The Aging Semantic Differential in Mandarin Chinese: Measuring Attitudes toward Older Adults in China

ABSTRACT

The Aging Semantic Differential (ASD) is the most widely used instrument to measure young people’s attitudes towards older adults. This study translated the ASD to Mandarin and examined its psychometric properties. The Mandarin-ASD contains three latent factors (Personality and Mental Health, Societal Participation, and Physical) that have high internal reliability and reasonable discriminate validity. Social work researchers, practitioners and allied professionals may utilize the ASD-Mandarin instrument to measure young people’s attitudes towards older adults in China. We issue a call for a universal-ASD that can be applied across different cultural contexts.     

A Mixed-Methods Inquiry Into Trans* Environmental Microaggressions on College Campuses: Experiences and Outcomes

ABSTRACT

The experiences, including with environmental microaggressions, and well-being of trans* collegians remain an under-researched topic. In this mixed-methods study of a survey sample of 152 trans* collegians, multivariable regression findings suggest that the frequency of experiencing select trans* environmental microaggressions (e.g., not having access to comfortable bathrooms as a trans* person) are associated with increased risk for poorer academic outcomes (e.g., developmental challenges) but are not associated with mental health outcomes. Furthermore, interviews with 18 trans* collegians suggest that students face several systemic microaggressions, including difficulties advancing trans* inclusion. Various reactions, including paths of resistance, were identified. Implications are discussed.     

Difference-based matrix perturbation method for semi-parametric regression with multicollinearity

This paper addresses the collinearity problems in semi-parametric linear models. Under the difference-based settings, we introduce a new diagnostic, the difference-based variance inflation factor (DVIF), for detecting the presence of multicollinearity in semi-parametric models. The DVIF is then used to device a difference-based matrix perturbation method for solving the problem. The electricities distribution data set is analyzed, and numerical evidences validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Evaluating modified generalized information criterion in presence of multicollinearity

When there are many explanatory variables in the regression model, there is a chance that some of these are intercorrelated. This is where the problem of multicollinearity creeps in due to which precision and accuracy of the coefficients is marred, and the quest to find the best model becomes tedious. To tackle such a situation, Model selection criteria are applied for selecting the best model that fits the data. Current study focuses on the evaluation of the four unmodified and four modified versions of generalized information criteria—Akaike Information Criterion, Schwarz's Bayes Information Criteria, Hannan-Quinn Information Criterion, and Akaike Information Criterion corrected for small samples. A simulation study using SAS software was carried out in order to compare the unmodified and modified versions of the generalized information criteria and to discover the best version amongst the four modified model selection criteria, for identifying the best model, when the collinearity assumption is violated. For the proposed simulation, two samples of size 50 and 100, for three explanatory variables X₁, X₂, and X₃, are drawn from Normal distribution. Two situations of collinearity violations between X₁ and X₂ are looked into, first when ρ = 0.6 and second when ρ = 0.8. The outcomes of the simulations are displayed in the tables along with visual representations. The results revealed that modified versions of the generalized information criteria are more sensitive in identifying models marred with high multicollinearity as compared to the unmodified generalized information criteria.     

Adaptation of the short version of the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ-12) into Spanish / Adaptación al español de la versión reducida del Cuestionario de Capital Psicológico (PCQ-12)

Psychological capital (PsyCap) has been a topic of increasing interest in the last decade. However, there is a lack of validated instruments in Spanish to map PsyCap and its consequences for individuals’ well-being. Consequently, the goal of this study is to adapt the 12-item short version of the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ-12) to the Spanish context by analysing its internal consistency and reliability, factor solution and external validity. Results indicated that the PCQ-12 exhibited good Cronbach’s alpha (.87) and omega coefficient (.93) values in a sample from a vehicle inspection company (n = 798). As expected, results also revealed that a second-order factor structure provided the best fit. Moreover, PsyCap is associated with increased job engagement (β = .579; R²_adjusted = .333), decreased job burnout (β = ?.409; R²_adjusted = .166), and lower psychological distress (β = ?.349; R²_adjusted = .121) (all p < .01), which provided additional support for using the PCQ-12 in the Spanish context. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

中国旅游上市公司全要素生产率研究

旅游上市公司是旅游业发展的微观主体,其全要素生产率全面反映了该行业的实际经营效率和发展趋势。本文基于Malmquist指数探讨了20家中国旅游上市公司2004-2009年的全要素生产率。Malmquist指数及其分解结果显示:中国旅游上市公司Malmquist指数年均增长率为-0.4%,其中纯技术效率的增长显著,年均增幅为1.3%;时间跨度层面,中国旅游上市公司的全要素生产率的年度波动性较大。此外,样本中旅游上市公司Malmquist指数与营业收入增长率未能兼顾;2008-2009年度粗放型增长的特征显著。     

海峡西岸经济区各市经济发展水平评价

通过构建海峡西岸经济区区域经济发展水平评价指标体系,运用因子分析法对海峡西岸经济区20个市经济发展水平进行综合评价及排序,根据综合得分进行样本聚类分析,对区域20个市进行类型划分,并分析了类别特征,提出了提高经济发展水平的对策建议。     

基于增长核算分析的中国经济增长来源研究

应用新经济增长理论的增长核算分析框架,研究中国改革开放以来,物质资本、人力资本和全要素生产率（TFP）对经济增长的贡献,以及产权结构、对外开放等制度变迁对TFP的影响。研究发现,改革开来以来,全要素生产率的增长是经济增长的主要推动力,其次是物质资本存量的贡献,而人力资本对经济增长的贡献最低,并且逐期下降。实证分析也表明,由于中国正处于经济转型期,用＂索洛剩余＂衡量的TFP的增长不能简单地理解为技术进步;所有制结构和对外开放等制度变迁是推动中国TFP增长和经济增长的十分重要的两个因素。     

城市居住空间结构的分异研究——以杭州市为例

居住空间是城市社会空间的一个重要的组成部分.随着城市化的大规模扩展,城市居住空间的结构分异已然成为不争的客观事实.通过对杭州市商品住宅面积、类型和价格分异的讨论,勾勒出目前城市居住空间结构分异的特点.在此基础上,透过阶层分化与居住空间结构之间的关系,来探究居住空间结构分异的动力机制,以便提供一些居住融合的策略性建议.     

国际视野下的社会主义改革脉络辨微

社会主义与市场经济的融合是社会主义改革的逻辑主线,"帕累托最优化"理论衍生的社会主义经济问题大讨论构成了社会主义改革的理论渊源。20世纪中期以南斯拉夫、匈牙利为代表的东欧社会主义国家的"分权市场社会主义"模式开创了实践视域中的社会主义改革。苏东社会主义改革的失败孕育了改革模式的分野,诞生了"市场主导"的西方市场社会主义思潮。国际社会主义改革的逻辑演进启示我们,必须坚持社会主义与市场经济融合的改革路径,完善国家干预经济的改革理论,坚持"结构型"改革的路径抉择,构建社会主义与市场经济"多维融合"的制度模式,提升中国特色社会主义的理论与实践内涵。