bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Measures of Repression: Converging on the Same Construct?
Authors: Turvey Carolyn , Salovey Peter
Published: May 2005

Research on individual differences in repression, defined as the tendency not to experience negative thoughts and feelings, has led to the development of numerous measures. This article compares six common measures of repression: 1) the Byrne Repression-Sensitization scale, 2) Weinberger's Repressive Coping Scale, 3) the Weinberger Adjustment Inventory, 4) Miller's Monitoring and Blunting Scale, 5) Sackeim and Gur's Self-Deception Questionnaire, and 6) Paulus's Self-Deception Questionnaire. The measures were highly intercorrelated. A maximum likelihood factor analysis revealed that all but the Monitoring and Blunting Scale loaded on a single factor. Moreover, most of the measures correlated significantly with anxiety and social desirability. The instruments were then compared to assess their relative practical utility. Although all but the Monitoring and Blunting scale appear to measure the same construct, the Weinberger Adjustment Inventory appears to be the most psychometrically sound measure of dispositional repression.
Policy Options and the Impact of National Health Insurance Revisited
Authors: Newhouse Joseph P. , Phelps Charles E. , Schwartz William B.
Published: May 2005

In his discussion, Jonas demonstrates a misunderstanding of the basic concepts of our paper. We nowhere implied that if medical care is free to the user, the health care delivery system would be “wrecked”; rather, we said that ambulatory utilization would, in the short run, be rationed on a basis other than price, whereas hospital utilization would be relatively little affected by a new insurance program. Over a period of time, the delivery system (if free to respond) would adjust to the increased demands, with an eventual level of expenditure on medical care of some 11 percent of gross national product (if technology does not change). Evidence from Canada is consistent with our analysis.
A Decision Support System for Course Scheduling
Authors: Ram Balasubramanian , Al-Rumaih Muhammed , Sarin Sanjiv
Published: May 2005

This article describes a decision support system (DSS) for planning course offerings in an academic department. The system involves selection of courses, assignment of instructors to courses, and scheduling of courses. The DSS has been implemented and is currently in use.
The Million Dollar Letter: Some Hints on How to Write One
Authors: Myers Marshall
Published: May 2005

This article suggests ways of writing a truly effective cover letter, an extremely important document in the search for a job. First, features gleaned from 13 model letters in technical writing textbooks yield figures on the number of words, sentences, and paragraphs per letter, plus the average number of words per sentence and paragraph, information helpful to those with little or no knowledge of how to write a strong cover letter. Second, the article surveys what the textbook writers offer as advice about the rhetorical principles that should be employed in composing cover letters. One piece of advice given by almost all of the experts is that writers should try to exude an energetic attitude, yet these same authorities do not delineate just how to display such a posture in the letters themselves. Third, examination of the letters reveals that one way that experts insert verve into cover letters is to use verbals, particularly gerunds, participles, and infinitives. In fact, 92.58% of the sentences in the 13 model letters have some type of verbal in them. The advantage of employing verbals is that while they are used for other parts of speech, they still retain the residue of action in their meaning. Fourth, the article describes the results of a survey to determine the acceptance of such constructions in the minds of two sets of readers: first-year writing students and third-year technical writing students. In both groups, more than 75% of the students preferred a paragraph with verbals in it over a paragraph devoid of verbals. Finally, the article suggests “sentence combining” as a procedure for teaching technical writing students how to combine basic sentences into verbals to garner variety and economy, one of the hallmarks of technical writing.
The Impact of Parental Death on Middle Aged Children
Authors: Moss Miriam S. , Moss Sidney Z.
Published: May 2005

There has been a paucity of literature dealing with the impact of the death of a parent upon a middle-aged child, and a number of reasons for this are explored. The quality of the bond between adult children and their parents is examined, focusing on those aspects which tend to strengthen or weaken this tie. Reaction to parental death involves the dialectic between the persistence and breaking of the bond and between the themes of finitude and personal growth. A lifelong theme of anticipatory orphanhood may help to prepare for the impact of parental death.
Comment on MC Kinlay
Authors: Freidson Eliot
Published: May 2005

After a brief summary of the work referred to from the point of view of its author, it is noted that McKinlay has not developed his argument in sufficient detail to support his conclusions. The hope is expressed that he will work on expanding his argument in the future.
Treatment of Delirium—A Reappraisal
Authors: Steinhart Melvin J.
Published: May 2005

Delirium is a frequently encountered clinical syndrome which can pose serious problems for the physician and patient. Numerous etiological possibilities exist, and each case is usually associated with multiple causal factors. Although the pathophysiology is poorly understood, the clinical presentation is marked either by stupor and hypoarousal or agitation and hyperarousal. Both types of delirium must be treated by searching for and correcting reversible causative factors. In addition, medication may be quite efficacious in managing the clinical aspects of agitated delirium. Most cases of agitated delirium are either of the “sensory overload” or “sensory deprivation” type. The drug treatment of each is discussed with reference to their respective central nervous system physiological correlates.
Social Security Policy Formulation and Health Research
Authors: Merriam I. C.
Published: May 2005

This paper focuses on research in the financing of health care services, and the evaluation of health insurance programs. After a historical review beginning with the work of the Committee on the Costs of Medical Care from 1927–1932, selected major research projects now under way in the Social Security Administration are summarized, including work on national health expenditures, private health insurance, health service utilization and expenditures of individuals and families, hospital costs and incentive reimbursement experiments, and the development of a national health sector model. The relation of such research to policy formulation is discussed.
The Stream of Consciousness: IX. James's Ejective Consciousness (Second Part)
Authors: Natsoulas Thomas
Published: May 2005

As in the preceding article of the present series, I continue to examine William James's thought in The Principles of Psychology regarding what he there called “ejective consciousness.” James held that, in certain altered states, and perhaps at other times as well, mental occurrences may take place that are not components of the individual's original stream of consciousness. Usually if not always, such “split-off” occurrences comprise a second stream, which, according to James, is no less conscious and personal than the original stream is. However, the components of the second stream must be distinguished from nonconscious mental occurrences. Whereas James argues at some length against the existence of the nonconscious mental, of which there cannot be any inner awareness by definition, James does countenance the unusual presence of a second stream of consciousness, of which the first stream can have knowledge only inferentially, and vice versa. Both streams include inner awareness of their own basic durational components.
Community Partners for Health: Urban Health Coalitions in Lagos, Nigeria
Authors: Brieger William R. , Orisasona Sam A. , Ogunlade P. Bolade , Ayodele U. Olu. , Iroko Ayo
Published: May 2005

Basic Support for Institutionalizing Child Survival (BASICS) was given a mandate by USAID to find innovative ways to meet the child health needs of poor Nigerian urban communities. BASICS inventoried communities in the Lagos metropolitan area to identify community-based organizations (CBOs) and private health facilities (HFs) that could form coalitions that might plan and deliver child and family health services such as immunization and prompt treatment. Six Community Partners for Health (CPHs) coalitions formed in late 1995. In late 1997, a documentation of the progress and processes of CPH formation and functioning was carried out through a review of documents, interviews with CPH leaders, discussions with CBO members, and textual analysis of CPH board meeting minutes to define the CPH approach, the organizational structures that result from that approach, the achievements of the CPHs and the potential sustainability of the approach. All CPHs have developed a work plan and all have undertaken programmatic activities including child immunization campaigns, environmental clean-up, and awareness campaigns to alert the public on the dangers of HIV/AIDS. Most CPHs have also developed three main mechanisms for financial sustainability. Finally, CPHs have also been calling on each other for technical and management assistance. This augers well for future independent action and sustainability, and BASICS staff themselves have been promoting inter-CPH communication and activities among the Lagos CPHs.
A Group Desensitization Procedure for the Reduction of Death Anxiety
Authors: Peal Ronald L. , Handal Paul J. , Gilner Frank H.
Published: May 2005

This study used three measures of death anxiety to investigate the effectiveness of group systematic desensitization in reducing death anxiety in high death anxious participants. Results revealed that desensitization was superior to both a relaxation and test-retest group in reducing death anxiety when the revised Livingston and Zimet DAS was the criterion measure. Mixed results were obtained when either the Templer DAS or Feifel and Branscomb's CWIT was the criterion measure. Discussion focused on possible reasons for these results and the need for additional investigation regarding both the use of group desensitization and the relationship among the three measures of death anxiety.
National Health Planning—An Appraisal of the State of the Art
Authors: Logan R. F. L.
Published: May 2005

Despite the increase in planning activities, there have been few reports on what happened in practice. After 22 years of the National Health Service in Britain, there has been little change in the old inequalities in the distribution of health resources, hospital beds, manpower, and the budget to finance these. A critical examination of these failures suggests the complex difficulties in trying to implement theoretical planning. The changes in medicine from being a professional art to a technical science have been too big and too fast. The very successes of these new advances often lead to survival on maintenance therapy or to an even more critical and expensive relapse to a larger geriatric burden. With little pay-off or benefit in chronic disease, the limited resources are over-strained in even the most affluent countries, but neither the profession nor the public is willing to face the decision of which age sector of the population to neglect. At the same time, most clinical decisions involve the use of a limited resource so every clinician is a manager. Rather than be disappointed in the lack of implementation of the planning process, it has a useful purpose as a declaration of intent and in creating a forum for discussion. For most countries this is the beginning of the beginning in the effective administration of medical care.
Differences by Level of Technology Use on Students' Motivation, Anxiety, and Classroom Learning Environment in Mathematics
Authors: Waxman Hersholt C. , Huang Shwu-Yong L.
Published: May 2005

This study examined whether students' 1) motivation, 2) anxiety, and 3) classroom learning environment in mathematics significantly differed according to the degree of implementation of technology in the mathematics classroom. The participants were 1955 sixth-grade and 1940 eighth-grade students who were randomly chosen from a multi-ethnic school district in the south central region of the United States. The sixth-grade results indicate that students in classes where technology was slightly used had significantly higher Involvement, Satisfaction, and Achievement Motivation than students in classes where technology was moderately or infrequently used. The eighth-grade results revealed that students in classes where technology was slightly used had significantly higher Affiliation, Parent Involvement, and Achievement Motivation, but students in classes where technology was moderately used had significantly higher Satisfaction and significantly lower Mathematics Anxiety.
The Technical Supervisor and the Writing Process
Authors: Souther James W.
Published: May 2005

Report writing is often inadequate because misunderstanding arises over what the supervisor thinks he assigned and what the writer thinks he was asked to do. The responsibilities of the supervisor are examined in relation to the writing process with emphasis on directive and feedback techniques.

The author cites four points at which the supervisor can bring direction to the writing process—assigning work, when the technical work is on the way to completion, before the report is written, and when the report is reviewed.
Family Involvement Following Institutionalization: Modeling Nursing Home Visits Over Time
Authors: Gaugler Joseph E. , Pearlin Leonard I. , Zarit Steven H.
Published: May 2005

Gerontological research has emphasized family members' continued involvement in the lives of loved ones following institutionalization. However, many of these studies are cross-sectional in design and do not ascertain how family members' visits change over time. The present study utilized a growth curve analysis to examine preplacement and postplacement predictors of nursing home visits over a two-year period among a sample of 65 caregivers of dementia patients. Intraindividual patterns of change suggested considerable heterogeneity in family visits. Several variables were also significantly predictive ( p < .05) of change in nursing home visits. Spousal caregivers were more likely to report increased visits. Care recipients with greater cognitive impairment following institutionalization experienced increased visits. Caregivers who perceived respect and support from their social network following institutionalization also reported increased visits over the two-year study period. Caregivers who engaged in socially restorative activities after institutionalization reported decreases in visits. The findings provide a more refined understanding of the long-term involvement process following institutionalization.
Health Planning and Statistics: An Overview from Scotland
Authors: Brotherston J. H. F.
Published: May 2005

The necessity to guide and monitor health services planning with a closely related information system is now widely recognized. However, in most countries practice falls far short of theory. There are many difficulties to overcome on the way to achieving a well informed and sophisticated planning system. The difficulties are administrative, technical, and psychologic. There is often a gap to be bridged between the planners and the providers of information. In Scotland, the integration of the previously separate administrations of hospitals, general practice, and public health under single health boards offers new opportunities for planning health programs. This change is an incentive to reform and upgrade the information services for planning. Some of the proposals are described.
The Etiologic Significance of Deafness in Ulcerative Colitis
Authors: Levitan Harold L.
Published: May 2005

The case histories of several patients whose ulcerative colitis was preceded by partial deafness are presented. It is assumed that the partial deafness had an etiological significance and a series of four steps leading from the communication difficulties created by the deafness to the ulcerative colitis is described. Emphasis is placed upon the role of the partial deafness in the creation of a potentially objectless state which predisposes to the experiencing of the affect depression-withdrawal under conditions of additional stress. Presumably somatic correlates of this affect interact with unknown somatic vulnerabilities to produce ulcerative colitis.
The Effects of Cognitive Learning Style and Prior Computer Experience on Taiwanese College Students' Computer Self-Efficacy in Computer Literacy Courses
Authors: Shiue Ya-Ming
Published: May 2005

This study examines the influences of learners' characteristics on the development of computer self-efficacy using the GOMS (goal, operators, methods, and selection rules) model. Students' learning style, prior computer course experience, and computer self-efficacy were measured in the pretest, and computer self-efficacy was measured in the posttest to examine the development of computer self-efficacy during the fall of 2001 in a computer introductory course in a non-traditional Taiwanese University. Results indicate that there were statistically significant effects of learning style and prior computer course experiences on computer self-efficacy. The follow-up analysis revealed that the Converger learning style students (abstract learners) outperformed other learning style students (concrete learners). Furthermore, a positive linear relationship was found between computer self-efficacy and the number of prior computer courses taken, which indicates that the more courses students had taken, the higher the level of computer self-efficacy the students developed. The result did support the GOMS model as a useful theoretical model to improve the computer literacy instruction.
Employment and Women's Health: An Analysis of Causal Relationships
Authors: Waldron Ingrid
Published: May 2005

Housewives report more chronic illness than employed women, and housewives are more likely than employed women to rate their health as poor or fair. Poor health can deter a woman from seeking or keeping a job, and this appears to be one important reason why poor health is reported more frequently by housewives than by employed women. The differences between housewives and employed women in self-reported health do not appear to be due to differences in marital status, race, or education.

The available data do not provide an adequate basis for estimating the overall effects of employment on women's health in the contemporary United States. Women in certain jobs are exposed to serious occupational hazards, including carcinogens, cotton dust, and infectious agents. Employment may result in increased stress for certain groups of women, but decreased stress for other groups, such as women who are employed part-time. Increased social contact and social support on the job may reduce the risk of illness for employed women. The net effect of employment on women's health appears to vary, depending on the type of job, and probably also on the woman's family situation.
Development of the Collaborative Learning Measure in CMC
Authors: Li Qing
Published: May 2005

The purpose of the present study is to develop a simple tool to measure interactive learning in the context of computer-mediated communication (CMC). In this article, the description of such measure of interactivity, namely the “Measure of Interactivity in CMC” (MICMC) is provided, and the reliability and validity of this measure are examined. In addition, several interesting relationships observed during the development of MICMC are discussed. The subjects for this study are selected from students who participated in the “Knowledge Forum Knowledge Building Community Project” in 1999. It was a fifth- and sixth-grade classroom in an inner city elementary school with 23 students. The analysis of the data indicates that MICMC is a useful measure of interactivity. It goes beyond how much time people spend using CMC, how many messages are created, or even how many students are involved. Instead of being a measure of participation, it becomes a measure of collaboration in terms of interactivity.
Design and Development of Training Devices/Systems for Emerging Military Tactical Systems
Authors: Lawson Karen R.
Published: May 2005

The definition of training device requirements for emerging systems is often difficult, not only because of prime system changes, but also because the operation and maintenance of the systems are not yet well defined or documented. Due to this lack of structure within which to work, the definition of training requirements is often postponed until the prime system is near delivery. A method for defining alternative training approaches is discussed, including the application of new technology and the use/modification of existing training devices. Also addressed is the problem of evaluating the utility of videodisc-based training systems for high-tech military tactical systems.
Omega: Pre-History of a Journal
Authors: Kastenbaum Robert
Published: May 2005

Omega, Journal of Death and Dying, evolved from a newsletter prepared and distributed through a research project based in a geriatric hospital. This article recalls the context within which the newsletter originated, offers selections from its contents, and provides glimpses of an early phase in the development of thanatology. The transition from newsletter to journal is also described. Many questions raised and suggestions offered by contributors to the Omega Newsletter during its 1966–1968 run are still relevant today.
The Accuracy of Clinical Criteria for the Diagnosis of Frontotemporal Dementia
Authors: Mendez Mario F.
Published: May 2005

The clinical diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) can be challenging even to experienced clinicians. In the absence of a definitive clinical test, this diagnosis relies on behavioral criteria. Difficulty applying these criteria arise for four main reasons. First, FTD patients present with social and personality changes that defy the neuropsychological model of dementia. Second, FTD is not a single disorder but a spectrum of clinical syndromes with asymmetric and motor variants. Third, there may be qualitatively different symptoms during stages of FTD. Finally, pathologic and genetic variability contributes to the clinical variability. Future research should refine the clinical criteria for FTD using clinicopathological correlation in addition to working on the development of neurobiological markers.
Ward Staff Problems with Abortions
Authors: Kessler Kenneth , Weiss Theodore
Published: May 2005

The performance of abortions at the mother's request creates special psychological problems for the physicians and nurses involved. Young, unmarried nurses seem to identify excessively with these mothers, further extending the problem. This paper details the ward staff difficulties which abortion produces. Suggestions are made for interventions which should minimize the problems.
Advance Organizers: A Review of the Research—Part I
Authors: Williams Thomas R. , Butterfield Earl C.
Published: May 2005

This article reviews previous research on advance organizers, introductory text adjuncts intended to provide the reader of expository text with a meaningful context within which to process unfamiliar, or difficult, new information. Research conducted during the past thirty years well documents the fact that advance organizers do, indeed, inspire significant increases in comprehension among readers whose prior knowledge “subsumers” are inadequate to provide a necessary assimilative context. One issue on which theorists yet disagree, however, is the efficacy of advance organizers in facilitating the acquisition of subordinate text detail, or facts. Definitional inconsistencies and methodological deficiencies in previous research have clouded this issue. Subsequently in this journal, Part II of this article will present the results of two empirical studies that resolve these methodological problems and specifically address the question of the effects of advance organizers on the acquisition of text detail.
An Appraisal of Real-Time Simulation in Air Traffic Control
Authors: Hopkin V. David
Published: May 2005

Numerous real-time air traffic control simulation studies have been conducted in the United Kingdom; this paper summarises what has been learned from them. Realistic assessments of the validity of real-time simulation as a method of solving air traffic control problems are now possible in the light of experience, and its future use can be planned in accordance with its known limitations. Real-time simulation cannot answer every kind of question with equal validity, and its relevance for assessing capacity, workload or stress is dubious. Measures in simulation may be chosen primarily for their practical convenience and because they can provide answers expressed in system concepts, but the technique can be used to show discrepancies between subjective and objective evidence, and to suggest why they have arisen. Real-time simulation is both indispensable and over-used in air traffic control.
Understanding Musical Soundtracks
Authors: Cohen Annabel J.
Published: May 2005

Musical soundtracks concern two art forms, music and cinema, and two sensory modalities, auditory and visual. As such, they touch many aspects of psychology and provide a fertile and challenging domain for investigation. The present article advocates that a framework for exploring the psychological effects of musical soundtracks should focus on meaning, structure, memory, awareness, and experimental aesthetics. Research representing these topics is reviewed and suggestions for new research are made. As well, it is proposed that the historically significant associationist approach is applicable to a number of these contemporary issues.
Psychological Death: An Adaptive Response to Life-Threatening Illness
Authors: Barton David , Fishbein Joseph H. , Stevens Frank W.
Published: May 2005

A 50-year-old man with documented multiple myeloma of two years duration was admitted to a psychiatric ward with the complaint of “being dead.” Discussion of the development of his complaints illustrates important issues, an understanding of which may be helpful in providing optimal care of any patient with a life-threatening illness. “Being dead” had significant individual symbolic meanings which developed from the patient's past and current conflicts and from his perceptions of changes in his body image resulting from the disease process. “Being dead” furthermore was a statement of the reflected appraisal of environmental neglect and in this context was closely related to “voodoo death.” Psychological “self-destruction” through “being dead” served to communicate anger and evoke guilt in the interpersonal environment while at the same time adaptively evoking reassurance, increased interpersonal contact, concern and amelioration of loneliness and alienation. Psychological “death” and “rebirth” also represented a quest for immortality; and complaints, through their potential to evoke humor, seemed an ironic mockery of death. In the context of a life-threatening illness, recognition and appreciation of many psychological phenomena as adaptive are necessary in order to aid both the patient and the care-giving environment to achieve a reasonable level of adaptation in the face of death.
Managing a Pluralist Health System: The Case of Health Care Reform in France
Authors: Bach Stephen
Published: May 2005

During the last decade increasing health care expenditure led to persistent difficulties in the financing and management of the French health care system. A series of cost-containment measures in the 1980s and early 1990s concentrated on raising patient contributions and establishing global budgets for public hospitals. These initiatives met with limited success and did not address the issue of hospital management. In 1991 new reforms were instigated to strengthen the public sector and achieve a better balance with the private sector. Although these reforms altered management practice within public hospitals, they failed to tackle the underlying problems of the long-term financing and management of the French health system, ensuring continuing attempts at reform. The French experience provides evidence of the difficulties of reforming a pluralist health system that contains few incentives to stem rising expenditure.
Three Models of Narrative Comprehension in William Stafford's “Traveling through the Dark”: Some Relations between Schemata and Interpretive Context (Part 1)
Authors: Brooke Robert
Published: May 2005

This paper discusses the mechanisms involved in accounting for William Stafford's poem “Traveling Through the Dark.” Part 1 presents the narrative models of Teun van Dijk and William Labov, while Part 2 continues the discussion of Labov's Model, introduces Stanley Fish's view of narrative, and relates all three models to Roger Schank's and Robert de Beaugrande's theoretical work on stories. In the conclusion, a number of criteria for the evaluation of narrative theories are suggested.
HIV-Related Behaviors among Recently Immigrated and Undocumented Latinas
Authors: Romero Gloria , Wyatt Gail E. , Chin Dorothy , Rodriguez Christina
Published: May 2005

HIV/AIDS research, prevention, and intervention efforts have widened in recent years to include minorities and women, partly in response to the rise of infection among these groups [1]. However, conventional research methods (i.e., random community samples) are likely to exclude more marginalized groups such as undocumented immigrants. We conducted ethnographic interviews of twenty-one recently immigrated and undocumented Latinas regarding their HIV-related risk behaviors, partners risk behaviors, HIV knowledge and attitudes, and sexual communication and decision making. Findings indicated low rates of risk behaviors. However, condom use was also low, and partners' behavior appeared to pose a risk. The immigration process, often necessitating periods of separation, may prohibit women from having accurate knowledge about partners' risk behaviors. Interviews were conducted at community agencies where respondents were recruited and at respondents' home in Los Angeles County. Findings suggest the importance of considering the effects of immigration, acculturation, and gender and relationship dynamics when examining risk in this population.
Expectancy of Spousal Death and Adjustment to Conjugal Bereavement
Authors: Donnelly Edward F. , Field Nigel P. , Horowitz Mardi J.
Published: May 2005

Previous findings on the role of expectancy of spousal death in adjustment to bereavement are inconclusive due to methodological shortcomings. This study examined the impact of subjective and objective expectancy on adjustment, while addressing the methodological problems of previous studies. At six months postbereavement, 97 midlife bereaved adults responded to interview questions regarding expectancy of their spouse's death. They also completed the Beck Depression Inventory and Texas Revised Inventory of Grief, at 6, 13, and 25 months postbereavement. Greater objective expectancy was associated with lower symptoms at all three postbereavement periods. Subjective expectancy was not related to symptoms, however. The clinical implications of objective expectancy's role on bereavement-related adjustment are addressed.
EEG and Facial EMG Changes during Self-Reflection with Affective Imagery
Authors: Kuiken Don , Mathews Jan
Published: May 2005

Intensive self-reflection with affective imagery was expected to increase relative right hemispheric activation and intensify facial expressions of negative affect. Six individuals were encouraged to reflect on personal problems or concerns in two different ways. In one condition, they attended to feelings related to a personal problem and characterized their feelings using imagery. In a second condition, they explained a personal problem and characterized their thoughts using words. In the feeling-imagery condition, participants' parietal EEG indicated greater relative right hemispheric activation, resulting in a pattern of bilateral hemispheric activation. There were no differences between conditions in corrugator or zygomatic EMG. The increased involvement of the right hemisphere during intensive self-reflection may facilitate discrimination of affect-related physiological events and, thus, affective insight.
Themes of Suicide in the Kalevala
Authors: Achté Kalle , Pentikäinen Juha , Fagerström Ritva
Published: May 2005

The Kalevala, Finland's national epic, is one of the most crucial elements of Finnish cultural identity, and it still occupies an important position in Finnish culture. Violence, death, and suicide are oft-repeated themes in Finnish folklore. The Finnish national epic provides an insight into past attitudes towards death. Traditions passed on from one generation to the next have obviously influenced people's attitudes towards suicide.
How Teens Think about Drugs: Insights from Moral Reasoning and Social Bonding Theory
Authors: Buchanan David R.
Published: May 2005

This article reports the results of a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews focusing on the relationship between moral reasoning and the decision to initiate adolescent substance use. Ninety-five eighth-grade students, roughly equally divided among non-users, experimental users and experienced users, were interviewed following an open-ended, semi-structured protocol on issues pertaining to the psychological and sociological domains of moral reasoning. Drawing on cognitive-developmental psychology and social bonding theory, the analysis reveals three contrasting patterns of thinking in students' decisions about whether or not to try drugs. In ascending levels of importance, these three patterns are: 1) perceptions of harm; 2) perceptions of personal choice; and, 3) perceived degree of institutional embeddedness. The implications of these findings for current policies and prevention programs are discussed.
Sixty-Five Years of History: Archaeological Conservation at Colonial Williamsburg
Authors: Williams Emily
Published: May 2005

Archaeological conservation at Colonial Williamsburg began in the early 1930s and has continued to the present, making it the longest running archaeological conservation project on a North American site. During this period, both the fields of conservation and of archaeology have undergone significant evolution. These changes have been reflected in the practice of archaeological conservation at Colonial Williamsburg. The focus has shifted from individual objects toward a more holistic vision of how these objects fit into the site and what they can tell us about the people that used them and the land on which they were found.
Hospital Ownership and Preventable Adverse Events
Authors: Thomas Eric J. , Orav E. John , Brennan Troyen A.
Published: May 2005

To determine whether hospital ownership was associated with preventable adverse events, the authors reviewed the medical records of a random sample of 15,000 hospitalizations in Utah and Colorado in 1992. Hospitals were categorized as nonprofit, for-profit, major teaching government (e.g., county, state ownership), and minor or nonteaching government. Multivariate analyses adjusting for other patient and hospital characteristics found that, when compared with patients in nonprofit hospitals, patients in minor or nonteaching government hospitals were more likely to suffer a preventable adverse event of any type (odds ratio (OR), 2.46; 95 percent confidence interval (95% CI), 1.45 to 4.20); preventable operative adverse events (OR, 4.85; 95% CI, 2.44 to 9.62); and preventable adverse events due to delayed diagnoses and therapies (OR, 4.27; 95% CI, 1.48 to 12.31). Patients in for-profit hospitals were also more likely to suffer preventable adverse events of any type (OR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.03 to 2.38); preventable operative adverse events (OR, 2.63; 95% CI, 1.42 to 4.87); and preventable adverse events due to delayed diagnoses and therapies (OR, 4.15; 95% CI, 1.84 to 9.34). Patients in major teaching government hospitals were less likely to suffer preventable adverse drug events (OR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.16 to 0.89).
The Feminization of Poverty: Myth or Reality?
Authors: Gimenez Martha E.
Published: May 2005

The feminization of poverty is a widely discussed concept in the mass media, and in academic circles, which captures the following facts: there are more poor women than poor men, and women are more likely to fall into poverty because of gender-related factors. In this article, I examine the concept's empirical basis and theoretical significance. The data show that poverty among men increased faster than poverty among women during the 1980–81 recession. While the sex composition of the poverty population has remained relatively unchanged since 1966, its age composition has changed: poverty has increased substantially among working men and women aged 18 to 44. Also, the higher proportion of women in the poverty population cannot be considered simply an effect of male privilege; on the contrary, it may be partially accounted for by higher mortality rates among working-class men. Theoretically, I argue that the meaning of these trends cannot be established using only age and sex categories of analysis. The trends document the progressive immiseration of the working class. Younger workers of both sexes today are worse off than older workers. A discussion of poverty purely in terms of the age, sex, or racial/ethnic composition of the poverty population hides the roots of poverty in the mode of production and succeeds in obfuscating the issues, fueling conflict between men and women, young and old, and white and nonwhite. Only by taking into account the class relations that structure people's life chances is it possible to understand the significance of present trends.
The Sources of Awe and Reassurance in Kierkegaard's Guds Uforanderlighed
Authors: McKinnon Alastair
Published: May 2005

This article reports the use of four tests to determine whether the relevant main portions of Kierkegaard's sermon, Guds Uforanderlighed, associate Forfaerdelse (awe) with Uforanderlige (the Unchangeable One) and Beroligelse (reassurance) with Uforanderlighed (Unchangeableness) as suggested by a key section of the text. The first test compares the observed and expected frequencies of each of sixteen distinct Uforanderlige and Uforanderlighed expressions in the awe and reassurance sections of this text. The remainder of the tests are all chi-square tests of the relevant observed frequencies in these same two sections: the second that of all Uforanderlige and all Uforanderlighed expressions; the third that of all evig and all non- evig expressions; and the fourth that of all Uforanderlige expressions with and without the pronoun Du. The evidence suggests that the source of awe is the Unchangeable One and that of reassurance God's Unchangeableness.
Prevention and Transition
Authors: Bennett Dave
Published: May 2005

Strategies to protect workers' health and the environment outside of the workplace, were, respectively, once based on the notion of control: a series of controls (engineering and administrative) in the workplace and emission controls to protect the public environment. Two parallel changes occurred. The first was a shift from the general principles of control to the notion of a hierarchy of control measures and the second was a recasting of the Hierarchy of Controls into what has been called a Hierarchy of Prevention and Controls. This article cites the Canadian experience to show that this twofold shift is a progressive and constructive move; the United States provides both the sources of the problem and some solutions. “Just Transition” for workers during environmental change was developed in the context of chemical bans and phase-outs. The concept is now much broader. The article argues that certain pollution prevention measures have been construed as an attack on workers' rights; but this problem can be resolved to the benefit of both workers' health and environmental protection. Explanation of the relation of pollution prevention to Just Transition is a part of the solution.
Middle-Aged Son's Reactions to Father's Death
Authors: Moss S. Z. , Rubinstein R. L. , Moss M. S.
Published: May 2005

This article concerns the domain of men's grief and bereavement. It reports on findings from a research project in which we qualitatively interviewed, in a 2 × 2 design, middle-aged sons and daughters concerning the meaning of the death of their widowed elderly mother or father. We interviewed forty-three sons who recently experienced the death of their widowed father. We suggest that the normative model of bereavement is feminized and does not adequately account for men's experiences. In the domain of bereavement, men are often “the other.” We outline and discuss four themes in men's bereavement: control, action, cognition, and privacy.
Effects of Affective and Informational Characteristics of Work Environments on Worker Satisfaction
Authors: Mehrabian Albert
Published: May 2005

Workers in eleven businesses (e.g., a trucking company, a warehouse, a county hospital, a computer company) rated the physical and social environment in which they worked using three nearly independent measures of pleasantness-unpleasantness, dominance-submissiveness inducing quality, and “information rate.” Complexity, novelty, variability, and unpredictable quality of a situation jointly characterize its “information rate” and are positive correlates of the arousal elicited by the setting. Two measures of worker satisfaction used were the Job Satisfaction Index (JSI) and a new Worker Satisfaction Scale (WSS). Internal consistency-reliability was .77 for the WSS and compared favorably with .57 for the JSI. The WSS correlated .60 with the JSI and .71 with a modified version of the JSI from which unsatisfactory items were eliminated. Results with both the WSS and the JSI showed that worker satisfaction was a positive correlate of pleasantness, and information rate, of work environments. In addition, an Information Rate X Dominance Interaction on WSS scores showed that workers whose work environments made them feel submissive (e.g., those in low-status positions) were more satisfied with work settings which provided greater variety, complexity, and/or novelty. In comparison, workers who felt dominant due to environmental factors, did not exhibit a parallel preference, possibly because their work provided the necessary complexity and/or variety and additional information from the work setting was not required.
Some Further Evidence on Homicide and a Regional Culture of Violence
Authors: Bailey William C.
Published: May 2005

Gastil's theory and investigation of homicide and the Southern tradition of violence are briefly examined [1]. Although his attempt to construct a quantitative index of Southerness and relate it to states' homicide rates provides a decided improvement over the usual practice of simply comparing “Southern” and “Northern” states, his analysis suffers from the use of homicide figures issued by the U.S. Public Health Service as an index of his dependent variable, criminal homicide. Inspection of these figures shows them to encompass “causes of death” ranging from premeditated murder to legal executions. To avoid this difficulty and provide a more refined analysis, alternative data for first and second degree murder and murder and nonnegligent manslaughter are examined. These data and Gastil's Southerness index along with eight socioeconomic and demographic variables are fit into a correlation analysis. Results of this analysis show a very substantial positive association between Southerness and rate for all three offenses. While on the surface these findings appear consistent with Gastil's hypothesis, when a number of socioeconomic and demographic factors are introduced into the analysis as control variables, Southerness proves to only have a slight independent effect on rate. That is, the substantial correlation between Southerness and offense rates is primarily a result of the association between Southerness and factors like educational attainment, income, percentage nonwhite population, population density, etc., all of which have been previously linked to levels of homicide. Overall, little support is found for Gastil's and other's notion of a Southern Culture of violence.
Next Then Although More Too—Conjunctions in Action
Authors: Jordan Michael P.
Published: May 2005

The roles and importance of sentence-coupling conjunctions in general technical writing are analyzed. Based on a previous paper (which explained the meanings of these coupling words), this paper examines ways of improving logical argument, of providing continuity of thought between sentences, and of improving readability. Useful redundancy and punctuation are also briefly discussed in relation to coupling words. Comparative tables of incidental couplers, determiners, and redundant couplers are provided as practical aids to the technical writer and editor.
The Widow's View of Her Dependent Children
Authors: Silverman Phyllis , Eimglander Sue
Published: May 2005

This paper reports observations made as part of the Widow-to-Widow program, an experiment in preventive intervention in which every newly-widowed woman under the age of 60 in a community of 250,000 was contacted by another widow to provide her with friendship and help during the critical period immediately after the death of her husband. Data presented here concern the widow's view of her child's reactions to the death, and her ability to maintain her own maternal role. The availability and utilization of helping resources in the community was also studied. Discussion centers around the widow's difficulties in responding to the child's communications and needs following the bereavement.
A Comparison of Three Instructional Approaches in Teaching the Use of the Abridged Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature
Authors: Zsiray Stephen W.
Published: May 2005

The age of information is upon us and as educators we must teach students how to retrieve information. Three instructional delivery systems were compared for effectiveness in the teaching of library media information retrieval skills. These were: 1) microcomputer-based courseware, 2) lecture, and 3) independent-reading. The eighth grade English classes at the Butler Middle School were randomly selected for placement in one of the above groups. As a result of the study, the statistical analysis indicated that the microcomputer-based courseware was identical in instructional effectiveness to the lecture approach. In addition, both the microcomputer-based and the lecture approach were more effective than the independent-reading method.
Increasing Performance in the Small Group CBT Setting
Authors: Stephenson Stanley D.
Published: May 2005

Pairs of students worked with CBT under different levels of advance notice. Students who were provided with an advance notice of a question they would later have to answer scored higher than students who did not receive an advance notice. The advance notice used in this study was relatively simple and did not require additional training or time.