bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Category-Rating and Magnitude Estimation Scaling Techniques
Authors: WEGENER BERND
Published: March 2007

The application of a system of measurement structures for category-rating and magnitude scales is tested with regard to numerous sensory and social judgment scales. Results indicate that, on the average, category-rating scales yield interval scales and multimodality matching scales yield logarithmic interval scales. However, marked interindividual differences are detected, pointing to different capabilities subjects have in coping with both methods. It is asked, therefore, how suboptimal scale quality affects the results of parameter estimation in structural equation models in which judgment scales serve as indicator variables. Based on a general psychophysical judgment model it is shown that the measurement theoretical properties of magnitude scales of individual respondents account for large proportions of the variation of estimated coefficients and of goodness of fit. For category-rating scales the effects scale properties have on parameter estimation cannot be determined because of nonhomogeneous judgment functions.
Structural Equation Models
Authors: RINDSKOPF DAVID
Published: March 2007

Heywood cases represent the most common form of a series of related problems in confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Other problems include factor loadings and factor correlations outside the usual range, large variances of parameter estimates, and high correlations between parameter estimates. The concept of empirical underidentification is used here to show how these problems can arise, and under what conditions they can be controlled. The discussion is centered around examples showing how small factor loadings, factor correlations near zero, and factor correlations near one can lead to empirical underidentification.
Failure Time Models for Thinned Crime Commission Data
Authors: HOLDEN ROBERT T.
Published: March 2007

In studying the effects of correctional treatments and other variables on criminal behavior, researchers often use time to arrest, instead of time until a crime is committed, as the criterion variable. We examine conditions under which inferences can validly be made from the effects of predictors on the time to the first arrest to their effects on the time to the first crime committed. A nonhomogeneous Poisson process and a renewal process are considered as possible models for crime commission. An individual's crimes are assumed to result in arrest independently, with some fixed probability less than one. Multiplicative regression models for the time to the first crime are invariant with respect to thinning for either a Poisson or a renewal process. Proportional hazards models for the time to the first crime are invariant under thinning for a Poisson process but not for a general renewal process. Some limit results for thinned point processes yield an interpretation of proportional hazard effects as multiplicative effects on the expected number of crimes committed.
Logistic Regression Multivariate Life Tables
Authors: GUILKEY DAVID K. , RINDFUSS RONALD R.
Published: March 2007

The use of logistic regression to estimate a discrete-time hazard model is discussed. The derivation of linkage between the results of the estimation of the logistic regression equations and the summary measures of the life table is presented. We argue that the method is responsive to the needs of a variety of researchers, requires few assumptions, and is straightforward to implement. An example is presented where the determinants of the timing of entry into motherhood in eight Asian countries is analyzed.
A Cautionary Note on the Use of Factor Analysis:
Authors: WILKINSON LELAND
Published: March 2007

A statement by Wilkinson (1986) that “principal component and common factor solutions for real data rarely differ enough to matter” induced Borgatta, Kercher, and Stull (1986) to construct a hypothetical dataset which appeared to contradict Wilkinson's claim. In a later issue of the same journal, Hubbard and Allen (1987) followed with counter-examples to Wilkinson's statement based on real data. Both analyses in reply to Wilkinson were based on mathematical artifacts. The present paper reanalyzes their data, outlines the difference between factors and components, and reviews several types of factor indeterminancy.
On the Treatment of Interrupted Spells and Initial Conditions in Event History Analysis
Authors: HAMERLE ALFRED
Published: March 2007

This article deals with some problems of event history analysis that arise in special types of sampling plans where spells in progress at time t0, the start date of the observation period, are sampled. Then, the available data are random samples of interrupted spells, or else may be spells that begin after the start date of the sample. For the interrupted spells, all relevant probability distributions of the elapsed duration until t0 and the duration of the spell after t0 have to account for the condition that the individual is in the state y0 in question at time t0. Relying on results of Ridder (1984) and Heckman and Singer (1986), we discuss the distribution of the “sampled” spells (i.e., conditional on the presence of the individual in state y0 at time t0), in particular the joint distribution of pre-interview and post-interview durations. In general, this distribution depends on the entry rate into the state y0. The distribution of the sampled spells for the special sampling plans differs from the corresponding duration distributions in the population. We then show that, sampling spells in progress, the distribution of the explanatory variables in the sample becomes informative for the parameters of interest. Next, we investigate the distribution of the sampled spells of individuals who enter or leave the state in question. This referred to as “sampling the flow.” We then discuss the special case of a time invariant entry rate. Appropriate likelihood contributions are given depending on which pre-interview, post-interview, and completed durations are observable. We also discuss a conditional likelihood approach due to Lancaster (1979) that does not require any assumptions on the entry rate. Next we derive the appropriate likelihood contributions of right censored observations and both left and right censored observations for the specific sampling plans considered here. Finally, we present the results of some simulation studies that show the usefulness of taking into account the observable part of spells with unknown origin in the estimation procedure.
Estimating Nonresponse and Response Bias
Authors: SCHAEFFER NORA CATE , SELTZER JUDITH A. , KLAWITTER MARIEKA
Published: March 2007

Although researchers are aware that nonresponse and response bias may compromise the accuracy of estimates from survey data, it is difficult to obtain estimates of these biases. In this article, we estimate nonresponse and response bias for a particular case—child support awards and payments. The sample of divorced resident and nonresident parents was drawn from Wisconsin court records and subsequently interviewed by telephone in 1987. The court records provide the criterion to use in estimating nonresponse and response bias. The analysis shows that those not interviewed are less likely to have awards or to pay support than participants, and the average award and average amount paid are lower for them than for survey participants. Both resident mothers and nonresident fathers overreport the amount of support owed and paid, but the bias is larger for fathers. Nonparticipation bias is greater for measures of paying support than for measures of owing support. Response bias contributes more to total nonsampling bias than does nonparticipation bias for reports of amounts of support owed and paid (including direct payments). Only for resident mothers' reports of the amount paid (omitting direct payments) is the total nonsampling bias less than 3 times the standard error.
Bootstrapping Goodness-of-Fit Measures in Structural Equation Models
Authors: Bollen Kenneth A. , Stine Robert A.
Published: March 2007

Assessing overall fit is a topic of keen interest to structural equation modelers, yet measuring goodness of fit has been hampered by several factors. First, the assumptions that underlie the chi-square tests of model fit often are violated. Second, many fit measures (e.g., Bentler and Bonett's [1980] normed fit index) have unknown statistical distributions so that hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, or comparisons of significant differences in these fit indices are not possible. Finally, modelers have little knowledge about the distribution and behavior of the fit measures for misspecified models or for nonnested models. Given this situation, bootstrapping techniques would appear to be an ideal means to tackle these problems. Indeed, Bentler's (1989) EQS 3.0 and Jöreskog and Sörbom's (forthcoming) LISREL 8 have bootstrap resampling options to bootstrap fit indices. In this article the authors (a) demonstrate that the usual bootstrapping methods will fail when applied to the original data, (b) explain why this occurs, and, (c) propose a modified bootstrap method for the chi-square test statistic for model fit. They include simulated and empirical examples to illustrate their results.
Interpreting Hazard Rate Models
Authors: TEACHMAN JAY D. , HAYWARD MARK D.
Published: March 2007

Hazard rate models are found with increasing frequency in the social science literature. Although such models hold considerable potential for answering difficult research questions, the substantive meaning of coefficients from hazard rate models is not always immediately obvious. In order to aid in the substantive interpretation of hazard rate models, the authors suggest that associated survival functions and related quantities be calculated. Several examples are provided where results using survival functions and discrete transition probabilities enrich the substantive conclusions reached based on hazard rate coefficients alone.
The Bilevel Reticular Action Model for Path Analysis with Latent Variables
Authors: McDONALD RODERICK P.
Published: March 2007

A two-level (hierarchical) model for path analysis with latent variables is described, together with some properties of a computer program written to implement the model. A simple illustrative example is given.
Analyzing Historical Contingency with Formal Methods
Authors: ISAAC LARRY W. , STREET DEBRA A. , KNAPP STAN J.
Published: March 2007

Historical sociologists have been properly critical of the tendency within the social sciences to ignore temporality and, consequently, historical contingency in social processes. These critical assessments have generated alternative formal research methods that either (a) continue to use variable-centered procedures but allow relations between variables to change through time, or (b) abandon variable-centered procedures altogether and move exclusively to event-centered analyses. After considering alternative conceptions of historically contingent determination that may be produced by two different formal methods (time-varying parameter regression and event structure analysis), the authors design a combined strategy that temporally nests interdependent forms of contingency and illustrates the approach in an empirical analysis of the “relief explosion” in the late 1960s. Contrary to exhortations for exclusivist strategies, the results suggest that variable-centered and event-centered methods can be fruitfully combined. In particular, event structure analysis is shown to be a useful qualitative procedure for “unpacking” and interpreting quantitative turning points in time-varying parameter time series models. This strategy allows macroquantitative and historical/cultural processes to be integrated with formal methods.
Ethnographic Research in Medical Sociology
Authors: CHARMAZ KATHY , OLESEN VIRGINIA
Published: March 2007

Medical sociology ranges from studies of formal medical care to those of health, healing, and caring practices outside the health care system. This field has had a history of ethnographic and qualitative research since its beginnings. Because few studies in medical sociology derive from immersion in a setting, the authors examine those qualitative works in which researchers and subjects had sustained contact. They focus only on major areas in which ethnographic contributions have clustered: (1) disability, chronic illness, and terminal illness; (2) caring and curing; (3) medical sociology in aging research; (4) socialization into health care professions; and (5) the ethnography of ethics. Throughout this review, the added value of ethnographic research to each specific area is noted. Ethnographic research has enriched medical sociology with its emphasis on descriptive detail, meanings, ongoing processes, and concepts. The article ends with a discussion of methodological considerations for conducting research and a summary statement.
The Goodness of Fit of Latent Trait Models in Attitude Measurement
Authors: BARTHOLOMEW DAVID J. , TZAMOURANI PANAGIOTA
Published: March 2007

The logit latent trait model offers a promising means of constructing attitude scales in sociology. The adequacy of such scales depends on the appropriateness of the model on which they are based. This article shows that the standard goodness-of-fit tests, based on chi-square distributions, are often invalid. It proposes an alternative approach based on Monte Carlo methods and residuals that has the additional merit of showing how the set of items may be refined to improve the fit and hence the quality of the scale.
Religious texts, priestly education and ritual action in south Indian temple Hinduism
Authors: Fuller C.J.
Published: March 2007

This article, mainly based on research among the priests of the Mīnāksī temple in Madurai, Tamilnadu, examines the relation between religious texts and ritual action. In the Mīnāksī temple, all ritual should in theory conform to the prescriptions of the Agamas containing Śiva's own directions for his worship. The article contains data about education in the religious schools, where priests and their sons mainly learn texts by heart; it shows that education improves the performance of ritual because educated priests are able to recite texts when carrying out rituals, whereas uneducated priests can perform only the physical ritual acts. Nevertheless, education has virtually no impact on how priests carry out physical ritual, which largely depends on 'techniques of the body' acquired through practice. Through a critical discussion of Humphrey and Laidlaw's theory of ritual action, the article concludes with a discussion of the problem of ritual misperformance and emphasises its salience for the priests themselves.
Just like a family? Recalling the relations of production in the textile industries of Surat and Bhiwandi, 1940-60
Authors: Haynes Douglas E.
Published: March 2007

This paper explores discourses about industry by looking at the representations of the past formulated by owners, workers and trade union leaders in the cities of surat and Bhiwandi. Drawing upon literature on social memory as well as upon Scott's discussion of 'weapons of the weak', it argues that current circumstances of different social groupings in these cities and their views of prospects for change in the future have a profound effect on the ways they view owner-employer relations before 1960. A particular focus here is with the willingness of different participants in the textile industry to accept a portrayal of past relations as having been 'like a family'. For workers, nostalgic attitudes and more critical recollections both serve as means ofcontesting a present characterised by serious strains between capital and labour, by serious fears of losing work, and by widely shared perceptions that collective action is futile: These views of history are contrasted with those of owners on the one hand and labour activists on the other.
Questions of class: The general strikes in Bombay, 1928-29
Authors: Chandavarkar Rajnarayan
Published: March 2007

This essay presents an argument about the processes which, marked as much by contingency as by conflict, shaped the formation of class identity. It argues that the formation of class consciousness is contingent upon the specific historical context in which it develops. Its presence at one moment has not ensured its persistence at the next. Class consciousness is neither latent nor immanent within the working classes, but is most fruitfully analysed as a construct of political struggle and debate. Accordingly, the essay examines the construction of class in the course of the general strikes of 1928-29 in Bombay. These strikes involved at their core over 150,000 workers in more than eighty mills over a period of about eighteen months, but they also pulled into their orbit workers in other trades and occupations in the city and beyond; and, in addition, they developed and manifested widespread support among workers for the communists. In particular, the essay delineates a range of influences which shaped the political context of 1928-29 and informed these struggles. Finally, it sketches the conditions for the break-up of the solidarities of 1928-29 and the ebbing tide of class consciousness in the 1930s.
The making of Tamil Shaiva Siddhānta
Authors: Ishimatsu Ginette
Published: March 2007

From the late 19th century, Tamil nationalists, as represented by the Self-Respect Movement, promoted Shaiva Siddhānta as the 'original' Tamil religion in an imagined ancient past, where social equality and harmony reigned before Brahmans forced the caste system and other social ills on the Tamils. Claims that Shaiva Siddhānta is specifically Tamil and non- Brahman in origin or essence continue to inform debates concerning Dravidian identity, the rights of Brahman temple priests, and the language of Hindu worship. These arguments have also prompted scholarly inquiry into the history of Tamil Shaivism. Research shows that Shaiva Siddhānta first developed in central India among male Brahman spiritual lineages; a distinct regional variation developed later in the south, with non-Brahman Vēlāla leaders and authoritative writings in Tamil. However, traditional narratives of the lives of early non-Brahman gurus highlight the difficulty of transferring authority from Brahmans to Vēlālas, who are classified as Shūdras. This inquiry into Shaiva Siddhānta's origins both emphasises a long history of ambivalence and accommodation between two powerful but ritually unequal groups and challenges continuing efforts to remake this tradition in the service of Tamil identity politics.
Notes on the State of America
Authors: HOLLAND CATHERINE A.
Published: March 2007

To articulate the past historically does not mean to recognize it “the way it really was” (Ranke). It means to seize hold of a memory as it flashes up at a moment of danger.

Walter Benjamin
Building State Capacity from the Inside Out: Parties of Power and the Success of the President's Reform Agenda in Russia
Authors: SMYTH REGINA
Published: March 2007

In contrast to his predecessor Boris Yeltsin, Russia's President Vladimir Putin continues to successfully neutralize legislative opposition and push his reform agenda through the State Duma. His success is due in large part to the transformation of the party system during the 1999 electoral cycle. In the face of a less polarized and fragmented party system, the Kremlin-backed party of power, Unity, became the foundation for a stable majority coalition in parliament and a weapon in the political battle to eliminate threatening opponents such as Yuri Luzhkov's Fatherland-All Russia and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.
Psychoanalysis as a Vocation
Authors: Strong Tracy B.
Published: March 2007

The new development for our time cannot be political, for politics is the relationship between the community and the representative individual. But in out time, the individual is becoming far too reflective to be satisfied with being merely represented.

Søren Kierkegaard, Journals, 1847
Beyond Good and Evil
Authors: CONNOLLY WILLIAM E.
Published: March 2007

To be ashamed of one's immorality—that is a step on the staircase at whose end one is also ashamed of one's morality.

Friedrich Nietzsche
Fear, Technology, and the State
Authors: McCORMICK JOHN P.
Published: March 2007

It is striking that one of the most consequential representatives of [the] abstract scientific orientation of the seventeenth century [Thomas Hobbes] became so personalistic. This is because as a juristic thinker he wanted to grasp the reality of societal life just as much as he, as a philosopher and a natural scientist, wanted to grasp the reality of nature.... [J]uristic thought in those days had not yet become so overpowered by the natural sciences that he, in the intensity of his scientific approach, should unsuspectingly have overlooked the specific reality of legal life.

Carl Schmitt, Political Theology (1922)

In the light of Hobbes's natural science, man and his works become a mere phantasmagoria. Through Hobbes's natural science, “the native hue” of his political science “is sicklied o'er with the pale cast” of something which is reminiscent of death but utterly lacks the majesty of death—of something which foreshadows the positivism of our day. It seems then that if we want to do justice to the life which vibrates in Hobbes's political teaching, we must understand that teaching by itself, and not in the light of his natural science. Can this be done?²

Leo Strauss, “On the Basis of

Hobbes's Political Philosophy” (1959)
Third-Person Perception and Optimistic Bias Among Urban Minority At-Risk Youth
Authors: CHAPIN JOHN R.
Published: March 2007

Recent third-person perception articles suggest that optimistic bias is the mechanism underlying the perceptual bias but fail to empirically test the assumption. A small inverse relationship between third-person perception and optimistic bias was found among the youth surveyed: 51% of the students exhibited third-person perceptions, believing they were less influenced by televised safer-sex messages than were their peers. These students were less optimistic about their chances of becoming HIV infected than their peers; 34% exhibited first-person perceptions, believing they were more influenced by the messages than were peers, and were more optimistic than were their peers concerning HIV infection. Most students (89%) exhibited some degree of optimistic bias regarding their chances of avoiding HIV infection in the future. The findings effectively link the two literatures within a sample neglected by previous studies: urban, minority, at-risk youth. The study advances knowledge of third-person perceptions by suggesting underlying social-psychological mechanisms.
Real Talk
Authors: SCHEUFELE DIETRAM A. , SHANAHAN JAMES , LEE EUNJUNG
Published: March 2007

This study examines a key issue in spiral of silence research: whether the realism of the setting in which respondents are asked to express opinions affects their willingness to do so. Some reviews of spiral of silence theory have argued that survey measures do not capture the effect adequately because respondents see them as too hypothetical. In this study, we use a split-ballot technique to compare two closely related ways of assessing willingness to express opinions. One method is a standard question that asks respondents whether they would, hypothetically, be willing to express an opinion in a given social situation. The other method asks respondents whether they would be willing to participate in a focus group. As hypothesized, we found that respondents asked to participate in the focus group were less willing to express opinions; also, their willingness was more highly related to independent variables typically used in spiral of silence research, such as fear of isolation and perceptions of public opinion climates.
Impression Formation in Computer-Mediated Communication Revisited
Authors: HANCOCK JEFFREY T. , DUNHAM PHILIP J.
Published: March 2007

Following either a text-based, synchronous computer-mediated conversation (CMC) or a face-to-face dyadic interaction, 80 participants rated their partners' personality profile. Impressions were assessed in terms of both their breadth (the comprehensiveness of the impression) and intensity (the magnitude of the attributions). Results indicated that impressions formed in the CMC environment were less detailed but more intense than those formed face-to-face. These data provide support for theories that, in addition to acknowledging the unique constraints and characteristics of CMC, consider the cognitive strategies and heuristics involved in the impression formation process. The differential impact of a text-based medium on trait-specific impressions (e.g., extraversion, neuroticism) is also discussed in the context of a cross-modal approach to impression formation.
Language Discrimination of General Physicians
Authors: Norton Robert , Schwartzbaum Judith , Wheat John
Published: March 2007

This article investigates the language of physicians in the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) crisis. It was found that how physicians talked about AIDS often showed discrimination. For example, of 232 metaphors reported by general physicians in answer to the question, "AIDS is like some physicians responded with extremely judgmental replies: "AIDS is the wrath of God," "AIDS is the plague brought to us by a minority of aberrant individuals," and "AIDS is poetic justice, almost." This information can be used to craft educational programs that will sensitize physicians and residents to ethical issues inextricably related to AIDS issues.
Legal Advocacy as a Means of Defining Social Policy
Authors: Harney Diane M.
Published: March 2007

No issue better frames public policy concerns relating to the treatment of persons with AIDS (PWA) than the controversy over the presence, in public schools, of students infected with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome virus. This article examines efforts within the legal community to define the admission exclusion issue argumentatively. The making and supporting of claims are rhetorical activities subject to critical analysis. Using strategies defined by Clark (1984), the author examines the definitions of the problem and potential solutions as presented in legal media. In addition to analysis of specific arguments, the author describes the role of legal media for the legal community, which has the ability to effect policy.
THE MESSAGE-ATTITUDE-BEHAVIOR RELATIONSHIP
Authors: GRUNIG JAMES E.
Published: March 2007

A situational theory of the behavior of organizational publics is expanded conceptually to explain the occurrence of cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioral effects of communication behavior as well as the occurrence of communication behavior itself. The expanded theory explains when publics in an organization's environment will become active and interpenetrate the organization. The theory also provides a situational, teleological explanation of the attitude-behavior relationship. In this study, the theory is used to identify publics that arise from corporate “public affairs” issues. Publics are found that are consistent with those found in other studies of publics.
SPANISH INTERNATIONAL NETWORK
Authors: GUTIERREZ FELIX F. , SCHEMENT JORGE REINA
Published: March 2007

The Spanish International Network (SIN) is a U.S. network that imports television programs from Mexico to the United States. It is a subsidiary of the Mexican privately owned television monopoly, Televisa. SIN totally dominates the Spanish-language television market and has become the fourth largest commercial network in the United States. This is a very unusual case in that SIN's existence and success cannot be explained within the current international media flow paradigms. In this article the authors describe how entrepreneurial elements in Mexico utilized the political environment of both countries along with the most sophisticated technology available in the United States in order to create a market for Mexican TV programs. The success of their venture eliminated all U.S. competitors. As a result, the question of cultural domination is raised here in an entirely new form, one that requires a reanalysis of previous explanations.
Audio-Visual Redundancy and TV News Recall
Authors: DREW DAN G. , GRIMES THOMAS
Published: March 2007

This experimental study examines the effects of audio and visual redundancy on recall and story understanding in television news. College students viewed a series of voice-over news stories that varied in the amount of redundancy between the two channels and then responded to both auditory and visual recall measures. The results show higher auditory recall and story understanding in the high-redundancy condition than in the lower redundancy conditions. Visual recall shows the reverse pattern with higher recall scores in the lower redundancy conditions than in the high-redundancy condition.
A Methodological Examination of Cultivation
Authors: RUBIN ALAN M. , PERSE ELIZABETH M. , TAYLOR DONALD S.
Published: March 2007

Two issues in clutivation research were considered. First, because cultivation methodology contains an apparent response bias, relationships were examined between television exposure and positive statements of social perceptions: faith in others, life control, interpersonal connection, political efficacy, and safety. Second, an instrumental media uses and effects model was tested. Social perceptions were expected to be linked to viewing selectivity, intention, perceived realism, and attention. Questionnaires were administered to 392 adults. Partial correlations showed television exposure to be unrelated to the social attitudes; program selectivity was related to all social attitudes except interpersonal connection. Hierarchical regression analyses added that individual demographic differences, program selectivity, and perceived realism accounted for most of the variance in personal perceptions. Methodological and conceptual implications were discussed.
Editors-in-Chief of Medical Journals
Authors: ZSINDELY SÁNDOR , SCHUBERT ANDRÁS
Published: March 2007

The professional status and influence of the editors-in-chief of 769 medical journals were studied using the methods of citation analysis. Two indexes were formed (a) the Index of Editor Expertise (IEE): the ratio of the editor-in-chief's mean citation rate per cited paper to that of his or her journal and (b) the Index of Editor Authority (IEA): the ratio of the editor-in-chief's percentage of in-journal citations to that of his or her journal. According to these indexes, the editors-in-chief are not necessarily experts but authorities—at least in their own specialties.
The Agenda-Setting Function of Television News
Authors: BROSIUS HANS-BERND , KEPPLINGER HANS MATHIAS
Published: March 2007

The present study investigates static and dynamic approaches to agendasetting research by means of cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. The data bases used are weekly surveys on problem awareness of the public regarding 16 issues and a content analysis of the main German television news shows in 1986. Although static analysis of the data reveals nearly no relationship between media coverage and problem awareness, dynamic analysis demonstrates that media coverage caused problem awareness of four prominent issues in 1986 (energy supply, defense, environmental protection, and European politics). Problem awareness, on the other hand, caused media coverage on three issues (pensions, public debt, and public security). Time lags ranked between 1 and 3 weeks. The direction of influence seems to be dependent on the kind of issue and the investigated time interval. In addition, there are significant differences in the type of effects. Although the public generally reacted to media coverage with corresponding increases and declines of problem awareness, the media sometimes reacted to problem awareness by counterbalancing the trend of public opinion.
The Different Influences of Newspaper and Television News Reports of a Natural Hazard on Response Behavior
Authors: SPENCER J. WILLIAM , SEYDLITZ RUTH , LASKA SHIRLEY , TRICHE ELIZABETH
Published: March 2007

This article examines the public's responses to newspaper and television reports of an impending natural hazard that threatened local water supplies. A conceptual model is developed in which we argue that distinct characteristics of the two media differentially affect response behavior. The results provide strong support for the hypotheses derived from the conceptual model, suggesting that different aspects of reports in the two media affect response behavior, as measured by wholesale sales of bottled water.
Symbolic Modeling and Cognitive Rehearsal
Authors: MAIBACH EDWARD , FLORA JUNE A.
Published: March 2007

The research described in this article tested the social cognitive hypotheses that self-efficacy can be enhanced more effectively by symbolically modeling risk reduction information and by encouraging its cognitive rehearsal than by the presentation of risk reduction information alone. Young unmarried women (N = 138) viewed one of three videos: AIDS information only, information plus modeling, or information plus modeling with cognitive rehearsal. The hypotheses were confirmed at both posttest and one month follow-up: AIDS prevention self-efficacy was most improved among participants who watched the information plus modeling with rehearsal video, while participants viewing the information plus modeling video exhibited an intermediate level of improvement. Certain AIDS preventive behaviors, including condom purchases and conversations with friends about safe sex, also exhibited significant treatment-related changes at follow-up. These results indicate that symbolic modeling and cognitive rehearsal of modeled information are effective strategies for enhancing perceptions of self-efficacy through televised media.
Situational Effects on the Accuracy of Self-Reported Organizational Communication Behavior
Authors: CORMAN STEVEN R. , BRADFORD LISA
Published: March 2007

Debate about the appropriateness of using self-reported communication as a proxy for observable communication in studies of organizational communication networks has created a paradox for network researchers that diverges along classic lines of individualism and collectivism. The inability of either to resolve fundamental theoretical challenges of the other suggests need for an alternative approach. Working from a situationalist perspective, this laboratory study looked to two important characteristics of the collective context to explain divergences of self-reported from observed communication behavior. Members' perceived relationship to the group explained 59% of the variance in the average size of their commission errors, and the collective communication load on members explained 61% of the variance in their number of omission errors. A revised model of the relationship between the perceived network and observable communication is proposed. It includes social-cognitive processes that govern the perception of links and social activation processes that connect perceptions to concrete situations where messages are exchanged.
The Effects of Television Violence on Antisocial Behavior: A Meta-Analysis1
Authors: PAIK HAEJUNG , COMSTOCK GEORGE
Published: March 2007

A meta-analysis is performed on studies pertaining to the effect of television violence on aggressive behavior. Partitioning by research design, viewer attributes, treatment and exposure variables, and type of antisocial behavior, allows one to interpret computed effect sizes for each of the variables in the partitions. We find a positive and significant correlation between television violence and aggressive behavior, albeit to varying degrees depending on the particular research question. According to research design, we find ZFisher values ranging from .19 for survey to .40 for laboratory experiments. Erotica emerges as a strong factor even when it is not accompanied by portrayal of violence. Additionally, the effect of television violence on the antisocial behavior of boys and girls is found to be marginally equal in surveys. A host of tests are performed to solidify these, and further results. Substantive interpretation is provided as well.
Publicizing, Politicizing, and Neutralizing Homelessness
Authors: PENNER MAURICE , PENNER SUSAN
Published: March 2007

Comparing newspaper comic strips to editorial cartoons can uncover differences between public opinion manifested in popular culture and views held by local and national power groups. This study analyzes 231 comic strips and 126 editorial cartoons featuring homelessness published in two major San Francisco newspapers from April 1, 1989, to March 31, 1992. Using theoretical categories based on Peter Marcuse's policy responses to homelessness (publicizing, politicizing, and neutralizing), the authors found that 57% of comic strips and 30% of editorial cartoons are neutralizing, either by using the homeless as “props” for other stories or issues or by belittling their plight. All but one of the strips are nationally syndicated. Thus these data are probably representative of U.S. public opinion; however, editorial cartoons are selected by newspaper editors and may not be generalizable to other communities.
Cultural Variability in Communication
Authors: GUDYKUNST WILLIAM B.
Published: March 2007

My purpose in this article is to introduce studying cultural variability in communication in general and this special issue in particular. I begin by examining the nature of culture. Next, I review the emic and etic approaches to studying communication and culture with a focus on the major dimensions of cultural variability used to explain communication across cultures. Following this, I examine individual-level processes that mediate the influence of culture on communication. I conclude by overviewing the articles included in this issue and discussing how they are consistent with current trends in the study of cultural variability in communication.
Origins of Media Exposure
Authors: FINN SETH
Published: March 2007

This investigation of the five-factor model of personality as a correlate of mass media use was designed to validate key links in a basic model of the uses and gratifications paradigm. Survey data collected from 219 university students who kept diaries of time spent using the mass media and participating in nonmediated communication activities were submitted to canonical correlation analysis. Minutes devoted to TV viewing, radio listening, pleasure reading, and movie attendance were correlated with the five personality traits of the NEO-PI—neuroticism, extroversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The strongest relationships for mass media use were between openness and pleasure reading, extroversion and negative pleasure reading, and openness and negative TV viewing. Individuals who scored higher on extroversion and agreeableness exhibited a preference for nonmediated activities, especially conversation.
Bullying and Suicidal Behavior in Jails
Authors: BLAAUW ERIC , WINKEL FRANS WILLEM , KERKHOF AD J.F.M.
Published: March 2007

Relationships between bullying features and suicidal behavior of inmates were examined. The files of 95 suicide victims in jails and prisons in the Netherlands were examined for reports of bullying. In addition, 221 nonsuicidal jail inmates and 53 suicidal jail inmates were interviewed. The files of 34% of the suicide victims noted that the suicide victim had felt bullied. Bullying, especially serious bullying, was relatively often reported by suicidal inmates and by vulnerable inmates. Different types of bullies were associated with different forms of bullying and different degrees of suicide risk. Results suggest that bullying and suicide risk are related and that a distinction should be made between mild and serious features of bullying.
The Legal Decision Making of Well-Informed Subjects
Authors: ARMOUR MICHAEL T. , SAVITSKY JEFFREY C.
Published: March 2007

College students were asked to serve as legal advisors to six potential defendants. Prior to this task, the subjects were either reminded or not reminded about the Miranda rights via a standard warning. It was found that the students, whether or not they had been reminded of the Miranda protections, gave advice that accurately reflected the varying degree of legal jeopardy faced by the potential defendants. Subjects indicated that legal protections were more needed for potential defendents who were involved in situations that contained police accusations, rather than merely accusations by school authorities, or accusations of more severe criminal activity. However, the presence of the Miranda warning also caused subjects to evaluate legal protections as more necessary. Thus, despite the fact the subjects in this study were well informed and able to utilize legal protections in an appropriate fashion, the presence of a Miranda warning continued to serve the important purpose of encouraging the use of self-protective legal safeguards.
Demographic Correlates of Sexual and Dating Attitudes
Authors: DULL R. THOMAS , GIACOPASSI DAVID J.
Published: March 2007

A probabilistic sample of 449 students from a major university completed the sexual and dating attitudes survey. The responses to the survey questions were compared among the demographic groups of sex, race, age, and religiosity through the use of a test of association and a corresponding test of significance. In addition, two scales were created by examining the attitudinal items through a principal component factor analysis process. The study found that attitudes relating to sex, dating, and date rape are strongly related to gender, with males significantly more likely to hold attitudes condoning aggressive sexual behavior. Implications of these findings were discussed, as were possible solutions to the epidemic level of date rape.
The Death Sentence in Georgia, 1974-1987
Authors: HEILBRUN ALFRED B. , FOSTER ALLISON , GOLDEN JILL
Published: March 2007

Statistics regarding the death penalty in the state of Georgia have been interpreted as evidence of racial bias in sentencing procedures. Men who killed white victims were more likely to receive the death penalty than if the victims were black, and this was especially the case if the murderer was black. This study considered two interpretations of these statistics. One proposed that the men receiving the death penalty generally were more dangerous, so that the sentences tended to be merited without regard to race of victim or murderer. The other proposed that racial discrimination had been instrumental in determining who received the death penalty and who received a life sentence. The results, covering a period between 1974 and 1987, were consistent with the dangerousness proposal and suggested that the Georgia system was responding to legitimate criminal justice variables.
Clinicians' Experience and the Determination of Criminal Responsibility
Authors: SMITH ROBERT L. , GRAHAM JOHN R.
Published: March 2007

The present investigation examines the clinical judgment of criminal responsibility. Subjects were experienced forensic psychologists, graduate students in clinical psychology, and undergraduate students. They selected information regarding hypothetical defendants and recorded their recommendations and confidence levels, as well as additional information they would have liked to review. The experienced psychologists selected and requested information most relevant to determining criminal responsibility, while the graduates and undergraduates failed to recognize the importance of establishing the defendant's mental status at the time of the offense. In terms of confidence level regarding their judgments, undergraduates were most confident, followed by graduates and psychologists. The experienced psychologists judged significantly fewer defendants as not guilty by reason of insanity as compared to the graduates and undergraduates.
The Construction and Implementation of an Alternative Measure of Police Cynicism
Authors: REGOLI BOB , CRANK JOHN P. , RIVERA GEORGE F.
Published: March 2007

Research on police cynicism is beset by two limitations. First, research aimed at identifying latent dimensions within the Niederhoffer 20-item scale has resulted in a surfeit of subscales that appear to be unique to the research setting. Second, no job-related consequences of police cynicism have been identified. The present research focuses on both issues. First, a police cynicism scale that is purposefully multidimensional was constructed. Second, the impact of the cynicism subscales on three areas of job performance—work relations, hostile police-citizen encounters, and arrests—was assessed. Data were derived from questionnaire responses of 110 police officers who represented two departments in Colorado. An analysis of latent structure identified four dimensions of cynicism. Composite indices constructed from these indices were found to affect all areas of job performance.
Personal Precautions to Violence in Prison
Authors: McCORKLE RICHARD C.
Published: March 2007

Although studies have documented increased levels of violence in U.S. prisons, little attention has been given to how this violence shapes inmate behaviors and life-styles. This article presents results from a survey of 300 adult males incarcerated in a maximum-security facility, providing data on the types, prevalence, and social correlates of personal precautions to violence. A factor analysis of responses revealed two distinct dimensions of precautionary behavior. The more fearful, older, and socially isolated inmates primarily used avoidance behaviors to reduce the threat of victimization. On the other hand, younger inmates who use the inmate culture as a source of status and privilege tended to employ more aggressive or proactive techniques to deter attacks.
A Reconsideration of Treatment Outcome with Sex Offenders
Authors: MARSHALL W. L. , PITHERS W. D.
Published: March 2007

An examination of the bases of two influential sets of publications suggests that their conclusions regarding the effectiveness of treatment with sex offenders were unnecessarily gloomy. The present article presents a more optimistic view of the literature, asserting that recent, relatively well-controlled evaluations have shown that treatment can be effective. To be maximally effective, according to this appraisal of the literature, treatment must be comprehensive, cognitive-behaviorally based, and include a relapse prevention component. Earlier outcome research that produced either treatment failure, or at best equivocal results, did not meet these criteria.
Changes in Psychological Maladaptation among Inmate Parasuicides
Authors: SMYTH NANCY J. , IVANOFF ANDRÉ , JANG SUNG JOON
Published: March 2007

Thirty-three males who engaged in parasuicide in prison were assessed for suicidal behavior and other psychological maladaptation upon prison entry (T1) and 1 year later (T2). Depression and suicidal ideation scores decreased significantly at 1 year, although continued distress also was evident. State- and trait-anger levels did not change significantly. Congruent with other research, inmates who engaged in parasuicide demonstrated a decrease in psychological maladaptation during imprisonment, although the findings also support the differential impact of imprisonment, with some inmates continuing to experience significant distress.
The Development of Offending
Authors: LOEBER ROLF , STOUTHAMER-LOEBER MAGDA
Published: March 2007

This article briefly reviews some historical approaches to the development of offending over time and stresses the conceptualization of developmental criminology. It emphasizes the study of within-individual changes in offending over time and the study of causal factors that may explain onset, escalation, deescalation, and desistance in individuals' offending. In particular, a better understanding of individual differences in criminal careers can help to explain why some youths become involved in delinquency only marginally and others more deeply, and which groups of individuals start to desist in crime at which part of the life cycle. Developmental criminology is relevant for applied criminal justice for several reasons: (a) the formulation of developmental theories, (b) the study of individuals rather than of variables, and (c) decisions about which behaviors to target for intervention and when to intervene.