Randomized response surveys: Optimum estimation of a finite population total

Randomized response (RR) techniques are used to gather information of a sensitive nature. Optimal sampling strategies for estimating a finite population total under a superpopulation model have been derived by utilizing auxiliary information suitably in constructing the RR techniques.     

A Bayesian analysis of the change-point problem for directional data

In this paper, we discuss a simple fully Bayesian analysis of the change-point problem for the directional data in the parametric framework with von Mises or circular normal distribution as the underlying distribution. We first discuss the problem of detecting change in the mean direction of the circular normal distribution using a latent variable approach when the concentration parameter is unknown. Then, a simpler approach, beginning with proper priors for all the unknown parameters – the sampling importance resampling technique – is used to obtain the posterior marginal distribution of the change-point. The method is illustrated using the wind data [E.P. Weijers, A. Van Delden, H.F. Vugts and A.G.C.A. Meesters, The composite horizontal wind field within convective structures of the atmospheric surface layer, J. Atmos. Sci. 52 (1995. 3866–3878]. The method can be adapted for a variety of situations involving both angular and linear data and can be used with profit in the context of statistical process control in Phase I of control charting and also in Phase II in conjunction with control charts.     

Optional randomized response technique in two-phase sampling

Two-phase optional randomized response (TORR) technique has been proposed. The proposed randomized response (RR) performs much better in general than the existing RR techniques. Theoretical and numerical illustrations identified conditions of superiority of the proposed TORR over the existing comparable optional randomized response (ORR) techniques.     

Optimal Estimation of a Finite Population Total Under Randomized Response Surveys

Problems of estimation of a finite population total of a variable of sensitive in nature are studied under randomized response (RR) surveys. Some optimal sampling strategies are presented under different superpopulation models.     

Some Further Issues Concerning Likelihood Inference for Left Truncated and Right Censored Lognormal Data

The maximum likelihood estimates (MLEs) of the parameters of a two-parameter lognormal distribution with left truncation and right censoring are developed through the Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm. For comparative purpose, the MLEs are also obtained by the Newton–Raphson method. The asymptotic variance-covariance matrix of the MLEs is obtained by using the missing information principle, under the EM framework. Then, using asymptotic normality of the MLEs, asymptotic confidence intervals for the parameters are constructed. Asymptotic confidence intervals are also obtained using the estimated variance of the MLEs by the observed information matrix, and by using parametric bootstrap technique. Different confidence intervals are then compared in terms of coverage probabilities, through a Monte Carlo simulation study. A prediction problem concerning the future lifetime of a right censored unit is also considered. A numerical example is given to illustrate all the inferential methods developed here.     

Efficient allocation of heterogenous commodities with balanced transfers

In this article, we characterize heterogenous commodities allocation problems where an efficient rule can be implemented in dominant strategies with balanced transfers. We show that the class of such problems is non-trivial and that the associated difference domain is one-dimensional. If the domain satisfies convexity, there exists a permutation of the objects for which the associated difference domain is a straight line passing through the origin with positive slope. An interesting feature of the domains is that at most two orderings of the commodities are permissible and, in particular, one ordering must be the reverse of the other.     

On the nature of Suppes–Sen maximal paths in an aggregative growth model

This article investigates the nature of paths in the standard neoclassical aggregative model of economic growth that are maximal according to the Suppes–Sen grading principle. This is accomplished by relating such paths to paths which are utilitarian maximal when an increasing (but not necessarily concave) utility function evaluates each period’s consumption. Dynamic properties of Suppes–Sen maximal paths, which lie entirely above or entirely below the golden-rule, are analyzed. An example is presented in which an explicit form of a consumption function is described, which generates only Suppes–Sen maximal paths. This consumption function is shown to generate consumption cycles, and violate the Pigou–Dalton transfer principle.     

Pedagogy and Activism – Do the Two Mix? A Dialogue on Social Justice and Its Place in The Classroom

In this introductory essay, I reflect on the connection between pedagogy and activism and introduce the three contributors to this special section on the topic. More specifically, I chart key points in the history of sociology in the West asking readers to consider whether sociology has ever been value-free. In the process, I invoke sociologists who thought it essential for integration of sociological thought and practice (albeit not necessarily in the form of activism), ponder the meaning of science and think about the meaning of an education in sociology. As part of the discussion, I also present my position on sociology, pedagogy, and activism.     

Managing ‘American Islam’

Focusing on the case of Islam in post-9/11 United States, this article highlights the particularity of how US secularism is enacted by the state. In much sociological theory, the United States has been understood to be a neutral and non-interfering state with regard to religion, thereby fostering a pluralist religious context of free consumer choice. Some Muslim reformists have argued that this context makes the US highly fertile ground upon which to reform Islam and to improve women's status in Islam. This article argues that, in the context of the US-led ‘war on terror’, the government has drawn on and amplified this discourse in the service of producing a representation of the US as tolerant, while also seeking to promote a concept of ‘true’ Islam and produce patriotic Muslim citizens. At the center of this discourse are contested portrayals of Muslim women as symbolic of a modern and liberated Islam that is uniquely ‘American’ and opposed to other presumably oppressive Islams. While this context may in fact promote the reform of Islam, it does so with state involvement rather than as a result of state neutrality.