A Modified Kolmogorov–Smirnov Test for Normality

In this article we propose an improvement of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality. In the current implementation of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, given data are compared with a normal distribution that uses the sample mean and the sample variance. We propose to select the mean and variance of the normal distribution that provide the closest fit to the data. This is like shifting and stretching the reference normal distribution so that it fits the data in the best possible way. A study of the power of the proposed test indicates that the test is able to discriminate between the normal distribution and distributions such as uniform, bimodal, beta, exponential, and log-normal that are different in shape but has a relatively lower power against the student's, t-distribution that is similar in shape to the normal distribution. We also compare the performance (both in power and sensitivity to outlying observations) of the proposed test with existing normality tests such as Anderson–Darling and Shapiro–Francia.     

A note on the analysis of association in cross-classifications having ordered categories

The use of the singular value decomposition of a matrix in the analysis of cross-classifications having ordered categories la presented? Utilizing some matrix properties of a two-way contingency table, the singular value decomposition approach la applied on models such as the null association, uniform association and row-column effect models discussed recently in the literature. Some properties of estimates resulting from the singular value decomposition approach are discussed     

Harsanyi's impartial observer theorem with a restricted domain

In this paper we extend Harsanyi's impartial observer theorem by showing that the large domain of social lotteries can be significantly restricted – it is sufficient that the domain consists only of constant extended lotteries. Received: 27 December 2000/Accepted: 12 September 2001 We thank Simon Grant, Edi Karni, Atsushi Kajii, Ben Polak, Yemima Thompson and John Weymark for their comments and the Israel Institute of Business Research for financial support.     

Stochastic Dominance and Prospect Dominance with Subjective Weighting Functions

Laboratory experiments with and without real money repeatedly reveal that even if all subjects observe the same pair of cumulative distributions F and G, they act as if they were other cumulative probability functions F* and G* different for different investors. Namely, the subjects assign (subjective) weights to the various probabilities. In their breakthrough article Kahneman and Tversky [1979] suggest that in making decisions under uncertainty, the subjects apply a monotonic transformation (p) where p are the probabilities, and investors make decisions by comparing (p) corresponding to the two distributions under consideration rather than by comparing the true probabilities, p, themselves.     

The experience of loneliness of battered old women

The present article is part of a larger study examining the life stories of battered old women (Buchbinder & Winterstein, 2003; Winterstein, 2002). It is based on long in-depth interviews with twenty-one aging women who lived with violence for a significant portion of their lives. While the larger study examines a broad range of their experience, including loneliness, regret, expectations of the future, and an attempt to build a monument to their suffering, the present study focuses on loneliness, which appears to constitute the central theme of their existential experience. Content analysis of the interviews shows that loneliness is experienced on all ecological levels, including the self, the family of origin, the violent partner, the children, and the extended family. It also permeates the social relationships of the women and becomes the predominant motif of their social interactions. The combination of loneliness, violence, and old age creates suffering that colors everyday life and becomes not only the constant background against which life unfolds but also the governing variable in their experience. Their cognitive maps, emotional world, and overall sense of self, as well as their sense of existential continuity in the world are all affected by loneliness.