Alternative methods for selecting web survey samples

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 352-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Revilla ◽  
Carlos Ochoa

Probability-based sampling is the gold standard for general population surveys. However, when interested in more specific populations (e.g., consumers of a particular brand), a lot of research uses data from non-probability-based online panels. This article investigates different ways to select a sample in an opt-in panel: without previous information, using profiling information, or using passive data from a tracker installed on the panelists’ devices. Moreover, it investigates the effect of sending the survey closer to the “moment-of-truth,” which is expected to reduce memory limitations in recall questions. Using additional information (profiling or passive) to select the sample leads to clear improvements in terms of levels of participation and fieldwork efficiency, but not in terms of data quality (measured by the proportion of don’t know answers and the length of answers to open narrative questions) or accuracy (measured by comparing the answers to 14 questions to an external source of information). Doing the survey closer to the “moment-of-truth” further improves the fieldwork efficiency; however, there are still many challenges to implement true “in-the-moment” surveys. We also observed differences across the different samples in respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics and in the survey evaluation.

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Papontee Teeraphan

Pollution is currently a significant issue arising awareness throughout the world. In Thailand, pollution can often be seen in any part of the country. Air pollution is pointed as an urgent problem. This pollution has not damaged only to human health and lives, it has destroyed environment, and possibly leading to violence. In Phattalung, air pollution is affecting to the residents’ lives. Especially, when the residents who are mostly agriculturists have not managed the waste resulted from the farm. In Phattalung, at the moment, there are many pig farms, big and small. Some of them are only for consuming for a family, some, however, are being consumed for the business which pigs will be later purchased by big business companies. Therefore, concerning pollution, the researcher and the fund giver were keen to focus on the points of the air pollution of the small pig farms. This is because it has been said that those farms have not been aware on the pollution issue caused by the farms. Farm odor is very interesting which can probably lead to following problems. The researcher also hopes that this research can be used as a source of information by the government offices in order to be made even as a policy or a proper legal measurement. As the results, the study shows that, first, more than half of the samples had smelled the farm odor located nearby their communities, though it had not caused many offenses. Second, the majority had decided not to act or response in order to solve the odor problem, but some of them had informed the officers. The proper solutions in reducing offenses caused by pig farm odor were negotiation and mediation. Last, the majority does not perceive about the process under the Public Health Act B.E. 2535.


Author(s):  
Angelo Salatino ◽  
Francesco Osborne ◽  
Enrico Motta

AbstractClassifying scientific articles, patents, and other documents according to the relevant research topics is an important task, which enables a variety of functionalities, such as categorising documents in digital libraries, monitoring and predicting research trends, and recommending papers relevant to one or more topics. In this paper, we present the latest version of the CSO Classifier (v3.0), an unsupervised approach for automatically classifying research papers according to the Computer Science Ontology (CSO), a comprehensive taxonomy of research areas in the field of Computer Science. The CSO Classifier takes as input the textual components of a research paper (usually title, abstract, and keywords) and returns a set of research topics drawn from the ontology. This new version includes a new component for discarding outlier topics and offers improved scalability. We evaluated the CSO Classifier on a gold standard of manually annotated articles, demonstrating a significant improvement over alternative methods. We also present an overview of applications adopting the CSO Classifier and describe how it can be adapted to other fields.


Author(s):  
Елена Цветкова ◽  
Elena Tsvetkova

The main trend of recent years is the complication of tax administration. In order to improve it states develop forms of work with taxpayers, including alternative tax dispute resolution. The author analyses alternative tax dispute resolution that have already developed in Russia and compares them with similar procedures in the United States, the Netherlands and Germany. To the alternative methods that are applied in Russia the author refers tax monitoring and agreement on the settlement of a tax dispute. Tax monitoring is not seen as a form of tax control, but as a mean of resolving and preventing the occurrence of a tax dispute. The conclusion of an agreement between a tax authority and a taxpayer on the settlement of a dispute in court is possible by reaching a compromise on the qualification of relations, on actual circumstances, on the interpretation of the tax rate. The article contains examples of programs that exist in the US and Germany in the sphere of tax dispute resolution. Also issues related to the implementation of the mediation procedure existing in the United States, the Netherlands and Germany and the possibility of their application in Russia are considered. The author emphasizes the impossibility of applying the procedure of mediation in tax disputes in Russia at the moment due to the lack of legislative regulation.


Author(s):  
Zofia Bednarowska ◽  
Michał Andrzej Chrzanowski

Almost two-thirds of Polish companies declare that the most important source of information are their own observations and personal experience (Kaper & Kuziak, 2006, p. 6). Only 32% of companies use benchmarking as an external source of information, while over two thirds of the companies do not measure their effectiveness at all (Bednarowska, 2015). They do not mention market research, which is an essential element in the management and development of enterprises. Not only they provide knowledge about the environment, but also support knowledge management in the enterprise. In order to proceed with acquiring knowledge, it is necessary to overcome a group of internal and external determinants that prevent many Polish companies from proceeding with market research. However, one of the crucial one are competences of decision makers and power sponsors of market research projects.


Pathogens ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Scaturro ◽  
Matteo Buffoni ◽  
Antonietta Girolamo ◽  
Sandra Cristino ◽  
Luna Girolamini ◽  
...  

Detection and enumeration of Legionella in water samples is of great importance for risk assessment analysis. The plate culture method is the gold standard, but has received several well-known criticisms, which have induced researchers to develop alternative methods. The purpose of this study was to compare Legionella counts obtained by the analysis of potable water samples through the plate culture method and through the IDEXX liquid culture Legiolert method. Legionella plate culture, according to ISO 11731:1998, was performed using 1 L of water. Legiolert was performed using both the 10 mL and 100 mL Legiolert protocols. Overall, 123 potable water samples were analyzed. Thirty-seven (30%) of them, positive for L. pneumophila, serogroups 1 or 2–14 by plate culture, were used for comparison with the Legiolert results. The Legiolert 10 mL test detected 34 positive samples (27.6%) and the Legiolert 100 mL test detected 37 positive samples, 27.6% and 30% respectively, out of the total samples analyzed. No significant difference was found between either the Legiolert 10 mL and Legiolert 100 mL vs. the plate culture (p = 0.9 and p = 0.3, respectively) or between the Legiolert 10 mL and Legiolert 100 mL tests (p = 0.83). This study confirms the reliability of the IDEXX Legiolert test for Legionella pneumophila detection and enumeration, as already shown in similar studies. Like the plate culture method, the Legiolert assay is also suitable for obtaining isolates for typing purposes, relevant for epidemiological investigations.


2008 ◽  
Vol 61 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 443-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Djordje Petrovic ◽  
Aleksandra Novakov-Mikic ◽  
Vesna Mandic

The cervical length is an important factor in the risk evaluation of preterm delivery. The aim of this work was to determine the correlation between the cervical length and the demographic characteristics. A transversal type prospective study was done on a sample of 579 pregnant women at various gestational age of low risk mono-fetal pregnancy. The cervical length was measured by trans-vaginal ultrasound procedure within the regular pregnancy monitoring process. The following data were taken into consideration: the woman's age, her body mass at the beginning of the pregnancy and her height in order to calculate the body mass index as well as her smoking habit at the moment of conception. The mean cervical length was 34.3 mm and 35 mm in the group of women aged 30 and less and 31 and over, respectively. The cervix was insignificantly shorter in younger women (being 34.9 mm/35.9 mm in the 1st trimester, 34.5 mm/35.1 mm in the 2nd one and 33.9 mm/34.7 mm in the 3rd trimester). The sample of 579 pregnant women consisted of 448 non-smokers and 131 smokers. The difference in the length of the cervix in smokers and non-smokers was not significant (being 32.2 mm/35.9 mm; 35 mm/34 mm and 34.4 mm/33.5 mm in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimester, respectively). The correlation between the body mass index and the cervical length was analyzed by trimesters. In the first trimester the increase in the body mass index was followed by the shortening of the cervix; the cervical length was not affected by the BMI in the second trimester, whereas the higher the body mass index the longer the cervix in the third trimester. Our study has shown that the cervical length is affected neither by the age of the woman nor her smoking habit but it is affected by the body mass index at the moment of conception, that linear trend being negative in the 1st trimester but positive in the 3rd one. Since the cervical length may be affected not only by the socio-demographic characteristics but the gynecologic obstetric history of the woman as well, we strongly suggest further investigations in this field.


1925 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 834-837 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest Rutherford ◽  
W. A. Wooster

It is now well known that radium B is an isotope of lead of atomic number 82 with a mass 214, and consequently, if the atoms of radium B are bombarded by an external source of electrons, the spectrum excited in it should be identical with that of lead atomic number 82. A very interesting question arises with regard to the L radiation emitted by a source of radium B during its spontaneous transformation. At the moment of the expulsion of the disintegration electron from radium B, the internal atomic structure of radium B corresponds to an element of number 82, but an instant later, when the electron has escaped from the nucleus, the charge on the latter is 83 and there must follow a reorganisation of the external electrons. Under these conditions, we cannot be certain whether the L spectrum of radium B should correspond to an element of number 82 or 83. Since the excitation of the L spectrum is for the most part due to the action of the rays from the nucleus, the spectrum should correspond to number 82 if the emission of the γ-ray precedes the escape of the disintegration electron and number 83 if it is subsequent to this process.


1990 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 1330-1338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce F. Phillips

Studies of juvenile rock lobsters (Panulirus cygnus) in the nursery reefs of Western Australia indicated that density-dependent processes on the reefs were the major determinant of year-class strengths of recruitment to the fishery. Reassessment of early data, plus additional information, indicates that these estimates may have been inaccurate. Alternative methods of estimating juvenile densities were examined; application of length–frequency analysis to calculate the age-classes; visual estimates, and single-night trapping. Length–frequency analysis indicated that either immigration onto the test reefs had occurred, or the data were inaccurate. Visual estimates and single-night trapping were more rapid and used less manpower and resources than mark–recapture methods, but the estimates were of unknown accuracy. No truly satisfactory method of making reliable estimates of either the density of natural mortality rate of juveniles in the nursery reefs is yet available. Nevertheless, the data on the levels of larval settlement and subsequent catches, suggest that density dependent processes probably have a significant effect on the levels of recruitment to the fishery, although the upper level to this recruitment has not been reached over the past 20 yrs.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 973-980 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junlei Yu ◽  
◽  
Akihiko Hokugo ◽  

Natural disasters can cause major technological accidents (Natech accidents) resulting in fires, explosions or hazardous materials releases. The severe consequence may risk human lives and property. Understanding household evacuation behavior could help emergency managers develop strategies that protect the populace better against Natech risk. Our goal in this study is to capture in household mobilization time from the moment the Natech accident occurs and the moment evacuation occurs. Actual evacuation may or may not occur depending on the judgment of individuals about perceived risk or on evacuation orders by local authorities. Data we collected was from a random household survey following a Natech accident at a Sendai oil refinery during the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. Results show that respondents evacuated faster after receiving a Natech evacuation order than based on their own judgments. Risk perception and respondents’ demographic characteristics played roles in when evacuation mobilization began. The findings advanced our knowledge of household evacuation timing behavior in response to a Natech accident and could assist emergency managers in developing better strategies for managing the evacuation process.


Author(s):  
Frank Close

Have you ever seen a total solar eclipse? If the question caused you to search your memory, the correct answer would have been “no.” A common response is: “Yes--I saw one, it was about 90% partial eclipse where I lived.” A 90% partial eclipse is indeed a remarkable phenomenon, but true totality leaves all else in the shade, in all senses of the phrase. Ask the question of anyone who has experienced the full sensation of being obliterated by the moon's shadow, and they will reply “yes”--without hesitation--and continue with a monologue describing the overwhelming experiences and unique phenomena that ensued. On 21 August 2017 millions of people across the United States witnessed “The Great American Eclipse” of the Sun. The moment it was over, people around the world were asking questions: what caused the weird shadows and colors in the build up to totality? Were those ephemeral bands of shadows gliding across the ground in the seconds before totality real or an optical illusion? Why this, what that, but above all: where and when can I see a total solar eclipse again? Eclipses: What Everyone Needs to Know helps explain the profound differences between a 99.99% partial eclipse and true totality, and inform readers how to experience this most beautiful natural phenomenon successfully. It covers eclipses of sun, moon, and other astronomical objects, and their applications in science, as well as their role in history, literature, and myth. It describes the phenomena to expect at a solar eclipse and the best ways to record them--by camera, video, or by simple handmade experiments. The book covers the timetable of upcoming eclipses, where the best locations will be to see them, and the opportunities for using them as vehicles for inspiration and education. As a veteran of seven total solar eclipses, physicist Frank Close is an expert both on the theory and practice of eclipses. Eclipses: What Everyone Needs to Know is a popular source of information on the physics of eclipses.


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