A New Malaysian Quality of Life Index Based on Fuzzy Sets and Hierarchical Needs

The Malaysian Quality of Life Index (MQLI) released by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), has led authors to search for alternative method of expressing this index. One of the limitations in MQLI computations is the failure to recognise unequal weights for each accounted component. This paper offers a new way of expressing the quality of life index using a mathematical modelling based on fuzzy sets theory and the proposed weights based on Maslow’s theory of hierarchical human needs. The indices of 11 components that were used to compute MQLI, again be gathered as a basis in expressing a new Malaysian Fuzzy Quality of Life Index (MFQLI). The new indices for each component yielded through a normalisation process prior weighting and aggregation to compose a new MFQLI. It was found that a fuzzy sets approach with the inclusion of weights based on human needs yielded a better index of quality of life than the MQLI.     

Evaluating modified generalized information criterion in presence of multicollinearity

When there are many explanatory variables in the regression model, there is a chance that some of these are intercorrelated. This is where the problem of multicollinearity creeps in due to which precision and accuracy of the coefficients is marred, and the quest to find the best model becomes tedious. To tackle such a situation, Model selection criteria are applied for selecting the best model that fits the data. Current study focuses on the evaluation of the four unmodified and four modified versions of generalized information criteria—Akaike Information Criterion, Schwarz's Bayes Information Criteria, Hannan-Quinn Information Criterion, and Akaike Information Criterion corrected for small samples. A simulation study using SAS software was carried out in order to compare the unmodified and modified versions of the generalized information criteria and to discover the best version amongst the four modified model selection criteria, for identifying the best model, when the collinearity assumption is violated. For the proposed simulation, two samples of size 50 and 100, for three explanatory variables X₁, X₂, and X₃, are drawn from Normal distribution. Two situations of collinearity violations between X₁ and X₂ are looked into, first when ρ = 0.6 and second when ρ = 0.8. The outcomes of the simulations are displayed in the tables along with visual representations. The results revealed that modified versions of the generalized information criteria are more sensitive in identifying models marred with high multicollinearity as compared to the unmodified generalized information criteria.     

The Perceptions of Women’s Roles and Progress: A Study of Malay Women

This study examines the general perceptions of women towards their roles, their interpretation of progress, as well as the facilitating factors and barriers to their progress. Questionnaires were distributed to 1,000 Malay women in Malaysia from rural and urban areas, from various age and income groups. Interviews were also carried out on the selected sample. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods of analyses, the results showed that women were perceived to play a strong, influential, and supportive role in their families. The results also showed how women perceive progress. These findings are discussed in relation to culture, socialization, values and norms of the Malay society.     

Sociological Factors Affecting Agricultural Price Risk Management in Australia*

Abstract The highly volatile auction system in Australia accounts for 85 percent of ex‐farm wool sales, with the remainder sold by forward contract, futures, and other hedging methods. In this article, against the background of an extensive literature on price risk strategies, we investigate title behavioral factors associated with producers' adoption of price risk‐management strategies (specifically futures and forward contracts) for selling wool. This research presents a behavioral model based on Diffusion of Innovations, the Theory of Reasoned Action, and the Theory of Planned Behavior. We found that the auction system is used as a price risk‐management tool because other selling methods are considered more risky. We also report on a curious relationship between risk and complexity in terms of wool producers' intentions to use forward contracts. We explored sociological factors in conjunction with focus‐group data in an attempt to understand this relationship. This exercise yielded some interesting findings on the impact that trust, habit, social cohesion, and networks have on decision making in the rural community. The significance of this article lies in its application of core sociological theory in a new research context: the Australian wool industry.     

Bayesian Estimation of the Regression Model with Autocorrelated Errors Under Contamination

In this article, the Bayesian analysis of the regression model with errors terms generated by a first-order autoregressive model is considered. Our aim is to study the effect of two kinds of contamination of this model via the posterior distribution of the regression parameter.     

Drawing on Kinship Care Support for Older People during a Pandemic (COVID-19): Practice Considerations for Social Workers in Ghana

ABSTRACT

Undoubtedly, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought both systemic, practice changes and limitations to social workers’ commitment to the welfare of vulnerable populations such as older people. A golden preventive rule of the COVID-19 pandemic; maintaining physical and social distancing, has limited social workers’ direct practice support for older people who are considered as an at-risk population. Within jurisdictions such as Ghana where kinship care practices are culturally engrained, social workers should promote kinship care support as substitute mechanisms and pathways to safeguard or meet the welfare needs of older people.     

On Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Ordinary Least Squares Estimators to Be Best Linear Unbiased Estimators

Two often-quoted necessary and sufficient conditions for ordinary least squares estimators to be best linear unbiased estimators are described. Another necessary and sufficient condition is described, providing an additional tool for checking to see whether the covariance matrix of a given linear model is such that the ordinary least squares estimator is also the best linear unbiased estimator. The new condition is used to show that one of the two published conditions is only a sufficient condition.