bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
State-Induced Security Dilemma
Authors: Collins Alan
Published: May 2004

The security dilemma, first coined by John Herz in 1950, has come to explain why states that do not seek to harm one another can still end up in competition and war. Its very essence is one of tragedy. The security dilemma has been expounded since by a number of authors, and in this article I examine one such development; Jack Snyder’s definition of the security dilemma, being applicable where one state requiresthe insecurity of another. I label this a state-induced security dilemma. I argue that in order for this to be an accurate expansion of the security dilemma, the essence of tragedy must be retained. I suggest that with some refinement Snyder’s definition does extend the application of the security dilemma and raises important questions regarding the dilemma’s mitigation and escape. I have used the relationship between China and Taiwan to elucidate the utility of the state-induced security dilemma.
The Tipping Point— Gratuities,Culture, and Politics
Authors: Fernandez Gerald A.
Published: May 2004

The issue of cultural tipping differences extends far beyond the practices of a single ethnic group. Rather than focus solely on African Americans, for instance, the restaurant industry should seek ways to educate many cultural groups in prevalent tipping practices. In the main, tips that are regarded as poor are mostly the result of ignorance and not spite. The consequences of poor tips are negative for the industry, for its employees, and for its customers. Therefore, cultural and industry groups should work together to educate customers from all backgrounds about tipping mores.
Predicting Union Certification Elections in the Hospitality Industry
Authors: Deshpande Satish , Stamper Christina
Published: May 2004

A study of the variables that are associated with the success of union organizing efforts for hotel workers found that certain factors are associated with greater union success. The study examined 190 certification elections between January 1999 and December 2001, nearly half of which involved either Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees or the Teamsters. The average bargaining-unit size was fifty-six. Unions won just over half of the elections, and nearly half of those were decided by fewer than ten votes. Only two of six factors under consideration significantly affected election outcomes. Those were the size of the bargaining unit (a large unit diminishes the likelihood of union success) and the presence of more than one union on the ballot (on the theory that the intensity of employees’ involvement increases in such elections). Oddly, although few elections were held in right-to-work states, that factor did not significantly affect outcomes.
Bullets, Blades, and Being Afraid in Hispanic High Schools: An Exploratory Study of the Presence of Weapons and Fear of Weapon-Associated Victimization Among High School Students in a Border Town
Authors: Brown Ben , Benedict Wm. Reed
Published: May 2004

This article presents data obtained from a survey of high school students in Brownsville, Texas. Almost half of the students reported having seen other students carry knives at school, roughly 1 in 10 reported having seen other students carry guns at school, and more than 1 in 5 reported being fearful of weapon-associated victimization at school. Logistic regression analyses indicate that age, gender, seeing other students carry weapons, and involvement with student clubs/organizations significantly affect fear of weapon-associated victimization. Using language spoken at home as a measure of acculturation, it was also determined that immigrant juveniles are more fearful of weaponassociated victimization than nonimmigrant juveniles. The theoretical and policy implications of the findings are discussed.
Damaged Goods: Exploring Predictors of Distress in Prison Inmates
Authors: Hochstetler Andy , Murphy Daniel S. , Simons Ronald L.
Published: May 2004

Victimization is a significant part of the incarceration experience. In this study, we assessed the effects of victimization while incarcerated and pre-existing conditions on prisoners’ distress. Data are drawn from surveys administered to 208 men recently released from prison. Using path analysis, we examined the direct effects of victimization and the direct and indirect effects, via victimization, of preprison characteristics and other control variables on distress (symptoms of post-traumatic stress [PTS] and depression). Findings reveal that victimization in prison significantly predicts the occurrence of PTS symptoms and depressive symptoms. Previous trauma, self-control, and race also have direct effects, and previous trauma and race have indirect effects on PTS and depressive symptoms.
Sex Work and Drug Use in a Subculture of Violence
Authors: Surratt Hilary L. , Inciardi James A. , Kurtz Steven P. , Kiley Marion C.
Published: May 2004

This article examines the subculture of violence thesis as it relates to female street sex workers in Miami. Interview and focus group methods were used to study the intersections of childhood trauma, drug use, and violent victimization among 325 women. Using targeted sampling, crack- and heroin-using sex workers were recruited through street outreach into an HIV-prevention research program. Interviews used standard instrumentation and focused on drug-related and sexual risk for HIV, sex work, violence, childhood trauma, and health status. Nearly half of the respondents reported physical (44.9%) and/ or sexual (50.5%) abuse as children, and over 40% experienced violence from clients in the prior year: 24.9% were beaten, 12.9% were raped, and 13.8% were threatened with weapons. Consistent relationships between historical and current victimization suggest that female sex workers experience a continuing cycle of violence throughout their lives. The policy and research implications of these findings are discussed.
The “Effectiveness” of Differential Supervision
Authors: Harris Patricia M. , Gingerich Raymond , Whittaker Tiffany A.
Published: May 2004

This article presents an evaluation of the Client Management Classification System (CMC), a method for assessment and differential supervision of offenders that embodies the principle of responsivity. As in prior evaluations of the CMC, probationers whose officers were trained in CMC techniques experienced lower rates of revocation compared with regularly supervised subjects. However, the experimental group incurred similar or higher rates of rules violations and arrests. Of particular interest, the study found that supervision of experimental subjects did not conform to recommended CMC strategies. In combination, these results suggest the possibility that training in CMC successfully heightened officers’ understanding of offender motivations and needs, leading them to view probationer misconduct in a more lenient and flexible context—and thereby producing the appearance of favorable outcomes. The findings have implications for the design of evaluations of efforts to implement principles of effective offender treatment in community corrections agencies.
Reducing Chronic Absenteeism: an Assessment of an Early Truancy Initiative
Authors: McCluskey Cynthia Perez , Bynum Timothy S. , Patchin Justin W.
Published: May 2004

Chronic school absenteeism has been identified as a precursor to undesirable outcomes in adolescence, including academic failure, school dropout, and juvenile delinquency. In spite of its effect on adolescent functioning, little research has been conducted to identify effective methods of truancy reduction, particularly among elementary-aged students. This article presents the assessment of an initiative developed to reduce truancy in three elementary schools. Findings suggest that the program was successful in substantially reducing absenteeism among those with chronic attendance problems. Implications for future programs targeting at-risk youth are discussed.
Description of the Sample and Research Design
Authors: Sansonetti Silvia
Published: May 2004

In this chapter the research design and sample are explained. The study is based on a survey which studied gender differences and similarities in political and business elites of twenty-seven industrial countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States). These countries are all democracies, characterised by industrialisation and a developed education system. Details of the sample are summarised in respect of their occupational level, area of responsibility and university education.
Career Paths
Authors: Liebig Brigitte , Sansonetti Silvia
Published: May 2004

Gender as a factor of recruitment and careers in decision-making has generally been ignored in elite research. The aim of this chapter is to contribute to opening up this aspect by focusing on some of the basic characteristics of men’s and women’s career trajectories. It describes the time schedules that characterise the careers of the male and female representatives of the political and economic elites in the sample and tries to identify the main predictors of success. It also analyses the time-related patterns of careers within the context of different social, political and economic situations.
Networks: an Application of Multidimensional Scaling Analysis
Authors: Memoli Rosanna
Published: May 2004

The goal of this chapter is to evaluate how elites in the sample utilise the networks of relations available to them. In this context, the network approach is understood as a set of contacts with people and institutions in an occupational stratum which individuals can activate in order to accumulate the necessary resources to be able to stay there. Both formal and informal channels are examined and findings are analysed in terms of types of country. In general the two groups of leaders are distinct, there are differences by country type and gender differences throughout. The differences between males and females in economic elites appear comparatively higher than those in political elites.
Gender Differences in Access to and Exercise of Power
Authors: Vianello Mino
Published: May 2004

This chapter examines two related aspects: gender differences in access to and in the exercise of power. Access to power is considered as advantages and opportunities in the backgrounds of the women and men in the sample, defined in terms of the educational level of parents and supervisory functions in their occupational roles. The exercise of power is interpreted as the impact office-holders feel they have in carrying out their functions. In general the findings indicate that women need more advantageous background conditions than men in order to enter the power elite. Once there, however, there are fewer differences between women and men in respect of their perceptions of the impact they have in carrying out their functions. In some cases it seems that men need to be in a better situation than women in order to feel that they exert power. This seemed to apply across the different countries in the sample.
Superintendent and School Board Member Turnover: Political Versus Apolitical Turnover as a Critical Variable in the Application of the Dissatisfaction Theory
Authors: Alsbury Thomas L.
Published: May 2004

This article explores potential links between school board member and superintendent turnover. Qualitative and quantitative data from 176 school districts in a Northwest state supported the use of the Dissatisfaction Theory as a useful tool in describingthe political sequence of events in local school governance and established the necessity of distinguishing between political versus apolitical school board member turnover in studies of this type.
The Human Costs of Education Reform: The Case of School Reconstitution
Authors: Rice Jennifer King , Malen Betty
Published: May 2004

School reconstitution has become a prevalent but underexamined policy option. Although the stated aim of school reconstitution is to enhance the human capital available in low-performing schools, this aim may not be realized. Instead, reconstitution reform may impose substantial human costs, which undermine its ability to achieve its primary aim. This article draws on 2 years of case study data to examine the nature, distribution, and consequences of the human costs associated with this reform. This case study can be empirically instructive, because it exposes a category of costs—namely, human costs— that were largely unanticipated and/or underestimated by the policy makers but were highly consequential for the fate of the reform. This discovery is significant, theoretically, because it reaffirms the recognition that human costs exist, and it contributes to the understanding of how these costs might be operationalized and linked to the efficacy of personnel-dependent reforms.
Gender and Race in Leadership Preparation: A Constrained Discourse
Authors: Rusch Edith A.
Published: May 2004

The professoriate is a powerful and privileged position. As faculty design leadership programs and plan courses, discourse about gender and race is often limited or treated as a taboo subject. The power and privilege to avoid equity discourse in preparation programs leads to similar avoidance in school communities where practitioners report fear and limited knowledge and skills to confront gender and race issues. This article examines faculty perceptions of discourse about gender and race in educational leadership programs, departments, and classrooms. The author employs critical and feminist perspectives related to power, privilege, and fault lines to discuss faculty fear and a lack of openness to learning about gender and race issues. The author concludes that to understand the praxis of creating equal opportunity in diverse school communities, educational leadership faculty must move beyond program rhetoric and experience the complex and challenging practices of learning how to enact equity.
Leadership for Social Justice and Equity: Weaving a Transformative Framework and Pedagogy
Authors: Brown Kathleen M.
Published: May 2004

Although many agree that theory, research, and practice should be intertwined to support the type of schooling (and society) that values rather than marginalizes, few scholars offer ground-breaking, pragmatic approaches to developing truly transformative leaders. From a critical theorist perspective, this article offers a practical, process-oriented model that is responsive to the challenges of preparing educational leaders committed to social justice and equity. By weaving a tripartite theoretical framework together in support of an alternative, transformative pedagogy, students learn “to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions, and to take action against the oppressive elements of reality”. The three theoretical perspectives of Adult Learning Theory, Transformative Learning Theory, and Critical Social Theory are interwoven with the three pedagogical strategies of critical reflection, rational discourse, and policy praxis to increase awareness, acknowledgment, and action within preparation programs.
Keeping a Critical, Postmodern Eye on Educational Leadership in the United States: In Appreciation of Bill Foster
Authors: Grogan Margaret
Published: May 2004

Although William P. Foster assumed the critical theorist’s stance of revealing the presumptions and assumptions of educational leadership, he, among others, also provided the underpinnings for the field’s current attention to issues of social justice. This article furthers the call, which Foster articulated in his final article, to assert leadership locally in countering the homogenizing effects of national standardization policies. Those who prepare local school leaders must engage in research at the local level that reveals educative approaches to preparing educational leaders that transcend policy limits on leadership.
The Effect of Errors in Estimating Ability on Goodness-of-Fit Tests for Irt Models
Authors: Stone Clement A. , Hansen Mary A.
Published: May 2004

Assessing goodness of fit of item response theory models typically involves evaluating differences between observed and expected score response distributions using a chi-square test statistic. When these methods are applied to assessments that are shorter in length, uncertainty with which ability is estimated greatly affects the approximation to the null chi-square distribution. Results from a Monte Carlo study indicated serious departures between null theoretical distributions and empirically derived sampling distributions for the chi-square statistic for tests with 8 and 16 constructed response items. This article also describes a fit statistic that attempts to account for the uncertainty in estimating ability and that could therefore be applied to testing situations in which ability is not precisely estimated. This method employs more information from the same distribution used to obtain Bayesian point estimates of ability and reflects probabilities that examinees have ability equal to a range of values rather than restricting expectations to single values.
Dynamic Cognitive Testing: What Kind of Information is Gained by Measuring Response Time and Modifiability?
Authors: Embretson Susan E. , Prenovost L. Katherine
Published: May 2004

Although ability testing relies on static measures, these measures are often viewed as inappropriate for assessing learning potential. Learning processes are measured in contemporary cognitive psychology studies from processing durations while solving tasks and from the responsiveness of performance to changing conditions. This study examines the structure and nature of two learning process measures: response time and cognitive modifiability. Two primary questions are addressed: Do learning process measures represent different constructs than traditional static ability measures? and Do learning process measures rely more on other domains (e.g., personality, motivation) than do static measures? Results indicate that some learning process measures are sensitive to individual differences independent from static learning measures. Furthermore, the learning process specific variance is only partially explained by the other domains. However, the relationship of the learning process measures to static ability and to the other domains depends on the specific ability measured and the testing condition’s design.
Implications of Test Dimensionality for Unidimensional Irt Scoring: An Investigation of a High-Stakes Testing Program
Authors: Childs Ruth A. , Oppler Scott H.
Published: May 2004

Determining whether a test violates the assumption of unidimensionality is an important precursor to item response theory (IRT) analysis. However, a test’s unidimensionality or nonunidimensionality may be a matter of degree, and the implications of the degree of nonunidimensionality may depend on how the test is analyzed and how the results are to be used. This study examined the dimensionality of a high-stakes graduate training selection test and the implications of the test’s dimensionality for the IRT calibration and scoring of each section of the test. The dimensionality analyses suggested that, although the items within each of the sections were not completely homogeneous, neither were they clearly measuring distinct constructs corresponding to the content disciplines. The correlations between student scores based on item parameters that were estimated separately within discipline and then formed into weighted composites and scores based on item parameters that were estimated across discipline (within section) exceeded .99.
Invalid Response Sets in MMPI and MMPI-2 Profiles of College Students
Authors: Sprock June
Published: May 2004

Undergraduates (63 men, 68 women) were administered the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and MMPI-2 in counterbalanced order, 1 week apart, to examine invalid response sets in the MMPI versus the MMPI-2, in research volunteers. A number of participants had clinically significant elevations on Infrequency (F) and Back F (Fb). Examination of Variable Response Inconsistency (VRIN), True Response Inconsistency (TRIN), and the new Infrequency-Psychopathology [F(p)] scale suggested elevations were due to endorsing highly infrequent items rather than random responding or psychopathology. When the profiles were rated for goodness-of-fit to six modal-invalid profile types, a number of profiles were possibly invalid. Gender differences were observed but few differences between the MMPI and MMPI-2 were found. However, the additional MMPI-2 validity scales and the F(p) scale improve detection of invalid response sets. Demographic and motivational factors, and recommendations for obtaining valid results from undergraduate volunteers, are discussed.
Modeling Statistics Achievement among Graduate Students
Authors: Onwuegbuzie Anthony J.
Published: May 2004

The purpose of the present investigation was to develop a model for predicting statistics achievement. Participants were 130 graduate students enrolled in a quantitative-based educational research course at a southeastern university. A path analysis revealed that statistics anxiety and achievement expectation played a central role in the model, mediating the relationship between statistics achievement and the following variables: research anxiety, study habits, course load, and the number of statistics courses taken. Findings are interpreted with respect to Onwuegbuzie, Bailey, and Daley’s Anxiety-Expectation Mediation model of foreign language learning.
A Monte Carlo Evaluation of the Tetrachoric Correlation Coefficient
Authors: Greer Tammy , Dunlap William P. , Beatty Gregory O.
Published: May 2004

The tetrachoric correlation coefficient ( r tet), computed from a phi coefficient, approximates what the bivariate normal correlation would have been had the dichotomous variables been analyzed in their continuous form with underlying normal distributions. Although often used by early researchers to adjust phi when marginal distributions had extreme proportions, r tet, more commonly, has been regarded with suspicion. The purpose of these Monte Carlo simulationswas to investigate the inaccuracy of r tet. More specifically, the bias and standard error of r tet was examined for dichotomized scores computed from bivariate normal and lognormal continuous raw scores when the proportions of 0s and 1s ranged from somewhat to extremely skewed. Findings indicated that r tet tended to estimate what Pearson’s r may have been if symmetry in the marginal distributions of continuous rawscores had been induced by transformation and that in general (a) r tet exhibited little bias with standard errors slightly less than double those for Pearson’s r with proportions of 1s between .3 and .7, (b) r tet performed well with proportions more extreme than .3 and .7 provided there were no empty cells, (c) r tet resulted in less bias and smaller standard errors with larger sample sizes, and (d) the .5 adjustment further reduced bias and the standard error of r tet.
The Effect of Multicollinearity on Multilevel Modeling Parameter Estimates and Standard Errors
Authors: Shieh Yann-Yann , Fouladi Rachel T.
Published: May 2004

This study investigates the quality of multilevel model parameter estimates and standard errors as a function of varying magnitudes of correlation among Level 1 predictors and model characteristics. The results of the study showthat with multicollinearity presented at Level 1 of a two-level mixed-effects linear model, the fixed-effect parameter estimates produce relatively unbiased values; however, the variance and covariance component estimates produce downwardly biased values except for Level 1 variance (< 5%). The standard errors associated with the parameter estimates are also biased under varied magnitudes of Level 1 predictor correlation.
The Feedback Environment Scale: Construct Definition, Measurement, and Validation
Authors: Steelman Lisa A. , Levy Paul E. , Snell Andrea F.
Published: May 2004

Managers are increasingly being held accountable for providing resources that support employee development, particularly in the form of feedback and coaching. To support managers as trainers and coaches, organizations must provide managers with the tools they need to succeed in this area. This article presents a new tool to assist in the diagnosis and training of managers in the area of feedback and coaching: the Feedback Environment Scale. This article also discusses the theoretically based definition of this new construct and the development and validation evidence for the scale that measures this construct. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the a priori measurement model, and assessment of relationships proposed in a preliminary nomological network provide initial support for the construct validity of the scale. Results also show evidence for the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and discriminant validity of the facet scores of the Feedback Environment Scale.
Measurement and Validity Characteristics of the Short Version of the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults
Authors: DiTommaso Enrico , Brannen Cyndi , Best Lisa A.
Published: May 2004

This article presents a psychometric study of the short form of the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA-S). Data were collected via self-report measures and mail surveys from several samples including university students, spouses of military personnel, and psychiatric patients. A total of 1,526 individuals took part in this study. Results indicated that the scores from the three scales of the SELSA-S were highly internally reliable. Concurrent validity for the scales was indicated by the statistically significant relationships with other measures of loneliness. Construct (convergent and discriminant) validity was supported by strong relationships with measures of the adequacy of intimate relationships (e.g., attachment and social intimacy) and by the association of the three types of loneliness to measures of social competence, self-esteem, trust, health, and well-being. Finally, results from a factor analysis indicated that the three-factor model of the SELSA-S provided the best fit to the data.
Assessing Secondary Students’ Disposition toward Critical Thinking: Development of the California Measure of Mental Motivation
Authors: Giancarlo Carol Ann , Blohm Stephen W. , Urdan Tim
Published: May 2004

There is agreement that fostering K-12 students’ critical thinking is a worthwhile endeavor. However, many educators would agree that there are students in their class-rooms who are able to think well but often choose not to utilize those skills. Little is known about the critical thinking dispositions of elementary and secondary students. This article reports on the development of a new instrument, the California Measure of Mental Motivation (CM3). Results from four independent and diverse studies demonstrate the suitability of the CM3 as a tool to assess secondary students’ disposition toward critical thinking. Exploratory factor analysis, with oblique rotation, indicated four theoretically meaningful dimensions: Learning Orientation, Creative Problem Solving, Mental Focus, and Cognitive Integrity. The four factors demonstrated a satisfactory level of stability across study samples. Scales derived from these four factors correlated with known measures of student motivation and academic achievement.
A Multivariate Generalizability Model for Clinical Skills Assessments
Authors: Jarjoura David , Early Larry , Androulakakis Voula
Published: May 2004

Assessments of clinical skills of medical students rely increasingly on standardized patients demonstrating medical cases with faculty rating performance. The common finding of inconsistency of scores across cases is often referred to as case specificity. A multivariate generalizability model reveals that overall case specificity cannot explain inconsistency in this example. Results from the multivariate model suggest directions for enhancing the table of specifications, optimizing scoring, and improving case selection to reduce inconsistency in scores across cases.
The Analysis of Repeated Measurements with Mixed-Model Adjusted F Tests
Authors: Kowalchuk Rhonda K. , Keselman H. J. , Algina James , Wolfinger Russell D.
Published: May 2004

One approach to the analysis of repeated measures data allows researchers to model the covariance structure of their data rather than presume a certain structure, as is the case with conventional univariate and multivariate test statistics. This mixed-model approach, available through SAS PROC MIXED, was compared to a Welch-James type statistic. The Welch-James approach is known to provide generally robust tests of treatment effects in a repeated measures between-by within-subjects design under assumption violations given certain sample size requirements. The mixed-model F tests were based on Kenward-Roger’s adjusted degrees of freedom solution, an approach specifically proposed for small sample settings. The authors investigated Type I error control for repeated measures main and interaction effects in unbalanced designs when normality and covariance homogeneity assumptions did not hold. The mixed-model Kenward-Roger’s adjusted F tests showed superior Type I error control in small sample size conditions in which the Welch-James type statistic was nonrobust; power rates, however, did not favor one approach over the other.
A Note on the Interpretation of Weighted Kappa and its Relations to Other Rater Agreement Statistics for Metric Scales
Authors: Schuster Christof
Published: May 2004

This article presents a formula for weighted kappa in terms of rater means, rater variances, and the rater covariance that is particularly helpful in emphasizing that weighted kappa is an absolute agreement measure in the sense that it is sensitive to differences in rater’s marginal distributions. Specifically, rater mean differences will decrease the value of weighted kappa relative to the value of the intraclass correlation that ignores mean differences. In addition, if rater variances also differ, then the value of weighted kappa will be decreased relative to the value of the product-moment correlation. Equality constraints on the rater means and variances are given to illustrate the relationships between weighted kappa, the intraclass correlation, and the product-moment correlation. In addition, the expression for weighted kappa shows that weighted kappa belongs to the Zegers-ten Berge family of chance-corrected association coefficients. More specifically, weighted kappa is equivalent to the chance-corrected identity coefficient.
Construct Validity of a Self-Report Measure of Teacher Beliefs Related to Constructivist and Traditional Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Authors: Woolley Sandra L. , Benjamin Woan-Jue J. , Woolley Anita Williams
Published: May 2004

The development and validation of the Teacher Beliefs Survey (TBS) is described. The TBS, an instrument for assessing the beliefs of teachers related to constructivist and traditional approaches to teaching and learning, contains 21 items in three hypothetical constructs. Elementary teachers, preservice ( n = 61) and in-service ( n = 137), participated in the development of the TBS. Analysis of this pilot data suggested a four-factor structure: Traditional Management, Traditional Teaching, Constructivist Teaching, and Constructivist Parent. A validation study included preservice teachers ( n = 896). The results did not confirm the four-factor structure; further analysis suggested a three-factor structure, eliminating the Constructivist Parent factor. Future plans include development of a Constructivist Management factor and a larger pool of items for existing factors.
Neighborhood Evaluation within a Multiplace Perspective on Urban Activities
Authors: Bonaiuto Marino , Bonnes Mirilia , Continisio Massimo
Published: May 2004

Within place theory, the research investigated relationships between activities carried out in a place and evaluative aspects of the same place. In the study, 152 inhabitants, ages 18 to 55, all living in the same neighborhood of Rome (Italy) were sampled by sex. An individual questionnaire included three scales to measure frequency of activities (23 items for neighborhood, 32 items for city center, and 11 items for suburbs) and a 47-item scale to measure degree of satisfaction/dissatisfaction toward various aspects of neighborhood. Multivariate data analyses identified four groups of inhabitants (neighborhood confined, marginal escape users, multiplace hyperactive, and quality users), each characterized by a specific pattern of multiplace urban activity. Each group was characterized by sociodemographic and/or residential variables. Finally, each group was also characterized by a specific pattern of neighborhood evaluations, with respect to three main aspects (building/population density and uninhabitability, social-spatial insecurity, and functional inadequacy/unavailability).
An Internet-Based Design Game as a Mediator of Children’s Environmental Visions
Authors: Kyttä Marketta , Kaaja Mirkka , Horelli Liisa
Published: May 2004

This exploratory study examines howan Internet-assisted design game succeeds in bringing forth children’s own visions for the environment where they live and their definitions of a good environment. Two connected concepts in environmental psychology, the theory of person-environment fit and the concept of affordances, are applied in the analysis of the results of the design process. The participants were 16 8-year-old children living in a suburb of Helsinki, Finland. The results indicate that children’s design solutions are sensitive to the geographical context. The children generally enjoyed the Internet-based design game. The girls designed more affordances for simply being in peace, whereas the boys emphasized affordances for playing games. The study indicates that affordances can be applied as icons in design games. They also function as a viable concept in the operationalization of the personenvironment fit; however, the theory of environmental fit and its operationalization need further development and empirical testing with larger samples.
The Effects of Music on Helping Behavior
Authors: North Adrian C. , Tarrant Mark , Hargreaves David J.
Published: May 2004

Several studies indicate that mood can influence the likelihood of an individual demonstrating instances of helping behavior, and one previous laboratory study has indicated that music can be used to bring about manipulations of mood to such an end. To investigate this in a naturalistic setting, 646 users of a university gym were played either uplifting or annoying music while theyworked out. Upon completion of theirworkout, they were asked to either sign a petition in support of a fictitious sporting charity (i.e., a low-cost task) or to distribute leaflets on their behalf (i.e., a high-cost task). Responses to the petition-signing measure indicated a ceiling effect with almost all participants offering to help. However, consistent with previous research on mood and helping behavior, uplifting music led to participants offering to help more on the high-cost, leaflet-distributing task than did annoying music.
Factors Affecting Pupils’ Noise Annoyance in Schools
Authors: Boman Eva , Enmarker Ingela
Published: May 2004

This article reports two studies intended to develop and assess conceptual models of how different factors mediate and moderate the annoyance reaction in school environments. In the first, a survey of 207 pupils was conducted where assumptions about mediators and moderators were formulated and tested. In the best model, general sensitivity and adaptation led to a higher degree of annoyance causing stress symptoms. In the second study, focus group interviews with 16 pupils were performed to set up a model of mediating and moderating factors from pupils’statements in the formation of annoyance. The objectivewas also to get their opinions aboutways to improve the sound environment in school. The interviews indicated a serial arrangement in which stress symptoms and distraction mediated between chatter and disturbance. Thus, the two studies suggested different models for the prediction of the annoyance reaction. The pupils’ views about how to improve the school sound environment are discussed in the framework of an empowerment model.
Teaching Pedestrian Safety Skills to Children
Authors: Miller Jada A. , Austin John , Rohn Don
Published: May 2004

This study employed a multiple baseline design with a reversal to evaluate the effects of two interventions for improving pedestrian safety: (a) a pedestrian safety awareness campaign and (b) a training, feedback, and reinforcement package. Elementary school children in grades one through six were the participants. Six behaviors pertinent to pedestrian safety were targeted by this study: (a) waiting at the curb, (b) looking all ways, (c) watching vehicle distance, (d) walking, (e) continuing to look, and (f) using the cross walk. During baseline, safe crossing behavior averaged 52%. During the national awareness program, crossing behaviors averaged 54%. When the intervention package was implemented, the average pedestrian safety increased to 74%. When the intervention package was withdrawn, the average pedestrian safety decreased to 57%. The results of this study suggest that the inclusion of behavioral-intervention strategies with awareness training will facilitate the acquisition of pedestrian safety behaviors.
Recognition of Self Among Persons With Dementia
Authors: Gross Jennifer , Harmon Mary E. , Myers Rebecca A. , Evans Rachel L. , Kay Natalie R. , Rodriguez-Charbonier Senez , Herzog Thomas R.
Published: May 2004

The physical environment can promote the functional ability of persons with dementia. Many care facilities use environmental signage (e.g., names on doors) to facilitate adaptive behavior (e.g., room finding). However, the effects of such signage on residents’functioning are not well understood. In three experiments, we investigated if persons with moderate to severe dementia had the required skills necessary to benefit from signage. Compared to a control condition (recognition of fellow residents’ photographs), a high percentage of participants could identify written names and photographs of themselves (Experiment 1). Moreover, name and photographic labels helped participants identify belongings (Experiment 2). Training improved some participants’ recognition of their own photographs but not of their fellow residents’ photographs (Experiment 3). These findings are consistent with research on self-reference and age-related changes in face recognition and reading, and they suggest that many persons with dementia may have the requisite abilities to benefit from prosthetic signage.
Sharq Al-Adna/The Voice of Britain
Authors: Boyd Douglas A.
Published: May 2004

This study of Sharq al-Adna - The Near East Broadcasting Station - attempts to review the history of the British government-operated radio station in light of political and military developments in the Middle East involving the UK after the end of the League of Nations/United Nations Palestine Mandate. An examination of Sharq al-Adna is important because it helps document both British and more widely western concerns about the Middle East in the 1950s, especially after Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal in July 1956 after the June British departure. The article discusses western, and more specifically British, propaganda during the Second World War, and analyzes this station’s history with the aid of government documents that were declassified in the mid-1990s and to which the writer had access.
Television for a New Global Order
Authors: Chalaby Jean K.
Published: May 2004

This article examines the relationship between transnational television networks and the process of globalization. It argues that cross-border channels represent a form of television that is different from national channels because it is deterritorialized in character. The cross-border coverage of transnational television networks, their multinational audience and international production operations tear apart the relationship between place and television and challenge the traditional relationship between broadcasting and the nation-state. Transnational television has not simply adapted to globalization but helps to fashion the new global order. This article shows how cross-border channels help sustain the globalizing processes that shape domains as diverse as the media and music industry, finance and politics. They are among the global communications networks and systems of exchange that drive the integration of these fields of activity on a world scale. My twofold argument is grounded on an empirical study that has involved more than 40 interviews with executives from the television industry over a period of two years.
Priming or Framing
Authors: Brewer Paul R. , Graf Joseph , Willnat Lars
Published: May 2004

This study examines two routes for media effects on the standards by which people evaluate foreign countries. The first is indirect: a news story about an issue in a domestic context may heighten the cognitive accessibility of thoughts about the issue, thereby priming audience members to base their evaluations of foreign nations on those thoughts. The second is direct: a news story that presents a frame linking an issue to a foreign nation in a way that suggests a particular evaluative implication may shape how audience members judge that nation. An experiment revolving around media coverage of two issues and attitudes toward four nations found evidence for media influence along the second route but not the first.
An Information Society for Everyone?
Authors: Olsson Tobias , Sandström Håkan , Dahlgren Peter
Published: May 2004

In 2000, a government bill set out Sweden’s aim to become an information society for all its citizens, with an emphasis on building confidence, developing competence and providing access to new information and communication technologies (ICTs). This article grounds these policy objectives in a study of ICT use among Swedish working-class citizens. Following a discussion of the opportunities which ICT access and usage offer for the exercise of Swedish citizenship, the authors highlight respondent-identified obstacles that stand in the way of realizing this vision of the Internet as civic tool, including cost, workplace disparities, language competence and technical difficulties. The article concludes with several suggestions for overcoming these obstacles.
The Internet and the Dilemma of Africa’s Development
Authors: Sonaike S. Adefemi
Published: May 2004

Current advances in cyber-technology present technologically challenged countries in Africa with a major dilemma. Before now, the main challenge these countries faced was how to close the North–South technology gap. But now the challenge has shifted to a precarious level: how not to become irrelevant in the New World. Even in America, former US President Bill Clinton spent a significant part of his second term urging his people to bridge ‘the digital divide’ to avoid leaving behind huge segments of the American population as the world, led by the US, figuratively flies into cyberspace. This article examines the dilemma of African countries as they are swept along by this Internet ‘e-uphoria’. It provides data on Internet use in Africa and on impediments to growth and development of the Internet on the continent. The article shows that even though all 54 countries in Africa now have Internet access, at least in their capital cities, the global impact of their connectivity is negligible. It argues that ongoing efforts to widen connectivity on the continent, being undertaken by American and European companies driven entirely by the profit motive, may create a new and dangerous form of techno-dependency. The article concludes with suggestions for resolving this and other problems that accompany current efforts to introduce widespread Internet use in African countries.
Does Market-Entry Regulation Matter?
Authors: Aslama Minna , Hellman Heikki , Sauri Tuomo
Published: May 2004

This article examines the impact of changes in market structures and accompanying policies in the diversity of Finnish television’s programme content between 1993 and 2002. The analysis of the media policy and measurement of television supply indicate that, in Finland, the shift from a public service led situation to that of a mixed system with two public service and two commercial nationwide channels has not resulted in drastic changes in the diversity of television programming. Strict, but pragmatic, market-entry regulation has resulted in moderate competition, which appears to have favoured a substantial programme-type diversity and differentiation between the channels.
Rituals and Resistance: Membership Dynamics in Professional Fields
Authors: Lawrence Thomas B.
Published: May 2004

In this article, the concept of membership is examined from an institutional perspective, focusing on the dynamics of membership in professional fields. It is argued that membership in professional fields is a product of interaction rituals that structure the boundaries of fields, work to distribute power differentially within fields, and consequently engender strategies of resistance on the part of those not privileged by existing conditions. This framework motivates an empirical examination of Canadian public accountants’ membership strategies in the emerging field of environmental audit. Based on this study, a three-part typology of membership strategies in professional fields is proposed: association, stratification, colonization, each of which effects particular sets of interaction rituals, transforms subject positions in the professional field, and depends on specific sets of conditions.
Political Decision-Making Climates: Theoretical Processes and Multi-Level Antecedents
Authors: Darr Wendy , Johns Gary
Published: May 2004

This study addressed some of the research gaps in the area of organizational politics by examining politics as a group-level construct, directly testing for the cross-level effects of various predictors, and providing insight into the nature of conflict processes involved in the development of politics. Data from 69 academic departments in six prominent Canadian universities provided support for the precursory role of conflict processes. Both intradepartmental task and relationship conflict were associated with political climate perceptions. Using the climate etiology literature, several multi-level antecedents (individual, departmental, disciplinary) of department-level politics were examined, but only individual-level role conflict emerged as a predictor. The non-significant effects of macro-level paradigm development and department rank heterogeneity are discussed in light of substantive and methodological factors.
A Study of the Relationship Between Organizational Commitment and Human Values in Four Countries
Authors: Glazer Sharon , Daniel Sophie Carole , Short Kenneth M.
Published: May 2004

Cross-cultural comparisons of the relationship between human values and both continuance commitment (CC) and affective commitment (AC) are presented using data collected from 1259 nurses from Hungary, Italy, the UK, and USA. That correlations between Schwartz’s (1992) values and both AC and CC will differ between communal and contractual cultures was partially supported. Moreover, certain values correlate more often with AC or CC depending on the culture one is in. Openness to change values accounted for significant variance in AC in Hungary, Italy and the USA. Pan-culturally, openness to change values partially mediated the effects of countries on AC. It is concluded that values likely influence one’s organizational commitment and that the values people endorse might be influenced by national culture.