Integrating Software into PRA: A Software-Related Failure Mode Taxonomy

Probabilistic risk assessment is a methodology to assess the probability of failure or success of a mission. Results provided by the risk assessment methodology are used to make decisions concerning choice of upgrades, scheduling of maintenance, decision to launch, etc. However, current PRA neglects the contribution of software to the risk of failure of the mission. Our research has developed a methodology to account for the impact of software to system failure. This article focuses on an element of the approach: a comprehensive taxonomy of software-related failure modes. Application of the taxonomy is discussed in this article. A validation of the taxonomy and conclusions drawn from this validation effort are described. Future research is also summarized.     

The Use of Correspondence Analysis to Develop a Scale to Measure Workplace Morale from Multi-level Data

This paper focuses on the issue of comparing social groups or collectivities using measures derived from individual-level multivariate data. In this case, groups need to be differentiated such that: (a) between-group differences are maximized; (b) within-group differences are minimised; and (c) `differences' are calibrated to a scale that reflects a set indicators or observed variables.This paper demonstrates empirically how correspondence analysis can achieve this. It presents a scale of `workplace morale' derived from the responses of employees in a large sample of workplaces to questions concerning satisfaction with various facets of their job and their workplace. The scale derived through correspondence analysis is shown to achieve the three criteria described above.     

Human Interindividual Variability–A Major Source of Uncertainty in Assessing Risks for Noncancer Health Effects

For noncancer effects, the degree of human interindividual variability plays a central role in determining the risk that can be expected at low exposures. This discussion reviews available data on observations of interindividual variability in (a) breathing rates, based on observations in British coal miners; (b) systemic pharmacokinetic parameters, based on studies of a number of drugs; (c) susceptibility to neurological effects from fetal exposure to methyl mercury, based on observations of the incidence of effects in relation to hair mercury levels; and (d) chronic lung function changes in relation to long-term exposure to cigarette smoke. The quantitative ranges of predictions that follow from uncertainties in estimates of interindividual variability in susceptibility are illustrated.     

Linked lives,dependent demise? Survival analysis of husbands and wives

Past research has found that married individuals have substantially lower risks of mortality than their single counterparts. This paper examines how household characteristics affect spouses’ risks of mortality. A paired hazard rate model is estimated and tests are made to ascertain whether the estimated coefficients associated with risk factors differ between husbands’ and wives’ equations. Cigarette smoking, risk-avoidance behavior, poverty, and children are found to affect wives’ and husbands’ mortality in similar ways. Divorce, which can be interpreted as the termination of this shared household environment, is found to affect spouses differently.     

Sheltered Employment Strategies In Five Countries

The paper outlines sheltered employment strategies drawn from five countries (USA, Sweden, The Netherlands, Britain, and New Zealand) with a view to articulating policy options. The focus for the study was at the level of individual organizations in each country and personnel at all managerial levels were interviewed to ascertain their orientation with respect to the organisation of sheltered employment at three individual, yet interdependent structural levels: the national industry, the individual enterprise, and work itself. Work activity was observed and official documentation was studied to strengthen the validity of interview data. The results indicate that successful workshops were not only well informed of the dominant industry philosophy but also had their own clearly articulated interpretation of that philosophy. A number of policy options were seen to emerge from the patterns observed.     

Operationalizing Max Weber's probability concept of class situation: the concept of social class

In this essay I take seriously Max Weber's astonishingly neglected claim that class situation may be defined, not in categorial terms, but probabilistically. I then apply this idea to another equally neglected claim made by Weber that the boundaries of social classes may be determined by the degree of social mobility within such classes. Taking these two ideas together I develop the idea of a non-categorial boundary 'surface' between classes and of a social class 'corridor' made up of all those people who are still to be found within the boundaries of the social class into which they were born. I call social mobility within a social class 'intra-class social mobility' and social mobility between classes 'inter-class social mobility'. I also claim that this distinction resolves the dispute between those sociologists who claim that late industrial societies are still highly class bound and those who think that this is no longer the case. Both schools are right I think, but one is referring to a high degree of intra-class social mobility and the other to an equally high degree of inter-class mobility. Finally I claim that this essay provides sociology with only one example among many other possible applications of how probability theory might usefully be used to overcome boundary problems generally in sociology.     

'Living for the Brethren': Idealism, Social Work's Lost Enlightenment Strain

Correspondence to Ken Moffatt, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, York University, Kinsmen Building, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3. E-mail: kmoffatt{at}yorku.ca and allan.irving{at}widener.edu Summary In this article we define British idealism, a thread of Enlightenmentthought. We draw upon historical British writings and Canadianarchival material to reveal key concepts central to idealismand social work. The article begins by discussing social responsibilitybased on the idealist premise of Christian immanence. We thendiscuss the spiritual rationality of the new liberalism. Thethought of E.J. Urwick, a key philosopher of British and Canadiansocial work, illustrates that both British and Platonic idealismcontinued to influence the field of modern social work. Theconcepts of engaged participation and reciprocity are congruentwith Christian immanence and spiritual rationality. We arguethat social work can benefit from recovering its lost pastssuch as idealism as an aid in prefiguring an uncertain future.     

Work and Non-Pathological Gambling

Most economists believe that people would value an additional $1,000 in income more if they were poor than if rich, but if so, people should not gamble according to standard expected utility theory. Thus, economists have been challenged to explain the pervasiveness of gambling in human behavior. A recently proposed solution to this theoretical challenge (Nyman 2004; Nyman et al. in Journal of Socio-Economics 37:2492–2504, 2008) suggests that, because having to work for one’s income is a fact of life in market economies, many individuals view the winnings from gambling not only as additional income, but as additional income for which one does not need to work. As a result, individuals, and especially those who are disadvantaged in the labor market, attach a utility premium to gambling winnings and gamble because of that. This utility premium would explain the pervasiveness of gambling in society, especially among the economically disadvantaged. This paper reviews the economic approaches to explaining non-pathological gambling, presents an overview of the new theory, and uses data from the National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions from 2001 to test it. The results indicate that the respondent’s work characteristics explain the decision to gamble in a way that is consistent with theory.