A new ranked set sample estimator of variance

Summary. We develop an unbiased estimator of the variance of a population based on a ranked set sample. We show that this new estimator is better than estimating the variance based on a simple random sample and more efficient than the estimator based on a ranked set sample proposed by Stokes. Also, a test to determine the effectiveness of the judgment ordering process is proposed.     

Merging populations,stochastic dominance and Lorenz curves

In typical comparisons of inequality the condition that the means of the distributions are equal is hardly met. In these cases, the widely used Lorenz curves non-intersection criterion is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for stochastic dominance. It is suggested to replace the Lorenz curves non-intersection criterion with an absolute Lorenz curves non-intersection criterion. The implications of adopting this criterion are discussed in the context of fixed populations and changing populations.This is a revised version of Harvard University Migration and Development Program, Discussion Paper No. 29. We are indebted to Pierre Pestieau for helpful comments and suggestions.     

Engaging men as social justice allies in ending violence against women: evidence for a social norms approach

The field of sexual assault prevention is shifting attention to educational interventions that address the role of men in ending violence against women. Recent studies document the often-misperceived norms men hold about other men's endorsement of rape-supportive attitudes and behaviors. The authors provide further evidence supporting the design of population-based social norms interventions to prevent sexual assault. Data from this study suggest that men underestimate the importance that most men and women place on consent and willingness of most men to intervene against sexual violence. In addition, men's personal adherence to only consensual activity and their willingness to act as women's allies are strongly influenced by their perceptions of other men's and women's norms. These findings support the proposition that accurate normative data, which counters the misperception of rape-supportive environments, can be a critical part of comprehensive campus efforts to catalyze and support men's development as women's social justice allies in preventing sexual violence against women.     

Opportunities of constraints: A sociologist’s reflections on János Kornai’s <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">By Force of Thought</Emphasis>

This essay reviews the intellectual memoir by János Kornai, the leading economist working under the constraints of politicized academic life in the former Soviet bloc. Kornai retells the major ideas of his work through the lens of the various periods in his life and the ethical dilemmas faced in each. Constraints, it is shown, provided opportunities. Kornai’s work offers a model of a public intellectual, committed to empirical analysis of social processes, and independent from political parties and from intellectual camps in the economics profession.

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The effects of urbanization on carnivores in the New York metropolitan area

Urban Ecosystems - The presence of human activity and development affects the distribution and behavior of carnivore species in various ways. It is necessary to examine the effects of urbanization...     

Impact of the Village Model: Results of a National Survey

ABSTRACT

Villages are a relatively new, consumer-directed model that brings together older adults in a community who have a mutual interest in aging in place. These membership organizations provide social and civic engagement opportunities, volunteer provided support services, and referral to vetted community providers to achieve their primary goals of promoting independence and preventing undesired relocations. This cross sectional survey of 1,753 active Village members from 28 Villages across the US measured members’ perceived impacts in the areas of social connection, civic engagement, service access, health and well-being, and ability to age in place. Results showed that involvement in the Village was a key factor associated with greater perceived impacts. Over half of members perceive that the Village has improved their sense of connection to others and their feeling that they have someone to count on. Though younger members in better health were more likely to perceive impacts in social connections, results suggest older women, living alone with some disability may be the most likely to experience improved health, quality of life, and mobility. The implications for social work practice are discussed.     

Contrasting soil nitrogen dynamics across a montane meadow and urban lawn in a semi-arid watershed

Urbanization substantially increases nitrogen (N) inputs and hydrologic losses relative to wildland ecosystems, although the fate of N additions to lawns and remnant grasslands remains contested. In montane semi-arid ecosystems, N cycling is often closely coupled to snowmelt (the dominant period of infiltration) and snow cover, which impact soil temperature and moisture. Here, we compared soil N dynamics between a fertilized and irrigated urban lawn and nearby riparian meadow in Salt Lake City, Utah during a snow manipulation experiment. Snow removal increased freeze/thaw events but did not affect N pools, microbial biomass, denitrification potential, or soil oxygen (O₂). Mineral N was similar between sites despite lawn fertilization, but dissolved organic N (DON) was four-fold greater (2.1 ± 0.1 mg N l^?1) in lawn soil water. Infiltration was lower in the lawn subsoil, and leaching losses (modeled with Hydrus) were small at both sites (< 2 kg N ha^?1 y^?1) despite substantial lawn fertilization. Lawn soil O₂ fluctuated between 20.9 and 1.6 % following snowmelt and irrigation, but remained near 20 % in the meadow; the lawn had more reducing microsites as indicated by iron speciation. Post-snowmelt potential denitrification was six-fold greater in the lawn than the meadow. Lawns can potentially provide hotspots of denitrification in a semi-arid landscape that exceed some natural riparian ecosystems, whereas DON may represent an increasingly important form of N loss from lawns.     

Developing human resource competencies: an empirical evidence

The paper conceptually defines and empirically investigates the density of work experience along with individual characteristics (cognitive ability, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience) and examine their influence on Human Resource (HR) competencies. 274 HR executives from diverse industry background and their supervisors participated in the data collection efforts spread over three phases. Data analyses revealed three key findings (i) executives’ density of work experience positively relates to HR competencies, (ii) executives’ cognitive ability is the strongest predictor of the positive relationship to HR competencies, and (iii) executives with high Conscientiousness tend to achieve levels of density of work experience. Relative weight analyses reinforce that cognitive ability and density of work experience are the most prominent predictors of HR competencies. Implications for practice are discussed.     

Robust analysis of variance: a simulation study

Traditional analysis-of-variance (ANOVA) is based on 'normality' and 'homogeneity' assumptions. If either or both of these assumptions are violated, then the one-way ANOVA may not be as powerful as robust analysis-of-variance (RANOVA) alternatives. We report the results of a simulation study of alternatives to ANOVA: Welch (W*), the first and second methods of James (J1*, 3J11*), Brown- Forsythe (BF*), a Box (B*) procedure, and the Kruskal-Wallis (KW*) procedure. Random samples from 14 distributions—uniform (0, 1), normal (0, 1), contaminated normal, SLATE, SLACU, SLASH, double exponential, Cauchy, half-normal, chi-squared (two degrees of freedom), chi-squared (four degrees of freedom) log normal, gamma (1, 2) and beta (2, 5)—were generated using a composite linear congruential generator. Corresponding test satis tics were computed and the empirical size for each test is given for three nominal a values (0.10, 0.05, 0.01). For k, we choose 3, 4 and 6. The sample sizes and combinations of sample sizes were chosen at 4, 6, 8, 10, 15 and 20. We then propose an adaptive algorithm based on an ancillary statistic that selects an ANOVA/RANOVA procedure for either symmetric or asymmetric data distributions, and for equal or unequal sample sizes.