Personal space : bring on the physics revolution

Some years ago a student submitted a practical assignment in which he wrote something along these lines: I collected the data on Sauchiehall Street on Friday afternoon. I asked any young-looking males (who didnt look too scary!) to fill in the questionnaire. It started to rain about four oclock so I went in Costa Coffee, and when I came out there werent so many people about, so I finished it off on Saturday morning. Colleagues felt this was inappropriate in a practical essay on a scientific subject. They objected to the use of the word I, which by definition made it a subjective account; and they suggested that a phrase such as Data were collected from a random sample of young males would have been more suitable. But I disagreed strongly, arguing that the student account was more informative, more scientific, more honest, and there was no attempt to hide behind scientific rhetoric. And obviously, the sample could not be called random

Book review: The globalisation of addiction: a study in poverty of the spirit

This book review is about 'The globalisation of addiction: a study in poverty of the spirit' by Bruce Alexander

Convergence of eigenvalues for a highly non-self-adjoint differential operator

In this paper we study a family of operators dependent on a small parameter $\epsilon > 0$, which arise in a problem in fluid mechanics. We show that the spectra of these operators converge to N as $\epsilon \to 0$, even though, for fixed $\epsilon > 0$, the eigenvalue asymptotics are quadratic.Comment: 16 page

An Improved Method for Calibrating Purchase Intentions in Stated Preference Demand Models

The Orbit demand model allows the magnitude of the calibration to stated purchase intentions to vary based on the magnitude of the stated quantities. Using an empirical example of stated trips, we find that the extent of calibration varies substantially with less correction needed at small stated trips (–25%) but larger corrections at higher quantities of stated visits (–48%). We extend the Orbit model to calculate consumer surplus per stated trip of $26. Combining the calibrations in stated trips and value per trip, the Orbit model provides estimates of annual benefits from 60% to 111% less than the count data model.hypothetical bias, Orbit, ordered probit model, travel cost model, recreation, stated preference, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Financial Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Marketing, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, D12, H44, Q26, Q51,

A New Approach to Correct for Hypothetical Bias in Stated Preference Models

Many times economists are asked to estimate the demand for new consumer goods or services for which no market data exists. Typically market researchers and economists answer this challenge using surveys that ask about intended purchases (Louviere, et al. 2000) or what has become known as stated preference (SP) data. Tying this data to revealed preference (RP), or actual behavior, has been a target in a number of studies. Simplistic calibrations have been investigated in past RP-SP studies, such as Loomis, et al. 2001. This paper offers an alternative solution that allows the magnitude of the calibration correction to vary based on Klein and Sherman's (1997) Orbit procedure. This paper extends the original Orbit procedure of Klein and Sherman by Combining stated and revealed preference data on quantities and prices in the first stage, incorporating a correction for heteroskedasticity, and developing methods to calculate consumer surplus and elasticities.Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Microwave-induced resistance oscillations and zero-resistance states in 2D electron systems with two occupied subbands

We report on theoretical studies of recently discovered microwave-induced resistance oscillations and zero resistance states in Hall bars with two occupied subbands. In the same results, resistance presents a peculiar shape which appears to have a built-in interference effect not observed before. We apply the microwave-driven electron orbit model, which implies a radiation-driven oscillation of the two-dimensional electron system. Thus, we calculate different intra and inter-subband electron scattering rates and times that are revealing as different microwave-driven oscillations frequencies for the two electronic subbands. Through scattering, these subband-dependent oscillation motions interfere giving rise to a striking resistance profile. We also study the dependence of irradiated magnetoresistance with power and temperature. Calculated results are in good agreement with experiments.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Source parameters of earthquakes, and discrimination between earthquakes and nuclear explosions

The first part of this study describes a technique by which the source parameters of an earthquake can be obtained from the spectrum of compressional waves. The source parameters defined are fault length, fracture velocity, and fault plane attitude. Two large, deep earthquakes are examined using this technique. The source parameters determined compare favorably with those obtained previously using different techniques. In the second section a method is proposed for discrimination between underground explosions and earthquakes. The technique utilizes the ratio of the spectrums of the two classes of events where the path of propagation is common to both. On the basis of the analysis of the SHOAL event and a nearby shallow earthquake it appears that the duration as determined from the spectral ratio is almost 10 times smaller for an explosion than it is for a comparable earthquake