Why does “last week” reporting give higher estimates than “last month”?

Abstract

Experiments in various countries with “last week” and “last month” reference periods for reporting of households’ food consumption have generally found that “week”-based estimates are higher. In India the National Sample Survey (NSS) has consistently found that “week”-based estimates are higher than month-based estimates for a majority of food item groups. But why are week-based estimates higher than month-based estimates? It has long been believed that the reason must be recall lapse, inherent in a long reporting period such as a month. But is household consumption of a habitually consumed item “recalled” in the same way as that of an item of infrequent consumption? And why doesn’t memory lapse cause over-reporting (over-assessment) as often as under-reporting? In this paper, we provide an alternative hypothesis, involving a “quantity floor effect” in reporting behavior, under which “week” may cause over-reporting for many items. We design a test to detect the effect postulated by this hypothesis and carry it out on NSS 68th round HCES data. The test results strongly suggest that our hypothesis provides a better explanation of the difference between week-based and month-based estimates than the recall lapse theory.     

Synthetic data method to incorporate external information into a current study

We consider the situation where there is a known regression model that can be used to predict an outcome, Y, from a set of predictor variables X . A new variable B is expected to enhance the prediction of Y. A dataset of size n containing Y, X and B is available, and the challenge is to build an improved model for Y| X ,B that uses both the available individual level data and some summary information obtained from the known model for Y| X . We propose a synthetic data approach, which consists of creating m additional synthetic data observations, and then analyzing the combined dataset of size n + m to estimate the parameters of the Y| X ,B model. This combined dataset of size n + m now has missing values of B for m of the observations, and is analyzed using methods that can handle missing data (e.g., multiple imputation). We present simulation studies and illustrate the method using data from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. Though the synthetic data method is applicable to a general regression context, to provide some justification, we show in two special cases that the asymptotic variances of the parameter estimates in the Y| X ,B model are identical to those from an alternative constrained maximum likelihood estimation approach. This correspondence in special cases and the method's broad applicability makes it appealing for use across diverse scenarios. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 47: 580–603; 2019 © 2019 Statistical Society of Canada     

Giving to Friends,Classmates, and Strangers in Adolescence

This study examined how perspective taking and sensitivity to social rewards predict giving to friends, classmates, and strangers in adolescence. Five hundred and twenty adolescents aged 12–17 years completed questionnaires on perspective taking and social rewards and played three Dictator Games in which they divided coins between themselves and a friend, classmate, and stranger. We found that, irrespective of age, adolescents donated most to a friend, less to their classmate, and least to a stranger, and females donated more than males. Individual differences in perspective taking and social reward sensitivity moderated how much adolescents donated, especially to strangers. These findings suggest that perspective taking and sensitivity to social rewards influence giving behavior in adolescence, especially to unknown others.     

Benefits to Children Who Participate in Family Therapy with their Substance‐Using Mother

It is rare that family members other than the identified patient are followed over time in studies of therapy effectiveness. Family therapy is believed to be effective because it targets processes within the system that maintain symptoms. If these processes are changed, then all family members can benefit. Using a sample of 183 mother–child dyads from a study comparing family therapy for adult substance use versus an attention control, change in child's substance use (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana) was estimated. Children who participated in family therapy with their mothers showed greater decreases in alcohol and tobacco use and were less likely to begin using compared to children whose mothers participated in the attention control condition.     

Counselor Actions to Facilitate Client Change During Life-Design Counseling

The authors examined whether and how counselor interventions foster client change during life-design counseling (Savickas, 2015). Two counseling sessions were conducted. Interviews with the 2 clients and the counselor after each counseling session were done in accordance with interpersonal process recall (Larsen, Flesaker, & Stege, 2008). The results indicated a scheme of counselor interventions that corresponded to client change. Specifically, the counselor fostered client reflection and reflexivity by (a) exploring original constructions, (b) identifying problematic themes in the constructions, (c) interpreting those themes, (d) identifying and recording client change and reflection, (e) connecting the themes to current issues, (f) facilitating a process of critical review, and (g) facilitating the reconstruction process. The results add a counselor's perspective to the research on client change and suggest a study of cases facilitated by counselors with diverse styles and skills that could further identify links between client change and counselor intervention.     

The influence of anthropogenic resources on multi-scale habitat selection by raccoons

With the continuing spread of urban areas, gaining a greater understanding of the effect of human presence on wildlife species is essential for wildlife managers. We determined the influence of anthropogenic resources on home range size and habitat selection of raccoons (Procyon lotor) during summer (June–August) 1996–2000 for 120 raccoons at three sites exposed to varying levels of urbanization and anthropogenic resources, specifically food. Home range estimates were larger (P < 0.05) at the rural site than the suburban and urban sites for both genders. We used compositional analysis to examine raccoon habitat selection at the second-order home range, second-order core area, and third-order home range scales. Woodland was consistently a highly-selected habitat type for both sexes at every spatial scale. Relative to other habitat types, habitat associated with human-related food (human use areas) was selected most often at the urban site, intermediately at the suburban site, and not selected at the rural site. Spatial scale also affected habitat selection. Human use areas were preferentially selected at the second- and third-order level at the urban site, third-order level only at the suburban site, and at neither level at the rural site. Additionally, intersexual differences in habitat selection were reduced at the urban site, with both sexes preferentially selecting for human use areas as well as woodland habitat. Smaller home ranges in urbanized environments are often attributed to the abundant and concentrated anthropogenic resources associated with human activity, but with little empirical support. Our habitat selection analyses followed our predictions that raccoon foraging is strongly influenced by the artificial distribution and abundance of human-related food. Male and female raccoons in urban areas reduce their foraging patterns and focus their foraging activity on anthropogenic foods.     

Explaining Family Change and Variation: Challenges for Family Demographers

Twenty years ago, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) issued a request for proposals that resulted in the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), a unique survey valuable to a wide range of family scholars. This paper describes the efforts of an interdisciplinary group of family demographers to build on the progress enabled by the NSFH and many other theoretical and methodological innovations. Our work, also supported by NICHD, will develop plans for research and data collection to address the central question of what causes family change and variation. We outline the group's initial assessments of orienting frameworks, key aspects of family life to study, and theoretical and methodological challenges for research on family change. Finally, we invite family scholars to follow our progress and to help develop this shared public good.