Credit Report Accuracy and Access to Credit

Purpose The results of automatic machine scoring of the Index of Productive Syntax from the Computerized Language ANalysis (CLAN) tools of the Child Language Data Exchange System of TalkBank (MacWhinney, 2000) were compared to manual scoring to determine the accuracy of the machine-scored method. Method Twenty transcripts of 10 children from archival data of the Weismer Corpus from the Child Language Data Exchange System at 30 and 42 months were examined. Measures of absolute point difference and point-to-point accuracy were compared, as well as points erroneously given and missed. Two new measures for evaluating automatic scoring of the Index of Productive Syntax were introduced: Machine Item Accuracy (MIA) and Cascade Failure Rate— these measures further analyze points erroneously given and missed. Differences in total scores, subscale scores, and individual structures were also reported. Results Mean absolute point difference between machine and hand scoring was 3.65, point-to-point agreement was 72.6%, and MIA was 74.9%. There were large differences in subscales, with Noun Phrase and Verb Phrase subscales generally providing greater accuracy and agreement than Question/Negation and Sentence Structures subscales. There were significantly more erroneous than missed items in machine scoring, attributed to problems of mistagging of elements, imprecise search patterns, and other errors. Cascade failure resulted in an average of 4.65 points lost per transcript. Conclusions The CLAN program showed relatively inaccurate outcomes in comparison to manual scoring on both traditional and new measures of accuracy. Recommendations for improvement of the program include accounting for second exemplar violations and applying cascaded credit, among other suggestions. It was proposed that research on machine-scored syntax routinely report accuracy measures detailing erroneous and missed scores, including MIA, so that researchers and clinicians are aware of the limitations of a machine-scoring program. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.11984364

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Food insecurity transitions among rural households in Nigeria

Studies of Applied Economics ◽

10.25115/eea.v39i1.3505 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Oluwakemi Adeola Obayelu ◽

Emem Ime Akpan

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Secondary Education ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Primary Education ◽

Rural Households ◽

Farm Size ◽

Dependency Ratio ◽

Male Adult ◽

Access To Credit ◽

Food Expenditure

Food insecurity dynamics of rural households in Nigeria was assessed using a panel data. Results showed that 44.4% of households that were food secure in the first panel transited into food insecurity in the second panel, while 32.5% that were mildly food insecure transited into food security. Furthermore, 25.7% transited from moderate food insecurity to food security, while 38.2% transited from severe food insecurity to food security. About 35.1% of households were never food insecure; 11.4% exited food insecurity 28.0% entered food insecurity; while 25.48% remained always food insecure. Having primary education, secondary education, dependency ratio, household size, share of non-food expenditure and farm size explained food insecurity transition. However, the likelihood of a household being always food insecure was explained by gender, female-to-male-adult ratio, marital status, primary education, secondary education, dependency ratio, share of non-food expenditure, farm size, access to credit and access to remittance.

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It Takes Two to Make an Interview Go Right: Round-Robin Designs to Demonstrate Interviewer and Witness Variance

10.31234/osf.io/tv5gz ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Charlotte A. Hudson ◽

Liam Satchell ◽

Nicole M Adams-Quackenbush

Keyword(s):

Grain Size ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Individual Difference ◽

Round Robin ◽

Investigative Interviews ◽

Sources Of Variation ◽

Interview Performance ◽

Report Accuracy ◽

Statistical Demonstration

Purpose: Investigative interviews are complex, dyadic, activities typically studied by focusing on developing techniques to improve witness performance. However, in field settings, interviewers are known to vary in their presentation of good interviewing practice. Thus, it is important to conduct research reflective of complex idiosyncrasies in witnesses, interviewers and unique pairings of both. This study explores such sources of variation in an by making use of a 'round-robin' design. Such methodology allows the statistical demonstration of individual difference and unique partner-generated variance in interview performance. Methods: In our study, a total of 45 witnesses were questioned about five real crime videos. After witnessing each event, witnesses were interviewed by a different interviewer (or a computer self-administered interview). In total, nine 'rounds' of interviews occurred, with five new witnesses being interviewed in the same five interview settings (resulting in 225 interviews). After each interview both interviewers and witnesses were asked to complete subjective interview experience ratings. The quality (grain size) and quantity of information in the statements was coded to index witness report accuracy. Results: Principally, the results demonstrate the degree to which witnesses and interviewers affect statement quality, and highlight the influence of unique interviewer-witness pairs. (Participant personality and interviewer behaviour were also analysed, but with limited effects). Conclusion: This study presents the useful round-robin methodology for studying interviewer-witness behaviour. Whilst the current personality and behavioural measures do not account for these individual differences, we advocate this methodology be adopted more widely to better understand interview performance.

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Selling their Best for Little: The Riddle of Ecuador's Failed Attempt to Assist Communal Farmers

Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Económico ◽

10.35319/lajed.20042322 ◽

2004 ◽

pp. 123-142

Author(s):

María José Castillo ◽

Richard Beilock

Keyword(s):

Development Strategies ◽

Irrigation Canals ◽

Irrigation Systems ◽

Access To Credit ◽

Reservation Prices ◽

Failed Attempt ◽

Santa Elena

In the 1980s, Ecuador began an expensive project providing primary irrigation canals to the Santa Elena Peninsula. The intended beneficiaries were the region's communal farmers. Instead, virtually all irrigable lands have been sold to large farmers and land speculators, usually at exceedingly low prices. While political and economic abuses explain some of these sales, introduction into a communal setting of an innovation which improved returns to capital relative to labor made land divestitures almost inevitable. With effectively no access to credit, communal farmers had little ability to invest in secondary irrigation systems. Moreover, because users of irrigable lands did not fully control communal sales decisions, as these lands became attractive to others, dispossession risks rose. The net result was that reservation prices for holding these lands fell among communal farmers at the same time of increased demands for these assets by those outside the comunas. Implications for development strategies are also discussed.

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The Role of Mobile Money in Moderating Financial Exclusion: A Tanzanian Experience

The International Social Sciences Review ◽

10.37467/gka-socialrev.v2.2287 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

pp. 1-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Deogratius Joseph Mhella

Keyword(s):

Developing Countries ◽

Financial Institutions ◽

Banking Sector ◽

Research Question ◽

Microfinance Institutions ◽

Mobile Money ◽

Access To Credit ◽

Financial Exclusion

Prior to the advent of mobile money, the banking sector in most of the developing countries excluded certain segments of the population. The excluded populations were deemed as a risk to the banking sector. The banking sector did not work with cash stripped and the financially disenfranchised people. Financial exclusion persisted to incredibly higher levels. Those excluded did not have: bank accounts, savings in financial institutions, access to credit, loan and insurance services. The advent of mobile money moderated the very factors of financial exclusion that the banks failed to resolve. This paper explains how mobile money moderates the factors of financial exclusion that the banks and microfinance institutions have always failed to moderate. The paper seeks to answer the following research question: 'How has mobile money moderated the factors of financial exclusion that other financial institutions failed to resolve between 1960 and 2008? Tanzania has been chosen as a case study to show how mobile has succeeded in moderating financial exclusion in the period after 2008.

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