ROBUST COMPARISON OF DISPERSIONS FOR SAMPLES OF DIRECTIONAL DATA

Robust methods are proposed for testing whether several directional distributions on the unit p-sphere have comparable dispersions. The families of distributions considered are the Langevin for random vectors, and the Generalised Scheidegger-Watson for random axes, with specific interest in the Fisher and Watson distributions on the sphere. The methods are analogues of Levene's procedure for comparing variances of normal distributions.     

The praxiological validity of natural scientific practices as a criterion for identifying their unique social-object character: The case of the ‘authentication’ of Goethe's morphological theorem

The author would like to thank Mike Lynch, Eric Livingston, Shelley Schweizer-Bjelic, and the anonymous reviewers of this text for their comments.     

A theory and verities of market place behaviour

This study questions traditional notions of competitive economic behaviour from a theoretical perspective of social psychology and systems theory. Inter alia these approaches suggest, firstly, that economic relationships are simply an aspect of broader social relationships and are likely to be characterised by cooperation rather than competitiveness and the likelihood of conflict. Secondly, it is suggested that the conditions required for market participants to he “fully informed” would not he evident because of the potential instability of such a communications network or system.These broad hypotheses are examined by measuring aspects of communications and business behaviour in a wholesale agricultural market. The data. which are analysed by network and correlational procedures, support the hypotheses.