bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Association Between Grandparental Coresidence and Adolescent Childbearing
Authors: ASTONE NAN MARIE , WASHINGTON MARY L.
Published: March 2007

The topic of this article is the association between grandparental coresidence with adolescent women and early childbearing. The conceptual model is based on that used in social demographic studies of the effect of family structure on children and is expanded to include the presence of extended kin in the household. Grandparental coresidence is associated with a delay of first birth beyond the teenage years among young women from two-parent and stepparent families as well as among those who live with neither birth parent. Grandparental coresidence has no association with early childbearing—positive or negative—among young women from single-parent families.
Parenting Stepchildren and Biological Children
Authors: MacDONALD WILLIAM L. , DeMARIS ALFRED
Published: March 2007

Evolutionary views suggest that stepparents find it more difficult to parent stepchildren than to parent biological children. However, gender stratification perspectives suggest that stepmothers are more likely than are stepfathers to experience role conflict in acting as both a stepparent and a biological parent. Therefore, especially when new biological children are added to the stepfamily, stepmothers, more often than stepfathers, may experience greater relative difficulty parenting their stepchildren. Using a sample of 139 stepparents with both residential stepchildren and residential biological children, we determined that stepmothers are in fact more likely than are stepfathers to find it more difficult to rear stepchildren than to rear biological children. However, we also discovered that when stepparents add new biological children to their stepfamilies, both stepmothers and stepfathers find it more difficult to derive satisfaction from stepchildren than from biological children only if their new biological children are their firstborn biological children.
Workplace Support, Child Care, and Turnover Intentions among Employed Mothers of Infants
Authors: GLASS JENNIFER L. , ESTES SARAH BETH
Published: March 2007

This article looks at the determinants of job turnover among mothers of infants, using intentions to change jobs or exit the labor force assessed at 1 year postpartum among a sample of 246 employed mothers. Hypotheses were that exit intentions should be more influenced by household factors determining labor supply and other personal characteristics indicating job attachment. Additionally, whereas both types of turnover intentions should decrease as workplace supports for mothers increase, child care satisfaction should affect exit intentions more than intentions to change jobs. Results showed support for the notion that labor force exits are more strongly influenced by child care problems and measures of job attachment than are job changes, though models correcting for selectivity reveal that the child care problems are not directly influencing exit intentions. Supervisor and co-worker support impede intentions to both exit the labor force and change jobs. However, other dimensions of workplace support affected intentions to exit and intentions to change jobs differently.
Family of Origin Influences on Marital Attitudes and Readiness for Marriage in Late Adolescents
Authors: LARSON JEFFRY H. , BENSON MARK J. , WILSON STEPHAN M. , MEDORA NILUFER
Published: March 2007

Using Bowenian family systems theory, this study examined the effects of the intergenerational transmission of anxiety in the family of origin through the processes of fusion, triangulation, and control on late adolescents' attitudes toward marriage and readiness for marriage. Participants ( N = 977) completed three measures of family processes in their families of origin, attitudes toward marriage, and readiness for marriage. The findings indicated that fusion and triangulation were related to negative opinions and feelings about marriage. They did not have a significant effect on perceived readiness for marriage or on waiting period before marriage. However, gender and age predicted readiness and waiting time. Implications for family therapists working with adolescents are discussed.
Stepparents' Affinity-Seeking and Affinity-Maintaining Strategies With Stepchildren
Authors: GANONG LAWRENCE , COLEMAN MARILYN , FINE MARK , MARTIN PATRICIA
Published: March 2007

The purposes of this study were to examine the strategies that stepparents use to develop and maintain affinity with stepchildren and the effects that these strategies have on the development of stepparent-stepchild relationships. Data were collected via interviews with members of 17 stepfamilies in which there was at least one stepchild between the ages of 10 and 19 living in the household. Stepparent-stepchild relationships are characterized by liking and affection when stepparents focus on developing friendships with stepchildren and when they continue those efforts after they begin sharing a residence together. We identified 31 affinity-seeking strategies. Dyadic activities worked best, but it is important that stepchildren recognize affinity-seeking attempts. The success of affinity-seeking and affinity-maintaining strategies are contingent on the interpersonal and intrapersonal contexts within which they occur. In the stepfamilies in which step-relationships were poor, there was competition from the nonresidential parent, the stepparents had take-charge personalities, and the stepchildren did not recognize the stepparent's affinity-seeking efforts.
Family Dynamics, Housing, and Recurring Homelessness Among Women in New York City Homeless Shelters
Authors: METRAUX STEPHEN , CULHANE DENNIS P.
Published: March 2007

This study looks at two sets of women who stayed in New York City homeless shelters in 1992—one set as part of a family and the other set as individuals—and at factors associated with an increased risk of their experiencing repeat shelter stays. Descriptive statistics and event history analysis indicate that regardless of whether the women stay in shelters with their families or by themselves, various family dynamics are associated with particular vulnerability to subsequent shelter stays, especially when the women are part of “young” families, are in households with absent children, or disclose a history of domestic violence. Exits from a shelter stay to one's own housing, on the other hand, has the strongest association with avoiding repeat shelter stays. These results suggest that family dynamics and the availability of affordable housing are two important focuses for efforts to reduce the incidence of homelessness among women.
Satisfaction With Performance of Housework
Authors: PITTMAN JOE F. , TENG WEI , KERPELMAN JENNIFER L. , SOLHEIM CATHERINE A.
Published: March 2007

Where previous research on satisfaction with housework has examined satisfaction with relative allocations, this study examined spouses' satisfaction with their own performance. The authors found that satisfaction was a function of time spent, quality of outcomes, stress originating both at home and away, and approval by spouses for performance. Time spent and quality of outcomes were related in a complex fashion to satisfaction with own performance. The relation between time contributions and satisfaction was partially mediated by quality of outcomes, but the relation between quality of outcomes and satisfaction was also moderated by time spent. Several significant moderating effects suggested that the time contributions and perceived quality of outcomes had different meanings under varying circumstances. Patterns of findings for husbands and wives suggested that both used personal standards to evaluate performance and both valued their contributions to housework, but the greater responsibility for housework among wives was supported.
New Action Theory and Contemporary Families
Authors: SCANZONI JOHN , MARSIGLIO WILLIAM
Published: March 2007

Growing diversities among families and households throughout Western societies are documented. The prevailing conceptual approach has been to distinguish “the family” from alternative life-styles. That dichotomy, rooted in functionalist thought (“old action theory”) is rejected. Drawing on what is called “new action theory” a model for conceptualizing contemporary families is presented. The model assumes that persons construct their families within a societal context that, as Giddens argues, is both constraining and enabling. The authors conceive of families as primary groups. There are least four kinds of interdependencies —each with numerous subfacets, and existing in varied combinations—that give rise to perceptions of families: extrinsic, intrinsic, sexual, and formal. The authors identify two broad expressions of primary groups. One is based on generalized exchange and univocal reciprocity. The other rests on restricted exchange and mutual reciprocity/contingency. Because the authors argue that social theory cannot be divorced from social policy, they offer policy implications of this theoretical approach.
Teenage Mothers in Nuclear and Extended Households
Authors: TRENT KATHERINE , HARLAN SHARON L.
Published: March 2007

As an initial step in expanding our understanding of the influence of family context on adolescent mothers, this article investigates the patterns of, and factors associated with, their household arrangements. Although adolescent mothers are at great risk of eventually living in female-headed households and facing economic hardship, past research has said little about the households of these young mothers while they are teenagers. Using individual-level data from the 1980 U.S. Census, we show household arrangements vary by marital status, race/ethnicity, age, number of children, and central city residence. And there are important differences by race/ethnicity in the way the other variables are related to household arrangements. Importantly, household arrangements are related to school enrollment, labor force participation, poverty status, and receiving public assistance.
The Use and Misuse of Economic Impact Analysis
Authors: Hudson Ian
Published: March 2007

Economic impact studies have been an important component of the debate surrounding the merits of subsidizing professional sports teams. However, various studies have arrived at remarkably different conclusions about the size of a sports team’s economic impact on the region in which they are located. The purpose of this study is to determine the causes of the wide variance of economic impact estimates between different studies. A meta-analysis was used on the 13 studies to determine the causes of the differing impacts. Although some of the variance is due to understandable differences in the size of the geographical region and sports team in question, differing assumptions about whether the expenditure of locals should be included accounted for a substantial variance in the impact.
The Sticky Situation of Sportsmanship
Authors: May Reuben A. Buford
Published: March 2007

This article makes a substantive contribution to our understanding of youth and sport participation by exploring the interrelated ways in which situational contexts influence sportsmanship in competitive high school boys basketball. The author uses ethnographic data gathered while he was an assistant coach of boys varsity basketball, at a predominantly African American high school, and a social constructionist approach to demonstrate how players and coaches mediate notions of sportsmanship through the contexts of the game, coaches’ philosophy regarding player conduct, and the everyday social reality of the athletes. The players’ use of contexts to define appropriate sportsmanlike behavior creates a dilemma or “sticky situation” in which the young men must weigh the often-contradictory goals of winning against shifting definitions of sportsmanship. The author discusses the implications of the complex nature of sportsmanship and competitive youth sport.
The Black Experience within English Semiprofessional Soccer
Authors: Jones Robyn L.
Published: March 2007

In addressing the wider issue of the Black experience in sport, this study provides an avenue of research into perceived discriminatory practices against Black semiprofessional soccer players and how such practices are dealt with by the players. In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 Black players to document their related experiences. Analysis of common emergent themes from the data reveal that the continued existence of stereotypical attitudes toward Black players limit their opportunities within the game, while spectator racial abuse, particularly outside London, is a frequent occurrence. The findings are located within the tenets of race, identity, and mainstream cultural practice within present British society, and the interaction that occurs between them. It is anticipated that despite respondent optimism, progress through, and elevation within, the semiprofessional game for Blacks continues to be slow and uneven.
Sport as a Model for Cultural Interaction: The Classic Maya Ball Game
Authors: Morse Mike
Published: March 2007

As we try to understand and assess the role sport plays in our own society, it is instructive to examine the role sport has played for past civilizations. In case after case, it seems that sport has functioned as a time-honored stage on which societies define conventions of interaction, especially conflict. The ball game of Mesoamerica's Classic Period provides a particularly revealing case study because its growth and decline was linked to the cultural processes which led to the dominance and subsequent downfall of the Maya civilization. The most salient contribution of the ball game to the Maya civilization is that it served as a public display of local political power, precluding the need for higher scale military actions. The peacekeeping ability of this violent, quasi-religious sport should serve as a lesson to those who mock the significance of sports in our own world.
McNeil and Football's Antitrust Ouagmire
Authors: Staudohar Paul D.
Published: March 2007

Editor's Note—This analysis of the antitrust developments in professional football was originally framed in mid-October, approximately one month after the McNeil decision. At that time, Paul Staudohar ventured some educated guesses about what would eventually happen because of the case. In the midst of this issuegoing to press, it became increasingly likely that the NFL owners and players would reach some agreement. That agreement came on January 6, 1993. The next day, Staudohar updated the manuscript with a "Post-Agreement Comment." The original manuscript was edited to reflect an awareness that the agreement had been reached, but the original manuscript was left largely intact to give readers a flavor of Staudohar's initial thinking as well as a deeper appreciation of the events leading to the agreement. The editor takes full responsibility for any clumsiness that has resulted from updating the manuscript in this way.
Sports and Conflict in Urban Planning
Authors: Heitzman James
Published: March 2007

The National Games, designed to develop Olympic talent and promote national unity, also allow the channeling of resources for the development of a sports infrastructure in Indian cities. This study of the 1997 National Games in Bangalore discusses the intersection between urban planning, sports infrastructure, and social organization. Issues covered include financing, the political economy underlying construction of facilities, slum removal, and the projection of nationalist ideology. In all cases, the sports spectacle uncovers and activates a range of social conflicts that reveal contradictions between social equity and planning models.
CAUSAL ATTRIBUTIONS OF PERFORMANCE FOR BLACK AND WHITE QUARTERBACKS IN THE NFL: A LOOK AT THE SPORTS PAGES
Authors: Murrell Audrey J. , Curtis Edward M.
Published: March 2007

To examine the impact of race on attributions of a player's performance, 273 passages from the print media for six National Football League quarterbacks (three White, three Black) were subjected to content analyses. Three dimensions were examined for each passage: locus, stability, and controllability. Results indicated that performance by a Black quarterback was described by the print media as being due to internal, stable, and uncontrollable factors (natural ability). Performance by White quarterbacks was described by the print media as being due to internal, unstable, and controllable factors (hard work). Implications of resolving schemainconsistent information and the images of Black athletes portrayed by the print media are discussed.
RACE AND SPORT IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE. LESSONS FROM POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA
Authors: Rees C. Roger
Published: March 2007

This article discusses the implications of recent developments in South African sport for images of race and sport perpetuated internationally and in America. It is argued that the nonracial sports movement, an important symbol for racial equality in South Africa and abroad, has been helped by the international boycott of apartheid sport. Howerver, the image of Black athletes as genetically superior to Whites is also common in international sport. This image reinforces a biologically deterministic view of race that has been the basis of the apartheid system.
THE STACHING OF LATINOS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: A FORGOTTEN MINORITY?
Authors: González G. Leticia
Published: March 2007

The theory of stacking, or the disproportionate relegation of athletes to specific sport positions on the basis of ascribed characteristics such as race or ethnicity, was first developed by Loy and McElvogue about 25 years ago and implies that minorities are assigned to playing positions on the basis of what they are, not what they have achieved. As a result, stacking is usually seen as a negative phenomenon because it is a discriminatory process. The present study examines the stacking of Latinos in major league baseball from 1950 to 1992. The results show that Latinos are stacked in the central positions of shortstop and second base, a finding that is diametrically opposed to traditional stacking theories.
WHEN WINNERS ARE LOSERS: TORONTO AND SYDNEY BIDS FOR THE SUMMER OLYMPICS
Authors: Lenskyj Helen Jefferson
Published: March 2007

This is an analysis of events surrounding the Toronto, Canada and Sydney, Australia Olympic bid processes, with a specific focus on corporate and media attempts to manufacture public consent, and individual and group accommodation and resistance to such attempts. Print materials, including the official publications of the bid committees and newspaper coverage of events in both cities, constitute the primary source of data. It is argued that the two bid campaigns illustrate winning and losing strategies for organizing consent, with the losers (Toronto) being in fact the winners when judged by the criterion of democratic decision making.
RETENTION FACTORS IN COACHING AND ATHLETIC MANAGEMENT: DIFFERENCES BY GENDER, POSITION, AND GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION
Authors: Pastore Donna L. , Inglis Sue , Danylchuk Karen E.
Published: March 2007

This study was undertaken to identify the reasons coaches and athletic administrators stay in their positions. A total of 359 intercollegiate university and college coaches and athletic administrators responded to a questionnaire consisting of 33 items that elicited (a) the extent of how important each item was for staying in one's present position and (b) the fulfillment attached to each item. Previous empirical analyses of the retention items yielded three factors: Work Balance and Conditions, Recognition and Collegial Support, and Inclusivity. Two separate multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) were used to analyze the two sets of dependent variables (importance and fulfillment of retention items) with the independent variables (gender, position, and country). The identification of retention factors provides preliminary knowledge that may be useful for creating a work environment that encourages coaches and athletic managers to remain in their positions.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FEMALE STATUS AND PHYSICAL STRENGTH IN A JAPANESE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC CLUB
Authors: Vincenti James J.
Published: March 2007

This study investigates the disciplines that help create boundaries of appropriate behavior between the genders in a Japanese university club, Ôendan (the Cheering Club). Using both survey and interview data, it focuses on the power over the female body and women's perception of the obvious preferences that men receive in most formal social situations in which physical power and political authority dominate the interaction. The results reveal a situation that delineates gender boundaries by the perceived differences in physical strength between men and women. The men's customs, which could be harsh, were in direct opposition to those practiced by the women. The practices of each gender-divided section helped to define and create what most students believed was appropriate gender-related behavior in the club, and in Japanese society.
GETTING INTO SHAPE
Authors: Grindon Leger
Published: March 2007

American popular culture witnessed a change in the Hollywood boxing fiction films during the late 1930s. These films formed a meaningful trend by absorbing conventions from the gangster film in response to reinforced censorship codes and by riding the wave of the Joe Louis phenomenon absorbing the Popular Front political values associated with the heavyweight boxing champion. Beginning with Kid Galahad in 1937, these films reshaped their conventions into an ensemble of traits that marked the boxing film genre for the next 50 years. These films appropriated and refashioned a critique of the ethos of opportunity and the ambitions of the ethnic outsider from the gangster film. In addition, they reinforced the thematic opposition between body and soul, the material and the spiritual, central to the genre by appropriating the art motif as a manifestation of spirit.
ON THE PERIPHERY OF THE SEX INDUSTRY
Authors: Scambler Graham , Jennings Maggie
Published: March 2007

Unarmed combat—notably boxing and wrestling—has played an important role in premodern and modern societies, mostly in the form of play, sport, or preparation for war. It has almost always been a male preserve. We focus on a small empirical study of women who wrestle in Britain and the United States in the essentially private arena of combat clubs, magazines, and videos—“on the periphery of the sex industry.” Drawing on interviews with women and others, a distinction is drawn between wrestlers who are enthusiasts and those who are opportunists. The interview material is further analyzed to explore women's own experiences and attitudes toward combat, male punters, and feminist arguments about violence and sexuality. It is suggested that it is inappropriate to stereotype these women as “bad girls” and that they should be presumed to be active and reflexive agents on their own behalf in the absence of evidence to the contrary.
Jogada Lingüística
Authors: Pardue Derek
Published: March 2007

In this article, the author argues that the practice of sports as an articulation of social collectivity should be approached not only in terms of institution and social structure but also in terms of discourse and positioning. The ethnographic case of Brazilian soccer informs this piece as the author analyzes nationalism and hegemony using a sociolinguistic approach. The focus of the article rests on the voices of various dominant as well as fragment populations, whose discursive practice help explain how cultural forms such as soccer can be recognized as national even by disinterested persons or those citizens who seek to resist particular ideologies within such cultural forms.
Alternate Routes
Authors: Gilbert G. Ronald
Published: March 2007

This article reports the findings of an evaluation of a juvenile justice system diversion project which took place in Orange County, California during the years between 1971 and 1975. The evaluators' findings suggest that the project was an effective supplement to the existing traditional system. During the period of project demonstration, four of the five members of the County Board of Supervisors were replaced. The new decision makers elected to discontinue the project. It is suggested that improved management of the evaluation would have enhanced the utility of the evaluation for the key county decision makers.
Managerial Style
Authors: Cox Gary B.
Published: March 2007

One of the central problems with program evaluation is the general perception that results are not utilized as fully as possible in decision making processes. A variety of explanations for this shortcoming have been offered, but there has been little research and very little theorizing on the matter. The fact that a similar problem exists in a wide range of information exchange situations suggests that the source of the problem is not primarily methodological. This article draws on other research in order to characterize managerial behavior generally, and then draws some inferences as to how utilization would proceed and how it might be increased.
The Social Context of Evaluative Research
Authors: Levine Adeline , Levine Murray
Published: March 2007

Evaluation takes place in a social context that influences research design, selection of variables, the written report, and the timing of its release. There are also consequences for program implementors, for those subject to the program, and for the evaluators. Evaluations and evaluators may become involved in political conflict within the subject system and conflict external to it as well. The present study makes use of archival data to illustrate the issues in evaluations of the Gary plan of education that took place between 1914 and 1918. Suggestions for confronting political and social realities surrounding evaluation emerge from an application of concepts deriving from the sociology of knowledge.
Attrition
Authors: St. Pierre Robert G. , Proper Elizabeth C.
Published: March 2007

The possible biasing effects of attrition of subjects in experiments is a problem to which social science researchers and evaluators rarely attend. A study of the relationships between attrition rate and background variables for children participating in the Nation al Follow Through Evaluation revealed that in general there were few differences between students who dropped out of treatment and comparison groups.
Evaluation of Treatment Programs
Authors: Dunham Roger G. , Mauss Armand L.
Published: March 2007

A common and perverse problem facing those who evaluate human service programs is the difficulty in getting random assignment of clients to control and experimental groups, so that experimental or quasi-experimental research designs can be meaningfully applied. This article demonstrates the use of a technique (covariance adjustment) that statistically manipulates independent variables so as to give an approximation of random assignment on those variables. In this article, we adapt the work of Alwin and Sullivan (1976) to an actual data set from public alcohol treatment programs. We found some very significant differences between the adjusted and nonadjusted treatment out comes, demonstrating the need for some type of pretreatment controls in the absence of random assignment. The covariance adjustment technique and its assumptions are dis cussed leading to the conclusion that the technique is a very workable resolution of the random assignment problem. We also demonstrate how the technique yields some valuable information generally not available when random assignment is used: namely, the identification and weighting of certain selection biases as they relate to the dependent variable.
Evaluating Correctional Programs
Authors: Schmidt Peter , Witte Ann D.
Published: March 2007

In this article, we develop a model of the length of time until recidivism, and estimate it on a sample of releasees from the North Carolina prison system. Evidence of the model's predictive accuracy is presented. The model is then used to evaluate a correctional program by comparing the actual time until recidivism of program participants to that predicted by the model. The program appears to be effective only in the very short run.
Beyond Random Assignment
Authors: Rezmovic Eva Lantos , Cook Thomas J. , Dobson L. Douglas
Published: March 2007

This article draws on the experience gained from conducting a true experiment in the criminal justice field to discuss practical problems in maintaining the integrity of evaluation studies. Issues revolving around budgeting, randomization, data collectors, interview payments, and evaluation of black box treatments are addressed. While these nontechnical aspects of evaluation can significantly affect the validity and meaningfulness of research results, they are rarely discussed in research reports. The need to communicate both research experience and research methodology is stressed.
Modeling Service Delivery as a System of Transitions
Authors: Taber Merlin A. , Poertner John P.
Published: March 2007

Service delivery systems influence outcomes of personal social services. To understand and redesign delivery systems new conceptual and analytic tools are needed. The notion of delivery systems as a set of statuses through which clients move permits construction of transition matrixes to display caseload dynamics. In this study, analysis of such matrixes for a large child care system reveals patterns of movement not otherwise seen. It is concluded from inspection of tables and from testing for Markov conditions that the system is not changing despite administrative interventions. Probabilities of movement among statuses appear to be functions of the system and not determined by the history of the particular child. These findings suggest that the fate of children in placement is determined more by system dynamics than by client or professional considerations. This study shows that modeling of service delivery as a set of transition probabilities is a useful tool for evaluation of social systems.
The Relative Importance of Treatment Outcomes
Authors: Clark Austen , Friedman Matthew J.
Published: March 2007

Cost-effectiveness studies require one to estimate overall program effectiveness using multiple outcome measures. However, one must first establish the relative importance of the different outcomes. Using an iterative process of group discussion, voting, and feedback of results, subjects ranked nine outcome scales in priority and assigned importance weights. Improvement in client ability to be self-supporting was judged the most important outcome, with symptom reduction second. Involvement with friends and substance abuse were judged the least important outcomes. The group achieved a high degree of consensus, as measured by convergence towards increasingly precise and distinct importance weights.
Evaluating Classification Schemes Used in Reporting Criminal Justice Data
Authors: Hubert L.J. , Golledge R.G. , Kenney T. , Costanzo C.M.
Published: March 2007

Three methodological topics are developed within the context of presenting statistical information through the use of some a priori classification schemes. First, a strategy is defined for evaluating the utility of a given classification that is based on, say, spatial contiguity or population. A heuristic optimization technique is then suggested as a way of constructing possibly better categorizations from secondary data sources. Finally, a method is given for comparing the adequacy of any two different classifications. Throughout the paper we discuss an example that involves crime rate data for 40 cities in the Los Angeles area
The Impact of Early Education
Authors: Pierson Donald E. , Bronson Martha B. , Dromey Elizabeth , Swartz Janet P. , Tivnan Terrence , Walker Deborah K.
Published: March 2007

A comprehensive birth-to-kindergarten program was evaluated by classroom observa tions and teacher ratings of 132 participant children and 366 comparison children during fall and spring of the kindergarten year. The observations revealed significant advantages for the participants in both fall and spring on a majority of indices, particularly for behaviors categorized as social and use of time. The teacher ratings indicated few overall differences, with advantages for participants only in the fall on a prereading scale. A logistic regression model was used to adjust for possible effects of children's background characteristics; advantages for participants over comparison children were consistent across background characteristics. On the teacher ratings, the adjustments revealed significant interactions: advantages of participants over comparison children were found for subgroups traditionally associated with having difficulties in kindergarten.
Assessing Mental Health Program Effectiveness
Authors: Warner Jack L. , Berman John J. , Weyant James M. , Ciarlo James A.
Published: March 2007

In order to assess the advantages and disadvantages of face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, and mailed questionnaires, 1100 clients were randomly assigned to one of these follow-up methods. All participating clients were contacted approximately 180 days after intake using a well-documented treatment outcome measure. Response rates for the telephone interview and mailed questionnaire were approximately one-half as high as the face-to-face interview, yet for each method very few client background variables were related to whether or not clients responded. The mailed questionnaire was least affected by socially desirable responses, and also cost less to administer than either of the interview methods.
Program Evaluation as Problem Solving
Authors: Ross John A.
Published: March 2007

Metaphors can serve as powerful stimulants for clarifying purposes, roles, and practices in program evaluation The metaphor proposed in this article is that the behavior of teachers conducting small-scale evaluations of their own programs is analogous to the behavior of students solving curriculum-specific problems in classrooms, and that teaching methods for training students in problem-solving skills can be usefully adapted to training teachers in evaluation skills. The metaphor focuses attention on the construct of evaluation frameworks and on strategies for externally representing evaluation frameworks. A growth scheme and training strategy are empirically developed with evidence from three related case studies
Use and Misuse of No-Difference Findings in Eliminating Threats To Validity
Authors: Yeaton William H. , Sechrest Lee
Published: March 2007

Donald Campbell and his colleagues have elaborated an approach to research based on the elimination of threats to four validity types: internal, external, construct, and statistical conclusion. The central thesis of this article is that the process of eliminating validity threats depends fundamentally on no-difference findings, a fact that, unfor tunately, has not been made explicit by researchers. The implications of this neglect are explored using examples from a number of different substantive areas such as psychology, health, and medicine. Finally, the intrinsic role of no-difference findings is described in the context of all four validity types, and suggestions for improving the process are offered.
Assessing Factors Influencing Acceptance of No-Difference Research
Authors: Yeaton William H. , Sechrest Lee
Published: March 2007

In this randomized study 160 members of the Evaluation Research Society acted as judges to assess the attributes of research that produce credibility. The study focused on acceptability of no-difference findings, a long ignored but important domain of research. In the context of a hypothetical study, four factors were tested to determine their influence on acceptability of both no-difference and difference findings: randomization/nonran domization, one/three outcomes, power = .80/.60, and equivalence on baseline measures of all eight/all but two of eight. Experts were asked to judge degree of acceptability and to reject or accept findings in both a no-difference and a difference study. Randomization consistently enhanced the believability of outcomes whereas other factors exerted a less consistent influence. Limitations of the study were discussed.
Evaluating the Impact of Ceta On Participant Earnings
Authors: Bryant Edward C. , Rupp Kalman
Published: March 2007

This article summarizes estimates of CETA net impact on labor market outcomes using multivariate matching and weighting. The approach produces a comparison group from the Current Population Survey similar to the treatment sample on higher order interactions of match variables and displays only limited sensitivity to model specification. Unlike other approaches that rely on a priori assumptions, the estimates do not require explicit assumptions concerning the temporary or permanent nature of the "preentry earnings dip. "Statistical tests show the resulting comparison groups to be superior both to random samples of eligibles from the Current Population Survey and to comparison groups derived by statistical matching without replacement. Consistent with program changes, FY 1977 impact estimates were higher than FY 1976 impact estimates.
Motorcycle Helmet Effectiveness
Authors: Goldstein Jonathan P.
Published: March 2007

The following is a reply to Iqbal S. Bedi's article "An Evaluation of the Methodology and Results of J. P. Goldstein's Study, 'The Effects of Motorcycle Helmet Use on the Proba bility of Fatality and the Severity of Head and Neck Injuries. "'J. P. Goldstein's original article appeared in the June, 1986, issue of Evaluation Review. Iqbal S. Bedi's article appeared in the October, 1987, issue of Evaluation Review.
Estimating Local Child Abuse
Authors: Ards Sheila
Published: March 2007

Three conceptual approaches to estimating local child abuse rates using conventional data available at the local level are discussed and evaluated. The first approach assumes that local abuse rates can be approximated by the national abuse rates. The second approach assumes that known abuse rates must be decomposed into rates applicable to sub-groups in the population, then used to estimate local levels of abuse. The third approach assumes that social and demographic variations across counties must be accounted for before adequate estimates can be obtained The National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect data set is used to illustrate the alternative methods. The methods are then applied to obtain estimates of child abuse cases in a single county outside of the sample. The conclusion is that estimates of actual abuse cases far exceed the number of reported cases regardless of the method employed
Three Methods of Assessing Adolescent School-Level Experimentation of Tobacco Products
Authors: Charlin Ventura L. , Sussman Steve , Dent Clyde W. , Stacy Alan W. , Graham John W. , Barovich Marny , Hahn Ginger , Burton Dee , Flay Brian R.
Published: March 2007

Three methods of use of estimate tobacco products experimentation were examined in nineteen schools (thirteen junior high schools and six high schools). Convergent and discriminant validity of measures of student experimentation of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco were assessed using Campbell and Fiske's (1959) criteria to analyze a multitrait-multimethod correlation matrix produced by two traits (cigarettes and smokeless tobacco) and three methods (aggregated students' self-report of tobacco experimentation, school personnel prevalence estimates of student tobacco experimentation, and school outdoor refuse evidence of tobacco products). The student self-report and the school staff estimate methods demonstrated good convergent validity. The refuse method showed convergent validity with the student self-reports of smokeless tobacco only. Evidence for discriminant validity was only suggestive. It appears that the school personnel method is the most useful and economic alternative for estimating school-level tobacco experimentation.
The Comparability of Focus Group and Survey Results
Authors: Ward Victoria M. , Bertrand Jane T. , Brown Lisanne F.
Published: March 2007

This article compares focus group findings with those of surveys on the same topics in three studies in order to determine the extent to which the two methodologces yield similar results. The studies included two follow-ups of tubal ligation acceptors (in Guatemala and Zaire) and research concerning attitudes toward vasectomy in Honduras. On 88% of the variables, the results from the two methods were similar; moreover, in half of the cases, the focus groups provided additional detail. The research suggests that focus groups and surveys provide consistent results on the types of variables for which focus groups are appropriate.
Establishing Benchmarks for Outcome Indicators
Authors: Henry Gary T. , McTaggart Matthew J. , McMillan James H.
Published: March 2007

Indicators of program performance are used as evaluative measures in a variety of fields. A particularly vexing problem for evaluation is the development of empirically based performance expectations. Should program sponsors be satisfied with average performance? How should evaluators account for client differences? This article presents a statistical technique for developing performance standards based on benchmark groups. The benchmark groups are selected using a multivariate technique that relies on a squared Euclidean distance method. For each observation unit, in this case a school district, a unique comparison group is selected. The performance of the district is compared to the performance of its benchmark group. Then the credibility, predictability, and equity of the method are tested. The approach meets or exceeds these test criteria and appears to be a viable, albeit controversial, approach for developing comparative performance standards.
Using Focus Groups to Discuss Sensitive Topics with Children
Authors: Hoppe Marilyn J. , Wells Elizabeth A. , Morrison Diane M. , Gillmore Mary R. , Wilsdon Anthony
Published: March 2007

The Children's Health Awareness Project is presented as a case study of the use of focus groups for gathering sensitive information from children. General focus group techniques are described, as are the benefits and limitations of focus group methodology for social science applications. Recommendations are offeredfor other investigators planning to use this methodology to gather information from children, especially when sensitive topics are to be addressed.
Using Factorial Surveys for Designing Intervention Programs
Authors: Hennessy Michael , MacQueen Kathleen M. , Seals Brenda
Published: March 2007

This article reviews factorial surveys and highlights their utility in designing intervention programs. It then describes two instances in which factorial surveys were used to develop HIV/AIDS-related interventions: designing HIV vaccine trials that maximize participation and identifying optimal treatment regimes for HIV positive mothers and their babies to prevent perinatal HIV infection. We conclude that factorial survey applications of this kind have a great potential for use in the design (and redesign where necessary) of intervention programs.
An Evaluation of D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), Using a Solomon Four-Group Design With Latent Variables
Authors: Dukes Richard L. , Ullman Jodie B. , Stein Judith A.
Published: March 2007

The authors examine the effectiveness of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.), con trolling for maturation and pretest sensitization by using a Solomon Four-Group design with latent variables. Results analyzed at the classroom level (440 classrooms, 10,000 students) indicated that D.A.R.E. participation resulted in greater self-esteem, stronger institutional bonds, and endorsement of fewer risky behaviors. The pretest was reactive on one of four latent-variable outcomes: resistance to peer pressure. Maturation resulted in effects counter to D.A.R.E.: lower self-esteem and weaker institutional bonds. Effects were stronger than those reported in prior meta-analytic studies.
Statewide Substance Abuse Prevention Planning
Authors: Breer Paul , McAuliffe William E. , Levine Eliot B.
Published: March 2007

The State of Rhode Island contracted with the authors to prepare a statewide, comprehensive substance abuse prevention plan. The literature review revealed a lack of research on statewide planning for prevention services. To obtain data for Rhode Island's plan, the authors conducted a family of studies including synthetic estimation, key informant interviews, a telephone survey of agency directors, program budget analysis, construction of a statistical index for estimating the optimal geographic allocation of prevention dollars, and a review of General Laws regarding tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs. Their recommendations include the increased funding and coordination of prevention services, allocating services according to need rather than popula tion size, greater use of social policy as a prevention tool, and a shift in primary prevention programming from senior high to lower grades and in program emphasis from information-education to psychosocial programs.
Undetermined Manner of Death
Authors: Sorenson Susan B. , Shen Haikang , Kraus Jess F.
Published: March 2007

Injury deaths can be grouped into four general categories: accident, honucide, suicide, and undetermined. The present study investigates the use of the "undetermined" category. External cause of death, as well as demographic and other vanables, were abstracted from death certificates of the 386,936 Califomians who died of an injury between 1969 and 1991. Differ ences among the four nianner-of-death groups were examined, and characteristics of the decedent and the injury event were used to predict a classificatton of undetermined. Coroners classified 1.9% of the deaths as undetermined in manner. Deaths of women, Blacks, Asians, and Native Americans; the very young and the middle aged; or those involving poisoning or submersion were most likely to be classified as undetermined. Acknowledging that individual coroner judgment may not be free of bias, these findings can help provide a better estimate of the frequency and the epidemiologtc features of injury deaths that are assigned to the category of undetermined.
Evaluating Specific Community Structural Changes
Authors: Saltz Robert F.
Published: March 2007

Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) refers to the idea that bars and restaurants may be able to have a significant impact on the levels of deaths and injuries associated with alcohol consump tion including, but not limited to alcohol-impaired driving. After a brief background on RBS as a prevention strategy, the authors review the different measures, protocols, and designs that have been employed in evaluations of responsible service programs with attention paid to the strengths and limitations accompanying each choice. This article concludes by describing the Prevention Research Center's Community Trials Project design as it relates to evaluating its RBS compo nent, and some of the unique considerations that influenced the measures and protocols employed. In so doing, the authors discover how the larger project serves as an interesting case study in action research.
Zero Effects in Substance Abuse Programs
Authors: Rindskopf David , Saxe Leonard
Published: March 2007

The evaluation of community-based programs poses special design and analysis problems. The present article focuses on two major types of errors that can occur in such evaluations: false positives—incorrectly declaring a program to be effective—and false negatives—incorrectly declaring a program to be ineffective. The evaluation of a national demonstration of community- based programs to reduce substance abuse, Fighting Back, is used to illustrate several ap proaches to reduce the probability of errors. Both those errors that are affected by the design and those by analytic approaches are considered. Ways to assess multiple outcomes and to match the complexity of the program with design and analytic strategies are proposed. Community trials are complex interventions, and, although they can provide very useful information, their outcomes have to be understood in terms of the constructs they test and the contexts within which they are carried out.