Bayesian correction for covariate measurement error: a frequentist evaluation and comparison with regression calibration

Bayesian approaches for handling covariate measurement error are well established, and yet arguably are still relatively little used by researchers. For some this is likely due to unfamiliarity or disagreement with the Bayesian inferential paradigm. For others a contributory factor is the inability of standard statistical packages to perform such Bayesian analyses. In this paper we first give an overview of the Bayesian approach to handling covariate measurement error, and contrast it with regression calibration (RC), arguably the most commonly adopted approach. We then argue why the Bayesian approach has a number of statistical advantages compared to RC, and demonstrate that implementing the Bayesian approach is usually quite feasible for the analyst. Next we describe the closely related maximum likelihood and multiple imputation approaches, and explain why we believe the Bayesian approach to generally be preferable. We then empirically compare the frequentist properties of RC and the Bayesian approach through simulation studies. The flexibility of the Bayesian approach to handle both measurement error and missing data is then illustrated through an analysis of data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Meanings of social exclusion and inclusion in relation to older people with dementia in care homes

This thesis explores the meaning of social exclusion in relation to older people with dementia in care homes. Its central objective is to identify the main influences shaping meanings of exclusion and inclusion in this context, and to understand how these influences are personally encountered and countered. The social model of disability underpins and directs the investigation as this framework already offers a convincing account of what social exclusion and inclusion means to people with disabilities. A secondary objective is to therefore evaluate the relevance of this model to understanding the position of this group of people in this setting. A variety of qualitative methods are used to provide a subjectively rich and diverse account of meanings of social exclusion and inclusion in this particular context. Influences shaping meanings of exclusion and inclusion are primarily analysed and explored through the accounts of care home life given by individuals with dementia, their relatives, other residents, home care managers and care workers. In addition, individual care records and organisational policy and publicity are analysed for cultural representations of dementia and disability. It is argued in this thesis that in relation to the people and places involved in this study the core meaning of social exclusion is loss of identity. The main influences leading to this conclusion were social, psychological, economic, organisational and biological in nature and form. In addition, it is argued that while the social model of disability usefully politicises the position of older people with dementia in care homes, the binary opposition on which it is based, namely medical/social, is too simplistic for understanding the complex and fluid relationships, that the people with dementia involved in this study, had with their social world

Modifying the Diary Interview Method to Research the Lives of People With Dementia

Debates about involving people with dementia in qualitative research are extensive, yet the range of methods used is limited. Researchers tend to rely on interview and/or observation methods to collect data, even though these tools might preclude participation. I modified the conventional diary interview method to include photo and audio diaries in an effort to investigate the lives of people with dementia in a participatory way. Sixteen people with dementia kept a diary—written, photo, or audio, whichever suited them best—for 1 month. The purposes of this article are to share the methodological insights gained from this process in the context of emerging literature on sensory ethnography, and to argue for the broader application of the diary interview method in dementia-related research, on the grounds that it mediates an equal relationship and makes visible the “whole person,” including the environment in which that person lives

The use of obsessions and delusions as a tragic device in the major plays of Eugene O\u27Neill

This introductory chapter contains definitions of obsessions and delusions, and examines the validity of these ideas as tragic devices. It discusses obsessions from the point of view of Freud and Jung. The major plays of Eugene O’Neill have been divided into three psychological types: the first type we shall call the statement-of-the-problem plays; the second, the simple anima plays; the third, the complex anima plays. These terms and divisions will be explained as we proceed