Research Notes the Relationship Between Admissions Criteria and Academic Performance in an MSW Program

The authors report on an investigation of the correlation between admissions criteria and academic performance at one state university. The admissions data used in this study were collected from 654 MSW students who attended the school from 1985 to 1992. Test scores on a comprehensive exam taken by these MSW students prior to graduation were used as the measure of academic performance. The authors found that two admissions criteria, undergraduate GPA and GRE score, and two applicant characteristics, gender and race, were significantly correlated with academic performance.     

Serial correlation and distributions on the shere

Estimation and tests for serial correlation in recation and regression models with normal error have been derive from various points of view; for example: Anderson (1948), Durbi for Watson (1950, 1951, 1971), Theil (1965), Durbin (1970), Haq (1970), Kadiyala (1970), Abrahamse & Louter (1971), Levenbac (1972), Berenblut & Webb (1973), Phillips & Harvey (1974), a Sims (1975). In this paper we derive likelihood functions and most powerful tests for serial correclation in Locationa and regression models with arbitrary but specificed error; the methods extend to include the determination of the likelihood for the parameter of the error distribution.

In Section 2, we survey the modthods that have been used in deriving the various tests and estimates in the literature. In Section 2, we introduce the stataistical model that directly describes the error distribution and we obtain the likelihood function for error correlation and determine locally and specifically kost powerful tests for correlation. In Section 3 we consider the case with normal error derive a normal distribution on the sphere by radial projection. The likelihood function and test are then specialized to the case of normal error in Section 4. The computational procedures for the tests and related power functions are examined in Section 5. Power comparisons for the textile data of Theil and Nagar (1961), the consumption data of Kelin (1950), and the plums and the wheat data of Hildreth & Lu (1960) are presented in Section 6, while the likelihood functions for correlation in these data are given in Section 7.     

Prior-likelihood factorization and missing data

Marginal posterior distributions, when not available ana­lytically, can be at present numerically inaccessible if the number of parameters for intergration exeeeds 7 to 10. For the normal multivariate regression model, with data absent (missing)in a monotone pattern, some integrations have been accomplished analytically (Guttman and Menzefricke, 1983; Bartlett, 1983; for example).

In this note we show how monotely missing data support an extended prior-likelihood factorization and the needed posterior extended prior-likelihood factorization and the can be obtained directly using standard results.     

Robust estimation of location in samples of size three

Youden (1953) discussed the practice of averaging the two most concordant observations in sets of three measurements as a method of estimating location. Distributional results for this estimator can be found in Seth (1950) and Lieblein (1952). It follows from their work that the sample median has smaller variance for normal and uniform populations. In this paper it is shown that themedian stochastically dominates the average of the two closest observations for uniform, normal, double–exponential and Cauchy populations and thus is the superior resistant estimator in these cases for a broad class of loss functions. However, an example is given in which, for a particular contaminaion model and loss function, the mean of the closest two observations has smaller risk than the median.     

Job Satisfaction in Higher Education: Examining Gender in Professional Work Settings

The concept of job satisfaction has been central to the study of occupations. However, the impact of gender on job satisfaction in professional settings is still under-represented as an area of inquiry. We use the notion of job satisfaction to introduce our organizational heterogenesis approach to understanding workplace satisfaction. Central to this approach is a concern with constructs of organizational interaction which combine the individualistic and structuralist approaches to understanding organizational life. Our analysis of 180 faculty at a large, urban university shows that gender affects the features of the workplace that affect job satisfaction. Our organizational heterogenesis approach frames these findings as an example of how dispositions are made important in the organization rather than locating dispositions as individual characteristics alone. We conclude by discussing the organizational heterogenesis approach as a viable theory that combines individualistic and structuralist approaches to organizational life.     

Preventing Face Loss in Donor-Assisted Families

Grounded in face theory (see Brown & Levinson, 1987; Cupach & Metts, 1994; Goffman, 1967) and exploratory in nature, the present study sought to understand the face-related experiences of parents whose children were conceived with an anonymous donor. The sample included 19 parents from the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, who experienced infertility, were in a lesbian relationship, or identified as solo parents. The researchers identified face-related concerns parents have for themselves and their children and preventative facework strategies they enact to avoid or minimize face loss. Findings showcase parents’ desire for social approval, autonomy, respect, and preventing rejection. Also discussed are a variety of facework strategies, namely, disclosure, avoidance, closedness, humor, deception, and strategic donor choice. The findings support and extend previous research on donor-assisted families and showcase the complexity of face for members of these families by highlighting instances where communication simultaneously preserves and threatens face.     

Addressing Concerns with Lesbian Couples Experiencing Fertility Treatment: Using Relational Cultural Theory

Legal changes and increasing research surrounding the positive influence of lesbian parenting have spurred a resulting increase in lesbian couples pursuing parenting through various fertility measures. Increasing counselors' multicultural competence regarding the experiences unique to the lesbian population with fertility will strengthen the counseling process when working with lesbian couples interested in adding children to their family. Through the lens of relational cultural theory, this article uses the constructs of mutuality, empathy, and reciprocity to provide counseling implications for work with lesbian couples during the decision making and stressful process of fertility treatment, while focusing on strengthening the relationship.