From the help desk: It's all about the sampling

Effective estimation and inference, when the data are collected using complex survey designs, requires estimators that fully account for the sampling design. This article explores, by means of Monte Carlo simulations of the power of simple hypothesis tests, the consequences of parameter estimation and inference when naive estimators are employed with survey data. Copyright 2002 by Stata Corporation.cluster, design, power, strata, svy, svymean, svyset

Survey data analysis in Stata

In this presentation, I cover how to use Stata for survey data analysis assuming a fixed population. We will begin by reviewing the sampling methods used to collect survey data, and how they affect the estimation of totals, ratios, and regression coefficients. We will then cover the three variance estimators implemented in Stata's survey estimation commands. Strata with a single sampling unit, certainty sampling units, subpopulation estimation, and poststratification will be also covered in some detail.

The Dangers of Conflating Responsible and Responsive Artefact Stewardship with Illicit and illegal collecting

Archaeology and private artefact collecting have complex and inextricably linked histories. Archaeologists have long drawn attention to criminal activity among collectors, but to assume that all private owners of cultural material-and any archaeologists who interact with them-have ill-intent or engage in illegal behaviour can cause as much harm to the archaeological record as the criminal actions themselves.Non peer reviewe

On Rehumanizing Pleistocene People of the Western Hemisphere

Since the emergence of the niche in Folsom, New Mexico, in the late 1920s, peopling archaeology has sought to understand the earliest human occupants of the Western Hemisphere. Three generations of practitioners have made great strides in the techno-environmental arena. However, we have largely failed to tap into PaleoIndigenous intellectual, emotional, and social lives—the very domains that made Ice Age people as fully human as we are. As a result, our interpretations of those pioneering populations could often apply as readily to a colony of ants or a herd of wildebeest as they do to living, breathing, thinking, dreaming, loving, striving human ancestors. This article first explores the reasons for our failure to fully actualize First Peoples, identifying and implicating a feedback loop that includes practitioner homogeneity (we have always been and continue to be disproportionately white men of European descent); our predominantly positivist worldview; our language, training, and practice; and even the limited nature of the material record we study. This article also, however, highlights the ways that an important minority of peopling scholars have sought to access the humanity of PaleoIndigenous people. By more consistently mobilizing our own human capacity to creatively interrogate the deep past, we will produce scholarship that more consistently recognizes the capacity of the people who lived it and, just as importantly, respects those living today. Desde la aparición del nicho en Folsom, Nuevo México a finales de los años 1920, la arqueología del poblamiento ha buscado entender los ocupantes humanos más tempranos del hemisferio occidental. Tres generaciones de profesionales han dado pasos grandes en el campo tecno-ambiental. Sin embargo, en gran medida hemos fracasado en ganar acceso a las vidas intelectuales, emocionales y sociales de los paleo-indígenas, las mismas esferas que hicieron que la gente de la Edad del Hielo fuera tan completamente humana como nosotros. Como resultado, nuestras interpretaciones sobre esas poblaciones pioneras a menudo podrían aplicarse tan fácilmente a una colonia de hormigas o una manada de ñus como a los ancestros humanos que viven, respiran, piensan, sueñan, aman y se esfuerzan. En primer lugar, este artículo analiza las razones de nuestra incapacidad para actualizar por completo a los Primeros Pobladores, identificando e implicando un ciclo de retroalimentación que incluye la homogeneidad de los profesionales (siempre hemos sido y seguimos siendo desproporcionadamente hombres blancos de ascendencia europea); nuestra cosmovisión predominantemente positivista; nuestro idioma, formación y práctica; e incluso la naturaleza limitada del registro material que estudiamos. Sin embargo, este artículo también destaca las maneras en que una importante minoría de académicos dedicados a estudiar el poblamiento ha buscado acceder a la humanidad de los pueblos paleo-indígenas. Al movilizar de manera más consistente nuestra propia capacidad humana de interrogar creativamente el pasado profundo, produciremos conocimiento que reconozca más consistentemente la capacidad de las personas que lo vivieron y, lo que es igualmente importante, respete a quienes viven hoy.Ye

Response of maize inbred lines to two European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis) strains in Canada

Six lignées de maïs-grain (CM47, A619, F2, CM107, CM7 et A654) ont été évaluées en 1986 et 1987 dans quatre localités de l'Ontario et du Québec pour leur résistance à des infestations artificielles de la pyrale du maïs, Ostrinia nubilalis, de la race univoltine et de la première génération de la race bivoltine. Trois critères ont été utilisés: la criblure du feuillage, les dégâts totaux des plantes à la récolte, et le rapport longueur des galeries creusées par les chenilles dans les tiges sur la hauteur des plantes. Des interactions importantes ont été observées pour les critères utilisés entre les années et localités, mais la réaction des lignées de maïs a été plutôt constante. Pour tous les critères, la race univoltine a souvent causé, d'une façon significative, plus de dégâts aux plantes que la race bivoltine. En général, la lignée A619 a démontré le plus de résistance-tolérance tout en conservant une bonne tenue des tiges jusqu'à la récolte. On aurait avantage à utiliser la race univoltine dans les programmes d'amélioration génétique du maïs pour sa résistance à la pyrale.In 1986 and 1987, six maize inbred lines (CM47, A619, F2, CM107, CM7, and A654) were evaluated at four locations across Ontario and Quebec for their resistance to artificially infested univoltine and lst generation bivoltine strains of the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis. Three criteria were used: leaf feeding, total plant damage at harvest and length of tunnels/plant height ratio. Substantial interactions in borer damage measurements were observed between locations and years, but inbred reaction was relatively consistent. For all criteria, the univoltine strain often caused significantly more damage than the bivoltine borer. In general, A619 had the greatest resistance-tolerance with good standability until harvest. Wherever possible, evaluation of genetic resistance in maize germplasm should be conducted using the univoltine borer strain

LA-ICP-MS Analysis of Quartzite from the Upper Gunnison Basin, Colorado

We report the results of LA-ICP-MS analysis of 402 quartzite samples representing 48 collection loci in the Upper Gunnison Basin (UGB), Colorado and determine the extent to which the sources can be geochemically discriminated from one another using this non-destructive technique. The ability to differentiate among the sources would open the door to provenance studies of the quartzite chipped-stone tools and debitage that constitute 95% or more of most of the 3000-plus prehistoric site assemblages documented in the UGB. Our samples represent prehistorically quarried and non-quarried quartzite sources, including outcrop (primary) and gravel (secondary) deposits. The results reveal spatial and chronological trends in quartzite elemental composition that can be exploited for provenance determinations of quartzite artifacts from UGB sites, albeit using an assemblage-based sourcing strategy that differs from the familiar approach of “matching” obsidian artifacts to their statistically likeliest geological source. We offer a preliminary version of a sourcing protocol for UGB quartzite

The nature of nursing practice in rural and remote Canada

© Canadian Nurses Association. Reproduced with permission. Further reproduction is prohibitedThese approaches complement one another while adding to our overall understanding of rural nursing practice. For example, the RNDB had not previously been analysed with rural nurses in mind. The demographic profile of rural RNs was generated for the first time for Canada as a whole and for the individual provinces and territories.(18) The documentary analysis takes a critical view of the policy context within which rural nurses practise.(19) The national survey has collected an abundance of information about rural nurses' work, quality of work life and degree of work satisfaction. And the experiences that nurses relate in the narrative approach bring to life the challenges and rewards of working in a variety of rural settings. A national survey of RNs working in rural and remote areas has been completed using a mailed questionnaire and followup based on Dillman's tailored design method.(29) The 3,933 eligible respondents represent all provinces and territories and an overall response rate of 68 per cent after correcting for duplicate registrations, address problems, and ineligibility (e.g., living rural, working urban). Sampling was done in collaboration with the professional nursing associations of each province and territory, using the databases of all RNs with active registration, while maintaining anonymity and confidentiality. The sampling strategy was twofold. First, a stratified random sample was selected from RNs with rural addresses(30) in each of the 10 provinces. Second, the questionnaire was mailed to the total population of Canadian RNs who indicated on their registration forms that their primary workplace was a nursing station or outpost setting and to all RNs registered in the territories (as an attempt to capture "remote" areas). Based on a total population of 229,813 RNs in Canada,(31) with stratification by province and assuming that the ratio of rural/urban nurses was similar to the rural/urban population proportions in the provinces,(32) we determined that 3,500 rural nurses would provide estimates that are statistically significant (p <.05) nationally, with a 90 per cent confidence level provincially. Rural nurses have many reasons to celebrate: they provide care to individuals and families of all ages, for a variety of conditions, in a range of rural and remote settings. Although they work in environments that are primarily governed by urban-centric policies and in workplaces where the quality of work life is often limited, the nurses reveal their passion and dedication to their communities and to practising in rural and remote areas through their stories and their survey comments. The nature of rural and remote nursing is deceiving; its complexity is seen during the nurses' interactions, first as community members and then as professionals. Rural nurses are often charting new courses in their communities and workplaces. Muriel Strode said, "Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."(33) Discovering the nature of nursing practice in rural and remote Canada through this national study is the first step on such a path, and hopefully the first of many trails.Ye

Professional–Collector Collaboration: Moving beyond Debate to Best Practice

This article introduces the first of what will ultimately be two collections of case studies in archaeologist–responsible/responsive artifact collector collaboration. Focused on the United States, the articles in this issue of Advances in Archaeological Practice share the thoughts and experiences of archaeologists representing diverse employment sectors (compliance, agency, museum, and university), artifact collectors, and members of descendant communities. Research areas extend from California to Virginia and from Ohio to the Texas/Mexico border. The breadth of the writers' backgrounds and their focal regions reinforce the wide applicability of collaborative best practices. Every author explicitly treats two subjects: (1) the intersection of their work with the Society for American Archaeology's (SAA) recently published guidelines for ethical professional–collector collaboration, and (2) their own practical suggestions for establishing and nurturing those relationships. This introductory article provides an overview of each of the other contributions, notes how the contributions articulate with the SAA guidelines, and offers its own, mostly philosophical suggestions for prospective members of professional–collector collaborations. Este artículo introduce la primera de las que eventualmente serán dos colecciones de casos prácticos en colaboración responsable / receptiva entre arqueólogos y coleccionistas de artefactos. Centrados en los Estados Unidos, los artículos de esta edición de Advances in Archaeological Practice comparten los pensamientos y experiencias de arqueólogos que representan diversos sectores laborales (cumplimiento regulatorio, agencia, museo y universidad); coleccionistas de artefactos; y miembros de comunidades descendientes. Las áreas de investigación se extienden desde California hasta Virginia y desde Ohio hasta la frontera entre Texas y México. La amplitud del historial los escritores y sus regiones focales refuerza la amplia aplicabilidad de las mejores prácticas colaborativas. Cada autor versa explícitamente dos temas: la intersección de su trabajo con las directrices publicadas recientemente por la Sociedad para la Arqueología Americana (SAA) para la colaboración ética entre profesionales y coleccionistas; y sus propias sugerencias prácticas para establecer y nutrir esas relaciones. Este artículo introductorio resume cada trabajo, señala cómo cumple con las pautas de la SAA y ofrece sus propias sugerencias, principalmente filosóficas, para futuros miembros sobre las colaboraciones entre coleccionistas y profesionales.Ye