scholarly journals Reconsidering the Reference Category

2021 ◽  
pp. 008117502098263
Author(s):  
Sasha Shen Johfre ◽  
Jeremy Freese
Keyword(s):  
Marital Status ◽  
American Sociological Review ◽  
Reference Group ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Reference Category ◽  
Standard Practice ◽  
Explanatory Variables

Social scientists often present modeling results from categorical explanatory variables, such as gender, race, and marital status, as coefficients representing contrasts to a “reference” group. Although choosing the reference category may seem arbitrary, the authors argue that it is an intrinsically meaningful act that affects the interpretability of results. Reference category selection foregrounds some contrasts over others. Also, selecting a culturally dominant group as the reference can subtly reify the notion that dominant groups are the most “normal.” The authors find that three of four recently published tables in Demography and American Sociological Review that include race or gender explanatory variables use dominant groups (i.e., male or white) as the reference group. Furthermore, the tables rarely state what the reference is: only half of tables with race variables and one-fifth of tables with gender variables explicitly specify the reference category; the rest leave it up to the reader to check the methods section or simply guess. As an alternative to this apparently standard practice, the authors suggest guidelines for intentionally and responsibly choosing a reference category. The authors then discuss alternative ways to convey results from categorical explanatory variables that avoid the problems of reference categories entirely.

scholarly journals Reconsidering the Reference Category

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sasha Johfre ◽  
Jeremy Freese
Keyword(s):  
Marital Status ◽  
American Sociological Review ◽  
Reference Group ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Reference Category ◽  
Standard Practice ◽  
Explanatory Variables

Social scientists often present modeling results from categorical explanatory variables, such as gender, race, and marital status, as coefficients representing contrasts to a “reference” group. Although choosing the reference category may seem arbitrary, we argue it is an intrinsically meaningful act that affects the interpretability of results. Reference category selection foregrounds some contrasts over others. Also, selecting a culturally dominant group as the reference can subtly reify the notion that dominant groups are the most “normal.” We find that three out of four recently published tables in Demography and American Sociological Review that include race or gender explanatory variables use dominant groups (i.e. male or White) as the reference group. Furthermore, the tables rarely state what the reference is: only half of tables with race variables and one-fifth of tables with gender variables explicitly specify the reference category, while the rest leave it up to the reader to check the methods section or simply guess. As an alternative to this apparently-standard practice, we suggest guidelines for intentionally and responsibly choosing a reference category. We then discuss alternative ways to convey results from categorical explanatory variables that avoid the problems of reference categories entirely.

Determinants of Financial Literacy Among Indian Youth

2019 ◽  
pp. 154-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jehangir Pheroze Bharucha
Keyword(s):  
Multivariate Analysis ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Marital Status ◽  
Financial Literacy ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Descriptive Statistics ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Financial Capital ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
High Level

The purpose of this study is to examine which factors actually determine the level of personal financial literacy among the youth in India's financial capital city. A total of 650 completed and returned questionnaires have been used for the purpose of this study. The data analysis uses descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis. The explanatory variables are gender, district of residence, educational level, father's educational level, employment, marital status, and parenthood. Findings of the study depict that having children is the most positively correlated (+0.327) with financial literacy. Education (+0.245) and employment (+0.140) are positively correlated with financial literacy. It is also concluded that females are less likely to have a high level of financial literacy (-0.271) compared to males.

scholarly journals Mixing of Apples and Oranges in Milk Research: A Cohort Analysis of Non-Fermented Milk Intake and All-Cause Mortality

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Michaëlsson ◽  
Liisa Byberg
Keyword(s):  
Milk Fat ◽  
Reference Group ◽  
Cohort Analysis ◽  
Fermented Milk ◽  
Fat Content ◽  
Milk Intake ◽  
P Value ◽  
Milk Consumption ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reference Category

Mortality in relation to type of milk intake is unclear. We present mortality rates by intake of non-fermented milk fat content type and examine the degree of bias when other fat content types of non-fermented milk are kept in the reference category. For this purpose, we used a longitudinal cohort consisting of 61,433 women who had been administered food frequency questionnaires in 1987–1990 and in 1997, and analyzed time to death. Non-fermented milk consumption was divided into low ≤0.5%, medium 1.5%, or high fat 3%. For each specific type of milk, the first analysis (A) is restricted to those who consumed less than one serving per day of the other milk subtypes. In the second analysis (B), everyone is retained, i.e., leading to a reference category “contaminated” with other milk consumers. During follow-up, 22,391 women died. Highest (≥3 glasses/day) vs. lowest consumption category of milk (<1 glass/day) with 0.5% fat content was associated with a multivariable hazard ratio (HR) of 1.71 (95%CI 1.57–1.86) in analysis A, whereas the same comparison with a “contaminated” reference category in analysis B provided a HR of 1.34 (95%CI 1.24–1.45), p-value for homogeneity <0.0001. The corresponding HRs for 1.5% fat milk were: 1.82 (95%CI 1.63–2.04) and 1.38 (95%CI 1.25–1.51), and for 3% fat milk 1.95 (95%CI 1.77–2.15) and 1.40 (95%CI 1.29–1.52). HR for ≥3 glasses/day of total milk was 1.95 (95%CI 1.84–2.06). We observe a higher mortality in women with high milk consumption, irrespective of milk fat content. A “contaminated” reference group substantially attenuates the actual estimates.

scholarly journals Rescuing Nones From the Reference Category: Civic Engagement Among the Nonreligious in America

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqui Frost ◽  
Penny Edgell
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Reference Group ◽  
Civic Life ◽  
Reference Category ◽  
Spiritual But Not Religious ◽  
And Behavior

Religious individuals are repeatedly found to be more civically engaged than nonreligious individuals. However, most studies of civic engagement relegate the nonreligious to the reference group; the “Nones” are treated as homogeneous and assumed to have few avenues for civic engagement. We bring the nonreligious out of the reference group and explore how variations in nonreligious identification, belief, and behavior affect civic engagement. We find important variations among the nonreligious in terms of their propensity to be civically engaged that are lost when their heterogeneity is ignored. Those who identify as “nothing in particular” (NIP) are much less likely to show interest or engagement in civic life than are atheists, agnostics, and the “spiritual but not religious,” and we show that the image of the nonreligious as uninvolved in civic life is inaccurate and most likely driven by forms of analysis that disproportionately weight the experiences of the “NIPs.”

Explaining Gender Differences in Police Arresting and Charging Behavior in Cases of Spousal Violence

Partner Abuse ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 314-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Millar ◽  
Grant Brown
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Marital Status ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Social Problem ◽  
Spousal Violence ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Canadian City ◽  
Police Action ◽  
Research And Policy

Family violence is a major social problem that police forces have begun to deal with seriously over the last two decades. Most research and policy on this subject has focused on police action in response to violence against women. This is a study of police arrest and charging behavior in spousal violence cases that include both genders and so allows the analysis of police response to violence against men as well as women. Factors affecting the likelihood of an arrest or charge in spousal violence cases are analyzed using a two-year sample of spousal violence police cases (N = 2,935) from a medium-sized Canadian city. The explanatory variables include marital status, intoxication, degree of injury to the man or woman, use of a weapon and a whether the event was a repeat call to the same address. Results indicate differential effects of intoxication, use of a weapon, and injury by gender on both arresting and charging.

Non-parametric decomposition and the choice of reference group

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (8) ◽  
pp. 1266-1280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sten Anspal
Keyword(s):  
Gender Wage Gap ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Reference Group ◽  
Wage Structure ◽  
Index Number ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reference Category ◽  
Male Advantage ◽  
Parametric Decomposition ◽  
Non Parametric

Purpose – The Ñopo (2008) method of non-parametric decomposition, a matching-based alternative to Oaxaca (1973) and Blinder’s (1973) method of wage gap decomposition, is subject to the so-called “index number problem” common to the Oaxaca-Blinder and many related methods: its results are sensitive to the (arbitrary) choice of either male or female sex as the reference category in decomposition. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue by proposing an extension to the method that is invariant to the choice of reference category. Design/methodology/approach – The Ñopo method is modified such that the wage structure of the average worker instead of either male or female worker’s is used as the reference, enabling one to distinguish the “male advantage” and “female advantage” portions of the gender wage gap. As an illustration, a decomposition of the gender wage gap is performed with the modified method, using data from 15 OECD countries. Findings – The empirical results using the Ñopo decomposition indicate substantial differences in estimates of the unexplained gap depending on which sex is used as the reference category. Moreover, this disparity varies significantly with the choice of covariates used in the decomposition. This confirms there is significant cross-country variation in the asymmetry between male advantage and female disadvantage and that a decomposition method making this explicit would be relevant in real world settings. Originality/value – The extension of the Ñopo method proposed in this paper offers a way of decomposing the wage gaps in a way that is not sensitive to the choice of the reference category.

scholarly journals Sociodemographic determinants of self-reporting mental health problems in Indonesian urban population

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Fredrick Dermawan Purba ◽  
Titi Sahidah Fitriana
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Marital Status ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Sociodemographic Factors ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Sociodemographic Determinants ◽  
Anxiety Depression

Studies have found that mental health problems are more prevalent in urban areas compared to rural ones, including in Indonesia. About 6% of Indonesian people report having mental health problems, and 1.7 out of every thousand residents are diagnosed with a psychiatric problem. This study examines the sociodemographic determinants of reporting mental health problems among Indonesia’s general population living in urban areas. One thousand forty participants aged 17 years and over answered sociodemographic questions (i.e., residence, gender, age, education level, income, marital status) and completed the EQ-5D-5L. Their responses to the Anxiety/Depression item of the EQ-5D-5L (no problem vs. any level of problem) were the dependent variable sociodemographic factors were the explanatory variables. About one-third (35.37%) of the participants reported experiencing problems with anxiety/depression. Logistic regression found that marital status was significantly associated with reporting any problems of anxiety/depression in the EQ-5D-5L: single/divorced participants were 58% more likely to report that they suffered from anxiety/depression in comparison to their married counterparts. These results highlight the importance of social support; that is, having a spouse or extended family member whom one can count on for help when facing a problem is essential, regardless of one’s gender, age, educational level, or income.

scholarly journals Visible minorities in the Canadian Labour Market: Disentangling the effect of religion and ethnicity

Ethnicities ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 1218-1245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabil Khattab ◽  
Sami Miaari ◽  
Marwan Mohamed-Ali
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Household Survey ◽  
Socioeconomic Indicators ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Visible Minorities ◽  
Cultural Proximity ◽  
Religion And Ethnicity

Studies on labour-market disadvantages of ethnic and visible minorities in Canada have focused, primarily, on earning differentials leaving other important socioeconomic indicators such as employment and occupational distribution insufficiently examined. These studies have rarely included religion as one of the explanatory variables, despite the presence of sizable religious communities and considerable religious diversity in Canada. Given the rise in anti-Muslim sentiment and the increase in Islamophobia, religion becomes an important factor. In this study, we argue that the Canadian labour market excludes/includes individuals based on their physical visibility and religious affiliation. We analyse data obtained from the Canadian 2011 National Household Survey. The analysis supports the existence of a hierarchy of labour market outcomes predicated on both visibility and religious affiliation. It is suggested that the existing labour market inequality among the various ethno-religious groups is shaped largely by physical visibility and cultural proximity to the dominant group. The results provide evidence for a ‘Muslim penalty’.

The socio-economic determinants of older people's health in Brazil: the importance of marital status and income

2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANTÔNIO M. BÓS ◽  
ÂNGELO J. BÓS
Keyword(s):  
Health Status ◽  
Older People ◽  
Marital Status ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Family Income ◽  
Elderly Women ◽  
Family Health ◽  
Household Composition ◽  
Explanatory Variables

Studies in various countries have reported that older people who are married have better health than older widows. This paper reports a replication of these analyses with Brazilian data. The main objective was to explore the relationships between marital status, individual and household income, and the health of men and women using ordered logistic regression with self-assessed health as the dependent variable. The explanatory variables of interest were gender, marital status, and individual and family income. The data are from a survey of 7,920 non-institutionalised older people resident in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul in 1995. The survey used a structured, multi-disciplinary questionnaire, which collected information on demographic attributes, household composition, social relations, occupation, income and health status. The results show that widows were 20 per cent more likely to report better health than married women. The women without individual income had worse health than those who did, even after controlling for family income. For men, there were no significant differences in health by marital status. The main recommendation is that the health status and economic circumstances of married elderly women should be given more attention in both research and policy, certainly in Brazil and probably in other Latin American countries. Programmes of income support to the poorest households should include specific transfers to these elderly women. Brazil's Family Health and Older People's Health public programmes should place more emphasis on the health of elderly home-makers.

scholarly journals How Does Subjective Age Get “Under the Skin”? The Association Between Biomarkers and Feeling Older or Younger Than One’s Age: The Health and Retirement Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bharat Thyagarajan ◽  
Nathan Shippee ◽  
Helen Parsons ◽  
Sithara Vivek ◽  
Eileen Crimmins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reference Group ◽  
Inflammatory Marker ◽  
Endocrine Function ◽  
Stress Index ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Health And Retirement Study ◽  
Subjective Age ◽  
Reference Category ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Retirement Study

Abstract Background and Objectives Though subjective age is a well-recognized risk factor for several chronic diseases, the biological basis for these associations remains poorly understood. Research Design and Methods We used new comprehensive biomarker data from the 2016 wave of the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to evaluate the association between biomarker levels and self-reported subjective age in a subset of 3,740 HRS participants who provided a blood sample. We measured biomarkers in seven biological domains associated with aging: inflammation, glycemia, lipids, liver function, endocrine function, renal function, and cardiac function. The primary outcome was the age discrepancy score (subjective age − chronological age) categorized as those who felt younger, older, or the same as their chronological age (reference group). Analyses adjusted for comprehensive psychosocial factors (chronic stress index, depression score), demographic factors (race, sex, body mass index, marital status, physical activity), and prevalence of chronic health conditions (comorbidity index). Results The prevalence of clinically relevant reduced levels of albumin concentrations was lower in those who felt younger (8.8% vs. 16.0%; p = .006) and higher in those who felt older (20.4% vs. 16.0%; p = .03) when compared with the reference category. The prevalence of clinically significant elevation in liver enzymes such as alanine aminotransferase was also significantly lower among those who felt younger (7.1% vs. 8.6%; p = .04) when compared with the reference category. Prevalence of clinically elevated levels in cystatin C was also lower among those who felt younger when compared with the reference category (50.0% vs. 59.1%; p = .04). There was no association between lipids, glucose, or C-reactive protein (inflammatory marker) and subjective age categories. Discussion and Implications These results suggest that people who feel younger may have favorable biomarker profiles and as a result may have lower prevalence of age-related diseases when compared with those who feel older or those who feel the same as their chronological age.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document