Evaluation of a major financial incentive for in-home energy conservation

A mail questionnaire methodology was utilized to provide baseline data on consumers' reactions to the Canadian Oil Substitution Program (COSP). COSP is a major financial incentive, operated by the Canadian government, designed to stimulate conversions of oil-fired home hearing systems to alternative energy sources.The results provide a snapshot of consumer reactions one year after the COSP incentive was first introduced. Specific results include the motives for and barriers to off-oil conversion; the importance of COSP, relative to other conversion motives; and the size and characteristics of the oil-user group who are resistant to converting off-oil heating. Implications for program management and directions for future research are discussed.     

‘All those in favour’: computerised trade union membership lists as sampling frames for postal surveys

The computerisation of membership lists offers considerable scope for postal surveys of trade unionists. However, faith in the new technology can give rise to the illusion of increased accuracy. Yet, the computerised data bases, while undoubtedly quicker and easier to use, may be no more accurate than their manual predecessors and samples drawn from them can result in misleading response rates. Therefore, with reference to a specific case study of a major trade union, we argue that researchers should seek to establish empirically the probable error in their lists with a view to constructing realistic ‘benchmarks’. Then, these substantial new resources can provide a solid basis for worthwhile research.     

Shrinkage Estimators for Prediction Out-of-Sample: Conditional Performance

We find that, in a linear model, the James–Stein estimator, which dominates the maximum-likelihood estimator in terms of its in-sample prediction error, can perform poorly compared to the maximum-likelihood estimator in out-of-sample prediction. We give a detailed analysis of this phenomenon and discuss its implications. When evaluating the predictive performance of estimators, we treat the regressor matrix in the training data as fixed, i.e., we condition on the design variables. Our findings contrast those obtained by Baranchik (1973 Baranchik , A. J. ( 1973 ). Inadmissibility of maximum likelihood estimators in some multiple regression problems with three or more independent variables . Ann. Statist. 1 ( 2 ): 312 – 321 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and, more recently, by Dicker (2012 Dicker , L. ( 2012 ). Dense signals, linear estimators, and out-of-sample prediction for high-dimensional linear models. arXiv:1102.2952 [math.ST].  [Google Scholar]) in an unconditional performance evaluation.     

渤海与日本交聘中“高丽国”的辨析

渤海与日本建立交聘关系及其努力保持和发展与日本的交聘关系 ,是出于渤海的政治、经济利益的需求。在交聘中 ,渤海统治者的某些做法使日本一度产生渤海是高句丽的后继国的误解 ,日本出于自身利益曾在一段时期内改称渤海为“高丽”。事实上 ,渤海从未明确表示过自己是高句丽的继承国 ,所谓“渤海对高句丽的继承意识”也是一种主观臆想的错误看法     

Young people's gendered interpretations of suicide and attempted suicide

This paper aims to uncover gendered interpretations of various kinds of suicidal behaviour. Its empirical basis is focus group discussions with a range of young people, including users of social work services. In support of Canetto's research, the authors found some of the young people to be associating ‘successful’ suicides with masculinity and ‘failed’ suicide attempts with femininity. These feminized suicide attempts were subject to some fairly pejorative interpretations, such as being motivated by revenge or manipulation. There was no particular pattern of viewpoints in terms of the sex of respondents. The implications of these findings for social work are discussed.     

Approaching Adoption and Foster Care in Brazil

Adoption and foster care have recently undergone various changes in Brazil. Nonetheless, there is a lack of official research data on children who have been adopted or have been living in foster families or institutions. In this paper, after a brief account of the historical aspects of adoption and foster care in Brazil, we focus our discussion on two major points: (1) the difficulties in promoting a “new culture of adoption,” which would develop in “the child's best interest,” and (2) the meanings and prejudices related to late adoption that increase the number of children who remain for many years in institutions.     

The Experience of Gambling and its Role in Problem Gambling

This paper reports on the results of a psychological study conducted in Ontario, Canada, that attempted to answer the question of why some people develop gambling problems while others do not. A group of social gamblers (n = 38), sub-clinical problem gamblers (n = 33) and pathological gamblers (n = 34) completed a battery of questionnaires. Compared to non-problem gamblers, pathological gamblers were more likely to report experiencing big wins early in their gambling career, stressful life events, impulsivity, depression, using escape to cope with stress and a poorer understanding of random events. We grouped these variables into three risk factors: cognitive/experiential, emotional and impulsive and tested the extent to which each risk factor could differentiate non-problem and pathological gamblers. Each risk factor correctly identified about three-quarters of the pathological gamblers. More than half (53%) of the pathological gamblers had elevated scores on all three risk factors. Interestingly, 60% of the sub-clinical cases had elevated scores on only one risk factor. The results are interpreted in terms of a bio-psycho-social model of gambling addiction.     

广西大学生宗教观调查分析

对广西268名大学生的问卷调查表明:信教大学生的总体比例不高,多数学生对宗教的态度较为客观,但也相当比例学生无法理解宗教所指的准确内涵,无法分清宗教、迷信、民俗之间的差别,致使民俗、迷信现象依旧有较大影响,不少学生对封建迷信活动持肯定或半信半疑态度。另外,气功、飞碟、外星人之类新时代热门现象也有一定市场,国外宗教的渗透尤其值得引起警惕注意。