Gini Index Decomposition for the Case of Two Subgroups

In the framework of inequality measures decompositions, this article introduces an immediate and straightforward simplification for the Gini index when a population is divided in two subgroups. Since one of the key points in inequality analysis is represented by the role of overlapping units, a simulation study is developed in order to analyze the effects of the overlapping component on inequality decomposition. Simple expressions for the measurement of either overlapping component and inequality between are derived, which allow to correctly evaluate and compare the effects of different factors on total inequality.     

Generalized Control Charts for Non-Normal Data Using g-and-k Distributions

Statistical control charts are often used in industry to monitor processes in the interests of quality improvement. Such charts assume independence and normality of the control statistic, but these assumptions are often violated in practice. To better capture the true shape of the underlying distribution of the control statistic, we utilize the g-and-k distributions to estimate probability limits, the true ARL, and the error in confidence that arises from incorrectly assuming normality. A sensitivity assessment reveals that the extent of error in confidence associated with control chart decision-making procedures increases more rapidly as the distribution becomes more skewed or as the tails of the distribution become longer than those of the normal distribution. These methods are illustrated using both a frequentist and computational Bayesian approach to estimate the g-and-k parameters in two different practical applications. The Bayesian approach is appealing because it can account for prior knowledge in the estimation procedure and yields posterior distributions of parameters of interest such as control limits.     

Theoretical, Empirical, and Practical Approaches to Intergroup Conflict

The study of intergroup relations has long been an interest of social scientists, particularly members of The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. The articles in this issue offer a wide variety of theoretical, empirical, and practical approaches to understanding and resolving national and international group conflict. This introductory article summarizes the original social psychological work that laid the foundation for contemporary thinking on intergroup relations, and presents an overview of each of the contributions in this issue. Also discussed are applications of social psychology to real-world intergroup conflicts.     

‘I Became a Mom’: Identity Changes in Mothers Receiving Public Assistance

ABSTRACT

This phenomenological study used individual, semistructured, face-to-face interviews to explore motherhood experiences among 15 women receiving public assistance in a large urban area on the West coast. A primary phenomenon observed was that motherhood was described as an experience of identity change, with resulting emotional, behavioral, and sense-of-self changes. Within this broad theme, two categories emerged: the experience and process of change, and consequences of change. It was concluded that motherhood may serve as an important catalyst for change in some women and that the context of poverty is essential for understanding the motherhood experience. These results suggest that interventions aimed at leveraging emerging motherhood identities may be beneficial in setting women on the path out of poverty, drug addiction, and incarceration. Future research should examine the consequences of maternal change within the specific context of the stages of change documented in the recovery process from drug addiction.     

The (Non) Impact of Minimum Wages on Poverty: Regression and Simulation Evidence for Canada

We estimate the effect of minimum wages on poverty for Canada using data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) for 1997 to 2007 and find that minimum wages do not have a statistically significant effect on poverty and this finding is robust across a number of specifications. Our simulation results, based on the March 2008 Labour Force Survey (LFS), find that only about 30?% of the net earnings gain from minimum wage increases goes to the poor while about 70?% ??spill over?? into the hands of the non-poor. Furthermore, we find that job losses are disproportionately concentrated on the poor. Our results highlight that, political rhetoric not-withstanding, minimum wages are poorly targeted as an anti-poverty device and are at best an exceedingly blunt instrument for dealing with poverty.     

ENHANCING DISCOURSE ON NEW TECHNOLOGY WITHIN HIGHER EDUCATION

Universities face challenges in creating and nurturing reflective discourse about ICTs within higher education. Constraints to this discourse include time-space compression caused by ICTs, and changing perceptions of the university's role in an information society. In answering these challenges, a call is made for elevating the role of higher education in public knowledge formation. Such a move reduces the constraints of time pressures by valuing discussion and debate and the time required for these activities, and questions authority and credibility gained solely due to practical and discursive technological competency. Thus, the question is not just to explore how communications technologies are shaping our experience of time and space, but to debate how we wish to use technologies and other means to shape and create the time and space in which meaningful human social and political life is possible. Institutions of higher education should both serve as sites for public knowledge formation, and as contributors to such initiatives in civic society.     

War against War!: pictures as means of social struggle in post-First World War Europe

Germany 1925: Ernst Friedrich, a young anarchist and anti-militarist activist, publishes one of the first independent books composed only of photographs and captions: War against War! His stated goal is to employ classified pictures of the First World War (WWI) to unmask nationalistic propaganda and expose the false narratives of militaristic rhetoric. Published on the eve of the golden age of photojournalism, this book is the first grassroots attempt to use photography as a means of social and cultural change on a large scale. Through in-depth analysis of some key pictures, I will investigate the relation this series of images establishes with the beholder and the role it plays in shaping his visual experience. Emphasis will be placed on 24 close-ups of disfigured faces which constitute the last set of this visually driven narrative. As I will seek to demonstrate, the complex array of pictures created by Ernst Friedrich testifies to a fundamental yet still embryonic change in the social perception of photography in the post-WWI Europe.     

Happily Ever After? The Journey From Foster Care to Adoption

Providing the foster child with a forever family through adoption is often seen as a happy ending to the long and painful journey through foster care. This qualitative study explores this complex journey from foster care to adoption from the perspective of 30 young adults aged 18 to 25 who were adopted from the foster care system after the age of 8. The results indicate that the foster and adoption experience for these youth cannot be compartmentalized when trying to understand the impact adoption has had on their overall sense of self. Implications for future research to explore the emerging concept of foster/adoptive identity for older youth adopted through the foster care system are provided.     

Robust estimation of dynamic fixed-effects panel data models

This paper extends an existing outlier-robust estimator of linear dynamic panel data models with fixed effects, which is based on the median ratio of two consecutive pairs of first-order differenced data. To improve its precision and robustness properties, a general procedure based on higher-order pairwise differences and their ratios is designed. The asymptotic distribution of this class of estimators is derived. Further, the breakdown point properties are obtained under contamination by independent additive outliers and by the patches of additive outliers, and are used to select the pairwise differences that do not compromise the robustness properties of the procedure. The proposed estimator is additionally compared with existing methods by means of Monte Carlo simulations.