• Title/Summary/Keyword: positivity bias

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Practice of causal inference with the propensity of being zero or one: assessing the effect of arbitrary cutoffs of propensity scores

  • Kang, Joseph;Chan, Wendy;Kim, Mi-Ok;Steiner, Peter M.
    • Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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    • v.23 no.1
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    • pp.1-20
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    • 2016
  • Causal inference methodologies have been developed for the past decade to estimate the unconfounded effect of an exposure under several key assumptions. These assumptions include, but are not limited to, the stable unit treatment value assumption, the strong ignorability of treatment assignment assumption, and the assumption that propensity scores be bounded away from zero and one (the positivity assumption). Of these assumptions, the first two have received much attention in the literature. Yet the positivity assumption has been recently discussed in only a few papers. Propensity scores of zero or one are indicative of deterministic exposure so that causal effects cannot be defined for these subjects. Therefore, these subjects need to be removed because no comparable comparison groups can be found for such subjects. In this paper, using currently available causal inference methods, we evaluate the effect of arbitrary cutoffs in the distribution of propensity scores and the impact of those decisions on bias and efficiency. We propose a tree-based method that performs well in terms of bias reduction when the definition of positivity is based on a single confounder. This tree-based method can be easily implemented using the statistical software program, R. R code for the studies is available online.

The Effect of Future Time Perspective on Recall Memory about Emotional Pictures: The Evidence of Socioemotional Selectivity Theory among Korean Adults (남은 시간 인식이 회상기억에 미치는 영향: 한국인에서의 사회정서적 선택이론 증거)

  • An, Mi So;Ghim, Hei-Rhee
    • 한국노년학
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    • v.38 no.1
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    • pp.83-102
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    • 2018
  • According to socioemotional selectivity theory, if people perceive their time left in life as expanded, they have a future-oriented goal of life, but if perceive as limited the goal of life is changed into the pursuit of present emotional satisfaction. Thus, if we perceive our time left as getting limited as we get older, we pay more attention to the positive stimuli than the negative ones and remember more the positive stimuli in order to maintain the current emotional state as positive. This is known as the positivity effect. This study examined whether the positivity effect is caused by a limited future time perspective. The participants were presented with scenarios for hypothetical situations in which the future time was expanded or limited, and were encouraged to immerse in the virtual situation by talking about what they would like to do and whom they wanted to spend time with. Then the participants were presented with 48 positive, negative, and neutral emotional pictures and were asked to recall after 10 minutes delay. 75 university students and 65 elderly participated in the study. In the control condition where the future time perspective was not manipulated, the elderly showed the positivity effect but the youth showed the bias toward negative pictures. The elderly in the expanded time condition recalled positive pictures less and negative pictures more than the elderly in the control condition. On the other hand, the youth in the limited time condition recalled less the negative pictures than the youth in the control condition. These results demonstrated that the elderly did not show the positive bias when the future time perspective was expanded, and that the youth showed the positive bias when the future time perspective was limited. These results show that the positivity effect is related with the limited future time perspective.

Sleep quality and happiness among young adults: The role of positive memory bias (청년기의 수면과 행복: 기억의 긍정성 편향을 중심으로)

  • Ji-eun Shin;Jung Ki Kim;Nangyeon Lim
    • Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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    • v.23 no.2
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    • pp.271-293
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    • 2017
  • Despite the benefits of social activity on happiness, humans still spend over one third of their time by themselves-sleeping. The effect of sleep quality on happiness as well as its underlying mechanism are examined in this study. Based on previous findings on the role of sleep in consolidation of memories, it was hypothesized that a good sleep would promote happiness by increasing the likelihood of recalling everyday episodes in a positively biased manner. In Study 1, regardless of one's demographic variables, social variables, and economic status, sleep quality was positively related to life satisfaction. To examine the causal direction of this effect, participants were asked to complete a survey twice with different time intervals. Controlling for baseline variables, sleep quality during previous two weeks (Study 2) or previous day (Study 3) significantly predicted the participants' life satisfaction. Moreover, this relationship was partially mediated by a positive memory bias (Study 3). This study opens interesting questions on a relatively unexamined nonsocial predictor of happiness, sleep quality.

A Cohort Study on Risk Factors for Chronic Liver Disease: Analytic Strategies Excluding Potentially Incident Subjects (만성간질환 위험요인에 대한 코호트연구: 잠재적 발병자 집단을 감안한 분석전략)

  • Kim, Dae-Sung;Kim, Dong-Hyun;Bae, Jong-Myun;Shin, Myung-Hee;Ahn, Yoon-Ok;Lee, Moo-Song
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.32 no.4
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    • pp.452-458
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    • 1999
  • Objectives: The authors conducted the study to evaluate bias when potentially diseased subjects were included in cohort members while analyzing risk factors of chronic liver diseases. Methods: Total of 14,529 subjects were followed up for the incidence of liver diseases from January 1993 to June 1997. We have used databases of insurance company with medical records, cancer registry, and death certificate data to identify 102 incident cases. The cohort members were classified into potentially diseased group(n=2,217) when they were HBsAg positive, serum GPT levels higher than 40 units, or had or has liver diseases in baseline surveys. Cox's model were used for potentially diseased group, other members, and total subjects, respectively. Results: The risk factors profiles were similar for total and potentially diseased subjects: HBsAg positivity, history of acute liver disease, and recent quittance of smoking or drinking increased the risk. while intake of pork and coffee decreased it. For the potentially diseased, obesity showed marginally significant protective effect. Analysis of subjects excluding the potentially diseased showed distinct profiles: obesity increased the risk, while quitting smoking or drinking had no association. For these intake of raw liver or processed fish or soybean paste stew increased risk; HBsAg positivity, higher levels of liver enzymes and history of acute liver diseases increased the risk. Conclusions: The results suggested the potential bias in risk ratio estimates when potentially diseased subjects were included in cohort study on chronic liver diseases, especially for lifestyles possibly modified after disease onset. The analytic strategy excluding potentially diseased subjects was considered appropriate for identifying risk factors for chronic liver diseases.

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Accuracy of Combined Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid and Cervical Cytology Testing as a Primary Screening Tool for Cervical Cancer: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

  • Chanthavilay, Phetsavanh;Mayxay, Mayfong;Phongsavan, Keokedthong;Marsden, Donald E;White, Lisa J;Moore, Lynne;Reinharz, Daniel
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.16 no.14
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    • pp.5889-5897
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    • 2015
  • Background: The performance of combined testing visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) and cervical cytology tests might differ from one setting to another. The average estimate of the testing accuracy across studies is informative, but no meta-analysis has been carried out to assess this combined method. Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the average sensitivity and specificity of the combined VIA and cervical cytology tests for the detection of cervical precancerous lesions. Materials and Methods: We conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis, according to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Review of Diagnostic Test Accuracy. We considered two cases. In the either-positive result case, a positive result implies positivity in at least one of the tests. A negative result implies negativity in both tests. In the both-positive case, a positive result implies having both tests positive. Eligible studies were identified using Pubmed, Embase, Website of Science, CINHAL and COCRANE databases. True positive, false positive, false negative and true negative values were extracted. Estimates of sensitivity and specificity, positive and negative likelihood (LR) and diagnostic odds ratios (DOR) were pooled using a hierarchical random effect model. Hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristics (HSROC) were generated and heterogeneity was verified through covariates potentially influencing the diagnostic odds ratio. Findings: Nine studies fulfilled inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. Pooled estimates of the sensitivities of the combined tests in either-positive and both-positive cases were 0.87 (95% CI: 0.83-0.90) and 0.38 (95% CI: 0.29-0.48), respectively. Corresponding specificities were 0.79 (95% CI: 0.63-0.89) and 0.98 (95% CI: 0.96-0.99) respectively. The DORs of the combined tests in either-positive or both-positive result cases were 27.7 (95% CI: 12.5-61.5) and 52 (95% CI: 22.1-122.2), respectively. When including only articles without partial verification bias and also a high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia as a threshold of the disease, DOR of combined test in both-positive result cases remained the highest. However, DORs decreased to 12.1 (95% CI: 6.05-24.1) and 13.8 (95% CI: 7.92-23.9) in studies without partial verification bias for the combined tests in the either-positive and both-positive result cases, respectively. The screener, the place of study and the size of the population significantly influenced the DOR of combined tests in the both-positive result case in restriction analyses that considered only articles with CIN2+ as disease threshold. Conclusions: The combined test in the either-positive result case has a high sensitivity, but a low specificity. These results suggest that the combined test should be considered in developing countries as a primary screening test if facilities exist to confirm, through colposcopy and biopsy, a positive result.

The Effect of Price Discount Rate According to Brand Loyalty on Consumer's Acquisition Value and Transaction Value (브랜드애호도에 따른 가격할인율의 차이가 소비자의 획득가치와 거래가치에 미치는 영향)

  • Kim, Young-Ei;Kim, Jae-Yeong;Shin, Chang-Nag
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.17 no.4
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    • pp.247-269
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    • 2007
  • In recent years, one of the major reasons for the fierce competition amongst firms is that they strive to increase their own market shares and customer acquisition rate in the same market with similar and apparently undifferentiated products in terms of quality and perceived benefit. Because of this change in recent marketing environment, the differentiated after-sales service and diversified promotion strategies have become more important to gain competitive advantage. Price promotion is the favorite strategy that most retailers use to achieve short-term sales increase, induce consumer's brand switch, in troduce new product into market, and so forth. However, if marketers apply or copy an identical price promotion strategy without considering the characteristic differences in product and consumer preference, it will cause serious problems because discounted price itself could make people skeptical about product quality, and the changes of perceived value might appear differently depending on other factors such as consumer involvement or brand attitude. Previous studies showed that price promotion would certainly increase sales, and the discounted price compared to regular price would enhance the consumer's perceived values. On the other hand, discounted price itself could make people depreciate or skeptical about product quality, and reduce the consumers' positivity bias because consumers might be unsure whether the current price promotion is the retailer's best price offer. Moreover, we cannot say that discounted price absolutely enhances the consumer's perceived values regardless of product category and purchase situations. That is, the factors that affect consumers' value perceptions and buying behavior are so diverse in reality that the results of studies on the same dependent variable come out differently depending on what variable was used or how experiment conditions were designed. Majority of previous researches on the effect of price-comparison advertising have used consumers' buying behavior as dependent variable. In order to figure out consumers' buying behavior theoretically, analysis of value perceptions which influence buying intentions is needed. In addition, they did not combined the independent variables such as brand loyalty and price discount rate together. For this reason, this paper tried to examine the moderating effect of brand loyalty on relationship between the different levels of discounting rate and buyers' value perception. And we provided with theoretical and managerial implications that marketers need to consider such variables as product attributes, brand loyalty, and consumer involvement at the same time, and then establish a differentiated pricing strategy case by case in order to enhance consumer's perceived values properl. Three research concepts were used in our study and each concept based on past researches was defined. The perceived acquisition value in this study was defined as the perceived net gains associated with the products or services acquired. That is, the perceived acquisition value of the product will be positively influenced by the benefits buyers believe they are getting by acquiring and using the product, and negatively influenced by the money given up to acquire the product. And the perceived transaction value was defined as the perception of psychological satisfaction or pleasure obtained from taking advantage of the financial terms of the price deal. Lastly, the brand loyalty was defined as favorable attitude towards a purchased product. Thus, a consumer loyal to a brand has an emotional attachment to the brand or firm. Repeat purchasers continue to buy the same brand even though they do not have an emotional attachment to it. We assumed that if the degree of brand loyalty is high, the perceived acquisition value and the perceived transaction value will increase when higher discount rate is provided. But we found that there are no significant differences in values between two different discount rates as a result of empirical analysis. It means that price reduction did not affect consumer's brand choice significantly because the perceived sacrifice decreased only a little, and customers are satisfied with product's benefits when brand loyalty is high. From the result, we confirmed that consumers with high degree of brand loyalty to a specific product are less sensitive to price change. Thus, using price promotion strategy to merely expect sale increase is not recommendable. Instead of discounting price, marketers need to strengthen consumers' brand loyalty and maintain the skimming strategy. On the contrary, when the degree of brand loyalty is low, the perceived acquisition value and the perceived transaction value decreased significantly when higher discount rate is provided. Generally brands that are considered inferior might be able to draw attention away from the quality of the product by making consumers focus more on the sacrifice component of price. But considering the fact that consumers with low degree of brand loyalty are known to be unsatisfied with product's benefits and have relatively negative brand attitude, bigger price reduction offered in experiment condition of this paper made consumers depreciate product's quality and benefit more and more, and consumer's psychological perceived sacrifice increased while perceived values decreased accordingly. We infer that, in the case of inferior brand, a drastic price-cut or frequent price promotion may increase consumers' uncertainty about overall components of product. Therefore, it appears that reinforcing the augmented product such as after-sale service, delivery and giving credit which is one of the levels consisting of product would be more effective in reality. This will be better rather than competing with product that holds high brand loyalty by reducing sale price. Although this study tried to examine the moderating effect of brand loyalty on relationship between the different levels of discounting rate and buyers' value perception, there are several limitations. This study was conducted in controlled conditions where the high involvement product and two different levels of discount rate were applied. Given the presence of low involvement product, when both pieces of information are available, it is likely that the results we have reported here may have been different. Thus, this research results explain only the specific situation. Second, the sample selected in this study was university students in their twenties, so we cannot say that the results are firmly effective to all generations. Future research that manipulates the level of discount along with the consumer involvement might lead to a more robust understanding of the effects various discount rate. And, we used a cellular phone as a product stimulus, so it would be very interesting to analyze the result when the product stimulus is an intangible product such as service. It could be also valuable to analyze whether the change of perceived value affects consumers' final buying behavior positively or negatively.

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