On nonparametric variogram estimation

A critical step for geostatistical prediction is estimation of variogram from the data. One of the popular methods estimating variogram is a smoothed version of classical nonparametric variogram estimator. In this paper we investigate its theoretical and empirical properties to provide useful information for using it. The main results are based on asymptotic theories (i.e., risk and central limit theorem) under nearly infill domain sampling. Simulation is also employed to make our points.     

Inside the blogosphere: A taxonomy and framing analysis of abortion weblogs

This study analyses weblog abortion-related content sampled via a search and snowball method. When weblogs located inside of established media Web sites and other weblogs are compared, they are equivalent in the use of advocacy versus objectivist frames. Media weblog posts contain a political frame more frequently than non-media weblog posts do. In terms of diversity of frame, media weblogs employ more frames in their stories. Various explanations for these findings are offered in the context of current abortion-related content patterns.     

Decomposition of Changes in Korean Wage Inequality, 1998–2007

South Korea experienced a steep increase in wage inequality between the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the global financial crisis in 2008. This paper investigates the causes of the sharp change during that time period by looking at the contributions of changes in the distributions of schooling and unionization. The effects are estimated applying two robust distributional function based decomposition methods on Korean Labor and Panel Survey data for the time period 1998–2007. The results suggest changes in the distribution of schooling can explain about 10 % of the changes in the 90/50 percentile wage gap. The declining unionization rate does not have much impact on the upward trend of Korean wage inequality. In addition, aggregate decomposition results suggest that changes in labor force composition can explain a significant proportion of the total wage changes in the upper-tail of the distribution. Based on our findings we provide a list of policy recommendations to address the wage inequality issue in Korea.     

Are dual and single exposures differently associated with clinical levels of trauma symptoms? Examining physical abuse and witnessing intimate partner violence among young children

A significant portion of children living in the United States have experienced trauma. Informed by the developmental traumatology model, we explored the effects of physical abuse and witnessing intimate partner violence (IPV) on childhood trauma symptoms. This study utilizes a convenience sample of 580 high‐risk children between 3 and 12 years who received services from one‐child advocacy centre during a 12‐month period. We performed a series of binary logistic regression analyses to examine if physical abuse, exposure to IPV, and dual exposure (i.e., both physical abuse and IPV) are distinctly associated with six trauma symptoms, including anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress (PTS), dissociation, anger, and sexual concerns. The results indicated that dual exposure was predictive of all trauma symptoms, except for dissociation. Additionally, physical abuse was associated with PTS, anger, and sexual concerns, whereas exposure to IPV was associated with depression, PTS, and sexual concerns. Research and implications for practitioners working with young children are discussed.     

Impact of rater personality on transformational and transactional leadership ratings

This study addresses the role of rater personality in ratings of transformational and transactional leadership. In a naturalistic field study, we found that rater personality (i.e., agreeableness, openness, extraversion, and conscientiousness) was positively associated with ratings of transformational leadership, but significant rater personality effects were not found in an experimental study where leadership behavior was invariant. These results suggest that disagreements among raters about leaders' behaviors are not due solely to random error and may instead reflect true differences either in (a) the behaviors leaders exhibit toward individual followers or (b) personality-related differences between followers in attention to and recall of leadership behaviors. We also found that personality (of subordinates and peers) was not randomly distributed across leaders, though clustering effects were generally small. Practically, our results suggest that (a) individual reports of leadership may be better at predicting leadership outcomes than aggregated group reports – especially those related to individual attitudes and behaviors – though they are rarely used in the literature; (b) aggregation is complicated because rater personality is associated with leadership ratings and is not randomly distributed across leaders; and (c) corrections for measurement error based on inter-rater agreement may not be appropriate due to non-random unique rater variance.     

Predictors of Holding Consumer and Mortgage Debt among Older Americans

Using data from the 2000 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), this study examined the probability of older Americans holding consumer and mortgage debt. The specific objectives of this study were to identify to what extent individuals aged 65 and over hold consumer or mortgage debt and to investigate factors that influence the probability of holding consumer or mortgage debt in old age. The results of logistic regression analysis indicated that older individuals who had larger households, had higher levels of education, were aged 65–74, were married, were Black, and were employed, were more likely to hold consumer or mortgage debt. This study concluded that holding one kind of debt is associated with probability of holding another kind of debt.     

Organizational Support in the Workplace: The Case of Korean Hospital Employees

This paper tests three hypotheses on who getsmore support from his or her work organization: (1) Thevalidation hypothesis predicts that employees withgreater social support from their co-workers and supervisors receive more organizationalsupport, because their support validates or legitimizesorganizational support; (2) the positive affectivityhypothesis predicts that employees high on positiveaffect receive more organizational support, becausethey are more likable; and (3) the moderation hypothesispredicts that positive affect and social support do notgenerate organizational support independently, but each acts on the other to affectorganizational support. An assessment of the hypothesesover a sample of 1882 hospital employees in Koreaprovided strong support for the validation hypothesisand partial support for the moderation hypothesis. Contraryto the positive affectivity hypothesis, employees' gooddisposition in itself works against the bringing forthof relevant organizational support, net of support from their supervisors and co-workers.Additional findings related to the unique features ofthe current hospital employees in Korea are alsoreported. Finally, we discuss cross-cultural research implications of the study in moredetail.     

The social,emotional, and behavioral skill antecedents to college students' volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic

The disruptions to community functioning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic spurred individuals to action. This empirical study investigated the social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skill antecedents to college students' volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 248, Mage = 20.6). We assessed eight SEB skills at the onset of a volunteering program, and students' volunteer hours were assessed 10-weeks later. Approximately 41.5% of the sample did not complete any volunteer hours. Higher levels of perspective taking skill, abstract thinking skill, and stress regulation were associated with more time spent volunteering. These results suggest that strength in particular SEB skills can prospectively predict prosocial civic behaviors.     

An Application of Partial Least Squares to the Construction of the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) and the Corruption Perception Index (CPI)

This paper discusses households’ food insecurity among low income, poor urban households in and around the City of Tshwane, South Africa’s capital city. Using systematic random sampling with sampling interval of three, primary data were collected from 900 selected households, though only data from 827 households were analyzed following a rigorous coherence tests. The survey was conducted in Attridgeville, Soshanguve, and Tembisa. In the process, the study employed the use of two-way analyses of variance to explain differences between actual and expected household food security perceptions and those of severe, moderate and mild food insecurity. A favourable (adverse) variance could be interpreted to imply that means for achieving household food security are lower (higher) than predicted or that food security is higher (lower) than expected given the same level of main determinants. The observed variance is partitioned into components attributable to different sources of variation. ANOVA provides a statistical test of whether or not the means of several groups experiencing favourable (adverse) variances are equal. The main findings are that variances in the population means of households’ experiences of food insecurity vary by income class of the head of household, engagement in formal or informal income sources and by categories of social grants received. Poorer households that depend largely on cash income for food purchases experience highest food security variances and those receiving state pension. As such, timely receipt of household income under conditions of unimpeded access to social grants will improve urban poor households’ food security. The level of educational attainment has a very strong impact on a household’s food security. Those with “no schooling” have the lowest level of food security. Experiencing high variances in access to child grants, and low incomes, younger female household heads experience the highest degree of variances in food security and should be particularly targeted in an effective food security policy plan. Negative food security variance among these categories of South Africans could be devastating.     

Motivational signage increases stair usage on a Hispanic serving institution

Abstract

Objective: Stair climbing is considered a good physical activity. Motivational signage has been successful in promoting stair usage in various settings. This study was to investigate the effects of motivational signage on stair usage in a Hispanic serving institution. Participants: A total of 31,067 pedestrians were observed from February to March 2013. Methods: Stair usage was monitored for 9?h per day each week at phase 1 (baseline), 2 (intervention), and 3 (post-intervention). Results: Overall, participants’ stair usage was higher during phase 2 (49.0%) and phase 3 (48.0%), compared with phase 1 (39.7%). The participants during phase 2 and 3 were more likely to use the stairs compared to participants during phase 1, regardless of floor level (3-story or 4-story building), status (student or staff/faculty), and time of day (7:30–10:29, 10:30–13:29, or 13:30–16:30) (p?<?.001). Conclusion: Motivational signage can effectively encourage more stair usage, and hence promote healthy behavior in a predominantly Hispanic-serving institution.