Targeted estimation of state occupation probabilities for the non-Markov illness-death model

We use semi-parametric efficiency theory to derive a class of estimators for the state occupation probabilities of the continuous-time irreversible illness-death model. We consider both the setting with and without additional baseline information available, where we impose no specific functional form on the intensity functions of the model. We show that any estimator in the class is asymptotically linear under suitable assumptions about the estimators of the intensity functions. In particular, the assumptions are weak enough to allow the use of data-adaptive methods, which is important for making the identifying assumption of coarsening at random plausible in realistic settings. We suggest a flexible method for estimating the transition intensity functions of the illness-death model based on penalized Poisson regression. We apply this method to estimate the nuisance parameters of an illness-death model in a simulation study and a real-world application.     

Editorial

AStA Advances in Statistical Analysis -     

A Model for Distance Education Delivery

Distance education, which has existed for many years, has become even more popular as a result of recent technological advances. This article proposes a model for distance education as a means for schools of social work to deliver curricula to students who face problems enrolling in campus-based or off-campus sites. The components of the model—videotapes, an on-site discussion leader/field instructor, computers, and direct observation by field instructors—fit well within the general requirements of group interaction in the delivery of a social work curriculum. Problems that may arise using the model include the extra time and training required for faculty to produce videotapes, the recruitment of discussion leaders/field instructors, and how to structure the delivery system so students can practice interviewing, assessment, and other abstract concepts. The author also suggests means for evaluating the model as well as policy changes universities and schools of social work may need to effect to successfully implement distance education programming.     

Teaching Ethnographic Research Methods in Social Work

This article describes a social work course that incorporates instruction on ethnographic research, a contemporary qualitative methodology. The authors describe each of the seven course modules used to teach students ethnographic research methods. They cover sampling strategies, data collection, data analysis, theory development, presentation of findings, and practical application within a clinical setting. Findings from student evaluations of the usefulness and relevance of the course are also described, as are the educational and research implications of teaching ethnographic research methods within a social work curriculum.     

Student Debates in Policy Courses

This article examines the use of student debates to promote substantive knowledge and policy practice skills. The authors present a pedagogical rationale for student debates, describe the incorporation of debates into a child welfare policy course, and report the results of an evaluation. Students demonstrated significantly greater increases in self-reported knowledge of course topics when they participated in debates than when they observed debates or learned through standard forms of instruction. The majority of students reported satisfaction with the debates, reported that participation improved their policy skills and knowledge, and rated the educational value of debates higher than traditional assignments.     

New Identities

The transformation of a segment of the Hamilton working class in the space of a couple of decades—from lifestyles supported by good jobs that, given the global demand for steel, seemed certain to last forever, to week-to-week insecurity and shattered gender expectations—came about not only through structural shifts in the global economy, but through the agency of the members of steelworker families as well, all mediated by local cultural ideas and practices. This article considers how we might think about the apparently mundane, everyday actions of women as contributing to—rather than simply responding to—broader shifts. I suggest this means thinking about women's lives as entailing meaningful acts that, through continuous and combined application, gradually alter structural conditions. Sensitivity to the forms of agency that women employ requires a notion of agency that can account for different experiences and, thus, different meanings, which arise from unequal access to wealth and power. Human agency involves a cognitive process of remembering the past, engaging the present, and imagining the future as people reflect on ideas and events, make judgements, and evaluate imagined alternatives. In the distinctively human ability to incorporate imagined futures into decisions over which path to take, we can see a particularly gendered expression of agency. As women reflect on their own experiences of the past and the present, they can rarely avoid confronting gendered forms of inequality. Action rests on a capacity to imagine a future free of (the effects of) gendered inequalities. Imagination thus spurs gendered action.     

Gambling among young Thai people in Melbourne,Australia: an exploratory study

The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to explore the gambling behaviours of young Thai people resident in Melbourne, Australia; the meaning that gambling had for this group; whether the attitudes of these young Thai people towards gambling changed as a result of their location in a society with more relaxed attitudes towards gambling than in Thailand; whether any such changes of attitude were reflected in gambling participation; and whether such participation had demonstrably negative impacts. It was also hoped to gain some insight into whether pre-existing beliefs and attitudes provided a protective factor in relation to the respondent's gambling. Fifty young people aged 18 to 25, forming five natural friendship networks, were observed on over 180 occasions in relation to their gambling and leisure behaviours. A number of major themes were identified from the observational data including money, fortune and luck, consumerism, entertainment, spirituality and superstition, gambling and family values. It was found that despite high levels of gambling participation there was little, if any, evidence of problematic play or its consequences. Strong adherence to values espoused in families of origin and to complex beliefs about luck in the context of beliefs about spirituality and the location of gambling within the context of a range of leisure pursuits served as protective factors for these young people.     

Casino mergers and economic concentration issues: The acquisition of Caesars by Park Place Entertainment in Atlantic City

Abstract

The 1999 acquisition of Caesars World, Inc. by Park Place Entertainment Corporation generated concerns for increased and undue economic concentration in the Atlantic City market, although less concern has been expressed for increased concentration in national and international markets. This article explores the economic concentration effects of this acquisition in the Atlantic City market and the opposing effects of proposed entry of from one to three casino/hotels. The effects are measured by changes in the Herfindahl‐Hirschman Index of market concentration. This index is the measure of economic concentration historically used in hearings before the New Jersey Casino Control Commission whose charge it is to disallow “undue economic concentration.” Several issues relevant to acquisition, entry, and concentration are discussed. These include the likelihood and time delay of entry, the decline in concentration given a wider geographic market, rivalry, economies of scale, contestable markets, acquisition justified by financial weakness, Federal Trade Commission guidelines, and concentration in the Las Vegas market.     

A Social Capital Basis for Environmental Concern: Evidence from Northern New England*

This study, based on a random‐digit‐dialing telephone survey of adults in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, uses ordinary least squares regression to examine a relatively neglected element in the sociological literature on environmental concern, namely, the influence of an individual's social capital on the formation of environmental attitudes. We argue that it is those individuals with a greater diversity of social connections who are most likely to be influenced by ecological perspectives grounded in conservation and environmental protection. Controlling for other theoretically relevant variables, we regress an index of environmental concern that gives special emphasis to environmental‐economic trade‐offs on our measures of relational and community social capital. While confirming much of the earlier work in this area, our model provides evidence that connections to other people play an important role in determining individual concern for the environment. Specifically, the number of respondents' “weak ties”—that is, not their closest relationships—and the average occupational status of respondents' social ties, in general, were both positively correlated with environmental concern. Additionally, one of our three measures of community social capital, the number of visits from friends over the past month, was statistically significant and negatively correlated with environmental concern.