Simultaneous edit-imputation and disclosure limitation for business establishment data

Business establishment microdata typically are required to satisfy agency-specified edit rules, such as balance equations and linear inequalities. Inevitably some establishments' reported data violate the edit rules. Statistical agencies correct faulty values using a process known as edit-imputation. Business establishment data also must be heavily redacted before being shared with the public; indeed, confidentiality concerns lead many agencies not to share establishment microdata as unrestricted access files. When microdata must be heavily redacted, one approach is to create synthetic data, as done in the U.S. Longitudinal Business Database and the German IAB Establishment Panel. This article presents the first implementation of a fully integrated approach to edit-imputation and data synthesis. We illustrate the approach on data from the U.S. Census of Manufactures and present a variety of evaluations of the utility of the synthetic data. The paper also presents assessments of disclosure risks for several intruder attacks. We find that the synthetic data preserve important distributional features from the post-editing confidential microdata, and have low risks for the various attacks.     

Was Cicourel’s critique in Methods and Measurement in Sociology too radical?

This article is a contribution to a mini symposium on the 50th anniversary of the publication of A V Cicourel’s Method and Measurement in Sociology (1964). The central theme of the book is reviewed – the problem of the relationship between everyday language and cultural meanings, and the language of measurement in social research – and the lack of an adequate ontology of social actors is identified as being the cause of the problem. The solution offered by Alfred Schütz – that social scientific language should be derived from everyday language – is discussed and it is argued that this was probably too radical at the time the book was published, and is still generally neglected in the social sciences.     

后金融危机时期完善公允价值计量的探索

在2008年的金融风暴中,公允价值计量虽然暴露出其固有缺陷,但目前仍不失为一种面对市场的、动态反映产权价值运动的最佳计量模式。在后金融危机时期,我们需要通过建立健全市场机制、降低公允价值计量的实际操作难度、完善估值技术等手段进一步修改与完善公允价值计量模式,助推经济复苏与调整。     

Mean shift and influence measures in linear measurement error models with stochastic linear restrictions

We present influence diagnostics for linear measurement error models with stochastic linear restrictions using the corrected likelihood of Nakamura in 1990. The case deletion and mean shift outlier models are developed to identify outlying and influential observations. We derive a corrected score test statistic for outlier detection based on mean shift outlier models. The analogs of Cook's distance and likelihood distance are proposed to determine influential observations based on case deletion models. A parametric bootstrap procedure is used to obtain empirical distributions of the test statistics and a simulation study has been used to evaluate the performance of the proposed estimators based on the mean squares error criterion and the score test statistic. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the theoretical results.     

Support for midwives – A model of professional supervision based on the recertification programme for midwives in New Zealand

Following a traumatic practice experience the physiological and psychological effects experienced by midwives are exacerbated as a result of dysfunctional health organisations and the counterproductive behaviours therein. It is suggested the stress experienced would have been reduced if support in the form of professional supervision had been available.The aim of this article is to demonstrate that professional supervision should be viewed as a competency requirement by the Midwifery Council of New Zealand and incorporated into the midwifery recertification programme. A model of professional supervision for midwives based on the recertification programme is introduced and the importance of reflection on practice emphasised. Providing support by means of professional supervision in the midwifery recertification programme, has the potential to make midwives feel valued, improve their job satisfaction, reduce violence in the workplace, aid in the attrition rate and improve the care for the childbearing woman.     

Deactivating the Buttons: Integrating Radical Exposure Tapping with a Family Therapy Framework

The purpose of this paper is to describe and illustrate with case examples a brief intervention termed Radical Exposure Tapping (RET). RET can be integrated with family therapy to address stuck points where the therapy is hindered by a family member's affective block, an intense and unchangeable emotional reactivity to a specific trigger. RET draws from the methodology of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and combines it with the tapping sequence of the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to produce an intervention that is more flexible than EMDR, provides greater rigor than using the EFT technique alone and can be effective in a single session within the context of family therapy. The paper puts this work into context by first over viewing definitions of trauma and Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder, arguing that family members' emotional reactivity may be a symptom of PTSD even when they would not qualify for the diagnosis because they had not experienced a life threatening event.     

The burdens of social capital: How socially-involved people dealt with stress after Hurricane Katrina

Research shows that those with greater social capital enjoy better physical and mental health. The current study illuminates a paradox of social capital which may afflict those involved in traumatic events. Several years of survey data reveal a dynamic picture of the link between social capital and stress following Hurricane Katrina. Results reveal that initially after Katrina, those who were more socially embedded carried the greatest load with respect to helping the displaced population, thus experiencing more stress. But over time, the most socially-involved then snapped back from their stressful experiences more rapidly than isolates. This confirms that over the course of stressful events, social involvement first exposes people to more stress, but as time passes, provides them a significant buffer against negative psychosocial experiences.     

Modal non‐linear regression in the presence of Laplace measurement error

In this paper, we propose a robust estimation procedure for a class of non‐linear regression models when the covariates are contaminated with Laplace measurement error, aiming at constructing an estimation procedure for the regression parameters which are less affected by the possible outliers, and heavy‐tailed underlying distribution, as well as reducing the bias introduced by the measurement error. Starting with the modal regression procedure developed for the measurement error‐free case, a non‐trivial modification is made so that the modified version can effectively correct the potential bias caused by measurement error. Large sample properties of the proposed estimate, such as the convergence rate and the asymptotic normality, are thoroughly investigated. A simulation study and real data application are conducted to illustrate the satisfying finite sample performance of the proposed estimation procedure.     

中国及TTIP国家贸易便利化水平测评

准确测度中国与TTIP主要成员国之间的贸易便利化差异,便于深刻把握TIP催生的国际贸易便利化新趋势,应对全球贸易规则变迁的挑战.文章首先构建了贸易便利化测评指标体系,采用《全球竞争力报告》《腐败指数》以及《世界竞争力年鉴》的相关数据,对2008-2014年TTIP主要成员国及中国的贸易便利化水平进行了对比测评.研究发现,虽然中国的贸易便利化水平整体上升了,但与TTIP发达成员国的差距依然较大,在口岸效率、海关环境、规制环境和电子商务方面均低于其平均水平.为此,中国应进一步简化海关程序和手续,改善海关环境,提升政策制定的透明度,加大对电子商务中的新信息技术的应用力度,防范TTIP区域内贸易转移效应对我国的影响.     

基于DSPF2812的发动机转速测量系统设计

在研究现有的几种发动机转速测量方法基础上,设计了一种以T型测速方法为原理,以DSPF2812为控制核心的发动机转速测量系统。给出了系统的测量原理以及实现发动机转速测量的软件编程方法和信号调理电路设计,同时应用LabVIEW软件实现对信号的监测和数据存储,最后对该测量系统进行了实验测试,在实际测试中取得了良好的效果。该系统具有测速精度高、测速范围广以及实时性强等特点,为汽车发动机性能研究、故障处理以及后续的分析提供了重要的参考依据,同时该系统还可以应用到电机测速等其它测速领域,具有较高的实用价值。