Traditional Quantitative Approaches Research Articles

Mixed Methods Research Centering on Minoritized Students in Higher Education: A Literature Review

AbstractThe increasing diversity among higher education students urges researchers to expand research methodologies beyond traditional quantitative approaches. A growing number of higher education researchers have employed mixed methods research (MMR) approaches in studies centering on minoritized student populations. In this review, we identified and analyzed 72 empirical MMR studies published between 2007 and 2023, describing the characteristics of the research design and focusing on the MMR design strategies employed by the authors. The review details specific MMR strategies, including methods for engaging participants, integrating quantitative and qualitative data, and advancing the research agenda that centers minoritized students. Based on the review, we discuss methodological considerations and offer recommendations for higher education professionals to advance more thoughtfully conscious, student-centered modes of knowledge production focusing on minoritized populations.

Outcome-guided Bayesian clustering for disease subtype discovery using high-dimensional transcriptomic data

Due to the tremendous heterogeneity of disease manifestations, many complex diseases that were once thought to be single diseases are now considered to have disease subtypes. Disease subtyping analysis, that is the identification of subgroups of patients with similar characteristics, is the first step to accomplish precision medicine. With the advancement of high-throughput technologies, omics data offers unprecedented opportunity to reveal disease subtypes. As a result, unsupervised clustering analysis has been widely used for this purpose. Though promising, the subtypes obtained from traditional quantitative approaches may not always be clinically meaningful (i.e. correlate with clinical outcomes). On the other hand, the collection of rich clinical data in modern epidemiology studies has the great potential to facilitate the disease subtyping process via omics data and to discovery clinically meaningful disease subtypes. Thus, we developed an outcome-guided Bayesian clustering (GuidedBayesianClustering) method to fully integrate the clinical data and the high-dimensional omics data. A Gaussian mixed model framework was applied to perform sample clustering; a spike-and-slab prior was utilized to perform gene selection; a mixture model prior was employed to incorporate the guidance from a clinical outcome variable; and a decision framework was adopted to infer the false discovery rate of the selected genes. We deployed conjugate priors to facilitate efficient Gibbs sampling. Our proposed full Bayesian method is capable of simultaneously (i) obtaining sample clustering (disease subtype discovery); (ii) performing feature selection (select genes related to the disease subtype); and (iii) utilizing clinical outcome variable to guide the disease subtype discovery. The superior performance of the GuidedBayesianClustering was demonstrated through simulations and applications of breast cancer expression data and Alzheimer's disease. An R package has been made publicly available on GitHub to improve the applicability of our method.

Modeling the extracellular potential generated by a muscle fiber as the output signal of a convolutional system.

A central topic in Bioelectricity is the generation of the extracellular potential that results from the propagation of a transmembrane action potential along the muscle fiber. However, the way in which the extracellular potential is determined by the propagating action potential is difficult to describe, conceptualize, and visualize. Moreover, traditional quantitative approaches aimed at modeling extracellular potentials involve complex mathematical formulations, which do not allow students to visualize how the extracellular potential is generated around the active fiber. The present study is aimed at presenting a novel pedagogical approach to teaching the generation of extracellular potentials produced by muscle fibers based on the convolution operation. The effectiveness of this convolutional model was tested using a written exam and a satisfaction survey. Most students reported that a great advantage of this model was that it simplifies the problem by dividing it into three distinct components: 1) the input signal (associated with the action potential), 2) the impulse response (linked to the system formed by the fiber and the recording electrode), and 3) the output signal (the extracellular potential). Another key aspect of the present approach was that the input signal was represented by a sequence of electric dipoles, which allowed students to visualize the individual contribution of each dipole to the resulting extracellular potential. The results of the survey indicate that the combination of basic principles of electrical fields and intuitive graphical representations largely improves students' understanding of Bioelectricity concepts and enhances their motivation to complete their studies of biomedical engineering.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We presented a new pedagogical method to describe the extracellular potential generated by a muscle fiber as the output signal of the convolution between an input signal and an impulse response. The input signal represents the action potential traveling along the fiber, and the impulse response represents the system formed by the fiber and the recording electrode. The output signal is the summation of the contributions from all individual dipoles that formed the input signal.

Resisting Normality through a Nonbinary Quantitative Method

Critical quantitative methods provide opportunities for Queer Theory to challenge, re-define, and re-claim the historically privileged research tradition. In this paper, I begin by summarizing the various binaries that oppress research and individuality. I then engage with Queer Theory and my own intersectional positionality to propose a nonbinary quantitative methodology. Next, I draw on various examples to demonstrate the possibilities for how quantitative research can be nonbinary when it challenges objectivity, acknowledges intersectionality, combines multiple theories, redefines quantitative measures, blurs methodological boundaries, and/or re-appropriates research for action. The paper concludes with a summary of how a nonbinary quantitative method intentionally acknowledges positionality and is deeply grounded in intersectionality to challenge deficit and majoritarian narratives and research practices implied by more traditional quantitative approaches.

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND CHURCH PERFORMANCE IN KENYA

This paper attempted to investigate the impact of transformational leadership in organizational performance by studying Divine Word Parish in Nairobi, Kenya. The phenomenon of transformational leadership theory, organizational leadership and its association with both personal and organizational outcomes has become one of the topmost agenda and interest of researchers, scholars and practitioners. This paper had three objectives, to: a) investigate the impact of the transformational leadership style on organizational outcomes in the Divine Word Parish in Nairobi b) Determine the impact of the transformational leadership style on the personal outcomes in the Divine Word Parish in Nairobi c) Establish how the transformational leadership style is practiced in the Divine Word Parish in Nairobi. The paper adopted a mixed-method research method as enshrined in the traditional quantitative and qualitative research approaches. Study Findings: organizational innovation has a significant impact on organizational performance; also, transformational leadership and organizational performance has strong relationship. Therefore, TL helps managers to create effective leadership environment and style in their organizations and by thus motivate and encourage the employees to become more motivated, committed, innovative, creative and effective in realizing highest organizational and employee’s performance.

Innovating Methodologies for Examining Gentrification-Induced Social and Cultural Displacement: An Illustration of Integrating Photovoice into Story Map

Gentrification has been identified as a phenomenon that involves impacts on space and place. Particularly, gentrification's social and cultural impacts involve disrupted meanings residents associate with spaces. Although space and place dynamics of gentrification have been well-documented, gentrification research has primarily involved traditional quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches. These traditional approaches have not fully captured the nuanced ways space and place dimensions of gentrification converge in their impacts on residents. Also, traditional approaches have limited most gentrification research to theory and descriptions, as opposed to action and practice. To this end, innovative, integrated methodologies are needed for a paradigm shift in how gentrification is examined and addressed. In this article, we illustrate the use of photovoice and Geographic Information Systems’ Story Map as an integrated methodological approach to examining and fostering action against gentrification's space-place impacts. We provide strengths and challenges of this approach and recommendations for future research.

Perception changes over time on the usefulness of language learning strategies

This longitudinal study describes and analyses the shifts in students’ perceptions on the usefulness of language learning strategies (LLS) when learning Spanish as a foreign language, and explains the roles that these learning strategies play at various moments in time during students’ language learning journey at the undergraduate level. The richness of this investigation lies in the examination of the changing roles and the perceived usefulness of these strategies over a period of 3 years by using a mixed-method approach. Its main contribution is twofold. On the one hand, it offers practical insights within the linguistic field of language acquisition that can be applied to the learning of foreign languages by students with no previous knowledge of them. On the other hand, its longitudinal design not only goes beyond the traditional quantitative approach that offers a limited snapshot view, but also captures changes in strategy use over time while providing details on why strategies were or were not used in the new language at different proficiency levels. The study found some strategies that were initially perceived as useful and helpful at the beginning of the journey were later perceived as neutral, useless or obstructive by the same group of students who had become more proficient in the foreign language. And, conversely, other strategies that were initially perceived as neutral, unhelpful or frustrating, were later perceived as necessary to improve language proficiency, useful and stimulating by the same cohort of students. In this respect, it was found that the perceived role played by these strategies alternated between essential roles to catalytic roles, imperceptible roles, retarding roles and preventing roles, and vice versa.Contribution: The main contribution of this study is that it shows that students’ perceptions on the usefulness of certain LLS over time are influenced by their level of proficiency. This in turn influences, and is influenced by, language attitudes and language learning policy, which fall under the scope of this journal.

Mixed methods instrument validation: Evaluation procedures for practitioners developed from the validation of the Swiss Instrument for Evaluating Interprofessional Collaboration

BackgroundQuantitative and qualitative procedures are necessary components of instrument development and assessment. However, validation studies conventionally emphasise quantitative assessments while neglecting qualitative procedures. Applying both methods in a mixed methods design provides additional insights into instrument quality and more rigorous validity evidence. Drawing from an extensive review of the methodological and applied validation literature on mixed methods, we showcase our use of mixed methods for validation which applied the quality criteria of congruence, convergence, and credibility on data collected with an instrument measuring interprofessional collaboration in the context of Swiss healthcare, named the Swiss Instrument for Evaluating Interprofessional Collaboration.MethodsWe employ a convergent parallel mixed methods design to analyse quantitative and qualitative questionnaire data. Data were collected from staff, supervisors, and patients of a university hospital and regional hospitals in the German and Italian speaking regions of Switzerland. We compare quantitative ratings and qualitative comments to evaluate the quality criteria of congruence, convergence, and credibility, which together form part of an instrument’s construct validity evidence.ResultsQuestionnaires from 435 staff, 133 supervisors, and 189 patients were collected. Analysis of congruence potentially provides explanations why respondents’ comments are off topic. Convergence between quantitative ratings and qualitative comments can be interpreted as an indication of convergent validity. Credibility provides a summary evaluation of instrument quality. These quality criteria provide evidence that questions were understood as intended, provide construct validity, and also point to potential item quality issues.ConclusionsMixed methods provide alternative means of collecting construct validity evidence. Our suggested procedures can be easily applied on empirical data and allow the congruence, convergence, and credibility of questionnaire items to be evaluated. The described procedures provide an efficient means of enhancing the rigor of an instrument and can be used alone or in conjunction with traditional quantitative psychometric approaches.

Pre·Election coverage by SABC·TV of the 1989 General Election

This article is based on the findings of a group of eleven specialists (WITS) who were commissioned by IDASA to monitor SABC-TV news coverage of the run-up to the 1989 general election. The report attempts to be a "case-study" In the construction of television news, employing discourse theory and the semiotics of film and communication In preference to the traditional quantitative approach. The encoding procedures of TV news were the main focus of the analysis which sought to demonstrate above all the shifting perspective within which news is constructed and how the signs and codes of news are closely related to those of fiction. It is freely acknowledged that the monitoring group occupied a position critical of the State and espoused a non-racist, non sexist, unitary political dispensation for South Africa, along the lines of the Freedom Charter.

A Consideration of Transpersonal Research Methods for Studying Yoga and Mindfulness in Schools

Over the past decade, interest in yoga and mindfulness in schools has grown tremendously, with preliminary research suggesting that these interventions may have a variety of positive effects on youth. However, some quantitative studies of school-based yoga and mindfulness have reported null and/or counterintuitive effects, such as increases in perceived stress, negative affect and psychological symptoms. In addition, some mixed-methods studies that combined quantitative and qualitative approaches have found inconsistent results, with the quantitative outcomes failing to show statistical significance, while students report benefits of yoga and mindfulness in qualitative interviews/focus groups. These inconsistent findings suggest that the field of school-based yoga and mindfulness may benefit from a consideration of additional research approaches, such as transpersonal research methods, to study the potential effects of these interventions. Transpersonal research methods were developed within the field of transpersonal psychology as an alternative approach to studying the nature of inner experiences, particularly transpersonal and spiritual experiences. The current paper re-envisions a previously published study of a school-based yoga intervention through the lens of transpersonal research methods, with the intention of providing researchers with examples and inspiration to enrich their studies of school-based yoga and mindfulness. By combining transpersonal research methods with traditional quantitative and qualitative approaches, scientists have the potential to provide a richer and more complex evaluation of yoga and mindfulness in schools.

Direct Risk Assessment From Myocardial Perfusion Imaging Using Explainable Deep Learning

BackgroundMyocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is frequently used to provide risk stratification, but methods to improve the accuracy of these predictions are needed. ObjectivesThe authors developed an explainable deep learning (DL) model (HARD MACE [major adverse cardiac events]-DL) for the prediction of death or nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) and validated its performance in large internal and external testing groups. MethodsPatients undergoing single-photon emission computed tomography MPI were included, with 20,401 patients in the training and internal testing group (5 sites) and 9,019 in the external testing group (2 different sites). HARD MACE-DL uses myocardial perfusion, motion, thickening, and phase polar maps combined with age, sex, and cardiac volumes. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality or nonfatal MI. Prognostic accuracy was evaluated using area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC). ResultsDuring internal testing, patients with normal perfusion and elevated HARD MACE-DL risk were at higher risk than patients with abnormal perfusion and low HARD MACE-DL risk (annualized event rate, 2.9% vs 1.2%; P < 0.001). Patients in the highest quartile of HARD MACE-DL score had an annual rate of death or MI (4.8%) 10-fold higher than patients in the lowest quartile (0.48% per year). In external testing, the AUC for HARD MACE-DL (0.73; 95% CI: 0.71-0.75) was higher than a logistic regression model (AUC: 0.70), stress total perfusion deficit (TPD) (AUC: 0.65), and ischemic TPD (AUC: 0.63; all P < 0.01). Calibration, a measure of how well predicted risk matches actual risk, was excellent in both groups (Brier score, 0.079 for internal and 0.070 for external). ConclusionsThe DL model predicts death or MI directly from MPI, by estimating patient-level risk with good calibration and improved accuracy compared with traditional quantitative approaches. The model incorporates mechanisms to explain to the physician which image regions contribute to the adverse event prediction.

Understanding disease symptoms and impacts and producing qualitatively-derived severity stages for MPS IIIA: a mixed methods approach

BackgroundMPS IIIA is a rare, degenerative pediatric genetic disease characterized by symptoms impacting cognition, mobility and behavior; the mean age of death is around 15 years of age. Currently, there are no approved therapies for MPS IIIA.MethodsA two-year, multi-center, prospective, descriptive cohort study was conducted to document the natural history course of MPS IIIA. In the context of this study, semi-structured interviews were performed with parents of children at study entry and one year later. Interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis methods to identity concepts of interest to children and parents, identify what factors impacted parents’ burden the most, and develop qualitatively-derived disease severity stages. Children were sorted into these stages according to the symptoms their parents described at the entry interview. This sorting was compared quantitatively to the sorting of children at baseline according to the child’s calendar age and their BSID development quotient (DQ).Results22 parents in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK were interviewed. Children ranged in age from 28 to 105 months (mean 61.4 months). The conceptual models for children’s symptoms and impacts and parents’ impacts provided a detailed and comprehensive picture of what it is like for children of various ages and their parents to live with MPS IIIA. Four factors were identified as mediating the burden perceived by parents: state support, family support, time since diagnosis, and parent coping strategy. Four disease stages were developed, accounting for both the presence and the severity of MPS IIIA symptoms. The comparison of children’s sorting into these stages with the BSID DQ and the child’s calendar age showed strong statistical associations.ConclusionsThe findings of this qualitative research embedded in a natural history study add to the current understanding of MPS IIIA as a complex disease that impacts every aspect of the lives of children and their families. This study demonstrates the unique potential of mixed methods research in rare diseases to address some of the current limitations of more traditional quantitative approaches by providing an individualized, detailed understanding of the patient experience.

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN EUROPE – BUSINESS CYCLES, CRISES, AND POLICY RESPONSES

Purpose: The goal of the paper is to analyse in which countries’ youth unemployment is statistically pro or countercyclical and how crises in the last decade have affected it. What would the plausible explanations for diverging patterns within the EU and other European countries be? In what terms is the young people’s labour market across Europe imbalanced?&#x0D; Methodology: The paper builds on Gontkovicova et al.’s (2015) analysis of correlations between GDP growth and youth unemployment on an annual basis by adding more indicators and considering the quarterly basis as well. The quantitative approach is enriched by qualitative insights on Southeast European countries studied within the Erasmus+ YouthCap project (CRA, 2020).&#x0D; Findings: Most of the countercyclical youth unemployment trends in the last 20 years are observed in Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia). From Western European countries Iceland, Denmark and Portugal are countercyclical. The most resilient countries in terms of COVID-19 are North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and Iceland, which were able to reduce youth unemployment during the coronavirus crisis (Q3 in 2019 and 2020). Plausible policy reactions have been identified based on the concept of learning societies and the need for continuous education.&#x0D; Practical implications: The paper argues why localised policy responses could be more effective than a centralised solution. However, increased coordination and standardisation of secondary and higher education could lead to increased youth labour migration.&#x0D; Originality/value: The paper combines a more traditional quantitative approach to the most recent data series with the qualitative approach of identifying various micro-trends by looking at selected outlier countries.

Selection in males purges the mutation load on female fitness.

Theory predicts that the ability of selection and recombination to purge mutation load is enhanced if selection against deleterious genetic variants operates more strongly in males than females. However, direct empirical support for this tenet is limited, in part because traditional quantitative genetic approaches allow dominance and intermediate‐frequency polymorphisms to obscure the effects of the many rare and partially recessive deleterious alleles that make up the main part of a population's mutation load. Here, we exposed the partially recessive genetic load of a population of Callosobruchus maculatus seed beetles via successive generations of inbreeding, and quantified its effects by measuring heterosis—the increase in fitness experienced when masking the effects of deleterious alleles by heterozygosity—in a fully factorial sex‐specific diallel cross among 16 inbred strains. Competitive lifetime reproductive success (i.e., fitness) was measured in male and female outcrossed F1s as well as inbred parental “selfs,” and we estimated the 4 × 4 male‐female inbred‐outbred genetic covariance matrix for fitness using Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations of a custom‐made general linear mixed effects model. We found that heterosis estimated independently in males and females was highly genetically correlated among strains, and that heterosis was strongly negatively genetically correlated to outbred male, but not female, fitness. This suggests that genetic variation for fitness in males, but not in females, reflects the amount of (partially) recessive deleterious alleles segregating at mutation‐selection balance in this population. The population's mutation load therefore has greater potential to be purged via selection in males. These findings contribute to our understanding of the prevalence of sexual reproduction in nature and the maintenance of genetic variation in fitness‐related traits.

Mixed-Methods Research: A Discussion on its Types, Challenges, and Criticisms

The article positions mixed-method research (MMR) as a principled complementary research method to the traditional quantitative and qualitative research approaches. By situating MMR in an analysis of some of the common research paradigms, the article presents it as a natural choice in order to complement and cater to the increasingly complex needs of contemporary researchers. It proffers MMR as a flexible and adaptive conceptual framework for designing and conducting mixed methods research in a simplified manner. By explaining fundamental principles and major theoretical tenets of a mixed-methods approach, which involves both quantitative and qualitative data collection in response to research questions, it elucidates several benefits of adopting MMR since it integrates post-positivism as well as interpretivism frameworks. There is abundant literature around this research design aiming to provide researchers an understanding of the approach. Yet there is limited literature that provides illustrative guidance to research novices in comprehending mixed methods, understanding reasons for choosing it, and selecting an appropriate mixed methods design. Based on an analysis of some notable works in the field, this article provides an overview of mixed methods designs, discusses its main types, and explains challenges one can potentially encounter when in using them with a view to assisting early career researchers in particular and other researchers in general.

RELIABILITY OF TESTS FOR SPEED AND AGILITY ASSESSMENT IN CADET BASKETBALL PLAYERS

The aim of this research is to determine whether the Illinois test (IL), T-test (Tt), 4x5m Shuttle run (4x5m), 20 m Sprint (S20m), 10 m Sprint (S10m) are reliable tests in assessing the speed and agility of cadet basketball players. The strategy of this research involved a traditional quantitative approach to research with a correlation studies design. The total sample consisted of 38 male participants. The mean age of the participants was -AGE=16.03 years, body height-BH=183.5 cm; body mass-BM=74.1 kg; Body Mass Index-BMI=22.08 kg/m2. The most reliable agility test when performing without a ball is ILNB, while less reliable are TtNB and the 4x5mNB, both without a ball. A reliable test that is performed without a ball to assess the speed of a cadet basketball player is the S10mNB. On the other hand, all speed and agility tests when performed with a ball are reliable for testing cadet basketball players. The proposed speed and agility tests have proven to be reliable for cadet basketball players.

Колективне авторство в українській науці: маргінальний ефект чи нове явище?

One of the features of modern science is the formation of stable large collaborations of researchers working together within the projects that require the concentration of huge financial and human resources. Results of such common work are published in scientific papers by large co-authorship teams that include sometimes thousands of names. The goal of this work is to study the influence of such publications on the values of scientometric indicators calculated for individuals, research groups and science of Ukraine in general. Bibliometric data related to Ukraine, some academic institutions and selected individual researchers were collected from Scopus database and used for our study. It is demonstrated that while the relative share of publications by collective authors is comparatively small, their presence in a general pool can lead to statistically significant effects. The obtained results clearly show that traditional quantitative approaches for research assessment should be changed in order to take into account this phenomenon. Keywords: collective authorship, scientometrics, group science, Ukraine.

Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) Logic and Tools for Theory Testing and Development in a Medium-N Urban Climate Governance Research

This case explains how qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) has been used for a study of over 60 voluntary programs in urban climate governance in 13 cities in Australia, India, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore and the United States. The number of cases is too small for traditional quantitative research approaches (variable or condition oriented), but too large for traditional qualitative approaches (case oriented). QCA is a configurational method, bridging the strengths of variable-oriented and case-oriented approaches, and provides a logic and tools for medium-n comparative research. This case study specifically illustrates: (1) the strengths of QCA studying equifinality, conjuctural causality, and data-asymmetry; and (2) how QCA can be used, within one study, for theory testing as well as theory development. Whilst the case does not assume that readers have working experience with the method it is not meant as a first introduction to the method.

A Quantitative and Radiomics approach to monitoring ARDS in COVID-19 patients based on chest CT: a retrospective cohort study.

Rationale: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is one of the major reasons for ventilation and intubation management of COVID-19 patients but there is no noninvasive imaging monitoring protocol for ARDS. In this study, we aimed to develop a noninvasive ARDS monitoring protocol based on traditional quantitative and radiomics approaches from chest CT.Methods: Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 from Jan 20, 2020 to Mar 31, 2020 were enrolled in this study. Quantitative and radiomics data were extracted from automatically segmented regions of interest (ROIs) of infection regions in the lungs. ARDS existence was measured by Pa02/Fi02 <300 in artery blood samples. Three different models were constructed by using the traditional quantitative imaging metrics, radiomics features and their combinations, respectively. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to assess the effectiveness of the models. Decision curve analysis (DCA) was used to test the clinical value of the proposed model.Results: The proposed models were constructed using 352 CT images from 86 patients. The median age was 49, and the male proportion was 61.9%. The training dataset and the validation dataset were generated by randomly sampling the patients with a 2:1 ratio. Chi-squared test showed that there was no significant difference in baseline of the enrolled patients between the training and validation datasets. The areas under the ROC curve (AUCs) of the traditional quantitative model, radiomics model and combined model in the validation dataset was 0.91, 0.91 and 0.94, respectively. Accordingly, the sensitivities were 0.55, 0.82 and 0.58, while the specificities were 0.97, 0.86 and 0.98. The DCA curve showed that when threshold probability for a doctor or patients is within a range of 0 to 0.83, the combined model adds more net benefit than “treat all” or “treat none” strategies, while the traditional quantitative model and radiomics model could add benefit in all threshold probability.Conclusions: It is feasible to monitor ARDS from CT images using radiomics or traditional quantitative analysis in COVID-19. The radiomics model seems to be the most practical one for possible clinical use. Multi-center validation with a larger number of samples is recommended in the future.

Application of a fuzzy unit hypercube in cardiovascular risk classification

Most standard cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment models are based on traditional quantitative approaches. Such models oversimplify complex interactions emanating from the imprecise nature of CVD risk factors. As such, approaches that can handle uncertainty due to imprecision need to be explored. This study proposes a cardiovascular risk classification model based on the geometry of fuzzy sets, which allows for a multidimensional display of qualitative properties associated with risk attributes—that are defined in a fuzzy sense. Within this structure, a risk concept (which defines the degree of risk severity) is simply a continuum of points of the hypercube. Consequently, an individual’s risk status would naturally be represented by an ordered fuzzy within the continuum. This representation forms an excellent comparative framework through measures of similarity where an individual’s relative position in the continuum can be given as degrees of compatibility with the underlying risk concepts.