Assessing the reliability of ordered categorical scales using kappa-type statistics

Methods for the analysis of reliability of ordered categorical scales are discussed, focussing on the limitation of the single summary-weighted kappa coefficients. A symmetric matrix of kappa-type coefficients is suggested as an alternative. The method is proposed as being suitable for ordinal scale where there is no underlying continuum. Their application is illustrated using two data sets from reliability studies. If, instead, distances between categories can be specified, a weighted mean of the matrix terms can be used as a summary measure. This is equal to a weighted kappa coefficient with squared weights, provided distances between adjacent categories are equal. When a study design corresponds to a one-way random effects model, estimates of precision of kappa-type coefficient, including the coefficients described here, can be obtained using the delta-method, bootstrap resampling by subjects or jack-knifing by subjects. In the case of interobserver reliability studies, where there may be systematic differences between observers, the investigator may wish to generalise to a population of observers and subjects. In this case, jack-knifing by observer and subject is suggested. Empirical comparisons are made between standard error estimates based on the delta-method, on jack-knifing by subjects and a two-way jack-knife by subjects and observers. The results suggest that standard errors based on the delta-method or jack-knifing by subject alone may be overly precise.     

Is education the forgotten casualty of the onward march of globalisation?

Critical Politics of Teachers' Work: an Australian perspective JOHN SMYTH, 2001 New York: Peter Lang. 300 pp., ISBN 0 820 44915 6     

Cognitive complaints in elderly depressed and pseudodemented patients.

The cognitive complaints of 11 patients with depressive pseudodementia were compared with those of 22 patients with depression alone. Pseudodemented subjects were defined as depressed inpatients showing reversible cognitive impairment as measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE); subjects with depression alone had no such impairment. For each group, cognitive complaints were highly correlated with depressive symptoms and were not related to MMSE scores. The pseudodemented group had significantly higher cognitive complaint scores, complaining more of difficulties with concentration and recent memory. Groups did not differ significantly in complaints of difficulties with remote memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rats and mice together: The predatory nature of the rat's mouse-killing response.

Distinguishes between predatory behavior and other types of behavior typically called aggressive (e.g., territorial fighting). Predatory behaviors are (a) usually interspecific, (b) related to eating, and (c) topographically distinct from other fighting behaviors. It is suggested that differences in response patterns offer a relatively simple way to distinguish predatory behaviors from other fighting behaviors. Studies of the rat's mouse-killing response are reviewed and compared with those of predatory animals according to the criteria listed above. It is concluded that the rat's mouse-killing response is predatory (i.e., a link in a behavioral chain that typically ends in eating). This definition is important for the consideration of future conditioning studies concerned with the modification of such behavior. (52 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Corrosion of thorium and thorium alloys and reactions with the environment

The published literature on reactions between metallic thorium and oxygen, nitrogen, air, hydrogen, and water vapor is briefly reviewed. For reactions with oxygen and nitrogen the reaction rate follows a parabolic-rate law at low temperatures, but is linear at higher temperatures. The change in reaction kinetics is apparently due to the process being diffusion controlled in the temperature range where the reaction layer is continuous but controlled by the reaction at the surface-layer base-metal interface at higher temperatures. The reaction rate between thorium and air was found to be linear from 100 to 900°C, while the reaction rate between thorium and hydrogen was parabolic up to 700°C.     

JCAH standards: Hastening 1984?

Comments on A. R. Fiester's (see record 1979-26797-001) examples of the terminology found in the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH) Community Mental Health Center manual. The new usages tend to substitute euphemisms for clear language, making ideas harder to express. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal employment and development of the father–infant relationship in the first year.

This study investigated links between maternal employment and fathers' parenting quality when their infants were 4 and 12 months old. Sixty-three fathers were videotaped interacting with their infants and completed questionnaires regarding their involvement in caregiving, parenting stress, and marital quality, and mothers reported on children's temperament. Fathers whose wives either did not work outside the home or worked part time were more sensitive and responsive to their children when they were more involved in caregiving; men whose wives worked full time exhibited more negative affect and behavior when they participated more in child care. Men whose wives were not employed also were more positive in their interactions when they were happier with their marriage, whereas men whose wives worked either part time or full time exhibited a negative relation between parenting behavior and marital quality. Maternal work circumstances were not related to fathers' parenting stress; rather, marital quality and child temperament predicted parenting stress at 4 and 12 months for all fathers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sequelae of cesarean and vaginal deliveries: Psychosocial outcomes for mothers and infants.

Mother-infant dyads grouped according to whether the infants had been delivered vaginally (n?=?74) or by planned (n?=?37) or unplanned cesarean (n?=?56) were compared on psychosocial outcomes at 4 and 12 months postpartum. Hypotheses were that unplanned cesarean delivery would be related to less optimal outcomes and that this relationship would be mediated by mother's appraisal of the delivery and would attenuate over time. No delivery-related differences in mother–infant interactions were found at 4 or 12 months postpartum with one exception: Women low in neuroticism who delivered by unplanned cesarean showed less positive affect toward their infants at 4 months than did women high in neuroticism who delivered by unplanned cesarean or women in any other group. There was some evidence of the mediating role of maternal appraisal of the delivery on these effects. In general, the results indicate little cause for concern about the quality of mother–infant interactions following cesarean deliveries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Compile time barrier synchronization minimization

This paper presents a new compiler approach to minimizing the number of barriers executed in parallelized programs. A simple procedure is developed to reduce the complexity of barrier placement by eliminating certain data dependences, without affecting optimality. An algorithm is presented which, provably, places the minimal number of barriers in perfect loop nests and in certain imperfect loop nest structures. This scheme is generalized to accept entire, well-structured control-flow programs containing arbitrary nesting of IF constructs, loops, and subroutines. It has been implemented in a prototype parallelizing compiler and applied to several well-known benchmarks where it has been shown to place significantly fewer synchronization points than existing techniques. Experiments indicate that on average the number of barriers executed is reduced by 70 percent and there is a three fold improvement in execution time when evaluated on a 32-processor SGI Origin 2000