Optimal Partitioning of a Data Set Based on the p-Median Model

Although the K-means algorithm for minimizing the within-cluster sums of squared deviations from cluster centroids is perhaps the most common method for applied cluster analyses, a variety of other criteria are available. The p-median model is an especially well-studied clustering problem that requires the selection of p objects to serve as cluster centers. The objective is to choose the cluster centers such that the sum of the Euclidean distances (or some other dissimilarity measure) of objects assigned to each center is minimized. Using 12 data sets from the literature, we demonstrate that a three-stage procedure consisting of a greedy heuristic, Lagrangian relaxation, and a branch-and-bound algorithm can produce globally optimal solutions for p-median problems of nontrivial size (several hundred objects, five or more variables, and up to 10 clusters). We also report the results of an application of the p-median model to an empirical data set from the telecommunications industry.     

The Search for Indigenous Psychologies: Data From Turkey and the Former USSR

On a analysé le contenu de 152 articles du Turkish Journal of Psychology et de 261 articles de la revue Soviet Psychology dans le but d'évaluer le degré d' «indigénisation>> des psychologies turque et soviétique. Il est apparu que la psychologie turque ne présentait aucune tendance à l'indigénisation vu que les théories et perspectives nord-américaines y étaient largement exploitées. Par contre, on a constaté que la psychologie soviétique était l'un des rares exemples de psychologie indigéne.
Articles in the Turkish Journal of Psychology (n = 152), and in the journal Soviet Psychology (n = 261) were content analysed to determine the degree of indigenisation in Turkish and Soviet psychology. The results indicated that there was no tendency towards indigenisation in Turkish psychology, and North American theories and perspectives were widely used. Soviet psychology was found to be one of the rare examples of an indigenous psychology.     

Testing for Association Using Multiple Response Survey Data: Approximate Procedures Based on the Rao-Scott Approach

This article discusses approximate tests of marginal association in 2-way tables in which one or both response variables admit multiple responses. Although multiple-response questions appear in all fields of research, including sociology, education, and marketing, the development of association tests that can be used with multiple-response data is very recent. A simple test procedure proposed by Agresti and Liu (1999) is extended to tests of association between 2 multiple-response variables, and it is shown that the procedure is a member of the first-order Rao-Scott family of corrected chi-squared statistics. A second-order Rao-Scott version of this procedure is developed. The Type I error control of both first- and second-order procedures is examined through calculation and simulation.     

数字表型视域下的健康数据确权：基于时间逻辑的展开

健康数据的价值生成具有历时性的特征。数据确权的空间逻辑意识到了健康数据的公共价值,但是忽略了这种公共价值的生成与彰显可能需要经历长时间的积累。提倡健康数据确权的时间逻辑,就是要克服空间逻辑在确权问题上的即时性思考。数据价值在时间链条上的延伸得益于对健康数据的关系性解读,数据的当前使用与未来使用表征为数据与多个主体之间的“依附”与“分离”,由此赋予了数据以新的时间性。这意味着健康数据确权需要将数据价值的未来面向考虑进来。在此基础上,时间逻辑的践行需要代际义务、团结伦理的引导,同时强化规则的预防功能。

     

Milk for babes: Erasmus and Calvin on the Problem of Christian Eloquence

Abstract

This article examines how Erasmus and Calvin received Paul’s rejection of human eloquence in Christian teaching, and how this rejection forms their understanding of the relationship between language and revelation. It consists of a close reading of Erasmus’s and Calvin’s exegetical works on 1 Corinthians in order, first, to understand their reception of Paul’s negative assessment of human rhetoric, and second, their exhortations to employ a more appropriately Christian rhetoric. It is concluded that W. Bouwsma was correct in suggesting that one ought to imagine Erasmus and Calvin as practitioners of a similar theological methodology, a theologia rhetorica. Charles Trinkhaus first employed this heuristic category to describe certain theological and methodological tendencies among Italian humanist theologians that separates them from their scholastic contemporaries.     

A Measure for the Reliability of a Rating Scale Based on Longitudinal Clinical Trial Data

A new measure for reliability of a rating scale is introduced, based on the classical definition of reliability, as the ratio of the true score variance and the total variance. Clinical trial data can be employed to estimate the reliability of the scale in use, whenever repeated measurements are taken. The reliability is estimated from the covariance parameters obtained from a linear mixed model. The method provides a single number to express the reliability of the scale, but allows for the study of the reliability’s time evolution. The method is illustrated using a case study in schizophrenia. The authors are grateful to J&J PRD for kind permission to use their data. We gratefully acknowledge support from the Belgian IUAP/PAI network “Statistical Techniques and Modeling for Complex Substantive Questions with Complex Data.”     

非正态分布下概化理论方差分量变异量估计

方差分量估计是概化理论的必用技术,但受限于抽样,需要对其变异量进行探讨。采用Monte Carlo数据模拟技术,探讨非正态数据分布对四种方法估计概化理论方差分量变异量的影响。结果表明：（1）不同非正态数据分布下,各种估计方法的“性能”表现出差异性;（2）数据分布对方差分量变异量估计有影响,适合于非正态分布数据的方差分量变异量估计方法不一定适合于正态分布数据。     

A systematic review of the literature on counselling and psychotherapy for the prevention of suicide: 2. Qualitative studies

Scope of review: The paper reports a meta‐synthesis of 13 qualitative studies of counselling and psychotherapy with people at risk of suicide. Publication time span: The studies considered were reported between 1997 and 2006. Publication origin: Seven studies were conducted in the UK, four in the USA, one in Canada, and one in Sweden. Findings: Themes in clients' and therapists' accounts of the process of counselling or psychotherapy were therapist qualities; therapy components; theoretical framework; and therapy techniques. Themes in their accounts of the effectiveness of counselling and psychotherapy were decrease in self‐destructive behaviour, and quality of life. Themes in clients' views of barriers to effective counselling or psychotherapy were therapist characteristics; therapy components; secrecy; and transferring to the real‐life situation. Secrecy was also identified as a barrier by therapists, as were responsibilities of the profession; training; and the nature of suicide and self‐harm. Facilitators of successful counselling and psychotherapy as identified by clients were responsibility; support; and teaching therapy skills to family members, the latter also being identified by therapists.     

The Psychometric Properties of the Swedish Version of the General Self-Efficacy Scale: A Rasch Analysis Based on Adolescent Data

Self-efficacy describes people’s belief in their own ability to perform the behaviors required to produce a desired outcome. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) with an adolescent sample, using Rasch analysis. The scale was examined with a focus on invariant functioning along the latent trait as well as across sample groups. The data were collected 2009 and 2010 among 3764 students aged between 13 and 15 years, in the 7^th to 9^th grade, in compulsory schools in the municipality of Karlstad, Sweden. The item fit was acceptable, the categorization of the items worked well and the scale worked invariantly between years of investigations. Although the GSES worked well as a whole, there was some evidence of misfit indicating room for improvements. The targeting may be improved by adding more questions of medium difficulty. Also, further attention needs to be paid to the dimensionality of the GSES as well as to whether the psychometric properties of GSES are affected by using more recent data.     

The Influence of Function,Topography, and Setting on Noncontingent Reinforcement Effect Sizes for Reduction in Problem Behavior: A Meta-analysis of Single-Case Experimental Design Data

Richman et al. (J Appl Behav Anal 48:131–152, 2015) completed a meta-analytic analysis of single-case experimental design data on noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) for the treatment of problem behavior exhibited by individuals with developmental disabilities. Results showed that (1) NCR produced very large effect sizes for reduction in problem behavior, (2) NCR implemented with the functional reinforcer resulted in a slightly larger effect size compared to NCR using nonfunctional reinforcers, and (3) schedule thinning for the delivery of reinforcers typically produced temporary and modest increases in levels of problem behavior. The purpose of the current study was to conduct follow-up analyses to determine whether treatment implementation setting, topography, or the function of problem behavior influenced the treatment effect size for problem behavior exhibited by individuals with developmental disabilities. Follow-up analyses showed that NCR effect sizes were very similar across inpatient and outpatient settings and across aggression and property destruction versus self-injurious behaviors. Results showed that NCR effect size for treatment of problem behavior maintained by a form of social reinforcement was slightly greater than problem behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement. Results are discussed in terms of applying NCR in school settings as an initial treatment for problem behaviors that can interfere with academic, adaptive, and vocational skill acquisition for students with developmental disabilities.     

Singing the Blues: Reflections on African American Men,the Emergence of Melancholic Selves,and the Search for Transformational Objects

This article examines the texts of four African American men—Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin, and Ta-Nehisi Coates—arguing that each text reflects, in part, the emergence of a melancholic self. This melancholic self arises as a result of internalizing the ubiquitous negative projections that come from social, political, economic, and cultural institutions or disciplinary regimes and the attending narratives that support, foster, and enforce racist beliefs (e.g., White superiority, Black inferiority). The internalization of negative projections, I contend, means that some Black children struggle to discover a positive sense of self in the public realm, and it is this ongoing encounter that gives rise to a melancholic faith wherein the child can expect not fidelity, trust, and hope vis-à-vis the public realm but rather betrayal, distrust, and futility vis-à-vis the possibility of the world ever presenting to him a positive self. In these texts, each man also identifies a moment in his early life when he became conscious of racist projections and the accompanying humiliations, as well as of the presence and power of his melancholic self. At the same time, this awareness, which is the first step in redemptive resistance, initiates a search for a transformational “object” that will liberate him from being in bondage to the melancholic self and its accompanying racial logic and faith, which, in turn, transforms his agency.     

Cognitive Moral Development and the Impact of Perceived Organizational Ethical Climate on the Search for Sales Force Excellence: A Cross-Cultural Study

An empirical study using moral ethical development, perceived ethical climate, and outcomes of perceived ethical climate was conducted in Mexico and compared to an existing U.S. sample of salespeople. Across the two national cultures, it appears there is consistency in a positive significant relationship between ethical climate and individual commitment to quality, and organizational commitment and salesperson performance. However, whereas moral ethical development is negatively associated with perceived organizational ethical climate for Mexican salespeople, there is no such relationship for U.S. salespeople. Ethical climate positively influences organizational commitment for the U.S. salespeople but has no influence for Mexican salespeople. Similarly, individual commitment to quality positively affects performance for the U.S. salespeople but has no impact for the Mexican salespeople. Hofstede’s (1983; 1984) cultural dimensions are used to help explain the findings, and implications for practitioners are offered.     

Mapping Contemporary Europe's Moral and Religious Pluralist Landscape: An Analysis Based on the Most Recent European Values Study Data

We explore the less prominent and often neglected issues of religious and moral pluralism in contemporary European society. Using the survey data from the most recent European Values Study (EVS), the patterns of religious and moral pluralism are investigated. Analyses of the previous EVS data demonstrated that Europe is not homogeneous. European countries differ not only in levels of economic development, but also in cultural heritages, languages, religious and ideological traditions, and educational and political systems. Variety in the degrees to which European societies are religiously and morally pluralistic was expected. Several hypotheses were developed to explain this variety. Our analyses do not support most of the generally accepted hypotheses.     

Building Models for the Relationship Between Attitudes Toward Suicide and Suicidal Behavior: Based on Data from General Population Surveys in Sweden,Norway, and Russia

Our aim was to build a model delineating the relationship between attitudes toward suicide and suicidal behavior and to assess equivalence by applying the model on data from different countries. Representative samples from the general population were approached in Sweden, Norway, and Russia with the Attitudes Toward Suicide (ATTS) questionnaire. Data on experience of suicidal behavior among significant others and self‐reported suicidal expressions were also collected. Structural equation modeling resulted in gender and country specific models where experience of suicidal behavior among significant others and self‐reported suicidal expressions earlier in life predicted attitudes, and attitudes predicted current suicidal expressions. The models included the attitude factors acceptance of suicide, condemnation, and preventability; age and level of education were also incorporated. The different models reveal possible ways to better understand gender and culture‐specific paths between attitudes and suicidal behaviors, and their relevance in a suicide prevention context is considered.     

When the Solution Is on the Doorstep: Better Solving Performance,but Diminished Aha! Experience for Chess Experts on the Mutilated Checkerboard Problem

Insight problems are difficult because the initially activated knowledge hinders successful solving. The crucial information needed for a solution is often so far removed that gaining access to it through restructuring leads to the subjective experience of “Aha!”. Although this assumption is shared by most insight theories, there is little empirical evidence for the connection between the necessity of restructuring an incorrect problem representation and the Aha! experience. Here, we demonstrate a rare case where previous knowledge facilitates the solving of insight problems but reduces the accompanying Aha! experience. Chess players were more successful than non‐chess players at solving the mutilated checkerboard insight problem, which requires retrieval of chess‐related information about the color of the squares. Their success came at a price, since they reported a diminished Aha! experience compared to controls. Chess players’ problem‐solving ability was confined to that particular problem, since they struggled to a similar degree to non‐chess players to solve another insight problem (the eight‐coin problem), which does not require chess‐related information for a solution. Here, chess players and non‐chess players experienced the same degree of insight.