bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Creep Behavior of a Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Polyimide Resin
Authors: Somiya Satoshi
Published: March 2007

The thermal properties, particularly the viscoelastic properties, of a carbon-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic polyimide (CFRTP) resin (AURUM) were studied, and the influence of the change in its crystallinity by heat-treatment was further in vestigated. The static mechanical properties were evaluated by the three-point bending test, whereas the thermal properties were examined in terms of the deflection temperature under loading and the creep properties by the three-point test method. As a result, it was confirmed that the viscoelastic deformation of this CFRTP material was of an Arrhenius linear type in the range of 195 to 265°C, and it was further clarified that blending with fibers brought about marked reduction in viscoelastic properties. In addition, it was found that elevation in crystallinity by heat-treatment effected an improvement in the strength and elastic coefficient of CFRTP but, on the other hand, gave rise to embrittlement of the material. From these results, it was ascertained that this material could become a tailored material by regulation of fiber content and crystallinity.
Influence of Fiber Waviness on the Structural Response of Composite Laminates
Authors: Chan W.S. , Wang J.S.
Published: March 2007

Fiber waviness is often found to be a failure initiation site in a structural part. The objective of this research is to evaluate the influence of in-plane fiber waviness on structural response and its sensitivity on a composite beam. Explicit forms of lamina and laminate stiffness and their sensitivity analysis due to fiber waviness are formulated. The change of deflection and natural frequency of a symmetrically laminated composite beam due to fiber waviness was also investigated.
Organizational Storytelling
Authors: Smith Faye L. , Keyton Joann
Published: March 2007

Storytelling is a familiar media entertainment strategy and is becoming better understood as a device for informing employees about their organizational cultures. Using narrative analysis, participant observation, and historical analysis, this case study explores how one television producer used storytelling to entertain television viewers and maintain control within her production organization. The script, especially of one episode, functioned as a communication device that reflected the producer’s view of the organization’s dynamics, expressed the organization’s belief system, and served as an internal storyteller. Superimposing the story-as-an-internalcontrol device over the story-as-audience-entertainment device illuminated underlying issues about organizational relationships and power distribution.
Manager Decisions Based on Communication Facilitated in Focus Groups
Authors: Plax Timothy G. , Cecchi Louis F.
Published: March 2007

Critical to decision making at all levels of management is the rapid accessing of pertinent information. Acquiring relevant information is often highly problematic. In this article we explicate management's use of focus groups for facilitating communication, which allows for the gathering of decision-making information. Whereas a variety of groups actually operate to make administrative decisions, focus groups provide management with valuable data from which to make decisions. Our examination initially considers both the types of information that expedite decision making and the controversy surrounding alternative approaches to accessing these data. Types of focus groups are then differentiated, based on the scientific perspective. Illustrating the facilitation of communication among group participants, we describe focus group investigations across three different organizations. Our discussion concludes by reconsidering the facilitation of communication in focus groups and the accessing of data pertinent to management decision making.
Gender and Verbal Communication in Professional Settings
Authors: Baker Margaret Ann
Published: March 2007

Women in professional settings often practice affiliative/depowering communication strategies, whereas men tend to practice instrumental/empowering communication strategies. These differing strategies are evident in conversational objectives, tag questions and hedges, and verbal turn taking. Lack of opportunity, tokenism, and gender role spillover contribute to differences in both communication acts and communication expectations. Conclusions from empirical research suggest that women can choose and may even be encouraged to practice empowering strategies with the public, subordinates, and supervisors; however, they are forced into using affiliative strategies when interacting with colleagues.
External Validity, Internal Validity, and Organizational Reality
Authors: Steinfatt Thomas M.
Published: March 2007

Cardy argues that studies conducted with students are appropriate for research in management communication when the purpose of the study does not concern generalizing to population parameters. That is, external validity is often irrelevant. This article expresses agreement but responds that the problem of making inferences from any subject sample in management communication is one that demands internal, not external, validity. Student samples in studies of management communication are especially vulnerable to charges that important situational and perceptual variables have not been taken into account in gathering the data.
The Effect of Individual Differences on Managerial Media Choice
Authors: Alexander Elmore R. , Penley Larry E. , Jernigan I. Edward
Published: March 2007

Managers vary in their sensitivity to the appropriateness of communication media, and this sensitivity has been associated with managerial performance. Factors affecting managerial variability in media sensitivity are relatively uninvestigated. This study examines two potential individual difference measures—communication apprehension and self-monitoring. Both measures are found to affect the media choices that managers make. The results, however, call into question the initial models of the media choice decisions of managers.
Subordinates' Satisfaction and Perceptions of Superiors' Compliance-Gaining Tactics, Argumentativeness, Verbal Aggressiveness, and Style
Authors: Infante Dominic A. , Anderson Carolyn M. , Martin Matthew M. , Herington Anita D. , Kim JungKee
Published: March 2007

A theoretical framework involving argumentativeness, verbal aggressiveness, and affirming style is employed to predict the degrees of negative affect subordinates report their superiors are willing to stimulate by the use of compliance-gaining message strategies. A model of compliance-gaining message selection by Hunter and Boster was used to derive predictions. A study of subordinates' perceptions of their superiors was conducted to test a model that posits that high verbally aggressive traits of superiors, along with low argumentative and low affirming traits, increases superiors' willingness to stimulate negative affect by the use of compliance-gaining messages, which also reduces subordinates' satisfaction with their superiors. The results of the study produced considerable support for the speculations. The perceived communication traits of superiors predicted reports of the superiors' use of compliance-gaining strategies. These strategies attributed to superiors also predicted subordinates' satisfaction with their supervisors.
Feminism, Postmodernism, and Organizational Communication Studies
Authors: Mumby Dennis K.
Published: March 2007

Recent developments in critical organization studies suggest that feminist theory and research provides an additional, and currently underexplored, domain of inquiry. Although critical studies have done much to focus attention on the relationships among communication, hegemony, and organization, little attempt has been made to explore organizations as gendered sites of communication, control, and resistance. This article takes up this issue through an exploration of the intersection of feminism and postmodernism and its potential value for organizational communication studies. The concept of gendered rationality is suggested as a useful way of framing this intersection.
Managing Volunteer Performance
Authors: Adams Carey H. , Shepherd Gregory J.
Published: March 2007

Volunteer hospital workers evaluated the effectiveness of regulative messages constructed by hospital staff in response to four different scenarios. Positive face support was not related to effectiveness ratings for volunteers with lower construct differentiation, but volunteers with greater construct differentiation were severely critical of messages lacking face support. Messages addressing a violation of the hospital's confidentiality policy were rated most favorably, regardless of face support or volunteer construct differentiation. Implications of the results for improving volunteer/staff relations are discussed.
African American and European American Women in the Workplace
Authors: Shuter Robert , Turner Lynn H.
Published: March 2007

This investigation combined qualitative and quantitative analyses to examine African American and European American women's perceptions of workplace conflict. Findings indicated that European American women are seen by others as more conflict avoidant than African American women. Professional women of both races see themselves and others of their own race as choosing to reduce conflict in the workplace. However, this perception is not shared by those of the other race. Further, some evidence suggests that African American professional women see directness as a means of conflict reduction, whereas European American professional women believe less direct approaches reduce workplace conflict.
Substruction: Improving the Linkage from Theory to Method
Authors: Dulock Helen L. , Holzemer William L.
Published: March 2007

Substruction is a strategy to critique the theory and methodology of research. It is a process whereby a researcher identifies the major variables in a study, analyzes the levels of abstraction among the variables, identifies hypothesized relationships between variables, and connects the theoretical basis of the study to the methodology. A model of substruction is presented which incorporates terminology to facilitate a fuller explication of the linkages between the theoretical and operational systems. An example of substruction from the published literature is presented.
The Meaning of Being a Senior: Phenomenological Research and Interpretation with Parse's Theory of Nursing
Authors: Mitchell Gail J.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this article is to report findings from a phenomenological analysis on the meaning of being a senior. Six hundred narrative stories written by older Canadians on their personal experiences in later life were analyzed using the operations of the van Kaam phenomenological method. Seven common elements were created to capture the shared meaning about being a senior contained in the narratives. The seven elements when linked together formed the central finding of the study in a structural definition. The structural definition arising in this study is: Being a senior means engaging the now while rolling with the vicissitudes of life as refined astuteness surfaces a buoyant unburdening. It is as though shifting rhythms propel discovery through grateful abiding in wondering awareness as anticipation of new possibles enlivens connectedness and altruistic commitments affirm self amidst the retrospective pondering of everydayness. This definition was interpreted from Parse's theoretical perspective in order to expand the knowledge base of nursing science. Descriptive expressions from the narratives were linked with major concepts from Parse's theory. Implications for research and practice are specified. Discussion includes comparison of the findings with other qualitative investigations exploring the meaning of aging with older persons in the United States, Germany, Britain, and Nepal.
Evaluation of the Human Becoming Theory in Practice in an Acute Care Psychiatric Setting
Authors: Northrup Deborah Thoun , Cody William K.
Published: March 2007

Using a descriptive evaluation research method, this study evaluated Parse's theory of human becoming in practice in the psychiatric setting. A premidpost-implementation design served to generate qualitative data from nurses, patients, unit nurse managers, hospital nurse supervisors, and nurse documentation that illuminated changes in the quality of nursing care on three diverse pilot units. Major themes of change supported by all data sources were shifting views of human beings, altered ways of listening, altered foci of nurse-person discussions, and personal transformations. Identified themes surfaced strikingly different qualities of change for each pilot unit. Recommendations related to the successful implementation of Parse theory-based practice are presented.
Caring Needs of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis
Authors: Nyman C. Sture , Lützen Kim
Published: March 2007

The goal of this study was to identify, through the application of Watson’s 10 carative factors, the caring needs specific to the human experience of having rheumatoid arthritis and undergoing acupuncture treatment. The study was conducted at a large university hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. Interviews were conducted during manual acupuncture treatment employing a conversation guide derived from Watson’s theory of caring. Six women had 20 sessions each over an 11-week period. A thematic analysis of the resulting 120 audiotaped sessions revealed four predominant themes: seeking help, searching for meaning, uncertainty, and fear of being disappointed. These four phenomena captured the complexities of the physical, emotional, social, and existential experiences of the patients.
The Hidden Costs of Reforms
Authors: Apple Michael W.
Published: March 2007

The Reviewing Policy section was inaugurated in our previous issue. In this featured section, Michael W Apple will contribute short essays that combine reviews of recent publications with reflections on broader issues of education policy. The journal will no longer have a conventional book review section.
"To the Advantage of Infidelity," or How Not to Deal with Religion in America's Public Schools
Authors: Baer Richard A. , Carper James C.
Published: March 2007

The role of religion in public education continues to spark spirited public debate. This article argues that if religion is viewed functionally, then the state school system is permeated with religion. This raises important questions with regard to free exercise of religion, parental rights, and the role of the state in education. Short of getting the government out of the business of operating schools that inevitably transmit particular belief systems, universal parental choice in education and released-time religion classes are the best ways to deal with first-order questions that provoke different religious answers.
Decentralizing Dollars Under School-Based Management: Have Policies Changed?
Authors: Wohlstetter Priscilla , Buffett Thomas
Published: March 2007

Many school districts are moving rapidly toward a decentralized management style. However, little has been written on the financial dimensions of school-based management. This article reports on budgeting policies in five large urban school districts that have adopted school-based management to characterize the extent to which dollars have been decentralized, along with decision-making responsibility and authority. Contrary to previous research on school-based management, which found that traditional patterns of decision making were difficult to alter and that school site councils rarely made "real " or substantive decisions, this study suggests that new patterns of decision making exist that effectively empower building-level educators and community members with substantial discretion over many resources.
Educational Choice: The Stratifying Effects of Selecting Schools and Courses
Authors: Lee Valerie E.
Published: March 2007

The current political climate of educational reform very actively focuses on the positive aspects of increasing parental choice of children's schools, but there is little discussion of (and scant empirical research on) the potentially negative effects of increasing choice. This article examines the rich empirical base on another aspect of choice in education-curriculum choice-to draw parallels between the potentially harmful effects of both types of choice. Specifically, it has been shown that a wide latitude of student choice of courses in high school magnifies the social stratification of educational outcomes. This socially undesirable consequence results from two well-documented relationships: (a) Following a more demanding set of academic courses in high school is strongly and positively associated with higher academic achievement, and (b) less advantaged students are considerably less likely to select such a demanding course of study than are their more academically and socially advantaged counterparts. Additionally, academically and socially disadvantaged students and their families are less likely to seek out, or have access to, information about the consequences of their choices (of either schools or courses). If our society is unwilling to accept any educational reform that increases the inequitable distribution of educational outcomes among diverse social and racial groups, as is argued in this article, then we must take a hard look at the possible effects of school choice in this regard.
Desegregation Goals and Educational Finance Reform: An Agenda for the Next Decade
Authors: Kazal-Thresher D. M.
Published: March 2007

Educatinal finance reform has become a major source of change in organizing public school systems. Its potential to create more uniform and equitable educational opportunities for minorities and low-income students is very good, perhaps even better than past efforts generated through desegregation litigation. This article discusses the ability of educational finance reforms to meet one of the major goals of desegregation and to do so in a more consistent and systematic manner By formally linking the two reform movements, proponents of each may be more effective in enhancing the quality of education and the distribution of educational resources available for all lower income students.
Equity in Sexuality Education: An Exploratory Study of Family Life Education in New Jersey's Rich and Poor Districts
Authors: Firestone William A. , Ballou Janice , Whelchel Nancy
Published: March 2007

A survey ofS500 teachers of sexuality education in New Jersey shows differences between rich and poor districts. Teachers in rich districts get more support from students' families. They also have more access to training, colleagues, curricular guidance, and some materials. They report that sexuality education is somewhat more likely to be required and somewhat more likely to be taken by more students. These differences are attributed to a general lack of support for urban schools.
Asking the Right Question
Authors: Orfield Gary
Published: March 2007

The decade of the 1980s was a period of intense educational reform, with emphasis on equalized funding, higher standards, and testing. Inadequate results from these reforms have prompted educators to reach deeper into the mechanisms that produce educational inequality, focusing on the goals of program equity and program adequacy. However, this strategy contains the misconception that educational equality may be achieved solely by focusing on what goes on within schools. Output goals for schools must be tied to explicit programs and standards to create a level playing field by raising up the schools serving the poor and knocking down barriers that stratify educational opportunity by race and class.
Obstacles and Opportunities: Some Simple Economics of School Finance Reform
Authors: Barnett W. Steven
Published: March 2007

The rapid growth in education expenditure in a time of declining earnings and increased economic inequality presents both obstacles and opportunities for school finance reform. Opportunities are greatest for reforms that increase funding for low-achieving students, rather than schools, based on efficiency arguments. Special-education policy is one possible model for such reform. Evidence regarding school resource allocation processes and production efficiency is used to evaluate the potential impacts of increased spending on education outcomes, how much funding might be required to meet various goals, and the extent to which school restructuring strategies might improve efficiency. The author concludes that school finance reform policies may generate responses by families that offset at least some of their intended effects, and policies should be designed to minimize this problem. New research raises questions about conventional assumptions about educational production and cost, with implications for policy and research.
Intellectual Leadership and the Influence of Early African American Scholars on Multicultural Education
Authors: McGee Banks Cherry A.
Published: March 2007

Key aspects of multicultural education and early African American scholarship are selectively examined to broaden, deepen, and refine our understanding of the link between the transformative nature of multicultural education and early African American scholarship. The exploration of the roots of multicultural education provides a basis for understanding contemporary issues in multicultural education within a historical context. Intellectual leadership is one of the most significant ways in which multicultural education and early African American scholarship are linked. Intellectual leadership is characterized by knowledge that is connected to action and societal reform. Early African American scholars exercised intellectual leadership by challenging the meta-narrative, by encouraging perspective taking, and by providing an intellectual foundation for questioning the status quo and building a just society. Scholars in multicultural education are continuing those activities as they exercise intellectual leadership in a contemporary context.
Choice, Privatization, and Unspoken Strategies of Containment
Authors: Margonis Frank , Parker Laurence
Published: March 2007

This manuscript argues that two systems of metaphors have set the parameters governing the national debate over educational choice; proponents have relied heavily on laissez-faire metaphors and critics have relied on communitarian metaphors. The former invoke visions of free individuals whose actions are made harmonious via a beneficent market; the latter appeal to the civic role schools have in creating unified communities and a national citizenry. Proponents of choice have argued that markets will make schools more efficient and egalitarian, whereas critics of choice have suggested that privatization may further fragment the body politic. Once choice proposals are considered in the light of institutional racism, it appears that further segregation is a likely result of privatization. Discussions of choice proposals without the systematic consideration of economic and racial inequality threaten to legitimate the most drastic educational inequalities in our society.
Education for Industrial and "Postindustrial" Purposes
Authors: Taylor Alison
Published: March 2007

This article begins from the assumption that educational policy and practice are the result of hegemonic struggles and that these struggles are particularly intense during periods of economic change. The study therefore examines the positions of various educational "stakeholders" with respect to educational reform in Ontario, Canada, during two periods of capitalist crisis. The first period, in the late 1800s, involved efforts to establish industrial education programs in Ontario public schools. The second period, from approximately 1970 until the present, involves more recent business-led reform activities. The analysis compares the mobilizing campaigns and rhetoric of business groups, as well as the response of other educational stakeholders, and suggests implications for interventions into policy-making processes.
Reflections on Teachers as Leaders
Authors: Urbanski Adam , Nickolaou Mary Beth
Published: March 2007

The involvement of teachers in the debate about school reform has spurred an unprecedented focus on the need for teacher leadership. During the past decade, teachers began to assert their own version of leadership-one that differs from administrative or managerial versions. The emerging models in Rochester NY; Hammond, IN; and elsewhere offer important lessons and suggest key policy implications.
Race, Gender, and Educational Leadership: Perspectives From African American Principals
Authors: Pollard Diane S.
Published: March 2007

African American elementary school principals in an urban district were interviewed about the impact of their race and gender statuses on their views of themselves in their administrative roles. The data were examined within the historical framework of roles African American principals have played, and the contemporary social conditions under which they work. Race and gender statuses were important in shaping these principals' social constructions of their roles as administrators and their views of their mission vis-a-vis their students. Furthennore, race and gender were integrated in these respondents' self-perceptions. The responses obtained in this study were related to historical accounts of African American administrators and illustrated similarities in role perceptions across time and the necessity to respond to contemporary urban contexts.
Mexican Immigrants in U.S. Schools: Targets of Symbolic Violence
Authors: Shannon Sheila M. , Escamilla Kathy
Published: March 2007

The largest immigrant group in the United States is from Mexico. Although attitudes toward immigrants have tended to be negative throughout the 20th century, attitudes and beliefs about Mexican immigrants have increasingly become hostile. Those societal views are mirrored in school culture. In this article, we illustrate this hostility by describing critical incidents involving teacher candidates in a teacher preparation program, Mexican immigrant children, and educators. We analyze the incidents as examples of symbolic violence and coded language targeted at Mexican immigrants and their children. We conclude that this problem must be addressed in explicit and direct ways and that schools and universities have a responsibility to provide a just and equal education for all children including Mexican immigrants.
Forensic Testing for Drugs of Abuse
Authors: Anderson Peter D. , Naik Kimmy , Kinemond Chenery , ImObersteg Anne
Published: March 2007

Forensic urine drug testing (FUDT) is a tool of many employers to assess drug use in employees. Collegiate and professional sports test for banned substances. Immunoassays are often the screening test. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry is the confirmatory test. Numerous foods and medications interfere with test results. Safeguards in FUDT include chain of custody procedures, certification of laboratories and personnel, cutoff values, quality assurance and quality control procedures, and medical review officers. Breath analysis is used in drunk-driving cases. Blood and hair can also be analyzed for substances of abuse. Pharmacists can be an asset in drug testing issues.
Advances in Managing Overactive Bladder
Authors: Lackner Thomas E.
Published: March 2007

Overactive bladder (OB), formerly known as urge incontinence, is the most common type of urinary incontinence. The appropnate management of OB is more important than ever since the number of persons with OB is expected to increase with the growing elderly population, the group at highest risk for OB. At the same time new drugs are available that are generally as effective and better tolerated than the current "gold standard" drug therapy. To facilitate the selection of optimum pharmacotherapy for OB, the important distinguishing properties of the traditional and new drug therapies for OB will be reviewed.
Survival Curves, Prevalence Rates, and Dark Matters Therein
Authors: Verbrugge Lois M.
Published: March 2007

Survival curves are a visual aid to help us think about interrelationships between chronic morbidity, disability, and mortality. Prevalence rates indicate a population's morbidity and disability status at given times. The curves and rates are both residues of very dynamic processes: Chronic conditions may be alleviated as well as progress; functions may be restored as well as lost. The dynamics can be represented by transition rates between states; transition rates can vary across population groups (heterogeneity). Contemporary data and life table techniques are advancing to measure morbidity-disability-mortality dynamics and summarize them in statistical manner. Topics that remain elusive or overlooked are comorbidity, nonfatal chronic conditions, frailty, generalized symptoms, and difficulty in many activity domains; these are dark matters. Future scenarios of health depend on premises about where prevention of chronic conditions will occur. I present three basic scenarios (one includes the compression of morbidity) and note their implications for transitions between states and for morbidity and disability prevalence rates. Compression of morbidity is an intriguing notion, but to know if it occurs or not over the next century requires a deep foundation of epidemiologic data and analysis, and that is where scientific efforts must be devoted.
Preclinical Disability
Authors: Fried Linda P. , Herdman Susan J. , Kuhn Kris E. , Rubin Gary , Turano Kathleen
Published: March 2007

Accomplishing a compression of morbidity will require prevention of disability, a significant component of illness in older adults. To do this, better understanding is needed of the natural history of functional loss prior to disability. The authors hypothesize that there is an identifiable stage of preclinical disability that will predict future disability and identify a focus for prevention. It is proposed, based on observations in the Johns Hopkins Functional Status Laboratory, that preclinical disability is characterized by persons who perceive no difficulty with performance of a task and yet are found to have either (a) general diminution in activities requiring related abilities, or (b) changes in the performance of specific tasks. Both models are due to impairments. The authors suggest that nondisabled persons use compensatory strategies that minimize functional restrictions resulting from impairment; this may keep functional decline at a preclinical level. These hypotheses, if verified in prospective studies, may provide a basis for early detection of those at risk of disability and suggest effective preventive measures.
Knowledge of Medication Use among Black Elderly
Authors: Bazargan Mohsen , Barbre Ann R.
Published: March 2007

A sample of 621 Black elderly who consumed at least one prescription (Rx) drug was examined to assess the prevalence and correlates of mis/nonidentification of the therapeutic purpose of the Rx drugs that they used. More than 31.9% of the sample either could not identify or misidentified the therapeutic purpose of at least one of their Rx drugs. Multivariate logistic regression was employed to detect the significant predictors of their mis/nonidentification of Rx drugs. According to the data, Black elderly males who were older, who consumed a greater number of Rx drugs, who reported a lower level of perceived availability and accessibility of physician services, and who demonstrated a higher level of cognitive deficit were more likely to mis/nonidentify the therapeutic purpose of Rx drug(s) that they were consuming. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Why are Elderly People Not Using Advance Directives?
Authors: High Dallas M.
Published: March 2007

Although advance directives for health care are widely advocated, usage rates among the elderly are low. Reported is a study testing comparative educational strategies to increase the use of advance directives among elderly persons ages 65 to 93. Follow-up interviews (n = 293) with intervention participants and controls showed that only 1 of 6 different strategies increased use. Neither lack of information nor simple procrastination were found as primary barriers to completion of advance directives. Most intervention participants preferred to defer to family surrogates and avoid executing advance directives. Level of education was a factor in use. Proposed is a restructuring of the advance directives process to accommodate elderly persons' wishes to authorize family members for surrogate health decision making, a policy that would assist the majority of people, including those who either wish to avoid or fail to execute advance directives.
Correlates of Disruptive Behaviors in Nursing Homes
Authors: Spector William D. , Jackson Mary E.
Published: March 2007

This study reexamines factors associated with the occurrence of disruptive behaviors using a representative sample of nursing home residents in Rhode Island in 1984-1985. Four indicators of disruptive behaviors are examined using multivariate methods: evidence of any disruptive behaviors, abusive behavior, wandering, and noisiness. Results are compared with the 1989 study by Jackson et al., which was based on the same data. Findings indicate that the likelihood of exhibiting disruptive behaviors in nursing homes increases with the severity of cognitive impairment, ADL dysfunction, and incontinence, and decreases with immobility. Immobility not only is negatively associated with wandering behavior, but with other behaviors as well. Women are less likely to be abusive. In contrast to the earlier study, which did not use multivariate methods, age and communication problems are not related to disruptive behaviors.
Activity Levels, Fitness Status, Exercise Knowledge, and Exercise Beliefs among Healthy, Older African American and White Women
Authors: Fitgerald James T. , Singleton Steven P. , Neale Anne Victoria , Prasad Ananda S. , Hess Joseph W.
Published: March 2007

This study examined self-reported activity, measured fitness status, exercise knowledge, and exercise beliefs of 48 African American and 51 White females in good health between the ages of 50 and 80 years enrolled in a health promotion project. Examination of fitness status by ethnicity indicated a higher level of fitness among White females. Ethnic differences were found on 2 of 6 exercise belief items and 2 of 3 exercise knowledge questions. A multiple regression analysis found that activity level was predicted by the knowledge question concerning heart rate during exercise necessary to maintain fitness, the belief concerning the difficulty "to stick to a regular schedule of physical activity," and the belief concerning the difficulty "to find the time to exercise on a regular basis." The findings suggest that health promotion efforts need to determine exercise attitudes and beliefs of older women, provide basic exercise knowledge, and include fitness programs designed specifically for older women.
Distinguishing Characteristics of Active Volunteers in Canada
Authors: Reed Paul B. , Selbee L. Kevin
Published: March 2007

A detailed statistical portrait of the estimated 7.5 million Canadians who give more than the national median of 66 hours of their time each year as volunteers was produced using data on 18,301 Canadians from the 1997 National Survey of Giving, Volunteering, and Participating. This report profiles the most salient characteristics of active volunteers. At the national level, the key characteristic that universally sets active volunteers apart from others is their high level of involvement in a variety of other forms of contributing and participating, such as charitable giving, informal volunteering, social activity, and civic participation. They are also likely to have above-average educations and occupations and to have children younger than age 17 in a larger-than-average household. The study also reveals how active volunteers have different patterns of distinctive characteristics in different regions and communities of different size across the country.
Strengthening North-South Partnerships for Sustainable Development
Authors: Ashman Darcy
Published: March 2007

Although U.S. private voluntary organizations (PVOs) have been working for more than adecade on improving their partnerships with Southern nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), current surveys indicate that there is still a gap between PVO and Southern NGO perceptions of effectiveness. On the basis of a comparative analysis of four case studies of partnership between U.S. PVOs and African NGOs, this article suggests that the remaining barriers to effective partnership are found in the PVOs’ internal systems for financial and management control. These systems are more attuned to the demands of accountability, as conceptualized in agency theories, than to the demands of partnership as conceptualized in collaboration theories. This article proposes an integrative concept, collaborative accountability, and recommends a number of proactive and practical change strategies for PVOs that wish to continue to improve their partnerships.
Can Faith-Based Organizations Compete?
Authors: Farnsley Arthur E.
Published: March 2007

On the heels of the 1996 Charitable Choice provisions, a variety of welfare reform measures are drawing smaller faith-based groups, especially congregations, into the social service arena. These newcomers face many difficulties as they learn to answer proposal requests and apply for funds. This research analyzes 105 applications for funds, 70 from faith-based groups, presented to the Indianapolis mayor’s office. It reports on which religious organizations are applying, the quality of their applications, the applications’ religious content, and the relationship between application quality and funding success. The discussion suggests differences between new initiatives meant to create a level playing field for faith-based groups and those meant to encourage their participation, and raises questions about what the data mean for each of these options.
The Growth of the Nonprofit Sector in the Netherlands
Authors: Burger Ary , Veldheer Vic
Published: March 2007

In the past century, the Netherlands’ nonprofit sector has grown tremendously. Nowadays, it is one of the largest in the world. This article considers the growth of the sector in general, and pays special attention to its main domains: education, health care, social work, the arts, and culture. It argues that three factors explain the sector’s current size. First, the Netherlands has a long and rich tradition of private initiatives, ranging from the medieval guilds and church-related activities to pillarization in the 19th and 20th centuries. Second, the posture of the government created a political environment that stimulated nonprofit growth. Finally, the crucial factor in the expansion of the nonprofit sector is the scheme of collective finance and private provision for key welfare state services. This scheme started ineducation and later spread to health care and social services.
Role Conflict, Role Ambiguity, and Role Overload on Boards of Directors of Nonprofit Human Service Organizations
Authors: Widmer Candace
Published: March 2007

Much of the literature on boards of directors of nonprofit organizations is prescriptive; that is, it describes what board members are "supposed" to do. The research described here looks at how members of thirteen human service boards actually play their roles. The findings indicate that some but not all board members play the role of trustee as it is described in the literature, that some board members combine the role of trustee with other roles (such as worker, expert, or representative), and that some play other roles to the exclusion of the role of trustee. The implications of the findings for organizational functioning, board performance, and accountability are explored.
Fostering Community Participation to Influence Public Policy: Lessons from the Woods Fund of Chicago, 1987-1993
Authors: McKersie William S.
Published: March 2007

This article examines how local public policy may be influenced by small foundations. Written as a policy analysis, it focuses on one case study: the work of the Woods Fund of Chicago in the Chicago school reform movement from 1987 to 1993. This is an ongoing reform movement rooted in a path-breaking, 1988 state law that decentralized the governance of Chicago's public schools. Woods played a special role in bolstering the movement's central tenet: parent and community empowerment. Woods alone was not responsible for parent and community control becoming the basis of the new school governance system. But its strategic focus, in both funding and activism, contributed to the idea's ascendance and helped establish the governance structure in which Chicago's biggest foundations have invested so substantially. Three strategic factors explain Woods's effect: unwavering means, enduring collaboration, and staff activism. Although centered on one foundation, this article provides insights on two gaps in public policy and philanthropic research: most broadly, the intersection of local foundations and local public affairs; and, more specifically, the ways small foundations may contribute to the formulation and implementation of urban education policy.
Accountability Misplaced: Private Social Welfare Agencies and the Public in Cleveland, 1880-1920
Authors: Fitzgibbon Michael
Published: March 2007

Nonprofits are scrambling to account for their fiscal policies, management structure, and the value of their missions. This current crisis of accountability is only the most recent manifestation of a problem that has plagued voluntary organizations for over a century. A historical perspective reveals more about the issue of accountability than tax exemption, the ubiquity of nonprofits, or greed and insensibility among nonprofits and their employees. Four fundamental issues can be identified: the variety of constituencies to which nonprofits are accountable, conflict over the allocation of resources, the matter of exclusivity, and two additional sources of conflict of values. The periodic crises of accountability faced by nonprofits reveal that the conflicts inherent in nonprofits are constantly being negotiated, necessarily leading to a dynamic, ever-shifting system of nonprofit organization and of interorganizational relationships. The nonprofit sector provides an arena in which these conflicts can be negotiated.
The Rest of the Nonprofit Sector: Grassroots Associations as the Dark Matter Ignored in Prevailing "Flat Earth" Maps of the Sector
Authors: Smith David Horton
Published: March 2007

Many nonprofit scholars recognize and study only paid staff nonprofits. More general, research-based, statistical overview 'maps" of the nonprofit sector (NPS)follow this same 'flat earth" approach. The rest of the NPS consists mainly of grassroots associations, which have cumulative magnitudes greater than paid staff nonprofits in America on several dimensions circa 1990-numbers of groups, memberships, members, active volunteers, yearly hours of volunteer time, and full-time equivalents (FTEs) of annual work by associational (not program) volunteers. These figures, combined with better estimates of numbers of IRS-missing paid staff nonprofits, constitute the first comprehensive "round earth" statistical map of the NPS as presented here. IRS listings and prevailing flat earth statistical maps based on them ignore about 90% of all nonprofits in the nation as well as half of volunteers and their work time. Suggestions are made for improving future NPS map making and research.
Nonprofit Advocacy Organizations: Assessing the Definitions, Classifications, and Data
Authors: Boris Elizabeth , Mosher-Williams Rachel
Published: March 2007

This article reviews how research on nonprofit organizations has traditionally defined advocacy and its function in the public policy process as rights-based expression and association and suggests the usefulness of an expanded definition. Nonprofits participate in a variety of public decisions at different points in the policy cycle. The authors argue that building social capital, facilitating civic participation, and providing public voice are activities central to an analysis of the interaction of nonprofits and public policy in democratic civil society. The article also analyzes the IRS data sets and National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) classification system available to researchers from the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) to assess their strengths and weaknesses for measuring advocacy activities. By evaluating the problems in accurately describing, analyzing, and collecting data on nonprofit organizations that facilitate a public role in decision making, this article develops some alternative definitions and models of advocacy.
Finding Care on the Street
Authors: HANSSEN EINAR
Published: March 2007

This article concentrates on unaccompained street children and offers a contribution to the understanding of processes in the careers of street children. The article is based on field research in Sri Lanka. The main methods for collecting data were network interviews, life career interviews and participant observation. The findings demonstrate that care no longer supplied by the family is replaced within street children groups. The data reveal a psychological process from self-identity as children who live at home, to identification as street children. It is recommended that social work with some of these children should include work with street children in groups.
Parenting Styles and Adolescent Drug Use Behaviours
Authors: CLAUSEN STEN-ERIK
Published: March 2007

This study hypothesizes that parental style is related to drug use behaviour of adolescents. The data were obtained from a large prospective longitudinal research project on lifestyle and drug use in Oslo, Norway. The analyses are based on a sample of 846 adolescents, with an age span of 15-20 years. The parenting style was measured by means of a shortened version of Parenting Bonding Instrument, where the respondents assessed their perceptions of their parents' behaviour at the time they were growing up. The instrument measures two subdimensions labelled care and protection, which combine to four broad styles of parenting. Using canonical correlation analyses, it was found that the combination of a low level of caring and a high level of protection, conceptualized as `affectionless control', was associated with drug use among the adolescents. Similar patterns emerged from separate analyses of the father and the mother scales. These support the hypothesis that the parenting styles of the mother and father are related to their children's drug use.
The Choices Judges Make
Authors: van Hees Martin , Steunenberg Bernard
Published: March 2007

In this paper we focus on the way in which courts affect public policy. We present a model of judicial behavior that combines insights from theories emphasizing the importance of policy preferences with those suggesting that courts are only motivated by formal-legal criteria. By embedding our model of judicial choice in a broader context of political decision-making we show how judges are able to affect policy and under what circumstances the judiciary will change their legal interpretations. The model is applied to decision-making by the Dutch Supreme Court on euthanasia to illustrate its main features.
A Note on Matthias Sutter
Authors: Widgrén Mika
Published: March 2007

In the paper by Matthias Sutter a discrepancy between his results and earlier results on fair allocation of voting weights in the EU Council was found. In this paper, we explain the source of this discrepancy.