bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Social Science Research and the American University
Authors: Shapiro Gilbert 
Published: March 2007

This article presents the implications for the modern University of engaging in large-scale research in the behavioral sciences. The various aspects of research control and of the New Patronage, both public and private, are dealt with. The structure of research activities within the University is discussed and suggestions are made for the improvement of organizational arrangements. Professor Shapiro is with Washington University in St. Louis, where he formerly served as Director of the Social Science Institute.
Effects of Coarse Grouping and Skewed Marginal Distributions on the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient
Authors: Wylie Peter B. 
Published: March 2007

Twelve non-normal bivariate distributions were constructed to investigate (a) the effects which coarsely grouped, skewed marginal distributions have on the correlation coefficient and (b) the accuracy of current methods of correction for grouping. The investigation revealed that the correlation coefficient is severely limited in the values it can assume when the underlying marginals are highly, oppositely skewed and one or both of the marginals has only two class intervals. The study further revealed that the correction formula (which is based on the assumption of underlying, normal marginals) is extremely accurate, regardless of the degree of marginal skewness, except where one or both of the marginals has only two class intervals. The major conclusions of the study were that the use of asymmetrical, dichotomous variables should be avoided in correlation analysis, and that the correction for coarse grouping should be applied, on an experimental basis, to correlations computed for joint distributions of coarsely categorized variables.
The Comparative Validity of the California State University and Colleges English Placement Test (CSUC-EPT) in the Prediction of Fall Semester Grade Point Average and English Course Grades of First-Semester Entering Freshmen
Authors: Michael William B. , Shaffer Phyllis 
Published: March 2007

The California State University and Colleges English Placement Test (CSUC-EPT) was designed to provide information about the performance levels in both reading and writing skills of newly admitted students (mostly freshmen) to any one of the campuses of the California State University and Colleges system (beginning with the Fall 1977 semester or quarter) (Educational Testing Service, 1977a, b). For a total sample of several hundred entering freshmen at one campus who had completed the CSUC-EPT and who had elected to take the general English Composition course (English 155) during the first semester as well as for nearly equal size subsamples of males and females, the major purpose of the investigation was to determine the comparative validity of the CSUC-EPT and of other measures in the prediction of each of two specific criterion variables—1977 Fall Semester Grade Point Average (GPA) and English 155 Grades. For the total sample as well as for subsamples of females and males, intercorrelations among 11 predictor variables and the two identified criterion measures were found, and several multiple regression analyses were carried out to ascertain which particular combinations of predictor variables were the most valid indicators of success on each criterion measure. The evidence provided by the findings led to these conclusions: (1) high school GPA is the most valid predictor of college GPA for males and females; (2) the CSUC-EPT offers slightly greater promise than does high school GPA in predicting grades in a basic English composition course; (3) future success of females in this course can be forecast with a higher degree of validity than can that of males; and (4) among several possible composites of predictor variables an optimally weighted combination of high school GPA and performance level on the CSUC-EPT typically provides the most accurate prediction of success on either criterion measure.
A Guttman QUASI-Scale on Intention towards Rural Resettlement
Authors: Buggie Stephen E. , Makubalo Elizabeth L. 
Published: March 2007

A nine-item Guttman scale is presented on intention for individual rural resettlement (irr). Subjects were asked about their views towards three ordinal and cumulative categories of incentives for irr presented in combination with three ordinal categories of time periods for which the person would be willing to move from the city to rural areas to try farming. The English-language questionnaire was translated to Nyanja, a Zambian language spoken widely in the Lusaka area. The coefficient of reproducibility was calculated on data from a sample of 39 low income peri-urban subjects. This coefficient approached closely but did not meet the criterion value needed for a fully qualified Guttman scale. Nonetheless, the scale retains many advantages of Guttman scales. The scale may be used as a measure of behavioural intention for three classes of social research on rural development. First, for static descriptions or comparisons of irr-intention among population groups such as peri-urban unemployed "squatters." Second, for assessing irr-intention trends over time within population groups or communities, and third, as a dependent measure in "before-after" evaluations of persuasive governmental programmes promoting irr. With -minor adjustments among statements, the scale can be adapted for use in Third World countries facing urbanization problems.
Black City Lights
Authors: Hughes James M. 
Published: March 2007

For Henry James the city serves as a token of the possibilities for a high civilization.... Between the noisy groping city and Whitman's persona as the Fraternal Stranger there are still large spaces, and this very spaciousness allows him to celebrate the good nature and easy style of his "camerados" in New York [Irving Howe, "The City in Literature"]. Now express the exciting moods of today with psychedelic black light. Creates a shimmering aura of illumination [Sears Summer Catalogue, 1972].
The Dynamic Properties of Unidirectional Fibre Reinforced Composites in Flexure and Torsion
Authors: Adams Robert D. , Bacon D.G.C. 
Published: March 2007

Theoretical predictions of the damping of composites are presented. New results are given for the damping and dynamic modulus in flexure and longitudinal shear using very carefully prepared specimens and improved apparatus. Comparison of these results, and others taken from the literature, with the theory reveals that the measured damping in flexure is higher and in torsion lower than predicted. Reasons for this discrepancy are investigated in detail and it is suggested that although specimen defects and extraneous losses always increase the damping, fibre misalignment may either increase or decrease it, and hydrostatic stresses may decrease it. The measured flexural modulus is less than that predicted by the law of mixtures, while the longitudinal shear modulus agrees closely with the square array prediction of Adams and Doner.
A Micromechanics Model for the Effective Young's Modulus of a Piecewise-Isotropic Laminate with Wavy Patterns
Authors: Lee Jong-Won , Harris Charles E. 
Published: March 2007

A mathematical model based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory is proposed for pre dicting the effective Young's moduli of piece-wise isotropic composite laminates with wavy patterns in the main load-carrying layers. Strains in corrugated layers, in-phase layers, and out-of-phase layers are predicted for various geometries and material configurations by assuming matrix layers as elastic foundations. Experimental results obtained from cor rugated aluminum specimens and aluminum/epoxy specimens with in-phase and out-of- phase wavy patterns coincide very well with the predictions. The work represents a preliminary effort toward further generalization of the model for two-dimensional anisotropic laminates containing wavy patterns in the main load-carrying layers.
Benoit Revisited:
Authors: Grobar Lisa M. , Porter Richard C. 
Published: March 2007

In the early 1970s, Emile Benoit shocked development economists by presenting positive cross-country correlations between military expenditure rates and economic growth rates in less developed countries (LDCs). This article reviews the long debate that has followed. While the studies surveyed here differ widely in method and focus, the empirical results point to similar conclusions. First, efforts at re-estimating Benoit's correlation coefficients for different samples and different time periods all fail to reproduce Benoit's results. Second, while some studies uncover evidence of positive effects of military spending through human capital formation and technological “spin-off” effects, models that allow military spending to affect growth through multiple channels find that, while military spending may stimulate growth through some channels, it retards it through others, and the net effect is negative. The most important negative effect is that higher military spending reduces national saving rates, thereby reducing rates of capital accumulation. The existence of positive effects of military spending on economic growth, as conjectured by Benoit, still cannot be ruled out. However, the recent econometric evidence points to the conclusion that these positive effects, if they exist, are small relative to the negative effects, and that, overall, military spending has a weak but adverse impact on economic growth in developing countries.
A Developmental Approach to Variability in Experience of Self
Authors: Pazy Asya 
Published: March 2007

Much more attention has been devoted to the consistency of behavior and experience than to their variable nature. This study aims to reestablish the balance between these two by focusing on variability in experience of self. Three types of variability are defined: (a) phenomenal variability, (b) contextual variation, and (c) polarization in self. The major hypothesis states that as one progresses in level of ego development (as conceptualized by Loevinger, 1976) there is increased variability in self-experience. The empirical methodology is primarily phenomenological in that its various measurement devices look at the experience of the people studied from their own viewpoints and utilize their own personal dimensions of reality construction. The major hypothesis was strongly confirmed. It was found that ego development and variability of self-experience were positively associated. With higher ego development there was more identification of variability in phenomenal experience of self, more valuing of the quality of variability, more contextual variation, and more polarization in self. It also was found that at lower levels of ego development, variation in the negatively evaluated aspects of the self was more restricted compared to variation in the positively evaluated aspects. Finally, higher levels of ego development were associated with greater recognition of negative aspects of self.
Passion Bearers and Peace Psychology
Authors: Greening Thomas 
Published: March 2007

This article calls for a passionate psychology that develops and advocates ways to actualize the human potential for peace. This endeavor would combine current work in the United States and the U.S.S.R. on "the further reaches of human nature." Examples are given of Soviet and American "Passion Bearers." New ways are being developed to facilitate transcendence of Soviet-American antagonisms and ideological addictions. The two cultures share a pragmatic tradition of learning from painful past experiences, including self-inflicted ones. Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together. Eugene Ionesco
Delinquent Generations in New Zealand
Authors: Slater S.W. , Darwin J.H. , Ritchie Wendy Lynne 
Published: March 2007

Application of Wilkins' "delinquent generations" hypothesis to New Zealand Children's Court statistics for 1947-60 suggests that, as theorized, social disturbances associated with the Second World War (1939-1945) had affected certain cohorts of children born during or just before it, in such a way as to render them more likely than other children to appear before the Children's Court later in life. An independent method of analysis, based on the theory of normalization of variables with large means, leads to the same conclusion. It further shows that the results are highly significant in the sense of statistical theory. The hypothesis put forward by Wilkins, which has survived tests in England and Wales, Scotland, Denmark, and now New Zealand, is clearly a contribution of some importance to the understanding of international trends in delinquency.
A Behavioral Analysis of a Social Control Agency: Synanon
Authors: Karen Robert L. , Bower Roland C. 
Published: March 2007

The function of the therapeutic agency is essentially no more than the control of social behavior, and agents of the therapeutic agency use techniques based on a particular theory of behavior causation and control. In the behavioral analysis, emphasis is placed on past and present environmental conditions and their effects on current behavior. The agent or therapist thus manipu lates the person's environment to produce changes in behavior through social interaction. Synanon, a group aimed at rehabilitating narcotics addicts, provides an interesting example of a social control agency in a setting which uses, among other things, principles of operant conditioning (conditioning of speech and movement) through the definition of overt response classes (responses having similar or identical consequences and occurring in the same stimulus situation), response contingent consequences (consequences that consistently occur as the result of certain responses—reinforce ment or punishment), and other behavior control procedures through its program of membership interaction. Documents, interviews, and field observations provide examples of Synanon procedures (especially operant conditioning) that are analogous to those employcd by modern behavior therapists. Synanon's program, although it has some weaknesses, is relatively successful in helping the member to overcome his addiction to narcotics.
Parole Violation Patterns and Commitment Offense
Authors: Neithercutt M.G. 
Published: March 2007

Uniform Parole Reports data on parolees now allow the use of more than 100,000 case records in the scrutiny of patterns of parole violations as these relate to commitment offense groups. For this exploration, it was postulated that parolees viewed as "dangerous" would be most likely to be returned to prison as technical viola tors, those "dangerous" persons being typified by such commit ment offenses as Willful Homicide, Aggravated Assault, and Forcible Rape. The results suggest that property offenders are not held to the same standard of parole performance as are person offenders, in that person offenders are much more frequently coded as techni cal violators though their parole violation rates are consistently far below those of property offenders. It is suggested that this de facto policy has implications for society. A hierarchy of "dangerousness," based on violation patterns, is discussed.
An Analytical Model of the Passage of Defendants through a Court System
Authors: Slivka Ronald T. , Cannavale Frank 
Published: March 2007

A random sample of 1,067 adult arrest cases for non-summary offenses was drawn from Philadelphia Police Department files and each case was traced through the court proceedings to the point of exit from the judicial system. Careful statistical analyses of the pass age times between arrest and exit revealed that a set of differential equations could be used to model the passage of a defendant between major events in the judicial process. The fit of the data to the descrip tive equations is excellent and allows the model to be used for quan titative as well as qualitative aspects of court research, planning, and evaluation. Following an introduction to this study and a description of the characteristics of the random sample, passage states of the court system are defined and explicit model equations describing defen dant flow through the court are developed. The equation solutions are then explored as they relate to defendant passage times extracted from the random sample. Finally, potential uses of the model are discussed, some of which are currently being explored by the authors. A number of examples of interest to court research personnel as well as court administrators are cited.
Women's Liberation and the Female Delinquent
Authors: James Jennifer , Thornton William 
Published: March 2007

Presumed changes in patterns of crime by females are drawing the attention of the popular media as well as that of sociologists and criminologists. Increases in the rate of crime by women and shifts in the nature of women's criminal involvement are commonly attributed to the emergence of the women's liberation movement. Ac cording to one perspective, the influence of the women's movement on crime is direct; feminist women, or women holding favorable attitudes toward feminism, are more likely than women with more traditional attitudes to engage in criminal mis conduct. Other investigators posit an indirect association between the feminist movement and changes in female crime, arguing that the feminist movement filters down to young, black, and poor women in the form of increasing criminal op portunities, growing group support for illegal behavior, and weakening social con trols, especially by parents. Confining our interest to the delinquency of adolescent girls, we examine not only the direct effects of feminist attitudes on delinquency involvement, but also the indirect influence of the women's movement on delin quency through the intervening variables of delinquency opportunity, the avail ability of social support for delinquency, and parental social controls. Data were collected through an anonymous self-report questionnaire adminis tered to 287 eighth through twelfth grade girls attending schools in a small city in the Northwest. After analyzing the students' responses through nonparametric cor- relational techniques and regression analysis, we conclude that attitudes toward feminism have little direct effect on social delinquency but do have slight direct effects on property and aggressive delinquency. This influence is negative—a find ing that contradicts most conventional wisdom about the relationship of feminist attitudes to delinquency, Furthermore, there is some indication that girls encoun tering high degrees of delinquency opportunity and social support for delinquency who have low levels of parental social control are less likely to be aggressively delin quent when they hold favorable, rather than unfavorable, attitudes toward feminism.
Computer-Assisted Phrase Reading for Japanese Efl Learners
Authors: Watanabe Tomoe 
Published: March 2007

This paper reports the results of a study which investigated the effect of phrase reading practice for Japanese EFL students. The reading practice was conducted on computer. The two research questions guided the study: 1) Does phrase reading practice have a more positive effect on the improvement of reading comprehension of EFL university students than ordinary reading practice? 2) Is there any difference in the impact of phrase reading practice according to reading ability? As a result, both modes of reading practice significantly improved students' reading comprehension. However, no significant difference was found in the improvement of reading comprehension between phrase reading and ordinary reading groups. Nor was there significant difference in the impact of phrase reading practice by reading ability.
For a Field-Induced Research With a View To Church Action
Authors: Remy J. 
Published: March 2007

La liaison recherche-action est un stimulant à condition que le chercheur ne soit pas prisonnier de son public. Néanmoins, il doit être préoccupé de comprendre les questions qui se posent à l'homme d'action, avant d'entreprendre sa recherche. Il en va de même de sa volonté de voir son public accepter et utiliser son travail. Ceci implique, outre une mise au point pedagogique, un effort pour un transcodage des résultats de la recherche en termes d'action. Ceci implique que l'on distingue diverses étapes de collaborations, ainsi que divers rôles du sociologue qu'il con vient de ne pas confondre. Ces problèmes sont mieux perçus à partir des diverses modalités de collaborations entre disciplines, ce qui est également une condition indispensable d'une recherche au service de l'action. D'où le chercheur, dans cette perspective, doit désirer un double contrôle, l'un provenant de son milieu professionnel, l'autre de la réaction des hommes d'action. Il en va de même du stimulant découlant des relations entre disciplines, qui éclairent par convergence la mise en oeuvre de l'action.
The Religious Attitudes of University Students
Authors: Anzai Shin 
Published: March 2007

L'auteur cherche à mesurer les attitudes des étudiants universitaires face à la religion. Une liste de 36 questions fut distribuée à 600 etudiants de première année des universités de Tōkyō, Kanagawa, Chiba et Saitama. Contre toute attente, 81 % des intéressés répondirent au questionnaire. Les réponses furent analysées selon deux axes principaux : les attitudes face à la religion présentée comme signifiante en soi et celles face à la religion envisagée comme en contradiction avec le projet humain contemporain. A partir des résultats, l'auteur conclut que la majorité des étudiants ne reconnait pas de vérité objective dans la religion, mais tient celle-ci pour une expression de la faiblesse et de l'angoisse de l'homme. D'après l'auteur, leur refus personnel de la religion provient d'une vision scientiste et sceptique. Cependant de nombreuses nuances doivent être apportées à une conclusion trop absolue, comme le montrent les résultats.
Theories on Religious Communal Development
Authors: Treece James William 
Published: March 2007

Cet article esquisse une comparaison entre six théories sur le développement religieux communautaire et cinq groupes communautaires. Les théories sont : celle de Moberg sur les cinq étapes du « cycle de vie de l'Eglise » ; la proposition de Niebuhr selon laquelle la seconde génération d'une secte est moins zélée que la première ; la notion wéberienne de leader ship charismatique et aussi l'Ethique Protestante et l'Esprit du Capitalisme ; la thèse de Eric Hoffer selon laquelle un mouve ment tire sa force de la préoccupation de l'avenir ; enfin, l'idée de Martindale selon laquelle la socialisation, la maîtrise de la nature et le contrôle social sont indispensables à la survie d'un système social. Les cinq communautés étudiées pour éprouver les théories sont la fraternité de Béthanie, la « Koinonia Farm », la commu nauté St. Julian, les Hutterites et le « Mayeem Kareem ». La fraternité de Béthanie tient une place privilégiée dans l'étude à cause de son développement rapide. L'Auteur en conclut que Béthanie continuera de se développer, car elle a réussi à contrôler les trois domaines centraux jugés importants par Martindale. La théorie de Martindale apparaît ainsi la plus pertinente pour expliquer le déclin ou la persistance des communautés religieuses.