The Stability of Self Assessed Health Status

The use of self assessed health status as a measure of health is common in empirical research. We analyse a unique Australian survey in which a random sub-sample of respondents answer a standard self assessed health question twice – before and after an additional set of health related questions. 28% of respondents change their reported health status. Response instability is related to age, income and occupation. We also compare the responses of these individuals to other respondents who are queried only once. The distributions of responses to both questions by the former group are statistically different from the distribution of responses by the latter group.Self assessed health status

The Stability of Self Assessed Health Status

The use of self assessed health status as a measure of health is common in empirical research. We analyse a unique Australian survey in which a random sub-sample of respondents answer a standard self assessed health question twice -- before and after an additional set of health related questions. 28% of respondents change their reported health status. Response instability is related to age, income and occupation. We also compare the responses of these individuals to other respondents who are queried only once. The distributions of responses to both questions by the former group are statistically different from the distribution of responses by the latter group.self-assessed health status

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 3: The impact of a sponsor letter on mail survey response rates

We describe the impact of two interventions in the design of mail surveys. The interventions were devised to increase response rates and to clarify sample eligibility. To test their effectiveness, the interventions occurred at different points in each of three surveys. One intervention was a letter from the research sponsor (NASA) supporting the research. The other intervention was the inclusion of a postcard that could be used by the respondent to indicate that the questionnaire was not appropriate for him/her. The sample was drawn from the membership of a professional aerospace research society, the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Scientists and engineers are difficult to survey for two reasons. First, there are significant problems with the definition of scientists and engineers. Second, typically there are low response rates in surveys of this group. These two problems were found in the NASA surveys. The results indicate that the sponsor letter improved response rates under certain conditions described here. The postcards assisted in identifying non-eligible persons, particularly when the postcards accompanied a pre-survey letter. The implications for survey costs are discussed

[NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 7:] The NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project: The DOD perspective

This project will provide descriptive and analytical data regarding the flow of STI at the individual, organizational, national, and international levels. It will examine both the channels used to communicate information and the social system of the aerospace knowledge diffusion process. Results of the project should provide useful information to R and D managers, information managers, and others concerned with improving access to and use of STI. Objectives include: (1) understanding the aerospace knowledge diffusion process at the individual, organizational, and national levels, placing particular emphasis on the diffusion of Federally funded aerospace STI; (2) understanding the international aerospace knowledge diffusion process at the individual and organizational levels, placing particular emphasis on the systems used to diffuse the results of Federally funded aerospace STI; (3) understanding the roles NASA/DoD technical report and aerospace librarians play in the transfer and use of knowledge derived from Federally funded aerospace R and D; (4) achieving recognition and acceptance within NASA, DoD and throughout the aerospace community that STI is a valuable strategic resource for innovation, problem solving, and productivity; and (5) providing results that can be used to optimize the effectiveness and efficiency of the Federal STI aerospace transfer system and exchange mechanism

The NASA/DOD aerospace knowledge diffusion research project: A research agenda

The project has both immediate and long term purposes. In the first instance it provides a practical and pragmatic basis for understanding how the results of NASA/DoD research diffuse into the aerospace R and D process. Over the long term it provides an empirical basis for understanding the aerospace knowledge diffusion process itself, and its implications at the individual, organizational, national, and international levels. The project is studying the major barriers to effective knowledge diffusion. This project will provide descriptive and analytical data regarding the flow of scientific and technical information (STI). It will examine both channels used to communicate information and the social system of the aerospace knowledge diffusion process

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 11: The Voice of the User: How US Aerospace Engineers and Scientists View DoD Technical Reports

The project examines how the results of NASA/DOD research diffuse into the aerospace R&D process, and empirically analyzes the implications of the aerospace knowledge diffusion process. Specific issues considered are the roles played by government technical reports, the recognition of the value of scientific and technical information (STI), and the optimization of the STI aerospace transfer system. Information-seeking habits are assessed for the U.S. aerospace community, the general community, the academic sector, and the international community. U.S. aerospace engineers and scientists use 65 percent of working time to communicate STI, and prefer 'internal' STI over 'external' STI. The isolation from 'external' information is found to be detrimental to U.S. aerospace R&D in general

A Biography of Mrs. Georgianna J. Laroche

Georgianna J. Laroche was born Georgianna J. Roberts to Mr. James Roberts and his wife the former Miss Mary Henley on January 8, 1820. Georgianna attended Chatham Academy. She excelled at history and arithmetic. At the age of 14 Georgianna married Mr. Isaac D. Laroche on December 1, 1834. They had a total of twelve children seven of whom reached maturity. She died giving birth to her last child on Sept­ ember 14, 1860.https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sav-bios-lane/1213/thumbnail.jp

The effects of stream discharge and channelization on the macroinvertebrate community in a semi-arid landscape

The Middle Rio Grande is the second largest watershed in the southwestern United States and is a vitally important component for the biodiversity in the region. Similar to many other rivers, the MRG is a temporally dynamic system that unfortunately, has been subjected to river regulation. As a result, the river has become channelised in many reaches disconnecting it from the surrounding floodplain. The effects of river regulation on the MRG and its surrounding riparian zone were largely unknown. I tested three main hypothesis with regards to the macroinvertebrates in the MRG: 1) Does flow variability structure the aquatic macroinvertebrate community; 2) Does flow variability affect lateral subsidies and food web dynamics of terrestrial and aquatic macroinvertebrates; and 3) Does channelisation affect the linkages between the aquatic and terrestrial systems with a focus on lateral subsidies and arthropod predators? Five years of survey data and stable isotope analyses of the common macroinvertebrates and arthropod predators was used to address these hypotheses. During the course of this study period there was a large amount of variability in discharge having a significant impact on the macroinvertebrate community. Higher densities of macroinvertebrates were associated with lower discharge. Drought and flooding reduced the density of macroinvertebrates. Lateral inputs between the aquatic and terrestrial systems were also highest during times of low discharge and were reduced during higher discharge. The transition zone harbored higher rates of predators. Stable isotope analyses indicated that predators near the waters edge were heavily subsidized by lateral inputs from algae production. In channelised reaches, aquatic and terrestrial macroinvertebrate densities and richness were lower. The riparian zone and the wetted channel are intricately linked together and processes that occur in the river affect the surrounding riparian zone. Consequently, channelisation may be a threat to diversity by negatively impacting transition zone communities and adversely affecting predaceous arthropods