Building on Progress - Expanding the Research Infrastructure for the Social, Economic, and Behavioral Sciences. Vol. 1

The publication provides a comprehensive compendium of the current state of Germany's research infrastructure in the social, economic, and behavioural sciences. In addition, the book presents detailed discussions of the current needs of empirical researchers in these fields and opportunities for future development. The book contains 68 advisory reports by more than 100 internationally recognized authors from a wide range of fields and recommendations by the German Data Forum (RatSWD) on how to improve the research infrastructure so as to create conditions ideal for making Germany's social, economic, and behavioral sciences more innovative and internationally competitive. The German Data Forum (RatSWD) has discussed the broad spectrum of issues covered by these advisory reports extensively, and has developed general recommendations on how to expand the research infrastructure to meet the needs of scholars in the social and economic sciences

Verbesserung des Zugangs der Wissenschaft zu Mikrodaten: Pilotprojekt zum Aufbau eines Servicezentrums für Mikrodaten der GESIS bei ZUMA

'Das Ziel des Pilotprojekts zum Aufbau eines Servicezentrums für Mikrodaten der GESIS beim ZUMA bestand in der Verbesserung des Angebotes an Serviceleistungen für die Scientific Use Files des Mikrozensus. Dies bezog sich auf drei Bereiche: Zunächst mussten für die aktuellen Erhebungen zwischen 1999 und 2004 die Aufbereitungs- und Dokumentationsarbeiten komplettiert und abgeschlossen werden. Darüber hinaus bestand eine zentrale Aufgabe in der Erweiterung des Datenangebotes an Mikrozensus-Scientific Use Files für den Erhebungszeitraum vor 1989, für den bis zum Projektbeginn noch keine Mikrozensusdaten (SUFs) für die Forschung zur Verfügung standen. Aufgrund der in den letzten Jahren stark gestiegenen Anzahl an verfügbaren Scientific Use Files und damit verbundener Arbeitsmaterialien bestand ein drittes Ziel im Aufbau eines datenbankgestützten Metainformationssystems, um die zunehmende Komplexität des Datenmaterials für den Nutzer effektiver handhabbar zu machen.' (Autorenreferat

German Microdata Lab - Servicezentrum für Mikrodaten der GESIS beim Zentrum für Umfragen, Methoden und Analysen: Jahresbericht 2006

Das 'German Microdata Lab' (GML) wurde im Jahr 2003 durch die Zusammenlegung der ZUMA-Abteilungen Mikrodaten und Einkommen und Verbrauch gebildet. Zusammen mit der Abteilung Soziale Indikatoren, die die gesellschaftliche Entwicklung mit dem Instrumentarium der Sozialindikatorenforschung und der Sozialberichterstattung beobachtet und analysiert, bildet das GML den Arbeitsbereich 'gesellschaftliche Dauerbeobachtung'. Im vorliegenden Bericht werden die Arbeiten des GML im Jahr 2006 näher vorgestellt. Es werden die Aktivitäten zur Erschließung amtlicher Mikrodaten für die empirische Sozial- und Wirtschaftsforschung, der wissenschaftliche Service des GML sowie die Wissensvermittlung in Form von Nutzerberatungen und Betreuung von Gastwissenschaftlern beschrieben. Des weiteren wird die methodische Forschung des GML vorgestellt und ein Überblick über die im Jahr 2006 abgeschlossenen und laufenden Drittmittelprojekte gegeben. Der Anhang des Berichts enthält eine Liste aller Mitarbeiter des GML, die im Berichtsjahr tätig waren, die Programme der Workshops und der 1. EVS-Nutzerkonferenz sowie eine Bilanz der wissenschaftlichen Tätigkeit in Form von Publikationen und Vorträgen. (ICI2

Validation Framework for RDF-based Constraint Languages

In this thesis, a validation framework is introduced that enables to consistently execute RDF-based constraint languages on RDF data and to formulate constraints of any type. The framework reduces the representation of constraints to the absolute minimum, is based on formal logics, consists of a small lightweight vocabulary, and ensures consistency regarding validation results and enables constraint transformations for each constraint type across RDF-based constraint languages

Proceedings of 1988 International Symposium on Data on Aging

The International Symposium was convened from December 7 to 9, 1988, in Bethesda, Maryland, to develop proposals for research in measuring the health and health care of the aging, The Proceedings include papers from the plenary sessions, where measurement issues were identified, and the workshops, where specific proposals for research were outlined, Speakers and participants were distinguished International experts from a dozen different countries and a variety of organizations, They were selected for their expertise in the six topics addressed by the International Symposium: Common chronic diseases, health promotion, vitality, functioning, mortallty statistics, and outcomes of nursing home care.Part I. Introduction -- 1. Measuring the health and health care of the aging / by Manning Feinleib. -- 2. My grandmother said, "If you have your health, you have everything." What did she mean? / by Harvey Jay Cohen -- -- Part II. Comparing cardiovascular and cancer statistics -- Introduction / by Harry M. Rosenberg. -- 3. Morbidity and mortality information on old age: Comments on availability, validity, and comparability / by Thomas Strasser -- 4. Validity of diagnosis of cancer in the elderly / by C.S. Muir -- 5. Causes of death among the elderly: Information from the death certificate / by Harry Rosenberg, Frances Chevarley, Eve Powell-Griner, Kenneth Kochanek, and Manning Feinleib -- 6. Diagnosisofcardiovascular diseaseinelderlypopulations / by Millicent W. Higgins -- -- Part III.. Health promotion and disease prevention among the aged -- Introduction / by Gerry E. Hendershot. -- 7. Statistics on health promotion and dsease prevention in The Netherlands / by Henk Swinkels. -- 8. Health promotion among the aged in the United States / by Gerry E. Hendershot -- 9. Optimal survey research methods for studying health-related behaviors of older people / by John B. McKinlay -- -- Part IV. Functional disability -- Introduction / by Mary Grace Kovar -- 10. Functional ability and the need for care: Issues for measurement research / by Mary Grace Kovar -- ll. Surveys of the situation of the elderly in Hungary / by Andads Klinger -- 12. A comparison of demographic, health, and housing variables in studies of elderly populations in Canada and the United States / by W.F. Forbes, L.M. Hayward, and B.D.McPherson -- 13. Functioning old age: Measurement, comparability, and service planning / by A. Michael Davies -- 14. Functional disability issues / by Mary Grace Kovar -- -- Part V. International health care research -- Introduction / by Jacob J. Feldman -- 15. Cross-national research in health care / by Gary Robert Andrews -- -- Part VI. Comparative analysis of health statistics for selected diseases common in older persons in the United States -- Introduction / by Tamara Harris -- 16. Opportunities for international collaboration: Comparisons of morbidity and mortality for chronic diseases in older persons by Jacob A. Brody -- 17. Epidemiology of aging in Hong Kong: Health status of the Hong Kong Chinese elderly / by Suzanne C. Ho -- 18. The utility of cross-national comparisons of diseases of older persons / by Tamara Harris -- 19. Utility of cross-national comparisons of diseases of older persons: Osteoporosis as an example / by Jennifer L. Kelsey -- -- Part VII. Measuring risk factors and outcomes of institutional long-term care -- Introduction/ by Joan F. Van Nostrand. -- 20. Research on institutional long-term care in Australia / by Anna L. Howe -- 21. Long-term care in the United States: Issues in measuring nursing home outcomes / by Joan F. Van Nostrand -- 22. Measuring outcomes of institutional long-term care: The problem of both the dependent and independent variables / by Rosalie A. Kane -- 23. Outcomes of community and institutional long-term care / by Betty Havens -- -- Part VIII. Assessment of vitality and aging -- Introduction / by Richard J. Havlik -- 24. Quality of life among the elderly in Veneto, Italy: across-sectional study / by Stefania Maggi, Trudy L . Bush, Giuliano Enzi, and Gaetano Crepaldi -- 25. Physical, social, and mental vitality / by Richard J. Havlik. -- 26. Measurement of vitality in the Americans' Changing Lives study / by A. Regula Herzog -- -- Part IX. Special activities related to measuring health and health care -- 27. Contribution of the World Health Organization Program for Research on Aging to activities related to measuring health and health care / by Jorge Liwak -- 28. Health for the elderly by the year 2000: statistical needs / by Ronald G. Blankenbaker -- -- Part X. Summary -- 29. Overview / by Manning Feinleib -- 30. Comparing cardiovascular and cancer statistics / by Harry M Rosenberg -- 31. Health promotion and disease prevention among the aged / by Gerry E. Hendershot -- 32. Functional disability / by Mary Grace Kovar -- 33. Comparative analysis of health statistics for selected diseases common in older persons in the United States / by Tamara Harris -- 34. International collaboration in measuring outcomes of nursing home care / by Joan F. Van Nostrand -- 35. Assessment of vitality and aging / by Richard J. HavlikManning Feinleib, editor."Symposium ... convened from December 7 to 9, 1988, in Bethesda, Maryland."Also available via the World Wide Web as an Acrobat .pdf file (20.57 MB, 243 p.).Includes bibliographical references

Markovian-based clustering of internet addiction trajectories

A hidden Markov clustering procedure is applied to a sample of n=185 longitudinal Internet Addiction Test trajectories collected in Switzerland. The best solution has 4 groups. This solution is related to the level of emotional wellbeing of the subjects, but no relation is observed with age, gender and BMI

A discussion on hidden Markov models for life course data

This is an introduction on discrete-time Hidden Markov models (HMM) for longitudinal data analysis in population and life course studies. In the Markovian perspective, life trajectories are considered as the result of a stochastic process in which the probability of occurrence of a particular state or event depends on the sequence of states observed so far. Markovian models are used to analyze the transition process between successive states. Starting from the traditional formulation of a first-order discrete-time Markov chain where each state is liked to the next one, we present the hidden Markov models where the current response is driven by a latent variable that follows a Markov process. The paper presents also a simple way of handling categorical covariates to capture the effect of external factors on the transition probabilities and existing software are briefly overviewed. Empirical illustrations using data on self reported health demonstrate the relevance of the different extensions for life course analysis

Using dynamic microsimulation to understand professional trajectories of the active Swiss population

Within the social and economic sciences and of particular interest to demographers are life course events. Looking at life sequences we can better understand which states, or life events, precede or are precursors to vulnerability. A tool that has been used for policy evaluation and recently has been gaining ground in life course sequence simulation is dynamic microsimulation. Within this context dynamic microsimulation consists in generating entire life courses from the observation of portions of the trajectories of individuals of different ages. In this work, we aim to use dynamic microsimulation in order to analyse individual professional trajectories with a focus on vulnerability. The primary goal of this analysis is to deepen upon current literature by providing insight from a longitudinal perspective on the signs of work instability and the process of precarity. The secondary goal of this work which is to show how, by using microsimulation, data collected for one purpose can be analysed under a different scope and used in a meaningful way. The data to be used in this analysis are longitudinal and were collected by NCCR-LIVES IP207 under the supervision of Prof. Christian Maggiori and Dr. Gregoire Bollmann. Individuals aged 25 to 55 residing in the German-speaking and French-speaking regions of Switzerland were followed annually for four years. These individuals were questioned regarding, amongst their personal, professional and overall situations and well-being. At the end of the fourth wave, there were 1131 individuals who had participated in all waves. The sample remained representative of the Swiss population with women and the unemployed slightly over represented. Using the information collected from these surveys, we use simulation to construct various longitudinal data modules where each data module represents a specific life domain. We postulate the relationship between these modules and layout a framework of estimation. Within certain data modules a set of equations are created to model the process therein. For every dynamic (time-variant) data module, such as the labour-market module, the transition probabilities between states (ex. labour market status) are estimated using a Markov model and then the possible outcomes are simulated. The benefit of using dynamic microsimulation is that longitudinal sample observations instead of stylised profiles are used to model population dynamics. This is one of the main reasons large-scale dynamic microsimulation models are employed by many developed nations. There has been limited use, however, of such approaches with Swiss data. This work contributes to the analysis of professional trajectories of the active Swiss population by utilising dynamic microsimulation methods