bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement: Impacts on U.S. States and Canadian Provinces
Authors: Warf Barney , Randall James
Published: March 2007

The U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement initiated in 1989 will remove most of the remaining barriers to trade and will have substantial impacts on regional economies in both nations. The economic effects of this Free Trade Agreement are analyzed using a three-stage approach. First, the origin states and provinces of exports from each nation to the other are approximated using weights derived from local output by industry as a share of national totals. Second, commodity-specific analyses of tariffs and nontariff barriers, as well as price and income elasticities of demand, are used to estimate changes in exports from regions in both nations. Third, a series of state- and province-specific input-output analyses are used to model the effects of export increases. The output and employment gains attributable to the Free Trade Agreement indicate that while the largest increases are likely to occur in the traditional manufacturing cores of both nations, relative export gains will be dispersed in a complex patchwork of regions in both nations.
Growth of International Exports among the States: Can a Modified Shift-Share Analysis Explain it?
Authors: Gazel Ricardo C. , Schwer R. Keith
Published: March 2007

This paper develops a modified shift-share model for foreign exports of states. We identify the sectoral mix as a proxy for supply conditions and the relative mix of foreign markets as a proxy for demand conditions. We measure the relative importance of both demand and supply factors using the MISER data set. The results suggest that demand conditions are as important, if not more so, than supply conditions in explaining recent foreign export among states.
Barriers Against Interdisciplinarity: Implications for Studies of Science, Technology, and Society (STS
Authors: Bauer Henry H.
Published: March 2007

Interdisciplinary work is intractable because the search for knowledge in different fields entails different interests, and thereby different values too; and the different possibilities of knowledge about different subjects also lead to different epistemologies. Thus differ ences among practitioners of the various disciplines are pervasive and aptly described as cultural ones, and interdisciplinary work requires transcending unconscious habits of thought. The more those unconscious habits are explicated and the more we under stand how the disparate characteristics of the various intellectual cultures are related to the necessarily different interests, values, and epistemologies, the more feasible becomes the goal of transcending thought habits. Two sorts of interdisciplinary effort seem to have been successful: specific, delimited problems have been solved by teams in what is actually multidisciplinary rather than interdisciplinary work, and new disciplines have sprung up at the intersections of existing ones. STS fits neither of those patterns. Can it nevertheless be viable?
Ethical Challenges to Risk Scientists: An Exploratory Analysis of Survey Data
Authors: Greenberg Michael , Goldberg Laura
Published: March 2007

Surveys of almost 1,500 members of three professional societies that do risk analysis (e.g. environmental economics, epidemiology, exposure assessment, industrial hygiene, toxicology) found that 3 in 10 respondents had observed a biased research design, 2 in 10 had observed plagiarism, and 1 in 10 observed data fabrication or falsification. Respondents with many years in risk analysis, business consultants, and industrial hygienists reported the greatest prevalence of misconduct. These respondents perceived poor science, economic implications of the research, and lack of training in ethics as causes of misconduct. They supported the teaching of ethics but the vast majority did not support government auditing of their work.
Evaluation of a Hospice Program:
Authors: Silver Susan
Published: March 2007

Hospice care in the United States has grown rapidly since its introduction here from England in the mid-1970s. Surprisingly little evaluation of services has been made public, particularly with regard not merely to demographics but also to the actual effect of hospice caregiving on patients and families. This artick describes an attempt to identify the life dimensions that hospice addresses and the levels of discomfort or wellbeing of patients and families achieved in a hospice home care program. After assessing the changes in medieal, psychosocial, and spiritual status for each of a group of hospice home care patients, the trend to ward greater wellbeing of patients in the progam can be delineated.
Measuring the Effects of Administrative Intervention
Authors: Hechenberger Nan B. , Bausell R. Barker
Published: March 2007

The present study constituted afield test of a technique designed to measure the effects of administrative interventions. An organizational blockage instrument was administered prior to and following the institution of certain organizational changes by a new nursing dean. An analysis of the results indicated (I) a significant reduction in perceived blockages and (2) that the magnitude of specific changes could be moderately predicted (r =. 76) prior to the second data gathering. The authors concluded that these results augured well for the tested methodology as an administrative evaluation tool.
The Psychosocial Functioning Inventory
Authors: Feragne Mark A. , Longabaugh Richard , Stevenson John F.
Published: March 2007

The derivation and psychometric analyses of a general purpose outcome/survey instrument—the Psychosocial Functioning Inventory (PFI—are described. The instrument contains scales designed to measure a wide array of constructs, including subjective well-being, social functioning, stressful events, treatment dependency/aftercare, and consumer satisfaction. Extensive reliability and validity analyses are reported, indicating reasonable reliability and validity for the PFI scales.
Evaluation of a Clinical Program
Authors: Barzansky Barbara , Berner Eta , Beckman Charles R.R.
Published: March 2007

The criteria of trustworthiness developed by Guba (1981) can be utilized to both plan and judge evaluations within the naturalistic inquiry paradigm. This article (1) describes the process and results of a study done to evaluate an educational program developed to increase faculty-student contact in a clinical clerkship, (2) applies the criteria of trustworthiness to the evaluation methodology, and (3) identifies some issues andproblems that may affect an evaluator's ability to apply the criteria of trustworthiness as completely as theoretically desirable.
A Follow-Up Study of Internal Medicine Residents' and Faculty Staff Physicians' Attitudes toward Patients' Characteristics
Authors: Harris Ilene B. , Rich Eugene C. , Crowson Terry
Published: March 2007

This study assesses the attitudes of internal medicine residents both before and one year after they began their residency, and of staff internists based at the hospitals where these residents rotate. Attitudes toward a broad range of patients' physical, psychological, social, and health-state characteristics were assessed. Results are compared with those obtained by Johnson and Hoffman in their study of medical students' attitudes toward these same characteristics. The results suggest that attitudes towards patient characteristics viewed as hindering communication in the doctor-patient relationship may become more positive as physicians obtain experience and enhance their clinical skills. The results also suggest that much of the research pertaining to medical students' and physicians' attitudes toward geriatric care and chronic illness may not generalize to the population of physicians who specialize in internal medicine.
National Certification Exam for Clinical Laboratory Scientists
Authors: Karni Karen R.
Published: March 2007

The validity of a national certification examination for clinical laboratory scientists was examined usingfive of Cronbach 's eight suggested procedures for construct validity. The 199-item examination was completed by (111) clinical laboratory practitioners from 40 laboratories throughout the United States. Their scores were compared to their competence level (most, average, minimal) as determined by their laboratory managers. A correlation coefficient of .406 indicated a fairly strong relationship between competence level and examination score. Four otherfactorsshowed correlation with practitioners' performance: education level, age, size of laboratory staff, and workload.
Assessing Pediatric Clerkship Evaluations Using Generalizability Theory
Authors: Boodoo Gwyneth M. , O'Sullivan Patricia S.
Published: March 2007

Evaluation of pediatric clerkship ratings using generalizability theory is demonstrated. Ratings collected during an academic year are analyzed in a generalizability study, with emphasis placed upon the nature of the designs used to collect ratings. Since decisions regarding students' performances are made with these data, decision-study type analyses were carried out using the generalizability study results. Recommendations are made as to the type of designs that could be used in order to obtain generalizable results.
Assessing Hospital Nursing Staff Retention and Turnover
Authors: Benedict M. Beth , Glasser Jay H. , Lee Eun Sul
Published: March 2007

This research applied the life table technique to nursing personnel data in two types of hospitals to illustrate how administrators can examine patterns of continued employment. Although a large proportion of nurses were short-stay employees, the teaching hospital was found to have a higher retention rate than the community hospital corporation. The retention patterns are examined by personal and professional characteristics, as well as by reason for termination. Implications of our findings are discussed with respect to policy concerns related to hiring, retention, productivitv, and staff development.
A Comparison of Biochemical and Interview Measures of the Exposure of Infants to Environmental Tobacco Smoke
Authors: Bauman Karl E. , Strecher Victor J. , Greenberg Robert A. , Haley Nancy J.
Published: March 2007

This study of 37 infants found substantial agreement among a biochemical indicator of infant passive smoking, an interview measure of the tobacco smoke environment of the infant, and active smoking in the household When any of the three measures were compared, both measures were positive for 75% to 82% of the subjects and negative for 88% to 92%. The correlations among the variables considered as continuous measures ranged from .64 to .74. These correlations are strong enough to suggest that both measures reflect exposure but too weak to assume that one measure can serve as a ready substitute for the other The agreement among continuous measures was due to their ability to distinguish between exposed and nonexposed infants, rather than to their continuous properties.
The Development and Pilot Testing of a Community-Practice, Clinical Pharmacy Decision-Making Assessment Instrument
Authors: Greer Marianne L. , Kirk Kenneth W. , Crismon M. Lynn
Published: March 2007

The development and pilot testing of a computerized, simulation-based instrument, designed to analyze the community-practice, clinical decision-making skills of seniorpharmacy students, is described. Four communitypractice clinical scenarios were simulated. A microcomputer unobtrusively collected information-searching data and the decisions made. The instrument's purpose was to describe decision-making processes in order to understand these and eventually improve instruction in this area. The reliability of the instrument was assessed as acceptable. Content validity was assured during development and confirmed through a panel of clinical judges, pharmacy practitioners, and pilot-test students. Construct validity was demonstrated, whereas concurrent validity was only partially evidenced. From preliminary observations, it appeared that expert practitioners took longer and occasionally accessed more information than did students when making clinical decisions. This instrument has potential value as a teaching and diagnostic tool in pharmacy decision making.
Medical Education in Prepaid Settings
Authors: Barzansky Barbara , Perloff Janet
Published: March 2007

Reports in the literature that describe the use of prepaid settings for medical education are typically anecdotal. Synthesis of this information was accomplished using the case survey method, an approach that uses a common conceptual framework to combine case studies. A total of 18 references published between 1973 and 1986, describing the educational activities in 12 HIMOs, were identified. Each reference was analyzed using a checklist composed offorced-choice items grouped into five categories: classification of HMO, type and extent of teaching program, organizational relatioinship between HMO and medical school, 'scholarly " focus of HMO, and involvement of trainees in monitoring resource utilization. Many gaps were identified in the literature, especially those related to the mechanisms of financing the educational program and the types of organizational linkages between the medical school and the HMO. These gaps indicate the need for more systematic research to aid planners offuture educational programs.
Use of Standardized Patients for Teaching And Assessing Clinical Skills
Authors: Swanson David B. , Stillman Paula L.
Published: March 2007

Among other significant findings, Elstein, Shulman, & Sprafka (1978) demonstrated that diagnostic expertise is content-specific, tending to be limited to clinical problems with which a physician has had substantial experience. They recommended use of a highly structured, problem-oriented curriculum in which students systematically learn about common problems, so that medical schools could guarantee students' competence to diagnose and treat those problems. Clinical training at most medical schools is far less organized than this: available clinical facilities dictate the patient problems with which students becomefamiliar. In order to increase control over the training environment and the learning outcomes that result, a growing number of schools now use standardized patients (SPs) to teach and test key clinical skills. SPs are non-physicians trained to accurately and consistently portray patients in simulated clinical situations. Students interact with SPs as though they are interviewing, examining, or counseling real patients. This paper discusses the variety of methods in which schools supplement traditional instruction with SP-basedprograms and reviews recent studies of the psychometric characteristics of SP-based tests.
Validation of Professional Licensure Examinations
Authors: Laduca Anthony
Published: March 2007

Although the unitary view of test validity has gained support recently, it has real limitations where professional licensing examinations are concerned. A strategyfor validation ofprofessional licensure tests requires modifying con- ventional approaches in three ways. First, a theory of professions must be incorporated into the test development process so as to acknowledge the social character of profes- sions. Second, the importance of test design in the validation of licensing tests should be en- hanced. Third, the concept of construct valida- tion must be expanded to accommodate the specialfeatures of content that inhere to pro- fessional licensure testing. Methods for ac- complishing these three things are described and the implications of these and other views discussed.
The Effects of Scheduled Intern Rotation on the Cost and Quality of Teaching Hospital Care
Authors: Rich Eugene C. , Gifford Gregory , Dowd Bryan
Published: March 2007

We studied the effect of scheduled intern rotations on the cost and quality of inpatient care at one teaching hospital. For all discharges from the internal medicine service between 1980 and 1986, we identified 1,705 rotation patients and 3,141 no-rotation patients. Using linear or logistic regression analysis to controlfor baseline differences, we evaluatedfor the effect of rotation. We found that rotation was significantly related to longer length of hospital stay, b = 0.341 days, p = 0.C001, and higher hospital charges (for log charges, b = 0.053, p = 0.016. Hospital deaths, nursing home placements, and 30-day readmissions were not significantly related to rotation, p > 0.1. These results suggest that the systematic discontinuity induced by scheduled intern rotations may be another source of increased health care costs experienced at teaching hospitals.
The Importance of Multicultural Variation in Planning College Student Health Programs
Authors: McCaughrin William
Published: March 2007

Multicultural college student populations are becoming the norm on many campuses across the nation. Detecting multicultural variation in students'health beliefs, behaviors, andpreferred method of receiving health education information permits efficient program targeting. Results from a recent survey of students attending a large midwestern university are described. The survey results are stratified by students' race and ethnicity. Results indicate statistically significant variation exists among fourmulticultural student subgroups on topics such as student health knowledge of alcohol and drugs, HIV/AIDS and STDs, condom purchasing, and preferred media modefor receiving health information. Implications for college students, health education program planners, and policymakers are discussed.
Interpreting and Evaluating Meta-Analysis
Authors: Hall Judith A. , Rosenthal Robert
Published: March 2007

This article offers some guidelines for interpreting and evaluating meta-analytic reviews of research. The fundamental goals of metaanalysis are to combine results across studies to yield an overall estimate of effect and to compare effects between studies in order to understand moderating factors. Suggestions are made for what readers should look for in a meta-analysis, and a discussion is provided of several issues that are not often explicitly addressed: choice of unit of analysis, fixed versus random effects, the meaning of heterogeneity, determination of when contrasts are appropriate, and the choice of measure of central tendency. We recommend that readers adopt a skeptical attitude about the results of meta-analysis, particularly when only complex analyses are reported.
Being a part of the family? Genre, gender and production in a Japanese TV drama
Authors: Valaskivi Katja
Published: March 2007

In this article I use the concept of genre as a notion to look into the relationship between the production and the audience, especially on the production side. The empirical material of the study is a Japanese television family drama called Wataru seken wa oni bakari or Wataoni. Recently the concept of genre - traditionally known from literary theory and cinema studies - has been found useful especially in studies on (news) journalism. In these studies genre is usually defined as a cultural and social contract between the production and the audience, the rhetorical mode of address inherent in genre being a central notion. The mode of address is seen to recommend audience members certain meanings and viewing patterns. Although the idea of `communicative contract' also includes the production side, empirical studies of the rhetorical force of genre in both production and reception are rare.

I propose that it can be useful in an empirical study to look into the ways in which genre addresses both the viewers and the makers. The way the generic mode of address works for each direction may differ, but nevertheless genre also persuades the makers to adopt a certain subject position and meaningful relationship with the programme in question.
Red Pepper: a new model for the alternative press?
Authors: Khiabany Gholam
Published: March 2007

This article revisits Comedia's assessment and theory of the alternative press. In its examination of the radical projects and press in the 1970s and 1980s, the group pointed out some internal weaknesses and the failure of the alternative press to take advantage of some `useful' aspects of capitalism. It suggested that the alternative press, in order to escape from the ghetto of marginality, should employ mainstream economic and organizational technique to put finances on a firmer footing. This article examines Comedia's view by looking at the founding and history of Red Pepper, which can be seen as a test bed for Comedia's theory. The article presents the Comedia position in its intellectual context. By outlining the background to the launch of the magazine, which was organized according to the principles that were set out by Comedia, and through detailed analysis of its organization and financing, the Comedia theory of the alternative press is shown to be wrong. It suggests that the more commercially sophisticated model of an alternative press independent of the party is not viable.
Caught in the cross-fire: Tibet, media and promotional culture
Authors: Bishop Peter
Published: March 2007

Anti-imperialist struggles within the Third World, from East Timor to Tibet, are compelled, due to relative powerlessness, to utilize western media in order to mobilize crucial world support. In the case of the Tibetan exile community, a media struggle with the Chinese government in Beijing is one of the few options open to it. But, western media culture has its own internal disputes, its own running conflicts about popular culture, as well as about the values and hegemonic structures within the media industry. In addition, these media are themselves embedded within a culture which is highly promotional - in terms of its dominant rhetorics and the ways its audiences negotiate reading positions. Despite much media sophistication on the part of the Tibetans, the promotion of Tibetan struggles against the Beijing government's aggression therefore also becomes entangled in a web of other promotional discourses, from commercial advertising to campaigns for overseas aid.
The social organization of audio piracy on the Internet
Authors: Cooper Jon , Harrison Daniel M.
Published: March 2007

In this article we describe and analyze the emerging audio piracy (MP3) subculture on the Internet. We present the first sociological analysis of this system - a `virtual community' that is revolutionizing the production of popular music. We seek to explain not only the internal social structure of the MP3 community, but also strive to understand how the entire global network of musical distribution and production may be affected by its activity. Particular attention is paid to the role structure that operates within the audio piracy subculture, issues of status and power, the division of labor, as well as questions of social conflict and resolution. The conclusion offers some speculations concerning the impact of MP3 technology on the trajectory of popular music.
Between public good and the freedom of the consumer: negotiating the space, orientation and position of us in the reception of alcohol policy editorials
Authors: Törrönen Jukka
Published: March 2007

David Morley has argued that the `preferred reading' (encoding/decoding) model developed by Stuart Hall at the beginning of the 1970s, while needing amendment in various respects, still offers a promising alternative to a conception of media texts as equally open to any kinds of interpretation. In this article, I accept Morley's challenge to develop further the preferred reading model with a case study in which 55 people interpret two editorials on alcohol policy. I approach the reception from the viewpoint of identity construction and propose that the preferred reading can be understood as a positioning of the audience in terms of the categories and story lines.
What use is a public inquiry? Labour and the 1977 Annan Committee on the Future of Broadcasting
Authors: Freedman Des
Published: March 2007

In the light of increasing concern today about the uncertain future of British television, this article investigates the effectiveness of the public inquiry as a means of broadcasting reform. In particular, it focuses on the 1977 Annan Committee on the Future of Broadcasting and assesses the extent to which the committee was a victory for those who wished to open up broadcasting structures. Pressure for a full-scale review of British broadcasting had been building up since the late 1960s and the case for broadcasting democratization was, by 1974, clearly identified with the left. The article examines both the contributions made by those on the left of the Labour Party to the committee together with the motivations of the Labour government in agreeing to an inquiry, and suggests that the final report was a model example of a compromise between different visions of broadcasting.
Work histories in television
Authors: Paterson Richard
Published: March 2007

The labour market in Britain's television industry has been transformed in the last 20 years with the emergence of a large freelance workforce and proliferation of work on short-term contracts. This article uses data from the BFI `Television Industry Tracking Study', a major longitudinal study of creative workers in television carried out between 1994 and 1998. Case studies of individuals with contrasting work histories are used to compare variations within and across age cohorts, to assess the changing set of values of these creative workers, and to explore the variety of coping strategies which they deploy to combat uncertainty.
Television and imagination: an investigation of the medium's influence on children's story-making
Authors: Belton Teresa
Published: March 2007

Drawing on a study of stories written and told by 10- to 12-year-old children, this article discusses the meaning of `imaginative response', suggesting several senses in which imagination may be engaged by a stimulus. Based on illustrations from the data of the study, it goes on to examine, in the light of previous relevant media research, ways in which television and videos may be considered either to stimulate or to stifle the imaginative processes and products of story-making. Possible reasons are discussed for the study having found little evidence that children transform ideas taken from television and videos when composing stories; it is suggested that the nature of the image on the screen is equivalent neither to actual experience nor to the visualized image, and may play a different role in the creative process. The article concludes by positing the notion that the ubiquity and ease of access to television and videos perhaps robs today's children of the need to pursue their own thoughts and devise their own occupations, distracting them from inner processes and constantly demanding responses to external agendas, and suggests that this may have implications for the development of imaginative capacity.
Fencing in the past: Budapest's Statue Park Museum
Authors: James Beverly
Published: March 2007

This article focuses on an open-air museum established in Budapest in 1993 as a repository for the city's communist monuments. Following Raymond Williams's emphasis on the importance of studying the material processes through which culture is constructed, the Statue Park Museum is analyzed as an arena for the formation of collective memories about Hungarians' 40 years of experiences with communism. The article explores the political climate within which the decision was reached to transfer the monuments from their original sites to a museum, offers a discursive reading of the museum as a space that contributes to an emerging post-communist discourse of history and society, and argues that despite some public skepticism about its value, the museum provides a symbolic space for the common recollection of diverse narratives.
Categories of knowledge and information flows: reasons for the decline of the British Labour and Industrial Correspondents' Group
Authors: Manning Paul
Published: March 2007

This article explores the rise and decline of daily labour and industrial journalism in Britain from the 1930s to the present day. This represents the loss of an important arena within the public sphere for the discussion of work-related issues. Conventional explanations for the decline in this specialism point to the diminishing newsworthiness of trade unions. However, this is an oversimplification. While changes in the political and economic environment are clearly important, attention also has to be paid to the relationships or power-webs, involving journalists and members of the political and labour movement elites, which sustain or block crucial information flows and support or undermine particular categories of knowledge. The hierarchical ordering and instability of categories of knowledge for journalists is intimately connected to particular forms of governmentality.
Gender, Marriage, and Expectations for Personal Care
Authors: Spitze Glenna , Ward Russell
Published: March 2007

Among other benefits of marriage, spouses are particularly well suited for providing sick or personal care due to proximity and motivation. Yet, spouse care may vary by gender: Women are less likely to be married, especially at older ages, and personal care may be associated with traditional gender expectations. Using data for a representative sample of middle-aged and older persons, this article poses two questions. First, who is expected, by married and unmarried men and women, to provide personal care? Second, how does the gender of the individual or of children structure expectations for care? For married persons, particularly in high-quality marriages, spouses are likely care providers. However, for women, spouse help is less reliably available, and other sources, particularly children, are more available. Unmarried persons are more likely to mention “no one” and have a wider variety of expected sources of sick care, but children are the modal choice.
Marital Characteristics and Retirement Decisions
Authors: Szinovacz Maximiliane E. , Deviney Stanley
Published: March 2007

This study assesses the effect of spouse and marital relationship characteristics on labor force withdrawal. The authors further explore differences between husbands’ and wives’ retirement. The analyses are based on two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households. Marital characteristics influence retirement decisions in several ways and contribute significantly to model fit. Husbands adjust their retirement in terms of wives’ benefit eligibility, whereas wives’ retirement is contingent on the couple’s income. Husbands also tend to leave the labor force when their wives are ill. In addition, retirement decisions seem to reflect considerations about postretirement marital quality and husband’s status in the marriage. Gender differences prevail with regard to the impact of work and marital history on retirement decisions.
Economic, Cultural, and Social Origins of Emotional Well-Being
Authors: Hao Lingxin , Johnson Richard W.
Published: March 2007

Linking theories of social stratification, ethnicity, and mental health with theories of human and social capital, the authors examine the impact of economic, cultural, and social factors on five different dimensions of emotional well-being for immigrants and natives at midlife. Based on data from the 1992 wave of the Health and Retirement Study, the authors found that economic factors and human capital variables are the most important determinants of emotional health for both immigrants and natives. The results indicate that cultural factors can enhance emotional well-being. Religious affiliation and participation are important for both immigrants and natives, but religious participation appears to be more beneficial for immigrants. Being part of a couple was also associated with better emotional health, especially for immigrants. The effects of several determinants of emotional health differed across immigrant groups. It was found that marriage, education, and the presence of economically stable kin are particularly important for Cubans.
Peer Support for Alzheimer’s Caregivers
Authors: Pillemer Karl , Suitor J. Jill
Published: March 2007

This study tested a social support enhancement intervention for caregivers to relatives with Alzheimer’s disease. Theory and empirical research on life-course transitions and social support suggest that support from an experientially similar peer (i.e., a person who has undergone the same stressful transition) will lead to positive outcomes among caregivers. The intervention differed from previous programs for caregivers by isolating social support enhancement as the intervention mechanism, without simultaneously providing education, counseling, or direct services. Using a randomized, control-group design, no main effects were found. At the level of interactions, a modest buffering effect was found for persons in more stressful caregiving situations. However, the overall pattern of the results suggests that social support alone is not a sufficient intervention to improve the experience of caregivers. Implications for future research and planning of interventions are discussed.
Interactions with Family and Friends
Authors: Atchley Robert C. , Pignatiello Linda , Shaw Ellen C.
Published: March 2007

Standardized indices were used to compare frequency of interaction outside the household with various types of kin and with friends for 131 married, widowed, or never-married older women who had retired from professional or clerical employment. Widows from both occupational backgrounds had the highest levels of interaction with friends and with primary relatives (parents, siblings, and children). These results call into question earlier studies reporting on the social isolation of widows. Compared to clerical women, professional women generally interacted more with primary relatives and friends, but less with extended kin. Never-married professional women were relatively high in interaction with extended kin while never-married clerical women had low interaction with extended kin. Other comparisons are discussed, and several implications for further research are introduced.
Spouse and Survivor Benefits
Authors: Holden Karen C.
Published: March 2007

Recommendations by the HEW Task Force on the Treatment of Women under Social Security indicate that dependent's benefits paid to aged wives and widows of retired workers may be altered, if not eliminated for future cohorts of retirees. The impact of their elimination will depend on the characteristics of persons who would otherwise have been eligible to receive these benefits. Spouse and widow benefits were initially enacted to transfer income to these presumably needy groups. Thus, the appropriate test of these benefits' fulfilling the original antipoverty goals of their passage is the extent to which they are available to relatively low-income aged. This paper examines the income redistributional effects of the additional benefits available to wives and widows, above those for which they are eligible as retired workers. The results show that additional benefits paid to wives do not target aged poor couples and cannot be justified on antipoverty grounds.
Neighbors and Friends
Authors: Cantor Marjorie H.
Published: March 2007

This research presents empirical findings concerning the extent to which older people in the inner city neighborhoods of New York City have an informal network of friends and neighbors and the nature of the interactions which occur. The characteristics associated with individuals possessing extensive friend-neighbor networks are discussed, and the preferences of older people for assistance from kin versus nonkin in a variety of situations are explored. Several theoretical models concerning the operation of the informal support system are considered, and the author postulates a new model—the hierarchical-compensatory model-as best fitting the empirical data at hand. The findings are from the largest cross-cultural study of the elderly in urban poverty, The Elderly in the Inner City of New York with an N of 1,552, including 49% white, 37% black, and 13% Hispanic elderly.
Attitudes toward Retirement and Distance from the Event
Authors: Atchley Robert C. , Robinson Judith L.
Published: March 2007

This study examines the relationship between distance from the retirement event, both before and after, and attitudes toward retirement. Previous research indicated that attitudes become more negative just prior to retirement and that people who had been retired longer had more negative attitudes than those who retired more recently. These previous findings were taken as hypotheses and tested with data from 173 people in the preretirement stage and 176 people who had retired. Attitudes toward retirement were generally positive and were unrelated to distance from retirement for both samples. Health and income adequacy were the main predictors of attitude toward retirement. The postretirement sample was slightly less favorable toward retirement than was the preretirement sample. This was due to the higher incidence of disability in the postretirement sample.
Social Issues among the Elderly
Authors: Cutler Stephen J.
Published: March 2007

This article examines the question of whether current attitudes about social issues can be traced to early background characteristics of older persons. The data come from the 1977 NORC General Social Survey and are based on the responses of those 60+. Dependent variables include composite measures of attitudes about abortion, sexual morality, tolerance, and race relations. The effects of relative family income at age 16, region of residence at age 16, and type of community of residence at age 16 are analyzed after controlling the effects of current socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. The significant increments in explained variance produced by the inclusion of the long-term antecedent variables demonstrate the value of examining background characteristics at earlier life stages as a source of current attitudinal differences among older persons.
Domiciliary Care Facilities for Adults
Authors: Reichstein Kenneth J. , Bergofsky Linda
Published: March 2007

A content analysis was conducted on ninety-eight sets of state regulations governing long-term residential facilities for adults without nursing. While most regulations contained a substantial number of physical requirements, many lacked a number of other types of requirements affecting residents' health, safety, and well-being. Sizable percentages of regulations did not include requirements in the areas of standards enforcement, staff training, services to residents, residents' rights, and relocation of residents. Regulations with more requirements were positively associated with the size of the facilities being regulated, with licensing (as opposed to certification or approval), and with regulation of facilities serving those in need of personal care, the elderly, the physically handicapped, and the mentally retarded. The number of requirements included in a set of regulations was not related to the type of state agency doing the regulating, to association with nursing home regulations, or to how recently the regulations were adopted or revised.
Life Satisfaction Time Components among the Elderly
Authors: Lowry Janet Huber
Published: March 2007

This research examines the relative contribution of health, life staging, activity level, and socioeconomic status in predicting life satisfaction of the elderly as measured by a self-anchoring scale technique (Cantril, 1965). With these measures of life satisfaction (present, past, future, and average) and three difference scores (present in relation to the other three), a series of regression equations were established using a 1982 survey sample (N = 231). Health, continuity in work, and activity level were critical to present life satisfaction. Employment continuity helped explain improvement from past and higher future level of life satisfaction. Age was significant in predicting the estimate for the average same age person's life satisfaction and anticipated change in the future (both inverse relationships). Socioeconomic status, although generally unimportant to self-anchored scale life satisfaction, was significant in predicting the self's relative position to the average and the anticipated change in life satisfaction.
Retirement as a Critical Life Event
Authors: Matthews Anne Martin , Brown Kathleen H.
Published: March 2007

This article examines the experience of adaptation to retirement among a sample of women (n = 124) and men (n = 176) retired an average of three years and living in an urban area of Ontario, Canada. The impact of retirement as a life event relative to other life experiences was examined, and found to be distinctly less critical than previous research would suggest.
Caregiving Burden
Authors: Braithwaite Valerie
Published: March 2007

This article critically examines the burden concept, its lack of clear definition, the inconsistency between its conceptualization and operationalization, its inappropriate use within the stress paradigm, and its marginal policy relevance. A needs-based conceptualization of burden is presented in which burden is defined in terms of frustration of basic needs arising from five characteristics of family care for frail elderly people: awareness of degeneration, unpredictability, time constraints, the caregiver-receiver relationship, and lack of choice. These contributors to burden are called crises of decline to contrast with the experiences normally encountered through child care. The model has received empirical support and represents a reconceptualization that not only accommodates the increasingly popular stress paradigm but also provides a bridge between research that focuses on burden as an individualistic phenomenon and research that links dominant caregiving practices with social injustice.
Gender, Financial Strain, and Psychological Distress among Older Adults
Authors: Keith Verna M.
Published: March 2007

This study assessed the degree to which differential exposure and differential vulnerability to chronic financial strain contribute to greater distress among older women than older men. Previous research on this topic used the demographic mean decomposition technique, a procedure that does not assess factors that might account for differential exposure and differential vulnerability. This issue is addressed by (a) evaluating the effects of marital status, a factor that might be responsible for differential exposure and (b) evaluating the effects of control, a coping resource that might account for differential vulnerability. Using data from a nationwide survey, the results indicate that gender differences in control and distress emerged in response to differential exposure. Older women were exposed to more financial stress than older men, and their greater exposure resulted, in part, from their lower probability of being married. Older women's greater exposure to financial strain overwhelmed their ability to maintain a sense of control, which, in turn, resulted in greater distress. The findings suggest that if older men and women were equally likely to experience financial strain, there would be no significant gender differences in control orientation or distress.
Job Commitment and Turnover among Women Working in Facilities Serving Older Persons
Authors: Kiyak H. Asuman , Namazi Kevan H. , Kahana Eva F.
Published: March 2007

This study presents a model linking personal and job-related factors to job satisfaction, job commitment, and turnover. Responses from the staff of six nursing homes and 12 community facilities serving older adults were included. Using a modified version of the causal model of turnover developed by Price and Mueller, three sets of predictors were tested to explain the causes for turnover: personal characteristics, job characteristics, and attitudes. The best predictor of turnover was the employee's intention to leave, followed by the length of employment (shorter), and age (younger). Intention to leave was, in turn, predicted by age (younger), length of employment (shorter), job dissatisfaction, and the type of agency for which the employee worked (community).Dissatisfaction seems to be a major factor that results in a desire to leave the job and may lead to either turnover or continued dissatisfaction with the job. Implications for enhancing employee morale and reducing job turnover are discussed.
"My Brain s On Strike"
Authors: Saunders Pamela A.
Published: March 2007

This article examines the social construction of identity by older dementia patients in the memory clinic through the use of accounts about memory loss. The data are verbatim transcriptions of neuropsychological examinations between seventeen older dementia patients and four clinicians conducted at the Memory and Alzheimer's Clinic at the University of California, San Francisco. Using an interactional sociolinguistic framework, this article analyzes five kinds of accounts that discursively construct the identities of these older dementia patients: (1) cognitive accounts, (2) experiential accounts, (3) accounts of ability and attention, (4) emotional accounts, and (5) comparative accounts. This research has implications for improving the quality of life of older dementia patients to the extent that caregivers and family members can help dementia sufferers to construct and maintain a sense of their own identity.
Measuring AIDS-Related Behaviors in Older Populations
Authors: Gribble James N. , Rogers Susan M. , Miller Heather G. , Turner Charles R.
Published: March 2007

Because of a dearth of research on reporting biases in the measurement of HIV-relatedsexual and drug use behaviors in older populations, it is frequently assumed thatmethodological findings of research conducted with younger populations will generalize to older respondents. In this study, estimates of the effect of the experimentalmanipulation of interview mode (interviewer administered vs. self-administered)were derived separately for three age strata: 12 to 49, 50 to 64, and 65+. Results ofthese analyses indicate that there were a number of noteworthy reversals in whichinterviewer-administered questioning in the older age strata produced higher estimates of the prevalence of substance use or alcohol-related problem behaviors. Theseresults suggest that caution should be exercised in making generalizations fromstudies of reporting bias for HIV-related behaviors to older populations.
Changes in Marital Satisfaction in Three Generations of Mexican Americans
Authors: Markides Kyriakos S. , Roberts-Jolly Jan , Ray Laura A. , Hoppe Sue K. , Rudkin Laura
Published: March 2007

Changes in marital satisfaction over 11 years are investigated in a three-generation sample of Mexican Americans from the San Antonio area originally interviewed during 1981-82 and reinterviewed in 1992-93. Among persons married to the same spouses, results showed no significant changes in the negative sentiment component of the Guilford and Bengtson marital satisfaction scale in any of the categories. However, significant declines in the positive interaction component were observed among women in all generations and among younger males. Declines among women over 11 years were consistent with cross-sectional findings at baseline showing successively lower positive interaction from younger to older generations among women. Results are discussed with regard to the U-shaped curve suggested by the literature on marital satisfaction across the life cycle.
Women’s Representation in Legislatures and Cabinets in Industrial Democracies
Authors: Siaroff Alan
Published: March 2007

Across the advanced industrial polities, there exists a wide range in the percentage of women in national parliaments. However, the range is in fact wider still for women in cabinets. Moreover, whereas the literature on comparative female representation in parliament is now well established, comparative analysis of women in cabinets is rather limited. This article will examine both phenomena, using the most recent national elections (through the end of 1998) and subsequent governments in 28 nations. For each of “women in parliament” and “women in cabinet” a model is produced which explains most of the variance. An additional “Scandinavian effect” is found for women in cabinet, but not for women in parliament.