“I Learned That the Aging Population Isn't That Much Different From Me”: The Final Outcomes of a Gero-Ed BEL Project

This article describes a Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Gero-Ed Center BEL Project's activities and reports its final outcomes. An oral history interview in paired human behavior and practice skills courses addressed gerontological social work competencies focused on assessing and addressing values and biases regarding aging, and the ability to relate concepts and theories of aging to practice. Significant increases in perceived proficiency in these competencies occurred, as did significant decreases in negative attitudes toward older people and working with older adults. Qualitative data supported these results. Findings suggest social work educators utilize a combination of classroom-based and experiential learning to maximize student development.     

贫困村互助资金与农民收入增长——基于5省50个贫困村调查的实证分析

贫困村互助资金填补了农村金融服务空白,缓解了贫困农户借款难题。通过5省50个贫困村2 656个农户样本,用DID方法分析互助资金对农户收入增加的影响。研究发现:互助资金有利于农户收入增长;互助资金对低收入农户、中等收入农户和高收入农户收入增长的影响存在差异,中等收入农户和高收入农户收入增长的幅度更大;贫困村基础设施和村委会一年开会次数有利于互助资金促进试点贫困村农户收入的增长。     

Two-tailed asymptotic inferences for a proportion

This paper evaluates 29 methods for obtaining a two-sided confidence interval for a binomial proportion (16 of which are new proposals) and comes to the conclusion that: Wilson's classic method is only optimal for a confidence of 99%, although generally it can be applied when n≥50; for a confidence of 95% or 90%, the optimal method is the one based on the arcsine transformation (when this is applied to the data incremented by 0.5), which behaves in a very similar manner to Jeffreys’ Bayesian method. A simpler option, though not so good as those just mentioned, is the classic-adjusted Wald method of Agresti and Coull.     

Design‐Based Inference in a Mixture Model for Ordinal Variables for a Two Stage Stratified Design

In this paper we present methods for inference on data selected by a complex sampling design for a class of statistical models for the analysis of ordinal variables. Specifically, assuming that the sampling scheme is not ignorable, we derive for the class of cub models (Combination of discrete Uniform and shifted Binomial distributions) variance estimates for a complex two stage stratified sample. Both Taylor linearization and repeated replication variance estimators are presented. We also provide design‐based test diagnostics and goodness‐of‐fit measures. We illustrate by means of real data analysis the differences between survey‐weighted and unweighted point estimates and inferences for cub model parameters.     

Estimation of scale functions to model heteroscedasticity by regularised kernel-based quantile methods

A main goal of regression is to derive statistical conclusions on the conditional distribution of the output variable Y given the input values x. Two of the most important characteristics of a single distribution are location and scale. Regularised kernel methods (RKMs) – also called support vector machines in a wide sense – are well established to estimate location functions like the conditional median or the conditional mean. We investigate the estimation of scale functions by RKMs when the conditional median is unknown, too. Estimation of scale functions is important, e.g. to estimate the volatility in finance. We consider the median absolute deviation (MAD) and the interquantile range as measures of scale. Our main result shows the consistency of MAD-type RKMs.     

A Tree-Structured Markovian Model of the Shipment Consolidation Process

This article studies the dispatch of consolidated shipments. Orders, following a batch Markovian arrival process, are received in discrete quantities by a depot at discrete time epochs. Instead of immediate dispatch, all outstanding orders are consolidated and shipped together at a later time. The decision of when to send out the consolidated shipment is made based on a “dispatch policy,” which is a function of the system state and/or the costs associated with that state. First, a tree structured Markov chain is constructed to record specific information about the consolidation process; the effectiveness of any dispatch policy can then be assessed by a set of long-run performance measures. Next, the effect on shipment consolidation of varying the order-arrival process is demonstrated through numerical examples and proved mathematically under some conditions. Finally, a heuristic algorithm is developed to determine a favorable parameter of a special set of dispatch policies, and the algorithm is proved to yield the overall optimal policy under certain conditions.     

灰色聚类在企业经营业绩评价中的应用——以房地产开发业为例

由于企业经营业绩的评价具有不确定性,运用灰色聚类评估方法对我国房地产企业2008年的经营业绩进行评价,并进行比较分析,结果显示：影响房地产企业经营业绩评价的主要指标是流动资产周转率、资产负债率和营业增长率。针对企业应如何提高房地产企业的经营业绩评价等级问题,提出一些相应的建议。     

湛江市高校学生瑜伽健身开展现状及影响因素分析

采用测量法、实验法与数理统计等方法,对湛江市高校学生瑜伽健身开展现状与影响因素进行调查,结果表明：①学生对瑜伽认识程度基本处于接触阶段;②女大学生参与瑜伽健身的积极性明显高于男生;③影响高校学生瑜伽健身活动开展的影响因素有：瑜伽指导员的水平、练习场地与音响设备的使用等.该研究可为促进广东省粤西地区大学生瑜伽健身开展和普及提供参考依据.     

非对称单位根检验和非参数方差比

基于三种退势方法较详细研究了方差比检验在非对称单位根检验中的适用性,并通过MC模拟揭示了其检验势性质。结果表明：在不含趋势项的TAR下,两机制TAR数据落在第一机制的比率是影响方差比检验势的重要因素,且比率越高检验势也越高;三机制TAR中落在中间机制的数据比率会影响检验势,随着比率增加检验势呈下降趋势,但程度不大。在含趋势的TAR下,由于趋势项在数据生成过程中具有支配作用,各种检验势会随着趋势设定的不同而不同。数据在不同机制之间的转换概率越高,则ROLS和RDM退势较OLS退势具有明显优势。     

Techniques and paradoxes in performing performance measurements: concluding reflections

ABSTRACT

Performance measurement has an implicit performance theory embedded within its practice; performance measurement perforce performs. Performance measurement has a performative effect on performance. Drawing together and building on the various empirical observations from the preceding papers in this collection, this concluding paper firstly examines the circumstances in which performance measurement performs, that is, when it produces ‘authentic’ performance improvements, compared to when performance measurements misfire. The paper secondly explores several paradoxes of performance measurement – such that performance measurement measures only part of the performance it seeks to be performative on, incentives to perform incentivise poor performance and so on. These paradoxes, contradictions and ironies must be apprehended and appreciated in discovering, discerning and deciphering the diverse dynamics of measuring performance. They also demonstrate that analysing and working with performance measurement requires a perspective that eschews absolutes and clear directions, and embraces the uneasy and potentially destabilising tension of Escher’s performative art.