Clustering to reduce regional heterogeneity: A spanish case-study

Statistical methods of dimension reduction and classification are used to obtain homogeneous local-area clustering with regard to the most relevant demographic parameters. The dimension reduction is conducted in two stages using Principal Component Analysis and a modified k-mean procedure is proposed to determine the final clusters. This clustering will be useful in future demographic studies at a local level, in particular to obtain forecasts of demographic rates and population projections. The region of Castile and León in Spain is used to illustrate the method. A Poisson model is used to explore the advantages of the new clustering over the more conventional classification based on provinces.     

Gendered Racism on the Body: An Intersectional Approach to Maternal Mortality in the United States

Population Research and Policy Review - Scholars recognize sex and race as social determinants of health. However, demography research often ignores their derivatives (racism and sexism) and their...     

The Impact of Overeducation on Wages of Recent Economic Sciences Graduates

Social Indicators Research - United Nations Development Program presented the Human Development Index for ranking the countries with regard to three dimensions, namely being knowledgeable, a long...     

Health Costs of Wealth Gains: Labor Migration and Perceptions of HIV/AIDS Risks in Mozambique

The study employs survey data from rural Mozambique to examine how men's labor migration affects their non-migrating wives' perceptions of HIV/AIDS risks. Using a conceptual framework centered on tradeoffs between economic security and health risks that men's migration entails for their left-behind wives, it compares women married to migrants and those married to non-migrants while also distinguishing between economically successful and unsuccessful migration. The analysis finds that the economic success of men's migration, rather than migration itself, significantly predicts women's worries about getting infected by their husbands or their own extramarital partners, and their husbands' stance on condom use. These findings are situated within a broader context of socio-economic, gender, and marital dynamics and vulnerabilities produced or amplified by male labor migration in sub-Saharan and similar developing settings.     

Aftershocks of Chile's earthquake for an ongoing, large-scale experimental evaluation

Evaluation designs for social programs are developed assuming minimal or no disruption from external shocks, such as natural disasters. This is because extremely rare shocks may not make it worthwhile to account for them in the design. Among extreme shocks is the 2010 Chile earthquake. Un Buen Comienzo (UBC), an ongoing early childhood program in Chile, was directly affected by the earthquake. This article discusses (a) the factors the UBC team considered for deciding whether to put on hold or continue implementation and data collection for this experimental study; and (b) how the team reached consensus on those decisions. A lesson learned is that the use of an experimental design for UBC insured that the evaluation's internal validity was not compromised by the earthquake's consequences, although cohort comparisons were compromised. Other lessons can be transferred to other contexts where external shocks affect an ongoing experimental or quasi-experimental impact evaluation.     

The design of socially optimal decisions in a consensus scenario

Several situations of conflict between basic social principles can crop up during a consensus searching process. The majority principle and respect for minority groups is a possible example of a conflictive situation between two social principles. In this paper, we outline a specific consensus searching scenario, where individual preferences are expressed by “pairwise” comparison matrices. The set of compromise consensuses between the majority and minority principles is determined using a procedure based upon an adaptation of Yu's p-metric distances. Finally, we use three different theoretical approaches – utility theory, p-metric distance functions and bargaining theory – to obtain the social optimum from the set of compromise consensuses. The links and differences among the three approaches are analysed. Finally, the working of the proposed theoretical framework is illustrated with the help of a forestry case study.     

A Century of Nuptiality in Spain, 1900–2007

This article describes the annual evolution of nuptiality in Spain from the beginning of the last century up to the present day. The analysis is based on data on first marriages from population registration data (Movimiento Natural de Población) after various adjustment and estimation operations. This source has an advantage with respect to census data, since it allows us to follow the annual nuptiality fluctuations that are very sensitive to prevailing social and economic conditions. Over the long term, the phases of nuptiality in Spain are comparable to those observed in Western Europe. However, leaving aside the period disturbed by the Civil War (1936–1939), Spain does exhibit some particular features: a long interlude from 1940 to 1959 marked by late marriage, rooted in the long depression of the Spanish economy; a prolonged rise in nuptiality which lasted until the end of the 1970s, corresponding to the late arrival of the first oil shock in Spain; and finally, a certain delay in the decline of marriage, accompanied—since the early 2000s only—by a parallel diffusion of cohabitation. Last, Spain is converging with Europe in another aspect that is seldom taken into account. While, from 1950 to 1980, it was one of the few European countries to register a first marriage rate unfavourable to women, the reversal of this trend since the 1980s has brought Spain closer to the majority of its neighbours.     

论学术环境与高校教师的主观幸福感

高校教师从事的是一种学术职业。高校教师的主观幸福感是在与教学和科研相关的学术职业活动过程中得到的一种精神满足和情感体验。学术环境是影响高校教师主观幸福感的重要因素之一。高校应当通过创设各种条件,满足教师在学术活动中内在的心理需求;应当逐步去行政化,强化学术权力在学校生活中的权威,促进学术环境的优化,提升教师的主观幸福感。     

从“杀鱼弟”事件反思进城务工人员子女失学问题

进城务工人员作为我们当今社会的弱势群体,他们子女的教育问题是影响我国构建社会主义和谐社会的重要因素。通过分析＂杀鱼弟＂作为义务教育适龄儿童,不做读书郎却愿为杀鱼工,发现隐藏在这一事件背后的是一个严重的教育问题,即进城务工人员子女的失学问题。采用问卷调查和文献研究两种研究方法,对进城务工人员子女失学问题从失学因素、隐性失学现象、失学所带来的危害等几个方面展开论述,并在此基础上提出具有可行性的对策。     

大牛地气田低渗储层成因及评价

综合利用岩芯、测井以及各种分析化验资料,运用储层沉积学、岩石学和成岩作用等相关理论,详细总结了大牛地气田致密砂岩储层的成因。研究结果表明,沉积微相在宏观上控制了储层物性的空间分布,成岩作用决定了砂岩内部储集空间特征和储集性能,主要表现在较强的压实作用和胶结作用使砂岩的原生孔隙很少得以保存,而溶蚀作用有条件地改善了储层的储集性能,微裂缝只是在一定程度上改善了砂岩的渗透性,但也加剧了储层的非均质性。在此研究基础上,从沉积相、岩石学特征、成岩作用、孔渗特征等方面优选地质评价参数,在目的层划分出4类储层,其中Ⅰ类高产层主要是河道砂体复合带,其具有自然伽马曲线低值、自然电位曲线显著负异常等测井响应特征,碎屑颗粒粗,储层岩石表现为石英含量高,以残余粒间孔或粒间溶孔为主的特征。