Practice Note Research Articles

How can I deal with missing data in my study?

Missing data in medical research is a common problem that has long been recognised by statisticians and medical researchers alike. In general, if the effect of missing data is not taken into account the results of the statistical analyses will be biased and the amount of variability in the data will not be correctly estimated. There are three main types of missing data pattern: Missing Completely At Random (MCAR), Missing At Random (MAR) and Not Missing At Random (NMAR). The type of missing data that a researcher has in their dataset determines the appropriate method to use in handling the missing data before a formal statistical analysis begins. The aim of this practice note is to describe these patterns of missing data and how they can occur, as well describing the methods of handling them. Simple and more complex methods are described, including the advantages and disadvantages of each method as well as their availability in routine software. It is good practice to perform a sensitivity analysis employing different missing data techniques in order to assess the robustness of the conclusions drawn from each approach.

MACRS DEPRECIATION WITH A SPREADSHEET FUNCTION: A TEACHING AND PRACTICE NOTE

ABSTRACT While Excel™ and Quatlro Pro™ do not have a function MACRS(cost, class life, year), they do have a variable declining balance function, VDB, that can be used to compute annual MACRS depreciation amounts. A literature search of journals and texts did not find examples using this function nor did it find other shortcut approaches to MACRS calculations. A built-in spreadsheet function is clearly superior to relying on hard coding percentages copied from texts or IRS tables or building tables to calculate MACRS percentages. This article 1) describes the underlying definition of the variable declining balance function (VDB), 2( notes some quirks and errors in other spreadsheet depreciation functions and accompanying explanatory material. 3) shows how VDB can be used to calculate MACRS depreciation, 4) provides an example of its use. and 5) suggests useful further developments.

Lessons Learned from Establishing a Research and Evaluation Unit for a Regional Health Authority

Abstract: The Canadian health care establishment changed rapidly during the 1990s as several provinces adopted regionalization to reduce costs and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of health service delivery. In Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Winnipeg Community and Long Term Care Authority (WCA) is one of two such local health authorities. The WCA established a Research and Evaluation Unit (REU) to support the effective monitoring and evaluation of dozens of WCA programs and services. Regional health authorities face several challenges with respect to how to evaluate their diverse programs and services. Using the WCA for illustrative purposes, this practice note provides suggestions for addressing these challenges.

Development of the role of the out-patient tenovus support nurse in head and neck cancer care

The Tenovus Cancer Information Centre (TCIC) is a sister charity to the internationally renowned cancer research charity Tenovus and offers a national Freephone cancer helpline 365 days a year. The helpline is manned by experienced cancer nurses who will give information and support to patients with cancer, carers, the general public and health personnel. The charity also employs its own team of social workers, and offers a counselling service. Since 1992, Tenovus Support Nurses (TSNs) have been offering information and support services from bases in a number of cancer clinics in South East Wales (and other locations in the UK), supported by charitable funds. The contact with the patient and family in the out-patient clinic may simply involve an introduction by the nurse about the role of the TCIC, and the giving of a card with the helpline number on it. More commonly, immediate time and privacy is provided to enable the patient and their family to discuss their questions, problems and fears. The introduction of a TSN into a particular clinic is by mutual agreement with hospital management, clinical staff and Tenovus themselves. For the TSN working in oncology clinics, this new role represents a departure from their other work of manning the helpline at the TCIC. The Tenovus nurse comes from an outside agency into the phrenetic world of out-patient care. The new role is not clearly defined as each client group has different needs, and new relationships have to be formed with a whole host of established staff. This practice note will chart the development of the role of one of the TSNs during the first year of appointment in a head and neck cancer clinic.

Evaluating Planning Bodies: Some First Steps from the District Health Council System

Abstract: The sixteen district health councils (DHCs) in Ontario are mandated to provide advice to the Minister of Health on the health needs of residents in their respective districts. Like much of the broader public service, in recent years DHCs have come under increased pressure to prove their value. This practice note reviews the evaluation efforts of a small rural DHC and discusses some of the challenges facing the DHC system as a whole as it struggles to become more accountable.

Moving beyond “police-community relations” and “the police and society”: Community-oriented policing as an academic course

This practice note focuses on the new policing paradigm, community-oriented policing. I discuss why the past academic subject of “police-community relations” and the more contemporary “police and society” should be updated in criminal justice programs, explain why it is an important area of study and provide a current assessment of community-oriented policing as an academic course. I also describe an approach for developing and teaching a course in community-oriented policing. Included are an assessment of course content; potential references including books, videos and Internet sites; and active learning strategies.

Practice Note: Anger Control Work with Short Sentence and Remand Prisoners

Dave Morrison, Probation Officer at Norwich Prison, describes his initiative to provide a flexible programme for those who tend to miss out on groupwork opportunities.

Building surveys of residential property ‐ the new guidance note

Discusses the new guidance notes for building surveys of residential properties. Details, first, the background to the Building Surveyors’ Division’s new practice note setting out guidelines for surveys of residential properties.

On teaching comparative criminal justice: Lessons learned

This practice note describes an approach for developing and teaching a course in comparative criminal justice systems. Included are a rationale for the course, some suggestions for selecting venues, and the use of resource and lecture materials, subjective examinations, team presentations, book reviews, research papers, and miscellaneous matters (i.e., guest speakers, videos, and current events). Also discussed are problems involved in providing students with current library resources.

Prevalent Department of Social Services’ Client Satisfaction: A Research and Practice Note

Abstract: This successive cross-sectional or panel study evaluated the City of Windsor’s Department of Social Services, specifically, the Special Services and Children’s Services Branches from 1990 to 1994. Their programs were assessed with quantitative (consumer satisfaction questionnaire, CSQ-8, score range = 8 to 32 [Larsen, Attkisson, Hargreaves, & Nguyen, 1979]) and qualitative (e.g., open-coded queries about what they liked most and least about the social services they received) measures of client satisfaction.

Sensitivity Analysis in Outcome Evaluations: A Research and Practice Note

Abstract: Every evaluation study uses data that are uncertain to some degree. Therefore, the analyst and the decision-maker need to know how much the outcome of the evaluation varies given the plausible variation in uncertain data inputs. That is, how sensitive is the outcome of the analysis to a particular input variable? This note discusses what characteristics make for sensitivity, what techniques to use to clarify sensitivity (especially graphic techniques), and how to interpret the result.

Guidelines are set for persistent vegetative state

The official solicitor, Peter Harris, has issued guidance for health authorities and NHS trusts in Britain, reminding them to seek the High Court's approval before withdrawing artificial feeding and hydration from patients in a persistent vegetative state. His practice note, issued last week, follows the second case in which the court has sanctioned the withdrawal of feeding for patients in the persistent vegetative state. The celebrated case of Tony Bland, the survivor of the Hillsborough football stadium disaster, went to the House of Lords last year and established that such patients need not be kept alive indefinitely. In …

TREES AND FOUNDATIONS—A REASSESSMENT

Summary The abstraction of water from the soil by tree roots causes damage tofoundations by shrinking clay soils. The factors determining whether or not damage occurs are the water supply to the ground, the flow of water through the ground to the trees roots, the water demand of the tree, and the shrinkability of the clay. Crude investigation of the extent to which a sample of clay is dessicated is shown to be possible by using the Liquidity Index as a measure of suction; a better indication is possible by measuring suction in the filter paper test, but both methods suffer because of the uncertainty in the contribution that stress relief has made to the suction measured. The main information available at present on damage to foundations by shrinkage of clay due to the water demand of trees is published in the National House Building Council Standards Chapter 4.2 (originally Practice Note 3). The most important factor involved s the water demand of the tree; the information given in the practice note is in...

PRACTICE NOTE No. 3 of 1992

PRACTICE NOTE No. 3 of 1992

Practice Note: Questions and Answers Regarding ESOPs for Family Businesses

Assessing the applicability of employee stock ownership plans for a family firm requires a basic understanding of their characteristics, followed by a careful analysis of the costs and benefits in the specific case. This note provides general information and offers guides for the critical, specific questions an adviser or owner should ask.

Limitations of assessing attitudinal change among students of criminal justice

Establishing causal relationships is an elusive process for criminal justice researchers. Elimination of rival causal factors tends to be the most problematic area. This practice note first describes the methodology of a recent study conducted by the authors and then elaborates on the methodological problems inherent in the search to establish a causal relationship between course work and attitudinal change among students enrolled in introductory criminal justice classes.

Engineering theory of slide processes in the design of earth dams on a soft ground foundation

1. The engineering theory of slide processes, existing practice (slides that have occurred on constructed earth dams), and also the existing standards and recommendations are unanimous in that for earth dams having a soft ground foundation, rotational slip along a cylindrical surface of sliding is the potentially most dangerous. Furthermore, the theory of slide processes and existing practice note that under certain conditions described above slides due to bulging and spreading are also possible on these dams. However, the existing standards and recommendations orient the designer to checking the stability of slopes of dams in the presence of weakened interlayers along plane surfaces of sliding. 2. Investigations show that the engineering method of calculating the stability of slopes of earth dams must be optimized together with other operations providing a prediction and monitoring of the stability of the slopes, which amount in volume to 70–90% of all this work. It is also necessary to check the method of calculation on a number of dams that have actually failed. The VNIIG-Terzaghi method, for example, passed such a check, in the literature there are no data on such a check of the method of inclined forces of interaction. 3. It is necessary to take into account that the geological section of the dam foundation is regarded by the geologist as a more or less substantiated geological and geotechnical hypothesis which is refined as data are accumulated. Therefore, it is very important to check the initial geological information during construction by engineering means — to construct an experimental embankment equipped with monitoring and measuring instruments, etc., and also to have the practical possibility of repeating the calculations of the dam after each refinement of the initial information in order to correct in good time the design of the dam in conformity with the actual conditions. Several examples of such kind are described in [3].

PRACTICE NOTE No. 4 of 1985

PRACTICE NOTE No. 4 of 1985