Suchergebnisse

Frontmatter -- Preface -- Contents -- PART I. Foundations -- CHAPTER 1. Introduction and Overview -- CHAPTER 2. An Orthogonal Analysis of Variance for Preferential Choices -- Chapter 3. Spatial Constraints upon the Utility Matrix -- PART II: SCALAR PRODUCT MODELS -- Chapter 4. The Scalar Product Model with Known Stimulus Coordinates -- Chapter 5. The General Scalar Product Model -- PART III: DISTANCE MODELS -- Chapter 6. The Powered Distance Model with Known Stimulus Coordinates -- Chapter 7. The General Powered Distance Model -- PART IV: GENERALIZATIONS -- Chapter 8. Multidimensional Scaling of Choice -- Chapter 9. Other Observational Techniques for Obtaining a Utility Matrix -- Bibliography -- Author Index -- Subject Index

Discusses the methodology & findings of the Index of Consumer Sentiment monitored by the Survey Research Center of the U of Michigan, items of which form the Index of Consumer Expectations & The Conference Board's Consumer Expectation Index. Since 1989, the US Commerce Dept has used the Index of Consumer Expectations as part of its US Leading Economic Indicators. Bechtel (1997) has observed that the Index of Consumer Expectations & The Conference Board's Consumer Expectation Index provide reports that are vulnerable to mixed signals & can show opposite & inconsistent trends, since each index alone is restricted in its time horizon for consumer confidence. A single indicator that draws on both data sources simultaneously could possibly solve the contradictions. The conflicting results of the indexes after the terrorist attacks of September 11 (2001) illustrate the need to give the public accurate answers, especially during times of crisis. Data from the indexes are analyzed & suggestions are given on how to apply Bechtel's suggestions. 7 Tables, 10 References. L. A. Hoffman

Social indicators work has been dominated by "objective" measures expressed in various physical units (for example, crime rates). The present work is part of an attempt to correct this imbalance by providing a method for monitoring subjective indicators over different demographic segments and time points. The present monitoring model, which is based on psychometric scaling theory, is also similar to models in test theory and choice theory, and its parameters are estimated noniteratively. A principal advantage of this model, when applied to survey rating scales, stems from built-in parameters which provide for its evaluation. This evaluation reveals encouraging results in the present applications of the model to cross-classified survey data. Other potential applications, including quasi- experimental methods, are also discussed.

Two public health objectives, one methodological and the other substantive, are realized in the present study. First, average survey ratings are replaced by negated mean cumulative logits (MCLs), which have the advantage of interitem commensuration. Second, these negated MCLs improve the analysis of two Florida tobacco control surveys of community leaders. Because of their common logit metric, negated MCLs for different item types are compared on their expressed antitobacco sentiment. They are also averaged to construct a precise indicator of overall sentiment. These results show that in 1998 and 1999, community leaders were most averse to selling to minors, kids buying cigarettes, and restaurant and workplace smoking. The latter aversion anticipated voters' overwhelming support of the 2002 Florida constitutional amendment prohibiting smoking in restaurants and workplaces. The authors hope that this analysis for antitobacco programs will improve other substance-abuse monitoring with surveys whose items are yet unwritten.