Not Such an 'Ordinary' Relationship: the role of women support staff in relation to men with learning disabilities who have difficult sexual behaviour

This paper brings together some preliminary data on the management of men with learning disabilities who have unacceptable/abusive sexual behaviour patterns with a small pilot study which specifically explores the roles of women support workers in relation to difficult sexual behaviour. A specific focus on the behaviour of men with learning disabilities is justified because of consistent evidence that it is men, rather than women, service users who challenge services in this way. The studies explore with staff the boundaries of what is considered acceptable sexual behaviour and how breaches of these are responded to within services. One issue which we have chosen to highlight is the frequent exposure of women staff to the men's sexual behaviour, sometimes precipitated by the unusual relationship that exists between the two parties, and exacerbated by the lack of clear management guidance within the gendered hierarchies found in service agencies.     

Some results concerning off-training-set and IID error for the Gibbs and the Bayes optimal generalizers

In this paper we analyse the average behaviour of the Bayes-optimal and Gibbs learning algorithms. We do this both for off-training-set error and conventional IID (independent identically distributed) error (for which test sets overlap with training sets). For the IID case we provide a major extension to one of the better known results. We also show that expected IID test set error is a non-increasing function of training set size for either algorithm. On the other hand, as we show, the expected off-training-set error for both learning algorithms can increase with training set size, for non-uniform sampling distributions. We characterize the relationship the sampling distribution must have with the prior for such an increase. We show in particular that for uniform sampling distributions and either algorithm, the expected off-training-set error is a non-increasing function of training set size. For uniform sampling distributions, we also characterize the priors for which the expected error of the Bayes-optimal algorithm stays constant. In addition we show that for the Bayes-optimal algorithm, expected off-training-set error can increase with training set size when the target function is fixed, but if and only if the expected error averaged over all targets decreases with training set size. Our results hold for arbitrary noise and arbitrary loss functions.     

THE MARKET FOR MOTION PICTURES: RANK, REVENUE, AND SURVIVAL

Every motion picture is an innovation that competes for theater screens and audiences during its brief life against a changing array of imperfect substitutes. We analyze a large sample of motion pictures as an evolving rank tournament of survival and death. The results indicate that the failure rate of motion pictures is time-dependent and survival time is strongly related to the number of initial bookings. Weekly box office revenue is highly convex in rank, which is consistent with Rosen's superstar phenomenon. Our results have implications for motion picture licensing arrangements, which have been severely restricted by U.S. court decisions.     

THE VERTICAL CHAIN OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

This paper examines the relationship between basic and applied pharmaceutical research. We focus on three stages of research and development (R & D): government-funded basic research; publication in medical journals; and industry-finded applied R&D. We estimate that a one percent increase in basic research in a particular therapeutic category causes a 0.76 percent increase in industry R&D in that category, and a 1.71 percent increase in other categories, mer seven years. We also find that research incentives differ across government, academic and industry researchers. For example, government funding favors diseases that are less prevalent and more debilitating than industry funding.     

TESTING FOR EFFICIENCY IN LOTTO MARKETS

State-sponsored lotto games, because they are pari-mutuel and because jackpots with no winner are rolled over into the next drawing, present an excellent opportunity to test for market efficiency. Using data from Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Ohio, we investigate bettors' responses and test for weak-form efficiency. Lotto bets do not have positive net expected returns, thus weak-form efficiency exists. To evaluate strong-form efficiency we utilize the concept of a rational expectations equilibrium. We find that in general lotto bettors' decisions to play generate a level of sales that conform to their original forecasts of expected value.     

Back to Hong Kong: return migration or transnational sojourn?

Abstract In this article we reconsider the meaning of return migration in a period of growing transnational practices. In its conventional use, return migration conveys the same sense of closure and completion as the immigration‐assimilation narrative. But in a transnational era, movement is better described as continuous rather than completed. Focus groups held in Hong Kong with middle‐class returnees from Canada reveal that migration is undertaken strategically at different stages of the life cycle. The return trip to Hong Kong typically occurs for economic reasons at the stage of early or mid career. A second move to Canada may occur later with teenage children for educational purposes, and migration at retirement is even more likely when the quality of life in Canada becomes a renewed priority. Strategic switching between an economic pole in Hong Kong and a quality‐of‐life pole in Canada identifies each of them to be separate stations within an extended but unified social field.     

Towards Accountability in Social Work: A Case Review System for Social Workers

Summary After discussing the huge undifferentiated tasks facing socialworkers in the social services departments, it is suggestedthat one of the most urgent research needs is the developmentof systematic record and review systems to provide basic informationabout social worker activities and their effects on differentclient groups. The development of a social worker oriented computerizedCase Review System in close collaboraation with a group of fieldworkersin an area office is described. The system enables social workersto evaluate and plan their work for individual clients; it canassist the process of supervision; as a management tool it cancontribute towards the planning of fieldwork services; as aninformation system it gives an on-going account of the size,nature and scope of social work activities with different clientgroups. So far the impact of the system has been to raise questionsabout practices and to encourage a climate favourable to change.     

PHYSICIAN RESPONSE TO A MAILED SURVEY AN EXPERIMENT IN TIMING OF PAYMENT

This article reports the results of an experiment in obtainingphysician response to a mailed questionnaire. Each physicianwas eligible for a payment of $20. A randomly selected halfreceived the payment with their initial questionnaire and coverletter; half were told they would receive their payment afterthey completed and returned the questionnaire. The same mailand telephone followup procedures were used for both groups.Overall, prepayment had significant positive effects on responserates. This paper examines these effects in terms of responserates for various specialties, field efficiencies, cost, andrepresentativeness of the sample.