An adaptive estimatcr frequently used in material fatigue testing

Small sample sizes in material fatigue tests give rise to an adaptive estimator of the 100(1-P)% normal percentile, which is the 100P% survival load. The mean squared relative efficiency of the best invariant estimator of normal percentiles to the adaptive estimator is dependent upon the unknown parameters only through the coefficient of variation. The adaptive estimator is shown to be more locally efficient than tl-:ebest invariant estimator over a subset of the parameter space. However, in the extreme values of P the coverage probabilities of the adaptive estimator provide little more protection than a traditional point estimator over the range of preference based on mean squared relative efficiency.     

Talking about work stress: Discourse analysis and implications for stress interventions

This study used discourse analysis to explore the way in which employees understand work stress. Twenty-two female clerical workers in a Canadian city participated in focus group meetings where they talked about and made sense of their experiences of work stress. The women's accounts were analysed using discourse analysis methods (i.e. an examination of how talk is constructed). The findings revealed that talking about being stressed provides a socially acceptable way of expressing discomfort and regaining a sense of importance that is lost through feeling under-valued and under-appreciated in the organization. In contrast, admitting to being unable to cope with stress was considered to be 'abnormal'. The stress discourse fosters a sense of helplessness and ambiguity by not acknowledging external influences on clerical workers' experiences, such as their place within the power structure of the organization, and by limiting their sense of agency and control over problems experienced at work. The implications of these findings for organizational culture and interventions are discussed. For example, employers are encouraged to be conscious of the messages being sent to employees about how negative emotions or distressing experiences at work are to be addressed (i.e. how 'stress' is to be managed). Recommendations are made for future research using discourse analysis, such as the examination of alternative discourses that aim to improve conditions at work.     

Misattributions to crowding: Blaming crowding for nondensity-caused events

Three field studies and a laboratory experiment investigated the effects of disconfirmed expectations and unattained goals, varying independently of density, on attributions to crowding. Studies 1 and 2 found that positively and negatively disconfirmed time expectations elicited greater attributions to crowding than confirmed time expectations. The second field study also showed that students not attaining their course registration goals made stronger crowding attributions than students who obtained their desired courses. The expectancy disconfirmation results were replicated in a laboratory experiment. Disconfirmed performance expectations, whether positive or negative, produced stronger attributions to crowding than confirmed expectations. The final study in this series demonstrated that crowding attributions can occur despite the presence of other plausible environmental and nonenvironmental causal factors. Taken together, these results show that factors operating independently of density can influence crowding attributions in high-density environments.     

Spreading the word ... hospice information systems

The rapid spread of Saunders' thinking across the world has been facilitated by the Hospice Information service and library at St Christopher's Hospice which she helped to create and further enhanced by Help the Hospices. We have set this article in the context of the Web and other information systems as they are developing today. "Connecting people" and "collecting people's experiences" were terms often used by Cicely Saunders when she described the work of Hospice Information, a service that has in some measure contributed to the rapid spread of her thinking across the world and which is currently in close contact with palliative care workers in over 120 countries. Connecting--or networking--putting people and organizations in touch with each other for mutual benefit and collecting and disseminating people's experiences are central to our work as a U.K. and international resource on hospice and palliative care for professionals and the public. Add to these the crucial role of information provision and advocacy for patients, carers, and health professionals alike and we hope that you may begin to appreciate how our respective organizations have contributed to the spread of Cicely Saunders' vision.     

Bidirectional longitudinal associations of parent and child health following the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill

This study (1) assessed whether parent health mediated associations between exposures to the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill (BP-DHOS) and child health, and whether child health mediated associations between BP-DHOS exposures and parent health; and (2) assessed bidirectional longitudinal associations between parent health and child health following the BP-DHOS. The study used three waves of panel data (2014, 2016, and 2018) from South Louisiana communities highly impacted by the BP-DHOS. Parents with children (aged 4–18 at the time of the interview) were interviewed based on a probability sample of households. Focal measures included economic and physical BP-DHOS exposures, self-reported parent health, and parent-reported child health. Health measures were gathered at three time points. The analyses included mediation analysis and estimating and comparing effect sizes of longitudinal cross-lagged effects between parent health and child health. Results showed that parent health partly mediated associations between BP-DHOS exposures and child health, and that child health partly mediated associations between BP-DHOS exposures and parent health. Paths from prior waves of parent health to subsequent waves of child health were positive and statistically significant as were paths from prior waves of child health to subsequent waves of parent health. The differences in size of the child-to-parent health effects and the parent-to-child health effects were not statistically significant. This study’s results extend evidence for the post-disaster effect of parent health on child health and the effects of child health on parent health. These findings support the contention that harm to the health of one’s family member following disasters operates as a form of resource loss deleterious to one’s health.

     

Gender Differences in Preschool Aggression During Free Play and Structured Interactions: An Observational Study

We observed 48 children from rural preschools (M=64 months old) in two different social contexts to test hypotheses about the type (relational, physical, verbal, nonverbal), contextual independence, and sociometry of girls’ and boys’ aggressive tactics. We predicted and generally found that (1) girls displayed more relational aggression than boys while boys displayed more physical and verbal aggression than girls, and that children received more physical and verbal aggression from male peers, and tended to receive more relational aggression from female peers, (2) behavioral observations of aggression corresponded with teacher reports of children's aggressive styles, (3) aggression observed during free play predicted children's aggressive styles in a structured setting at both the group and individual levels, and (4) aggressive tactics were associated with projected sociometric characteristics (dominance and peer acceptance).     

Cognitive change and learning from practice: A longitudinal study of social work students

Anti-racist and black perspectives signalled a significant shift in the discourse on oppression in social work practice and education. However, the contributions of such perspectives have not been recognised and documented fully. This paper presents a review of the contributions of anti-racist and black perspectives to anti-discriminatory practice. It also offers a critique of the limitations of anti-racist ideas and suggests that the way forward is not to reinforce a 'flight' from anti-racism, but to build on the gains of anti-racist ideas and struggles in social work practice towards developing a more integrated understanding of oppression. This paper is written from the perspective of a black man from African background.     

On the relative behavior of estimators of reliability/survivability

Based on a decomposition of mean absolute error, a twofold technique is introduced whereby a pairwise comparison of point estimators of reliability/survivability can be made. Given two such estimators, the method examines (a) the “odds” in favor of one of the estimators being closer to the true value than is the other and (b) each estimator’s average closeness to the true value not only when it is closer than is the other but also when it is not. Joint consideration of these concepts is shown to form a basis for determining which of the two estimators is preferred in a given situation. An application of the theory is made by comparing the maximum likelihood and minimum variance unbiased estimators of reliability/survivability in the exponential failure model.