Analyses factorielles et choix méthodologiques: réplique à Markus Freitag

In this contribution, we discuss the number of factors to consider as well as the consequences of rotation in the case of principal components analysis, a technique belonging to the family of factor analysis. The article by Freitag in this issue, dedicated to the study of social capital in Switzerland, is used as example. This contribution shows the impact of different missing values estimations and, more generally, stresses the importance of looking at different solutions in an exploratory perspective. It underscores also the importance to have access to the data in order to allow a new analysis and, consequently, the possibility of the scientific debate.     

Parental Control of the Time Preadolescents Spend on Social Media: Links with Preadolescents’ Social Media Appearance Comparisons and Mental Health

Time spent on social media and making online comparisons with others may influence users’ mental health. This study examined links between parental control over the time their child spends on social media, preadolescents’ time spent browsing social media, preadolescents’ appearance comparisons on social media, and preadolescents’ appearance satisfaction, depressive symptoms, and life satisfaction. Preadolescent social media users (N?=?284, 49.1% female; aged 10–12) and one of their parents completed online surveys. Preadolescents, whose parents reported greater control over their child’s time on social media, reported better mental health. This relationship was mediated by preadolescents spending less time browsing and making fewer appearance comparisons on social media. Parental control over time spent on social media may be associated with benefits for mental health among preadolescents.     

Relativism

Modern democracies increasingly confuse civic or political equality with a radical relativism that calls into question legitimate principles of hierarchy and the very idea of reasonable value judgments. This confusion reflects a “corruption,” in Montesquieu’s sense, of democracy rooted in a refusal to recognize distinctions that are integral to both human nature and social life. A moderate form of cultural relativism is a genuine intellectual achievement that helps combat ethnocentrism and allows one to better appreciate the full range of human experience. But criteria of meaning and truth are by no means entirely dependent upon cultural context. Our contemporary awareness of the “relativity” of cultures and historical experiences must be complemented by a robust appreciation of the universality of Reason and citizenship.

The political economy of churches in Denmark, 1300–2015

This paper reports new time-series for the numbers and sizes of churches in Denmark over a 715-year period. Per capita, the new series are termed church densities. A pattern emerges in the series that corresponds to the main development in the economy: until 1750, the economy was in the traditional steady state, where church densities were high and did not decline substantially. Modern development set in after 1750. Since then, church densities have declined more than five times. Moreover, capacity utilization of church rooms has declined, which means that the reduction in the demand for churches must have been even larger. We argue that this large decline is caused by a fall in religiosity that is caused by economic development as measured by the rise in incomes. In parallel with similar transitions in other sectors, e.g., the Agricultural Transition, it is termed the Religious Transition.     

Socioeconomic change and suicide: a time-series study from the Republic of Ireland

This ecological study examined the association between seven socioeconomic indicators (GDP, unemployment rate, female labor force participation rate, alcohol expenditure, marriage rate, percentage of births outside of marriage, and indictable crime rate) and total, male, and female rates of suicide and suicide plus undetermined death in Ireland during the period 1968-2000. Analysis of the data expressed as absolute values showed highly significant associations between the socioeconomic indicators and the total, male, and female suicide rates. However, these associations were explained by the strongly trended data. The trended nature of the data was removed by using year-to-year differences. Analysis of the first-differenced data showed that none of the socioeconomic indicators was associated with the total, male, or female suicide rates with the exception of indictable crime, which had a significant independent effect on the female suicide rate (coefficient = 2.0, p < .01) but not on suicide plus undetermined death. This study highlights the need to use econometric methods in time-trend analyses, the lack of age-sex specific exposure data in this area, and the challenge of understanding trends in suicide in their socioeconomic context.     

Organic explosives analysis using on column-ion trap EI/NICI GC-MS with an external source

In this study, a standard method by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for the analysis of classical organic explosives was developed. This method was validated in the EI mode, based on the XPT 90-210 standard method. Detection limits (LOD) and quantitation limits (LOQ) were both determined using electronic impact (EI) and negative ion chemical ionization (NICI) modes. These were compared and results showed that in the NICI mode, detection limits were lower than in the EI mode, thus NICI mode appeared to be the best way to analyze nitrate esters. Results of ion trap MS detection were then compared with those obtained in a previous study with single quadrupolar technology. Major ions that were obtained using ion trap MS detection in these two modes were reported.