bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Epidemiologic Observations on the Compression of Morbidity
Authors: Kaplan George A.
Published: March 2007

Data on the health experience of two cohorts of Alameda County, California adults selected in 1965 and 1974 are used to examine evidence for a compression of morbidity. These data, based on two representative cohorts that have been prospectively followed, indicate major declines in age-specific mortality rates between the two cohorts. Accompanying these declines in risk of death is an increase in the age-specific prevalence of a number of chronic conditions and symptoms and a decrease in the association between these conditions and symptoms and risk of death. This increase in morbidity is accompanied, in turn, by an increase in the amount of disability associated with specific chronic conditions and symptoms. The overall picture is one of increased survival accompanied by increased morbidity and disability. These data do not provide evidence in support of a compression of morbidity. A further consideration of the methodologic and conceptual problems that are raised by the compression of morbidity hypothesis suggests that it is not a testable hypothesis and that further efforts should concentrate, instead, on primary and secondary prevention efforts to lessen morbidity burdens and improve quality of life for older persons.
Developing a Method of Assessing Quality of Care in Nursing Homes, Using Key Indicators and Population Norms
Authors: Phillips Colleen J.
Published: March 2007

This article illustrates how population norms on key indicators of quality can be used to assess quality of care in nursing homes. Five key indicators of quality were chosen from a Patient Care and Services Survey carried out by the Rhode Island State Department of Health: prevalence of contractures, in-house-acquired decubiti, use of restraints, lack of participation in an activities program, and nasogastric tube feeds. The population prevalence of these indicators was adjusted according to the case mix and size of each nursing home. A measure of quality suggested was the difference between the case-mix-adjusted prevalence and the prevalence observed by state surveyors. It was concluded that although the system is still in the exploratory stages, it has the potential to supplement the clinical judgment of nursing home surveyors with a more objective method of assessing compliance with quality of care standards.
"Important" Life Events and Depression among Older Adults
Authors: Ensel Walter M.
Published: March 2007

The current article examines the role of psychosocial factors in the relationship of life events and depression among older adults by focusing on a single "most important" life event. Using data from a random community sample of older adults, the study finds that although health-related events do exacerbate the level of depression resulting from an undesirable life event, their exclusion from the analysis still results in a significant relationship between non-health-related events and depressive symptomatology. Controlling for both types of undesirable life events, the study further documents that psychological resources are more effective than social resources in predicting subsequent level of depression for those experiencing health-related events. For those experiencing non-health-related life events, social resources are most important in predicting subsequent symptomatology. Implications are discussed.
Factors Associated with Change in Physical Functioning in the Elderly
Authors: Kaplan George A. , Strawbridge William J. , Camacho Terry , Cohen Richard D.
Published: March 2007

This study analyzes risk factors associated with 6-year change in physical functioning for 356 members of the Alameda County Study aged 65 and over. Statistically significant associations were found for baseline age, family income, perceived health, number of chronic conditions, prevalent stroke, prevalent heart attack, exercise, going out, marital status, social networks, depression, and internal health locus of control. Relatively strong (but not statistically significant) associations were found for ethnicity, smoking, and weight. Incident conditions during follow-up that had statistically significant associations with change in function included hip fracture, stroke, serious fall, and heart attack. Controls for prevalent and incident conditions attenuated the associations for only ethnicity, smoking, weight, and marital status. Interventions directed at the risk factors identified here may hold promise for extending independent physical functioning in old age
Self-Efficacy and Cognitive Performance in High-Functioning Older Individuals
Authors: Seeman Teresa E. , Rodin Judith , Albert Marilyn
Published: March 2007

The hypothesis that stronger self-efficacy beliefs are associated with better cognitive performance at older ages was examined in a sample of men and women, age 70-79. Multiple domains of efficacy beliefs and cognitive abilities were examined. Analyses revealed considerable specificity in the observed associations. For men, multiple regression analyses revealed that instrumental efficacy beliefs were related to better performance on tests of memory and abstraction, independent of sociodemographic characteristics and physical and psychological health; there were no independent associations with individual tests of spatial ability naming, incidental recall, or delayed spatial recognition. For women, instrumental efficacy beliefs had no significant associations with the tests of cognitive ability. Interpersonal efficacy beliefs showed no significant associations for men or women. Possible reasons for these gender differences as well as the specificity of the instrumental efficacy associations are discussed.
Incongruence between Health Perceptions and Health Problems
Authors: Chipperfield Judith G.
Published: March 2007

Subjective ratings of health are not always congruent with other health indices. The present study explored the congruence/incongruence between subjective overall health ratings and diseases/health problems as reported by elderly individuals. The goals were to consider the prevalence of health congruence/incongruence among seniors and to examine whether congruence/incongruence relates to mortality. Overall, it was found that incongruence was more likely to be in the form of more favorable, rather than less favorable, ratings (i.e., overestimates rather than underestimates). The relationship between congruence/incongruence and mortality was explored using three different follow-up periods and was examined separately among those who were well, ill, or neither well nor ill (i.e., typical elders). Although the findings differed depending on length of follow-up and health status, they generally suppported a link between overestimation of health and survival. Even among ill elders, those who overestimated their health were less likely to die than were those who did not.
Health Conditions and Service Utilization of Adults with Elder Care Responsibilities
Authors: Scharlach Andrew E. , Runkle M. Cecilia , Midanik Lorraine T. , Soghikian Krikor
Published: March 2007

This study examines health conditions and health care services utilization rates of 628 caregivers and 6,599 noncaregivers age 50 or older who were members of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan in Northern California. Controlling for age, gender, and race, caregivers were more likely than noncaregivers to report backaches, insomnia, arthritis, rectal problems, and hearing problems; they were also more likely to report having two or more current health conditions of any kind. However, caregivers and noncaregivers did not differ significantly with regard to the number of outpatient medical visits or with regard to the number of outpatient psychiatry visits.
The Influence of the New York Quality Assurance System on Casemix in Nursing Homes
Authors: Ozminkowski Ronald J. , Cella Margot A. , Branch Laurence G. , Schwartz Carolyn E.
Published: March 2007

The New York Quality Assurance System (NYQAS) was designed to assure high-quality nursing home care in New York. Among its many incentives, NYQAS may change the likelihood that elderly with heavy-care needs will be admitted to nursing homes. This article addresses that hypothesis. Data for descriptive and multivariate analyses come from the RUGs-Il Patient Review Instrument and the Medicare and Medicaid Automated Certification System files for 1986-1990. The descriptive analyses focus on functional ability in new nursing home residents before and after NYQAS. The multivariate analyses adjust for pre-NYQAS, RUGs-related trends in casemix, resident demographics, and nursing home characteristics that influence casemix. The results suggest a significant but small decrease in functional status at admission during the post-NYQAS era.
Comparing Health-Related Indicators of Very Old Hypertensives and Nonhypertensives in an HMO
Authors: Johnson Richard E. , Ried L. Douglas , Vogt Thomas M.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to determine if very old hypertensives (85 years of age and over) were sicker and in poorer health than very old nonhypertensives. The authors compared the frequency of comorbidities, medical care and drug use, self-reported functional and health status, and health-related behaviors of very old hypertensive and nonhypertensive health maintenance organization (HMO) enrollees. Very old male hypertensives were less healthy than very old male nonhypertensives, female hypertensives, and nonhypertensives. In contrast, very old female hypertensives were healthy or healthier than very old female nonhypertensives. Hypertension may be a more serious condition among very old males than very old females, or treatment may be more efficacious (or prevalent) for very old female hypertensives. These relationships require further study to determine if treatment guidelines should differ by sex among very old hypertensives.
Changes in Functional Ability from Ages 70 to 75
Authors: Avlund Kirsten , Davidsen Michael , Schultz-Larsen Kirsten
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this article is (a) to describe changes in functional ability from the age of 70 to 75 years, (b) to examine whether a new functional ability measure is a good predictor of dependency, and (c) to examine whether sociodemographic factors are associated with transitions. The investigation is part of the longitudinal study of the 1914 population in Glostrup, Denmark, and comprised 576 men and women who were interviewed in their homes about functional ability, social situation, and so forth when they were 70 and 75 years old. Tiredness in mobility and daily activities measured by two functional ability scales at age 70 were independent predictors of need for help in mobility and daily activities at age 75. Among the sociodemographic variables, education among women and income among men were found to be independent predictors of dependency at age 75.
Perceived Health and Functional Status among Spouse Caregivers of Frail Older Persons
Authors: Mui Ada C.
Published: March 2007

This national interview study examined the health impact of caring for frail elders in a sample of 437 spouse caregivers. The principal findings were that (a) caregiver emotional strain was the strongest common predictor of both poor perceived health and functional limitations, (b) wife caregivers' poor health was associated with care recipients' perceived unmet needs and increased depression, (c) husband caregivers' poor health status was predicted by longer caregiving duration, and (d) non-White wife caregivers reported poorer perceived health than did their White counterparts.
Survival in the Oldest Old
Authors: Dontas Anastasius S. , Toupadaki Nektaria , Tzonou Anastasia , Kasviki-Charvati Popi
Published: March 2007

Factors predicting death in the ninth decade of life may differ from predictors in younger age groups. A prospective study was carried out on 210 subjects entering a residential home at the age of 68 to 79 years and of 287 subjects aged ≥ 80 years who included 91 survivors from the first group; all subjects were followed until 78% of them had died. A Cox analysis was carried out with death as end point and 13 potential risk factors as covariates. Mildly impaired mobility at entry, defined as the need for help to walk 300-400 yards for various reasons, smoking, bacteriuria, and presence of ECG abnormalities were significant death risk predictors before age 80. Beyond this age, only mildly impaired mobility and serum cholesterol levels ≤5.9 mmol/L, as compared with levels ≥8.0 mmol/L, remained significant. Higher hematocrit levels were predictors of survival before and after age 80. Systolic blood pressure, age, sex, weight, and socioeconomic status had no effect in either group. The data show that survival after age 80 is related only to adequate physical mobility and high hematocrit and cholesterol levels, regardless of the levels of other common risk factors.
Imbalance in an Older Population
Authors: Satariano William A. , DeLorenze Gerald N. , Reed Dwayne , Schneider Edward L.
Published: March 2007

Difficulties with balance are associated with limitations in activities of daily living. There is little information, however, about the epidemiology of imbalance. Imbalance, defined as the inability to maintain a full-tandem stand for 10 seconds, was assessed as part of an interview with 2,018 residents of Mann County, California, age 55 and older. The likelihood of imbalance was greater in women, those aged 85 and older, and those with less than 12 years of education. It was also associated with specific chronic conditions, including a history of hypertension, stroke, or cataracts. Even after adjusting for these conditions, imbalance was associated with reduced lower-body strength as well as poor short-term memory, hip pain, vision problems, abstention from alcohol, and current cigarette smoking. With those aged 85 and older representing the fastest growing age group in developed nations, imbalance may become a major health problem.
Depression and Health in Family Caregivers
Authors: Wehilatch Carol J. , Feinberg Lynn Friss , Sebesta Douglas S.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the predictors of caregiver depression and "adaptation" over time in a sample of 202 family caregivers of cognitively impaired adults. By examining caregiver adaptation (i.e., a caregiver's ability to adjust psychologically to the demands of providing long-term in-home care), we were able to account for initial levels of depression, regression to the mean, and floor and ceiling effects. Results indicated that the strongest predictors of caregiver depression 1 year after baseline were initial levels of depression, worsening of caregiver subjective physical health status and burden, and short-term use of in-home respite assistance. These findings suggest that caregivers who experience deterioration in levels of physical health and burden and who use in-home respite on a short-term or spoadic basis may be especially vulnerable to the chronic stress of providing long-term in-home care.
Benefits of Linkage to the National Death Index in the Longitudinal Study of Aging
Authors: James Margaret K. , Miller Michael E. , Anderson Roger T. , Worley Angela S. , Longino Charles F.
Published: March 2007

To reduce the potential bias resulting from differential loss to follow-up in the Longitudinal Study of Aging (LSOA), information obtained from household contact methods was supplemented with information from the National Death Index (NDI). This article examines the degree of agreement in the vital status data from two sources (reinterview contacts and the NDI system) and evaluates the potential gains of using the NDI data as a supplement to define participants' vital status. Results reveal that NDI information, used to supplement reinterview information, can substantially reduce bias due to the differential loss of participants to follow-up. Reliance on reinterview information alone was less likely to capture those deaths occurring in study participants who at the initial contact lived alone, were below the poverty index, were interviewed without use of a proxy, did not supply a phone number, and did not own a home.
Selection Bias in Samples of Older Twins?
Authors: Simmons Sandra F. , Johansson Boo , Zarit Steven H. , Ljungquist Birgit , Plomin Robert , Mcclearn Gerald E.
Published: March 2007

Twin studies are a powerful approach for estimating genetic and environmental influences in later life, but the usual requirement that both twins are alive may introduce a selection bias in gerontological studies relative to representative samples of nontwins. In the present study, samples of older twins and nontwins in Sweden were compared across the domains of vitality, well-being, physical and cognitive functioning, and health utilization to evaluate possible selection bias. One member of each twin dyad in the OCTO-Twin Study of intact twin pairs older than age 80 was randomly selected (N = 128) and compared with a population-based sample of nontwins (N = 324) from the OCTO Study. Multiple regressions adjusting for differences in demographic variables showed significant effects for twin status in only 3 of 20 comparisons. The results suggest that twin pairs surviving into very late life are similar to a representative sample of nontwins of the same age in health status and biobehavioral functioning. These findings support the generalizability of twin studies for understanding genetic and environmental influences on aging, health, and behavior.
The Relationship among Income, other Socioeconomic Indicators, and Functional Level in Older Persons
Authors: Berkman Cathy S. , Gurland Barry J.
Published: March 2007

Socioeconomic status (SES) is well established as a cause of morbidity and mortality, but relatively few studies have investigated the relationship between SES and functional level. Functional level is closely related to the use of long-term care services and is a more salient indicator of quality of life than specific diseases. We used data from 1,570 respondents in the Growing Older in New York City Study, a probability sample of people age 65 and older, to examine this relationship. The association between income and function was seen throughout the full gradient of income and remained significant when controlling for age, gender, race/ethnicity, household size, education, occupation, age of immigration, and locus of control. Education and residential environment, but not occupation, were independently associated with functional level. These findings support both the association between SES and functional limitation and the hypothesis that the SES and health association continues into old age.
Aging, Health, and the "Electronic Church"
Authors: Hays Judith C. , Landerman Lawrence R. , Blazer Dan G. , Koenig Harold G. , Carroll Jackson W. , Musick Marc A.
Published: March 2007

We tested whether elders substitute religious media use for church attendance when health declines (using multidimensional disengagement theory) with data from a multiracial, population-based sample in the Bible Belt (N = 2,971). In adjusted models, 3-year declines in functional status were significantly associated with concurrent reduction in frequency of church attendance but not with any change in rates of religious media (TV/radio) use. Age-related declines in church attendance were substantively explained by declining functional ability. Changes in religious media use were independent of age and less sensitive to declining functional status or service attendance than to cultural heritage such as race, socioeconomic status, and rural upbringing. Our data do not support the hypothesis that elders with deteriorating health substitute increased engagement with religious media as their participation in organizational religious activities is reduced. However, applicability of the substitution hypothesis to other dimensions of nonorganizational religiousness (e.g., prayer) awaits similar scrutiny.
Physical and Psychosocial Correlates of Hormone Replacement Therapy with Chronically Stressed Postmenopausal Women
Authors: Steffen Ann M. , Thompson Larry W. , Gallagher-Thompson Dolores , Koin Diana
Published: March 2007

Objectives: This study investigated the relationship between hormone replacement therapy (HRT) use and physical and psychosocial functioning in a sample of chronically stressed older women. Methods: Participants ( N= 94) were postmenopausal women caring for a parent or spouse with dementia. Caregivers were evaluated using both psychological and physical health indices. Results: Caregivers receiving HRT reported lower levels of hostility and were less likely to report unpleasant interactions with members of their support network; these findings were unrelated to demographic variables, caregiving-related indices, or health behaviors. HRT recipients had lower 10-year risk scores for cardiovascular disease, but there were no group differences in stroke risk. The largest effects on hostility, depression, heart and stroke risk were observed in caregivers receiving a combination of estradiol and progesterone. Discussion: HRT for postmenopausal women may promote positive outcomes for some, but not for all, affective states and cardiovascular variables vulnerable to chronic life stressors.
Postacute Care Following Stroke or Hip Fracture
Authors: Berg Katherine , Intrator Orna
Published: March 2007

Objective: To describe the use of postacute services alone or in combination following a hospitalization for a hip fracture or stroke by Medicare beneficiaries who were relatively well and living in the community prior to the index event. Methods: Healthservice use histories were constructed using Medicare claims. Patients in the study represented all subjects from a 1% sample of Medicare beneficiaries who were age 70 years or older at the time of the index hospitalization. Results: From 1987 to 1992, the proportion of patients receiving any postacute care and those receiving combinations of care increased. For example, therewas a doubling of the proportion of patients with either condition using sequences of rehabilitation with home health or SNF and home health. Within 1 year of the hospitalization, 42.6% of patients with stroke and 35.0% post-hip fracture had been rehospitalized. Discussion: Resource use and assessment of patient outcomes should be examined across the continuum of postacute care and in the months beyond to examine the relative effectiveness of different combinations of care.
Challenges in Survey Research and Their Implications for Philanthropic Studies Research
Authors: Kennedy John M. , Vargus Brian
Published: March 2007

The authors review many of the serious challenges faced by survey researchers whose craft is to design and implement survey research. The challenges differ by mode of data collection (in person, telephone, mail, Web, etc.), and they have strong implications for philanthropy researchers who use survey research. Specialists in survey research have benefited from a number of developments in question and questionnaire design, sampling, cost containment, and handling increasing nonresponse. After reviewing these developments, the authors conclude with a plea to researchers to consult survey research experts at all points in survey design and planning. This will result in better data and research.
Volunteering: A Serious Leisure Perspective
Authors: Stebbins Robert A.
Published: March 2007

A handful of observers have suggested that volunteering can be defined and described as a leisure activity. Extending this reasoning, it is argued that many kinds of volunteering, because they foster the acquisition and expression of a combination of special skills, knowledge, and experience, can be looked on as serious leisure. The serious leisure perspective not only defines and explains volunteers and volunteering as self-interested leisure but also opens the way to a more comprehensive theoretical statement of leisure volunteering than was heretofore available. In this artick, the author explores the leisure components of all volunteering to learn where the serious leisure model applies. Distinctions are drawn between types of volunteering: career and casual, formal and informal, and occupational and nonoccupational. The perspective fails to fit each type equally well. It fits best the types of volunteering classifiable as formal and nonoccupational, types in which wlunteers normally find substantial leisure careers.
Trusting that of God in Everyone: Three Examples of Quaker-Based Social Service in Disadvantaged Communities
Authors: Schneider Jo Anne
Published: March 2007

This article explores the concept of social capital through case studies of three Quaker based social service organizations engaged in work in disadvantaged communities. Social capital represents relationships among members of a community built on shared understandings, behaviors, and patterns of trust. Accessing the social capital resources of a community often depends on exhibiting the cultural capital of network members. The article illustrates two points: (a) successfully mobilizing the social capital of a religious body depends on the ability of religious-based organizations to maintain both network relations and appropriate cultural capital behaviors expected by members of the founding religion, and (b) sharing social capital can take several forms. Organizations can use religious-based resources to serve outsiders without expanding boundaries to include the communities served, to expand social capital by enculturating newcomers into their practices, or to change the cultural cues considered appropriate to access the social resources of the religious organization.
From Interdependence, to Dependence and Independence
Authors: JORDAN ELIZABETH
Published: March 2007

Travellers are the most discriminated against group within the European Union. Empirical research on their situation within schools is minimal, yet policy, supported by substantial funds, has been developed throughout Europe, largely focused on issues of ethnicity and anti-racist approaches. This article, based on 10 years of research in Scotland and an analysis of the UK and EU approaches, reviews the mismatch between Traveller cultures and their schooling experience. Schools ignore and devalue the children's home learning of interdependence and independence and offer only learned dependence and institutional exclusion, leading to lowered self-esteem, high absenteeism and early drop-out.
The Street and its Image
Authors: LUCCHINI RICCARDO
Published: March 2007

Children in Montevideo were studied in a number of different domains, including the street. These children were not fully integrated into street life and were largely based in welfare programmes. The differences in use of the street between children who worked and children who did not work were noted. The formation of an identity of street child was found to be a complex process resulting from children's relationships to and use of other domains.
Non-Territorial Culture as The Rationale for the Assimilation of Gypsy Children
Authors: OKELY JUDITH
Published: March 2007

This article argues that the ambiguous status of a travelling ethnic group has implications for the state's interest in the assimilation of that group. The social reproduction of the group through the education of children becomes a crucial site of struggle. The Gypsies have to adapt to or subvert the dominant hegemony of sedentarism and the priveleging of a permanent place for identity. They must also retain control over their social reproduction through their children's upbringing. They have for centuries virtually monopolized the education of their children. Education outside the Gypsy community can be what Althusser defined as part of the state apparatus. Alternatively, the Gypsies might, through their traditions of working within but independently of the dominant larger society, find ways of subverting a state educational programme of assimilation, using it for their own ends to ensure their survival as a self-determined group. But government policies directed towards Gypsies' schooling are largely aimed at incorporation. Schooling is not a neutral intellectual liberation, as many educational `aficionados' of Gypsies believe.
Doing Reality With Play
Authors: STRANDELL HARRIET
Published: March 2007

This article presents results from an ethnographic study on children's everyday life in Finnish daycare centres. It raises the question of the relation between play and real life. Play and playfulness are analysed as communicative resources children use in creating and reproducing everyday routines, not only inside play activities, but also in other kinds of situations occurring during an ordinary day. The free-floating social interaction of the centre constitutes the context of play. Play is not a separate children's world; by using play children also intrude on adult order and on the power of adults over children.
Childhood and the Construction of Ethnic Identities in a Global Age
Authors: ACKROYD JUDITH , PILKINGTON ANDREW
Published: March 2007

Recent social theory has alerted us to the way globalization and allied social changes have proved unsettling for established identities. This article explores the implications of recent developments in social theory for our understanding of childhood. Drawing upon children's experience of drama education, it examines how schools can provide opportunities for children to become active agents in the construction of their own identities. Particular attention is placed on the production of new ethnic identities.
The Migration of Bureaucracy: Contracting and the Regulation of Labour in the Telecommunications Industry
Authors: MacKenzie Robert
Published: March 2007

This is a study of the reconfiguration of bureaucracy, based on a case study of subcontracting within BT plc, the UK's largest telecommunications firm. The 1990s witnessed significant quantitative and qualitative changes in the utilization and management of subcontracting. The expansion in the use of subcontractors in this period was paralleled by reforms to the processes of negotiating, administrating and monitoring contracts. This article traces these developments and analyses their implications. The continuing process of reform saw a significant redrawing of the boundaries of responsibility between the patron firm and its supplier, as discrete elements of the production process were transferred to the remit of subcontractors. This migration of responsibility was, however, predicated upon the exportation of bureaucracy, from the patron to the supplier; the relocation of the bureaucratic mechanisms appropriate to the management of the widening range of tasks. The movement towards an increased reliance on external sources of labour could ostensibly bring greater exposure to market imperatives, but it is argued that, contrary to the theme of dismantling hierarchical employment structures, these reforms represented the reconfiguration of the bureaucratic organization of production.
Anti-System Parties
Authors: Capoccia Giovanni
Published: March 2007

Many years after its emergence in the vocabulary of comparative politics, the label of ‘anti-system’ is still one of the most used to describe a party or group that exerts a radical form of opposition. However, the term has been used in an increasingly idiosyncratic manner, which makes it inappropriate for comparative research. The origins of the concept reside in the writings of Sartori on party systems in the 1960s and 1970s, where it mainly referred to the totalitarian parties of the inter-war and post-war decades. Since its inception, however, the concept of an anti-system party has not only been used in party system analysis, but also in the context of empirical studies of various aspects of the life of democratic regimes, to indicate challenges to its stability, legitimacy or, more recently, consolidation. This article reconstructs the concept of ‘anti-systemness’ by disentangling its different empirical referents in party system theory and in the empirical analysis of democracy, and proposes a more refined typology of ‘anti-system parties’.
Party Competition and Party System Change
Authors: Laver Michael
Published: March 2007

A proper understanding of party system change demands a dynamic theory of party competition. This should integrate accounts of competition in the legislative party system, in particular coalition formation, with accounts of competition in the electoral party system, in particular vote maximization. Some of the implications of integrating the two facets of party competition are explored, with special attention to endogeneous changes in party systems produced as part of the process of competition. Such changes may operate in different directions in different parts of the system and the consequent damping effect may contribute to the relative stability of party systems.
Interest Groups: Economic Perspectives and Contributions
Authors: Mitchell William C.
Published: March 2007

This paper affords an informal introduction to the work of economists on interest groups and their role in the political process. Among the major analysts considered are Olson, Stigler, Posner, Peltzman, Becker and the Virginia economists, notably Tullock and Tollison. Political scientists are encouraged to become familiar with this body of work because the study of `rent-seeking' is now a major enterprise within public choice.
Is There a Paradox of Voting?
Authors: Tullock Gordon
Published: March 2007

This paradox of voting in Arrow's theorem has hardly any application to voting in the real world. Arrow, in introducing his theorem, says specifically that it does not apply in those cases in which individuals do not vote according to their elementary preferences, but accept payment of some sort to vote against them. Since log-rolling is usual in most democratic legislatures, the theorem does not apply.
5. Heterogeneities, Information and Conflict Resolution: Experimental Evidence on Sharing Contracts
Authors: Hackett Steven , Dudley Dean , Walker James
Published: March 2007

A growing body of field and experimental literature provides considerable evidence that individuals may adopt self-governing institutions that enable conflict resolution. This paper examines this issue by exploring the role of heterogeneity in individuals' production capabilities and past investments as an obstacle to conflict resolution. Results are presented from two ongoing research programs: (1) individual and group decision making in the context of a commonly held resource that is subtractable in units of appropriation and (2) ex post negotiation of surplus shares in incomplete contracts. Both programs have been designed to investigate conflict resolution when subjects are heterogenous in costly investments they have incurred.
Contending Conceptions of the Theory of Rational Action
Authors: Opp Karl-Dieter
Published: March 2007

Advocates of the theory of rational action are divided in regard to the version of the theory they accept. This paper distinguishes between a narrow version, claiming that the kinds of preferences and constraints to be used in explanations must be restricted, and a wide version imposing no such restrictions, and thus including beliefs, altruism, norms and social sanctions in explaining behavior. The paper begins by describing the major assumptions of both versions and then discusses the key arguments that are adduced in favor of a narrow and against a wide version: (1) preferences and beliefs cannot be measured; (2) the wide version is tautological, circular, empty or trivial; (3) predictions with the wide version are difficult; (4) the assumptions of the narrow version are sufficient to explain behavior; (5) when problems are encountered, the narrow version should only be applied to situations where it works. It is argued that those arguments do not provide an adequate defense, and thus suggest that the narrow version is inadequate. The last part of the paper offers some methodological considerations, suggesting how different types of assumptions can be combined.
Politics and epistemology: Rorty, MacIntyre, and the ends of philosophy
Authors: Roth Paul A.
Published: March 2007

In this paper, I examine how a manifest disagreement between Richard Rorty and Alasdair MacIntyre concerning the history of philosophy is but one of a series of deep and interrelated disagreements concerning, in addition, the history of science, the good life for human beings, and, ultimately, the character of and prospects for humankind as well. I shall argue that at the heart of this series of disagreements rests a dispute with regard to the nature of rationality. And this disagreement concerning the norms of rationality, despite its theoretical and practical importance, is one which is, or so I argue, irresolvable.

Moreover, the series of disagreements which I examine in the context of the debate between Rorty and MacIntyre is not peculiar or idiosyncratic to them. Their dispute reflects presumptions common to contemporary analytical philosophy. And while analytical philosophers have not made discussions of human nature one of their characteristic concerns, I indicate that such concerns do play a central role in the controversy which I examine. Differences of opinion concerning the political and social nature of human beings are reflected up and down the philosophical line. My argument is in no way concerned with issues of psychological priority or causality (e.g. whether having certain views disposes one psychologically to accepting other views). What I establish are the logical relations, and the points of philosophical contention, among certain epistemo logical and political theses.

In Part I, I rehearse Rorty's epistemological views and examine how these views are connected to his views on morality and human nature. In Part II, I begin with MacIntyre's position concerning the virtues and modern moral philosophy and then reconstruct, ex pede Herculem, his views on rationality. Part III examines the prospects of reconciling the perspectives discussed in the first two sections.
Creative Imagination and Moral Identity
Authors: Hart Trevor A.
Published: March 2007

This paper considers the claim that imagination is implicated in our most apparently straightforward human transactions with the world, that our 'knowing' of the world (both in experience and our subsequent symbolic ordering of it) is in some sense imaginatively constructed from the outset. Second, drawing in particular on the work of Mark Johnson, it explores the senses in which such imaginative transactions are both experience constituted and experience constitutive (that, in Ricoeur's words, imagination 'invents in both senses of the word'). Third, it attends to one apparent theological cost of ascribing to human imagination a 'creative' role in relation to the human world. Fourth, it focuses in particular on Charles Taylor's account of the imaginative construction of the self as a moral entity. And finally, it considers just one example of how the arts may be active in shaping moral identity, and thereby the human world in which we live and move and have our being.
Improved stoves, women and domestic energy
Authors: Sarin Madhu
Published: March 2007

Improved stoves, women and domestic energy describes how an over-emphasis on energy saving stoves may hide the real causes of deforestation and fail to address the most pressing needs of poor women. Drawing from a case study in rural communities in southern Rajasthan, India, the paper shows how improved stoves often fail to meet women's needs and priorities and suggests that to achieve a more sustainable use of resources, these needs must be addressed.
The impact of adult ill-health on household income and nutrition in Khulna, Bangladesh.
Authors: Pryer Jane
Published: March 2007

This documents the large number of labour days lost by principal income earners in a low-income settlement (bustee) in Khulna, owing to illness or accidents. It also shows how the poorest households lost most work days, most income and much the highest proportion of monthly income and how this affected the nutritional status of different family members.
Stressful environments and their effects on quality ot life in Third World cities
Authors: Ekblad Solvig
Published: March 2007

Stressful environments and their effects on quality ot life in Third World cities outlines the linkages between environment related stress and ill-health and the many stressors that cause or contribute to ill-health. The author identifies buffering factors that help people cope with stress and considers how to enhance these buffers and in so-doing integrate a concern for people's quality of life within more conventional goals of city planning, environmental services and health care provision.
Chronic pain in nineteenth-century British medical writings
Authors: Hodgkiss A.D.
Published: March 2007

Chronic pain without lesion was recognized throughout the century, initially by surgeons and physicians and later by psychiatrists. The syndrome displayed remarkable phenomenological stability over time. Terminology and taxonomy were complex, including Hysteria, Hypochondria, Spinal Irritation and Neuralgia.

Pain without lesion provided a focus for extension of Bichat's concept of lesion, reappraisal of the spatial and temporal relationship between symptom and lesion, consideration of some psychological determinants of pain and discussion of mechanisms by which the mind might act upon the body.

A brief exposition of Freud and Breuer's account of Hysterical Pain concludes the paper.

Primary sources include Travers, Tate, Teale, Swan, Brodie, Anstie, Tuke, Wilks, Freud and Breuer.
Will and its disorders: a conceptual history
Authors: Berrios G.E. , Gili M.
Published: March 2007

Objective: to resuscitate the old clinical category of 'disorder of the will'. Method: a detailed conceptual study is presented of the origins and history of the will as a mental function, and of its disorders as they were first described during the nineteenth century. An account is also offered of the historical changes that led to the decline of the will, and to the dispersion of important clinical phenomena such as aboulia, obsession and impulsiveness which have since not received satisfactory causal explanation. Results: historical analysis shows that the decline and fall of the will was due not to any major piece of empirical work demonstrating that the concept was unsound but to general changes in philosophical fashion, and to the temporary influence of the anti mentalistic tenets of behaviourism and the anti-volitional assumptions of psychoanalysis. Conclusion: clinical disorders like aboulia, impulsiveness and obsessions seem to share conceptual features which nineteenth century psychiatrists managed to capture very well in their clinical category of disorder of the will. Current accounts, which include semi-explanatory concepts such as 'drive' , 'motivation' or frontal lobe 'executive', are not conceptually better than the old notion of will nor are they superior as correlational variables for neurobiological studies. It is suggested, therefore, that the will, updated according to modern work in the philosophy of action, is re-adopted as a research category in current psychiatry.
Quality of life and medicine: a historical note
Authors: Medina A. , Moreno M.J. , Segura C. , Lillo R. , Dening T.R.
Published: March 2007

This paper analyses the historical origins of the concepts of welfare as a positive right and of quality of life. The latter has historical antecedents but has become important in the latter half of the twentieth century, owing to the conflict between consumer demands for medicine and constraints upon spending. It is argued that, beyond the immediate economic and utilitarian contexts, the concept of quality of life has the potential to promote individual liberty and a more subjectively-based approach to medicine.
Making Gender Relevant: Conversation Analysis and Gender Categories in Interaction
Authors: STOKOE ELIZABETH H. , SMITHSON JANET
Published: March 2007

In this article, we critically evaluate a conversation analytic approach to the study of the links between gender and language from a feminist perspective. In so doing, we engage in the recent series of exchanges about conversation analysis (CA) and other strands of discourse analysis that have been published in Discourse & Society. We consider talk from two sets of discourse data, focusing on participants' orientation to gender categories as they crop up in the interactions. We suggest that a CA approach produces a rich understanding of the links between discourse and gender. However, we are critical of several, often unexamined aspects and conundrums of conversation analytic methodology. First, we consider the extent to which the `analytic stances' of feminism and conversation analysis are compatible. Second, we question whether, as Schegloff (1997) suggests, it is fruitful to rely on descriptions of and orientations to gender solely in participants' terms, as well as problematizing the notion of `orienting to gender' itself. Finally, while we propose CA is a useful tool for making claims about the relevance of gender in conversational interaction, and that such claims are grounded in speakers' orientations, we suggest that culture and common-sense knowledge, of both members and analysts, are largely unacknowledged and unexplicated resources in CA.
Text, Context and Individual Meaning: Rethinking Life Stories in a Hermeneutic Framework
Authors: Corradi Consuelo
Published: March 2007

A lively concern for new instruments of knowledge has led sociology, among other disciplines, to collect life stories in order to explore social phenomena. Dialogue and interpersonal communication thus become crucial tools, as well as loci of knowledge. This paper investigates the epistemological suppositions of `the biographical approach': the quest for identity in the narrative, the dialogical relationship between the narrating self and the researcher, the fixation of speech into text and more. The overall effort of the investigation is to reach criteria of analysis which are not simply borrowed from other areas, but are the outcome of reflection upon the constituent features of life stories. This investigation, however, does not widen the gap between `qualitative' and `quantitative' sociology, but rather it contributes to put this division into question.
The Rhetorical Construction of Radical Africanism at the United Nations: Metaphoric Cluster as Strategy
Authors: Akioye Akin A.
Published: March 2007

This essay discusses the three-part construction of a radical Africanist stance through metaphor in Nigeria's UN addresses. This includes: (1) the redefinition of Africa and Africans' identity; (2) the construction of grim conditions in Africa, and blame of foreign adversaries; and (3) the construction of force. The essay suggests that the clusters deflect attention from the reality of African leadership's culpability. Also, though the clusters help advocate Africa's empowerment, they also mask a reality that power still resides mainly with Africa's ruling elite. This discourse, in effect, serves to maintain the dominance of this elite. Finally, there is discussion of some methodological implications of the radical Black nationalist framework used in the study.
Racism and Metaphor: The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict in Popular Literature
Authors: van Teeffelen Toine
Published: March 2007

This article examines the portrayal of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in western bestselling literature through the analysis of contrasting metaphors or analogies of Israeli society and political action, on the one hand ( family and Masada/Second World War), and Arab/Palestinian society and political action, on the other ( desert and water/fire/explosion). Considering a number of passages from bestsellers, it is shown how an amplified contrast between two life-worlds is constructed, and how metaphors, in a `play of tropes', construct a boundary threat to the Israeli world, to racist effect. At the same time attention is paid to the situational and ambiguous uses of metaphors, and the ways in which the narrative and political context credentializes racist interpretations.