Time truncated attribute control chart for the Weibull distribution using multiple dependent state sampling

In this article, an attribute control chart is proposed for time truncated tests using the Weibull distribution. The design of proposed control chart is presented using the multiple dependent state (MDS) sampling. The control chart coefficients are determined for various specified average run length. The efficiency of the proposed control chart is elaborated with the help of a simulation data and a real data. The proposed control chart perform better than the existing control chart in terms of average run length.     

Business in Social Work Education: A Historically Black University’s Social Work Entrepreneurship Project

The destabilization of the current economy has sparked increased interest in entrepreneurship, especially for underrepresented minority social work students. The entrepreneurial thinking of these social work students entering social work programs at historically Black colleges and universities needs to be fostered in a learning environment. This article describes a historically Black university’s creative social entrepreneurship venture in response to the Social Work Congress’s 2010 imperative “Business of Social Work—Infuse models of sustainable business and management practice in social work education and practice.” The social entrepreneurship project uses the interprofessional collaborative educational model and attempts to provide meaningful and relevant education to social work students interested in social entrepreneurship through the collaborative efforts of the university’s School of Social Work and the School of Business and Management.     

Time truncated acceptance sampling plans for generalized exponential distribution

Acceptance sampling plans for generalized exponential distribution when the lifetime experiment is truncated at a pre-determined time are provided in this article. The tables are provided for the minimum sample size required to ensure a certain median life of the experimental unit when the shape parameter is two. The operating characteristic function values of the sampling plans and the associated producer's risks are also presented. It is shown that the tables presented here can be used if instead of median life, other percentile life is chosen as the criterion or if the shape parameter is not two. Examples are provided for illustrative purposes.     

Sigsearch: a new term for post hoc unplanned search for statistically significant relationships with the intent to create publishable findings

Post-hoc secondary data analysis with no prespecified hypotheses has been discouraged by textbook authors and journal editors alike. Unfortunately no single term describes this phenomenon succinctly. I would like to coin the term "sigsearch" to define this practice and bring it within the teaching lexicon of statistics courses. Sigsearch would include any unplanned, post-hoc search for statistical significance using multiple comparisons of subgroups. It would also include data analysis with outcomes other than the prespecified primary outcome measure of a study as well as secondary data analyses of earlier research.     

A new class of efficient and debiased two-step shrinkage estimators: method and application

This paper introduces a new class of efficient and debiased two-step shrinkage estimators for a linear regression model in the presence of multicollinearity. We derive the proposed estimators’ mean square error and define the necessary and sufficient conditions for superiority over the existing estimators. In addition, we develop an algorithm for selecting the shrinkage parameters for the proposed estimators. The comparison of the new estimators versus the traditional ordinary least squares, ridge regression, Liu, and the two-parameter estimators is done by a matrix mean square error criterion. The Monte Carlo simulation results show the superiority of the proposed estimators under certain conditions. In the presence of high but imperfect multicollinearity, the two-step shrinkage estimators’ performance is relatively better. Finally, two real-world chemical data are analyzed to demonstrate the advantages and the empirical relevance of our newly proposed estimators. It is shown that the standard errors and the estimated mean square error decrease substantially for the proposed estimator. Hence, the precision of the estimated parameters is increased, which of course is one of the main objectives of the practitioners.KEYWORDS: Debiased estimator, Monte Carlo simulations, multicollinearity, two-parameter estimator, ridge regression, chemical structures     

Regime-specific impact of financial reforms on economic growth in Pakistan

This study uses and proposes a new methodological approach to construct a financial liberalization index on the basis of the dynamic factor model technique. The resulting index is used to investigate the impact of the financial sector reforms in Pakistan on economic growth. Using the Markov regime-switching model over the period 1972–2015, the empirical results showed that the examined relationship is nonlinear, nonmonotonic, state-dependent, and better described by the two-state Markov switching model characterized by the high growth regime and low growth regime. Despite the positive impact of financial liberalization on economic growth in both the high and low growth regimes, financial liberalization relatively strongly affects real GDP growth in the high growth regime. The results further demonstrate that transition probabilities establish an inordinate episode of the low growth regime. Furthermore, the high growth regime is relatively short-lived than the low growth regime. Among the other variables, trade openness and physical capital stock have a positive impact on economic growth, while labor force and government expenditure exert a negative effect on economic growth. Several economic policies are proposed and discussed for better functioning of financial sector development in Pakistan.     

Pena's statistic for the Liu regression

In fitting regression model, one or more observations may have substantial effects on estimators. These unusual observations are precisely detected by a new diagnostic measure, Pena's statistic. In this article, we introduce a type of Pena's statistic for each point in Liu regression. Using the forecast change property, we simplify the Pena's statistic in a numerical sense. It is found that the simplified Pena's statistic behaves quite well as far as detection of influential observations is concerned. We express Pena's statistic in terms of the Liu leverages and residuals. The normality of this statistic is also discussed and it is demonstrated that it can identify a subset of high Liu leverage outliers. For numerical evaluation, simulated studies are given and a real data set has been analysed for illustration.     

Impact of the External Debt on Standard of Living: A Case of Asian Countries

Social Indicators Research - This study discusses the basic purpose of external debt: to finance poverty alleviation and bring progress in a country in a time of crisis rather than increase the...     

Transition in Gender Ideology and Women Migrant’s Empowerment in Germany and Sweden: Inclusion of ‘Gender’ and ‘Integration’ Needs in Relevant Policies/Legislation

This study reviews the inclusion of ‘gender’ and ‘integration’ in the policies and legislation designed to facilitate the integration of women migrants and their impacts on migrant’s gender ideology in two European legislative regimes: Germany and Sweden. The study is conducted in four steps; (1) a thematic analysis of twenty conventions and recommendations of the UN, ILO, and EU, (2) latent analysis of ten policies/pieces of legislation, (3) survey with women migrants, and (4) in-depth interviews with experts. This study finds that existing legal frameworks do not fully comply with the international legal frame to meet women migrant’s ‘gender’ and ‘integration’ needs, although the situation seems relatively better in Germany than in Sweden. It is found that migration has brought positive changes in gender ideology for migrants in many arenas, except one. Migrant’s satisfaction with legal measures also contributes to this transition. The study summarizes three groups of barriers to the transformation of gender ideology for both countries. These are; agency-specific, institution-specific, and state-specific.