Reviews

Abstract

Valuation of Railways Census Bulletin 21. Commercial Valuation of Railway Operating Property in the United States, 1904. Reviewed by C. W. Doten

Family Desertion. Publications of the Committee on Social Research of the Charity Organization Society of the City of New York. No. I. In two parts 200 pp., appendices and tables. 1905 Reviewed by Roswell F. Phelps     

Reviews and Notes

Abstract

The Standard of Living Among Workingmen's Families in New York City. By Robert Coit Chapin, Ph.D., Professor of Economics in Beloit College. Russell Sage Foundation Publication, 1909. (New York: Charities Publication Committee, 105 East Twenty-Second Street, pp. xv., 372, $2.00, postpaid.) Reviewed by Warren M. Persons

Women and the Trades. By Elizabeth Beardsley Butler. Russell Sage Foundation Publication, 1909. (New York: Charities Publication Committee, 105 East Twenty-Second Street, pp. 440, $2.00, postpaid.) Reviewed by Warren M. Persons

Housing Reform, A Handbook for Practical Use in Modern Cities. By Lawrence Veiller. Copyright, Russell Sage Foundation, New York, 1910. Reviewed by Eleanor H. Woods.

An Analysis of the United States Steel Corporation With Chart of Quarterly Earnings Since Its Organization. By Charles Wilson Taintor. Boston, 1909.     

Reviews and Notes

Abstract

The Book of Wheat. By Peter Tracy Dondlinger, Ph.D. New York, 1908. pp. 369.     

Reviews and Notices

Abstract

Medical Statistics of the Negro: The Surgical Peculiarities of the American Negro. By Rudolph Matas, M.D., Professor of Surgery, Medical Department of Tulane University of Louisiana. Reviewed by Frederick L. Hoffman.

Mulhall's Statistics: Industries and wealth of Nations. By Michael G. Mulhall. Longmans, Green & Co. London, New York, and Bombay. 1896. Pp.451.

New York Bureau of Municipal Statistics.

Boston Department of Statistics.

Memorials.

Washington Meetings.

Municipal Statistical Offices.     

Reviews and Notices

Abstract

Hoffman's Statistical Study of the Negro: Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro, by Frederick L. Hoffman, Publications of the American Economic Association, Vol. XI, Nos. 1, 2, and 3, August, 1896. Reviewed by Miles Menander Dawson.

Infant Mortality in Prussia: Kindersterblichkeit sozialer Bevölkerungsgruppen insbesondere im preussischen Staate und seiner Provinzen, In Beiträge zur, Geschichte der Bevölkerung in Deutschland seit dem Anfange dieses Jahrhunderts. Reviewed by By Dr. Seutemann. Tübingen, 1894. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Inebriety and Suicide: Trunksucht und Selbstmord und deren gegenseitige Beziehungennebst einem statistischen Anhang und 2 Karten. By Dr. F. Prinzing. Leipzig, 1895. Reviewed by A. T. Hosmer.

Notes on Vital Statistics: Statistics of the Colony of New Zealand for the Year 1894, with Abstracts of the Agricultural Statistics of February, 1895, and Statistics of Local Governing Bodies for the Year Ended March 31, 1895. Compiled in the Regietrar-General's Office from Official Records. Wellington, 1895. Pp. xiv, 469. Reviewed by Cressy L. Wilbur.

Notes on Vital Statistics: Cape of Good Hope. Reports on the Public Health for the Year 1894, including the Report of the Acting Medical Officer of Health for the (Colony, together with Reports of District Surgeons, Medical Officers, Medical Inspectors, and Local Authorities. Cape Town, 1895. Pp. cxxxviii, 242.

Notes on Vital Statistics: Mariages, Naissances et Décès en Suisse de 1871 à 1890. Publiépar le Bureau de Statistique du Département Fédéral de l'Intériéur. Berne, 1895.

Notes on Vital Statistics: Annual Report of the Central Sanitary Bureau Attached to the Home Department of the Imperial Japanese Government, for the Twenty-fifth Year of Meiji (1892). Tōkyō, 1895.

Notes on Vital Statistics: Jahresbericht über die Verwaltung des Medicinalwesens die Kranken-Anstalten, und die öffentlichen Gesundheitsverhaltnisse der Stadt Frankfurt a. M. xxxviii. 1894. Frankfurt a. M., 1895.

Notes on Vital Statistics: Anuario Demogréfico de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay. Año 1894. Director, L. C. Bollo. Montevideo, 1895.

Notes on Vital Statistics: Annual Summary of Births, Deaths, and Causes of Death in London and other Large Towns, 1894. London, 1895. Pp, lxxxvi.

Middle-Class Expenditure: Some Statistics of Middle-Class Expenditure. Edward Grubb, M.A. The Economic Review, Vol. VI, No.3. Pp.358–370.

Sociological Statistics of New York City: The Federation of Churches and Christian Workers in New York City. First Sociological Canvass. Supervised and Tabulated by Rev. Walter Laidlaw, Secretary. Pp. 112. Reviewed by Harry D. Hunt.

Notes: Eighth Report on the Custody and Condition of the Public Records of Parishes, Towns, and Counties of Massachusetts. Robert T. Swan, Commissioner. Boston, 1896. Pp. 42.

Notes: Sixty-Sixth Annual Report of the Inspectors of the State Penitentiary for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, 1895. Pp.143.

Notes: Twenty-Third Annual Report of the State Charities Aid Association of New York. December 1, 1895. New York, 1895. Pp. 138.

Notes: Ninth Annual Report of the General Superintendent of Prisons in Massachusetts Concerning Prison Labor. December, 1895. Pp.63.

Notes: Report of the Attorney-General of Massachusett, for tne Year Ending January l5, 1896. Boston, 1896.

Notes: Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Agriculture, Labor, and Industry of Montana for the Year Ended November 30, 1896. Helena, 1896. Pp. 405.     

They might be giants: a review of small presses and little magazines: an interview with Whitney Pastorek,Editor of Pindeldyboz

Abstract

This installment of “They Might Be Giants” highlights a small online/print zine from New York called Pindeldyboz. Described by its editor Whitney Pastorek as a lit mag, Pindeldyboz publishes new fiction every week or so at the Web site but then publishes longer fiction once a year in the annual print zine of the same name. While this may indicate a split personality on the part of the editor/publisher, the goals of both the print and online versions are the same: to publish good fiction.     

Government Publications

Abstract

The Scholarly Communication Interest Group of the New England Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries sponsored a workshop titled “Partnering with Faculty: Scholarly Communication Conversations,” held on July 29, 2010, at the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts. Partnering with EBSCO and the North American Serials Interest Group, Mississippi State University (MSU) Libraries hosted the ninth MidSouth eResource Symposium at MSU's Mitchell Memorial Library in Starkville, Mississippi, on Thursday, September 16, 2010. ITHAKA Sustainable Scholarship was a two-day meeting at the Westin Times Square, New York City, September 27–28, 2010. Finally, published herein is a summary of the NISO Webinar “It's Only as Good as the Metadata: Improving OpenURL and Knowledge Base Quality,” held October 13, 2010.     

Property of bivariate poisson distribution and its application to stochastic processes

Assuming that the random vectors X ₁ and X ₂ have independent bivariate Poisson distributions, the conditional distribution of X ₁ given X ₁?+?X ₂?=?n is obtained. The conditional distribution turns out to be a finite mixture of distributions involving univariate binomial distributions and the mixing proportions are based on a bivariate Poisson (BVP) distribution. The result is used to establish two properties of a bivariate Poisson stochastic process which are the bivariate extensions of the properties for a Poisson process given by Karlin, S. and Taylor, H. M. (1975). A First Course in Stochastic Processes, Academic Press, New York.     

Interval estimation: An information theoretic approach

ABSTRACT

We develop here an alternative information theoretic method of inference of problems in which all of the observed information is in terms of intervals. We focus on the unconditional case in which the observed information is in terms the minimal and maximal values at each period. Given interval data, we infer the joint and marginal distributions of the interval variable and its range. Our inferential procedure is based on entropy maximization subject to multidimensional moment conditions and normalization in which the entropy is defined over discretized intervals. The discretization is based on theory or empirically observed quantities. The number of estimated parameters is independent of the discretization so the level of discretization does not change the fundamental level of complexity of our model. As an example, we apply our method to study the weather pattern for Los Angeles and New York City across the last century.     

Reviews and Notices

Abstract

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: Indiana. Ninth Annual Report of the State Board of Health for the fiscal year ending October 31, 1891; and Annual Report of the Bureau of Vital and Sanitary Statistics. Indianapolis, 1891. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: Kansas. Fifth Annual Report of the State Board of Health, ending December 31, 1889. Topeka, 1890. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: Massachusetts. Twenty-Second Annual Report of the State Board of Health. Boston, 1891. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: Michigan. Seventeenth Annual Report of the Secretary of the State Board of Health for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889. Lansing, 1890. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: New Hampshire. Tenth Annual Report relating to the Registration and Returns of Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths, for the year 1889. Manchester, 1891. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: New Jersey. Thirteenth Annual Report of the Board of Health, and Report of the Bureau of Vital Statistics. Camden, 1889. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: New York. Eleventh Annual Report of the State Board of Health. Volumes I, II. Albany, 1891. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: North Carolina. Third Biennial Report of the Board of Health for the years 1889 and 1890. Raleigh, 1891. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: Ontario. Report relating to the Registration of Births, Marriages, and Deaths for the year ending December 31, 1889. Toronto, 1890. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: Ontario. Ninth Annual Report of the Provincial Board of Health for the year 1890. Toronto. 1891. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: Wisconsin. Thirteenth Report of the State Board of Health, 1889–90. Madison, 1891. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Reports of Health and Vital Statistics: New York City. Annual Report of the Board of Health of the Health Department for the year ending December 31, 1890. New York, 1891. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Statistics of Pauperism in Hartford: Report of the Special Committee on Out-door Alms of the Town of Hartford, 1891. Hartford. The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company. 1891. Pp. lxxi, 93. Reviewed by A. G. Warner.

Comparison of Movement of Population in Prussia and France: The following is based upon material published in the Zeitschrift des Königes Preussischen Statistischen Bureaus. 1891. Nos. 1–2. Reviewed by F. C. Norton.

Suicides in Prussia and Italy: The following paragraphs are taken from the Zeitschrift des Kön. Preus. Stat. Bureaus, 1891, Nos. 1–2. Reviewed by F. C. Holmes.

Anthropometric Statistics: Thirtieth Annual Report of the Professor of Hygiene and Physical Education of Amherst College. 1891. Pp. 20. Map. Reviewed by R. Waterman, Jr.

The Census of Berlin: Einstweilige Ergebrisse der Volkszählung vom 1. December, 1890, in der Stadt Berlin. Veröffentlicht vom Statistischen Amt der Stadt. 1891. Pp. 64.

Statistics of Vaccination: Neue Beiträge zur Frage des Impfschutzes. Zweite Beobachtungsserie, 1887–88. Von Josef Körösi, Director des Budapester Communal-statistischen Bureaus. Berlin, 1891.

Statistical Articles in Magazines and Journals: Journal de la Société de Statistique de Paris. April, 1891. ÉAtude sur les placements faits a l'étranger par les differents peuples. By M. Georges Martin. Reviewed by William Z. Ripley.

Journal des Economistes. Sept., 1891. The Progress of Paper Money. By E. Fournier de Flaix. Reviewed by William Z. Ripley.

Revue d'Économie Politique. May, June, 1891.Une statistique des mariages. By Prof. Harald Westergaard. Reviewed by William Z. Ripley.

Revue d'Hygiène. November 20, 1891. De la Morbidité et la Mortalité par Professions. By Dr. Jacques Bertillon. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

The Archiv für Eisenbahnwesen. August, 1891. Prozentbarechnung über den Personenverkehr. Reviewed by Victor Rosewater.

Conrad's Jahrbuch. July, 1891. Die Ergebnisse der Konkursstatistik. By Dr. A. Wirminghaus.

Frauenarbeit. By Prof. Stieda.

Archiv für soziale Gesetzgebnng und Statistik. IV, No. 2, 1891. Neuere Untersuchungen uber die Lage der arbeitenden Klassen in Holland. By Dr. Otto Pringsheim.

Zeitschrift des K. Sachsischen Statistischen Bureaus. 1890. Nos. 3–4. Dresden, August, 1891.

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. London. June, 1891.

Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland. Sept., 1891. The Congested Districts. By Richard J. Kelly.

The Economic Review. October, 1891. London.

Transactions of the Manchester Statistical Society. 1890–91.

The Fortnightly Review. December. The Canadian Census. By J. G. Colmer.

The Charity Organization Review. London. December, 1891. Character and development of the German Labor Colonies, from the opening of the first colony in 1882 to 1889. By Dr. Berthold.     

Miscellany and Notices

Abstract

Trade of United States: The History of Trade between the United Kingdom and the United States. By Sydney J. Chapman. London. Swan, Sonnenschein & Co. 1899. Reviewed by Worthington C. Ford.

Natality: Sur les variations du taux de natalité et sur l'âge moyen des époux, suivant les conditions économiques. By Enrico Raseri. Bulletin de l'Institut International de Statistique. Vol. xi; 149. Reviewed by C.-E. A. Winslow.

Natality: La natalité selon le degré d'aisance. By Jacques Bertillon. Bulletin de 1'Institut International de Statistique. Vol. xi; 163. Reviewed by C.-E. A. Winslow.

Study of Charity Statistics: The Labor Bulletin of Massachusetts (October, 1899. No. 12) contains a very valuable “Study of Charity Statistics” (pp. 119-155).

Notes on Vital Statistics: Les naissances et les décès suivant les heures de la journée. By Enrico Raseri. Bulletin de l'Institut International de Statistique. Vol. xi; 144. Reviewed by C.-E. A. Winslow.

State Publications: State Publications: a Provisional List of the Official Publications of the Several States of the United States from their Organization. Compiled under the editorial direction of R. R. Bowker, Part I: New England States. New York. Office of the Publishers' Weekly. 1899. Pp. 99.

Notes: Report of the Director of the Twelfth Census to the Secretary of the Interior. 1899. Washington. Pp, 5.

Notes: Report to the Legislature of New York by the Joint Committee on Taxation. January 15, 1900. Pp. 19. Tables 6.     

Web of Deception: Misinformation on the Internet

Abstract

“Serials Spoken Here” has reports on a symposium on “The Transition to Open Access Scholarship” held at the University at Albany, New York, and the 2004 North Carolina Serials Conference, both held in April 2004.     

ON PREDICTION OF TOTAL VALUE IN INCOMPLETELY SPECIFIED DOMAINS

This paper presents the problem of prediction of a domain total value based on the general linear model. In many methods presented in the survey sampling literature (e.g. Cassel, Särndal & Wretman, 1977 [Foundations of inference in survey sampling, New York: John Wiley & Sons]; Valliant, Dorfman & Royall, 2000 [Finite population sampling and inference. A prediction approach. New York: John Wiley & Sons]; Rao, 2003 [Small area estimation. New York; John Wiley & Sons]) a common assumption is that for each element of a population the domain to which it belongs is known. This assumption is especially important in the situation when a superpopulation model with auxiliary variables is considered. In this paper a method is proposed for prediction of the domain total when it is not known whether a unit belongs to a given domain or not, or when the information is available only for sampled elements of the population.     

Book Reviews

A First Course in Probability Models and Statistical Inference. J.H.C. Creighton. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1994. xxxi + 717 pp. $49.95. Reviewed by Bruce Kino

Statistical Methods: An Introductory Text. J. Mehdi. New Delhi: Wiley Eastern Limited, 1992, xii + 438 pp. $37.97. Reviewed by William D. Warde

Regression Analysis—Concepts and Applications. Franklin A. Graybill and Hariharan K. Iyer. Florence, KY: Wadsworth Inc., 1994, 701 pp. $59.95. Reviewed by Larry Winner     

Trend and Return Level of Extreme Snow Events in New York City

Abstract

A major winter storm brought up to 42 inches of snow in parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states for January 22–24, 2016. The blizzard of January 2016 impacted about 102.8 million people, claiming at least 55 lives and $500 million to $3 billion in economic losses. This article studies two important aspects of extreme snowfall events: 1. trends in annual maxima and threshold exceedances and 2. return levels for extreme snowfall. Applying extreme value methods to the extreme snow data in the New York City area, we quantify linear trends in extreme snowfall and assess how severe the 2016 blizzard is in terms of return levels. To find a more realistic standard error for the extreme value methods, we extend Smith’s method to adapt to both spatial and temporal correlations in the snow data. Our results show increasing, but insignificant trends in the annual maximum snowfall series. However, we find that the 87.5th percentile snowfall has significantly increased by 0.564 inches per decade, suggesting that, while the maximum snowfall is not significantly increasing, there have been increases in the snowfall among the larger storms. We also find that the 2016 blizzard is indeed an extreme snow event equivalent to about a 40-year return level in the New York City area. The extreme value methods used in this study are thoroughly illustrated for general readers. Data and modularized programming codes are to be available online to aid practitioners in using extreme value methods in applications.     

Effectively Evaluating the Accessibility of Electronic Monographs Using VPATs and Other Resources at the College of Staten Island Library- CUNY

Abstract

This study, building upon previous research work at the College of Staten Island (CSI) library, attempts to evaluate the accessibility of select digital monograph platforms and file formats utilized at the City University of New York (CUNY). The usability of CSI library’s locally developed ER-ACT tool to assist librarians with limited technical knowledge to review VPATs and to perform simple testing was also evaluated with challenges and successes reported. It was determined that the use of color-coded results in this study can help identify serious accessibility issues within ebooks and to communicate the results within libraries to assist with collection development decision-making. The study also includes a review of new court rulings related to accessibility issues in higher education and discusses where accessibility staffing reports in terms of job roles and duties held by university professionals. The testing of the accessibility of library ebooks, with various accessibility tools, are reviewed within the context of Section 508 revisions and new VPAT standards.     

The spatial structure of epidemic emergence: geographical aspects of poliomyelitis in north-eastern USA, July-October 1916

Summary.  The great epidemic of poliomyelitis which swept New York City and surrounding territory in the summer of 1916 eclipsed all previous global experience of the disease. We draw on epidemiological information that is included in the seminal US Public Health Bulletin 91, 'Epidemiologic studies of poliomyelitis in New York City and the northeastern United States during the year 1916' (Washington DC, 1918), to re-examine the spatial structure of the epidemic. For the main phase of transmission of the epidemic, July–October 1916, it is shown that the maximum concentration of activity of poliomyelitis occurred within a 128-km radius of New York City. Although the integrity of the poliomyelitis cluster was maintained up to approximately 500 km from the metropolitan focus, the level and rate of propagation of disease declined with distance from the origin of the epidemic. Finally, it is shown that the geographical transmission of the epidemic in north-eastern USA probably followed a process of mixed contagious–hierarchical diffusion.     

Reviews and Notices

Abstract

A Statistical Study of Illegitimacy: Illegitimacy, and the Influence of Seasons upon Conduct. Two studies in Demography. By Albert Leffingwell, M.D. With maps and diagrams. London and New York, 1892. Pp. viii, 160. Reviewed by Charles F. A. Currier.

Mortgage Indebtedness in Europe. Reviewed by George K. Holmes.

Statistics of Divorce in France.

Anthropometry: The results of Anthropometry as derived from the measurements of the Students of Amherst College. Amherst, 1892. Pp. 7, Tables.

A University Course in Statistics.

Convention of Commissioners of Bureaus of Labor Statistics.

Statistics of Prisoners, 1890: Statistics of Prisoners, 1890. Collected by the Wardens' Association of the United States and Canada; with an introduction by Roland P. Falkner, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Statistics, University of Penn. Published by the Association, 1892. 800. Pp. 56. Reviewed by A. G. Warner.     

Reviews and Notices

Abstract

The Population of Paris: Population de Paris; Remarques demographiques sur l'habitat urbain. By G. Lagneau.

Female Life Mortuary Experience: Female Life Mortuary Experience of the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company. Compiled by Walter C. Wright, Actuary. Reviewed by Miles Menander Dawson.

A Model Registration Report: Beiträge zur Statistik der Stadt Frankfurt am Main. Zweites Heft. Die Bewegung der Bevölkerung im Jahre 1891, inbesondere Studien über die Wanderungen. Frankfurt am Main, 1893. Reviewed by Gary N. Calkins.

Illegitimacy; Two Studies in Demography. Illegitimacy, and the Influence of Seasons upon Conduct; Two Studies in Demography. By Albert Leffingwell, M.D. With maps and diagrams. 2nd edition. London. Swan, Sonnenschein & Co.

City of Boston Bills of Mortality, 1810–49. Bills of Mortality, 1810–49. City of Boston. With an Essay on the Vital Statistics of Boston from 1810 to 1841. By Lemuel Shattuck. Boston. Reprinted for the Registry Department. 1893.

Geographic Statistic Tables of the World. Otto Hübner's Geographisch-statistische Tabellen aller Länder der Erde. 42. Ausgabe für das Jahr 1893. Herausgegeben von Univ. Prof. Dr. Fr. v. Juraschek. Heinrich Keller. Frankfurt a. M.