Even More Direct Calculation of the Variance of a Maximum Penalized-Likelihood Estimator

We discuss here two examples of estimation by numerical maximization of penalized likelihood. We show that, in these examples, it is simpler not to use the EM algorithm for computation of the estimates or their standard errors. We discuss also confidence and credibility intervals based on penalized likelihood and a chi-squared approximate distribution, and compare such intervals with intervals of Wald type.

[Received July 2014. Revised September 2015.]     

Divided Loyalties? Understanding Variation in Latino Attitudes Toward Immigration*

Objective. In this article, we develop and test a model of competing theoretical explanations of Latino attitudes toward immigration; specifically examining their policy preferences on legal immigration, illegal immigration, and a proposed policy for dealing with illegal immigrants. We also consider whether Latino attitudes toward legal and illegal immigration are related and comprise a single coherent structure. Method. Using data from a 2004 national survey of Latinos, we perform regression, logit, and ordered logit analyses to examine the determinants of Latino attitudes toward immigration. Results. We highlight three important findings. First, our results demonstrate “within‐group” differences in immigration attitudes among Latinos, based on both national origin and generational status; we find that Mexicans are more pro‐immigration than Latinos from other countries and that foreign‐born Latinos have much more positive attitudes about immigration than second‐generation and third‐generation Latinos. Second, we find that Latino support for various aspects of immigration is primarily a function of ethnic and linguistic identity and attachment to American culture, with self‐interest, contextual variables, and political and demographic attributes playing a smaller, more specialized role. Finally, we demonstrate that Latino attitudes toward legal and illegal immigration are highly interrelated. Conclusion. There is a coherent structure underlying Latino attitudes toward legal immigration, illegal immigration, and a policy option for dealing with illegal immigrants. Our tests of competing theoretical approaches reveal the importance of national origin and ethnic attachment and acculturation in explaining differences among Latinos on their attitudes toward immigration.     

Beyond Power Discourse: Alienation and Social Work

Correspondence to Michael Lavalette, Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work Studies, University of Liverpool, Eleanor Rathbone Building, Bedford Street South, Liverpool. E-mail: M.Lavalette{at}Liverpool.ac.uk Summary This paper argues for the relevance of the Marxist concept ofalienation to the development of an emancipatory social workpractice. As the concept has often been misinterpreted withinthe social work literature to refer primarily to a psychologicalstate, the first part of the paper seeks to establish the materialbasis of the theory as developed by Marx, and identifies fourkey aspects of alienation—from the product of labour,from the labour process, from our ‘human nature’and from our fellow human beings. Alienation theory is thenapplied to the experience of both social workers and serviceusers and it is argued that the notions of loss of control (inthe case of social workers) and powerlessness (in the case ofservice users) have greater explanatory power, and provide afirmer basis for a radical practice, than currently fashionablepower discourses, derived from postructuralism, which oftenmirror the individualism of the New Right approaches they seekto challenge. Finally, examples are given of the ways in whichthe concept of alienation might contribute towards the developmentof a new, emancipatory social work, central to which is likelyto be the development of more collective approaches.     

Manufacturing innovation in the West Midlands materials forming industry

This paper summarises the results of a series of case studies in manufacturing innovation in the West Midlands. Concentrating on the materials forming industry, the paper considers the complex of factors and activities surrounding an innovation: the identification of a weakness; the generation of a solution; the implementation of change; and strategies of introduction. All of these aspects are interdependent, and it is suggested that it is only through adopting a broad perspective on the process of innovation that change can be satisfactorily explained.     

Taking charge of self: breast health practices of older rural women

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore breast health practices of older Vermont women residing in rural communities. Although the three components of breast health-mammography, clinical breast exam, and self-breast exam-are recommended for women 40 years and over, minimal research has empirically analyzed the breast health practices of healthy women to ascertain if, in fact, these procedures are followed, and if so, what the motivation is for doing so. Twelve women, 50-64 years, participated in face-to-face, audiotaped interviews. Data analysis, including line-by-line and constant comparative approaches, occurred concurrently with data collection. Taking Charge of Self, the generated theory, describes participants' engagement in a process of learning how to take charge of their lives. The analysis indicates that health care providers have a powerful role in the lives of women in this age group. With an increasing emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention, health care providers are positioned to cultivate and support women's development of the personal or internal motivation for health and well-being.     

An Integrative Review of Employee Voice: Identifying a Common Conceptualization and Research Agenda

Employee voice has been studied across a diverse range of disciplines, generating an extensive body of literature on the topic. However, its conceptualization across the disciplines has differed, resulting in a lack of integrative theories and frameworks on employee voice. The main objective of this paper is to conduct a multidisciplinary review of the academic research on employee voice, to show where there is an opportunity to adopt and adapt the findings and research on employee voice within alternate disciplines, and to demonstrate how this may lead to more common ground in the conceptualization of employee voice. This review focuses on an analysis of the Human Resource Management/Employment Relations and Organizational Behaviour disciplines' conceptualization of employee voice, beginning with the identification of where the disciplines diverged in their concept and study of employee voice. Further, it maps their similarities and differences, on the basis of motive, content, mechanism, target and management of voice. Finally, it identifies opportunities to incorporate the alternate disciplinary perspective and proposes a conceptual model, which addresses the blind spots in each discipline. It is proposed that the consideration of formal and informal employee voice in future studies will enable the better integration of voice research.     

Emulation and interpretation of high-dimensional climate model outputs

Running complex computer models can be expensive in computer time, while learning about the relationships between input and output variables can be difficult. An emulator is a fast approximation to a computationally expensive model that can be used as a surrogate for the model, to quantify uncertainty or to improve process understanding. Here, we examine emulators based on singular value decompositions (SVDs) and use them to emulate global climate and vegetation fields, examining how these fields are affected by changes in the Earth's orbit. The vegetation field may be emulated directly from the orbital variables, but an appealing alternative is to relate it to emulations of the climate fields, which involves high-dimensional input and output. The SVDs radically reduce the dimensionality of the input and output spaces and are shown to clarify the relationships between them. The method could potentially be useful for any complex process with correlated, high-dimensional inputs and/or outputs.