Managing Work and Family: The Decision to Outsource Child Care in Families Engaged in Family-Owned Businesses

This study investigates the decision to outsource child care among families involved in family-owned businesses. A management framework is used to examine the impact of inputs to the decision (i.e., goals and resources) and level of management activity (i.e., planning and implementing) in these families as predictors of the choice to outsource child care. The data are a sub-sample of the data from a project entitled, Family Businesses: Interaction in Work and Family Spheres (Winter, Fitzgerald, Heck, Haynes, & Danes, 1998) undertaken in 1997. Study findings indicate that household managers who work in the family business are less likely to outsource child care compared to those who work outside the family business. More educated household managers purchased more, and managers in larger families fewer hours of child care. Female household managers purchased significantly fewer hours of child care compared to their male counterparts.     

Two-dimensional balanced sampling plans excluding adjacent units

Hedayat et al. [Sampling plans excluding contiguous units. J. Statist. Plann. Inference 19, 159–170, Designs in survey sampling avoiding contiguous units. In: Krishnaiah, P.R., Rao, C.R. (Eds.), Handbook of Statistics, vol. 6. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 575–583] first introduced balanced sampling plans for the exclusion of contiguous units. Sampling plans that excluded the selection of contiguous units within a given sample, while maintaining a constant second-order inclusion probability for non-contiguous units, were investigated for finite populations of N units arranged in a circular, one-dimensional ordering. While significant advancements have been made in the identification and generalizations of such plans—commonly referred to as BSA sampling plans—little is known concerning the extension of such sampling plans to multi-dimensional populations. This paper will present a review of the pertinent results of one-dimensional BSA sampling plans and a discussion concerning the properties of two-dimensional BSA sampling plans.     

Hilda Mary Woods MBE, DSc, LRAM, FSS (1892-1971): reflections on a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society

We have previously described the content of a text by Woods and Russell, An Introduction to Medical Statistics, compared it with Principles of Medical Statistics by Hill and set both volumes against the background of vital statistics up until 1937. The two books mark a watershed in the history of medical statistics. Very little has been recorded about the life and career of the first author of the earlier textbook, who was a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society for at least 25 years, an omission which we can now rectify with this paper. We describe her education, entry into medical statistics, relationship with Major Greenwood and her subsequent career and life in Ceylon, Kenya, Australia, England and South Africa.     

Inference for a Class of Stochastic Volatility Models Using Option and Spot Prices: Application of a Bivariate Kalman Filter

In this paper Bayesian methods are applied to a stochastic volatility model using both the prices of the asset and the prices of options written on the asset. Posterior densities for all model parameters, latent volatilities and the market price of volatility risk are produced via a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling algorithm. Candidate draws for the unobserved volatilities are obtained in blocks by applying the Kalman filter and simulation smoother to a linearization of a nonlinear state space representation of the model. Crucially, information from both the spot and option prices affects the draws via the specification of a bivariate measurement equation, with implied Black–Scholes volatilities used to proxy observed option prices in the candidate model. Alternative models nested within the Heston (1993) framework are ranked via posterior odds ratios, as well as via fit, predictive and hedging performance. The method is illustrated using Australian News Corporation spot and option price data.     

How can we make better graphs? An initiative to increase the graphical expertise and productivity of quantitative scientists

Graphics are at the core of exploring and understanding data, communicating results and conclusions, and supporting decision‐making. Increasing our graphical expertise can significantly strengthen our impact as professional statisticians and quantitative scientists. In this article, we present a concerted effort to improve the way we create graphics at Novartis. We provide our vision and guiding principles, before describing seven work packages in more detail. The actions, principles, and experiences laid out in this paper are applicable generally, also beyond drug development, which is our field of work. The purpose of this article is to share our experiences and help foster the use of good graphs in pharmaceutical statistics and beyond. A Graphics Principles “Cheat Sheet” is available online at https://graphicsprinciples.github.io/ .     

“I didn’t raise a d#@k!” How parents perceive and address gendered bullying with children

This is an exploratory study that uses a critical feminist approach to examine how parents perceive and respond to gendered bullying with children. Past research conceptualizes bullying from a feminist perspective and previous studies examine how parents perceive bullying. This study moves beyond earlier investigations by integrating these sites of inquiry. The author engages five fathers and eight mothers to participate in this study (n = 13). Data collection includes semi-structured individual interviews and the data analysis is based on a critical feminist approach to phenomenological inquiry. The data analysis shows how the majority of parents, in this study, do perceive and address bullying from a critical feminist perspective, in particular, according to three categories: (a) challenging binary thinking b) understanding identities/positionalities and c) perceiving/addressing gendered power relations. The results lay the foundation for practice and policy implications aimed at bullying prevention and future research to further examine social phenomenon related to gendered bullying.     

The relationship between bonding and bridging social capital among Christian denominations across Australia

This article is an intricate empirical examination of the relationship between bridging and bonding with respect to subcultural differences in religious denomination and faith orientation. The respondents were 2,710 Christian church attendees from nineteen denominations across Australia. They were surveyed with a closed‐answer questionnaire covering the topics of faith, demographics, involvement in the congregation, and involvement in the wider community. The results revealed a positive relationship between bonding and bridging social capital, with a high level of bonding associated with a high level of bridging for all denominations and faith identities. There was no evidence that high bonding within the congregation restricted bridging beyond the congregation. The results support the notion that the relationship between bonding and bridging may vary with societal subcultures.     

Coital debut: The role of religiosity and sex attitudes in the add health survey

Recent reviews suggest that religiosity is associated with the delay of adolescent coital debut (Rostosky, Wilcox, Wright, & Randall, in press; Wilcox, Rostosky, Randall, & Wright, 2001). Few studies, however, have examined this association using longitudinal data to test theoretically driven models. We analyzed data from 3,691 adolescents (ages 15–21), testing the hypothesis that adolescent religiosity and sex attitudes (at Wave 1) predict later coital debut (at Wave 2) and that these predictive relationships vary by gender. Findings indicated that beyond demographic factors and number of romantic partners, religiosity reduced the likelihood of coital debut for both males and females. After accounting for the effects of religiosity, anticipation of negative emotions after coital debut (sex attitude factor 1) further reduced its likelihood for females and males. Finally, adolescent girls—but not boys—who anticipated positive emotions following sexual intercourse (sex attitude factor 2) were more likely to debut. While virginity pledge status was associated with coital debut for boys and girls, more conservative beliefs about sex appeared to mediate its effect. Finally, a significant interaction between race and religiosity indicated that African American adolescent males who had either signed a virginity pledge or were more religious were significantly more likely to debut than both White non‐Hispanic males and African American males who were less religious and/orwho had not signed a pledge. The implications of these results for adolescent pregnancy prevention programming are discussed.     

TigerPlace,A State-Academic-Private Project to Revolutionize Traditional Long-Term Care

ABSTRACT

The Aging in Place Project at the University of Missouri (MU) required legislation in 1999 and 2001 to be fully realized. An innovative home health agency was initiated by the Sinclair School of Nursing specifically to help older adults age in place in the environment of their choice. In 2004, an innovative independent living environment was built and is operated by a private long term care company, as a special facility where residents can truly age in place and never fear being moved to a traditional nursing home unless they choose to do so. With care provided by the home care agency with registered nurse care coordination services, residents receive preventative and early illness recognition assistance that have markedly improved their lives. Evaluation of aging in place reveal registered nurse care coordination improves outcomes of cognition, depression, activities of daily living, incontinence, pain, and shortness of breath as well as delaying or preventing nursing home placement. Links with MU students, faculty, and nearly every school or college on campus enrich the lives of the students and residents of the housing environment. Research projects are encouraged and residents who choose to participate are enjoying helping with developing cutting technology to help other seniors age in place.