A Test of Independence in Two-Way Contingency Tables Based on Maximal Correlation

Maximal correlation has several desirable properties as a measure of dependence, including the fact that it vanishes if and only if the variables are independent. Except for a few special cases, it is hard to evaluate maximal correlation explicitly. We focus on two-dimensional contingency tables and discuss a procedure for estimating maximal correlation, which we use for constructing a test of independence. We compare the maximal correlation test with other tests of independence by Monte Carlo simulations. When the underlying continuous variables are dependent but uncorrelated, we point out some cases for which the new test is more powerful.     

Estimation of a poisson mean using discrete mixtures of conjugate priors

The problem of estimating a Poisson mean is considered using incomplete prior information. The user is only able to assess two fractiles of the prior distribution. A class of mixture distributions is constructed to model this prior information; variation within this class primarily occurs in the tail region where little prior information exists. The posterior analysis using the mixture class is attractive computationally and compares favorably with the conjugate posterior analysis.     

Trends in Occupational Segregation by Gender 1970–2009: Adjusting for the Impact of Changes in the Occupational Coding System

In this article, we develop a gender-specific crosswalk based on dual-coded Current Population Survey data to bridge the change in the census occupational coding system that occurred in 2000 and use it to provide the first analysis of the trends in occupational segregation by sex for the 1970–2009 period based on a consistent set of occupational codes and data sources. We show that our gender-specific crosswalk more accurately captures the trends in occupational segregation that are masked using the aggregate crosswalk (based on combined male and female employment) provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. Using the 2000 occupational codes, we find that segregation by sex declined substantially over the period but at a diminished pace over the decades, falling by only 1.1 percentage points (on a decadal basis) in the 2000s. A primary mechanism by which segregation was reduced was through the entry of new cohorts of women, presumably better prepared than their predecessors and/or encountering less labor market discrimination; during the 1970s and 1980s, however, occupational segregation also decreased within cohorts. Reductions in segregation were correlated with education, with the largest decrease among college graduates and very little change in segregation among high school dropouts.     

The transmission of women’s fertility, human capital, and work orientation across immigrant generations

Using the 1995–2011 March Current Population Survey and 1970–2000 Census data, we find that the fertility, education, and labor supply of second-generation women (US-born women with at least one foreign-born parent) are significantly positively affected by the immigrant generation’s levels of these variables, with the effect of the fertility and labor supply of women from the mother’s source country generally larger than that of women from the father’s source country and the effect of the education of men from the father’s source country larger than that of women from the mother’s source country. We present some evidence that suggests our findings for fertility and labor supply are due at least in part to intergenerational transmission of gender roles. Transmission rates for immigrant fertility and labor supply between generations are higher than for education, but there is considerable intergenerational assimilation toward native levels for all three of these outcomes.     

Fit between sourcing capabilities and organisational structure on IT outsourcing performance

Thus far, relatively few studies on the supplier side of Information Technology (IT) outsourcing arrangements have been based on empirical quantitative research. Previous research identified a recurring supplier problem, a lack of sustainability in IT performance. The literature revealed that a supplier's capabilities and organisational structure affect the supplier performance. We hypothesise that realising a fit between the necessary sourcing capabilities and organisational structure on the IT supplier side will result in a sustainable sourcing performance. We executed a survey research among employees involved in sourcing activities of three different IT outsourcing suppliers (N?=?135). The results from our analysis provide evidence that these constructs can be used to analyse differences between the three types of service suppliers. Results indicate that suppliers who focus on establishing a fit are more willing or able to monitor if they achieve a sustainable performance.     

Spatial Analyses of the Impact of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families on Child Neglect Caseloads During the Great Recession

Loss of market income to families is recognized as a major risk factor of child neglect. In the 2008 recession, some poor families replaced their market incomes with cash assistance from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Using secondary data for 42 contiguous jurisdictions and DC, we examined the relationship between increases in TANF caseloads and changes in substantiated child neglect cases in each of the contiguous jurisdiction’s 2008 recession. Key findings suggest that reductions in child neglect cases in the presence of increasing TANF caseloads were more profound in about half the states than any increases in child neglect cases found in the remainder of the states. Applying Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis tools, local spatial clusters were found in four neighboring states in the Midwest-South corridor suggesting that child neglect increases were similar and substantial across these four states. Our findings provide important information to stakeholders who may want to better target federal resources to specific geographic regions. Neighboring states experiencing large increases in child neglect during economic downturns may extend their collaborative efforts so they can develop strategies for improving services. Future research should explain the growth in child neglect with other variables aside from TANF caseloads.     

The Construct Validity of Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB) and their Relationship to Measures of Subjective Well-Being

The factor structure of Ryff's Scales ofPsychological Well-Being (SPWB) and theirrelationship to standardized measures ofsubjective well-being (SWB) were investigated.Two hundred seventy-seven participants rangingin age from 18 to 48 years were administeredthe Memorial University of Newfoundland Scaleof Happiness (MUNSH), the Satisfaction WithLife Scale (SWLS), and the SPWB. Results failedto support either the hypothesis thatperforming factor analytic procedures on theitems of the SPWB should produce a six-factorsolution, with scale-specific items loadingmost highly on their respective factors or thehypothesis that subjecting the sub-scales ofthe SPWB to factor analytic procedures alongwith standardized measures of SWB would produceone higher-order well-being factor. Instead,item loadings clustered around three majorfactors that could not be identified with thesix scales proposed by Ryff. Moreover, thefactor analysis of SPWB and SWB scale totalsproduced three, instead of one, higher-orderfactors. Implications of findings are discussedwith respect to the relationship of the PWBconstruct to the SWB construct.     

Anticipating attendance in reminiscence therapy with measures of mood and happiness

Nineteen community volunteers for a reminiscence intervention were grouped into those attending no more than one-quarter of sessions and those attending approximately three-quarters of sessions. A model of psychological well-being was used to discriminate these groups. Predictions from the model were confirmed in two analyses: attendance was related negatively to baseline mood but positively to baseline happiness; the acute/chronic environmental discrepancy term of the model was negatively related to attendance. The model correctly assigned 16/19 (85%) of subjects to attendance categories.     

Marshall and Gorman's Markov chain model for occupational prestige

This report scrutinizes the Markov chain model for occupational prestige proposed by K. P. Marshall and B. L. Gorman (1975, Social Science Research 4, 41–64). It is shown that the results of their application are highly unstable.