CAN PEOPLE DISTINGUISH PÂTÉ FROM DOG FOOD?

Considering the similarity of its ingredients, canned dog food could be a suitable and inexpensive substitute for pâté or processed blended meat products such as Spam or liverwurst. However, the social stigma associated with the human consumption of pet food makes an unbiased comparison challenging. To prevent bias, Newman's Own dog food was prepared with a food processor to have the texture and appearance of a liver mousse. In a double-blind test, subjects were presented with five unlabeled blended meat products, one of which was the prepared dog food. After ranking the samples on the basis of taste, subjects were challenged to identify which of the five was dog food. Although 72% of subjects ranked the dog food as the worst of the five samples in terms of taste (Newell and MacFarlane multiple comparison, P<0.05), subjects were not better than random at correctly identifying the dog food.Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis,

Do More Expensive Wines Taste Better? Evidence from a Large Sample of Blind Tastings

Individuals who are unaware of the price do not derive more enjoyment from more expensive wine. In a sample of more than 6,000 blind tastings, we find that the correlation between price and overall rating is small and negative, suggesting that individuals on average enjoy more expensive wines slightly less. For individuals with wine training, however, we find indications of a positive, or at any rate non-negative, correlation. Our results are robust to the inclusion of individual fixed effects, and are not driven by outliers: when omitting the top and bottom deciles of the price distribution, our qualitative results are strengthened, and the statistical significance is improved even further. Our results indicate that both the prices of wines and wine recommendations by experts may be poor guides for non-expert wine consumers.Wine; price/quality relation; expertise

DO MORE EXPENSIVE WINES TASTE BETTER? EVIDENCE FROM A LARGE SAMPLE OF BLIND TASTINGS

Individuals who are unaware of the price do not derive more enjoyment from more expensive wine. In a sample of more than 6,000 blind tastings, we find that the correlation between price and overall rating is small and negative, suggesting that individuals on average enjoy more expensive wines slightly less. For individuals with wine training, however, we find indications of a positive relationship between price and enjoyment. Our results are robust to the inclusion of individual fixed effects, and are not driven by outliers: when omitting the top and bottom deciles of the price distribution, our qualitative results are strengthened, and the statistical significance is improved further. Our results indicate that both the prices of wines and wine recommendations by experts may be poor guides for non-expert wine consumers.wine quality, wire tasting, wine prices, Demand and Price Analysis,

A variational approach to retrieve rain rate by combining information from rain gauges, radars, and microwave links

Accurate and reliable rain rate estimates are important for various hydrometeorological applications. Consequently, rain sensors of different types have been deployed in many regions. In this work, measurements from different instruments, namely, rain gauge, weather radar, and microwave link, are combined for the first time to estimate with greater accuracy the spatial distribution and intensity of rainfall. The objective is to retrieve the rain rate that is consistent with all these measurements while incorporating the uncertainty associated with the different sources of information. Assuming the problem is not strongly nonlinear, a variational approach is implemented and the Gauss–Newton method is used to minimize the cost function containing proper error estimates from all sensors. Furthermore, the method can be flexibly adapted to additional data sources. The proposed approach is tested using data from 14 rain gauges and 14 operational microwave links located in the Zürich area (Switzerland) to correct the prior rain rate provided by the operational radar rain product from the Swiss meteorological service (MeteoSwiss). A cross-validation approach demonstrates the improvement of rain rate estimates when assimilating rain gauge and microwave link information

The Swiss Household Panel 1999-2003: data for research on micro-social change

"Die Umfrage Leben in der Schweiz des Schweizer Haushalt Panels (SHP) bietet eine einzigartige longitudinale Datenbasis an. 1999 wurden 7.799 Personen von 5.074 Haushalten über ihre Lebensbedingungen befragt. Sämtliche 14-jährigen und älteren Personen, die in diesen Haushalten wohnen, sollen fortan während zehn bis fünfzehn Jahren in jährlichem Abstand befragt werden. Die Erhebung wird mittels computerunterstützten Telefoninterviews (CATI: Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) durchgeführt. Mittlerweile konnten die ersten zwei Befragungswellen erfolgreich realisiert werden. Anders als bei den vorwiegend auf sozioökonomischen Bedingungen ausgerichteten Panels - wie dem SOEP in Deutschland und dem BHPS in England - deckt das SHP ein breites Spektrum von Themen und sozialwissenschaftlichen Forschungsansätzen ab. Das Faktenmaterial wird ergänzt durch 'subjektive' Beurteilungen. Die Trägerschaft des SHPs besteht aus dem Schwerpunktprogramm SPP 'Zukunft Schweiz', dem Bundesamt für Statistik und der Universität Neuchâtel." (Autorenreferat)"The Living in Switzerland survey of the Swiss Household Panel (SHP) provides a unique longitudinal database in Switzerland. In 1999, 7,799 members of 5,074 households – from a stratified random sample of the permanent resident population of Switzerland – were interviewed about their living conditions. All household members aged 14 years and older are to be interviewed annually for 10 to 15 years. The SHP survey is conducted using computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). To date, the first two waves have been carried out successfully. In comparison with panels such as the SOEP in Germany and the BHPS in Britain concentrating on socio-economic conditions, the SHP covers a broader range of topics and approaches in the social sciences. Subjective assessments complement the factual information. The SHP is a joint project run by the Swiss Priority Programme (SPP) 'Switzerland towards the Future', the Swiss Federal Statistical Office and the University of Neuchâtel." (author's abstract