Statistical Analysis Of Survey Research Articles

CHALLENGES IN INTEGRATING BIM INTO CONSTRUCTION SAFETY MANAGEMENT

While studies depict Building Information Modeling (BIM) as a technological innovation with a high potential for construction hazard identification and safety implementation, challenges arise due to different understandings and strategies in utilizing BIM among organizations and professionals. This paper reflects on the challenges of integrating BIM for construction safety systems through a statistical survey analysis about the status of BIM integration for construction safety management. The survey results gathered from 208 respondents were analyzed the aid of the R programming language. The findings highlighted the difficulties encountered by professionals with experience in using BIM for construction safety mitigation, who work in various countries, different company classifications, job roles, and the number of years of work experience. Furthermore, the survey identified the need for knowledge on using BIM software, and digital data management and needing more experts and references among the challenges in applying BIM in construction safety planning and implementation. Fewer respondents used automation tools and referenced safety standard regulations in BIM to identify hazards and plan construction safety layouts. Thus, this study provides a helpful reference for future research, particularly in developing frameworks and automation processes that enhance construction safety through BIM applications. In conclusion, it is imperative to address the challenges in integrating BIM into construction safety management to successfully utilize the technology to promote safety and health in the construction industry.

Evaluating e-Government: Themes, trends, and directions for future research

As observed by e-Government scholars, the use of digital technology in the public sector has intensified during the last decade. With digital infrastructures becoming more complex, we argue that it is important to study the evaluation of their use. In this paper, we study the literature on the evaluation of e-Government. With a bibliometric analysis of keywords, combined with a narrative analysis of highly cited papers, we sought to characterize the literature on evaluation and identify themes and trends to propose directions for further research. Our findings reveal seven themes of e-Government evaluation research. Our analysis of highly cited papers disclosed that the literature is characterized by a service-dominant logic, with citizens’ adoption of government services and Web sites being assessed by statistical analysis of surveys. We note the shaky theoretical foundations of e-Government evaluation, a field that has been subject to a plethora of localized models. We conclude that evaluation efforts in e-Government research have been characterized by studies in which digital technology efforts have been judged on narrow grounds, such as ease of use. Based on these findings, we propose a research agenda that includes a shift from evaluation of services to a focus on “big questions”, such as emancipation and democracy. We propose that scholars should undertake more case studies of evaluative practices to form stronger theories with solid empirical foundations.

Using a Climate Change Risk Perceptions Framing to Identify Gaps in Climate Services

Given the rise in climate services for decision-making, it is important to understand whether these services are meeting the context-specific needs of decision-makers, including identifying any gaps in current climate services. This study sets out to investigate the efficacy of current climate services provision in east Africa through the lens of climate change risk perceptions. Risk perceptions have established relationships with important aspects of the decision context and have been shown to influence the kinds of information people use in making decisions, therefore, an understanding of how elements of risk perceptions relate to climate services use can provide valuable insights for enhancing climate services. Using this premise, the relationships between determinants of climate change risk perceptions and the use of climate services information are explored through a combination of statistical survey analysis and qualitative interview analysis. The analysis revealed three main gaps in climate services in east Africa. These gaps include the lack of long-term climate change projections disseminated through National Meteorological Services (NMS), limited locally ground-truthed delivery of impact-based forecasts and the requirement for specialist capacity to use some complex climate services. Filling these gaps will require enhanced collaboration between the NMS, other providers of climate-related information (such as research institutes) and the practitioner and user communities in order to facilitate the coordinated delivery of locally ground-truthed impact-based forecasts, facilitate capacity development across the user-producer spectrum and augment the role of the NMS as conduits of climate change information.

New Model for Osteoporosis Risk Screening Using Emergency Department Visits.

BackgroundEven though osteoporosis is the most common bone disease in the United States, it is frequently underscreened and underdiagnosed. In this study, we aimed to utilize the Emergency Department to conduct preemptive osteoporosis risk screening and assess the risk associated with gender and race based on a statistical analysis of survey responses.MethodologyPatients >40 years of age presenting at two Emergency Departments were eligible. Consenting patients were asked questions from a modified One-Minute Osteoporosis Risk Test. Modifiable, fixed, and total (modifiable risks + fixed risks) risk sums were calculated. For the association test, chi-square and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used. Four total risk categories were created (0-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6+). Odds of being in a higher risk category were analyzed using univariate ordinal logistic regression.ResultsThe prevalence of both a fixed and modifiable risk was 62.2%. Women were more likely than men to report a risk (81.2% vs. 67.5%; p = 0.0043) and to be in a higher risk category (odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 1.63 [1.09-2.45]; p = 0.018). Evidence strongly indicated an unadjusted association of race and modifiable risk category (p < 0.001), with more than half of African Americans (53.0%) in the highest category compared to 26.0% of whites. The total risk was higher in African Americans than whites (OR [95% CI] = 1.75 [1.15-2.67]; p = 0.010).ConclusionsRace and gender were associated with specific risk factors. The Emergency Department proved to be a feasible location for conducting health maintenance screenings and should be considered for patient-specific routine osteoporosis risk screenings.

Imputing missings in official statistics for general tasks – our vote for distributional accuracy

In statistical survey analysis, (partial) non-responders are integral elements during data acquisition. Treating missing values during data preparation and data analysis is therefore a non-trivial underpinning. Focusing on the German Structure of Earnings data from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (DESTATIS), we investigate various imputation methods regarding their imputation accuracy and its impact on parameter estimates in the analysis phase after imputation. Since imputation accuracy measures are not uniquely determined in theory and practice, we study different measures for assessing imputation accuracy: Beyond the most common measures, the normalized-root mean squared error (NRMSE) and the proportion of false classification (PFC), we put a special focus on (distribution) distance measures for assessing imputation accuracy. The aim is to deliver guidelines for correctly assessing distributional accuracy after imputation and the potential effect on parameter estimates such as the mean gross income. Our empirical findings indicate a discrepancy between the NRMSE resp. PFC and distance measures. While the latter measure distributional similarities, NRMSE and PFC focus on data reproducibility. We realize that a low NRMSE or PFC is in general not accompanied by lower distributional discrepancies. However, distributional based measures correspond with more accurate parameter estimates such as mean gross income under the (multiple) imputation scheme.

Estimating Cetacean Bycatch From Non-representative Samples (I): A Simulation Study With Regularized Multilevel Regression and Post-stratification

Bycatch, the non-intentional capture or killing of non-target species in commercial or recreational fisheries, is a world wide threat to protected, endangered or threatened species (PETS) of marine megafauna. Obtaining accurate bycatch estimates of PETS is challenging: the only data available may come from non-dedicated schemes, and may not be representative of the whole fisheries effort. We investigated, with simulated data, a model-based approach for estimating PETS bycatch from non-representative samples. We leveraged recent development in the statistical analysis of surveys, namely regularized multilevel regression with post-stratification, to infer total bycatch under realistic scenarios of data sampling such as under-sampling or over-sampling when PETS bycatch risk is high. Post-stratification is a survey technique to re-align the sample with the population and addresses the problem of non-representative samples. Post-stratification requires to sub-divide a population of interest into potentially hundreds of cells corresponding to the cross-classification of important attributes. Multilevel regression accommodate this data structure, and the statistical technique of regularization can be used to predict for each of these hundreds of cells. We illustrated these statistical ideas by modeling bycatch risk for each week within a year with as few as a handful of observed PETS bycatch events. The model-based approach led to improvements, under mild assumptions, both in terms of accuracy and precision of estimates and was more robust to non-representative samples compared to more design-based methods currently in use. In our simulations, there was no detrimental effects of using the model-based even when sampling was representative. Estimating PETS bycatch ideally requires dedicated observer schemes and adequate coverage of fisheries effort. We showed how a model-based approach combining sparse data typical of PETS bycatch and recent methodological developments can help when both dedicated observer schemes and adequate coverage are challenging to implement.

A study on changes in attitudes towards settling in Toyama through education from the perspective of fostering regional leaders at University of Toyama.

The purpose of this study is to consider how to increase students’ inclination of regional settlement, based on the statistical analysis of surveys took in the community-oriented courses, called COC+ courses, implemented in 2018 at University of Toyama. We used a questionnaire survey method and took questionnaires to students in COC+ courses of three course-groups, “region-oriented course-group”, “regional PBL course-group” and “region-related course-group”, newly set up through the implementation of COC+ project. Despite our intentions, the results of this survey suggest that the regional PBL courses are likely to reduce the students’ inclination of regional settlement. Region-oriented courses are also, with regret, likely to have no effect on the inclination. The analysis of the individual courses of the region-oriented course-group shows that to increase students’ inclination of regional settlement, it must be effective to address the regional problems and their solutions, and embed a lot of opportunities for students to check their own lifestyles in courses.

Analysis of occupational health surveillance for workers on offshore platforms

Objective: To understand the status of occupational health surveillance for workers on offshore platforms. Methods: The research period was from 2014 to 2016. From 2014 to 2016, a cross-sectional survey method was adopted to select 429 people for offshore oil production, drilling and operation platforms and their first-line workers to conduct workplace occupational hygiene. Investigation, occupational hazard factor testing, occupational health check of workers, collation and statistical analysis of surveys and test data, and comparison of occupational health surveillance among workers of different types of offshore platforms. Results: From 2014 to 2016, the results of chemical harmful factors detection of occupational diseases in the offshore platform were in line with the national occupational health exposure limit requirements. The noise of some platform posts exceeded the standard, such as: oil platform oil, oil and oil and gas processing workers, diesel engines for drilling and working platforms. Worker noise exceeds national occupational health limits p[L(ex, 8 h)>85 dB(A)].There was a statistically significant difference in the occupational health of workers on the same platform with the age and length of service (P<0.05). Conclusion: Workers on different platforms at sea may be subject to different levels of occupational health damage, and the occupational hazards brought by noise to platform workers are particularly prominent.

Wartości w pracy zawodowej nauczycieli – w świetle badań empirycznych

The article presents statistical analysis of survey results on the value of the work of teachers. The study was quantitative conducted in late 2014 and 2015 for different types of schools in the area of Świetokrzyskie and neighboring voivodeships. We used a questionnaire about aspirations of life, values and needs of teachers and a personal autobiographical statement on „The meaning and dignity of my life and work”. In total, there were collected 405 surveys were collected and 112 posts of teachers in three age groups (generational): • Young teachers (up to 35 years of age) (141 questionnaires and 35 posts), • Teachers in middle age (36–50) (154 questionnaires and 39 posts), • Teachers elderly (over 51 years) (110 questionnaires and 38 posts). An important theme in the studies undertaken is an attempt to compare the values of social life and professional currently working teachers with their image 25 years ago. Because just at that time – at the turn of the year 1989–1990 – there was carried out the same test on the same site, the results of which were published in my book Generations of teachers (1993). The second plane benchmarking closely linked to the previous one, has a generational dimension. In this respect it is important to know how teachers perceive their role, social life and work, and the we appreciate the value of teachers from different generations whose habitus and the fate of life and work shaped the different socio-political, cultural and economic conditions.

Awareness Analysis of Smart Car Parking System in Heterogeneous High Density Clusters

The swiftly growing urban population of Nigeria is generating lots of tension in the cities in line with the rapid increase of vehicles. This is due to hitherto reliance on the present parking system which has no standard to check for parking spaces, hence generating problems such as traffic congestion, time wastage in search of parking slot, fuel consumption/CO emission, insecurity of vehicles etc. This work presents a quantitative statistical survey analysis conducted in selected metropolitan cities in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The aim is to create awareness on Smart Car Parking System (SCPS) for heterogeneous clustered environments. The results of the conducted analysis showed that the awareness of this innovative technology is still at its tender stage in Nigeria. Findings shows that people are willing to adopt this new technology to assist in overcoming the challenges faced in the present parking system that is unstructured. A brief description of proposed SCPS based on Big data hardware is presented.

Abstract P184: Occupation Type, Hypertension Status and Awareness Among Hispanic/Latino Adults: Findings From the Hispanic Community Health Study/ Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL)

Introduction: Occupation types, e.g. service, have been associated with hypertension (HTN). Data from Hispanics/Latinos are limited, despite high rates of HTN-related morbidity. We examined prevalence of HTN status and awareness by occupation type and association of occupation type with HTN status among Hispanic/Latino adults. Methods: Baseline data from HCHS/SOL, a cohort of diverse Hispanics/Latinos ages 18-74 in 2008-11, were used. Participants (N=7,429, mean age 38.9 years) reported current occupation (definition in Table). HTN was defined as elevated blood pressure (≥ 140/≥90 mm Hg) or self-reported use of antihypertensives; HTN awareness as self-reported physician diagnosed HTN. Survey statistical analyses were weighted and stratified by sex. Effect modification by years in the US, language and social acculturation was tested. Results: Non-skilled worker was the most common occupation type (males 30.1%; females 25.3%). Age-adjusted prevalence of HTN was highest in service workers (males 20.7%; females 17.4%); lowest in non-skilled workers (males 15.5 %; females 14.2%). The prevalence of HTN awareness was lowest in non-skilled male workers (48.2%); highest in females in higher status occupations (76.8%). The association of occupation type with HTN status varied by social acculturation (i.e. preferred ethnicity of social relations). In males, service workers with low social acculturation (preferred Hispanic/Latino social relations) had lower odds of HTN compared to those in higher status occupations, while service or skilled workers with high social acculturation had higher odds of HTN. Female non-skilled workers with low social acculturation had higher odds of HTN compared to higher status occupations (Table). Conclusions: Among Hispanics/Latinos, prevalence of HTN status and awareness varies by occupation type. Occupation type and social acculturation are jointly associated with HTN status. Strategies for HTN prevention and awareness should take into account occupational differences.

Semantic Doctor Assistant: An Ontology-based Disease Classification in Biomedicine

Human disease data is a cornerstone of biomedical research for diseases’ classification and recommended treatments so; there is a significant need for a standardized representation of human diseases and an efficient algorithm for retrieving information from it. The Semantic Doctor Assistant (SDA) has been designed to help doctors to find proper information about a specific disease using semantic web technology rather than other simple keyword-based search. A preliminary usability study has been done to evaluate the system by measuring user’s satisfaction through a statistical analysis of surveys. This study would measure the relevance of the information retrieved for each search query and how the system is important in the field of medicine and how it will help academic doctors in their research and non-academic doctors in their work.

The Economic Burden of Vision Loss and Eye Disorders among the United States Population Younger than 40 Years

To estimate the economic burden of vision loss and eye disorders in the United States population younger than 40 years in 2012. Econometric and statistical analysis of survey, commercial claims, and census data. The United States population younger than 40 years in 2012. We categorized costs based on consensus guidelines. We estimated medical costs attributable to diagnosed eye-related disorders, undiagnosed vision loss, and medical vision aids using Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and MarketScan data. The prevalence of vision impairment and blindness were estimated using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. We estimated costs from lost productivity using Survey of Income and Program Participation. We estimated costs of informal care, low vision aids, special education, school screening, government spending, and transfer payments based on published estimates and federal budgets. We estimated quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) lost based on published utility values. Costs and QALYs lost in 2012. The economic burden of vision loss and eye disorders among the United States population younger than 40 years was $27.5 billion in 2012 (95% confidence interval, $21.5-$37.2 billion), including $5.9 billion for children and $21.6 billion for adults 18 to 39 years of age. Direct costs were $14.5 billion, including $7.3 billion in medical costs for diagnosed disorders, $4.9 billion in refraction correction, $0.5 billion in medical costs for undiagnosed vision loss, and $1.8 billion in other direct costs. Indirect costs were $13 billion, primarily because of $12.2 billion in productivity losses. In addition, vision loss cost society 215 000 QALYs. We found a substantial burden resulting from vision loss and eye disorders in the United States population younger than 40 years, a population excluded from previous studies. Monetizing quality-of-life losses at $50 000 per QALY would add $10.8 billion in additional costs, indicating a total economic burden of $38.2 billion. Relative to previously reported estimates for the population 40 years of age and older, more than one third of the total cost of vision loss and eye disorders may be incurred by persons younger than 40 years. The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.

Estimation of a proportion in survey sampling using the logratio approach

The estimation of a mean of a proportion is a frequent task in statistical survey analysis, and often such ratios are estimated from compositions such as income components, wage components, tax components, etc. In practice, the weighted arithmetic mean is regularly used to estimate the center of the data. However, this estimator is not appropriate if the ratios are estimated from compositions, because the sample space of compositional data is the simplex and not the usual Euclidean space. We demonstrate that the weighted geometric mean is useful for this purpose. Even for different sampling designs, the weighted geometric mean shows excellent behavior.

Key elements in the statistical analysis of surveys

Key elements in the statistical analysis of surveys

Understanding farmers' monitoring of water tables for salinity management

Given the prominence of dryland salinity as a resource management problem in Australia, it might be expected that farmers would keenly monitor the levels of saline groundwater under their farms. However, many farmers choose not to monitor, in some cases even when they have previously installed bores suitable for this purpose. We investigated this apparent paradox by analysing the monitoring behaviour of a group of farmers in the Jerramungup region of southern Western Australia. The farmers are unusual in displaying a very high rate of monitoring compared with other regions, although this rate has fallen over the past decade. A range of physical, economic and social influences on monitoring behaviour are identified by statistical analysis of survey and physical data. A key finding is that farmers who are using the information from monitoring to assess salinity management strategies implemented on their farms are likely to monitor more frequently. This suggests that monitoring frequency may be driven in large part by the availability of suitable salinity management practices that can be implemented, in contrast to the view that adoption of salinity management practices may be enhanced by programs that encourage monitoring.

Incentive Schemes and Foreign Investment in the Industrialization of Malaysia

Post-independence, Malaysia has implemented policies to encourage private foreign investment (PFI) in the manufacturing industries through a plethora of incentive schemes (tax relief, pioneer status, investment tax credits, export incentives, locational incentives). The incentive schemes aimed to rectify the skewed nature of PFI which has concentrated in traditional extractive industries pre-independence, by encouraging diversification into manufacturing. However, the statistical analysis of survey results reveal that the incentive packages were ineffective and PFI was attracted to Malaysia and Singapore in order to gain a beachhead as a centre for regional distribution. Furthermore, the incentive schemes promoted capital-intensive industries and were located in developed regions with good infrastructure and financial services. Furthermore, the incentive schemes perpetuated unprofitable projects resulting in a drain on potential fiscal revenue. The study clearly reveals that whilst incentives such as free trade zones (FTZ) and tax-concessions promoted export oriented industries, overall the incentive packages were ineffective or even counterproductive. It appears that PFI is attracted more by non-incentive factors such as political stability and sound macroeconomic policies rather than tax-incentives. The need to reshape policies to attract the type of PFI that will generate employment and develop the rural hinterland needs to be addressed. In this context the prospects for regional cooperation among the ASEAN countries to counteract the 'concessions war' by harmonization of tax and incentive policies is moot.

A Quantitative Survey of the Macrobenthos of Western Port, Victoria

The results of the first bay-wide quantitative survey of the invertebrate macrobenthos of Westeln Port, Victoria (145� E., 38�S.) are presented. Three 0.1-m² samples were taken with a Smith- McIntyre grab at each of 41 randomly selected sampling stations, and the results were used to provide both bay-wide and regional estimates of population distribution and abundance. More than 19 600 individuals were collected, and 572 species identified. The fauna is dominated by polychaetes, crustaceans and molluscs which provided respectively 54.1, 31.7 and 6.6% of the individuals collected and 35.7,47.7 and 10.3 % of the species identified. Comparison of faunal affinity between stations showed two major faunal assemblages whose distributions are linked with sediment type. These assemblages are a 'clean medium sand' assemblage distributed in the deeper (&gt; 5.5 rn) sublittoral channel areas, and a 'fine sand and mud' assemblage distributed over the tidal flats and in shallow (&lt; 5.5 m) sublittoral areas. Species characteristic of the 'clean medium sand' assemblage are the polychaetes Scoloplos spp. 1-4, Rhodine sp. and Travisia sp. ; the bivalves Neotrigonia margaritacea, Notocallista diemenensis, Solen vaginoides and Venericardia bimaculata; and the crustaceans Halicarcinus rostratus, Ampelisca sp., Cheirighotis megacheles, Leptanthura diemenensis and Paranchialina angusta. Characteristic of the 'fine sand and mud' assemblage are the polychaetes Amaeana sp. and Mediomastus sp.; the bivalves Tellina deltoidalis, T. mariae and Katelysia rhytiphora; and the decapod crustaceans Pontophilus intermedius, Macrobrachium intermedium, Halicarcinus ovatus and Litocheira bispinosa. A third, minor assemblage was also recognized. This contains the stations nearest to Hastings, the largest centre of urban and industrial development in the bay. The fauna at these stations is impoverished in species and low in species diversity. Both affinity analyses and survey statistical analyses were applied to the data. The advantages and limitations of each are discussed.

Public Health Bulletin No. 162. A Health Study of Ten Thousand Male Industrial Workers. Statistical Analysis of Surveys in Ten Industries

Public Health Bulletin No. 162. A Health Study of Ten Thousand Male Industrial Workers. Statistical Analysis of Surveys in Ten Industries