Accent on Teaching Materials

Estimation of covariance components in the multivariate random-effect model with nested covariance structure is discussed. There are two covariance matrices to be estimated, namely, the between-group and the within-group covariance matrices. These two covariance matrices are most often estimated by forming a multivariate analysis of variance and equating mean square matrices to their expectations. Such a procedure involves taking the difference between the between-group mean square and the within-group mean square matrices, and often produces an estimated between-group covariance matrix that is not nonnegative definite. We present estimators of the two covariance matrices that are always proper covariance matrices. The estimators are the restricted maximum likelihood estimators if the random effects are normally distributed. The estimation procedure is extended to more complicated models, including the twofold nested and the mixed-effect models. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the use of the estimation procedure.     

Accent on Teaching Materials: Notices and Reviews of Important Teaching Materials

This article examines the probabilities of outcomes from rolling dice with the dimension 1 × 1 × r for various values of r. Experiments were conducted by school students and university students. The results of the experiments are given and the probabilities examined using a generalized linear model. Notes are also made about the value of the experiment in teaching the groups of students.     

A Comparison of Bayes Factors for Separated Models: Some Simulation Results

Some alternative Bayes Factors: Intrinsic, Posterior, and Fractional have been proposed to overcome the difficulties presented when prior information is weak and improper prior are used. Additional difficulties also appear when the models are separated or non nested. This article presents both simulation results and some illustrative examples analysis comparing these alternative Bayes factors to discriminate among the Lognormal, the Weibull, the Gamma, and the Exponential distributions. Simulation results are obtained for different sample sizes generated from the distributions. Results from simulations indicates that these alternative Bayes factors are useful for comparing non nested models. The simulations also show some similar behavior and that when both models are true they choose the simplest model. Some illustrative example are also presented.     

On the recoding of continuous and bounded indexes to a binomial form: an application to quality-of-life scores

The statistical analysis of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) as endpoints has shown to be of great practical relevance. The resulting scores or indexes from the questionnaires used to measure PROs could be treated as continuous or ordinal. The goal of this study is to propose and evaluate a recoding process of the scores, so that they can be treated as binomial outcomes and, therefore, analyzed using logistic regression with random effects. The general methodology of recoding is based on the observable values of the scores. In order to obtain an optimal recoding, the evaluation of the recoding method is tested for different values of the parameters of the binomial distribution and different probability distributions of the random effects. We illustrate, evaluate and validate the proposed method of recoding with the Short Form-36 (SF-36) Survey and real data. The optimal recoding approach is very useful and flexible. Moreover, it has a natural interpretation, not only for ordinal scores, but also for questionnaires with many dimensions and different profiles, where a common method of analysis is desired, such as the SF-36.     

Dirty money? The politics of representation in Cuban revolutionary banknotes

This article examines the visual politics of Cuban postrevolutionary banknotes, focusing on the series minted in 1961. It is argued that the iconography of this series – which stresses the revolutionary merits of Fidel Castro and his movement, and associates the latter with the independence wars – portrays the Castro-led Cuban Revolution as the fulfilment of the nation’s aspiration to sovereignty. The article maintains that the design of the 1961 banknote series articulates tropes that convey a fidelista imaginary, presenting the visual rhetoric of currencies as a mechanism of propaganda and persuasion.     

International Adaptation of a Treatment Program for Situational Couple Violence

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a serious international problem. Stith, S. M., McCollum, E. E., and Rosen, K. H. received funding from the US National Institute of Mental Health to develop and test a program for couples experiencing IPV: Domestic Violence Focused Couples Treatment (DVFCT). This article provides an overview of DVFCT, and presents three case studies illustrating how DVFCT has been adapted for use in Colombia, Iran, and Finland. This article emphasizes the need for adapting treatment models to be culturally informed, provides practice-based evidence for DVFCT as a treatment model, and highlights the importance of careful screening and assessment when working with couples who have experienced violence, no matter the country or location where treatment is being conducted.     

OECD: One or Many? Ranking Countries with a Composite Well-Being Indicator

In the social sciences it is hardly contested that “institutions matter”. Consequently the analysis of differences and similarities of institutions should be a routine task. Prevailing methods to the measurement of institutions are however problematic, in particular when they have to deal with different levels of measurement. To overcome this, in this paper we present an innovative method to the quantification of qualitative institutional data. We do this by, first, developing benchmarks for comparison based on Weberian ideal types. Then we identify and operationalise the dimensions and indicators to a nuanced measurement of institutions, after which we apply a careful and differentiated scoring, weighting and aggregation procedure in order to guarantee the highest standards of comparability, transparency and reliability of the method. Finally, we demonstrate our method by applying it to the analysis of institutional individualisation in European welfare institutions.     

Topics in Microbial Risk Assessment: Dynamic Flow Tree Process

Microbial risk assessment is emerging as a new discipline in risk assessment. A systematic approach to microbial risk assessment is presented that employs data analysis for developing parsimonious models and accounts formally for the variability and uncertainty of model inputs using analysis of variance and Monte Carlo simulation. The purpose of the paper is to raise and examine issues in conducting microbial risk assessments. The enteric pathogen Escherichia coli O157:H7 was selected as an example for this study due to its significance to public health. The framework for our work is consistent with the risk assessment components described by the National Research Council in 1983 (hazard identification; exposure assessment; dose-response assessment; and risk characterization). Exposure assessment focuses on hamburgers, cooked a range of temperatures from rare to well done, the latter typical for fast food restaurants. Features of the model include predictive microbiology components that account for random stochastic growth and death of organisms in hamburger. For dose-response modeling, Shigella data from human feeding studies were used as a surrogate for E. coli O157:H7. Risks were calculated using a threshold model and an alternative nonthreshold model. The 95% probability intervals for risk of illness for product cooked to a given internal temperature spanned five orders of magnitude for these models. The existence of even a small threshold has a dramatic impact on the estimated risk.     

Measuring Christian Beliefs that Affect Managerial Decision-Making: A Beginning

Although considerable work has been done on the measurement of religious values and beliefs, little is understood about their effect on managerial values and decision making. This paper reports on theoretical work by the authors identifying Christian religious beliefs that might affect managerial decision making; it also reports the results of empirical work validating five scales of religious beliefs that might affect managerial decision making. Future research directions are proposed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.