Decomposing three dimensional contingency tables

A simple box-like diagram makes the task of teaching or analyzing three dimensional contingency tables much easier. Little is to be gained using the log-linear model and iterative procedures, as all but one hypothesis can be tested and necessary statistics calculated with a hand-held electronic calculator and without iterations.     

AN ANALYTIC FORM FOR THE CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION OF THE BELL-DOKSUM STATISTIC

A closed form analytic expression for the Bell-Doksum Statistic is developed. The use of the generalized hypergeometric function to evaluate the expression is demonstrated, and a table of critical values for 2 n 25 is presented.     

A note on unbiasedness in ratio estimation

The method of ratio estimation for estimating the population mean ? of a characteristic y when we have auxillary information on a characteristic x highly correlated with y, consists in getting an estimator of the population ratio R = ?/X? and then multiplying this estimator by the known population mean X?. Though efficient, ratio estimators are in general biased and in this article we review some of the unbiased ratio estimators and discuss a method of constructing them. Next we present the Jackknife technique for reducing bias and show how the generalized Jackknife could be interpreted by the same method.     

The Impact of Criminal Conviction Disclosure on the Self-reported Offending Profile of Social Work Students

Correspondence to University of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Studies, 31 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh, EH8 9JT, UK. E-mail: richard.perry{at}ed.ac.uk. Summary Data gathered at a Scottish institute of higher education between1986 and 2000 indicate a significant reduction in the scaleof self-reported offending behaviour by social work students.The change coincided with the introduction by the Central Councilfor Education and Training in Social Work (CCETSW) in 1989 ofa requirement that applicants for training disclose prior toadmission any criminal convictions recorded against them. Thearticle suggests that more prolific offenders have been deterredfrom applying to DipSW programmes and the social work professionneeds to take steps to create a more positive climate for therecruitment of those offenders who represent no more of a threatto users than non-offenders.     

Implemented as intended? Recording family worker activities in a Families First program

In evaluating family preservation services, it is important not only to study the service outcomes and the family characteristics, but also what actually happens during the treatment. This requires a program model. This article describes how a program model works, prescribes how workers should carry it out, and describes how researchers should measure the program's characteristics. The authors use data from Families First in The Netherlands to test the model. Results show that the method of the program meets the specified characteristics. The results are important for treatment, policy, education, and evaluation research.