Inducing Score Reliability from Previous Reports: An Examination of Life Satisfaction Studies

The sample specific nature of reliability is often overlooked in substantive research, with investigators frequently referencing reliability estimates from previous studies as the basis for presuming the score integrity for their data. The purpose of the current study was to examine this practice, known as reliability induction, across studies using a popular life satisfaction (LS) measure, the Satisfaction with Life Scale. A comprehensive literature search was conducted, yielding a final sample of 196 studies using the instrument. Fifty-two studies involving 76 samples induced reliability coefficients from other sources. These studies were coded in terms of sample characteristics and variability estimates to derive comparisons in these two areas between the induced reports and the original studies. Results suggest that none of the studies inducing reliability had sufficient justification for induction. It was also found that estimating reliability coefficients for the data in hand has increased relative to induced reports and studies omitting reliability information. Practical implications for substantive researchers are discussed and suggestions for additional research are provided.     

Eternal legitimacy of New Zealand trade unions: An update

This paper examines the current state of play in New Zealand’s industrial relations policy following the first general election under a system of proportional representation. The implications of the new Coalition Government’s policy statements are examined in light of the current outcomes under the Employment Contracts Act. It is concluded that radical reforms, and therefore radical changes, are unlikely. With the exception of the role of the Employment Court, institutional arrangements and bargaining outcomes under the Employment Contracts Act have become reasonably stable and are unlikely to be radically altered. The role of the Employment Court and to a lesser extent the Employment Tribunal is under threat and a more gradual move towards further liberalization of the labor market through changes to personal grievance procedures and bargaining process requirements cannot be ruled out. This research was funded by a grant from Public Good Science Fund administered by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST Contract: VUW F514).     

Social Movement Identity: Validating a Measure of Identification with the Environmental Movement*

Objective. We offer an empirical measure of “social movement identity” vis‐à‐vis the environmental movement. Our measure of environmental movement identity complements existing efforts to measure the ambiguous concept of “environmental identity.” Methods. We utilize data from a 2000 Gallup Poll of 1,004 adults to examine relationships between our measure of environmental movement identity and self‐reported membership in environmental organizations, assessments of the environmental movement, and self‐reported pro‐environmental behaviors. Results. The measure appears to have face validity, and our results suggest it also has construct and predictive validity since it is related to environmental organization memberships, assessments of the environmental movement, and self‐reported pro‐environmental behaviors—even when controlling for relevant sociopolitical characteristics. Conclusions. The measure is useful for analyses of the environmental movement, can be adapted for research on other movements, and can help social movement analysts respond to calls to investigate linkages between public opinion and movement dynamics.     

Race From the Inside: An Emerging Heterogeneous Race Model

Race matters, influencing life experiences. Race is not a simple concept, and it is not a single category. Racial identity theories, however, typically handle race as a simple Black-White dichotomy that overlooks within-group heterogeneity, substituting a subgroup—young, low socioeconomic status, darker skinned men—for all African Americans. The centrality of this subgroup image reifies what it means to be Black but excludes African Americans who are women, middle class, and so on. We provide an overview of the situation of African Americans, high-lighting within-group diversity in everyday experiences related to gender, socioeconomic status, and physical attributes, including skin tone. Understanding the implications of race from an insider's perspective requires that we view it as a heterogeneous category.     

Convergence or divergence? How the financial crisis affected European pensioners

The Member States of the European Union entered the financial crisis with very different pension systems. Although the use of standard adequacy measures suggest small impacts from the crisis, alternative measures based on pension wealth estimates indicate stronger effects. While the largest continental systems were left relatively unscathed by the crisis, Mediterranean systems were cut back significantly. This should lead to considerable convergence in system generosity across countries. Despite the cuts, state pensions in the stressed economies should still be generous enough to keep the majority of pensioners out of relative poverty, but this depends on a relatively quick turnaround in labour market performance in these countries.     

The effect of habitual exercise on respiratory- muscle function in older adults

Older adults' participation in habitual exercise might be affected by alterations to respiratory mechanics such as decreased respiratory-muscle strength. This reduction can cause a decrease in efficiency of the ventilatory pump, potentially compromising exercise participation. This research examined the role of habitual exercise in respiratory-muscle function and the associated implications for exercise performance. Seventy-two healthy older adults (36 men, 64.9 +/- 8.6 years, 177.2 +/- 8.4 cm, 82.5+/- 11.9 kg; 36 women, 64.9 +/- 9.5 years, 161.7+/- 6.4 cm, 61.6 +/- 9.2 kg) undertook respiratory-function and walking-performance tests. Active men and women achieved higher scores than their inactive counterparts for all tests except spirometry, where no differences were evident. The results indicate that a significant amount of the elevated fitness level might be accounted for by increased endurance capacity of the inspiratory muscles. Inactive older individuals might be at risk for inadequate respiratory-muscle strength, so interventions should be considered.     

Regression models for cyclic data

Summary. Geologists take slices through rock samples at a series of different orientations. Each slice is examined for a phenomenon which may occur in one of two states labelled clockwise and anticlockwise. The probability of an occurrence being in the clockwise state is dependent on the orientation. Motivated by these data, two models are presented that relate the probability of an event to orientation. Each model has two parameters, one identifying the orientation corresponding to the peak probability, and the other controlling the rate of change of probability with orientation. One model is a logistic model, whereas the other involves a power of the sine function. For the given data neither model consistently outperforms the other.     

Initial levels of differentiation and reduction in psychological symptoms for clients in marriage and family therapy

Using Bowen Family Systems Theory as a theoretical underpinning, in this study, we investigated the hypothesis that clients with higher levels of differentiation would improve more quickly in therapy than clients with lower levels of differentiation. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to analyze the data over nine sessions of therapy in a sample from an on-campus training clinic. The results suggest that there was variation in the initial levels of psychological symptoms and that differentiation was a significant predictor of this variance. The results also suggest that although psychological symptoms decreased over the nine sessions of therapy, there was very little variance in this change. These results are discussed in relation to Bowen Theory. The difficulties of doing this type of research and the lessons learned from this project are also discussed.