bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Transforming the Corporate Landscape of US Food Retailing: Market Power, Financial Re‐engineering and Regulation
Authors: Wrigley Neil
Published: March 2003

A dramatic wave of consolidation swept through the US food retail industry during the late 1990s, transforming its corporate geography. This paper considers the causes of that consolidation wave, placing emphasis on the regulatory history of the industry, the holding back of consolidation by financial re‐engineering during the 1980s, and the subsequent release, following a critical period of deleveraging during the early 1990s, of the scale‐related pricing power/operating margin advantages of the major multiregional operators. It also considers the response of the leading firms in the industry to the rapid incursion of an unusually powerful new market entrant – Wal‐Mart, the world’s largest retailer – and assesses the link between Wal‐Mart’s entry into the industry and the consolidation wave. Finally, the paper debates the extent to which a shift in regulatory policy and practice by the Federal Trade Commission at the very end of the decade may have altered the pattern and scale of consolidation in the industry, and the consequences of regulatory tightening for the future landscape of US food retail.
Natural Resources and Development: Comparison of Bangladesh and South Korea
Authors: Auty Richard M.
Published: March 2003

In recent decades, the resource‐poor countries have strongly outperformed the resource‐abundant countries in terms of economic development. However, some resource‐poor countries like South Korea have been more dynamic than other countries like Bangladesh. Two models of resource‐driven growth, the staple trap model and the competitive industrialisation model, help to explain why Bangladesh lagged. Prior to the 1980s Bangladesh drifted into the staple trap model associated with the resource‐abundant countries so that incentives were squeezed in the primary sector to support slow‐maturing manufacturing. However, the staple trap retards passage through the demographic transition, so rapid population growth eventually pushed Bangladesh towards severe land‐scarcity that triggered hesitant reform towards competitive industrialisation in the 1980s. The economy then outpaced many resource‐abundant countries but still grew at barely two‐thirds of its potential.
A value chain approach to financial centres – The case of Frankfurt
Authors: Grote Michael H. , Lo Vivien , Harrschar–Ehrnborg Sofia
Published: March 2003

This paper uses a value chain approach to identify possible patterns of spatial (re)organisation resulting from the implementation of information and communication technologies (ICT) in wholesale financial services. Although ICT can be used to split up production processes and thus increase mobility, proximity – not only spatial but also cultural, organisational and professional – remains essential for the financial industry. Thus, while ICT may induce a ‘re–bundling’ of functions among financial centres, location continues to be a relevant factor. An analysis of the value chains of three financial products is presented with a focus on implications for the financial centre in Frankfurt. Frankfurt is a particularly interesting case study of this phenomenon as it is one of the centres for the development of ‘financial technology’, such as computer–based trading systems with remote access.
Extracting raster GIS data from scanned thematic maps
Authors: Wise Stephen
Published: March 2003

One of the problems which continues to trouble practical applications of GIS is the time and cost of capturing data from paper maps. Even where the data are required in raster form the complexity of most maps means that the data are first digitised in vector form, and then rasterised, a slow and error‐prone process. This paper describes an alternative approach based upon readily available hardware and software in which the map is scanned using Spot Colour Scanning, and then processed using a specially designed majority filter and editing with a painting package. Tests on a small scale soil map produce results which are about 80% as accurate as digitising, but take far less time to produce. An analysis of the sources of error indicates that many of these are due to the difficulty of scanning such a complex document as a map, and suggests that more sophisticated image processing algorithms may be needed to classify the original scanned image before the application of the filter algorithm.
Integrating Environmental Models with GIS: An Object‐oriented Approach Utilising a Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) Data Repository
Authors: Duane William , Livingstone David , Kidd David
Published: March 2003

Conceptual, as well as operational, aspects need to be taken into account when developing an integrated modelling framework. A set of achievable requirements has been identified which are used to realise a solution that is applied to the modelling of ephemeral flood channels. The solution described provides: (1) a common data repository within which all model run details, scientific data sets and output results reside; (2) the ability to interactively visualise and select suitable data sets from the data repository to configure the model; (3) an interface for mediating the flow of information between model and other applications; and (4) the possibility to allow model functionality and associated data to be made available to the wider scientific community. This is achieved using an object‐oriented approach within the Research System Inc. Interactive Data Language (IDL) and the adoption of National Center for Supercomputer Application's HDF as a common file format for modelling scenarios. The paper outlines the development of a class library, EM_HDF, for mediating and facilitating data exchange between the model and its HDF data repository. The developed system is designed to be applicable to a wide range of modelling applications beyond the fluvial model described.
Phenomenon‐based Specification of the Digital Representation of Terrain Surfaces
Authors: Schneider Bernhard
Published: March 2003

The phenomenon known as ‘terrain’ is a continuous surface. However, when a digital terrain representation is based on a regular raster (i.e. a DEM) the digital surface is commonly not continuous. This is the case for the derivation of variables such as slope, aspect, and curvature values as performed in today's Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Often, there is no surface specified at all, as, for instance, when flow lines or watersheds are constructed. The discrepancy between the phenomenon to be modelled and its digital representation causes the terrain analysis results to be less accurate than they could be. Furthermore, if more than one type of terrain information is derived the results are likely to be based on different specifications of the seemingly same terrain surface. The combined application of the derivation results will likely introduce inconsistencies. This paper suggests founding the specification of digital terrain representations on a careful analysis of the properties of the phenomenon. The paper details the reasons for, and advantages of, continuous surface representations and emphasises the importance of a comprehensive documentation of the conceptual models underlying digital terrain representations. A review of suitable interpolation approaches for the specification of terrain surfaces is given. The paper discusses how the resulting digital surfaces are analysed and how measurement uncertainty may be accounted for.
Integration of Remote Sensing and GIS to Detect Pockets of Urban Poverty: The Case of Rosario, Argentina
Authors: Hall G. Brent , Malcolm Neil W. , Piwowar Joseph M.
Published: March 2003

The advent of high spatial resolution, multispectral satellite imagery has allowed analysis of remotely sensed images of urban land cover to become more useful to urban planning and decision making than in the past. The addition of radar imagery at relatively high spatial resolution (6 metres at best), with the advantages that it is not affected by cloud and diurnal light conditions and that it is sensitive to the target's geometric shape, surface roughness and moisture content offers additional capability in this regard. This paper incorporates analysis of Canadian RADARSAT‐1 and American Landsat TM satellite imagery and ground‐based GIS data to identify known pockets of urban poverty. Poverty is defined, based on a limited number of census variables related to dwelling construction materials and per household overcrowding. The objective is to provide a proof of concept that remote sensing data, especially from synthetic aperture radar, and ground‐based GIS data can be successfully integrated for urban planning purposes. The results suggest that the approach used is reasonable and that, with future refinement, it offers planners and decision makers a timely and cost effective means to locate and monitor poverty pockets in urban areas. This is especially important in large, rapidly urbanising areas in the developing world.
Spatio‐Temporal Object‐Oriented Data Model for Disaggregate Travel Behavior
Authors: Frihida Ali , Marceau Danielle J. , Thériault Marius
Published: March 2003

The research field of transportation demand forecasting has started to focus on disaggregate travel behavior and micro‐simulation models. To create data infrastructure, disaggregate trip surveys are conducted and large numbers of observations are collected. To efficiently exploit these surveys, the transfer of the individual trip data to a GIS must start with the development of a solid conceptual data model that fully captures the semantic richness of the application domain and emphasizes its spatio‐temporal properties. This paper presents a data modeling process that is based on a combination of complex system theory and the object‐oriented paradigm and produced an object‐oriented spatio‐temporal data model. Main domain entities are modeled as highly structured classes. They encapsulate a memory of their time bound connections and states. Observation data sets are sampled from the origin‐destination survey conducted in the Québec region in 1991. This survey incorporated street networks and activity places. The model was smoothly implemented into a proof‐of‐concept database prototype hosted by an object‐oriented GIS shell. The prototype offers a means to navigate through a nested hierarchy of objects, providing a description of an individual’s travel behavior over space and time. The objects have a solid conceptual basis and can meet the needs of scientific research such as hypothesis formulation, simulation, forecasting and induction.
The Rise of Auxiliary DO‐Verb Raising or Category‐Strengthening?
Authors: Hudson Richard
Published: March 2003

This paper contrasts two explanations for Ellegård’s statistical data on the rise of auxiliary DO during the 15th and 16th centuries. One is Kroch’s explanation in terms of a change on the parameter of verb‐raising, which is shown to have a number of serious weaknesses. The other is Warner’s explanation in terms of the gradual development of the distinction between auxiliary and full verbs. Though Kroch quotes Ellegård’s figures in support of the Principles‐and‐Parameters analysis, they actually support Warner’s view much better. The paper also considers developments in the auxiliary system since the 16th century and offers a mixture of cognitive and functional explanations for the changes since the 13th century.
Agentivity and the history of the English progressive
Authors: Ziegeler Debra
Published: March 2003

Previous research on the history of the English Progressive has referred to grammaticalisation processes as playing a major role in its development (e.g. Bybee, Pagliuca & Perkins 1994; Heine 1994). While it would appear that the development of aspect as a crosslinguistic grammatical category must be attributed to grammaticalisation, the widely‐accepted hypothesis of the lexical source in English being derived from a locative expression, but with an active agent (X be at V‐ing), is complicated, especially given that the participle would have developed from a gerund, or nominal complement. Earlier attestations pre‐dating the participle to an Old English adjectival form are also difficult to accommodate within a grammaticalisation hypothesis because of a lack of semantic continuity with such later evidence. The present study instead considers the Progressive participle as developing historically across the dimensions of lexical aspect and agentivity associated with the construction, and the participle is regarded as in the process of a reanalysing category change from a nominal to a verbal element, rather than as part of a lexical source construction in the process of grammaticalisation.
The paradigm‐based model of morphosyntax
Authors: Spencer Andrew
Published: March 2003

A particular set of Slavic auxiliary‐participle constructions (based on the ‘l‐participle’) exhibit a number of characteristic ‘deviations from agglutination’ of a type commonly found in inflectional morphology, such as cumulation, extended exponence and zero exponence. The participle itself cannot be given a unitary meaning. I present an analysis of these constructions within the paradigm‐based approach of Ackerman and Webelhuth (1998), in which the principles of inferential–realisational (Stump 2001) or ‘word‐and‐paradigm’ models (Robins 1959) are applied to multiword combinations which realise functional categories.
NELLE: Portrait of a European Network
Authors: Goethals Michaël
Published: March 2003

NELLE, as an acronym, originally stood for ‘Networking English Language Learning in Europe’ but now equally means ‘Networking European Language Learning in English’. It is the professional umbrella organization, actively networking all forms of local, regional, national and international associations, organisations, institutions, activities and actions concerned with English and other language teaching in European countries (NELLE brochure, 1996: 1). NELLE was founded in 1988 as a fairly informal initiative to prepare for the 1992 European Union, a Europe without boundaries, with attention focused on the position of English as an international language, as a lingua franca, as a means of international communication. In the meantime it has grown into a network of considerable importance. At the present time, NELLE links 45 member associations in 22 European countries, NELLE aims of first priority are: cooperation among the grassroots teachers and with national and international associations (IATEFL, TESOL, FIPLV, etc.); international orientation, exchange of experience and expertise between regular teachers and in‐company teachers/trainers and between native‐speaker teachers and non‐native speaker teachers; teacher development; and professional quality standards. Its history and present (political and pedagogical) concerns and activities will be surveyed.
Simplification and Second Language Acquisition
Authors: Leow Ronald P.
Published: March 2003

The role and effects of simplification in second foreign language (L2) acquisition have been a contentious issue dating back to the early 1930s (e.g., Redman, 1932). The importance of modifications made to L2 input has been underscored in second language acquisition (SLA) for its effects on facilitating L2 learners’ comprehension (e.g., Hatch, 1983; Kelch, 1985). In addition, it has been argued that, because simplified or modified input facilitates comprehension, it indirectly has an effect on acquisiton by providing learners’ developing linguistic sysems with more grammatical information (e.g., Krashen, 1985; Long, 1983, 1985). This article provides a critical review of current empirical L2 studies that have attempted to address the effects of simplification on L2 learners’ comprehension and intake in the written and aural modes. It is argued that the issue of the role and effects of simplification on learners’ comprehension and intake remains contentious and two clearly defined research areas are provided.
Cultural Meaning and Contrastive Rhetoric in English Education
Authors: Kachru Yamuna
Published: March 2003

The focus of this paper is on one aspect of the relationship between language and culture, that of cultural meaning and rhetorical style in writing across traditions of literacy. The paper adopts the approach of ‘socially realistic linguistics’ (Labov, 1972: xiii) and questions the assumptions of contrastive rhetoric in the context of English education around the world. It proposes a methodology of contrastive rhetorical research, based on Halliday’s notion of ‘meaning potential’ (Halliday, 1978), which takes into account the evidence provided by research on writing in the Inner Circle, language socialization, traditions of literacy, and writing in the multilingual and multicultural context of the Outer Circle (B. Kachru, 1985). Finally, it points out the educational implications of the suggested approach to contrastive rhetoric for enriching the writing experience of all users of English, whether they come from the Inner, Outer, or Expanding Circle of English.
Argumentative strategies in American and Japanese English
Authors: Kamimura Taeko , Oi Kyoko
Published: March 2003

This study examines the differences between argumentative strategies in English used by American and Japanese students. Two groups of English essays on capital punishment written by American and Japanese students were analyzed in terms of organization patterns, rhetorical appeals, diction, and cultural influences. It was found that the Japanese students used an organizational unit called ‘reservation’ more frequently and that this gave the impression of circularity to their essays. The American students employed more ‘rational’ appeals than the Japanese students, who by contrast used more affective appeals than the American counterparts. The types of diction preferred by the American students (such as ‘should,’ the + superlatives,’ and ‘I believe’) functioned as ‘emphatic devices’ while those preferred by the Japanese students (such as ‘I think’ and ‘maybe’) acted as ‘softening devices.’ Finally, the American students tended to exhibit cultural tokens such as references to ‘counseling,’‘Biblical references,’ and ‘the tax payer’s standpoint’; the Japanese students, on the other hand, tended to point out the suffering of the victim’s family and friends and concrete incidents, trying to evoke empathy in the reader’s mind.
Bilingual creativity, multidimensional analysis, and world Englishes
Authors: Baker Wendy , Eggington William G.
Published: March 2003

Research in world English literatures has concentrated on qualitative measures of analysis in order to understand what is meant by ‘bilingual creativity.’ These measures demonstrate that there are differences in rhetorical and literary style within world English literatures both in the inner and outer circle. Using Biber's multidimensional analysis (1988) to examine a large corpus of world English literatures written in Indian, West African, Britain, Anglo‐American and Mexican American varieties of English, this paper examines whether quantitative analyses can also be insightful and useful in the examination of world English literatures in expanding our understanding of what ‘bilingual creativity’ entails. The results of this study reveal that computational methods of analyzing texts both confirm former research comparing differences between texts written in different varieties of English and also shed new light on differences that exist between these varieties.
Speech presentation in Singaporean English novels
Authors: Tan Peter K. W.
Published: March 2003

Speech presentation has attracted much attention by scholars of literary texts, and more recently attention has been focused on academic, political and newspaper texts. Hardly any attention has been focused on the context of the New Englishes. In this paper therefore, I examine speech presentation in Singaporean fiction in English in an attempt to establish if and how the various modes and styles of speech presentation are altered in the context of a new variety of English. These contexts are multi‐lingual and multi‐cultural; there is also frequently a range of different kinds of Englishes: from creole varieties, through ‘interlingual’ varieties, various non‐standard varieties to standard national varieties or even standard international varieties. Creative writers in English need to resolve the tension of how to reflect this context, yet be able to communicate beyond a parochial fashion. I examine three recent novels in English by Singaporean writers, published in the last two years, and examine short extracts in this light. These are Hwee Hwee Tan's Foreign Bodies (1997), Catherine Lim's The Teardrop Story Woman (1998) and Rex Shelley's A River of Roses (1998).
West Africanisms in Limonese Creole English
Authors: Winkler Elizabeth Grace , Obeng Samuel Gyasi
Published: March 2003

Costa Rican Limonese Creole (LC) is an English‐based creole language showing substrate influence from, among other African languages, the Kwa languages of West Africa, in particular from Akan (Ghana). West Africanisms exhibited in LC include: serial verb constructions, reduplication, ideophones, and lexical retentions. The study of West Africanisms in LC contributes to the body of research on substrate influence on West Atlantic Creoles. This is done not from the extreme position that the majority of creole features can be attributed to substrate influence, but, as Mufwene wrote in 1990, that ‘creoles owe their formal features variably to both substrate influence and the bioprogram as well as from superstrate influence’ (p. 3). Substrate influence will be demonstrated through a comparison of LC and Akan morphophonology, morphosyntax, and lexicon.
Hong Kong writing and writing Hong Kong
Authors: Ho Louise
Published: March 2003

This paper considers the site of Hong Kong as a growing one for works of the imagination. This globalized financial centre with its many contradictions and anomalies may yet be tamed by writing; and, in process of which, may arrive at a more definite sense of identity. As a sample of Hong Kong poetry in English, works of some local poets are introduced here, and these poems are included in the final section. Four poems by Louise Ho are included in the appendix to the paper.
World Englishes in 2000 and beyond
Authors: Yano Yasukata
Published: March 2003

Spreading at the present rate, English will further increase its importance as the global lingua franca in this century. At the same time, the rapid and extensive localization and nativization will accelerate the ramification of English into varieties in the ESL (English as a Second Language) regions. Our challenge then will be how to maintain common standards and mutual intelligibility among those varieties of English. The users of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) who are relatively free from the localization of English might be able to contribute to create, maintain, and develop the globalized standards of Englishes. Such Englishes would be characterized as simple, plain, and regular in their linguistic forms and socioculturally neutral in their interactional strategies. They would accommodate any variety of English as far as it is comprehensible to the educated users of any variety, native or not.
The Max‐Min‐Min Principle of Product Differentiation
Authors: Ansari Asim , Economides Nicholas , Steckel Joel
Published: March 2003

We analyze two and three‐dimensional variants of Hotelling's model of differentiated products. In our setup, consumers can place different importances on each product attribute; these are measured by weights on the disutility of distance in each dimension. Two firms play a two‐stage game; they choose locations in stage 1 and prices in stage 2. We seek subgame‐perfect equilibria. We find that all such equilibria have maximal differentiation in one dimension only; in all other dimensions they have minimum differentiation. An equilibrium with maximal differentiation in a certain dimension occurs when consumers place sufficient importance (weight) on that attribute. Thus, depending on the importance consumers place on each attribute, in two dimensions there is a max‐min equilibrium, a min‐max equilibrium, or both. In three dimensions, depending on the weights, there can be a max‐min‐min equilibrium, a min‐max‐min equilibrium, a min‐min‐max equilibrium, any two of these, or all three.
Asymmetric Entrant Locaiton with a Discrete Consumer Distribution: Spatial Price Discrimination Versus Mill Pricing
Authors: Braid Ralph M.
Published: March 2003

In this paper I examine the profit‐maximizing locations of entrants. Suppose that firms practice spatial price discrimination and consumer locations are discrete, such as five equally spaced towns on a roadway. With completely inelastic consumer demand an entrant between two existing firms is often indifferent between the symmetric (central) location and a continuum of asymmetric (noncentral) locations. However, downward‐sloping consumer demand often causes the entrant to strictly prefer either of two asymmetriclocations to any other location. These results are very different from those found in mill‐pricing (free‐on‐board or f.o.b.‐pricing) models.
Local Fiscal Strategy to Retain Heterogeneous Firms
Authors: Kilkenny Maureen , Melkonyan Tigran
Published: March 2003

This paper is about the strategy of retaining unobservably heterogeneous firms attracted by unobservably valued outside alternatives. We prove that differentiating taxation and public good fiscal packages within one’s own locale dominates offering the same packages to all firms. We rationalize the full range of observed practice by considering more than one type of firm, more than one type of fiscal instrument, and all kinds of utility in alternative locations, under asymmetric information. Mobile agents can earn rents under some conditions, and immobile agents earn rents under others. Ways to minimize budgetary exposure in tax wars and effects on the composition of local economies are discussed.
Introduction: New Directions in the History of Missionsin Africa
Authors: Peterson Derek , Allman Jean
Published: March 2003

This short article introduces a selection of papers originally presented at the conference, “Africans Meeting Missionaries: Rethinking Colonial Encounters,” held at the University of Minnesota in May 1997. Until quite recently much of the scholarship on missions in Africa tended to reproduce early eighteenth‐ and nineteenth‐century images of the colossal, all‐powerful missionary. Whether celebrated as an heroic, civilizing agent in mission accounts or branded as a cultural imperialist in nationalist‐era scholarship, the European missionary remained an actor scarcely soiled by the cultural commerce of the people on whom he worked. In short, African religious or political initiatives were seldom taken seriously. The papers which make up this collection give voice to and extend current debates surrounding the contested history (and future) of the missionary enterprise in Africa.
Children’s use of drawing as a pre‐writing strategy
Authors: Norris Edith , Mokhtari Kouider , Reichard Carla
Published: March 2003

In this study the writing products of 60 third‐grade students, who drew before writing a story on a self‐selected topic, was compared with the writing products of 59 third‐grade students who wrote without drawing. The students in the group which drew before writing tended to produce more words, more sentences and more idea units, and their overall writing performance was higher than the students who wrote without drawing. These findings were consistent for boys as well as girls. Implications for writing research and instruction are discussed.
Baseline assessment, value‐added and the prediction of reading
Authors: Tymms Peter
Published: March 2003

Value‐added approaches aim to make fair comparisons of the academic progress of pupils in different settings. They rest on measurements at two time points and it has been suggested that the assessment of 4‐year‐olds cannot provide a sufficiently strong base from which to make comparisons at the end of Key Stage 1. Data on a range of potential predictors from the Performance Indicators in Primary Schools (PIPS) are related to measures of reading and mathematics in Year 2. The questions addressed include: a) To what extent is it possible to predict the reading of 7‐year‐olds? b) Which measures of 4‐year‐olds are the most predictive of later success? c) What are the implications for baseline assessment nationally? The results suggest that on‐entry assessments, which last about 20 minutes, can predict the reading and mathematics scores of seven‐year‐olds with correlations around 0.7. Several measures are identified as potential predictors. The quickest to administer reliably include digit and letter identification, counting, writing and doing simple sums. The analysis suggests that value‐added measures are possible for schools but that individual pupil predictions remain problematic.
The use of the Infant Index/Baseline‐PLUS as a baseline assessment measure of literacy
Authors: Lindsay Geoff , Desforges Martin
Published: March 2003

The Infant Index was initially developed as a baseline assessment instrument for children at school entry, with literacy as a key component. A later version, Baseline‐PLUS, was developed to meet the accreditation criteria of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. The paper reports the results of a study of 5915 children, which comprised the 1996–97 cohort for one local education authority. The results indicate that the instrument is reliable (Cronbach’s alpha 0.92), that girls are rated as more advanced than boys in literacy and other domains, and that there are significant differences with respect to both children’s ethnic status and home language. Results for pre‐school experience are also reported, but these are confounded by the LEA’s policy of provision. The implications for the use of the Infant Index/Baseline‐PLUS and for the national scheme are explored.
A comparison of two types of computer support for reading development
Authors: Underwood Jean
Published: March 2003

The claims for the educational benefits of multimedia supported software are positive but largely untested. Can such claims be justified with specific reference to support for the development of reading skills? This paper presents evidence of learning outcomes in the area of reading from the use of software incorporating two very different styles of learning, structured sub‐skills tutoring (using an Integrated Learning System) versus free reading (using a talking book), but which both heavily exploit multimedia presentation. The message from these two studies is complex. Learning does occur but differential performance gains compared to more traditional teaching are not assured. Secondly, these studies show that current debates about whole‐word versus phonological skills teaching can be overshadowed by characteristics of the software other that of the mode of teaching, and by organisational choices and constraints within the classroom.
The advantages of rime‐prompting: a comparative study of prompting methods when hearing children read
Authors: Moseley David , Poole Sally‐Ann
Published: March 2003

Goswami (1999) summarised the evidence supporting the teaching of onset and rime in early reading development. In the present study onset‐rime theory was applied in a randomised controlled trial to the authentic reading task of reading aloud to an adult. Helpers heard Year‐2 children read and responded to miscues and hesitations using one of two prompting procedures. Half of the subjects were prompted using a rime‐prompt approach whereas the other half were told the correct word after five seconds. Progress was measured using word and text‐level tests and the rime‐prompt group performed significantly better than the word‐prompt group at the 5% level. The rime‐prompt method has potential for helping children recognise one‐ and two‐syllable words. It is suitable for use by parents, teachers and other helpers.
The impact of a collaborative family/school reading programme on student reading rate
Authors: Kelly‐Vance Lisa , Schreck Donna
Published: March 2003

Student reading skills are below grade level in many schools and professionals are constantly searching for new ideas to enhance reading curricula. To address this problem in one elementary school, a parent/school reading programme was implemented. Parents were encouraged to increase the amount of time spent reading with their children at home and the school provided easily accessible reading materials, suggestions for encouraging reading at home, prizes and special activities. Programme participants demonstrated a higher increase in reading rate and accuracy than the matched peers. Prior to implementation and at the end of the reading programme, parents and students who chose to participate in the programme reported positive attitudes toward reading together. Implications of these results are discussed and an emphasis is placed on expanding research in the area.
A systematic review and meta‐analysis of the effectiveness of information and communication technology (ICT) on the teaching of spelling
Authors: Torgerson Carole J. , Elbourne Diana
Published: March 2003

Recent Government policy in England and Wales on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in schools is heavily influenced by a series of non‐randomised controlled studies. The evidence from these evaluations is equivocal with respect to the effect of ICT on literacy. In order to ascertain whether there is any effect of ICT on one small area of literacy, spelling, a systematic review of all randomised controlled trials (RCTs) was undertaken. Relevant electronic databases (including BEI, ERIC, Web of Science, PsycINFO, The Cochrane Library) were searched. Seven relevant RCTs were identified and included in the review. When six of the seven studies were pooled in a meta‐analysis there was an effect, not statistically significant, in favour of computer interventions (Effect size = 0.37, 95% confidence interval =–0.02 to 0.77, p = 0.06). Sensitivity and sub‐group analyses of the results did not materially alter findings. This review suggests that the teaching of spelling by using computer software may be as effective as conventional teaching of spelling, although the possibility of computer‐taught spelling being inferior or superior cannot be confidently excluded due to the relatively small sample sizes of the identified studies. Ideally, large pragmatic randomised controlled trials need to be undertaken.
The contribution of reading comprehension ability and meta‐cognitive control to the development of studying in adolescence
Authors: Peverly Stephen T. , Brobst Karen E. , Morris Kerri S.
Published: March 2003

This study investigated the developmental changes in the contributions of comprehension ability and the meta‐cognitive control of several study strategies (selection, memory, monitoring) to competence in studying among average and above‐average seventh and eleventh‐grade students. Results indicated that the ability to comprehend and meta‐cognitive control of study strategies were related to the recall of information at both ages. However, meta‐cognitive control was clearly more important to the older students than it was to the younger students. These data suggest that future research on the development of studying should focus on students’ use of the strategies of memory and monitoring.
Targeting phonological representations can help in the early stages of reading in a non‐dominant language
Authors: Nag‐Arulmani Sonali , Reddy Vasudevi , Buckley Sue
Published: March 2003

It is not known whether children who are struggling with reading in a non‐dominant language will respond better to a phonological intervention or to one that addresses oral proficiency. Multilingual seven‐to nine‐year‐olds showing reading difficulty in a non‐dominant language, English, were given a three‐week intervention in phonological skills or in language proficiency and were compared with two control groups (one with reading difficulties and one with no reading difficulties) who received a non‐language based intervention. The group receiving the explicit phonological instructions showed significantly better gain in reading and spelling measures than the language proficiency and reading difficulties control group, but did not reach the levels of the noreading‐difficulty group. The phonological intervention was particularly effective for children with the lowest single‐word reading scores. We suggest that the intervention helped to catalyse the fine‐tuning of the phonological domain, making phonological representations optimally available for decoding, phonological manipulations and literacy development.
Ethics and the Expert Witness: Statistics on Trial
Authors: Fienberg Stephen E.
Published: March 2003

When a statistician appears as an expert witness at trial, most judges and juries expect the expert witness to be a true expert. Yet the adversarial rules of the common law legal system often make it difficult for statisticians to proceed in a manner similar to that which they encounter in academic settings. The situation is exacerbated in a battle of expert statistical witnesses before the court. As a consequence, it is the statistical profession that is often on trial, not simply a defendant. This paper is, at least in part, about the seduction that occurs when a statistician becomes an expert witness at trial and how the statistician can attempt to protect against the most pernicious aspects of the game associated with the use of expert witnesses in the adversarial process.
Quantitative Refinements for Comparisons of Institutional Performance
Authors: Deely John J. , Smith Adrian F. M.
Published: March 2003

In the context of the data and issues discussed by Goldstein and Spiegelhalter, we suggest refinements which can be used by decision makers when confronted with ranking problems associated with ‘league tables’. Two ranking criteria are defined and their performance illustrated for one of the studies reported by Goldstein and Spiegelhalter.
Efficacy of Programmes for the Unemployed: Discrete Time Modelling of Duration Data from a Matched-Comparison Study
Authors: Firth David , Payne C. , Payne J.
Published: March 2003

An evaluation is described of two UK Government programmes for the long-term unemployed in Great Britain, Employment Training and Employment Action, using discrete time hazard modelling of event histories. The study design employed a closely matched comparison group and carefully chosen control variables to minimize the effect of selection bias on conclusions. The effect of unobserved heterogeneity is investigated by using some standard random effect model formulations.
On the Use of Surrogate End Points in Randomized Trials
Authors: Begg Colin B. , Leung D. H. Y.
Published: March 2003

In a recent paper Day and Duffy proposed a strategy for designing a randomized trial of different breast cancer screening schedules. Their strategy was based on the use of predictors of mortality determined by patients’ factors at diagnosis as surrogates for true mortality. On the basis of the Prentice criterion for validity of a surrogate end point, and data from earlier studies of breast cancer case survival, they showed that, not only would the trial require a much shorter follow-up, but also that the information (i.e. inverse variance) for evaluating a treatment effect on mortality would be greater by a factor of nearly 3 if the predictors of mortality were used, compared with a trial in which mortality was actually observed. Although these results are technically correct, we believe that the conceptual strategy on which they are based is flawed, and that the fundamental problem is the Prentice criterion itself. In this paper the technical issues are discussed in detail, and an alternative structure for evaluating the validity of surrogate end points is proposed.
Modelling Impact Heterogeneity
Authors: Plewis Ian
Published: March 2003

The treatments embodied in social interventions are characterized by their heterogeneity, delivered as they often are by different individuals operating in different social and geographical contexts. One implication of this heterogeneity is that average treatment effects will often be less useful than estimates of differential impacts across contexts. The paper shows how multilevel models can be used to estimate variability of impact and to account for systematic effects. These models are specified for multisite interventions, for studies using cluster allocation and for designs that incorporate matching. The paper indicates how qualitative and quantitative approaches to evaluation could be linked.
Designing Experiments with Respect to ‘Standardized’ Optimality Criteria
Authors: Dette Holger
Published: March 2003

We introduce a new class of ‘standardized' optimality criteria which depend on ‘standardized' covariances of the least squares estimators and provide an alternative to the commonly used criteria in design theory. Besides a nice statistical interpretation the new criteria satisfy an extremely useful invariance property which allows an easy calculation of optimal designs on many linearly transformed design spaces.
Improving Survey-weighted Least Squares Regression
Authors: Magee Lonnie
Published: March 2003

The weighted least squares (WLS) estimator is often employed in linear regression using complex survey data to deal with the bias in ordinary least squares (OLS) arising from informative sampling. In this paper a ‘quasi-Aitken WLS’ (QWLS) estimator is proposed. QWLS modifies WLS in the same way that Cragg’s quasi-Aitken estimator modifies OLS. It weights by the usual inverse sample inclusion probability weights multiplied by a parameterized function of covariates, where the parameters are chosen to minimize a variance criterion. The resulting estimator is consistent for the superpopulation regression coefficient under fairly mild conditions and has a smaller asymptotic variance than WLS.
A Note On the Unification of the Akaike Information Criterion
Authors: Shi P. , Tsai C-L.
Published: March 2003

To measure the distance between a robust function evaluated under the true regression model and under a fitted model, we propose generalized Kullback–Leibler information. Using this generalization we have developed three robust model selection criteria, AICR*, AICCR* and AICCR, that allow the selection of candidate models that not only fit the majority of the data but also take into account non-normally distributed errors. The AICR* and AICCR criteria can unify most existing Akaike information criteria; three examples of such unification are given. Simulation studies are presented to illustrate the relative performance of each criterion.
Semiparametric Methods for Response-Selective and Missing Data Problems in Regression
Authors: Lawless J. F. , Kalbfleisch J. D. , Wild C. J.
Published: March 2003

Suppose that data are generated according to the model f(y|x; θ) g(x), where y is a response and x are covariates. We derive and compare semiparametric likelihood and pseudolikelihood methods for estimating θ for situations in which units generated are not fully observed and in which it is impossible or undesirable to model the covariate distribution. The probability that a unit is fully observed may depend on y, and there may be a subset of covariates which is observed only for a subsample of individuals. Our key assumptions are that the probability that a unit has missing data depends only on which of a finite number of strata that (y, x) belongs to and that the stratum membership is observed for every unit. Applications include case–control studies in epidemiology, field reliability studies and broad classes of missing data and measurement error problems. Our results make fully efficient estimation of θ feasible, and they generalize and provide insight into a variety of methods that have been proposed for specific problems.
Importance of Interpolation When Constructing Double-Bootstrap Confidence Intervals
Authors: Hall Peter , Lee Stephen M.-S. , Young G. Alastair
Published: March 2003

We show that, in the context of double-bootstrap confidence intervals, linear interpolation at the second level of the double bootstrap can reduce the simulation error component of coverage error by an order of magnitude. Intervals that are indistinguishable in terms of coverage error with theoretical, infinite simulation, double-bootstrap confidence intervals may be obtained at substantially less computational expense than by using the standard Monte Carlo approximation method. The intervals retain the simplicity of uniform bootstrap sampling and require no special analysis or computational techniques. Interpolation at the first level of the double bootstrap is shown to have a relatively minor effect on the simulation error.
Proportional Hazards Estimate of the Conditional Survival Function
Authors: Xu Ronghui , O'Quigley John
Published: March 2003

We introduce a new estimator of the conditional survival function given some subset of the covariate values under a proportional hazards regression. The new estimate does not require estimating the base-line cumulative hazard function. An estimate of the variance is given and is easy to compute, involving only those quantities that are routinely calculated in a Cox model analysis. The asymptotic normality of the new estimate is shown by using a central limit theorem for Kaplan–Meier integrals. We indicate the straightforward extension of the estimation procedure under models with multiplicative relative risks, including non-proportional hazards, and to stratified and frailty models. The estimator is applied to a gastric cancer study where it is of interest to predict patients' survival based only on measurements obtained before surgery, the time at which the most important prognostic variable, stage, becomes known.
Functional Linear Discriminant Analysis for Irregularly Sampled Curves
Authors: James Gareth M. , Hastie Trevor J.
Published: March 2003

We introduce a technique for extending the classical method of linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to data sets where the predictor variables are curves or functions. This procedure, which we call functional linear discriminant analysis (FLDA), is particularly useful when only fragments of the curves are observed. All the techniques associated with LDA can be extended for use with FLDA. In particular FLDA can be used to produce classifications on new (test) curves, give an estimate of the discriminant function between classes and provide a one- or two-dimensional pictorial representation of a set of curves. We also extend this procedure to provide generalizations of quadratic and regularized discriminant analysis.
Tree-structured Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedastic Models
Authors: Audrino Francesco , Bühlmann Peter
Published: March 2003

We propose a new generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic (GARCH) model with tree-structured multiple thresholds for the estimation of volatility in financial time series. The approach relies on the idea of a binary tree where every terminal node parameterizes a (local) GARCH model for a partition cell of the predictor space. The fitting of such trees is constructed within the likelihood framework for non-Gaussian observations: it is very different from the well-known regression tree procedure which is based on residual sums of squares. Our strategy includes the classical GARCH model as a special case and allows us to increase model complexity in a systematic and flexible way. We derive a consistency result and conclude from simulation and real data analysis that the new method has better predictive potential than other approaches.
Goodness-of-Fit Tests Based on Maximum Correlations and Their Orthogonal Decompositions
Authors: Fortiana J. , Grané A.
Published: March 2003

We propose a goodness-of-fit statistic Qn based on the Hoeffding maximum correlation for testing uniformity and we show its relationship to Gini's mean difference. We compute exact and asymptotic critical values and study the power of the test proposed against a representative set of alternatives.