Assessing the effects of ‘big brother’ in a workplace: The case of WAST

The extensive and growing use of electronic performance monitoring in organisations has resulted in considerable debate over the years. This paper focuses on workplace monitoring at the Welsh Ambulance Services Trust (WAST), a provider of emergency services for the people of Wales, in the UK. The key objectives include examining the nature of performance monitoring at its call centres and determining whether employees are micromanaged through the use of workplace surveillance. The findings cover staff (both management and non-management) perceptions, gathered through a questionnaire and interviews as well as observations made in the study areas. The findings revealed that workplace electronic monitoring is not intrinsically all good or all bad. It is value neutral and offers a win–win situation.     

An Indigenous Knowledges Perspective on Valid Meaning Making: A Commentary on Research with the EDI and Aboriginal Communities

Offering an Indigenous perspective, this commentary discusses collaborative research, shared meaning making, and knowledge building specific to child development, and reflects on social, cultural, and historical aspects that influence these processes. Drawing upon experiences of developing a collaborative research approach with which to engage Aboriginal communities to appreciate, understand, and potentially use the Early Development Instrument (EDI; Janus and Offord in Can J Behav Sci 39:1–22, 2007), a teacher-administered rating scale on kindergarten children’s development, the commentary focuses on five key questions relevant to research processes undertaken with Indigenous Peoples, and the importance of social, ethical, and cultural aspects of validity: How do Indigenous epistemologies and knowledges inform and influence research processes that utilize the EDI as a measurement tool? How can the EDI be used as a measurement tool within a research process that fosters the thriving of children and their families in Aboriginal communities while promoting Indigenous Peoples’ self-determination? In what ways do local, Indigenous cultural and ethical considerations inform aspects of validation research pertaining to the EDI? How can (Western mainstream) universities build research capacity that is informed by Indigenous knowledges and ways of being, doing, and knowing? What are the potential consequences of using normative research tools—such as the EDI—as a method to build knowledge on children’s development with Indigenous Peoples and Aboriginal communities? This commentary suggests that from an Indigenous perspective, research on child development is valid and meaningful knowledge if it is clearly linked to the children’s and families’ wellbeing according to local cultural norms and values.     

The Pacific Identity and Wellbeing Scale (PIWBS): A Culturally-Appropriate Self-Report Measure for Pacific Peoples in New Zealand

We describe and validate the Pacific Identity and Wellbeing Scale (PIWBS). The PIWBS is a culturally appropriate self-report measure assessing a five-factor model of Pacific identity and wellbeing. Items and construct definitions were developed through qualitative interviews, review of psychological theories, and previous research on Pacific concepts of ethnic identity and wellbeing. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported the model (Study 1 N = 143; Study 2 N = 443). The proposed five-factor model of Pacific identity and wellbeing includes scales assessing (1) Perceived Familial Wellbeing, (2) Perceived Societal Wellbeing, (3) Pacific Connectedness and Belonging, (4) Religious Centrality and Embeddedness, and (5) Group Membership Evaluation. The PIWBS provides a culturally appropriate valid and reliable assessment tool that can be used for within-cultural research for Pacific peoples from a Pacific perspective. A copy of the PIWBS and scoring instructions for its use are included.     

Is Parental Attachment Security Contextual? Exploring Context‐Specific Child–Parent Attachment Patterns and Psychological Well‐Being in Taiwanese Youths

Scant research to date has explored the possibility of context‐specific variation in attachment security within a given relationship. In this paper, two cross‐sectional studies were designed (1) to develop and validate context‐specific attachment scales in Traditional‐Chinese and (2) to explore variations in attachment security within a given parental relationship but between the contexts of sport and academics, relating them to global attachment patterns and indicators of psychological well‐being. Results indicated that Taiwanese youth can and do perceive contextual variation within a given parental relationship. However, the relationship between such contextual variation and psychological outcomes was complex. Contextual variation may be a meaningful and useful way to explore and think about within‐parent attachment fluctuation.     

When are two multivariate random processes indistinguishable

Prediction error identification methods have been recently the objects of much study, and have wide applicability. The maximum likelihood (ML) identification methods for Gaussian models and the least squares prediction error method (LSPE) are special cases of the general approach. In this paper, we investigate conditions for distinguishability or identifiability of multivariate random processes, for both continuous and discrete observation time T. We consider stationary stochastic processes, for the ML and LSPE methods, and for large observation interval T, we resolve the identifiability question. Our analysis begins by considering stationary autoregressive moving average models, but the conclusions apply for general stationary, stable vector models. The limiting value for T → ∞ of the criterion function is evaluated, and it is viewed as a distance measure in the parameter space of the model. The main new result of this paper is to specify the equivalence classes of stationary models that achieve the global minimization of the above distance measure, and hence to determine precisely the classes of models that are not identifiable from each other. The new conclusions are useful for parameterizing multivariate stationary models in system identification problems. Relationships to previously discovered identifiability conditions are discussed.     

Power Assignment for <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-Connectivity in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

The problem Min-Power k-Connectivity seeks a power assignment to the nodes in a given wireless ad hoc network such that the produced network topology is k-connected and the total power is the lowest. In this paper, we present several approximation algorithms for this problem. Specifically, we propose a 3k-approximation algorithm for any k, a (k + 12H (k)) -approximation algorithm for k(2k–1) n where n is the network size, a (k+2(k + 1)/2) -approximation algorithm for 2 k7, a 6-approximation algorithm for k = 3, and a 9-approximation algorithm for k = 4.This work is supported in part by Hong Kong Research Grant Council under grant No. CityU 1149/04E.This work is partially supported by NSF CCR-0311174.     

Investigation of disease-free survival as a surrogate endpoint for survival in cancer clinical trials

A stochastic model wiuh exponential components is used to describe our data collected from a phase III cancer clinical trial. Criteria which guarantee that disease-free survival (DFS) can be used as a surrogate for overall survival are explored under this model. We examine several colorectal adjuvant clinical trials and find that these conditions are not satisfied. The relationship between the hazard ratio of DFS for an active treatment versus a control treatment and the cumulative hazard ratio of survival for the same two treatments is then explored. An almost linear relationship is found such that a hazard ratio for DFS of less than a threshold R corresponds to a non-null treatment effect on survival The threshold value R is determined for our colorectal adjuvant trial data. Based on this relationship, a one-sided test of equal hazard rate of survival is equivalent to a test of hazard ratio of DFS small than R This approach assumes that recurrence information is unbiasedly and accurately assessed; an assumpion which is sometimes difficult to ensure for multicenter clinical trials, particularly for interim analyses.     

Gender Atypical Behavior in Chinese School-Aged Children: Its Prevalence and Relation to Sex,Age, and Only Child Status

This study had three purposes: (a) to compare the prevalence of boys' and girls' gender-atypical behaviors (GABs) in a sample of Chinese school-aged children, (b) to examine the developmental pattern of GABs in Chinese boys and girls over the age range in question (6–12 years), and (c) to test the effects of being an only child on children's GAB expression. Parents of 486 boys and 417 girls completed a Child Play Behavior and Activity Questionnaire (CPBAQ) in regard to their own children, and a demographic information sheet. The frequency distribution for each gender-related behavior was calculated. The associations between sex, age, and only-child status, and CPBAQ scale scores were examined. Although most GABs (by their very nature) were exhibited infrequently in Chinese children, it was found that girls displayed GABs more frequently than boys did. The prevalence of GABs rose for girls as they grew older, but fell slightly for boys. The expressions of GABs in only children did not differ from that in children with siblings. Possible effects of Chinese culture (including the current only-child policy) on children's GABs are discussed.