Nonparametric regression estimation under complex sampling designs

The efficient use of auxiliary information to improve the precision of estimation of population quantities of interest is a central problem in survey sampling. We consider nonparametric regression estimation using much weaker assumptions on the superpopulation model in more general survey situations. Complex designs such as multistage and multiphase sampling are often employed in many large-scale surveys. Nonparametric model-assisted estimators, based on local polynomial regression, for two-stage and two-phase sampling designs are proposed. The local polynomial regression estimator is a nonparametric version of the generalized regression (GREG) estimator and shares most of the desirable properties of the generalized regression estimator. The estimator of the finite population total for two-stage element sampling with complete cluster auxiliary information is a linear combination of cluster total estimators, with sample-dependent weights that are calibrated to known control totals. The nonparametric estimator for two-phase sampling with a regression model for between-phase inference is also expressed as a weighted linear sum of the study variable of interest over a second-phase sample, in which the weights are not calibrated directly to known control totals, but are calibrated to the Horvitz-Thompson estimators of known control totals over a first-phase sample. Asymptotic design unbiasedness and design consistency of the estimators are established, and consistent variance estimators are proposed. Simulation experiments indicate that the local polynomial regression estimators are more efficient than parametric regression estimators under model misspecification, while being nearly as good when the parametric mean function is correctly specified

Inclusion in childhood studies and education: Ethical responsibility to and for children with disabilities

In this thesis, I discuss what it might mean to engage in an ethically responsible pedagogy, by posing the following questions: What is our ethical commitment and responsibility to and for others—especially when those others are children with disabilities? More importantly, when recognizing that the most challenging task for educators is to create a context for the collective (Rinaldi, 2006), what kinds of ethical and pedagogical contexts should be cultivated when encountering children with disabilities, so that each child’s existence and alterity are revealed? To engage these questions, I explore the concept of listening through multiple avenues: listening as attending to and for others, listening as attending to the revelation of alterity, listening in the state of dialogue, and listening through “taking a while”. All of these concepts of listening are interpreted in relation to Emmanuel Levinas’s conception of I/other relationality

Success Story of Professional Laundry Service in Korea

The purpose of this study is to analyze a professional laundry service company, Cleantopia, comprising a nearly 80% market share in Korea. The key to Cleantopia’s success relates to its management policy of “principle and innovation.” Cleantopia adopted various marketing strategies to realize its management philosophy: cultivating talented personnel, customer satisfaction, and social contribution. Another success factor is its active engagement in technological exchanges with developed countries and industrial-academic cooperation

Alone Together. Procés d'investigació artística basat en la instal·lació.

[ES] Este trabajo de fin de máster trata sobre la multidisciplinariedad en la práctica del arte contemporáneo, en prácticas como las instalaciones. Además, se circunscribe a un proceso de práctica artística en relación con la influencia de la tecnología en los vínculos interpersonales. La investigación se basa en tres proyectos artísticos que clasificamos como casos de estudio. En la primera, Mesa en Común, nos centramos en realizar un proceso performativo por medio de la experiencia de comer, que registramos a través de la fotografía y de un libro de artista. Por consiguiente, nos dirigimos hacia Alone Together, un proyecto instalativo que trata de esclarecer a través del espacio escultórico como el sentimiento de soledad afecta al individuo hoy en día, aunque estemos rodeados de gente. Finalmente, este transcurso culmina con 3 A.M., un proceso interdisciplinar que reivindica la concepción de los rituales como nexo de la concepción de un mundo común.[EN] This master's thesis is about multidisciplinarity in the practice of contemporary art, in practices such as installations. In addition, it is limited to a process of artistic practice in relation to the influence of technology on interpersonal ties. In the first, Everyone¿s Table, we focus on carrying out a performative process through the experience of eating, which we record through photography and an artist's book. Therefore, we turn to Alone Together, an installation project that tries to clarify through the sculptural space how the feeling of loneliness affects the individual today, even when we are surrounded by people. Finally, this course culminates with 3 A.M., an interdisciplinary process that vindicates the conception of rituals as a nexus of the conception of a common world.Kim, JY. (2022). Alone together. Un proceso de investigación artística basado en la instalación. Universitat Politècnica de València. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/186504TFG

The role of naturally occurring waterholes in determining the distribution of Florida Key Deer

The purpose of my research was to test the hypothesis that the availability of fresh, naturally occurring water may limit the distribution of Florida Key Deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium). More specifically, I was trying to determine if there was enough fresh, drinkable water for the deer on each of the islands. To test the hypothesis, I developed a model that simulated likely seasonal fluctuations in fresh water availability in naturally occurring waterholes within the Key Deer range. I estimated 60 scenarios representing different weather (precipitation and evaporation) conditions, different literature estimates of the daily water requirement of Key Deer and also different upper salinity thresholds for drinkable water. Results showed that 1) even under the most favorable conditions in terms of fresh water availability, there was not enough fresh, drinkable water for the deer on any of the islands. Results also showed that 2) high salinity was important in determining the fresh water availability to the deer, in addition to the lack of water volume. Although these results suggest a prolonged seasonal shortage of fresh, naturally occurring water on each of the islands, deer were present on all of the islands during all seasons. One possible reason for the lack of correlation between Key Deer distribution and naturally occurring waterholes is the availability of man-made water sources (e.g. birdbaths, swimming pools)

Rebound of Never? A Life Course Approach to the Motherhood Wage Penalty

This paper documents the long-term consequences of motherhood on women’s wages over the course of their postpartum lives. I argue that using a single number to report the average effect of childbirth on wages over the entire span of women’s postpartum life masks the variation of the motherhood wage penalty over smaller increments of time. In this paper, I ask whether the wage penalty experienced by mothers increases, decreases or remains constant over time and test if and to what extent some of the commonly cited mechanisms of the motherhood wage penalty explain the shape of the penalty over the life course. To answer these questions, this research draws from the 1979-2016 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and traces the motherhood wage penalty for over 20 years into women’s postpartum lives. Using fixed-effects modeling and allowing for a flexible specification of time since first childbirth, I find a curvilinear relationship between first childbirth and wages over time. The motherhood wage penalty accumulates for the first 10 to 15 years following the birth but tapers off in the later years.Master of Art