Sensitivity analysis on the relationship between alcohol abuse or dependence and annual hours worked

Author

Stefan Koerner

Abstract

"This thesis focuses on an observational study investigating the relationship between alcohol abuse or dependence and annual hours worked by using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Results from an observational study can lead to interpretational difficulties because unlike in a controlled experiment individuals are not randomly assigned to the treatment. First, differences in the outcome in treated and control group may not reflect effects of the treatment, but rather pretreatment differences between the groups. In the underlying study, this is controlled by matching on a propensity score based on observed individual and demographic characteristics. Second, relevant pretreatment variables may not have been recorded, so that individuals who appear comparable may not be. A sensitivity analysis addresses this possibility by asking how large the impact of unobserved covariates has to be to alter the conclusion of an observational study. In this study a sensitivity analysis is done by using the Wilcoxon sign rank test.

Separate analyses are carried out for males and females. For both male and female samples, the results are consistent with the hypothesis that alcohol abuse or dependence has no significant effect on hours worked. After splitting the data into four subgroups based on ethnic and marital status, significance was found in the subgroup of unmarried and white males, but this result is sensitive to hidden bias.

In addition, the results were compared to a traditional linear regression. The traditional approach produced results similar to those observed with sensitivity analysis"--Abstract, page iii.

Advisor(s)

Samaranayake, V. A.
Bryant, Richard
Gadbury, Gary L.

Department(s)

Mathematics and Statistics

Degree Name

M.S. in Applied Mathematics

Publisher

University of Missouri--Rolla

Publication Date

Summer 2006

Pagination

viii, 47 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 44-46)

Rights

© 2006 Stefan Koerner, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Restricted Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Subject Headings

Alcoholism -- Economic aspectsHours of laborObservation (Scientific method)Sensitivity theory (Mathematics)

Thesis Number

T 8918

Print OCLC #

79476416

Recommended Citation

Koerner, Stefan, "Sensitivity analysis on the relationship between alcohol abuse or dependence and annual hours worked" (2006). Masters Theses. 3835.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/masters_theses/3835