bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Feasibility of Informed Pretests in Attenuating Response-Shift Bias
Authors: Howard George S. , Dailey Patrick R. , Gulanick Nancy A.
Published: March 2007

Response-shift bias has been shown to contami nate self-reported pretest/posttest evaluations of various interventions. To eliminate the detrimental effects of response shifts, retrospective measures have been employed as substitutes for the tradi tional self-reported pretest. Informed pretests, wherein subjects are provided information about the construct being measured prior to completing the pretest self-report, are considered in the present studies as an alternative method to retrospective pretests in reducing response-shift effects. In Study 1 subjects were given a 20-minute presentation on assertiveness, which failed to significantly improve the accuracy of self-reported assertiveness. Other procedural influences hypothesized to improve self- report accuracy—previous experience with the ob jective measure of assertiveness and previous com pletion of the self-report measure—also were not related to increased self-report accuracy. In a second study, information about interviewing skills was provided at pretest using behaviorally anchored rating scales to participants in a workshop on in terviewing skills. Response-shift bias was not at tentuated by providing subjects with information about interviewing prior to the intervention. Change measures which employed retrospective pretest measures demonstrated somewhat higher (although nonsignificant) validity coefficients than measures of change utilizing informed pretest data.
Convergence Principles: Information in the Answer Sets of Some Multiple-Choice Intelligence Tests
Authors: White A.P. , Zammarelli J.E.
Published: March 2007

It is hypothesized that some common multiple- choice intelligence tests exhibit the property that the correct answer and the distractors together form a set of elements that, considered apart from the question, contain information as to which mem ber of the set is the correct answer. Three formalized principles (couched in terms of set theory) are suggested, which enable the correct an swer to be deduced from the answer set. The appli cation of these principles to two intelligence tests is demonstrated and an experiment that supports the hypothesis is reported.
Analogical Reasoning Under Different Methods of Test Administration
Authors: Dillon Ronna F.
Published: March 2007

One hundred eighty-five college undergraduates were given the Advanced Progressive Matrices un der one of five conditions of testing: standard, simple feedback, examinee verbalization during problem solution, elaborated feedback, and full elaboration. The Group Embedded Figures Test, Paragraph Completion Test, and Zelniker and Jeff rey's revision of the Matching Familiar Figures Test were also administered. The study was designed (1) to investigate the differential effects of method of test administration on performance for college stu dents and (2) to examine the relationship of individ ual differences dimensions and varying conditions of testing. Analysis of variance coupled with or thogonal comparisons revealed higher levels of per formance under the more elaborative testing condi tions. The cognitive style variables were differential ly related to performance in the different testing conditions. The processing dimensions were related to performance to a higher degree under partially elaborative conditions than under either nonelabor ative procedures or full elaboration. Results are dis cussed in terms of an activation model.
Analysis of Test Results via Log-Linear Models
Authors: Baker Frank B. , Subkoviak Michael J.
Published: March 2007

The recently developed log-linear model procedures are applied to three types of data aris ing in a measurement context. First, because of the historical intersection of survey methods and test norming, the log-linear model approach should have direct utility in the analysis of norm-refer enced test results. Several different schemes for analyzing the homogeneity of test score distribu tions are presented that provide a finer analysis of such data than was previously available. Second, the analysis of a contingency table resulting from the cross-classification of students on the basis of criterion-referenced test results and instructionally related variables is presented. Third, the intersec tion of log-linear models and item parameter esti mation procedures under latent trait theory are shown. The illustrative examples in each of these areas suggest that log-linear models can be a versa tile and useful data analysis technique in a mea surement context.
Modeling Incorrect Responses to Multiple-Choice Items With Multilinear Formula Score Theory
Authors: Drasgow Fritz , Levine Michael V. , Williams Bruce , McLaughlin Mary E. , Candell Gregory L.
Published: March 2007

Multilinear formula score theory (Levine, 1984, 1985, 1989a, 1989b) provides powerful methods for addressing important psychological measurement prob lems. In this paper, a brief review of multilinear for mula scoring (MFS) is given, with specific emphasis on estimating option characteristic curves (occs). MFS was used to estimate occs for the Arithmetic Reason ing subtest of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. A close match was obtained between empiri cal proportions of option selection for examinees in 25 ability intervals and the modeled probabilities of op tion selection. In a second analysis, accurately esti mated occs were obtained for simulated data. To eval uate the utility of modeling incorrect responses to the Arithmetic Reasoning test, the amounts of statistical information about ability were computed for dichoto mous and polychotomous scorings of the items. Con sistent with earlier studies, moderate gains in informa tion were obtained for low to slightly above average abilities.
Problems in the Measurement of Latent Variables in Structural Equations Causal Models
Authors: Cohen Patricia , Cohen Jacob , Teresi Jeanne , Marchi Margaret , Velez C. Noemi
Published: March 2007

Some problems in the measurement of latent variables in structural equations causal models are presented, with examples from recent empirical studies. Latent variables that are theoretically the source of correlation among the empirical indica tors are differentiated from unmeasured variables that are related to the empirical indicators for other reasons. It is pointed out that these should also be represented by different analytical models, and that much published research has treated this distinction as if it had no analytic consequences. The connection between this theoretical distinction and disattenuation effects in latent variable models is shown, and problems with these estimates are discussed. Finally, recommendations are made for decisions about whether and how to measure latent variables when manifest variables are potentially available.
Use of Location-Allocation Models for Improving the Geographical Accessibility of Rural Services in Developing Countries
Authors: Rushton Gerard
Published: March 2007

Improved geographical accessibility to basic services for rural populations is a goal of most governments in developing countries. Yet, only rarely have formal methods for determining optimal locations (location-allocation models) been used as an aid to decisionmaking. The use of location-allocation models in health services development and in regional settlement planning are reviewed and compared to school location planning where these models have not been used. Further research is needed to determine the appropriate objective functions, the roles for modeling in the context of decentralized decisionmaking and the efficiency of past processes of location decisionmaking.
Multinational Corporations and the New International Division of Labor: A Critical Appraisal
Authors: Schoenberger Erica
Published: March 2007

The new international division of labor model assigns a major role to the multinational corporation as the orchestrator of a global reallocation of manufacturing away from core industrial countries towards the periphery. Here it is argued that the new international division of labor thesis construes too narrowly the relationship between technological and organizational change in production, cost competitiveness, and corporate location strategies. Further, understanding the role of the multinational corporation depends also on an analysis of the nature of output markets and the competitive strategies of firms. Evidence concerning the distribution of U.S. manufacturing investment abroad is presented, followed by a discussion of changes in production processes, markets, and competitive strategies as they influence international location choice.
American Federalism and Regional Policy
Authors: Markusen Ann
Published: March 2007

American federalism is a unique political structure, especially in its capacity for managing regional economic development. Multiple and often competing development goals — equity, efficiency, democracy, and long term economic vitality — are demanded of it. The system performs relatively well at providing access for democratic participation and engendering efficiency in public service provision, but it has difficulty ensuring long-term vitality and achieving equity. Territorialized legislative bodies substitute for and impede the evolution of more centralized, deliberative regional policy.
State Economic Development Policy and Practice in the United States: A Survey Article
Authors: Isserman Andrew M.
Published: March 2007

The states have taken an increasingly active role in economic development policy during the past two decades. This article presents both a comprehensive overview of the state strategies and a statistical overview of the changing economic conditions from which they arise. The strategies can be grouped into three distinct orientations. Chasing and acquisition focuses on bringing into the state businesses, export orders, federal facilities and contracts, tourists, retirees, and other external sources of growth. Self-improvement focuses on helping businesses and people in the state become more competitive by improving education systems, stimulating research, helping firms adopt new technologies, providing venture capital, and improving roads, communications, and other infrastructure. Knowledge and process focuses on doing those things better by making greater use of markets and business practices.
The Performance of Alternative Integration Strategies for Combining Regional Econometric and Input-Output Models
Authors: Rey Sergio J.
Published: March 2007

As the number of integrated econometric and input-output models appearing in the literature grows, the need for a closer examination of the different approaches towards integration is warranted. This paper suggests a taxonomy of strategies for combining econometric and input-output models at the regional scale. The properties of the different integration strategies are then examined from a theoretical perspective, focusing on the treatment of model closure, dynamic representation. interregional linkages, sectoral aggregation, and estimation issues. Initial empirical insight as to the simulation and impact analysis capabilities of the alternative integration strategies is provided through a series of experiments employing integrated multiregional econometric and input-output models for five regions in Southern California. The results suggest that integrated models as a class can provide for improved forecasting accuracy as well as more comprehensive impact analysis capabilities over traditional non-integrated models. Additional insights are provided regarding the sensitivity of model performance to the choice of integration strategy.
Incremental Decision Making in Technological Innovation: What Role for Science?
Authors: Collingridge David
Published: March 2007

An incrementalist view of the R&Dprocess is developed, according to which R&D consists of informed trial and error. One way of avoiding expensive mistakes is to avoid choices within the R&D program that are highly sensitive to a particular scientific claim, because a great deal of time and money may have been spent to no avail should the claim turn out to befalse. The incremental view of R&D therefore entails that no choice within any R&D program is sensitive to any scientific claim made at the time. Two tests are presented, antiseptic surgery and the first atomic pile, both of which confirm the incrementalist thesis.
The Impact of Science Studies on Political Philosophy
Authors: Latour Bruno
Published: March 2007

The development of science studies has an important message for political theory. This message has not yet been fully articulated. It seems that the science studies field is often considered as the extension of politics to science. In reality, case studies show that it is a redefinition of politics that we are witnessing in the laboratories. To the political representatives (elected by humans) should be added the scientific representatives (spokespersons of nonhumans). Thanks to a book by Steven Shapin and Simon Schaffer, it is possible to reconstruct the origin of this divide between the two sets of representatives. A definition of modernism is offered. Then the article explains how to interpret the shift to "nonmodernism, " that is, a historical period when the two branches of politics get together again.
Flexible Sketches and Inflexible Data Bases: Visual Communication, Conscription Devices, and Boundary Objects in Design Engineering
Authors: Henderson Kathryn
Published: March 2007

Engineering sketches and drawings are the building blocks of technological design and production. These visual representations act as the means for organizing the design to production process, hence serving as a "social glue" both between individuals and between groups. The author discusses two main capacities such visual representations serve in facilitating distributed cognition in team design work As conscription devices, they enlist and organize group participation. As boundary objects, they facilitate the reading of alternative meanings by various groups involved in the design process. The introduction of computer-aided design into this visual culture of engineering restructures relationships between workers in ways that can hamper the flexibility necessary for these crucial capacities to take place. The data are drawn from a study of the daily practices of engineers engaged in redesigning a turbine engine package. The method is participant observation.
Technological Citizenship: A Normative Framework for Risk Studies
Authors: Frankenfeld Philip J.
Published: March 2007

This article introduces the concept of technological citizenship (TC) as a status for individuals consisting of rights and obligations within bounded technological polities enforced by statist structures. The model reconciles freedom to innovate with the affirmation of the autonomy and dignity of laypersons and the assimilation of laypersons with their world. It seeks lay control over the introduction and ongoing management of environmental hazards and self-verification of safety. The rights and obligations of TC compose a "new social contract of complexity." Even with different values stressed, the name, concept, and terms of TC would streamline studies of peril.
Shifting Sexes, Moving Stories: Feminist/Constructivist Dialogues
Authors: Hirschauer Stefan , Mol Annemarie
Published: March 2007

How can constructivism and feminism inform and strengthen one another? The author of this text is a constructivist-feminist hermaphrodite, and so s/he addresses this question in the form of an inner dialogue. Instead of taking sex as a characteristic of individuals, s/he analyzes it as something performed locally in ways that vary from one situation to another. Investigating these performances offers constructivism an interesting theoretical opportunity and a chance to turn away from a sterile anti-epistemological stance. For feminism, a radicalized notion of the construction of sexes opens up new political spaces and strategies. Constructivist texts, moreover, have the potential to "do" both the contingency and the necessity of our forms of life in their very style.
Personal Experiences of Research Misconduct and the Response of Individual Academic Scientists
Authors: Braxton John M. , Bayer Alan E.
Published: March 2007

From a national U.S. sample of senior academic biochemists, ninety-four indicated that they personally knew of an incident of scientific wrongdoing. Among these individuals, less formal actions against an offending individual were endorsed when either (1) actions were believed to have the potential to publicly embarrass the offending individual, or (2) the actions might adversely affect the professional career of the whistleblower. These relationships remain significant after controlling for professional status, career age, and current level of formal departmental administrative responsibility. Study limitations and implications are discussed
Of Forms, Containers, and the Electronic Medical Record: Some Tools for a Sociology of the Formal
Authors: Berg Marc
Published: March 2007

Formal tools (i.e., those tools that operate on circumscribed input using rules and that contain a model of the workplace in which they are supposed to function) are attributed central roles in organizing work within many modern workplaces. How should one comprehend the power of these tools? Taking the (electronic) medical record as an example, this article builds on recent calls to overcome the dichotomy between the formal and the informal and proposes an understanding of the generative power of such tools that does not attribute mythical capacities to either tool or human work. To do so, it is important to look both at the history offormal tools and to their real-time use in concrete work practices. These steps toward a sociology of the formal are crucial for a more comprehensive understanding and evaluation offormal systems in practice.
European Biotechnology Regulation: Framing the Risk Assessment of a Herbicide-Tolerant Crop
Authors: Levidow Les , Carr Susan , Wield David , von Schomberg Rene
Published: March 2007

As products of the "new biotechnology," genetically modified organisms have provoked a wide-ranging risk debate on potential harm, especially from herbicide-tolerant crops. In response to this legitimacy problem, the European Community adopted precautionary legislation, which left open the definition of environmental harm. When the U.K. proposed Europe-wide market approval of a herbicide-tolerant oilseed rape (canola), the proposal encountered dissent from some countries and environmentalist groups. Further debate on normative judgments became necessary to implement the precaution ary legislation. In dispute were several regulatory boundaries—of administrative re sponsibility, causality, acceptability, and evidence. The boundary disputes expressed divergentframings of biotechnological risk, each with its implicit model of the socionatu ral order. In this way, the disputes can illuminate the sorts of risk framings that have already become embedded and standardized in other regulatory sectors.
Discharge Planning for Hospitalized Older Veterans
Authors: Rodell Daniel E.
Published: March 2007

A random sample of 175 patients in six nursing and personal care settings at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Little Rock, Arkansas was drawn in order to develop a model for the classification of patients for the purpose of effecting more efficient and effective hospital discharge planning. Data that might effect significant changes in the placement dispositions and outcomes of patients were gathered and subjected to stepwise discriminant function and multiple regression analyses. It was found that the patient's socioeconomic status and the extent of social worker involvement in disposition rather than the patient's medical/psychiatric condition, constituted the best predictors of place ment and success in placement. The model accurately predicted 90 percent of all dispositions and could provide a useful basis for assigning to placements a significant minority of patients who are not placed in accordance with the correlates of optimum placement and placement outcome as determined by the model.
Factorial Validation of a Measure of Attitude Toward Public Health Nursing Courses
Authors: Holzemer William L. , Kelly Edward F. , Ohlson Virginia M.
Published: March 2007

The Adjective Rating Scale was administered as a pre- and postcourse measure of attitudes toward Public Health Nursing courses as part of a program evaluation. The sample included 352 precourse cases and 447 postcourse cases. A principal- components factor analysis with varimax rotation was used on both the pre- and postcourse samples to determine if the reported factor structure of the instrument would replicate over an all-female, professional sample. The factor structure reduced from the reported five factors to four factors in the precourse sample and to three factors in the postcourse sample. The significance of using the Adjective Rating Scale with an all-female professional sample is discussed.
Multiple-Choice Items with Combinations of Correct Responses
Authors: Albanese Mark A.
Published: March 2007

Multiple-choice test items with more than one correct response are widely used in the medical sciences in licensure and certification examinations. This stud) presents an amalgam of available evidence regarding formats and scoring formulas for this type of item. Strong evidence of cluing in the Type K format that increases percentage of correct scores and reduces test reliabilitiv lead to recommendations of using the Type Xformat. Further recommendations are made regarding alternative methods of scoring Tvpe X items.
Professional Performance of Physician's Assistants
Authors: Niebuhr Bruce R. , Lanier Roger A.
Published: March 2007

Physician's assistant educational programs have used surveys of their graduates as one method of evaluating educational objectives and curricula. A concern is the validitY' of phisician's assistant self-ratings as measures of job performance. Ratings by supervising phy sicians have been suggested as more valid measures. In the present stud) ratings of physician's assistants and their supervising phy sicians were compared. Physician's assistants and their supervising physicians were interviewed using an interview instrument developed to cover the performance of the physician's assistant in the major activities ofprimary' care practice. While the physicians and physician's assistants disagreed on several measures, in all cases the ratings of the physician's assistants were more conservative. Thus, the physician's assistants did not show any tendency to inflate ratings of their own performance.
Determining Congruence between Teaching Intentions, Student Expectations, and Evaluation Practices
Authors: Bakdash M. Bashar , Lange Allan L. , Bandt Carl. L.
Published: March 2007

Periodic review and analysis of didactic achievement tests are essential parts of the process of improving teaching, learning, and testing programs. This study describes a method for determining the degree of cognitive congruence between teaching intentions, student expectations, and testing practices. A three-category model (recall, comprehension, and application) adopted from Bloom's Taxonomy was used to survey periodontology faculty and thirdyear dental students regarding their opinion of how test questions should be distributed. Actual distribution of test items used to evaluate student didactic achievement were also categorized by three raters. In addition, item difficulty and discrimination were calculated for each category of items andfor each course. Faculty recommended a distribution heavily weighted in favor of comprehension and applicationtype items, while the actual distribution and student recommendations favored recall-type items. Recall and comprehension questions were equal in terms of difficulty and discrimination. However, application items were less difficult and had the lowest discrimination. The approach used in this study resulted in information useful for planning future test construction.
A Framework for Viewing the Process of Standard Setting
Authors: Hambleton Ronald K. , Powell Sally
Published: March 2007

The standard-setting literature isfilled with contributions in which issues associated with standards are discussed and various methods for setting standards are presented and reviewed. Almost no attention has been given to guidelines for helping standard-setting groups or committees address the issues and technical matters that arise in selecting and implementing a standard setting method and finally setting a standard (or standards). This article was prepared to describe sets of context-setting variables and technical matters associated with standard-setting to assist groups or committees desiring to set standards in a systematic way.
Evaluation of a Sampling Approach
Authors: Tyson Timothy J. , Gustafson David H.
Published: March 2007

Under existing federal regulations, it is mandated that the care of all nursing home residents be reviewed annually. A fouryear demonstration project in Wisconsin tested a sampling approach to nursing home resident review. The rationalefor the sampling approach is that one can more effectively identifypervasiveproblems with resident care by an in-depth examination of a sample of residents than by a cursory assessment of all residents. Ifproblems are identified in the sample, all residents can then be reviewed. However, reimbursement for nursing home care is also influenced by level of care and given that nursing home inspectors review the appropriateness of level of care, the issue arises as to what impact a sampling approach would have on reimbursement. This evaluation compares the changes in reimbursement owing to resident review under the sampling and federally mandated, 100% review methods. The results indicate that reviewinga sample of nursing home residents may offer similar reductions in nursing home reimbursement as a 100% resident review-but at a lower cost.
A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Prenatal Care Delivery
Authors: Seiner Karen , Lairson David R.
Published: March 2007

This cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) was conducted to evaluate the relative efficiency of three alternative prenatal care programs in rural, low-income areas of Texas. The study compared both the actual cost per visit and the predicted capacity cost per visit, the latter determining which model type has potential to be most efficient. The same clinic modelproved to have the lowest cost per visit when using both actual and adjusted capacity data. After considering specific criteria, cost per visit differences were attributed primarily to the mix of medical personnel. Specifically, the use of certified nurse midwives in conjunction with physician backup proved more costeffective than salaried MDs. Relative efficiency is quantified and reasons for cost differences are identified.
How to Construct a Subjective Index
Authors: Alemi Farrokh , Gustafson David H. , Johnson Margo
Published: March 2007

Wepresent a method of constructing quantitative indices, which is based on the subjective opinions of a panel of experts, and discuss how a Bayesian probability model and panel opinions can be used together to produce an index. Among the advantages of the method are its face validity and ease of construction. Research shows that when expert opinions are solicited according to certain guidelines, subjective methods may be as accurate as the more objective ones. Guidelines along with a brief report of a recent application are also discussed.
Three Components in the Establishment of a Certification Testing Program
Authors: Haladyna Thomas M.
Published: March 2007

Certification in the health professions is growing both in number of programs and in quality. Three important components in the development of any sound and defensible certification testing program are presented and discussed. The three are interrelated and sequential, and each has a growing technology. Guidelines are presented and discussed that should assist those involved in establishing new certification program testing that is more adequately preparedfor the difficult challenges typically faced.
Factors Influencing Adherence to a Hepatitis B Preventive Recommendation
Authors: Geboy Michael J. , Rogers Vincent C.
Published: March 2007

Nonadherence to medical preventive and treatment recommendations is a problem with significant implicationsfor health and for the utilization of increasingly costly health care resources. Although individuals in health related occupations constitute a high risk group for hepatitis B infection, adherence to recommendations concerning the hepatitis B vaccine has not been as great as initially expected. The purpose of the present study was to identify factors influencing adherence among health profession students to a recommendation to receive the hepatitis B vaccine. Individuals who received and who did not receive the hepatitis B vaccine responded to items assessing the perceived seriousness of hepatitis B, perceived susceptibility to hepatitis B infection, and knowledge of hepatitis B. A discriminant analysis procedure using these variables failed to discriminate between vaccine recipients and nonrecipients. Nonrecipients of the vaccine also responded to additional items requesting information about otherfactors influencing their decision not to receive the vaccine. Results indicated that the cost of the vaccine and concern over thepossibility of side effects (e.g., AIDS, Guillain-Barre syndrome) were influentialfactors in the decision not to adhere to the recommended health protective action.
Pregnant Women Eligible under Medicaid Expansion of Maternity Services
Authors: Mayer Jeffrey P. , Johnson Charles D. , Blakely Craig H. , Taylor Jeffrey R.
Published: March 2007

Recent reforms in federal legislation have made Medicaid-financed prenatal care available to pregnant women from households at nearly twice the poverty leveL Census and birth certificate data provide little information about the newly eligible group beyond estimates of their size. This article reports on efforts to compare the Medicaid expansion group to traditional Medicaid prenatal care patients in terms of demographics, access problems, and prenatal care adequacy by employing a short-term, hospital-based survey of postpartum women in Michigan. Differences between pregnant women eligible under the expansions and traditionally eligible pregnant women suggested that major changes in outreach and enrollment activities of state Medicaid agencies may be necessary to fulfill the opportunity represented by the Medicaid expansions.
A Preliminary Study of the Impact of Case Specificity on Computer-Based Assessment of Medical Student Clinical Performance
Authors: Fitzgerald James T. , Wolf Fredric M. , Davis Wayne K. , Barclay Mel L. , Bozynski Mary E. , Chamberlain Kenneth R. , Clyman Stephen G. , Shope Thomas C. , Woolliscrofi James O. , Zelenock Gerald B.
Published: March 2007

The implications of case specificity of two computer-based clinical simulation examination cases (CBX) were examined by a classical measurement approach and by a Bayesian analysis of test characteristics. The CBXs (a surgery and an ob/gyn case) were designed by the National Board of Medical Examiners and administered to 163 University of Michigan Medical School students. The results indicate that the students performed differently on the two cases, the surgery case appearing to be more difficult. The ob/gyn case had greater sensitivity (more accuracy in passing competent students), whereas the surgery case had greater specificity (more accuracy in failing noncompetent students). The differences between the cases and evidence of case specificity raise the issue of an exam's objective and the acceptable type of classification error These results suggest that additional studies are required before widespread use of such exams can be implemented in "high stakes" situations for licensure purposes.
Rethinking How to Measure Organizational Culture in the Hospital Setting
Authors: Klingle Renee S. , Burgoon Michael , Afifi Walid , Callister Mark
Published: March 2007

Like all organizations, health care delivery systems must be concerned with understanding the implicit beliefs, values, and assumptions extant within the organization that ubiquitously motivate and shape the behavior of participating members. The Hospital Culture Scale (HCS) was designed as a way to assess the unique culture of hospital organizations. The HCS demonstrated high discriminant validity and reliability when applied to all members (patients, nurses, and physicians) of this particular organization. Data provided from different hospital organizations indicated that the HCS could differentiate between a variety of hospitals. Physicians, nurses, and patients were also compared. Although there was agreement between nurses and patients on how scale items are used, there were disagreements when these organizational members were compared to physicians. Differences between hospital members on the overall perception of hospital culture were found. The implications and utility of the HCS are discussed.
Who is a Generalist?
Authors: Rabinowitz Howard K. , Hojat Mohammadreza , Veloski J. Jon , Rattner Susan L. , Robeson Mary R. , Xu Gang , Appel Marilyn H. , Cochran Carol , Jones Robert L. , Kanter Steven L.
Published: March 2007

Accurate data on the number of generalist physicians are needed to monitor the physician workforce and to plan for future requirements in the changing health care system. This study assessed the relationship between two frequently used definitions of a generalist physician: completion of graduate medical education (GME) in only a generalist discipline and physician’s self-report of practicing as a generalist. Data for 4,808 physician graduates from six Pennsylvania medical schools from 1986 to 1991 were analyzed using information from the GME tracking census of the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Physician Masterfile of the American Medical Association. Of 1,291 physicians trained in a generalist discipline, 1,205 (93%) reported practicing as generalists. Conversely, of the 3,517 not trained in a generalist discipline, 3,358 (95%) were not practicing as generalists. These results indicate GME training is a valid predictor of self-reported practice and provide baseline data to monitor future changes.
Difference and diversity: trends in young Danes' media uses
Authors: Drotner Kirsten
Published: March 2007

Drawing on results from a four-year project of basic research, and applying quantitative as well as qualitative methods, this article describes important, recent trends in young Danes' media culture and discusses the research implications that these trends enforce and enhance. Three empirical trends stand out: innovation in media applications, increased interaction between media types and genres, and a more `seamless' social integration of media into everyday life. First, contemporary adolescents are a multi-media generation in two senses: notably young men are pioneers in computer use and both genders mix a variety of media. Second, contrary to much postmodern discourse young people do not necessarily demonstrate media reflexivity as a result of increased intertextual crossbreeding. Third, adolescents' leisure culture is undergoing important reshufflings because of the changing media landscape: public and private spaces are becoming regendered, and the computer acts as a catalyst in shaping more vertical forms of interaction resembling premodern forms of socialization. Finally, it is argued that these trends call for more interdisciplinary, multifaceted research that integrates textual and social dimensions of analysis.
Media imperialism revisited: some findings from the Asian case
Authors: Chadha Kalyani , Kavoori Anandam
Published: March 2007

The media imperialism thesis has long argued that the expansion of Western media production into developing countries has resulted in the domination of their national media environments and the consequent destruction of their indigenous media production. This article examines the empirical tenability of this claim with regard to Asia. Delineating the region's media developments, it identifies forces such as national gate-keeping policies, the dynamics of audience preference and local competition, all of which inhibit and restrict the proliferation of Western cultural production. On the basis of this empirical evidence, the article argues that the claims made by proponents of the media imperialism thesis seem overstated in the Asian context. In conclusion, the article suggests that although media imperialism is perceived as a very real danger by governments, there are in fact several other problematic trends such as the rampant growth of commercialization and the decline of public broadcasting, the dominance of entertainment programming and a lack of genuine diversity in program genres and formats that collectively represent a more significant threat to media systems in Asia.
Spain's interventionist and authoritarian communication policy: Telefónica as political battering ram of the Spanish right
Authors: Bustamante Enrique
Published: March 2007

Laws, judicial actions and privatizations of public firms have come together over the past two years to outline a new Spanish communications policy. Wrapped in a discourse that is paradoxically both neoliberal and deregulatory, this policy is curtailing freedom of expression. The central role in these events of Telefónica, the Spanish telephone company, raises questions of international importance.
The media and democratization in Africa: contributions, constraints and concerns of the private press
Authors: Tettey Wisdom J.
Published: March 2007

The article argues that the private media in Africa are contributing in significant ways towards democratic governance and accountability on the part of state officials. However, in spite of the remarkable progress made in media proliferation and diversity over the last few years, there still remain troubling concerns. Political space for the unfettered operation of the media continues to be non-existent in many so-called `democratic' countries. It is also contended that the private media themselves cannot be exculpated from the damage that is being done to the fourth estate of the realm as a legitimate and formidable force in the efforts towards democratic progress and consolidation. There has to be some introspection and change in the private media's patterns of operation, if they are not to self-destruct. An informed and responsible citizenry is important for the operation of free media, thereby making it imperative that the media incorporate the hitherto peripheralized elements of society into the democratic discourse.
The peculiar public of television
Authors: Dayan Daniel
Published: March 2007

Should viewers of television be considered as audiences or publics? The different meanings of these two terms are discussed in relation to audience and reception studies on the one hand, and work on fan cultures, ceremonial television and migrant communities on the other. A number of theoretical positions are reviewed and it is argued that, in the end, television may produce `pretend publics' and `publics for a day', but that at best its viewers constitute an `almost' public.
History and policy in American broadcast treatment of religion
Authors: Hoover Stewart M. , Wagner Douglas K.
Published: March 2007

The evolution of policy and practice regarding religion in the case of US broadcasting provides an opportunity to understand the treatment of religion as an objective matter. US print media treatment developed less self-consciously. In each of these cases, however, a fundamental question obtains: how it is that in a society where religiosity is so common, religion continues to be a problematic element of media content? This article investigates the policy history and finds a complex set of causes and consequences. As a matter of policy, and in defense against state control, the broadcast industries sought to claim control over all aspects of content, even that which would fall under the `public service' rubric. In the case of religion, this control was just as quickly handed over to private religious institutions with the understanding that what religion would appear would be of a general, non-controversial kind. This system did not survive historical circumstances which brought about increased political activism on the part of sectarian interests after the 1970s.
Popular family television and party ideology: the Spring Festival Eve happy gathering
Authors: Bin Zhao
Published: March 2007

This article analyses the Chinese Central Television (CCTV) Festival Eve happy gathering on 6 February 1997, as a case to illustrate the way in which popular entertainment on television is tied in with political and ideological messages in the full-blown market era of the mid-1990s. The CCTV gala, first conceived in 1983, has been institutionalized over the years into an indispensable part of the Chinese New Year celebrations. As the year's most popular programme, the party has been paying keen attention to its content and social impact. Traditional family gatherings on New Year's Eve, with the advent of television and this special programme, have been turned into a national reunion. This, in effect, has been doing good service to sustain political and ideological centralism in post-Mao China.
Who makes the news? Descriptions of television news interviewees' public personae
Authors: Roth Andrew L.
Published: March 2007

Television news interviews afford audiences — and social scientists — the opportunity to observe the casting and recasting of interviewees' public personae, as accomplished through the interplay of interviewers' questions and interviewees' responses to those questions. Based on a video-taped corpus of news interviews broadcast in the UK and USA, this article examines person-description as an interactional practice employed by interviewers to characterize and identify interviewees in the course of questioning them. The author analyzes three standard uses of person-description by interviewers: (1) to establish interviewees' expertise, (2) to juxtapose multiple perspectives and (3) to challenge their positions. Three types of interviewee responses that display interviewees' orientations to the relevances of those descriptions are also analyzed. The concluding discussion considers the significance of the analysis for an extensive sociological literature on the relationship between news sources and the production of news content.
Personalism as a Component of Old Age Identity
Authors: Mutran Elizabeth , Burke Peter J.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this research was threefold: (1) to extend a previously introduced general methodology for studying role identities to the specific instance of age; (2) to present a causal framework in which to analyze the determinants and consequences of this identity; and (3) to explore the reciprocal relationship between age identity and health problems. The Burke-Tully procedure for measuring self-in-role was used to construct the variable of old age identity. Determinants of this component of the self included race, sex, age, education, income, retirement, widowhood, and health. Loneliness and life satisfaction were treated as consequences of identity. Subjective health was seen as a special case which in part is determined by one's identity and which may also have a reciprocal effect on the identity. The data are from a national probability sample of 1,522 adults. Results showed that an old age identity was one of personalism which contained positive as well as negative elements and was primarily influenced by poor health, chronological age, income, and retirement, though the effects of each of these differed between subsamples. The causal structures for the subsamples of white males, black males, and black females were not significantly different from each other. In these subsamples old age identity had no effect on health while health influenced identity only indirectly through retirement. For white females, old age identity directly influenced and was influenced by health.
Elderly Interstate Migration
Authors: Biggar Jeanne C. , Longino Charles F. , Flynn Cynthia B.
Published: March 2007

This article analyzes the characteristics of individuals age 60 and over who were interstate migrants between 1965 and 1970. It specifically examines the impact of elderly migration on seven major sending and seven major receiving states. When the outmigrant total was compared with the elderly residents left behind in the major origin states, a negative impact was apparent because of the positive selectivity of migrants on age, marital status, and economic independence. Conversely, when the inmigrant total was compared with older in-place residents in destination states, a positive impact was discerned from the addition of younger, married, more economically independent newcomers. The primary exception to these patterns was California, where both elderly inmigrants and outmigrants, as compared with the residentially stable, tended to be more economically dependent. The conclusions suggest that migrant characteristics as well as changing numbers of the elderly should be considered in funding formulas for federal elderly support programs.
Coping with Conflict
Authors: Quayhagen Mary P. , Quayhagen Margaret
Published: March 2007

The Coping Strategies Inventory (CSI), having breadth of response with brevity of measurement, was developed to provide an age relevant measure of coping responses to specified stress situations. In an age-stratified sample of mid-life adults, age and sex differences were found in specific coping patterns used to alter the interpersonal conflict situation and related stress. The identification of coping strategies that can be differentiated according to age and sex specificity will facilitate the testing of appropriate interventions relevant to these strategies.
Residence, the Elderly-Widow, and Life Satisfaction
Authors: Fengler Alfred P. , Danigelis Nicholas
Published: March 2007

The responses of 1400 systematically selected elderly to a needs assessment survey in a four-county area in northwestern New England suggest that urban and rural widows are almost equally disadvantaged in objective ways but, subjectively, urban widows perceive themselves to be considerably more disadvantaged than rural widows. Moreover, the more urban the residence of the widow living alone, the lower her life satisfaction. Finally, all rural widows and urban widows living with children have higher life satisfaction than do urban widows living alone.
When Does Aging Begin?
Authors: Hayflick Leonard
Published: March 2007

The lack of a precise definition for biological aging precludes a definitive answer to when the phenomenon begins. Since longevity is a determinant process, aging begins when longevity assurance genes cease to be expressed.
Social Integration and Mental Health of the Aged
Authors: Deimling Gary T. , Harel Zev
Published: March 2007

This research examines the effects of social integration along with health, age, marital status, and SES on mental health among 1727 urban elderly. Utilizing a path model these variables accounted for 38% of the variance in mental health. In addition to physical health, which had a strong independent effect, both the availability of social resources and their perceived adequacy made significant independent contributions. Social interaction, however, was found to make an insignificant contribution to the explanation of mental health.
The Ties that Bind
Authors: Sullivan Deborah A.
Published: March 2007

This article proposes a typology of migration based on duration of annual residence in planned retirement communities. The categories of the typology-seasonal in-migrant, seasonal out-migrant, seasonal traveler, and year-round resident-are used to classify a sample of households in a southwestern retirement community. The findings suggest that out-of-state children and ties to small towns are inhibiting influences on permanent relocation after retirement. Facilitating factors associated with seasonal migration include: a spouse in the household, higher socioeconomic status, and the absence of health restrictions on activities.