Are all communities communities in the mind?

Studies of community undertaken over a period of some forty‐five years by the author and his colleagues are re‐considered to show how the significance of ‘communities‐in‐the‐mind’ has been inadequately appreciated. The distinction made by Clifford Geertz between ‘experience‐near’ and ‘experience‐distant’ is used to sharpen up certain assumptions and approaches of community sociologists, including Frankenberg. Some possible explanations for the decline in the perceived importance of comminity studies from the late 1960s are discussed in the context of the growing centrality of social class in sociological analysis in the 1970s and 1980s. Reference is made to recent research on personal communities by Liz Spencer and the author to illustrate how an ellision between ‘experience‐near’ and ‘experience‐distant’ approaches may be achieved. It is concluded that the imputed community‐on‐the‐ground, often based on materialistic assumptions, should not be conceptually privileged over the real community‐in‐the‐mind.     

Efficient Bayesian shape-restricted function estimation with constrained Gaussian process priors

Statistics and Computing - This article revisits the problem of Bayesian shape-restricted inference in the light of a recently developed approximate Gaussian process that admits an equivalent...     

Best time to visit historical Chongqing

Chongqing is famous for having three hot things:weather,food and women.And if those aren’t good enough reasons to visit China’s most over-looked city,this war-time capital has a lot more to offer.If you include the whole of the greater municipality,Chongqing is one of,     

A test of the dsm‐III‐R'S implicit assumption that fetishistic arousal and gender dysphoria are mutually exclusive

This study sought to determine the proportion of adult, male, heterosexual cross‐dressers who acknowledge both gender dysphoria and at least occasional fetishistic response to cross‐dressing. Subjects were 193 outpatients of the gender identity clinic or behavioral sexology department of a psychiatric teaching hospital. Questionnaire items were used to assess subjects' current level of gender dysphoria and their recent history of sexual response to cross‐dressing. Subjects who reported higher levels of gender dysphoria tended to report lower frequencies of sexual arousal with cross‐dressing (r = ‐.56, p < .0001) and lower frequencies of masturbation with cross‐dressing (r = ‐.62, p < .0001). About half of even the most strongly gender dysphoric subjects, however, acknowledged that they still become sexually aroused or masturbate at least occasionally when cross‐dressing. These findings indicate a need for revision in the DSM‐III‐R's diagnostic criteria for transvestism and gender identity disorders, which presuppose that gender dysphoria and fetishistic reactions are mutually exclusive.     

An investigation of lag identification tools for vector nonlinear time series

Exploratory methods for determining appropriate lagged vsrlables in a vector nonlinear time series model are investigated. The first is a multivariate extension of the R statistic considered by Granger and Lin (1994), which is based on an estimate of the mutual information criterion. The second method uses Kendall's ρ and partial ρ statistics for lag determination. The methods provide nonlinear analogues of the autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation matrices for a vector time series. Simulation studies indicate that the R statistic reliabiy identifies appropriate lagged nonlinear moving average terms in a vector time series, while Kendall's ρ and partial ρ statistics have some power in identifying appropirate lagged nonlinear moving average and autoregressive terms, respectively, when the nonlinear relationship between lagged variables is monotonic. For illustration, the methods are applied to set of annual temperature and tree ring measurements at Campito Mountain In California.     

Financial Attitudes and Inter vivos Resource Transfers from Older Parents to Adult Children

This exploratory study combines economic, family, and decision-making conceptual models to investigate the factors influencing resource transfers as reported by older adults. Pilot data on 61 adult children was obtained during face-to-face interviews with 18 older parents. Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to predict time (emotional support) and financial (cash and gifts) inter vivos transfers from demands, resources, values, and relationships. Positive health ratings, strong affection for the adult child, and money retention attitudes were associated with frequent emotional support. Small household size predicted frequent financial transfers. Results indicate the importance of values, resources, demands, and relationships in predicting resource transfers from older parent to adult child.     

Whose Wishes and Feelings? Children's Autonomy and Parental Influence in Family Court Enquiries

The importance of the child’s right to be heard and fortheir wishes and feelings to be taken notice of is now acceptedacross a broad professional and research terrain. Increasingly,children are being treated as active participants in the processesand decisions that affect them. In cases of divorce and separation,especially where parental relationships are conflicted, theaccepted wisdom in the UK for many years has been for childrento be protected rather than empowered. More recently, practitioners,policy makers and researchers have looked for ways to involvechildren, although the ‘welfare’ of the child hasremained paramount. In this context, the question of how toensure that wishes and feelings expressed are those that authenticallybelong to the child, rather than to their parent, sibling orother, has achieved a new significance. This article presentsfindings from recent research to illustrate how the tensionbetween protection and empowerment is being played out in thisaspect of welfare report enquiries carried out by CAFCASS (Childrenand Family Court Advisory and Support Service) private law practitioners.