A Novel Regression Approach: Least Squares Ratio

Regression Analysis (RA) is one of the frequently used tool for forecasting. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Technique is the basic instrument of RA and there are many regression techniques based on OLS. This paper includes a new regression approach, called Least Squares Ratio (LSR), and comparison of OLS and LSR according to mean square errors of estimation of theoretical regression parameters (mse ß) and dependent value (mse y).     

Goodness of fit tests for Nakagami distribution based on smooth tests

ABSTRACT

Nakagami distribution is one of the most common distributions used to model positive valued and right skewed data. In this study, we interest goodness of fit problem for Nakagami distribution. Thus, we propose smooth tests for Nakagami distribution based on orthonormal functions. We also compare these tests with some classical goodness of fit tests such as Cramer–von Mises, Anderson–Darling, and Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests in respect to type-I error rates and powers of tests. Simulation study indicates that smooth tests give better results than these classical tests give in respect to almost all cases considered.     

The effects of the proxy information on the iterative Stein-rule estimator of the disturbance variance

In a regression model with proxy variables, we consider the iterative estimator of the disturbance variance to obtain more precise estimates. In the formula of the estimator of the disturbance variance, the estimator is obtained by using Stein-rule (SR) estimator instead of OLS (ordinary least squares) estimator is called Iterative estimator of the disturbance variance. It is shown that, in a regression model with proxy variables the mean square error (MSE) of the iterative estimator of the disturbance variance is greater than the MSE of the disturbance variance related to the OLS estimator under certain conditions.     

Parallel sequential Monte Carlo for stochastic gradient-free nonconvex optimization

Statistics and Computing - We introduce and analyze a parallel sequential Monte Carlo methodology for the numerical solution of optimization problems that involve the minimization of a cost...     

The fever that hit Arab satellite television: audience perceptions of Turkish TV series

Turkish television drama series were locally produced products until the early 2000s. Since then, about 70 different titles have been broadcast to audiences in 40 countries, especially in the Middle East, where they comprise approximately 60% of the share in foreign programme broadcasts. This article explores the factors that led to such an attraction by considering the debates around the impact of transnational media products on Arab cultural identity. The authors conducted focus groups and interviews with audiences in Palestine and Egypt and with the producers/distributors of these TV series in Turkey. The data presented here comprise the results of one of the first field-based studies on the reception of Turkish media products in the region. Foremost, the Arab audience response to these Turkish TV series highlights the differences in conceptualisations of ‘modernity’ in the Arab World. Moreover, the data suggest that audiences do not necessarily consider transnational media products as culprits that corrupt cultural identity.     

The Gezi Park movement: a Turkish experience of the twenty-first-century collective movements

Based on the results of a field study conducted during the summer following the wave of mobilizations in Gezi, this article analyzes the development and the social, cultural, and political meanings of this collective movement, which began in Turkey at the end of May 2013 and has been evolving during the summer. The first part of the article addresses the subject of these mobilizations that are opposed to the planning policy, implemented by the government in a process of neo-liberal economic development. The second part discusses the subjective engagement of the protesters and the meaning they give it, by considering alternatives not only to this policy but to the influence exerted on the individual and social life by the technostructures of the systemic forces. The third part analyzes, on the one hand, the methods of direct and online communication for organizing protests and, on the other, the creation of new living constructs, where protesters experiment with the alternatives to the dominations they contest. It is through protest, but also creative and performative actions, that the individuals try to become subjects of their own lives, against these dominations in which the Turkish dimension is part of a global systemic context.     

Evaluating high-tech alternatives by using analytic network process with BOCR and multiactors

The main purpose of this study is to solve a real-world, multicriteria, high-tech selection problem by using analytic network process (ANP). The proposed ANP model consists of a control hierarchy, and a network of connections among the clusters of alternatives, actors and criteria. The strategic criteria were included into the model to rate benefits (B), opportunities (O), costs (C), and risks (R). Then, final synthesis of alternatives was obtained by using rated BOCR. Three actor groups at each step of ANP were cooperated to gain their contributions into the decision as well as to promote the implementation. The results and their interpretations are presented. The management has currently implemented the new high-tech transaction processing system proposed by this study as the best alternative.     

Queer asylum seekers: translating sexuality in Norway

This paper focuses on the burden of proof that queer asylum seekers encounter in Norway and how they tackle it. It is argued that queer asylum seekers translate their sexuality, sometimes strategically, to become readable in the Norwegian context. The act of translation appears to take the form of a ‘rainbow splash’ over the lives of the informants. The recurrence of similar narratives painted with similar colours contributes to a monolithic portrayal of sexualised and racialised asylum seekers, as they are unable to incorporate their own vocabularies during the act of translation. As a result, queer informants contribute to the (re)production of new norms about what it means to be a genuine queer person in need of protection. Therefore, genuineness remains an unattainable ideal for individuals seeking to negotiate their sexuality before, during and after the asylum seeking process.     

Assessing Euro 2020 Strategy Using Multi-criteria Decision Making Methods: VIKOR and TOPSIS

Social Indicators Research - The European Union (EU) 2020 Strategy aims at forming the conditions for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth targets. Assessment of the EU countries’...     

Comparison of the Iterative Stein-Rule and the Usual Estimators of the Disturbance Variance Under the Pitman Nearness Criterion in a Linear Regression Model with Proxy Variables

In a linear regression model with proxy variables, the iterative Stein-rule estimator and the usual estimator of the disturbance variance is compared under the Pitman Nearness Criterion. The exact expression of Pitman Nearness probability is derived and numerically evaluated.