A Review of Bootstrap Methods in Ranked Set Sampling

This chapter provides a brief review of the existing resampling methods for RSS and its implementation to construct a bootstrap confidence interval for the mean parameter. The authors present a brief comparison of these existing methods in terms of their flexibility and consistency. To construct the bootstrap confidence interval, three methods are adopted, namely, bootstrap percentile method, bias-corrected and accelerated method, and method based on monotone transformation along with normal approximation. Usually, for the second method, the accelerated constant is computed by employing the jackknife method. The authors discuss an analytical expression for the accelerated constant, which results in reducing the computational burden of this bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap method. The usefulness of the proposed methods is further illustrated by analyzing real-life data on shrubs.

Method Bias Mechanisms and Procedural Remedies

As a crucial method in organizational and social behavior research, self-report surveys must manage method bias. Method biases are distorted scores in survey response, distorted variance in variables, and distorted relational estimates between variables caused by method designs. Studies on method bias have focused on post hoc statistical control, but integrated analyses of the sociopsychological mechanism of method bias are lacking. This review proposes a framework for method bias and offers a relatively complete and detailed review of the sociopsychological and statistical mechanisms of four main types of method bias and their procedural remedies. This review proposes “reduce, remove, and rectify” as a guideline for researchers in survey design to address method bias. Finally, this review presents two directions for future methodology research.

Coachability and the development of the coachability scale

PurposeThe purpose of this research was to develop a conceptualization and measure of workplace coachability.Design/methodology/approachUsing four independent samples of employed adults, we developed a short and long version of the Coachability Scale. We followed standard scale development practices, presenting evidence of the scales’ factor structure, reliability and validity.FindingsWith the first two samples, we derived an initial three-dimensional version of the Coachability Scale and provided evidence of convergent validity. With Samples 3 and 4, we expanded the scale with additional dimensions related to coaching feedback processes and accumulated additional evidence of the scale's validity, and provided evidence of convergence between the two versions of the Coachability Scale.Research limitations/implicationsWe encourage continued research on the Coachability Scale, as well as research on coachability in formal coaching relationships and with more diverse populations and cultures. It is also important to examine how coachability relates to specific coachee behaviors and outcomes. Although common method bias may be a limitation, we used temporally separated measurements to minimize method bias in Sample 4.Practical implicationsKnowledge about coachability can inform coaching practice decisions and help tailor the coaching engagement to better fit the coachee's needs.Social implicationsMeasuring how individuals respond to coaching and coaching relationships has important implications for managerial behavior and the quality of work life.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to develop valid scales for assessing workplace coachability.

Pancreatic lipase: why laboratory community does not take enough care of this clinically important test?

Although being the recommended laboratory test to diagnose acute pancreatitis, serum pancreatic lipase (LIP) is among the poorly standardized laboratory tests, and laboratory stakeholders often appear to not take enough care of the quality of its measurements. Here we discuss some important issues that, if not correctly managed and solved, make misdiagnosis of acute pancreatitis by using serum LIP a real possibility. First, the current unavailability of a suitable higher-order reference material to be used as common calibrator should be filled up to definitively improve the inter-method bias. Second, knowledge of the analytical characteristics that may explain the defective performance of LIP assays should be deepened. IVD manufacturers should be more explicit in providing this information, including description of their internal protocol for transferring LIP values from internal references to commercial calibrators. Third, recommended models for accurately estimating measurement uncertainty and reliably defining analytical performance specifications for LIP measurements should be applied. Finally, investments considering alternative options for measuring LIP (e.g., targeted to the development of automated LIP immunoassays) should be warranted. All involved stakeholders (standardization bodies, higher-order reference providers, in vitro diagnostics manufacturers, and laboratory professionals) should contribute to fill the existing gap.

Factors Affecting Organisational Learning: The Case of a Medical Centre

Despite many studies that examined the relationship between organisational learning and organisational culture, none examined whether the levels of learning differ within a given organisation and if so, what factors lead to this difference. This article is based upon a study on organisational learning and investigates the relationship among organisational learning, culture and structure. Quantitative research was conduct on organisational learning practices in 17 medical departments of a large hospital in Israel. Three main categories of variables were examined: mapping the learning mechanisms, characterising the organisational culture and examining the organisational structure of various departments. Organisational learning was measured by means of a set of organisational learning mechanisms used in each medical department. Because data were collected from individuals, it was necessary to control and overcome self-report and common method bias. Reverse scoring of items, the use of variation in wording of items and guaranteeing anonymity to respondents helped control common method bias. As expected, it was found that those departments do differ one from the others by the extent to which organisational learning mechanisms are systematically used. The article further presents and discusses the effects of some structural and cultural factors upon levels of organisational learning on those departments. Both the method and the results of this research differ from previous studies of organisational learning; thus, the article sheds a new light on the concept of organisational learning. The study points to the importance and need of organisations to adopt a culture that encourages use of these organisational learning mechanisms to create effective and ongoing organisational learning. Increasing awareness among hospital departments of organisational learning as an essential process for coping with environmental change is also an important practical contribution.

Bias Silhouette Analysis: Towards Assessing the Quality of Bias Metrics for Word Embedding Models

Word embedding models reflect bias towards genders, ethnicities, and other social groups present in the underlying training data. Metrics such as ECT, RNSB, and WEAT quantify bias in these models based on predefined word lists representing social groups and bias-conveying concepts. How suitable these lists actually are to reveal bias - let alone the bias metrics in general - remains unclear, though. In this paper, we study how to assess the quality of bias metrics for word embedding models. In particular, we present a generic method, Bias Silhouette Analysis (BSA), that quantifies the accuracy and robustness of such a metric and of the word lists used. Given a biased and an unbiased reference embedding model, BSA applies the metric systematically for several subsets of the lists to the models. The variance and rate of convergence of the bias values of each model then entail the robustness of the word lists, whereas the distance between the models' values gives indications of the general accuracy of the metric with the word lists. We demonstrate the behavior of BSA on two standard embedding models for the three mentioned metrics with several word lists from existing research.

Performance Pressure as an Antecedent and Authentic Leadership as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Co-worker Undermining and Psychological Capital

As a component of organizational aggression, co-worker undermining erodes the well-being of the victims and the sustainability of the organization. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this study identified the negative impact of co-worker undermining on the victim’s psychological capital, and empirically examined the influence of performance pressure as an antecedent and of authentic leadership as a moderator to suggest approaches to minimize this negative impact. A total of 485 subordinate employees from 10 organizations in South Korea completed a questionnaire survey. To prevent common method bias, the survey was designed to recruit participants from multiple organizations and was conducted in two waves. First, the results revealed that performance pressure had a positive relationship with the perception of co-worker’s undermining. Second, this perception of co-worker undermining had a negative influence on the victim’s psychological capital. Third, authentic leadership had the moderating effect of decreasing the negative relationship between co-worker undermining and psychological capital. Furthermore, authentic leadership moderated the mediating relationship between the performance pressure and psychological capital through co-worker’s undermining. These findings suggest that the level of performance pressure should be managed in advance so as not to reach excessive levels and the psychological capital of victims should be preserved through authentic leadership to minimize the negative impact of co-worker undermining.

Is lodging research suffering from methods bias? An assessment of published research during 1990-2016

Purpose The study aims to investigate if lodging research suffers from a method bias by comprehensively reviewing the research methodology used in lodging related research articles. Design/methodology/approach In all, 2,647 published papers in 16 leading hospitality and tourism published between 1990 and 2016 are analyzed using bibliometric technique. Findings In all, 69% of the empirical studies in lodging research across 26 years period used quantitative methods, with an increasing reliance on regression-based analysis and structural equation modeling, a disturbing plunging trend in methods diversity. Findings also suggest an increasing trend of using secondary data. Research limitations/implications Based on the findings of this study, theoretical and practical implications for hospitality and tourism researchers are provided. Originality/value This is the first study that reviewed a large corpus of published research (2,647 papers in 16 hospitality and tourism journals from the last 27 years) to highlight (a) methodology used, (b) methods employed and (c) data collection and analysis procedures.