Lessons from the interpretation/misinterpretation of John Ogbu’s scholarship

In November 2003, the Council on Anthropology and Education honored John Ogbu with the George and Louise Spindler Award, for exemplary and long‐term contributions to educational anthropology. But in March 2003, a noted economist condemned Ogbu’s work as serving an ‘oppressive function’. In this paper, such contradictory instances are cited as the author recounts his encounters with Ogbu’s scholarship. Disparate assessments of Ogbu’s ideas and legacy raise important questions. What responsibility do educational anthropologists have for how their research is understood? Which aspects of Ogbu’s legacy should we hold onto as his work is interpreted in politicized and polarized ways?     

Application of multivariate longitudinal models in SIRT6, FBS,and BMI analysis of the elderly

Abstract

Objective: SIRT6 is a main regulator of metabolism and lifespan and its importance has been implicated in the prevention against aging-related diseases. The objective of this study was to examine the application of multivariate longitudinal models in SIRT6, FBS, and BMI analysis in the elderly men after eight weeks concurrent training with supplementation of l-arginine (l-Arg).

Methods: Thirty two elderly men with mean age of 63.09?±?3.71 years were randomly divided into four equal-sized groups (each n?=?8); Exercise?+?supplement (ES) group; exercise?+?placebo (EP) group; supplement (S) group and control (C) group. The ES and EP groups performed the eight weeks of concurrent training, three sessions per week. Group ES and group S consumed 1000?mg of l-Arg per day at 8:00?pm. Measurements of biochemical variables were done by ELISA Reader method. For analytical purposes, we used the paired sample t-test and multivariate longitudinal modeling with generalized estimating equation (GEE) methodology. All analyses have been implemented in R-3.4.1. p Values less than .05 were considered statistically significant.

Results: With respect to significant association between sirt6, FBS, and BMI, this study showed that synergy effect of training and supplementation was greater than the sum of their individual effects on SIRT6 (β?=?0.79, p?<?.001), FBS (β?=??5.56, p?=?.022), and BMI (β?=??3.89; p?=?.041). Also exercise alone had a significantly larger effect than supplementation alone on responses.

Conclusions: It can be concluded that the joint usage of concurrent training and supplement of l-Arg for elderly men could improve the metabolism and body composition.     

On the sustainability of bargaining solutions in family decision models

This paper analyses the sustainability of family bargaining agreements by developing a non-cooperative game between two spouses with symmetric preferences. To that end, we develop, by using a general utility function, a repeated non-cooperative game involving two players with symmetric preferences, where the characterization of a Nash sub-game perfect equilibrium allows us to demonstrate that the spouse with the greater bargaining power has a greater incentive to reach an agreement. This result is also reproduced by using a particular example of linear preferences in consumption. However, the influence of the bargaining power on the sustainability of a bargaining solution depends on the specification of the individual preferences, as well as the degree of altruism between the spouses.

A multivariate extension of the Lorenz curve based on copulas and a related multivariate Gini coefficient

The Journal of Economic Inequality - We propose an extension of the univariate Lorenz curve and of the Gini coefficient to the multivariate case, i.e., to simultaneously measure inequality in more...     

Constructing indices of multivariate polarization

Multivariate indices of polarization are constructed to measure effects of non-income attributes like wealth and education. Polarization is considered as the presence of groups which are internally homogeneous, externally heterogeneous, and of similar size. We propose a class of polarization indices which is built from measures of relative groups size and from decomposable indices of socio-economic inequality. For the latter, we employ the special inequality indices of Maasoumi (Econometrica 54:991–997, 1986), Tsui (J Econ Theory 67:251–265, 1995; Soc Choice Welf 16:145–157, 1999) and Koshevoy and Mosler (J Multivar Anal 60:252–276, 1997). Then, postulates for multidimensional polarization measurement are stated and discussed. The approach is illustrated by an empirical application to the population of the East and West Germany with polarization defined on income and education.     

On suicide bombings: questioning rationalist models and logics of gender

The theories of rational choice have been widely used in analysing suicide bombings. Such a use is here critically examined along three lines. First, the limits of this theoretical framework when applied to sacrificial violence are assessed and especially the internal contradictions which appear with the notion of ‘symbolic posthumous rewards’. Second, differences emerge in the use of rational choice theory when the focus is upon female suicide bombers. Indeed, deprivation theories come then to the fore, the idea of personal crisis and the impact of patriarchal social relationships. This switch in the analysis, which does not seem based on differences in the data, confirms gender studies which underline the specific difficulty to envisage female political violence. Finally, to go beyond both reductionisms, a compared analysis of suicide attacks in Chechnya, Iraq and Israel/Palestine is proposed. It aims at restituting the context of action and the narratives at work, making a clear distinction between two levels of analysis, the one of the organizations, which can largely be understood in terms of their strategic rationale, and that of the suicide bombers themselves, for whom it seems more heuristic to use the concepts of narratives and horizons of expectation.     

Decomposition of gini and multivariate gini indices

A new type of decomposition by population subgroup is proposed for the Gini inequality index. The decomposition satisfies the completely identical distribution (CID) condition, whereby the between-group inequality is null if and only if the distribution within each subgroup is identical to all the others. Thus, this decomposition contrasts strikingly with the subgroup decomposition of the generalized entropy measures, which satisfy the condition that the between-group inequality is null if the mean within each subgroup equals those of all the others. The new decomposition can be generalized to the distance-Gini index and the volume-Gini index, two multivariate Gini indices introduced by Koshevoy and Mosler, with some modification of the index definition and a somewhat loosened CID condition in the latter case. The source decomposition is also generalized to these multi-dimensional indices. Interaction terms appear among sources of different attributes in the decomposition for the modified volume–Gini index.

Cognitive representation of the comprehension test of safety warnings using multivariate methods

This paper presents a multivariate method to assess the comprehension of safety signs. The proposed method uses the MDS and Procrustes, to obtain a consensus perceptual map. The results show that the map allowed discriminating signs with high levels of comprehension from others. The safety signs have no statistical difference as depicted by Bootstrap Analysis.     

On the same page: The value of paid and volunteer leaders sharing mental models in churches

We examine the idea that mental models shared among paid and volunteer leaders are associated with improved financial performance in nonprofit organizations. Our empirical analysis of thirty‐seven churches yields evidence that organizations are more effective if paid and volunteer leaders have a shared task mental model—that is, if they report similar conceptualizations of organizational goals and decision‐making processes. These findings suggest that the extent of leaders' agreement on organizational goals and the processes of how decisions are made matter for organizational performance. We argue that it is as important to ensure that everyone is on the same page with regard to goals and how decisions are made as it is to have the “right” goals or right decision processes in place. Implications for practice and future research on shared mental models are discussed.     

Ranking inequality: Applications of multivariate subset selection

Inequality measures are often presented in the form of a rank ordering to highlight their relative magnitudes. However, a rank ordering may produce misleading inference, because the inequality measures themselves are statistical estimators with different standard errors, and because a rank ordering necessarily implies multiple comparisons across all measures. Within this setting, if differences between several inequality measures are simultaneously and statistically insignificant, the interpretation of the ranking is changed. This study uses a multivariate subset selection procedure to make simultaneous distinctions across inequality measures at a pre-specified confidence level. Three applications of this procedure are explored using country-level data from the Luxembourg Income Study. The findings show that simultaneous precision plays an important role in relative inequality comparisons and should not be ignored. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Ridge regression: A multivariate analysis of criminal activity

The objective of the paper is to apply the statistical procedure of ridge regression to a multivariate model of criminal activity. The explanatory variables are of an economic, apprehension, and seasonal nature. The Time Shared Reactive On Line Laboratory (TROLL) computer package was used in estimating all regression coefficients and other pertinent statistics. The economic variables, which included per capita personal income, hours worked, and plant closing dummy variable, were found to be statistically related to criminal activity. In addition, police expenditures as well as the three seasonal dummy variables were statistically associated with the dependent variable. A comparison is made between the results obtained from the ordinary least squares procedure and the ridge regression approach.     

Predictors of female nocturnal orgasms: A multivariate analysis

Variables predicting the reported occurrence and frequency of nocturnal orgasms among women are reported. Undergraduate and graduate women (N = 245) from a large midwestern university volunteered to complete nine self‐report scales and inventories. Thirty‐seven percent of the sample reported they had experienced nocturnal orgasm, and 30% reported having had the experience in the past year. The predictors accounted for a statistically significant amount of variation in each of the dependent variables: 33% of “ever experienced nocturnal orgasm,” 44% of “experienced nocturnal orgasm in the past year,” and 27% in the case of “frequency of nocturnal orgasm in the past year.” Positive attitudes toward and knowledge of nocturnal orgasms, sexual liberalism, and waking sexually excited from sleep (without experiencing orgasm) were the most important predictors of nocturnal orgasm experience. The reported incidence of nocturnal orgasms in this sample is higher than in comparative samples of previous studies.     

A comparative study of social network models: Network evolution models and nodal attribute models

This paper reviews, classifies and compares recent models for social networks that have mainly been published within the physics-oriented complex networks literature. The models fall into two categories: those in which the addition of new links is dependent on the (typically local) network structure (network evolution models, NEMs), and those in which links are generated based only on nodal attributes (nodal attribute models, NAMs). An exponential random graph model (ERGM) with structural dependencies is included for comparison. We fit models from each of these categories to two empirical acquaintance networks with respect to basic network properties. We compare higher order structures in the resulting networks with those in the data, with the aim of determining which models produce the most realistic network structure with respect to degree distributions, assortativity, clustering spectra, geodesic path distributions, and community structure (subgroups with dense internal connections). We find that the nodal attribute models successfully produce assortative networks and very clear community structure. However, they generate unrealistic clustering spectra and peaked degree distributions that do not match empirical data on large social networks. On the other hand, many of the network evolution models produce degree distributions and clustering spectra that agree more closely with data. They also generate assortative networks and community structure, although often not to the same extent as in the data. The ERGM model, which turned out to be near-degenerate in the parameter region best fitting our data, produces the weakest community structure.     

An assessment of occupational and organizational commitment: A multivariate analysis

Data from 120 park and forest rangers were used to empirically assess the relative impact of sociodemographic, attitudinal, and organizational factors on both occupational and organizational commitment. Through the use of multiple regression analysis, sociodemographic and attitudinal factors were shown generally to bear a positive relationship to both types of commitment. Upon further analysis of partials based on type of occupation, some specification of the original relationships was noted, thereby indicating a note of caution in generalizing findings concerning occupational and organizational commitment from one group of occupational practitioners to another.     

Political theater and student organizations in the 1989 Chinese movement: A multivariate analysis of Tiananmen

Social movement research has often been divided between organizational and cultural analyses of collective action. Organizationally oriented theorists have viewed indigenous organizational structure as the critical variable in the emergence of collective action. Political culture and cultural frame theorists have focused instead on the cultural frames that resonate with audiences, mobilizing them to action. But social movements cannot be the result of one or the other of these factors. An analysis of the 1989 Chinese movement illuminates the multivariate aspects of this social movement. This movement was a two-tiered movement with an organized student leadership tier and a mass audience. Enmeshed in university organizations and student networks, the student leaders relied on an organizational structure that had been emerging since the mid-1980s. This organized leadership tier employed cultural symbols and acts to mobilize mass audiences that were beyond the scope of the students' organizational linkages. The political theater of the organized student leaders was complemented by institutional changes that had been occurring over the decade of reform in China and a political opportunity that allowed wide coverage of the students' activities.