“Are We Doing Fine?” The Views on Poverty Reduction Strategies Among Front-Line Workers in the Field of Social Assistance in Turkey

ABSTRACT

This research highlights the views of front-line workers in the social assistance system in Turkey about the strategies of poverty reduction and the effectiveness of the assistance given by Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations (SASFs) to the poor. The data were gathered from 33 employees from the 8 SASF offices in Ankara, Turkey. The results show that the majority of the participants agree with governmental efforts to create employment opportunities as the most important method. Although the participants felt the services they provided were effective at the individual and family level, they thought such services were extremely insufficient in terms of poverty reduction on a macro scale. The findings were discussed within the framework of the changing nature of poverty and the recent agenda on poverty reduction in Turkey. Future research based upon larger samples from different parties in the field of social assistance is needed to fully determine the positions taken by the agents.     

Online Intermediary as a Channel for Selling Quality‐Differentiated Services

When deciding whether to utilize an online intermediary in addition to their own distribution channels, quality differentiated service providers face the trade‐off between the benefit of extended reach and the threat of increased competition. Using an analytical framework, we analyze when and how service providers may utilize an online intermediary to their advantage in the presence of advance selling (i.e., selling a service at an early date for future consumption). In general, when an online intermediary is used, the competition effect dominates the reach effect and leads to a falling price trend. Interestingly, we find that the negative effect of increased competition on profits, due to intermediary usage, can be reversed by committing to self‐imposed participation limits (i.e., selling only a predetermined amount of services through the online intermediary). This ensures that the service provider is better off selling through both its own site and the online intermediary, rather than selling exclusively using either channel.      

Estimating the effects of activists in two-party and multi-party systems: comparing the United States and Israel

This article presents an electoral model where activist groups contribute resources to their favored parties. These resources are then used by the party candidates to enhance the electoral perception of their quality or valence. We construct an empirical model of the United States presidential election of 2008 and employ the electoral perception of the character traits of the two candidates. We use a simulation technique to determine the local Nash equilibrium, under vote share maximization, of this model. The result shows that the unique vote-maximizing equilibrium is one where the two candidates adopt convergent positions, close to the electoral center. This result conflicts with the estimated positions of the candidates in opposed quadrants of the policy space. The difference between estimated positions and equilibrium positions allows us to estimate the influence of activist groups on the candidates. We compare this estimation with that of Israel for the election of 1996, and show that vote maximization leads low valence parties to position themselves far from the electoral origin. We argue that these low valence parties in Israel will be dependent on support of radical activist groups, resulting in a degree of political fragmentation.     

A New Formula for Inclusion Probabilities in Median-Ranked Set Sampling

This article develops a new generalized formula to compute the inclusion probabilities of a median-ranked set sample in a finite population setting. The use of this formula is illustrated in a numerical example. Furthermore, the inclusion probabilities of a median-ranked set sample is compared with the inclusion probabilities of ranked set and simple random samples.     

Androgen deficiency in the adult male

Introduction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between severity of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), erectile dysfunction (ED) and metabolic syndrome.

Methods. Our study population included a consecutive series of 190 patients with LUTS (International Prostate Symptom Score-IPSS >7) with or without manifestations of the metabolic syndrome. The diagnoses of diabetes mellitus and hypertension were obtained from the patient's medical history. Data on blood pressure, waist measure, body height and weight were collected and body mass index were calculated. Patients were assessed based on the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) for ED and IPSS and IPSS-Quality of Life for LUTS. Blood samples were drawn from fasting patients to determine, fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol and serum total testosterone levels.

Results. In severe LUTS patient group, IIEF erectile function domain scores were significantly lower than moderate LUTS patient group (p < 0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis confirmed that presence of ED was the most predictor of severe LUTS. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was higher in patients with severe LUTS (26%vs. 46%, p = 0.009). The severe form of the LUTS was significantly correlated with waist circumference >102 cm (p < 0.05), blood pressure ≥130/85 mmHg (p < 0.05) and FBG >110 mg/dl (p < 0.01).

Conclusion. Obesity, high plasma level of FBG and hypertension constitute risk factors for the development of severe LUTS. Metabolic syndrome may play a key role in the pathogenesis in both ED and LUTS. Presence of ED is the most predictor of severe LUTS.     

Work–family Conflict and Job Satisfaction Relationship: The Roles of Gender and Interpretive Habits

This study examined the effects of gender and interpretive habits on the relationship between work–family conflict (WFC) and job satisfaction. The results of the analysis of the data collected from 286 academic personnel suggest that interpretive habits moderate the relationship between WFC and job satisfaction such that the negative effect of WFC and job satisfaction is stronger for employees focusing highly on deficiency, with high necessitating, and low skill recognition, referred to as stress‐predisposing interpretive habits. Furthermore, gender was found to have an influence on the role of interpretive habits in the WFC–job satisfaction relationship. Specifically, WFC had a negative association with job satisfaction for stress‐predisposed male employees while no relationship was found between WFC and job satisfaction for men with a low focus on deficiency, low necessitating and high skill recognition namely, stress‐resilient interpretive habits. Moreover, although WFC had a negative association with job satisfaction for female employees, this relationship was even stronger for stress‐resilient females. The implications of the findings and suggestions for future studies are discussed.     

Comparison of estimation methods for the finite population mean in simple random sampling: symmetric super-populations

In this paper, a new estimator combined estimator (CE) is proposed for estimating the finite population mean ¯ Y _N in simple random sampling assuming a long-tailed symmetric super-population model. The efficiency and robustness properties of the CE is compared with the widely used and well-known estimators of the finite population mean ¯ Y _N by Monte Carlo simulation. The parameter estimators considered in this study are the classical least squares estimator, trimmed mean, winsorized mean, trimmed L-mean, modified maximum-likelihood estimator, Huber estimator (W24) and the non-parametric Hodges–Lehmann estimator. The mean square error criteria are used to compare the performance of the estimators. We show that the CE is overall more efficient than the other estimators. The CE is also shown to be more robust for estimating the finite population mean ¯ Y _N , since it is insensitive to outliers and to misspecification of the distribution. We give a real life example.     

A test statistic based on ranked set sampling for two normal means

In this study, we considered a hypothesis test for the difference of two population means using ranked set sampling. We proposed a test statistic for this hypothesis test with more than one cycle under normality. We also investigate the performance of this test statistic, when the assumptions hold and are violated. For this reason, we investigate the type I error and power rates of tests under normality with equal and unequal variances, non-normality with equal and unequal variances. We also examine the performance of this test under imperfect ranking case. The simulation results show that derived test performs quite well.     

Comparing J independent groups with a method based on trimmed means

The ANOVA-F test is the most popular and commonly used procedure for comparing J independent groups. However, it is well known that this method is very sensitive to non-normality, which has led to the derivation of alternative techniques based on robust estimators. In this work, ANOVA-F-test, trimmed mean Welch test, bootstrap-t trimmed mean Welch test, Schrader and Hettmansperger method with trimmed means, a percentile bootstrap method with trimmed means and a newly proposed method were compared in terms of both the Type I error probability and power. The proposed method compares well with ANOVA-F and other alternatives under various situations.