History and role of order statistics

This paper starts with an itroduction which gives definitions of order statistics,makes a clear distinction between order statistics and rank statistics, and gives an overview of the problems in which methods based on order statstics are useful.The following sections deal with the history and role of order sta¬tistics in selected areas: central tendency, dispersion, and regression; treatment of outliers and robust estimation; maximum likelihood estimators; best linear unbiased estimators; extreme-values; multiple comparisons and studentized range. The last two sections discuss a basic coverage property and some of its conse¬quences and describe the author's chronological annotated bibliography of order statistics. Finally, there is a list of references.     

Unexpected Pathways Through Education: Why Do Some Students Not Succeed in School and What Helps Others Beat the Odds?

In this overview of Volume 64, Issue 1, of the Journal of Social Issues , we describe why it is important to consider the diversity of student pathways through time and in context and why it is important to focus particularly on youth who defy predictions. We describe the ways in which expectations are formed in statistical analysis and also in real-world education systems and how the structural rigidity inherent in such systems can lead to poor person–environment fit for young people in education or training and to misleading statistical analysis. Our intention is to move beyond analytic approaches that assume "one size fits all" while recognizing both that policy cannot provide fully individualized environments for everyone and that research cannot focus only on the unique characteristics of each individual. By focusing on individuals for whom our models typically do not apply, we highlight the value of research on complex but meaningful patterns of commonality among people, not in terms of the average person or effects, but in terms of coherent, distinct, and relatively homogenous subgroups of people experiencing systematic and consequential differences in their lives and lifepaths .     

Leadership and stress: A meta-analytic review

Stress has been implicated as an important determinant of leadership functioning. Conversely, the behavior of leaders has long been argued to be a major factor in determining the stress levels of followers. Yet despite the widespread acknowledgement that stress and leadership are linked, there has been no systematic attempt to organize and summarize these literatures. In the present, we meta-analytically review the relationship between three leadership constructs (transformational leadership, leader-member exchange, and abusive supervision) and stress and burnout. Our analyses confirm that leader stress influences leader behavior and that leadership behaviors and leader-follower relationships are significant determinants of stress and burnout in subordinates. We build on these results to suggest new avenues for research in this domain as well as discussing how these results can inform practice with regards to leader development.     

Student field units: A rehabilitative educational response in the juvenile justice system

This article depicts the integration of social work students in the development of a juvenile justice field unit. This collaborative experience was seen as mutually beneficial to the community, the university, the juvenile justice field unit and the student. Thirty-one students were able to gain direct practice knowledge as well as assessment and disposition skills in the juvenile justice setting. This pilot project served to demonstrate and support the utility of this service. Overall, self-reports and ratings from supervisors and students participating in the project were positive. Further, this information is presented to facilitate future usage of this type of placement in the field setting as well as presenting the inherent challenges that were faced while introducing students to the juvenile justice system.     

Differential Assessment of Residential Group Care for Children and Young People

Summary Twelve qualitative variables frame the production of outcomesin residential group care for children and young people. Theseare used to examine contemporary themes in social care practicewith children and families. This assessment typology offerssocial workers, managers, researchers and policy-makers bothvalid and reliable baseline measures for use in evaluating residentialservices for children and young people. The typology also providescomparative interval measures for use in longitudinal evaluationsof quality. Close attention needs to be given to the impacteach of these variables has on the quality of residential groupcare services offered to children, young people and their familiesor significant others.     

Downsizing and alcohol use: A cross-lagged longitudinal examination of the spillover hypothesis

An area of concern for investigators and practitioners is the possible linkage between stressful workplace events and alcohol use and abuse; however, work in this area, specifically testing a “spillover hypothesis,” offers inconclusive evidence of a relationship between many work-based stressors and alcohol use. Using a three-wave panel sample (N=455) from a large US industrial firm that has undergone numerous downsizing events in the last decade, four alternative causal hypotheses using fully cross-lagged three-wave mediational latent factor models were compared via structural equation modelling. Separate models were analysed for layoff experience and job security perceptions; a motivational factor, escape reasons for drinking, was included in each model. We found large autoregressive effects for problem alcohol use in the stability models. One reason for weak support for spillover models may be that problem alcohol use is more stable over time than previously theorized. All alternative causal models fit the data well; however, the only model comparisons showing significant improvement over the stability models were those including reverse paths. Reverse causal models should be explicitly considered when examining the link between alcohol problems and the workplace. We suggest that, for some workers, problematic alcohol use may be antecedent to, rather than a consequence of, stressful workplace experiences.     

Guest editorial: Introduction

Statistics and Computing -