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Quality of Reproductive Health Services to Limited English Proficient Patients
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This study explores the association between language discordance and key indicators of reproductive health care quality. We seek to test the hypothesis that patients seen by a bilingual provider, on average, receive higher quality services than patients who receive reproductive health services with the help of an interpreter. In order to do so we have analyzed patient care indicator data using generalized linear mixed models with nested structure.
Posted by Ryan Rosario on Mar 10, 2009 -
On Developing a Readability Scale
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In this analysis, we will be analyzing a collection of texts that are tagged with a grade level to determine the best factors for measuring readability. Readability is typically represented using a decimal: the integer part is the corresponding “grade level” from pre-Kindergarten to professional and the decimal part represents a month of that grade level in which the average individual in that grade level would be able to comprehend the passage. Classical methods use word length and sentence length as a proxy for readability. Our analysis will focus on determining which characteristics of a passage best predict the readability of the passage and developing a model that will use these characteristics to predict the readability level of a passage. These characteristics include word frequency, transitions between sentences within a paragraph as well as the model of paragraph transitions within the passage.
Posted by Ryan Rosario on Mar 10, 2009 -
Correcting for Evaluator Bias
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In this analysis, we will be developing a model that will correct for evaluator bias in grant proposals. When a researcher writes a grant proposal, it is evaluated on a series of factors and an overall score is assigned for the proposal. Based on this score, the evaluating committee may choose to partially fund, completely fund, or deny to fund a proposal. Since the evaluators form a very diverse group across the nation and they vary from year to year, it is not practical to train the evaluators to use the same level of thoroughness in making their evaluation. Some evaluators rate too harsh, and others are too relaxed. Our goal is to correct for these personal biases to get a normalized evaluation for each proposal. Additionally, we wish to identify which evaluators seem to most accurately predict which proposals will be funded.
Posted by Ryan Rosario on Mar 10, 2009 -
Executive Compensation
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For our client, we will be analyzing data from fortune 1500 companies over two recent years for the five top executives within each company. The data includes variables both at the individual executive level and at the company level. The outcome of interest is the proportion of compensation in stock and stock options composed of stock options. We will merge data from two financial databases and fit an appropriate multilevel/repeated measures model for this data.
Posted by Ryan Rosario on Mar 10, 2009 -
Identification of Optimal Buy and Sell Periods
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In this stocks project, we examined a client’s stock portfolio over a decade. We looked at the distribution of closing prices among the holdings and calculated the returns that would be seen with various combinations of hard sell points and trailing stop losses. Moving averages over 50 and 200 days were analyzed in the hopes of identifying optimal buy and sell periods based on these statistics.
Posted by Ryan Rosario on Mar 05, 2009 -
Surgical Drainage Meta-Analysis
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Surgeons routinely use prophylactic drainage after surgery however this practice is often disliked by patients and the benefits are not always clear. Recently surgeons have been explicitly testing the value of drainage in specific surgical proceedures. The objective of this project is to determine the evidence-based value of prophylactic drainage in surgeries where drainage is above the fascia and below subcutaneous tissue. We are performing a meta-analysis of existing studies involving these kinds of drainage to characterize the drain effectiveness using a random-effects model considering possible outcomes such as hematomas, abscesses, seromas and or infections.
Posted by Ryan Rosario on Mar 04, 2009 -
Application of Constrained PCA to Understanding Brands
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The objective of this project is to develop an algorithm for Constained PCA that will be used in to learn about positioning as well as weaknesses of brands.
Posted by Denise Ferrari on Mar 04, 2009 -
Evolution of Channel Islands Population
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There has been population replacement during the prehistoric times on the Channel Islands. Before the Spanish came, there were two different Indian populations: one in the North and one in the South of the Channel Island, confirmed by cranial measurements and Mitochondrial DNA (MDNA). The Northern population (is closer to Santa Barbara) are the Chumash Indians and the Southern one, the Ituaztecan. The Ituaztecan spread to Central America and pushed out the Chumash. (We do not know around what time this happened.) Using MDNA, the client has 6 reliable skull classifications (from 3 different islands), belonging to either of the two groups. With this information, he would like to be able to classify about 100 other individuals, based on their cranial measurements, taking location into account.
Posted by Ryan Rosario on Mar 04, 2009 -
Fuel Loss
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In this project we investigate transportation fuel loss among retailers and what environmental elements or business practices might influence such fuel loss. The transportation fuels industry has monitored the disappearance of a small percentage of fuel throughout retailers in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego since 2001, and we will investigate potential causes of this loss to help mitigate future losses.
Posted by Ryan Rosario on Mar 04, 2009