Data recycling: a response to the changing technology from the statistical perspective with application to psychiatric sleep research

Rapid technological advances have resulted in continual changes in data acquisition and reporting processes. While such advances have benefited research in these areas, the changing technologies have, at the same time, created difficulty for statistical analysis by generating outdated data which are incompatible with data based on newer technology. Relationships between these incompatible variables are complicated; not only they are stochastic, but also often depend on other variables, rendering even a simple statistical analysis, such as estimation of a population mean, difficult in the presence of mixed data formats. Thus, technological advancement has brought forth, from the statistical perspective, a methodological problem of the analysis of newer data with outdated data. In this paper, we discuss general principles for addressing the statistical issues related to the analysis of incompatible data. The approach taken to the task at hand has three desirable properties, it is readily understood, since it builds upon a linear regression setting, it is flexible to allow for data incompatibility in either the response or covariate, and it is not computationally intensive. In addition, inferences may be made for a latent variable of interest. Our considerations to this problem are motivated by the analysis of delta wave counts, as a surrogate for sleep disorder, in the sleep laboratory of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where two major changes had occurred in the acquisition of this data, resulting in three mixed formats. By developing appropriate methods for addressing this issue, we provide statistical advancement that is compatible with technological advancement.     

Inter-Country Inequiality in Social Indicators of Development

In 1955 Kuznets developed a hypothesis about the relationshipbetween the degree of personal income inequality within a countryand the level of economic development of the country. Thishypothesis suggests that with economic growth, interpersonalincome inequality first increases but after a certain pointstarts to decline. This is known as the inverted-U hypothesis. In1965, Williamson applied this inverted-U hypothesis to the widelyobserved pattern of intra-country regional inequality witheconomic development. This hypothesis was later extended tointer-country inequality in Per Capita Gross National Product(PCGNP) by Ram (1989). The paradigm of development economics hasrecently been shifted from PCGNP to human well-being and it hasbeen broadly accepted that economic growth does not automaticallytranslate into human well-being. The present study is an attemptto extend the application of the inverted-U hypothesis to explainthe relationship between inter-country inequality in socialindicators of development and economic growth.     

Level of development of a country: A possible new approach

Human development is a multidimensional phenomenon. It depends on a number of non-monetary aspects of life (social indicators of development). Per capita gross domestic product (PCGDP) is a means to achieve these nonmonetary aspects of life. To what extent PCGDP of a country is transformed into social development is an important phenomenon. Income elasticities of social indicators with respect to PCGDP reflect such relationship. This study attempts to find income elasticities of eight social indicators of development with respect to per capita real gross domestic product (PCRGDP) adjusted for purchasing power parity and expressed in international dollars for four points of time: 1960, 1970, 1980 and 1990. The income elasticities of social indicators may be identified as necessity, luxury and inferior. On the basis of the nature of the income elasticities of the social indicators of development the level of development of a country may be identified. This paper attempts to identify the level of development of a country on the basis of the nature of the income elasticities of the social indicators of development.     

Patterns of inter- and intra-regional inequality: A socio-economic approach

The regional development pattern of five regions, viz., North, South, Tropical America, Tropical Asia and Tropical Africa [see Theil (1989)] is studied using two indices based on a group of representative socio-economic indicators. The analysis is based on measures of ‘inequality’ and ‘mobility’. Comparison of results using these indices and the Per Capita Gross Domestic Product (PCGDP) reveals that while the situation with respect to PCGDP has worsened over the years, that with respect to the socio-economic indicators has become better.     

Asa Advisory Committees to Federal Statistical Agencies: A Report of the Committee on Committees of the American Statistical Association

(Editor's Note: The following report on ASA advisory committees was prepared by Edwin D. Goldfield as part of a continuing study of the Association's committees and Sections being conducted by the Committee on Committees. Because of the importance of advisory committees to Federal agencies, the report is included here for the information of the members of the Association.)     

Feeling at home: Korean Americans in senior public housing

What are older Korean immigrants' cultural conceptions of home arrangements and environments? Does aging affect their family relationships? Why do they decide to move to public housing? How do they adapt to and re-create a feeling of home in public housing? This research in the field of aging-and-environment focuses on these questions. Based on a naturalistic field research of older Korean immigrants to the USA this paper details the transitions from loss of feeling of home in their pre-move life, the decision to move to senior public housing, to settling into the new apartment. The themes delineated are: 1) shifting roles in multigenerational households, 2) altered conceptualizations and changing environments, becoming dut-bang no-in (guest in own home), 3) detachment from prized objects, and 4) re-creation of meaningful environment. Revealed are the complex and interwoven nature of the decision to move involving experiences, events, and nested mini-decisions, as well as the emotional disruptions, loss of sense of self, and detachments that occur. The adjustments made by these older adults to the culturally inappropriate design in order to regain feeling at home are described. Several socio-physical phenomena and concepts identified are: a) spatial oblation, b) environmental and object detachment, c) object meaning linked to persons, and d) planned surrender or disposal of cherished objects.