An Application of Response Surface Methodology to the Atari® Miniature Golf Video Game

Response surface methodology is used to optimize a player's performance on the Atari® Miniature Golf computer video game. Because of the nature of the fitted response surface, a direct optimization procedure is used to estimate the optimum operating conditions.     

Augmented Box-Behnken Designs for Fitting Third-Order Response Surfaces

Box-Behnken designs are popular with experimenters who wish to estimate a second-order model, due to their having three levels, their simplicity and their high efficiency for the second-order model. However, there are situations in which the model is inadequate due to lack of fit caused by higher-order terms. These designs have little ability to estimate third-order terms. Using combinations of factorial points, axial points, and complementary design points, we augment these designs and develop catalogues of third-order designs for 3–12 factors. These augmented designs can be used to estimate the parameters of a third-order response surface model. Since the aim is to make the most of a situation in which the experiment was designed for an inadequate model, the designs are clearly suboptimal and not rotatable for the third-order model, but can still provide useful information.     

Unstructured principal fitted response reduction in multivariate regression

In this paper, an unstructured principal fitted response reduction approach is proposed. The new approach is mainly different from two existing model-based approaches, because a required condition is assumed in a covariance matrix of the responses instead of that of a random error. Also, it is invariant under one of popular ways of standardizing responses with its sample covariance equal to the identity matrix. According to numerical studies, the proposed approach yields more robust estimation than the two existing methods, in the sense that its asymptotic performances are not severely sensitive to various situations. So, it can be recommended that the proposed method should be used as a default model-based method.     

Multi-arm response-adaptive designs for circular responses

A multi-arm response-adaptive allocation design is developed for circular treatment outcomes. Several exact and asymptotic properties of the design are studied. Stage-wise treatment selection procedures based on the proposed response-adaptive design are also suggested to exclude the worse performing treatment(s) at earlier stages. Detailed simulation study is carried out to evaluate the proposed selection procedures. The applicability of the proposed methodologies is illustrated through a real clinical trial data on cataract surgery.     

Individual strategies for coping with stress at work: A review

This paper discusses some of the conceptual and methodological issues involved in the study of coping. It focuses on individual coping with work and work-related problems, and adopts a transactional framework for the definition of the key concepts of stress, appraisal and coping. It identifies and reviews 17 recent papers which are representative of the coping literature, as defined by the scope of the paper. What it draws out of this review largely concerns issues of measurement, and four particular issues are flagged as important for future research. It concludes that there is a need for more and more adequate studies, particularly in relation to the classification and modelling of coping, and that the adequacy of those future studies should be partly judged in terms of how well they deal with the issues raised here.     

我国现行财务报告改进问题研究

财务报告作为会计信息的综合表达和载体之一,应随经济的发展而发展,随用户需求的改变而改变。会计信息需求的变化是推动财务报告改革的根本动因。文章首先分析了经济环境变化下,使用者对财务报告产生的新需求。接着,从现行财务报告的完整性、及时性、规范性、相关性等方面阐述了现行财务报告的缺陷。最后,提出了改进现行财务报告应遵循的基本思路,并对财务报告的内容、表外披露、方式、规范与及时性等五个方面提出了较为系统的改进意见。     

He said, she said: The gender wage gap according to self and proxy reports in the Current Population Survey

Roughly half the labor force data in the Current Population Survey (CPS) are provided by proxy respondents, and since 1979, men’s reliance on proxies has dropped dramatically while women’s reliance on proxies has increased. Few authors, however, have examined how combining these first-hand and second-hand reports may influence our understanding of long-term economic trends. We exploit the outgoing rotation group structure of the CPS by matching individual records one year apart, and we find that self-reported wages are higher than proxy-reported wages even after controlling for all time invariant characteristics. Furthermore, we find that changes in the use of proxy respondents by men and women since 1979 have made current estimates of the gender wage gap larger than they would have been without changes in reporting status. This suggests that the gender wage gap has closed more than previously estimated. We recommend that researchers combine self and proxy responses with great care, especially when analyzing time trends or making gender comparisons.     

论公民网络政治参与与维持稳定——基于政治系统论的视角

公民网络政治参与作为一种新型政治参与方式在我国的兴起,主要是由于目前政治生态条件下公民自发表达的无效,以及渊源于匿名性和平等性的网络参与在规避可能遭遇的实然表达所带来的政治风险方面的优势。但是网络政治参与在推动新型政治输入的情况下,也带来了一些诸如极端自由、网络话语强权等可能冲击社会稳定的新问题。目前,网络方面的技术困境和网民分散化,以及政府自身的网络规范缺失、决策封闭性等,都成为政府应对这些新问题的障碍。所以,政府维稳应着重于完善网络参与规范、推动网民理性化和实现政务公开。     

《村组法》实施办法中的村委会职能规定比较

各省《村组法》实施办法中的职能规定是村委会开展工作的重要依据。通过比较各地的实施办法及《村组法》中关于村委会职能的法律条文,我们发现:一方面,实施办法对《村组法》中的职能规定主要是大量重复,在实施方式、方法以及步骤上起具体化作用的虽然有,但并不普遍,尚未实现中央立法的"本土化"。另一方面,省际之间实施办法的职能规定差异极少,绝大多数立法不能反映地方色彩。此外,近十多年来,国家涉农政策及农村环境均发生重大变迁,但很多省的实施办法未能与时俱进。     

酒店服务补救效果的评价与补救策略研究

采用问卷调查、案例分析的方法,可以对酒店在过程失败、结果失败以及交互失败条件下,不同服务补救措施的效果进行评价。研究发现,实施服务补救时,体现酒店的诚意必不可少,但"响应速度"是顾客最关注的因素,物质补救的形式比数量更重要;此外,男性更重视体现"面子"的补救措施,而女性则更重视"维护消费心境";常客更重视"特别关注的待遇",但常客对服务失败态度相对平和。