University of Haifa

About: University of Haifa is a education organization based out in Haifa, Israel. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 7558 authors who have published 27141 publications receiving 711629 citations. The organization is also known as: Haifa University & Universiṭat Ḥefah.

Bandwidth selection in kernel density estimation: Oracle inequalities and adaptive minimax optimality

Abstract: We address the problem of density estimation with "$\mathbb{L}_{s}$-loss by selection of kernel estimators. We develop a selection procedure and derive corresponding $\mathbb{L}_{s}$-risk oracle inequalities. It is shown that the proposed selection rule leads to the estimator being minimax adaptive over a scale of the anisotropic Nikol’skii classes. The main technical tools used in our derivations are uniform bounds on the $\mathbb{L}_{s}$-norms of empirical processes developed recently by Goldenshluger and Lepski [Ann. Probab. (2011), to appear].

Advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting for the individual, organization and society

Abstract: The phenomenon of telecommuting has implications for individuals and organizations, and society generally. Examines the advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting to the parties involved and affected by it. Key advantages to individuals are increased autonomy and flexibility; to organizations, increased human resource capacity and savings in direct expenses; and to society, a reduction in environmental damage, solutions for special‐needs populations, and savings in infrastructure and energy. Advantages are weighed against disadvantages: to individuals, possible sense of isolation, lack of separation between work and home; to organizations, costs involved in transition to new work methods, training, and damage to commitment and identification with the organization; finally, society is faced with a danger of creating detached individuals. Discusses implications of the suitability of individuals to telecommuting.

Controlling product returns in direct marketing

Abstract: Many direct marketers offer price refunds to unsatisfied consumers, but as a result some consumers order products with no intention of keeping them. We show that such inappropriate returns can be controlled in a profitable way by imposing nonrefundable charges and that these charges increase with the value of the merchandise ordered. Data collected from clothing mail-order catalogs is consistent with our theory. The shipping and handling charges of these catalogs are usually nonrefundable and increase with the value of the merchandise ordered, even when the actual shipping and handling costs are constant.

What Does It Mean to Be an Adult? The Israeli Experience

Abstract: This chapter examines the conceptions of adulthood of adolescents, emerging adults, and parents of adolescents in Israel. It shows a general consensus regarding the important markers of adulthood (similar to American middle-class conceptions) while identifying several cultural, age, and gender differences.

Grade 10 Students' perceptions of and attitudes toward science teaching and school science

Abstract: Grade 10 students' perceptions of classroom practices and activities, as well as their attitudes toward science teaching and school science, were assessed in the Westend School District (pseudonym) in British Columbia, using both quantitative (statistics of Likert-type scales) and qualitative (critical interpretive analysis of interview data) methods. The major findings of the study were that students do not appreciate the most prevailing contemporary practices in science classes, perceived by them as mainly the copying of the teacher's notes, and that they prefer science teaching and learning in which they take an active and responsible part. Additionally, teaching style appears to be the major determinant of high school students' attitudes toward science and science teaching. No change in students' perceptions of and attitudes toward science teaching and school science (in 1989 compared with 1986) could be detected in spite of the impact made by the recently advocated constructivist and science-technology-society (STS) approaches on science curriculum and science education. It is argued, therefore, that more emphasis must be placed on the science teachers' role and their teaching style if an educational change in the constructivist/STS direction is to be achieved.