bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Measuring Religiosity in Later Life
Authors: Krause Neal
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study is to devise and test a multidimensional measurement model of late life religiosity that is composed of three major components: organizational religiosity, subjective religiosity, and religious beliefs. The religious belief dimension, which has been overlooked frequently in prior research, is assessed in part with items that ask about belief in the Ten Commandments. Alternative ways of specifying the relationships among these dimensions are explored, including first- and second-order factor models. The findings that are derived from estimating these confirmatory factor models are supplemented with additional analyses that examine the differential impact of the religiosity factors on an external criterion measure (i.e., life satisfaction). Throughout, the goal is to provide investigators with a practical approach to evaluating the utility of complex multidimensional factor models of religiosity.
Self-Health Care among the Elderly
Authors: Kart Cary S. , Engler Carol A.
Published: March 2007

Data from a U.S. sample of 714 respondents aged 55 years and over were used to test the efficacy of the health-behavior model for explaining self-health care practices and attitudes. Three different indicators of self-health care, including a measure of actual self-care behavior and two attitudinal indicators, normative self-care response and global self-care, were employed in this work. Hierarchical ordinary least squares regression modeling yielded R2s consistent with those reported in the extant literature on health-services utilization. A difference with this literature, however, was that the net contribution of predisposing characteristics was found to be larger than that of enabling and need characteristics combined for all three indicators of self-health care.
Nature of the Medical Encounter
Authors: Putnam Samuel M.
Published: March 2007

The medical interview has become an increasingly important diagnostic and therapeutic tool in the era of managed care. This article reviews the current literature on the relationship between specific interviewing skills and outcomes of care. In the context of three clinical vignettes, these results are discussed in relationship to interviewing geriatric patients.
Self and Age Differences in Defining Health Situations
Authors: Ferraro Kenneth F. , Feller Jacquelyn Rupp
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this research is to examine how individuals evaluate bodily and medical concerns and define health situations. Responses to a fixed-response health-rating question and an open-ended question probing personal problems are compared and predicted with a set of health status indicators including measures of functional limitations and morbidity. Activity limitation is the strongest predictor of each measure among this national sample of adults (N = 3,497). Age is associated with poorer rated health and more defined health problems in most of the adult years, but this trend is reversed in older ages. Despite higher morbidity and functional limitations among African American women, they were less likely than other respondents to define their health as problematic. In addition, evaluative components of the self such as self-esteem influence ratings of health but not health problem definitions. The findings confirm the overall utility of the self-assessed health as a reliable estimate of current health status and suggest that spontaneously mentioning health problems reflects current as well as future health concerns.
Use of Public Records to Compare Respondents and Nonrespondents in a Study of Recent Widows
Authors: Neal Margaret B. , Carder Paula C. , Morgan David L.
Published: March 2007

Little is known about bereaved persons who refuse to participate in bereavement research, although participants have been assumed to be representative of the bereaved. This assumption is examined in a study of older women in their first, second, or third year of widowhood. To identify sources of sample bias, data from deceased husbands' death certificates (N = 2,331) were used to compare respondents and nonrespondents at stages in the recruitment process: assumed located, returned reply card, agreed to hear more, wished to participate, eligible, and interviewed. The low participation rate (N= 376) did not produce a major bias, although small, statistically significant differences in deceased husband's age, race, education, place and cause of death were revealed. Differences by recruitment stage were observed, as were differences by cohort. Recent widows were more likely to participate. Implications for achieving representative samples are discussed.
Structure of a Depression Measure among American Indian Elders: Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the CES-D Scale
Authors: Chapleski Elizabeth E. , Lamphere James K. , Kaczynski Richard , Lichtenberg Peter A. , Dwyer Jeffrey W.
Published: March 2007

This research examines differences in depressive symptomology among urban, rural off-reservation, and reservation-residing American Indians, age 55 years or older, of the eastern Great Lakes region. It analyzes the measurement structure of one commonly used depression scale, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and tests alternative models for the full sample (N = 277) as well as the three residential strata. Findings show that a 12-item version developed by Liang et al. for use with Mexican Americans provided a superior fit over the original 20-item version. The shortened scale included items more conceptually valid for this American Indian population. Furthermore, tests of invariance revealed that only the 12-item version had similar factor structures and factor loadings across the three residential strata.
Widowhood and Depression
Authors: Lee Gary R. , Willetts Marion C. , Seccombe Karen
Published: March 2007

Hypotheses predicting why widowhood should be more difficult psychologically for men than women are tested on a sample of 746 older persons. Widowhood does have a stronger effect on depression for men, partly because of the intervening effects of health and time since widowhood. However, much of the gender difference remains unexplained. Possible causes, including the fact that widowhood is a more usual component of the life cycle for women, are discussed.
Mobilized or Civic Minded
Authors: Kam Ping-Kwong , Cheung Chau-Kiu , Chan Wing-Tai , Leung Kwan-Kwok
Published: March 2007

Using Hong Kong as a case study, this article addresses whether senior citizens are rational in their voting behavior, whether they are mobilized by political parties to participate in elections, and whether they are enabled or constrained in fulfilling their political responsibilities and asserting their political rights. The findings of a recent study were presented to examine the extent to which senior citizens’political participation is determined by rationality, political knowledge, political mobilization, and constraint and enabling factors. Seven composite scales measuring senior citizens’ political participation, sense of civic-mindedness, self-interest orientation, political knowledge, political mobilization, and constraining and enabling factors were constructed and validated in the study. Statistical analyses show that political knowledge, political mobilization, and enabling factors were most influential in affecting senior citizens’level of political participation. The article also compares the responses of elderly persons who are members of senior centers with those of ordinary senior citizens.
Rethinking Humanitarian Intervention
Authors: Parekh Bhikhu
Published: March 2007

Although the currently dominant concept of humanitarian intervention has a long history, it is also distinctive in several crucial respects. This article analyzes its nature, historical specificity and presuppositions. It argues that the concept of humanitarian intervention is logically unstable in the sense that it both presupposes and seeks to go beyond the statist manner of thinking which has dominated political life for the past three centuries. The article exposes the incoherence of the statist paradigm and concludes by arguing that, although humanitarian intervention is justified under certain circumstances, it is too limited, too late and too superficial to be of lasting value, and needs to be embedded in and undertaken as part of a larger project of creating a just and non-statist global order.
Keeping Political Time: The Rhythms of Democracy
Authors: Goodin Robert E.
Published: March 2007

Politicians often say “the time is not right” for certain innovations, without explaining why. Here I explore several possible explanations: coalition building, the “mood” of publics or other elites (at home or abroad), framing effects, sequential strategic manoeuvring, herd and copycat politics, and turn-taking. Saying “the time is not right” implies that there are external, immutable, objective obstacles to the innovation in question. In many of those cases, that implication is untrue—as becomes transparent in the course of “democratic breakthroughs,” which remove many of those constraining conditions and expand people's sense of the possible. “Democratic consolidation,” when it reaches premature closure, can sometimes allow those constraining conditions and blocking coalitions to regain ascendancy, as arrangements which were only ever intended as transitional get frozen in place, remaining “too long.”
Grandparent-Adult Grandchild Affection and Consensus
Authors: GIARRUSSO ROSEANN , FENG DU , SILVERSTEIN MERRIL , BENGTSON VERN L.
Published: March 2007

Euro-American grandparents' ratings of affection for, and consensus with, their adult grandchildren have been found to be significantly greater than the grandchildren's ratings—a phenomenon known as the “intergenerational stake phenomenon.” However, it is unclear whether this cross-generational difference in affection and perceived consensus exists for all gender dyads and for more collectivistic ethnic groups. This study compared levels of affection and consensus for Euro-American and Mexican American grandparents and their adult grandchildren. Results revealed that Euro-American grandmothers and grandfathers have significantly greater affection for their granddaughters than their granddaughters have for them; however, this gap was not found for grandsons. Among Mexican Americans, grandsons have significantly greater affection for their grandfathers than their grandfathers have for them. Analyses of covariance revealed that when grandchildren of either ethnic group perceived themselves to be similar in attitudes and values to their grandparents, the gap between level of affection was significantly smaller.
What's a Grandparent to Do?
Authors: HILL TWYLA J.
Published: March 2007

Grandparents have recently been the subject of much research; however, there has been little discussion of how they are affected by social institutions outside the extended family. This article focuses on government expectations of family relationships by describing state legislation regarding grandparents. These statutes are spread throughout all areas of law, not only family code. Some evidence exists for the importance of state interests and class issues in legislation. Grandparents are mentioned in statutes and are included in definitions of family more often than grandchildren, implying that children are defined in relation to their parents, whereas grandparents are defined in relation to the children. Grandparents appear to have more legal rights than responsibilities to grandchildren, but both privileges and obligations seem to be limited to situations of disruption in the middle generation.
Negative Income Tax
Authors: SALKIND NEIL J. , HASKINS RON
Published: March 2007

The general purpose of the four negative income tax (NIT) experiments was to evaluate the impact of a guaranteed income on labor participation. Beyond this general objective, certain subobjectives can be identified, three of which define the purpose of this analysis. The first is to determine what effect an income maintenance experiment program can have on the health and educational status of children from low-income families, the second is to examine the long-range effects of such a program, and the third is to complete a policy analysis using these results to consider the relative effectiveness of service programs and income maintenance programs in promoting child development and stability. The results show that the NIT experiments were effective in reducing a child's risk of being at poverty. The implications of this are discussed from several policy perspectives.
Childlessness in the United States
Authors: MOSHER WILLIAM D. , BACHRACH CHRISTINE A.
Published: March 2007

Using a representative sample of about 17,000 ever-married women 15-44 years of age, this article presents national estimates of the prevalence and correlates of voluntary, involuntary, and temporary childlessness in the United States. These three groups of childless couples are compared with the parents of small planned families and other parents on a number of social, economic, marital, and family characteristics. When viewed cross-sectionally, voluntarily childless couples constitute between 1.3% and 1.8% of currently married couples, depending on the definitions used. They are a distinctive but rare population. Their future prevalence depends primarily on the decisions of the large group of temporarily childless couples.
Being an Only Child
Authors: MOTT FRANK L. , HAURIN R. JEAN
Published: March 2007

This study uses data from the young men's and women's cohorts of the National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience to measure the independent effects of sibling number and placement on a number of educational, family, career, and social-psychological outcomes as of age 24 for nationally representative samples of American youth. In particular, the study compares separately for young men and women the effects of being an only child with being the older of two children as well as the general importance of coming from a smaller rather than a larger family. The authors conclude that, while confluence theory is frequently supported by the data for both sexes, the corollary tutoring hypothesis is generally only validated for young women. The authors conjecture that this sex discrepancy may reflect a greater likelihood that the tutoring role within the family may be substantially affectively based, thus making it an activity that is more likely to be associated with female intrafamily role behavior.
A Catastrophe Theory Model of Child Abuse
Authors: TUTZAUER FRANK
Published: March 2007

This article presents a formal mathematical model of child abuse based upon elementary catastrophe theory, a branch of differential topology. It was found that child abuse, when viewed as discontinuity in parent-child relations, could be successfully modeled by a five-dimensional butterfly catastrophe composed of four control parameters: stress, extrafamilial communication, attachment behavior, and parental history. Implications of the model for theory and research include: (a) emphasizing the role of communication in the etiology of abuse, (b) explanation of a wide array of seemingly contradictory findings, and (c) the generation of new research questions. On the basis of these findings, it is concluded that the butterfly model of abuse warrants further investigation.
Family Rhetoric as Social Order
Authors: GUBRIUM JABER F. , LYNOTT ROBERT J.
Published: March 2007

Taking the social order of family life to exist in its signs and rhetoric, we interpret field data gathered in human service settings to show how family order is sustained and transformed through representational practice. We address four aspects of family rhetoric: (1) scope of application, (2) rhetorical transformation, (3) signification and order, and (4) rhetorical predominance. The organization of native understandings and interpretations of enduring family conduct suggests that the social order of individual families is as manifold as its representations, and as stable as its confirmations.
Time Used for Household Work
Authors: PETERS JEANNE M. , HALDEMAN VIRGINIA A.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to compare the time-use of school-age children in single-parent/one-earner, two-parent/one-earner, and two-parent/two-earner families to determine whether or not there were differences in actual and relative amounts of time used for household work. The sample consisted of 170 households with school-age children. Two instruments were used: a time use chart and a nine-page survey questionnaire. Findings were that employment of the homemaker did not appear to contribute to differences in children's actual time spent on individual household tasks, but it did seem to contribute to differences in the children's share of the total work load. When total time for all tasks was compared, children in two-parent families were found to spend less actual and relative amounts of time on all household work than children in single-parent families. It was concluded that while children from single-parent families spent only a little more actual time than children from two-parent families on individual tasks, the apparent effect was cumulative for time spent on all tasks.
An Estimation of the Effects of Women's Work on Available Leisure Time
Authors: FIRESTONE JUANITA , SHELTON BETH ANNE
Published: March 2007

In this article we examine the leisure time expenditures of married women in the paid labor force. Our analysis delineates two categories of leisure activities (active and passive) that are differentially affected by women's work. Using the 1981 Time Use Study (Juster, Hill, Stafford, and Parsons, 1983), we estimate a path model of the amount of leisure time available to married women showing the effects of time spent in paid labor, age, number of children, and time spent on household labor on available leisure time. We estimate that women's responsibilities for paid work and unpaid household labor come at the expense of their leisure time. Paid work time has an estimated negative effect on both active and passive leisure time, while household labor time has an estimated direct negative effect on total leisure time. We speculate that because paid work and household tasks are requisite for most women today they must schedule leisure time around both activities.
Effects of Prolonged Consumption of Pornography on Family Values
Authors: ZILLMANN DOLF , BRYANT JENNINGS
Published: March 2007

Male and female students and nonstudents were exposed to videotapes featuring common, nonviolent pornography or innocuous content. Exposure was in hourly sessions in six consecutive weeks. In the seventh week, subjects participated in an ostensibly unrelated study on societal institutions and personal gratifications. Marriage, cohabitational relationships, and related issues were judged on an especially created Value-of-Marriage questionnaire. The findings showed a consistent impact of pornography consumption. Exposure prompted, among other things, greater acceptance of pre- and extramarital sex and greater tolerance of nonexclusive sexual access to intimate partners. It enhanced the belief that male and female promiscuity are natural and that the repression of sexual inclinations poses a health risk. Exposure lowered the evaluation of marriage, making this institution appear less significant and less viable in the future. Exposure also reduced the desire to have children and promoted the acceptance of male dominance and female servitude. With few exceptions, these effects were uniform for male and female respondents as well as for students and nonstudents.
The Work Motivations of Mothers with Preschool Children
Authors: COTTON SANDRA , ANTILL JOHN K. , CUNNINGHAM JOHN D.
Published: March 2007

This article provides a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the motivations for employment among a sample of 166 Sydney mothers, each of whom had at least one preschool-aged child. Mothers with high and moderate work attachment indicated a multiplicity of motives, of both an extrinsic (financial) and intrinsic (e.g., personal satisfaction, sense of achievement) nature. In contrast, the majority of women with low work attachment cited extreme financial need as the only possible reason that would impel them to enter the labor force. When asked which was, or would be, their most important reason for working, women with high work attachment endorsed more nonfinancial than financial reasons, women with moderate work attachment were about equally likely to give either reason, and women with low work attachment predominantly gave financial reasons. Husbands' perceptions of the reasons their wives were working, or would work, showed some, but not complete, agreement with those of their wives.
The Impact of Early Retirement Incentives on Retirees and Their Families
Authors: HANKS ROMA S.
Published: March 2007

The widespread use of incentive-based early retirement as a work force reduction strategy during the 1980s introduced uncertainty into a formerly predictable life course event. This study uses qualitative and quantitative data from in-depth focused interviews with 60 families (111 individuals) to examine the impact of early retirement incentives on satisfaction with retirement, personal efficacy of the retiree, and beliefs about the future of long-term careers. Early retirees were satisfied with retirement. Satisfaction was significantly related to health ( p < .03) and expectations for future health and productivity ( p < .04). Spouses were satisfied with retirement but expressed concerns about the retiree's adjustment and their own loss of privacy. Personal efficacy was significantly different for retirees in each of three categories of availability of an alternative to retirement and three categories of reason for retirement.
Role Demands in the Lives of Employed Single Mothers With Preschoolers
Authors: GOLDBERG WENDY A. , GREENBERGER ELLEN , HAMILL SHARON , O'NEIL ROBIN
Published: March 2007

This study examined a range of factors associated with variations in single mothers' well-being (i.e., depression and role strain) and perceptions of their child's behavior. Seventy-six single, employed women with a preschool-age child completed a mailed survey. Multiple regression analyses indicated that variables reflecting the interface between work and family roles (e.g., beliefs about the consequences of maternal employment for children, perceived quality of child care) were important for both women's well-being and perceptions of children's behavior. Depression appeared to be more closely allied with the stability and resources in single mothers' lives; role strain, with the time and energy demands of work and the level of support available in the neighborhood. Interestingly, single women's perceptions of their children were associated with variables that reflect the larger ecology of their lives, including recency of single parenthood, the quality of their work life, and, as already noted, points of intersection between work and family roles.
Father's Presence and Young Children's Behavioral and Cognitive Adjustment
Authors: CROCKETT LISA J. , EGGEBEEN DAVID J. , HAWKINS ALAN J.
Published: March 2007

The present study examined the impact of the biological father on young children's cognitive and behavioral adjustment. Using data from the 1986 Child Supplement of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the relationship between father's coresidence in the household over the first 3 years of a child's life and children's adjustment was assessed for 1,688 four-to six-year-old children. Two dimensions of father-presence were considered, reflecting the timing of the father's entry into the household and the duration of his presence during the child's first 3 years of life. Within-group analyses of variance indicated significant effects of father-presence for White and Hispanic children and for children born to teenage and older mothers. All of these initial effects disappeared, however, once controls for child characteristics, maternal characteristics, and family resources were introduced in multiple regression models. These findings suggest that the father-effects operated through family characteristics and did not represent unique effects of fathering.
Rethinking Fathers' Involvement in Child Care
Authors: HAWKINS ALAN J. , CHRISTIANSEN SHAWN L. , SARGENT KATHRYN POND , HILL E. JEFFREY
Published: March 2007

Most studies of fathers' participation in child care focus on fairness, or domestic democracy. What is sacrificed by fairness-focused studies of family work is attention to the developmental tasks that adult men and women face while building a life together. This article explores the developmental implications for fathers of their underinvolvement in child care using Erikson's conception of adult development and his emphasis on achieving generativity. We suggest processes by which fathers may develop generativity and outline the challenges they face in achieving it. The transition to parenthood often sets mothers and fathers on divergent developmental trajectories that may leave them in different developmental positions. Men's involvement in child care may be crucial to keeping men's and women's development synchronous and hence to maintaining satisfying relationships. A developmental perspective on men's participation in child care may also be more conducive to helping fathers increase their involvement than the domestic-democracy perspective. Directions for future research are suggested based on a developmental perspective.
Family Life and Racial and Ethnic Diversity
Authors: SJOBERG GIDEON , WILLIAMS NORMA , GILL ELIZABETH , HIMMEL KELLY F.
Published: March 2007

This article examines the debates among communitarians, liberals, and conservatives regarding contemporary family issues and critically evaluates these perspectives. Current orientations inadequately address the impact of large-scale bureaucratic organizations on family life and do not confront problems relating to racial and ethnic discrimination. The implications of the authors' perspective are brought to the fore when discussing education and the criminal justice system. The authors conclude that students of family relations need to consider larger issues associated with democratic theory, particularly as these relate to racial and ethnic diversity and to the manner in which multinational organizations are eroding family life.
Health Insurance Coverage of Mexican American Families in the U.S.
Authors: AMEY CHERYL , SECCOMBE KAREN , DUNCAN R. PAUL
Published: March 2007

This article examines the impact of the employment context and family structure on the health insurance status of Mexican families. Data from the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey were used to (a) examine the differences in the extent of family coverage among Latino families in the U.S., (b) determine whether differences in the residential distribution of these families is responsible for these differences, and (c) assess the impact of family characteristics and the employment context on the health insurance status of Mexican and non-Latino White families within and across residential groups. Although residential differences existed in both the way Latino families access health insurance and in the impact of family characteristics and the employment context on the odds of having family coverage, it was not found to explain the difference in health insurance. The extended family had a significant impact on the odds of having no one insured in the family versus having everyone insured.
Access to Social Capital
Authors: BOISJOLY JOHANNE , DUNCAN GREG J. , HOFFERTH SANDRA
Published: March 2007

Defining social capital as perceived access to time and money help from friends and family, this article examines (a) the stock of social capital to which families have access, (b) the trade-off between access to money and time help, and (c) the association between perceived access to time and money help and conventional measures of family economic well-being. Data come from the 1980 wave of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, an ongoing longitudinal survey of U.S. households. More than 9 out of 10 families reported access to social capital. Some evidence for isolation from social capital among families with a less-educated or older head was found. Surprisingly, families in very poor neighborhoods reported more access to social capital, primarily in friend-based networks. Finally, geographic mobility leads to increased social isolation, because it reduces family ties.
Staying in School
Authors: WOLFER LOREEN T. , MOEN PHYLLIS
Published: March 2007

Most research examining the influences of maternal employment focuses on the mother and the child at only one stage of the child's life. By contrast, this study examines how temporal and status aspects of mothers' jobs during daughters' early childhood (aged 0 to 6), preadolescence (aged 7 to 12), and adolescence (aged 13 to 18) affect a key transition: the rate that daughters leave school. The sample consists of 246 White and 188 Black daughters aged 18 to 23 in 1990, drawing on data from both mothers and daughters from the 1968-1990 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Findings suggest that part-time maternal employment during any point in childhood increases the likelihood that Black, but not White, daughters will remain in school. Maternal employment characteristics have little influence in determining whether White daughters remain in school.
Premarital Factors Influencing Perceived Readiness for Marriage
Authors: HOLMAN THOMAS B. , LI BING DAO
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this article is to add to our understanding of the multiple factors related to young adults' perceptions of their readiness for marriage. A theoretical model was developed to test the simultaneous effects of variables suggested by previous research and theory. A preexisting data set with premarital data from 2,508 young adults contained items measuring 8 indices of the theoretical predictor variables. The 8 latent variables were satisfaction with family relationships in the family of origin, amount of support of significant others for the relationship, impulsivity, attitude toward privacy, sociodemographic characteristics, perceived physical attractiveness, quality of couple communication, and level of couple agreement. The model was tested with analysis of covariance structures in LISREL. The results support the contention of multiple levels of causation. Perceptions of personal readiness for marriage depend largely on contextual issues (sociodemographic characteristics and significant other support) and then on the quality of couple interaction.
A Conceptual Approach to Understanding Abused Women's Stay/Leave Decisions
Authors: CHOICE PAMELA , LAMKE LEANNE K.
Published: March 2007

This article critically examines four theoretical approaches identified by Strube (1988) as relevant to abused women's stay/leave decision-making processes. It is argued that these four approaches have overlapping components that may be combined into a single framework for understanding abused women's stay/leave decisions. The essential aspects of abused women's stay/leave decisions appear to revolve around two central questions: “Will I be better off?” and “Can I do it?” This model proposes that abused women's stay/leave decisions occur in a stepwise fashion. A woman may wish to leave her relationship but be inhibited from doing so because she does not feel she has control over her circumstances. Conversely, a woman may have the necessary resources for leaving but may wish to remain in the relationship. Empirical work in the fields of marital and dating violence is reviewed and provides preliminary support for the components of this two-step model of abused women's stay/leave decisions.
Marital Discord and Child Behavior Problems
Authors: HARRIST AMANDA W. , AINSLIE RICARDO C.
Published: March 2007

To date, specific mechanisms at work in the link between marital discord and children's problematic behavior remain unclear. In the present study, three types of variables—marital discord (nonconsensus and arguing-related stress), parent-child relationship quality (global quality and daily time spent together), and child interpersonal awareness (ability to infer emotions in social situations)—were used as predictors of children's social behavioral profiles in a sample of 45 5-year-olds. Regression analyses were conducted to assess the efficacy of a mediational model for predicting child behavior problems from marital discord. Evidence was found for indirect relations between marital discord and both social withdrawal and aggression: Marital discord predicted lower quality parent-child relationships, which, in turn, predicted high levels of child aggression. For child social withdrawal, the prediction from marital discord was mediated by both parent-child relationship quality and child interpersonal awareness.
Black and White Differences in the Effect of Women's Educational Attainment on Age at First Marriage
Authors: DOBSON CORETTA D. , HOUSEKNECHT SHARON K.
Published: March 2007

There has been relatively little research linking age at first marriage and educational attainment. This study uses data from the June 1992 Current Population Survey to examine the effect of educational attainment on age at first marriage among Black and White women in the United States. The results both support and modify claims stemming from previous research. There is evidence for the contention that educational attainment delays age at first marriage for Black and White women. The greater impact of educational attainment on delaying marriage for White women is confirmed. An important discovery stems from using degree attained rather than years of education and our distinguishing four levels of education beyond high school. At less than a bachelor's degree, Black women marry later than White women, but among those with a bachelor's degree or higher, Black women who marry do so earlier than White women.
Linking Economic Stress to Marital Quality Among Finnish Marital Couples
Authors: KINNUNEN ULLA , PULKKINEN LEA
Published: March 2007

Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediators of economic circumstances on marital quality using a sample of married or cohabiting 36-year-old Finnish men ( n = 133) and women ( n = 117). The model tested was an adapted version of the model presented by Conger, Ge, and Lorenz. For the men, the results were consistent with the proposed model: Poor employment status caused economic strain and affected the lives of the men to the extent that current economic strain increased expected financial strain, leading to greater depression and greater hostility in the marriage, both of which, in turn, predicted poor marital quality. For the women, poor economic circumstances and, in particular, an unstable career line had direct effects on depression, marital hostility, and poor marital quality. The sex differences are related to the different roles played by economic matters and careers in men's and women's lives.
Are There Religious Variations in Domestic Violence?
Authors: ELLISON CHRISTOPHER G. , BARTKOWSKI JOHN P. , ANDERSON KRISTIN L.
Published: March 2007

Religious variations in domestic violence remain understudied. Arguments are developed linking aspects of religious affiliation, practice, theology, and couples' religious (dis)similarities with domestic violence. These relationships are then examined via gender-specific models of data from the first wave of the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH-1). The authors find that regular attendance at religious services is inversely associated with self-reported perpetration of domestic violence for men and women. Denominational homogamy (i.e., same-faith vs. mixed-faith relationships) has little bearing on the likelihood of abuse. Other forms of religious dissimilarity do appear to heighten the risk of abuse. In particular, men who hold much more conservative theological views than their partners are especially likely to perpetrate domestic violence. The implications of these and other findings are discussed, and several promising directions for further research are identified.
Sports Competition and International Capitalism
Authors: Galliher John F. , Hessler Richard M.
Published: March 2007

The extreme competitiveness in American sports limits the possibility of mass citizen participation. Highly competitive sports are not enjoyable for most participants, except the very best, and sports facilities are often only available to these same select few. In any event, sports participation is often seen as impossible by most citizens since they do not measure up to the image of sports superstars found in the mass media. Also, rampant competition often leads to high levels of sports violence and a dehumanization of both competitors and spectators. Such sports competition based on individual excellence is not found in China where collective, nationwide excellence and breadth of participation are emphasized. The widespread ethic of individual excellence and individual competition in sports seems to be a product of international capitalism, since both international capitalism and the sports empire are dominated by the same groups of people and com petitive sports serve the interests of international capitalism very well.
Local Organized Interests and the 1996 Cincinnati Sports Stadia Tax Referendum
Authors: Brown Clyde , Paul David M.
Published: March 2007

On March 19, 1996, the citizens of Hamilton County, Ohio ratified a .5% sales tax increase (Issue 1) that will raise $540 million to build two new stadia in Cincinnati for use by the Bengals football and Reds baseball franchises. This study uses an interest group perspective to investigate the politics of the sales tax increase and the campaign for and against its electoral acceptance. Issue 1 fits the classic interest group dynamic: Economic benefits will be conferred on a numerically small set of actors while the costs are widely distributed among the public. Other specific factors that contributed to passage of the proposal (a million dollar public relations and media campaign, strategic decisions by county officials to make the tax increase more palatable to voters, and a public pledge by the Bengals to contribute millions of dollars to the construction costs) are examined.
ECONOMIC DISCRIMINATION IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: MARGINAL REVENUE PRODUCTS OF MAJORITY AND MINORITY GROUP MEMBERS
Authors: Leonard Wilbert M.
Published: March 2007

The concept of marginal revenue product, a mainstay in economic analyses, composed the major dependent in this inquiry. Race/ethnicity was the primary independent variable and the relationship between race/ethnicity and marginal revenue products was examined. Using a variety of descriptive and inferential statistics, it was discovered that there was no evidence that baseball players' racial/ethnic background was related to “exploitation” nor were there statistically significant differences in the marginal revenue products generated by players of different races/ethnic backgrounds. When years of service were trichotomized into less than 2 years, 2 to 5 years, and 6 and more years, an inverse relationship between years of service and exploitation was discovered. Specifically, considering baseball players in the aggregate, the greatest exploitation occurred among those with less than 2 years of experience, the least exploitation existed among those with the most years of service, and the 2 to 5 years of service category experienced exploitation levels between the more and less experienced groups.
“THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A GAY HERO”
Authors: Wachs Faye Linda , Dworkin Shari L.
Published: March 2007

In comparing print media coverage of the Greg Louganis and Magic Johnson HIV-positive / AIDS announcements, there is strikingly different treatment of the two men. Specifically, the authors determined whether the athlete is framed as a hero, victim, or carrier with regard to his HIV-positive status. Johnson is unequivocally framed as a hero in the vast majority of articles. By contrast, Louganis almost never is framed solely as a hero and often is framed as being a carrier. The authors use the model of the confessional as developed by Foucault, combined with sin and redemption models presented by Payne and Mercuri and by Messner and Solomon, to analyze how media framings differ specifically by the sexual identities of the athletes. They argue that the dominant and accepted norms of sexuality are enforced and (re)produced by the media in this way.
ATLANTA REVISITED
Authors: Billings Andrew C. , Eastman Susan Tyler , Newton Gregory D.
Published: March 2007

Previous studies of on-air promotion have produced conflicting results, ranging from findings of high effectiveness for promos in comedies to nearly total ineffectiveness for promos in sporting events. Using videotape of the 1996 Summer Olympics, this study analyzed 183 on-air promos for prime-time shows carried within prime-time coverage of the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Along with the impact of lead-ins, results demonstrated that promos within the Olympic broadcasts apparently had a surprisingly large effect on NBC's prime-time ratings, although a welter of other factors probably bolstered the effect. For the first time, and contrary to results for the 1992 Winter and Summer Olympics, the industry assumption that an Olympic Games may be an ideal platform for promoting prime-time programs merited support.
Quantitative Proof of Intentional Discrimination
Authors: Baldus David C. , Cole James W.L.
Published: March 2007

The article considers several methodological and legal issues that arise from the use of quantitative methods to prove intentional discrimination in judicial and administrative proceedings. Following an analysis of the relevance of evidence of adverse impact in intentional discrimination cases, the paper discusses the issues involved in the construction of a measure of adverse impact, i.e., how one identifies the before and after popula tions used as a basis for comparison and inference. The paper next considers the issues involved in the selection of a mathematical formula used to compare the respective treat ment of the minority and majority groups. Finally the article analyzes the issues involved in the selection of a statistical procedure that will enable the decision maker to test the plausibility of the defense that the adverse impact observed in the case was caused by the application of a nondiscriminatory criterion selection or by chance.
Work Release and Recidivism
Authors: Waldo Gordon P. , Chiricos Theodore G.
Published: March 2007

This study is an empirical assessment of the work release program in the Florida Division of Corrections An experimental design was used in which, randomly, 188 persons were assigned to a work release group and 93 to a control group. Follow-up interviews were conducted in the community, and recidivism data were obtained from Division of Corrections files and from FBI rap sheets. Eighteen different indices of recidivism were examined, using both discrete and continuous measures. The work release and control groups showed no appreciable differences on any of the recidivism measures and length of time in work release also failed to be consistently related to recidivism. Controls were introduced for 16 demographic, prior record, andjob-related variables, which did not alter the original findings Policy implications of the results are discussed.
The Wheels of Misfortune
Authors: Johnson Mark S. , Jurik Nancy C. , Kreb A.R. , Rose Terrence L.
Published: March 2007

This research is an evaluation of the impact of engineering and policy interventions on bicycle accidents occurring on the campus of the University of California'at Santa Barbara between October 1970 and March 1977. The number of bike accidents per day were regressed on 15 predictor variables including the engineering and policy innovations. Generalized least squares estimation procedures were used to adjust for serial correlation. None of the bikeway modifications were found to have been effective in reducing bicycle accidents on the campus.
Decision Rules in Program Evaluation
Authors: Ross John A.
Published: March 2007

This article will define decision rules and examine literature relevant to the concept of program evaluation. An example will be provided of an evaluation in which the formula tion of explicit and specific decision rules was a central activity. The case for and against the use of decision rules in program evaluation will be considered, and the context in which the practice is appropriate will be identified. Implications for the rights of decision makers will be addressed. The article is written within the context of program evaluation in educa tional institutions, but the issues raised have relevance to evaluation in other settings.
Toward Efficient Allocation of Fertility Reduction Expenditures
Authors: Berelson Bernard , Haveman Robert H.
Published: March 2007

Each year $250 million is allocated by donor agencies to developing countries for fertility reduction purposes. This article develops an economic optimizing procedure based upon fertility reduction effectiveness ratings on experts in the population field andjudgmental diminishing returns patterns. The model is used to allocate this expenditure over strategies, social settings, and program implementation capabilities to maximize the reduction in births. This allocation is compared with the actual allocation, and the reasons for the disparity are discussed. These reasons relate to the role of efficiency-based benefit-cost analysis in policy decisions.
Facilitating Data-Based Decision-Making
Authors: Pauley P. Ann , Cohen Stan
Published: March 2007

With the implementation of management information systems in human service settings came the expectation that managers would use data to make decisions. There is substantial evidence that this has not occurred. Two reasons may be lack of skill in utilizing data among managers and inadequacies in the definition of "use of data. " The present investigation incorporated data-based decision-making skill training with a behavioral analysis of data use. Managers in a community mental health center were trained to use monthly service reports. Productivity and information use were measured in a multiple- baseline design. Results indicated improvements in measures of data use skills and changes in managers'reports of use. Environmental factors that reduce the impact of the independent variable on measures of staffproductivity and of service utilization by clients are explored, as are implications for defining use of data.
Nutrition Behavior Change
Authors: Edwards Patricia K. , Acock Alan C. , Johnston Robert L.
Published: March 2007

This study addresses four issues in the evaluation of nutrition education programs: (1) the reliability of knowledge, belief, and behavior scales; (2) the effectiveness of programs targeted to the general public; (3) the longitudinal effects of nutrition education interventions; and (4) the relationship between changes in the cognitive, belief, and behavioral domains. Our findings indicate that reliable knowledge and behavior scales can be developed, but that the internal consistency of belief scales are more problematic. Moreover, improvements in all three domains can be attained with an heterogenous target audience. Although knowledge deterioriates after the course is completed, beliefs remain stable and nutrition behavior continues to improve significantly. Finally, changes in knowledge and beliefs are influential on changes in behavior as a result of the course, but postcourse changes in knowledge and beliefs are not associated with changes in behavior.