A Nonrandomized,Nonconservative Version of the Fisher Exact Test

The Fisher exact test has been unjustly dismissed by some as ‘only conditional,’ whereas it is unconditionally the uniform most powerful test among all unbiased tests, tests of size α and with power greater than its nominal level of significance α. The problem with this truly optimal test is that it requires randomization at the critical value(s) to be of size α. Obviously, in practice, one does not want to conclude that ‘with probability x the we have a statistical significant result.’ Usually, the hypothesis is rejected only if the test statistic's outcome is more extreme than the critical value, reducing the actual size considerably.

The randomized unconditional Fisher exact is constructed (using Neyman–structure arguments) by deriving a conditional randomized test randomizing at critical values c(t) by probabilities γ(t), that both depend on the total number of successes T (the complete-sufficient statistic for the nuisance parameter—the common success probability) conditioned upon.

In this paper, the Fisher exact is approximated by deriving nonrandomized conditional tests with critical region including the critical value only if γ (t) > γ₀, for a fixed threshold value γ₀, such that the size of the unconditional modified test is for all value of the nuisance parameter—the common success probability—smaller, but as close as possible to α. It will be seen that this greatly improves the size of the test as compared with the conservative nonrandomized Fisher exact test.

Size, power, and p value comparison with the (virtual) randomized Fisher exact test, and the conservative nonrandomized Fisher exact, Pearson's chi-square test, with the more competitive mid-p value, the McDonald's modification, and Boschloo's modifications are performed under the assumption of two binomial samples.     

Everyday health communication experiences of college students

OBJECTIVE: The authors examined college students' day-to-day health communication experiences. PARTICIPANTS: A convenience sample of 109 midwestern university students participated in the study. METHODS: The participants completed health communication diaries for 2 weeks, generating 2,185 records. Frequent health topics included nutrition and diet, minor health concerns, risky health practices, and body fitness. RESULTS: Approximately 27% of health communication experiences involved the proactive seeking of health-related information or advice. Interpersonal venues (face-to-face, telephone, and e-mail) were evident in about 75% of the records, which were dominated by exchanges with friends and family members. The authors found modest interactions of topic, channel, and purpose. CONCLUSIONS: Congruent with the uses and gratifications theory, the authors found that satisfaction with and perceived impact of health communication experiences varied by topic, channel, relationship, and purpose.     

Complexities in Assessing Marital Beliefs: Illustrations Across College and Non-College Emerging Adults

ABSTRACT

Although research on marital beliefs has been increasing in recent years due to cultural and behavioral shifts regarding marital transitions, scholarly work dedicated to the measurement of marital beliefs has been limited. Using a sample of 571 college students, the Criteria for Marriage Readiness Scale (CMRS) was assessed to see if results from a previous validation study could be replicated. Results largely replicated previous findings but suggested a shorter and slightly revised version of the CMRS. A sample of 102 individuals with no college experience were then also administered the CMRS to see if measurement remained valid across a noncollege population. Results suggested that the CMRS may not be a valid measurement in this population, and further tests revealed that the college and noncollege samples were not invariant in regards to the factor structure of the CMRS. Implications for the assessment of marital beliefs given the lack of research on noncollege samples is discussed.     

The working alliance as a model for interdisciplinary collaboration

Rehabilitation and health care researchers are increasingly called upon to examine contemporary disability issues from an interdisciplinary perspective. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to (a) borrow from the counseling literature to introduce the working alliance, a model developed by Bordin [1] to facilitate positive therapeutic relationships; and (b) to discuss its application to interdisciplinary research. The authors, who represent the fields of nursing, rehabilitation, and health communication, describe characteristics of the working alliance and draw upon their experiences to illustrate the key components of effective working alliances (bonds, goals, and tasks). We also introduce strategies for resolving disagreements and conclude the article with a discussion regarding the multiple rewards that can be acquired from interdisciplinary research.     

Corporate planning in medium-sized companies in the U.K.

The past decade has seen the publication of a considerable amount of research into the corporate planning practices of industrial giants. More recent work has investigated corporate planning practice in small businesses. However, little attention appears to have been paid to actual practice in medium-sized companies. This article reports the results of a study designed to investigate corporate planning practice in medium-sized companies in the U.K. The results show that while corporate planning is widespread among medium-sized companies, it is not the well-balanced and integrated system envisaged in the literature. Also, the majority of chief executives are not truly satisfied with corporate planning as practised in their organizations, but are, at the same time, largely unable to suggest changes to make corporate planning more effective. This points clearly to a need for action by researchers and consultants in the area.     

Race,Wealth and the Masking of Opposition to Immigrants in the Netherlands

This work uses a list experiment to directly test for differences in attitudes towards poor, racially different and racially similar immigrants to the Netherlands in terms of (1) overt support and (2) covert support and (3) the difference between the two (i.e., social desirability bias). Results show that the expression of opposition to immigrants is significantly masked, suggesting that anonymous acts (e.g., voting) could capture greater opposition. Racially similar immigrants are subject to greater opposition relative to racially different or poorer immigrants, but only when anonymity is offered to respondents. The implication is that overt estimates (i.e., openly expressed) are misleading as levels of support appear consistent across immigrant groups. Going forward, we suggest the utility of the list experiment to better account for observable downward bias in estimates at least on the aggregate level or in contexts with clear normative pressure to appear tolerant.     

Assessing the Role of Gambling on Problematic Alcohol Consumption by Police Officers

While a number of studies have attributed critical incident stressors to alcohol abuse among police officers, no study has examined the role gambling, if any, plays on problematic alcohol consumption. Therefore, data from the Police Stress and Domestic Violence in Police Families in Baltimore, Maryland, 1997–1999 are analyzed to test the influence of gambling on problematic alcohol consumption engaged by police officers. Results indicated that gambling is significant in predicting problematic alcohol consumption. Burnout, peer drinking, and self-control also predicted the dependent variable. The study’s results, as well as the study’s limitations and directions for future research, are also discussed.