Exact and Approximate Statistical Inference for Nonlinear Regression and the Estimating Equation Approach

The exact density distribution of the non‐linear least squares estimator in the one‐parameter regression model is derived in closed form and expressed through the cumulative distribution function of the standard normal variable. Several proposals to generalize this result are discussed. The exact density is extended to the estimating equation (EE) approach and the non‐linear regression with an arbitrary number of linear parameters and one intrinsically non‐linear parameter. For a very special non‐linear regression model, the derived density coincides with the distribution of the ratio of two normally distributed random variables previously obtained by Fieler almost a century ago, unlike other approximations previously suggested by other authors. Approximations to the density of the EE estimators are discussed in the multivariate case. Numerical complications associated with the non‐linear least squares are illustrated, such as non‐existence and/or multiple solutions, as major factors contributing to poor density approximation. The non‐linear Markov–Gauss theorem is formulated on the basis of the near exact EE density approximation.     

A Cross-Sectional Examination of the Association Between Dyspnea and Distress as Experienced by Palliative Home Care Clients and Their Informal Caregivers

This study examined the association between dyspnea and distress as experienced by both palliative home care clients and their informal caregivers as a unit of care. Cross-sectional analysis was conducted using the interRAI Palliative Care Assessment database. Responses from 6,655 individual palliative home care clients across six regional jurisdictions in Ontario, Canada were included. This study found that clients experiencing dyspnea were more likely to show overall signs of distress; report one or more signs of self-reported distress; and be at risk for depression when compared to clients who do not experience dyspnea. Caregivers of clients experiencing dyspnea were more likely to exhibit distress than caregivers of clients not reporting dyspnea. When indicators of caregiver distress and client distress were combined, 53% of the caregiver-client units exhibited distress. Social work practitioners should include a focus on distress within the care unit as a priority when care planning to meet the needs of persons nearing the end of life. Members of the care team should consider available treatment and management options tailored to meet both the client and their informal caregiver’s needs.     

Suicide and Homo Duplex an Interpretation of Durkheim's Typology of Suicide*

The four types of suicide that Durkheim distinguished are implicit in his concept of homo duplex and the view of socialization this entailed. The individual requires both repression of his passions and direction toward society; too much or too little of either of these two processes leads to suicide and each of the four types represents one type of such failure in socialization. Internal evidence from Suiciae is used to show that Durkheim did in fact derive the suicide typology from his view of man. From the standpoint of this interpretation, those by Parsons and Douglas and by commentators who equate the anomic and egoistic suicide types are reviewed and their misunderstandings noted. Finally, the interpretation given is used to shed light on other aspects of Durkheim's thought, especially some that are disputed in the secondary literature.     

Caregiver-Child Interaction in the Development of Self: The Contributions of Vygotsky,Bruner, and Kaye to Mead's Theory

A way of updating Mead's half-century old formulations is suggested. It entails regarding Mead's formulations as one of a class of interactionist theories of the genesis of self. Such theories regard the internalization of symbols and social relations as the basis of self development and stress the role of the interaction between caregiver and child. Sensitizing concepts developed by other theorists, namely, zone of proximal development (Vygotsky), scaffolding (Bruner), and the child-as-apprentice (Kaye), are reviewed as heuristic devices which specify the nature of the interaction between caregiver and child which facilitates the latter's self development.     

Book reviews

Women and phenomenology—a survey of the literature

Élites discriminadas (sobre el poder de las mujeres) María Antonia García de Leòn Santafé de Bogotà, Editorial Anthropos, 1994, 254 pp.

G. Ferrero, El Poder. Los genios invisibles de la Ciudad