Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
R.J. Adler, R.E. Feldman & M.S. Taqqu, A Practical Guide to Heavy Tails: Statistical Techniques and Applications.
J.J. Foste, A Beginner's Guide to Data Analysis Using SPSS for Windows.
N. Limnios and G. Oprisan, Semi–Markov Processes and Reliability.     

Defining the linear portion of a sigmoid‐shaped curve: bend points

Formulae are provided that define the ‘bend points’, the beginning and end of the essentially linear dose–response region, for the four‐parameter logistic model. The formulae are expressed in both response and dose units. The derivation of the formulae is shown in order to illustrate the general nature of the methodology. Examples are given that describe how the formulae may be used while planning and conducting bioassays. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Confidence Intervals for Current Status Data

Abstract.  The likelihood ratio statistic for testing pointwise hypotheses about the survival time distribution in the current status model can be inverted to yield confidence intervals (CIs). One advantage of this procedure is that CIs can be formed without estimating the unknown parameters that figure in the asymptotic distribution of the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) of the distribution function. We discuss the likelihood ratio-based CIs for the distribution function and the quantile function and compare these intervals to several different intervals based on the MLE. The quantiles of the limiting distribution of the MLE are estimated using various methods including parametric fitting, kernel smoothing and subsampling techniques. Comparisons are carried out both for simulated data and on a data set involving time to immunization against rubella. The comparisons indicate that the likelihood ratio-based intervals are preferable from several perspectives.     

Making the Best of a Bad Job? Female Part‐Timers’ Orientations and Attitudes to Work

This article uses data from 50 qualitative interviews with female part‐time workers in low‐level jobs in Britain to illustrate their attitudes, orientations and aspirations towards paid work. The research reports two main findings. Firstly, even female part‐time workers at the bottom end of the occupational structure are not a homogeneous group of workers. Secondly, they are not all highly satisfied with their jobs. The article argues that many women (especially those in working‐class households) still do not have a genuine choice between ‘family work’ and ‘market work’. It concludes by presenting a theoretical model of orientations to work.     

On the preservation of copula structure under truncation

The author characterizes the copula associated with the bivariate survival model of Clayton (1978) as the only absolutely continuous copula that is preserved under bivariate truncation.     

我国农村人口出生性别比偏高的动力机制研究

B超的滥用、强烈的男孩偏好以及对非法流产行为监控的失效共同构成我国出生性别比偏高的充要条件,三者中任一条件不满足都不可能出现出生性别比偏高。尽管B超发明和滥用前出生性别比并没有异常,但也不能说出生性别比偏高与受教育水平、传统文化等因素无关。事实上,这些因素通过影响男孩偏好和B超的可获得性而影响出生性别比。由此出发,促进出生性别比回复正常,短期内应标本兼治,以治标为主———坚决禁止B超的滥用,关键是加强立法和管理;长期内则必须治本———消除男孩偏好,关键是加速农村城市化。     

一个数据流查询系统的设计与实现

就目前大多数数据流查询处理过程中可能出现的一些问题，根据数据流处理的特点和要求，提出了新的查询处理结构，实现了数据共享及多流多查询环境下查询的处理．     

CCI与中国证券市场走势的实证分析

美英等国的消费者信心指数(CCI)对股市指数收益有很重要的影响力。为探讨CCI与中国证券市场走势的相关关系,通过两类模型对1999年10月~2004年8月间我国股市收益与CCI之间的关系进行了实证分析。结果表明:CCI对深沪五个指数的走势有显著的解释与预测效果,但对我国的B股市场似乎没有显著性。     

An evaluation of the childhood family structure measures from the sixth wave of the British Household Panel Survey

Summary.  The paper performs an evaluation of the data that were collected in the sixth wave of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) on childhood family structure. After comparing such data with a large number of studies by using external sources, we find that the BHPS data overestimate the proportion of people who report an experience of life in a non-intact family during childhood by about 10%. Although an explanation based on recall error that deteriorates with the age of the BHPS respondents is possible, the overestimation is likely to be accounted for by non-ignorable attrition that may affect most of the comparison studies based on longitudinal data. Conversely, comparisons with other independent measurements from the BHPS itself reveal that the wave 6 data underestimate the proportion of young people who have lived at least part of their childhood in a non-intact family by about 8%. The probability of disagreement between these two sets of measures is strongly associated with poor interview characteristics, which may affect the comparison measure more than the wave 6 measure. Despite such differences, there is therefore a substantial degree of similarity between the family structure information that was collected in the sixth wave of the BHPS and the host of highly diverse records against which it has been compared.     

Semiparametric linear transformation models for current status data

Current status data arise when the death of every subject in a study cannot be determined precisely, but is known only to have occurred before or after a random monitoring time. The authors discuss the analysis of such data under semiparametric linear transformation models for which they propose a general inference procedure based on estimating functions. They determine the properties of the estimates they propose for the regression parameters of the model and illustrate their technique using tumorigenicity data.