Rank‐based estimate of four‐parameter logistic model

During drug development, the calculation of inhibitory concentration that results in a response of 50% (IC₅₀) is performed thousands of times every day. The nonlinear model most often used to perform this calculation is a four‐parameter logistic, suitably parameterized to estimate the IC₅₀ directly. When performing these calculations in a high‐throughput mode, each and every curve cannot be studied in detail, and outliers in the responses are a common problem. A robust estimation procedure to perform this calculation is desirable. In this paper, a rank‐based estimate of the four‐parameter logistic model that is analogous to least squares is proposed. The rank‐based estimate is based on the Wilcoxon norm. The robust procedure is illustrated with several examples from the pharmaceutical industry. When no outliers are present in the data, the robust estimate of IC₅₀ is comparable with the least squares estimate, and when outliers are present in the data, the robust estimate is more accurate. A robust goodness‐of‐fit test is also proposed. To investigate the impact of outliers on the traditional and robust estimates, a small simulation study was conducted. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

‘Ethnicity’: The Irish in Scotland‐football,politics and identity

One of the central arguments of this paper is that football in Scotland has acquired characteristics which make it a nationalistic, political and cultural repository. An examination of football allows us to examine characteristics of identity in Scotland otherwise unclear. These identities have their origins in the post‐Reformation period in Scotland, Irish immigration into Scotland and Scotland/Britain's historically contentious relationship with Ireland. This paper examines some of the mainfeatures of these identities.     

Myth,identity, and social interaction: Encountering Santa Claus at the mall

Each year during the Christmas season Santa Claus appears at shopping malls across the country. This qualitative study shows how Santa actors and the public respond to the typification of the Santa myth. Using the dramaturgical approach, the authors examine the meanings that people of various age and gender identities attribute to the mall environment, and how these understandings influence their interactions with Santa. Behaviors are analyzed in age cohorts ranging from infancy to the elderly. Gender strongly influenced people's interactions with Santa across all age cohorts. Adult behaviors varied widely, but in the presence of children, both males and females promoted the Santa Claus fantasy. In the mall setting, where one's social identity is subject to public scrutiny, interactions with Santa help define, reinforce, and confirm one's sense of self.     

The E-R-A Model: The Role of Feelings in Family Therapy Reconsidered: Implications for a Classification of Theories of Family Therapy

The importance of considering a continuum of Emotionality (E) separately from Rationality (R) or Activity (A) is emphasized. A model showing equally all three aspects is presented that allows a clearer classification of family therapy theorists than has been possible heretofore. Diagnostic, therapeutic, and research implications are hinted at, but will be part of future work.     

In dispraise of the exact test: Do the marginal totals of the 2X2 table contain relevant information respecting the table proportions?

The use of the “exact test” with the 2X2 table that records the observations obtained in a comparative trial has been widely considered to be the paradigm of statistical tests of significance. This is attributable to the fact that it is based on the theories of R.A. Fisher and as a result has acquired the sobriquet ‘exact’.The Fisherian basis of the exact test, that the marginal totals are “ancillary statistics,” and therefore provide no information respecting the configuration of the body of the table is shown to be incorrect.The exact test for the one-sided case is compared with the normal test for the nominal significance levels P=0.05 and P=0.01. It is shown by direct computation that the effective level is closer to the nominal level with the normal test than with the exact test, and that the power of the normal test is considerably larger than the power of the exact test, the increased power exceeding the change of effective level.It is concluded that the exact test should not be used in preference to the normal test.