An investigation of the parameters of a simple mean-field model

In a recent work Gallo et al. (Math Models Methods Appl. Sci. 19:1427–1439, 2009) examined the parameters for a simple mean-field model of social interactions. Their work presented the model, raw data and parameter estimates with associated confidence intervals for a 4-year period. Here the problem is re-examined in greater mathematical detail and associated estimates evaluated. In particular exact results are obtained for a selection of any 3 years and parameters estimated for a 7-year period, the full extent of the data.