The lesbian rights movement and feminism in South Korea

The lesbians' rights movement in South Korea has undertaken various projects for solidarity with feminist movement groups for over 10 years. In spite of these efforts, lesbian issues have been blatantly excluded from all the agendas of women's rights. The same thing has happened in Women's Studies. Some feminists express homophobic thoughts without understanding the reality of lesbians, and other young scholars take on a lesbian identity temporarily as a sign of being progressive and liberated; in neither situation are they committed to dealing with the oppression of lesbians or seeing lesbian rights as a feminist concern. In order to further lesbian rights there are two strategies possible: forming a movement only for lesbians or forming solidarity with feminists. In the latter case, a concern about lesbian rights will help achieve the goals of a true feminism as patriarchy is built upon heterosexism. doi:10.1300/J155v10n03_11.     

Several biplot methods applied to gene expression data

DNA microarray experiments result in enormous amount of data, which need careful interpretation. Biplot approaches show simultaneous display of genes and samples in low-dimensional graphs and thus can be used to represent the relationships between genes and samples. There are several different types of biplots, and these methods need to be evaluated because each plot provides different result.     

Work of Full‐Time Mothers: Putting Voice to the Relational Theory of Working

The purpose of this qualitative research was to explore the work experience of middle‐class, Korean full‐time mothers in their 50s. Interviews, observations, and photographs were collected from 11 Korean full‐time mothers to understand their work and career experiences. The data were analyzed by a case study qualitative method of inquiry. The themes that emerged from the data were paths to becoming full‐time mothers, multiple working roles from relationships, dialectical characteristics of work, meaning of full‐time mothering, and regrets and internalized biases for full‐time motherhood. The findings illustrate how full‐time mothers experience a sense of meaning and mattering from their work; how relationships and work are intertwined in their lives; and how gender, social class, and culture influence the work and relationships of full‐time mothers. Implications for counselors and researchers are discussed.     

Comparison of designs for the three-fold nested random model

The quality of estimation of variance components depends on the design used as well as on the unknown values of the variance components. In this article, three designs are compared, namely, the balanced, staggered, and inverted nested designs for the three-fold nested random model. The comparison is based on the so-called quantile dispersion graphs using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and maximum likelihood (ML) estimates of the variance components. It is demonstrated that the staggered nested design gives more stable estimates of the variance component for the highest nesting factor than the balanced design. The reverse, however, is true in case of lower nested factors. A comparison between ANOVA and ML estimation of the variance components is also made using each of the aforementioned designs.     

Bayesian estimation for the exponentiated Weibull model under Type II progressive censoring

Based on progressive Type II censored samples, we have derived the maximum likelihood and Bayes estimators for the two shape parameters and the reliability function of the exponentiated Weibull lifetime model. We obtained Bayes estimators using both the symmetric and asymmetric loss functions via squared error loss and linex loss functions. This was done with respect to the conjugate priors for two shape parameters. We used an approximation based on the Lindley (Trabajos de Stadistca 21, 223–237, 1980) method for obtaining Bayes estimates under these loss functions. We made comparisons between these estimators and the maximum likelihood estimators using a Monte Carlo simulation study.     

Gay Seouls: Expanding Religious Spaces for Non-Heterosexuals in South Korea

What Protestant congregations offer spaces for worship and dialogue among persons with different sexual orientations? The academic literature finds or assumes that non-heterosexuals are stigmatized or invisible in theologically conservative congregations and are welcomed in progressive, affirming congregations. This article develops an alternative claim that some conservative or evangelical congregations offer attractive spaces for non-heterosexuals to worship and dialogue. We illustrate with an exploratory study of four congregations in South Korea—two theologically progressive, two evangelical—whose pastors welcomed everybody regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The “inclusive-evangelical” congregations retained conservative theology on sexuality (sexual relations only within heterosexual marriage) but offered more empathic dialogue with non-heterosexuals than did most evangelical congregations; they also provided more resources, conventional religious culture, and ties to traditional affective networks than the affirming-progressive congregations. Inclusive-evangelical congregations offer an institutional venue for non-heterosexual Christians in Korea to potentially reconcile three central values: conservative Christianity, traditional (Confucian) affective networks, and expressive individualism.     

Deaf people and economic well-being: findings from the Life Opportunities Survey

The present study used propensity score analysis to compare the economic well-being of people with and without hearing impairment in the UK. Using nationally representative 2009/10 Life Opportunities Survey, our study found that economic well-being was significantly worse for people with hearing impairment than people without hearing impairment. Hearing impaired people (1) had lower household income, (2) experienced greater difficulties making ends meets, (3) were unable to pay for unexpected but necessary expenses of ?500, and (4) were less likely to work in paid jobs even after accounting for other demographic characteristics. The findings underscore the barriers and discrimination against people with hearing impairment in the UK. Policy measures to increase access and engagement of hearing impaired people should be considered, including increasing investment in better employment opportunities, sign interpretation, and disability benefits.     

Robust Bayesian estimation of a bathtub-shaped distribution under progressive Type-II censoring

The bathtub-shaped failure rate function has been used for modeling the life spans of a number of electronic and mechanical products, as well as for modeling the life spans of humans, especially when some of the data are censored. This article addresses robust methods for the estimation of unknown parameters in a two-parameter distribution with a bathtub-shaped failure rate function based on progressive Type-II censored samples. Here, a class of flexible priors is considered by using the hierarchical structure of a conjugate prior distribution, and corresponding posterior distributions are obtained in a closed-form. Then, based on the square error loss function, Bayes estimators of unknown parameters are derived, which depend on hyperparameters as parameters of the conjugate prior. In order to eliminate the hyperparameters, hierarchical Bayesian estimation methods are proposed, and these proposed estimators are compared to one another based on the mean squared error, through Monte Carlo simulations for various progressively Type-II censoring schemes. Finally, a real dataset is presented for the purpose of illustration.     

US foreign aid and economic policy concessions*

Why do donors continue to provide foreign aid despite its failure to help poor countries over the past several decades? While some scholars argue that foreign aid is purely for humanitarian purposes, others assert that such aid serves as a tool to pressure recipient countries into accepting policy concessions. In this study, we subject these arguments to empirical testing using a dataset that integrates the amount of US aid and economic policies of recipient countries for 1995–2012. The findings suggest that aid decisions correspond to the interests of the United States, such as policy concessions in economic and business liberalization. However, an increase in US aid is not directly associated with further economic reforms in recipient countries. We conclude that US foreign aid programmes are strategic in nature and successful not in alleviating economic problems in recipient countries but, at the very least, in buying their policy compliance.