bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Audience and Level of Esteem as Determinants of Risk Taking
Authors: Cohen Peter A. , Sheposh John P.
Published: March 2007

The effects of situationally induced self-esteem and the presence of an audience on risk preference were assessed. Fifty- four subjects manipulated for either high- or low-self-esteem performed alone, in the presence of a familiar audience, or in the presence of an unfamiliar audience. A significant Audience X Level of Esteem interaction was obtained. Low-esteem subjects relative to high-esteem subjects took significantly greater risk when per forming alone than when in front of an audience. The study provides conceptual support for other research concerning the effects of self-esteem on risk taking.
Cross-Cultural Social and Personality Psychology
Authors: Triandis Harry C.
Published: March 2007

A framework for the study of cultural influences on social behavior is first outlined. Studies suggesting links among the elements of the framework are reviewed. Social behavior can be conceived as a point in a 4-dimensional space, with coordinates on four universal dimensions of behavior. Cultures differ in com plexity and tightness. Studies which link cultural characteristics to the frequency of social behaviors are suggested. Numerous studies that may advance social and personality psychology are suggested by this framework. Finally, a more specific section reviews work on cultural factors on interpersonal behavior, when individuals from different cultures interact.
A Typology of Styles of Loving
Authors: Lee John Alan
Published: March 2007

Constructed ideal types differentiating between several con trasting conceptions of intimate adult affiliation ("love") were de rived from fictional and non-fictional literature. A new interview method was devised to enable individuals "in love" to reconstruct their experience in codeable form. The constructed types were tested and revised, producing a structured typology of readily distinguish able styles of loving. The salient characteristics of the six most significant styles are summarized.
An Operational Viewpoint on Social Systems: A Response to Altman
Authors: Flynn Robert J.
Published: March 2007

This paper suggests System Dynamics as one feasible approach to conceptualizing and operationalizing models of complex social systems, in response to Altman's (1976) call for a broadened concern in Social Psychology with a holistic, systems-oriented, time-linked, multi-causal perspective on social units. System Dynamics is described, both as a philosophy of system structure and as a method of system modeling. An illustrative application to the problem of urban decline and revival is presented, along with brief consideration of some major strengths and limitations of the approach.
Limitations in the equity-theory approach: Toward a Resolution of the "negative-inputs" controversy
Authors: Romer Daniel
Published: March 2007

Recent exchanges in the Bulletin have attempted to resolve difficulties in the possibility of negative inputs in the defini tions of equity "formulae". The present discussion suggests that the difficulties can be resolved if the range of application of equity formulations is restricted to relationships in which members' out comes add up to a fixed value. Differences between this condition and those generally existing in relationships are discussed with particular reference to Thibaut and Kelley's theory of interpersonal exchange.
Reward Distribution and Goal Selection of Kibbutz and City Mothers in Israel
Authors: Shapira Ariella , Lomranz Jacob , Todd Judy
Published: March 2007

Two experiments compared the behavior of kibbutz and city mothers in Israel toward the achievement behavior of their children. The first experiment studied the mothers' reinforce ment patterns and found kibbutz mothers were less conditional in their distribution of rewards than city mothers. The second ex periment studied goal selection by the mothers and found a similar pattern of goal selection in the two cultures. These maternal differences and similarities were discussed in relation to differ ences in cooperation and competition between kibbutz and city children, as found in previous research.
Sex and Affiliation in College Cafeterias
Authors: Latané Bibb , Bidwell Liane D.
Published: March 2007

Observation of over 6300 people in a variety of public places on two college campuses found significantly more females (65%) than males (55%) in the company of other people. Inter views with 238 people leaving the cafeteria revealed that females were more likely to plan to eat with others, or, if unable to find someone to eat with, to forego lunch. Methodological problems in inferring behavioral dispositions from observational and in terview data are discussed and it is concluded that the data are consistent with but do not prove the stereotype that women are more social than men.
Social Inhibition of Helping Yourself: Bystander Response to a Cheeseburger
Authors: Petty Richard E. , Williams Kipling D. , Harkins Stephen G. , Latané Bibb
Published: March 2007

111 elevator riders were given the opportunity to help themselves to a free lunch — a coupon good for one Quarter Pounder with Cheese. When others were in the elevator, indi viduals were less likely to take a coupon, even when there were enough to go around, demonstrating that social inhibition is not specific to helping others.
Effect of Payment for Initial Compliance: Unanswered Questions about the Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon
Authors: DeJong William , Funder David
Published: March 2007

Theoretical explanations of the foot-in-the door effect lead to the prediction that persons offered a monetary payment for their compliance to an initial, small request would not be more likely to comply with a subsequent demand. For their participation in a telephone survey, some subjects were promised $2 (Payment condi tion), while others were not (No Payment). (1) The rate of compliance to a subsequent request for the No Payment condition (45.8%) was not higher than that for a no-initial-contract control group (55.6%). (2) Payment condition subjects (78.3%) were more compliant with the second request. A follow-up study suggested that subjects' expec tation of reward did not mediate the higher rate of compliance in the Payment condition. Other possible explanations for that finding are considered.
Ability Factor Differentiation, Grades 5 Through 11
Authors: Atkin Robert , Bray Robert , Davison Mark , Herzberger Sharon , Humphreys Lloyd , Selzer Uzi
Published: March 2007

Factor analyses have been computed in samples of white male and female and black male and fe male students for the same 16 cognitive variables at grade levels 5, 7, 9, and 11. Samples for each of the four independent groups remained constant at the four grade levels. The latent roots as analyzed in three ways show a clear but small increase in the number of common factors during this time period, particularly for the white groups. Rotated factor loadings also support the differentiation hypothesis. For the white males, who showed the clearest evi dence for differentiation of abilities, rotated load ings provide descriptions of the emerging factors. Although the evidence for differentiation is less clear in white females, the emerging factors appear to become identical by the 11th grade. Data for black males and females, which are based on small er Ns, are more ambiguous.
The Item Factor Structure of the Personality Research Form
Authors: Helmes Edward , Jackson Douglas N.
Published: March 2007

Multiscale personality inventories have rarely, if ever, demonstrated factor structure broadly consis tent at the item level with scale keys. An item fac tor analysis of the 352 items of PRF-E was under taken to evaluate the extent to which PRF items de fine separate and distinct factors corresponding to keyed scales. A matrix based on 352 items and 214 subjects drawn from 31 colleges was decomposed according to the Eckart-Young theorem, the factor loading matrix was formed, and then was rotated to an orthogonal target matrix of the 22 PRF-E scales. Inspection of the rotated matrix showed that only 2 of the 352 items failed to load in the keyed direc tion. The mean loading of items on their scale fac tor was .38; the mean loading of non-scale items was .09. This strong tendency for scale items to load more highly than non-scale items was also re flected in the majority of scale items being among the 16 highest loadings on each scale factor. For three scales, Dominance, Harmavoidance, and Or der, the scale items were the 16 highest loaded items. The observed item factor structure of the PRF is interpreted as being attributable to the methods of construct definition and item selection used in the construction of the PRF.
On the Equivalence of Constructed- Response and Multiple-Choice Tests
Authors: Traub Ross E. , Fisher Charles W.
Published: March 2007

Two sets of mathematical reasoning and two sets of verbal comprehension items were cast into each of three formats—constructed response, standard multiple-choice, and Coombs multiple- choice—in order to assess whether tests with iden tical content but different formats measure the same attribute, except for possible differences in error variance and scaling factors. The resulting 12 tests were administered to 199 eighth-grade stu dents. The hypothesis of equivalent measures was rejected for only two comparisons: the con structed-response measure of verbal comprehen sion was different from both the standard and the Coombs multiple-choice measures of this ability. Maximum likelihood factor analysis confirmed the hypothesis that a five-factor structure will give a satisfactory account of the common variance among the 12 tests. As expected, the two major factors were mathematical reasoning and verbal comprehension. Contrary to expectation, only one of the other three factors bore a (weak) resem blance to a format factor. Tests marking the abili ty to follow directions, recall and recognition memory, and risk-taking were included, but these variables did not correlate as expected with the three minor factors.
Psychologist Versus Client Perspectives in the Assessment of Psychopathology
Authors: Bolton Brian
Published: March 2007

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Psychiatric Status Schedule (PSS) were administered to two samples of clients who were participating in large-scale investigations of the rehabilitation counseling process ( N = 108) and private psychotherapy ( N = 113). The MMPI sum marized the clients' subjective views of their emo tional status while the PSS provided an assessment that had been filtered through the psychologists' perspectives. Statistical analyses of the resulting multivariable-multimethod matrix revealed a sub stantial convergence of client and psychologist per spectives. The assessment of depression was the symptom area in which the greatest agreement oc curred (r's of .60 and .70); canonical correlations which used all MMPI and PSS scales approached the theoretical maximum values ( Rc's of .75 and .84). Further analyses suggested that the PSS pro vides a broader assessment of psychopathology than does the MMPI by summarizing unique diagnostic information. While an average of 40% of the vari ance in the MMPI sets was predictable from the PSS, only 16% of the PSS variance was predictable from the MMPI.
Comparison of Equipercentile and Item Response Theory Equating When the Scaling Test Method Is Applied to a Multilevel Achievement Battery
Authors: Phillips S.E.
Published: March 2007

Test publishers generally choose an anchor or scal ing test approach to the development of a growth scale for a multilevel achievement battery. Although some studies have been conducted comparing traditional equipercentile equating procedures with item response theory models using the anchor test (overlapping items) approach, to date there is no evidence on the comparability of equating procedures when the scaling test approach is used. The purpose of this study was to compare the equipercentile, Rasch, one-parameter modified logistic, and two-parameter logistic item re sponse theory procedures in the equating of a multi level achievement test battery using the scaling test approach. Since the equipercentile method has been widely used by test publishers, it was chosen as a standard for comparison of the experimental results. Individual item pseudo-guessing parameters were specified for the one-parameter modified logistic and two-parameter logistic item response theory models based on the proportion of students in the national standardization sample selecting the least attractive distractor for the item. Two grades—fourth and eighth—and two subtests—reading and mathematics— were selected for analysis. The results of the study suggest that for a small-sample situation in which the scaling test approach has been applied to a multilevel achievement battery, the one-parameter modified and two-parameter item response theory methods (as modi fied in this study) appear to be viable alternatives to the equipercentile procedure.
Multidimensional Models of Social Perception, Cognition, and Behavior
Authors: Jones Lawrence E.
Published: March 2007

A common assumption of social psychological theo ries is that interpersonal behavior is mediated by struc tured cognitive representations of self and others, in teraction episodes, interpersonal roles and relation ships, group goals and tasks, as well as more general social environments and situations. A second basic theoretical assumption is that both individual adjust ment and group effectiveness depend on some degree of consensus and stability in conceptions of these do mains; thus, investigation of communalities and differ ences in perception and structuring of social stimuli is an important prerequisite for prediction of both indi vidual differences and intraindividual consistency in social behavior.

The present paper reviews theoretical, empirical and methodological work that is relevant to these issues, with an emphasis on research that has employed mul tidimensional scaling, clustering techniques, and re lated multivariate methods to investigate problems in social cognition. Work in three major areas is re viewed : (1) interpersonal perception and attraction in intact groups; (2) perception of political and fictional figures; and (3) perception of social roles, relation ships, and situations. For each area, one or more ex emplary studies are discussed, related work is cited, and relevant theoretical and methodological issues are raised.
Test Disclosure and Retest Performance on the SAT
Authors: Stricker Lawrence J.
Published: March 2007

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of disclosing a Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) form on the retest performance of examinees who initially took the disclosed form and subsequently took a different form. Retest performance was compared for three ran dom samples of examinees who took the SAT as high school juniors in the May 1981 administration in New York and then retook it in the October 1981 adminis tration : two experimental groups that were sent the standard set of disclosed material for the May SAT, along with either a noncommittal or an encouraging letter intended to vary their motivation to use the ma terial, and a control group that was not sent anything. The three groups were generally similar in the level and retest reliability of their October scores, indicating that access to the disclosed material had no apprecia ble effects on retest performance.
Relationships Between the Thurstone, Coombs, and Rasch Approaches to Itenl Scaling
Authors: Jansen Paul G. W.
Published: March 2007

Andrich (1978) derived a formal equivalency be tween Thurstone's Case V specialization of the law of comparative judgment for paired comparisons, with a logistic function substituted for the normal, and the Rasch model for direct responses. The equivalency was corroborated by a specific substantial-psychologi cal interpretation of the Rasch binary item response probability. Studying the relationships between the Thurstone and Rasch models from another perspective than Andrich's, namely, from a data-theoretical point of view, it appears that the equivalency is based on an implicit assumption with respect to the subject popula tion. This assumption (1) is rather restrictive, and therefore its empirical validity seems to be low, and (2) seems to contradict the substantial reasoning corro borating the Thurstone-Rasch equivalency. It is argued that the Thurstone model cannot be considered the sample-independent pair comparison counterpart of the Rasch model. An alternative pair comparison equiva lent of the Rasch model is tentatively proposed. Fi nally, the theoretical and practical implications of An drich's and of the present study are discussed.
Item Format and the Structure of the Personal Orientation Inventory
Authors: Velicer Wayne F. , Diclemente Carlo C. , Corriveau Donald P.
Published: March 2007

Two versions of the Personal Orientation Inventory were administered to 317 subjects. One version em ployed the standard two-choice response format. The other version used a six-choice response format. The purpose of this study was (1) to determine if a multi ple-response format resulted in improved psychometric properties, (2) to compare the component structure of the two versions, and (3) to compare the empirically derived scales with the theoretically defined scales. The results showed a slight improvement for the mul tiple-response format, but with poorly defined compo nent patterns. The change in format resulted in a change in component structure. The components de rived from both versions did not correspond to the theoretical scales. An analysis indicated that the only well-defined component from either response format could be interpreted as measuring social desirability responding rather than measuring content. A follow-up questionnaire indicated greater subject acceptance of the six-choice version.
Comparison of Direct and Indirect Methods For Setting Minimum Passing Scores
Authors: Reilly Richard R. , Zink Donald L. , Israelski Edmond W.
Published: March 2007

Several studies have compared different judgmental methods of setting passing scores by estimating item difficulties for the minimally competent examinee. Usually, a direct method of estimating item difficulties has been compared with an indirect method suggested by Nedelsky (1954). Nedelsky's method has usually resulted in a substantially lower cutoff score than that arrived at with a direct method. Two studies were car ried out for the purpose of comparing a direct method of setting passing scores with an indirect method that allowed judges to estimate the probability of the mini mally competent examinee eliminating each incorrect alternative. In Study 1 a sample of 52 first-level su pervisors used both methods to estimate passing scores on a content-oriented selection test for building main tenance specialists. In Study 2 a sample of 62 first- level supervisors used both methods to estimate pass ing scores on an entry level auto mechanics test. Re sults of both studies showed that the variance compo nent for method was relatively small and that for raters was relatively large. Reliability estimates of judgments and correlations between judged difficulties and empirical difficulties showed the Angoff (1971) approach to be slightly superior. Results showed no particular advantage to using an indirect approach for estimating minimal competence.
A Comparison of the Eigenvalue Method and The Geometric Mean Procedure for Ratio Scaling
Authors: Budescu David V. , Zwick Rami , Rapoport Amnon
Published: March 2007

This article evaluates and compares the performance of two ratio scaling methods, the eigenvalue method proposed by Saaty (1977, 1980) and the geometric mean procedure advocated by Williams and Crawford (1980), given random data. The two methods were ex amined in a series of monte carlo simulations for two response methods (direct estimation and constant sum) and various numbers of stimuli and response scales. The sampling distributions of the measures of consist ency of the two methods were tabulated, rules for de tecting and rejecting inconsistent respondents are out lined, and approximation formulas for other designs are derived. Overall, there was a high level of agree ment and correspondence between the results from the two scaling techniques even when the data were ran dom.
Development of a Testing Service System
Authors: van Thiel Catharina C. , Zwarts Michel A.
Published: March 2007

The development of an integrated system for the storage of items and the construction and analysis of tests is described. The system is being developed both as a general facility for the Dutch Institute of Educa tional Measurement and as a support system for the use and maintenance of item banks in schools. The methodology of developing the system is described with attention to the system architecture and to the re sults of the first stage of the system development.
A Monte Carlo Investigation of Several Person and Item Fit Statistics for Item Response Models
Authors: Rogers H. Jane , Hattie John A.
Published: March 2007

This study investigated the behavior of several per son and item fit statistics commonly used to test and obtain fit to the one-parameter item response model. Using simulated data for 500 persons and 15 items, the sensitivity of the total-t, mean-square residual, and between-t fit statistics to guessing, heterogeneity in discrimination parameters, and multidimensionality was examined. Additionally, 25 misfitting persons and a misfitting item were generated to test the power of the three fit statistics to detect deviations in a subset of observations. Neither the total-t nor the mean-square residual were able to detect deviation from any of the models fitted. Use of these statistics appears to be un warranted. The between-t was a useful indicator of guessing and heterogeneity in discrimination parame ters, but was unable to detect multidimensionality. These results show that use of person and item fit statistics to test and obtain overall fit to the one- parameter model can lead to acceptance of the model even when it is grossly inappropriate. Assessments of model fit based on this strategy are inadequate. Alter native methods must be sought.
A Comparison of Pseudo-Bayesian and Joint Maximum Likelihood Procedures for Estimating Item Parameters in the Three-Parameter IRT Model
Authors: Skaggs Gary , Stevenson José
Published: March 2007

This study compared pseudo-Bayesian and joint maximum likelihood procedures for estimating item parameters for the three-parameter logistic model in item response theory. Two programs, ASCAL and LOGIST, which employ the two methods were com pared using data simulated from a three-parameter model. Item responses were generated for sample sizes of 2,000 and 500, test lengths of 35 and 15, and examin ees of high, medium, and low ability. The results showed that the item characteristic curves estimated by the two methods were more similar to each other than to the generated item characteristic curves. Pseudo- Bayesian estimation consistently produced more accu rate item parameter estimates for the smaller sample size, whereas joint maximum likelihood was more ac curate as test length was reduced. Index terms: ASCAL, item response theory, joint maximum likelihood estimation, LOGIST, parameter estimation, pseudo- Bayesian estimation, three-parameter model.
Tree Versus Geometric Representation of Tests and Items
Authors: Beller Michal
Published: March 2007

Factor-analytic techniques and multidimensional scaling models are the traditional ways of representing the interrelations among tests and items. Both can be classified as geometric approaches. This study at tempted to broaden the scope of models traditionally used, and to apply an additive tree model (ADDTREE) that belongs to the family of network models. Correla tion matrices were obtained from three studies and were analyzed using two representation models: Smallest Space Analysis (ssA), which is a multidimen sional scaling model, and ADDTREE. The results of both analyses were compared for the two criteria of goodness of fit and interpretability. To enable a com parison with the more traditional factor-analytic ap proach, the data were also subjected to principal com ponents analyses. ADDTREE fared better in both comparisons. Moreover, ADDTREE lends itself readily to an interpretation in terms of hierarchical cluster structure, whereas it is difficult to interpret SSA's di mensions. ADDTREE'S close fit to the data and its co herence of presentation make it a convenient means of representing tests and items. Index terms: additive trees, ADDTREE, factor analysis, hierarchical cluster ing, multidimensional scaling, Smallest Space Analy sis.
The Use of Unidimensional Parameter Estimates of Multidimensional Items in Adaptive Testing
Authors: Ackerman Terry A.
Published: March 2007

This study investigated the effect of using multidimensional items in a computerized adaptive test (CAT) setting which assumes that all items are unidimensional. Previous research has suggested that the composite of multidimensional abilities being estimated by a unidimensional IRT model is not constant throughout the entire unidimensional ability scale (Reckase, Carlson, Ackerman, & Spray, 1986). Results of this study suggest that unidimensional calibration of multidimensional data tends to "filter out" the multidimensionality. Items that measured a θ 1,θ2 composite similar to the composite of the calibrated unidimensional θ scale had larger estimated unidimensional discrimination values. These items thus had a greater probability of being administered in a CAT where only the most informative items are selected. Results also suggest that if a CAT item pool contains items from several content areas measuring dissimilar θ1,θ2 composites, different unidimensional abilities may receive disparate proportions of items from the various content areas.
Matrix and Stimulus Sample Sizes in the Weighted MDS Model: Empirical Metric Recovery Functions
Authors: Rodgers Joseph Lee
Published: March 2007

The only guidelines for sample size that exist in the multidimensional scaling (MDS) literature are a set of heuristic "rules-of-thumb" that have failed to live up to Young's (1970) goal of finding func tional relationships between sample size and metric recovery. This paper develops answers to two im portant sample-size questions in nonmetric weight ed MDS settings, both of which are extensions of work reported in MacCallum and Cornelius (1977): (1) are the sample size requirements for number of stimuli and number of matrices compensatory? and (2) what type of functional relationships exist between the number of matrices and metric recov ery ? The graphs developed to answer the second question illustrate how such functional relation ships can be defined empirically in a wide range of MDS and other complicated nonlinear models.
Detection of Differential Item Functioning in the Graded Response Model
Authors: Cohen Allan S. , Kim Seock-Ho , Baker Frank B.
Published: March 2007

Methods for detecting differential item func tioning (DIF) have been proposed primarily for the item response theory dichotomous response model. Three measures of DIF for the dichotomous response model are extended to include Samejima's graded response model: two measures based on area differences between item true score functions, and a χ2 statistic for comparing differences in item parameters. An illustrative example is presented.
Computing Elementary Symmetric Functions and Their Derivatives: A Didactic
Authors: Baker Frank B. , Harwell Michael R.
Published: March 2007

The computation of elementary symmetric functions and their derivatives is an integral part of conditional maximum likelihood estimation of item parameters un der the Rasch model. The conditional approach has the advantages of parameter estimates that are consistent (assuming the model is correct) and statistically rigorous goodness-of-fit tests. Despite these characteristics, the conditional approach has been limited by problems in computing the elementary symmetric functions. The in troduction of recursive formulas for computing these functions and the availability of modem computers has largely mediated these problems; however, detailed documentation of how these formulas work is lacking. This paper describes how various recursion formulas work and how they are used to compute elementary symmetric functions and their derivatives. The availabil ity of this information should promote a more thorough understanding of item parameter estimation in the Rasch model among both measurement specialists and practitioners.
Longitudinal Models of Reliability and Validity: A Latent Curve Approach
Authors: Tisak John , Tisak Marie S.
Published: March 2007

The concepts of reliability and validity and their associated coefficients typically have been restricted to a single measurement occasion. This paper describes dynamic generalizations of reliability and validity that will incorporate longitudinal or developmental models, using latent curve analysis. Initially a latent curve model is formulated to depict change. This longitudinal model is then incorporated into the classical definitions of reli ability and validity. This approach permits the separa tion of constancy or change from the indexes of reli ability and validity. Statistical estimation and hypoth esis testing be achieved using standard structural equations modeling computer programs. These longitu dinal models of reliability and validity are demon strated on sociological psychological data. Index terms: concurrent validity, dynamic models, dynamic true score, latent curve analysis, latent trajectory, predictive validity, reliability, validity.
Anthropological Perspectives on the Concepts of Dualism, the Informal Sector, and Marginality in Developing Urban Economies
Authors: Peattie Lisa R.
Published: March 2007

Fieldwork in Bogota is used to evaluate the concepts of marginality and the informal sector as tools for understanding the urban economy in developing countries. Each of these dualistic conceptualiza tions is helpful in directing attention to phenomena not ordinarily attended to by economists. As guides to policy, however, they tend to mislead by directing attention away from the diversity of such enterprises, their varying attractiveness to participants, their specific linkages to the rest of the economy, and the institutional arrangements and market structures which are their context.
The Public as Dummies
Authors: WHITNEY D. CHARLES , WARTELLA ELLEN
Published: March 2007

A number of recent public polls and commentaries on the media have suggested that the American public is woefully uninformed across a broad range of issues and topics, to the extent, as one such commentator argues, that citizens “are not mentally prepared to continue the society because they basically do not understand the society enough to value it.”

A review of the literature does disclose vast areas of general-public ignorance, but the argument here is that those who see downward trends in public knowledge, most usually attributed to the advent of television, lack precision in their definitions of “the public” across time and data to suggest any true declines in public knowledge.
The development of national information systems
Authors: Wijasuriya D.E.K.
Published: March 2007

The NATIS concept is reviewed with regard to the actual situation current in Malaysia, and of the difficulties of implementation. The recommendation is made to set up a high level Consultative Committee and to use CONSAL as the regional forum for the exchange of experience.
Universal communications via satellites — dream or future reality?
Authors: Cawkell A.E.
Published: March 2007

Technical and political aspects are discussed with regard to the future of satellite systems such as Intelsat. The paper concludes with a number of questions of concern to infor mation scientists to be faced in the 1980s.
The role of the clearing banks
Authors: Baird Grant
Published: March 2007

This paper discusses the nature and range of information services offered by the clearing banks, and the types of data requested by their customers, including price levels and fore casts, exchange rates, interest rates and controls, and inform ation on investments and domestic markets. The strong tradi tion of doing things 'in-house' in the clearing banks is explored.
Information contained in clinical trial reports
Authors: Hibberd Patricia L. , Meadows A.J.
Published: March 2007

In this paper, we assess the information contained in two hundred and fifty nine reports of clinical trials published in six major medical journals in 1960, 1965, 1970 and 1975. A checklist was used, against which the presence or absence of various items of information was recorded. This method may have wider applicability for assessing the information content of publications which have easily defined aims. Information about the type of drug under trial, dosage schedules, duration of therapy and whether or not the results were statistically significant was seldom provided in the summaries of the reports. Less than half of the reports included details of (i) the duration of the patients’ diseases under treatment; (ii) whether or not the patients were concurrently suffering from any other diseases; (iii) whether or not other drugs were being taken in addition to the trial drug; (iv) whether checks were made on patient compliance.

In the light of our results, we suggest that clinical trial reports should be required to provide a specified minimum of clinically important information. This should enable doctors to assess more readily the value of newly introduced drugs.
Is information science an anomalous state of knowledge?
Authors: Hollnagel Erik
Published: March 2007

This paper looks at some of the problems in information science from the experience with similar problems in psychology. The apparent need for a set of rigorous definitions of the basic concepts is discussed, and it is argued that although this is necessary for the natural sciences it is not necessary for sciences which concern themselves with behavioral phenomena which have a prior description in natural language. It is further argued that information science should be more interested in uncertainty than in information, and it is shown how the Anomalous State of Knowledge (ASK) paradigm may be used to describe itself, hence also information science. It is finally concluded that by turning to problems of uncertainty and lack of information, rather than information, information science may avoid many of the mistakes made by psychology.
Learned societies and journal publishing
Authors: Singleton Alan
Published: March 2007

The article reports on a study of approximately 500 U.K. learned societies. An initial discussion is given of the histori cal and present-day roles of learned societies and current per ceptions of the relative roles of commercial and learned society publishers. Characteristics of age, size and subject of U.K. learned societies are presented. The main focus of the paper is on the extent and nature of cooperation between learned society and other publishers. Some 30 per cent of U.K. learned societies cooperate with publishiers, to a much larger extent in science and technology than in the arts and humanities. The nature of cooperative arrangements varies markedly but can be broadly classified into: marketing and distribution; 'commission'; profit-sharing; no payment to the society. There is considerable disparity in the deals achieved by societies, particularly between the last two groups men tioned. Most cooperating societies are satisfied with their cur rent relationships, although a number of societies have changed publishers, and over 20 societies who once cooper ated no longer do so. Agreement documents are rarely suffi ciently clear and unambiguous to give confidence in their interpretation. Societies' and publishers' opinions on coopera tion vary markedly and help to illustrate the different percep tions of their roles in journal publishing.
The examination of research trends by analysis of publication numbers
Authors: David H.G. , Piip L. , Haly A.R.
Published: March 2007

An interest arose in an examination of trends in textile research during the past twenty years. The techniques used to obtain data which would illustrate the trends are described. In general, the methods involved counts of scientific papers and of patents using abstracting journals and some specialist journals for the purpose.

The data so obtained were subjected to statistical analysis and the procedures used in the analyses are briefly indicated. With regard to the trend in total textile research no clear- cut conclusion could be drawn. It appears, however, that 'basic' research in textile science has been decreasing at the expense of 'applied' or ad hoc research.

It is possible that the methods used here, both for obtain ing the raw data and for statistical analysis may be of interest to those who wish to examine trends in other fields of research.
The use of CAIRS in an industrial library and information department
Authors: de Rivaz P. , Jones J.C.V. , Reardon M.J. , Simkins M.A.
Published: March 2007

The CAIRS software package was chosen in 1978 to meet the needs of library cataloguing and retrieval and dissemination of references to published literature, The development and opera tion of the system are described.
DAIS: A computer-assisted Documents Acquisition Information System
Authors: Cornelio Alice F. , Neelameghan A. , Tongco Leonora V.
Published: March 2007

A computerized documents acquisition management system integrated into a general design for computer applications in lihrary and information processes is described. System capabili ties include online inquiry about documents on order, print-out of orders and reminders, generation of reports and statistics, creation of database for computerized reference/bibliographi cal services. etc. Input files, input preparation, record structure. and the INQUIRY and UPDATE functions are described briefly. DAIS, currently implemented on a UNIVAC 90/30 computer, uses the software IMS 90 for communication inter face while the application programs are written in COBOL.
Theory and explanation in information retrieval research
Authors: Ellis David
Published: March 2007

The relationship between theory and explanation in informa tion retrieval research is analysed. Problems in the development of a generalisable information retrieval theory from informa tion retrieval experiment and the associated mathematical mod elling is examined. The source of these problems is traced back to assumptions underlying information retrieval research, and to the nature of the relationship between the theoretical frame work of information retrieval research and the nature of the problems on which this framework is brought to bear. Particu lar attention is directed to problems in measurement, in estab lishing a significant relationship between test results and results from operational evaluations, and in establishing a connection between the situational and behavioural assumptions employed in information retrieval research and real situations and be haviour.

The attempt to develop information retrieval research as an experimental science akin to natural science or engineering, around the notion of the quantification of relevance is miscon ceived. In order for information retrieval research to break out of the limitations of its present theoretical framework, and of the backwater to which that framework has led, a reorientation is required. The argument of this paper is that information retrieval research needs to be reoriented from a focus on the information retrieval system and on supposed 'systemic' factors to an orientation to the user and the user's interaction with information sources.
Expert systems in scientific information exchange
Authors: Nowak Elzbieta J. , Szablowski Bogumil F.
Published: March 2007

The paper presents expert systems as a new generation of information storage and retrieval systems which may consider ably improve the processes of scientific and technical informa tion exchange and dissemination. Essential features of the expert systems with databases containing scientific or technical information have been specified. For databases in which a semantic network is used as a knowledge representation scheme, an idea of database organization has been described with some attention paid to the problem of extracting factual information from the texts of scientific and technical publications. The process of information retrieval from the database of a scien tific or technical information expert system has also been briefly described.
Priorities and policies—private sector involvement in our fields of interest
Authors: Myers John
Published: March 2007

Members of LISC, and the professional communities which are served by the Council, can probably agree on some com mon objectives—excellence in our public and private sector library and information services; more points of access to LIS1 resources; greater capital investment in information products and services; a spread of LIS firms, which can build up worthwhile earnings in export markets; and more and better jobs for librarians, archivists and information scientists. But there is a sharp divergence of opinion on ways of reaching these ends. Where should the boundaries lie between private enter prise and public service? Should there be a shift in the demar cation lines? One side emphasizes the economic opportunities, the other, the social imperatives; and there is a broadening debate about pricing of services and charging of fees. This paper reviews the two sides of the case, and the financial realities behind current developments and trends. Finally, it calls for LISC to make a thorough study of how common objectives can best be achieved, focusing on radically new approaches in which private enterprises would be closely en gaged.
An intelligent interface for online interaction
Authors: Vickery A.
Published: March 2007

In this paper, the author discusses the ways of improving the performance of online retrieval systems by introducing an automated interface between the enquirer and the system. In the first part of the paper, the main features of such human/machine interaction and the characteristics that the user would like to see incorporated in an interface, are de scribed. Then, studies in artificial intelligence that are particu larly relevant to the problems of implementing an intelligent interface, are discussed. The author concludes with a summary of automated mechanisms that will be needed to improve the quality of interaction between the user and the search system.
A critique of Brookes' logarithmic 'law'
Authors: Beltaos L.
Published: March 2007

An examination of Brookes' mathematical expression of his logarithmic 'law' yields inconsistencies and mathematical er rors. Brookes' 'tunnel' model of perception incorrectly repre sents perception of physical distance. Brookes' 'affinity' with Shannon is shown to be nonexistent. The most significant result is that Brookes' logarithmic 'law' applies to only one communication system which has properties as defined and assumed by Brookes and can not be generalized to any com munication system with properties different from the Brookes' system.
Marketing of databases produced in the United Kingdom
Authors: Bibby Lindsay , East Harry
Published: March 2007

The paper considers the growth in the number of UK-pro duced online databases, which has been in parallel with the expansion of European host services, and discusses the ap proaches of commercial and nonprofit organizations to market ing. The findings of a survey of marketing practices and attitudes amongst UK producers of nonnumerical databases are described.
Science on the periphery — a scientometric analysis of science in the ASEAN countries
Authors: Arunachalam Subbiah , Garg Kailash C.
Published: March 2007

A scientometric analysis of papers published over a two-year period from the five ASEAN Countries, viz. Indonesia (182), Malaysia (452), the Philippines (241), Singapore (258) and Thailand (447), and covered in Science Citation Index 1979 and 1980; and citations to them in the international literature of science as seen from SCI 1979-1983 reveals that despite the relative economic affluence, science in these countries is still on the periphery. Except in the Philippines, the thrust in these countries seems to be in medical research as is evident from the large number of papers published in medical journals. In the Philippines, medicine comes a close second to agriculture, which leads, largely thanks to the contributions of the Interna tional Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Prolific authors, and institutions and journals often used by ASEAN scientists, and the better-cited papers are identified, Most papers are pub lished in low-impact journals and are rarely cited.
A bibliometric study on the ageing and content typology relationship of the biochemical literature
Authors: Bottle R.T. , Gong Y.T.
Published: March 2007

Biochemical periodical literature is investigated in the light of its ageing phenomena as reflected by the citations in Cell in 1983. The citation frequency distribution followed a negative exponential distribution for 1972-1982, with the median cita tion age of 3 years. The relationship between ageing and content typologies of the literature was tested, the median citation ages of different typologies were uneven, with the differences of nearly 7 years, indicating that content typologies were an important factor affecting the ageing phenomena of the literature.
The use of relational databases for electronic and conventional scientific publishing
Authors: Kircz Joost G. , Bleeker Jan
Published: March 2007

In an attempt to integrate traditional scientific publishing and new electronic possibilities for storage, retrieval and dis semination, a model is proposed. Based on a General Mark-up Language approach the information content of an article is analyzed and various categories of different types of informa tion are defined. Using a relational database as a starting point for all operations, different products can be identified by packaging the different information entities in a multitude of ways.

Traditional publishing results by aggregating the database fields in a typeset file; secondary information (bibliographic and citation indexing) can be extracted automatically whilst all kinds of publisher's statistics ranging from geographical breakdowns or author's lists to subject indexes, are spin-offs as well. A new feature is a current awareness service which enables the user to search for literature prior to publication. Linked with the storage of the complete manuscript, including figures and tables on, e.g. an optical disc, this enables the possibility of linking bibliographic searching to full text re trieval. Recommendations for an author's environment to be linked to such an integrated publisher's model are discussed.
A system based on associational logic for the interrogation of databases
Authors: Courtial J.-P. , Pomian J.
Published: March 2007

The interrogation of databases of scientific and technical articles is often characterized by the search for documents which do not come from any given specialist domain, but from multiple domains. A real interrogation can be characterized as an original combination of keywords in databases where docu ments are indexed in the form of keywords.

The problem, then, is to find the right documents, while making allowances for the databases own indexing logic for documents.

However, current expert systems, which permit access to documents via rules expressing the relevant field structure, make it notoriously difficult to pass from one specialist do main to another.

Finally, recent work in the sociology of science has analysed the progress of knowledge in terms of 'translations' operating between one network of knowledge or know-how and another. This work has led to the elaboration of word graphs known as 'Leximappe graphs'.

It is suggested that these graphs and the logic of associa tions that supports them can be used not only to interrogate databases of scientific and technical articles but also to search for new combinations at the core of these articles—with a view to advancing knowledge.