Correlates of the Randolph Attachment Disorder Questionnaire (RADQ) in a Sample of Children in Foster Placement

This study examined mental health and attachment problems in children in foster care. This study also obtained data concerning the validity of the Randolph Attachment Disorder Questionnaire (RADQ). Children were selected according to length of time in placement and age and screened for mental health symptoms using the Child Behavior Checklist and the RADQ. The findings showed that children in foster care have reported symptoms within the range typical of children not involved in foster care. The conclusion is that the RADQ has limited usefulness due to its lack of specificity with implications for treatment of children in foster care.     

IRR computation and the multi-asset problem

The IRR model for individual assets has been the target of serious criticism over the years. The purpose of this paper is to provide a partial rationale for interpreting aggregate firm data based on IRR calculations of individual assets. More specifically, it will be argued that the value of accounting information will be enhanced as a result of depreciation and income recognition schedules being determined by an individual asset's IRR model.     

A first look at the need for enhanced support services for kinship caregivers

This article describes findings from a series of focus groups conducted with formal kinship caregivers in Maryland. The findings reveal that kinship caregivers are committed to providing safety and stability for the children placed with them. The findings also suggest that caregiving can be a significant adjustment for many kinship caregivers and that expanded support services are needed to enhance their relationship with the child welfare agency.     

Handheld computers. A feasible alternative to paper forms for field data collection

Recent advances in handheld computer hardware and software may provide alternatives to paper-based data collection methods. The authors compared data collected with paper forms to data collected with handheld computer-based forms in a field observation study of alcohol purchase attempts at 47 community festivals in a large metropolitan area. Agreement between data collected with paper forms and data collected with handheld computers was greater than 95%. Computer-based forms handled branching patterns better and yielded data that were immediately available for analyses. Paper forms handled written comments better. Handheld computers are a feasible alternative to paper forms for field data collection.     

Field work with the computer: Criteria for assessing systems

Computers, both large and small, can be of great assistance to a field worker. This assistance falls mainly in the area of relieving the field worker from tedious mechanical phases such as typing, sorting, and retrieving information. An examination of field work methods identifies issues and problems which must be addressed by any system for undertaking field work. A rationale for a loose and inclusive (as opposed to an exhaustive and mutually exclusive) coding system is presented. Efficiency, confidentiality, data reduction, and flexibility of testing propositions are discussed as criteria for assessing any system which facilitates field work. The paper concludes by contrasting the methods previously used to collect data, reduce its bulk, code, and retrieve information with what is possible with today's computer hardware and software, and with what will be possible in the near future.We wish to thank Peter Conrad, Susan LeBailly, and the anonymous reviewer of this article for their comments and suggestions.     

A joint-modeling approach to assess the impact of biomarker variability on the risk of developing clinical outcome

In some clinical trials and epidemiologic studies, investigators are interested in knowing whether the variability of a biomarker is independently predictive of clinical outcomes. This question is often addressed via a naïve approach where a sample-based estimate (e.g., standard deviation) is calculated as a surrogate for the “true” variability and then used in regression models as a covariate assumed to be free of measurement error. However, it is well known that the measurement error in covariates causes underestimation of the true association. The issue of underestimation can be substantial when the precision is low because of limited number of measures per subject. The joint analysis of survival data and longitudinal data enables one to account for the measurement error in longitudinal data and has received substantial attention in recent years. In this paper we propose a joint model to assess the predictive effect of biomarker variability. The joint model consists of two linked sub-models, a linear mixed model with patient-specific variance for longitudinal data and a full parametric Weibull distribution for survival data, and the association between two models is induced by a latent Gaussian process. Parameters in the joint model are estimated under Bayesian framework and implemented using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods with WinBUGS software. The method is illustrated in the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study to assess whether the variability of intraocular pressure is an independent risk of primary open-angle glaucoma. The performance of the method is also assessed by simulation studies.     

Measuring Aspects of Mobility,Polarization and Convergence in the Absence of Cardinality: Indices Based Upon Transitional Typology

Social Indicators Research - Social Mobility, Equality of Opportunity, Polarization, Convergence and Segmentation can each be construed as describing a particular transitional process between...     

Slavery and redemption in the Catholic missions of the Upper Congo, 1878–1909

The French Catholic Société des missionnaires d’Alger, also known as the White Fathers, sought to abolish slavery in the Upper Congo by creating mission outposts of liberated slaves. The missionaries purchased (‘redeemed’) young African slaves, captives, and dependents, and placed them in mission orphanages. The White Fathers claimed to have liberated these redeemed orphans, even while they ensured, often through force, that they remained alienated from their natal communities and subjugated dependents. In much the same fashion as domestic and Islamic slavery in the immediate environs, the slow integration of these orphans drove the expansion of Catholic mission communities. Through studying Catholic mission slave redemptions at the end of the nineteenth century, this article explores the interactions and development of pre-colonial African, Zanzibar Islamic, and European Christian ideas of slavery and freedom.     

ANOVA models for Brownian motion

We investigate longitudinal models having Brownian-motion covariance structure. We show that any such model can be viewed as arising from a related “timeless” classical linear model where sample sizes correspond to longitudinal observation times. This relationship is of practical impact when there are closed-form ANOVA tables for the related classical model. Such tables can be directly transformed into the analogous tables for the original longitudinal model. We in particular provide complete results for one-way fixed and random effects ANOVA on the drift parameter in Brownian motion, and illustrate its use in estimating heterogeneity in tumor growth rates.