The Performance of Two Data-Generation Processes for Data with Specified Marginal Treatment Odds Ratios

Monte Carlo simulation methods are increasingly being used to evaluate the property of statistical estimators in a variety of settings. The utility of these methods depends upon the existence of an appropriate data-generating process. Observational studies are increasingly being used to estimate the effects of exposures and interventions on outcomes. Conventional regression models allow for the estimation of conditional or adjusted estimates of treatment effects. There is an increasing interest in statistical methods for estimating marginal or average treatment effects. However, in many settings, conditional treatment effects can differ from marginal treatment effects. Therefore, existing data-generating processes for conditional treatment effects are of little use in assessing the performance of methods for estimating marginal treatment effects. In the current study, we describe and evaluate the performance of two different data-generation processes for generating data with a specified marginal odds ratio. The first process is based upon computing Taylor Series expansions of the probabilities of success for treated and untreated subjects. The expansions are then integrated over the distribution of the random variables to determine the marginal probabilities of success for treated and untreated subjects. The second process is based upon an iterative process of evaluating marginal odds ratios using Monte Carlo integration. The second method was found to be computationally simpler and to have superior performance compared to the first method.     

Building organizational supports for knowledge sharing in county human service organizations: a cross-case analysis of works-in-progress

Building on the literature related to evidence-based practice, knowledge management, and learning organizations, this cross-case analysis presents twelve works-in-progress in ten local public human service organizations seeking to develop their own knowledge sharing systems. The data for this cross-case analysis can be found in the various contributions to this Special Issue. The findings feature the developmental aspects of building a learning organization that include knowledge sharing systems featuring transparency, self-assessment, and dissemination and utilization. Implications for practice focus on the structure and processes involved in building knowledge sharing teams inside public human service organizations.     

Transnormativity: A New Concept and Its Validation through Documentary Film About Transgender Men

While prior research has called attention to how medically based, normative understandings of sex and gender place undue restrictions on transgender people's autonomy, there has yet to be an attempt to consolidate this research into a recognizable concept that is situated within existing theoretical frameworks. This article uses documentary films focused on transgender men as an empirical example to develop the concept of transnormativity. Transnormativity describes the specific framework to which transgender people's presentations and experiences of gender are held accountable. Drawing on research specific to transgender community groups, medicalization, and legal transition, I argue that transnormativity structures transgender experience, identification, and narratives into a hierarchy of legitimacy that is dependent upon medical standards. This ideology, as I show via a content analysis of documentary films, circulates in media depictions of transgender people in ways that eclipse alternative explanations of gender non‐conformity. While medical transition is a central component of many transgender people's gender trajectory, I argue in this article that the privileging of the medical model over others creates a marginalizing effect for gender‐non‐conforming people who cannot or do not wish to medically transition.     

Validating the Gambling Functional Assessment—Revised in a United Kingdom Sample

The gambling functional assessment-revised (GFA-R) was designed to assess whether the respondent’s gambling was maintained by positive reinforcement or escape. The present study attempted to validate the GFA-R’s psychometric properties using United Kingdom (UK) university students and to compare the results to those from a sample of American university students. Two hundred seventy four UK students completed the GFA-R, and 153 also completed the South Oaks gambling screen (SOGS). Two hundred one United States (US) university students completed both measures. A confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the original model of the GFA-R provided an excellent fit for the UK data and internal consistency was high. These outcomes were similar, if not superior, to those from the US sample. SOGS scores strongly correlated with GFA-R escape subscale scores in both samples, replicating previous results. These findings indicate that the GFA-R is a valid measure for use in the UK, which is potentially useful to both practitioners and researchers. They also suggest that the strong relationship between endorsing gambling as an escape and measures of disordered gambling may be ubiquitous.     

Measuring Gender Disparity in the HIV Pandemic: A Cross‐National Investigation of Female Empowerment,Inequality, and Disease in Less‐Developed Nations

Current research recognizes that the HIV pandemic uniquely impacts women, as they are socially and biologically more vulnerable to the infection. However, present measurement strategies focus on assessing the level of HIV infection among women, rather than inequality in the distribution of HIV cases by gender in less‐developed nations. In this study, we compare the cross‐national determinants of the level of female HIV prevalence to the determinants of the percentage of HIV cases among women. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions suggest that the predictors of female HIV differ across the two measures, where aspects of female empowerment and female access to health resources are more influential in explaining the distribution of HIV cases across gender than the level of female HIV prevalence. These results suggest that analyzing the distribution of HIV cases by gender is a more appropriate way to measure gender disparities in the HIV pandemic. Therefore, future research should be cautious to consider the implications of investigating levels of HIV versus the distribution of HIV cases across populations.     

The “Hamburger Connection” as Ecologically Unequal Exchange: A Cross‐National Investigation of Beef Exports and Deforestation in Less‐Developed Countries

This study explores Norman Myers's concept of the “hamburger connection” as a form of ecologically unequal exchange, where more‐developed nations are able to transfer the environmental costs of beef consumption to less‐developed nations. I used ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to test whether deforestation in less‐developed nations is associated with the vertical flow of beef exports to more‐developed nations. An interaction term also examines whether this relationship is more pronounced in Latin American nations, as posited by Myers. The sample includes all nondesert, less‐developed nations for which there are available data across all indicators (N= 48). Overall, the results confirm the tested hypotheses. The findings also provide unique contextual support for ecologically unequal exchange theory by demonstrating that unequal trade relationships can operate at the level of a single commodity type.     

TANF child-only cases: Identifying the characteristics and needs of children living in low-income families

In a ‘child-only’ case the adult is not included in the welfare benefit calculation and aid is provided only for the child(ren). The proportion of child-only cases within the caseloads of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) welfare program continues to increase while overall TANF cases decrease. Given relatively limited information about the children and adults in child-only cases, this analysis presents the major findings from a review of studies on characteristics of children and caregivers in child-only cases with implications for child welfare and welfare-to-work services.     

Church Attendance,Social Capital,and Black Voting Participation*

Objectives. We test the traditional studies of political participation that suggest enhanced education and income will help reduce the racial gap in voting. Methods. We adopt a Bayesian model to test the impact of education and income on both black and white racial groups. We also link the explanation of black voting participation to social capital. Results. We find that bonding and bridging social capital as well as human capital are all important in explaining white voting participation, but only bonding social capital, measured by church attendance, explained African‐American voting participation. Conclusions. We conclude that the utility of social capital theory and continuing significance of human capital theory must be considered in a racial context. In addition, our findings offer important implications about the continuing role of black churches for increasing social capital and political participation.