Organizational Compatibility and Workplace Drug Testing: Modeling the Adoption of Innovative Social Control Practices

Few researchers have examined organizational variation in the adoption of workplace drug testing, but innovation theory suggests that adoption is more likely when it is compatible with an organization's values, previously introduced ideas, and needs. Using data from the 1997 National Employee Survey, this research models the effects of organizational compatibility, industry, and establishment size on the adoption of drug testing. The data reveal that compatibility, as measured by an organization's rules orientation, presence of an employee assistance program, and mechanization, is associated with the adoption of drug testing. As predicted, the adoption of drug testing varies across industries and by establishment size.     

Progress and cumulation in the human sciences after the fall

What do we mean by progress and cumulation in the social and human sciences? Recent thinking in the philosophy and history of science has led to an abandonment of some versions of logical positivism and of verificationism that had a strong deductive and theory testing orientation. What is to replace them is less clear. This paper argues that progress and cumulation can be seen as a process of evaluation and retention within an epistemic community. Scholarly disciplines differ in their social structure and in their epistemic and normative commitments. Since sociology is a fragmented discipline, progress and cumulation differ within its multiple subdisciplines, which to varying extents represent epistemic communities. Brief sketches of progress (advance) and cumulation in several subdisciplines are offered.     

The design of organizations and the right to act

Recent innovations in the structure of formal organizations suggest possible directions for the design of schools to bring about high achievement. The structure of output-driven in contrast to administratively-driven schools is described, and designs are described which address both the goal of high achievement and the goal of reduced inequality.An earlier version of this paper was presented as the author's Sorokin Lecture at the annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society, Boston, March 1993.     

Drug dependency and HIV testing among state prisoners

HIV and drug use are higher among prisoners than the general US population. This study examines drug dependency/use and differences between prisoners who volunteered for HIV testing and those who did not in a less densely populated state. It was hypothesized that prisoners who volunteered for an HIV test were engaged in more drug use and other risky behaviors than those who did not. Survey data were collected from 600 randomly selected inmates (567 males and 33 females) from 15 state prisons. Subjects were male (95%), white (63%), never married (43%), and 44% volunteered for an HIV test since entering prison. Ninety-two percent of inmates met DSM criteria for drug dependence in their lifetime. Those who volunteered for HIV testing were 2.6 times more likely to ever have used PCP; 1.5 times more likely to ever have used cocaine; 1.4 times more likely to ever have had a problem with drugs; 1.3 times more likely to have used opiates, and 1.6 times more likely to report having been sexually or physically abused. Implications for interventions are discussed.     

能源价格波动对中国物价水平的潜在与实际影响

目的/意义原油作为重要的工业原料、大宗商品和战略储备物资,其价格波动对全球经济发展具有重大影响,对原油价格进行预测是能源经济领域的热点研究课题。对国际原油价格预测的主要方法进行系统梳理并展望未来研究方向,有助于该研究领域的纵深发展。设计/方法基于295篇国际期刊文献,对国际油价预测的发展阶段、发表期刊、研究机构等进行归纳总结,然后对近二十年油价预测领域的主要研究方法进行系统梳理和分析,最后对油价预测工作进行评述和趋势展望。结论/发现自2008年金融危机后,油价预测研究快速发展,相关文章主要发表于能源经济领域的权威期刊《Energy Economic》。现有油价预测方法主要包括计量模型、机器学习和混合预测模型。展望未来,利用高频日内交易数据,融合计量和机器学习前沿方法,对原油价格进行区间预测或概率密度预测是值得探索的方向,此外还应深化油价预测结果的实际应用价值。     

冷却剂参数对铣槽喷管低周疲劳寿命的影响

采用有限体积流固耦合计算方法、非线性有限元热结构耦合分析方法和局部应变法研究大面积比铣槽喷管三维再生冷却槽道在循环工作条件下的热结构变形与低周疲劳寿命,并对比分析了冷却剂质量流量与入口温度对铣槽喷管疲劳使用寿命的影响。计算结果表明,铣槽喷管热结构响应呈现复杂的三维效应,应变较大位置主要分布在与肋连接的内衬区域,喷管中部的残余应变量最大;冷却槽道低周疲劳寿命分布和热结构响应基本一致,最小寿命位于喷管中部与肋相连的内衬区域燃气侧;随冷却剂质量流量增加,铣槽喷管低周疲劳寿命不断提高;随冷却剂入口温度增加喷管尾部低周疲劳寿命值不断降低,而喷管中前部的低周疲劳寿命值却不断提高,当冷却剂入口温度为280K左右时,本文的铣槽喷管总体使用寿命达到最大。      

THE CHOICE BETWEEN SETS OF REGRESSORS

This paper examines the choice of critical values for testing both non-sequential and nested sequential sets of constraints in the standard linear regression model. Modest increases in (e.g.) t-ratio critical values relative to their one-off values are often sufficient to maintain proper size. A Bayesian decision-theoretic approach, highlighted by the Schwarz (1978) criterion, provides a framework for deriving consistency and asymptotic local power properties of both forms of testing (data mining) algorithms.     

Heterogeneous data modeling with two-component Weibull–Poisson distribution

The mixture distribution models are more useful than pure distributions in modeling of heterogeneous data sets. The aim of this paper is to propose mixture of Weibull–Poisson (WP) distributions to model heterogeneous data sets for the first time. So, a powerful alternative mixture distribution is created for modeling of the heterogeneous data sets. In the study, many features of the proposed mixture of WP distributions are examined. Also, the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm is used to determine the maximum-likelihood estimates of the parameters, and the simulation study is conducted for evaluating the performance of the proposed EM scheme. Applications for two real heterogeneous data sets are given to show the flexibility and potentiality of the new mixture distribution.     

Questions and Answers

In addition to his contributions to biostatistics and clinical trials, Paul Meier had a long-term interest in the legal applications of statistics. As part of this, he had extensive experience as a statistical consultant. Legal consulting can be a minefield, but as a result of his background, Paul had excellent advice to give to those starting out on how to function successfully in this environment.     

Nonparametric Bayes factors based on empirical likelihood ratios

Bayes methodology provides posterior distribution functions based on parametric likelihoods adjusted for prior distributions. A distribution-free alternative to the parametric likelihood is use of empirical likelihood (EL) techniques, well known in the context of nonparametric testing of statistical hypotheses. Empirical likelihoods have been shown to exhibit many of the properties of conventional parametric likelihoods. In this paper, we propose and examine Bayes factors (BF) methods that are derived via the EL ratio approach. Following Kass and Wasserman (1995), we consider Bayes factors type decision rules in the context of standard statistical testing techniques. We show that the asymptotic properties of the proposed procedure are similar to the classical BF's asymptotic operating characteristics. Although we focus on hypothesis testing, the proposed approach also yields confidence interval estimators of unknown parameters. Monte Carlo simulations were conducted to evaluate the theoretical results as well as to demonstrate the power of the proposed test.