Estimation of finite population variance in successive sampling using multi-auxiliary variables

ABSTRACT

In this paper, a general class of estimators for estimating the finite population variance in successive sampling on two occasions using multi-auxiliary variables has been proposed. The expression of variance has also been derived. Further, it has been shown that the proposed general class of estimators is more efficient than the usual variance estimator and the class of variance estimators proposed by Singh et al. (2011) when we used more than one auxiliary variable. In addition, we support this with the aid of numerical illustration.     

Bayesian Estimation Using Warner's Randomized Response Model through Simple and Mixture Prior Distributions

The linear discriminant function (LDF) is known to be optimal in the sense of achieving an optimal error rate when sampling from multivariate normal populations with equal covariance matrices. Use of the LDF in nonnormal situations is known to lead to some strange results. This paper will focus on an evaluation of misclassification probabilities when the power transformation could have been used to achieve at least approximate normality and equal covariance matrices in the sampled populations for the distribution of the observed random variables. Attention is restricted to the two-population case with bivariate distributions.     

On some new randomized item sum techniques

A recent quantified version of item count technique (ICT), called the item sum technique (IST), was developed by Trappmann et al. (2014 Trappmann, M., I. Krumpal, A. Kirchner, and B. Jann. 2014. Item sum—A new technique for asking quantitative sensitive questions. Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology 2 (1):58–77. doi:10.1093/jssam/smt019.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). In this method, two subsamples are required to obtain reliable data on the sensitive issues. In this article, we propose three alternative item sum techniques by utilizing an additional randomization device. The main advantage associated with the current study is that in order to estimate population sensitive parameters, it requires only one sample to obtain reliable data on quantitative sensitive issue without jeopardizing the privacy of participants. Furthermore, it reduces the cost, effort, and time as compared to usual IST. It is also free from the requirement of finding optimum subsample sizes as in the usual IST. The mean and variance of these proposed estimators are also derived and compared with those of the usual IST. Through algebraic and nnumerical comparsions, it is observed that the proposed techniques perform better than the usual IST. Moreover, the proposed randomized IST 3 is observed to be unconditionally more effeicient than the proposed IST 1 and IST 2.     

Overcoming the Fear of the “Other”: Building Trust Between British Muslims and the Wider Community

Initiatives that seek to build community trust are timely given the increasing focus on terror-related attacks and the rise in associated hate crimes as well as scrutiny of the way Muslim leadership is responding to such incidents. This paper details a novel and proactive model that aims to improve and build trust between Muslims and the wider community. The Trust Building Project was found to accomplish its two objectives. Not only was there an improvement in participant knowledge of Islam scores but there was also evidence suggesting trust had improved through engagement, understanding and through getting to know one another. Listening and learning sought to dispel myths and highlight shared morals and values. We propose that through these interactions the basis to building a more trusting society can be formed. It is unclear to what extent this could reduce incidents of hate crime and discrimination, however social change has been shown to occur where there are grass roots initiatives and suggestions are made to examine how this work can be rolled out nationally in order to address the trust deficit seen within our society today.     

Fertility and Financial Development in South Asia

The paper empirically examines old-age security hypothesis to explain fertility rates in South Asia. Panel data is used for the period 1972–2013 for seven South Asian countries which include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The estimated results reveal that in South Asia fertility rate decreases with the increase in financial development. Thus, the findings support old-age security hypothesis that parents use children as financial instruments to secure their old age. This paper validates the theory that the availability of alternative financial tools reduces the incentives of households to have large offspring. Infant mortality is also shown an important factor for high fertility rate in South Asia. This implies that households cover their risk from losing children by producing more children. The results also reveal that fertility rate decreases with the increase in per capita income, which implies that households treat children as inferior good in this region. In other words, households prefer quality of children over quantity of children when their income level increases. The results have also shown that fertility decreases with the increase in education, urbanization, agriculture productivity and industrialization. The study has some important policy implications.     

Moderator Assistant: A Natural Language Generation-Based Intervention to Support Mental Health via Social Media

As online mental health support groups become increasingly popular, they require more support from volunteers and trained moderators who help their users through “interventions” (i.e., responding to questions and providing support). We present a system that supports such human interventions using Natural Language Generation (NLG) techniques. The system generates draft responses aimed at reducing moderators’ workload, and improving their efficacy. NLG and human interventions were compared through the ratings of 35 psychology interns. The NLG-based system was capable of generating messages that are grammatically correct with clear language. The system needs improvement, however, moderators can already use it as draft responses.     

物联网发展驱动因素分析与前景初探

为促进我国物联网产业健康快速发展,结合物联网产业发展现状,从国家政策、 行业标准、 技术发展、 运营商转型、 社会需求五个方面对物联网产业发展的驱动因素进行探究.分析物联网产业市场前景,梳理低功耗广域物联网(LPWAN)关键技术,预测其发展潜力与趋势,得出窄带物联网最具发展潜力,表记行业、 智能环保、 智能泊车及智能穿戴是其主要应用场景.研究成果对我国物联网产业发展具有一定的理论价值和实践意义.     

Poverty assessment as a multidimensional socio-economic concept: the case of the Rawalpindi region in Pakistan

The definition on poverty has progressed into a multidimensional concept focusing more on socio-economic dimensions than being a mere measure of financial deprivation. Corresponding to this advancement, this study investigated the incidence of multidimensional poverty (MDP) in the Rawalpindi region of Pakistan, taking into account three dimensions, i.e. education, health and housing. Findings revealed an inconsistent declining trend of MDP over time. This inconsistency was mainly attributed to observed fluctuations in deprivation levels of education, health and housing in the region. Over time, education deprivation showed a significant net increase. Notably, the magnitude of MDP in rural areas was higher than in urban areas.     

South Asian disabled women: negotiating identities

This paper is concerned with the identities of disabled South Asian women within Britain. It presents empirical evidence concerning how disability, gender and ethnicity are negotiated simultaneously for young disabled Muslim and Sikh women. How these identities are negotiated is analysed in the realms of family, religion and marriage drawing on qualitative interviews with the young women, their parents and siblings. The paper argues against ideas of singular identity or the hierarchisation of identities or oppressions. The paper contributes to contemporary debates about how young South Asian women are constructing new forms of identity in Britain.