THE EXPANSION OF COLLEGE EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES: IS THERE EVIDENCE OF DECLINING COHORT QUALITY?

This article documents the expansion of college education in the United States and examines to what extent the increase in the number of college graduates may have lead to a decline in the average quality of college graduates. Using the 1940–90 Census, we compare across birth year cohorts with varying levels of college completion. We find some weak evidence that college graduate men from highly educated cohorts earn a relatively smaller wage premium even controlling for the relative supply effect. However, these cohort quality effects account for only a small fraction of the recent fluctuation in the college wage premium.(JEL I20 , J24 , J31 )     

Exiting and Returning to the Parental Home for Boomerang Kids

Young adults commonly exit from and return to the parental home, yet few studies have examined the motivation behind these exits and returns using a life course framework. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, the authors examined associations between mental health problems and economic characteristics and exits from (n = 8,162) and returns to (n = 6,530) the parental home during the transition to adulthood. The average age of the respondents was 24 years. The authors found evidence that mental health and economic characteristics were related to home leaving and returning. Emotional distress was associated with earlier exits from and returns to the parental home; alcohol problems were associated with earlier returns to the parental home. The findings regarding economic resources were unexpectedly mixed. Greater economic resources were linked to delayed exits from and earlier returns to the parental home. The implications of these findings for young adults are discussed.     

基于遗传算法的神经网络结构设计

神经网络具有广泛的工程应用前景,但在实际应用中还存在一些困难,如何优化网络结构目前尚无理论指导,应用遗传算法与误差反向传播算法相结合的混合学习过程研究网络结构设计,实例表明通过遗传算法优化网络结构,能够有效地提高网络性能。     

纽马克文本分类模式评析

纽马克将源文本分为三类,并针对各类文本的不同特点提出了相应的翻译策略;而中国学者也在此领域进行了有益的探索.笔者对纽马克文本分类模式进行了分析,并与其他模式进行了比较.在此基础上提出:纽马克提出的文本功能分类模式对英汉对译具有不可忽视的指导意义.     

Bayesian Time Series Analysis of Structural Changes in Level and Trend

In this article we consider the problem of detecting changes in level and trend in time series model in which the number of change-points is unknown. The approach of Bayesian stochastic search model selection is introduced to detect the configuration of changes in a time series. The number and positions of change-points are determined by a sequence of change-dependent parameters. The sequence is estimated by its posterior distribution via the maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation. Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method is used to estimate posterior distributions of parameters. Some actual data examples including a time series of traffic accidents and two hydrological time series are analyzed.     

A measure and a graphical method for evaluating slope rotatability in response surface designs

A measure for evaluating slope rotatability over all directions in response surface designs, is proposed. This measure is used to form slope variance dispersion graph evaluating the overall slope rotatability and the slope estimation capability of an experimental design throughout the region of interest. This graph allows for an easy comparison of competing designs.     

Some issues arising in the analysis of the development level of cultural and welfare service

ABSTRACT

A crucial factor in the shaping of state policy for social work and development is to satisfy various needs in people’s living. The work of satisfying people’s demand for enhanced well-being and the elimination of inequalities in their living is realised through the activity called cultural and welfare service. On the basis of theoretical research on other kinds of services, in this paper, we conceptualised cultural and welfare service that seeks to satisfy various demands in people’s living, set main indicators characterising its development level and suggest a methodology for analysing it.     

Correlates of Attitudes Toward Personal Aging in Older Assisted Living Residents

This study explored factors contributing to older adults’ self-perceptions about their own aging in assisted living (AL) communities. Data analysis was completed based on interviews with 150 older residents from 17 AL communities. Multiple regression analyses found that functional disability and hearing impairment negatively affected attitudes toward personal aging among AL residents, and satisfaction with social support positively influenced attitudes. Health perception mediated attitudes toward personal aging. Findings suggest the importance of social workers helping older AL residents recognize social support as a means of promoting their positive self-regard.