USING DUMMY VARIABLES TO CHECK FOR ROUNDING ERROR IN COMPUTERIZED REGRESSION PROGRAMS*

After a brief review of the role of dummy variables in regression analysis and the current state-of-the art in rounding/truncation error detection in computerized least squares programs, this paper presents a theorem that can be used to detect this type of error whenever an analyst is running a regression program that has one (or more) dummy variables as independent variables.     

A Framework for Understanding Uncertainty in Seismic Risk Assessment

A better understanding of the uncertainty that exists in models used for seismic risk assessment is critical to improving risk-based decisions pertaining to earthquake safety. Current models estimating the probability of collapse of a building do not consider comprehensively the nature and impact of uncertainty. This article presents a model framework to enhance seismic risk assessment and thus gives decisionmakers a fuller understanding of the nature and limitations of the estimates. This can help ensure that risks are not over- or underestimated and the value of acquiring accurate data is appreciated fully. The methodology presented provides a novel treatment of uncertainties in input variables, their propagation through the model, and their effect on the results. The study presents ranges of possible annual collapse probabilities for different case studies on buildings in different parts of the world, exposed to different levels of seismicity, and with different vulnerabilities. A global sensitivity analysis was conducted to determine the significance of uncertain variables. Two key outcomes are (1) that the uncertainty in ground-motion conversion equations has the largest effect on the uncertainty in the calculation of annual collapse probability; and (2) the vulnerability of a building appears to have an effect on the range of annual collapse probabilities produced, i.e., the level of uncertainty in the estimate of annual collapse probability, with less vulnerable buildings having a smaller uncertainty.     

A Cognitive Approach to Career Services: Translating Concepts Into Practice

This article provides counselors with concept-based materials that clients can use to understand and structure the career problem-solving and decision-making process. Clients can use this knowledge to solve immediate career problems, transfer the knowledge to future career problems, or generalize the knowledge to other types of personal, social, and family problems.     

Unionization and productivity in commercial banking

This paper examines the net effect of unions on productivity in the commercial banking industry. The focus of the study is on three methodological issues. First, an attempt is made to determine whether individual unions have a differential impact on banking productivity. The influence of unions on output per man-hour was initially estimated by including a union dummy variable in a Cobb-Douglas formulation of bank production. Separate binary variables were then entered into alternative specifications of the model to test the heterogeneity hypothesis. This hypothesis postulates differential productivity effects among the individual unions operating in the commercial banking sector. Second, the sample banks were paired on a case-by-case basis to assure the homogeneity of the two groupings: i.e., union and nonunion. Sample homogeneity is necessary because of the assumptions of identical production functions and output prices between the groups. Third, a complete covariance model was specified in order to estimate the impact of unionization on each parameter of the production function. In general, the unionized banks were less productive than their nonunion peers. It should be noted, however, that the standard errors were large in all the specifications. Moreover, the labor relations problems associated with one union had a large impact on the sector results.     

Park,Doyle, and Hughes: Neglected Antecedents of Goffman's Theory of Ceremony1

Erving Goffman's writings on etiquette and front are read in the context of a tradition of Chicago school studies on such topics. Robert E. Park formed this tradition from two strains of thought: one based on the writings of Herbert Spencer, and the other on that of Georg Simmel. A review of writings by Park, and by his students Bertram W. Doyle and Everett C. Hughes, provides a basis for analyzing Goffman's original contributions to the tradition, a synthesis of the two strains. Goffman both advanced the line of study and shared in its biases. These limitations must be overcome if future research in the tradition is to proceed.     

Credit and blame in ethnographic publishing

The question of preserving anonymity in data presentation is more complicated than has usually been assumed. While the standard rule has been to disguise the names and identity of one’s research subjects in order to protect them from potential blame by associates and strangers, such a strategy also prevents them from receiving credit. Circumstances may exist in which the disguise of research subjects is undesirable, particularly with their informed consent. His special areas of interest are leisure behavior, qualitative methods and the sociology of art and culture.     

The ten commandments of writing

Whatever our areas and methods, social scientists share a common problem: how to write so as to foster communication. I present a set of propositions to lighten and brighten sociological writing. Sociologists ought not be afraid of using these tropes and techniques of literary writers. Each sociologist must develop a personal style that sparks an audience. Yet, this poses a challenge for those not trained. Writing is a craft that must be developed. As Wyndham Lewis noted: “It is dangerous to live, but to write is much more so.” He is the author ofTalking Sociology. Presented to the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, August 1987, Chicago, Illnois.