Multi-phase sampling under cost constraints

Multi-phase sampling (M-PhS) scheme is useful when the interest is in the estimation of the population mean of an expensive variable strictly connected with other cheaper (auxiliary) variables. The MSE is an accuracy measure of an estimator. Usually it decreases as the sample size increases. In practice the sample size cannot become arbitrarily large for possible cost constraints. From a practical point of view it would be useful to know the sample sizes which guarantee the best accuracy of the estimates for fixed costs. These “optimum” sample sizes can be, in some cases, computable but not admissible. In other cases, they can be neither admissible nor computable. The main goal of this paper is to propose a solution for both these situations. It will be clear that in both situations the solution is to consider a M-PhS scheme with one or more phases less.     

1984 and beyond: Divergent Directions and Extra Depth*

It is time family therapy looked wider than the therapy session. Problems presenting also need to be viewed within a societal context. The complexity and fluid nature of issues affecting the family today needs to be recognised. To highlight this, 3 divergent areas are discussed; family structure, culture, and the nuclear threat. The myth of homogeneity is exposed and the pluralistic nature of Australian society is discussed. It is argued that family therapists have a responsibility to be aware of, and to comment on, family policy issues if the approach is to continue to develop divergent directions and extra depths.     

Coming out at work: performativity and the recognition and renegotiation of identity

This paper is about ‘coming out’ and the process of disclosure and non‐disclosure of minority sexual identity in organizations. The process of ‘coming out’ is important for the individual lesbian or gay man since it is concerned with the discursive recognition and renegotiation of their identity. The study uses storytelling and a double narrative approach, where 92 individuals were interviewed to produce 15 stories of coming out, which were used for discussion in focus groups. The research took place within 6 organizations – 2 emergency services, the police and the fire service, 2 civil service departments and 2 banks. A conceptual framework is developed to explain the process of disclosure, showing it to be a continuing process rather than a single event. The concept of performativity is used to explain how in coming out the discursive practice and the telling of sexuality performs the act of coming out, making it an illocutionary speech act, and one which is made as an active or forced choice. The performative and perlocutionary speech acts interact with available subject positions thereby impacting on the individual's subjectivity. Sexuality is an under‐researched area of diversity in work organizations, as well as being one of the most difficult to research, so the level of access afforded by this research and the framework it produces provides a significant contribution to our understanding of minority sexual identity at work.     

New deal public relations: A glimpse into FDR press secretary Stephen Early's work

Long-time confidant and press secretary to US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Stephen Early served throughout FDR's 12-year administration. As such, he was chief White House communicator during the implementation of the president's New Deal policies and throughout World War II. In March 1934, on the first day of his second year as secretary, Early started a diary. He added to it until the end of the decade. This study examines 131 of Early's diary entries over its 6 years to construct a glimpse of his professional and personal life as a high-level government communicator. Compilations of his most common activities are made and compared over time, and a discussion of Early's day-to-day professional work, private time, and contributions within the context of modern public relations practice are included.     

British foundations: the organisation and management of grant-making

This article describes three ideal-typical cultures of grant-making constructed in the light of data from an exploratory study of British foundations. These three cultures, representing the values and assumptions which inform the way in which foundations approach the task of making grants, have very different implications for the resources required by foundations and for organisational processes and procedures. The article goes on to discuss some of the organisational and management dilemmas of British grant-making foundations. Five key source of management difficulty in the grant-giving foundation are identified. First, grant-giving foundations face particular difficulties in identifying and assessing the relevance of their priorities; these difficulties stem from the nature of grant-giving and the foundation's relationship with its ‘customer-suppliers’. Second, grant-giving foundations must manage within the constraints imposed by limited choice of and time available from trustees. Third, grant-giving foundations must manage the potential tension between control by donors and trustees. Fourth, grant-giving foundations must work within financial and time constraints. Fifth, the management of grant-giving foundations may be further hampered by lack of adequate feedback. In this article, particular attention is paid to the first three difficulties.     

Estimators based on ranks for arma models

In this paper we introduce a new family of robust estimators for ARMA models. These estimators are defined by replacing the residual sample autocovariances in the least squares equations by autocovariances based on ranks. The asymptotic normality of the proposed estimators is provided. The efficiency and robustness properties of these estimators are studied. An adequate choice of the score functions gives estimators which have high efficiency under normality and robustness in the presence of outliers. The score functions can also be chosen so that the resulting estimators are asymptotically as efficient as the maximum likelihood estimators for a given distribution.