Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Creation Of A Spatial Decision Support System As A Risk Assessment Tool Based On Kentucky Tornado Climatology, Christopher Michael Blinn

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Tornadoes are one of Mother Nature’s deadliest phenomena. They affect a large region of the United States. The risk of tornadoes is contingent on dynamic atmospheric conditions that are most likely during spring but which can occur anytime of the year, making the storms challenging to forecast. Using geographical information systems (GIS), a web-based spatial decision support system (SDSS) was created to help understand the spatial dimension of tornado risk assessment. The risk values are calculated using Tornado Days rather than taking a crude density measurement. The SDSS hosts GIS web services that are displayed on an Adobe Flex application. …

Citizen Action, Power Relations And Wetland Management In The Tampa Bay Urban Socio-Ecosystem, Cornelius Owusu Adjei

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Wetlands are vital ecosystems that provide ecological, economic and social benefits to societies. In the Tampa Bay region in West Central Florida, a growing population has put immense pressure on wetlands. The situation has not gone unnoticed in the public domain with concerns raised about the need to formulate policies that would protect them. However, it has been difficult to ascertain the level of citizen involvement in the decision making process.

This study aimed at investigating whether the perceptions and concerns of citizens drove them to influence local water policy. Questionnaires were used to collect data from residents living in …

Semantic Aspects Of Earthcube, Pascal Hitzler, Krzysztof Janowicz, Gary Berg-Cross, Leo Obrst, Amit P. Sheth, Timothy Finin, Isabel F. Cruz

Kno.e.sis Publications

In this document, we give a high-level overview of selected Semantic (Web) technologies, methods, and other important considerations, that are relevant for the success of EarthCube. The goal of this initial document is to provide entry points and references for discussions between the Semantic Technologies experts and the domain experts within EarthCube. The selected topics are intended to ground the EarthCube roadmap in the state of the art in semantics research and ontology engineering.

We anticipate that this document will evolve as EarthCube progresses. Indeed, all EarthCube parties are asked to provide topics of importance that should be treated in …

Trust Networks, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan, Pramod Anantharam, Cory Andrew Henson, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

Trust relationships occur naturally in many diverse contexts such as collaborative systems, e-commerce, interpersonal interactions, social networks, semantic sensor web, etc. As collaborating agents providing content and services become increasingly removed from the agents that consume them, the issue of robust trust inference and update become critical. There is a need to find online substitutes for traditional (direct or face-to-face) cues to derive measures of trust, and create efficient and secure system for managing trust, to support decision-making. Unfortunately, there is neither a universal notion of trust that is applicable to all domains nor a clear explication of its semantics …

Agricultural Efficiency And The End Of The Oil Age; Building A Future Of Longevity, Keith Mchugh

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis uses an efficiency analysis of agricultural systems to assert that, in lieu of rising prices of fossil fuel, people need to come into more direct contact with their food systems. With a switch to smaller, more efficient farms that rely less on fossil fuel and are connected with the communities they supply for, we can avoid an energy crisis turning into a famine. These smaller-scale systems can help create self-contained, carbon-neutral communities.

The Full Cost Of Renewables: Managing Wind Integration Costs In California, William Savage

Pomona Senior Theses

Wind power will be an important component of California's aggressive strategies to meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets by the year 2020. However, the costs of integrating wind power's variable and uncertain output are often ignored. I argue that California must take prudent action to understand, minimize, and allocate wind integration costs. A review of numerous studies suggests that for wind penetration levels below 20%, integration costs should remain modest. However, costs are heavily dependent on market structure, and I suggest numerous ways that California can optimize its market design to manage wind integration costs.

San Antonio High School Food Justice Program: A Handbook And Evaluation Of Edible Education, Katherine B. Tenneson

Pitzer Senior Theses

This senior environmental studies thesis explains and analyzes edible education through a food and gardening program at a continuation high school in Claremont, California. The first chapter situates the program-specific analysis by providing background information of the edible education movement, a history of the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, California, and an explanation of why food is a powerful teaching tool. The second chapter delineates the program by describing all of its components and compiling essential resources and teaching documents. The third chapter is based on interviews with 9 of 12 involved students and 7 teachers, and thoroughly explains the outcomes …

“Dismantling The Big” Critiquing The Western Development Model And Foreign Aid And Analyzing Alternatives For Domestic Development Of Dams In Nepal, Ana Berry

Pitzer Senior Theses

This paper argues for the importance of scale, management and sovereign-led development in considering a more human-centric model for Third World development. It begins by reviewing the history of the mainstream Western development model through the evolution of modernization theory and foreign aid. It explores general critiques of this model offered by scholars, focusing on unequal power relations, the high cost of aid, and problems with ‘cookie cutter’ style development projects that don’t take into account disparate environments. As the paper progresses, focus shifts more specifically to hydropower development and ‘Big Dams’. Nepal is the main case study for exemplifying …

Regimes And Resilience In The Modern Global Food System, Sara W. Tower

Student Publications

Much public discourse surrounding the modern global food system operates on the assumption of the primary agency of individual consumers in ensuring an equitable and sustainable food supply. However, this approach fails to account for the larger structural forces of the system which frame the limits of how we interact with and are affected by our food system. Taking a closer look at the global economic, political, cultural, and environmental forces that have collectively shaped historical food regimes reveals the deeper structural patterns that currently determine how we produce, distribute, and consume food around the world. Due to the underlying …

The Impact Of Violating Factor Scaling Method Assumptions On Latent Mean Difference Testing In Structured Means Models, Dandan Wang, Tiffany A. Whittaker, S. Natasha Beretvas

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Type I error rates and power of the likelihood ratio test and bias of the standardized effect size measure associated with the latent mean difference in structured means modeling are examined when violating the assumptions underlying the two available factor scaling methods under various conditions. Implications and recommendations are discussed.

New Approximate Bayesian Confidence Intervals For The Coefficient Of Variation Of A Gaussian Distribution, Vincent A. R. Camara

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Confidence intervals are constructed for the coefficient of variation of a Gaussian distribution. Considering the square error and the Higgins-Tsokos loss functions, approximate Bayesian models are derived and compared to a published classical model. The models are shown to have great coverage accuracy. The classical model does not always yield the best confidence intervals; the proposed models often perform better.

A Poisson Regression Model For Female Radium Dial Workers, Tze-San Lee

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A Poisson regression model with interaction terms was applied to study the dose response relationship for radium-induced skeletal cancers. The model showed that the expected frequency count of bone tumors depended not only on the logarithmic dose and the time since first exposure, but also on the interaction between the logarithmic dose and the time since first exposure, whereas the dose-response model for head tumors depended only on the logarithmic dose.

Jmasm 32: Sas Template For Single-Subject Experimental Designs, Hyewon Chung, Jiseon Kim, Ryoungsun Park

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Meta-analysis has been used to synthesize research findings and to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments or the accuracy of diagnostic tools. Although meta-analytic techniques were developed to synthesize the results of several studies, controversy exists as to how to quantify the results from singlesubject experimental designs (SSEDs). The most commonly used metrics are reviewed, including nonregression and regression based methods. The application of the SAS template is demonstrated through simulated data sets. The SAS templates can be modified to accommodate a more complex data structure.

The Length-Biased Lognormal Distribution And Its Application In The Analysis Of Data From Oil Field Exploration Studies, Makarand V. Ratnaparkhi, Uttara V. Naik-Nimbalkar

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The length-biased version of the lognormal distribution and related estimation problems are considered and sized-biased data arising in the exploration of oil fields is analyzed. The properties of the estimators are studied using simulations and the use of sample mode as an estimate of the lognormal parameter is discussed.

Four Period Crossover Designs, James F. Reed Iii

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

In higher-order four period crossover designs with two treatments, sixteen possible treatment sequences can result: AAAA, AAAB, AABA, AABB, ABAA, ABAB, ABBA, ABBB and their duals. Higher-order crossover designs are useful for several reasons: they allow estimation of a treatment effect even in the presence of a carry-over effect, they provide estimates of intra-subject variability and they draw inference on the carry-over effect. The real question related to a two-treatment four-period crossover design is the real world application of these designs. This article considers four designs: Design I: ABBA and its dual; Design II: ABBA, AABB and their duals, Design …

Gamma-Pareto Distribution And Its Applications, Ayman Alzaatreh, Felix Famoye, Carl Lee

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A new distribution, the gamma-Pareto, is defined and studied and various properties of the distribution are obtained. Results for moments, limiting behavior and entropies are provided. The method of maximum likelihood is proposed for estimating the parameters and the distribution is applied to fit three real data sets.

A Weighted Exponential Detection Function Model For Line Transect Data, Faisal Ababneh, Omar M. Eidous

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A new parametric model is proposed for modeling the density function of perpendicular distances in line transects sampling. The model can be considered a weighted exponential model in the sense that it combines two exponential models with different weights. The proposed model is appealing because it is monotone decreasing with distance from transect line; in contrast to the classical exponential model, it satisfies the shoulder condition at the origin. Simulation results for a wide range of target densities show reasonable and good performances of the weighted exponential model in most considered cases compared to the classical exponential and the half-normal …

Ordinal Regression Analysis: Using Generalized Ordinal Logistic Regression Models To Estimate Educational Data, Xing Liu, Hari Koirala

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The proportional odds (PO) assumption for ordinal regression analysis is often violated because it is strongly affected by sample size and the number of covariate patterns. To address this issue, the partial proportional odds (PPO) model and the generalized ordinal logit model were developed. However, these models are not typically used in research. One likely reason for this is the restriction of current statistical software packages: SPSS cannot perform the generalized ordinal logit model analysis and SAS requires data restructuring. This article illustrates the use of generalized ordinal logistic regression models to predict mathematics proficiency levels using Stata and compares …

Robust Regression Estimates In The Prediction Of Latent Variables In Structural Equation Models, Marcelo Angelo Cirillo, Lúcia Pereira Barroso

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The incorporation of the robust regression methods Least Median Square (LMS) and Least Trimmed Squares (LTS) is proposed in structural equation modeling. Results show that, in situations of high deviations of symmetry, the evaluated methods would be recommended for applications including smaller sample sizes.

Comparison Of Re-Sampling Methods To Generalized Linear Models And Transformations In Factorial And Fractional Factorial Designs, Maher Qumsiyeh, Gerald Shaughnessy

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Experimental situations in which observations are not normally distributed frequently occur in practice. A common situation occurs when responses are discrete in nature, for example counts. One way to analyze such experimental data is to use a transformation for the responses; another is to use a link function based on a generalized linear model (GLM) approach. Re-sampling is employed as an alternative method to analyze non-normal, discrete data. Results are compared to those obtained by the previous two methods.

Statistical Inferences For Lomax Distribution Based On Record Values (Bayesian And Classical), Parviz Nasiri, Saman Hosseini

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) based on records is obtained and a proper prior distribution to attain a Bayes estimation (both informative and non-informative) based on records for quadratic loss and squared error loss functions is also calculated. The study considers the shortest confidence interval and Highest Posterior Distribution confidence interval based on records, and using Mean Square Error MSE criteria for point estimation and length criteria for interval estimation, their appropriateness to each other is examined.

Empirical Sampling From Permutation Space With Unique Patterns, Justice I. Odiase

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The exact distribution of a test statistic ultimately guarantees that the probability of a Type I error is exactly α. Several methods for estimating the exact distribution of a test statistic have evolved over the years with inherent computational problems and varying degrees of accuracy. The unique pattern of permutations resulting from using experimental data to sample within the permutation space without the risk of repeating permutations is identified. The method presented circumvents the theoretical requirements of asymptotic procedures and the computational difficulties associated with an exhaustive enumeration of permutations. Results show that time and space complexities are drastically reduced …

Weight: Does It Really Matter?, Jennifer L. Brown, Gerald Halpin, Glennelle Halpin

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Differential weighting promises to improve the validity of a measure. This study examines whether similar results would be found using weighted, unweighted and standardized z scores from the All Stars Core survey. It was concluded that the weighted systems were developed to equate the questions within the scales and to ease the process for customers without access to data analysis programs; however, the standardized scores were the more appropriate method for equating the test items.

Ratio Type Estimator Of Ratio Of Two Population Means In Stratified Random Sampling, Rajesh Tailor, Sunil Chouhan

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A ratio estimator is proposed for the ratio of two population means using auxiliary information in stratified random sampling. Bias and mean squared error expressions are obtained under large sample approximation, and the proposed estimator is compared both theoretically and empirically with the conventional estimator of ratio for two population means in stratified random sampling.

Parameter Estimation With Mixture Item Response Theory Models: A Monte Carlo Comparison Of Maximum Likelihood And Bayesian Methods, W. Holmes Finch, Brian F. French

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The Mixture Item Response Theory (MixIRT) can be used to identify latent classes of examinees in data as well as to estimate item parameters such as difficulty and discrimination for each of the groups. Parameter estimation via maximum likelihood (MLE) and Bayesian estimation based on the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) are compared for classification accuracy and parameter estimation bias for difficulty and discrimination. Standard error magnitude and coverage rates were compared across number of items, number of latent groups, group size ratio, total sample size and underlying item response model. Results show that MCMC provides more accurate group membership …

A Study On Underwriting Cycle Of Property Insurance Industry Of China, Lin Zhang, Linjuan Tang

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Methods in underwriting cycle research are compared. A second-order autoregressive model, which includes structural transition and Christiano-Fitzgerald (CF) Filter method, is used to analyze China’s underwriting cycle with annual property insurance loss ratio data from 1982 to 2008. Results show that the underwriting cycle is 11-12 years and, from the phase of underwriting cycle, management suggestions about underwriting cycle phenomenon are provided.

Regression Models For Mixed Over-Dispersed Poisson And Continuous Clustered Data: Modeling Bmi And Number Of Cigarettes Smoked Per Day, Folefac Atem, Julius S. Ngwa, Abidemi Adeniji

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Clustered data, multiple observations collected on the same experimental unit, is common in epidemiological studies. Bivariate outcome data is often the result of interest in two correlated response variables. An efficient method is presented for dealing with bivariate outcomes when one outcome is continuous and the other is a count using a simple transformation to handle over-dispersed Poisson data. A multilevel analysis was performed on data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) with body mass index (BMI) and the number of cigarettes smoked per day (NCS) as responses. Results show that these random effects models yield misleading results in …

Steady State Probabilities Of A Three Preemptive Single Server Queue, Ameen Jameel Alawneh

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A three preemptive priority queuing system is considered where customers with three priorities joined a queue according to a Poisson process. A customer with higher priority needs to enter the service immediately upon arrival. The recursive formulas approach was extended to determine the steady state probabilities of such a priority queuing system.

Extending Description Logic Rules, David Carral Martinez, Pascal Hitzler

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

Description Logics – the logics underpinning the Web Ontology Language OWL – and rules are currently the most prominent paradigms used for modeling knowledge for the Semantic Web. While both of these approaches are based on classical logic, the paradigms also differ significantly, so that naive combinations result in undesirable properties such as undecidability. Recent work has shown that many rules can in fact be expressed in OWL. In this paper we extend this work to include some types of rules previously excluded. We formally define a set of first order logic rules, C-Rules, which can be expressed within OWL …

Progression Magazine, 2011-2012, Coastal Carolina University

Progression Magazine

Magazine of the College of Science at Coastal Carolina University.