Combining cognitive and statistical approaches to survey design

Sample surveys provide data for academic research, government policy-making, the media, and business. Statistical research aims to improve survey data by reducing extraneous sources of variability and thus increasing accuracy. Researchers have begun to use paradigms adapted from the cognitive sciences to study those sources of variability associated with the processes that the respondent undertakes in understanding questions, remembering, judging and estimating, and formulating answers. To generalize laboratory-based findings, researchers must begin to embed designed experiments that vary the questionnaire content into sample surveys of broad population. Issues associated with the design of and statistical inference from such embedded experiments are examined and illustrated with an example on the effects of context questions on responses in attitude surveys.     

Contribution of lipoprotein lipase activity to the differential growth of three adipose tissue depots in young broiler chickens

1. The growth of three distinct adipose tissue depots around the abdomen, neck and thigh was measured in a commercial strain of broiler, and related to the changes in activity of lipoprotein lipase within each depot.

2. At 10 d of age there was no significant difference between the weights of the depots. Thereafter the abdominal fat pad exhibited a much greater rate of growth than the other two depots so that by 55 d of age the abdominal fat pad was 4 times the size of the leg depot and 3.4 times the size of the neck depot.

3. Changes in total lipoprotein lipase activity for all three depots showed a similar pattern to the changes in their weight.

4. When [¹⁴C]‐VLDL was injected intravenously into birds at 15 and 57 d of age the percentage taken up into the abdominal fat pad was greater than that into the other two depots at both ages. At 57 d of age the abdominal fat pad had a 2.3‐fold greater uptake than at 15 d whereas the other two depots showed no significant differences at the two ages.

5. These results provide further evidence for a key role of lipoprotein lipase in regulating adipose tissue growth in broilers. They also demonstrate that although the abdominal fat pad has been used in a number of studies of adipose tissue metabolism it is not necessarily representative of other depots.     

Diurnal and seasonal occurrence,feeding habits and mating behavior ofMaladera matrida adults in Israel

Adult populations ofMaladera matrida Argaman (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), a beetle highly injurious to agricultural crops, were studied in the coastal plain of Israel from 1985 to 1988. There were two generations annually. Adults emerged in March, April or May and disappeared in October or November. The beetles are on the wing, mate, and feed at twilight and in the dark. Feeding and mating behavior, sex ratio, and preferred food plants were studied.     

Check-list for scientific names of common parasitic fungi. Series 3b: Fungi on bulbs: Amaryllidaceae and Iridaceae

This list is a continuation of Series 3a (Neth. J. Pl. Path. 94 (1988), Supplement 1), an account of the nomenclature of common parasitic fungi on bulbs as used in official publications of the Netherlands Society of Plant Pathology and the Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The selected names include one new species,Curvularia gladioli Boerema & Hamers, one new pathogenic form,Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.croci Boerema & Hamers, and one new combination,Sclerotium narcissi (Sacc.) Boerema & Hamers.A contribution towards the costs of publication provided by the Landbouw Export Bureau Fund, Wageningen, is gratefully acknowledged.     

The impact of the Department of Phytopathology at the Wageningen Agricultural University, as evaluated by citation analysis

The results of a citation analysis of all publications by the Department of Phytopathology which appeared in the period 1969–1987, but based on citations recorded by the Science Citation Index only, are presented. Together with the results of an analysis of self-citations by the eight most cited authors they suggest, that phytopathology as a science is poorly covered by the Science Citation Index.Een citatie-analyse van alle in de periode 1969–1987 verschenen publikaties van de Vakgroep Fytopathologie omvatte uitsluitend citaties voorzover vermeld in de Science Citation Index (SCI).Enkele vermeldenswaardige resultaten betreffen de krommen, die de cumulatieve citatie-aantallen weergeven (Figuren 1b en 2b) en de grafiek, die de relatieve bijdrage van uiteenlopende publikaties aan het totaal der citaties uitbeeldt (Fig. 3). Uit Fig. 2b blijkt, dat het citatieverloop van een gemiddelde publikatie het karakter van een logistische groeikromme vertoont: na een lagfase en een fase van exponentiële groei vlakt de kromme at naar een stationaire fase. Uit Fig. 3 kan worden afgeleid, dat weinig artikelen veel, en vele weinig tot het totale aantal citaties bijdragen; zo nemen 25 van de in totaal 321 geciteerde artikelen 50% van het totale aantal (3659) citaties voor hun rekening!