Describing extra-binomial variation with partially correlated models

Data in the form of proportions are often analyzed under a binomial model. However, because genuine random sampling is often infeasible, the subjects in the sample may be collected in clumps and the variances of the observed proportions may be considerably larger than those corresponding to the binomial model. A set of data from a study of the proportion of subjects testing positive to the disease toxoplasmosis is used in this article to motivate partially correlated binomial models capable of describing data observed in practical situations where clumped sampling is likely to appear, According to these models, the extra-binomial variance of the observed frequencies may range from a linear to a quadratic function of the sample size. An efficient algorithm for the evaluation of the resulting probability mass function is given.     

Recursive characterization of a large family of discrete probability distributions showing extra-Poisson variation

This article analyses the broad family of discrete probability distributions generated by relating Prob (y) to Prob (y?1), …, Prob (y?n), for some n≥1, through a recursive equation. This family contains the binomial, negative binomial and Poisson distributions as well as the Katz family of distributions. In addition, the suggested family contains some convolutions of Poisson distributions and other generalized distributions, which provide models for Poisson overdispersion or underdispersion.     

Acoustic Packaging of Action Sequences by Infants

This study investigated whether acoustic input, in the form of infant‐directed speech, influenced infants' segmenting of action sequences. Thirty‐two 7.5‐ to 11.5‐month‐old infants were familiarized with video sequences made up of short action clips. Narration coincided with portions of the action stream to package certain pairs of clips together. At test, packaged and nonpackaged pairs of actions were presented side by side in silence. Narration heard during familiarization influenced how infants viewed the action units, such that at test, infants older than 9.5 months (but not younger) looked longer at the nonpackaged than the packaged action sequences. The role of infant‐directed speech as well as other types of acoustic input in assisting infants' processing of action is discussed.     

Demographic,personality, cognitive and behavioral correlates of off-course betting involvement

A large (n=381) exploratory survey of off-course bettors was conducted as a step towards rectifying deficits in current gambling literature. Information collected by interviews and questionnaires from off-course betting agency customers showed the level of betting involvement to be largely unrelated to demographic and cognitive variables and sensation seeking, but related to a variety of betting behaviors. A factor analysis produced three independent factors accounting for 30% of the variance. Loadings on these suggested an independence of items involved in the process of betting and those related to the control of betting behaviors, implying that non-pathological gambling involvement may be a reasonable goal for treatment programs.     

career story: The importance of being ERNIE

ERNIE is the Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment that caused huge interest in 1957 when it began selecting prize-winners for the new Premium Bonds, the first government-sponsored gamble in Britain in modern times. Stephanie Shirley was a young statistician working on ERNIE. Today, as Steve Shirley or Dame Stephanie , she is one of the wealthiest women in Britain—not through winning on Premium Bonds herself, but through the pioneering software company she formed which, for the first time, gave female-friendly employment to women programmers (and statisticians) who had children and dependants at home to care for. She is now a major philanthropist and a driving force for research into the social effects of the Internet and into autism. She has given more than £50 million to charities in those fields. Julian Champkin interviews her.     

Regulation, market power, and labor earnings: Evidence from the cable television industry

Labor economists have suggested that employee earnings may be relatively higher in firms possessing market power, such as that which may stem from government regula-tion of prices or entry of firms. We test this hypothesis, which previously has been inves-tigated in the context of industries such as trucking and air transportation, using earnings data for the cable television industry. Our empirical findings suggest that cable TV employees capture some of the benefits producers receive from regulations restricting competition.     

Courting LULUs: Characteristics of Suitor and Objector Communities*

Abstract This research examines nonmetropolitan places most likely to support or oppose proposals for locally undesirable land uses (LULUs) involving waste management facilities. Two hypotheses are tested: (1) that relatively remote communities of lower socioeconomic status will be less likely to oppose such proposals; and (2) that support for such proposals is widespread among nonmetropolitan communities because of growth machine activities. Using key informants and secondary data for 166 non‐metropolitan Pennsylvania places, we find that local growth promotion, especially efforts to promote business and industry, is related positively to community experience with plant closings and to proposals for these LULUs. Where these proposals are made, community opposition tends to be present as well, particularly in larger communities and, surprisingly, in those of lower socioeconomic status. The significance of these findings is discussed in terms of the growth machine and the opposition they can provoke to protect the use value of land in a single nonmetropolitan region.     

Art work or money: Conflicts in the construction of a creative identity

The identity projects of novice creative practitioners must take account of the economy of art work. It has been suggested ( McRobbie, 2002a ) that in the contemporary cultural industries in the UK, a new understanding of the connection between creative work and money has replaced past ‘anti‐commercial’ notions. This claim is investigated through a narrative‐discursive analysis of interviews from a longitudinal study with current and recent Art and Design postgraduates. Their ongoing identity projects are shaped by established understandings of creative work and the prospects it offers for earning and employment, and also by more local discursive resources given by personal life contexts. An analysis of two interviews with a single speaker shows how these resources are taken up within her ongoing and distinctive identity project. Both old and new repertoires of art and money are in play in her talk. She must negotiate dilemmas and potentially troubled positionings in order to reconcile a creative identity with relationships and responsibilities towards others. Coherence is only achieved momentarily and is disrupted by new life circumstances. By investigating an identity project at the level of talk, the analysis shows the complexity of the speaker's work to construct and claim a creative identity.