COMPARISONS AND SELECTION OF TWO-PARAMETER EXPONENTIAL POPULATIONS

For two-parameter exponential populations with the same scale parameter (known or unknown) comparisons are made between the location parameters. This is done by constructing confidence intervals, which can then be used for selection procedures. Comparisons are made with a control, and with the (unknown) “best” or “worst” population. Emphasis is laid on finding approximations to the confidence so that calculations are simple and tables are not necessary. (Since we consider unequal sample sizes, tables for exact values would need to be extensive.)     

Benchmark Analysis: Shopping with Proper Confidence

We discuss the issue of using benchmark doses for quantifying (excess) risk associated with exposure to environmental hazards. The paradigm of low-dose risk estimation in dose-response modeling is used as the primary application scenario. Emphasis is placed on making simultaneous inferences on benchmark doses when data are in the form of proportions, although the concepts translate easily to other forms of outcome data.     

Premarital Cohabitation and Housework: Couples in Cross‐National Perspective

The authors examine the effect of premarital cohabitation on the division of household labor in 22 countries. First, women do more routine housework than men in all countries. Second, married couples that cohabited before marriage have a more equal division of housework. Third, national cohabitation rates have equalizing effects on couples regardless of their own cohabitation experience. However, the influence of cohabitation rates is only observed in countries with higher levels of overall gender equality. The authors conclude that the trend toward increasing cohabitation may be part of a broader social trend toward a more egalitarian division of housework.     

A Rejection Principle for Sequential Tests of Multiple Hypotheses Controlling Familywise Error Rates

We present a unifying approach to multiple testing procedures for sequential (or streaming) data by giving sufficient conditions for a sequential multiple testing procedure to control the familywise error rate (FWER). Together, we call these conditions a ‘rejection principle for sequential tests’, which we then apply to some existing sequential multiple testing procedures to give simplified understanding of their FWER control. Next, the principle is applied to derive two new sequential multiple testing procedures with provable FWER control, one for testing hypotheses in order and another for closed testing. Examples of these new procedures are given by applying them to a chromosome aberration data set and finding the maximum safe dose of a treatment.     

On the Critical Value Behaviour of Multiple Decision Procedures

In this paper we investigate the asymptotic critical value behaviour of certain multiple decision procedures as e.g. simultaneous confidence intervals and simultaneous as well as stepwise multiple test procedures. Supposing that n hypotheses or parameters of interest are under consideration we investigate the critical value behaviour when n increases. More specifically, we answer e.g. the question by which amount the lengths of confidence intervals increase when an additional parameter is added to the statistical analysis. Furthermore, critical values of different multiple decision procedures as for instance step-down and step-up procedures will be compared. Some general theoretic results are derived and applied for various distributions.     

Quality of work and job satisfaction: comparing female part-time work in four European countries

Adding to the debate on the integrative or marginalizing nature of female part-time work, this article provides a comparative analysis of the implications of female part-time work for different intrinsic job quality dimensions and job satisfaction. Drawing on national micro-data from Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, our multivariate analyses show cross-national similarities in terms of lower job learning opportunities for female part-timers. We found a significantly higher incidence of repetitiveness only among Swedish female part-timers and lower degrees of task discretion among British, Dutch, and Swedish women working part-time hours. Female part-timers were either equally satisfied with their work as female full-timers or even more satisfied. This held true also after accounting for the lower intrinsic job quality of part-time work. While women working part-time hours were as affected by their job quality characteristics as were full-timers, we conclude that the shorter hours of work per se provide an important additional source of job satisfaction.     

Rural ageing in the United States: Trends and contexts

This paper examines rural population ageing in the United States with a particular focus on the contrasting contexts in which older rural residents live. We compare the characteristics of the older population by rural versus urban residence, and explore challenges and opportunities associated with the ageing of rural baby boomers. The United States is a vast territory, and rural areas in the US are diverse regionally, in poverty and income, principal forms of employment, proximity to metropolitan areas, population size, density and composition, the history of change in these parameters, and a number of other factors that affect the ageing process. Hence, the diversity across rural areas is an important consideration in what affects the well being of rural elderly individuals, as well as the community-level impacts of rural ageing. Further, the characteristics of the older rural population help shape community and rural development outcomes for diverse rural communities. We use data from various US Census Bureau sources, and cite other studies to provide a demographic overview of ageing in the rural United States, and to analyze how this situation differs in varying socio-demographic and regional contexts. In the concluding section, we focus on policy implications associated with rural ageing.     

Multiple comparisons in two-factor testing of psychophysical thresholds by the delta test method

We propose an algorithm of multiple comparisons in two-factor testing of psychophysical thresholds. We use logistic regression combined with guessing rate and adopt the step-down procedure with Ryan–Einot–Gabriel–Welsch (REGW) significance levels for multiple test. We test hypotheses of main effects and interaction in two-factor problem by using the delta test statistics.     

Pairwise comparisons of treatments with ordinal responses in a two-way setting

In clinical studies, pairwise comparisons are frequently performed to examine differences in efficacy between treatments. The statistical methods of pairwise comparisons are available when treatment responses are measured on an ordinal scale. The Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test and the latent normal model are popular examples. However, these procedures cannot be used to compare treatments in parallel groups (a two-way design) when overall type I error must be controlled. In this paper, we explore statistical approaches to the pairwise testing of treatments that satisfy the requirements of a two-way layout. The results of our simulation indicate that the latent normal approach is superior to the Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test. Clinical examples are used to illustrate our suggested testing methods.     

Are Father’s or Mother’s Socioeconomic Characteristics More Important Influences on Student Performance? Recent International Evidence

Since the early 1970s the importance of mothers’ socioeconomic characteristics on their children’s educational and occupational attainment has been acknowledged. However, it is not clear if fathers’ characteristics have a stronger influence because men usually have stronger attachments to the labour market, or alternatively mothers’ characteristics are more important because of their greater role in children’s socialization. This study addresses this question by comparing the influence of father’s and mother’s education and occupation on student performance in literacy and numeracy using data from 30 countries. The impact of mother’s education is usually greater or comparable to that of father’s education. In contrast, substantially stronger effects for mother’s occupational status compared to father’s were rare. In most countries the impact of mother’s socioeconomic characteristics (education plus occupation) on student performance is comparable to that for father’s. Of the four indicators of socioeconomic background, father’s occupational status and mother’s educational attainment tend to have stronger effects, although many countries do not conform to this pattern. There are indications that the relative importance of mother’s characteristics have increased over time.