Performance of coefficient of variation estimators in ranked set sampling

In this paper, we propose and evaluate the performance of different parametric and nonparametric estimators for the population coefficient of variation considering Ranked Set Sampling (RSS) under normal distribution. The performance of the proposed estimators was assessed based on the bias and relative efficiency provided by a Monte Carlo simulation study. An application in anthropometric measurements data from a human population is also presented. The results showed that the proposed estimators via RSS present an expressively lower mean squared error when compared to the usual estimator, obtained via Simple Random Sampling. Also, it was verified the superiority of the maximum likelihood estimator, given the necessary assumptions of normality and perfect ranking are met.     

A Support Group for Caregivers of Children with Craniofacial Differences

ABSTRACT

Caregivers of children with craniofacial differences (CFD) experience psychosocial stressors; however, few groups are described for this population. The authors outline an eight-session group and qualitative analysis of caregivers’ experiences. The majority of participants (n = 100) were mothers (76%) of children who were female (75%) and identified as Latino (79%). Children’s mean age was 10.6 (SD = 2.8) years, and they were born with cleft lip/palate (56%) along with other CFD diagnoses. Themes included: group appreciation (21%), mutual acceptance (18%), coping (18%), parenting skills (17%), learning (9%), resiliency (7%), empathy (4%), diagnosis information (3%), and self-care (3%). Caregivers’ reported experiences largely corresponded with group goals.     

Local influence for functional comparative calibration models with replicated data

We investigate local influence analysis in functional comparative calibration models with replicated data. A method for selecting appropriate perturbation schemes based on the expected Fisher information matrix with respect to the perturbation vector is proposed. It is shown that arbitrarily perturbing these models may result in misleading inference about the influential subjects. First-order influence measures for identifying the correct influential subjects and replicates on corrected score estimators are defined. We introduce different perturbation schemes including perturbation of subjects and replicates on the corrected likelihood function and obtain the density of the perturbed model from which the methodology is based. Particularly, three perturbation of variances schemes could be a better way to handle badly modeled subjects or replicates. Two real data sets are analyzed to illustrate the use of our local influence measures.     

Governance and Participation in Local Welfare: The Case of the Italian Piani di Zona

This article analyses four cases of governance in Italian local welfare systems. Following Law 328/2000, the design and management of the social services system in Italy involve different public responsibility levels, mainly regional and municipal. In order to manage social policies, Italian municipalities have to join in new inter‐municipal groupings called ‘Piani di Zona’ (Area Plans). Moreover, the law provides for engaging in these Plans even local third‐sector organizations and citizens. The article attempts to highlight the implications of this complex system that is leading local authorities to open new governance arenas. We hereby present the results of a research project on two Piani di Zona in the Region of Lombardy (Northern Italy) and on two in the Region of Campania (Southern Italy), carried out by means of institutional analysis. We particularly focus on the dynamics of participation triggered by the Piani di Zona. Our hypothesis is that the role of public administration is a fundamental variable to understand the different ways of participating. In this sense, we discuss the dynamics of local governance by relaying them to four main questions: who participates in what, where and how?     

Compatibility,Leisure, and Satisfaction in Marital Relationships

This study challenges the prevailing view that marital companionship promotes marital satisfaction. By following a cohort of married couples for over a decade and by incorporating several methodological improvements—such as refining the measurement of marital satisfaction, determining how much spouses enjoy doing the leisure activities they pursue together and apart, and using diary data to portray marital leisure patterns—we found that the association between companionship and satisfaction is less robust than previously believed, and that it depends on how often spouses pursue activities that reflect their own and their partner's leisure preferences. Over time, involvement in leisure liked by husbands but disliked by wives, whether as a couple or by husbands alone, is both a cause and a consequence of wives' dissatisfaction.     

Audience effects on solitary faces during imagery: Displaying to the people in your head

Subjects imagined situations in which they reported enjoying themselves either alone or with others. Electromyographic (EMG) activity was recorded bilaterally from regions overlying thezygomatic major muscles responsible for smiling. Controlling for equal rated happiness in the two conditions, subjects showed more smiling in high-sociality than low-sociality imagery. In confirming imaginary audience effects during imagery, these data corroborate hypotheses that solitary facial displays are mediated by the presence of imaginary interactants, and suggest caution in employing them as measures of felt emotion.Avery Gilbert and Amy Jaffey had compelling insights throughout the course of study. We thank Paul Ekman, Carroll Izard, and Paul Rozin for extensive comments on earlier drafts. We also thank Bernard Apfelbaum, Jon Baron, Janet Bavelas, John Cacioppo, Linda Camras, Dean Delis, Rob DeRubeis, Alan Fiske, Stephen Fowler, Greg McHugo, Harriet Oster, David Premack, W. John Smith, and David Williams for their valuable comments and suggestions.     

The Latinization of the Central Shenandoah Valley

Virginia is among a number of southern states in the United States, such as North Carolina, Arkansas and Georgia, which have experienced a sudden growth in Latino immigration during the past decade. Not only is the volume of growth unprecedented, but many of the destinations are new and located in rural areas. Places that have not hosted immigrant populations for generations are quickly becoming multicultural. The small city of Harrisonburg (population 43,500 according to the 2005 estimate), which is located in the rural Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, is perhaps the premier example of this new pattern of change. While local advertising once promoted Harrisonburg for its 99.2% American-born and 93.7% white population, the area today holds the distinction of hosting the most diverse public school enrollment in the state (in 2006-2007), with students from 64 countries who speak 44 languages. Among them are Spanish speakers from at least 14 different countries. Drawing on social network theory, the paper examines how social networks among Latino immigrants become activated in new settlement areas. It presents a case history of the historic process of Latinization involving the settlement of a number of diverse Latino populations (from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Cuba and Uruguay) in Harrisonburg and the surrounding Central Shenandoah Valley. The study demonstrates how a number of key institutions, including local agricultural industries (apples and poultry), a refugee resettlement office and churches recruited pioneers from these immigrant groups to the area and how pioneers subsequently engaged in further social network recruitment, thus creating multiple transnational daughter communities in the Harrisonburg area. The policy implications of this historical process are explored.