bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Negation in Stems of Single-Response Multiple-Choice Items
Authors: Harasym P. H. , Doran M. L. , Brant R. , Lorscheider F. L.
Published: March 2007

There is accumulating evidence that negation (e.g., not, except) should be used sparingly or avoided in the stems of multiple-choice items. In these items, examinees are required to select the one alternative that isfalse from among those that are true. The same items can also be given as positively worded multiple-response items in which the student is directed to identify those alternatives that are true. The present study compared the responses of examinees on single-response, negatively worded (SRNW) items and on multiple-response, positively worded (MRPW) items. The experimental design allowed students to respond to both SRNW and MRPW formats that employed identical item alternatives. The findings of this study provide further evidence that the use of negation in stems shouldbe limited and that the SRNW item should often be converted to an MRPW item. This recommendation is based on the inherent cuing (i.e., the artificial elevation of student scores) observed within SRNW items that significantly lowers item reliability and greatly distorts information about examinee performance.
Continuing Education on Teaching Skills for Health Professionals
Authors: Pichert James W. , Stetson Barbara A. , Lorenz Rodney A. , Boswell Elaine J. , Schlundt David G. , Oldham Jo Anne
Published: March 2007

Effective Patient Teaching (EPT), a health professions continuing education course, improves educators' teaching skills when presented by its developers. This study aimed to determine whether others could teach EPT with similar effectiveness. Four nurse mnagers who provide stafftraining and supervision for multiple hospital diabetes care units presented EPT to health care professionals at seven such sites; another seven served as controls. The evaluation included observations of trainers conducting EPT programs in thefiel4 teaching shills ratings of health professionals in both groups, and bowledge tests administered to patients. Six months ter training, teaching skills scores of health professional EPT participants were better (p < .05) than controls. The EPT program improves participants' teaching skills and maintains these effects infield settings, when presented byfaculty not involved in its development.
Validating Interpretive Arguments for Licensure and Certification Examinations
Authors: KANE MICHAEL T.
Published: March 2007

To validate the interpretation assigned to test scores is to support the rationale for this interpretation. The interpretations for licensure and certification tests involve a sequence of inferences, or an argument, leading from the test score to decisions about licensure or certification. This article examines several possible interpretive arguments for licensure and certification test scores and analyzes the evidence required to support each type of argument. Particular attention is given to a competency-based argument that involves a sequence of several inferences leading from test scores to statements about competence, and then to conclusions about expected performance in practice. Decisions about licensure or certification are based on expected performance in practice.
Specialty Selections of Jefferson Medical College Students
Authors: Diamond James J. , Ruth Donald H. , Markham Fred W. , Rabinowitz Howard K. , Rosenthal Michael P.
Published: March 2007

This study employed a consumer research technique-conjoint analysis-to assess the relative importance of several factors in the selection of a specialty byfourth-year medical students. The study was undertaken in light of a decline in the number of medical students entering primary care residencies. One hundred four students responded to a questionnaire involving six factors: national need for physicians, personal interest, yearly income, hours worked per week, availability of loan repayment, and level of debt. Personal interest accountedfor 54% of total variation in preferences. Expected income was second in importance overall, but depended on its combination with otherfactors. Debt, hours worked, availability of loan repayment, and physician supply together accounted for 29% of total variation. Specialty selection by medical students is clearly a complex process, and conjoint analysis can be an important addition to the multiplicity of methods applied to its investigation.
Screening Clients for an Augmentative and Alternative Communication Clinic
Authors: Ellis-Hale Kimberly A. , Goyder John , Hirdes John P. , Poss Jeff
Published: March 2007

The aim of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) services is to support, enhance, or provide alternative methods of communication for individuals who are not independent verbal communicators. However, relatively little evaluative research has been conducted with adult AAC users. The establishment ofFreeportHospitalsAC Clinicfor adults included the development of questionnaires to gather information for the selection and provision of services for its clients. The present study addresses the issue reliability and validity of three novel measures contained within the AAC Clinic's Background Information Questionnaire using a multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) design. Results from this evaluation are discussed in terms of clinical application and policy development.
Can Survey Data Be Used to Estimate Physician Practice Costs?
Authors: Berk Marc L. , Mueller Curt D. , Thran Sara
Published: March 2007

Health policy makers rely on survey estimates of physician practice costs to set reimbursement rates. The Health Care Financing Administration has just funded a multimillion dollar effort to collect survey data that will be used to revise payments under the Medicare Fee Schedule. However, the ability of largescale physician surveys to obtain accurate information about practice costs is not apparent. This article examines several of the key obstacles encountered when trying to obtain accurate estimates. Rates of both unit and item nonresponse over time are described; in general, there is a trend toward lower unit response rates and higher item response rates. The article also examines logical inconsistencies in data The results suggest thatphysician surveys may not be the most appropriate source of data about physician practice expenses. Health policy makers concerned about provider reimbursement issues should seriously scrutinize the accuracy of results from physician practice cost surveys. This article concludes by suggesting alternative methodologies for incorporating physician practice costs into reimbursement rates.
Applying Readily Accessible Graphical Techniques to Assess Curvilinear Relationships and Detect Outliers
Authors: Spoth Richard , Yoo Seongmo , Kosterman Rick , Shin Chungyeol
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this article is to use data from a study ofprotectivefamily processes to illustrate how readily accessible graphical techniques can supplement correlation and regression analyses. Graphical techniques can help to (a) better understand family process data from a descriptive standpoint, (b) minimize erroneous statistical conclusions, and (c) clarify theoretically important relationships among variables. Following a brief description of the substantive area selectedfor illustration of the graphical techniques, data from a study employing multimethod measurement procedures (N = 146) are employed to illustrate two graphical technique applications in the analysis of a predictor (marital quality) of a study outcome variable (parent-child affective quality). Instructions for the application of relevant procedures in SAS and SPSS statistical packages are provided.
For-anyone-as-someone structures
Authors: Scannell Paddy
Published: March 2007

This article is concerned with the meaning of the word for. In Heidegger's ontological analysis of everyday things he is concerned to show that their significance as everyday things shows up in what they are for (Heidegger, 1962: 95-107). His well-known example is a hammer. What is a hammer? It is not an object-Thing to be scrutinized in terms of its objective properties. Rather, it is for use. A hammer reveals what it is (what it is for) when it is put to proper use. In being used appropriately its significance or meaning is discovered and made manifest. Heidegger shows that everyday things have, in each case, a particular for-the-sake-of-which that discloses what they are. My starting point for thinking about the meaning of `for' is concerned with radio and television and in particular the question, `What or who are programmes for?' In this article I try to show what it means to say that they are `for me or anyone'.
Nationalizing `the global': media images, cultural politics and the middle class in India
Authors: Fernandes Leela
Published: March 2007

The article intervenes in the debate over the effects of globalization on the nation-state by exploring the ways in which meanings of the global are produced through the nationalist imagination in India. Globalization in India has unfolded in the context of the `new economic policies' of liberalization initiated in the 1990s. Both television and print media images increasingly contribute to the reproduction of a hegemonic political culture, one that has discarded the remnants of a state-dominated planned economy. An analysis of this process calls into question the post-national thesis of the globalization paradigm. First, the imagined form of the `global' is produced through cultural signs that rest on the deployment of nationalist narrative. Second, media representations depict India's relationship with the world economy through images of a hybrid relation between the national and the global. Finally, globalization in India has led to a form of reterritorialization which polices the boundaries of gendered social codes.
The broadcasting audience movement in Korea
Authors: Kim Young-han
Published: March 2007

In liberal democracies, recent decades have witnessed citizens organizing watchdog bodies to make broadcasting more responsible. While citizens' efforts to reform Korean broadcasting are still in their infancy, we can identify dynamic developments of, and future potential for, media reforms. This article examines the broadcasting audience movements in Korea for the past two decades by addressing a nation-wide campaign for a television reception fee boycott in the 1980s, and a collective boycott of television watching and institutional reform campaigns in the 1990s. Through the exploration of the background, the characteristics and the influence of these audience campaigns, this essay attempts to show that notwithstanding political constraints and business filters, television audiences in Korea have endeavoured to produce an open, audience-friendly and publicly accountable broadcasting system.
Ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances: a study of participants in television dating games
Authors: Syvertsen Trine
Published: March 2007

Programmes based on the experiences and emotions of ordinary people are an important feature of television schedules worldwide. So far, however, media researchers have done little to investigate the motives and experiences of those who lend their lives to such programmes. This article investigates the experiences of participants in one of the more traditional programme formats based on ordinary people: the television dating game. This article presents evidence from a study of participants in Reisesjekken, a Norwegian dating game modelled upon the British ITV programme Blind Date. The analysis is based on interviews with 40 participants and five producers. The main questions are: Why do people want to participate in a television dating game? What are the main sources of conflict between participants and production staff? And, what do the participants get out of it in the long run?
Women's experiences of on-line e-zine publication
Authors: Cresser Frances , Gunn Lesley , Balme Helen
Published: March 2007

The use of e-zines by women writers is a developing medium. Thirty-nine e-zine authors were interviewed by email (structured questions and free discussion) to explore their motivations, opinions and experiences of publishing on-line. The interviews yielded information on a number of themes: communication; construction of identity; the e-zine as a political space. The e-zine authors considered that, despite the prejudices that exist on the web, they were making a difference by forming networks of likeminded individuals to discuss and evaluate personal and political issues. It also became clear from the interviews that the Internet neither marginalizes nor liberates traditionally under-represented groups, such as women, but is an accurate reflection of society and the outside world.
The globalization of electronic news in the 19th century
Authors: Rantanen Terhi
Published: March 2007

This article contributes to the debate on globalization and the mass media. It argues that news agencies played a key role in globalization, using the early submarine cable networks, as early as the latter half of the 19th century; that manipulation of time and space on a global scale was an essential component in the construction of news as a category and in its commodification. The article then goes on to argue that this new global news space was not, as some postmodern enthusiasts have argued, frontierless but that, on the contrary, the news agencies, in pursuit of their commercial ends, erected a series of impermeable barriers which they controlled.
Scarlet lips in Belsen: culture, gender and ethnicity in the policies of the Holocaust
Authors: Reading Anna
Published: March 2007

Cultural and media policies were a key part of the mechanisms of atrocity in the Holocaust. This article looks at the context and implications of some of these policies and argues that, while racism and ethnic exclusion are fundamental to our understanding of the Holocaust and primary to the way in which cultural policies were formulated and used, it is also significant that these were refracted through particular constructions and articulations based on gender.
Cultural industries policy in regional trade agreements: the cases of NAFTA, the European Union and MERCOSUR
Authors: Galperin Hernan
Published: March 2007

This article compares cultural industries policy in three regional trade areas: NAFTA, the EU and the MERCOSUR. Each of these trade regions has uniquely combined liberalization, cooperation and exemption, resulting in different policy outcomes. Three factors are explored to account for these differences: industry profile, domestic communication policies and cultural distance. While in the NAFTA cultural products are treated as commodities, the EU has established a proactive policy for the sector, setting both economic and cultural goals. In the case of MERCOSUR, cultural industries policy is still in blueprint. However, political and economic factors greatly constrain the available policy options. The conclusion offers a comparative perspective on audiovisual policies in the three trade blocs.
The Competing Demands of Paid Work and Parent Care
Authors: Dautzenberg Maaike G. H. , Diederiks Jos P. M. , Philipsen Hans , Stevens Fred C. J. , Tan Frans E. S. , Vernooij-Dassen Myrra J. F. J.
Published: March 2007

This article investigates the potentially competitive relationship between paid work and parent care provided by daughters and daughters-in-law. In line with the scarcity hypothesis of role theory, four subhypotheses were formulated and tested empirically. In a population-based probability sample of middle-aged women ( n = 581), only partial empirical support was found for the scarcity or role conflict hypothesis. It appeared that employment significantly reduces the chances of becoming a caregiver. However, parent care and employment are not conflicting in time as the amount of care provided to parents was not affected by out-of-home employment. Parent care has only a small impact on work decisions, and employed caregivers do not experience more caregiver role strain. It was hypothesized that employed women not yet providing care anticipate a role conflict when a parent becomes frail and needs help. Consequently, a self-selection process takes place whereby the nearest living daughter with the least competing demands is most likely to accept the caregiver role. Once the caregiver role is accepted, both role strain and the time spent on parent care are determined by factors other than employment status or work hours.
Impact of Cognitive Status and Decline on Service and Support Utilization among Older Adults in Taiwan
Authors: Zimmer Zachary , Ofstedal Mary Beth , Chang Ming-Cheng
Published: March 2007

Using a sample of older adults in Taiwan, this study examines the impact of cognition on the use of informal support and formal health services. Results confirm the hypothesis that cognitive impairment is associated with increased use of informal care, while effects on formal service utilization are less consequential. A scale constructed from a subset of the Mini-Mental State Exam is significantly associated with receipt of instrumental activities of daily living assistance, while correlations with use of formal services such as hospitalization and physician visits are insignificant. A decline in cognitive status over time is correlated with the initiation of informal support but is not associated with formal service utilization. Implications of these results for a rapidly aging society such as Taiwan are discussed. With current low levels of fertility, future generations of older adults will have fewer social network resources. Absent of dramatic changes in cultural norms with respect to familial support in old age, the future will see an expanding care burden that must be borne by fewer family members.
Does Gender Matter?
Authors: Larsson Kristina , Thorslund Mats
Published: March 2007

When facing dependency, the majority of elderly men receive care from spouses whereas elderly women more often rely on relatives or public elder care. This Swedish population-based study of persons between ages 81 and 100 concerns public elder care and informal support in relation to having a coresiding caregiver. Findings indicate that men had higher odds of receiving care when coresident and/or extraresident and/or public home help services were included, compared to women, after controlling for functional and cognitive impairment as well as self-reported need of assistance with instrumental activities of daily living. After controlling also for coresiding, the gender differences disappeared. The main distinction was found between persons living alone and persons coresiding, not between men and women. Thus, when studying use of public elder care and support from relatives or friends, it is vital to include household composition, and thereby the possibility of receiving care from a coresiding caregiver, in the analyses.
Risk Factors for Physical Restraint Use in Nursing Homes
Authors: Sirin Selcuk R. , Castle Nicholas G. , Smyer Michael
Published: March 2007

This study examined the impact of the Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987 on resident-and-facility-level risk factors for physical restraint use in nursing homes. Data on the 1990 and 1993 cohorts were obtained from 268 facilities in 10 states, and data on a 1996 cohort were obtained from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, which sampled more than 800 nursing homes nationwide. Multivariate logistic regression models were generated for each cohort to identify the impact of resident- and facility-level risk factors for restraint use. The results indicate that the use of physical restraints continues to decline. Thirty-six percent of the 1990 cohort, 26 percent of the 1993 cohort, and 17 percent of the 1996 cohort were physically restrained. Although there was a reduced rate of restraint use from 1990 to 1996, similar resident-level factors but different facility-level factors were associated with restraint use at different points in time.
The Trend away from Institutionalization
Authors: Chappell Neena L. , Penning Margaret J.
Published: March 2007

This paper presents the results of an empirical assessment of different living environments (community, senior citizens' subsidized housing, and care institutions) for the overall well-being of the elderly. The data refer to an area probability sample of 4,344 elderly in Manitoba, Canada. Multiple regression and t tests are utilized. The findings reveal that residents of conventional housing in the community and those of senior citizens' subsidized housing are similar to one another but different from those living in care institutions. In addition, lower overall well-being is evident in care institutions than in the other two settings. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the current trend away from institutionalizing the elderly.
Correlates of Senior Center Utilization
Authors: Krout John A.
Published: March 2007

This article identifies the correlates of senior center participation through a comparison of a sample of center users and nonusers on a number of predisposing, enabling, need, and informal network interaction variables. Center users report lower levels of income and education, see their friends more often, and desire more contact with their children. Having something to do and seeing or making friends are most often cited by users as reasons for participation. Nonusers, on the other hand, attribute their lack of attendance mainly to being too busy or having no interest.
Negative Health Outcomes among the Elderly
Authors: Heinemann Gloria D.
Published: March 2007

The goals of this research were to identify predictors of negative health outcomes among the elderly and to specify subgroups or profiles of elderly with similar health outcomes one year after an initial health assessment. A secondary analysis of data, pooled from three studies concerned with the health and long term care of the elderly, was performed using a multivariate, statistical approach. Number of chronic conditions, age, social class, and income were important predictors of the two variables measuring health decline. Variables identified as predictors of mortality and/or paths to death include the following: IADL dependencies, degenerative diagnoses, living arrangements, MSQ, and social class. Profiles of the elderly, resulting from the AID analysis, coincided with research findings presented in the literature. This analysis technique holds promise with regard to targeting appropriate health and long-term care services to subgroups of elderly who could benefit most from them.
Elderly Local Mobility
Authors: Carter Jack
Published: March 2007

The literature in the area of elderly local mobility is relatively sparse, and the empirical studies are mostly period-based, "social characteristics"-oriented descriptive studies. This article develops hypotheses regarding the relationships of mover characteristics, described repeatedly in the literature, and elderly local mobility rates. These hypotheses are tested using 1940-1980 U.S. Census public use sample microdata files, which make it possible to examine these relationships within periods, age groups, and period-of-birth cohorts. A major purpose of this article is to demonstrate the usefulness of longitudinal and cohort approaches.
A Profile of Alaska's Seniors
Authors: Kamo Yoshinori , Borgatta Edgar F. , Montgomery Rhonda J.V. , Seccombe Karen
Published: March 2007

This article examines aspects of housing among the elderly population in Alaska. Factors associated with housing type are examined, along with housing satisfaction. Most of the demographic variables, family relations variables, and health variables are found to be associated with type of housing.
Elderly Mobility and Mobility Outcomes
Authors: Clark W.A.V. , Davies Suzanne
Published: March 2007

Recent research has demonstrated that elderly residential mobility is conditioned more often by economic factors than is mobility in general. This article explores these issues, specifically those related to the effects of mobility, aging in place, and migration on elderly economic well-being. Using the American Housing Survey national file for 1985, different types of mobility and migration for households in the later stages of the life course are examined. The evidence reiterates central city/suburban locational differences for the elderly, emphasizes the role of house costs and house cost/income ratios in creating stress for the elderly, and strongly suggests that the elderly population is not simply grouped into young-old, old, and old-old, but is better treated in a continuum of life course changes.
The Aging of the Gender Revolution
Authors: Goldscheider Frances K.
Published: March 2007

Over the last decade, research on the elderly family has been glowing, portraying strong marital and family relationships. But the currently elderly, while they have benefited from the demographic and economic transformations of modernity, did not participate in the family revolutions that have followed. Cohorts who will become the elderly of the 21st century have been on the leading edge of the family revolution, the rapid growth of labor force participation among women, the tremendous rise in divorce and in childrearing out of marriage, and the overall decline in marriage and remarriage. Increasingly, the elderly will not be married or not in their first marriage. Research has focused on women and children as the sufferers from divorce, but in old age, as family relationships based on marriage and parenthood grow in importance, it is males who are at risk. This article presents a series of research findings that specify these risks.
An Inter-Cohort Comparison of Changes in Racial Attitudes
Authors: Danigelis Nicholas L. , Cutler Stephen J.
Published: March 2007

This article tests two common but different assumptions about aging: that aging is accompanied by increasingly conservative sociopolitical attitudes and that aging results in attitudinal rigidity. Cohort changes in attitudes about race relations are examined for six replicated items from a total of 18 national surveys spanning the period 1959-1985. Total sample, cohort-specific, and cohort-difference trend models are tested through a cross-sequential design and survey metric analysis. The results show (a) increasing liberalism in race relations attitudes when the cohorts are combined, (b) increasingly liberal attitudes concerning most racial issues for each of the four cohorts examined in the analysis, and (c) no tendency for the increase in liberal attitudes of the oldest cohort to be at a slower rate than that of the younger cohorts. The absence of support for the age-conservatism and age-rigidification hypotheses is discussed in terms of the types of attitudes considered and broader trends in race relations.
Predictors of Mortality among Elderly African-Americans
Authors: Bryant Sharon , Rakowski William
Published: March 2007

Older African-Americans face many barriers that impede access to formal support services. Therefore, informal social networks may be the only source of support for many elderly African-Americans. This study looked at three measures of informal social networks: contacts with family members, contacts with friends, and social involvement outside the home. Data were from the 1984-1988 Longitudinal Survey of Aging. Bivariate associations with lower mortality occurred for all three social network indices. When controlling for sociodemographic, physical health variables, and self-rated health in logistic regression, church attendance retained significance. Men appeared to be at high risk when social network was limited. Other significant factors were: cancer, activities of daily living, sex-specific body mass, and self-rated health.
Elder Care Versus Adult Care
Authors: Scharlach Andrew E. , Fredriksen Karen I.
Published: March 2007

This study compares employed persons caring for disabled adults age 18-64 with those caring for persons 65 or older, using a stratified random sample of 4,256 university employees age 30 or older. About 10% of employees were providing assistance to an adult age 18-64 and 17% to an adult age 65 or older. Employees assisting someone 18-64 provided higher levels of care than those assisting someone 65 or older; in addition, they experienced higher levels of caregiving strain and comparable levels of work interference and general role strain, after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, caregiving demands and resources, and job demands and resources. Caregiving research and policy formation need to address the growing number of family members providing assistance to disabled adults under the age of 65 as well as those providing elder care.
Conjugal Support, Coping Behaviors, and Psychological Well-Being of the Elderly Spouse
Authors: Ducharme Francine
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to test a model of the relationships among conjugal support, coping behaviors, and the psychological well-being of elderly spouses. A sample of 135 couples, 65 years old or over, was drawn in a large Canadian metropolitan area. Standardized interviews were conducted by two interviewers randomly assigned to each spouse. Twenty-four months later, 90 of these couples were reinterviewed. Structural equation analyses revealed consistent results for both spouses and model stability over time. One coping behavior-refraining-was found to have a significant direct effect on life satisfaction. Conjugal support influenced life satisfaction both directly and indirectly through reframing. The final model accounts for 38% of the variance in life satisfaction and has a goodness-of-fit index of 0.94. It suggests that a supportive marriage is associated with the use of cognitive restructuring, which is predictive of life satisfaction in marital partners.
Elements in Physician/Patient Interactions in Late Life
Authors: Haug Mare R.
Published: March 2007

This article considers how physicians' and elderly patients' social and cultural backgrounds affect their interactions and how their power relationships can change the interactions. The author first examines how doctors establish power over elderly patients by using the patient's first name. Next, she identifies six elements to be used when assessing the physician-elderly patient relationship. She considers how the demographic backgrounds of both doctors and elderly patients can influence their understanding and expectations of each other and then explores the impact of the interaction location and the effects of the health of both participants. She discusses how patient caregivers can affect the physician-elderly patient relationship and how uncertainty about information exchanged can damage the relationship. Finally, the author projects how new technologies will be used to modify physician-elderly patient interactions in the future.
Race and Residence Differences in the Use of Formal Services by Older Adults
Authors: Netzer Julie K. , Coward Raymond T. , Peek Chuck W. , Henretta John C. , Duncan R. Paul , Dougherty Molly C.
Published: March 2007

Using a longitudinal panel that oversampled older (65+) African Americans and rural residents of north Florida, this study examines race and residence differences in the use of four services: two community-based services (senior centers and special transportation) and two home-based services (homemaker and nursing care). Significant differences across race and residence groups in the use of these services were identified. Black elders, especially rural Blacks, had higher odds of using community-based services, net of other sociodemographic, social support, and health characteristics. In contrast, rural elders were most likely to use homemaker services, controlling for other factors including race. Neither race nor residence was a significant predictor of the use of in-home nursing services in this sample. The findings are discussed within the context of the importance of examining both the individual and combined influences of race and residence on formal service use.
Violence Against the Elderly
Authors: Bachman Ronet , Dillaway Heather , Lachs Mark S.
Published: March 2007

Using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey for 1992 through 1994, this article presents an accounting of robbery and assault victimizations against older Americans and how they differ across age and gender groups. Differential patterns of risk were identified by contextual characteristics of the victimization including place of occurrence, weapon presence, injuries sustained, medical care required, number of offenders, and victim's relationship to offender. Generally, males had higher rates of victimization for both robbery and assault in all age groups. The exception to this was for robberies against the elderly; males and females older than 65 had equivalent rates of robbery victimizations. Regarding injury, it was found that older victims, particularly women, were more likely to sustain injuries as the result of a violent attack and more likely to require medical care for these injuries. Age and gender differentials were also found for location of occurrence and victim/offender relationship.
A Multilevel Model of Early Retirement Decisions among Autoworkers in Plants with Different Futures
Authors: Hardy Melissa A. , Hazelrigg Lawrence
Published: March 2007

During the period of their 1986-1989 General Motors (GM)-United Auto Workers (UAW) contract, about 17% of all GM autoworkers who were eligible to elect early retirement did so. Those who did were distinctive in theoretically expected ways, with expectations defined by individual characteristics such as age, physical health, and pension wealth. But some of the workers were employed in plants that GM had decided to abandon. Did that difference in organizational context make a difference in individual workers’ decisions about early retirement? Would workers who chose to take early retirement and who were employed in plants scheduled to close have made the same decision had their plants not been selected for closure? If the rate of early retirement was higher in plants scheduled to close, and it was, how did that difference relate to the process by which individual workers reached their decisions? These are some of the questions asked and answered through multilevel analyses of data from a probability sample of GM’s autoworkers. These analyses generate findings not detected in single-level analyses of the same data.
Ethnicity and Eldercare
Authors: Sudha S. , Mutran Elizabeth J.
Published: March 2007

This study examines attitudes toward rest homes among elderly African Americans and Whites and their caregivers. Dislike of rest homes, preference for family care, and unwillingness to consider rest home placement are analyzed by linear structural equation and logistic regression models. Results show significant ethnic differences among elderly persons and caregivers. Among elders, African Americans are stronger in their desire for family care but dislike rest homes less than Whites do. African American elders are less willing than Whites to consider rest home placement; care-givers’differences are not as pronounced. Results suggest that the cultural preference for family care often attributed to ethnic differences is also partly determined by dislike of institutionalized care and social structural factors. The authors propose a theoretical framework that models attitudes toward health service use as outcomes of ethnicity and social structural factors and interpret the results against a backdrop of ethnic differences in historical and material conditions.
Democracy and Its Discontents in Post-Wall Germany
Authors: Hofferbert Richard I. , Klingemann Hans-Dieter
Published: March 2007

This article traces the political behavior intentions of “satisfied democrats,”“dissatisfied democrats,” and “non-democrats” in West and East Germany. Dissatisfaction is most commonly expressed in support for the loyal opposition, with some minor tilt toward parties of the ends of the spectrum. Non-democrats, a very small percentage of the populace, more commonly express their disapproval through withdrawal rather than through active extremism. Based on a 1997 general population survey, the analysis reveals some differences in the magnitude of western versus eastern conceptions of the elements that make up “democracy.” But most of those differences get channeled into seemingly benign forms of political participation. The core of the findings is that dissatisfaction with democracy may well be a healthy stimulant rather than a threat to the vitality of either established or emerging democracies.
Handbooks and History: Is It Still the American Science of Politics?
Authors: Gunnell John G.
Published: March 2007

While the American origins of the discipline of political science have often been noted and stressed, it has also been argued that the field has been fundamentally transformed as it has migrated and been adapted to new political and scientific contexts. There is thus a question of the extent to which it is still an American science of politics. Although one might assume that the recent genre of English language handbooks and state-of-the-discipline studies devoted to establishing the identity of political science would contribute to a better understanding of this matter, this literature has lacked an adequate historical perspective. Representative examples of this genre, both those generated in the United States and those with an ostensibly more international focus, have remained bound to an American vision of the past and present of the discipline and have failed to take account of recent scholarship on the history of political science.
Agency, Humanitarianism and Intervention
Authors: Wheeler Nicholas J.
Published: March 2007

This article examines some of the justifications that have been proffered as to why “we” should sacrifice in the name of common humanity. The first section examines the views of two leading thinkers who reject the statist paradigm, Bhikhu Parekh and Michael Walzer. Focusing on Parekh's and Walzer's conception of the state as a moral agent, and their conviction that states should engage in humanitarian intervention, the article argues that the problematic nature of the state as a moral agent is posed most starkly in relation to military humanitarian intervention. The theme of the second section is the critique of foundationalist claims to moral knowledge. Non-foundationalists emphasize the contingent nature of human solidarity, and this article focuses on the work of Richard Rorty. He is very critical of the claim that it is possible to construct a non-foundationalist universalism, and this controvery is increasingly prominent in the discipline of international relations. The final part of the article analyzes the attempt by Richard Falk and Ken Booth to construct a non-foundationalist defence of ethical universalism. By focusing on both foundationalist and non-foundationalist theories of human solidarity, the article attempts to provide insights into the question of how far different metatheoretical positions lead to different views of moral agency.
The European Origins of Legal Imperialism and Its Legacy in Legal Education in Former Colonial Regions
Authors: Schmidhauser John R.
Published: March 2007

This article examines the two aspects of legal imperialism. The first investigates the major attributes of such imperialism as results of military conquest and/or economic domination. The second assesses the continuing effects of conquest and domination in legal education in former colonial regions that have achieved independence generally since World War II. These aspects are examined in the context of the broader significance of legal education upon purported lawyer behavior in developing nations.
Parliaments as Policy-making Bodies in East Central Europe: The Case of Hungary
Authors: ágh Attila
Published: March 2007

The parliaments of East Central Europe (ECE) have been the central sites of systemic change and have been widely analyzed with respect to their roles and functions. It is time, however, to deepen this analysis and to deal with ECE parliaments as policy-making bodies. The period of democratic institution-building in East Central Europe is more or less over, but modernization of new institutions has just begun. This article investigates policy-making in the First Hungarian Parliament (1990-94) and also to some extent in the Second Parliament (1994-). Major aspects of policy-making have been studied in this investigation: the effectiveness and efficiency of Hungarian legislation, and the problems of implementation. The conclusion is that policy-making in the Hungarian parliament still has a lot of problems, but that a relatively quick political learning process and professionalization can be observed.
Mother, Daughter, Teenager—Who Am I?
Authors: DALLA ROCHELLE L. , GAMBLE WENDY C.
Published: March 2007

Intensive interviews focusing on perceptions of teenage parenting were conducted with Navajo teenage mothers, their mothers, and community informants. Data analyses revealed 2 central themes representing commitment to maternity or adolescence. Integration of these central themes resulted in a framework depicting four categories representing (a) teenagers highly committed to maternity and adolescence, (b) those identifying primarily with adolescence, (c) teenagers highly committed to the maternal role and minimally interested in typical adolescent activities, and (d) teenagers expressing little interest in either maternity or typical adolescent behaviors. Mothers of the teenagers provided descriptions of their daughters that supported the framework. Teenage mothers, their mothers, and community informants described the social perceptions of teenage parenting historically and within contemporary Navajo culture. Factors associated with the prevalence of adolescent parenting on the Navajo reservation are discussed, as are practical implications for model building and intervention services.
Dating Scripts Revisited
Authors: LANER MARY RIEGE , VENTRONE NICOLE A.
Published: March 2007

Using a method different from that of past studies, first-date scripts of heterosexual college students were reexamined. As expected, the new approach did not change the findings of earlier research. Despite egalitarian claims, the initial dating practices of students consistently appear to be primarily traditionalistic. Supporting the findings of past studies, the authors found that scripts for both sexes are well-known to both men and women, making the formats of first dates highly predictable. Current popular advice from dating guides reinforces “appropriate” behaviors and attends far more to differences between the sexes than to their similarities. The contemporary “semi-egalitarian, semi-traditional” perspectives of students may not serve them well in their longer term relationships.
Gender and Family Ideals
Authors: HAYNES FAUSTINA E.
Published: March 2007

This article relies on in-depth, open-ended interviews with 15 Black men to explore three questions: What do Black men and Black women expect from marital life? How did these expectations evolve? and What impact, if any, will these expectations have on the cycle of the second shift and provider role strain? The author found that the male and female respondents expect that men will take on the provider roles in their families because a man's self-worth is rooted in his ability to take on the provider role. Respondents also expect that women will be nurturers in their families. This is not to suggest that the male respondents expect that their wives will be submissive—far from it. In fact, the male respondents expect their wives to work. However, regardless of whether women work or not, the respondents insist that men have to be providers and women have to be nurturers in their families. Finally, the male and female respondents intend to pass/have passed their gender-specific ideologies about family life and spousal roles on to their children.
African American Family Structure
Authors: WILLIAMS JAMES HERBERT , AUSLANDER WENDY F. , HOUSTON CHERYL A. , KREBILL HOPE , HAIRE-JOSHU DEBRA
Published: March 2007

This study addresses the following research questions: (a) What are the various types of family structures that exist in urban African American households? and (b) to what extent do differences in family structure influence social, psychological, and economic well-being as reported by urban African American women? The authors present findings from 301 African American women who participated in a community-based nutrition prevention program in a large Midwestern urban center. This study's results indicate that family structure has more influence on African American women's economic well-being than do social and psycho-logical factors. Implications of these findings for intervention are presented.
More Than the Work
Authors: MARTIN CATHY D.
Published: March 2007

This study examines race and gender differences in the burden experienced by family caregivers of the elderly using data from the 1990 Informal Caregivers Survey. Social exchange theory predicts burden to a certain extent based on the caregiving context (e.g., psychological difficulties of the elder and positive aspects of caregiving) and work performed (e.g., hours per week and specific tasks), but race and gender differences independent of the context suggest that feeling burdened also depends on identities embodied in gender roles and African American culture. Also predictive of burden is the interaction between race and gender, and although African American and White women face similar caregiving situations, African American women report less burden than White women or men of either race.
Marital Disruption, Parental Investment, and Children's Academic Achievement
Authors: SUN YONGMIN , LI YUANZHANG
Published: March 2007

Although previous research has noted the detrimental impact of parents' marital disruption on children's schooling, less is known about whether such detriments are observable prior to the disruption. Based on two waves of a nationally representative longitudinal data set, this study has found that even prior to family dissolution, both boys and girls from families that subsequently dissolve perform less well than their peers whose parents remain married. Families at the predisruption stage are also characterized by a shortage of financial, cultural, human, and social capital, even after demographics are controlled. In addition, some parental investment measures yield a smaller educational return for students whose families subsequently dissolve than for those whose parents remain married. Our results also indicate that the negative postdisruption effects on children's academic achievement can be either largely or completely predicted by performance and investment differences at the predisruption stage.
Long-Term Effects of Parenting Practices During Adolescence on Well-Being Outcomes in Young Adulthood
Authors: AQUILINO WILLIAM S. , SUPPLE ANDREW J.
Published: March 2007

This research investigated the consequences of parent-child relationships during adolescence for young adults' well-being and substance use. Analysis of longitudinal data from the National Survey of Families and Households provided support for the hypothesis that parent-adolescent relationships have long-term consequences for young adult well-being and behavior. The findings are consistent with individuation theory and show that coercive parental control in adolescence is associated with lower well-being and more substance use in young adulthood. The long-term effects of parenting were mediated in part by the effects of parenting on adolescent adjustment, which influenced well-being in young adulthood.