Multiple event times in the presence of informative censoring: modeling and analysis by copulas

Motivated by a breast cancer research program, this paper is concerned with the joint survivor function of multiple event times when their observations are subject to informative censoring caused by a terminating event. We formulate the correlation of the multiple event times together with the time to the terminating event by an Archimedean copula to account for the informative censoring. Adapting the widely used two-stage procedure under a copula model, we propose an easy-to-implement pseudo-likelihood based procedure for estimating the model parameters. The approach yields a new estimator for the marginal distribution of a single event time with semicompeting-risks data. We conduct both asymptotics and simulation studies to examine the proposed approach in consistency, efficiency, and robustness. Data from the breast cancer program are employed to illustrate this research.

     

The Use of E‐mail in the Therapy Process

The therapeutic letter has a long history, with roots in psychoanalytic work and continuing application in family therapy. The advent of e‐mail has allowed another form for therapeutic written communication which, while incorporating the benefits of therapeutic letters, adds to these. It has also opened up some potential risks. This article incorporates a brief review of the literature covering therapeutic written communication and offers a case example where e‐mail was used as an adjunct in face‐to‐face therapy with a client who experienced attachment difficulties. This therapy was informed by systemic and psychoanalytic traditions. The authors explore a variety of technical matters including the timing and crafting of e‐mail responses, the integration of written communication with face‐to‐face therapy, impact on the therapeutic relationship and management of crisis. Ethical issues such as confidentiality and duty of care are also considered.     

Zimbabwe's AIDS action programme for schools

AIDS education started very early in Zimbabwe and is now compulsory in all schools. This evaluation documents the development of the primary and secondary school AIDS Action Programme from 1991 to 1998. Six programme aspects were evaluated: programme start-up, planning and management, development of syllabi and materials, teacher training, research, monitoring and evaluation, and co-ordination. The Programme drew on resources from within the existing educational system. Due to broad-based consultation and participation, it was supported by Government and partners. Flexible management ensured implementation of mid-course corrections. It was concluded that school AIDS programmes should stress participatory teaching and learning methods and life-skills training. Curriculum writers and teachers needed training and supervision in participatory techniques. Cluster workshops between district and school levels were needed to strengthen the cascade model of teacher training that had been adopted. Systematic research, monitoring and evaluation were essential, including follow-ups to baseline surveys. The Zimbabwean programme was well-designed, relatively inexpensive and replicable.     

Factors Associated with Having Flextime: A Focus on Married Workers

To examine flexible work scheduling of married workers a conceptual framework was developed and tested using the 1997 Current Population Survey Work Schedules Supplement. Odds of flextime use were higher for married males, non-Hispanic whites, those with relatively higher levels of education and income, those with a preschool aged child, residents of the Midwest or West (as compared with the South), managers or professionals, and employees of the federal government.     

The transition to parenthood in Puerto Rico: Occupational status and the timing of first births

This study examines the relationship between occupational status and fertility timing during a period of rapid development in Puerto Rico. Our fundamental hypothesis is that women with higher status occupations face greater opportunity costs than those with less valued jobs and therefore will be more likely to postpone parenthood until later ages than women without such high costs. We test this hypothesis using event history techniques with data from the 1982 Puerto Rico Fertility and Family Planning Assessment, an island-wide survey of women between the ages of 15 and 49. The analysis examines the effects of occupational status on the timing of first births, and finds strong support for the basic hypothesis, especially regarding the post-ponement of teen births. After the teen years, the effects are less pronounced. Overall, it appears that employment opportunities have played an important role in childbearing decisions in Puerto Rico.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, Denver, Colorado, 30 April–2 May 1992.     

The Social Context of Police Lying

This is an analysis of the social context of normal police lies. We define lies as speech acts which the speaker knows are misleading or false, are intended to deceive, and where evidence to the contrary is known to the observer. Lies are relative to a moral context, and what an audience will accept. Lies include excuses, which deny full responsibility for an act, but acknowledge its immorality, and justifications, which accept responsibility but deny blame-worthiness. Police learn to lie and to carefully distinguish normal (or acceptable) lies from unacceptable lies, suggesting that lies are a part of a negotiated occupational order. We show how and why some types of lies are rewarded by police using ethnographic data from an 18 month field study of a large urban force. Lies can be of little issue, or become troublesome. We report and analyze two kinds of troublesome lies: case lies, recognized stories an officer utilizes in a courtroom or on paper to facilitate the conviction of a suspect, and cover stories, lies an officer tells in court, to supervisors, and on the job with the aim of providing a verbal shield or mitigation in the event of discipline. Both excuses and justifications are woven together in these vignettes. An example of a refusal to lie is used to illustrate some of the limits on lying as well organizational factors in lying. Some implications for official lying are also noted.     

Sex differences in nonverbal expressiveness: Emotional expression,personality, and impressions

Sex differences in expressiveness are well documented, but the reasons for and correlates of these important differences are not well studied. A comprehensive set of emotion-relevant personality measures was administered to 40 female and 39 male undergraduate participants, who were also videotaped in three situations: engaging in natural social interaction, describing a past emotional experience, and posing various emotions. Videotapes were judged by sets of naive observers as to emotion communicated and overall impression. Expressive females, who appeared friendly and dominant in social interaction, were found to have a hostile/aggressive personality (but this was not true of males). Expressive females also tended to look angry/disgusted when describing happy and sad experiences. The findings suggest that nonverbally skilled, charismatic women (but not men) may often possess a dominant/aggressive but self-controlled personality, in a new twist on the theory that sex differences in expressiveness result in part from the oppression of women in society.This research was supported in part by an intramural research grant from University of California, Riverside.     

Catholicism and the Philippine population problem

"The Philippines has two characteristics which differentiate if from other countries in Southeast Asia. It is the only predominantly Christian country in the region and it has one of the highest rates of population growth. Non-Catholic Christians make up only about 9 per cent of the population compared with around 82 per cent for Roman Catholics. Given the Catholic Church objections to both contraception and abortion, it is not illogical to hypothesize a relation between the religious composition of the population and its rate of population growth."     

The Future of ‘Gender and Organizations’: Connections and Boundaries

‘Gender and organizations’, a fruitful connection between two previously separate areas of study, has had a relatively short but bountiful history. Much of the research and theorizing within the general rubric of ‘gender and organizations’ has required the breaking of conceptual boundaries and the forging of new connections that go beyond the coalescence of two fields of inquiry. We have not exhausted the possibilities suggested by broken boundaries and new connections. This may be a particularly auspicious time to be breaking boundaries, for the apparent worldwide changes in work and organizing are not well enough understood with many of our old intellectual tools. In this paper I discuss briefly what our studies of gender and organization have, in my view, accomplished so far, and then review some issues and questions stimulated by thinking about broken boundaries and new connections, possibilities that, for me, represent part of the future for ‘gender and organizations.’