A graphical analysis of some basic results in social choice

We use a simple graphical approach to represent Social Welfare Functions that satisfy Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives and Anonymity. This approach allows us to provide simple and illustrative proofs of May's Theorem, of variants of classic impossibility results, and of a recent result on the robustness of Majority Rule due to Maskin (1995). In each case, geometry provides new insights on the working and interplay of the axioms, and suggests new results including a new characterization of the entire class of Majority Rule SWFs, a strengthening of May's Theorem, and a new version of Maskin's Theorem. Received: 31 July 1999/Accepted: 27 March 2001     

A Unified Approach to the Approximation of Multivariate Densities

Approximation of a density by another density is considered in the case of different dimensionalities of the distributions. The results have been derived by inverting expansions of characteristic functions with the help of matrix techniques. The approximations obtained are all functions of cumulant differences and derivatives of the approximating density. The multivariate Edgeworth expansion follows from the results as a special case. Furthermore, the density functions of the trace and eigenvalues of the sample covariance matrix are approximated by the multivariate normal density and a numerical example is given     

The health demographic profile system: current and longitudinal data base for social area analysis

The development of the Health Demographic Profile System, which is based on the 1980 census, is described. The system includes social and economic indicators designed to identify high risk target populations, in terms of mental health and general health service needs, as well as to describe the social and economic structure of both mental health service and other small geographic areas. The report describes: (1) the original system, that is, the Mental Health Demographic Profile System (MHDPS), which is based on the 1970 census, including details of the approach and content, (2) the 1980 provisional indicators and planned products, (3) plans for the development of a longitudinal system based on 1960, 1970, and 1980 data, and (4) current and future studies related to the 1980 Health Demographic Profile System.     

Commentary on “Critical Flaws in the FSFI and IIEF”

This invited commentary responds to recent criticisms of two validated and widely used sexual function questionnaires, the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) and the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) (Forbes, Baillie, &; Schniering, 2014 Forbes , M. K. , Baillie , A. J. , &; Schniering , C. A. ( 2014 ). Critical flaws in the Female Sexual Function Index and the International Index of Erectile Function . Journal of Sex Research , 51 , 485 – 491 . doi: 10.1080/00224499.2013.876607 [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). We take issue with the conceptual arguments presented, selective review of published literature on both instruments, and conclusions drawn from methodologically flawed findings from an Internet-based study in a nonrepresentative group of Australian men and women. Alternative perspectives on the IIEF and FSFI are presented.     

The concept of piracy in nineteenth-century American abolitionist rhetoric

American abolitionists used the concept of piracy as a rhetorical and tactical device to attack the institution of slavery during the antebellum period. Activists branded slaveholders as ‘pirates’ in order to delegitimize the validity of slave owners' title in stolen people and recognize enslaved peoples' rightful self-ownership. The pirate label further conveyed that slaveholders' violence against slaves was illegal and that enslaved people could lawfully use lethal force to resist those who held them captive, assaulted them, or kidnapped them. Thus, abolitionists characterized slave owners as pirates not only to stigmatize slaveholding but also to shape legal perspectives on slavery by reversing presumptions about property rights and about slavery-related violence.     

A body passes by: the flâneur and the senses in nineteenth-century London and Paris

Abstract

The flâneur is well-known for being the most emblematic nineteenth-century observer of urban life. Critics have often compared the flâneur to a camera eye which records everything and insisted on the predominance of sight over other senses in the cognitive process. This article emphasises the embodiedness of the flâneur’s vision, which is an experience of all the senses. Urban public space can be envisaged as a ‘metabolic space,’ in which “the links between background and figures are very unstable” (Augoyard 1991). The moving body of the flâneur, which can adapt to this changing space, seems to be in an ideal position to apprehend the metabolic body of the city. The flâneur is not only a “transparent eye-ball” (Emerson 2003), he is “a living eye” which communicates with all the other senses and captures the whole experience of moving through the city. By looking at texts by Balzac, Baudelaire, Dickens and Charlotte Brontë, the article shows that flânerie is a sensory activity that shapes our perception of the city as much as the city shapes our own flâneries by transforming our bodies into scribes who write the “thicks and thins of the urban text” (de Certeau, 1984).     

Computationally and statistically efficient model fitting techniques

A significant challenge in fitting metamodels of large-scale simulations with sufficient accuracy is in the computational time required for rigorous statistical validation. This paper addresses the statistical computation issues associated with the Bootstrap and modified PRESS statistic, which yield key metrics for error measurements in metamodelling validation. Experimentation is performed on different programming languages, namely, MATLAB, R, and Python, and implemented on different computing architectures including traditional multicore personal computers and high-power clusters with parallel computing capabilities. This study yields insight into the effect that programming languages and computing architecture have on the computational time for simulation metamodel validation. The experimentation is performed across two scenarios with varying complexity.     

Open Tertiary Education in Australia

The draft report of the Committee on Open University, Open Tertiary Education, is criticized on the grounds that it is overly conservative and makes little contribution to the opening up of tertiary education in Australia. The problems inherent in government committees, particularly in the field of education, are considered. Using the data provided in the report, the current closed system of tertiary education is criticized and a number of proposals, alternative to those made in the report, are presented for consideration.