Space,People, Interventions and Time (SPIT): A Model for Understanding Children's Outdoor Play in Post‐Disaster Contexts Based On a Case Study from the Triple Disaster Area of Tohoku in North‐East Japan

Play in the outdoor environment is important for children as part of their childhood and is particularly important for children in a post‐disaster situation. This article explores issues around outdoor play opportunities in the Tohoku region of north‐east Japan, 13 months after the triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant failure. A model of space, people, interventions and time (SPIT) is used to understand the situation in this unique case study.     

Usage‐Based Pricing and Demand for Residential Broadband

We estimate demand for residential broadband using high‐frequency data from subscribers facing a three‐part tariff. The three‐part tariff makes data usage during the billing cycle a dynamic problem, thus generating variation in the (shadow) price of usage. We provide evidence that subscribers respond to this variation, and we use their dynamic decisions to estimate a flexible distribution of willingness to pay for different plan characteristics. Using the estimates, we simulate demand under alternative pricing and find that usage‐based pricing eliminates low‐value traffic. Furthermore, we show that the costs associated with investment in fiber‐optic networks are likely recoverable in some markets, but that there is a large gap between social and private incentives to invest.     

Risk and Resilience in Late Adolescence

Differences among three outcome groups of late adolescents identified as at risk for major depression were investigated. Adolescents with major depression, with other psychiatric diagnoses, and with no diagnoses differed in major areas of functioning and well-being, with the most difficulties shown by those with depression. The phenomenon of resilience was examined among the at-risk adolescents with no diagnosis, revealing that family cohesion and social support are associated with resilience. Implications for social work practice and research include the need to focus on promoting family strengths.     

Social Landscapes of the Inter‐Mountain West: A Comparison of ‘Old West’ and ‘New West’ Communities*

Abstract Rural communities have experienced dramatic demographic, social, and economic transformations over the past 30 years. Historically characterized by close links between natural resources and social, cultural, and economic structures, few of today's rural communities remain heavily dependent upon traditional extractive industries like ranching, forestry, and mining. New forms of development linked to natural and cultural amenities, including tourism and recreation, have evolved to sustain the link between community and resources. The Inter‐Mountain West region offers an excellent example of this distinction. Many of the region's rural communities have experienced substantial population growth resulting from the in‐migration of a new kind of rural resident. Their arrival, in a process some have associated with the emergence of a “New West,” has transformed rural places. However, amenity‐related social and economic structures have not occurred uniformly across space. This paper uses factor analysis and exploratory spatial data analysis to analyze demographic characteristics related to the “New West” phenomena in Inter‐Mountain West communities and the spatial patterns found in the degree of “New West‐ness” that each community exhibits.     

Methods for eliciting aetiological clues from geographically clustered cases of disease, with application to leukaemia–lymphoma data

The nearest neighbour analysis method has been developed to determine whether a disease case may be regarded as being unusually close to other neighbouring cases of the same disease. Using this method, each disease case is classified as spatially 'clustered' or 'non-clustered'. The method is also used to provide a test for global clustering. 'Clusters' are constructed by amalgamating geographically neighbouring clustered cases into one contiguous 'cluster area'. This paper describes a method for studying differences between clustered and non-clustered cases, in terms of case 'attributes'. These attributes may be person related, such as age and sex, or area based, such as geographical isolation. The area-based variables are subject to geographical correlation. The comparison of clustered and non-clustered cases may reveal similarities or differences, which may, in turn, give clues to disease aetiology. A method for studying 'linkage' or similarities in attributes between cases that occur in the same clusters is also described. The methods are illustrated by application to incidence data for leukaemias and lymphomas.     

Medical Treatment of Women with Lupus. The case for sharing knowledge and decision-making

Few women patients in this study were found to be active partners in the medical management of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Despite the growing emphasis on doctors and patients sharing knowledge and decision-making power, most of the women were struggling to have their symptoms and needs taken seriously, and appeared relatively powerless in relation to the medical profession. Acknowledging patient expertise requires that doctors share some of their power, and we suggest this may be especially problematic when medical resources and power are primarily located in the hands of white men, and when the patients are typically women and often from the black community. Implications for action that are considered include maximising the influence of women with SLE on research, training and practice.     

Book Review: Suzanne Horne and Avril Maddrell,Charity Shops: Retailing,Consumption and Society,Routledge, London, 2002, 152 pp., bibliography,index, $50.00 (hbk)

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations -     

CONVERSATIONS WITH EDWIN J.G. PITMAN

Edwin Pitman was born on 29th October, 1897, in Melbourne, Victoria. He was Professor of Mathematics at the University of Tasmania from 1926 until his retirement in 1962. His publications on distribution-free methods in Statistics established a sound basis for the development of these methods. His theoretical papers gave a sound mathematical treatment of the concepts of intrinsic accuracy and sufficiency, and a definitive treatment of estimation problems for location and scale parameters. The concept of asymptotic relative efficiency is due to him. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA) in 1954, a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics in 1948, President of the Australian Mathematical Society in 1958 and 1959, and Vice-President of the International Statistical Institute in 1960. He was elected an Honorary Life Member of the Statistical Society of Australia in 1966, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society in 1965, and an Honorary Life Member of the Australian Mathematical Society in 1968.
In 1977, in honour of his eightieth birthday, the University of Tasmania conferred on him an Honorary Doctorate of Science, and the Statistical Society of Australia instituted the Pitman Medal (1979), to be awarded to a member of the Society for high distinction in Statistics.
The conversations recorded here took place in May, 1991, at Pitman's home in Hobart, Tasmania.