AN EVALUATION OF FORECAST ERROR IN MASTER PRODUCTION SCHEDULING FOR MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS PLANNING SYSTEMS.

Typical forecast-error measures such as mean squared error, mean absolute deviation and bias generally are accepted indicators of forecasting performance. However, the eventual cost impact of forecast errors on system performance and the degree to which cost consequences are explained by typical error measures have not been studied thoroughly. The present paper demonstrates that these typical error measures often are not good predictors of cost consequences in material requirements planning (MRP) settings. MRP systems rely directly on the master production schedule (MPS) to specify gross requirements. These MRP environments receive forecast errors indirectly when the errors create inaccuracies in the MPS. Our study results suggest that within MRP environments the predictive capabilities of forecast-error measures are contingent on the lot-sizing rule and the product components structure When forecast errors and MRP system costs are coanalyzed, bias emerges as having reasonable predictive ability. In further investigations of bias, loss functions are evaluated to explain the MRP cost consequences of forecast errors. Estimating the loss functions of forecast errors through regression analysis demonstrates the superiority of loss functions as measures over typical forecast error measures in the MPS.     

Smoking and Intention to Quit Among a Large Sample of Black Sexual and Gender Minorities

The purpose of this study is to more completely quantify smoking and intention to quit from a sample of sexual and gender minority (SGM) Black individuals (N = 639) through analysis of data collected at Pride festivals and online. Frequencies described demographic characteristics; chi-square analyses were used to compare tobacco-related variables. Black SGM smokers were more likely to be trying to quit smoking than White SGM smokers. However, Black SGM individuals were less likely than White SGM individuals to become former smokers. The results of this study indicate that smoking behaviors may be heavily influenced by race after accounting for SGM status.     

Characteristics of homeless jail inmates: Implications for social work

This study set out to validate the hypothesis (belief) that homeless people were likely to commit minor offenses as solutions to their conditions. Jails, and maybe prisons, would provide three meals a day, a place to sleep, and minimal health care-especially during the winter months. Instead, the data did not support the hypothesis. Contrary to the reported practices of some homeless people in Colorado who are described as committing non-serious but timed offenses to go to jail, it found a homeless population in jail who give a literal interpretation to the political phrase the invisible people. They were not in jail because they were homeless, but instead they were in jail for serious crimes (murder, rape, drugs, robbery) and their homelessness was a side fact. Since it was not likely that this group would seek to address or resolve their homelessness, it was recommended that jail social workers identify their needs to them, track them into social welfare networks, with a designated contact person, prior to their release.     

Suicide Ideation Among US College Students Associations With Other Injury Risk Behaviors

Abstract

Suicide, the endpoint of a continuum that begins with suicide ideation, is the third leading cause of death among the US college-aged population. The first and second leading causes of death among this age group, unintentional injury and homicide, may also be linked to suicide ideation. We used data from the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey to examine the association between suicide ideation and injury-related behaviors among 18- to 24-year-old college students. Students who reported suicide ideation were significantly more likely than students who did not report considering suicide to carry a weapon, engage in a physical fight, boat or swim after drinking alcohol, ride with a driver who had been drinking alcohol, drive after drinking alcohol, and rarely or never used seat belts. Given this clustering of injury-related risk behaviors, college prevention programs should aim to reduce risks for injuries comprehensively, rather than addressing each risk behavior separately.     

Single Motherhood: A Personal View

What model of “family” do social workers carry around in their heads? How does this influence their behaviour in relation to, say, single mothers? Through identifying the difficulties experienced by women who are single mothers, the author challenges social workers to reflect on the value judgments they pass and the expectations they hold of this client group.     

Research in progress

Current proposals for reorganising social work training concentrate too heavily upon initial qualifying training. The greater need is to devise a system for career long development and performance monitoring related to credentials associated with training, experience and responsibilities. Many American states have certification regulations governing social work. Adaptation of such schemes to Britain would have advantages for both public and social workers and could be incorporated into present proposals for the reorganisation of training. A structure is proposed charged with responsibility for monitoring all professional development. Training beyond the initial would become obligatory and reduce the unreasonable expectations placed upon basic training for career long competence.     

Gender and White College Students' Racial Attitudes

New forms of racial attitudes among whites, including racial resentment, help to uphold institutionalized inequalities in the United States. As a way to dismantle institutionalized forms of racial inequalities, colleges and universities have implemented various curricula and programs designed to expose students to diversity and reduce social inequalities. This study attempts to uncover the extent to which college experiences affect levels of racial resentment among white students, with emphasis on whether the effects differ for women and men. Findings from a representative sample of students at a large Midwestern university revealed that white men showed higher levels of racial resentment than white women and that their attitudes were significantly affected by many college experiences. By contrast, white women are less affected by aspects of their college experience.     

A Qualitative Assessment of a Parent-developed,Parent-run Program to Prevent Teenage Pregnancy

This paper describes an approach to parent education that includes a parent-developed curriculum and parent-facilitated parent training program. The approach was based upon a model of empowerment and self-determination derived from critical and post-modern theoretical perspectives and asserts that parents, working together collectively, can affect meaningful change in their lives. The results of a qualitative assessment support the notion that peer-led parenting training can increase parents' confidence, reduce feelings of incompetence and reduce reluctance to assume the role of parenting. These results support the contention that parents can self-author their change and improve.