bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pattern Matching, Validity, and Conceptualization in Program Evaluation
Authors: Trochim William M.K.
Published: March 2007

All social research is based on pattern matching ideas. A pattern match involves a correspondence between a theoretical or conceptual expectation pattern and an observed or measured pattern. Two quasi-experimental designs-the nonequivalent dependent variable design and the reversed treatment design—illustrate pattern matching logic well. In program evaluation three pattern matches are important: the program pattern match that assesses program implementation; the measurement pattern match that assesses the validity of the measures; and the effect pattern match that assesses the causal hypothesis Conceptualization methods are needed to facilitate the articulation of rich theoretical patterns. An example of a conceptualization study is presented and the utility of conceptualization methods for pattern-matching research is discussed.
Shoplifting, Impaired Driving, and Refusing the Breathalyzer
Authors: Ross Abraham S. , White Susan
Published: March 2007

The impact of a newspaper policy af printing the names of individuals who shoplift, drink and drive, and/ or refuse the breathalyzer was examined. Interrupted Time Series Analysis was used to analyze the number of offenders arrested pre- and postadoption of the policy. Analyses indicated that following the publication policy shoplifting incidents decreased; however, the policy had no effect on either the number of impaired drivers arrested or offenders refusing the breathalyzer.
The Option To Refuse
Authors: Senf Janet H.
Published: March 2007

A questionnaire was mailed to all members of the congregation of a Lutheran church. The materials sent included a postcard to be mailed separately to indicate when the questionnaire had been returned. Two versions of the postcard were used; one included space for the respondent to indicate no intention to return the questionnaire and the reason why not ("negative"postcard). There were more refusals among those receiving the "negative" postcard, but the final response rates for both groups were comparable. Analysis of the reasons for refusal indicated most often that the salience of the questionnaire topic was low.
Methodology for Obtaining a Representative Sample of Homeless Persons
Authors: Burnam M. Audrey , Koegel Paul
Published: March 2007

Recent efforts on the part of survey researchers to understand the characteristics and needs of homeless individuals have been hampered by factors which make it extra ordinarily difficult to draw representative samples of this population. To date, only one study (Rossi et al., 1987) has drawn a probability sample of homeless persons that includes unsheltered individuals. Because the design of the Rossi study can only accommodate a short interview and is best carried out in one night, additional designs that allow more lengthy interview protocols and data collection periods are needed. An effort to draw a probability sample of homeless adults in the inner-city area of Los Angeles resulted in a sampling design that meets these criteria. This article describes this design in detail.
When a Picture Is Worth More Than a Thousand Words
Authors: Teasley C.E.
Published: March 2007

Quantitative applications of policy analysis has been limited by the mathematical basis upon which it is founded. Policymakers may be skeptical of advice based on methods they do not fully comprehend. Graphically displaying the results enhances the ability of less quantitative policy actors to understand the meaning of common and, in many cases, inexpensive microcomputer spreadsheet programs available today. As an example, sensitivity analyses based on Nagel's "P/G Percentage Analysis" are graphically demonstrated. It is hoped that an enhanced ability to communicate such results will improve the climate for better public policy.
The Comparison Group Problem in Bereavement Studies and the Retrospective Pretest
Authors: Toedter Lori J. , Lasker Judith N. , Campbell Donald T.
Published: March 2007

An elaboration of Campbell and Stanley's (1963) retrospective pretest design to include a "surrogate comparison group" is described. The successful use of the design is illustrated and tested using data from a longitudinal investigation of bereavement outcome following pregnancy loss. The bereaved group was not significantly different from the surrogate comparison group of currently pregnant women in their retrospection of their prepregnancy mental health status. The pregnant surrogate group's current mental health status also did not differ from the bereaved group's retrospections concerning their mental health during their pregnancies. Implications for the use of the design are also discussed.
A Nightmare in Elm City
Authors: Morris Michael
Published: March 2007

Despite the growing attention that has been directed in recent years to the politics of evaluation, there has been little detailed analysis of the implications of this discussion for the design and supervision of students' field experiences in program evaluation. This article uses a case study of one such experience to examine some of the political issues and decisions that instructors face in this area. It is concluded that a more fully developed analytical framework is needed to address the political dynamics involved in evaluations that serve as training experiences for students.
Evaluating Consumer and Provider Participation in Health Services Policy, Planning, and Management
Authors: Meddin Jacob , Coventry Alison , Boldy Duncan , Liveris Mark
Published: March 2007

This article reports on an evaluation of the Health Advisory Network (HAN) of WesternAustralia, an innovative organization consisting of consumer and provider organizations, established by the state government mainly to provide advice to the Minister for Health and the Commissioner, on the planning, policy, and administration of the state's health services. The evaluation consisted of two parts, covering case studies of issues processed and an analysis of HAN members' perceptions. The general conclusion was that the network should be continued, and that with further development, it might serve as a model for the establishment of similar networks related to the provision of public services.
Obtaining Active Parental Consent via Telephone in Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Research
Authors: Moberg D. Paul , Piper Douglas L.
Published: March 2007

There is ongoing concern among prevention researchers about how best to obtain parental consent for participation of minors in prevention trials involving confidential, but not anonymous, data collection from longitudinal panels of subjects. The requirement of written active parental consent leads to an inordinate level of case loss and very high costs in follow-up efforts to obtain consent. Passive consent procedures have been questioned and denied by many institutional review boards. This article reports on one solution to this problem-the acceptance of verbal active parental consent, obtained by telephone as a follow-up to mailings requesting written consent. Using this approach, we were able to contact a parent for 96% of the nearly 3,000 students being recruited for the Healthy for Life evaluation.
Ecological Regression and Voting Rights
Authors: Freedman David A. , Klein Stephen P. , Sacks Jerome , Smyth Charles A. , Everett Charles G.
Published: March 2007

Ecological regression is a statistical mainstay in litigation brought under the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The technique is discussed in the context of a suit against the County of Los Angeles that came to trial in 1990. Ecological regression depends on very strong assumptions about political behavior The authors identify these assumptions and show that they are not supported by the data. Also described is an alternative "neighborhood model, " which is a priori more plausible and fits the facts better. The neighborhood model leads to quite different conclusions about voting behavior.
Use of a Panel of Experts to Establish Validity for Patient Assault Vignettes
Authors: Lanza Marilyn Lewis , Carifio James
Published: March 2007

Although vignettes are used in all areas of social science research, few vignette validation studies have been done. This article reports on the validation of a structured group of patient assault vignettes and outlines a model for the validation of vignettes. The advantages and versatility of vignettes as a data collection tool and/or a methodology are also discussed.
Counting the Homeless
Authors: Hopper Kim
Published: March 2007

A modified capture-recapture methodology was devised to monitor and assess the 1990 S-Night street count in lower Manhattan. Observers were deployed at 41 sites, selected in a quasi-random manner, from the list provided of "predesignated" street sites. Such "plants" were situated similarly to the street-dwelling homeless and should themselves have been counted Results suggest that Census Bureau enumeration of homeless people in such sites fell short of a full count. Problems included the difficulty of counting sleeping people hidden from view; the incomplete listing of sites where homeless people congregate; faulty coverage at the sites visited by Bureau enumerators; the apparent failure of enumerators to visit many of the smaller sites; and the evident reluctance of some enumerators to follow Census Bureau procedures. Attitudes of the homeless poor themselves were not a problem. Implications are drawn for alternative methods of enumeration.
Adolescent Syndromes of Risk for HIV Infection
Authors: Hennessy Michael
Published: March 2007

For a representative sample of adolescents, this article estimates the odds of various HIV risk behaviors for two groups: The General Risk Group reports behaviors indirectly related to HIV infection, and the HIV Risk Group engages in a variety of activities directly related to HIV infection. Multinomial logistic regression predicting risk group membership on the basis of demographic variables indicates heterogeneity in the combinations of risky behaviors relevant to HIV infection and the characteristics of adolescents engaging in these behaviors. The results highlight the weaknesses of behavioral risk factor studies and call into question the meaning-fulness of risk groups in public health assessments of social conditions. Finally, the article identifies the analytical process of decontextualization that operates to reduce our theoretical understanding of adolescent risk taking while also diminishing our practical ability to model and control the social causes of HIV infection.
Employment Outcomes of Ex-Offender Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Trainees
Authors: Finn Mary A. , Willoughby Katherine G.
Published: March 2007

The influence of demographic variables, barriers to employment, and type of training on employment outcomes of ex-offender (n = 521) and nonoffender (n = 734) trainees who terminated from Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) programs between July 1989 and June 1990 in Georgia is examined. Results from regression analyses indicate that ex-offender status had no influence on employment at termination or duringfollow-up. However, participants who were unemployed for 15 or more weeks prior to entry were less likely to have a job at termination and during follow-up. Participants who received employer-based training were more likely to have a job at termination and during follow-up.
Planning for the Census in the Year 2000
Authors: Freedman David A. , Wachter Kenneth W.
Published: March 2007

Considering the difficulties, the Census Bureau does a remarkably good job at counting people. There are two current techniques for evaluating or adjusting the census: (a) demographic analysis uses administrative records to make independent population estimates, which can be compared to census counts; (b) datafrom an independent sample survey can be used to estimate population coverage. If there is a large undercount, these techniques may be accurate enough for adjustment. With a small undercount, it is unlikely that current adjustment methodologies can improve on the census; instead, adjustment could easily degrade the accuracy of the data. This article reviews plans for Census 2000, including proposals for adjustment, in the light of past experience.
Evaluation of Media Advocacy Efforts Within a Community Trial To Reduce Alcohol-Involved Injury
Authors: Treno Andrew J. , Breed Larry , Holder Harold D. , Roeper Peter , Thomas Beth A. , Gruenewald Paul J.
Published: March 2007

This article examines coverage of alcohol-related topics in local newspapers as applied to a conceptual model of media advocacy being tested in a five-component community trial to reduce alcohol-involved injuries. Based on a literature review of determinants of exposure of newspaper articles, it uses a composite measure that takes into account the likelihood that given articles will be read. This measure is evaluated in terms of the timing of media advocacy training, technical consultation, and resulting media advocacy efforts. Three hypotheses find support. First, postintervention levels of coverage across expertmental communities appear generally higher than similar preintervention coverage. Second, although postintervention local and county coverage appears higher across experimental communities, no equivalent effect is present across comparison communities. Third, increases in local and county coverage in experimental communities were not matched by increases in state and national coverage in these communities.
Toward a Reliable Measure of Breast Self-Examination
Authors: Race Kathryn E.H. , Silverberg Jane A.
Published: March 2007

Breast self-examination (BSE) attitude scales are typically administered as part of face-to-face interviews or telephone surveys. The purpose of this study is to test the reliability (i.e, internal consistency) of a newly developed BSE scale that can be self-administered. The scale is made up of 24 items, each rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale. The scale items cover such issues as perceived seriousness and susceptibility to breast cancer, perceived effectiveness of breast self-examination, and personal barriers. Preliminary results were encouraging. Results of an exploratory factor analysis suggest that six factors may underlie this scale (common variance = 53%). Areas of item and scale improvements and implications for the use of this scale in health evaluation research are discussed.
Where's the Best Medicine?
Authors: Teasley C.E.
Published: March 2007

On July 18, 1994, U.S. News and World Report published its annual ranking of America's best hospitals. The rankings were based on a model developed by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC). National rankings are a type of program evaluation that deserve careful scrutiny with regard to their methods. While problems with measurement validity are discussed, the principle concern here was the model used to compile a final ranking of hospitals. The News-NORC model is typical of ranking schemes that usually reduce higher levels of measure ment to lower ones in order to compute final scores. Such simple tabulation techniques, however, distort the ratios between the scores and bias the results. A type of percentaging, using part/whole percentages (P/W%), was used to show the differences between hospital rankings when data are kept at higher levels of measurement, such as interval or ratio levels. Percentaging methods produce more valid results when comparatively evaluating programs whether the goal is to produce national rankings or some other outcome.
Can Prevention Work Where It Is Needed Most?
Authors: Gottfredson Denise C. , Gottfredson Gary D. , Skroban Stacy
Published: March 2007

This article addresses the generalizability of research showing that certain preventive interven tions reduce youth involvement in undesirable behaviors A middle school with multiple organ izational problems attempted to implement a comprehensive prevention program aimed at increasing social competencies, social bonding, and school success using program components that had been demonstrated in prior research to reduce problem behavior The program never reached the expected levels of implementation, and no dependable effects on youth behaviors or attitudes were observed. The results are placed in the context of research that has repeatedly shown that prevention programs work best in amenable settings.
"Nothing to Hide and Nothing to Advertise"
Authors: Admi Hanna
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to explore the process of managing disease-related information through various developmental stages from the inside perspective of those who live with a long-term health condition. The retrospective, longitudinal, life history method was used to generate a descriptive theoryfrom accounts constructed with 21 informants: 10 adolescents and young adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) aged 16 to 25 years, and 11 of their significant family members. People chose a specific telling strategy according to the perceived ability of the audience to deal with the information and the situational context. Four strategies of managing disease-related information emerged: visibility, direct telling, silent telling, and concealment. The informants frequently chose information management strategies that enabled an ordinary style of living. These strategies neither reflect feelings of shame nor of pride, as it is suggested in the existing literature. Implications for theory, health care practice, and further research are discussed.
Technical Notes
Authors: Michel Yvonne , Allred Charlene A.
Published: March 2007

The analysis of multidimensional constructs presents a challenge. The challenge is to combine the information from the dimensions relating to the construct in a meaningful way. This article examines a complex construct known as the nursing practice environment and describes the use of cluster analysis to combine informationfrom three dimensional measurements to operationalize the construct.
Professional Classifications of American Nurses, 1910 to 1935
Authors: Lusk Brigid
Published: March 2007

Nursing's claim to professional status is debatable. The purpose of this historical study is to describe the official classifications of American nurses as professionals or nonprofessionals, from 1910 to 1935. Labor legislation before World Warn, military decisions during that war, and federal mandates during the Great Depression resulted in differing professional classifications of nurses. Although nurse leaders aspired to traditional criteria of professionalism, such as individual responsibility and a deep, distinct body of knowledge, these criteria were subsumed bypolitical, financial, and gender issues. This study demonstrates that professional status cannot be assured by attainment of professional criteria alone, but is defined by more diverse and complex issues.
Violation in Caring for the Physically Disabled
Authors: Lillestø Britt
Published: March 2007

Based on in-depth interviews, this article reports how people with disabilities perceive and experience the care given by public health care personnel. A major and disturbingfinding is that the informants describe feelings of being violated, transgressed, and infringed upon by the personnel in charge of their care. Because of the way nurses and other health care personnel interact, patients' bodies are often perceived as objects. The article describes some of these feelings, including how the informants construct different body boundaries in order to handle the violation of their body and body zone, and it discusses some features of the health care professions that may cause the informants'feelings of being violated.
Caloric Intake Patterns of Nonpurge Binge-Eating Women
Authors: Timmerman Gayle M.
Published: March 2007

Daily caloric intake of nonpurge binge-eating women was monitored over 28 days using food diaries to determine how caloric intake patterns were related to binge eating. The majority of participants had extreme fluctuations in daily caloric intake. Caloric intake for both nonbinge days and days preceding the highest-calorie binge days was significantly lower than caloric intake on binge days and highest-calorie binge days. The lower caloric intake was not low enough to cause physiological deprivation. Although there was not physiological deprivation of calories, the individual may have felt that she ate less than desired, which may have contributed to subsequent binge eating.
The Evaluation of Motivation for Sexual Health Among Women
Authors: Abel Elizabeth , Marion Lucy N. , Seraphine Anne E.
Published: March 2007

This study conducted a psychometric evaluation of the construct validity of the Health Self-Determinism Index-Sexual (HSDI-S). The instrument was modified to measure motivation related to sexual health rather than motivation of general health in the Health Self-Determinism Index (HSDI). The HSDI-S was completed by 260 conveniently selected women (between the ages of 18 and 44) attending primary-care clinics in the southeastern United States. Confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL did not validate the four subscales of the original HSDI. Subsequent exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis isolated a single-factor model composed of eight items: four judgment items and four external/internal cues items. This finding is suggestive that changes in wording appear to have shifted the responses from motivation for sexual health to that of women's perception of their role in intimate relationships. The eight extrinsically worded items isolate a single-factor model of social and cultural influences of childbearing-age women's intimate relationships.
Cognitive Appraisal and Cardiac Risk Reduction Behavior Following Coronary Angioplasty
Authors: Kimble Laura Porter
Published: March 2007

Clinicians express concern that because percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is minimally invasive and yields rapid symptom relief, patients with successful PTCA may be too optimistic about theirfuture health status, may no longer perceive heart disease as a threat to health, and thus, may view cardiac risk-reduction behaviors as unnecessary. This study examined the relationship between patients'cognitive appraisal of PTCA (treatment appraisal and heart disease threat) and subsequent participation in cardiac risk-reduction behavior 2 weeksfollowing hospital discharge. The sample included S8subjects with successful PTCA. The majority were older, married, Caucasian men who reported participation in cardiac riskreduction behavior (not smoking, exercising regularly, andfollowing a lowfat/low sodium diet) following PTCA. Although heart disease threat was a significant negative predictor of psychological well-being, itdid notpredict self-reportedparticipation in cardiac risk-reduction behavior
The Specter of Diaspora: Transnational Citizenship and International Cinema
Authors: Abramson Bram Dov
Published: March 2007

Even as the lack of necessary congruence between national boundaries and cultural identities becomes elsewhere a point of consensus, cultural politics in Francophone North America turn exactly around the concept of a nascent nation-state and how to achieve it. How do popular media intersect with this ongoing process through the textual production of diasporic identities, both abroad and at home? How do such texts help citizenship weave diaspora's figures of internationalism and, at home, transculturalism back into the nationstate? This article addresses these questions by starting from La Florida, a popular Québécois film produced in the United States, to reexamine the figure of a Franco-Québécois community in Florida and how it unsettles the politics of nationalism in its northern adjunct. Citizenship, it is argued, becomes the interface through which regimes of value travel between state and individual, binding individual obligations with affectivities and wrapping together citizens and patriots; this, it is suggested, bears rethinking.
White Bodies and Feminist Dilemmas: On the Complexity of Positionality
Authors: Darling-Wolf Fabienne
Published: March 2007

This article is an investigation of the concept of positionality within the context of feminist cultural studies. Using Judith Newton and Judith Stacey's essay “Learning Not to Curse” as a starting point, the author explores the numerous difficulties involved in representing others and the mistakes feminist scholars have committed in their attempts to deal with the complexity of identity. The author argues that no matter how difficult and risky, speaking for others is a responsibility we must take to be politically effective, and she examines possible means to render our attempts to do so less dangerous and more useful. In particular, the author explores how our multiple selves can be employed through a politically grounded reflexivity to remind us of the complexity of representation and ground our research in the larger context in which it is produced.
The Portrayal of Research into Genetic-Based Differences of Sex and Sexual Orientation: A Study of “Popular” Science Journals, 1980 to 1997
Authors: Petersen Alan
Published: March 2007

Genetic explanations of human differences became increasingly popular in the 1980s and 1990s. Unfortunately, there has been relatively little analysis of how the media portray the findings of genetic research and how this is likely to affect the public's perceptions of genetics and people's responses to those who are defined as genetically different. This study is based on a discourse analysis of articles reporting research on genetic-based differences of sex and sexual orientation that appeared in a selection of “popular” (i.e., mass circulation) science journals published between 1980 and 1997. The study uncovered a number of enduring images of genetic research and genetic differences that underlie shifts in research foci evident during this period. The article discusses the nature of these images and implicit gender and heterosexist biases and argues the case for further analysis of how the media portrays genetic difference.
The Empiricist Tradition in Social Administration
Authors: Taylor-Gooby Peter
Published: March 2007

This article reviews the empiricist tradition that has been particularly strong in social administration. The various factors that have been identified in this tradition can be drawn together under the general category of the 'perspective of the state': it conceptualises society from the viewpoint of the welfare state, rather than attempting to analyse the relation of welfare state to society. The limitations placed on the welfare state by its place in capitalism are taken for granted and do not enter the picture.

Various accounts of how this perspective has evolved in this country are discussed. Its strength is linked to the lack of oppositional labour politics. The problems that result from the perspective are illustrated in four areas: the treatment of ideology, of the conception of need, of the failure of state welfare to substantially enhance welfare and of marxist approaches to social policy. The argument points to the capacity of the perspective of the state to assimilate critical approaches.

I am indebted to Jen Dale, Bob Deacon, Ian Gough, Sue Lakeman and Ramesh Mishra for comments on an earlier draft.
The segregation of women and their work in the personal social services
Authors: Howe David
Published: March 2007

The majority of basic grade social workers are women bet the great ma jority of management in the personal social services are men. Women in the personal social services are mare involved than men in low status tend ing work, particularly curing for the elderly. There is a vertical and hori zontal sexual division of labour in social work. The Seebohm reorganis ation extiended and strengihened male dominance in management. This paper critically reviews this situation and examines strategies for changing it. These range from more effective competition by women within present structures to radically changing the definition of skill and management roles.
Indoctrination, curriculum and the law
Authors: Gill Dawn
Published: March 2007

This paper is intended as a briefing document on recent legislation for teachers, parents, school governors and educational administrators. It aims to provide a summary and comparison of the 1986 and 1988 Educa tion Acts insofar as these refer to curriculum content; and to examine the implications of recent legislation for the development of 'multicultural' and 'anti-racist' curriculum initiatives, and the teaching of politically con troversial issues - with particular reference to history.

The paper looks closely at sections 44 and 45 of the 1986 Act because these could be used by parents and community groups to challenge offi cially sanctioned history teaching, and demand a history curriculum which is not merely a jingoistic celebration of Britain and all that is British.
Off the banner and onto the agenda: the emergence of a new municipal lesbian and gay politics, 1979-86
Authors: Cooper Davina
Published: March 2007

Drawing on original research, this paper examines the rise of lesbian and gay politics within the urban arena. It explores the process by which homosexuality made a new place for itself on the British municipal left's agenda. Over a period of 10 years, from the mid-1970s to the mid-1 980s, the construction of the homosexual problem' shifted so that minority group discrimination rather than undesirable sexual practices became Me policy-makers' target.
Smoke screen or leap forward: interagency initiatives as a response to domestic violence
Authors: Hague Gill
Published: March 2007

Multiagency work as a response to domestic violence now forms a prin cipal plank of domestic violence policy. This article reports on a major national study of the 200 or so multiagency initiatives currently existing. It discusses resources, possible competition with women's services, power, control and equality issues, and the role of government and the statutory sector. The potential marginalization of Women's Aid, and the issues involved in building a mainstream interagency response in which a social movement is centrally involved are discussed. Interagency forums are rarely accountable in any way to abused women and children who are often very little involved. However, the study found that some examples of innovative practice exist. Domestic violence interagency forums can clearly be a creative way forward, but can also be a smokescreen to disguise inaction.
Vocabularies of citizenship and gender: Finland
Authors: Anttonen Anneli
Published: March 2007

Citizenship has not been among the most popular objects of social and political theory in Finland during the last decades. However, historically it has been a central concept. It was only during the post-war welfare state development that debates on citizenship started to lose their earlier importance. One might assume that the Nordic welfare state model succeeded in solving some of the struggles around citizenship, both those based on class conflicts and those based on gender conflicts. To understand the present-day situation and the new debates emerging on citizenship in the 1990s it is important to look at the history of the formation of Finnish citizenship. My argument is that there is a Finnish- Nordic language of citizenship that does not stem directly either from liberalism or from civic-republicanism.
The Psychological Reality of the Door-in-the-Face
Authors: Tusing Kyle James , Dillard James Price
Published: March 2007

Door-in-the-face (DITF) is a sequential request technique in which a source first makes a large request. Upon the receiver’s refusal, a smaller (target) request is made. DITF has been found to increase compliance with the target request compared to control conditions where only the target request is made. Despite its effectiveness, DITF lacks a consistently supported theoretical explanation. Two studies were conducted to determine whether people see DITF as a bargaining situation, consistent with the reciprocal concessions explanation, or as a helping situation, consistent with a social responsibility explanation. In Study 1, 78 participants judged the relevance of helping and bargaining items to four DITF interactions. In Study 2, 80 participants rated the similarity of a DITF interaction to four interactions that crossed situation (helping versus bargaining) with relationship (friend versus stranger). Results of both studies were consistent with a social responsibility explanation of DITF but inconsistent with reciprocal concessions.
Off-Target Verbosity Evokes Negative Stereotypes of Older Adults
Authors: Ruscher Janet B. , Hurley Megan M.
Published: March 2007

Off-target verbosity is the inclusion of irrelevant information into an inappropriately lengthy narrative and is a characteristic exhibited by about 20% of older people. This experiment demonstrated that off-target verbosity elicited negative stereotypes of older adults among younger listeners. The talkative speaker who remained on-target did not elicit stereotypes as strongly, however, and even helped listeners remember details of the speaker’s narrative.
The Mistiming of Applause in Political Speeches
Authors: Bull Peter , Noordhuizen Merel
Published: March 2007

According to Atkinson, speakers at political meetings invite applause through rhetorical devices, which indicate when and where applause is appropriate. Hence, speech and applause are characterized by a high degree of synchronization. Thus, incidences of unsynchronized applause are of considerable theoretical interest. An analysis of such mismatches is reported based on six speeches delivered by the three leaders of the principal British political parties to their respective party conferences in 1996 and 1997. Only a mean 61% of applause incidences were fully synchronized with speech. Four principal types of mismatch were identified: isolated applause, delayed applause, interruptive applause, and applause interrupted by the speaker. Mismatches occurred when rhetorical devices were ineffective. They also occurred in the absence of rhetorical devices when applause was not invited. It is concluded that Atkinson’s theory of rhetoric needs to be modified to take account of a distinction between invited and uninvited applause.
Conversation Topics and Communication Satisfaction in Grandparent-Grandchild Relationships
Authors: Lin Mei-Chen , Harwood Jake , Bonnesen Jaye L.
Published: March 2007

This article investigated college students’ and their grandparents’ (n = 103 dyads) reports of topics in conversation with each other. For grandparents and grandchildren, family and education were the two most frequently mentioned topics. Other popular topics were leisure and friendship for both grandparents and grandchildren. Acluster analysis was performed to group the grandparent-grandchild dyads according to their topic reports. Four dyadic clusters were identified: family relationships, social activity talk, social and work talk, and impersonal events. Grandparents and grandchildren demonstrated moderate levels of agreement in the topics they reported. No association was found between reports of topics and communication satisfaction whether the reported topics were treated individually or dyadically. Theoretical implications for the literature on intergenerational communication both within and outside of family contexts are discussed.
On Judging the Ends of Speaker Turns in Conversation
Authors: Stephens Jane , Beattie Geoffrey
Published: March 2007

This study sought to determine if subjects could discriminate turn-final and turn-medial utterances taken from different types of natural conversation and presented out of context. The main aim of the study was to see if subjects could make this distinction when presented with either an audio recording of the utterances, thus testing the role of prosody, paralanguage plus syntax and semantics in the turn-taking process, or a typescript of the utterances which served to control for the effects of syntax and semantics. The study also investigated whether perceived drawl was associated with turn endings and if judgements about the apparent presence of drawl on the final or stressed syllable of the terminal clause correlated with the ability to distinguish turn-final and turn-medial utterances. The study revealed that subjects could discriminate tum-final and turn-medial utterances but only when presented with an audio recording of the samples and in addition when these samples were taken from conversations involving disagreement (but not from those conversations involving agreement). Subjects were found not to distinguish turn-final and turn-medial utterances in terms of the perception of drawl, when the extracts were presented in random order, but they could do this when the extracts from each individual speaker were presented consecutively. The perceived presence of drawl did not, however, seem to correlate with the judgement of the completion to turns. The results demonstrate the importance of prosodic and paralinguistic elements in the regulation of speaker turns in conversation.
Language and Social Identity: Israelis Abroad
Authors: McNamara T. F.
Published: March 2007

This paper explores the potential of social identity theory for explaining language attitudes and language maintenance and shift in an immigrant group. It reports a study of Israeli native speakers of Hebrew and their children in Melbourne from an intergroup perspective. The study investigates the Israelis' perceptions of the new intergroup setting in which as immigrants they find themselves and the social categories salient within it. As yordim (a Hebrew word with negative connotations referring to Israelis living permanently abroad) the subjects in the study report that they are stigmatised by Israelis remaining in Israel and by the wider Jewish community in Melbourne; this stigma is to some extent internalised. With reference to the Gentile community, subjects are stigmatised both as immigrants and more particularly as Jews, an experience which the intergroup situation in Israel precludes. The multiple group membership of subjects (yordim, Jews, immigrants) is a key to understanding the intergroup relations involved. It was hypothesised that the transformation of the social identity of the subjects is accompanied by language attitudes favouring English over Hebrew among the immigrants and a rapid shift to English among their children. This was confirmed in the data.
The Effects of Sex Dialects and Sex Stereotypes on Speech Evaluations
Authors: Lawrence Samuel G. , Hopper Robert
Published: March 2007

Two studies examined the effects of male and female 'dialects' and sex stereotypes on speech evaluations. Although sex-linked language effects have explained more evaluative variance than stereotypes, the persistence of these effects across a range of conversational contexts is uncertain. Study 1 supported the dialect hypothesis across two stimulus conversations but did not support the stereotype hypothesis. Study 2 found dialect and stereotype effects to be conversation-specific. Men's speech was rated higher in dynamism and socio-intellectual status than women's speech in only one of four conversations. Attributed male speakers were rated as more dynamic than attributed female speakers in two work settings. The conversation-specific nature of dialect and stereotype effects suggested a reconceptualisation of men's and women's speech as interactional achievements and a need for research on contextual cues in work environments that evoke stereotyping.
Communication Conflicts of Status and Authority in Dyadic, Task-Based Interactions
Authors: Palmer Mark T. , Lack Abby M. , Lynch Jeanne C.
Published: March 2007

Status generalization theory predicts that high-status individuals will automatically assume high-authority roles controlling task-based interactions. However, temporary task demands may require low-status individuals to assume high-authority positions. If status generalizes, role conflicts may occur when high-status partners fail to yield control to low-status partners. lb test status generalization in legitimate role-reversal situations, airplane pilot crews who represented high- and low-status partners (i.e., captains and first officers)flew simulated missions during which transfers of authority (i.e.,pilotflying to pilot not flying) occurred. Results showed captains initiated more transfers and used more direct commands in initiations of transfers of authority than did first officers, even when captains were in low-authority roles. Only when using mitigated commands did first officers in high-authority positions initiate more transfers than did captains. Performative speech acts were shown to be effective, conventional devices for enacting transfers of authority.
"Germany will be One Single Concrete Block..."
Authors: Sommer Carlo Michael , Rettig Heike , Kiefer Lydia , Frankenhauser Dieter
Published: March 2007

This study analyses the effects of point of view on reference to topic aspects in dyadic discussions in which interlocutors disagreed. A total of 18 dyadic discussions about restrictions on immigration into Germany (one proponent of restrictions and one opponent) were analysed, using a category system of seven main aspects and 37 sub aspects. From linguistic perspectivity theory, it was proposed that different points of view would lead to differences in frequency and quality of reference to main aspects and sub aspects. Results indicated that both groups referred to the same pool of aspects. Proponents of restrictions, however, referred more often to the sub aspect "population density in Germany" than did opponents. In addition, proponents stressed "economic reasons for immigration," whereas opponents emphasised "global economic interrelations" and "moral responsibility for refugees. "A qualitative analysis of the sequential interactive use of aspect showed different patterns of aspect negotiation in the dialogues, suggesting directions for future research on such negotiation processes in naturally occurring dialogues.
An Evolutionary Psychology of Gricean Cooperation
Authors: Cappella Joseph N.
Published: March 2007

Human interaction is fundamentally cooperative in the Gricean sense. This implies that people try to make conversational contributions that are relevant to the conversation's direction and that listeners attempt to interpret the contributions of their partners as if they were relevant, even when they are obviously irrelevant. Even examples of conscious exploitation of the cooperative principle by unscrupulous actors help to prove the cooperative principle precisely because there is a principle that can be easily exploited. This article asks why this principle should occupy so central a place in interaction. Because people can be exploited by observing the cooperative principle, why should the reverse principle not be the rule? At first glance, evolutionary theory might seem to suggest that an uncooperative principle should have evolved rather than a cooperative principle. The author argues that a cooperative principle is not only not at odds with evolutionary theory but also a necessary consequence of social evolution.
Linguistic Masking Devices and Intergroup Behavior
Authors: Cole Tim , Leets Laura
Published: March 2007

This research extends growing work on the interplay between language and social cognition by examining the use of linguistic masking devices in an intergroup context. The authors conducted three studies to explore the use offour lower-level masking devices identified as influential in creating differing versions of reality. In Study 1, African American and Caucasian students read one news brief involving an encounter between Caucasian police officers and African American males and then were asked to generate headlines describing the event. These headlines were content analyzed according to permutation, truncation, generalization, and nominalization. Results were inconclusive, and a follow-up study (Study 2) examined the differential use of these masking devices in headlines written by Caucasian police officers and African American respondents. A final study was conducted (Study 3) to rule out the possibility that the differential use of linguistic masking devices was due to factors other than intergroup bias.
Theoretical and Methodological Principles of the Equivocation Project
Authors: Bavelas Janet Beavin
Published: March 2007

The theoretical framework of this long-term research project on equivocation includes three essential principles: (a) An interesting and unexplained phenomenon is worth studying for itself, by inductive methods; (b) communicative acts are part of a communicative sequence; and (c) the methods must keep the phenomenon in its communicative sequence. The article explicates these principles and applies them to other research, including the studies in this special issue. The broader issue is the cumulative nature of research, that is, how to judge when a new study adds to, confirms, or disconfirms a body of work versus when new studies take such a different direction that they do not bear on previous work.
Language Attitudes and Speech Behavior
Authors: Ray George B. , Zahn Christopher J.
Published: March 2007

This study analyzed New Zealand listener attitudes toward a New Zealand English speaker and a Standard American English speaker. The speakers altered levels of pitch variation and rate in their delivery of standard content messages. On balance, the impact of the paralinguistic behaviors was greater than that of accent.
From Transactions to Transformations
Authors: Gronn Peter
Published: March 2007

This article reviews recent developments in leadership. It discusses the shift towards the language of performance outcomes used increasingly to describe leaders and leadership and the changing political and economic environments in which educational leaders act. Theories have polarized around transformational and managerial leadership, the former emphasizing the personalities and action of individuals, and the latter stressing a rational, structural approach. Both create the impression of newness and difference but display strong continuities with previous theories of leadership. The significance on follower perspectives of leadership is highlighted and alternative methodological approaches emphasizing historical and comparative contexts are outlined. The paper concludes with an example of visionary leadership in education.
The Partnership Model of Post Graduate Certificate in Education Courses
Authors: Brooks Val
Published: March 2007

The concept of teacher training as a partnership between schools and higher education for the preparation of secondary school teachers was formalized in the early 1990s in the wake of the publication of Circular 9/92. This paper considers how aspects of this new policy are working in the context of the PGCE course. In particular, it explores the impact on one another of (1) the concept of a training partnership between schools and higher education, and (2) the freedom of individual partnerships to frame their own programmes. It demonstrates the extent to which practices are at a variance with the intentions of key policy documents and examines some of the management implications this has for schools and higher education institutions.
Changes in the Field of Educational Administration in the United States from 1967 to 1996 as a Revitalization Movement
Authors: Burlingame Martin , Harris Edward L.
Published: March 2007

Changes in the field of educational administration in the United States from 1967 to 1996 have been viewed previously as paradigm shifts or historical changes. In this paper the authors argue that these changes are best viewed as revitalization movements. Revitalization movements are deliberate attempts by individuals and groups to create a more satisfying culture: such movements move through a series of stages. Using historical materials from the period 1967 to 1996, the stages are examined. It is suggested that revitalization stages not only best explain changes in the field of educational administration but also suggest important consequences about the shape of the field.