Simultaneous estimation of location and dispersion in two-level fractional factorial designs

The reduction of variation is one of the obvious goals in quality improvement. The identification of factors aff ecting the dispersion is a step towards this goal. In this paper, the problem of estimating location effects and dispersion eff ects simultaneously in unreplicated factorial experiments is considered. By making a one-to-one transformation of the response variables, the study of the quadratic functions becomes clearer. The transformation also gives a natural motivation to the model of the variances of the original variables. The covariances of the transformed responses appear as parameters in the variances of the original variables. Results of Hadamard products are used for deriving these covariances. The method of estimating dispersion effects is shown in two illustrations. In a 24 factorial design, the essential covariance matrix of the transformed variables is also presented. The method is also illustrated in a 25-1 fractional design with a model which is saturated in this context.     

Internationalism in Social Work Education

Internationalism is the study of social work programs and philosophies in other countries. It promotes a broad concept of generic social work that enables the social worker to function as a humanist with skills rather than as a specialist with humanistic inclinations. Knowledge of social work in other cultures provides valuable insight into dealing with cross-cultural and ethnic relationships in one's own country. It also suggests common linkages between diverse kinds of social work practices. International experience provides case examples and evidence of new kinds of skills that social workers need in a culturally pluralistic society.     

UNTANGLING A COMPLEX MEDIA SYSTEM

This article provides empirical insights into how one online service – Twitter – was used for political purposes during three separate election campaigns in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, specifically how Twitter users, with hyperlinks, connect with other channels for political communication. Methodologically, the study employs three large sets of data on Twitter use tagged as relevant for each of the election campaigns, covering a one-month period. The approach allows for an untangling of the complex interconnections between novel online services, mainstream media, official political party websites, public information, individual blogs and social network sites. By moving beyond a study merely of the type of websites linked to, to also include classification of the actors publishing the content linked to, the article provides insights into the actual use by politicians, interest groups as well as grassroots activists of diverse Web genres.     

A comprehensive workplace intervention and its outcome with regard to lifestyle, health and sick leave: the AHA study

This study is a prospective multicentre cohort study entitled Work and Health in the Processing and Engineering Industries, the AHA Study (AHA is the Swedish abbreviation for the study). Four large workplaces in Sweden participated during the years from 2000 to 2003. The present report has two objectives: (1) to present a comprehensive occupational health intervention programme and (2) to evaluate this programme with a focus on lifestyle (smoking and exercise), health related quality of life (HRQoL) and sick leave. Interventions were provided on an individual and group level, including evidence-based methods for four health/focus areas (individual level) and a group intervention based on a survey-feedback methodology. The analyses in this report were exclusively employed at an organizational level. The proportion of smokers decreased at three companies and the course of the HRQoL was advantageous at two of the companies as compared to a gainfully employed reference group. A significant decrease in sick leave was revealed at one company, whereas a break in an ascending sick-leave trend appeared at a second company as compared to their respective corporate groups. This comprehensive workplace intervention programme appears to have had positive effects on smoking habits, HRQoL and sick leave.     

Bootstrap Determination of the Co‐Integration Rank in Vector Autoregressive Models

This paper discusses a consistent bootstrap implementation of the likelihood ratio (LR) co‐integration rank test and associated sequential rank determination procedure of Johansen (1996). The bootstrap samples are constructed using the restricted parameter estimates of the underlying vector autoregressive (VAR) model that obtain under the reduced rank null hypothesis. A full asymptotic theory is provided that shows that, unlike the bootstrap procedure in Swensen (2006) where a combination of unrestricted and restricted estimates from the VAR model is used, the resulting bootstrap data are I(1) and satisfy the null co‐integration rank, regardless of the true rank. This ensures that the bootstrap LR test is asymptotically correctly sized and that the probability that the bootstrap sequential procedure selects a rank smaller than the true rank converges to zero. Monte Carlo evidence suggests that our bootstrap procedures work very well in practice.     

Relationships between stressful work environments and bullying: Results of a large representative study

Abstract

This paper contributes to the relatively sparse knowledge about relationships between stressful work environments and bullying. Relationships between job stressors and leadership behaviour were analysed as possible predictors of bullying at work on the basis of the work environment hypothesis, which states that stressful and poorly organized work environments may give rise to conditions resulting in bullying. Analyses of a representative sample (n=2539) of the Norwegian workforce showed role conflict, interpersonal conflicts, and tyrannical and laissez-faire leadership behaviour to be strongly related to bullying, and that the strength of associations to a high degree differed for various measures of bullying. Support was found for an interactive relationship between decision authority and role conflict at different levels of laissez-faire leadership. Not only targets and bully/targets but also bystanders assessed their work environment more negatively than did non-involved employees, while perpetrators of bullying did not differ significantly from non-involved employees as regards their perception of the work environment. Hence, bullying is likely to prevail in stressful working environments characterized by high levels of interpersonal friction and destructive leadership styles. In addition, bullying is particularly prevalent in situations where the immediate supervisor avoids intervening in and managing such stressful situations.     

Beware the angry leader: Trait anger and trait anxiety as predictors of petty tyranny

Drawing on the general aggression model and theories of victimization and temperamental goodness-of-fit, we investigated trait anger and trait anxiety as antecedents of petty tyranny: employing a multilevel design with data from 84 sea captains and 177 crew members. Leader trait anger predicted subordinate-reported petty tyranny. Subordinate trait anxiety was associated with subordinate-reported petty tyranny. The association between leader trait anger and subordinate-reported petty tyranny was strongest among low trait anger subordinates supporting the theory of temperamental goodness-of-fit—or rather misfit—in dyads. Hence, leader anger-generated petty tyranny seems to constitute itself both as an average leadership style and as behavior targeting specific subordinates, in this case low trait anger subordinates. In addition, anxious subordinates report more exposure to such abusive leadership behaviors irrespective of levels of trait anger in the captain. The practical implications are above all the needs for organizational and individual management of leader trait anger.     

Norway: relevance of the social development model for post-War welfare policy

This article examines the extent to which social policies in post-War Norway fit three key features of the social development model, namely productivism, social investment and universalism. The historical review shows that the pursuit of a social development model changes in line with economic development and the expansion of the welfare state. It reveals that policies to promote full employment have been central to the country's economic and welfare policies throughout the post-War period. Nevertheless, the extent to which the productivist objective has been emphasised and implemented has fluctuated over time. In contrast to the 1970s and 1980s, the 1990s witnessed a strengthening of the work ethic but also a continued commitment to de-commodification. The extent to which the combination of productivism and social investment is pursued is examined with reference to services for the insured and uninsured. The article concludes that the ways in which the social development perspective understands and defends universalism and social investment only partially applies to the mature Norwegian welfare state.     

Spatiotemporal prediction for log-Gaussian Cox processes

Space–time point pattern data have become more widely available as a result of technological developments in areas such as geographic information systems. We describe a flexible class of space–time point processes. Our models are Cox processes whose stochastic intensity is a space–time Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process. We develop moment-based methods of parameter estimation, show how to predict the underlying intensity by using a Markov chain Monte Carlo approach and illustrate the performance of our methods on a synthetic data set.     

LGBQ-Specific Elderly Housing as a “Sparkling Sanctuary”: Boundary Work on LGBQ Identity and Community in Relationship to Potential LGBQ-Specific Elderly Housing in Sweden

This study explored how boundaries in relationship to community and identity were created and negotiated among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) people within the framework of picturing LGBQ-specific elderly housing as a housing alternative in older age, by applying focus group methodology. “An island as a sparkling sanctuary” was identified as a metaphor for how symbolic resources defining the LGBQ community can be manifested in LGBQ-specific qualities of elderly housing. The boundary work underlying this manifestation included elaborations on the dilemma between exclusiveness and normality. The findings illustrate further how symbolic resources and collective identities were developed through dialectic interplay between internal and external definitions. Further, the findings show how boundary work generated shared feelings of similarity and group membership. The associated symbolic and social resources not only served to deal with difficult situations but also to manifest LGBQ identity and sense of community as a “gold medal.”