梯队品牌,相反梯队品牌的影响不显著。本文对深入了解价格促销对品牌资产的影响具有重要意义。