P-Value Precision and Reproducibility

P-values are useful statistical measures of evidence against a null hypothesis. In contrast to other statistical estimates, however, their sample-to-sample variability is usually not considered or estimated, and therefore not fully appreciated. Via a systematic study of log-scale p-value standard errors, bootstrap prediction bounds, and reproducibility probabilities for future replicate p-values, we show that p-values exhibit surprisingly large variability in typical data situations. In addition to providing context to discussions about the failure of statistical results to replicate, our findings shed light on the relative value of exact p-values vis-a-vis approximate p-values, and indicate that the use of *, **, and *** to denote levels .05, .01, and .001 of statistical significance in subject-matter journals is about the right level of precision for reporting p-values when judged by widely accepted rules for rounding statistical estimates.     

Human rape: Adaptation or by‐product?

This paper examines two alternative evolutionary explanations of human rape. One explanation sees human rape as a facultative male reproductive tactic. The other explanation sees human rape as an evolutionary byproduct of certain evolved differences in the reproductive strategies of human males and females. These two explanations generate alternative testable predictions concerning cross‐species, cross‐cultural, and modern societal data on rape. Existing evidence is found to be insufficient to warrant an adaptive explanation of rape per se in humans. The question of whether the search for adaptations needs to be shifted from behavioral categories to the underlying psychological mechanisms is discussed.     

Peer 2 Peer: Efficacy of a Course-Based Peer Education Intervention to Increase Physical Activity Among College Students

Abstract

There are few physical activity (PA) interventions in higher education, and they have been only minimally effective. Objective: To determine if a course-based, peer education intervention was associated with increases in PA and physical fitness. Participants: Participants were 178 students enrolled in a personal health class during the 2007–2008 academic year. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was used to assess the effect of the intervention. Repeated measures analysis of covariance was employed to test the impact of the intervention on students’ PA, body composition, waist-to-hip ratio, cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, and muscular strength. Results: Women in the treatment group classified as “Inactive” at baseline increased PA, whereas “Inactive” control women had reductions in PA. Women in the treatment group who were “Active” at baseline reduced their waist-to-hip ratio and increased flexibility. There were no differences by treatment group among men. Conclusions: The intervention was effective in improving PA and physical fitness among college women.     

Putting culture back into acculturation: Identifying and overcoming gaps in the definition and measurement of acculturation

The concept of acculturation is widely used in the health and social sciences to explain various health and behavioral outcomes. A review of the literature highlights weaknesses in current acculturation research including the failure to ground the concept in a theory of culture, failure to specify the pathways through which acculturation impacts on outcomes and reliance on methodological tools that do not measure the core construct of interest. Building on cognitive and evolutionary anthropological theories and methods of measuring the distribution of cultural beliefs, we suggest that a research program focused on acculturation needs to initially aim at measuring beliefs, attitudes, and norms, and not on behavior. Researchers should empirically examine the distribution of beliefs across presumed cultural groups, and specify how these might impact on outcomes of interest. By parceling beliefs as distinct from behavior, our approach advances culture as but one possible hypothesis to account for outcomes.     

酒店：通过社会媒体讲故事

对于讲故事来说，酒店是一个丰富的、无限的资源，社会媒体则创立了史无前例的平台和听众来分享这些故事。但是酒店这种讲故事的才能在社会媒体上表现得并不明显，酒店的内容通常倾向于平淡无奇，缺乏原创性。     

A test of the dsm‐III‐R'S implicit assumption that fetishistic arousal and gender dysphoria are mutually exclusive

This study sought to determine the proportion of adult, male, heterosexual cross‐dressers who acknowledge both gender dysphoria and at least occasional fetishistic response to cross‐dressing. Subjects were 193 outpatients of the gender identity clinic or behavioral sexology department of a psychiatric teaching hospital. Questionnaire items were used to assess subjects' current level of gender dysphoria and their recent history of sexual response to cross‐dressing. Subjects who reported higher levels of gender dysphoria tended to report lower frequencies of sexual arousal with cross‐dressing (r = ‐.56, p < .0001) and lower frequencies of masturbation with cross‐dressing (r = ‐.62, p < .0001). About half of even the most strongly gender dysphoric subjects, however, acknowledged that they still become sexually aroused or masturbate at least occasionally when cross‐dressing. These findings indicate a need for revision in the DSM‐III‐R's diagnostic criteria for transvestism and gender identity disorders, which presuppose that gender dysphoria and fetishistic reactions are mutually exclusive.     

What’s Recreational about ‘Recreational Rioting’? Children on the Streets in Belfast

The purpose of this paper was to explore teenagers' perception of the concept of 'recreational rioting'. It draws on focus group discussions with 80 Catholic and Protestant teenagers who live in one of the most contested interface areas in Northern Ireland, many of whom have experience of rioting. The majority of children who took part in the research were highly critical of the connotations associated with 'recreational rioting' and their experiences of rioting calls into question the 'recreational' aspects of the practice. While many children were motivated to become involved in rioting because of 'something to do', their participation was imbued with political undertones.     

The Influences of Religious Attitudes on Volunteering

Religiosity has long been known to promote volunteering in the US and elsewhere. Despite the growing body of research examining religious correlates of volunteering, however, few studies have focused on whether and how religious attitudes affect volunteering. With data from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS II), 2004?C2006, we examine the influences of religious attitudes, namely, the religiously based feelings of exclusiveness and inclusiveness, and openness to other religious faiths, on volunteering. We find that while religious exclusiveness significantly promotes volunteering only in religious areas, religious inclusiveness promotes both religious and secular volunteering. Moreover, those who are open to other religious faiths are more likely to engage in both types of volunteer work. Implications of these findings are discussed for future research linking religious attitudes to volunteering.     

An empirical bayes approach to a variables acceptance sampling plan problem

An empirical Bayes approach to a variables acceptance sampling plan problem is presented and an empirical Bayes rule is developed which is shown to be asymptotically optimal under general conditions. The problem considered is one in which the ratio of the costs of accepting defective items and rejecting non-defective items is specified. Sampling costs are not considered and the size of the sample taken from each lot is fixed and constant. The empirical Bayes estimation of the Bayes rule is shown to require the estimation of a conditional probability. An estimator for conditional probabilities of the form needed is derived and shown to have good asymptotic properties.