bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Stress Process among Dementia Spouse Caregivers
Authors: Gallant Mary P. , Connell Cathleen M
Published: March 2007

This study examines the relationship between the demands of providing care to a spouse with dementia and caregiver health behaviors, specifically exercise, sleep patterns, weight maintenance, smoking, and alcohol consumption. Structural equation modeling was used to test a model predicting health behavior change from personal and environmental characteristics, perceived stress, social support, and depressive symptoms in a sample of 233 spouse caregivers of dementia patients and to examine gender differences in these relationships. Results support the hypothesis that caregiving negatively influences health behaviors. Among both women and men, health behavior change is directly influenced by depressive symptoms and objective burden. In addition, depressive symptoms mediate the effects of self-efficacy and objective burden on health behavior change. These results support the notion that health behavior change may represent one mechanism by which caregiving stress leads to adverse health outcomes.
Comparative Perspectives on Living with HIV/AIDS in Late Life
Authors: Sankar Andrea , Luborsky Mark , Rwabuhemba Tim , Songwathana Praneed
Published: March 2007

The effects of HIV/AIDS on different societies spanning the globe are only beginningto be described. This article describes HIV/AIDS's emerging impact and consequences for families and societies around the globe, with a primary focus onmiddle-aged and older members. It first provides the current data on the evolvinginternational profile of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Then, using primary sources andpublished data, it explores three contrasting nation/state settings (Uganda, Thailand,and India) to describe the cultural, social structural, and family consequences ofHIV/AIDS. Findings include identification of emerging and potential strains on corecultural practices related to social integration at the community and family levels, aswell as shifts in normative role relationships between multiple generations. Directand indirect challenges to core moral and ethical issues beyond those simply relatedto infectious disease prevention and treatment are also identified. Finally, this articledraws on these explorations to formulate several key priorities for future research andpractice related to HIV/AIDS among older adults.
Humanitarian Intervention and Peacekeeping in the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
Authors: Mcneill Terry
Published: March 2007

The following analysis looks at attempts to maintain peace and provide humanitarian succour in the cases of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. What is suggested is that the very vagueness of the concepts of peacekeeping and humanitarian intervention creates serious ambiguities which can be exploited—as, it is argued, Russia has been doing—to cover hegemonic ambitions. The article concludes that the international community is not yet ready to face up to its humanitarian responsibilities in this region and that the adverse experience of Yugoslavia, while highlighting the inadequacies of existing agencies and their likely inability to determine a long-term outcome to the conflict, has probably diminished the chances of interventions in similar circumstances in the foreseeable future, and thus, perversely, actually undermined the chances of creating effective peacekeeping rules and instruments.
Barriers to Divorce
Authors: KNOESTER CHRIS , BOOTH ALAN
Published: March 2007

This study explores the perceived importance of eight barriers to divorce, their correlation with objective circumstances, and the effectiveness of both perceived barriers and objective indicators of barriers as predictors of subsequent divorce. The findings indicate that married individuals perceive a variety of barriers to be very important to keeping one's marriage intact. However, perceived barriers do not correlate substantially with objective circumstances nor are they very effective in deterring subsequent divorce—especially after accounting for respondents' divorce proneness. Objective indicators have slightly stronger associations with subsequent divorce but do not weaken the conclusion that barriers are not very effective deterrents to divorce.
Parents' and Children's Friendship Networks
Authors: UHLENDORFF HARALD
Published: March 2007

Parents are considered as more or less supportive for children's friendships. In this study, it is investigated whether parents' own friendships can facilitate children's friendships and enrich children's cognitions about friendships. Data were collected on children's peer relationships and children's concepts of friendship ( N = 116; 52 girls and 64 boys; 7 to 12 years old). Corresponding data on parental social networks, including friendships and kin relationships, were available. Results show that the more friends with whom parents spent leisure time and who were nominated by parents, the more friendships with nonclassmates were named by their children. Additionally, when parents had more friends, their children in late-middle childhood (ages 10 to 12 years) had more close reciprocated friendships with classmates. This was not true for children in early-middle childhood (ages 7 to 9 years). The more friendships that were maintained by parents, the more developed were children's friendship concepts. Parents' relationships with relatives did not predict children's friendships or children's friendship concepts.
Polish Families
Authors: TEMPLE BOGUSIA
Published: March 2007

This article describes why the author came to use a narrative approach in research with Polish people. The author looks at the problems in defining Polish families given that defining both Polish and family is not straightforward. A narrative approach enables a researcher to evaluate such complex categorizations and the links between them. At its best, such an approach involves more than a content analysis of an interview. It entails a focus on the structure of an account and its purpose as much as on its contents to examine the context in which it is given.
“Grandma, What Big Teeth You Have!”
Authors: HANKS ROMA STOVALL
Published: March 2007

Business interest in grandparenting is growing as the baby boom generation becomes eligible for grandparenthood. Although only about 10% of grandparents have primary caregiving responsibilities for their grandchildren, academic research today focuses disproportionately on problems and policies of grandparent caregivers. This article examines the social construction of grandparenting by business and academe. Evidence for the construction of grandparent roles is provided from two sources: a case study of strategic business philanthropy targeting grandparents and a review of academic research on grandparenting. Data from three focus groups and a survey of 180 grandparents are provided. Four types of business involvement are discussed.
Human Capital as a Fertility Determinant in an Economically Developed Homogeneous Population
Authors: SCHWARZ-MILLER ANN
Published: March 2007

This study analyzes the relationship between human capital and fertility in West Germany, an economically developed homogeneous society that has been characterized by low and declining birthrates, a rise in educational levels, and increasing female labor force participation for more than a decade and a half. The theoretical links between human capital and fertility are first explored within the framework of an informal household optimization model drawn from the economics of fertility literature. Cross-sectional empirical relationships are then assessed using OLS regression techniques. The impact of educational measures on desired family size is found to be statistically weaker than in prior studies. Evidence is presented for the existence of a general time trend in tastes as a source of falling fertility. It is argued that these results may stem from the existence of strong norms and other special characteristics of the society, casting doubt on the validity of the economic model in such a setting.
Predicting the Divorce Rate
Authors: KEMPER THEODORE D.
Published: March 2007

Although the divorce rate is relatively high at present, it has reached what appears to be a plateau and there are some reasons for thinking that it will begin to decrease in the near future. Ten grounds for such a conclusion are cited here: decline in marriage rate; older age at marriage; higher proportion of single persons; mental health improvement in the population; upper limit on women in the labor force; slowdown in geographic mobility; end of the “cultural revolution”; end of “anomie of affluence”; exhaustion of latency effect of no-fault divorce laws; and a growing fear of the consequences of divorce. As with all predictions, the underlying assumption is that these causal conditions will continue for some time.
The Stepparent Role
Authors: GILES-SIMS JEAN
Published: March 2007

Borrowing both conceptual framework and methodological suggestions from Nye's study of emerging roles, this article explores three different aspects of parental roles in reconstituted families: (1) the expectations from persons in that social position, (2) the typical or modal behavior of persons in that social position, and (3) sanctions associated with nonperformance of role expectations. The analysis of indepth interviews with one member of 99 remarried families with children indicates that (1) stepparents are expected to share equally in child-rearing duties in over half of the families, but less than natural parents, (2) equal sharing of decisions regarding children characterized less than a third of the sample, and (3) sanctions for stepparents who refuse to bring up stepchildren are not as strong as those for natural parents. A sizable proportion of reconstituted families differs considerably from the two-parent family model. Discussion focuses on whether this variation is always or necessarily problematic.
The Family and the Urban Underclass
Authors: KELLY ROBERT F.
Published: March 2007

The major innovation of the concept of an underclass is that it treats dependent welfare women and poor urban male criminals as a single social group. A major source of the concept is an implicit synthesis of two bodies of economic theory and research—namely, human capital and dual labor market theory. This synthesis is best exemplified by the National Supported Work Demonstration. A major limitation of the synthesis is that it lacks a clear articulation of the influence of the family in underclass behavior. A theoretical framework is presented here that integrates family theory with the synthesized economic theory of the underclass. The integrated framework is used to examine the impact of current and proposed child support enforcement practices on the underclass.
The Transition to Parenthood and Marital Quality
Authors: WHITE LYNN K. , BOOTH ALAN
Published: March 2007

An extensive literature demonstrates a negative correlation between the presence of children and marital quality. Few of these studies are designed to test the reasons for this relationship. Using a national panel study, we examine two possible paths: that people who choose to have children differ from those who do not in ways that affect marital quality, and that having a child changes marital structure and process. The results of the analysis support neither hypothesis. Although marital quality deteriorated over the three-year period, the transition to parenthood does not seem to affect changes in marital happiness, interaction, disagreements, division of labor, satisfaction with division of labor, or number of marital problems. Having a child did, however, seem to deter divorce and permanent separation.
Intergenerational Influences on the Parent-Infant Relationship in the Transition to Parenthood
Authors: COX MARTHA J. , OWEN MARGARET T. , LEWIS JERRY M. , RIEDEL CYNTHIA , SCALF-McIVER LYNDA , SUSTER ANA
Published: March 2007

In this study, questions were addressed concerning the intergenerational transmission of parent-child relationships in couples going through the transition to parenthood. During the second trimester of their first pregnancy, couples provided information concerning experiences of parenting in their family of origin, then were reinterviewed and observed interacting with their infants at 3 months postpartum. It was expected that when these young adults had reported prenatally better parenting by their parents on specific parenting variables, they in turn would experience early parenthood more adaptively and would show better parenting with their own infants. The results provide support for this hypothesis.
Family Change and the Concept of Motherhood in China
Authors: HARE-MUSTIN RACHEL T. , HARE SHARON E.
Published: March 2007

This study considers family development and attitudes toward motherhood in light of changing roles of women in China. The effects of revolutionary events and government policies on marriage and the traditional family are presented based on interviews conducted in China and a review of the literature. Attitudes toward motherhood were investigated using a method adapted from linguistics with 80 subjects that generated a lexicon to describe “mother.” Motherhood was not romanticized, but certain familiar themes found in comparable research in the United States were frequent, such as hard work, sacrificing, and caring. Two distincive themes were the mother as teacher and model and the attribute of courage. Comparisons of mothers and fathers as well as the importance of food management are discussed. Chinese still regard the family as the mainstay of society, and the mother is seen as being at the core of the family.
Psychological Well-Being Among Parents and Nonparents
Authors: MENAGHAN ELIZABETH G.
Published: March 2007

Recent work on social roles and psychological well-being suggests that parenthood appears to be an exception to the general finding that participation in normatively expectable social roles is associated with higher well-being. This article argues that both parents and non-parents vary among themselves in the normative expectedness of their situations. Using data from a representative community sample of 945 adults aged 22-64 living in the Chicago urbanized area, six categories of parents and nonparents are distinguished, and the extent to which variations in the normative expectedness of their parental experiences explain observed differences in well-being is examined. Multivariate analyses suggest that parental situation effects vary by gender and extent of economic pressures. Childlessness that has persisted beyond age 30 has a greater negative impact on women, while living apart from minor-age children is more negative for men. The older childless, and both empty nest parents and delayed launchers, are more negatively affected by economic pressures than are other groups. These findings extend previous arguments that the effects of major adult roles vary with the normative expectedness of experiences.
Welfare Receipt Among Black and White Adolescent Mothers
Authors: RUDD NANCY M. , McKENRY PATRICK C. , NAH MYUNGKYUN
Published: March 2007

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were analyzed to determine whether the impact of adolescent childbearing on women's subsequent contact with the welfare system differed for Black and White women. Results of a path analysis indicate that there were distinctive differences between young Black and White women in the way early childbearing influences welfare receipt over an 8-year period. These differences are not fully apparent unless both direct and indirect effects of predictor variables are taken into account.
Flextime
Authors: CHRISTENSEN KATHLEEN E. , STAINES GRAHAM L.
Published: March 2007

Flextime, a work schedule that permits flexible starting and quitting times, has gained wide currency as a partial solution to conflicts between work and family life. This article aims to review the existing research regarding the advantages and disadvantages of flextime to both employers and employees; to evaluate the effects of flextime on resolving work/family conflicts; and to establish future programmatic, research, and policy directions regarding flextime. Research indicates that no compelling case can be made for flextime solely on the grounds of employers' conventional concerns with organizational effectiveness, organizational membership, or job attitudes. Research reveals, further, that flextime is beneficial in resolving work/family conflicts, but not as beneficial as often hoped. Future research should include the following: (a) greater sensitivity than is currently available regarding the use of, not just access to, flextime; (b) more attention to the needs of different subgroups as defined by stage in life cycle and family type; and (c) the use of dependent measures that would assess the effect of flextime in terms of quality as well as quantity of family time. We think it likely that the better the research, the more compelling will be the evidence for the effectiveness of flextime.
Poverty, Children, and Public Policies
Authors: KELLY ROBERT F. , RAMSEY SARAH H.
Published: March 2007

The articles in the special issue on Families, Poverty, and Public Policies focus on poor families with children and develop a central theme: that current policies are not sufficiently responsive to the emerging reality of large numbers of children living in poverty. This article first provides a context for considering the results reported in these articles by noting recent public policy, demographic, and socioeconomic trends that will influence these families in the future. Second, the articles are briefly reviewed and compared with an emphasis on demonstrating the need for diversity in programs to respond to the diverse needs of these families. Third, a research agenda related to the articles is discussed. The conclusion of the article addresses the role of research in the policy process.
The Marital Helping Relationship Following Pregnancy Loss and Infant Death
Authors: SMART LAURA S.
Published: March 2007

Few studies have examined the therapeutic helping relationship within married couples, and those that have done so have considered stressor events that affect one spouse more than the other. This qualitative study of couples who experienced pregnancy loss and infant death explores the emotional support that spouses give to their partner. A minority of couples did not provide support to each other. In most couples, however, the support was described by both partners as mutual. Among all couples who provided mutual support, most of these perceived a fairly even exchange; some saw the husband as providing more support than he received, and one couple felt that the wife had been the primary helper. Couples who provided very little support to each other were helped by attending a peer support group.
Adoption Actions and Attitudes of Couples Seeking In Vitro Fertilization
Authors: WILLIAMS LINDA S.
Published: March 2007

This exploratory study examines the adoption actions and attitudes of 16 childless women, and the husbands of 14 of these women, who applied for or underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Ontario, Canada, between 1984 and 1987. Interview data reveal that IVF and adoption were sought concurrently by most of these couples and that wives were more in favor of adoption than were husbands. The author concludes that the continued importance of the biological tie between parent and child plus the current lack of “adoptable” babies will ensure that the demand for IVF remains high. However, unless the success rate of IVF increases dramatically, IVF couples will also continue to seek adoption.
Consequences of Parent-Adult Child Coresidence
Authors: WARD RUSSELL A. , SPITZE GLENNA
Published: March 2007

Coresidence by parents and adult children is not preferred or normative, but neither is it uncommon. Contrary to expectations based on caregiving for frail older parents, such coresidence more typically reflects the housing needs of the coresident children, who are disproportionately unmarried and living in households of parents. Although limited research on consequences of coresidence indicates that it is not generally characterized by dissatisfaction and conflict, considerable gaps remain in understanding its implications for parent child relations and well-being. Conceptual approaches related to life course transitions and exchange relations are used as theoretical frameworks to develop research hypotheses. Methodological and empirical issues are also discussed to guide further investigations of the nature and outcomes of parent-child coresidence.
The Effects of Attitudes Toward Family Life and Gender Roles on Marital Satisfaction
Authors: LYE DIANE N. , BIBLARZ TIMOTHY J.
Published: March 2007

This study examines the relationship between the gender role and family attitudes of husbands and wives and five indicators of marital satisfaction. The authors argue that men and women who espouse nontraditional attitudes are likely to be less satisfied than their more traditional counterparts. An empirical analysis is presented using data from husbands and wives interviewed in the 1987-88 National Survey of Families and Households. Husbands and wives who hold nontraditional attitudes toward family life are less satisfied with their marriages, as are men and women whose attitudes diverge from their spouse's attitudes. The effects of attitudes did not vary according to the actual gender roles observed by the couple.
Developing a Middle-Range Theory of Father Involvement Postdivorce
Authors: IHINGER-TALLMAN MARILYN , PASLEY KAY , BUEHLER CHERYL
Published: March 2007

The problem addressed in the article is why so many fathers remove themselves from their children's lives after divorce. The authors develop a theory that offers a partial explanation of this phenomena based on the potential for change in the salience of a man's identity as a father postdivorce. Propositions are developed and hypotheses are derived from symbolic interaction and identity theory. The authors define and interrelate the concepts of identity, saliency, commitment, and significant others to explain father presence or absence postdivorce across time. The theory further isolates a number of variables that are expected to moderate (strengthen or weaken) the relationship between father parenting-role identity and father involvement. Identifying modifiers enables the authors to stipulate why some fathers are more involved with their children following separation by explaining the conditions under which father identity becomes translated into a patterned set of behaviors.
Gender Differences in Parent-Child Relations
Authors: STARRELS MARJORIE E.
Published: March 2007

This article uses longitudinal data from the National Survey of Children to examine parent-child relationships in middle childhood and early adolescence. It analyzes parental nurturance, closeness, discipline, and authoritativeness by gender of parent and child. Logistic and OLS regression models of supportive parenting are also presented. Fathers are much more involved with sons and tend to concentrate on more instrumental facets of support, whereas mothers tend to be more supportive across genders in the traditional, affective sense. Results also suggest that children's, mother's, and couple/spouse's characteristics are robust predictors of supportive parenting. Fathers' traits are related only to relations with daughters. This article specifies further theoretical and substantive implications such as the relative influence of formal versus informal marital power and the distinction between child rearing and housework in examining the household division of labor. It also suggests areas for future research, including the implications of parent-child relations for marital and sibling relations.
The Assimilation Model, Family Life, and Race and Ethnicity in the United States
Authors: WILLIAMS NORMA , HIMMEL KELLY F. , SJOBERG ANDRÉE F. , TORREZ DIANA J.
Published: March 2007

In this article we assert that it is necessary to better understand the assimilation model of racial and ethnic relations in order to comprehend more fully the contemporary debate over minority welfare mothers. We analyze the origins of the assimilation model in the debate over Indian policy in the 19th-century United States and its role in 20th-century social thought and policy toward other racial and ethnic minorities. We then examine three critical weaknesses of the model as they appear in assimilation programs based on the model. Finally, we return to the debate over assisting minority single mothers and show how the assimilation model has shaped that debate from the turn of the century to the present day.
Guilt, Shame, and Family Socialization
Authors: ABELL ELLEN , GECAS VIKTOR
Published: March 2007

In this study, we argue for the importance of guilt and shame for the process of socialization via the role of these reflexive emotions in individuals' conformity to moral and social norms. Working from the assumption that the self-concept is the basis for feelings of guilt and shame, we test a number of hypotheses connecting the experience of these emotions to 3 styles of parental control (inductive, affective, and coercive). Undergraduate students ( N = 270) completed questionnaires designed to assess their proneness to feelings of guilt and shame in situations of norm violations, and through retrospective reports the disciplinary practices of each of their parents. Results supported hypothesized connections between inductive control and guilt, and between affective control and shame. The associations between parental control, guilt, and shame in situations of intentional and unintentional norm violations differed depending on the gender of the parent relative to the gender of the child and on the interaction of parental control with parental support. These associations and the implications of the use of affective control as a moral socialization strategy are discussed.
Factors Related to the Quality of the Home Environment and Children's Achievement
Authors: BAHARUDIN ROZUMAH , LUSTER TOM
Published: March 2007

This study tested Belsky's model of the determinants of parenting. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), the study focused on 898 mothers (African Americans, n = 347; Caucasians, n = 551) and their 6- to 8-year-old children. Consistent with Belsky's model, mothers who provided better quality home environments had higher levels of education, intelligence, and self-esteem. Mothers with higher family incomes, fewer children, and higher marital quality provided more supportive home environments. In addition, age and gender of the children were significantly related to the quality of the children's home environments. Additional analyses indicated that the quality of the home environment that mothers of both ethnic groups provided was related to their children's achievement.
Stress and Adaptation Among Male and Female Single Parents
Authors: HEATH D. TERRI , ORTHNER DENNIS K.
Published: March 2007

The reconciliation of work and family demands places unusual stress on many single-parent families. Using a 1995 random sample of single fathers ( n = 346) and single mothers ( n = 364) in military communities, we explored the relationship between gender and the ability of parents to manage work and family responsibilities. Using ANOVA and discriminant function analyses, we found no gender differences in the proportion of single parents who perceived they were successful at managing family and work responsibilities. However, there were significant gender differences in how men and women use supportive, financial, and organizational resources and how each parent adapts to the inherent demands of competing work and family roles.
Marital Messages
Authors: BROWNING SANDRA LEE , MILLER R. ROBIN
Published: March 2007

It is an expected norm within our society for women to be married. This research asks Black women about the messages they received about marriage while they were growing up and the messages they in turn pass on to their children about marriage. The various responses denote either a culturalist representation of marriage (i.e., marriages are temporary) or a structuralist interpretation that realizes the messages one receives about marriage are affected by the social and economic realities of the women and their families. To ascertain the information on the messages received and transmitted by women, a survey questionnaire was administered to 286 Black women who lived in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Beyond a Boundary?
Authors: Silk Michael , Andrews David L.
Published: March 2007

The penetration of local cultures by the economics and imagery of global capitalism represents the latest and most sophisticated attempt by transnational corporations to command the widest possible market base and thereby accrue the benefits derived from the realization of colossal economies of scale. Rather than attempting to neuter cultural difference through a strategic global uniformity, many corporations have acknowledged that securing a profitable global presence necessitates negotiating within the language of the local. This article outlines some of the ways that sport—as a de facto cultural shorthand—has been appropriated within and through the advertising campaigns of transnational corporations as a means of contributing toward the constitution and experiencing of national cultures. As such, this article examines the role played by transnational corporations and their promotional armatures in reimagining national cultures, introduces the concept of cultural Toyotism as a means of understanding the manner in which transnational entities negotiate the global-local nexus, and explicates empirical examples of the contrasting processes whereby sport has been used as a means of constituting the nation within the advertising discourses of transnational corporate entities.
The Importance of a Church Youth Club’s Sport Provision to Continued Church Involvement
Authors: Carpenter Paul
Published: March 2007

Using a commitment model grounded in psychological and sociological theory, this study examined church youth club participation and its impact on continued church involvement. Adolescent members (N = 141) of a contemporary Christian church were surveyed, and their commitment to the church and its sport, social, and Christian activities were assessed. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that commitment to the social and Christian activities accounted for 56% and 50% of the variance in continued involvement for male and female youth, respectively. A multivariate analysis of variance provided partial support for hypothesized gender differences in sport commitment. Male youth (n = 76) scored higher on commitment, enjoyment and investment, involvement opportunities, and social support than female youth (n = 65). Overall, the results suggest that social activities are important to continued church involvement and that the value of sport lies in its capacity to promote social interaction.
Women, Sport, and Globalization
Authors: Stevenson Deborah
Published: March 2007

Both sport and the associated images of sporting bodies that are routinely packaged for the consumption of international audiences are heavily gendered. However, academic analyses of the trend to global sport have rarely considered the situation of women and their relationships as participants or consumers to sport and its imagery. Women’s sporting contests almost never receive the media coverage required to enter the national, let alone the global, sporting marketplaces; consequently, women and their sports are rendered marginal. But women occupy complex, often contradictory, positions in the global media-sport nexus that require investigation in relation to the sports they play and the dominant images of the media. It is some of these issues that this article investigates. Using the media coverage of the Australian Tennis Open as a touchstone, the article explores the contradictory ways in which women players were represented and “packaged” for the consumption of the Australian audiences.
War Minus the Shooting?
Authors: Garland Jon , Rowe Mike
Published: March 2007

The European Championship held in England during June 1996 marked an important stage in the popular rehabilitation of football in Britain. Coupled with the financial revolution that has been occasioned by revenue the game now receives from television companies and sponsors, events such as Euro 96 have seen football become a major aspect of popular culture. Such a transformation would have been unthinkable to many during earlier periods when the game was widely regarded as a ‘slum sport,’ unloved by mainstream society. This article explores the press coverage of the England team’s progress in Euro 96 and argues that the xenophobia that was in abundant evidence cannot be understood in isolation from broader social and political trends. Furthermore, the relation between militarism and the sporting ethic is considered, and it is suggested that the discourse of warfare now tends to inform popular representations of sport, reversing the relationship between the two which characterized earlier periods.
GENDER EQUITY IN SPORTS MEDIA COVERAGE: A REVIEW OF THE NCAA NEWS
Authors: Shifflett Bethany , Revelle Rhonda
Published: March 2007

To determine the extent to which coverage of male and female collegiate athletes, coaches, and their sports have been similar in the NCAA News, a review of relevant (related to athletes, coaches, or sport events) articles and all pictures from selected issues published in 1988 and 1991 was conducted. In addition to a direct comparison of space allotted to male and female athletes, coaches and their sports, the location of all articles and pictures was examined. With respect to the allocation of space, 297 paragraphs using 731 square inches were devoted to women compared to 820 paragraphs using 1,788 square inches devoted to men. A similar pattern was present for pictures, with 49 pictures using 227 square inches allotted to women and 95 pictures using 784 square inches allocated to male athletes, coaches, or sports. These findings demonstrate a pattern of underrepresentation for female athletes similar to that found in other print media.
INEQUALITY IN SPORT, THE CORPORATION, AND THE STATE: AN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL SCIENTISTS
Authors: Kidd Bruce
Published: March 2007

Despite increased participation and the spread of innovative outreach programs for underrepresented groups, full social equity in North American sports remains elusive. The greatest disparities remain at the levels of leadership, recreation, and the representation of sports in the mass media. Moreover, many sports programs encourage the practice and habits of mind of domination. These disturbing features can be overcome only by affirming the importance of equity, restoring the public sphere, and tackling the sports-media complex. Among social scientists, it may require more collaborative research, more effective dissemination of results and public education, and new links with the popular movements.
A DEVIANT SPORTS CAREER
Authors: Jones R. L.
Published: March 2007

The aim of the study was to investigate the largely undisclosed and officially unsanctioned deviant sporting activity of unlicensed boxing in the United Kingdom. A qualitative life history approach was used, whereby an understanding of participant values, perspectives, and motivations was sought through the experiences of a recently retired protagonist. Information was gathered through a series of in-depth, reflexive interviews. Emergent themes included critical incidents from school days, perceived local tradition, motivations for participation, and the meaning that winning and staying undefeated provided for the subject. The data were in turn interpreted within the framework of a sports career model, with the accompanying social critique placing the respondent's actions within the wider societal context. The implications of the findings lie in the development of a greater awareness and understanding of the activity of unlicensed boxing, which, in turn, reflects the existence of a sporting subculture of the socially disadvantaged.
THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS: SPORTS FANS FIND GOOD SEATS AT THE BAR
Authors: Eastman Susan Tyler , Land Arthur M.
Published: March 2007

This study explored public sports viewing in bars and restaurants by means of more than 200 hours of observation and informal interviewing at six sites. Grounded qualitative analysis revealed four schemas for contextualizing public sports viewing: participation in a membership community, opportunity for social interaction, access to otherwise unobtainable events, and diversionary activity. Situated between the at-home and the stadium sports experiences, public consumption of mediated sports combines the benefits of the control characterizing home television viewing and the sociability characterizing the group experience. Public consumption and production of sports transform the seeming limits of the mediated event and legitimate fan behavior to serve participatory and social needs.
INSIDE OF THE OUTSIDE
Authors: Rinehart Robert
Published: March 2007

Despite an ever-increasing number of alternative sports which have begun encroaching into mainstream sport, the process of commodification of such alternative sports has been little examined. In this article, the author will explore some of the dynamic relationships—the establishment of a “pecking order”—occurring in skateboarding and in-line skating as they become commodified in ESPN's 1995 Extreme Games. The author makes the case that an attempt for mass acceptance of a sport articulates with (a) fan identification with the sport's personalities, (b) modeling behavior of younger participants, (c) corporate sponsorship and embracing of certain sports and individuals over others, and (d) an uneasy, contested dynamic between performers' artistic and competitive impulses.
The Importance of Economic Criteria To Agency Administrators
Authors: Moran R. Allen
Published: March 2007

This paper argues that program evaluation research should be broadened to deal systematically with the economics of resource use at the level of the individual social service delivery agency. This contention is predicated on the assumption that agency administrators must operate within limited budgets and, thus, cannot make rational choices in developing service priorities without information on service costs. The argument is strengthened by the recognition that input use can be established by the same methods used to measure service delivery. An example is presented to illustrate the problems faced by an agency administrator who attempts to establish the optimal service mix m the face of a limited agency budget. The example is then generalized for more complex service delivery requirements.
An Artifact in Pretest-Posttest Designs
Authors: Maltz Michael D. , Gordon Andrew C. , McDowall David , McCleary Richard
Published: March 2007

A marked decrease in arrest rates-up to 70%-was noted in the evaluation of a juve nile corrections program. This so-called "suppression effect" has been widely publicized as proof of the effectiveness of correctional intervention. In this article we show that the sup pression effect can easily be explained as a statistical artifact, regression to the mean, assuming that judges base their sentencing decisions on juveniles' prior records. We con clude that before/after comparisons should not be used to evaluate delinquency programs.
Planning Longitudinal Field Studies
Authors: St.Pierre Robert G.
Published: March 2007

This article identifies and discusses factors that influence the sample size necessary for longitudinal evaluations. These factors include the nature of the evaluation questions, nature of available comparison groups, expected consistency of the treatment in different sites, expected effect size, expected attrition rate, significance level for statistical tests, and the desired power of the statistical tests. Evidencefromfield-based evaluations is used in discussions of the relationships between these factors and sample size and the implications of those relationships for the evaluation planner.
Patterns of Program Evaluation in Community Mental Health Centers
Authors: Rzak Ann Majch , Windle Charles
Published: March 2007

In an exploratory study of the program evaluation efforts of federally funded community mental health centers prtor to the enactment of mandatory program evaluation, survey data were submitted to factor- and cluster-analyses. Results yielded: (1) a typology of evaluation activities performed by community mental health centers (2) a meaning ful patterning of (organizational) approaches to program evaluation suggesting developmental stages of an increasing range of types of activities; and (3) the tentative conclusion that, at a low level of evaluation effort, client-change evaluations are less related to impact on program development than are evaluations using descriptive statistics about chents.
The Maltz-McCleary Model of Recidivism
Authors: Stein William E. , Lloyd Michael R.
Published: March 2007

This article clarifies several issues raised by Stollmack (1979) concerning the Maltz- McCleary (1977) model of recidivism. In particular, the model is reformulated without using a "defective" distribution thus permitting the variance of the parameter estimates to be obtained.
Legal Reform in Child Abuse Reporting
Authors: Sawyer Darwin O. , Maney Ann
Published: March 2007

The followmg study evaluates the impact of a legal reform on child abuse reporting in the District of Columbia. A multiple time series design is used to assess and compare the effects of legislative change on the reporting behavior of two groups. The results suggest that reporting legislation can play a useful role in reform efforts by extending reporting requirements to new groups of reporters and by precipitating efforts to implement legal requirements of those already required to report.
Measures of Social Functioning in Psychiatric Outcome Research
Authors: Beattie Martha , Stevenson John
Published: March 2007

Measures of socral functioning are gaining increasing attention as important outcome criteria in evaluation of psychiatric treatment. This article reviews approaches to conceptualization and measurement of social functioning in mental health treatment outcome evaluation, and enumerates several reasons why their contribution to outcome research is valuable. The value of these measures, however, is jeopardized by lack of attention to problems posed by conceptual and psychometric issues associated with current measures, and by the social context in which the measures are embedded. Three alternative directions to take in the search for solutions are presented
A Sample Methodology for Site-Specific Instrument Selection
Authors: Williams Janice E.
Published: March 2007

Evaluators are often concerned with selecting the best possible test instrument for a site-specific application. These instruments should be selected on the basis of both theoretical and psychometric criteria. A small scale, site-specific field test was completed to illustrate some of the psychometric procedures that might be used in assessing the applicability of two different test instruments. The mathematical procedures used in this study illustrate the procedures that an evaluator might use in determining an empirical basis for subsequent instrument selection.
Involving Program Staff in Evaluation Studies
Authors: Dawson Judith A. , D'Amico Joseph J.
Published: March 2007

One approach for increasing the use of program evaluation information is to involve potential users more actively in evaluation activities. In this study program staff participated directly as interviewers-and one person even became a coevaluator—and less directly during informal interactive feedback activities. Program staff have used evaluation information primarily to identify technical assistance needs and to modify the program. Increased use has resulted from improved communication, staff perceptions of evaluation relevance and credibility, and staff commitment to the study. In addition to increasing information use, involving staff has expanded the evaluation knowledge base at a relatively low cost.
The Lay Public's Need for School Evaluation Information
Authors: Newman Dianna L. , Bull Kay S.
Published: March 2007

Evaluation research suggests that audience characteristics affect the use of evaluation information. Two factors that influence the lay public's need for educational evaluation information are voting habits and parental status. This article examines the relationship between participant voting frequency and parental status on the need for evaluative data. Results indicate that the more frequently parents voted, the more they wanted additional information and the less ready they were to immediately support the program. Nonvoting nonparents wanted more information and were less inclined to provide immediate support. Frequently voting nonparents expressed needs similar to those of fre quently voting parents but were more ready to provide immediate support for the program whereas frequently voting parents were not.
Cost-Effectiveness of Computer-Assisted Instruction
Authors: Levin Henry M. , Glass Gene V. , Meister Gail R.
Published: March 2007

In order to assist decision makers in considering different approaches to improving mathematics and reading performance of elementary school children, a cost-effectiveness study was undertaken of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) and three other interven tions. In general, peer tutoring is found to be more cost-effective than CAI, and both are more cost-effective than reducing class size or increasing the length of the school day. A discussion of the cost-effectiveness methodology and its application to educational interventions is stressed .
What Works for Whom?
Authors: Bloom Howard S.
Published: March 2007

This article presents estimates of program-induced, post-program earnings gains for men and women who enrolled in CETA between January 1975 and June 1976. Data for the analysis were obtained from the Continuous Longitudinal Manpower Survey for CETA participants with corresponding comparison group information for respondents from the March 1976 Current Population Survey. Although subject to methodological limitations, the findings suggest that CETA-sponsored classroom training, on-the-job training, and subsidized work experience noticeably increased the future earnings of female participants, but had virtually no impact for men. Impacts for women were roughly the same for all three program activities and were due primarily to increased employment rather than increased wage rates.
Causal Inference in Retrospective Studies
Authors: Holland Paul W. , Rubin Donald B.
Published: March 2007

The problem of drawing causal inferences from retrospective case-control studies is considered. A model for causal inference in prospective studies is reviewed and then applied to retrospective studies. The limitations of case-control studies are formulated in terms of the level of causally relevant parameters that can be estimated in such studies. An example using data from a large retrospective study of coffee-drinking and myocardial infarctions is used to illustrate the ideas of the article.
Regulating By the Numbers
Authors: Nichols Elizabeth , Wildavsky Aaron
Published: March 2007

Probabilistic risk assessment has been promoted within the Nuclear Regulatory Com mission as both a means of judging the extent of risk to the public and a direct means of determining what specific regulations should be strengthened, better enforced, or possibly abandoned. These uses have met with skepticism not only from public interest groups but from lower level bureaucrats. Interviews with engineers and other technically trained personnel reveal the difficulties created by expectations that probabilistic risk assessment can be applied to everyday regulatory decision making. While most think PRA is technically useful, they express concern that it may be used in ways they see as inappropriate.