A Comparison between Biased and Unbiased Estimators in Ordinary Least Squares Regression

During the past years, different kinds of estimators have been proposed as alternatives to the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimator for the estimation of the regression coefficients in the presence of multicollinearity. In the general linear regression model, Y = Xβ + e, it is known that multicollinearity makes statistical inference difficult and may even seriously distort the inference. Ridge regression, as viewed here, defines a class of estimators of β indexed by a scalar parameter k. Two methods of specifying k are proposed and evaluated in terms of Mean Square Error (MSE) by simulation techniques. A comparison is made with other ridge-type estimators evaluated elsewhere. The estimated MSE of the suggested estimators are lower than other estimators of the ridge parameter and the OLS estimator

Smoking Behavior in Arab Americans: Acculturation and Health Beliefs

Background: Arab Americans, a growing population in the U.S., tend to have high rates of smoking and low rates of smoking cessation. Arab Americans and their families are at a high risk for poor health outcomes related to smoking. Objective: The purpose of this study is to better understand the smoking behaviors of Arabs in the U.S., using the two publishable manuscripts format. The first manuscript is a systematic review of the literature exploring the smoking behavior, prevalence and use among Arab Americans and examining studies addressing the effect of acculturation on this behavior. The second manuscript is a cross-sectional quantitative study investigating factors influencing desire to quit smoking among Arab Americans, and their association with acculturation and health beliefs. Results: The majority of the studies included in the first manuscript focused on smoking prevalence and cessation. Some discussed the impact of acculturation and health beliefs only two smoking cessation programs have been developed. Thus a cross-sectional descriptive study among adult Arab American smokers was conducted to measure tobacco use, nicotine dependence, desire to quit smoking, acculturation, and health beliefs. The desire to quit smoking was positively associated with perceived severity and susceptibility to cancer, perceived benefits of quitting smoking; and negatively associated with smoking barriers and nicotine dependence. Being female, having lower level of nicotine dependence, and higher perception of cancer severity predicted higher desire to quit smoking. Conclusion: Smoking cessation intervention studies need to target appropriate health beliefs, especially cancer severity of smoking among male Arab Americans

A Proposed Ridge Parameter to Improve the Least Square Estimator

Ridge regression, a form of biased linear estimation, is a more appropriate technique than ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation in the case of highly intercorrelated explanatory variables in the linear regression model Y = β + u. Two proposed ridge regression parameters from the mean square error (MSE) perspective are evaluated. A simulation study was conducted to demonstrate the performance of the proposed estimators compared to the OLS, HK and HKB estimators. Results show that the suggested estimators outperform the OLS and the other estimators regarding the ridge parameters in all situations examined

Syrian Refugee Women’s Perspectives About Their University Experiences: A Case Study at a University in Ontario

In 2015, the Canadian government announced a plan to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees (Government of Canada, 2017b). With involvement from community agencies, private sponsors and government support, the initiative resulted in the resettlement of 40,000 Syrian refugees (Government of Canada, 2017b). In this context, many Canadian universities became involved in initiating programs to support the education, sponsorship and settlement of Syrian refugees (WUSC, 2017), with the premise that education plays a role in the settlement of refugees and their economic and social integration (Adamuti-Trache & Sweet, 2010; Brouwer, 2002; Ferede, 2010). What remains unknown are the experiences of these refugees in their transitional period while they are university students. This qualitative case study examines the perspectives of five Syrian refugee women about their university experiences at one university in Ontario through semi-structured interviews. The findings highlight academic, social and emotional challenges that they experienced, with a focus on participants’ needs for referral services, representation of their issues and social support

Improved Estimator in the Presence of Multicollinearity

The performances of two biased estimators for the general linear regression model under conditions of collinearity are examined and a new proposed ridge parameter is introduced. Using Mean Square Error (MSE) and Monte Carlo simulation, the resulting estimator’s performance is evaluated and compared with the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) estimator and the Hoerl and Kennard (1970a) estimator. Results of the simulation study indicate that, with respect to MSE criteria, in all cases investigated the proposed estimator outperforms both the OLS and the Hoerl and Kennard estimators

Palestines imaginaires : La scénographie comme ethnographie

Cet article est fondé sur la prémisse que la littérature puisse être aussi anthropologique que l’anthropologie littéraire. À travers une écriture scénographique, l’auteure pose un regard autocritique et autoréflexif sur un texte précédent, son mémoire de maîtrise en ethnomusicologie, qui portait sur la problématique identitaire dans la musique contemporaine palestinienne. L’auteure met en scène les enjeux de la recherche anthropologique dans un contexte déterritorialisé marqué par l’hybridité identitaire, la violence et le croisement de multiples imaginaires attachés à un même territoire, la Palestine.The article is based on the conviction that literature can be as anthropological as anthropology can be literary. Through a scenographic style of writing, the author proposes an autocritical and autoreflexive review of a previous text, her master’s thesis in which she studied questions of identity in contemporary Palestinian music. The author exposes through a serious of short scenes issues of deterritorialization, hybride identities and violence in anthropological research, using Palestine as the setting at the centre of multiple intersecting imaginations.Este artículo se funda en la premisa que la literatura también puede ser tan antropológica como la antropología literaria. A través de la escritura escenográfica, la autora echa una mirada autocrítica y auto-reflexiva sobre un texto precedente, su tesis de maestría en etnomusicología, en donde abordaba la problemática identitaria en la música contemporánea palestina. La autora sitúa los desafíos de la investigación antropológica en un contexto desterritorializado marcado por la hibridez identitaria, la violencia y el cruce de imaginarios múltiples anclados en el mismo territorio : Palestina

Sustainable Tourism in Lebanon An innovative approach in cultural landscape management

International audienceProtecting cultural landscapes is about managing the relation between the living heritage and the physical environment. Since the 19th century, scientists are interested in landscapes as field of research because of their distinctive, interconnected natural and cultural values. In Lebanon, cultural landscapes are affected by the ineffective management and protection as well as the inappropriate land uses. Furthermore, sustainable tourism which has merged in the last decade, is still unable to solve the negative impacts caused by mass tourism on the Lebanese cultural landscape. Therefore, for the purpose of improving sustainable tourism management at cultural landscape, this research aims to explore the characteristics of cultural landscape, through the identification of natural and cultural resources, and to assess their management and protection strategies based on an innovative approach in cultural landscape management. Data were gathered based on nine semi-structured interviews with main stakeholders at Maaser El Shouf and Bkassine and two major national tour operators; in addition to the non-participant observations conducted by the researcher to reveal important facts about different aspects of the cultural landscapes selected. The study revealed that the historical identity of the landscapes is negatively affected by the decline of the agriculture sector and the ineffective protection of the intangible heritage. On the other hand, a scoring system was adopted to measure and evaluate the level of sustainable tourism management; it demonstrated a fairly handled management practices for both landscapes with an advanced performance for Maaser El Shouf.La protection des paysages culturels consiste à bien gérer la relation entre l'héritage vivant et l'environnement physique. Dès le 19ème siècle, les chercheurs se sont intéressés par les paysages, grâce à leur aspect distinctif, et leurs valeurs naturelles et culturelles connectées. Au Liban, les paysages culturels sont influencés par la gestion inefficace et l’absence de protection aussi bien que par l’utilisation inappropriée des terrains. En outre, le tourisme durable qui s'est introduit la décennie dernière, ne peut pas toujours résoudre les impacts négatifs causés par le tourisme de masse sur le paysage culturel Libanais. Dans le but d'améliorer la gestion de tourisme durable au paysage culturel, cette recherche vise à explorer les caractéristiques du paysage culturel. D’abord par l'identification des ressources naturelles et culturelles, ensuite, par l’évaluation des stratégies du management et de protection de ces ressources, en se basant sur une approche innovante de gestion du paysage culturel. Les données ont été collectées à partir de neuf entrevues semi-structurées avec les parties prenantes principales à Maaser El Shouf et à Bkassine, ainsi qu’avec deux grands tours opérateurs nationaux. En plus, des observations non-participantes ont été réalisées par le chercheur afin de révéler des aspects importants des paysages culturels étudiés. L'étude a démontré que l'identité historique des paysages est négativement influencée par la baisse du secteur agricole et la protection inefficace de l'héritage intangible. D'autre part, un système de notation, a été adopté pour mesurer et évaluer l’efficacité de gestion de tourisme durable, qui a montré des pratiques assez efficaces de gestion pour les deux paysages avec une performance supérieure pour Maaser El Shouf