Cohen’s Linearly Weighted Kappa is a Weighted Average of 2×2 Kappas

An agreement table with n∈ℕ_≥3 ordered categories can be collapsed into n−1 distinct 2×2 tables by combining adjacent categories. Vanbelle and Albert (Stat. Methodol. 6:157–163, 2009c) showed that the components of Cohen’s weighted kappa with linear weights can be obtained from these n−1 collapsed 2×2 tables. In this paper we consider several consequences of this result. One is that the weighted kappa with linear weights can be interpreted as a weighted arithmetic mean of the kappas corresponding to the 2×2 tables, where the weights are the denominators of the 2×2 kappas. In addition, it is shown that similar results and interpretations hold for linearly weighted kappas for multiple raters.     

Factor Analysis via Components Analysis

When the factor analysis model holds, component loadings are linear combinations of factor loadings, and vice versa. This interrelation permits us to define new optimization criteria and estimation methods for exploratory factor analysis. Although this article is primarily conceptual in nature, an illustrative example and a small simulation show the methodology to be promising.     

A Sandwich-Type Standard Error Estimator of SEM Models with Multivariate Time Series

Structural equation models are increasingly used as a modeling tool for multivariate time series data in the social and behavioral sciences. Standard error estimators of SEM models, originally developed for independent data, require modifications to accommodate the fact that time series data are inherently dependent. In this article, we extend a sandwich-type standard error estimator of independent data to multivariate time series data. One required element of this estimator is the asymptotic covariance matrix of concurrent and lagged correlations among manifest variables, whose closed-form expression has not been presented in the literature. The performance of the adapted sandwich-type standard error estimator is evaluated using a simulation study and further illustrated using an empirical example.     

Cancer Survivors’ Spiritual Well-Being and Use of Complementary Methods: A Report from the American Cancer Society’s Studies of Cancer Survivors

We examined associations between spiritual well-being and CAM use among 4,139 cancer survivors. We also explored the classification of religious/spiritual practices (R/S) as CAMs and alternative subscale structures of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy—Spiritual Well-being (FACIT-Sp). We evaluated three aspects of spirituality, Faith, Peace, and Meaning, and use of 19 CAMs in 5 domains. Mind–body methods were subdivided into R/S and non-R/S. All FACIT-Sp factors were associated with CAM use, but in different directions: Meaning and Faith were positively associated; Peace was negatively associated. Peace was negatively associated with R/S CAMs, but not non-R/S CAMs. The prevalence of CAM use dropped from 79.3 to 64.8% when R/S items were excluded. These findings confirm an association between spiritual well-being and CAM use, including some non-R/S CAMs, and provide evidence of the benefits of using the three-factor FACIT-Sp solution and treating R/S CAMs as a separate category.     

Religion and Health: Making Sense of a Disheveled Literature

A growing body of research suggests that religion may exert a beneficial effect on both physical and mental health. Unfortunately, the rapid growth of this literature has made it difficult to get a clear picture of what has been accomplished. This issue is addressed by presenting a conceptual model that focuses on the needs that are satisfied by religion. In the process, an effort is made to show how this conceptual scheme can be used to add greater coherence to the field.     

Gray Matters: A Deployed Physician’s Perspective on Combat Medicine in Iraq

A female physician who was serving as a first-year medicine resident in Manhattan in September 2001 writes this paper. It details her experience of signing up for military service as a result of the September 11th attack on the United States. She lays out the surroundings, atmosphere, and reactions of those around her during the attack and details her own personal motivations for joining the military, her need to take control and help those in need heal while also trying to heal herself. Grateful, yet haunted by her experience, she provides an intimate glimpse into her time serving as a combat physician at a trauma hospital in Balad, Iraq during the 2007 military surge. A trained geriatrician and palliative care physician she recounts the stories of several patients that have forever shaped her life and explores the contradictions and ethical challenges she faced while caring for them ultimately struggling with the uncertainty of whether what she was truly doing was good for those she served or herself.     

Inquisitive Logic

This paper investigates a generalized version of inquisitive semantics. A complete axiomatization of the associated logic is established, the connection with intuitionistic logic and several intermediate logics is explored, and the generalized version of inquisitive semantics is argued to have certain advantages over the system that was originally proposed by Groenendijk (2009) and Mascarenhas (2009).