UPPER BOUNDS FOR THE HARMONIC MEAN, WITH AN APPLICATION TO EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

For positive-valued random variables, the paper provides a sequence of upper bounds for the harmonic mean, the ith of these bounds being exact if and only if the random variable is essentially i-valued. Sufficient conditions for the convergence of the bounds to the harmonic mean are given. The bounds have a number of applications, particularly in experimental design where they may be used to check how close a given design is to A-optimality     

Job Satisfaction Among Volunteers With Personal Cancer Experience

ABSTRACT

This study explored job satisfaction among 753 cancer-experienced volunteers from hospital, palliative care, and community-based oncology settings in nine provinces across Canada. Based on a conceptual framework including three components of volunteering—antecedents, experiences, and consequences—a mixed-methods design to explore job satisfaction was used. Findings from the quantitative and qualitative inquiries indicated that the level of job satisfaction was high and stress was not reported as a major concern. The four themes related to job satisfaction from the volunteers’ responses included learning, personal growth, challenge, and giving back related to their own experience with cancer. Future research should further investigate the important role of job satisfaction for social service professionals for training, marketing, and recruiting, plus the need to explore supports to sustain oncology volunteers in this most challenging environment.     

The Causal Sequence of Risk Communication in the Parkfield Earthquake Prediction Experiment

A model of public perception and response to communication about natural hazards risk was constructed. It was estimated on data from samples of households in three communities at risk in the Parkfield earthquake prediction experiment. Estimated model parameters revealed consistent conclusions. Communicated risk information that was reinforced through additional communications and/or social cues precipitated an interactive personal search for more information; personal definitions of risk and what to do emerged; and these social constructions directed how the public responded. Perceived risk only indirectly impacted public action through information searching. This suggests that searching behavior should intervene between perception of risk and response in the theory of public risk communication.     

Perceptions of "impingement" and marital satisfaction among wives of retired husbands

Initial pilot interviews with women whose husbands were in the first year of retirement revealed that problems of "impingement"--perceptions of husbands as intruders into their worlds-as-lived--were cited, in response to open-ended items, as the most difficult aspect of husbands' retirement. An impingement index, consisting of items constructed from those responses, was administered to the original panel of 83 women whose husbands were now in the fourth year of retirement, and to a new panel of 61 women whose husbands had been retired for one year. Paired T-tests revealed one significant difference in perceptions of impingement between the two groups of wives, and not in the expected direction. Indeed, wives in year 4 were more often bothered by some impingement conditions than wives in year 1, and these were significantly related to self-assessments of marital satisfaction. Results have implications for "adjustment" to life transitions, including situations that may inhibit initiation of adaptive responses, degree of investment in social roles, and issues of expectation.     

Fishermens blues: Factors related to accidents and safety among Newfoundland fishermen

Abstract

The fisheries is one of the most dangerous industries in Canada. Possible contributory causes of the high rate of injuries are a fatalistic attitude to accidents and safety, and a high level of anxiety and worry among fishermen. These characteristics would be expected to lead to less attention to safety procedures and a consequent greater risk of accidents. The purpose of this study was to explore fishermen's levels of fatalism and anxiety; to consider the relationship of these factors to the frequency of accidents and extent of safety precautions; and to explore fishermen's explanations of and suggested solutions to the high rate of injuries at sea. The study was conducted among a sample of inshore fishermen who fished in the waters around Newfoundland. Fifty-five fishermen completed a questionnaire that requested basic demographic details, information on injuries obtained, safety precautions taken, perceived locus of control over accidents, anxiety, worries and explanations for accidents and possible measures to reduce them. Analysis of their replies revealed that the fishermen reported a high level of anxiety and that those who reported most anxiety reported more injuries and fewer safety precautions.