11,913 research outputs found
Bias Adjusted Estimation for Small Areas with Outlying Values
No full textSmall area estimation techniques typically rely on regression models that use both covariates and random effects to explain between domain variation. Chambers and Tzavidis (2006) describe a novel approach to small area estimation that is based on modelling quantile-like parameters of the conditional distribution of the target variable given the covariates. This is an outlier robust approach that avoids conventional Gaussian assumptions and the problems associated with specification of random effects, allowing inter-domain differences to be characterized by the variation of area-specific M-quantile coefficients. These authors observed, however, that M-quantile estimates of small area means are biased with the magnitude of the bias being related to the presence of outliers in the data. In this paper we propose a bias adjustment to the M-quantile small area estimator of the mean that is based on representing this estimator as a functional of the small area distribution function. The method is then generalized for estimating other quantiles of the distribution function in a small area. The effect of this bias adjustment on small area estimation with random effects models in the presence of model misspecification is also examined
M-Quantile Models for Small Area Estimation
No full textSmall area estimation techniques are employed when sample data are insufficient for acceptably precise direct estimation in domains of interest. These techniques typically rely on regression models that use both covariates and random effects to explain variation between domains. However, such models also depend on strong distributional assumptions, require a formal specification of the random part of the model and do not easily allow for outlier robust inference. We describe a new approach to small area estimation that is based on modelling quantile-like parameters of the conditional distribution of the target variable given the covariates. This avoids the problems associated with specification of random effects, allowing inter-domain differences to be characterized by the variation of area-specific M-quantile coefficients. The proposed approach is easily made robust against outlying data values and can be adapted for estimation of a wide range of area specific parameters, including that of the quantiles of the distribution of the target variable in the different small areas. Results from two simulation studies comparing the performance of the M-quantile modelling approach with more traditional mixed model approaches are also provided
Modelling group heterogeneity for small area estimation using M-quantiles
No full textSmall area estimation typically requires model-based methods that depend on isolating the contribution to overall population heterogeneity associated with group (i.e. small area) membership. One way of doing this is via random effects models with latent group effects. Alternatively, one can use an M-quantile ensemble model that assigns indices to sampled individuals characterising their contribution to overall sample heterogeneity. These indices are then aggregated to form group effects. The aim of this article is to contrast these two approaches to characterising group effects and to illustrate them in the context of small area estimation. In doing so, we consider a range of different data types, including continuous data, count data and binary response data.</p
Battling bishops : religion and politics in Transylvania on the eve of the Ausgleich
No full textThe thesis reexamines the political struggle in Transylvania from the decline of absolutism in 1860 to the eve of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise (Ausgleich) of 1867 in the light of the heavy political involvement of the bishops and clergy of the Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic and Orthodox Churches in these events. The administrative and social structure of Transylvania and the role which Austrian policy-makers assigned to that province led to considerable clerical involvement in politics.
Two chapters use government archives to present the course of secular politics. One chapter examines the three administrative regions of Transylvania and their social structure, while another treats the relationship of religion and popular culture. These chapters rely chiefly on social historical and ethnographic studies. Chapters five through nine consider both the secular political and the ecclesiastic activity of the bishops, clergy and laity of selected regions on the basis of church archives and personal papers. Because of its constitutional, dynastic and international position the Roman Catholic Church and its bishop in Transylvania, Lajos Haynald, are at the center of chapters five through nine. The activity and relationship with Haynald of Greek Catholic Metropolitan Alexandru Sterca-Sulutiu and Orthodox Bishop Andrei Saguna receive separate treatment.
The religious communities were key players in provincial politics by virtue of their territorial organization and distinctive social composition. Ecclesiastic connections also assured the relevance of events outside of Transylvania for the course of provincial politics. The bishops, clergy and laymen of the three churches studied here represented ethnic (Hungarian and Romanian) but also social interests, both on the secular stage and in the conflict over the churches' administrative independence and lay participation that reflected ideological tensions in the rest of society
Statement by James P. Johnson before a sub-committee of the Interim Committee on Taxation
No full textThis archived document is maintained by the Oregon State Library as part of the Oregon Documents Depository Program. It is for informational purposes and may not be suitable for legal purposes.Electronic reproduction. Salem, Or. : State Library of Oregon, 2016 Electronic reproduction from print version OrMode of access: Internet from the Oregon Government Publications Collection.Text in English
James P. Brawley at UNCF banquet, October 9, 1984
No full textJames P. Brawley at UNCF banquet. Written on verso: Taken at the UNCF Banquet during the UNCF tribute to Dr. Brawley. L to R: Clarence Cooper, Ronald Jackson, Dr. Brawley, and Carl Wise.The Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library acknowledges the generous support of the National Endowment for Humanities - Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Implementation Project Grant in supporting the processing and digitization of a number of its major archival collections as part of the project: Spreading the Word: Expanding Access to African American Religious Archival Collections at the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library.</em
Theology in suspense : how the detective fiction of P.D. James provokes theological thought
No full textElectronic redacted version excludes material for which permission has not been granted by the rights holderThe following dissertation argues that the detective fiction of P.D. James
provokes her readers to think theologically. I present evidence from the body of
James’s work, including her detective fiction that features the Detective Adam
Dalgliesh, as well as her other novels, autobiography, and non-fiction work. I also
present a brief history of detective fiction. This history provides the reader with a
better understanding of how P.D James is influenced by the detective genre as well as
how she stands apart from the genre’s traditions.
This dissertation relies on an interview that I conducted with P.D. James in
November, 2008. During the interview, I asked James how Christianity has
influenced her detective fiction and her responses greatly contribute to this
dissertation. However, James’s novels should be interpreted and explored in the
manner that they are received by the reader. How the reader receives and responds to
the novels, not only how James writes the novels, is what causes her stories to
provoke theological thinking.
By examining Christian symbolism that is present in setting, character, the
Detective Adam Dalgliesh, and plot, this dissertation seeks to assert that James
contributes to a theological conversation through her popular detective fiction
Polyphony and the anxiety of influence in the fiction of Henry James
No full textJames's fiction, especially in the Middle Phase, centres
on the figure of the artist and is characterized by, the two
interrelated aspects which previous criticism has largely
overlooked: the Bakhtinian 'polyphonic' -creation of
'author-thinkers'; and the conflict between ephebes and
precursors, for which Harold-Bloom's concept of 'the-anxiety of
influence' is the most illuminating model. Polyphony is the
narrative mode, and influence is the intra-artistic, theme.
These, as the Introduction to the thesis makes clear, are
rehearsed in James's inaugural novel, Roderick Hudson. Rowland
Mallet is an author-thinker, and his failure is caused by
authorial limitations. His monologism -is impaired by his
mistaking empathy for the authorial sympathy. Likewise,
Hudson's failure does not arise from a mercurial temperament,
but from a polyphonic shortcoming: not possessing the power of
fiction to contain the fiction of power in, his mentor. And the
relationships among the three artists - Gloriani, Hudson and
Singleton - perfectly exemplify the Bloomian-theme. It is these
two concepts, polyphony and influence, which are the major
preoccupation in the Middle Phase; as, the works chosen
demonstrate. These are a novella, a novel, and a number of
short stories all of which have been unjustifiably neglected.
Chapter One, on The Aspern Papers, argues that Tina Bordereau,
far from being, the artless victim seen by many critics,
actually challenges and defeats the narrator by the very form
of her narrative. Her 'realist' discourse undermines his
language of 'romance', and shows up its internal unstability.
Chapter Two is an extensive study of the critical reception of
The Tragic Muse. The most common areas of critical attention
have been its contemporary topicality, its relation to previous
novels on similar themes, and the possible genealogy of Gabriel
Nash. Those have all missed the core of the work. - Chapter Three
demonstrates how polyphony and the anxiety of influence make
the novel what it really is. Influence arises from the
juxtaposition of, and the wrestling between, artistic ephebes
and their precursors (Nick and Nash,, Miriam and Madame Carre).
The dialogic quality defined by Bakhtin is crucial to the
proper, and even-handed, characterization of all, the conflicts
in the novel. And since most of James's tales in the eighties
and nineties -are about 'masters - and acolytes, the anxiety of
influence remains central. Chapter Four is a study of 'The
Author of Beltraffiol' and 'The Lesson of the Master'. Again the
characters' manipulations are a crucial focus in a way that
G6rard Genette's terminology helps to illuminate. The fact that
the ephebe is the author-thinker emphasizes the inextricability
of the Bakhtinian and the Bloomian in James. Just as
polyphony offers a different focus for explicating the poetics
of James's fiction; so the ephebal conflict provides the basis
for a fresh perception of James's own artistic struggle
A critical comparison of William James and Søren Kierkegaard on religious belief
No full textThis thesis is a critical comparison of the accounts of religious belief proposed byWilliam James and Søren Kierkegaard. Both James and Kierkegaard greatly emphasizethe subjective aspects of religious belief. In view of this fact, surprisingly littlecomparative work has been done in this area. I contribute to this literature in two ways.Firstly, I make a brief assessment of what James knew of Kierkegaard’s work.Secondly, I draw four comparisons between Kierkegaard and James. In Chapter One Iexamine the claim that Kierkegaard proposes a pragmatist account of faith of the kindthat James sets out in his essay The Will To Believe. I argue that this claim rests on amisunderstanding of Kierkegaard’s argument that to have faith is to take a risk. In thefollowing chapter I discuss James’s and Kierkegaard’s views on formal proofs for theexistence of God. Both philosophers reject the notion that faith can be based on suchproofs. I distinguish between their positions, and argue in favour of Kierkegaard’s. Inthe third chapter I compare Kierkegaard’s and James’s accounts of religious experience.James views religious experiences as a special kind of evidence for the existence ofGod. For Kierkegaard it is a mistake to view religious experiences as evidence. Suchexperiences should be understood in relation to the concept of religious authority. In thefinal chapter I examine Kierkegaard’s conception of faith as a life-view. I argue that forKierkegaard a life-view is a fundamental perspective on one’s existence. I compare thisconception with James’s concept of philosophical temperament and in relation to hisdiscussion of the sick soul
Strickland, James P.
No full textSee entry in Chambers County, volume 1, page 47: https://digital.archives.alabama.gov/digital/collection/voter1867/id/156
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