Parents' reported preference scores for childhood atopic dermatitis disease states

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Walter Emmanuel B

2004-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background We sought to elicit preference weights from parents for health states corresponding to children with various levels of severity of atopic dermatitis. We also evaluated the hypothesis that parents with children who had been diagnosed with atopic dermatitis would assign different preferences to the health state scenarios compared with parents who did not have a child with atopic dermatitis. Methods Subjects were parents of children aged 3 months to 18 years. The sample was derived from the General Panel, Mommies Sub-Panel, and Chronic Illness Sub-Panel of Harris Interactive. Participants rated health scenarios for atopic dermatitis, asthma, and eyeglasses on a visual analog scale, imagining a child was experiencing the described state. Results A total of 3539 parents completed the survey. Twenty-nine percent had a child with a history of atopic dermatitis. Mean preference scores for atopic dermatitis were as follows: mild, 91 (95% confidence interval [CI], 90.7 to 91.5; mild/moderate, 84 (95%CI, 83.5 to 84.4; moderate, 73 (95%CI, 72.5 to 73.6; moderate/severe, 61 (95%CI, 60.6 to 61.8; severe, 49 (95% CI, 48.7 to 50.1; asthma, 58 (95%CI, 57.4 to 58.8; and eyeglasses, 87(95%CI, 86.3 to 87.4. Conclusions Parents perceive that atopic dermatitis has a negative effect on quality of life that increases with disease severity. Estimates of parents' preferences can provide physicians with insight into the value that parents place on their children's treatment and can be used to evaluate new medical therapies for atopic dermatitis.

Analyzing Drivers' Attitude towards HUD System Using a Stated Preference Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongwei Guo

2014-02-01

Full Text Available It is very important for drivers to obtain driving information easily and efficiently. There are many advanced devices used for driving safety assistance. Of these assistance devices, the head-up display (HUD system can promote the reduction of driver's reaction time and improve spatial awareness. The drivers' attitude towards and preference for HUD system are crucial to design the functional framework and interface of HUD system. This study explored the relationships between drivers' attitude and HUD presentation image designs using stated preference data from questionnaire survey. The questionnaire included drivers' attitude towards the use of HUD and the preference for the information display zone and information display elements of the HUD. Contrastive analysis was adopted to examine the variations in drivers' attitude and preference for age and driving skills. According to the results, the participants have varying attitudes to HUD system, but most participants show relatively unified preference for the information display zone and information display elements. The results can also be used to customize a HUD presentation image which is in accordance with the drivers' feelings and preferences.

DETERMINANTS OF RURAL FARMERS PREFERENCE FOR CASH-LESS TRANSACTIONS IN IMO STATE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Igwe Ikenna UKOHA

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The preference for cash-less transaction by Nigerians cannot be exaggerated, but despite its patronage, there exist limited access and utilization of the cash-less technologies among farmers in South-East Nigeria. The study analysed the determinants of rural farmers’ preference for cash-less transactions in Imo state, South-East Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was employed in selection of 100 farmers for the study. The determinant of rural farmers’ preference for cash-less transactions in Imo State, was achieved using logit model. The result of the analysis showed that age (5%, gender (10% education levels of the farmers (1%, user friendliness of technologies (5%, transaction charge (5% and security of transactions (5% were found to be the major determinants of farmers preference for cash-less transactions based on their levels of significance. Centred on the findings, the study recommended the strengthening of the use of cash-less transaction by farmers by providing a favourable financial environment through better orientation programs, so as to enable a smooth transition from a cash-based economy to cash-less economy.

A social preference valuations set for EQ-5D health states in Flanders, Belgium.

Science.gov (United States)

Cleemput, Irina

2010-04-01

This study aimed at deriving a preference valuation set for EQ-5D health states from the general Flemish public in Belgium. A EuroQol valuation instrument with 16 health states to be valued on a visual analogue scale was sent to a random sample of 2,754 adults. The initial response rate was 35%. Eventually, 548 (20%) respondents provided useable valuations for modeling. Valuations for 245 health states were modeled using a random effects model. The selection of the model was based on two criteria: health state valuations must be consistent, and the difference with the directly observed valuations must be small. A model including a value decrement if any health dimension of the EQ-5D is on the worst level was selected to construct the social health state valuation set. A comparison with health state valuations from other countries showed similarities, especially with those from New Zealand. The use of a single preference valuation set across different health economic evaluations within a country is highly preferable to increase their usability for policy makers. This study contributes to the standardization of outcome measurement in economic evaluations in Belgium.

Preferred Styles of Conflict Resolution. Mexico and the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Gabrielidis, Cristina; Stephan, Walter G.; Ybarra, Oscar; Pearson, Virginia Dos Santos; Villareal, Lucila

1997-01-01

Examined cultural differences in preferences for conflict resolution styles using the dual-concern model with 103 college students in Mexico (collectivistic culture) and 91 college students in the United States (individualistic culture). Results suggest that independence of the self and interdependence of the self may be separate dimensions,…

Quantifying women's stated benefit-risk trade-off preferences for IBS treatment outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, F Reed; Hauber, A Brett; Ozdemir, Semra; Lynd, Larry

2010-01-01

The Food and Drug Administration, currently, is exploring quantitative benefit-risk methods to support regulatory decision-making. A scientifically valid method for assessing patients' benefit-risk trade-off preferences is needed to compare risks and benefits in a common metric. The study aims to quantify the maximum acceptable risk (MAR) of treatment-related adverse events (AEs) that women with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are willing to accept in exchange for symptom relief. A stated-choice survey was used to elicit trade-off preferences among constructed treatment profiles, each defined by symptom severity and treatment-related AEs. Symptom attributes included frequency of abdominal pain and discomfort, frequency of diarrhea, and frequency of urgency. AE attributes included frequency of mild-to-moderate constipation and the risk of four possible serious AEs. A Web-enabled survey was administered to 589 female US residents at least 18 years of age with a self-reported diagnosis of diarrhea-predominant IBS. Preference weights and MAR were estimated using mixed-logit methods. SUBJECTS were willing to accept higher risks of serious AEs in return for treatments offering better symptom control. For an improvement from the lowest to the highest of four benefit levels, subjects were willing to tolerate a 2.65% increase in impacted-bowel risk, but only a 1.34% increase in perforated-bowel risk. Variation in MARs across AE types is consistent with the relative seriousness of the AEs. Stated-preference methods offer a scientifically valid approach to quantifying benefit-risk trade-off preferences that can be used to inform regulatory decision-making.

Temporal Stability of Stated Preferences: The Case of Junior Nursing Jobs.

Science.gov (United States)

Doiron, Denise; Yoo, Hong Il

2017-06-01

With the growing use of discrete choice experiments (DCEs) in health workforce research, the reliability of elicited job preferences is a growing concern. We provide the first empirical evidence on the temporal stability of such preferences using a unique longitudinal survey of Australian nursing students and graduate nurses. The respondents completed DCEs on nursing positions in two survey waves. Each position is described by salary and 11 non-salary attributes, and the two waves are spaced 15months apart on average. Between the waves, most final-year students finished their degrees and started out as graduate nurses. Thus, the survey covers a long timespan that includes an important period of career transition. The relative importance of different job attributes appears stable enough to support the use of DCEs to identify key areas of policy intervention. There is virtually no change in the groupings of influential job characteristics. Conclusions regarding the stability of willingness-to-pay, however, are different because of unstable preferences for salary. The instability of preferences for salary was also found previously in the context of comparing alternative elicitation methods. This prompts us to push for further work on the reliability of stated preferences over monetary attributes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Family caregiver preferences for patient decisional control among Hispanics in the United States and Latin America

Science.gov (United States)

Yennurajalingam, Sriram; Noguera, Antonio; Parsons, Henrique Afonseca; Torres-Vigil, Isabel; Duarte, Eva Rosina; Palma, Alejandra; Bunge, Sofia; Palmer, J. Lynn; Delgado-Guay, Marvin Omar; Bruera, Eduardo

2013-01-01

Background Understanding family caregivers’ decisional role preferences is important for communication, quality of care, and patient and family satisfaction. The family caregiver has an important role in a patient’s decisional role preferences. There are limited studies on family caregivers’ preferences of the patient’s decisional control at the end of life among Hispanics. Aims To identify Hispanic caregivers’ preferences of the decision control of patients with advanced cancer and to compare the preferences of caregivers in Latin America (HLA) and Hispanic American (HUSA) caregivers. Design We surveyed patients and their family caregivers referred to outpatient palliative care clinics in the United States, Chile, Argentina, and Guatemala. Caregiver preferences of patient’s decisional control were evaluated using the Control Preference Scale. Caregivers’ and patients’ socio-demographic variables, patient performance status, and HUSA patient acculturation level was also collected. Participants A total of 387 caregivers were surveyed: 100 (26%) in Chile, 99 (26%) in Argentina, 97 (25%) in Guatemala, and 91 (24%) in the United States. The median age was 56 years, and 59% were female. Results Caregiver preference of patients decisions control was passive, shared, and active by 10 (11%), 45 (52%) and 32 (37%) HUSA caregivers and 54 (19%), 178 (62%) and 55 (19%) HLA caregivers (p=0.0023). Caregiver acculturation level did not affect the preferences of the HUSA sample (p=0.60). Conclusions Most Hispanic family caregivers preferred the patient to make shared decisions. HLA caregivers preferred more frequently patients to assume a passive decisional role. Acculturation did not influence the preferences of HUSA caregivers. PMID:23670718

Visitor Preferences for Visual Changes in Bark Beetle-Impacted Forest Recreation Settings in the United States and Germany

Science.gov (United States)

Arnberger, Arne; Ebenberger, Martin; Schneider, Ingrid E.; Cottrell, Stuart; Schlueter, Alexander C.; von Ruschkowski, Eick; Venette, Robert C.; Snyder, Stephanie A.; Gobster, Paul H.

2018-02-01

Extensive outbreaks of tree-killing insects are increasing across forests in Europe and North America due to climate change and other factors. Yet, little recent research examines visitor response to visual changes in conifer forest recreation settings resulting from forest insect infestations, how visitors weigh trade-offs between physical and social forest environment factors, or how visitor preferences might differ by nationality. This study explored forest visitor preferences with a discrete choice experiment that photographically simulated conifer forest stands with varying levels of bark beetle outbreaks, forest and visitor management practices, and visitor use levels and compositions. On-site surveys were conducted with visitors to State Forest State Park in Colorado ( n = 200), Lake Bemidji State Park in Minnesota ( n = 228), and Harz National Park in Germany ( n = 208). Results revealed that the condition of the immediate forest surrounding was the most important variable influencing visitors' landscape preferences. Visitors preferred healthy mature forest stands and disliked forests with substantial dead wood. The number of visitors was the most important social factor influencing visitor landscape preferences. Differences in the influence of physical and social factors on visual preferences existed between study sites. Findings suggest that both visual forest conditions and visitor use management are important concerns in addressing landscape preferences for beetle-impacted forest recreation areas.

Societal Preferences for EQ-5D Health States from a Brazilian Population Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Viegas Andrade, Mônica; Noronha, Kenya; Kind, Paul; Maia, Ana Carolina; Miranda de Menezes, Renata; De Barros Reis, Carla; Nepomuceno Souza, Michelle; Martins, Diego; Gomes, Lucas; Nichele, Daniel; Calazans, Julia; Mascarenhas, Tamires; Carvalho, Lucas; Lins, Camila

2013-12-01

To elicit preference weights for a subset of EuroQol five-dimensional (EQ-5D) questionnaire health states from a representative sample for the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, using a time trade-off (TTO) method and to analyze these data so as to estimate social preference weights for the complete set of 243 states. Data came from a valuation study with 3362 literate individuals aged between 18 and 64 years living in urban areas. The present study was based on quota sampling by age and sex. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in participants' own homes. A total of 99 EQ-5D questionnaire health states were selected, presorted into 26 blocks of six unique health states. Each participant valued one block together with the full health, worst health, and dead states. Each health state was evaluated by more than 100 individuals. TTO data were modeled at both individual and aggregate levels by using ordinary least squares and random effects methods. Values estimated by different models yielded very similar results with satisfactory goodness-of-fit statistics: the mean absolute error was around 0.03 and fewer than 25% of the states had a mean absolute error greater than 0.05. Dummies coefficients for each level within the EQ-5D questionnaire dimensions of health displayed an internally consistent ordering, with the mobility dimension demonstrating the largest value decrement. The values of mean observed transformed TTO values range from 0.869 to-0.235. The study demonstrates the feasibility of conducting face-to-face interviews using TTO in a Brazilian population setting. The estimated values for EQ-5D questionnaire health states based on this Minas Gerais survey represent an important first step in establishing national Brazilian social preference weights for the EQ-5D questionnaire. Copyright © 2013 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The role of interdisciplinary collaboration for stated preference methods to value marine environmental goods and ecosystem services

Science.gov (United States)

Börger, Tobias; Böhnke-Henrichs, Anne; Hattam, Caroline; Piwowarczyk, Joanna; Schasfoort, Femke; Austen, Melanie C.

2018-02-01

With the increasing use of environmental valuation methods in coastal, marine and deep-sea settings, there is a growing need for the collaboration of natural scientists and environmental economists. Stated preference valuation methods in particular need to be based on sound natural science information and translate such information to be used in social surveys. This paper uses three applications to make explicit the flow of information between different disciplines in the preparation and implementation of stated preference studies. One approach for facilitating this flow is to increase knowledge and understanding of natural scientists on these methods. To address this, this paper highlights key opportunities and pitfalls and demonstrates those in the context of three case studies. It therefore provides guidance on stated preference valuation for natural scientists rather than for economists.

Community preferences for health states associated with intimate partner violence.

Science.gov (United States)

Wittenberg, Eve; Lichter, Erika L; Ganz, Michael L; McCloskey, Laura A

2006-08-01

One in 4 women is affected by intimate partner violence in her lifetime. This article reports on a cross-sectional survey to estimate community preferences for health states resulting from intimate partner violence. A secondary analysis was conducted of data from a convenience sample of 93 abused and 138 nonabused women (231 total) recruited for in-person interviews from hospital outpatient department waiting rooms in metropolitan Boston, Massachusetts. SF-12 data were converted to utilities to describe community-perspective preferences for health states associated with intimate partner violence. Linear regression analysis was used to explore the association between violence and utility while controlling for other health and demographic factors. Median utility for intimate partner violence was between 0.58 and 0.63 on a scale of 0 (equivalent to death) to 1.0 (equivalent to optimal health), with a range from 0.64 to 0.66 for less severe violence to 0.53 to 0.62 for more severe violence. The data do not reveal whether violence itself is responsible for lower utility or whether a constellation of factors contributes to disutility experienced by women victims of abuse. The utility of health states experienced by women exposed to intimate partner violence is substantially diminished compared with optimal health and even other health conditions. These values quantify the substantial negative health impact of the experience of intimate partner violence in terms that allow comparison across diseases. They can be used in cost-effectiveness analyses to identify the benefits and potential returns from resources allocated to violence prevention and intervention efforts.

Patient-stated preferences regarding volume-related risk mitigation strategies for hemodialysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Flythe, Jennifer E; Mangione, Thomas W; Brunelli, Steven M; Curhan, Gary C

2014-08-07

Larger weight gain and higher ultrafiltration rates have been associated with poorer outcomes among patients on dialysis. Dietary restrictions reduce fluid-related risk; however, adherence is challenging. Alternative fluid mitigation strategies include treatment time extension, more frequent dialysis, adjunct peritoneal dialysis, and wearable ultrafiltration devices. No data regarding patient preferences for fluid management exist. A survey was designed, tested, and administered to assess patient-stated preferences regarding fluid mitigation. A written survey concerning fluid-related symptoms, patient and treatment characteristics, and fluid management preferences was developed. The cross-sectional survey was completed by 600 patients on hemodialysis at 18 geographically diverse ambulatory facilities. Comparisons of patient willingness to engage in volume mitigation strategies across fluid symptom burden, dietary restriction experience, and patient characteristics were performed. Final analyses included 588 surveys. Overall, if allowed to liberalize fluid intake, 44.6% of patients were willing to extend treatment time by 15 minutes. Willingness to extend treatment time was incrementally less for longer treatment extensions; 12.2% of patients were willing to add a fourth weekly treatment session, and 13.5% of patients were willing to participate in nocturnal dialysis three nights per week. Patients more bothered by their fluid restrictions (versus less bothered) were more willing to engage in fluid mitigation strategies. Demographic characteristics and symptoms, such as cramping and dyspnea, were not consistently associated with willingness to engage in the proposed strategies. More than 25% of patients were unsure of their dry weights and typical interdialytic weight gains. Patients were generally averse to treatment time extension>15 minutes. Patients more bothered (versus less bothered) by their prescribed fluid restrictions were more willing to engage in volume

Willingness to pay for improved respiratory and cardiovascular health: a multiple-format, stated-preference approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, F R; Banzhaf, M R; Desvousges, W H

2000-06-01

This study uses stated-preference (SP) analysis to measure willingness to pay (WTP) to reduce acute episodes of respiratory and cardiovascular ill health. The SP survey employs a modified version of the health state descriptions used in the Quality of Well Being (QWB) Index. The four health state attributes are symptom, episode duration, activity restrictions and cost. Preferences are elicited using two different SP formats: graded-pair and discrete-choice. The different formats cause subjects to focus on different evaluation strategies. Combining two elicitation formats yields more valid and robust estimates than using only one approach. Estimates of indirect utility function parameters are obtained using advanced panel econometrics for each format separately and jointly. Socio-economic differences in health preferences are modelled by allowing the marginal utility of money relative to health attributes to vary across respondents. Because the joint model captures the combined preference information provided by both elicitation formats, these model estimates are used to calculate WTP. The results demonstrate the feasibility of estimating meaningful WTP values for policy-relevant respiratory and cardiac symptoms, even from subjects who never have personally experienced these conditions. Furthermore, because WTP estimates are for individual components of health improvements, estimates can be aggregated in various ways depending upon policy needs. Thus, using generic health attributes facilitates transferring WTP estimates for benefit-cost analysis of a variety of potential health interventions. Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Questioning the differences between general public vs. patient based preferences towards EQ-5D-5L defined hypothetical health states.

Science.gov (United States)

Ogorevc, Marko; Murovec, Nika; Fernandez, Natacha Bolanos; Rupel, Valentina Prevolnik

2017-03-28

The purpose of this article is to explore whether any differences exist between the general population and patient based preferences towards EQ-5D-5L defined hypothetical health states. The article discusses the role of adaptation and self-interest in valuing health states and it also contributes rigorous empirical evidence to the scientific debate on the differences between the patient and general population preferences towards hypothetical health states. Patient preferences were elicited in 2015 with the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire using time trade-off and discrete choice experiment design and compared to the Spanish general population preferences, which were elicited using identical methods. Patients were chosen on a voluntary basis according to their willingness to participate in the survey. They were recruited from patient organisations and a hospital in Madrid, Spain. 282 metastatic breast cancer patients and 333 rheumatoid arthritis patients were included in the sample. The analysis revealed differences in preferences between the general population and patient groups. Based on the results of our analysis, it is suggested that the differences in preferences stem from patients being more able to accurately imagine "non-tangible" dimensions of health states (anxiety or depression, and pain or discomfort) than the general population with less experience in various health states. However, this does not mean that general public values should not be reflected in utilities derived for coverage decision making. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Applying stated-preference methods to improve health systems in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Lauren; Lee, Ting-Hsuan; De Allegri, Manuela; Rao, Krishna; Bridges, John Fp

2017-10-01

Sub-Saharan African health systems must balance shifting disease burdens with desires for robust institutions. Stated-preference methods have been applied extensively to elicit health care workers' preferences and priorities for rural practice. This systematic review characterizes the range of their applications to African health systems problems. Areas covered: A PRISMA protocol was submitted to PROSPERO. Six databases were queried for peer-reviewed articles using quantitative stated-preference methods to evaluate a health systems-related trade-off. Quality was assessed using the PREFS checklist. Seventy-seven articles published between 1996 and 2017 met review criteria. Methods were primarily choice-based: discrete-choice experiments (n = 46), ranking/allocation techniques (n = 21), conjoint analyses (n = 7), and best-worst scaling (n = 3). Trade-offs fell into six 'building blocks': service features (n = 27), workforce incentives (n = 17), product features (n = 14), system priorities (n = 14), insurance features (n = 4), and research priorities (n = 1). Five countries dominated: South Africa (n = 11), Ghana (n = 9), Malawi (n = 9), Uganda (n = 9), and Tanzania (n = 8). Discrete-choice experiments were of highest quality (mean score: 3.36/5). Expert commentary: Stated-preference methods have been applied to many health systems contexts throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Studies examined established strategic areas, especially primary health care for women, prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, and workforce development. Studies have neglected the emerging areas of non-communicable diseases.

Predicting a State’s Foreign Policy: State Preferences between Domestic and International Constraints

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alons, G.C.

2007-01-01

In order to understand a state’s foreign policy preferences, we need to take both its domestic and international considerations into account. This article aims to contribute to the analysis of foreign policy by exploring the conditions under which states will either give precedence to domestic or

Testing Preference Axioms in Discrete Choice experiments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hougaard, Jens Leth; Østerdal, Lars Peter; Tjur, Tue

Recent studies have tested the preference axioms of completeness and transitivity, and have detected other preference phenomena such as unstability, learning- and tiredness effects, ordering effects and dominance, in stated preference discrete choice experiments. However, it has not been explicitly...... of the preference axioms and other preference phenomena in the context of stated preference discrete choice experiments, and examine whether or how these can be subject to meaningful (statistical) tests...

The incidence of calorie labeling on fast food choices: A comparison between stated preferences and actual choices.

Science.gov (United States)

Loureiro, Maria L; Rahmani, Djamel

2016-09-01

In order to test the effect of calorie information on fast food choices, we conducted a questionnaire employing two types of stated preferences methods (the best-worst-scaling and intentional questions) and a follow-up randomized field experiment in a sample of 119 participants. This combined approach allowed us to test the internal validity of preferences for fast food meals across elicitation scenarios. The results showed that calorie information reduces the probability of selecting high calorie meals only in the questionnaire, while it did not have any significant impact on actual purchasing behavior in the field experiment. Thus, the findings show that there is a clear difference between the role of calorie information on immediate stated preference choices, and the relatively low level of responsiveness in real choices in a restaurant. We believe that the current results are quite suggestive, indicating the limits of predicting actual fast food behavior, and may open the way to using data sources that combine stated methods with field experiments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Vehicle choice in aging population: Some insights from a stated preference survey for California

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kavalec, C.

1999-07-01

This paper investigates the potential effects that an aging baby boomer generation will have on gasoline use through their vehicle choice decisions. The study uses stated preference data for both conventional and alternative fuel vehicles, and measures the impact of age of survey respondent on the perceived value of vehicle characteristics such as fuel economy, performance, and body style (e.g., car vs. truck). The results suggest the possibility that average fleet fuel economy may improve in the next few years, if survey preferences translate to actual purchase behavior. No clear implications can be drawn regarding the demand for alternative fuel vehicles.

A pilot test of a new stated preference valuation method. Continuous attribute-based stated choice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ready, Richard; Fisher, Ann; Guignet, Dennis; Stedman, Richard; Wang, Junchao

2006-01-01

A new stated preference nonmarket valuation technique is developed. In an interactive computerized survey, respondents move continuous sliders to vary levels of environmental attributes. The total cost of the combination of attributes is calculated according to a preprogrammed cost function, continuously updated and displayed as respondents move the sliders. Each registered choice reveals the respondent's marginal willingness to pay for each of the attributes. The method is tested in a museum exhibit on global climate change. Two construct validity tests were conducted. Responses are sensitive to the shape of the cost function in ways that are consistent with expectations based on economic theory. Implied marginal willingness to pay values were similar to those estimated using a more traditional paired comparisons stated choice format. However, responses showed range effects that indicate potential cognitive biases. (author)

Do different welfare states engender different policy preferences?: opinions on pension reforms in Eastern and Western Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Velladics, K.; Henkens, C.J.I.M.; van Dalen, H.P.

2006-01-01

This article examines whether the different welfare states of the European Union member states engender different policy preferences and attitudes among the population. More specifically, it investigates variations in attitudes towards population ageing and pension reforms, and variations in

Dynamic learning and context-dependence in sequential, attribute-based, stated-preference valuation questions

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas P. Holmes; Kevin J. Boyle

2005-01-01

A hybrid stated-preference model is presented that combines the referendum contingent valuation response format with an experimentally designed set of attributes. A sequence of valuation questions is asked to a random sample in a mailout mail-back format. Econometric analysis shows greater discrimination between alternatives in the final choice in the sequence, and the...

Técnicas de preferência declarada na análise do nível de serviço hoteleiro Techniques in stated preference for the analysis of hotel service

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antônio Galvão Novaes

1996-08-01

Full Text Available O caminho usual para que os consumidores dêem suas respostas aos atributos de qualidade de serviço passa pelo uso efetivo do serviço. No entanto, estas ocasiões únicas não cobrem todos os casos de interesse. Uma alternativa para reduzir parcialmente essa limitação consiste em coletar e analisar as preferências dos consumidores com o auxílio de um experimento estatístico chamado pesquisa de preferência declarada ou análise conjunta. Para isso, os atributos são combinados, variando-se sistematicamente seus valores de forma a cobrir uma grande área de interesse, e representando assim cenários realistas. Estes cenários são usualmente apresentados na forma de cartões (textos, esquemas. Pede-se, às pessoas entrevistadas, após uma explicação introdutória, que classifiquem os cenários em ordem decrescente de preferência. Num segundo estágio, uma técnica de calibração é utilizada para ajustar os coeficientes de uma função utilidade. A classificação hoteleira no Brasil considera somente atributos físicos, tais como, quartos, garagem, recepção, etc. Os elementos relacionados ao serviço, como atendimento, acessibilidade e conforto não são explicitamente incluídos. Este trabalho descreve uma pesquisa de preferência declarada e um modelo de preferência do consumidor, com aplicação específica ao serviço hoteleiro de Balneário Camboriú.The usual way that customers show their response to service quality attributes is when they use the service effectively. But those occasions alone do not cover all the cases of interest. One way to partially reduce this limitation is to collect and analyze the customers' preferences with the aid of a statistical experiment called stated preference surveying, or conjoint analysis. In order to do this, the attributes are combined such that their values cover a range of interest, representing realistic scenarios. These scenarios are usually presented in the form of cards (text

Career Counseling and Occupational Preferences Among ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Career Counseling and Occupational Preferences Among Secondary School Students in Cross River State, Nigeria. ... Annals of Modern Education ... senatorial district of Cross River State, Nigeria to investigate the implication of career counseling on the occupational preferences of senior secondary school students.

Consumer preferences for food labels on tomatoes in Germany - A comparison of a quasi-experiment and two stated preference approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Meyerding, Stephan G H

2016-08-01

In many studies, consumer preferences are determined by using direct surveys. For this method social desirability is problematic. This leads to the effect that participants answer in a way that they perceive as desired by society. This leads to the stated importance of certain features in these studies not being reflected in real purchasing decisions. Therefore, the aim of the study is to compare consumer preferences measured by a quasi-experiment to those quantified by direct questions. Another objective is to quantify the part-worth utilities of product characteristics such as origin, price and food labels. Part-worth utilities are estimated on an interval scale with an arbitrary origin and are a measure for preferences. The real purchasing situation was simulated in a quasi-experiment using a choice-based conjoint analysis. The part-worth utilities were then compared with the results of a conventional preference assessment (Likert scale). For this purpose, 645 consumers from all over Germany were surveyed in 2014. The participants were on average 44 years old and 63% were women. The results of the conjoint analysis report the highest part-worth utility (2.853) for the lowest price (1.49€), followed by the characteristic "grown locally" (2.157). For the labels, the German organic label shows the highest part-worth utility (0.785) followed by Fairtrade/"A heart for the producer" (0.200). It is noticeable that the carbon footprint labels have negative part-worth utilities compared to tomatoes without a label (-0.130 with CO2 indication, -0.186 without CO2 indication). The price is ranked 12th in the importance of the characteristics of purchasing tomatoes in the survey with a Likert scale, whereas it is first in the evaluation of the quasi-experiment (conjoint analysis), which supports the assumption of a social desirability bias. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Online Causal Inference Framework for Modeling and Designing Systems Involving User Preferences: A State-Space Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ibrahim Delibalta

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We provide a causal inference framework to model the effects of machine learning algorithms on user preferences. We then use this mathematical model to prove that the overall system can be tuned to alter those preferences in a desired manner. A user can be an online shopper or a social media user, exposed to digital interventions produced by machine learning algorithms. A user preference can be anything from inclination towards a product to a political party affiliation. Our framework uses a state-space model to represent user preferences as latent system parameters which can only be observed indirectly via online user actions such as a purchase activity or social media status updates, shares, blogs, or tweets. Based on these observations, machine learning algorithms produce digital interventions such as targeted advertisements or tweets. We model the effects of these interventions through a causal feedback loop, which alters the corresponding preferences of the user. We then introduce algorithms in order to estimate and later tune the user preferences to a particular desired form. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithms through experiments in different scenarios.

The link between response time and preference, variance and processing heterogeneity in stated choice experiments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Campbell, Danny; Mørkbak, Morten Raun; Olsen, Søren Bøye

2018-01-01

In this article we utilize the time respondents require to answer a self-administered online stated preference survey. While the effects of response time have been previously explored, this article proposes a different approach that explicitly recognizes the highly equivocal relationship between ...... between response time and utility coefficients, error variance and processing strategies. Our results thus emphasize the importance of considering response time when modeling stated choice data....... response time and respondents' choices. In particular, we attempt to disentangle preference, variance and processing heterogeneity and explore whether response time helps to explain these three types of heterogeneity. For this, we divide the data (ordered by response time) into approximately equal......-sized subsets, and then derive different class membership probabilities for each subset. We estimate a large number of candidate models and subsequently conduct a frequentist-based model averaging approach using information criteria to derive weights of evidence for each model. Our findings show a clear link...

Type of milk typically consumed, and stated preference, but not health consciousness affect revealed preferences for fat in milk.

Science.gov (United States)

Bakke, Alyssa J; Shehan, Catherine V; Hayes, John E

2016-04-01

Fat is an important source of both pleasure and calories in the diet. Dairy products are a major source of fat in the diet, and understanding preferences for fat in fluid milk can potentially inform efforts to change fat consumption patterns or optimize consumer products. Here, patterns of preference for fat in milk were determined in the laboratory among 100 free living adults using rejection thresholds. Participants also answered questions relating to their health concerns, the type of fluid milk typically consumed, and their declared preference for type of milk (in terms of fat level). When revealed preferences in blind tasting were stratified by these measures, we observed striking differences in the preferred level of fat in milk. These data indicate a non-trivial number of consumers who prefer low-fat milk to full fat milk, a pattern that would have been overshadowed by the use of a group mean. While it is widely assumed and claimed that increasing fat content in fluid milk universally increases palatability, present data demonstrate this is not true for a segment of the population. These results underscore the need to go look beyond group means to understand individual differences in food preference.

Bayesian framework for managing preferences in decision-making

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maes, Marc A.; Faber, Michael H.

2006-01-01

A rational decision-making process does not exclude the possibility of decision makers expressing different preferences and disagreeing regarding the effects of consequences and optimal course of actions. This point of view is explored in depth in this paper. A framework is developed that includes several decision makers (instead of just one) and allows for the variability of preferences among these decision makers. The information provided by the varying opinions of decision makers can be used to optimize our own decision-making. To achieve this, likelihood functions are developed for stated preferences among both discrete and continuous alternatives, and stated preference rankings of alternatives. Two applications are pursued: the optimization of the lifecycle utility of a structural system subject to consequences of failure proportional to the intensity of hazards exceeding a variable threshold, and to follow-up consequences. Also, the problem of tight decisions or close calls is investigated in order to explore the efficiency of a Bayesian approach using stated preferences and stated rankings

The discovered preference hypothesis - an empirical test

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lundhede, Thomas; Ladenburg, Jacob; Olsen, Søren Bøye

Using stated preference methods for valuation of non-market goods is known to be vulnerable to a range of biases. Some authors claim that these so-called anomalies in effect render the methods useless for the purpose. However, the Discovered Preference Hypothesis, as put forth by Plott [31], offers...... an nterpretation and explanation of biases which entails that the stated preference methods need not to be completely written off. In this paper we conduct a test for the validity and relevance of the DPH interpretation of biases. In a choice experiment concerning preferences for protection of Danish nature areas...... as respondents evaluate more and more choice sets. This finding supports the Discovered Preference Hypothesis interpretation and explanation of starting point bias....

The cost-effectiveness of cash versus lottery incentives for a web-based, stated-preference community survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Gajic, Aleksandra; Cameron, David; Hurley, Jeremiah

2012-12-01

We present the results of a randomized experiment to test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of response incentives for a stated-preference survey of a general community population. The survey was administered using a mixed-mode approach, in which community members were invited to participate using a traditional mailed letter using contact information for a representative sample of the community; but individuals completed the survey via the web, which exploited the advantages of electronic capture. Individuals were randomized to four incentive groups: (a) no incentive, (b) prepaid cash incentive ($2), (c) a low lottery (10 prizes of $25) and (d) a high lottery (2 prizes of $250). Letters of invitation were mailed to 3,000 individuals. In total, 405 individuals (14.4%) contacted the website and 277 (9.8%) provided complete responses. The prepaid cash incentive generated the highest contact and response rates (23.3 and 17.3%, respectively), and no incentive generated the lowest (9.1 and 5.7%, respectively). The high lottery, however, was the most cost-effective incentive for obtaining completed surveys: compared with no incentive, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) per completed survey for high lottery was $13.89; for prepaid cash, the ICER was $18.29. This finding suggests that the preferred response incentive for community-based, stated-preference surveys is a lottery with a small number of large prizes.

Time preferences, study effort, and academic performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Non, J.A.; Tempelaar, D.T.

2014-01-01

We analyze the relation between time preferences, study effort, and academic performance among first-year Business and Economics students. Time preferences are measured by stated preferences for an immediate payment over larger delayed payments. Data on study efforts are derived from an electronic

Determining the environmental training needs and training preferences of tribal officials on reservations in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Saxena, Jeeta Lakhani

The problem of this research was to determine the priority environmental management training needs (drinking water, wastewater, and solid waste), classroom training system preferences and related cultural factors of Native American tribal officials with environmental responsibilities living on reservations in the United States. The researcher conducted telephone interviews with 18 tribal officials on reservations in diverse geographic areas of the United States to determine their classroom training preferences. These officials also responded to a mail/fax survey comprised of 28 statements describing their environmental responsibilities in the areas of drinking water, wastewater, and solid waste. Tribal officials indicated how important the statements were according to them on a scale of 1--5 (1 being low importance and 5 being high importance). Tribal officials also indicated their ability to perform in the stated areas on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being low ability and 5 being high ability). It was found that tribal officials felt they needed training in the areas of: (1) Solid Waste: Awareness of conventional and alternative solid waste management strategies as well as assessing the reservation's need related to solid waste management. (2) Regional or Inter-Governmental Strategies : Working with the federal, and, state governments for enforcing and developing regulations. (3) Drinking water: Assessing the reservation's drinking water needs and awareness of conventional and alternative drinking water systems. (4) Training for environmental staff: Determining and planning training for environmental personnel is another area of need indicated by the responding tribal officials. (5) Wastewater : Assessing the reservations wastewater needs, compliance and liability issues and awareness of alternative and conventional wastewater systems. It was also found that tribal officials preferred: (1) Trainers who were knowledgeable about the subject matter and tribal culture

AIRLINE ITINERARY CHOICE IN A DYNAMIC SUPPLY ENVIRONMENT: RESULTS FROM A STATED PREFERENCE SURVEY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uzi Freund-Feinstei

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the choice of airline itineraries in dynamic settings using a tailored stated preference survey. The paper hypothesizes that airline itinerary choice is not a one-time event, but a continuous process during a certain time frame. Consumers can choose either to purchase an itinerary, deferring choice up to the end of the sales period, or completely declining the purchase. Understanding such consumers’ behavior is specifically relevant to the tourism industry, where firms are extensively utilizing internet websites to offer their products (e.g., airline tickets, hotel rooms to consumers. The paper describes the stated preference survey with real itineraries of various airlines on medium and long-haul routes. Choice sets are composed with dynamic and static variables and socio-economic variables. Questionnaires were distributed electronically among various groups of respondents, yielding a sample of 914 persons. Results show that (i itinerary choice deferring takes place, with differences between tourists and business-travelers, (ii the decision whether to defer choice is affected by dynamically changing variables and by the length of each respondent’s allocated choice period, and (iii the proposed methodology is adequate for investigating choice in dynamic settings and thus indicating its potential for further research in transportation planning and in tourism.

The role of interdisciplinary collaboration for stated preference methods to value marine environmental goods and ecosystem services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Börger, Tobias; Bohnke-Henrichs, Anne; Hattam, Caroline; Piwowarczyk, Joanna; Schasfoort, Femke; Austen, Melanie C.

2018-01-01

With the increasing use of environmental valuation methods in coastal, marine and deep-sea settings, there is a growing need for the collaboration of natural scientists and environmental economists. Stated preference valuation methods in particular need to be based on sound natural science

Host-Feeding Preference of the Mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus, in Yucatan State, Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia-Rejon, Julian E.; Blitvich, Bradley J.; Farfan-Ale, Jose A.; Loroño-Pino, Maria A.; Chi Chim, Wilberth A.; Flores-Flores, Luis F.; Rosado-Paredes, Elsy; Baak-Baak, Carlos; Perez-Mutul, Jose; Suarez-Solis, Victor; Fernandez-Salas, Ildefonso; Beaty, Barry J.

2010-01-01

Studies were conducted to determine the host-feeding preference of Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae) in relation to the availability of human and domestic animals in the city of Merida, Yucatan State, Mexico. Mosquitoes were collected in the backyards of houses using resting wooden boxes. Collections were made five times per week from January to December 2005. DNA was extracted from engorged females and tested by PCR using universal avian- and mammalian-specific primers. DNA extracted from avian-derived blood was further analyzed by PCR using primers that differentiate among the birds of three avian orders: Passeriformes, Columbiformes and Galliformes. PCR products obtained from mammalian-derived blood were subjected to restriction enzyme digestion to differentiate between human-, dog-, cat-, pig-, and horse-derived blood meals. Overall, 82% of engorged mosquitoes had fed on birds, and 18% had fed on mammals. The most frequent vertebrate hosts were Galliformes (47.1%), Passeriformes (23.8%), Columbiformes (11.2%) birds, and dogs (8.8%). The overall human blood index was 6.7%. The overall forage ratio for humans was 0.1, indicating that humans were not a preferred host for Cx. quinquefasciatus in Merida. PMID:20578953

Stated time preferences for health: a systematic review and meta analysis of private and social discount rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahboub-Ahari, Alireza; Pourreza, Abolghasem; Sari, Ali Akbari; Rahimi Foroushani, Abbas; Heydari, Hassan

2014-01-01

The present study aimed to provide better insight on methodological issues related to time preference studies, and to estimate private and social discount rates, using a rigorous systematic review and meta-analysis. We searched PubMed, EMBASE and Proquest databases in June 2013. All studies had estimated private and social time preference rates for health outcomes through stated preference approach, recognized eligible for inclusion. We conducted both fixed and random effect meta-analyses using mean discount rate and standard deviation of the included studies. I-square statistics was used for testing heterogeneity of the studies. Private and social discount rates were estimated separately via Stata11 software. Out of 44 screened full texts, 8 population-based empirical studies were included in qualitative synthesis. Reported time preference rates for own health were from 0.036 to 0.07 and for social health from 0.04 to 0.2. Private and social discount rates were estimated at 0.056 (95% CI: 0.038, 0.074) and 0.066 (95% CI: 0.064, 0.068), respectively. Considering the impact of time preference on healthy behaviors and because of timing issues, individual's time preference as a key determinant of policy making should be taken into account. Direct translation of elicited discount rates to the official discount rates has been remained questionable. Decisions about the proper discount rate for health context, may need a cross-party consensus among health economists and policy makers.

Preference Versus Choice in Online Dating.

Science.gov (United States)

Whyte, Stephen; Torgler, Benno

2017-03-01

This study explores factors that influence matches of online dating participants' stated preference for particular characteristics in a potential partner and compares these with the characteristics of the online daters actually contacted. The nature of online dating facilitates exploration of the differences between stated preference and actual choice by participants, as online daters willingly provide a range of demographics on their ideal partner. Using data from the Australian dating website RSVP, we analyze 219,013 contact decisions. We conduct a multivariate analysis using the number of matched variables between the participants' stated preference and the characteristics of the individuals contacted. We find that factors such as a person's age, their education level, and a more social personality all increase the number of factors they choose in a potential partner that match their original stated preference. Males (relative to females) appear to match fewer characteristics when contacting potential love interests. Conversely, age interaction effects demonstrate that males in their late 60's are increasingly more selective (than females) regarding who they contact. An understanding of how technology (the Internet) is impacting human mating patterns and the psychology behind the participants informs the wider social science of human behavior in large-scale decision settings.

Gender anomalies in stated preference surveys – are biases really gender dependent?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ladenburg, Jacob; Olsen, Søren Bøye

2010-01-01

The potential for a number of common but severe biases in stated preference method surveys being gender dependent has been largely overlooked in the literature. In this paper we summarize results from three Choice Experiment studies that find evidence in favor of gender differences in vulnerability...... set up a novel theoretical model, which provides an explanation for gender specific susceptibility to biases. We conclude that biases can indeed be gender dependent. Hence, researchers should not simply disregard potential gender differences, but rather take them into account and examine the extent...... of them when performing surveys. Finally, we give suggestions for future research in this area....

Sustainability or Bust: Malaysian Home Buyers’ Stated Preferences for Sus-Tainable Housing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Syahid A.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The lack of data on sustainable home buying behaviour in developing countries such as Malaysia is due to the absence of sustainable housing itself. However, it is still possible to solicit home buyers for their stated preferences and quantify its effects on housing demand. In this study, a sample of 300 responses to a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE on sustainable housing features was analysed using the “support.CEs” program. This study found that the addition of sustainable features; renewable energy generation, enhanced soundproofing and ventilation, energy saving features, and higher green area ratios significantly increase home buyer’s willingness to pay (WTP for sustainable housing.

Tempo Preferences of Different Age Music Listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

LeBlanc, Albert; And Others

1988-01-01

Measures the effect of four levels of tempo on the self-reported preferences of six different age-groups for traditional jazz music listening examples. Stated that listener age exerted a strong influence on overall preference scores. Reported an analysis of variance showing that there is a significant preference for increasingly faster tempo at…

Spatial preference heterogeneity in forest recreation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abildtrup, Jens; Garcia, Serge; Olsen, Søren Bøye

2013-01-01

In this study, we analyze the preferences for recreational use of forests in Lorraine (Northeastern France), applying stated preference data. Our approach allows us to estimate individual-specific preferences for recreational use of different forest types. These estimates are used in a second stage...... in the estimation of welfare economic values for parking and picnic facilities in the analyzed model. The results underline the importance of considering spatial heterogeneity of preferences carrying out economic valuation of spatial-delineated environmental goods and that the spatial variation in willingness...... of the analysis where we test whether preferences depend on access to recreation sites. We find that there is significant preference heterogeneity with respect to most forest attributes. The spatial analysis shows that preferences for forests with parking and picnic facilities are correlated with having access...

A Cross-Cultural Investigation of Students' Preferences for Lecturers' Personalities in Britain, Malaysia and the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Swami, Viren; Furnham, Adrian; Maakip, Ismail; Ahmad, Sharani; Hudani, Nurul; Voo, Peter S. K.; Christopher, Andrew N.; Garwood, Jeanette

2007-01-01

This study examined students' preferences for lecturers' personalities on three continents. Two-hundred and 35 university students in Malaysia, 347 university students in Britain and 139 university students in the United States provided ratings of 30 desirable and undesirable lecturer trait characteristics, which were coded into an internally…

The roles of human values and generalized trust on stated preferences when food is labeled with environmental footprints

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grebitus, Carola; Steiner, Bodo; Veeman, Michele

2015-01-01

(Rokeach 1973), and generalized trust attitudes using a version of the World Values Survey (WVS) / General Social Survey (GSS) standard question on trust. Consumer preferences for footprint-labeled potatoes were elicited by means of an attribute-based stated choice experiment. The results suggest...

Stated product formulation preferences for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis among women in the VOICE-D (MTN-003D) study.

Science.gov (United States)

Luecke, Ellen H; Cheng, Helen; Woeber, Kubashni; Nakyanzi, Teopista; Mudekunye-Mahaka, Imelda C; van der Straten, Ariane

2016-01-01

The effectiveness of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) requires consistent and correct product use, thus a deeper understanding of women's stated product formulation preferences, and the correlates of those preferences, can help guide future research. VOICE-D (MTN-003D), a qualitative ancillary study conducted after the VOICE trial, retrospectively explored participants' tablet and gel use, as well as their preferences for other potential PrEP product formulations. We conducted an analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from VOICE-D participants. During in-depth interviews, women were presented with pictures and descriptions of eight potential PrEP product formulations, including the oral tablet and vaginal gel tested in VOICE, and asked to discuss which product formulations they would prefer to use and why. Seven of the original product formulations displayed were combined into preferred product formulation categories based on exploratory factor and latent class analyses. We examined demographic and behavioural correlates of these preferred product formulation categories. In-depth interviews with participants were conducted, coded, and analysed for themes related to product preference. Of the 68 female participants who completed in-depth interviews (22 South Africa, 24 Zimbabwe, 22 Uganda), median age was 28 (range 21-41), 81% were HIV negative, and 49% were married or living with a partner. Four preferred product formulation categories were identified via exploratory factor analysis: 1) oral tablets; 2) vaginal gel; 3) injectable, implant, or vaginal ring; and 4) vaginal film or suppository. A majority of women (81%) expressed a preference for product formulations included in category 3. Characteristics significantly associated with each preferred product category differed. Attributes described by participants as being important in a preferred product formulation included duration of activity, ease of use, route of administration, clinic- versus self

Technical use stated preference: a study in residential sector for college students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cláudio Sonaglio Albano

2018-06-01

Full Text Available In a dynamic and competitive market for a product or service to be chosen, it is very important to understand the needs of consumers. Some market research techniques are recommended to investigate consumer preferences. This paper reports on research of declared preference, with specific application to the process of choosing the location of housing for university students. Data collection was performed with students from a federal university, through a questionnaire composed of structured cards, where students would indicate their preferences. The composition of the sample was random, according to the students’ availability. The results reveal the preferences of this consumer segment, making possible a better understanding of the factors that are prevalent when choosing the site for housing. Another contribution of this work is to demonstrate the methodological procedures developed for the use of the declared preference technique and their respective results.

Are Teachers' Beliefs Related to Their Preferences for ADHD Interventions? Comparing Teachers in the United States and New Zealand

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis, David F.; Hamilton, Richard J.; Moore, Dennis W.; Pisecco, Stewart

2014-01-01

This investigation examined the relationship between teachers' beliefs and their preferences for classroom interventions for behaviours consistent with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Teacher ratings of intervention acceptability, effectiveness, and rate of change were compared across United States and New Zealand samples. Beliefs…

Revealed preference tests for collective household behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cherchye, L.J.H.; de Rock, B.; Vermeulen, F.M.P.; Verriest, E.; Molina, J.A.

2011-01-01

This chapter contains a state of the art of revealed preference tests for consistency of observed household behavior with Pareto efficiency. These tests are entirely nonparametric, since they do not require any assumptions regarding the parametric form of individual preferences or the intrahousehold

Language-Based Social Preferences among Children in South Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Kinzler, Katherine D.; Shutts, Kristin; Spelke, Elizabeth S.

2012-01-01

Monolingual English-speaking children in the United States express social preferences for speakers of their native language with a native accent. Here we explore the nature of children's language-based social preferences through research with children in South Africa, a multilingual nation. Like children in the United States, Xhosa South African…

Gender, Employment and Working Time Preferences in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Fagan, Colette; Warren, Tracey

A representative survey of over 30,000 people aged 16-64 years across the 15 member states of the European Union and Norway sought Europeans' preferences for increasing or reducing the number of hours worked per week. Key finding included the following: (1) 51% preferred to work fewer hours in exchange for lower earnings while 12% preferred to…

Lumber attributes, characteristics, and species preferences as indicated by secondary wood products firms in the continental United States.

Science.gov (United States)

David L. Nicholls; Joseph. Roos

2006-01-01

The purpose of this research was to evaluate selected lumber attributes, species preferences, and lumber use properties among secondary wood manufacturers in the United States. Our sample included producers of kitchen cabinets, furniture, doors, windows, and molded products who attended regional and national wood manufacturing events. More than 51% of respondents had...

Workshop Synthesis: Stated Preference Surveys and Experimental Design, an Audit of the Journey so far and Future Research Perspectives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cherchi, Elisabetta; Hensher, David A.

2015-01-01

This paper is a synthesis of the discussions and ideas that were generated during the workshop on “Stated preference surveys and experimental design” at the 2014 Travel Survey Methods Conference in Leura (Australia). The workshop addressed the challenges related to the design and implementation o...

What matters most?: evidence-based findings of health dimensions affecting the societal preferences for EQ-5D health states

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monica Viegas Andrade

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This study analyzes how different health dimensions defined by the EQ-5D-3L instrument affect average individual preferences for health states. This analysis is an important benchmark for the incorporation of health technologies as it takes into consideration Brazilian population preferences in health resource allocation decisions. The EQ-5D instrument defines health in terms of five dimensions (mobility, daily activities, self-care activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression each divided into three levels of severity. Data came from a valuation study with 3,362 literate individuals aged between 18 and 64 living in urban areas of Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The main results reveal that health utility decreases as the level of severity increases. With regard to health issues, mobility stands out as the most important EQ-5D dimension. Independently of severity levels of the other EQ-5D-3L dimensions, the highest decrements in utilities are associated with severe mobility problems.

Treatment preferences of patients with binge eating disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Brody, Michelle L; Masheb, Robin M; Grilo, Carlos M

2005-05-01

The current study examined the treatment preferences of obese patients with binge eating disorder (BED). Participants were 103 consecutive patients with BED who responded to advertisements for treatment studies looking for persons who wanted to "stop binge eating and lose weight." In addition to completing comprehensive assessment batteries, participants were provided descriptions of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and behavioral weight loss therapy (BWL) after which they were asked to choose and rate their preferred treatment. Sixty-three percent of participants stated they preferred CBT. Treatment preferences were not associated with (1) histories of obesity, dieting, binge eating, or weight cycling, (2) current obesity or eating disorder features, or (3) psychological features such as depression or self-esteem levels. In contrast, participants' stated treatment preferences were aligned with their perception of their primary problem (eating disorder vs. obesity) and their primary goals for treatment (stop binge eating vs. lose weight). The patients who preferred CBT based their treatment selection more on their problem perception than on their primary treatment goal, whereas the patients who preferred BWL selected treatment based more on their primary treatment goal (weight loss) than on their problem perception. Obese patients with BED express treatment preferences that are not associated with variability in their clinical characteristics but are aligned with their perception of their primary problem and with their primary goals for treatment. Copyright 2005 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Neural modelling of ranking data with an application to stated preference data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catherine Krier

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Although neural networks are commonly encountered to solve classification problems, ranking data present specificities which require adapting the model. Based on a latent utility function defined on the characteristics of the objects to be ranked, the approach suggested in this paper leads to a perceptron-based algorithm for a highly non linear model. Data on stated preferences obtained through a survey by face-to-face interviews, in the field of freight transport, are used to illustrate the method. Numerical difficulties are pinpointed and a Pocket type algorithm is shown to provide an efficient heuristic to minimize the discrete error criterion. A substantial merit of this approach is to provide a workable estimation of contextually interpretable parameters along with a statistical evaluation of the goodness of fit.

Child gender preferences in an urban and rural community in Enugu ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Conclusion: Son preference exists in the rural and urban community in Enugu State however a balanced preference is also common especially in the urban area. Recommendation: Family education especially on gender equality and sensitivity was recommended. Keywords: Son preference, balanced preference, Urban, ...

Stated preferences for tropical wildlife conservation amongst distant beneficiaries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Morse-Jones, Sian; Bateman, Ian J.; Kontoleon, Andreas

2012-01-01

Despite heightened awareness of the need to find additional resources for tropical biodiversity conservation, and recognition that the benefits to populations in developed countries may be significant, very few empirical studies have been conducted to estimate these values. In this article, we...... report the results of a choice experiment survey that investigated the preferences of UK residents for the conservation of threatened wildlife in the Eastern Arc Mountains in Tanzania, part of the Eastern Afromontane “biodiversity hotspot”. We examine the sensitivity of values to species types......, the number of species, the number of conservation sites and, more unusually, to potential substitutes/complements. Critically we find some evidence of coherency in preferences. Respondents are willing to pay significant, positive amounts to conserve charismatic and/or endemic species and are scope sensitive...

Classroom climate and students' goal preferences: A cross-cultural comparison

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vedder, P.H.; Kouwenhoven, C.; Burk, W.J.

2009-01-01

Goal preferences indicate intentions to achieve or avoid particular states. We examined whether Curacaoan and Dutch students differ in goal preferences related to school and whether goal preferences are associated with students' evaluation of the classroom climate. Measurement invariance of the

[Beneficial effect of preferred music on cognitive functions in minimally conscious state patients].

Science.gov (United States)

Verger, J; Ruiz, S; Tillmann, B; Ben Romdhane, M; De Quelen, M; Castro, M; Tell, L; Luauté, J; Perrin, F

2014-11-01

Several studies have shown that music can boost cognitive functions in normal and brain-damaged subjects. A few studies have suggested a beneficial effect of music in patients with a disorder of consciousness but it is difficult to conclude since they did not use quantified measures and a control condition/group. The aim of the present study was to compare the effect of music to that of a continuous sound on the relational behavior of patients in a minimally conscious state (MCS). Behavioral responses of six MCS patients were evaluated using items from the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised. Weekly evaluation sessions were carried out, over four weeks, under two conditions: following the presentation of either the patient's preferred music, or following a continuous sound (control condition). Qualitative and quantitative analyses showed that twelve of the eighteen sessions (66.6%) showed a better result for the music condition than for the control condition. This new protocol suggests that preferred music has a beneficial effect on the cognitive abilities of MCS patients. The results further suggest that cerebral plasticity may be enhanced in autobiographical (emotional and familiar) contexts. These findings should now be further extended with an increased number of patients to further validate the hypothesis of the beneficial effect of music on cognitive recovery. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Enhancing the economic value and consumer preferences of commercial mondol stingray (Himantura gerardi) leather creative products

Science.gov (United States)

Sahubawa, L.; Pertiwiningrum, A.; Rahmadian, Y.

2018-03-01

The research objectives were to design, assess the economic value and consumer preference level of stingray leather products. The research method included a product design, analysis of economic value and consumer preferences. Mondol stingray (Himantura gerardi) leather, with a length of 50 cm and width of 30 cm, were processed into ID card wallet, man and women’s wallet and key holder. The number of respondents involved to analyze the preference level is 75 respondents (students, lecturers and employees of Universitas Gadjah Mada). Indicators of consumer preferences were model, color, price and purchasing power. The price of ID card wallet is Rp. 450,000; women wallet is Rp. 650,000 and a key holder is Rp. 300,000. Consumer preferences on ID card wallet were as follow: 84 % stated very interesting model; 83 % stated very interesting color; 61 % stated cheap and 53 % had enough. Consumer preferences of women’s wallet were as follow: 81 % stated very interesting model; 84 % stated very interesting color; 56 % stated cheap and 57 % had enough. Consumer preferences on key holder were as follow: 49 % stated interesting model; 72 % stated very interesting color; 61 % stated cheap and 57 % had enough.

Utylitaryzm preferencji poprzez zmianę preferencji? (Preference Utilitarianism by Way of Preference Change?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wlodek Rabinowicz

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This paper is a translation of my "Preference Utilitarianism by Way of Preference Change?", in which I revisit Richard Hare’s classical and much discussed argument for preference utilitarianism (Moral Thinking, 1981, which relies on the conception of moral deliberation as a process of thought experimentation, with concomitant preference change. The paper focuses on an apparent gap in Hare’s reasoning, the so-called No-Conflict Problem. A solution to this difficulty which was proposed in (Rabinowicz and Strömberg, 1996 is re-examined and shown to lead to a number of difficulties, not least in connection with the choice of an appropriate measure of distance between preference states. The paper therefore also considers an alternative idea, due to Daniel Elstein. This new proposal may well turn out to be the best way of filling the gap in Hare’s argument. The paper also examines whether the gap is there to begin with: The problem should perhaps be dissolved rather than solved. This suggestion goes back to an idea of Zeno Vendler (1988. Unfortunately, it turns out that Vendler’s move does not save Hare from criticism: It does dissolve the No-Conflict Problem, but at the same time gives rise to another, potentially more serious difficulty.

Constructive Preference Elicitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paolo Dragone

2018-01-01

Full Text Available When faced with large or complex decision problems, human decision makers (DM can make costly mistakes, due to inherent limitations of their memory, attention, and knowledge. Preference elicitation tools assist the decision maker in overcoming these limitations. They do so by interactively learning the DM’s preferences through appropriately chosen queries and suggesting high-quality outcomes based on the preference estimates. Most state-of-the-art techniques, however, fail in constructive settings, where the goal is to synthesize a custom or entirely novel configuration rather than choosing the best option among a given set of candidates. Many wide-spread problems are constructive in nature: customizing composite goods such as cars and computers, bundling products, recommending touristic travel plans, designing apartments, buildings, or urban layouts, etc. In these settings, the full set of outcomes is humongous and can not be explicitly enumerated, and the solution must be synthesized via constrained optimization. In this article, we describe recent approaches especially designed for constructive problems, outlining the underlying ideas and their differences as well as their limitations. In presenting them, we especially focus on novel issues that the constructive setting brings forth, such as how to deal with sparsity of the DM’s preferences, how to properly frame the interaction, and how to achieve efficient synthesis of custom instances.

Development of a preference-based index from the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25.

Science.gov (United States)

Rentz, Anne M; Kowalski, Jonathan W; Walt, John G; Hays, Ron D; Brazier, John E; Yu, Ren; Lee, Paul; Bressler, Neil; Revicki, Dennis A

2014-03-01

Understanding how individuals value health states is central to patient-centered care and to health policy decision making. Generic preference-based measures of health may not effectively capture the impact of ocular diseases. Recently, 6 items from the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 were used to develop the Visual Function Questionnaire-Utility Index health state classification, which defines visual function health states. To describe elicitation of preferences for health states generated from the Visual Function Questionnaire-Utility Index health state classification and development of an algorithm to estimate health preference scores for any health state. Nonintervention, cross-sectional study of the general community in 4 countries (Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, and United States). A total of 607 adult participants were recruited from local newspaper advertisements. In the United Kingdom, an existing database of participants from previous studies was used for recruitment. Eight of 15,625 possible health states from the Visual Function Questionnaire-Utility Index were valued using time trade-off technique. A θ severity score was calculated for Visual Function Questionnaire-Utility Index-defined health states using item response theory analysis. Regression models were then used to develop an algorithm to assign health state preference values for all potential health states defined by the Visual Function Questionnaire-Utility Index. Health state preference values for the 8 states ranged from a mean (SD) of 0.343 (0.395) to 0.956 (0.124). As expected, preference values declined with worsening visual function. Results indicate that the Visual Function Questionnaire-Utility Index describes states that participants view as spanning most of the continuum from full health to dead. Visual Function Questionnaire-Utility Index health state classification produces health preference scores that can be estimated in vision-related studies that

End-of-Life Preferences: A Theory-Driven Inventory

Science.gov (United States)

Bonin-Scaon, Sylvie; Munoz Sastre, Maria Teresa; Chasseigne, Gerard; Sorum, Paul C.; Mullet, Etienne

2009-01-01

The study aimed at making a theory-driven inventory of end-of-life preferences. Participants were asked about a variety of preferences representing all eight motivational states described in Apter's Metamotivational Theory (AMT; Apter, 2001). Data from a convenience sample of 965 community participants and a convenience sample of 81 persons…

Immigrants' attitudes towards welfare redistribution : An exploration of role of government preferences among immigrants and natives across 18 European welfare states

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reeskens, T.; van Oorschot, W.

2015-01-01

An oft-heard concern about the sustainability of the welfare state is that generous social welfare provisions serve as an important pull factor in immigrants’ consideration of their preferred country of destination. With their accumulated social risks, immigrants are averagely more likely to claim

Eliciting consumer preferences for health plans.

Science.gov (United States)

Booske, B C; Sainfort, F; Hundt, A S

1999-10-01

To examine (1) what people say is important to them in choosing a health plan; (2) the effect, if any, that giving health plan information has on what people say is important to them; and (3) the effect of preference elicitation methods on what people say is important. A random sample of 201 Wisconsin state employees who participated in a health plan choice experiment during the 1995 open enrollment period. We designed a computer system to guide subjects through the review of information about health plan options. The system began by eliciting the stated preferences of the subjects before they viewed the information, at time 0. Subjects were given an opportunity to revise their preference structures first after viewing summary information about four health plans (time 1) and then after viewing more extensive, detailed information about the same options (time 2). At time 2, these individuals were also asked to rate the relative importance of a predefined list of health plan features presented to them. Data were collected on the number of attributes listed at each point in time and the importance weightings assigned to each attribute. In addition, each item on the attribute list was content analyzed. The provision of information changes the preference structures of individuals. Costs (price) and coverage dominated the attributes cited both before and after looking at health plan information. When presented with information on costs, quality, and how plans work, many of these relatively well educated consumers revised their preference structures; yet coverage and costs remained the primary cited attributes. Although efforts to provide health plan information should continue, decisions on the information to provide and on making it available are not enough. Individuals need help in understanding, processing, and using the information to construct their preferences and make better decisions.

Bilingual children's social preferences hinge on accent.

Science.gov (United States)

DeJesus, Jasmine M; Hwang, Hyesung G; Dautel, Jocelyn B; Kinzler, Katherine D

2017-12-01

Past research finds that monolingual and bilingual children prefer native speakers to individuals who speak in unfamiliar foreign languages or accents. Do children in bilingual contexts socially distinguish among familiar languages and accents and, if so, how do their social preferences based on language and accent compare? The current experiments tested whether 5- to 7-year-olds in two bilingual contexts in the United States demonstrate social preferences among the languages and accents that are present in their social environments. We compared children's preferences based on language (i.e., English vs. their other native language) and their preferences based on accent (i.e., English with a native accent vs. English with a non-native [yet familiar] accent). In Experiment 1, children attending a French immersion school demonstrated no preference between English and French speakers but preferred American-accented English to French-accented English. In Experiment 2, bilingual Korean American children demonstrated no preference between English and Korean speakers but preferred American-accented English to Korean-accented English. Across studies, bilingual children's preferences based on accent (i.e., American-accented English over French- or Korean-accented English) were not related to their own language dominance. These results suggest that children from diverse linguistic backgrounds demonstrate social preferences for native-accented speakers. Implications for understanding the potential relation between social reasoning and language acquisition are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Modeling the Perceptions and Preferences of Pedestrians on Crossing Facilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongwei Guo

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Pedestrian’s street-crossing behaviour has a significant effect on traffic performance and safety. The crossing behaviour is determined by human factors and environmental factors. Aiming at examining the pedestrian perceptions toward crossing facilities and preferences for crossing locations, an observational study of pedestrian crossing behaviour at urban street is conducted. The perceptions and preferences of pedestrians are collected using stated preference technique. A specific questionnaire is designed to conduct the stated preference survey. A multinomial logit model is proposed to describe the perceptions and preferences of pedestrians on crossing facilities and locations. The sensitivity analysis is performed to discuss the influence of various factors on crossing behaviour. Then the relationship between crossing locations and crossing distances is analyzed by a new proposed method. With the theoretical analysis, the engineering solutions considering pedestrian behaviour are suggested. The results are helpful to design human-centered crossing facilities in urban traffic.

Seasonal Variations in Color Preference.

Science.gov (United States)

Schloss, Karen B; Nelson, Rolf; Parker, Laura; Heck, Isobel A; Palmer, Stephen E

2017-08-01

We investigated how color preferences vary according to season and whether those changes could be explained by the ecological valence theory (EVT). To do so, we assessed the same participants' preferences for the same colors during fall, winter, spring, and summer in the northeastern United States, where there are large seasonal changes in environmental colors. Seasonal differences were most pronounced between fall and the other three seasons. Participants liked fall-associated dark-warm colors-for example, dark-red, dark-orange (brown), dark-yellow (olive), and dark-chartreuse-more during fall than other seasons. The EVT could explain these changes with a modified version of Palmer and Schloss' (2010) weighted affective valence estimate (WAVE) procedure that added an activation term to the WAVE equation. The results indicate that color preferences change according to season, as color-associated objects become more/less activated in the observer. These seasonal changes in color preferences could not be characterized by overall shifts in weights along cone-contrast axes. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

At risk of being risky: The relationship between “brain age” under emotional states and risk preference

OpenAIRE

Marc D. Rudolph; Oscar Miranda-Domínguez; Alexandra O. Cohen; Kaitlyn Breiner; Laurence Steinberg; Richard J. Bonnie; Elizabeth S. Scott; Kim Taylor-Thompson; Jason Chein; Karla C. Fettich; Jennifer A. Richeson; Danielle V. Dellarco; Adriana Galván; B.J. Casey; Damien A. Fair

2017-01-01

Developmental differences regarding decision making are often reported in the absence of emotional stimuli and without context, failing to explain why some individuals are more likely to have a greater inclination toward risk. The current study (N = 212; 10–25y) examined the influence of emotional context on underlying functional brain connectivity over development and its impact on risk preference. Using functional imaging data in a neutral brain-state we first identify the “brain age” of a ...

Consumer preference for cowpea in Kwara State, Nigeria | Ayinde ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The primary data were collected through a structured from 120 respondents and secondary data was used to determine the factors for variation in prices of cowpea. The study revealed that consumers prefer that is of medium size, red in colour, very sweet in taste and a shelf-life of at least month. It also showed that the most ...

Stated preferences of doctors for choosing a job in rural areas of Peru: a discrete choice experiment.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J Jaime Miranda

Full Text Available Doctors' scarcity in rural areas remains a serious problem in Latin America and Peru. Few studies have explored job preferences of doctors working in underserved areas. We aimed to investigate doctors' stated preferences for rural jobs.A labelled discrete choice experiment (DCE was performed in Ayacucho, an underserved department of Peru. Preferences were assessed for three locations: rural community, Ayacucho city (Ayacucho's capital and other provincial capital city. Policy simulations were run to assess the effect of job attributes on uptake of a rural post. Multiple conditional logistic regressions were used to assess the relative importance of job attributes and of individual characteristics. A total of 102 doctors participated. They were five times more likely to choose a job post in Ayacucho city over a rural community (OR 4.97, 95%CI 1.2; 20.54. Salary increases and bonus points for specialization acted as incentives to choose a rural area, while increase in the number of years needed to get a permanent post acted as a disincentive. Being male and working in a hospital reduced considerably chances of choosing a rural job, while not living with a partner increased them. Policy simulations showed that a package of 75% salary increase, getting a permanent contract after two years in rural settings, and getting bonus points for further specialisation increased rural job uptake from 21% to 77%. A package of 50% salary increase plus bonus points for further specialisation would also increase the rural uptake from 21% to 52%.Doctors are five times more likely to favour a job in urban areas over rural settings. This strong preference needs to be overcome by future policies aimed at improving the scarcity of rural doctors. Some incentives, alone or combined, seem feasible and sustainable, whilst others may pose a high fiscal burden.

75 FR 48737 - Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice Regarding the Announcement of Petitions Accepted...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-11

.../preference-programs/generalized-system-preference-gsp/current-review-1 . Submissions must be in English, with... OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice...-development/preference-programs/generalized-system-preference-gsp/current-review-1 in ``List of Country...

Investors’ Risk Preference Characteristics and Conditional Skewness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fenghua Wen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Perspective on behavioral finance, we take a new look at the characteristics of investors’ risk preference, building the D-GARCH-M model, DR-GARCH-M model, and GARCHC-M model to investigate their changes with states of gain and loss and values of return together with other time-varying characteristics of investors’ risk preference. Based on a full description of risk preference characteristic, we develop a GARCHCS-M model to study its effect on the return skewness. The top ten market value stock composite indexes from Global Stock Exchange in 2012 are adopted to make the empirical analysis. The results show that investors are risk aversion when they gain and risk seeking when they lose, which effectively explains the inconsistent risk-return relationship. Moreover, the degree of risk aversion rises with the increasing gain and that of risk seeking improves with the increasing losses. Meanwhile, we find that investors’ inherent risk preference in most countries displays risk seeking, and their current risk preference is influenced by last period’s risk preference and disturbances. At last, investors’ risk preferences affect the conditional skewness; specifically, their risk aversion makes return skewness reduce, while risk seeking makes the skewness increase.

Lifestyle Correlates of Musical Preference: 3. Travel, Money, Education, Employment and Health

Science.gov (United States)

North, Adrian C.; Hargreaves, David J.

2007-01-01

Several studies indicate that musical preferences provide a means of discriminating between social groups, and suggest indirectly that musical preferences should correlate with a variety of different lifestyle choices. In this study, 2532 participants responded to a questionnaire asking them to state their musical preference and also to provide…

Preference learning with evolutionary Multivariate Adaptive Regression Spline model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abou-Zleikha, Mohamed; Shaker, Noor; Christensen, Mads Græsbøll

2015-01-01

This paper introduces a novel approach for pairwise preference learning through combining an evolutionary method with Multivariate Adaptive Regression Spline (MARS). Collecting users' feedback through pairwise preferences is recommended over other ranking approaches as this method is more appealing...... for function approximation as well as being relatively easy to interpret. MARS models are evolved based on their efficiency in learning pairwise data. The method is tested on two datasets that collectively provide pairwise preference data of five cognitive states expressed by users. The method is analysed...

Residential Preferences: What's Terrorism Got to Do with It?

Science.gov (United States)

Kay, David; Geisler, Charles; Bills, Nelson

2010-01-01

Security has long been recognized as an element in residential preference and its relative importance has risen with fear of extremist attacks on U.S. cities. Using polling data from 2004, this research investigates whether the security breaches of 9/11 in New York City influenced residential preferences in New York State. Our results confirm that…

Understanding Midwives’ Preferences for Providing Information About Newborn Bloodspot Screening

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stuart James Wright

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Understanding preferences for information provision in the context of health care service provision is challenging because of the number of potential attributes that may influence preferences. This study aimed to identify midwives’ preferences for the process and outcomes of information provision in an expanded national newborn bloodspot screening program. Design: A sample of practicing midwives completed a hybrid-stated preference survey including a conjoint analysis (CA and discrete choice experiment to quantify preferences for the types of, and way in which, information should be provided in a newborn bloodspot screening program. Six conjoint analysis questions captured the impact of different types of information on parents’ ability to make a decision, and 10 discrete choice experiment questions identified preferences for four process attributes (including parents’ ability to make a decision. Results: Midwives employed by the UK National Health Service (n = 134 completed the survey. All types of information content were perceived to improve parents’ ability to make a decision except for the possibility of false-positive results. Late pregnancy was seen to be the best time to provide information, followed by day 3 postbirth. Information before 20 weeks of pregnancy was viewed as reducing parents’ ability to make a decision. Midwives preferred information to be provided by an individual discussion and did not think parents should receive information on the Internet. Conclusion: A hybrid stated preference survey design identified that a wide variety of information should be provided to maximize parents’ ability to make a decision ideally provided late in pregnancy or on day 3 postbirth.

Classroom climate and students' goal preferences: a cross-cultural comparison.

Science.gov (United States)

Vedder, Paul; Kouwenhoven, Coen; Burk, William J

2009-04-01

Goal preferences indicate intentions to achieve or avoid particular states. We examined whether Curacaoan and Dutch students differ in goal preferences related to school and whether goal preferences are associated with students' evaluation of the classroom climate. Measurement invariance of the instruments was also tested between samples. Participants attended vocational high schools in Curacao (N = 276) or in the Netherlands (N = 283). Both the classroom climate and goal preferences differed between the samples. In the Netherlands the preference for individuality, belongingness, and recognition was stronger, whereas in Curacao mastery, satisfaction, self-determination, and material gain were more frequently endorsed. The two variables were modestly correlated. Schools do have a globalizing effect on students' school experiences and hardly adapt to goal preferences. The latter seem to be affected by non-school related cultural factors.

Leadership styles in nursing management: preferred and perceived.

Science.gov (United States)

Sellgren, Stina; Ekvall, Göran; Tomson, Göran

2006-07-01

The aim was to explore nursing leadership regarding what nurse managers and subordinates see as important and to explore subordinates' opinions of their nurse manager's performance in reality. Background The manager's style can be fundamental for subordinates' acceptance of change and in motivating them to achieve stated visions and goals and high quality of care. Nurse managers (n=77) and 10 of each included nurse manager's subordinates received a questionnaire to assess 'preferred' leadership behaviour in three dimensions: change, production and employee/relation orientations. The same questionnaire was used to assess subordinates' opinions of their manager's leadership behaviour. There are statistically significant differences in opinions of preferred leadership between managers and subordinates, especially related to production and relation orientation. The subordinates' perception of real leadership behaviour has lower mean values than their preferred leadership behaviour in all three dimensions. Subordinates prefer managers with more clearly expressed leadership behaviour than managers themselves prefer and demonstrate.

"Like finding a unicorn": Healthcare preferences among lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Martos, Alexander J; Wilson, Patrick A; Gordon, Allegra R; Lightfoot, Marguerita; Meyer, Ilan H

2018-05-07

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) peoples' healthcare preferences are often developed in response to social and institutional factors that can ultimately deter them from care. Prior qualitative explorations of LGB healthcare preferences have been limited in their ability to identify and compare patterns across age cohort, gender, and race/ethnicity. The current study examines qualitative data from 186 modified Life Story Interviews with three age cohorts of LGB people from New York City, NY, San Francisco, CA, Tucson, AZ, and Austin, TX to understand the factors influencing LGB people's healthcare preferences. Data are analyzed using a directed content analysis approach. Five key themes emerged regarding influences on healthcare preferences: Stigma, provider expertise, identity, service type, and access. Findings suggest that healthcare preferences among LGB people are both complex and closely linked to social changes over time. Healthcare preferences among LGB people are both complex and closely linked to social changes over time. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Empirical Study of Parameter Estimation for Stated Preference Experimental Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei Yang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The stated preference experimental design can affect the reliability of the parameters estimation in discrete choice model. Some scholars have proposed some new experimental designs, such as D-efficient, Bayesian D-efficient. But insufficient empirical research has been conducted on the effectiveness of these new designs and there has been little comparative analysis of the new designs against the traditional designs. In this paper, a new metro connecting Chengdu and its satellite cities is taken as the research subject to demonstrate the validity of the D-efficient and Bayesian D-efficient design. Comparisons between these new designs and orthogonal design were made by the fit of model and standard deviation of parameters estimation; then the best model result is obtained to analyze the travel choice behavior. The results indicate that Bayesian D-efficient design works better than D-efficient design. Some of the variables can affect significantly the choice behavior of people, including the waiting time and arrival time. The D-efficient and Bayesian D-efficient design for MNL can acquire reliability result in ML model, but the ML model cannot develop the theory advantages of these two designs. Finally, the metro can handle over 40% passengers flow if the metro will be operated in the future.

The Vocational Preference Inventory Scores and Environmental Preferences

Science.gov (United States)

Kunce, Joseph T.; Kappes, Bruno Maurice

1976-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between vocational interest measured by the Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) and preferences of 175 undergraduates for structured or unstructured environments. Males having clear-cut preferences for structured situations had significantly higher Realistic-Conventional scores than those without…

Mode of Delivery Preferences in a Diverse Population of Pregnant Women

Science.gov (United States)

YEE, Lynn M.; KAIMAL, Anjali J.; HOUSTON, Kathryn A.; WU, Erica; THIET, Mari-Paule; NAKAGAWA, Sanae; CAUGHEY, Aaron B.; FIROUZIAN, Atoosa; KUPPERMANN, Miriam

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE To assess women’s preferences for vaginal versus cesarean delivery in four contexts: prior cesarean, twins, breech presentation, and absent indication for cesarean. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional study of pregnant women at 24-40 weeks gestation. After assessing stated preferences for vaginal or cesarean delivery, we used the standard gamble metric to measure the strength of these preferences and the time tradeoff metric to determine how women value the potential processes and outcomes associated with these two delivery approaches. RESULTS Among the 240 participants, 90.8% had a stated preference for vaginal delivery. Across the four contexts, these women indicated that, on average, they would accept a 59-75% chance of an attempted vaginal birth ending in a cesarean before choosing a planned cesarean, indicating strong preferences for spontaneous, uncomplicated vaginal delivery. Variations in preferences for labor processes emerged. While uncomplicated labor ending in vaginal birth was assigned mean utilities of 0.993 or higher (on a 0-to-1 scale with higher scores indicating more preferred outcomes), the need for oxytocin, antibiotics, or operative vaginal delivery resulted in lower mean scores, comparable to those assigned to uncomplicated cesarean delivery. Substantially lower scores (ranging from 0.432 to 0.598) were obtained for scenarios ending in severe maternal or neonatal morbidity. CONCLUSIONS While most women expressed strong preferences for vaginal delivery, their preferences regarding interventions frequently employed to achieve that goal varied. These data underscore the importance of educating patients about the process of labor and delivery to facilitate incorporation of informed patient preferences in shared decision making regarding delivery approach. PMID:25446662

Assessment of training needs and preferences for geographic information systems (GIS) mapping in state comprehensive cancer-control programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Hopfer, Suellen; Chadwick, Amy E; Parrott, Roxanne L; Ghetian, Christie B; Lengerich, Eugene J

2009-10-01

Geographic information systems (GIS) mapping technologies have potential to advance public health promotion by mapping regional differences in attributes (e.g., disease burden, environmental exposures, access to health care services) to suggest priorities for public health interventions. Training in GIS for comprehensive cancer control (CCC) has been overlooked. State CCC programs' GIS training needs were assessed by interviewing 49 state CCC directors. A majority perceived a need for GIS training, slightly more than half of state CCC programs had access to geocoded data, and the majority of programs did not require continuing education credits of their staff. CCC directors perceived judging maps and realizing their limitations as important skills and identified epidemiologists, CCC staff, public health officials, policy makers, and cancer coalition members as training audiences. They preferred in-class training sessions that last a few hours to a day. Lessons learned are shared to develop training programs with translatable GIS skills for CCC.

Learning style preferences of surgical residency applicants.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Roger H; Gilbert, Timothy

2015-09-01

The learning style preferences of general surgery residents have been previously reported; there is evidence that residents who prefer read/write learning styles perform better on the American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination (ABSITE). However, little is known regarding the learning style preferences of applicants to general surgery residency and their impact on educational outcomes. In this study, the preferred learning styles of surgical residency applicants were determined. We hypothesized that applicant rank data are associated with specific learning style preferences. The Fleming VARK learning styles inventory was offered to all general surgery residency applicants that were interviewed at a university hospital-based program. The VARK model categorizes learners as visual (V), aural (A), read/write (R), kinesthetic (K), or multimodal (MM). Responses on the inventory were scored to determine the preferred learning style for each applicant. Applicant data, including United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) scores, class rank, interview score, and overall final applicant ranking, were examined for association with preferred learning styles. Sixty-seven applicants were interviewed. Five applicants were excluded due to not completing the VARK inventory or having incomplete applicant data. The remaining 62 applicants (92%) were included for analysis. Most applicants (57%) had a multimodal preference. Sixty-nine percent of all applicants had some degree of preference for kinesthetic learning. There were statistically significant differences between applicants of different learning styles in terms of USMLE step 1 scores (P = 0.001) and USMLE step 2 clinical knowledge scores (P = 0.01), but not for class ranks (P = 0.27), interview scores (P = 0.20), or final ranks (P = 0.14). Multiple comparison analysis demonstrated that applicants with aural preferences had higher USMLE 1 scores (233.2) than those with kinesthetic (211.8, P = 0.005) or multimodal

Preferred names, preferred pronouns, and gender identity in the electronic medical record and laboratory information system: Is pathology ready?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katherine L Imborek

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Electronic medical records (EMRs and laboratory information systems (LISs commonly utilize patient identifiers such as legal name, sex, medical record number, and date of birth. There have been recommendations from some EMR working groups (e.g., the World Professional Association for Transgender Health to include preferred name, pronoun preference, assigned sex at birth, and gender identity in the EMR. These practices are currently uncommon in the United States. There has been little published on the potential impact of these changes on pathology and LISs. Methods: We review the available literature and guidelines on the use of preferred name and gender identity on pathology, including data on changes in laboratory testing following gender transition treatments. We also describe pathology and clinical laboratory challenges in the implementation of preferred name at our institution. Results: Preferred name, pronoun preference, and gender identity have the most immediate impact on the areas of pathology with direct patient contact such as phlebotomy and transfusion medicine, both in terms of interaction with patients and policies for patient identification. Gender identity affects the regulation and policies within transfusion medicine including blood donor risk assessment and eligibility. There are limited studies on the impact of gender transition treatments on laboratory tests, but multiple studies have demonstrated complex changes in chemistry and hematology tests. A broader challenge is that, even as EMRs add functionality, pathology computer systems (e.g., LIS, middleware, reference laboratory, and outreach interfaces may not have functionality to store or display preferred name and gender identity. Conclusions: Implementation of preferred name, pronoun preference, and gender identity presents multiple challenges and opportunities for pathology.

Glaucoma Medication Preferences among Glaucoma Specialists in Mexico

OpenAIRE

Lazcano-Gomez, Gabriel; Alvarez-Ascencio, Daniela; Haro-Zuno, Cindy; Turati-Acosta, Mauricio; Garcia-Huerta, Magdalena; Jimenez-Arroyo, Jesus; Castañeda-Diez, Rafael; Castillejos-Chevez, Armando; Gonzalez-Salinas, Roberto; Dominguez-Dueñas, Francisca; Jimenez-Roman, Jesus

2017-01-01

Aim To determine the glaucoma specialists’ preferences for the different brands of topical glaucoma medications available in Mexico. Materials and methods A web-based survey was sent to 150 board-certified glaucoma specialists in Mexico, with 14 questions related to brand preferences for all glaucoma medications available in Mexico. Participants were asked to select each glaucoma medication class by brand and to state the factors leading to their choice. Results Data from 111 (74%) glaucoma s...

Independent preferences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vind, Karl

1991-01-01

A simple mathematical result characterizing a subset of a product set is proved and used to obtain additive representations of preferences. The additivity consequences of independence assumptions are obtained for preferences which are not total or transitive. This means that most of the economic ...... theory based on additive preferences - expected utility, discounted utility - has been generalized to preferences which are not total or transitive. Other economic applications of the theorem are given...

Patients' and urologists' preferences for prostate cancer treatment: a discrete choice experiment

Science.gov (United States)

de Bekker-Grob, E W; Bliemer, M C J; Donkers, B; Essink-Bot, M-L; Korfage, I J; Roobol, M J; Bangma, C H; Steyerberg, E W

2013-01-01

Background: Patients' preferences are important for shared decision making. Therefore, we investigated patients' and urologists' preferences for treatment alternatives for early prostate cancer (PC). Methods: A discrete choice experiment was conducted among 150 patients who were waiting for their biopsy results, and 150 urologists. Regression analysis was used to determine patients' and urologists' stated preferences using scenarios based on PC treatment modality (radiotherapy, surgery, and active surveillance (AS)), and risks of urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. Results: The response rate was 110 out of 150 (73%) for patients and 50 out of 150 (33%) for urologists. Risk of urinary incontinence was an important determinant of both patients' and urologists' stated preferences for PC treatment (Prisk of erectile dysfunction due to radiotherapy was mainly important to urologists (Pof patients with anxious/depressed feelings who preferred radical treatment to AS. Conclusion: Although patients and urologists generally may prefer similar treatments for PC, they showed different trade-offs between various specific treatment aspects. This implies that urologists need to be aware of potential differences compared with the patient's perspective on treatment decisions in shared decision making on PC treatment. PMID:23860533

Neural correlates of cognitive dissonance and choice-induced preference change.

Science.gov (United States)

Izuma, Keise; Matsumoto, Madoka; Murayama, Kou; Samejima, Kazuyuki; Sadato, Norihiro; Matsumoto, Kenji

2010-12-21

According to many modern economic theories, actions simply reflect an individual's preferences, whereas a psychological phenomenon called "cognitive dissonance" claims that actions can also create preference. Cognitive dissonance theory states that after making a difficult choice between two equally preferred items, the act of rejecting a favorite item induces an uncomfortable feeling (cognitive dissonance), which in turn motivates individuals to change their preferences to match their prior decision (i.e., reducing preference for rejected items). Recently, however, Chen and Risen [Chen K, Risen J (2010) J Pers Soc Psychol 99:573-594] pointed out a serious methodological problem, which casts a doubt on the very existence of this choice-induced preference change as studied over the past 50 y. Here, using a proper control condition and two measures of preferences (self-report and brain activity), we found that the mere act of making a choice can change self-report preference as well as its neural representation (i.e., striatum activity), thus providing strong evidence for choice-induced preference change. Furthermore, our data indicate that the anterior cingulate cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex tracked the degree of cognitive dissonance on a trial-by-trial basis. Our findings provide important insights into the neural basis of how actions can alter an individual's preferences.

Students' Preferred Teaching Techniques for Biochemistry in Biomedicine and Medicine Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Novelli, Ethel L.B.; Fernandes, Ana Angelica H.

2007-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the students' preferred teaching techniques, such as traditional blackboard, power-point, or slide-projection, for biochemistry discipline in biomedicine and medicine courses from Sao Paulo State University, UNESP, Botucatu, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Preferences for specific topic and teaching techniques were…

Multi-objective engineering design using preferences

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchis, J.; Martinez, M.; Blasco, X.

2008-03-01

System design is a complex task when design parameters have to satisy a number of specifications and objectives which often conflict with those of others. This challenging problem is called multi-objective optimization (MOO). The most common approximation consists in optimizing a single cost index with a weighted sum of objectives. However, once weights are chosen the solution does not guarantee the best compromise among specifications, because there is an infinite number of solutions. A new approach can be stated, based on the designer's experience regarding the required specifications and the associated problems. This valuable information can be translated into preferences for design objectives, and will lead the search process to the best solution in terms of these preferences. This article presents a new method, which enumerates these a priori objective preferences. As a result, a single objective is built automatically and no weight selection need be performed. Problems occuring because of the multimodal nature of the generated single cost index are managed with genetic algorithms (GAs).

Health domains and race in generic preference-based health-related quality of life instruments in the United States literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Cristina de Aguiar Pereira

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Race differences in health have been extensively analyzed and documented in the literature, especially between African Americans or blacks and whites in the United States. Despite the vast literature in the area, the majority of studies that explore the relationship between race and health use outcomes such as self-rated health, mortality or morbidity, and disability, but very few use Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL measures and their domains or dimensions. This narrative review aims to provide a better understanding of the relationship between race and health domains that are commonly used in preference-based HRQoL measures. We investigated the literature on race, physical health, mental health, pain and discomfort, cognition, neurologic spectrum domains, dexterity, ambulation, vitality and social functioning domains. We conducted a literature search and review using the key words race and the health domain of interest, using medical and social sciences databases, such as MEDLINE/Pubmed, Web of Science, and the Google Scholar portal.The majority of the studies identified in the literature show that African Americans or blacks in the United States tend to have lower scores than whites throughout a variety of health domains found in preference-based HRQoL measures. This review also emphasizes the scarcity of studies that investigate some health domains, such as social functioning, dexterity, vitality and neurologic spectrum domains, and therefore we identify the need for more studies focusing on race and measures that address such domains.

Cultural legacies and political preferences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siroky, David S.; Mueller, Sean; Hechter, Michael

2017-01-01

crucial in explaining the decision to secede, but not in a conventional pocketbook manner. To examine this theory, we analyze the 2013 referendum on the secession of the Jura Bernois region from the Canton of Berne in Switzerland, using municipal level census and referendum data. The results lend support......, ecological constraints such as geography and topography affect social interaction with like-minded individuals. On the basis of both these political preferences and ecological constraints, individuals then make rational choices about the desirability of secession. Instrumental considerations are therefore...... to the theory and suggest one way in which the politics of identity, based on factors like language and religion, can be fused with the politics of interest (preferences for more or less state intervention into the polity and economy) to better understand group behavior....

The Neurobiology of Sexual Partner Preferences in Rams

Science.gov (United States)

Roselli, Charles E.; Stormshak, Fred

2009-01-01

The question of what causes a male animal to seek out and choose a female as opposed to another male mating partner is unresolved and remains an issue of considerable debate. The most developed biologic theory is the perinatal organizational hypothesis, which states that perinatal hormone exposure mediates sexual differentiation of the brain. Numerous animal experiments have assessed the contribution of perinatal testosterone and/or estradiol exposure to the development of a male-typical mate preference, but almost all have used hormonally manipulated animals. In contrast, variations in sexual partner preferences occur spontaneously in domestic rams, with as many as 8% of the population exhibiting a preference for same-sex mating partners (male-oriented rams). Thus, the domestic ram is an excellent experimental model to study possible links between fetal neuroendocrine programming of neural mechanisms and adult sexual partner preferences. In this review, we present an overview of sexual differentiation in relation to sexual partner preferences. We then summarize results that test the relevance of the organizational hypothesis to expression of same-sex sexual partner preferences in rams. Finally, we demonstrate that the sexual differentiation of brain and behavior in sheep do not depend critically on aromatization of testosterone to estradiol. PMID:19446078

The neurobiology of sexual partner preferences in rams.

Science.gov (United States)

Roselli, Charles E; Stormshak, Fred

2009-05-01

The question of what causes a male animal to seek out and choose a female as opposed to another male mating partner is unresolved and remains an issue of considerable debate. The most developed biologic theory is the perinatal organizational hypothesis, which states that perinatal hormone exposure mediates sexual differentiation of the brain. Numerous animal experiments have assessed the contribution of perinatal testosterone and/or estradiol exposure to the development of a male-typical mate preference, but almost all have used hormonally manipulated animals. In contrast, variations in sexual partner preferences occur spontaneously in domestic rams, with as many as 8% of the population exhibiting a preference for same-sex mating partners (male-oriented rams). Thus, the domestic ram is an excellent experimental model to study possible links between fetal neuroendocrine programming of neural mechanisms and adult sexual partner preferences. In this review, we present an overview of sexual differentiation in relation to sexual partner preferences. We then summarize results that test the relevance of the organizational hypothesis to expression of same-sex sexual partner preferences in rams. Finally, we demonstrate that the sexual differentiation of brain and behavior in sheep does not depend critically on aromatization of testosterone to estradiol.

Consumer Preferences Determine Resilience of Ecological-Economic Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefan Baumgärtner

2011-12-01

Full Text Available We perform a model analysis to study the origins of limited resilience in coupled ecological-economic systems. We demonstrate that under open access to ecosystems for profit-maximizing harvesting forms, the resilience properties of the system are essentially determined by consumer preferences for ecosystem services. In particular, we show that complementarity and relative importance of ecosystem services in consumption may significantly decrease the resilience of (almost any given state of the system. We conclude that the role of consumer preferences and management institutions is not just to facilitate adaptation to, or transformation of, some natural dynamics of ecosystems. Rather, consumer preferences and management institutions are themselves important determinants of the fundamental dynamic characteristics of coupled ecological-economic systems, such as limited resilience.

Emotions and Economic Preference

OpenAIRE

Todorova, Tamara; Ramachandran, Bharath

2005-01-01

We wish to examine critically the viewpoint that: a) economists take too narrow a view of rationality and do not recognize the role of emotions as a component of rationality and b) do not address the question of whether preferences are rational or not, and instead take them as just given. We trace the relationship between economics and emotions showing some economic dimensions of emotional states. We illustrate them with examples of economic behavior based on emotional reactions.

Transitivity of Preferences

Science.gov (United States)

Regenwetter, Michel; Dana, Jason; Davis-Stober, Clintin P.

2011-01-01

Transitivity of preferences is a fundamental principle shared by most major contemporary rational, prescriptive, and descriptive models of decision making. To have transitive preferences, a person, group, or society that prefers choice option "x" to "y" and "y" to "z" must prefer "x" to…

Cancer patient preferences for quality and length of life.

Science.gov (United States)

Meropol, Neal J; Egleston, Brian L; Buzaglo, Joanne S; Benson, Al B; Cegala, Donald J; Diefenbach, Michael A; Fleisher, Linda; Miller, Suzanne M; Sulmasy, Daniel P; Weinfurt, Kevin P

2008-12-15

Optimal patient decision making requires integration of patient values, goals, and preferences with information received from the physician. In the case of a life-threatening illness such as cancer, the weights placed on quality of life (QOL) and length of life (LOL) represent critical values. The objective of the current study was to describe cancer patient values regarding QOL and LOL and explore associations with communication preferences. Patients with advanced cancer completed a computer-based survey before the initial consultation with a medical oncologist. Assessments included sociodemographics, physical and mental health state, values regarding quality and length of life, communication preferences, and cancer-related distress. Among 459 patients with advanced cancer, 55% placed equal valued on QOL and LOL, 27% preferred QOL, and 18% preferred LOL. Patients with a QOL preference had lower levels of cancer-related distress (P LOL over QOL desired a more supportive and less pessimistic communication style from their oncologists. These data indicate that a values preference for LOL versus QOL may be simply measured, and is associated with wishes regarding the nature of oncologist communication. Awareness of these values during the clinical encounter could improve decision making by influencing the style and content of the communication between oncologists and their patients.

Evolving Random Forest for Preference Learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abou-Zleikha, Mohamed; Shaker, Noor

2015-01-01

This paper introduces a novel approach for pairwise preference learning through a combination of an evolutionary method and random forest. Grammatical evolution is used to describe the structure of the trees in the Random Forest (RF) and to handle the process of evolution. Evolved random forests ...... obtained for predicting pairwise self-reports of users for the three emotional states engagement, frustration and challenge show very promising results that are comparable and in some cases superior to those obtained from state-of-the-art methods....

Conditioned place preferences in humans using virtual reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Astur, Robert S; Carew, Andrew W; Deaton, Bonnie E

2014-07-01

To extend a standard paradigm of conditioning in nonhumans to humans, we created a virtual reality (VR) conditioned place preference task, with real-life food rewards. Undergraduates were placed into a VR environment consisting of 2 visually distinct rooms. On Day 1, participants underwent 6 pairing sessions in which they were confined into one of the two rooms and explored the VR environment. Room A was paired with real-life M&Ms for 3 sessions, and Room B was paired with no food for 3 sessions. Day 2 was the test day, administered the next day, and participants were given free access to the entire VR environment for 5min. In experiment 1, participants were food restricted, and we observed that on the test day, participants display a significant conditioned place preference for the VR room previously paired with food (pchoice of "Which room do you like best?". In experiment 2, when participants were not food restricted, there was no evidence of a place preference, either implicitly (e.g. dwell time) or explicitly. Hence, we show that we can reliably establish a place preference in humans, but that the preference is contingent on the participants' hunger state. Future research will examine the extent to which these preferences can be blocked or extinguished as well as whether these preferences are evident using other reinforcers. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Island-specific preferences of tourists for environmental features: implications of climate change for tourism dependent states

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Uyarra, M.C.; Cote, I.M. [East Anglia Univ., Norwich (United Kingdom). Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation; Gill, J.A. [East Anglia Univ., Norwich (United Kingdom). School of Environmental Sciences; Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, Norwich (United Kingdom); Tinch, R.T. [East Anglia Univ., Norwich (United Kingdom). School of Environmental Sciences; Macaulay Land Use Research Inst., Aberdeen (United Kingdom); Viner, D. [East Anglia Univ., Norwich (United Kingdom). Climate Research Unit; Watkinson, A.R. [East Anglia Univ., Norwich (United Kingdom). Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation; East Anglia Univ., Norwich (United Kingdom). School of Environmental Sciences

2005-03-15

Climate change may affect important environmental components of holiday destinations, which might have repercussions for tourism-dependent economies. This study documents the importance of environmental attributes in determining the choice and holiday enjoyment of tourists visiting Bonaire and Barbados, two Caribbean islands with markedly different tourism markets and infrastructure. Three hundred and sixteen and 338 participants from Bonaire and Barbados, respectively, completed standardized questionnaires. Warm temperatures, clear waters and low health risks were the most important environmental features determining holiday destination choice. However, tourists in Bonaire thereafter prioritized marine wildlife attributes (i.e. coral and fish diversity and abundance) over other environmental features, whereas tourists in Barbados exhibited stronger preferences for terrestrial features, particularly beach characteristics. The willingness of tourists to revisit these islands was strongly linked to the state of the preferred environmental attributes. More than 80% of tourists in Bonaire and Barbados would be unwilling to return for the same holiday price in the event, respectively, of coral bleaching as a result of elevated sea surface temperatures and reduced beach area as a result of sea level rise. Climate change might have a significant impact on Caribbean tourism economy through alteration of environmental features important to destination selection. Island-specific management strategies, such as focusing resources on the protection of key marine or terrestrial features, may provide a means of reducing the environmental and economic impacts of climate change. (author)

Developing a driving Safety Index using a Delphi stated preference experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Jamson, Samantha; Wardman, Mark; Batley, Richard; Carsten, Oliver

2008-03-01

Whilst empirical evidence is available concerning the effect of some aspects of driving behaviour on safety (e.g. speed choice), there is scant knowledge about safety thresholds, i.e. the point at which behaviour can be considered unsafe. Furthermore, it is almost impossible to ascertain the interaction between various aspects of driving behaviour. For example, how might drivers' lateral control of a vehicle be mediated by their speed choice-are the effects additive or do they cancel each other out. Complex experimental or observational studies would need to be undertaken to establish the nature of such effects. As an alternative, a Delphi study was undertaken to use expert judgement as a way of deriving a first approximation of these threshold and combinatory effects. Using a stated preference technique, road safety professionals make judgements about drivers' safe or unsafe behaviour. The aim was to understand the relative weightings that are assigned to a number of driver behaviours and thereby to construct a Safety Index. As expected, experts were able to establish thresholds, above (or below) which changes to the behavioural parameters had minimal impact on safety. This provided us with a Safety Index, based on a model that had face validity and a convincing range of values. However, the experts found the task of combining these driver behaviours more difficult, reflecting the elusive nature of safety estimates. Suggestions for future validation of our Safety Index are provided.

Development and validation of a preference weight multiattribute health outcome measure for rheumatoid arthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiou, Chiun-Fang; Suarez-Almazor, Maria E; Sherbourne, Cathy D; Chang, Chih-Hung; Reyes, Carolina; Dylan, Michelle; Ofman, Joshua; Wallace, Daniel J; Mizutani, Wesley; Weisman, Michael

2006-12-01

To develop and validate multiattribute measures for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to report health states and estimate preference weights. Survey materials were mailed to 748 patients. Factor analysis, an item response theory-based model, and an internal consistency test were used to identify attributes and evaluate items. Two multiattribute preference weight functions (MAPWF) were constructed. Construct validity of the new measures was then tested. Four hundred eighty-seven patients returned the survey; 24 items on 6 health attributes were selected to form the new outcomes measure. Two MAPWF were derived with preference weights measured with time tradeoff and visual analog scales as dependent variables. All validity test results were statistically significant. Our results reveal that the new measures are reliable and valid in assessing health states and associated preference weights of patients with RA.

The change of music preferences following the onset of a mental disorder

OpenAIRE

Stefan Gebhardt; Richard von Georgi

2015-01-01

A psychiatric population (n=123) was examined on how music preferences had changed after the onset of a mental disorder. Most patients did not change their previous music preference; this group of patients considered music helpful for their mental state, showed more attractivity and enforcement as personality traits and used music more for emotion modulation. Patients who experienced a preference shift reported that music had impaired them during the time of illness; these patients showed les...

Deep learning for EEG-Based preference classification

Science.gov (United States)

Teo, Jason; Hou, Chew Lin; Mountstephens, James

2017-10-01

Electroencephalogram (EEG)-based emotion classification is rapidly becoming one of the most intensely studied areas of brain-computer interfacing (BCI). The ability to passively identify yet accurately correlate brainwaves with our immediate emotions opens up truly meaningful and previously unattainable human-computer interactions such as in forensic neuroscience, rehabilitative medicine, affective entertainment and neuro-marketing. One particularly useful yet rarely explored areas of EEG-based emotion classification is preference recognition [1], which is simply the detection of like versus dislike. Within the limited investigations into preference classification, all reported studies were based on musically-induced stimuli except for a single study which used 2D images. The main objective of this study is to apply deep learning, which has been shown to produce state-of-the-art results in diverse hard problems such as in computer vision, natural language processing and audio recognition, to 3D object preference classification over a larger group of test subjects. A cohort of 16 users was shown 60 bracelet-like objects as rotating visual stimuli on a computer display while their preferences and EEGs were recorded. After training a variety of machine learning approaches which included deep neural networks, we then attempted to classify the users' preferences for the 3D visual stimuli based on their EEGs. Here, we show that that deep learning outperforms a variety of other machine learning classifiers for this EEG-based preference classification task particularly in a highly challenging dataset with large inter- and intra-subject variability.

Factors influencing korean international students' preferences for mental health professionals: a conjoint analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Eun-Jeong; Chan, Fong; Ditchman, Nicole; Feigon, Maia

2014-01-01

Asian students comprise over half of all international students in the United States, yet little is known about their help-seeking behaviors and preferences for mental health professionals. The purpose of this study was to use conjoint analysis to examine characteristics of mental health professionals influencing Korean international students' preferences when choosing a mental health professional. Korean international students from three universities in the United States were recruited on a volunteer basis to participate in this study (N = 114). Results indicated that mental health professional characteristics, including ethnicity, age, professional identity, and training institution, were significant factors in students' preference formation; however, gender of the mental health professional was not found to be a significant factor in the present study. Ethnic similarity was the most powerful predictor of preference formation. Implications for promoting help-seeking and mental health service utilization among Asian international students are discussed.

Random preferences towards bioenergy environmental externalities: a case study of woody biomass based electricity in the Southern United States

Science.gov (United States)

Andres Susaeta; Pankaj Lal; Janaki Alavalapati; Evan Mercer

2011-01-01

This paper contrasts alternate methodological approaches of investigating public preferences, the random parameter logit (RPL) where tastes and preferences of respondents are assumed to be heterogeneous and the conditional logit (CL) approach where tastes and preferences remain fixed for individuals. We conducted a choice experiment to assess preferences for woody...

Factors Influencing Parents' Preferences and Parents' Perceptions of Child Preferences of Picturebooks

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Laura

2017-01-01

This study examined factors influencing parents' preferences and their perceptions of their children's preferences for picturebooks. First, a content analysis was conducted on a set of picturebooks (N = 87) drawn from the sample described in Wagner (2013); Then, parents (N = 149) rated the books and several content properties were examined for their ability to predict parents' preferences and their perception of their children's preferences. The initial content analysis found correlated clusters of disparate measures of complexity (linguistic, cognitive, narrative) and identified a distinctive sub-genre of modern books featuring female protagonists. The experimental preference analysis found that parents' own preferences were most influenced by the books' age and status; parents' perceptions of their children's preferences were influenced by gender, with parents perceiving their sons (but not daughters) as dis-preferring books with female protagnoists. In addition, influences of the child's reading ability and the linguistic complexity of the book on preferences suggested a sensitivity to the cultural practice of joint book-reading. PMID:28919869

Preferências alimentares de mosquitos Culicidae no Vale do Ribeira, São Paulo, Brasil Feeding preferences of Culicidae mosquitoes in the Ribeira Valley, S.Paulo State, Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oswaldo Paulo Forattini

1987-06-01

Full Text Available São apresentados os resultados obtidos na identificação do sangue ingerido por culicídeos ingurgitados coletados em vários ambientes rurais de cinco localidades do Vale do Ribeira, Estado de São Paulo (Brasil. O maior rendimento, que representou a quase totalidade dos espécimens coletados, foi obtido mediante o emprego da aspiração e das redes manuais. Foi possível identificar a origem de 1.444 repastos sangüíneos. Os Aedes apresentaram predominância de positividade para mamíferos. Ae. scapularis mostrou preferência por hospedeiros de grande porte representados por bovinos e eqüinos. Ae. serratus alimentou-se também em aves. Com exceção da elevada antropofilia de Cx. quinquefasciatus, os demais representantes de Cx. (Culex revelaram-se apreciavelmente ornitófilos. Em conjunto, Cx. (Melanoconion mostrou o mais amplo espectro de hematofagia, que incluiu anfíbio, ave, mamíferos e réptil. Cx. ribeirensis e Cx. sacchettae apresentaram resultados que sugerem alguma preferência por mamíferos. A antropofilia distribuiu-se por várias espécies destacando-se Ae. scapularis, Cx. sacchettae e Cx. ribeirensis que a apresentaram nas coletas efetuadas no intradomicílio. A influência da densidade de hospedeiros no ambiente modificado fez-se sentir em relação à primeira dessas três espécies, para as quais as evidências obtidas sugerem que estejam evoluindo no sentido da domiciliação.Results of blood-meal identification for mosquitoes collected in 5 different Ribeira Valley (S.Paulo State, Brazil environments are presented. Precipitin tests identified the sources of 1444 blood-meals. Aedes mosquitoes fed chiefly on mammals. Ae. scapularis showed a preference for cattle and horses. Ae. serratus also obtained meals from avian hosts. Leaving aside the anthropophilic Cx.quinquefasciatus, the other Culex (Culex mosquitoes showed feeding pattern directed to avian hosts. On the whole Culex (Melanoconion showed a largely eclectic

The Effect of Design Modifications to the Typographical Layout of the New York State Elementary Science Learning Standards on User Preference and Process Time

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Jeffery E.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of four different design layouts of the New York State elementary science learning standards on user processing time and preference. Three newly developed layouts contained the same information as the standards core curriculum. In this study, the layout of the core guide is referred to as Book.…

Women's preferences for children in Shifang County, Sichuan, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, J

1990-01-01

Fertility preference being related to government policy in China, women generally understate their desired family size when questioned directly. A binomial probit model is, therefore, presented to estimate the probability that family-size preferences in Shifang County, Sichuan, China, are understated. The model provides estimates on the percentage of respondent understatement along with the number of children, women of different ages and social characteristics truly desire. Women's preferences for sons versus daughters are also examined. The study found that women desire on average 1/2 more children than that which they state. Understating was in greatest evidence among urban, educated, and younger women more sensitive to the government's 1-child policy. Preference for sons was found to be weaker than expected, yet strong nonetheless in rural areas among women desiring only 1 child. Sons are considered to cause more worry for parents in China due to an aggressive, risk-taking nature. Possible explanations for the decline of son preference include increasing familial costs for sons' betrothment and marriage, changing household structures, and increasing status of and job opportunities for women in Chinese society. In closing, the paper highlights that couples restrict marital fertility out of interest for national prosperity and the welfare of future generations, not personal preference for small families. Were government policy to relax, fertility would rise to preferred levels.

"I can do perfectly well without a car!": An exploration of stated preferences for middle-distance travel

OpenAIRE

Exel, Job; Graaf, G.; Rietveld, Piet

2011-01-01

textabstractThis article presents the results of a study exploring travellers' preferences for middle-distance travel using Q-methodology. Respondents rank-ordered 42 opinion statements regarding travel choice and motivations for travel in general and for car and public transport as alternative travel modes. By-person factor analysis revealed four distinct preference segments for middle-distance travel: (1) choice travellers with a preference for public transport, (2) deliberate-choice travel...

Modeling commuter preferences for the proposed bus rapid transit in Dar-es-Salaam

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nkurunziza, A.; Zuidgeest, M.H.P.; Brussel, M.J.G.; van Maarseveen, M.F.A.M.

2012-01-01

The paper analyzes individual commuter preferences towards the proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. The objective of the survey was to identify how commuters perceive and value the proposed BRT service quality attributes. A stated preference survey of potential users

The effects of current and expected future income on stated preferences for environmental improvements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Jette Bredahl; Lundhede, Thomas; Thorsen, Bo Jellesmark

2013-01-01

We formulate and test the hypothesis that expectations regarding changes in future income influences the WTP for environmental goods. For valuation of environmental goods in forests and other habitats in Denmark, we find that both current income and expected changes in future income are significant...... determinants for preferences. The effect of income on WTP seems to be caused by changes in preferences for environmental attributes rather than by marginal utility of income. The results suggest that to evaluate the distributional impacts of environmental improvements, researchers need a better measure...

Does race matters in consumers' stated preferences for water and carbon footprints labelled food products? Insights from black and white South Africans

Science.gov (United States)

Owusu-Sekyere, Enoch; Jordaan, Henry

2017-04-01

In recent years, governments, policy-makers, and managers of private food companies and agribusinesses are interested in understanding how consumers will react to environmentally sustainable attributes and information on food product labels. This study examines consumers' stated preferences for water and carbon footprints labelled food products from the viewpoint of black and white South Africans. Discrete choice experimental data was collected from black and white consumers to possibly assess cross-ethnic variations in preferences for environmentally sustainable products. Two widely purchased livestock products were chosen for the choice experiment. We found that consumers' preferences for environmentally sustainable attributes vary significantly between black and white South Africans. Our findings revealed that there are profound heterogeneous consumer segments within black and white respondents. The heterogeneity within both sub-samples is better explained at the segment level, rather than at individual level. For both product categories, the findings revealed that there are more distinct consumer segments among black respondents, relative to white respondents. The black respondents consist of water sustainability advocates, carbon reduction advocates, keen environmentalist and environmental neutrals. The white respondents entail keen environmentalist, environmental cynics, and environmental neutrals. The inherent significant variations in preferences for environmentally sustainable attributes across segments and racial groups would help in formulating feasible, and segment-specific environmental sustainability policies and marketing strategies aimed at changing consumers' attitude towards environmentally sustainable products. Demographic targeting of consumer segments, sustainability awareness and segment-specific educational campaigns meant to enhance subjective and objective knowledge on environmental sustainability are important tools for food companies and

On the stability of preferences and attitudes before and after experiencing an electric vehicle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Anders Fjendbo; Cherchi, Elisabetta; Mabit, Stefan Lindhard

2013-01-01

-wave stated preference experiment where data was collected before and after the respondents experienced an electric vehicle for three months. We estimate a hybrid choice model using jointly the stated choices before and after the test period. The results show that individual preferences change significantly......In this study, we investigate the extent to which experience affects individual preferences for specific electric vehicle characteristics, individual attitudes toward the environment, and the impact of the attitudes on the choice between an electric and a conventional vehicle. We use a two...... after a real experience with an electric vehicle in the household. In particular, there are major changes in the preference for driving range, top speed, fuel cost, battery life and charging in city centres and train stations. In line with other studies, we find that environmental concern has a positive...

Effect of meat appearance on consumer preferences for pork chops in Greece and Cyprus.

Science.gov (United States)

Fortomaris, P; Arsenos, G; Georgiadis, M; Banos, G; Stamataris, C; Zygoyiannis, D

2006-04-01

The effect of meat appearance on consumers' preferences for pork chops was assessed using images manipulated for appearance characteristics. Data were collected from 412 consumers in Greece and Cyprus. Consumers were asked for their preference for pork chops from a book of computer-modified images and then completed a questionnaire of socio-demographic information, including eating and purchasing behaviour. Consumers under the age of 35 years showed preferences for dark red, lean pork, while consumers aged 35 years and older preferred either dark or light red pork. Gender appeared to be an important selection factor as men showed an increased preference for dark red pork while women preferred the light red. Consumers who stated that they like pork for its taste (91%) preferred either dark or light red pork chops while those who like pork for reasons other than taste preferred dark red, lean pork. Urban consumers preferred light red, fatty pork chops while the rural consumers preferred the dark red pork chops.

People’s Health Service Preference at the State Borders [A Policy Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Turniani Laksmiarti

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Background: Indonesian has 497 District consisting of 399 districts and 98 cities, some districts are adjacent to other countries with relatively short travel time and easily, so presumably there are 12.000 Indonesian citizens who went to Malaysia each year and the data of National Health Care Group international Business Development -Singapore claimed 50 percent of international patients seeking treatment in Singapore is a citizen of Indonesia. This study aims to describe of the state border regions, in particular aspects of health regulations. Methods:Operational research with cross sectional design, in which data are collected in the same time (the same fiscal year. The research was conducted in 2012 in Sanggau and Batam District. The unit of analysis is the health workers and communities in the border region. Results: People in the border region who have the financial capability prefer to have treatment in the neighboring countries because of the resources (personnel, health equipment in the border areas health facilities are still inadequate and the referral access to the capital city could not be reached by the people compared to neighboring countries’ hospitals. Recommendations:The government and local governments improve preventive programs and health promotion, improve the health facilities so that there will be no lost of foreign exchange from the health sector towards the neighboring countries.

Collectivists' contingency and autonomy as predictors of buffet preferences among Taiwanese adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiou, Wen-Bin

2006-01-01

In a culture or society with high collectivism, contingent orientation and constrained autonomy are the prominent characteristics of adolescents' self-construal. This article examined whether Taiwanese adolescents' contingency and autonomy were associated with their prevalent preferences for buffet consumption. Findings in a panel survey indicated that contingency was positively correlated with adolescents' buffet preference, whereas autonomy was negatively correlated. Moreover, the results showed that adolescents' contingent orientation and perceived autonomy could predict their subsequent buffet preference over a half-year period. A laboratory experiment showed that adolescents who perceived lower autonomy exhibited greater preferences for buffet over the other diet consumption. In general, the results suggest that collectivist adolescents' contingency and autonomy were related to their trait-like preferences for buffet, and the state-like preferences for buffet were affected by their perceived levels of autonomy. Findings provide further insights into the impact of adolescents' self-construal on their diet consumption.

The Effects of Language on English Language Learners' Music Preferences

Science.gov (United States)

Gosselin, Pei-Ying Lin

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of songs in different languages on English language learners' (ELLs) music preferences. The participants (N = 62) were Chinese graduate students from a state university in the Midwestern United States. The survey contained nine excerpts from popular songs in three languages: Chinese (the…

Effects of learning styles on career preferences of senior secondary ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The research investigated the effects of learning styles on career preferences of senior secondary school students in Jigawa State, Nigeria. A total of six hundred students, three hundred and sixty male, and two hundred and forty female were randomly selected from ten senior secondary schools across the state for the study ...

Happy faces are preferred regardless of familiarity--sad faces are preferred only when familiar.

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Hsin-I; Shimojo, Shinsuke; Yeh, Su-Ling

2013-06-01

Familiarity leads to preference (e.g., the mere exposure effect), yet it remains unknown whether it is objective familiarity, that is, repetitive exposure, or subjective familiarity that contributes to preference. In addition, it is unexplored whether and how different emotions influence familiarity-related preference. The authors investigated whether happy or sad faces are preferred or perceived as more familiar and whether this subjective familiarity judgment correlates with preference for different emotional faces. An emotional face--happy or sad--was paired with a neutral face, and participants rated the relative preference and familiarity of each of the paired faces. For preference judgment, happy faces were preferred and sad faces were less preferred, compared with neutral faces. For familiarity judgment, happy faces did not show any bias, but sad faces were perceived as less familiar than neutral faces. Item-by-item correlational analyses show preference for sad faces--but not happy faces--positively correlate with familiarity. These results suggest a direct link between positive emotion and preference, and argue at least partly against a common cause for familiarity and preference. Instead, facial expression of different emotional valence modulates the link between familiarity and preference.

Between Preferences: Marriage and Mobility among Danish Pakistani Youth

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rytter, Mikkel

2012-01-01

and an increasing number of local love marriages have changed the overall picture. This article discusses how the new marriage preferences affect common notions of family relatedness, and suggest that young couples' decision to engage in a love marriage constitutes an act of symbolic mobility. Ultimately Danish...... Pakistanis are split between the marriage preferences set up by their families, the Danish nation-state and themselves. In this respect marriage is not only about entering adulthood and deciding one's future, but also constitutes a process where notions of identity and belonging are negotiated within local...

Value redefined for inflammatory bowel disease patients: a choice-based conjoint analysis of patients' preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

van Deen, Welmoed K; Nguyen, Dominic; Duran, Natalie E; Kane, Ellen; van Oijen, Martijn G H; Hommes, Daniel W

2017-02-01

Value-based healthcare is an upcoming field. The core idea is to evaluate care based on achieved outcomes divided by the costs. Unfortunately, the optimal way to evaluate outcomes is ill-defined. In this study, we aim to develop a single, preference based, outcome metric, which can be used to quantify overall health value in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IBD patients filled out a choice-based conjoint (CBC) questionnaire in which patients chose preferable outcome scenarios with different levels of disease control (DC), quality of life (QoL), and productivity (Pr). A CBC analysis was performed to estimate the relative value of DC, QoL, and Pr. A patient-centered composite score was developed which was weighted based on the stated preferences. We included 210 IBD patients. Large differences in stated preferences were observed. Increases from low to intermediate outcome levels were valued more than increases from intermediate to high outcome levels. Overall, QoL was more important to patients than DC or Pr. Individual outcome scores were calculated based on the stated preferences. This score was significantly different from a score not weighted based on patient preferences in patients with active disease. We showed the feasibility of creating a single outcome metric in IBD which incorporates patients' values using a CBC. Because this metric changes significantly when weighted according to patients' values, we propose that success in healthcare should be measured accordingly.

Preference learning for cognitive modeling: a case study on entertainment preferences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yannakakis, Georgios; Maragoudakis, Manolis; Hallam, John

2009-01-01

Learning from preferences, which provide means for expressing a subject's desires, constitutes an important topic in machine learning research. This paper presents a comparative study of four alternative instance preference learning algorithms (both linear and nonlinear). The case study...... investigated is to learn to predict the expressed entertainment preferences of children when playing physical games built on their personalized playing features (entertainment modeling). Two of the approaches are derived from the literature--the large-margin algorithm (LMA) and preference learning...... with Gaussian processes--while the remaining two are custom-designed approaches for the problem under investigation: meta-LMA and neuroevolution. Preference learning techniques are combined with feature set selection methods permitting the construction of effective preference models, given suitable individual...

Preferences over Social Risk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harrison, Glenn W.; Lau, Morten; Rutström, E. Elisabet

2013-01-01

that subjects systematically reveal different risk attitudes in a social setting with no prior knowledge about the risk preferences of others compared to when they solely bear the consequences of the decision. However, we also find that subjects are significantly more risk averse when they know the risk......We elicit individual preferences over social risk. We identify the extent to which these preferences are correlated with preferences over individual risk and the well-being of others. We examine these preferences in the context of laboratory experiments over small, anonymous groups, although...... the methodological issues extend to larger groups that form endogenously (e.g., families, committees, communities). Preferences over social risk can be closely approximated by individual risk attitudes when subjects have no information about the risk preferences of other group members. We find no evidence...

Parent opinion of sexuality education in a state with mandated abstinence education: does policy match parental preference?

Science.gov (United States)

Ito, Kristin E; Gizlice, Ziya; Owen-O'Dowd, Judy; Foust, Evelyn; Leone, Peter A; Miller, William C

2006-11-01

Despite public debate about the content of sexuality education in schools, state and federal policy has increasingly financed and legislated abstinence-only education over the past decade. Although public schools strive to meet the needs of parents who, as taxpayers, fund the educational system, little is known about parental desires regarding sexuality education in states with mandated abstinence education. The objective of this study was to assess parental opinion about sexuality education in public schools in North Carolina, a state with mandated abstinence education. Computer-assisted, anonymous, cross-sectional telephone surveys were conducted among 1306 parents of North Carolina public school students in grades K-12. Parental support for sexuality education in public schools and 20 sexuality education topics was measured. We defined comprehensive sexuality education as education that includes a discussion of how to use and talk about contraception with partners. Parents in North Carolina overwhelmingly support sexuality education in public schools (91%). Of these respondents, the majority (89%) support comprehensive sexuality education. Less than a quarter of parents oppose teaching any specific topic, including those typically viewed as more controversial, such as discussions about sexual orientation, oral sex, and anal sex. Parents' level of education was inversely related to support for specific sexuality education topics and comprehensive education, although these differences were small in magnitude. More than 90% of respondents felt that parents and public health professionals should determine sexuality education content and opposed the involvement of politicians. Current state-mandated abstinence sexuality education does not match parental preference for comprehensive sexuality education in North Carolina public schools.

Accounting for Scale Heterogeneity in Healthcare-Related Discrete Choice Experiments when Comparing Stated Preferences: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Stuart J; Vass, Caroline M; Sim, Gene; Burton, Michael; Fiebig, Denzil G; Payne, Katherine

2018-02-28

Scale heterogeneity, or differences in the error variance of choices, may account for a significant amount of the observed variation in the results of discrete choice experiments (DCEs) when comparing preferences between different groups of respondents. The aim of this study was to identify if, and how, scale heterogeneity has been addressed in healthcare DCEs that compare the preferences of different groups. A systematic review identified all healthcare DCEs published between 1990 and February 2016. The full-text of each DCE was then screened to identify studies that compared preferences using data generated from multiple groups. Data were extracted and tabulated on year of publication, samples compared, tests for scale heterogeneity, and analytical methods to account for scale heterogeneity. Narrative analysis was used to describe if, and how, scale heterogeneity was accounted for when preferences were compared. A total of 626 healthcare DCEs were identified. Of these 199 (32%) aimed to compare the preferences of different groups specified at the design stage, while 79 (13%) compared the preferences of groups identified at the analysis stage. Of the 278 included papers, 49 (18%) discussed potential scale issues, 18 (7%) used a formal method of analysis to account for scale between groups, and 2 (1%) accounted for scale differences between preference groups at the analysis stage. Scale heterogeneity was present in 65% (n = 13) of studies that tested for it. Analytical methods to test for scale heterogeneity included coefficient plots (n = 5, 2%), heteroscedastic conditional logit models (n = 6, 2%), Swait and Louviere tests (n = 4, 1%), generalised multinomial logit models (n = 5, 2%), and scale-adjusted latent class analysis (n = 2, 1%). Scale heterogeneity is a prevalent issue in healthcare DCEs. Despite this, few published DCEs have discussed such issues, and fewer still have used formal methods to identify and account for the impact of scale

Teacher Preferences for Alternative School Site Administrative Models

Science.gov (United States)

Hewitt, Paul M.; Denny, George S.; Pijanowski, John C.

2012-01-01

Public school teachers with high leadership potential who stated that they had no interest in being school principals were surveyed on their attitudes about six alternative school site administrative organizational models. Of the 391 teachers surveyed, 53% identified the Co-Principal model as the preferred school site administrative structure. In…

Preferred and actual relative height among homosexual male partners vary with preferred dominance and sex role.

Science.gov (United States)

Valentova, Jaroslava Varella; Stulp, Gert; Třebický, Vít; Havlíček, Jan

2014-01-01

Previous research has shown repeatedly that human stature influences mate preferences and mate choice in heterosexuals. In general, it has been shown that tall men and average height women are most preferred by the opposite sex, and that both sexes prefer to be in a relationship where the man is taller than the woman. However, little is known about such partner preferences in homosexual individuals. Based on an online survey of a large sample of non-heterosexual men (N = 541), we found that the majority of men prefer a partner slightly taller than themselves. However, these preferences were dependent on the participant's own height, such that taller men preferred shorter partners, whereas shorter men preferred taller partners. We also examined whether height preferences predicted the preference for dominance and the adoption of particular sexual roles within a couple. Although a large proportion of men preferred to be in an egalitarian relationship with respect to preferred dominance (although not with respect to preferred sexual role), men that preferred a more dominant and more "active" sexual role preferred shorter partners, whereas those that preferred a more submissive and more "passive" sexual role preferred taller partners. Our results indicate that preferences for relative height in homosexual men are modulated by own height, preferred dominance and sex role, and do not simply resemble those of heterosexual women or men.

Preferred and actual relative height among homosexual male partners vary with preferred dominance and sex role.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaroslava Varella Valentova

Full Text Available Previous research has shown repeatedly that human stature influences mate preferences and mate choice in heterosexuals. In general, it has been shown that tall men and average height women are most preferred by the opposite sex, and that both sexes prefer to be in a relationship where the man is taller than the woman. However, little is known about such partner preferences in homosexual individuals. Based on an online survey of a large sample of non-heterosexual men (N = 541, we found that the majority of men prefer a partner slightly taller than themselves. However, these preferences were dependent on the participant's own height, such that taller men preferred shorter partners, whereas shorter men preferred taller partners. We also examined whether height preferences predicted the preference for dominance and the adoption of particular sexual roles within a couple. Although a large proportion of men preferred to be in an egalitarian relationship with respect to preferred dominance (although not with respect to preferred sexual role, men that preferred a more dominant and more "active" sexual role preferred shorter partners, whereas those that preferred a more submissive and more "passive" sexual role preferred taller partners. Our results indicate that preferences for relative height in homosexual men are modulated by own height, preferred dominance and sex role, and do not simply resemble those of heterosexual women or men.

Preferred and Actual Relative Height among Homosexual Male Partners Vary with Preferred Dominance and Sex Role

Science.gov (United States)

Valentova, Jaroslava Varella; Stulp, Gert; Třebický, Vít; Havlíček, Jan

2014-01-01

Previous research has shown repeatedly that human stature influences mate preferences and mate choice in heterosexuals. In general, it has been shown that tall men and average height women are most preferred by the opposite sex, and that both sexes prefer to be in a relationship where the man is taller than the woman. However, little is known about such partner preferences in homosexual individuals. Based on an online survey of a large sample of non-heterosexual men (N = 541), we found that the majority of men prefer a partner slightly taller than themselves. However, these preferences were dependent on the participant’s own height, such that taller men preferred shorter partners, whereas shorter men preferred taller partners. We also examined whether height preferences predicted the preference for dominance and the adoption of particular sexual roles within a couple. Although a large proportion of men preferred to be in an egalitarian relationship with respect to preferred dominance (although not with respect to preferred sexual role), men that preferred a more dominant and more “active” sexual role preferred shorter partners, whereas those that preferred a more submissive and more “passive” sexual role preferred taller partners. Our results indicate that preferences for relative height in homosexual men are modulated by own height, preferred dominance and sex role, and do not simply resemble those of heterosexual women or men. PMID:24466136

Consumer preferences in the design of airport passenger areas

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Oel, C.J.; Van den Berkhof, F.W.

2013-01-01

In recent decades, commercial developments have become increasingly important for the overall profit of airports. However, little is known about consumer preferences regarding the design of passenger areas, which is striking as the design of terminal buildings affects consumers' emotional state and

VIERS- User Preference Service

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Veterans Affairs — The Preferences service provides a means to store, retrieve, and manage user preferences. The service supports definition of enterprise wide preferences, as well as...

Psychobiological Responses to Preferred and Prescribed Intensity Exercise in Major Depressive Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Jacob D; Ellingson, Laura D; Koltyn, Kelli F; Stegner, Aaron J; Kim, Jee-Seon; Cook, Dane B

2016-11-01

Exercise acutely improves mood in major depressive disorder (MDD). However, it is unknown whether benefits differ depending on whether exercise intensity is self-selected or prescribed. This study aimed to compare psychological and biological responses to preferred and prescribed steady-state exercise intensities to a patient-selected preferred intensity. Female adults (N = 24, age = 38.6 ± 14.0 yr) diagnosed with MDD completed four 30-min sessions of cycling exercise at three prescribed intensities (RPE of 11, 13, and 15) and one session with a self-selected intensity (preferred). Order was randomized and counterbalanced. Depressed mood (DM) was evaluated before, 10 min, and 30 min postexercise using the Profile of Mood States. Serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was measured before and within 10 min postexercise. Changes in BDNF and DM for the preferred session were compared with the following prescribed sessions: 1) performed at the most similar intensity (matched on RPE; closest) and 2) with the greatest improvement in DM (greatest). Compared with the preferred session, improvement in DM was significantly larger after the greatest session (30 min postexercise: -11.8 ± 7.4 vs -3.4 ± 4.8), and the BDNF response was significantly greater after the closest session (5.4 ± 6.9 vs -1.4 ± 9.8 ng·mL). Permitting patients to select their own exercise intensity did not maximize improvements in mood. Further, preferred intensity exercise was also associated with a smaller BDNF response. Overall, the results suggest that exercise undertaken to improve mood should be prescribed on an individual basis in MDD and not necessarily based on the patient's preferred intensity. Clinicians, psychologists, and other practitioners should consider providing clear exercise intensity recommendations for symptom management in depression rather than allowing patients to self-select their intensity.

Flying personal planes: modeling the airport choices of general aviation pilots using stated preference methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Camasso, M J; Jagannathan, R

2001-01-01

This study employed stated preference (SP) models to determine why general aviation pilots choose to base and operate their aircraft at some airports and not others. Thirteen decision variables identified in pilot focus groups and in the general aviation literature were incorporated into a series of hypothetical choice tasks or scenarios. The scenarios were offered within a fractional factorial design to establish orthogonality and to preclude dominance in any combination of variables. Data from 113 pilots were analyzed for individual differences across pilots using conditional logit regression with and without controls. The results demonstrate that some airport attributes (e.g., full-range hospitality services, paved parallel taxiway, and specific types of runway lighting and landing aids) increase pilot utility. Heavy airport congestion and airport landing fees, on the other hand, decrease pilot utility. The importance of SP methodology as a vehicle for modeling choice behavior and as an input into the planning and prioritization process is discussed. Actual or potential applications include the development of structured decision-making instruments in the behavioral sciences and in human service programs.

Consumer preferences and willingness to pay for the health aspects of food

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simona Miškolci

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Agri-food systems in the Czech Republic are currently undergoing a profound transformation toward high-value products. Appropriate policies are needed to guide this transformation, presupposing good understanding of consumer preferences. Having established a general framework for the analysis of food choice and quality perception, second part of the paper gives overview of results of stated preference evaluation studies conducted in the Czech Republic. The objective of secondary data analysis is to evaluate consumer preferences and willingness to pay for the food quality with the special attention to an evaluation of consumer preferences for health aspects of the food. The consumers’ relative preferences toward the different dimensions of a product’s quality are measured from the consumers’ perspective via their preference scores on various dimensions of quality derived from Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP. Price premium consumers are willing to pay for the high quality product is investigated using Contingent valuation method (CV. In general, the empirical evidence supports the hypothesis that health ensuring and enhancing characteristics together with sensorial characteristics significantly affect consumers’ preferences for food and most consumers are willing to pay a price premium in order to ensure required quality of food.

The effect of attitudes on reference-dependent preferences: Estimation and validation for the case of alternative-fuel vehicles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mabit, Stefan Lindhard; Cherchi, Elisabetta; Jensen, Anders Fjendbo

2015-01-01

reference-dependent preferences and attitudes together may explain individual choices. In a modelling framework based on a hybrid choice model allowing for both concepts, we investigate how attitudes and reference-dependent preferences interact and how they affect willingness-to-pay measures and demand...... elasticities. Using a data set with stated choices among alternative-fuel vehicles, we see that allowing for reference-dependent preferences improves our ability to explain the stated choices in the data and that the attitude (appreciation of car features) explains part of the preference heterogeneity across...... with varying attitudes and reference values will act differently when affected by policy instruments related to the demand for alternative-fuel vehicles, e.g. subsidies....

Consumer preferences for the predictive genetic test for Alzheimer disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Ming-Yi; Huston, Sally A; Perri, Matthew

2014-04-01

The purpose of this study was to assess consumer preferences for predictive genetic testing for Alzheimer disease in the United States. A rating conjoint analysis was conducted using an anonymous online survey distributed by Qualtrics to a general population panel in April 2011 in the United States. The study design included three attributes: Accuracy (40%, 80%, and 100%), Treatment Availability (Cure is available/Drug for symptom relief but no cure), and Anonymity (Anonymous/Not anonymous). A total of 12 scenarios were used to elicit people's preference, assessed by an 11-point scale. The respondents also indicated their highest willingness-to-pay (WTP) for each scenario through open-ended questions. A total of 295 responses were collected over 4 days. The most important attribute for the aggregate model was Accuracy, contributing 64.73% to the preference rating. Treatment Availability and Anonymity contributed 20.72% and 14.59%, respectively, to the preference rating. The median WTP for the highest-rating scenario (Accuracy 100%, a cure is available, test result is anonymous) was $100 (mean = $276). The median WTP for the lowest-rating scenario (40% accuracy, no cure but drugs for symptom relief, not anonymous) was zero (mean = $34). The results of this study highlight attributes people find important when making the hypothetical decision to obtain an AD genetic test. These results should be of interests to policy makers, genetic test developers and health care providers.

A Choice Experiment on Alternative Fuel Vehicle Preferences of Private Car Owners in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoen, A.; Koetse, M.J.

2014-01-01

This paper presents results of an online stated choice experiment on preferences of Dutch private car owners for alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) and their characteristics. Results show that negative preferences for alternative fuel vehicles are large, especially for the electric and fuel cell car,

A survey of the dentist attire and gender preferences in dentally anxious children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Asokan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Anxiety about doctors among children is very common. White coat phobia which is a classical conditioning phenomenon is said to be prevalent among children. Objectives: To analyze the association between anxious states of children about dentists and their preference of dentist attire and gender in the dental office. Materials and Methods: The 9-12-year-old middle school children were selected for the study. Children were asked to fill a questionnaire containing children′s fear survey schedule-dental subscale (CFSS-DS and asked to prefer dental attire from four different pictures displaying the single anonymous dentist in four different attires in the same operator. The CFSS-DS gave the anxiety scale, and age, gender, and experience were also plotted against children preference in an apron, protective wear, and gender preference. Results were tabulated and statistically analyzed using Chi-square test. Results: About 718 (62% were scored as anxious children. Of all anxious children, 502 (69.9% had preference of colored attires of the dentist, and 408 (66.8% anxious children preferred dentist with protective wear. Female dentists were preferred by 452 (66% anxious children. Same gender preference was also prevalent.

Alcoholic Beverage Preference and Dietary Habits in Elderly across Europe: Analyses within the Consortium on Health and Ageing: Network of Cohorts in Europe and the United States (CHANCES Project.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diewertje Sluik

Full Text Available The differential associations of beer, wine, and spirit consumption on cardiovascular risk found in observational studies may be confounded by diet. We described and compared dietary intake and diet quality according to alcoholic beverage preference in European elderly.From the Consortium on Health and Ageing: Network of Cohorts in Europe and the United States (CHANCES, seven European cohorts were included, i.e. four sub-cohorts from EPIC-Elderly, the SENECA Study, the Zutphen Elderly Study, and the Rotterdam Study. Harmonized data of 29,423 elderly participants from 14 European countries were analyzed. Baseline data on consumption of beer, wine, and spirits, and dietary intake were collected with questionnaires. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Diet Indicator (HDI. Intakes and scores across categories of alcoholic beverage preference (beer, wine, spirit, no preference, non-consumers were adjusted for age, sex, socio-economic status, self-reported prevalent diseases, and lifestyle factors. Cohort-specific mean intakes and scores were calculated as well as weighted means combining all cohorts.In 5 of 7 cohorts, persons with a wine preference formed the largest group. After multivariate adjustment, persons with a wine preference tended to have a higher HDI score and intake of healthy foods in most cohorts, but differences were small. The weighted estimates of all cohorts combined revealed that non-consumers had the highest fruit and vegetable intake, followed by wine consumers. Non-consumers and persons with no specific preference had a higher HDI score, spirit consumers the lowest. However, overall diet quality as measured by HDI did not differ greatly across alcoholic beverage preference categories.This study using harmonized data from ~30,000 elderly from 14 European countries showed that, after multivariate adjustment, dietary habits and diet quality did not differ greatly according to alcoholic beverage preference.

Women's preference for traditional birth attendants and modern health care practitioners in Akpabuyo community of Cross River State, Nigeria.

Science.gov (United States)

Akpabio, Idongesit I; Edet, Olaide B; Etifit, Rita E; Robinson-Bassey, Grace C

2014-01-01

The proportion of women who patronized traditional birth attendants (TBAs) or modern health care practitioners (MHCPs) was compared, including reasons for their choices. A comparative design was adopted to study 300 respondents selected through a multistage systematic random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a validated 21-item structured questionnaire. We observed that 75 (25%) patronized and 80 (27%) preferred TBAs, and 206 (69%) patronized and 220 (75%) preferred MHCPs, while 19 (6%) patronized both. The view that TBAs prayed before conducting deliveries was supported by a majority 75 (94%) of the respondents who preferred them. Factors associated with preference for TBAs should be addressed.

Identifying and Modeling Dynamic Preference Evolution in Multipurpose Water Resources Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Mason, E.; Giuliani, M.; Castelletti, A.; Amigoni, F.

2018-04-01

Multipurpose water systems are usually operated on a tradeoff of conflicting operating objectives. Under steady state climatic and socioeconomic conditions, such tradeoff is supposed to represent a fair and/or efficient preference. Extreme variability in external forcing might affect water operators' risk aversion and force a change in her/his preference. Properly accounting for these shifts is key to any rigorous retrospective assessment of the operator's behaviors, and to build descriptive models for projecting the future system evolution. In this study, we explore how the selection of different preferences is linked to variations in the external forcing. We argue that preference selection evolves according to recent, extreme variations in system performance: underperforming in one of the objectives pushes the preference toward the harmed objective. To test this assumption, we developed a rational procedure to simulate the operator's preference selection. We map this selection onto a multilateral negotiation, where multiple virtual agents independently optimize different objectives. The agents periodically negotiate a compromise policy for the operation of the system. Agents' attitudes in each negotiation step are determined by the recent system performance measured by the specific objective they maximize. We then propose a numerical model of preference dynamics that implements a concept from cognitive psychology, the availability bias. We test our modeling framework on a synthetic lake operated for flood control and water supply. Results show that our model successfully captures the operator's preference selection and dynamic evolution driven by extreme wet and dry situations.

Initial and noninitial name-letter preferences as obtained through repeated letter rating tasks continue to reflect (different aspects of) self-esteem.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoorens, Vera; Takano, Keisuke; Franck, Erik; Roberts, John E; Raes, Filip

2015-09-01

We tested the usefulness of name-letter preference scores as indirect indicators of self-esteem by exploring whether multiple unsupervised self-administrations of letter rating tasks within a short period of time yield useful data. We also examined whether preferences for initials and noninitial name-letters tap different aspects of self-esteem. Participants from a community sample (N = 164; 58 men and 106 women, 17-67 years, Mage = 34.57, SD = 13.28) completed daily letter rating tasks and state self-esteem questionnaires for 7 consecutive days. They also completed a trait self-esteem questionnaire on the first measurement day as well as 6 months later. Preference scores for first-name initials were stronger but more unstable than preference scores for other name-letters. Preferences for first-name initials were primarily associated with directly measured state self-esteem whereas preferences for noninitials were primarily associated with directly measured trait self-esteem even if the latter was measured 6 months later. Thus, we showed that preferences for initials and noninitials are not simply interchangeable. Previous letter rating studies, which almost exclusively used initial preferences, should be interpreted in terms of state rather than trait self-esteem. In future studies, researchers should focus on the name-letter preference that reflects the aspect of self-esteem they wish to address. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Color preferences are not universal.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Chloe; Clifford, Alexandra; Franklin, Anna

2013-11-01

Claims of universality pervade color preference research. It has been argued that there are universal preferences for some colors over others (e.g., Eysenck, 1941), universal sex differences (e.g., Hurlbert & Ling, 2007), and universal mechanisms or dimensions that govern these preferences (e.g., Palmer & Schloss, 2010). However, there have been surprisingly few cross-cultural investigations of color preference and none from nonindustrialized societies that are relatively free from the common influence of global consumer culture. Here, we compare the color preferences of British adults to those of Himba adults who belong to a nonindustrialized culture in rural Namibia. British and Himba color preferences are found to share few characteristics, and Himba color preferences display none of the so-called "universal" patterns or sex differences. Several significant predictors of color preference are identified, such as cone-contrast between stimulus and background (Hurlbert & Ling, 2007), the valence of color-associated objects (Palmer & Schloss, 2010), and the colorfulness of the color. However, the relationship of these predictors to color preference was strikingly different for the two cultures. No one model of color preference is able to account for both British and Himba color preferences. We suggest that not only do patterns of color preference vary across individuals and groups but the underlying mechanisms and dimensions of color preference vary as well. The findings have implications for broader debate on the extent to which our perception and experience of color is culturally relative or universally constrained. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Advances in nonmarket valuation econometrics: Spatial heterogeneity in hedonic pricing models and preference heterogeneity in stated preference models

Science.gov (United States)

Yoo, Jin Woo

In my 1st essay, the study explores Pennsylvania residents. willingness to pay for development of renewable energy technologies such as solar power, wind power, biomass electricity, and other renewable energy using a choice experiment method. Principle component analysis identified 3 independent attitude components that affect the variation of preference, a desire for renewable energy and environmental quality and concern over cost. The results show that urban residents have a higher desire for environmental quality and concern less about cost than rural residents and consequently have a higher willingness to pay to increase renewable energy production. The results of sub-sample analysis show that a representative respondent in rural (urban) Pennsylvania is willing to pay 3.8(5.9) and 4.1(5.7)/month for increasing the share of Pennsylvania electricity generated from wind power and other renewable energy by 1 percent point, respectively. Mean WTP for solar and biomass electricity was not significantly different from zero. In my second essay, heterogeneity of individual WTP for various renewable energy technologies is investigated using several different variants of the multinomial logit model: a simple MNL with interaction terms, a latent class choice model, a random parameter mixed logit choice model, and a random parameter-latent class choice model. The results of all models consistently show that respondents. preference for individual renewable technology is heterogeneous, but the degree of heterogeneity differs for different renewable technologies. In general, the random parameter logit model with interactions and a hybrid random parameter logit-latent class model fit better than other models and better capture respondents. heterogeneity of preference for renewable energy. The impact of the land under agricultural conservation easement (ACE) contract on the values of nearby residential properties is investigated using housing sales data in two Pennsylvania

Peer and Teacher Preference, Student-Teacher Relationships, Student Ethnicity, and Peer Victimization in Elementary School

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Feihong; Leary, Kevin A.; Taylor, Lorraine C.; Derosier, Melissa E.

2016-01-01

We examined the effects of peer preference and teacher preference for students, students' perceived relationship with their teacher and student ethnicity on peer victimization in late elementary school. Participants were students in the third through fifth grades in four public elementary schools in a southern state. Using hierarchical linear…

A preference for migration

OpenAIRE

Stark, Oded

2007-01-01

At least to some extent migration behavior is the outcome of a preference for migration. The pattern of migration as an outcome of a preference for migration depends on two key factors: imitation technology and migration feasibility. We show that these factors jointly determine the outcome of a preference for migration and we provide examples that illustrate how the prevalence and transmission of a migration-forming preference yield distinct migration patterns. In particular, the imitation of...

Assessing Women's Preferences and Preference Modeling for Breast Reconstruction Decision-Making.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Clement S; Cantor, Scott B; Reece, Gregory P; Crosby, Melissa A; Fingeret, Michelle C; Markey, Mia K

2014-03-01

Women considering breast reconstruction must make challenging trade-offs amongst issues that often conflict. It may be useful to quantify possible outcomes using a single summary measure to aid a breast cancer patient in choosing a form of breast reconstruction. In this study, we used multiattribute utility theory to combine multiple objectives to yield a summary value using nine different preference models. We elicited the preferences of 36 women, aged 32 or older with no history of breast cancer, for the patient-reported outcome measures of breast satisfaction, psychosocial well-being, chest well-being, abdominal well-being, and sexual wellbeing as measured by the BREAST-Q in addition to time lost to reconstruction and out-of-pocket cost. Participants ranked hypothetical breast reconstruction outcomes. We examined each multiattribute utility preference model and assessed how often each model agreed with participants' rankings. The median amount of time required to assess preferences was 34 minutes. Agreement among the nine preference models with the participants ranged from 75.9% to 78.9%. None of the preference models performed significantly worse than the best performing risk averse multiplicative model. We hypothesize an average theoretical agreement of 94.6% for this model if participant error is included. There was a statistically significant positive correlation with more unequal distribution of weight given to the seven attributes. We recommend the risk averse multiplicative model for modeling the preferences of patients considering different forms of breast reconstruction because it agreed most often with the participants in this study.

Decision heuristic or preference? Attribute non-attendance in discrete choice problems.

Science.gov (United States)

Heidenreich, Sebastian; Watson, Verity; Ryan, Mandy; Phimister, Euan

2018-01-01

This paper investigates if respondents' choice to not consider all characteristics of a multiattribute health service may represent preferences. Over the last decade, an increasing number of studies account for attribute non-attendance (ANA) when using discrete choice experiments to elicit individuals' preferences. Most studies assume such behaviour is a heuristic and therefore uninformative. This assumption may result in misleading welfare estimates if ANA reflects preferences. This is the first paper to assess if ANA is a heuristic or genuine preference without relying on respondents' self-stated motivation and the first study to explore this question within a health context. Based on findings from cognitive psychology, we expect that familiar respondents are less likely to use a decision heuristic to simplify choices than unfamiliar respondents. We employ a latent class model of discrete choice experiment data concerned with National Health Service managers' preferences for support services that assist with performance concerns. We present quantitative and qualitative evidence that in our study ANA mostly represents preferences. We also show that wrong assumptions about ANA result in inadequate welfare measures that can result in suboptimal policy advice. Future research should proceed with caution when assuming that ANA is a heuristic. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Glaucoma Medication Preferences among Glaucoma Specialists in Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Lazcano-Gomez, Gabriel; Alvarez-Ascencio, Daniela; Haro-Zuno, Cindy; Turati-Acosta, Mauricio; Garcia-Huerta, Magdalena; Jimenez-Arroyo, Jesus; Castañeda-Diez, Rafael; Castillejos-Chevez, Armando; Gonzalez-Salinas, Roberto; Dominguez-Dueñas, Francisca; Jimenez-Roman, Jesus

2017-01-01

To determine the glaucoma specialists' preferences for the different brands of topical glaucoma medications available in Mexico. A web-based survey was sent to 150 board-certified glaucoma specialists in Mexico, with 14 questions related to brand preferences for all glaucoma medications available in Mexico. Participants were asked to select each glaucoma medication class by brand and to state the factors leading to their choice. Data from 111 (74%) glaucoma specialists were collected. Imot (timolol 0.5%; Sophia, Mexico) was the preferred brand for the beta-blockers (BB) class by 71% (n = 79) of the participants. Azopt (brinzolamide 1%; Alcon Lab, US) was the preferred carbonic anhydrase inhibitor (CAI) by 54% (n = 60) of the glaucoma specialists. Lumigan (bimatoprost 0.01% and 0.03%; Allergan Inc., U.S.) was the first choice for the prostaglandin analogues (PGAs) in 62% (n = 70) of the answers. The most frequently prescribed alpha-agonist (AA) was Agglad (brimonidine 0.2%; Sophia Lab, Mexico) in 44% (n = 49) of the answers. Medication accessibility (31%), cost (29%), and recommended dose (23%) were the three main factors influencing the glaucoma specialists' preferences. Medication cost and accessibility, as well as posology, remain the main factors influencing brand preferences among glaucoma doctors. In our professional opinion, the therapeutic effect must be the leading factor when prescribing topical medications in the daily practice, so that patients receive the best treatment option. This survey provides an understanding of the decision-making process when prescribing glaucoma medications by glaucoma specialists in a Latin American developing country. Ideally, patient treatment should be individualized and aimed to achieve the best results possible for their specific condition. How to cite this article: Lazcano-Gomez G, Alvarez-Ascencio D, Haro-Zuno C, Turati-Acosta M, Garcia-Huerta M, Jimenez-Arroyo J, Castañeda-Diez R, Castillejos-Chevez A, Gonzalez

European External Trade Policy: The Role of Ideas in German Preference Formation - www-publication

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alons, G.C.

2013-01-01

In the literature examining European Union external trade policy, the relative influence of the Commission, the member states and interest groups are an issue of ongoing debate. This article will argue that member states can still play an important role and that a focus on member state preferences

Going beyond best technology and lowest price: on renewable energy investors’ preference for service-driven business models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loock, Moritz

2012-01-01

Renewable energy is becoming increasingly important for economies in many countries. But still in an emerging industry, renewable energy requires supportive energy policy helping firms to develop and protect competitive advantages in global competition. As a guideline for designing such policy, we consult well-informed stakeholders within the renewable energy industry: investors. Their preferences serve as explorative indicator for assessing which business models might succeed in competition. To contribute to only limited research on renewable energy investors’ preferences, we ask, which business models investment managers for renewable energy prefer to invest in. We report from an explorative study of 380 choices of renewable energy investment managers. Based on the stated preferences, we modelled three generic business models to calculate the share of investors’ preferences. We find exiting evidence: a “customer intimacy” business model that proposes best services is much more preferred by investors than business models that propose lowest price or best technology. Policy-makers can use those insights for designing policy that supports service-driven business models for renewable energy with a scope on customer needs rather than technology or price. Additionally, we state important implications for renewable energy entrepreneurs, managers and research.

Comparing group deliberation to other forms of preference aggregation in valuing ecosystem services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mackenzie B. Murphy

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Deliberative methods for valuing ecosystem services are hypothesized to yield group preferences that differ systematically from those that would be obtained through calculative aggregation of the preferences of participating individuals. We tested this hypothesis by comparing the group consensus results of structured deliberations against a variety of aggregation methods applied to individual participant preferences that were elicited both before and after the deliberations. Participants were also asked about their perceptions of the deliberative process, which we used to assess their ability to detect preference changes and identify the causes of any changes. For five of the seven groups tested, the group consensus results could not have been predicted from individual predeliberation preferences using any of the aggregation rules. However, individual postdeliberation preferences could be used to reconstruct the group preferences using consensual and rank-based aggregation rules. These results imply that the preferences of participants changed over the course of the deliberation and that the group preferences reflected a broad consensus on overall rankings rather than simply the pairwise preferences of the majority. Changes in individual preferences seem to have gone largely unnoticed by participants, as most stated that they did not believe their preferences had substantially changed. Most participants were satisfied with the outcome of the deliberation, and their degree of satisfaction was correlated with the feeling that their opinion was heard and that they had an influence on the outcome. Based on our results, group deliberation shows promise as a means of generating ecosystem service valuations that reflect a consensus opinion rather than simply a collection of personal preferences.

Classification and characterization of Japanese consumers' beef preferences by external preference mapping.

Science.gov (United States)

Sasaki, Keisuke; Ooi, Motoki; Nagura, Naoto; Motoyama, Michiyo; Narita, Takumi; Oe, Mika; Nakajima, Ikuyo; Hagi, Tatsuro; Ojima, Koichi; Kobayashi, Miho; Nomura, Masaru; Muroya, Susumu; Hayashi, Takeshi; Akama, Kyoko; Fujikawa, Akira; Hokiyama, Hironao; Kobayashi, Kuniyuki; Nishimura, Takanori

2017-08-01

Over the past few decades, beef producers in Japan have improved marbling in their beef products. It was recently reported that marbling is not well correlated with palatability as rated by Japanese consumers. This study sought to identify the consumer segments in Japan that prefer sensory characteristics of beef other than high marbling. Three Wagyu beef, one Holstein beef and two lean imported beef longissimus samples were subjected to a descriptive sensory test, physicochemical analysis and a consumer (n = 307) preference test. According to consumer classification and external preference mapping, four consumer segments were identified as 'gradual high-fat likers', 'moderate-fat and distinctive taste likers', 'Wagyu likers' and 'distinctive texture likers'. Although the major trend of Japanese consumers' beef preference was 'marbling liking', 16.9% of the consumers preferred beef samples that had moderate marbling and distinctive taste. The consumers' attitudes expressed in a questionnaire survey were in good agreement with the preference for marbling among the 'moderate-fat and distinctive taste likers'. These results indicate that moderately marbled beef is a potent category in the Japanese beef market. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Rural Women\\'s Preference For Selected Programmes Of The ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study focused on the rural women's preference for selected programmes of the National Special Programme for Food Security (NSPFS) in Imo State, Nigeria. Data was collected with the aid of structured interview from 150 randomly selected women in the study area. Results from the study showed that respondents ...

Sour Taste preferences of children relate to preference of novel and intense stimuli

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Liem, D.G.; Westerbeek, A.; Wolterink, S.; Kok, F.J.; Graaf, de C.

2004-01-01

Previous research has suggested that some children have a preference for sour tastes. The origin of this preference remains unclear. We investigated whether preference for sour tastes is related to a difference in rated sour intensity due to physiological properties of saliva, or to an overall

The Draw of Home: How Teachers' Preferences for Proximity Disadvantage Urban Schools. NBER Working Paper.

Science.gov (United States)

Boyd, Donald; Lankford, Hamilton; Loeb, Susanna; Wyckoff, James

This paper explores a little-understood aspect of labor markets, their spatial geography. Using data from New York State, it finds teacher labor markets to be geographically very small. Teachers express preferences to teach close to where they grew up, and, controlling for proximity, they prefer areas with characteristics similar to their…

Preferences for Alternative Fuel Vehicles of Lease Car Drivers in The Netherlands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koetse, M.J.; Hoen, A.

2012-04-15

In this paper we aim to get insight into preferences of Dutch lease car drivers for alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) and their characteristics. Since AFVs are either not yet available on the market or have only very limited market shares, we have to rely on stated preference research. We perform a state-of-the-art conjoint analysis, based on data obtained through an online choice experiment among Dutch lease car drivers. Results show that under current tax regulations the average lease car driver is indifferent between the conventional technology, flexifuel and the hybrid car, while negative preferences exist for the plug-in hybrid, the electric and the fuel cell car. When current tax regulations would be abolished, strong negative preferences would result for all AFCs, and especially for the electric and fuel cell car. Increases in driving range, reductions in refuelling time, and reductions in additional detour time for reaching an appropriate fuel station, increase AFV preferences substantially. On average the gap between conventional technologies and AFVs remains large, however. We also find that there is considerable heterogeneity in preferences of lease car drivers, and that various market segments and potential early adopters can be identified. In this respect the most interesting finding is that preferences for electric and fuel cell cars decrease substantially, and willingness to pay for driving range increases substantially, when annual mileage increases. Annual mileage also has a substantial impact on sensitivity to monthly costs. We therefore use simulations to assess market shares of electric and fuel cell cars for different annual mileage categories. We find that people with a relatively low annual mileage are more likely to adopt than people with a relatively high annual mileage, regardless of driving range and monthly costs. For the fuel cell car we find similar results, although when driving range is high and cost differences are large, lease car

What Do Women's Advertised Mate Preferences Reveal? An Analysis of Video Dating Profiles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cari D. Goetz

2013-04-01

Full Text Available This study examined women's video dating profiles to determine what their advertised mate preferences revealed about their mate value and relationship interests. Women created a one-minute long video dating profile for a hypothetical dating website. The videos were content analyzed into four categories of stated mate preferences: 1 “good genes” indicators 2 good resource investment potential indicators 3 good parenting indicators and 4 good partner indicators. Long-term mating interest was positively correlated with describing good partner indicators and self-perceived mate value was positively correlated with describing good genes indicators. Short-term mating interest was negatively correlated with describing any mate preferences while attractiveness was positively correlated with doing so. Results suggest that women's advertised mate preferences provide clues to their underlying relationship interests and mate value.

At risk of being risky: The relationship between "brain age" under emotional states and risk preference.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudolph, Marc D; Miranda-Domínguez, Oscar; Cohen, Alexandra O; Breiner, Kaitlyn; Steinberg, Laurence; Bonnie, Richard J; Scott, Elizabeth S; Taylor-Thompson, Kim; Chein, Jason; Fettich, Karla C; Richeson, Jennifer A; Dellarco, Danielle V; Galván, Adriana; Casey, B J; Fair, Damien A

2017-04-01

Developmental differences regarding decision making are often reported in the absence of emotional stimuli and without context, failing to explain why some individuals are more likely to have a greater inclination toward risk. The current study (N=212; 10-25y) examined the influence of emotional context on underlying functional brain connectivity over development and its impact on risk preference. Using functional imaging data in a neutral brain-state we first identify the "brain age" of a given individual then validate it with an independent measure of cortical thickness. We then show, on average, that "brain age" across the group during the teen years has the propensity to look younger in emotional contexts. Further, we show this phenotype (i.e. a younger brain age in emotional contexts) relates to a group mean difference in risk perception - a pattern exemplified greatest in young-adults (ages 18-21). The results are suggestive of a specified functional brain phenotype that relates to being at "risk to be risky." Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Physician experiences and preferences in the treatment of HR+/HER2− metastatic breast cancer in the United States: a physician survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Peggy L.; Hao, Yanni; Xie, Jipan; Li, Nanxin; Zhong, Yichen; Zhou, Zhou; Signorovitch, James E.; Wu, Eric Q.

2015-01-01

Sequential endocrine therapy (ET) is recommended for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive (HR+)/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2−) metastatic breast cancer (mBC) and without visceral symptoms. Chemotherapy (CT) can be considered after sequential ETs, but is associated with adverse side effects. We assessed physicians' preferences and self-reported prescribing patterns for ET and CT in the treatment of HR+/HER2− mBC at community practices in the United States. Community-based oncologists/hematologists from a nationwide online panel who treated postmenopausal women with HR+/HER2− mBC were invited to complete a survey, blinded to the identity of study sponsor. Treatment preferences were collected by treatment class of ET-based regimens versus CT and by agent for postmenopausal HR+/HER2− mBC patients after prior nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor use in the adjuvant or mBC setting. Among 213 physicians who completed the survey, 78% were male, 71% were based in small/intermediate practices (2–9 oncologists/subspecialists), 55% had >10 years of experience, and 58% referred to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines when treating mBC. Among first-line ETs, anastrozole was the most frequently used treatment (35%), followed by everolimus-based (EVE, 34%) and fulvestrant-based (FUL, 15%) therapy. After first-line ET, the most preferred second- and third-line treatments were ET monotherapy (48% and 39%), ET combination therapy (31% and 19%), and CT monotherapy (13% and 30%). Comparing EVE versus FUL, physicians preferred EVE in all lines but first line. Efficacy was the most important consideration for treatment choice. Physicians prescribed CT in early lines mainly because of visceral symptoms. This survey of treatment patterns for HR+/HER2− mBC in community practice suggested that after first-line ET, ET mono- or combination therapy was commonly used for the second- and third-line treatments and CT

Great apes prefer cooked food.

Science.gov (United States)

Wobber, Victoria; Hare, Brian; Wrangham, Richard

2008-08-01

The cooking hypothesis proposes that a diet of cooked food was responsible for diverse morphological and behavioral changes in human evolution. However, it does not predict whether a preference for cooked food evolved before or after the control of fire. This question is important because the greater the preference shown by a raw-food-eating hominid for the properties present in cooked food, the more easily cooking should have been adopted following the control of fire. Here we use great apes to model food preferences by Paleolithic hominids. We conducted preference tests with various plant and animal foods to determine whether great apes prefer food items raw or cooked. We found that several populations of captive apes tended to prefer their food cooked, though with important exceptions. These results suggest that Paleolithic hominids would likewise have spontaneously preferred cooked food to raw, exapting a pre-existing preference for high-quality, easily chewed foods onto these cooked items. The results, therefore, challenge the hypothesis that the control of fire preceded cooking by a significant period.

The Relationship of Stated Learning Preferences, Personality Type, and Career Background to Academic and Leadership Performance at the United States Air Command and Staff College

Science.gov (United States)

1999-12-11

Kolb envisioned experiential 26 Table 2 Subscales on the NASSP Learning Styles Profile Cognitive Styles Perceptual Responses Analytic Skill...Research Type Theory and Learning Preferences Jung and the Theory of Psychological Types Isabel Briggs Myers’ Contribution to Jung’s Work The Myers...Implications Recommendations for Further Study Summary of Specific Conclusions Discussion Grounded Curriculum Learning Preferences Type Theory Student

A Framework Incorporating Community Preferences in Use ...

Science.gov (United States)

The report is intended to assist water quality officials, watershed managers, members of stakeholder groups, and other interested individuals in fully evaluating ecological and socioeconomic objectives and the gains and losses that often are involved in use attainment decisions. In addition, this report enables local, state, and tribal managers to better understand the benefits, as well as the costs, of attaining high water quality, and to incorporate community preferences in decision-making. Specific objectives are (1) to provide an introduction to the CWA and WQS regulation and analyses related to setting or changing designated uses; (2) create a basis for understanding the relationship between use-attainment decisions and the effects on ecosystems, ecosystem services, and ecological benefits; (3) serve as reference for methods that elicit or infer preferences for benefits and costs related to attaining uses and (4) present process for incorporating new approaches in water quality decisions.

Consumers´ purchasing preferences towards organic food in Slovakia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zdenka Kádeková

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Submitted paper deals with the consumers´ purchasing preferences towards organic food in Slovakia, pointing at the situation on the organic food market in Slovakia finding the consumers' preferences when buying organic food. The results of the questionnaire survey identified the preferences and opinions of respondents about organic food. Paper analyses the questionnaire survey by 227 respondents concerning the purchasing preferences towards organic food in Slovakia. In order to achieve given aim and to ensure deeper analysis of the results, there had been stated 3 assumptions and 5 hypothesis. As the results of the survey proved, 65% of respondents buy organic food, of which 39% of respondents buy organic food at least once a week. Up to 98% of respondents have already met the concept of organic food and know what it means. 37 % of respondents buy mostly organic fruit and vegetables, 18% of respondents buy the most the meat and meat products in organic quality and 13% of respondents prefer dairy products in organic quality. The most preferred place to buy organic food are specialized stores (36 %,to buy organic food directly from the producer is the most popular way for 29 % of respondents, hypermarket and supermarkets are favorite place to buy organic food for 19% of respondents, and 12% of respondents buy organic food mostly in farmers´ markets. Only 4% of respondents prefer another way to buy organic food. Quality of organic food and not using the pesticides is the most important criteria for buying organic food (36%. Price has also really strong influence on purchasing decision, when 34% of respondents are the most affected by the price when purchasing organic food. Package is considered as the least important criteria when buying organic food by 72% of respondents. On the basis of provided results of our survey and formulated hypothesis which were evaluated by Chi-square goodness of fit test, Chi square test of the square contingency and

The Role of Trait and State Absorption in the Enjoyment of Music

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

Little is known about the role of state versus trait characteristics on our enjoyment of music. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of state and trait absorption upon preference for music, particularly preference for music that evokes negative emotions. The sample consisted of 128 participants who were asked to listen to two pieces of self-selected music and rate the music on variables including preference and felt and expressed emotions. Participants completed a brief measure of state absorption after listening to each piece, and a trait absorption inventory. State absorption was strongly positively correlated with music preference, whereas trait absorption was not. Trait absorption was related to preference for negative emotions in music, with chi-square analyses demonstrating greater enjoyment of negative emotions in music among individuals with high trait absorption. This is the first study to show that state and trait absorption have separable and distinct effects on a listener’s music experience, with state characteristics impacting music enjoyment in the moment, and trait characteristics influencing music preference based on its emotional content. PMID:27828970

The Role of Trait and State Absorption in the Enjoyment of Music.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Sarah E; Schubert, Emery; Wilson, Sarah J

2016-01-01

Little is known about the role of state versus trait characteristics on our enjoyment of music. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of state and trait absorption upon preference for music, particularly preference for music that evokes negative emotions. The sample consisted of 128 participants who were asked to listen to two pieces of self-selected music and rate the music on variables including preference and felt and expressed emotions. Participants completed a brief measure of state absorption after listening to each piece, and a trait absorption inventory. State absorption was strongly positively correlated with music preference, whereas trait absorption was not. Trait absorption was related to preference for negative emotions in music, with chi-square analyses demonstrating greater enjoyment of negative emotions in music among individuals with high trait absorption. This is the first study to show that state and trait absorption have separable and distinct effects on a listener's music experience, with state characteristics impacting music enjoyment in the moment, and trait characteristics influencing music preference based on its emotional content.

Dental patient preferences and choice in clinical decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Fukai, Kakuhiro; Yoshino, Koichi; Ohyama, Atsushi; Takaesu, Yoshinori

2012-01-01

In economics, the concept of utility refers to the strength of customer preference. In health care assessment, the visual analogue scale (VAS), the standard gamble, and the time trade-off are used to measure health state utilities. These utility measurements play a key role in promoting shared decision-making in dental care. Individual preference, however, is complex and dynamic. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between patient preference and educational intervention in the field of dental health. The data were collected by distributing questionnaires to employees of two companies in Japan. Participants were aged 18-65 years and consisted of 111 males and 93 females (204 in total). One company (Group A) had a dental program of annual check-ups and health education in the workplace, while the other company (Group B) had no such program. Statistical analyses were performed with the t-test and Chi-square test. The questionnaire items were designed to determine: (1) oral health-related quality of life, (2) dental health state utilities (using VAS), and (3) time trade-off for regular dental check-ups. The percentage of respondents in both groups who were satisfied with chewing function, appearance of teeth, and social function ranged from 23.1 to 42.4%. There were no significant differences between groups A and B in the VAS of decayed, filled, and missing teeth. The VAS of gum bleeding was 42.8 in Group A and 51.3 in Group B (pdecision-making.

I can do perfectly well without a car! An exploration of stated preferences for middle-distance travel using Q-methodology

OpenAIRE

Exel, N.J.A.; de Graaf, G.; Rietveld, P.

2011-01-01

This article presents the results of a study exploring travellers' preferences for middle-distance travel using Q-methodology. Respondents rank-ordered 42 opinion statements regarding travel choice and motivations for travel in general and for car and public transport as alternative travel modes. By-person factor analysis revealed four distinct preference segments for middle-distance travel: (1) choice travellers with a preference for public transport, (2) deliberate-choice travellers, (3) ch...

Color preference in red–green dichromats

Science.gov (United States)

Álvaro, Leticia; Moreira, Humberto; Lillo, Julio; Franklin, Anna

2015-01-01

Around 2% of males have red–green dichromacy, which is a genetic disorder of color vision where one type of cone photoreceptor is missing. Here we investigate the color preferences of dichromats. We aim (i) to establish whether the systematic and reliable color preferences of normal trichromatic observers (e.g., preference maximum at blue, minimum at yellow-green) are affected by dichromacy and (ii) to test theories of color preference with a dichromatic sample. Dichromat and normal trichromat observers named and rated how much they liked saturated, light, dark, and focal colors twice. Trichromats had the expected pattern of preference. Dichromats had a reliable pattern of preference that was different to trichromats, with a preference maximum rather than minimum at yellow and a much weaker preference for blue than trichromats. Color preference was more affected in observers who lacked the cone type sensitive to long wavelengths (protanopes) than in those who lacked the cone type sensitive to medium wavelengths (deuteranopes). Trichromats’ preferences were summarized effectively in terms of cone-contrast between color and background, and yellow-blue cone-contrast could account for dichromats’ pattern of preference, with some evidence for residual red–green activity in deuteranopes’ preference. Dichromats’ color naming also could account for their color preferences, with colors named more accurately and quickly being more preferred. This relationship between color naming and preference also was present for trichromat males but not females. Overall, the findings provide novel evidence on how dichromats experience color, advance the understanding of why humans like some colors more than others, and have implications for general theories of aesthetics. PMID:26170287

'Beauty is no quality in things themselves': epistemic motivation affects implicit preferences for art.

Science.gov (United States)

Chirumbolo, Antonio; Brizi, Ambra; Mastandrea, Stefano; Mannetti, Lucia

2014-01-01

Art preferences are affected by a number of subjective factors. This paper reports two studies which investigated whether need for closure shapes implicit art preferences. It was predicted that higher need for closure would negatively affect implicit preferences for abstract art. In study one, 60 participants were tested for dispositional need for closure and then completed an Implicit Association Test (IAT) task to measure their implicit preference for abstract (vs. figurative) paintings. In study two, 54 participants completed the same IAT task. In this experiment need for closure was both manipulated by cognitive load and tapped as a dispositional trait. Results of the studies converged in showing that after controlling for other important individual factors such as participants'expertise and cognitive ability, need for closure, both as a dispositional trait and as a situationally induced motivational state, was negatively associated with implicit preference for abstract art.

'Beauty is no quality in things themselves': epistemic motivation affects implicit preferences for art.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Chirumbolo

Full Text Available Art preferences are affected by a number of subjective factors. This paper reports two studies which investigated whether need for closure shapes implicit art preferences. It was predicted that higher need for closure would negatively affect implicit preferences for abstract art. In study one, 60 participants were tested for dispositional need for closure and then completed an Implicit Association Test (IAT task to measure their implicit preference for abstract (vs. figurative paintings. In study two, 54 participants completed the same IAT task. In this experiment need for closure was both manipulated by cognitive load and tapped as a dispositional trait. Results of the studies converged in showing that after controlling for other important individual factors such as participants'expertise and cognitive ability, need for closure, both as a dispositional trait and as a situationally induced motivational state, was negatively associated with implicit preference for abstract art.

Tears or Fears? Comparing Gender Stereotypes about Movie Preferences to Actual Preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Wühr, Peter; Lange, Benjamin P; Schwarz, Sascha

2017-01-01

This study investigated the accuracy of gender-specific stereotypes about movie-genre preferences for 17 genres. In Study 1, female and male participants rated the extent to which 17 movie genres are preferred by women or men. In Study 2, another sample of female and male participants rated their own preference for each genre. There were three notable results. First, Study 1 revealed the existence of gender stereotypes for the majority of genres (i.e., for 15 of 17 genres). Second, Study 2 revealed the existence of actual gender differences in preferences for the majority of genres (i.e., for 11 of 17 genres). Third, in order to assess the accuracy of gender stereotypes on movie preferences, we compared the results of both studies and found that the majority of gender stereotypes were accurate in direction, but inaccurate in size. In particular, the stereotypes overestimated actual gender differences for the majority of movie genres (i.e., 10 of 17). Practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Tears or Fears? Comparing Gender Stereotypes about Movie Preferences to Actual Preferences

Science.gov (United States)

Wühr, Peter; Lange, Benjamin P.; Schwarz, Sascha

2017-01-01

This study investigated the accuracy of gender-specific stereotypes about movie-genre preferences for 17 genres. In Study 1, female and male participants rated the extent to which 17 movie genres are preferred by women or men. In Study 2, another sample of female and male participants rated their own preference for each genre. There were three notable results. First, Study 1 revealed the existence of gender stereotypes for the majority of genres (i.e., for 15 of 17 genres). Second, Study 2 revealed the existence of actual gender differences in preferences for the majority of genres (i.e., for 11 of 17 genres). Third, in order to assess the accuracy of gender stereotypes on movie preferences, we compared the results of both studies and found that the majority of gender stereotypes were accurate in direction, but inaccurate in size. In particular, the stereotypes overestimated actual gender differences for the majority of movie genres (i.e., 10 of 17). Practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed. PMID:28392774

The Causes of Preference Reversal.

OpenAIRE

Tversky, Amos; Slovic, Paul; Kahneman, Daniel

1990-01-01

Observed preference reversal cannot be adequately explained by violations of independence, the reduction axiom, or transitivity. The primary cause of preference reversal is the failure of procedure invariance, especially the overpricing of low-probability, high-payoff bets. This result violates regret theory and generalized (nonindependent) utility models. Preference reversal and a new reversal involving time preferences are explained by scale compatibility, which implies that payoffs are wei...

Preferences for Emotional Dependence and Togetherness in Romantic Relationships: The Impact of Cohort, Race, Gender, and Gender Ideology

OpenAIRE

Rowell, Kacie Lynn

2011-01-01

This study investigates variation in preferences for mutual emotional dependence and togetherness in heterosexual romantic relationships among adults in the United States specifically considering the impact of race, gender, gender ideology, and cohort on preferences. A social structure and personality framework and concepts from exchange theory are used to interpret and predict relationship preference patterns found using binary hierarchical logistic regression analysis of data from the 199...

Recent advances in fuzzy preference modelling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van de Walle, B.; De Baets, B.; Kerre, E.

1996-01-01

Preference structures are well-known mathematical concepts having numerous applications in a variety of disciplines, such as economics, sociology and psychology. The generalization of preference structures to the fuzzy case has received considerable attention over the past years. Fuzzy preference structures allow a decision maker to express degrees of preference instead of the rigid classical yes-or-no preference assignment. This paper reports on the recent insights gained into the existence, construction and characterization of these fuzzy preference structures

Consumer preferences and values as an integral key to evidence-based practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Melnyk, Bernadette Mazurek; Fineout-Overholt, Ellen

2006-01-01

Although evidence-based practice (EBP) integrates the best evidence from well-designed studies with a clinician's expertise and patient preferences and values, most of what is emphasized in books and reports on EBP is the 5-step EBP process. However, the consideration of patient values and preferences in making clinical decisions is essential to deliver the highest quality of care. This article briefly reviews the status of EBP in the United States, described the ARCC mentorship model, and highlights how to engage consumers in the EBP process.

The effect of preferred music on mood and performance in a high-cognitive demand occupation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lesiuk, Teresa

2010-01-01

Mild positive affect has been shown in the psychological literature to improve cognitive skills of creative problem-solving and systematic thinking. Individual preferred music listening offers opportunity for improved positive affect. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of preferred music listening on state-mood and cognitive performance in a high-cognitive demand occupation. Twenty-four professional computer information systems developers (CISD) from a North American IT company participated in a 3-week study with a music/no music/music weekly design. During the music weeks, participants listened to their preferred music "when they wanted, as they wanted." Self-reports of State Positive Affect, State Negative Affect, and Cognitive Performance were measured throughout the 3 weeks. Results indicate a statistically significant improvement in both state-mood and cognitive performance scores. "High-cognitive demand" is a relative term given that challenges presented to individuals may occur on a cognitive continuum from need for focus and selective attention to systematic analysis and creative problem-solving. The findings and recommendations have important implications for music therapists in their knowledge of the effect of music on emotion and cognition, and, as well, have important implications for music therapy consultation to organizations.

Preference Handling for Artificial Intelligence

OpenAIRE

Goldsmith, Judy; University of Kentucky; Junker, Ulrich; ILOG

2009-01-01

This article explains the benefits of preferences for AI systems and draws a picture of current AI research on preference handling. It thus provides an introduction to the topics covered by this special issue on preference handling.

Perception of male gender preference among pregnant igbo women.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohagwu, Cc; Eze, Cu; Eze, Jc; Odo, Mc; Abu, Po; Ohagwu, Ci

2014-03-01

Male gender preference is a dominant feature of Igbo culture and could be the reason behind women seeking fetal gender at ultrasound. The aim of this study is to investigate the perception of prenatal ultrasound patients of male gender preference in a patriarchal and gender sensitive society. The study was a cross-sectional survey, which targeted pregnant women who presented for prenatal ultrasound at four selected hospitals in Anambra State. A convenience sample size of 790 pregnant women constituted the respondents. The data collection instrument was a 13-item semi-structured self-completion questionnaire designed in line with the purpose of the study. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were carried out with statistical significance being considered at P < 0.05. Most of the women (88.4%, 698/790) were aware that fetal gender can be determined during the prenatal ultrasound while just over half of them (61.0%, 482/790) wanted fetal gender disclosed to them during prenatal ultrasound. More than half (58.6%, 463/790) of the women desired to have male babies in their present pregnancies while 20.1% (159/790) desired female babies and 21.3% (168/790) did not care if the baby was male or female. Some of the women (22.2%, 175/790) wanted to have male babies in their present pregnancies for various reasons predominant of which was protecting their marriages and cementing their places in their husbands' hearts. Male gender preference was strongly perceived. There was considerable anxiety associated with prenatal gender determination and moderate loss of interest in the pregnancy associated with disclosure of undesired fetal gender. Socio-demographic factors had significant influence on perception of male gender preference. Male gender preference is strongly perceived among Igbo women and its perception is significantly influenced by socio-demographic factors. Male gender preference may be responsible for Igbo women seeking fetal gender at ultrasound.

Assessing patient preferences in heart failure using conjoint methodology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pisa G

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Giovanni Pisa,1 Florian Eichmann,1 Stephan Hupfer21Kantar Health GmbH, Munich, Germany; 2Novartis Pharma GmbH, Nuernberg, GermanyAim: The course of heart failure (HF is characterized by frequent hospitalizations, a high mortality rate, as well as a severely impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL. To optimize disease management, understanding of patient preferences is crucial. We aimed to assess patient preferences using conjoint methodology and HRQoL in patients with HF.Methods: Two modules were applied: an initial qualitative module, consisting of in-depth interviews with 12 HF patients, and the main quantitative module in 300 HF patients from across Germany. Patients were stratified according to the time of their last HF hospitalization. Each patient was presented with ten different scenarios during the conjoint exercise. Additionally, patients completed the generic HRQoL instrument, EuroQol health questionnaire (EQ-5D™.Results: The attribute with the highest relative importance was dyspnea (44%, followed by physical capacity (18%. Of similar importance were exhaustion during mental activities (13%, fear due to HF (13%, and autonomy (12%. The most affected HRQoL dimensions according to the EQ-5D questionnaire were anxiety/depression (23% with severe problems, pain/discomfort (19%, and usual activities (15%. Overall average EQ-5D score was 0.39 with stable, chronic patients (never hospitalized having a significantly better health state vs the rest of the cohort.Conclusion: This paper analyzed patient preference in HF using a conjoint methodology. The preference weights resulting from the conjoint analysis could be used in future to design HRQoL questionnaires which could better assess patient preferences in HF care.Keywords: heart failure, quality of life, conjoint analysis, utility, patient preference

Context-dependent preferences in starlings: linking ecology, foraging and choice.

Science.gov (United States)

Vasconcelos, Marco; Monteiro, Tiago; Kacelnik, Alex

2013-01-01

Foraging animals typically encounter opportunities that they either pursue or skip, but occasionally meet several alternatives simultaneously. Behavioural ecologists predict preferences using absolute properties of each option, while decision theorists focus on relative evaluations at the time of choice. We use European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) to integrate ecological reasoning with decision models, linking and testing hypotheses for value acquisition and choice mechanism. We hypothesise that options' values depend jointly on absolute attributes, learning context, and subject's state. In simultaneous choices, preference could result either from comparing subjective values using deliberation time, or from processing each alternative independently, without relative comparisons. The combination of the value acquisition hypothesis and independent processing at choice time has been called the Sequential Choice Model. We test this model with options equated in absolute properties to exclude the possibility of preference being built at the time of choice. Starlings learned to obtain food by responding to four stimuli in two contexts. In context [AB], they encountered options A5 or B10 in random alternation; in context [CD], they met C10 or D20. Delay to food is denoted, in seconds, by the suffixes. Observed latency to respond (Li) to each option alone (our measure of value) ranked thus: LA≈LCchoice tests to predict sign and strength of preference in pairings. Starlings preferred A5 over C10 and C10 over B10. There was no detectable evaluation time, and preference magnitude was predictable from latency differentials. This implies that value reflects learning rather than choice context, that preferences are not constructed by relative judgements at the time of choice, and that mechanisms adapted for sequential decisions are effective to predict choice behaviour.

The change of music preferences following the onset of a mental disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefan Gebhardt

2015-06-01

Full Text Available A psychiatric population (n=123 was examined on changed music preferences after onset of a mental disorder. Most patients did not change their previous music preference; they considered music helpful for their mental state, showed more attractivity and enforcement as personality traits and used music more for emotion modulation. Patients who have undergone a preference shift reported that music has impaired them during the time of illness; these patients showed less ego-strength, less conficence and less enforcement and used music less for arousal modulation. A third subgroup stopped listening to music completely after the onset of the mental disorder; these patients attached less importance to music and also reported that music has impaired their mental state. They showed more ego-strength and used music less for emotion modulation. The results suggest that the use of music in everyday life can be helpful as an emotion modulation strategy. However, some patients might need instructions how to use music in a functional, and not dysfunctional, way. Psychiatrists and psychotherapists as well as music therapists should be aware of emotion modulation strategies, subjective valence of music and personality traits of their patients.

Potential miscanthus' adoption in Illinois: Information needs and preferred information channels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Villamil, Maria B. [Department of Human and Community Development, Laboratory for Community and Economic Development, 222 Bevier Hall, 905 South Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801 (United States); Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, AW-101 Turner Hall, 1102 South Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801 (United States); Silvis, Anne Heinze [Department of Human and Community Development, Laboratory for Community and Economic Development, 222 Bevier Hall, 905 South Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801 (United States); Bollero, German A. [Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, AW-101 Turner Hall, 1102 South Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801 (United States)

2008-12-15

This study examined farmers' information needs and concerns and preferred information channels regarding the introduction of miscanthus in their current production systems in the state of Illinois, USA. Surveys and focus groups targeted farming populations from Northern, Central, and Southern regions of the state to evidence regional differences. A secondary objective was to identify potential adopters of miscanthus and to asses the level of awareness regarding miscanthus and the associated possibility of receiving carbon credits. Factor analysis, multivariate ANOVA, and categorical data analysis were the selected statistical tools. Only two out of 313 respondents knew about the existence of the crop before completing the survey. Thirty percent of the respondents were identified as potential adopters of miscanthus with the highest proportion of potential adopters found among farmers in the Northern Illinois region. There are clear differences among the information needs of farmers in each region in Illinois as well as in the preferred channels. Information campaigns aimed to increase awareness and education regarding the use of miscanthus as an energy crop in Illinois, should specifically address these regional information needs and channel them through preferred media. (author)

Age Preferences for Professional Helpers.

Science.gov (United States)

Furchtgott, Ernest; Busemeyer, Jerome R.

1981-01-01

For all occupations except clergyman, a relationship between the age of the respondent and preferred age of the professional existed. Older individuals preferred older service providers with one exception, their physician. Highly educated respondents preferred younger physicians. (Author)

Consumer preference not to choose: Methodological and policy implications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brennan, Timothy J.

2007-01-01

Residential consumers remain reluctant to choose new electricity suppliers. Even the most successful jurisdictions, four US states and other countries, have had to adopt extensive consumer education procedures that serve largely to confirm that choosing electricity suppliers is daunting. Electricity is not unique in this respect; numerous studies find that consumers are generally reluctant to switch brands, even when they are well-informed about product characteristics. If consumers prefer not to choose, opening regulated markets can reduce welfare, even for some consumers who do switch, as the incumbent can exploit this preference by raising price above the formerly regulated level. Policies to open markets might be successful even if limited to industrial and commercial customers, with residential prices based on those in nominally competitive wholesale markets

Tears or Fears? Comparing Gender Stereotypes about Movie Preferences to Actual Preferences

OpenAIRE

Wühr, Peter; Lange, Benjamin P.; Schwarz, Sascha

2017-01-01

This study investigated the accuracy of gender-specific stereotypes about movie-genre preferences for 17 genres. In Study 1, female and male participants rated the extent to which 17 movie genres are preferred by women or men. In Study 2, another sample of female and male participants rated their own preference for each genre. There were three notable results. First, Study 1 revealed the existence of gender stereotypes for the majority of genres (i.e., for 15 of 17 genres). Second, Study 2 re...

Preferences for Pink and Blue: The Development of Color Preferences as a Distinct Gender-Typed Behavior in Toddlers.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Wang I; Hines, Melissa

2015-07-01

Many gender differences are thought to result from interactions between inborn factors and sociocognitive processes that occur after birth. There is controversy, however, over the causes of gender-typed preferences for the colors pink and blue, with some viewing these preferences as arising solely from sociocognitive processes of gender development. We evaluated preferences for gender-typed colors, and compared them to gender-typed toy and activity preferences in 126 toddlers on two occasions separated by 6-8 months (at Time 1, M = 29 months; range 20-40). Color preferences were assessed using color cards and neutral toys in gender-typed colors. Gender-typed toy and activity preferences were assessed using a parent-report questionnaire, the Preschool Activities Inventory. Color preferences were also assessed for the toddlers' parents using color cards. A gender difference in color preferences was present between 2 and 3 years of age and strengthened near the third birthday, at which time it was large (d > 1). In contrast to their parents, toddlers' gender-typed color preferences were stronger and unstable. Gender-typed color preferences also appeared to establish later and were less stable than gender-typed toy and activity preferences. Gender-typed color preferences were largely uncorrelated with gender-typed toy and activity preferences. These results suggest that the factors influencing gender-typed color preferences and gender-typed toy and activity preferences differ in some respects. Our findings suggest that sociocognitive influences and play with gender-typed toys that happen to be made in gender-typed colors contribute to toddlers' gender-typed color preferences.

Testing the rationality of DOE's energy price forecasts under asymmetric loss preferences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mamatzakis, E.; Koutsomanoli-Filippaki, A.

2014-01-01

This paper examines the rationality of the price forecasts for energy commodities of the United States Department of Energy's (DOE), departing from the common assumption in the literature that DOE's forecasts are based on a symmetric underlying loss function with respect to positive vs. negative forecast errors. Instead, we opt for the methodology of Elliott et al. (2005) that allows testing the joint hypothesis of an asymmetric loss function and rationality and reveals the underlying preferences of the forecaster. Results indicate the existence of asymmetries in the shape of the loss function for most energy categories with preferences leaning towards optimism. Moreover, we also examine whether there is a structural break in those preferences over the examined period, 1997–2012. - Highlights: • Examine the rationality of DOE energy forecasts. • Departing from a symmetric underlying loss function. • Asymmetries exist in most energy prices. • Preferences lean towards optimism. • Examine structural breaks in those preferences

Farmer preference for improved corn seeds in Chiapas, Mexico: A choice experiment approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sánchez-Toledano, Blanca I.; Kallas, Zein; Gil-Roig, José M.

2017-01-01

Appropriate technologies must be developed for adoption of improved seeds based on the farmers’ preferences and needs. Our research identified the farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) as a key determinant for selecting the improved varieties of maize seeds and landraces in Chiapas, Mexico. This work also analyzed the farmers’ observed heterogeneity on the basis of their socio-economic characteristics. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire from 200 farmers. A proportional choice experiment approach was applied using a proportional choice variable, where farmers were asked to state the percentage of preference for different alternative varieties in a choice set. The generalized multinomial logit model in WTP-space approach was used. The results suggest that the improved seed varieties are preferred over the Creole alternatives, thereby ensuring higher yields, resistance to diseases, and larger ear size. For the preference heterogeneity analyses, a latent class model was applied. Three types of farmers were identified: innovators (60.5%), transition farmers (29.4%), and conservative farmers (10%). An understanding of farmers’ preferences is useful in designing agricultural policies and creati

Farmer preference for improved corn seeds in Chiapas, Mexico: A choice experiment approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sánchez-Toledano, Blanca I.; Kallas, Zein; Gil-Roig, José M.

2017-07-01

Appropriate technologies must be developed for adoption of improved seeds based on the farmers’ preferences and needs. Our research identified the farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) as a key determinant for selecting the improved varieties of maize seeds and landraces in Chiapas, Mexico. This work also analyzed the farmers’ observed heterogeneity on the basis of their socio-economic characteristics. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire from 200 farmers. A proportional choice experiment approach was applied using a proportional choice variable, where farmers were asked to state the percentage of preference for different alternative varieties in a choice set. The generalized multinomial logit model in WTP-space approach was used. The results suggest that the improved seed varieties are preferred over the Creole alternatives, thereby ensuring higher yields, resistance to diseases, and larger ear size. For the preference heterogeneity analyses, a latent class model was applied. Three types of farmers were identified: innovators (60.5%), transition farmers (29.4%), and conservative farmers (10%). An understanding of farmers’ preferences is useful in designing agricultural policies and creati.

Physician preference items: what factors matter to surgeons? Does the vendor matter?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Burns LR

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Lawton R Burns,1 Michael G Housman,2 Robert E Booth,3 Aaron M Koenig4 1Department of Health Care Management, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2Singularity University, Moffett Field, CA, 33B Orthopaedics, Langhorne, PA, 4Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Wang Ambulatory Care Center, Boston, MA, USA Background: The USA devotes roughly $200 billion (6% of annual national health expenditures to medical devices. A substantial proportion of this spending occurs during orthopedic (eg, hip and knee arthroplasties – two high-volume hospital procedures. The implants used in these procedures are commonly known as physician preference items (PPIs, reflecting the physician’s choice of implant and vendor used. The foundations for this preference are not entirely clear. This study examines what implant and vendor characteristics, as evaluated by orthopedic surgeons, are associated with their preference. It also examines other factors (eg, financial relationships and vendor tenure that may contribute to implant preference. Methods: We surveyed all practicing orthopedic surgeons performing 12 or more implant procedures annually in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The survey identified each surgeon’s preferred hip/knee vendor as well as the factors that surgeons state they use in selecting that primary vendor. We compared the surgeons’ evaluation of multiple characteristics of implants and vendors using analysis of variance techniques, controlling for surgeon characteristics, hospital characteristics, and surgeon–vendor ties that might influence these evaluations. Results: Physician’s preference is heavily influenced by technology/implant factors and sales/service factors. Other considerations such as vendor reputation, financial relationships with the vendor, and implant cost seem less important. These findings hold regardless of implant type (hip vs knee and specific vendor. Conclusion: Our

Human preference for air movement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toftum, Jørn; Melikov, Arsen Krikor; Tynel, A.

2002-01-01

Human preference for air movement was studied at slightly cool, neutral, and slightly warm overall thermal sensations and at temperatures ranging from 18 deg.C to 28 deg.C. Air movement preference depended on both thermal sensation and temperature, but large inter-individual differences existed...... between subjects. Preference for less air movement was linearly correlated with draught discomfort, but the percentage of subjects who felt draught was lower than the percentage who preferred less air movement....

Effects of species information and furniture price on consumer preferences for selected woods

Science.gov (United States)

Matthew Bumgardner; David Nicholls; Geoffrey Donovan

2007-01-01

Changing consumer tastes and species availability are influencing the design and manufacture of hardwood products. In addition, the globalization of wood product markets is exposing U.S. consumers to new species. This research evaluates consumer preferences for six domestic wood species--three from the eastern United States and three from the western United States. The...

Tobacco brand preference among Mexican adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

West, Joshua H; Hall, P Cougar; Page, Randy M; Trinidad, Dennis R; Lindsay, Gordon B

2012-01-01

Advertising plays a major role in smoking behavior and forming brand preferences. Additionally, the most advertised tobacco brands have also been the most preferred. Maintaining brand loyalty in Latin America remains a priority for the tobacco industry. The purpose of this study was to explore tobacco brand preference trends from 2003 to 2006, and explore marketing and advertising factors that might be associated with these trends. Data for this study came from Mexican adolescents residing in cities that participated in the Global Youth Tobacco Survey in both 2003 and 2006 and reported smoking either Marlboro or Camel cigarettes in the past 30 days. Respondents reported the brand name of their preferred cigarette during the past 30 days. Multivariate regression analysis was used to determine differences by brand preference and exposure to tobacco marketing and advertising, which was assessed using six items. In 2003, most adolescents preferred Marlboro. By 2006, older boys preferred Camel cigarettes to Marlboro, while girls' preference for Camel was similar to their preference for Marlboro. Adolescents that preferred Camel cigarettes in 2003 also reported greater exposure to tobacco marketing and advertising. Findings indicate that there are ongoing shifts in youth brand preference in Mexico, and that these shifts might be related to marketing and advertising practices. There is an ongoing need for monitoring marketing and advertising practices in an effort to protect adolescents from tobacco company exploits.

Online, Interactive Option Grid Patient Decision Aids and their Effect on User Preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Scalia, Peter; Durand, Marie-Anne; Kremer, Jan; Faber, Marjan; Elwyn, Glyn

2018-01-01

Randomized trials have shown that patient decision aids can modify users' preferred healthcare options, but research has yet to identify the attributes embedded in these tools that cause preferences to shift. The aim of this study was to investigate people's preferences as they used decision aids for 5 health decisions and, for each of the following: 1) determine if using the interactive Option Grid led to a pre-post shift in preferences; 2) determine which frequently asked questions (FAQs) led to preference shifts; 3) determine the FAQs that were rated as the most important as users compared options. Interactive Option Grid decision aids enable users to view attributes of available treatment or screening options, rate their importance, and specify their preferred options before and after decision aid use. The McNemar-Bowker paired test was used to compare stated pre-post preferences. Multinomial logistic regressions were conducted to investigate possible associations between covariates and preference shifts. Overall, 626 users completed the 5 most-used tools: 1) Amniocentesis test: yes or no? ( n = 73); 2) Angina: treatment options ( n = 88); 3) Breast cancer: surgical options ( n = 265); 4) Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test: yes or no? ( n = 82); 5) Statins for heart disease risk: yes or no? ( n = 118). The breast cancer, PSA, and statins Option Grid decision aids generated significant preference shifts. Generally, users shifted their preference when presented with the description of the available treatment options, and the risk associated with each option. The use of decision aids for some, but not all health decisions, was accompanied by a shift in user preferences. Users typically valued information associated with risks, and chose more risk averse options after completing the interactive tool.

Weight Management Preferences in a Non-Treatment Seeking Sample

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victoria B. Barry

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Obesity is a serious public health issue in the United States, with the CDC reporting that most adult Americans are now either overweight or obese. Little is known about the comparative acceptability of available weight management approaches in non-treatment seeking samples. Method: This report presents preliminary survey data collected from an online sample on weight management preferences for 8 different weight management strategies including a proposed incentive-based program. Participants were 72 individuals (15 men, 55 women and 2 transgendered individuals who self-re-ported being overweight or obese, or who currently self-reported a normal weight but had attempted to lose weight in the past. Results: ANOVA and Pair-wise comparison indicated clear preferences for certain treatments over others in the full sample; most notably, the most popular option in our sample for managing weight was to diet and exercise without professional assistance. Several differences in preference between the three weight groups were also observed. Conclusions: Dieting and exercising without any professional assistance is the most highly endorsed weight management option among all groups. Overweight and obese individuals may find self-management strategies for weight loss less attractive than normal weight individuals, but still prefer it to other alternatives. This has implications for the development and dissemination of empirically based self-management strategies for weight.

A Choice Experiment on AFV Preferences of Private Car Owners in The Netherlands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoen, A.; Koetse, M.J.

2012-04-15

In this paper we aim to get insight into preferences of Dutch private car owners for alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) and their characteristics. Since AFVs are either not yet available on the market or have only very limited market shares, we have to rely on stated preference research. We perform a state-of-the-art conjoint analysis, based on data obtained through an online choice experiment among Dutch private car owners. Results show that negative preferences for alternative fuel vehicles are large, especially for the electric and fuel cell car. This is mostly related to their limited driving range and considerable refuelling times. AFV preferences increase considerably when improvements in driving range, refuelling time and additional detour time are made. The number of available models and policy measures such as free parking also have added value but only to a limited extent. Negative AFV preferences remain, however, also when substantial improvements to AFV characteristics are made. The fact that most technologies are relatively unknown and their performance and comfort levels are uncertain are likely important factors in this respect. Results from mixed logit models furthermore reveal that consumer preferences for AFVs and AFV characteristics are heterogeneous to a large extent, particularly those on the electric car, on additional detour time, on fuel time for the electric and fuel cell car, on the policy measures free parking and access to bus lanes, and on purchase price and monthly costs. In order to get more insight into the underlying sources of heterogeneity we estimate a model with interactions between the car attributes and respondent background and car (use) characteristics. Several variables, such as using the car for holidays abroad and fuel type, appear to be relevant for car choice. In terms of price and cost sensitivity we find differences in preferences due to new versus second-hand cars, price of the car, weight of the car, 1st and 2nd car

Urban sprawl: neighbourhood dissatisfaction and urban preferences: Some evidence from Flanders

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Vos, J.; Van Acker, V.; Witlox, F.

2016-01-01

Early studies suggest that people living in rural neighbourhoods are more satisfied with their residential location than people living in cities. Consequently, most individuals seem to prefer low-density environments to reside in. More recent studies, however, state that rural residents are no more

The Learning Preferences of Applicants Who Interview for General Surgery Residency: A Multiinstitutional Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Roger H; Kurtzman, Scott H; Collier, Ashley N; Shabahang, Mohsen M

Learning styles theory posits that learners have distinct preferences for how they assimilate new information. The VARK model categorizes learners based on combinations of 4 learning preferences: visual (V), aural (A), read/write (R), and kinesthetic (K). A previous single institution study demonstrated that the VARK preferences of applicants who interview for general surgery residency are different from that of the general population and that learning preferences were associated with performance on standardized tests. This multiinstitutional study was conducted to determine the distribution of VARK preferences among interviewees for general surgery residency and the effect of those preferences on United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) scores. The VARK learning inventory was administered to applicants who interviewed at 3 general surgery programs during the 2014 to 2015 academic year. The distribution of VARK learning preferences among interviewees was compared with that of the general population of VARK respondents. Performance on USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge was analyzed for associations with VARK learning preferences. Chi-square, analysis of variance, and Dunnett's test were used for statistical analysis, with p learning modality. The distribution of VARK preferences of interviewees was different than that of the general population (p = 0.02). By analysis of variance, there were no overall differences in USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge scores by VARK preference (p = 0.06 and 0.21, respectively). However, multiple comparison analysis using Dunnett's test revealed that interviewees with R preferences had significantly higher scores than those with multimodal preferences on USMLE Step 1 (239 vs. 222, p = 0.02). Applicants who interview for general surgery residency have a different pattern of VARK preferences than that of the general population. Interviewees with preferences for read/write learning modalities have higher scores

Psychiatric patients' preferences and experiences in clinical decision-making: examining concordance and correlates of patients' preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

De las Cuevas, Carlos; Peñate, Wenceslao; de Rivera, Luis

2014-08-01

To assess the concordance between patients' preferred role in clinical decision-making and the role they usually experience in their psychiatric consultations and to analyze the influence of socio-demographic, clinical and personality characteristics on patients' preferences. 677 consecutive psychiatric outpatients were invited to participate in a cross-sectional survey and 507 accepted. Patients completed Control Preference Scale twice consecutively before consultation, one for their preferences of participation and another for the style they usually experienced until then, and locus of control and self-efficacy scales. Sixty-three percent of psychiatric outpatients preferred a collaborative role in decision-making, 35% preferred a passive role and only a 2% an active one. A low concordance for preferred and experienced participation in medical decision-making was registered, with more than a half of patients wanting a more active role than they actually had. Age and doctors' health locus of control orientation were found to be the best correlates for participation preferences, while age and gender were for experienced. Psychiatric diagnoses registered significant differences in patients' preferences of participation but no concerning experiences. The limited concordance between preferred and experienced roles in psychiatric patients is indicative that clinicians need to raise their sensitivity regarding patient's participation. The assessment of patient's attribution style should be useful for psychiatrist to set objectives and priority in the communication with their patients. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Inpatients' Preferences, Beliefs, and Stated Willingness to Pay for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Treatments.

Science.gov (United States)

Montross-Thomas, Lori P; Meier, Emily A; Reynolds-Norolahi, Kimberly; Raskin, Erin E; Slater, Daniel; Mills, Paul J; MacElhern, Lauray; Kallenberg, Gene

2017-04-01

Research demonstrates the benefits of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in myriad environments. Yet, the majority of CAM services are offered in outpatient settings. Incorporating CAM into hospital settings may lead to increased patient comfort, well-being, and overall satisfaction with hospital admissions. Few studies have examined CAM services among inpatients. Therefore, this study assessed inpatients' preferences and beliefs regarding CAM, as well as their stated willingness to pay for these services. Adult patients (n = 100), ranging in age from 19-95 years (M = 53 years; SD = 19.2 years), were recruited during their hospitalization in the University of California, San Diego, Healthcare System. The inpatients completed a brief individual interview to gather their perspectives on common CAM services, including acupuncture, aromatherapy, art therapy, guided imagery, healthy food, humor therapy, massage therapy, music therapy, pet therapy, Reiki, and stress management. Inpatients were asked which CAM therapies they perceived as being potentially the most helpful, their willingness to pay for those therapies, and their perceived beliefs regarding the use of those therapies. Inpatients most commonly perceived healthy food (85%), massage therapy (82%), and humor therapy (70%) to be the most helpful, and were most willing to pay for healthy food (71%), massage therapy (70%), and stress management (48%). Inpatients most commonly believed CAM treatments would provide relaxation (88%), increase well-being (86%), and increase their overall satisfaction with the hospitalization (85%). This study suggests that CAM services may be a beneficial addition to hospitals, as demonstrated by inpatients' interest and stated willingness to pay for these services. These findings may help organizational leaders when making choices regarding the development of CAM services within hospitals, particularly since a significant percentage of inpatients reported that

At risk of being risky: the relationship between “brain age” under emotional states and risk preference

Science.gov (United States)

Rudolph, Marc D.; Miranda-Dominguez, Oscar; Cohen, Alexandra O.; Breiner, Kaitlyn; Steinberg, Laurence; Bonnie, Richard J.; Scott, Elizabeth S.; Taylor-Thompson, Kim A.; Chein, Jason; Fettich, Karla C.; Richeson, Jennifer A.; Dellarco, Danielle V.; Galván, Adriana; Casey, BJ; Fair, Damien A.

2017-01-01

Developmental differences regarding decision making are often reported in the absence of emotional stimuli and without context, failing to explain why some individuals are more likely to have a greater inclination toward risk. The current study (N=212; 10–25y) examined the influence of emotional context on underlying functional brain connectivity over development and its impact on risk preference. Using functional imaging data in a neutral brain-state we first identify the “brain age” of a given individual then validate it with an independent measure of cortical thickness. We then show, on average, that “brain age” across the group during the teen years has the propensity to look younger in emotional contexts. Further, we show this phenotype (i.e. a younger brain age in emotional contexts) relates to a group mean difference in risk perception – a pattern exemplified greatest in young-adults (ages 18–21). The results are suggestive of a specified functional brain phenotype that relates to being at “risk to be risky.” PMID:28279917

At risk of being risky: The relationship between “brain age” under emotional states and risk preference

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marc D. Rudolph

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Developmental differences regarding decision making are often reported in the absence of emotional stimuli and without context, failing to explain why some individuals are more likely to have a greater inclination toward risk. The current study (N = 212; 10–25y examined the influence of emotional context on underlying functional brain connectivity over development and its impact on risk preference. Using functional imaging data in a neutral brain-state we first identify the “brain age” of a given individual then validate it with an independent measure of cortical thickness. We then show, on average, that “brain age” across the group during the teen years has the propensity to look younger in emotional contexts. Further, we show this phenotype (i.e. a younger brain age in emotional contexts relates to a group mean difference in risk perception − a pattern exemplified greatest in young-adults (ages 18–21. The results are suggestive of a specified functional brain phenotype that relates to being at “risk to be risky.”

‘Beauty Is No Quality in Things Themselves’: Epistemic Motivation Affects Implicit Preferences for Art

Science.gov (United States)

Chirumbolo, Antonio; Brizi, Ambra; Mastandrea, Stefano; Mannetti, Lucia

2014-01-01

Art preferences are affected by a number of subjective factors. This paper reports two studies which investigated whether need for closure shapes implicit art preferences. It was predicted that higher need for closure would negatively affect implicit preferences for abstract art. In study one, 60 participants were tested for dispositional need for closure and then completed an Implicit Association Test (IAT) task to measure their implicit preference for abstract (vs. figurative) paintings. In study two, 54 participants completed the same IAT task. In this experiment need for closure was both manipulated by cognitive load and tapped as a dispositional trait. Results of the studies converged in showing that after controlling for other important individual factors such as participants'expertise and cognitive ability, need for closure, both as a dispositional trait and as a situationally induced motivational state, was negatively associated with implicit preference for abstract art. PMID:25360697

Compatibility of Mating Preferences

OpenAIRE

Bingol, Haluk O.; Basar, Omer

2016-01-01

Human mating is a complex phenomenon. Although men and women have different preferences in mate selection, there should be compatibility in these preferences since human mating requires agreement of both parties. We investigate how compatible the mating preferences of men and women are in a given property such as age, height, education and income. We use dataset of a large online dating site (N = 44, 255 users). (i) Our findings are based on the "actual behavior" of users trying to find a dat...

Revealed smooth nontransitive preferences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Keiding, Hans; Tvede, Mich

2013-01-01

In the present paper, we are concerned with the behavioural consequences of consumers having nontransitive preference relations. Data sets consist of finitely many observations of price vectors and consumption bundles. A preference relation rationalizes a data set provided that for every observed...... consumption bundle, all strictly preferred bundles are more expensive than the observed bundle. Our main result is that data sets can be rationalized by a smooth nontransitive preference relation if and only if prices can normalized such that the law of demand is satisfied. Market data sets consist of finitely...... many observations of price vectors, lists of individual incomes and aggregate demands. We apply our main result to characterize market data sets consistent with equilibrium behaviour of pure-exchange economies with smooth nontransitive consumers....

Deleting 'irrational' responses from discrete choice experiments: a case of investigating or imposing preferences?

Science.gov (United States)

Lancsar, Emily; Louviere, Jordan

2006-08-01

Investigation of the 'rationality' of responses to discrete choice experiments (DCEs) has been a theme of research in health economics. Responses have been deleted from DCEs where they have been deemed by researchers to (a) be 'irrational', defined by such studies as failing tests for non-satiation, or (b) represent lexicographic preferences. This paper outlines a number of reasons why deleting responses from DCEs may be inappropriate after first reviewing the theory underpinning rationality, highlighting that the importance placed on rationality depends on the approach to consumer theory to which one ascribes. The aim of this paper is not to suggest that all preferences elicited via DCEs are rational. Instead, it is to suggest a number of reasons why it may not be the case that all preferences labelled as 'irrational' are indeed so. Hence, deleting responses may result in the removal of valid preferences; induce sample selection bias; and reduce the statistical efficiency and power of the estimated choice models. Further, evidence suggests random utility theory may be able to cope with such preferences. Finally, we discuss a number of implications for the design, implementation and interpretation of DCEs and recommend caution regarding the deletion of preferences from stated preference experiments. Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Relationships Between the Vocational Preference Inventory and the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule

Science.gov (United States)

Wakefield, James A., Jr.; Cunningham, Claude H.

1975-01-01

The Vocational Preference Inventory and the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule were administered to 372 undergraduates. The two instruments were compared using canonical analysis. The analysis revealed three significant relationships between components of the two instruments. The relationships were viewed as supportive of Holland's theory of…

Predicting University Preference and Attendance: Applied Marketing in Higher Education Administration.

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Robert W.; Zallocco, Ronald L.

1983-01-01

A multi-attribute attitude model was used to determine whether a multicriteria scale can be used to predict student preferences for and attendance at universities. Data were gathered from freshmen attending five state universities in Ohio. The results indicate a high level of predictability. (Author/MLW)

13 CFR 120.925 - Preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Preferences. 120.925 Section 120.925 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BUSINESS LOANS Development Company... Preference. (See § 120.10 for a definition of Preference.) [61 FR 3235, Jan. 31, 1996, as amended at 68 FR...

Societal Preferences for Interventions with the Same Efficiency: Assessment and Application to Decision Making.

Science.gov (United States)

Shiroiwa, Takeru; Saito, Shinya; Shimozuma, Kojiro; Kodama, Satoshi; Noto, Shinichi; Fukuda, Takashi

2016-06-01

Although quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) may not completely reflect the value of a healthcare technology, it remains unclear how to adjust the cost per QALY threshold. First, the present study compares two survey methods of measuring people's preferences for a specific healthcare technology when each choice has the same efficiency. The second objective was to consider how this information regarding preferences could be used in decision making. We conducted single-attribute (budget allocation) and multi-attribute (discrete-choice) experiments to survey public medical care preferences. Approximately 1000 respondents were sampled for each experiment. Six questions were prepared to address the attributes included in the study: (a) age; (b) objective of care; (c) disease severity; (d) prior medical care; (e) cause of disease; and (f) disease frequency. For the discrete-choice experiment (a) age, (b) objective of care, (c) disease severity, and (d) prior medical care were orthogonally combined. All assumed medical care had the same costs and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER; cost per life-year or QALY). We also calculated the preference-adjusted threshold (PAT) to reflect people's preferences in a threshold range. The results of both experiments revealed similar preferences: intervention for younger patients was strongly preferred, followed by interventions for treatment and severe disease states being preferred, despite the same cost per life-year or QALY. The single-attribute experiment revealed that many people prefer an option in which resources are equally allocated between two interventions. Marginal PATs were calculated for age, objective of care, disease severity, and prior medical care. The single- and multi-attribute experiments revealed similar preferences. PAT can reflect people's preferences within the decision-maker's threshold range in a numerical manner.

Aluminium tolerance in rice is antagonistic with nitrate preference and synergistic with ammonium preference.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Xue Qiang; Guo, Shi Wei; Shinmachi, Fumie; Sunairi, Michio; Noguchi, Akira; Hasegawa, Isao; Shen, Ren Fang

2013-01-01

Acidic soils are dominated chemically by more ammonium and more available, so more potentially toxic, aluminium compared with neutral to calcareous soils, which are characterized by more nitrate and less available, so less toxic, aluminium. However, it is not known whether aluminium tolerance and nitrogen source preference are linked in plants. This question was investigated by comparing the responses of 30 rice (Oryza sativa) varieties (15 subsp. japonica cultivars and 15 subsp. indica cultivars) to aluminium, various ammonium/nitrate ratios and their combinations under acidic solution conditions. indica rice plants were generally found to be aluminium-sensitive and nitrate-preferring, while japonica cultivars were aluminium-tolerant and relatively ammonium-preferring. Aluminium tolerance of different rice varieties was significantly negatively correlated with their nitrate preference. Furthermore, aluminium enhanced ammonium-fed rice growth but inhibited nitrate-fed rice growth. The results suggest that aluminium tolerance in rice is antagonistic with nitrate preference and synergistic with ammonium preference under acidic solution conditions. A schematic diagram summarizing the interactions of aluminium and nitrogen in soil-plant ecosystems is presented and provides a new basis for the integrated management of acidic soils.

Patients' self-interested preferences: empirical evidence from a priority setting experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Alvarez, Begoña; Rodríguez-Míguez, Eva

2011-04-01

This paper explores whether patients act according to self-interest in priority setting experiments. The analysis is based on a ranking experiment, conducted in Galicia (Spain), to elicit preferences regarding the prioritization of patients on a waiting list for an elective surgical intervention (prostatectomy for benign prostatic hyperplasia). Participants were patients awaiting a similar intervention and members of the general populations. All of them were asked to rank hypothetical patients on a waiting list. A rank-ordered logit was then applied to their responses in order to obtain a prioritization scoring system. Using these estimations, we first test for differences in preferences between patients and general population. Second, we implement a procedure based on the similarity between respondents (true patients) and the hypothetical scenarios they evaluate (hypothetical patients) to analyze whether patients provide self-interested rankings. Our results show that patient preferences differ significantly from general population preferences. The findings also indicate that, when patients rank the hypothetical scenarios on the waiting list, they consider not only the explicit attributes but also the similarity of each scenario to their own. In particular, they assign a higher priority to scenarios that more closely match their own states. We also find that such a preference structure increases their likelihood of reporting "irrational" answers. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Answering in a Preferred Versus a Non-Preferred Survey Mode on Measurement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jolene Smyth

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Previous research has shown that offering respondents their preferred mode can increase response rates, but the effect of doing so on how respondents process and answer survey questions (i.e., measurement is unclear. In this paper, we evaluate whether changes in question format have different effects on data quality for those responding in their preferred mode than for those responding in a non-preferred mode for three question types (multiple answer, open-ended, and grid. Respondents were asked about their preferred mode in a 2008 survey and were recontacted in 2009. In the recontact survey, respondents were randomly assigned to one of two modes such that some responded in their preferred mode and others did not. They were also randomly assigned to one of two questionnaire forms in which the format of individual questions was varied. On the multiple answer and open-ended items, those who answered in a non-preferred mode seemed to take advantage of opportunities to satisfice when the question format allowed or encouraged it (e.g., selecting fewer items in the check-all than the forced-choice format and being more likely to skip the open-ended item when it had a larger answer box, while those who answered in a preferred mode did not. There was no difference on a grid formatted item across those who did and did not respond by their preferred mode, but results indicate that a fully labeled grid reduced item missing rates vis-à-vis a grid with only column heading labels. Results provide insight into the effect of tailoring to mode preference on commonly used questionnaire design features.

Women patients' preference for women physicians is a barrier to colon cancer screening.

Science.gov (United States)

Menees, Stacy B; Inadomi, John M; Korsnes, Sheryl; Elta, Grace H

2005-08-01

The preference of women patients for women physicians has been shown in many specialties. Women patients awaiting a lower endoscopy have been shown to have a preference for women endoscopists. The reasons for this preference and the strength of this preference have not been studied in the primary care setting. A questionnaire was given to female patients who were waiting for primary care appointments at 4 offices. Patients reported sociodemographic characteristics, experiences with colorectal cancer (CRC), barriers to CRC screening, gender preference of their physician, the significance, and reasons for this preference. A total of 202 women patients aged 40 to 70 years (mean 53 years) completed the questionnaire. Of these patients, 43% preferred a woman endoscopist, and of these, 87% would be willing to wait >30 days for a woman endoscopist, and 14% would be willing to pay more for one. The most common reason (in 75%) for this gender preference was embarrassment. Univariate analysis revealed that gender of the primary care physician (PCP), younger patient age, current employment, and no previous history of colonoscopy were predictors of preference for a woman endoscopist. Of these variables, only female gender of the PCP (OR 2.84: 95% CI[1.49, 5.40]) and employment (OR 2.4: 95% CI[1.23, 4.67]) were positive predictors for a woman endoscopist preference by multivariable analysis; 5% stated that they would not undergo a colonoscopy unless guaranteed a woman endoscopist. The sole independent factor associated with adherence to screening was PCP recommendation (OR 2.93: 95% CI[1.63, 5.39]). Women patients frequently prefer a woman endoscopist, and this preference is reported as being strong enough to delay the procedure and to incur personal expense. It is an absolute barrier to endoscopy according to 5% in this subset of women surveyed. Interventions must be made in the primary care setting to address this issue and to increase the participation of women patients in

Preferences for behavioural, analytic and gestalt psychotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Sobel, H J

1979-09-01

This study investigated preferences for behavioural, analytic and gestalt psychotherapy among a sample of 40 SES class III and IV adult females and 67 college freshmen who had never been actual therapy patients. A scaled survey assessed general preference, preference given an imagined long-standing depressive disorder, preference given an imagined specific phobia, and preference for the therapist-patient relationship. Three audio tapes were designed, each describing one of the modalities. High inter-rater reliability and agreement were determined by three independent judges. Results showed that young females had a general preference for gestalt therapy. Young and old females, but not young males, significantly preferred behavioural therapy for a specific phobia. Under forced-choice conditions the group as a whole significantly preferred gestalt therapy. No differences were found for the relationship or preference given a depressive disorder. Preference was hypothesized as a cognitive structure with potential use in therapist-client matching.

Tourism package preferences of West Virginia state park visitors

Science.gov (United States)

William Gravley; John Dengler; Roy Ramthun; Chad Pierskalla

2009-01-01

This study was a preliminary examination of the activity and spending behavior of visitors to Pipestem State Park in West Virginia. This state park is being used as a case study area to determine whether a new fish stocking program accompanied by appropriate marketing activities can increase park visitation by anglers and other sports-oriented people. The research was...

Inter-ethnic differences in youth tobacco language and cigarette brand preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Gittelsohn, J; McCormick, L K; Allen, P; Grieser, M; Crawford, M; Davis, S

1999-11-01

To describe and understand variations in cigarette brand preferences between adolescents from varying ethnic and gender groups around the US. A qualitative study where adolescents, both smokers and nonsmokers, were interviewed individually in depth. Schools and recreation centers in four sites: urban Maryland (Baltimore), urban Texas (Houston), rural Alabama and rural New Mexico. 121 adolescent volunteers 13-19 years of age, representing African American, white, American Indian and Hispanic ethnic groups, from both genders. Considerable geographic and ethnic variation exists in terminology used by youth to refer to cigarettes and to their use. Clear patterns in brand preference by ethnic group were found that follow patterns of targeted marketing by ethnicity. White teens preferred Marlboro brand cigarettes, while African-American teens who smoke preferred Newports. Hispanic and American Indian teens were more likely to smoke Marlboro or Camel cigarettes. Hispanic teens were most likely to mention low price as a reason for choosing a particular brand or to state that the brand does not matter. Tobacco advertisements targeting ethnic groups and the use of promotional items to encourage teen smoking were also recognized as factors influencing brand preferences. These findings have implications for the design of intervention programs aimed at curbing teen smoking. When working with teens who already smoke, using youth language to target messages at perceived characteristics of commonly used brands may be more effective and meaningful than talking about cigarette use in general. Another implication of this work is to shed light on what impact an advertising ban would have on teen brand preferences, brand loyalty, and prevalence of smoking.

Human preference for individual colors

Science.gov (United States)

Palmer, Stephen E.; Schloss, Karen B.

2010-02-01

Color preference is an important aspect of human behavior, but little is known about why people like some colors more than others. Recent results from the Berkeley Color Project (BCP) provide detailed measurements of preferences among 32 chromatic colors as well as other relevant aspects of color perception. We describe the fit of several color preference models, including ones based on cone outputs, color-emotion associations, and Palmer and Schloss's ecological valence theory. The ecological valence theory postulates that color serves an adaptive "steering' function, analogous to taste preferences, biasing organisms to approach advantageous objects and avoid disadvantageous ones. It predicts that people will tend to like colors to the extent that they like the objects that are characteristically that color, averaged over all such objects. The ecological valence theory predicts 80% of the variance in average color preference ratings from the Weighted Affective Valence Estimates (WAVEs) of correspondingly colored objects, much more variance than any of the other models. We also describe how hue preferences for single colors differ as a function of gender, expertise, culture, social institutions, and perceptual experience.

Preference for and access to media resources as predictors of in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study investigated the extent to which preference for and access to media resources predicts knowledge of in-school adolescents to sexual and reproductive health issues in Lagos Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State, Nigeria. A population of 526 in-school adolescents participates in the study while ...

Preferences on Redistribution in Fragmented Labor Markets in Latin America and the Caribbean

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah Berens

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the extent to which labor market dualization polarizes preferences on redistribution between formal and informal sector workers in Latin America and the Caribbean. Differences in welfare state costs and benefits for these labor market groups are likely to fuel diverging incentives regarding welfare consumption. The article tests whether or not informal workers are driven mainly by economic self-interest to increase gains from public welfare goods. The study employed a hierarchical model on pooled survey data from the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP 2008 and 2010 to analyze the risk exposure of formal and informal workers and, subsequently, their preferences on redistribution. The analysis reveals that while economic self-interest is an influential factor for formal workers, it is (unexpectedly much less so for informal workers. Also, an increased economically insecure environment, reflected by high unemployment rates, does not motivate informal workers to an exceptional degree to turn towards the state for redistribution, despite greater exposure to economic risk. Labor market dualization does not translate into polarization at the individual level regarding redistributive preferences in Latin America and the Caribbean.

A choice modelling analysis on the similarity between distribution utilities’ and industrial customers’ price and quality preferences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Söderberg, Magnus

2008-01-01

The Swedish Electricity Act states that electricity distribution must comply with both price and quality requirements. In order to maintain efficient regulation it is necessary to firstly, define quality attributes and secondly, determine a customer's priorities concerning price and quality...... to evaluate the same twelve choice situations in which price and four specific quality attributes are varied. The preferences expressed by the utilities, and estimated by a random parameter logit, correspond quite well with the preferences expressed by the largest industrial customers. The preferences...

Alcohol demand and risk preference.

Science.gov (United States)

Dave, Dhaval; Saffer, Henry

2008-12-01

Both economists and psychologists have studied the concept of risk preference. Economists categorize individuals as more or less risk-tolerant based on the marginal utility of income. Psychologists categorize individuals' propensity towards risk based on harm avoidance, novelty seeking and reward dependence traits. The two concepts of risk are related, although the instruments used for empirical measurement are quite different. Psychologists have found risk preference to be an important determinant of alcohol consumption; however economists have not included risk preference in studies of alcohol demand. This is the first study to examine the effect of risk preference on alcohol consumption in the context of a demand function. The specifications employ multiple waves from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), which permit the estimation of age-specific models based on nationally representative samples. Both of these data sets include a unique and consistent survey instrument designed to directly measure risk preference in accordance with the economist's definition. This study estimates the direct impact of risk preference on alcohol demand and also explores how risk preference affects the price elasticity of demand. The empirical results indicate that risk preference has a significant negative effect on alcohol consumption, with the prevalence and consumption among risk-tolerant individuals being 6-8% higher. Furthermore, the tax elasticity is similar across both risk-averse and risk-tolerant individuals. This suggests that tax policies are as equally effective in deterring alcohol consumption among those who have a higher versus a lower propensity for alcohol use.

von Neumann Morgenstern Preferences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vind, Karl

von Neumann Morgenstern utility is generalized to von Neumann Morgenstern preferences. The proof is an application of simple hyperplane theorems......von Neumann Morgenstern utility is generalized to von Neumann Morgenstern preferences. The proof is an application of simple hyperplane theorems...

von Neumann Morgenstern Preferences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vind, Karl

2000-01-01

von Neumann Morgenstern utility is generalized to von Neumann Morgenstern preferences. The proof is an application of simple hyperplane theorems......von Neumann Morgenstern utility is generalized to von Neumann Morgenstern preferences. The proof is an application of simple hyperplane theorems...

Farmer preference for improved corn seeds in Chiapas, Mexico: A choice experiment approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Blanca I. Sánchez-Toledano

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Appropriate technologies must be developed for adoption of improved seeds based on the farmers’ preferences and needs. Our research identified the farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP as a key determinant for selecting the improved varieties of maize seeds and landraces in Chiapas, Mexico. This work also analyzed the farmers’ observed heterogeneity on the basis of their socio-economic characteristics. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire from 200 farmers. A proportional choice experiment approach was applied using a proportional choice variable, where farmers were asked to state the percentage of preference for different alternative varieties in a choice set. The generalized multinomial logit model in WTP-space approach was used. The results suggest that the improved seed varieties are preferred over the Creole alternatives, thereby ensuring higher yields, resistance to diseases, and larger ear size. For the preference heterogeneity analyses, a latent class model was applied. Three types of farmers were identified: innovators (60.5%, transition farmers (29.4%, and conservative farmers (10%. An understanding of farmers’ preferences is useful in designing agricultural policies and creating pricing and marketing strategies for the dissemination of quality seeds.

Restrições e preferências alimentares em comunidades de pescadores do município de Conde, Estado da Bahia, Brasil Food avoidances and preferences among fishermen communities from the county of Conde, State of Bahia, Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eraldo Medeiros COSTA-NETO

2000-08-01

Full Text Available Restrições e preferências de recursos pesqueiros por pescadores do município de Conde, Norte do estado da Bahia, são analisadas. Dados foram obtidos através de entrevistas abertas e semiestruturadas realizadas com 114 informantes de cinco comunidades. Peixes, moluscos, crustáceos, cetáceos e tartarugas marinhas são recursos disponíveis aos pescadores, que percebem aspectos marcantes desses animais no momento de considerá-los itens comestíveis. Peixes de "couro", como arraias e cações, são os mais evitados durante enfermidades, enquanto peixes "brancos", como os robalos, são as espécies mais preferidas. Muitos desses recursos são também usados na medicina popular local. O comportamento alimentar dos pescadores deveria ser levado em consideração no planejamento ambiental, em estudos de impacto ambiental e no manejo, conservação e monitoramento dos recursos pesqueiros.Fishing resources avoidances and preferences of fishermen from the county of Conde, in the North of the State of Bahia, are analyzed. Data were obtained through open-ended and semistructured interviews performed with 114 informants from five communities. Fish, mollusks, crustaceans, cetaceans and sea turtles are available resources for the fishermen. They perceive remarkable aspects of these animals when considering them as edible items. "Leather" fish such as rays and sharks are the most avoided during illnesses, and "white" fish such as snooks are the most preferred species. Many of these resources are also used in the local folk medicine. Fishermen's feeding behavior should be taken into account for the development planning and environmental assessment studies, as well as the management, conservation and monitoring procedures of fishing resources.

Personality and music preferences: the influence of personality traits on preferences regarding musical elements.

Science.gov (United States)

Kopacz, Malgorzata

2005-01-01

The purpose of this scientific study was to determine how personality traits, as classified by Cattell, influence preferences regarding musical elements. The subject group consisted of 145 students, male and female, chosen at random from different Polish universities. For the purpose of determining their personality traits the participants completed the 16PF Questionnaire (Cattell, Saunders, & Stice, 1957; Russel & Karol, 1993), in its Polish adaptation by Choynowski (Nowakowska, 1970). The participants' musical preferences were determined by their completing a Questionnaire of Musical Preferences (specifically created for the purposes of this research), in which respondents indicated their favorite piece of music. Next, on the basis of the Questionnaire of Musical Preferences, a list of the works of music chosen by the participants was compiled. All pieces were collected on CDs and analyzed to separate out their basic musical elements. The statistical analysis shows that some personality traits: Liveliness (Factor F), Social Boldness (Factor H), Vigilance (Factor L), Openness to Change (Factor Q1), Extraversion (a general factor) have an influence on preferences regarding musical elements. Important in the subjects' musical preferences were found to be those musical elements having stimulative value and the ability to regulate the need for stimulation. These are: tempo, rhythm in relation to metrical basis, number of melodic themes, sound voluminosity, and meter.

Prices need no preferences: social trends determine decisions in experimental markets for pain relief.

Science.gov (United States)

Vlaev, Ivo; Seymour, Ben; Chater, Nick; Winston, Joel S; Yoshida, Wako; Wright, Nicholas; Symmonds, Mkael; Dolan, Ray

2014-01-01

A standard view in health economics is that, although there is no market that determines the "prices" for health states, people can nonetheless associate health states with monetary values (or other scales, such as quality adjusted life year [QALYs] and disability adjusted life year [DALYs]). Such valuations can be used to shape health policy, and a major research challenge is to elicit such values from people; creating experimental "markets" for health states is a theoretically attractive way to address this. We explore the possibility that this framework may be fundamentally flawed-because there may not be any stable values to be revealed. Instead, perhaps people construct ad hoc values, influenced by contextual factors, such as the observed decisions of others. The participants bid to buy relief from equally painful electrical shocks to the leg and arm in an experimental health market based on an interactive second-price auction. Thirty subjects were randomly assigned to two experimental conditions where the bids by "others" were manipulated to follow increasing or decreasing price trends for one, but not the other, pain. After the auction, a preference test asked the participants to choose which pain they prefer to experience for a longer duration. Players remained indifferent between the two pain-types throughout the auction. However, their bids were differentially attracted toward what others bid for each pain, with overbidding during decreasing prices and underbidding during increasing prices. Health preferences are dissociated from market prices, which are strongly referenced to others' choices. This suggests that the price of health care in a free-market has the capacity to become critically detached from people's underlying preferences. 2014 APA, all rights reserved

Identifying and Analyzing Preferences for the Next Decade of Astrophysics

Science.gov (United States)

Mesmer, Bryan; Weger, Kristin

2018-06-01

The Decadal Survey is conducted by the United States National Academies and is a summary of opinions from individuals in the Astronomy community, used to recommend the next decade of prioritized astrophysics missions and activities. From a systems engineering and psychology perspective, the Decadal Survey process is interesting due to the: large and diverse community being sampled, the diverse preferences, and the group interactions that result in a common voice. When preparing input to be reviewed in such a process, it is important to recognize and understand both individual factors, as well as group factors. By understanding these dynamics it is possible to better predict the likely outcome.This research looks to better understand the preferences of the Astronomy community as they relate to the coming decade. Preferences are the desires held by an individual. Along with beliefs and alternatives, preferences are one of three necessary elements to make a decision, according to normative decision analysis. Hence, by understanding preferences, and making assumptions on beliefs and available alternatives, one can determine what decision an individual ought to make through normative decision analysis. Due to the community focus of the Decadal Study, it is important to understand the interactions of individuals that results in a group outcome. This is where game theory is an effective tool, enabling the mathematical analysis of interacting individuals.Before any analysis is performed preferences must be captured and mathematically represented through value models, which is precisely what this research examines. This Iposter is associated with a questionnaire to better understand the preferences of individuals. The questionnaire will be promoted through the Iposter as well as by the authors at the conference. The questionnaire will attempt to gather data to enable the formation of value functions resulting in a better understanding of the community likings. The research

Questions and Questioning Techniques: A View of Indonesian Students’ Preferences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Debora Tri Ragawanti

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This study investigated students’ preference on teacher’s questions and questionings techniques and more importantly on how they could facilitate or impede their learning. The results on teacher’s questioning techniques showed that random nomination was more preferred than pre-arranged format nomination. In addition, techniques of nominating volunteering students and of giving wait-time were disliked by most student-respondents. As for types of question, the yes/no question was favored by most of the respondents. Different from the yes/no question, the number of respondents leaning forward to the analysis question, questions about fact of life, and questions to state opinion did not show a significant difference from the number of those leaning against the same questions.

Preferred communication methods of abused women.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilroy, Heidi; McFarlane, Judith; Nava, Angeles; Maddoux, John

2013-01-01

To determine preferred communication methods of abused women. A naturalistic study utilizing principles of Community Based Participatory Research. A total of 300 first time users of criminal justice or safe shelter for abused women were interviewed in person. The Preferred Communication Questionnaire was used to determine preference. Given the choice of phone voice, face to face, phone text, e-mail, or Facebook, traditional methods of communication (face-to-face communication and phone voice) were the primary (80% combined) and secondary (58.6% combined) preferred sources among abused women. A total of 292 women (97.3%) gave at least two preferred methods of communication, 255 (85%) gave three preferred methods, 190 (63%) gave four, and 132 (44%) used all five methods. Public health nurses and other professionals who serve abused women should be aware of their preferred method of communication for contact. The women in the sample preferred face-to-face and phone-voice communication; however, many were open to newer forms of communication such as texting and Facebook. Caution should be used to protect the safety of abused women when using any kind of communication. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

'Green' preferences as regulatory policy instrument

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brennan, Timothy J.

2006-01-01

We examine here the suggestion that if consumers in sufficient numbers are willing to pay the premium to have power generated using low-emission technologies, tax or permit policies become less necessary or stringent. While there are implementation difficulties with this proposal, our purpose is more fundamental: Can economics make sense of using preferences as a regulatory instrument? If 'green' preferences are exogenously given, to what extent can or should they be regarded as a substitute for other policies? Even with 'green' preferences, production and consumption of polluting goods continue to impose social costs not borne in the market. Moreover, if green preferences are regarded as a policy instrument, the 'no policy' baseline would require a problematic specification of counterfactual 'non-green' preferences. Viewing green preferences as a regulatory policy instrument is conceptually sensible if the benchmark for optimal emissions is based on value judgments apart from the preferences consumers happen to have. If so, optimal environmental protection would be defined by reference to ethical theory, or, even less favorably, by prescriptions from policy advocates who give their own preferences great weight while giving those of the public at large (and the costs they bear) very little consideration. (author)

Impact of Culture on Meat and Related Food Preferences in Akwa ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The effectiveness of meat and related food products marketing in Akwa Ibom State is conditioned by the specifics of culture. In this study, cultural effect on meat consumption is examined. A sample of 568 respondents were analysed with OLS regression. The results reveal that meat consumption and preferences for related ...

Intentions to move, residential preferences and mobility behaviour: a longitudinal perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Groot, C.

2011-01-01

This book is about the discrepancy between individuals’ stated intentions to move and their actual mobility behaviour. Do people move when they say they are willing to do so? And if so, to what extent do they realise or adjust their initial residential preferences? Does the spatial context matter to

Epidemic spreading on preferred degree adaptive networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Jolad, Shivakumar; Liu, Wenjia; Schmittmann, B; Zia, R K P

2012-01-01

We study the standard SIS model of epidemic spreading on networks where individuals have a fluctuating number of connections around a preferred degree κ. Using very simple rules for forming such preferred degree networks, we find some unusual statistical properties not found in familiar Erdös-Rényi or scale free networks. By letting κ depend on the fraction of infected individuals, we model the behavioral changes in response to how the extent of the epidemic is perceived. In our models, the behavioral adaptations can be either 'blind' or 'selective'--depending on whether a node adapts by cutting or adding links to randomly chosen partners or selectively, based on the state of the partner. For a frozen preferred network, we find that the infection threshold follows the heterogeneous mean field result λ(c)/μ = / and the phase diagram matches the predictions of the annealed adjacency matrix (AAM) approach. With 'blind' adaptations, although the epidemic threshold remains unchanged, the infection level is substantially affected, depending on the details of the adaptation. The 'selective' adaptive SIS models are most interesting. Both the threshold and the level of infection changes, controlled not only by how the adaptations are implemented but also how often the nodes cut/add links (compared to the time scales of the epidemic spreading). A simple mean field theory is presented for the selective adaptations which capture the qualitative and some of the quantitative features of the infection phase diagram.

Racial Preferences in Online Dating across European Countries

OpenAIRE

Potârcă, Gina; Mills, Melinda

2017-01-01

Knowledge about how race governs partner selection has been predominantly studied in the United States, yet it is unclear whether these results can be generalized to nations with different racial and immigration patterns. Using a large-scale sample of online daters in nine European countries, we engage in the first cross-national analysis of race-related partner preferences and examine the link between contextual factors and ethnic selectivity. We provide a unique test of contact, conflict, a...

Pediatric art preferences: countering the "one-size-fits-all" approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Nanda, Upali; Chanaud, Cheryl M; Brown, Linda; Hart, Robyn; Hathorn, Kathy

2009-01-01

To determine the stated art preferences of pediatric patients through an art survey and determine whether preferences vary, with different age groups associated with different stages of cognitive development. Exposure to visual art has been shown to have an impact on improved health and satisfaction outcomes. However, there is little literature on the effect of art on pediatric patients. While designing pediatric wards, a common assumption is to use fantasy and Disney-like themes; but research across all age groups on whether children prefer these themes is limited. A survey including 20 images with a variety of subject matter and styles was administered to 64 pediatric inpatients (ages 5-17) at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, TX. Children were asked to rate the selection of, and their emotional response to, the images in the survey. Qualitative comments were recorded. Results were analyzed for each of the three age groups (5-6, 7-10, and 11-17 years) according to Piaget's developmental stages, as well as across all age groups. There were significant differences in art preferences across the different age groups, especially with respect to child art (art created by children). Overall, the results for 5-10-year-olds were more significant than those for 11-17-year-olds (adolescents). Nature elements were preferred across all age groups, but all nature images were not rated similarly. Images that were bright and colorful were rated better than images that were pale. The presence of a strong context that children could associate with was a defining feature of preferred images. Content drove preference more than style, though color was a key determinant. Comments on the artwork tended to be more objective/absolute for the youngest patients and more subjective/relative for the oldest. The combination of bright colors, engaging themes, and nature content is consistently highly rated by pediatric patients. However, pediatric preferences vary significantly among the

75 FR 24967 - Andean Trade Preference Act: Impact on the U.S. Economy and on Andean Drug Crop Eradication

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-06

... Preference Act: Impact on the U.S. Economy and on Andean Drug Crop Eradication. DATES: June 24, 2010... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Investigation No. 332-352] Andean Trade Preference Act: Impact on the U.S. Economy and on Andean Drug Crop Eradication AGENCY: United States International Trade...

77 FR 31039 - Andean Trade Preference Act: Impact on the U.S. Economy and on Andean Drug Crop Eradication

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-24

.... 332-352, Andean Trade Preference Act: Impact on the U.S. Economy and on Andean Drug Crop Eradication... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Investigation No. 332-352] Andean Trade Preference Act: Impact on the U.S. Economy and on Andean Drug Crop Eradication AGENCY: United States International Trade...

Diet-induced mating preference in Drosophila

OpenAIRE

Rosenberg, Eugene; Zilber-Rosenberg, Ilana; Sharon, Gil; Segal, Daniel

2018-01-01

Diet-induced mating preference was initially observed by Dodd (1). Subsequently, we reported that diet-induced mating preference occurred in Drosophila melanogaster. Treatment of the flies with antibiotics abolished the mating preference, suggesting that fly-associated commensal bacteria were responsible for the phenomenon (2). The hypothesis was confirmed when it was shown that colonizing antibiotic-treated flies with Lactobacillus plantarum reestablished mating preference in multiple-choice...

Eye tracking social preferences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jiang, Ting; Potters, Jan; Funaki, Yukihiko

We hypothesize that if people are motivated by a particular social preference, then choosing in accordance with this preference will lead to an identifiable pattern of eye movements. We track eye movements while subjects make choices in simple three-person distribution experiments. We characterize

Measuring Normative Risk Preferences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

G.A.G. Alserda (Gosse)

2017-01-01

textabstractThe results of eliciting risk preferences depend on the elicitation method. Different methods of measuring the same variable tend to produce different results. This raises the question whether normative risk preferences can be elicited at all. Using two types of manipulation, I assess

Factors influencing women's preference for health facility deliveries in Jharkhand state, India: a cross sectional analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharyya, Sanghita; Srivastava, Aradhana; Roy, Reetabrata; Avan, Bilal I

2016-03-07

Expanding institutional deliveries is a policy priority to achieve MDG5. India adopted a policy to encourage facility births through a conditional cash incentive scheme, yet 28% of deliveries still occur at home. In this context, it is important to understand the care experience of women who have delivered at home, and also at health facilities, analyzing any differences, so that services can be improved to promote facility births. This study aims to understand women's experience of delivery care during home and facility births, and the factors that influence women's decisions regarding their next place of delivery. A community-based cross-sectional survey was undertaken in a district of Jharkhand state in India. Interviews with 500 recently delivered women (210 delivered at facility and 290 delivered at home) included socio-demographic characteristics, experience of their recent delivery, and preference of future delivery site. Data analysis included frequencies, binary and multiple logistic regressions. There is no major difference in the experience of care between home and facility births, the only difference in care being with regard to pain relief through massage, injection and low cost of delivery for those having home births. 75% women wanted to deliver their next child at a facility, main reasons being availability of medicine (29.4%) and perceived health benefits for mother and baby (15%). Women with higher education (AOR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.04-3.07), women who were above 25 years (AOR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.26-3.64), who currently delivered at facility (AOR = 5.19, 95% CI = 2.97-9.08) and had health problem post-delivery (AOR = 1.85, 95% CI = 1.08-3.19) were significant predictors of future facility-based delivery. The predictors for facility deliveries include, availability of medicines and supplies, potential health benefits for the mother and newborn and the perception of good care from the providers. There is a growing

Estimating US federal wildland fire managers' preferences toward competing strategic suppression objectives

Science.gov (United States)

David E. Calkin; Tyron Venn; Matthew Wibbenmeyer; Matthew P. Thompson

2012-01-01

Wildfire management involves significant complexity and uncertainty, requiring simultaneous consideration of multiple, non-commensurate objectives. This paper investigates the tradeoffs fire managers are willing to make among these objectives using a choice experiment methodology that provides three key advancements relative to previous stated-preference studies...

Learning preferences from paired opposite-based semantics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Franco de los Ríos, Camilo; Rodríguez, J. Tinguaro; Montero, Javier

2017-01-01

Preference semantics examine the meaning of the preference predicate, according to the way that alternatives can be understood and organized for decision making purposes. Through opposite-based semantics, preference structures can be characterized by their paired decomposition of preference...... on the character of opposition, the compound meaning of preference emerges from the fuzzy reinforcement of paired opposite concepts, searching for significant evidence for affirming dominance among the decision objects. Here we propose a general model for the paired decomposition of preference, examining its...

Colour preferences in nest-building zebra finches.

Science.gov (United States)

Muth, Felicity; Steele, Matthew; Healy, Susan D

2013-10-01

Some bird species are selective in the materials they choose for nest building, preferring, for example, materials of one colour to others. However, in many cases the cause of these preferences is not clear. One of those species is the zebra finch, which exhibits strong preferences for particular colours of nest material. In an attempt to determine why these birds strongly prefer one colour of material over another, we compared the preferences of paired male zebra finches for nest material colour with their preferences for food of the same colours. We found that birds did indeed prefer particular colours of nest material (in most cases blue) but that they did not generally prefer food of one colour over the other colours. It appears, then, that a preference for one colour or another of nest material is specific to the nest-building context. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: insert SI title. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hemodialysis patients' preferences for the management of secondary hyperparathyroidism.

Science.gov (United States)

Hauber, Brett; Caloyeras, John; Posner, Joshua; Brommage, Deborah; Belozeroff, Vasily; Cooper, Kerry

2017-07-28

Patient engagement and patient-centered care are critical in optimally managing patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Understanding patient preferences is a key element of patient-centered care and shared decision making. The objective of this study was to elicit patients' preferences for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) associated with ESRD using a discrete-choice experiment survey. Clinical literature, nephrologist input, patient-education resources, and a patient focus group informed development of the survey instrument, which was qualitatively pretested before its administration to a broader sample of patients. The National Kidney Foundation invited individuals in the United States with ESRD who were undergoing hemodialysis to participate in the survey. Respondents chose among three hypothetical SHPT treatment alternatives (two medical alternatives and surgery) in each of a series of questions, which were defined by attributes of efficacy (effect on laboratory values and symptoms), safety, tolerability, mode of administration, and cost. The survey instrument included a best-worst scaling exercise to quantify the relative bother of the individual attributes of surgery. Random-parameters logit models were used to evaluate the conditional relative importance of the attributes. A total of 200 patients with ESRD completed the survey. The treatment attributes that were most important to the respondents were whether a treatment was a medication or surgery and out-of-pocket cost. Patients had statistically significant preferences for efficacy attributes related to symptom management and laboratory values, but placed less importance on the attributes related to mode of administration and side effects. The most bothersome attribute of surgery was the risk of surgical mortality. Patients with ESRD and SHPT who are undergoing hemodialysis understand SHPT and have clear and measurable treatment preferences. These results may help inform

Considering patient values and treatment preferences enhances patient involvement in rectal cancer treatment decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Kunneman, Marleen; Marijnen, Corrie A M; Baas-Thijssen, Monique C M; van der Linden, Yvette M; Rozema, Tom; Muller, Karin; Geijsen, Elisabeth D; Stiggelbout, Anne M; Pieterse, Arwen H

2015-11-01

The shared decision making (SDM) model states that patients' values and preferences should be clarified to choose a strategy that best fits the patient. This study aimed to assess whether values and preferences of rectal cancer patients are voiced and considered in deciding about preoperative radiotherapy (PRT), and whether this makes patients feel more involved in treatment decision making. Pre-treatment consultations of radiation oncologists and patients eligible for PRT were audiotaped (N=90). Tapes were transcribed and coded to identify patients' values and treatment preferences. Patients filled in a post-consultation questionnaire on their perceived involvement in decision making (N=60). Patients' values were voiced for 62/611 of benefits/harms addressed (10%), in 38/90 consultations (42%; maximum 4 values per consultation), and most often related to major long-term treatment outcomes. Patients' treatment preferences were discussed in 20/90 consultations (22%). In 16/90 consultations (18%), the oncologists explicitly indicated to consider patients' values or preferences. Patients perceived a significantly more active role in decision making if their values or preferences had been voiced or considered. Patients' values and treatment preferences are voiced or considered in a minority of consultations. If they are, this increases patients' perceived involvement in the decision making process. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preferred practice location at medical school commencement strongly determines graduates' rural preferences and work locations.

Science.gov (United States)

Herd, Marie S; Bulsara, Max K; Jones, Michael P; Mak, Donna B

2017-02-01

To identify factors influencing whether Australian medical graduates prefer to, or actually, work rurally. Secondary analysis of longitudinal data from Medical Schools Outcomes Database (MSOD) using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Twenty Australian medical schools. Australian or New Zealand citizens and Australian permanent residents who completed MSOD questionnaires between 2006 and 2013. Preferred and actual work locations 1 (PGY1) and 3 (PGY3) years postgraduation. Of 20 784 participants, 4028 completed a PGY1 or PGY3 questionnaire. Self-reported preference for rural practice location at medical school commencement was the most consistent independent predictor of whether a graduate would have a rural location preference at PGY1 (odds ratio (OR) 6.07, 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.91-7.51) and PGY3 (OR 7.95, 95% CI 4.93-12.84), and work rurally during PGY1 (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.01-1.88) and PGY3 (OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.30-2.64). The effect of preferred practice location at medical school commencement is independent of, and enhances the effect of, rural background. Graduates of graduate-entry programs or with dependent children were less likely to have worked rurally during PGY1 and PGY3 respectively. The most consistent factor associated with rural preferences and work location was students' preferred location of practice at medical school commencement; this association is independent of, and enhances the effect of, rural background. Better understanding of what determines rural preference at medical school commencement and its influence on rural workplace outcomes beyond PGY3 is required to inform Australian medical school selection policies and rural health curricula. © 2016 National Rural Health Alliance Inc.

The Motivational Factors Affecting the Preference of Teaching Profession in Turkey

Science.gov (United States)

Akilli, Mustafa; Keskin, H. Kagan

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to reveal the reasons why teacher candidates attending the faculties of education have preferred the teaching profession and the explanatory relations between those reasons. To this end, 801 students who are attending the elementary school teaching departments of 6 state universities were included in the research.…

Using Typologies to Interpret Study Abroad Preferences of American Business Students: Applying a Tourism Framework to International Education

Science.gov (United States)

Cardon, Peter W.; Marshall, Bryan; Poddar, Amit

2011-01-01

The authors describe research that applies a tourist framework to study abroad attitudes and preferences. A total of 371 university business students in the Southern region of the United States completed a survey that included the International Tourist Role scale and study abroad attitudes and preferences. These students were grouped into one of 4…

Preferred and Actual Relative Height among Homosexual Male Partners Vary with Preferred Dominance and Sex Role

OpenAIRE

Valentova, Jaroslava Varella; Stulp, Gert; Třebický, Vít; Havlíček, Jan

2014-01-01

Previous research has shown repeatedly that human stature influences mate preferences and mate choice in heterosexuals. In general, it has been shown that tall men and average height women are most preferred by the opposite sex, and that both sexes prefer to be in a relationship where the man is taller than the woman. However, little is known about such partner preferences in homosexual individuals. Based on an online survey of a large sample of non-heterosexual men (N = 541), we found that t...

Work-family conflict and retirement preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Raymo, James M; Sweeney, Megan M

2006-05-01

This study investigates relationships between retirement preferences and perceived levels of work-family conflict. Using the large sample of 52-54-year-old respondents to the 1992 Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, we estimated multinomial logistic regression models of preferences for partial and full retirement within the next 10 years. We examined the association between retirement preferences and perceived work-family conflict, evaluated the extent to which work-family conflict was a mediating mechanism between stressful work and family circumstances and preferences to retire, and explored potential gender differences in the association between work-family conflict and preferring retirement. Work-family conflict was positively related to preferences for both full and partial retirement. Yet work-family conflict did not appear to mediate relationships between stressful work and family environments and retirement preferences, nor did significant gender differences emerge in this association. Our analyses provide the first direct evidence of the role played by work-family conflict in the early stages of the retirement process, although we were not able to identify the sources of conflict underlying this relationship. Identifying the sources of this conflict and the psychological mechanisms linking work-family conflict to retirement preferences is an important task for future researchers.

Patient Preferences for Device-Aided Treatments Indicated for Advanced Parkinson Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, Thomas; Pugh, Amy; Fairchild, Angelyn; Hass, Steven

2017-12-01

Effective treatment for advanced Parkinson disease (PD) uncontrolled with oral medication includes device-aided therapies such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) and continuous levodopa-carbidopa infusion to the duodenum via a portable pump. Our objective was to quantify patient preferences for attributes of these device-aided treatments. We administered a Web-enabled survey to 401 patients in the United States. A discrete-choice experiment (DCE) was used to evaluate patients' willingness to accept tradeoffs among efficacy, tolerability, and convenience of alternative treatments. DCE data were analyzed using random-parameters logit. Best-worst scaling (BWS) was used to elicit the relative importance of device-specific attributes. Conditional logit was used to analyze the BWS data. We tested for differences in preferences among subgroups of patients. Improving ability to think clearly was twice as important as a 6-hour-per-day improvement in control of movement symptoms. After controlling for efficacy, treatment delivered via portable infusion pump was preferred over DBS, and both devices were preferred to oral therapy with poor symptom control. Patients were most concerned about device attributes relating to risk of stroke, difficulty thinking, and neurosurgery. Avoiding surgery to insert a wire in the brain was more important than avoiding surgery to insert a tube into the small intestine. Some differences in preferences among subgroups were statistically, but not qualitatively, significant. This study clarifies the patient perspective in therapeutic choices for advanced PD. These findings may help improve communication between patients and providers and also provide evidence on patient preferences to inform regulatory and access decisions. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Musical Preferences are Linked to Cognitive Styles.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David M Greenberg

Full Text Available Why do we like the music we do? Research has shown that musical preferences and personality are linked, yet little is known about other influences on preferences such as cognitive styles. To address this gap, we investigated how individual differences in musical preferences are explained by the empathizing-systemizing (E-S theory. Study 1 examined the links between empathy and musical preferences across four samples. By reporting their preferential reactions to musical stimuli, samples 1 and 2 (Ns = 2,178 and 891 indicated their preferences for music from 26 different genres, and samples 3 and 4 (Ns = 747 and 320 indicated their preferences for music from only a single genre (rock or jazz. Results across samples showed that empathy levels are linked to preferences even within genres and account for significant proportions of variance in preferences over and above personality traits for various music-preference dimensions. Study 2 (N = 353 replicated and extended these findings by investigating how musical preferences are differentiated by E-S cognitive styles (i.e., 'brain types'. Those who are type E (bias towards empathizing preferred music on the Mellow dimension (R&B/soul, adult contemporary, soft rock genres compared to type S (bias towards systemizing who preferred music on the Intense dimension (punk, heavy metal, and hard rock. Analyses of fine-grained psychological and sonic attributes in the music revealed that type E individuals preferred music that featured low arousal (gentle, warm, and sensual attributes, negative valence (depressing and sad, and emotional depth (poetic, relaxing, and thoughtful, while type S preferred music that featured high arousal (strong, tense, and thrilling, and aspects of positive valence (animated and cerebral depth (complexity. The application of these findings for clinicians, interventions, and those on the autism spectrum (largely type S or extreme type S are discussed.

Musical Preferences are Linked to Cognitive Styles

Science.gov (United States)

Greenberg, David M.; Baron-Cohen, Simon; Stillwell, David J.; Kosinski, Michal; Rentfrow, Peter J.

2015-01-01

Why do we like the music we do? Research has shown that musical preferences and personality are linked, yet little is known about other influences on preferences such as cognitive styles. To address this gap, we investigated how individual differences in musical preferences are explained by the empathizing-systemizing (E-S) theory. Study 1 examined the links between empathy and musical preferences across four samples. By reporting their preferential reactions to musical stimuli, samples 1 and 2 (Ns = 2,178 and 891) indicated their preferences for music from 26 different genres, and samples 3 and 4 (Ns = 747 and 320) indicated their preferences for music from only a single genre (rock or jazz). Results across samples showed that empathy levels are linked to preferences even within genres and account for significant proportions of variance in preferences over and above personality traits for various music-preference dimensions. Study 2 (N = 353) replicated and extended these findings by investigating how musical preferences are differentiated by E-S cognitive styles (i.e., ‘brain types’). Those who are type E (bias towards empathizing) preferred music on the Mellow dimension (R&B/soul, adult contemporary, soft rock genres) compared to type S (bias towards systemizing) who preferred music on the Intense dimension (punk, heavy metal, and hard rock). Analyses of fine-grained psychological and sonic attributes in the music revealed that type E individuals preferred music that featured low arousal (gentle, warm, and sensual attributes), negative valence (depressing and sad), and emotional depth (poetic, relaxing, and thoughtful), while type S preferred music that featured high arousal (strong, tense, and thrilling), and aspects of positive valence (animated) and cerebral depth (complexity). The application of these findings for clinicians, interventions, and those on the autism spectrum (largely type S or extreme type S) are discussed. PMID:26200656

Musical Preferences are Linked to Cognitive Styles.

Science.gov (United States)

Greenberg, David M; Baron-Cohen, Simon; Stillwell, David J; Kosinski, Michal; Rentfrow, Peter J

2015-01-01

Why do we like the music we do? Research has shown that musical preferences and personality are linked, yet little is known about other influences on preferences such as cognitive styles. To address this gap, we investigated how individual differences in musical preferences are explained by the empathizing-systemizing (E-S) theory. Study 1 examined the links between empathy and musical preferences across four samples. By reporting their preferential reactions to musical stimuli, samples 1 and 2 (Ns = 2,178 and 891) indicated their preferences for music from 26 different genres, and samples 3 and 4 (Ns = 747 and 320) indicated their preferences for music from only a single genre (rock or jazz). Results across samples showed that empathy levels are linked to preferences even within genres and account for significant proportions of variance in preferences over and above personality traits for various music-preference dimensions. Study 2 (N = 353) replicated and extended these findings by investigating how musical preferences are differentiated by E-S cognitive styles (i.e., 'brain types'). Those who are type E (bias towards empathizing) preferred music on the Mellow dimension (R&B/soul, adult contemporary, soft rock genres) compared to type S (bias towards systemizing) who preferred music on the Intense dimension (punk, heavy metal, and hard rock). Analyses of fine-grained psychological and sonic attributes in the music revealed that type E individuals preferred music that featured low arousal (gentle, warm, and sensual attributes), negative valence (depressing and sad), and emotional depth (poetic, relaxing, and thoughtful), while type S preferred music that featured high arousal (strong, tense, and thrilling), and aspects of positive valence (animated) and cerebral depth (complexity). The application of these findings for clinicians, interventions, and those on the autism spectrum (largely type S or extreme type S) are discussed.

Evolution of non-expected utility preferences

CERN Document Server

Widekind, Sven von; Fandel, G

2008-01-01

The theory on the evolution of preferences deals with the endogenous formation of preference relations in strategic situations. It is related to the field of evolutionary game theory. In this book we analyze the role and the influence of general, possibly non-expected utility preferences in such an evolutionary setup. In particular, we demonstrate that preferences which diverge from von Neumann-Morgenstern expected utility may potentially prove to be successful under evolutionary pressures.

Preferred and actual relative height among homosexual male partners vary with preferred dominance and sex role

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Varella Valentova, Jaroslava; Stulp, Gert; Třebický, Vít; Havlíček, Jan

2014-01-01

Previous research has shown repeatedly that human stature influences mate preferences and mate choice in heterosexuals. In general, it has been shown that tall men and average height women are most preferred by the opposite sex, and that both sexes prefer to be in a relationship where the man is

Learning strategy preferences, verbal-visual cognitive styles, and multimedia preferences for continuing engineering education instructional design

Science.gov (United States)

Baukal, Charles Edward, Jr.

A literature search revealed very little information on how to teach working engineers, which became the motivation for this research. Effective training is important for many reasons such as preventing accidents, maximizing fuel efficiency, minimizing pollution emissions, and reducing equipment downtime. The conceptual framework for this study included the development of a new instructional design framework called the Multimedia Cone of Abstraction (MCoA). This was developed by combining Dale's Cone of Experience and Mayer's Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. An anonymous survey of 118 engineers from a single Midwestern manufacturer was conducted to determine their demographics, learning strategy preferences, verbal-visual cognitive styles, and multimedia preferences. The learning strategy preference profile and verbal-visual cognitive styles of the sample were statistically significantly different than the general population. The working engineers included more Problem Solvers and were much more visually-oriented than the general population. To study multimedia preferences, five of the seven levels in the MCoA were used. Eight types of multimedia were compared in four categories (types in parantheses): text (text and narration), static graphics (drawing and photograph), non-interactive dynamic graphics (animation and video), and interactive dynamic graphics (simulated virtual reality and real virtual reality). The first phase of the study examined multimedia preferences within a category. Participants compared multimedia types in pairs on dual screens using relative preference, rating, and ranking. Surprisingly, the more abstract multimedia (text, drawing, animation, and simulated virtual reality) were preferred in every category to the more concrete multimedia (narration, photograph, video, and real virtual reality), despite the fact that most participants had relatively little prior subject knowledge. However, the more abstract graphics were only slightly

Infants prefer female body phenotypes; infant girls prefer they have an hourglass shape.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gerianne M Alexander

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Adolescents and adults show preferences for male and female body shapes consistent with evolutionary theories of reproductive fitness and mate selection. However, when these preferences for females with narrow waists (i.e., 0.7 waist-to-hip ratio and men with broad shoulders (i.e., mesomorphic body shape emerge during the lifespan is largely unknown. To address this knowledge gap, eye-movements were tracked in 144 infants (3 to 18 months of age during computer presentation of three-dimensional human figures varying in body features thought relevant for reproductive success (e.g., secondary sex characteristics, waist-to-hip ratio. When presented with pairs of figures differing in apparent sex, male and female infants looked significantly longer at the female figure compared to the male figure, a new finding that extends previous research showing preferences for female faces in infancy. When presented with same-sex figures differing in characteristics associated with mate value, male and female infants looked longer at a low mate value male (i.e., an endomorphic body type compared to a high mate value male (i.e., a mesomorphic body type, a finding that replicates the results of previous research. In addition, the novel use of high and low mate value female figures showed a sex difference in visual attention, such that female infants looked longer at the high mate value female figure compared to the low mate female figure whereas male infants showed the opposite pattern of results. In sum, these findings suggest that infants generally do not possess preferences for adult-defined attractive male body shapes. However, infant girls’ greater attention to a female figure with an adult-preferred waist-to-hip ratio raises the possibility that evolved preferences for 0.7 waist-to-hip ratio influence girls’ later preference for toys representing females with an hourglass shape, perhaps supporting elaboration of adult social behaviors that enhance

Infants Prefer Female Body Phenotypes; Infant Girls Prefer They Have an Hourglass Shape.

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Gerianne M; Hawkins, Laura B; Wilcox, Teresa; Hirshkowitz, Amy

2016-01-01

Adolescents and adults show preferences for male and female body shapes consistent with evolutionary theories of reproductive fitness and mate selection. However, when these preferences for females with narrow waists (i.e., 0.7 waist-to-hip ratio) and men with broad shoulders (i.e., mesomorphic body shape) emerge during the lifespan is largely unknown. To address this knowledge gap, eye-movements were tracked in 146 infants (3-18 months of age) during computer presentation of three-dimensional human figures varying in body features thought relevant for reproductive success (e.g., secondary sex characteristics, waist-to-hip ratio). When presented with pairs of figures differing in apparent sex, male and female infants looked significantly longer at the female figure compared to the male figure, a new finding that extends previous research showing preferences for female faces in infancy. When presented with same-sex figures differing in characteristics associated with mate value, male and female infants looked longer at a low mate value male (i.e., an endomorphic body type) compared to a high mate value male (i.e., a mesomorphic body type), a finding that replicates the results of previous research. In addition, the novel use of high and low mate value female figures showed a sex difference in visual attention, such that female infants looked longer at the high mate value female figure compared to the low mate female figure whereas male infants showed the opposite pattern of results. In sum, these findings suggest that infants generally do not possess preferences for adult-defined attractive male body shapes. However, infant girls' greater attention to a female figure with an adult-preferred waist-to-hip ratio raises the possibility that evolved preferences for 0.7 waist-to-hip ratio influence girls' later preference for toys representing females with an hourglass shape, perhaps supporting elaboration of adult social behaviors that enhance reproductive success (e

Socio-cultural factors of formation of musical preferences of Ukrainian students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. M. Nesterenko

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The impact of social and cultural factors on the musical preferences of students in Ukraine has been analysed in the article. The following factors have been selected: the type of society and social change in the polical fields of economy, culture, technology, students, musical paradigm. The urgency of the analysis of the genesis, development and change of musical preferences of students has been proven, the necessity to study the influence of sociocultural factors on the formation of musical preferences in modern society has been grounded. This allowed characterising the musical preferences as a socio-cultural phenomenon that present signs and society, and culture of the society. It has been found that the development of technology, such as the invention and use of the gramophone, phonograph, cinema, radio, television, and later a tape recorder, computer, Internet, mobile communications and the latest gadgets, has enhanced the formation of musical preferences.It has contributed meeting the needs and inquiries of students, which are studying musical art, the use of individual trajectories of formation of formal and informal musical preferences. Formal preferences are associated with the activities of social institutions and social organizations. In this context, the musical preferences and those recommended “from above” have been considered to be two different ways of formation of musical preferences in a totalitarian society. The variety of musical preferences has been determined. State-formed musical preferences have been identified and characterized by a second method of forming a musical preferences, which is based on the perception of diversity and is not approved by the musical culture of the individually selected samples, “from below” groups, which are defined as individual and personal, or informal, musical preferences. The musical preferences of students, related to situations of social changes that have occurred in the spheres

The Change of Music Preferences Following the Onset of a Mental Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Gebhardt, Stefan; von Georgi, Richard

2015-02-24

A psychiatric population (n=123) was examined on how music preferences had changed after the onset of a mental disorder. Most patients did not change their previous music preference; this group of patients considered music helpful for their mental state, showed more attractivity and enforcement as personality traits and used music more for emotion modulation. Patients who experienced a preference shift reported that music had impaired them during the time of illness; these patients showed less ego-strength, less confidence and less enforcement and used music less for arousal modulation. A third subgroup stopped listening to music completely after the onset of the mental disorder; these patients attribute less importance to music and also reported that music had impaired their mental state. They showed more ego-strength and used music less for emotion modulation. The results suggest that the use of music in everyday life can be helpful as an emotion modulation strategy. However, some patients might need instructions on how to use music in a functional way and not a dysfunctional one. Psychiatrists and psychotherapists as well as music therapists should be aware of emotion modulation strategies, subjective valence of music and personality traits of their patients. Due to the ubiquity of music, psychoeducative instructions on how to use music in everyday life plays an increasing role in the treatment of mental illness.

The Change of Music Preferences Following the Onset of a Mental Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Gebhardt, Stefan; von Georgi, Richard

2015-01-01

A psychiatric population (n=123) was examined on how music preferences had changed after the onset of a mental disorder. Most patients did not change their previous music preference; this group of patients considered music helpful for their mental state, showed more attractivity and enforcement as personality traits and used music more for emotion modulation. Patients who experienced a preference shift reported that music had impaired them during the time of illness; these patients showed less ego-strength, less confidence and less enforcement and used music less for arousal modulation. A third subgroup stopped listening to music completely after the onset of the mental disorder; these patients attribute less importance to music and also reported that music had impaired their mental state. They showed more ego-strength and used music less for emotion modulation. The results suggest that the use of music in everyday life can be helpful as an emotion modulation strategy. However, some patients might need instructions on how to use music in a functional way and not a dysfunctional one. Psychiatrists and psychotherapists as well as music therapists should be aware of emotion modulation strategies, subjective valence of music and personality traits of their patients. Due to the ubiquity of music, psychoeducative instructions on how to use music in everyday life plays an increasing role in the treatment of mental illness. PMID:26266024

The relationship between personality types and reward preferences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Nienaber

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Orientation: Research has shown that total rewards models structured according to individual preferences, positively influence efforts to attract, retain and motivate key employees. Yet, this is seldom done. Structuring total rewards models according to the preferences of employee segments is a viable alternative to accommodate individual preferences. Research purpose: The primary aim of the study was to determine the relationship between personality types and reward preferences. The secondary aim was to determine the reward preferences for different demographic groups. Motivation for the study: An enhanced understanding of reward preferences for different employee segments will enable employers to offer more competitive reward options to their employees. This may, in turn, have a positive impact on retention. Research design, approach and method: Two measuring instruments, the MBTI® Form GRV and the Rewards Preferences Questionnaire, were distributed electronically to 5 000 potential respondents. The results from 589 sets of questionnaires were used in the data analyses. Primary and secondary factor analyses were done on the items in the Rewards Preferences Questionnaire. Main findings/results: The study confirmed that individuals with certain personality types and personality preferences, have different preferences for certain reward categories. There was a stronger relationship between reward preferences and personality preferences than for reward preferences and personality types. Preferences for reward categories by different demographic groups were confirmed. The significant difference in reward preferences between Black and White respondents in particular was noteworthy, with Black respondents indicating significantly higher mean scores for all reward categories than White respondents. Finally, a total rewards framework influenced by the most prominent preferences for reward categories, was designed. Practical/Managerial implications

Patient-Centeredness as Physician Behavioral Adaptability to Patient Preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Carrard, Valérie; Schmid Mast, Marianne; Jaunin-Stalder, Nicole; Junod Perron, Noëlle; Sommer, Johanna

2018-05-01

A physician who communicates in a patient-centered way is a physician who adapts his or her communication style to what each patient needs. In order to do so, the physician has to (1) accurately assess each patient's states and traits (interpersonal accuracy) and (2) possess a behavioral repertoire to choose from in order to actually adapt his or her behavior to different patients (behavioral adaptability). Physician behavioral adaptability describes the change in verbal or nonverbal behavior a physician shows when interacting with patients who have different preferences in terms of how the physician should interact with them. We hypothesized that physician behavioral adaptability to their patients' preferences would lead to better patient outcomes and that physician interpersonal accuracy was positively related to behavioral adaptability. To test these hypotheses, we recruited 61 physicians who completed an interpersonal accuracy test before being videotaped during four consultations with different patients. The 244 participating patients indicated their preferences for their physician's interaction style prior to the consultation and filled in a consultation outcomes questionnaire directly after the consultation. We coded the physician's verbal and nonverbal behavior for each of the consultations and compared it to the patients' preferences to obtain a measure of physician behavioral adaptability. Results partially confirmed our hypotheses in that female physicians who adapted their nonverbal (but not their verbal) behavior had patients who reported more positive consultation outcomes. Moreover, the more female physicians were accurate interpersonally, the more they showed verbal and nonverbal behavioral adaptability. For male physicians, more interpersonal accuracy was linked to less nonverbal adaptability.

Elicitation of ostomy pouch preferences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bonnichsen, Ole

2011-01-01

Background: Previous studies about patients who have undergone ostomy surgery commonly address the issues of the surgery, complications, preoperative counseling, quality of life, and psychosocial changes following surgery. Only a limited number of studies deal with how technical improvements...... in stoma care would affect patients and, to the author's knowledge, the present study is the first to elicit preferences for potential improvements in ostomy pouches in the form of monetary values. Objective: This article examines and measures Swedish patients' preferences for potential improvements...... in ostomy pouch attributes. The theory, study design, elicitation procedure, and resulting preference structure of the sample is described. Methods: A discrete-choice experiment (DCE) was used to elicit preferences. Respondents were asked to choose between alternatives in choice sets, in which each...

Lessons learned by southern states in designating alternative routes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-08-01

The purpose of this report is to discuss the ''lessons learned'' by the five states within the southem region that have designated alternative or preferred routes under the regulations of the Department of Transportation (DOT) established for the transportation of radioactive materials. The document was prepared by reviewing applicable federal laws and regulations, examining state reports and documents and contacting state officials and routing agencies involved in making routing decisions. In undertaking this project, the Southern States Energy Board hopes to reveal the process used by states that have designated alternative routes and thereby share their experiences (i.e., lessons learned) with other southern states that have yet to make designations. Under DOT regulations (49 CFR 177.826), carriers of highway route controlled quantities of radioactive materials (which include spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste) must use preferred routes selected to reduce time in transit. Such preferred routes consist of (1) an interstate system highway with use of an interstate system bypass or beltway around cities when available, and (2) alternate routes selected by a ''state routing agency.''

Measuring children's food preferences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Annemarie; Kildegaard, Heidi; Gabrielsen, Gorm

2012-01-01

The aim of this study is to investigate if children’s food preferences can be reliable measured by using pictures of foods presented on a computer screen in a conjoint layout.We investigate reproducibility (test–retest) and infer validity by comparison with traditional hedonic evaluations...... juices (tangible products), chosen to span the preference spectrum, were hedonically evaluated for appearance and taste. Finally, an actual product choice was performed by having the children choose between two buns and two juices.Results showed that the computer evaluationswith pictures of foods...... provided reproducible information about the children’s visual food preferences, which were in concordance with both hedonic measures and products choices, and can thus be considered valid....

The Association between Learning Preferences and Preferred Methods of Assessment of Dental Students

Science.gov (United States)

Buchanan, Phil

2016-01-01

This study is designed to gather information concerning a possible relationship between how dental students prefer to take in and communicate new information and how they prefer to be assessed. Though there are numerous references in the literature regarding the learning styles of students there are also references to the inaccuracy of such…

Treatment preferences of psychotherapy patients with chronic PTSD.

Science.gov (United States)

Markowitz, John C; Meehan, Kevin B; Petkova, Eva; Zhao, Yihong; Van Meter, Page E; Neria, Yuval; Pessin, Hayley; Nazia, Yasmin

2016-03-01

Patient treatment preference may moderate treatment effect in major depressive disorder (MDD) studies. Little research has addressed preference in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); almost none has assessed actual patients' PTSD psychotherapy preferences. From a 14-week trial of chronic PTSD comparing prolonged exposure, relaxation therapy, and interpersonal psychotherapy, we report treatment preferences of the 110 randomized patients, explore preference correlates, and assess effects on treatment outcome. Patients recruited between 2008 and 2013 with chronic DSM-IV PTSD (Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale [CAPS] score ≥ 50) received balanced, scripted psychotherapy descriptions prerandomization and indicated their preferences. Analyses assessed relationships of treatment attitudes to demographic and clinical factors. We hypothesized that patients randomized to preferred treatments would have better outcomes, and to unwanted treatment worse outcomes. Eighty-seven patients (79%) voiced treatment preferences or disinclinations: 29 (26%) preferred prolonged exposure, 29 (26%) preferred relaxation therapy, and 56 (50%) preferred interpersonal psychotherapy (Cochran Q = 18.46, P psychotherapy (Cochran Q = 22.71, P psychotherapy preferences to outcome. Despite explanations emphasizing prolonged exposure's greater empirical support, patients significantly preferred interpersonal psychotherapy. Preference subtly affected psychotherapy outcome; depression appeared an important moderator of the effect of unwanted treatment on outcome. Potential biases to avoid in future research are discussed. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00739765. © Copyright 2015 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.

Valuing Manggarai Station – Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Rail Link Using Stated Preference Approach

OpenAIRE

Adi, Wahyu Tamtomo

2015-01-01

This study attempts to identify the characteristics and preference of the SHIA airport travelers, estimate the subjective value of in-vehicle time and waiting time by providing choice experiments regarding the available modes in combination with the Airport Rail Link (ARL) service as hypothetical situation, analyze how the values vary according to the socio-demographics of respondents and forecasting the mode sharing and the elasticity based on several scenarios. Five hundred respondents as p...

Retrospective dream components and musical preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Kroth, Jerry; Lamas, Jasmin; Pisca, Nicholas; Bourret, Kristy; Kollath, Miranda

2008-08-01

Retrospective dream components endorsed on the KJP Dream Inventory were correlated with those on the Short Test of Musical Preference for 68 graduate students in counseling psychology (11 men). Among 40 correlations, 6 were significant between preferences for Heavy Metal and Dissociative avoidance dreams (.32), Dreaming that you are dreaming (.40), Dreaming that you have fallen unconscious or asleep (.41), Recurring pleasantness (.31), and Awakening abruptly from a dream (-.31); between preferences for Rap/Hip-Hop and Sexual dreams (.27); and between preferences for Jazz and Recurring pleasantness in dreams (.33). Subjects preferring Classical music reported a higher incidence of Dreams of flying (.33) and rated higher Discontentedness in dreams (-.26). The meaning of these low values awaits research based on personality inventories and full dream reports.

How Spatial Relationships Influence Economic Preferences for Wind Power—A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lauren Knapp

2015-06-01

Full Text Available An increasing number of studies in the environmental and resource economic literature suggest that preferences for changes or improvements in environmental amenities, from water quality to recreation, are spatially heterogeneous. One of these effects in particular, distance decay, suggests that respondents exhibit a higher willingness to pay (WTP the closer they live to a proposed environmental improvement and vice versa. The importance of spatial effects cannot be underestimated. Several of these studies find significant biases in aggregate WTP values, and therefore social welfare, from models that disregard spatial factors. This relationship between spatial aspects and preferences, however, remains largely ignored in the non-market valuation literature applied to valuing preferences for renewable energy, generally, and wind power, specifically. To our knowledge, fourteen peer-reviewed studies have been conducted to estimate stated preferences (SP for onshore and/or offshore wind development, yet less than half of those utilize any measure to account for the relationship between spatial effects and preferences. Fewer still undertake more robust measures that account for these spatially dependent relationships, such as via GIS, outside incorporating a single ‘distance’ attribute within the choice experiment (CE referenda. This paper first reviews the methodologies of the SP wind valuation studies that have integrated measure(s to account for spatial effects. We then categorize these effects into three dimensions—distance to a proposed wind project, distance to existing wind project(s, and cumulative effects—supporting each with a discussion of significant findings, including those found in the wind hedonic and acceptance literature. Policy implications that can be leveraged to maximize social welfare when siting future wind projects as well as recommendations for additional research to control for preference spatial heterogeneity in wind

State income tax policy and geographic labour force mobility in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Saltz, I S

1998-10-01

"This study empirically investigates the impact of state income tax policy on U.S. interstate migration [of the labor force] for the period 1985-89. It finds that people vote with their feet and prefer to move so as to minimize their state income tax liabilities." excerpt

Children's gender and parents' color preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Philip N

2013-04-01

Gender differences in color preferences have been found in adults and children, but they remain unexplained. This study asks whether the gendered social environment in adulthood affects parents' color preferences. The analysis used the gender of children to represent one aspect of the gendered social environment. Because having male versus female children in the U.S. is generally randomly distributed, it provides something of a natural experiment, offering evidence about the social construction of gender in adulthood. The participants were 749 adults with children who responded to an online survey invitation, asking "What's your favorite color?" Men were more likely to prefer blue, while women were more likely to prefer red, purple, and pink, consistent with long-standing U.S. patterns. The effect of having only sons was to widen the existing gender differences between men and women, increasing the odds that men prefer blue while reducing the odds that women do; and a marginally significant effect showed women having higher odds of preferring pink when they have sons only. The results suggest that, in addition to any genetic, biological or child-socialization effects shaping adults' tendency to segregate their color preferences by gender, the gender context of adulthood matters as well.

Patient preferences for community pharmacy asthma services: a discrete choice experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Naik-Panvelkar, Pradnya; Armour, Carol; Rose, John M; Saini, Bandana

2012-10-01

Specialized community pharmacy services, involving the provision of disease state management and care by pharmacists, have been developed and trialled and have demonstrated very good health outcomes. Most of these services have been developed from a healthcare professional perspective. However, for the future uptake and long-term sustainability of these services as well as for better and sustained health outcomes for patients, it is vital to gain an understanding of patients' preferences. We can then structure healthcare services to match these preferences and needs rather than around clinical viewpoints alone. The aim of this study was to elicit patient preferences for pharmacy-based specialized asthma services using a discrete choice experiment and to explore the value/importance that patients place on the different attributes of the asthma service. The existence of preference heterogeneity in the population was also investigated. The study was conducted with asthma patients who had recently experienced a specialized asthma management service at their pharmacy in New South Wales, Australia. Pharmacists delivering the asthma service mailed out the discrete choice questionnaires to participating patients at the end of 6 months of service provision. A latent class (LC) model was used to investigate each patient's strength of preference and preference heterogeneity for several key attributes related to asthma service provision: frequency of visits, access to pharmacist, interaction with pharmacy staff, availability of a private area for consultation, provision of lung function testing, type and depth of advice provision, number of days with asthma symptoms and cost of service. Eighty useable questionnaires (of 170 questionnaires sent out) were received (response rate 47.1%). The study identified various key elements of asthma services important to patients. Further, the LC analysis revealed three classes with differing patient preferences for levels of asthma service

Toddlers' food preferences. The impact of novel food exposure, maternal preferences and food neophobia.

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, Anika J; Mallan, Kimberley M; Byrne, Rebecca; Magarey, Anthea; Daniels, Lynne A

2012-12-01

Food preferences have been identified as a key determinant of children's food acceptance and consumption. The aim of this study was to identify factors that influence children's liking for fruits, vegetables and non-core foods. Participants were Australian mothers (median age at delivery=31years, 18-46years) and their two-year-old children (M=24months, SD=1month; 52% female) allocated to the control group (N=245) of the NOURISH RCT. The effects of repeated exposure to new foods, maternal food preferences and child food neophobia on toddlers' liking of vegetables, fruits and non-core foods and the proportion never tried were examined via hierarchical regression models; adjusting for key maternal (age, BMI, education) and child covariates (birth weight Z-score, gender), duration of breastfeeding and age of introduction to solids. Maternal preferences corresponded with child preferences. Food neophobia among toddlers was associated with liking fewer vegetables and fruits, and trying fewer vegetables. Number of repeated exposures to new food was not significantly associated with food liking at this age. Results highlight the need to: (i) encourage parents to offer a wide range of foods, regardless of their own food preferences, and (ii) provide parents with guidance on managing food neophobia. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Metabolic state alters economic decision making under risk in humans.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mkael Symmonds

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Animals' attitudes to risk are profoundly influenced by metabolic state (hunger and baseline energy stores. Specifically, animals often express a preference for risky (more variable food sources when below a metabolic reference point (hungry, and safe (less variable food sources when sated. Circulating hormones report the status of energy reserves and acute nutrient intake to widespread targets in the central nervous system that regulate feeding behaviour, including brain regions strongly implicated in risk and reward based decision-making in humans. Despite this, physiological influences per se have not been considered previously to influence economic decisions in humans. We hypothesised that baseline metabolic reserves and alterations in metabolic state would systematically modulate decision-making and financial risk-taking in humans.We used a controlled feeding manipulation and assayed decision-making preferences across different metabolic states following a meal. To elicit risk-preference, we presented a sequence of 200 paired lotteries, subjects' task being to select their preferred option from each pair. We also measured prandial suppression of circulating acyl-ghrelin (a centrally-acting orexigenic hormone signalling acute nutrient intake, and circulating leptin levels (providing an assay of energy reserves. We show both immediate and delayed effects on risky decision-making following a meal, and that these changes correlate with an individual's baseline leptin and changes in acyl-ghrelin levels respectively.We show that human risk preferences are exquisitely sensitive to current metabolic state, in a direction consistent with ecological models of feeding behaviour but not predicted by normative economic theory. These substantive effects of state changes on economic decisions perhaps reflect shared evolutionarily conserved neurobiological mechanisms. We suggest that this sensitivity in human risk-preference to current metabolic state has

Clinical decision-making: physicians' preferences and experiences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

White Martha

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Shared decision-making has been advocated; however there are relatively few studies on physician preferences for, and experiences of, different styles of clinical decision-making as most research has focused on patient preferences and experiences. The objectives of this study were to determine 1 physician preferences for different styles of clinical decision-making; 2 styles of clinical decision-making physicians perceive themselves as practicing; and 3 the congruence between preferred and perceived style. In addition we sought to determine physician perceptions of the availability of time in visits, and their role in encouraging patients to look for health information. Methods Cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of U.S. physicians. Results 1,050 (53% response rate physicians responded to the survey. Of these, 780 (75% preferred to share decision-making with their patients, 142 (14% preferred paternalism, and 118 (11% preferred consumerism. 87% of physicians perceived themselves as practicing their preferred style. Physicians who preferred their patients to play an active role in decision-making were more likely to report encouraging patients to look for information, and to report having enough time in visits. Conclusion Physicians tend to perceive themselves as practicing their preferred role in clinical decision-making. The direction of the association cannot be inferred from these data; however, we suggest that interventions aimed at promoting shared decision-making need to target physicians as well as patients.

Consumer preference in ranking walking function utilizing the walking index for spinal cord injury II.

Science.gov (United States)

Patrick, M; Ditunno, P; Ditunno, J F; Marino, R J; Scivoletto, G; Lam, T; Loffree, J; Tamburella, F; Leiby, B

2011-12-01

Blinded rank ordering. To determine consumer preference in walking function utilizing the walking Index for spinal cord injury II (WISCI II) in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI)from the Canada, the Italy and the United States of America. In all, 42 consumers with incomplete SCI (25 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar) from Canada (12/42), Italy (14/42) and the United States of America (16/42) ranked the 20 levels of the WISCI II scale by their individual preference for walking. Subjects were blinded to the original ranking of the WISCI II scale by clinical scientists. Photographs of each WISCI II level used in a previous pilot study were randomly shuffled and rank ordered. Percentile, conjoint/cluster and graphic analyses were performed. All three analyses illustrated consumer ranking followed a bimodal distribution. Ranking for two levels with physical assistance and two levels with a walker were bimodal with a difference of five to six ranks between consumer subgroups (quartile analysis). The larger cluster (N=20) showed preference for walking with assistance over the smaller cluster (N=12), whose preference was walking without assistance and more devices. In all, 64% (27/42) of consumers ranked WISCI II level with no devices or braces and 1 person assistance higher than multiple levels of the WISCI II requiring no assistance. These results were unexpected, as the hypothesis was that consumers would rank independent walking higher than walking with assistance. Consumer preference for walking function should be considered in addition to objective measures in designing SCI trials that use significant improvement in walking function as an outcome measure.

Preferences for distributional impacts of climate policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svenningsen, Lea Skræp; Thorsen, Bo Jellesmark

for such preferences is lacking. We design a discrete choice experiment that varies how climate policies affect the income of people living in the future in three geographical regions. The experiment is implemented on a representative sample of the Danish population and preferences are modelled in a latent class model...... expresses some form of distributional preferences, but shows positive preferences for costs, suggesting that responses could be influenced by strategic behaviour and over-signalling of commitment. Our results provide support for the inclusion of social preferences regarding distributional effects of climate...

Estimation of treatment preference effects in clinical trials when some participants are indifferent to treatment choice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen D. Walter

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In the two-stage randomised trial design, a randomly sampled subset of study participants are permitted to choose their own treatment, while the remaining participants are randomised to treatment in the usual way. Appropriate analysis of the data from both arms of the study allows investigators to estimate the impact on study outcomes of treatment preferences that patients may have, in addition to evaluating the usual direct effect of treatment. In earlier work, we showed how to optimise this design by making a suitable choice of the proportion of participants who should be assigned to the choice arm of the trial. However, we ignored the possibility of some participants being indifferent to the treatments under study. In this paper, we extend our earlier work to consider the analysis of two-stage randomised trials when some participants have no treatment preference, even if they are assigned to the choice arm and allowed to choose. Methods We compare alternative characterisations of the response profiles of the indifferent or undecided participants, and derive estimates of the treatment and preference effects on study outcomes. We also present corresponding test statistics for these parameters. The methods are illustrated with data from a clinical trial contrasting medical and surgical interventions. Results Expressions are obtained to estimate and test the impact of treatment choices on study outcomes, as well as the impact of the actual treatment received. Contrasts are defined between patients with stated treatment preferences and those with no preference. Alternative assumptions concerning the outcomes of undecided participants are described, and an approach leading to unbiased estimation and testing is identified. Conclusions Use of the two-stage design can provide important insights into determinants of study outcomes that are not identifiable with other designs. The design can remain attractive even in the presence of

Value Preferences of Social Workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Tartakovsky, Eugene; Walsh, Sophie D

2018-04-01

The current study examines value preferences of social workers in Israel. Using a theoretical framework of person-environment fit paradigm and theory of values, the study compared social workers (N = 641, mean age = 37.7 years, 91 percent female) with a representative sample of Israeli Jews (N = 1,600, mean age = 44.2, 52 percent female). Questionnaires included personal value preferences and sociodemographic variables (gender, age, education, religiosity, and immigrant status). Multivariate analysis of covariance showed that value preferences of social workers differed significantly from those of the general population. Analyses of covariance showed that social workers reported a higher preference for self-transcendence and a lower preference for conservation and self-enhancement values. Results have significance for the selection, training, and supervision of social workers. They suggest that it is important to assess to what extent selection processes for social workers are primarily recruiting social workers with shared values, thus creating an overly homogenous population of social workers. An understanding of personal value motivations can help social workers in their own process of self-development and growth, and to understand how the profession can fulfill their basic motivations.

Patients' preferences for nurses' gender in Jordan.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, Muayyad M; Alasad, Jafar A

2007-08-01

The purpose of the study was to examine patients' preferences for nurses' gender in Jordan. The public, private and university hospitals are represented by selecting one major hospital from each health sector. The sample size was 919 participants. Data were collected by a questionnaire through standardized individual interviews with patients. The findings of the study indicate that gender preferences are stronger among female patients than among male patients. Furthermore, two-thirds of female patients preferred female nurses, whereas only 3.4% preferred male nurses to care for them. In contrast, one-third of male patients' preferred male nurses, and only 10% preferred female nurses. The authors recommend that the high percentage of male nursing students need to be reconsidered by health policy-makers in Jordan.

Examining overlap in behavioral and neural representations of morals, facts, and preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Theriault, Jordan; Waytz, Adam; Heiphetz, Larisa; Young, Liane

2017-11-01

Metaethical judgments refer to judgments about the information expressed by moral claims. Moral objectivists generally believe that moral claims are akin to facts, whereas moral subjectivists generally believe that moral claims are more akin to preferences. Evidence from developmental and social psychology has generally favored an objectivist view; however, this work has typically relied on few examples, and analyses have disallowed statistical generalizations beyond these few stimuli. The present work addresses whether morals are represented as fact-like or preference-like, using behavioral and neuroimaging methods, in combination with statistical techniques that can (a) generalize beyond our sample stimuli, and (b) test whether particular item features are associated with neural activity. Behaviorally, and contrary to prior work, morals were perceived as more preference-like than fact-like. Neurally, morals and preferences elicited common magnitudes and spatial patterns of activity, particularly within the dorsal-medial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), a critical region for social cognition. This common DMPFC activity for morals and preferences was present across whole-brain conjunctions, and in individually localized functional regions of interest (targeting the theory of mind network). By contrast, morals and facts did not elicit any neural activity in common. Follow-up item analyses suggested that the activity elicited in common by morals and preferences was explained by their shared tendency to evoke representations of mental states. We conclude that morals are represented as far more subjective than prior work has suggested. This conclusion is consistent with recent theoretical research, which has argued that morality is fundamentally about regulating social relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Preferences in Data Production Planning

Science.gov (United States)

Golden, Keith; Brafman, Ronen; Pang, Wanlin

2005-01-01

This paper discusses the data production problem, which consists of transforming a set of (initial) input data into a set of (goal) output data. There are typically many choices among input data and processing algorithms, each leading to significantly different end products. To discriminate among these choices, the planner supports an input language that provides a number of constructs for specifying user preferences over data (and plan) properties. We discuss these preference constructs, how we handle them to guide search, and additional challenges in the area of preference management that this important application domain offers.

Game theory, conditional preferences, and social influence.

Science.gov (United States)

Stirling, Wynn C; Felin, Teppo

2013-01-01

Neoclassical noncooperative game theory is based on a simple, yet powerful synthesis of mathematical and logical concepts: unconditional and immutable preference orderings and individual rationality. Although this structure has proven useful for characterizing competitive multi-player behavior, its applicability to scenarios involving complex social relationships is problematic. In this paper we directly address this limitation by the introduction of a conditional preference structure that permits players to modulate their preference orderings as functions of the preferences of other players. Embedding this expanded preference structure in a formal and graphical framework provides a systematic approach for characterizing a complex society. The result is an influence network that allows conditional preferences to propagate through the community, resulting in an emergent social model which characterizes all of the social relationships that exist and which leads to solution concepts that account for both group and individual interests. The Ultimatum game is presented as an example of how social influence can be modeled with conditional preferences.

Ecological influences on individual differences in color preference.

Science.gov (United States)

Schloss, Karen B; Hawthorne-Madell, Daniel; Palmer, Stephen E

2015-11-01

How can the large, systematic differences that exist between individuals' color preferences be explained? The ecological valence theory (Palmer & Schloss, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107:8877-8882, 2010) posits that an individual's preference for each particular color is determined largely by his or her preferences for all correspondingly colored objects. Therefore, individuals should differ in their color preferences to the extent that they have different preferences for the same color-associated objects or that they experience different objects. Supporting this prediction, we found that individuals' color preferences were predicted better by their own preferences for correspondingly colored objects than by other peoples' preferences for the same objects. Moreover, the fit between color preferences and affect toward the colored objects was reliably improved when people's own idiosyncratic color-object associations were included in addition to a standard set of color-object associations. These and related results provide evidence that individual differences in color preferences are reliably influenced by people's personal experiences with colored objects in their environment.

"There is such a thing as too many daughters, but not too many sons": A qualitative study of son preference and fetal sex selection among Indian immigrants in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Puri, Sunita; Adams, Vincanne; Ivey, Susan; Nachtigall, Robert D

2011-04-01

In response to concerns from feminists, demographers, bioethicists, journalists, and health care professionals, the Indian government passed legislation in 1994 and 2003 prohibiting the use of sex selection technology and sex-selective abortion. In contrast, South Asian families immigrating to the United States find themselves in an environment where reproductive choice is protected by law and technologies enabling sex selection are readily available. Yet there has been little research exploring immigrant Indian women's narratives about the pressure they face to have sons, the process of deciding to utilize sex selection technologies, and the physical and emotional health implications of both son preference and sex selection. We undertook semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 65 immigrant Indian women in the United States who had pursued fetal sex selection on the East and West coasts of the United States between September 2004 and December 2009. Women spoke of son preference and sex selection as separate though intimately related phenomena, and the major themes that arose during interviews included the sociocultural roots of son preference; women's early socialization around the importance of sons; the different forms of pressure to have sons that women experienced from female in-laws and husbands; the spectrum of verbal and physical abuse that women faced when they did not have male children and/or when they found out they were carrying a female fetus; and the ambivalence with which women regarded their own experience of reproductive "choice." We found that 40% of the women interviewed had terminated prior pregnancies with female fetuses and that 89% of women carrying female fetuses in their current pregnancy pursued an abortion. These narratives highlight the interaction between medical technology and the perpetuation of this specific form of violence against women in an immigrant context where women are both the assumed beneficiaries of reproductive choice

An empirical study of tourist preferences using conjoint analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tripathi, S.N.

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Tourism and hospitality have become key global economic activities as expectations with regard to our use of leisure time have evolved, attributing greater meaning to our free time. While the growth in tourism has been impressive, India's share in total global tourism arrivals and earnings is quite insignificant. It is an accepted fact that India has tremendous potential for development of tourism. This anomaly and the various underlying factors responsible for it are the focus of our study. The objective being determination of customer preferences for multi attribute hybrid services like tourism, so as to enable the state tourism board to deliver a desired combination of intrinsic attributes, helping it to create a sustainable competitive advantage, leading to greater customer satisfaction and positive word of mouth. Conjoint analysis has been used for this purpose, which estimates the structure of a consumer’s preferences, given his/her overall evaluations of a set of alternatives that are pre-specified in terms of levels of different attributes.

Sex differences in mate preferences revisited: do people know what they initially desire in a romantic partner?

Science.gov (United States)

Eastwick, Paul W; Finkel, Eli J

2008-02-01

In paradigms in which participants state their ideal romantic-partner preferences or examine vignettes and photographs, men value physical attractiveness more than women do, and women value earning prospects more than men do. Yet it remains unclear if these preferences remain sex differentiated in predicting desire for real-life potential partners (i.e., individuals whom one has actually met). In the present study, the authors explored this possibility using speed dating and longitudinal follow-up procedures. Replicating previous research, participants exhibited traditional sex differences when stating the importance of physical attractiveness and earning prospects in an ideal partner and ideal speed date. However, data revealed no sex differences in the associations between participants' romantic interest in real-life potential partners (met during and outside of speed dating) and the attractiveness and earning prospects of those partners. Furthermore, participants' ideal preferences, assessed before the speed-dating event, failed to predict what inspired their actual desire at the event. Results are discussed within the context of R. E. Nisbett and T. D. Wilson's (1977) seminal article: Even regarding such a consequential aspect of mental life as romantic-partner preferences, people may lack introspective awareness of what influences their judgments and behavior. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved

Exploring consumer understanding and preferences for pharmacy quality information

Science.gov (United States)

Shiyanbola, Olayinka O.; Mort, Jane R.

2014-01-01

Objective: To describe consumer understanding of pharmacy quality measures and consumer preferences for pharmacy quality information. Methods: Semi-structured focus group design was combined with survey methods. Adults who filled prescription medications for self-reported chronic illnesses at community pharmacies discussed their understanding of Pharmacy Quality Alliance approved quality measures. Questions examined preference of pharmacy quality information rating systems (e.g. stars versus percentages) and desired data display/formats. During the focus group, participants completed a survey examining their understanding of each pharmacy quality measure. All focus group discussions were transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis and descriptive statistics. Results: Thirty-four individuals participated (mean age= 62.85; SD=16.05). Participants were unfamiliar with quality measures information and their level of understanding differed for each quality measure. Surveys indicated 94.1% understood “Drug-Drug Interactions” and “Helping Patients Get Needed Medications” better than other measures (e.g., 76.5% understood “Suboptimal Treatment of Hypertension in Patients with Diabetes”). Qualitative analysis indicated participants preferred an overall pharmacy rating for quick access and use. However, participants also wanted quality measures information displayed by health conditions. Participants favored comparison of their pharmacy to city data instead of state data. Most participants liked star ratings better than percentages, letter grades, or numerical ratings. Conclusions: Individuals who have a chronic illness and regularly use community pharmacies are interested in pharmacy quality measures. However, specific quality measures were not understood by some participants. Participants had specific preferences for the display of pharmacy quality information which will be helpful in the design of appropriate quality report systems. PMID

Exploring consumer understanding and preferences for pharmacy quality information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shiyanbola OO

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: To describe consumer understanding of pharmacy quality measures and consumer preferences for pharmacy quality information. Methods: Semi-structured focus group design was combined with survey methods. Adults who filled prescription medications for self-reported chronic illnesses at community pharmacies discussed their understanding of Pharmacy Quality Alliance approved quality measures. Questions examined preference of pharmacy quality information rating systems (e.g. stars versus percentages and desired data display/formats. During the focus group, participants completed a survey examining their understanding of each pharmacy quality measure. All focus group discussions were transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis and descriptive statistics. Results: Thirty-four individuals participated (mean age= 62.85; SD=16.05. Participants were unfamiliar with quality measures information and their level of understanding differed for each quality measure. Surveys indicated 94.1% understood “Drug-Drug Interactions” and “Helping Patients Get Needed Medications” better than other measures (e.g., 76.5% understood “Suboptimal Treatment of Hypertension in Patients with Diabetes”. Qualitative analysis indicated participants preferred an overall pharmacy rating for quick access and use. However, participants also wanted quality measures information displayed by health conditions. Participants favored comparison of their pharmacy to city data instead of state data. Most participants liked star ratings better than percentages, letter grades, or numerical ratings. Conclusions: Individuals who have a chronic illness and regularly use community pharmacies are interested in pharmacy quality measures. However, specific quality measures were not understood by some participants. Participants had specific preferences for the display of pharmacy quality information which will be helpful in the design of appropriate quality

Work-Family Conflict and Retirement Preferences

OpenAIRE

Raymo, James M.; Sweeney, Megan M

2005-01-01

Objectives: This study investigates relationships between perceived levels of work-family conflict and retirement preferences. Methods: Using the large sample of 52-54 year-old respondents to the 1992 Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, we estimate multinomial logistic regression models of preferences for partial and full retirement within the next ten years. We examine the association between preferences for retirement and perceived work-family conflict...

Capacity for Preferences: Respecting Patients with Compromised Decision-Making.

Science.gov (United States)

Wasserman, Jason Adam; Navin, Mark Christopher

2018-05-01

When a patient lacks decision-making capacity, then according to standard clinical ethics practice in the United States, the health care team should seek guidance from a surrogate decision-maker, either previously selected by the patient or appointed by the courts. If there are no surrogates willing or able to exercise substituted judgment, then the team is to choose interventions that promote a patient's best interests. We argue that, even when there is input from a surrogate, patient preferences should be an additional source of guidance for decisions about patients who lack decision-making capacity. Our proposal builds on other efforts to help patients who lack decision-making capacity provide input into decisions about their care. For example, "supported," "assisted," or "guided" decision-making models reflect a commitment to humanistic patient engagement and create a more supportive process for patients, families, and health care teams. But often, they are supportive processes for guiding a patient toward a decision that the surrogate or team believes to be in the patient's medical best interests. Another approach holds that taking seriously the preferences of such a patient can help surrogates develop a better account of what the patient's treatment choices would have been if the patient had retained decision-making capacity; the surrogate then must try to integrate features of the patient's formerly rational self with the preferences of the patient's currently compromised self. Patients who lack decision-making capacity are well served by these efforts to solicit and use their preferences to promote best interests or to craft would-be autonomous patient images for use by surrogates. However, we go further: the moral reasons for valuing the preferences of patients without decision-making capacity are not reducible to either best-interests or (surrogate) autonomy considerations but can be grounded in the values of liberty and respect for persons. This has

A test of the critical assumption of the sensory bias model for the evolution of female mating preference using neural networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Fuller, Rebecca C

2009-07-01

The sensory bias model for the evolution of mating preferences states that mating preferences evolve as correlated responses to selection on nonmating behaviors sharing a common sensory system. The critical assumption is that pleiotropy creates genetic correlations that affect the response to selection. I simulated selection on populations of neural networks to test this. First, I selected for various combinations of foraging and mating preferences. Sensory bias predicts that populations with preferences for like-colored objects (red food and red mates) should evolve more readily than preferences for differently colored objects (red food and blue mates). Here, I found no evidence for sensory bias. The responses to selection on foraging and mating preferences were independent of one another. Second, I selected on foraging preferences alone and asked whether there were correlated responses for increased mating preferences for like-colored mates. Here, I found modest evidence for sensory bias. Selection for a particular foraging preference resulted in increased mating preference for similarly colored mates. However, the correlated responses were small and inconsistent. Selection on foraging preferences alone may affect initial levels of mating preferences, but these correlations did not constrain the joint evolution of foraging and mating preferences in these simulations.

Washington State Retail Marijuana Legalization: Parent and Adolescent Preferences for Marijuana Messages in a Sample of Low-Income Families.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanson, Koren; Haggerty, Kevin P; Fleming, Charles B; Skinner, Martie L; Casey-Goldstein, Mary; Mason, W Alex; Thompson, Ronald W; Redmond, Cleve

2018-03-01

As legalization of nonmedical retail marijuana increases, states are implementing public health campaigns designed to prevent increases in youth marijuana use. This study investigated which types of marijuana-related messages were rated most highly by parents and their teens and whether these preferences differed by age and marijuana use. Nine marijuana-focused messages were developed as potential radio, newspaper, or television announcements. The messages fell into four categories: information about the law, general advice/conversation starters, consequences of marijuana use/positive alternatives, and information on potential harmful effects of teen marijuana use. The messages were presented through an online survey to 282 parent (84% female) and 283 teen (54% female) participants in an ongoing study in Washington State. Both parents and youth rated messages containing information about the law higher than other types of messages. Messages about potential harms of marijuana use were rated lower than other messages by both generations. Parents who had used marijuana within the past year (n = 80) rated consequence/positive alternative messages lower than parent nonusers (n = 199). Youth marijuana users (n = 77) and nonusers (n = 202) both rated messages containing information about the law higher than other types of messages. Youth users and nonusers were less likely than parents to believe messages on the harmful effects of marijuana. The high ratings for messages based on information about the marijuana law highlight the need for informational health campaigns to be established as a first step in the marijuana legalization process.

Nurse practitioner preferences for distance education methods related to learning style, course content, and achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Andrusyszyn, M A; Cragg, C E; Humbert, J

2001-04-01

The relationships among multiple distance delivery methods, preferred learning style, content, and achievement was sought for primary care nurse practitioner students. A researcher-designed questionnaire was completed by 86 (71%) participants, while 6 engaged in follow-up interviews. The results of the study included: participants preferred learning by "considering the big picture"; "setting own learning plans"; and "focusing on concrete examples." Several positive associations were found: learning on own with learning by reading, and setting own learning plans; small group with learning through discussion; large group with learning new things through hearing and with having learning plans set by others. The most preferred method was print-based material and the least preferred method was audio tape. The most suited method for content included video teleconferencing for counseling, political action, and transcultural issues; and video tape for physical assessment. Convenience, self-direction, and timing of learning were more important than delivery method or learning style. Preferred order of learning was reading, discussing, observing, doing, and reflecting. Recommended considerations when designing distance courses include a mix of delivery methods, specific content, outcomes, learner characteristics, and state of technology.

Goal preference shapes confrontations of sexism.

Science.gov (United States)

Mallett, Robyn K; Melchiori, Kala J

2014-05-01

Although most women assume they would confront sexism, assertive responses are rare. We test whether women's preference for respect or liking during interpersonal interactions explains this surprising tendency. Women report preferring respect relative to liking after being asked sexist, compared with inappropriate, questions during a virtual job interview (Study 1, n = 149). Women's responses to sexism increase in assertiveness along with their preference for being respected, and a respect-preference mediates the relation between the type of questions and response assertiveness (Studies 1 and 2). In Study 2 (n = 105), women's responses to sexist questions are more assertive when the sense of belonging is enhanced with a belonging manipulation. Moreover, preference for respect mediates the effect of the type of questions on response assertiveness, but only when belonging needs are met. Thus the likelihood of confrontation depends on the goal to be respected outweighing the goal to be liked.

Algorithms for Learning Preferences for Sets of Objects

Science.gov (United States)

Wagstaff, Kiri L.; desJardins, Marie; Eaton, Eric

2010-01-01

A method is being developed that provides for an artificial-intelligence system to learn a user's preferences for sets of objects and to thereafter automatically select subsets of objects according to those preferences. The method was originally intended to enable automated selection, from among large sets of images acquired by instruments aboard spacecraft, of image subsets considered to be scientifically valuable enough to justify use of limited communication resources for transmission to Earth. The method is also applicable to other sets of objects: examples of sets of objects considered in the development of the method include food menus, radio-station music playlists, and assortments of colored blocks for creating mosaics. The method does not require the user to perform the often-difficult task of quantitatively specifying preferences; instead, the user provides examples of preferred sets of objects. This method goes beyond related prior artificial-intelligence methods for learning which individual items are preferred by the user: this method supports a concept of setbased preferences, which include not only preferences for individual items but also preferences regarding types and degrees of diversity of items in a set. Consideration of diversity in this method involves recognition that members of a set may interact with each other in the sense that when considered together, they may be regarded as being complementary, redundant, or incompatible to various degrees. The effects of such interactions are loosely summarized in the term portfolio effect. The learning method relies on a preference representation language, denoted DD-PREF, to express set-based preferences. In DD-PREF, a preference is represented by a tuple that includes quality (depth) functions to estimate how desired a specific value is, weights for each feature preference, the desired diversity of feature values, and the relative importance of diversity versus depth. The system applies statistical

Local consequences of national policies - a spatial analysis of preferences for forest access reduction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Anne Sofie Elberg; Lundhede, Thomas; Jacobsen, Jette Bredahl

2016-01-01

Stated preference studies eliciting welfare economic consequence of national policies, are often not considering the spatial variation in supply and demand. This spatial variation may however cause large distributional heterogeneity of policy changes. In this study, we use a choice experiment to ...

Social preferences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gulløv, Eva

2014-01-01

The focus of this article is social divisions among preschool children in daycare centers. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in three daycare centers in Denmark, the analysis concerns young children’s social preferences. The ethnographic material shows that despite an explicit political ambition...... of daycares as means for social and cultural integration, lines of division do exist amongst the children. Such divisions are established in the daily interactions of the daycare, but they also reflect those of the broader society. With a focus on children’s interactions and social preferences, the material...... indicates that children’s choices of playmates run along lines of ethnic and class divisions. The article will address this pattern and analyze its causes in order to understand why such lines of divisions are to be found in an institutional context designed to overcome social inequality and prevent social...

Predator-induced changes of female mating preferences: innate and experiential effects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Indy Jeane

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In many species males face a higher predation risk than females because males display elaborate traits that evolved under sexual selection, which may attract not only females but also predators. Females are, therefore, predicted to avoid such conspicuous males under predation risk. The present study was designed to investigate predator-induced changes of female mating preferences in Atlantic mollies (Poecilia mexicana. Males of this species show a pronounced polymorphism in body size and coloration, and females prefer large, colorful males in the absence of predators. Results In dichotomous choice tests predator-naïve (lab-reared females altered their initial preference for larger males in the presence of the cichlid Cichlasoma salvini, a natural predator of P. mexicana, and preferred small males instead. This effect was considerably weaker when females were confronted visually with the non-piscivorous cichlid Vieja bifasciata or the introduced non-piscivorous Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus. In contrast, predator experienced (wild-caught females did not respond to the same extent to the presence of a predator, most likely due to a learned ability to evaluate their predators' motivation to prey. Conclusions Our study highlights that (a predatory fish can have a profound influence on the expression of mating preferences of their prey (thus potentially affecting the strength of sexual selection, and females may alter their mate choice behavior strategically to reduce their own exposure to predators. (b Prey species can evolve visual predator recognition mechanisms and alter their mate choice only when a natural predator is present. (c Finally, experiential effects can play an important role, and prey species may learn to evaluate the motivational state of their predators.

24 CFR 1000.120 - May a recipient use Indian preference or tribal preference in selecting families for housing...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false May a recipient use Indian preference or tribal preference in selecting families for housing assistance? 1000.120 Section 1000.120... AMERICAN HOUSING ACTIVITIES Affordable Housing Activities § 1000.120 May a recipient use Indian preference...

HOST PLANT PREFERENCES OF BEMISIA TABACI GENNADIUS

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

JINGYing; HUANGJian; MARui-yan; HANJu-cai

2003-01-01

The preferences of Bemisia tabaci Gennadius for five host plants:poinsettia, tomato, cabbage,sweet potato and flowering Chinese cabbage, was tested using a Y-tube olfactometer and a desiccator in the labo-ratory. The results show that B. tabaci adults were attracted by the odors of the five plants. The order of prefer-ence was poinsettia > flowering Chinese cabbage > sweet potato > cabbage > tomato. Preference was extremely sig-nificant between poinsettia and the other four plants, and between flowering Chinese cabbage, cabbage and toma-to. There was no significant difference in preference for flowering Chinese cabbage and sweet potato, sweet pota-to, cabbage and tomato or between cabbage and tomato.

Assessing Preference for Social Interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Clay, Casey J.; Samaha, Andrew L.; Bloom, Sarah E.; Bogoev, Bistra K.; Boyle, Megan A.

2013-01-01

We examined a procedure to assess preference for social interactions in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Preferences were identified in five individuals using a paired-choice procedure in which participants approached therapists who provided different forms of social interactions. A subsequent tracking test showed that…

Wanting, liking, and preference construction.

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Xianchi; Brendl, C Miguel; Ariely, Dan

2010-06-01

According to theories on preference construction, multiple preferences result from multiple contexts (e.g., loss vs. gain frames). This implies that people can have different representations of a preference in different contexts. Drawing on Berridge's (1999) distinction between unconscious liking and wanting, we hypothesize that people may have multiple representations of a preference toward an object even within a single context. Specifically, we propose that people can have different representations of an object's motivational value, or incentive value, versus its emotional value, or likability, even when the object is placed in the same context. Study 1 establishes a divergence between incentive value and likability of faces using behavioral measures. Studies 2A and 2B, using self-report measures, provide support for our main hypothesis that people are perfectly aware of these distinct representations and are able to access them concurrently at will. We also discuss implications of our findings for the truism that people seek pleasure and for expectancy-value theories.

The Development of Reasoning about Beliefs: Fact, Preference, and Ideology.

Science.gov (United States)

Heiphetz, Larisa; Spelke, Elizabeth S; Harris, Paul L; Banaji, Mahzarin R

2013-05-01

The beliefs people hold about the social and physical world are central to self-definition and social interaction. The current research analyzes reasoning about three kinds of beliefs: those that concern matters of fact (e.g., dinosaurs are extinct), preference (e.g., green is the prettiest color), and ideology (e.g., there is only one God). The domain of ideology is of unique interest because it is hypothesized to contain elements of both facts and preferences. If adults' distinct reasoning about ideological beliefs is the result of prolonged experience with the physical and social world, children and adults should reveal distinct patterns of differentiating kinds of beliefs, and this difference should be particularly pronounced with respect to ideological beliefs. On the other hand, if adults' reasoning about beliefs is a basic component of social cognition, children and adults should demonstrate similar belief representations and patterns of belief differentiation. Two experiments demonstrate that 5-10 year old children and adults similarly judged religious beliefs to be intermediate between factual beliefs (where two disagreeing people cannot both be right) and preferences (where they can). From the age of 5 years and continuing into adulthood, individuals distinguished ideological beliefs from other types of mental states and demonstrated limited tolerance for belief-based disagreements.

A Review of Generic Preference-Based Measures for Use in Cost-Effectiveness Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Brazier, John; Ara, Roberta; Rowen, Donna; Chevrou-Severac, Helene

2017-12-01

Generic preference-based measures (GPBMs) of health are used to obtain the quality adjustment weight required to calculate the quality-adjusted life year in health economic models. GPBMs have been developed to use across different interventions and medical conditions and typically consist of a self-complete patient questionnaire, a health state classification system, and preference weights for all states defined by the classification system. Of the six main GPBMs, the three most frequently used are the Health Utilities Index version 3, the EuroQol 5 dimensions (3 and 5 levels), and the Short Form 6 dimensions. There are considerable differences in GPBMs in terms of the content and size of descriptive systems (i.e. the numbers of dimensions of health and levels of severity within these), the methods of valuation [e.g. time trade-off (TTO), standard gamble (SG)], and the populations (e.g. general population, patients) used to value the health states within the descriptive systems. Although GPBMs are anchored at 1 (full health) and 0 (dead), they produce different health state utility values when completed by the same patient. Considerations when selecting a measure for use in a clinical trial include practicality, reliability, validity and responsiveness. Requirements of reimbursement agencies may impose additional restrictions on suitable measures for use in economic evaluations, such as the valuation technique (TTO, SG) or the source of values (general public vs. patients).

Increasing the appeal and utilization of services for alcohol and drug problems: what consumers and their social networks prefer.

Science.gov (United States)

Tucker, Jalie A; Foushee, H Russell; Simpson, Cathy A

2009-01-01

A large gap exists in the United States between population need and the utilization of treatment services for substance-related problems. Surveying consumer preferences may provide valuable information for developing more attractive services with greater reach and impact on population health. A state-level telephone survey using random digit dialling sampling methods assessed preferences for available professional, mutual help, and lay resources, as well as innovative computerized and self-help resources that enhance anonymity (N=439 households in Alabama). Respondents preferred help that involved personal contact compared to computerized help or self-help, but were indifferent whether personalized help was dispensed by professional or lay providers. Attractive service features included lower cost, insurance coverage, confidentiality, rapid and convenient appointments, and addressing functional problems and risks of substance misuse. Respondents in households with a member who misused substances rated services more negatively, especially if services had been used. The findings highlight the utility of viewing substance misusers and their social networks as consumers, and the implications for improving the system of care and for designing and marketing services that are responsive to user preferences are discussed.

A stated preference investigation into the Chinese demand for farmed vs. wild bear bile.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam J Dutton

Full Text Available Farming of animals and plants has recently been considered not merely as a more efficient and plentiful supply of their products but also as a means of protecting wild populations from that trade. Amongst these nascent farming products might be listed bear bile. Bear bile has been exploited by traditional Chinese medicinalists for millennia. Since the 1980s consumers have had the options of: illegal wild gall bladders, bile extracted from caged live bears or the acid synthesised chemically. Despite these alternatives bears continue to be harvested from the wild. In this paper we use stated preference techniques using a random sample of the Chinese population to estimate demand functions for wild bear bile with and without competition from farmed bear bile. We find a willingness to pay considerably more for wild bear bile than farmed. Wild bear bile has low own price elasticity and cross price elasticity with farmed bear bile. The ability of farmed bear bile to reduce demand for wild bear bile is at best limited and, at prevailing prices, may be close to zero or have the opposite effect. The demand functions estimated suggest that the own price elasticity of wild bear bile is lower when competing with farmed bear bile than when it is the only option available. This means that the incumbent product may actually sell more items at a higher price when competing than when alone in the market. This finding may be of broader interest to behavioural economists as we argue that one explanation may be that as product choice increases price has less impact on decision making. For the wildlife farming debate this indicates that at some prices the introduction of farmed competition might increase the demand for the wild product.

A stated preference investigation into the Chinese demand for farmed vs. wild bear bile.

Science.gov (United States)

Dutton, Adam J; Hepburn, Cameron; Macdonald, David W

2011-01-01

Farming of animals and plants has recently been considered not merely as a more efficient and plentiful supply of their products but also as a means of protecting wild populations from that trade. Amongst these nascent farming products might be listed bear bile. Bear bile has been exploited by traditional Chinese medicinalists for millennia. Since the 1980s consumers have had the options of: illegal wild gall bladders, bile extracted from caged live bears or the acid synthesised chemically. Despite these alternatives bears continue to be harvested from the wild. In this paper we use stated preference techniques using a random sample of the Chinese population to estimate demand functions for wild bear bile with and without competition from farmed bear bile. We find a willingness to pay considerably more for wild bear bile than farmed. Wild bear bile has low own price elasticity and cross price elasticity with farmed bear bile. The ability of farmed bear bile to reduce demand for wild bear bile is at best limited and, at prevailing prices, may be close to zero or have the opposite effect. The demand functions estimated suggest that the own price elasticity of wild bear bile is lower when competing with farmed bear bile than when it is the only option available. This means that the incumbent product may actually sell more items at a higher price when competing than when alone in the market. This finding may be of broader interest to behavioural economists as we argue that one explanation may be that as product choice increases price has less impact on decision making. For the wildlife farming debate this indicates that at some prices the introduction of farmed competition might increase the demand for the wild product.

Veteran satisfaction and treatment preferences in response to a posttraumatic stress disorder specialty clinic orientation group.

Science.gov (United States)

Schumm, Jeremiah A; Walter, Kristen H; Bartone, Anne S; Chard, Kathleen M

2015-06-01

To maximize accessibility to evidence-based treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has widely disseminated cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and prolonged exposure (PE) therapy to VA clinicians. However, there is a lack of research on veteran preferences when presented with a range of psychotherapy and medication options. This study uses a mixed-method approach to explore veteran satisfaction with a VA PTSD specialty clinic pre-treatment orientation group, which provides education about available PTSD treatment options. This study also tested differences in treatment preference in response to the group. Participants were 183 US veterans. Most were White, male, and referred to the clinic by a VA provider. Results indicated high satisfaction with the group in providing an overview of services and helping to inform treatment choice. Most preferred psychotherapy plus medications (63.4%) or psychotherapy only (30.1%). Participants endorsed a significantly stronger preference for CPT versus other psychotherapies. PE was significantly preferred over nightmare resolution therapy and present-centered therapy, and both PE and cognitive-behavioral conjoint therapy were preferred over virtual reality exposure therapy. Results suggest that by informing consumers about evidence-based treatments for PTSD, pre-treatment educational approaches may increase consumer demand for these treatment options. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Job satisfaction and preference drift.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maassen van den Brink, H.; Groot, W.J.N.

1999-01-01

Most empirical studies do not find that higher wages lead to more job satisfaction. In this paper we argue that the insignificant effect of wages on job satisfaction is due to preference drift. We adapt the standard ordered response model to allow for preference shifts. The empirical results support

Engaging Young People: Deliberative Preferences in Discussions About News and Politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cynthia Peacock

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The Internet affords users a unique and low-cost way to engage with news, politics, and one another. Although young people are the most likely age cohort to go online, it is questionable whether young people take advantage of the Internet as a deliberative space. We examine the way college students perceive the online world as a venue for political discussion by analyzing responses from six focus groups conducted with college students across the United States. Using deliberative theory as a guide, we examine focus group participants’ thoughts about political discussion both online and offline. Our findings indicate that young people’s preferences for online discussions about politics and the news consistently link to the ideals of deliberation. Young people prefer engaging with others who are knowledgeable and remain flexible and calm during discussions. Goals for engaging in conversations about politics primarily revolved around sharing information and opinions. Participants preferred civil discourse that focuses on commonalities rather than differences between people. This study provides greater insight into how the rising generation currently engages with politics and the news and reasons why many people hesitate to participate in online discussions about public affairs.

Preferred Methods of Learning for Nursing Students in an On-Line Degree Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Hampton, Debra; Pearce, Patricia F; Moser, Debra K

Investigators have demonstrated that on-line courses result in effective learning outcomes, but limited information has been published related to preferred teaching strategies. Delivery of on-line courses requires various teaching methods to facilitate interaction between students, content, and technology. The purposes of this study were to understand student teaching/learning preferences in on-line courses to include (a) differences in preferred teaching/learning methods for on-line nursing students across generations and (b) which teaching strategies students found to be most engaging and effective. Participants were recruited from 2 accredited, private school nursing programs (N=944) that admit students from across the United States and deliver courses on-line. Participants provided implied consent, and 217 (23%) students completed the on-line survey. Thirty-two percent of the students were from the Baby Boomer generation (1946-1964), 48% from Generation X (1965-1980), and 20% from the Millennial Generation (born after 1980). The preferred teaching/learning methods for students were videos or narrated PowerPoint presentations, followed by synchronous Adobe Connect educations sessions, assigned journal article reading, and e-mail dialog with the instructor. The top 2 methods identified by participants as the most energizing/engaging and most effective for learning were videos or narrated PowerPoint presentations and case studies. The teaching/learning method least preferred by participants and that was the least energizing/engaging was group collaborative projects with other students; the method that was the least effective for learning was wikis. Baby Boomers and Generation X participants had a significantly greater preference for discussion board (PBaby Boomer and Generation X students and rated on-line games as significantly more energizing/engaging and more effective for learning (PBaby Boomer and Generation X students. In conclusion, the results of this

Big two personality and big three mate preferences: similarity attracts, but country-level mate preferences crucially matter.

Science.gov (United States)

Gebauer, Jochen E; Leary, Mark R; Neberich, Wiebke

2012-12-01

People differ regarding their "Big Three" mate preferences of attractiveness, status, and interpersonal warmth. We explain these differences by linking them to the "Big Two" personality dimensions of agency/competence and communion/warmth. The similarity-attracts hypothesis predicts that people high in agency prefer attractiveness and status in mates, whereas those high in communion prefer warmth. However, these effects may be moderated by agentics' tendency to contrast from ambient culture, and communals' tendency to assimilate to ambient culture. Attending to such agentic-cultural-contrast and communal-cultural-assimilation crucially qualifies the similarity-attracts hypothesis. Data from 187,957 online-daters across 11 countries supported this model for each of the Big Three. For example, agentics-more so than communals-preferred attractiveness, but this similarity-attracts effect virtually vanished in attractiveness-valuing countries. This research may reconcile inconsistencies in the literature while utilizing nonhypothetical and consequential mate preference reports that, for the first time, were directly linked to mate choice.

Learning Style Preferences of Southeast Asian Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Clara C.

2000-01-01

Investigated the perceptual learning style preferences (auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and tactile) and preferences for group and individual learning of Southeast Asian students compared to white students. Surveys indicated significant differences in learning style preferences between Southeast Asian and white students and between the diverse…

Migration Elasticities, Fiscal Federalism and the Ability of States to Redistribute Income

OpenAIRE

Giertz, Seth H.; Tosun, Mehmet S.

2012-01-01

This paper develops a simulation model in order to examine the effectiveness of state attempts at redistribution under a variety of migration elasticity assumptions. Key outputs from the simulation include the impact of tax-induced migration on state revenues, excess burden, and fiscal externalities. With modest migration elasticities, the costs of state-level redistribution are substantial, but state action may still be preferred to a federal policy that is at odds with preferences of a stat...

Public preferences for government spending in Canada

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramji Sabrina

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract This study considers three questions: 1. What are the Canadian public’s prioritization preferences for new government spending on a range of public health-related goods outside the scope of the country’s national system of health insurance? 2. How homogenous or heterogeneous is the Canadian public in terms of these preferences? 3. What factors are predictive of the Canadian public’s preferences for new government spending? Data were collected in 2008 from a national random sample of Canadian adults through a telephone interview survey (n =1,005. Respondents were asked to rank five spending priorities in terms of their preference for new government spending. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted. As a first priority, Canadian adults prefer spending on child care (26.2%, followed by pharmacare (23.1%, dental care (20.8%, home care (17.2%, and vision care (12.7%. Sociodemographic characteristics predict spending preferences, based on the social position and needs of respondents. Policy leaders need to give fair consideration to public preferences in priority setting approaches in order to ensure that public health-related goods are distributed in a manner that best suits population needs.

Children Reason about Shared Preferences

Science.gov (United States)

Fawcett, Christine A.; Markson, Lori

2010-01-01

Two-year-old children's reasoning about the relation between their own and others' preferences was investigated across two studies. In Experiment 1, children first observed 2 actors display their individual preferences for various toys. Children were then asked to make inferences about new, visually inaccessible toys and books that were described…

Teachers' preferences towards textbook

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stanojević Darko D.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, using the method named Conjoint analysis, and with the goal of determining teacher's preferences in the process of textbook selection, and also defining the prototype of quality textbook which will could be used in the classroom. With consideration of criteria defined in the previous researches on this topic, an continuing the work on those results, we will create clear hypothetical prototype of the textbook which will satisfy the teacher's preference.

Comparing welfare estimates across stated preference and uncertainty elicitation formats for air quality improvements in Nairobi, Kenya

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ndambiri, H.; Brouwer, R.; Mungatana, E.

2016-01-01

The effect of preference uncertainty on estimated willingness to pay (WTP) is examined using identical payment cards and alternative uncertainty elicitation procedures in three split samples, focusing on air quality improvement in Nairobi. The effect of the stochastic payment card (SPC) and

"I can do perfectly well without a car!": An exploration of stated preferences for middle-distance travel

NARCIS (Netherlands)

N.J.A. van Exel (Job); G. de Graaf; P. Rietveld (Piet)

2011-01-01

textabstractThis article presents the results of a study exploring travellers' preferences for middle-distance travel using Q-methodology. Respondents rank-ordered 42 opinion statements regarding travel choice and motivations for travel in general and for car and public transport as alternative

Greenery in the university environment: Students’ preferences and perceived restoration likelihood

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

A large body of evidence shows that interaction with greenery can be beneficial for human stress reduction, emotional states, and improved cognitive function. It can, therefore, be expected that university students might benefit from greenery in the university environment. Before investing in real-life interventions in a university environment, it is necessary to first explore students’ perceptions of greenery in the university environment. This study examined (1) preference for university indoor and outdoor spaces with and without greenery (2) perceived restoration likelihood of university outdoor spaces with and without greenery and (3) if preference and perceived restoration likelihood ratings were modified by demographic characteristics or connectedness to nature in Dutch university students (N = 722). Digital photographic stimuli represented four university spaces (lecture hall, classroom, study area, university outdoor space). For each of the three indoor spaces there were four or five stimuli conditions: (1) the standard design (2) the standard design with a colorful poster (3) the standard design with a nature poster (4) the standard design with a green wall (5) the standard design with a green wall plus interior plants. The university outdoor space included: (1) the standard design (2) the standard design with seating (3) the standard design with colorful artifacts (4) the standard design with green elements (5) the standard design with extensive greenery. Multi-level analyses showed that students gave higher preference ratings to the indoor spaces with a nature poster, a green wall, or a green wall plus interior plants than to the standard designs and the designs with the colorful posters. Students also rated preference and perceived restoration likelihood of the outdoor spaces that included greenery higher than those without. Preference and perceived restoration likelihood were not modified by demographic characteristics, but students with strong

Greenery in the university environment: Students' preferences and perceived restoration likelihood.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicole van den Bogerd

Full Text Available A large body of evidence shows that interaction with greenery can be beneficial for human stress reduction, emotional states, and improved cognitive function. It can, therefore, be expected that university students might benefit from greenery in the university environment. Before investing in real-life interventions in a university environment, it is necessary to first explore students' perceptions of greenery in the university environment. This study examined (1 preference for university indoor and outdoor spaces with and without greenery (2 perceived restoration likelihood of university outdoor spaces with and without greenery and (3 if preference and perceived restoration likelihood ratings were modified by demographic characteristics or connectedness to nature in Dutch university students (N = 722. Digital photographic stimuli represented four university spaces (lecture hall, classroom, study area, university outdoor space. For each of the three indoor spaces there were four or five stimuli conditions: (1 the standard design (2 the standard design with a colorful poster (3 the standard design with a nature poster (4 the standard design with a green wall (5 the standard design with a green wall plus interior plants. The university outdoor space included: (1 the standard design (2 the standard design with seating (3 the standard design with colorful artifacts (4 the standard design with green elements (5 the standard design with extensive greenery. Multi-level analyses showed that students gave higher preference ratings to the indoor spaces with a nature poster, a green wall, or a green wall plus interior plants than to the standard designs and the designs with the colorful posters. Students also rated preference and perceived restoration likelihood of the outdoor spaces that included greenery higher than those without. Preference and perceived restoration likelihood were not modified by demographic characteristics, but students with strong

Greenery in the university environment: Students' preferences and perceived restoration likelihood.

Science.gov (United States)

van den Bogerd, Nicole; Dijkstra, S Coosje; Seidell, Jacob C; Maas, Jolanda

2018-01-01

A large body of evidence shows that interaction with greenery can be beneficial for human stress reduction, emotional states, and improved cognitive function. It can, therefore, be expected that university students might benefit from greenery in the university environment. Before investing in real-life interventions in a university environment, it is necessary to first explore students' perceptions of greenery in the university environment. This study examined (1) preference for university indoor and outdoor spaces with and without greenery (2) perceived restoration likelihood of university outdoor spaces with and without greenery and (3) if preference and perceived restoration likelihood ratings were modified by demographic characteristics or connectedness to nature in Dutch university students (N = 722). Digital photographic stimuli represented four university spaces (lecture hall, classroom, study area, university outdoor space). For each of the three indoor spaces there were four or five stimuli conditions: (1) the standard design (2) the standard design with a colorful poster (3) the standard design with a nature poster (4) the standard design with a green wall (5) the standard design with a green wall plus interior plants. The university outdoor space included: (1) the standard design (2) the standard design with seating (3) the standard design with colorful artifacts (4) the standard design with green elements (5) the standard design with extensive greenery. Multi-level analyses showed that students gave higher preference ratings to the indoor spaces with a nature poster, a green wall, or a green wall plus interior plants than to the standard designs and the designs with the colorful posters. Students also rated preference and perceived restoration likelihood of the outdoor spaces that included greenery higher than those without. Preference and perceived restoration likelihood were not modified by demographic characteristics, but students with strong

Personality correlates of music preferences in the Czech Republic

OpenAIRE

Franek, Marek

2009-01-01

This study examines the structure of music preferences in the sample of participants from the Czech Republic (n=521), differences in structure of music preferences among various age groups and the associations between these preferences and certain personality characteristics. The exploratory factor analysis revealed five music preference dimensions. Further analysis addressed the question how music preferences are related to personality characteristics. Preferences for these music dimensions ...

A choice modelling analysis on the similarity between distribution utilities' and industrial customers' price and quality preferences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soederberg, Magnus

2008-01-01

The Swedish Electricity Act states that electricity distribution must comply with both price and quality requirements. In order to maintain efficient regulation it is necessary to firstly, define quality attributes and secondly, determine a customer's priorities concerning price and quality attributes. If distribution utilities gain an understanding of customer preferences and incentives for reporting them, the regulator can save a lot of time by surveying them rather than their customers. This study applies a choice modelling methodology where utilities and industrial customers are asked to evaluate the same twelve choice situations in which price and four specific quality attributes are varied. The preferences expressed by the utilities, and estimated by a random parameter logit, correspond quite well with the preferences expressed by the largest industrial customers. The preferences expressed by the utilities are reasonably homogenous in relation to forms of association (private limited, public and trading partnership). If the regulator acts according to the preferences expressed by the utilities, smaller industrial customers will have to pay for quality they have not asked for. (author)

Factors associated with preference for dying at home among terminally ill patients with cancer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schou-Andersen, Marianne; Ullersted, Maria P; Jensen, Anders Bonde

2016-01-01

relatives of deceased patients who died of cancer in Denmark in 2006. Bereaved relatives were asked to state patient's preference concerning place of death at the beginning and end of the palliative period. These data were recently combined with updated, extensive demographic and socio-economic data from...

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CONSUMER PREFERENCES RESEARCH PROCESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MIRELA-CRISTINA VOICU

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Information is one of the most important resources that a company must possess. Some information is hidden deep in the black box - the mind of the consumer, as in the case of information about consumer preferences. Although it seems a concept difficult to grasp, it was shown that consumer preferences can be effectively measured and their research may provide a deeper understanding of the choices that consumers make when deciding to select an offer against another and when deciding to continue in time the relationship with one supplier. The following paper reveals some important aspects regarding the use of information regarding consumer preferences, the fundamentals behind consumer preferences research and the milestones in the consumer preferences research process.

Characteristics of the consumer preferences research process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirela-Cristina Voicu

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Information is one of the most important resources that a company must possess. Some information is hidden deep in the black box - the mind of the consumer, as in the case of information about consumer preferences. Although it seems a concept difficult to grasp, it was shown that consumer preferences can be effectively measured and their research may provide a deeper understanding of the choices that consumers make when deciding to select an offer against another and when deciding to continue in time the relationship with one supplier. The following paper reveals some important aspects regarding the use of information regarding consumer preferences, the fundamentals behind consumer preferences research and the milestones in the consumer preferences research process.

Other-regarding preferences and leadership styles

OpenAIRE

Kocher, Martin G.; Pogrebna, Ganna; Sutter, Matthias

2009-01-01

We use a laboratory experiment to examine whether and to what extent other-regarding preferences of team leaders influence their leadership style in choice under risk. We find that leaders who prefer efficiency or report high levels of selfishness are more likely to exercise an autocratic leadership style by ignoring preferences of the other team members. Yet, inequity aversion has no significant impact on leadership styles. Elected leaders have a higher propensity than exogenously assigned l...

Preference reversal in quantum decision theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vyacheslav I. Yukalov

2015-10-01

Full Text Available We consider the psychological effect of preference reversal and showthat it finds a natural explanation in the frame of quantum decisiontheory. When people choose between lotteries with non-negative payoffs, they prefer a more certain lottery because of uncertainty aversion. But when people evaluate lottery prices, e.g. for selling to others the right to play them, they do this more rationally, being less subject to behavioral biases. This difference can be explained bythe presence of the attraction factors entering the expression of quantumprobabilities. Only the existence of attraction factors can explain why,considering two lotteries with close utility factors, a decision maker prefers one of them when choosing, but evaluates higher the other one when pricing. We derive a general quantitative criterion for the preference reversal to occur that relates the utilities of the two lotteries to the attraction factors under choosing versus pricing and test successfully its application on experiments by Tversky et al.We also show that the planning paradox can be treated as a kind of preference reversal.

Preference reversal in quantum decision theory

Science.gov (United States)

Yukalov, Vyacheslav I.; Sornette, Didier

2015-01-01

We consider the psychological effect of preference reversal and show that it finds a natural explanation in the frame of quantum decision theory. When people choose between lotteries with non-negative payoffs, they prefer a more certain lottery because of uncertainty aversion. But when people evaluate lottery prices, e.g., for selling to others the right to play them, they do this more rationally, being less subject to behavioral biases. This difference can be explained by the presence of the attraction factors entering the expression of quantum probabilities. Only the existence of attraction factors can explain why, considering two lotteries with close utility factors, a decision maker prefers one of them when choosing, but evaluates higher the other one when pricing. We derive a general quantitative criterion for the preference reversal to occur that relates the utilities of the two lotteries to the attraction factors under choosing vs. pricing and test successfully its application on experiments by Tversky et al. We also show that the planning paradox can be treated as a kind of preference reversal. PMID:26500592

48 CFR 552.270-2 - Historic Preference.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... in the competition, the Government will give a 2.5 percent price preference to suitable non-historic... Government will give a 2.5 percent price preference to suitable non-historic developed or undeveloped sites... tradeoffs among price and non-price factors, the Government will give a price evaluation preference, based...

Do women and providers value the same features of contraceptive products? Results of a best-worst stated preference experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Weisberg, Edith; Bateson, Deborah; Knox, Stephanie; Haas, Marion; Viney, Rosalie; Street, Deborah; Fiebig, Denzil

2013-06-01

To determine how women and physicians rate individual characteristics of contraceptives. Discrete choice experiments are used in health economics to elicit preferences for healthcare products. A choice experiment uses hypothetical scenarios to determine which individual factors influence choice. Women and general practitioners (GPs) were shown individual characteristics of contraceptives, not always matching existing methods, and chose the best and worst features. Two hundred women, mean age 36, 71% using contraception, were presented with descriptions of 16 possible methods and asked to indicate their preference for individual characteristics. One hundred and sixty-two GPs, mostly women, also completed 16 descriptions. Longer duration of action was most favoured by both, followed by lighter periods with less pain or amenorrhoea. The least attractive features for women were heavier and more painful periods, high cost, irregular periods, low efficacy (10% failure) and weight gain of 3 kg. GPs ranked a 10% pregnancy rate as least attractive followed by heavy painful periods and a 5% failure rate. Women and GPs differed in their ranking of contraceptive characteristics. Long duration of use, high efficacy, minimal or no bleeding without pain, were preferred by both. Very undesirable were heavy periods especially with pain, and low efficacy.

Students' reasons for preferring teleological explanations

Science.gov (United States)

Trommler, Friederike; Gresch, Helge; Hammann, Marcus

2018-01-01

The teleological bias, a major learning obstacle, involves explaining biological phenomena in terms of purposes and goals. To probe the teleological bias, researchers have used acceptance judgement tasks and preference judgement tasks. In the present study, such tasks were used with German high school students (N = 353) for 10 phenomena from human biology, that were explained both teleologically and causally. A sub-sample (n = 26) was interviewed about the reasons for their preferences. The results showed that the students favoured teleological explanations over causal explanations. Although the students explained their preference judgements etiologically (i.e. teleologically and causally), they also referred to a wide range of non-etiological criteria (i.e. familiarity, complexity, relevance and five more criteria). When elaborating on their preference for causal explanations, the students often focused not on the causality of the phenomenon, but on mechanisms whose complexity they found attractive. When explaining their preference for teleological explanations, they often focused not teleologically on purposes and goals, but rather on functions, which they found familiar and relevant. Generally, students' preference judgements rarely allowed for making inferences about causal reasoning and teleological reasoning, an issue that is controversial in the literature. Given that students were largely unaware of causality and teleology, their attention must be directed towards distinguishing between etiological and non-etiological reasoning. Implications for educational practice as well as for future research are discussed.

Lighting preferences in individual offices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

João Roberto Gomes de Faria

Full Text Available Abstract Workplaces with good daylighting offer visual comfort to users, give them a series of physiological and psychological benefits and allow good performance of visual activities, besides saving energy. However, this solution is not always adopted: lighting type preferences involve many variables besides the availability of daylight. This paper explores a case study through the analysis of questionnaire answers and computer simulations of a series of metrics related to quality of lighting with the aim of finding explanations for the lighting preferences of individual office users. The results show that, although the offices present good daylighting conditions and no glare potential, and users are satisfied with daylighting, these parameters are not sufficient to explain the predominant lighting preferences. The findings have also shown that there is no consensus about which parameters potentially cause visual comfort, while the parameters that cause discomfort are clearly identified. In addition, in this study, 49% of the preference for mixed lighting (daylight plus electrical light can be explained by the fact that mixed lighting produces better modeling than daylighting alone.

Circadian Phase Preference in Pediatric Bipolar Disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kerri L. Kim

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Pediatric bipolar disorder (BD rates have notably increased over the past three decades. Given the significant morbidity and mortality associated with BD, efforts are needed to identify factors useful in earlier detection to help address this serious public health concern. Sleep is particularly important to consider given the sequelae of disrupted sleep on normative functioning and that sleep is included in diagnostic criteria for both Major Depressive and Manic Episodes. Here, we examine one component of sleep—i.e., circadian phase preference with the behavioral construct of morningness/eveningness (M/E. In comparing 30 BD and 45 typically developing control (TDC participants, ages 7–17 years, on the Morningness-Eveningness Scale for Children (MESC, no between-group differences emerged. Similar results were found when comparing three groups (BD−ADHD; BD+ADHD; TDC. Consistent with data available on circadian phase preference in adults with BD, however, we found that BD adolescents, ages 13 years and older, endorsed significantly greater eveningness compared to their TDC peers. While the current findings are limited by reliance on subjective report and the high-rate of comorbid ADHD among the BD group, this finding that BD teens demonstrate an exaggerated shift towards eveningness than would be developmentally expected is important. Future studies should compare the circadian rhythms across the lifespan for individuals diagnosed with BD, as well as identify the point at which BD youth part ways with their healthy peers in terms of phase preference. In addition, given our BD sample was overall euthymic, it may be that M/E is more state vs. trait specific in latency age youth. Further work would benefit from assessing circadian functioning using a combination of rating forms and laboratory-based measures. Improved understanding of sleep in BD may identify behavioral targets for inclusion in prevention and intervention protocols.

The Effect of Implicit Preferences on Food Consumption: Moderating Role of Ego Depletion and Impulsivity

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yan; Zhu, Jinglei; Hu, Yi; Fang, Yuan; Wang, Guosen; Cui, Xianghua; Wang, Lei

2016-01-01

Ego depletion has been found to moderate the effect of implicit preferences on food consumption, such that implicit preferences predict consumption only under a depleted state. The present study tested how trait impulsivity impacts the effect of implicit preferences on food consumption in a depleted condition. Trait impulsivity was measured by means of self-report and a stop signal task. Results showed that both self-reported impulsivity and behavioral impulsivity moderated the ‘depletion and then eating according to implicit preferences’ effect, albeit in different ways. Participants high in self-reported impulsivity and low in behavioral impulsivity were more vulnerable to the effect of depletion on eating. The implications of these results for extant theories are discussed. Future research is needed to verify whether or not trait impulsivity is associated with vulnerability to depletion across different self-control domains. PMID:27881966

Modern Policyholder Preferences and Scenario-Based Projections

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Ninna Reitzel

This PhD thesis covers aspects of policyholder preferences and life insurance projections based on economic scenarios. Both topics are relevant to policyholders as well as to the life insurance and pension industry—and equally important, the topics give rise to a variety of interesting mathematical...... is important for designing competitive life insurance and savings products and for providing sound advice to policyholders. Preferences come in many shapes and forms. In this thesis, we focus on separation of risk and time preferences and preferences for smooth investment. The latter is modeled with something...

Preferred skin color enhancement for photographic color reproduction

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Huanzhao; Luo, Ronnier

2011-01-01

Skin tones are the most important colors among the memory color category. Reproducing skin colors pleasingly is an important factor in photographic color reproduction. Moving skin colors toward their preferred skin color center improves the color preference of skin color reproduction. Several methods to morph skin colors to a smaller preferred skin color region has been reported in the past. In this paper, a new approach is proposed to further improve the result of skin color enhancement. An ellipsoid skin color model is applied to compute skin color probabilities for skin color detection and to determine a weight for skin color adjustment. Preferred skin color centers determined through psychophysical experiments were applied for color adjustment. Preferred skin color centers for dark, medium, and light skin colors are applied to adjust skin colors differently. Skin colors are morphed toward their preferred color centers. A special processing is applied to avoid contrast loss in highlight. A 3-D interpolation method is applied to fix a potential contouring problem and to improve color processing efficiency. An psychophysical experiment validates that the method of preferred skin color enhancement effectively identifies skin colors, improves the skin color preference, and does not objectionably affect preferred skin colors in original images.

A Study on the Relationships between Digital Game Preference and Game Preference Reason with Gender, Class Level and Learning Styles

OpenAIRE

Ferhat Kadir PALA; Mukaddes ERDEM

2011-01-01

This study examined for to determine the relationships between digital game preferences and the game preferences reasons with gender, class levels and learning styles of university students. Study group consisted of students of Computer Education and Instructional Technology Department. Game preferences and preference reasons data were gathered by an open ended 16 items questionnaire. Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory was used for collecting learning styles data. As a result, significant relati...

User Preferences in Image Map Using

Science.gov (United States)

Vondráková, A.; Vozenilek, V.

2016-06-01

In the process of map making, the attention is given to the resulting image map (to be accurate, readable, and suit the primary purpose) and its user aspects. Current cartography understands the user issues as all matters relating to user perception, map use and also user preferences. Most commercial cartographic production is strongly connected to economic circumstances. Companies are discovering user's interests and market demands. However, is it sufficient to focus just on the user's preferences? Recent research on user aspects at Palacký University Olomouc addresses a much wider scope of user aspects. The user's preferences are very often distorting - the users think that the particular image map is kind, beautiful, and useful and they wants to buy it (or use it - it depends on the form of the map production). But when the same user gets the task to use practically this particular map (such as finding the shortest way), so the user concludes that initially preferred map is useless, and uses a map, that was worse evaluated according to his preferences. It is, therefore, necessary to evaluate not only the correctness of image maps and their aesthetics but also to assess the user perception and other user issues. For the accomplishment of such testing, eye-tracking technology is a useful tool. The research analysed how users read image maps, or if they prefer image maps over traditional maps. The eye tracking experiment on the comparison of the conventional and image map reading was conducted. The map readers were asked to solve few simple tasks with either conventional or image map. The readers' choice of the map to solve the task was one of investigated aspect of user preferences. Results demonstrate that the user preferences and user needs are often quite different issues. The research outcomes show that it is crucial to implement map user testing into the cartographic production process.

Patients' preferences for doctors' attire in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamada, Yasuhiro; Takahashi, Osamu; Ohde, Sachiko; Deshpande, Gautam A; Fukui, Tsuguya

2010-01-01

Physicians' attire is one important factor to enhance the physician-patient relationship. However, there are few studies that examine patients' preferences for physicians' attire in Japan. We sought to assess patients' preference regarding doctors' attire and to assess the influence of doctors' attire on patients' confidence in their physician. Furthermore, we examined whether patients' preferences would change among various clinical situations. Employing a cross-sectional design, Japanese outpatients chosen over one week in October 2008 from waiting rooms in various outpatient departments at St. Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo, were given a 10-item questionnaire. A 5-point Likert scale was used to estimate patient preference for four types of attire in both male and female physicians, including semi-formal attire, white coat, surgical scrubs, and casual wear. In addition, a 4-point Likert Scale was used to measure the influence of doctors' attire on patient confidence. Japanese outpatients consecutively chosen from waiting rooms at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo for one week in October 2008. Of 2,272 outpatients enrolled, 1483 (67.1%) of respondents were women. Mean age of subjects was 53.8 years (SD 16.2 years). Respondents most preferred the white coat (mean rank: 4.18, SD: 0.75) and preferred casual attire the least (mean rank: 2.32, SD: 0.81). For female physicians, 1.4% of respondents ranked the white coat little/least preferred while 64.7% of respondents ranked casual wear little/least preferred. Among respondents who most preferred the white coat for physician attire, perceived hygiene (62.7%) and inspiring confidence (59.3%) were important factors for doctor's attire. Around 70% of all respondents reported that physicians' attire has an influence on their confidence in their physician. This study confirms that Japanese outpatients prefer a white coat. Furthermore, this study strongly suggests that wearing a white coat could favorably

77 FR 18899 - To Modify Duty-Free Treatment Under the Generalized System of Preferences and For Other Purposes

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-29

... Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) if such country fails to act in good faith in recognizing as binding or in enforcing arbitral awards in favor of United States citizens or a corporation, partnership, or... faith in enforcing arbitral awards in favor of United States citizens or a corporation, partnership, or...

Desires and management preferences of stakeholders regarding feral cats in the Hawaiian islands.

Science.gov (United States)

Lohr, Cheryl A; Lepczyk, Christopher A

2014-04-01

Feral cats are abundant in many parts of the world and a source of conservation conflict. Our goal was to clarify the beliefs and desires held by stakeholders regarding feral cat abundance and management. We measured people's desired abundance of feral cats in the Hawaiian Islands and identified an order of preference for 7 feral cat management techniques. In 2011 we disseminated a survey to 5407 Hawaii residents. Approximately 46% of preidentified stakeholders and 20% of random residents responded to the survey (1510 surveys returned). Results from the potential for conflict index revealed a high level of consensus (86.9% of respondents) that feral cat abundance should be decreased. The 3 most common explanatory variables for respondents' stated desires were enjoyment from seeing feral cats (84%), intrinsic value of feral cats (12%), and threat to native fauna (73%). The frequency with which respondents saw cats and change in the perceived abundance of cats also affected respondent's desired abundance of cats; 41.3% of respondents stated that they saw feral cats daily and 44.7% stated that the cat population had increased in recent years. Other potential environmental impacts of feral cats had little affect on desired abundance. The majority of respondents (78%) supported removing feral cats from the natural environment permanently. Consensus convergence models with data from 1388 respondents who completed the relevant questions showed live capture and lethal injection was the most preferred technique and trap-neuter-release was the least preferred technique for managing feral cats. However, the acceptability of each technique varied among stakeholders. Our results suggest that the majority of Hawaii's residents would like to see effective management that reduces the abundance of feral or free-roaming cats. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

Intelligence and musical mode preference

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bonetti, Leonardo; Costa, Marco

2016-01-01

The relationship between fluid intelligence and preference for major–minor musical mode was investigated in a sample of 80 university students. Intelligence was assessed by the Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices. Musical mode preference was assessed by presenting 14 pairs of musical stimuli...... differences at the cognitive and personality level related to the enjoyment of sad music....

Preferences for food safety and animal welare - a choice experiment study comparing organic and conventional consumers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Tove; Mørkbak, Morten; Denver, Sigrid

Food quality attributes such as food safety and animal welfare are increasingly influencing consumers' choices of food products. These attributes are not readily traded in the markets. Hence, stated preference methods have proven to be valuable tools for eliciting preferences for such non......-traded attributes. A discrete choice experiment is employed, and the results indicate that consumers in general are willing to pay a premium for campylobacter-free chicken and for improved animal welfare; and they are willing to pay an additional premium for a product containing both attributes. Further, we find...

An Intra-Group Perspective on Leader Preferences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bøggild, Troels; Laustsen, Lasse

2016-01-01

This article argues that followers’ preferences for dominant leadership vary according to two types of exploitation risks from other individuals within the group. Previous work demonstrates that contexts of inter-group war and peace make followers prefer dominant- and non-dominant-looking leaders......, respectively. We add an intra-group perspective to this literature. Four original studies demonstrate that contexts with high risks of free-riding and criminal behavior from other group members (i.e., horizontal exploitation) increase preferences for dominant-looking leaders, whereas contexts with high risks...... of unresponsive, self-interested behavior from leaders themselves (i.e., vertical exploitation) decrease preferences for dominant-looking leaders. Moreover, within this framework of intra-group exploitation risks we show that followers prefer leaders from another vis-à-vis their own ethnic coalition to look less...

Estimating the Value of Life, Injury, and Travel Time Saved Using a Stated Preference Framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Niroomand, Naghmeh; Jenkins, Glenn P

2016-06-01

The incidence of fatality over the period 2010-2014 from automobile accidents in North Cyprus is 2.75 times greater than the average for the EU. With the prospect of North Cyprus entering the EU, many investments will need to be undertaken to improve road safety in order to reach EU benchmarks. The objective of this study is to provide local estimates of the value of a statistical life and injury along with the value of time savings. These are among the parameter values needed for the evaluation of the change in the expected incidence of automotive accidents and time savings brought about by such projects. In this study we conducted a stated choice experiment to identify the preferences and tradeoffs of automobile drivers in North Cyprus for improved travel times, travel costs, and safety. The choice of route was examined using mixed logit models to obtain the marginal utilities associated with each attribute of the routes that consumers choose. These estimates were used to assess the individuals' willingness to pay (WTP) to avoid fatalities and injuries and to save travel time. We then used the results to obtain community-wide estimates of the value of a statistical life (VSL) saved, the value of injury (VI) prevented, and the value per hour of travel time saved. The estimates for the VSL range from €315,293 to €1,117,856 and the estimates of VI from € 5,603 to € 28,186. These values are consistent, after adjusting for differences in incomes, with the median results of similar studies done for EU countries. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Allometry of Prey Preferences

Science.gov (United States)

Kalinkat, Gregor; Rall, Björn Christian; Vucic-Pestic, Olivera; Brose, Ulrich

2011-01-01

The distribution of weak and strong non-linear feeding interactions (i.e., functional responses) across the links of complex food webs is critically important for their stability. While empirical advances have unravelled constraints on single-prey functional responses, their validity in the context of complex food webs where most predators have multiple prey remain uncertain. In this study, we present conceptual evidence for the invalidity of strictly density-dependent consumption as the null model in multi-prey experiments. Instead, we employ two-prey functional responses parameterised with allometric scaling relationships of the functional response parameters that were derived from a previous single-prey functional response study as novel null models. Our experiments included predators of different sizes from two taxonomical groups (wolf spiders and ground beetles) simultaneously preying on one small and one large prey species. We define compliance with the null model predictions (based on two independent single-prey functional responses) as passive preferences or passive switching, and deviations from the null model as active preferences or active switching. Our results indicate active and passive preferences for the larger prey by predators that are at least twice the size of the larger prey. Moreover, our approach revealed that active preferences increased significantly with the predator-prey body-mass ratio. Together with prior allometric scaling relationships of functional response parameters, this preference allometry may allow estimating the distribution of functional response parameters across the myriads of interactions in natural ecosystems. PMID:21998724

The allometry of prey preferences.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gregor Kalinkat

Full Text Available The distribution of weak and strong non-linear feeding interactions (i.e., functional responses across the links of complex food webs is critically important for their stability. While empirical advances have unravelled constraints on single-prey functional responses, their validity in the context of complex food webs where most predators have multiple prey remain uncertain. In this study, we present conceptual evidence for the invalidity of strictly density-dependent consumption as the null model in multi-prey experiments. Instead, we employ two-prey functional responses parameterised with allometric scaling relationships of the functional response parameters that were derived from a previous single-prey functional response study as novel null models. Our experiments included predators of different sizes from two taxonomical groups (wolf spiders and ground beetles simultaneously preying on one small and one large prey species. We define compliance with the null model predictions (based on two independent single-prey functional responses as passive preferences or passive switching, and deviations from the null model as active preferences or active switching. Our results indicate active and passive preferences for the larger prey by predators that are at least twice the size of the larger prey. Moreover, our approach revealed that active preferences increased significantly with the predator-prey body-mass ratio. Together with prior allometric scaling relationships of functional response parameters, this preference allometry may allow estimating the distribution of functional response parameters across the myriads of interactions in natural ecosystems.

Importance of GluA1 subunit-containing AMPA glutamate receptors for morphine state-dependency.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teemu Aitta-aho

Full Text Available In state-dependency, information retrieval is most efficient when the animal is in the same state as it was during the information acquisition. State-dependency has been implicated in a variety of learning and memory processes, but its mechanisms remain to be resolved. Here, mice deficient in AMPA-type glutamate receptor GluA1 subunits were first conditioned to morphine (10 or 20 mg/kg s.c. during eight sessions over four days using an unbiased procedure, followed by testing for conditioned place preference at morphine states that were the same as or different from the one the mice were conditioned to. In GluA1 wildtype littermate mice the same-state morphine dose produced the greatest expression of place preference, while in the knockout mice no place preference was then detected. Both wildtype and knockout mice expressed moderate morphine-induced place preference when not at the morphine state (saline treatment at the test; in this case, place preference was weaker than that in the same-state test in wildtype mice. No correlation between place preference scores and locomotor activity during testing was found. Additionally, as compared to the controls, the knockout mice showed unchanged sensitization to morphine, morphine drug discrimination and brain regional μ-opioid receptor signal transduction at the G-protein level. However, the knockout mice failed to show increased AMPA/NMDA receptor current ratios in the ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons of midbrain slices after a single injection of morphine (10 mg/kg, s.c., sliced prepared 24 h afterwards, in contrast to the wildtype mice. The results indicate impaired drug-induced state-dependency in GluA1 knockout mice, correlating with impaired opioid-induced glutamate receptor neuroplasticity.

MAGDM linear-programming models with distinct uncertain preference structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Zeshui S; Chen, Jian

2008-10-01

Group decision making with preference information on alternatives is an interesting and important research topic which has been receiving more and more attention in recent years. The purpose of this paper is to investigate multiple-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) problems with distinct uncertain preference structures. We develop some linear-programming models for dealing with the MAGDM problems, where the information about attribute weights is incomplete, and the decision makers have their preferences on alternatives. The provided preference information can be represented in the following three distinct uncertain preference structures: 1) interval utility values; 2) interval fuzzy preference relations; and 3) interval multiplicative preference relations. We first establish some linear-programming models based on decision matrix and each of the distinct uncertain preference structures and, then, develop some linear-programming models to integrate all three structures of subjective uncertain preference information provided by the decision makers and the objective information depicted in the decision matrix. Furthermore, we propose a simple and straightforward approach in ranking and selecting the given alternatives. It is worth pointing out that the developed models can also be used to deal with the situations where the three distinct uncertain preference structures are reduced to the traditional ones, i.e., utility values, fuzzy preference relations, and multiplicative preference relations. Finally, we use a practical example to illustrate in detail the calculation process of the developed approach.

76 FR 67530 - Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice of Actions Arising Out of the 2010 Annual GSP Review

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-01

... OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice of Actions Arising Out of the 2010 Annual GSP Review AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative. ACTION: Notice of a petition accepted for review; and request for comments. SUMMARY: In September...

Preferences and actual chemotherapy decision-making in the greater plains collaborative breast cancer study.

Science.gov (United States)

Berger, Ann M; Buzalko, Russell J; Kupzyk, Kevin A; Gardner, Bret J; Djalilova, Dilorom M; Otte, Julie L

2017-12-01

There is renewed interest in identifying breast cancer patients' participation in decision-making about adjuvant chemotherapy. There is a gap in the literature regarding the impact of these decisions on quality of life (QOL) and quality of care (QOC). Our aims were to determine similarities and differences in how patients diagnosed with breast cancer preferred to make decisions with providers about cancer treatment, to examine the patient's recall of her role when the decision was made about chemotherapy and to determine how preferred and actual roles, as well as congruence between them, relate to QOL and perceived QOC. Greater Plains Collaborative clinical data research network of PCORnet conducted the 'Share Thoughts on Breast Cancer' survey among women 12-18 months post-diagnosis at eight sites in seven Midwestern United States. Patients recalled their preferred and actual treatment decision-making roles and three new shared decision-making (SDM) variables were created. Patients completed QOL and QOC measurements. Correlations and t-tests were used. Of 1235 returned surveys, 873 (full sample) and 329 (subsample who received chemotherapy) were used. About one-half of women in both the full (50.7%) and subsample (49.8%,) preferred SDM with providers about treatment decisions, but only 41.2% (full) and 42.6% (subsample) reported experiencing SDM. Significant differences were found between preferred versus actual roles in the full (p decision-making variables with QOL, but there was an association with QOC. The subsample's decision-making variables related to several QOL scales and QOC items, with a more patient-centered decision than originally preferred related to higher physical and social/family well-being, overall QOL and QOC. Patients benefit from providers' efforts to identify patient preferences, encourage an active role in SDM, and tailor decision making to their desired choice.

How Are Mate Preferences Linked with Actual Mate Selection? Tests of Mate Preference Integration Algorithms Using Computer Simulations and Actual Mating Couples.

Science.gov (United States)

Conroy-Beam, Daniel; Buss, David M

2016-01-01

Prior mate preference research has focused on the content of mate preferences. Yet in real life, people must select mates among potentials who vary along myriad dimensions. How do people incorporate information on many different mate preferences in order to choose which partner to pursue? Here, in Study 1, we compare seven candidate algorithms for integrating multiple mate preferences in a competitive agent-based model of human mate choice evolution. This model shows that a Euclidean algorithm is the most evolvable solution to the problem of selecting fitness-beneficial mates. Next, across three studies of actual couples (Study 2: n = 214; Study 3: n = 259; Study 4: n = 294) we apply the Euclidean algorithm toward predicting mate preference fulfillment overall and preference fulfillment as a function of mate value. Consistent with the hypothesis that mate preferences are integrated according to a Euclidean algorithm, we find that actual mates lie close in multidimensional preference space to the preferences of their partners. Moreover, this Euclidean preference fulfillment is greater for people who are higher in mate value, highlighting theoretically-predictable individual differences in who gets what they want. These new Euclidean tools have important implications for understanding real-world dynamics of mate selection.

How Are Mate Preferences Linked with Actual Mate Selection? Tests of Mate Preference Integration Algorithms Using Computer Simulations and Actual Mating Couples.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Conroy-Beam

Full Text Available Prior mate preference research has focused on the content of mate preferences. Yet in real life, people must select mates among potentials who vary along myriad dimensions. How do people incorporate information on many different mate preferences in order to choose which partner to pursue? Here, in Study 1, we compare seven candidate algorithms for integrating multiple mate preferences in a competitive agent-based model of human mate choice evolution. This model shows that a Euclidean algorithm is the most evolvable solution to the problem of selecting fitness-beneficial mates. Next, across three studies of actual couples (Study 2: n = 214; Study 3: n = 259; Study 4: n = 294 we apply the Euclidean algorithm toward predicting mate preference fulfillment overall and preference fulfillment as a function of mate value. Consistent with the hypothesis that mate preferences are integrated according to a Euclidean algorithm, we find that actual mates lie close in multidimensional preference space to the preferences of their partners. Moreover, this Euclidean preference fulfillment is greater for people who are higher in mate value, highlighting theoretically-predictable individual differences in who gets what they want. These new Euclidean tools have important implications for understanding real-world dynamics of mate selection.

Advance Care Planning in Dementia: Do Family Carers Know the Treatment Preferences of People with Early Dementia?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen Harrison Dening

Full Text Available When a person with dementia (PWD has lost the ability to make treatment decisions, clinicians often rely on family carers to know and articulate these preferences with assumed accuracy. This study used the Life Support Preferences Questionnaire (LSPQ to explore whether family carers' choices show agreement with the end of life care preferences of the person with dementia for whom they care and what factors influence this.A cross-sectional study interviewing 60 dyads (a person with early dementia and preserved capacity and their family carer each completing a modified LSPQ. We assessed how closely carers' choices resembled the PWD's preferences for treatment in three proposed health states: the here and now; severe stroke with coma; terminal cancer. Agreement between the PWD and their family carer responses was assessed using Kappa and Prevalence-Adjusted Bias-Adjusted Kappa (PABAK statistics. We examined whether carer burden and distress, and relationship quality, influenced agreement.In interviews PWD were able to indicate their treatment preferences across all three scenarios. In the here-and-now most wanted antibiotics (98%, fewer cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR (50% and tube feeding (47%. In severe stroke and coma antibiotics remained the more preferred treatment (88%, followed by CPR (57% and tube feeding (30%. In advanced cancer PWD expressed lower preferences for all treatments (antibiotics 68%; CPR 50%; tube feeding 37%. Carers' choices were similar to the PWDs' preferences in the here-and-now (71% (k = 0.03; PABAK = 0.4 with less agreement for future hypothetical health states. In severe stroke and coma carers tended wrongly to suggest that the PWD preferred more intervention (antibiotic, 67%; k = -0.022; PABAK = -0.60; CPR, 73%; k = 0.20; PABAK = -0.20, tube feeding, 66%; k = 0.25; PABAK = -0.12. In advanced cancer the agreement between PWD and carers was low (antibiotics; k = -0.03; PABAK = -0.52; CPR, k = -0.07; PABAK = -0

Intuitionistic preference modeling and interactive decision making

CERN Document Server

Xu, Zeshui

2014-01-01

This book offers an in-depth and comprehensive introduction to the priority methods of intuitionistic preference relations, the consistency and consensus improving procedures for intuitionistic preference relations, the approaches to group decision making based on intuitionistic preference relations, the approaches and models for interactive decision making with intuitionistic fuzzy information, and the extended results in interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy environments.

Preferences of personal and social goals in the high school pupils in Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuzmanović Bora

2009-01-01

Full Text Available On the sample 246 high school pupils from various regions, cities and schools in Serbia, authors took survey of the degree of acceptance (graded from 1 to 5 of 18 personal and 18 social goals, as well as preferences, i.e. choice of most valuable of these goals on both lists. Among personal goals most widely accepted and preferred are friendly support, love and personal independence, while social power, subordination to authorities, social engagement and achievement are on the bottom of the preference scale. As for the social goals, full employment, social rights, standard of living, fight against criminal and corruption, and ecology are most preferred, while further process of privatization in economy, dominant role of one party, but also democracy and strong market economy. Demand of fulfillment of the conditions needed to enter European Union, have caused polarized reactions of young people. This have for its consequence that this aim according to the significance finds itself almost on the bottom of the preference list. Also, for the share of those who prefer enter in the EU, this aim is most important in the above part of the list. In the factor analysis four factors are extracted on the every list. In the realm of personal goals these factors were named comfortable living (that includes many other goals, notably these with high grades, social success, decent life and will toward self affirmation. In the realm of social goals as main factors were identified: normal state (including number of special goals, transition, orientation toward tradition and patriotism, while fourth factor (that includes assessment of good international relations, fight against criminal and corruption, market orientation was left without name. Authors are also dealing with analysis of established incoherency and with issue of stability of value system of young people. .

Preference Erosion and Multilateral Trade Liberalization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.F. François (Joseph); B. Hoekman (Bernard); M. Manchin (Miriam)

2005-01-01

textabstractBecause of concern that OECD tariff reductions will translate into worsening export performance for the least developed countries, trade preferences have proven a stumbling block to developing country support for multilateral liberalization. We examine the actual scope for preference

Preferences, Paths, Power, Goals and Norms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oren, N.; Van Riemsdijk, M.B.; Vasconcelos, W.

2013-01-01

This paper seeks to address the question of preference alignment in normative systems. We represent detached obligations and goals as preferences over outcomes, and describe when deterministic behaviour will occur within a MAS under specific system instantiations. We then investigate what

A survey-based study of Zika virus communication preferences among pregnant women in Georgia, United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellingson, Mallory K; Bonk, Catherine M; Chamberlain, Allison T

2017-09-26

Because of the particularly severe perinatal outcomes associated with antenatal Zika virus infection, it is important for prenatal care providers to communicate Zika virus risks and strategies for prevention to their patients. Although face-to-face communication is ideal, clinic visits may not allow for in-depth discussion of all concerns. While previous studies have shown prenatal providers to be pregnant women's most trusted sources of health information, there is little knowledge on what secondary communication modalities pregnant women prefer for receiving information from their providers about an evolving public health emergency. A cross-sectional, descriptive anonymous 27-item survey was distributed to pregnant women at four clinics around Atlanta, Georgia from May 5th to June 20th, 2016. The survey assessed women's interest in and communication preferences about prenatal topics, including Zika virus. Descriptive statistics were calculated and chi-square tests were used to evaluate associations between the primary outcomes and patient characteristics. Four-hundred and eight women completed the survey. The most popular resource for obtaining Zika virus information was the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website (73.0%). While their prenatal provider's own website for Zika information ranked 5th among sources currently accessed for Zika information, it ranked third behind educational brochures and emails for ways in which women wanted to receive information. The characteristics of Zika virus information deemed most important were: evidence-based (87.5%), endorsed by the CDC (74.1%), and endorsed by their own provider (67.9%). In any public health emergency affecting pregnant women, women are going to seek advice from their obstetric providers. Because providers may lack sufficient time to discuss concerns with every patient, they may consider providing patient education in other ways. For the women included in this study, educational brochures

Utility Values for Advanced Soft Tissue Sarcoma Health States from the General Public in the United Kingdom

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julian F. Guest

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Soft tissue sarcomas are a rare type of cancer generally treated with palliative chemotherapy when in the advanced stage. There is a lack of published health utility data for locally advanced “inoperable”/metastatic disease (ASTS, essential for calculating the cost-effectiveness of current and future treatments. This study estimated time trade-off (TTO and standard gamble (SG preference values associated with four ASTS health states (progressive disease, stable disease, partial response, complete response among members of the general public in the UK (n=207. The four health states were associated with decreases in preference values from full health. Complete response was the most preferred health state (mean utility of 0.60 using TTO. The second most preferred health state was partial response followed by stable disease (mean utilities were 0.51 and 0.43, respectively, using TTO. The least preferred health state was progressive disease (mean utility of 0.30 using TTO. The utility value for each state was significantly different from one another (P<0.001. This study demonstrated and quantified the impact that different treatment responses may have on the health-related quality of life of patients with ASTS.

Communication of Pulmonary Function Test Results: A Survey of Patient's Preferences.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Debbie Zagami

Full Text Available Physician-patient communication in patients suffering from common chronic respiratory disease should encompass discussion about pulmonary function test (PFT results, diagnosis, disease education, smoking cessation and optimising inhaler technique. Previous studies have identified that patients with chronic respiratory disease/s often express dissatisfaction about physician communication. Currently there is a paucity of data regarding patient awareness of their PFT results (among those who have undergone PFTs previously or patient preferences about PFT result communication.We undertook a three-month prospective study on outpatients referred to two Pulmonary Function Laboratories. If subjects had undergone PFTs previously, the awareness of their previous test results was evaluated. All subjects were asked about their preferences for PFT result communication. Subjects were determined to have chronic respiratory disease based on their past medical history.300 subjects (50% male with a median age (± SD of 65 (± 14 years participated in the study. 99% of the study participants stated that they were at least moderately interested in knowing their PFT results. 72% (217/300 of the subjects had undergone at least one PFT in the past, 48% of whom stated they had not been made aware of their results. Fewer subjects with chronic respiratory disease preferred that only a doctor discuss their PFT results with them (28% vs. 41%, p = 0.021.Our study demonstrates that while almost all subjects want to be informed of their PFT results, this does not occur in a large number of patients. Many subjects are agreeable for their PFT results to be communicated to them by clinicians other than doctors. Further research is required to develop an efficient method of conveying PFT results that will improve patient satisfaction and health outcomes.

Evolution of consumer information preferences with market maturity in solar PV adoption

Science.gov (United States)

Cale Reeves, D.; Rai, Varun; Margolis, Robert

2017-07-01

Residential adoption of solar photovoltaics (PV) is spreading rapidly, supported by policy initiatives at the federal, state, and local levels. Potential adopters navigate increasingly complex decision-making landscapes in their path to adoption. Much is known about the individual-level drivers of solar PV diffusion that steer adopters through this process, but relatively little is known about the evolution of these drivers as solar PV markets mature. By understanding the evolution of emerging solar PV markets over time, stakeholders in the diffusion of solar PV can increase policy effectiveness and reduce costs. This analysis uses survey data to compare two adjacent markets across a range of relevant characteristics, then models changes in the importance of local vs cosmopolitan information sources by combining theory relating market maturity to adopter behavior with event-history techniques. In younger markets, earlier, innovative adoptions that are tied to a preference for cosmopolitan information sources are more prevalent than expected, suggesting a frustrated demand for solar PV that segues into adoptions fueled by local information preferences contemporary with similar adoptions in older markets. The analysis concludes with policy recommendations to leverage changing consumer information preferences as markets mature.

A comparative study about learning styles preferences of two cultures

Science.gov (United States)

Kutay, Huban

From an anthropologist's (Maddock, 1981) point of view, "science and science education are cultural enterprises which form a part of the wider cultural matrix of society and educational considerations concerning science must be made in the light of this wider perspective" (p.10). In addition, Spindler (1987) states that teaching science is considered cultural transmission while, Wolcott (1991) focuses on learning science as culture acquisition. In these statements, culture is defined as "an ordered system of meaning and symbols, in terms of which social interaction takes place" (Geertz, 1973). Thus, learning and culture are a partnership. Jones and Fennimore (1990) state: "Every culture brings habits of thought, resources, and context, which have built into them vehicles that promote learning and inquiry. Accordingly, children of any culture can and should have curriculum and instructional practices that draw from that culture." (p.16). Unfortunately, even though this statement is probably accurate, most schools still use the same curriculum, instructional methods, and assessment strategies for all students regardless of their differences in learning styles. The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between students' learning styles and their culture. This is a correlational study. Does culture limit or expand the learning of individuals? For this study Turkish students who graduated from a Turkish high school and undertook undergraduate education in the United States or finished their undergraduate education in Turkey and pursued graduate education in the United States were identified. These Turkish subjects were compared to American college students through learning styles data and anxiety levels as cultural markers. To identify individuals' learning styles we used the Building Excellence (BE) instrument, which is an adult version of The Learning Style Inventory by Dunn, and Rundle (1996.1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000). BE assesses twenty four

The influence of socioeconomic status on women's preferences for modern contraceptive providers in Nigeria: a multilevel choice modeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aremu O

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Olatunde Aremu School of Health, Sport, and Bioscience, Health Studies Field, University of East London, London, United Kingdom Background: Contraceptives are one of the most cost effective public health interventions. An understanding of the factors influencing users' preferences for contraceptives sources, in addition to their preferred methods of contraception, is an important factor in increasing contraceptive uptake. This study investigates the effect of women’s contextual and individual socioeconomic positions on their preference for contraceptive sources among current users in Nigeria. Methods: A multilevel modeling analysis was conducted using the most recent 2008 Nigerian Demographic and Health Surveys data of women aged between 15 and 49 years old. The analysis included 1,834 ever married women from 888 communities across the 36 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja. Three outcome variables, private, public, and informal provisions of contraceptive sources, were considered in the modeling. Results: There was variability in women's preferences for providers across communities. The result shows that change in variance accounted for about 31% and 19% in the odds of women's preferences for both private and public providers across communities. Younger age and being from the richest households are strongly associated with preference for both private and public providers. Living in rural areas and economically deprived neighborhoods were the community level determinants of women's preferences. Conclusion: This study documents the independent association of contextual socioeconomic characteristics and individual level socioeconomic factors with women's preferences for contraceptive commodity providers in Nigeria. Initiatives that seek to improve modern contraceptive uptake should jointly consider users’ preferences for sources of these commodities in addition to their preference for contraceptive type

The Lookahead Principle for Preference Elicitation: Experimental Results

OpenAIRE

Viappiani, Paolo; Faltings, Boi; Pu, Pearl

2006-01-01

Preference-based search is the problem of finding an item that matches best with a user's preferences. User studies show that example-based tools for preference-based search can achieve significantly higher accuracy when they are complemented with suggestions chosen to inform users about the available choices. We discuss the problem of eliciting preferences in example-based tools and present the lookahead principle for generating suggestions. We compare two different implementations of this p...

Preference-based measures to obtain health state utility values for use in economic evaluations with child-based populations: a review and UK-based focus group assessment of patient and parent choices.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolstenholme, Jane L; Bargo, Danielle; Wang, Kay; Harnden, Anthony; Räisänen, Ulla; Abel, Lucy

2018-03-21

No current guidance is available in the UK on the choice of preference-based measure (PBM) that should be used in obtaining health-related quality of life from children. The aim of this study is to review the current usage of PBMs for obtaining health state utility values in child and adolescent populations, and to obtain information on patient and parent-proxy respondent preferences in completing PBMs in the UK. A literature review was conducted to determine which instrument is most frequently used for child-based economic evaluations and whether child or proxy responses are used. Instruments were compared on dimensions, severity levels, elicitation and valuation methods, availability of value sets and validation studies, and the range of utility values generated. Additionally, a series of focus groups of parents and young people (11-20 years) were convened to determine patient and proxy preferences. Five PBMs suitable for child populations were identified, although only the Health Utilities Index 2 (HUI2) and Child Heath Utility 9D (CHU-9D) have UK value sets. 45 papers used PBMs in this population, but many used non-child-specific PBMs. Most respondents were parent proxies, even in adolescent populations. Reported missing data ranged from 0.5 to 49.3%. The focus groups reported their experiences with the EQ-5D-Y and CHU-9D. Both the young persons' group and parent/proxy groups felt that the CHU-9D was more comprehensive but may be harder for a proxy to complete. Some younger children had difficulty understanding the CHU-9D questions, but the young persons' group nonetheless preferred responding directly. The use of PBMs in child populations is increasing, but many studies use PBMs that do not have appropriate value sets. Parent proxies are the most common respondents, but the focus group responses suggest it would be preferred, and may be more informative, for older children to self-report or for child-parent dyads to respond.

Female mating preferences determine system-level evolution in a gene network model.

Science.gov (United States)

Fierst, Janna L

2013-06-01

Environmental patterns of directional, stabilizing and fluctuating selection can influence the evolution of system-level properties like evolvability and mutational robustness. Intersexual selection produces strong phenotypic selection and these dynamics may also affect the response to mutation and the potential for future adaptation. In order to to assess the influence of mating preferences on these evolutionary properties, I modeled a male trait and female preference determined by separate gene regulatory networks. I studied three sexual selection scenarios: sexual conflict, a Gaussian model of the Fisher process described in Lande (in Proc Natl Acad Sci 78(6):3721-3725, 1981) and a good genes model in which the male trait signalled his mutational condition. I measured the effects these mating preferences had on the potential for traits and preferences to evolve towards new states, and mutational robustness of both the phenotype and the individual's overall viability. All types of sexual selection increased male phenotypic robustness relative to a randomly mating population. The Fisher model also reduced male evolvability and mutational robustness for viability. Under good genes sexual selection, males evolved an increased mutational robustness for viability. Females choosing their mates is a scenario that is sufficient to create selective forces that impact genetic evolution and shape the evolutionary response to mutation and environmental selection. These dynamics will inevitably develop in any population where sexual selection is operating, and affect the potential for future adaptation.

Irrational decision-making in an amoeboid organism: transitivity and context-dependent preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Latty, Tanya; Beekman, Madeleine

2011-01-22

Most models of animal foraging and consumer choice assume that individuals make choices based on the absolute value of items and are therefore 'economically rational'. However, frequent violations of rationality by animals, including humans, suggest that animals use comparative valuation rules. Are comparative valuation strategies a consequence of the way brains process information, or are they an intrinsic feature of biological decision-making? Here, we examine the principles of rationality in an organism with radically different information-processing mechanisms: the brainless, unicellular, slime mould Physarum polycephalum. We offered P. polycephalum amoebas a choice between food options that varied in food quality and light exposure (P. polycephalum is photophobic). The use of an absolute valuation rule will lead to two properties: transitivity and independence of irrelevant alternatives (IIA). Transitivity is satisfied if preferences have a consistent, linear ordering, while IIA states that a decision maker's preference for an item should not change if the choice set is expanded. A violation of either of these principles suggests the use of comparative rather than absolute valuation rules. Physarum polycephalum satisfied transitivity by having linear preference rankings. However, P. polycephalum's preference for a focal alternative increased when a third, inferior quality option was added to the choice set, thus violating IIA and suggesting the use of a comparative valuation process. The discovery of comparative valuation rules in a unicellular organism suggests that comparative valuation rules are ubiquitous, if not universal, among biological decision makers.

Endogenous scheduling preferences and congestion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fosgerau, Mogens; Small, Kenneth

2017-01-01

We consider the timing of activities through a dynamic model of commuting with congestion, in which workers care solely about leisure and consumption. Implicit preferences for the timing of the commute form endogenously due to temporal agglomeration economies. Equilibrium exists uniquely and is i......We consider the timing of activities through a dynamic model of commuting with congestion, in which workers care solely about leisure and consumption. Implicit preferences for the timing of the commute form endogenously due to temporal agglomeration economies. Equilibrium exists uniquely...... and is indistinguishable from that of a generalized version of the classical Vickrey bottleneck model, based on exogenous trip-timing preferences, but optimal policies differ: the Vickrey model will misstate the benefits of a capacity increase, it will underpredict the benefits of congestion pricing, and pricing may make...

Examining Business Students' Career Preferences: A Perceptual Space Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Soutar, Geoffrey N.; Clarke, Alexander W.

1983-01-01

Proposes a methodology for examining career preferences, which uses perceptual mapping techniques and external preference analysis to assess the attributes individuals believe are important. A study of 158 business students' career preferences suggested the methodology can be useful in analyzing reasons for career preferences. (WAS)

Food preference for milk and dairy products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zuzana Derflerová Brázdová

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Milk and dairy products constitute an important source of energy and nutrients for humans. Food preferences may significantly influence the actual consumption (and thus nutrition of people at the population level. The objective of the present large-scale survey was to specify current preferences for milk and dairy products with regard to age and sex. The study was conducted across the Moravia region, Czech Republic, on a sample of 451 individuals divided into 4 age groups: children, adolescents, young adults, and elderly people. A graphic scale questionnaire was administered, with respondents rating their degree of preference for each food item by drawing a mark on a 35 mm line. Out of the 115 items in the questionnaire, 11 items represented dairy products. Data was analysed by means of a general linear model using IBM SPSS Statistics software. Preference for milk was lower in the elderly group than the other groups (P P < 0.01. The overall preference for dairy products (21.6 was lower than the average preference for all foods on the list (22.5. The cross-sectional study revealed intergenerational differences in preferences for specific dairy products, which were most marked in case of cream, processed cheese, blue cheese, and buttermilk. The knowledge of these differences might help promote more focused action at the community level directed at increasing the overall consumption of dairy products in the population.

Best Interest of the Child and Parental Alienation: A Survey of State Statutes.

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Amy J L; Asayan, Mariann; LaCheen-Baker, Alianna

2016-07-01

State statutes regarding the best interests of the child (BIC) in deciding disputed custody were reviewed and independently coded with respect to three issues (i) the child's preference and any limits (ii) parental alienation and (iii) psychological maltreatment. Results revealed that many states allowed for the child's preferences to be considered and none qualified that preference when undue influence has occurred; parental alienation as a term was not found in any state statutes but 70% of the states included at least one BIC factor relevant to its core construct of the parent supporting the child's relationship to the other parent; and many states included a history of domestic violence or child abuse but only three states explicitly mentioned psychological maltreatment. These findings highlight yet another way in which the BICS factors lack specificity in ways that could negatively impact children caught in their parents' conflict. © 2016 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

The pursuit of optimal distinctiveness and consumer preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Lingnan; Cong, Feng; Liu, Yanping; Zhou, Xinyue

2010-10-01

This article investigates the effect of optimal distinctiveness on consumer product consumption. The authors argue that consumers acquire and display material possessions to restore their optimal levels of distinctiveness. Results showed that placing consumers in a state of low distinctiveness increased desire to acquire distinctive products, whereas perceptions of high distinctiveness reduced desire to acquire such products. Consumers' desire for distinctiveness-related products held true for various consumer choices, including willingness to pay more for limited-edition products and preference for unpopular gifts. This finding has implications for understanding consumer choice in expressing identity. © 2010 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2010 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Early Menarche is Associated With Preference for Masculine Male Faces and Younger Preferred Age to Have a First Child

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlota Batres

2016-04-01

Full Text Available One developmental factor that is associated with variation in reproductive strategy is pubertal timing. For instance, women who experience earlier menarche have their first pregnancy earlier and prefer more masculinized male voices. Early menarche may also lead to preferences for masculine faces, but no study has shown such a link. We therefore investigated the relationships between pubertal timing, reproductive plans, sexual attitudes and behaviors, and masculinity preferences in nulliparous women aged 18–30 from the United Kingdom (N = 10,793. We found that women who experienced earlier menarche reported a younger preferred age to have a first child and showed stronger masculinity preferences. This provides evidence that women experiencing early menarche not only have children earlier but notably plan to have children earlier. Additionally, our findings provide evidence that age of menarche influences partner selection, which is instrumental for the implementation of reproductive strategies.

Older adults’ preferences for colorectal cancer-screening test attributes and test choice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kistler CE

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Christine E Kistler,1–3 Thomas M Hess,4 Kirsten Howard,5,6 Michael P Pignone,2,3,7 Trisha M Crutchfield,2,3,8 Sarah T Hawley,9 Alison T Brenner,2 Kimberly T Ward,2 Carmen L Lewis10 1Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, 2Cecil G Sheps Center for Health Services Research, 3Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, 4Department of Psychology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA; 5Institute for Choice, University of South Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia; 6School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; 7Division of General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, 8Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 9Department of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 10Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA Background: Understanding which attributes of colorectal cancer (CRC screening tests drive older adults’ test preferences and choices may help improve decision making surrounding CRC screening in older adults.Materials and methods: To explore older adults’ preferences for CRC-screening test attributes and screening tests, we conducted a survey with a discrete choice experiment (DCE, a directly selected preferred attribute question, and an unlabeled screening test-choice question in 116 cognitively intact adults aged 70–90 years, without a history of CRC or inflammatory bowel disease. Each participant answered ten discrete choice questions presenting two hypothetical tests comprised of four attributes: testing procedure, mortality reduction, test frequency, and complications. DCE responses were used to estimate each participant’s most important attribute and to simulate their preferred test among three existing CRC-screening tests. For each individual, we compared the DCE

Context differences in children's ingroup preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Mulvey, Kelly Lynn; Hitti, Aline; Rutland, Adam; Abrams, Dominic; Killen, Melanie

2014-05-01

Ingroup preferences when deciding who to include in 2 distinct intergroup contexts, gender and school affiliation, were investigated. Children and adolescents, in the 4th (9-10 years) and 8th (13-14 years) grades, chose between including someone in their group who shared their group norm (moral or conventional) or who shared their group membership (school affiliation or gender). With age, children displayed a greater ability to balance information about ingroup norms and group membership. Younger children were more likely to include an outgroup member who supported equal norms than were older children. Accompanying the choices made, there was a greater use of fairness reasoning in younger rather than older participants, and increased references to group identity and group functioning for school identification. There were no differences in ingroup preferences in the school and gender contexts for groups involving moral norms. Desires for equal allocation of resources trumped differences related to ingroup preference. For social-conventional norms, however, there was a greater ingroup preference in a school intergroup context than in a gender intergroup context. Thus, the results demonstrate the importance of context in the manifestation of ingroup preference and the increasing sophistication, with age, of children's and adolescents' group decision-making skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Use of binaural beat tapes for treatment of anxiety: a pilot study of tape preference and outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Le Scouarnec, R P; Poirier, R M; Owens, J E; Gauthier, J; Taylor, A G; Foresman, P A

2001-01-01

Recent studies and anecdotal reports suggest that binaural auditory beats can affect mood, performance on vigilance tasks, and anxiety. To determine whether mildly anxious people would report decreased anxiety after listening daily for 1 month to tapes imbedded with tones that create binaural beats, and whether they would show a definite tape preference among 3 tapes. A 1-group pre-posttest pilot study. Patients' homes. A volunteer sample of 15 mildly anxious patients seen in the Clinique Psyché, Montreal, Quebec. Participants were asked to listen at least 5 times weekly for 4 weeks to 1 or more of 3 music tapes containing tones that produce binaural beats in the electroencephalogram delta/theta frequency range. Participants also were asked to record tape usage, tape preference, and anxiety ratings in a journal before and after listening to the tape or tapes. Anxiety ratings before and after tape listening, pre- and post-study State-Trait Anxiety Inventory scores, and tape preferences documented in daily journals. Listening to the binaural beat tapes resulted in a significant reduction in the anxiety score reported daily in patients' diaries. The number of times participants listened to the tapes in 4 weeks ranged from 10 to 17 (an average of 1.4 to 2.4 times per week) for approximately 30 minutes per session. End-of-study tape preferences indicated that slightly more participants preferred tape B, with its pronounced and extended patterns of binaural beats, over tapes A and C. Changes in pre- and posttest listening State-Trait Anxiety Inventory scores trended toward a reduction of anxiety, but these differences were not statistically significant. Listening to binaural beat tapes in the delta/theta electroencephalogram range may be beneficial in reducing mild anxiety. Future studies should account for music preference among participants and include age as a factor in outcomes, incentives to foster tape listening, and a physiologic measure of anxiety reduction. A

Preference for Print or Electronic Book Depends on User’s Purpose for Consulting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Newton Miller

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Objective – To determine patron format preference, perceived usability and frequency of e-book usage, and to study use and preference of e-reading devices. Design – Survey questionnaire. Setting – Large public research university in the United States of America. Subjects – 339 students, faculty, and staff members Methods – An anonymous 23-item survey was available in online and print formats. Print surveys were distributed in the lobby of the library and throughout various buildings on campus. A direct link to the online version of the survey was included in e-newsletters, on the library homepage, and on the library’s Facebook site. A definition of e-book was placed prominently at the beginning of the survey. Questions included information on preference of format (11, experiences using e-books (3, ownership of particular devices for reading e-books (1, attitudes regarding library purchase of e-books and readers (3, demographic information (4, and additional comments (1. Main Results – Of the 339 completed surveys, 79 were completed online and 260 in print. When asked about preference in format for reading, 79.6% of respondents preferred print books compared to 20.4% choosing e-books. If the library was purchasing a book to support class research and projects, 53.9% preferred print and 46.1% preferred electronic, but if the library purchased a book for leisure reading, 76% preferred print and 24% preferred electronic. In response to the question about how often they used e-books from the library, 50.1% of respondents never used library e-books, 21.1% used once per year, 20.8% monthly, 7.4% weekly and 0.6% daily. Of those who used e-books, 38.1% read only sections they needed, 31% searched keywords, 24.2% downloaded and printed pages to read later, 21.8% read the most relevant chapters, 17.1% skimmed the entire book and 14.2% read the entire book. If both formats were available, 25.1% felt that the library should purchase the print

Do pig farmers preferences bias consumer choice for pork? Response to critique of the pork preference studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Ngapo, T M; Fortin, J; Martin, J-F

2010-08-01

Québec consumers and pig farmers selected their preferred chop from 16 images that had been modified to give 16 treatments: two levels each of fat cover, colour, marbling and drip. The selection process was repeated eight times from different groups of chops. Fat cover (47% preferred lean) and colour (44%, light red) were the most frequently chosen characteristics. No significant differences were observed between farmers and consumers preferences (chi(2) test, Ppreference-based clusters were found; 41% preferring dark red, lean meat and 59%, light red, lean meat, without marbling or drip. Choice-based clusters showed no significant links with either individual socio-demographic items, including pig farmer as occupation, or the three socio-demographic-based clusters observed (chi(2) test, Pconsumers and, therefore, inclusion of pig farmers in consumer panels would not bias consumer choice for pork. Crown Copyright (c) 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aging in Australia: country of birth and language preferences of residents in aged care facilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Petrov, Ljubica; Joyce, Catherine; Gucciardo-Masci, Tonina

2017-09-05

Objective There is a need to better understand the use of aged care services by people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The aim of the present study was to describe the prevalence of people living in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) who were born in non-English-speaking countries and/or have a preferred language other than English and to describe service utilisation rates. Methods The present study consisted of a secondary analysis of data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare National Aged Care Data Clearinghouse. Data were analysed by country of birth, preferred language, state or territory and Aged Care Planning Regions within Victoria. Results Nationally, over 30000 (18.3%) RACF residents were born in a non-English-speaking country. In Victoria, almost one in four RACF residents (23.9%) was born in a non-English-speaking country, and approximately one in eight (13.1%) has a preferred language other than English. Most Victorian RACFs (72.4%) have at least one resident with a preferred language other than English. Approximately one in four residents (26.1%) with a preferred language other than English are the sole speaker of the language in their facility. Conclusion All RACFs need to effectively address the needs and preferences of their residents, including those who were born in a non-English-speaking country or prefer to speak a language other than English. What is known about the topic? The number of older people from a non-English-speaking background continues to increase, but little is known about the prevalence of this cohort living in RACFs and how aged care providers are responding to their needs and preferences. What does this paper add? The present study provides detailed, service- and policy-relevant information, demonstrating a substantial degree of diversity among people living in RACFs, with wide distribution across facilities and regions. The findings confirm the need for a systematic, sector

Men's strategic preferences for femininity in female faces.

Science.gov (United States)

Little, Anthony C; Jones, Benedict C; Feinberg, David R; Perrett, David I

2014-08-01

Several evolutionarily relevant sources of individual differences in face preference have been documented for women. Here, we examine three such sources of individual variation in men's preference for female facial femininity: term of relationship, partnership status and self-perceived attractiveness. We show that men prefer more feminine female faces when rating for a short-term relationship and when they have a partner (Study 1). These variables were found to interact in a follow-up study (Study 2). Men who thought themselves attractive also preferred more feminized female faces for short-term relationships than men who thought themselves less attractive (Study 1 and Study 2). In women, similar findings for masculine preferences in male faces have been interpreted as adaptive. In men, such preferences potentially reflect that attractive males are able to compete for high-quality female partners in short-term contexts. When a man has secured a mate, the potential cost of being discovered may increase his choosiness regarding short-term partners relative to unpartnered men, who can better increase their short-term mating success by relaxing their standards. Such potentially strategic preferences imply that men also face trade-offs when choosing relatively masculine or feminine faced partners. In line with a trade-off, women with feminine faces were seen as more likely to be unfaithful and more likely to pursue short-term relationships (Study 3), suggesting that risk of cuckoldry is one factor that may limit men's preferences for femininity in women and could additionally lead to preferences for femininity in short-term mates. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Enterprise Mac Managed Preferences

CERN Document Server

Marczak, Edward

2010-01-01

Many systems administrators on the Mac need a way to manage machine configuration after initial setup and deployment. Apple's Managed Preferences system (also known as MCX) is under-documented, often misunderstood, and sometimes outright unknown by sys admins. MCX is usually deployed in conjunction with an OS X server, but it can also be used in Windows environments or where no dedicated server exists at all. Enterprise Mac Managed Preferences is the definitive guide to Apple's Managed Client technology. With this book, you'll get the following: * An example-driven guide to Mac OS X Managed Pr

Assessing Tourists’ Preferences for Recreational Trips in National and Natural Parks as a Premise for Long-Term Sustainable Management Plans

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana E. Dumitras

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Sustainable tourism management plans rely on relevant and consistent information about factors that can influence the decision to visit a protected area. This paper uses the choice experiment method to investigate tourists’ preferences with regard to recreational trip characteristics in national and natural parks in Romania. An on-site survey questionnaire was administered to visitors. The multinomial logit model was employed to investigate the preference orderings of the identified groups of recreational users. Overall, results indicate that tourists gain benefits after visiting the parks. Main preference differences were found for information sources and location of campsites. Visitors who stated that the park was the main trip destination were willing to have access to more information sources, the marks on trails being insufficient. Camping is preferred only in organized places, expressing the concern for environmental protection. The results of this study have management implications, highlighting the importance of assessing tourists’ preferences as a foundation for developing sustainable tourism strategies.

Patients' preferences for patient-centered communication

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lau, Sofie Rosenlund; Christensen, Søren Troels; Andreasen T., Jesper

2013-01-01

To investigate patients' preferences for patient-centered communication (PCC) in the encounter with healthcare professionals in an outpatient department in rural Sierra Leone.......To investigate patients' preferences for patient-centered communication (PCC) in the encounter with healthcare professionals in an outpatient department in rural Sierra Leone....

Preferences, Consumption Smoothing and Risk Premia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lettau, M.; Uhlig, H.F.H.V.S.

1997-01-01

Risk premia in the consumption capital asset pricing model depend on preferences and dividend. We develop a decomposition which allows a separate treatment of both components. We show that preferences alone determine the risk-return tradeoff measured by the Sharpe-ratio. In general, the risk-return

Preference clustering in customer satisfaction measurement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eskildsen, Jacob Kjær; Kristensen, Kai

2006-01-01

The scope of this paper is to analyze whether or not segments with different customer preferences and customer satisfaction can be identified. This analysis is based on customer satisfaction data from the Danish banking industry from the years 2004 and 2005. The analysis showed that the preference...

Assessing Consumer Preference using Community Pharmacy ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Purpose: To assess the consumer preference for community pharmacy (CP) for filling prescription, and ... For OTC products, preference among consumers was almost the same among. CPs and local stores. With regard to health supplements and screening test kits, most ..... MARA, Malaysia for financial support for this.

Individual Dlfferences in Children's Preferences among Recent Paintings.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, R.; Bell, G.

1979-01-01

Preferences of Melbourne, Australia, students for twentieth-century paintings were examined. The identified dimensions of preference (represention, color, complexity) were similar to those found in previous studies. Age and sex differences were found only for color and complexity. Preference for representational, over nonrepresentational,…

PREFERRED MODALITY INFLUENCES ON EXERCISE-INDUCED MOOD CHANGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew M. Lane

2005-06-01

Full Text Available The present study tested, both retrospectively and prospectively, exercise-induced mood changes among regular exercisers. Specifically, it examined the extent to which preferred exercise modality promoted greater mood benefits. A group of 25 exercise participants (M = 35.5 yr., SD = 10.5 yr. took part in the study. All participants had exercised at least three times a week (M = 3.5, SD = 2.3 during the previous year. Participants completed a 14-item Exercise Preference Questionnaire to provide retrospective evaluations of their most- and least-preferred type of exercise. For the prospective investigation, participants completed the Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS 15 minutes before and immediately after their most- and least-preferred exercise sessions. One week separated completion of each exercise session. Retrospective assessment of exercise-induced mood changes showed strong support for enhanced mood following the preferred mode of exercise. Also, as hypothesized, prospective results showed that mood enhancement was greater following the preferred exercise modality, but significant mood enhancement also occurred following the least-preferred modality among experienced exercisers. In conclusions, findings support the principle that exercise can provide psychological benefits to its participants, in the form of positive affective outcomes, something that appears to be enhanced by preferred exercise modality. Given the important public health implications of exercise adherence, future research should seek to further investigate the mechanisms of exercise-induced mood enhancement

Subjective Probabilities for State-Dependent Continuous Utility

NARCIS (Netherlands)

P.P. Wakker (Peter)

1987-01-01

textabstractFor the expected utility model with state dependent utilities, Karni, Schmeidler and Vind (1983) have shown how to recover uniquely the involved subjective probabilities if the preferences, contingent on a hypothetical probability distribution over the state space, are known. This they

Estimating the value of life and injury for pedestrians using a stated preference framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Niroomand, Naghmeh; Jenkins, Glenn P

2017-09-01

The incidence of pedestrian death over the period 2010 to 2014 per 1000,000 in North Cyprus is about 2.5 times that of the EU, with 10.5 times more pedestrian road injuries than deaths. With the prospect of North Cyprus entering the EU, many investments need to be undertaken to improve road safety in order to reach EU benchmarks. We conducted a stated choice experiment to identify the preferences and tradeoffs of pedestrians in North Cyprus for improved walking times, pedestrian costs, and safety. The choice of route was examined using mixed logit models to obtain the marginal utilities associated with each attribute of the routes that consumers chose. These were used to estimate the individuals' willingness to pay (WTP) to save walking time and to avoid pedestrian fatalities and injuries. We then used the results to obtain community-wide estimates of the value of a statistical life (VSL) saved, the value of an injury (VI) prevented, and the value per hour of walking time saved. The estimate of the VSL was €699,434 and the estimate of VI was €20,077. These values are consistent, after adjusting for differences in incomes, with the median results of similar studies done for EU countries. The estimated value of time to pedestrians is €7.20 per person hour. The ratio of deaths to injuries is much higher for pedestrians than for road accidents, and this is completely consistent with the higher estimated WTP to avoid a pedestrian accident than to avoid a car accident. The value of time of €7.20 is quite high relative to the wages earned. Findings provide a set of information on the VRR for fatalities and injuries and the value of pedestrian time that is critical for conducing ex ante appraisals of investments to improve pedestrian safety. Copyright © 2017 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

General Education Oral Communication Assessment and Student Preferences for Learning: E-Textbook versus Paper Textbook

Science.gov (United States)

Dwyer, Karen Kangas; Davidson, Marlina M.

2013-01-01

As part of a yearly university mandated assessment of a large basic communication course that fulfills the oral communication general education requirement, this study examined student preferences for textbooks, reading, and learning. Specifically, basic course students ("N"=321) at a large state university in the Midwest were asked to…

Activity Based Learning in a Freshman Global Business Course: Analyses of Preferences and Demographic Differences

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, Mark F.; Guy, Paul W.

2007-01-01

The present study investigates pre-business students' reaction to Activity Based Learning in a lower division core required course entitled Introduction to Global Business in the business curriculum at California State University Chico. The study investigates students' preference for Activity Based Learning in comparison to a more traditional…

Expressed Vocational Choices and Later Employment Compared with Vocational Preference Inventory and Kuder Preference Record-Vocational Scores

Science.gov (United States)

Wiggins, J. D.; Weslander, Darrell

1977-01-01

Expressed vocational choices were more predictive of employment status four years after high school graduation for males than were scores on either the Vocational Preference Inventory or the Kuder Preference Record--Vocational. Predictions for males were more accurate than for females on all measures. (Author)

Paired preference data with a no-preference option – Statistical tests for comparison with placebo data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Rune Haubo Bojesen; Ennis, John M.; Ennis, Daniel M.

2014-01-01

/preference responses or ties in choice experiments. Food Quality and Preference, 23, 13–17) noted that this proportion can depend on the product category, have proposed that the expected proportion of preference responses within a given category be called an identicality norm, and have argued that knowledge...... of such norms is valuable for more complete interpretation of 2-Alternative Choice (2-AC) data. For instance, these norms can be used to indicate consumer segmentation even with non-replicated data. In this paper, we show that the statistical test suggested by Ennis and Ennis (2012a) behaves poorly and has too...... when ingredient changes are considered for cost-reduction or health initiative purposes....

Do Adolescents Prefer Electronic Books to Paper Books?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margaret K. Merga

2015-11-01

Full Text Available While electronic books offer a range of benefits and may be supposed to be more appealing to young people than paper books, this assumption is often treated as fact by educational researchers. Understanding adolescents’ true current preferences is essential, as incorrect assumptions can lead to decisions which restrict adolescent access to their preferred book mode. The belief that adolescents prefer electronic books to paper books has already led to some school libraries being expunged of paper books. As adolescents show a higher level of aliteracy than younger children, and regular reading offers a broad range of benefits for young people, it is imperative that school’s decisions around providing access to books are responsive to adolescent students’ genuine preferences. This paper analyses the current and relevant academic research around adolescent preferences for book modes, finding that, at present, the contention that adolescents prefer electronic books is not supported by the available research. In addition, there are a number of issues identified that make analyzing the findings in this area problematic. Future studies in this area are needed before an adolescent preference for electronic books can be unequivocally substantiated.

Survey of the general public's attitudes toward advance directives in Japan: How to respect patients' preferences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kai Ichiro

2006-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Japanese people have become increasingly interested in the expression and enhancement of their individual autonomy in medical decisions made regarding medical treatment at and toward the end of life. However, while many Western countries have implemented legislation that deals with patient autonomy in the case of terminal illness, no such legislation exists in Japan. The rationale for this research is based on the need to investigate patient's preferences regarding treatment at the end of life in order to re-evaluate advance directives policy and practice. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey with 418 members of the general middle-aged and senior adults (aged between 40 and 65 in Tokyo, Japan. Respondents were asked about their attitudes toward advance directives, and preferences toward treatment options. Results Over 60% of respondents agreed that it is better to express their wishes regarding advance directives (treatment preferences in writing, appointment of proxy for care decision making, appointment of legal administrator of property, stating preferences regarding disposal of one's property and funeral arrangements but less than 10% of them had already done so. About 60% of respondents in this study preferred to indicate treatment preferences in broad rather than concrete terms. Over 80% would like to decide treatment preferences in consultation with others (22.2% with their proxy, 11.0% with the doctor, and 47.8% with both their proxy and the doctor. Conclusion This study revealed that many Japanese people indicate an interest in undertaking advance directives. This study found that there is a range of preferences regarding how advance directives are undertaken, thus it is important to recognize that any processes put into place should allow flexibility in order to best respect patients' wishes and autonomy.

Preference-based segmentation : a study of food category and meal preferences among Vietnamese teenagers

OpenAIRE

Vu, Thi Hoa

2010-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to examine the applicability of preference-based segmentation for a broad array of meals and food categories in the context of teenagers in Vietnam. A convenience sample of 413 Vietnamese teenagers in secondary and high schools provided an evaluation on the preference of 30 items of food categories and 36 common meals was collected based on structured questionnaires and then used as inputs for the analyses. A five-cluster solution for the food category segmentati...

Cortisol shifts financial risk preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Kandasamy, Narayanan; Hardy, Ben; Page, Lionel; Schaffner, Markus; Graggaber, Johann; Powlson, Andrew S; Fletcher, Paul C; Gurnell, Mark; Coates, John

2014-03-04

Risk taking is central to human activity. Consequently, it lies at the focal point of behavioral sciences such as neuroscience, economics, and finance. Many influential models from these sciences assume that financial risk preferences form a stable trait. Is this assumption justified and, if not, what causes the appetite for risk to fluctuate? We have previously found that traders experience a sustained increase in the stress hormone cortisol when the amount of uncertainty, in the form of market volatility, increases. Here we ask whether these elevated cortisol levels shift risk preferences. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over protocol we raised cortisol levels in volunteers over 8 d to the same extent previously observed in traders. We then tested for the utility and probability weighting functions underlying their risk taking and found that participants became more risk-averse. We also observed that the weighting of probabilities became more distorted among men relative to women. These results suggest that risk preferences are highly dynamic. Specifically, the stress response calibrates risk taking to our circumstances, reducing it in times of prolonged uncertainty, such as a financial crisis. Physiology-induced shifts in risk preferences may thus be an underappreciated cause of market instability.

Gaming Preferences of Aging Generations.

Science.gov (United States)

Blocker, Kenneth A; Wright, Timothy J; Boot, Walter R

2014-01-01

Increasing evidence suggests that action digital game training can improve a variety of perceptual and cognitive abilities, including those that decline most with age. Unfortunately, previous work has found that older adults dislike these games and adherence may be poor for action game-based interventions. The focus of the current study was to better understand the types of games older adults are willing to play and explore predictors of game preference (e.g., gender, age, technology experience, personality). With this information action games might be modified or developed to maximize adherence and cognitive benefit. Older adults were administered a modified version of an existing game questionnaire and a custom game preference survey. Clear preferences were observed that were similar between participants with and without previous digital game experience (with puzzle and intellectually stimulating games being most interesting to older adults in our sample, and massively multiplayer online games and first-person shooters being least interesting). Personality, demographic, and technology experience variables were also collected. Interesting trends suggested the possibility that several demographic and personality variables might be predictive of game preference. Results have implications for future directions of research, designing games that would appeal to older adult audiences, and for how to design custom games to maximize intervention adherence based on individual difference characteristics.

Cortisol shifts financial risk preferences

Science.gov (United States)

Kandasamy, Narayanan; Hardy, Ben; Page, Lionel; Schaffner, Markus; Graggaber, Johann; Powlson, Andrew S.; Fletcher, Paul C.; Gurnell, Mark; Coates, John

2014-01-01

Risk taking is central to human activity. Consequently, it lies at the focal point of behavioral sciences such as neuroscience, economics, and finance. Many influential models from these sciences assume that financial risk preferences form a stable trait. Is this assumption justified and, if not, what causes the appetite for risk to fluctuate? We have previously found that traders experience a sustained increase in the stress hormone cortisol when the amount of uncertainty, in the form of market volatility, increases. Here we ask whether these elevated cortisol levels shift risk preferences. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over protocol we raised cortisol levels in volunteers over 8 d to the same extent previously observed in traders. We then tested for the utility and probability weighting functions underlying their risk taking and found that participants became more risk-averse. We also observed that the weighting of probabilities became more distorted among men relative to women. These results suggest that risk preferences are highly dynamic. Specifically, the stress response calibrates risk taking to our circumstances, reducing it in times of prolonged uncertainty, such as a financial crisis. Physiology-induced shifts in risk preferences may thus be an underappreciated cause of market instability. PMID:24550472

Infant Preferences for Attractive Faces: A Cognitive Explanation.

Science.gov (United States)

Rubenstein, Adam J.; Kalakanis, Lisa; Langlois, Judith H.

1999-01-01

Four studies assessed a cognitive explanation for development of infants' preference for attractive faces: cognitive averaging and preferences for mathematically averaged faces, or prototypes. Findings indicated that adults and 6-month olds prefer prototypical, mathematically averaged faces and that 6-month olds can abstract the central tendency…

Depression Treatment Preferences in Older Primary Care Patients

Science.gov (United States)

Gum, Amber M.; Arean, Patricia A.; Hunkeler, Enid; Tang, Lingqi; Katon, Wayne; Hitchcock, Polly; Steffens, David C.; Dickens, Jeanne; Unutzer, Jurgen

2006-01-01

Purpose: For depressed older primary care patients, this study aimed to examine (a) characteristics associated with depression treatment preferences; (b) predictors of receiving preferred treatment; and (c) whether receiving preferred treatment predicted satisfaction and depression outcomes. Design and Methods: Data are from 1,602 depressed older…

Millennial Instructional Preferences in Post-Secondary Business Programs

Science.gov (United States)

West, Cynthia Elaine

2017-01-01

The purpose of this mixed method study was to examine the instructional preferences of millennial learners and how their instructional preferences affect their choice in post-secondary business programs. The instructional preferences of millennial learners are an important question for post-secondary business programs enrolling learners from…

Literacy-Related Professional Development Preferences of Secondary Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Shara L.; Lee, Elizabeth A.

2014-01-01

A survey of 100 teachers in one Ontario school board examined their literacy-related professional development preferences. The majority preferred short durations of literacy-related professional development. A small number did not want any literacy-related professional development. The most preferred forms of professional development were shared…

Evaluating patients' preferences for type of bowel preparation prior to screening CT colonography: Convenience and comfort versus sensitivity and specificity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghanouni, A.; Halligan, S.; Taylor, S.A.; Boone, D.; Plumb, A.; Wardle, J.; Wagner, C. von

2013-01-01

Aims: To explore the relative value patients place on comfort and convenience versus test sensitivity and specificity in the context of computed tomographic colonography (CTC) screening. Materials and methods: Twenty semi-structured interviews were carried out with patients attending hospital for radiological tests unrelated to CTC. Preferences for CTC with different types of bowel preparation for CTC screening were examined and interviews were analysed thematically. The discussion guide included separate sections on CTC, bowel preparation methods (non-, reduced- and full-laxative), and sensitivity and specificity. Patients were given information on each topic in turn and asked about their views and preferences during each section. Results: Following information about the test, patients' attitudes towards CTC were positive. Following information on bowel preparation, full-laxative purgation was anticipated to cause more adverse physical and lifestyle effects than using reduced- or non-laxative preparation. However, stated preferences were approximately equally divided, largely due to patients anticipating that non-laxative preparations would reduce test accuracy (because the bowel was not thoroughly cleansed). Following information on sensitivity and specificity (which supported patients' expectations), the predominant stated preference was for full-laxative preparation. Conclusions: Patients are likely to value test sensitivity and specificity over a more comfortable and convenient preparation. Future research should test this hypothesis on a larger sample