Mean-Squared errors of small area estimators under a multivariate linear model for repeated measures data

In this paper, we discuss the derivation of the first and second moments for the proposed small area estimators under a multivariate linear model for repeated measures data. The aim is to use these moments to estimate the mean-squared errors (MSE) for the predicted small area means as a measure of precision. At the first stage, we derive the MSE when the covariance matrices are known. At the second stage, a method based on parametric bootstrap is proposed for bias correction and for prediction error that reflects the uncertainty when the unknown covariance is replaced by its suitable estimator.     

Hiding within racial hierarchies: how undocumented immigrants make residential decisions in an American city

In the United States, the residential segregation of Latinos from whites has persisted but has fallen between Latinos and blacks. Demographers offer the size of the Latino population that is undocumented as one potential explanation for these patterns. However, little work has examined undocumented immigrants’ first-hand accounts of residential decision-making. Drawing on interviews with undocumented-headed, Latin American-origin families in Dallas, Texas, we explore how lacking legal status relates to residential selection. We find that some undocumented families perceive certain neighbourhoods to be ‘off-limits’, not only because of financial constraints, explicit legal impediments to their tenure, or individual racial preferences, but also because they perceive them as high-risk: Most sample households agree that law enforcement patrols areas with white majorities in order to exclude Latinos and, specifically, the undocumented. As a strategy to minimise the perceived risk law enforcement poses to their families’ stability, some undocumented families in the study report opting into neighbourhoods with Latino majorities in order to ‘blend in’, whereas others describe feeling safe in neighbourhoods with black majorities where they can ‘hide in plain sight’. We demonstrate how undocumented families’ perceptions of law enforcement in neighbourhoods with differing racial compositions may partly underlie trends in residential selection and stratification.     

Degree and Direction of Sexual Desire Discrepancy are Linked to Sexual and Relationship Satisfaction in Couples Transitioning to Parenthood

Many new parents are concerned that they have different levels of interest in sex than their partner. Understanding the role of desire discrepancies in their sexual and relationship satisfaction could help promote adjustment. In community couples, larger desire discrepancies have been inconsistently linked to lower sexual and relationship satisfaction. However, these studies rarely accounted for both the degree and direction (e.g., which partner has higher desire) of the discrepancy. We surveyed 255 mixed-sex new parent couples to assess their sexual desire, sexual satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction. Using polynomial regression with response surface analysis (RSA), we found that desire discrepancies between partners (i.e., when partners were more mismatched as opposed to matched on their levels of sexual desire) were associated with lower sexual (but not relationship) satisfaction for both partners. However, the direction of desire discrepancy mattered: Parents felt less satisfied when mothers were the higher-desire partner compared to when fathers were the higher-desire partner. In addition, when partners’ level of sexual desire was in agreement, they were more sexually and relationally satisfied if both partners reported higher compared to lower desire. Results demonstrate the important role of both the magnitude and direction of desire discrepancies in new parent couples.     

Teaching critical self-reflection through the lens of cultural humility: an assignment in a social work diversity course

Social workers engage with marginalized groups in society. However, many social workers are of privileged groups and have not personally experienced social exclusions. This study explored social work graduate students’ evaluation of an assignment designed to encourage critical self-reflection as part of a required diversity course. The assignment approaches diversity using a cultural humility lens, which seeks to remove historical, unidimensional approaches to teaching about diverse populations. Data were collected from 47 MSW students enrolled at an urban, Midwestern university in the United States. Thematic analyses of students’ critical self-reflections revealed positive experiences regarding the influence of personal histories, development of professional identity, and importance of cultural humility.     

Syntagmatic and Paradigmatic Synergism: Notes on “Lanigan’s ‘Encyclopedic Dictionary’”

Richard L. Lanigan, founder of the International Communicology Institute, has formulated a synergistic account of the relationship between sign-systems (semiotics) and lived experience (phenomenology). In this article I overview some of the technical vocabulary found within Lanigan’s “Semiotic Phenomenology” and attempt to clarify the parallel relations between (a) part/whole, (b) variance/invariance, (c) empirical/eidetic, and (d) context-dependence/decontextualization by examining the relationships between the syntagmatic and paradigmatic axes of discourse. I also contextualize the relationship between “information” and “communication” by locating the former mainly within the evolutionary advent of denotation, and I furthermore spell out the role that alphabetic literacy plays in fortifying paradigmatic and syntagmatic resources.     

Eliciting Street-Based Sex Worker Perspectives to Inform Prostitution Policy Development

Using a visual method developed with input from program participants, this study reports on data collected from people attending a Baltimore drop-in center for women in street-based sex work (N = 17). Respondents created collages expressing future hopes and aspirations, which they discussed in focus groups and interviews. Respondents focused on health, reunification with family, employment and housing. Although respondents’ easily visualized goals, they often seemed out of reach. Hurdles that they noted were largely due to poverty and lack of opportunities. Our findings highlight the negative impact of prostitution policy on women’s choices and their ability to achieve self-identified goals.     

Altruistic behavior and habit formation

This article examines whether altruistic behavior is habit forming. The basic premise is that if engaging in altruistic behavior when young is a good predictor of such behavior in adulthood, then this is consistent with the notion that altruistic behavior is habit forming. Using U.S. data, we examine donations of both money and time and find that engaging in charitable behavior when young is a strong predictor of adult altruistic behavior, with all other things equal. A major issue in the interpretation of this result is that the correlation between youthful and adult altruistic behavior may be due to some third variable that affects both. Although it is impossible to rule out such a possibility, we are able to control for family influences that likely could affect lifetime attitudes toward altruism.     

Collegiate-Based Emergency Medical Service: Impact on Alcohol-Related Emergency Department Transports at a Small Liberal Arts College

Abstract

Objective: The authors examined the impact of a collegiate-based emergency medical service (CBEMS) on the frequency of emergency department (ED) transports. Participants: Students transported to the ED for acute alcohol intoxication during the Fall 2008 and the Fall 2009 semesters (N = 50). Methods: The frequency of students receiving transportation to a hospital ED and the reported blood alcohol content (BAC) levels during the initial operational semester of the CBEMS were compared to those values over the same time period the previous year. Results: More than twice the number of students was transported to the ED following the introduction of CBEMS. There was no change in mean BAC levels. Conclusions: CBEMS could promote a culture conducive to increased reporting behavior, which makes the campus safer. Similar BAC levels suggest that the degree of intoxication was similar for the 2 reporting periods, but students sought emergency assistance more frequently following the inception of CBEMS.