Dietetics majors' weight-reduction beliefs, behaviors, and information sources

One hundred twenty-eight female dietetics majors aspiring to be registered dietitians were surveyed to identify and assess their reasons for wanting to lose weight and the weight-loss techniques and information sources they used and would recommend to clients. Fisher's exact tests were used to analyze behavioral data, and binomial tests to determine whether proportions of students achieving their desired weight-loss outcomes were significantly greater than 50%. Most dieters wanted to lose weight to improve their appearance and increase their self-esteem. Sound weight-loss techniques that were used and recommended include increased exercise, low-fat foods and snacks, and portion control. Accurate information sources used and recommended included food labels and college nutrition courses. Unsound weight-loss techniques and potentially inaccurate information sources were also used and would be recommended by a few students. Findings suggest a need for more learning opportunities focusing on enhancement of self-esteem and weight management.     

‘How Much Do You Spend Gambling?’: Ambiguities in Questionnaire Items Assessing Expenditure

Expenditure is a dependent variable frequently used in gambling research to index involvement and intensity. However, as a previous study found, self-reported expenditure estimates are ambiguous and imprecise. This paper attempts to (a) replicate the original study, and (b) investigate if specific instructions on methods used to calculate expenditure lead to differences in reported estimates in response to the question, ‘How much money do you spend gambling?’ A total of 637 participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Group 1 with no instructions; Groups 2 and 3 with instructions on calculating net and turnover. Results revealed that when heuristics were not specified, half the sample used net expenditure and the remainder used turnover. When heuristics were clearly specified, 30% failed to comply with instructions in calculating estimates. Results undermine the validity of reported gambling expenditure data and support the need for clear instructions on methods used to calculate expenditure.     

A method to assess safety and resilience in radiopharmaceuticals production process

Radiopharmaceuticals are radiation-emitting substances used in medicine for radiotherapy and imaging diagnosis. A Research Institute, located in Rio de Janeiro, produces three radiopharmaceuticals: the sodium iodate is used in the diagnosis of thyroid dysfunctions, the meta-iodo-benzylguanidine is used in the diagnosis of cardiac diseases, and the fluordesoxyglucose is used in diagnosis in cardiology, oncology, neurology and neuropsychiatry. This paper presents a method to access safety and resilience in radiopharmaceuticals production processes. The method uses resilience indicators in order to proactively evaluate and manage the safety.     

Comparison of a simulated versus work environment lifting task on L5/S1 compression forces

Since a patient's ability to perform simulated work activities guides return-to-work decisions, a significant question to address is whether the simulated work environment accurately reflects the actual work environment. Work hardening programs have been used extensively as a method of rehabilitating workers to return to their pre-injury functioning levels. Re-training workers to lift boxes is a common method used to simulate the work environment. Although very few boxes used in the real work environment have handles, boxes with handles are often used in the simulated work environment. The difference in compression forces at the L5/S1 joint while lifting boxes with and without handles was investigated. The Lift Trak Motion Analysis system was used to estimate lumbar isometric compression forces exerted while lifting a 20-pound (9.07-kg) box. The results indicated that estimates of compression forces when lifting a box without handles were significantly different (p < 0.01) than when lifting the same box with handles. Based on these results, it is recommended that work hardening professionals carefully re-evaluate the simulated work environments currently being used for treatment.     

Questioning the Suitability of Traditional Self-Report Family Functioning Measures for Single-Parent Families with Young Children

Family functioning is a common interest of social science and health researchers. Most often, well-established self-report instruments are used to measure family functioning. Although these instruments have been used with families of diverse compositions, our experiences using one of the commonly used instruments, the McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD), suggest that it is not appropriate for single-parent families with young children. In addition to describing the difficulties we encountered with the FAD, we discuss our experiences in relation to current research findings about the processes and effectiveness of family functioning in single-parent families. As well, we examine other frequently used self-report family functioning instruments, the results of which lead us to question the suitability of any of the commonly used self-report family functioning instruments for single-parent families with young children. We conclude by arguing for the development of family functioning instruments that are appropriate for diverse family structures and compositions.     

Listening to Clients

Abstract

Qualitative research can be used to influence policy development, implementation, and evaluation. Three focus group studies dealing with implementation of a county's welfare reform programs are presented to illustrate the ways that qualitative research can be used. The paper discusses results of the studies and presents strategies for exertinginfluence. Processes used to develop and change policy are explicated.     

User needs evaluation of workplace accommodations

This study examined the multi-faceted issues surrounding workplace accommodation for workers with disabilities. A user needs survey of 510 disabled individuals examined the types of technology and accommodations needed to perform work and employment-related activities. Workers with disabilities used a variety of workplace accommodations to overcome difficulties with functional limitations. Some differences existed in the types of accommodations used by older and younger workers who had the same functional limitation. Workers of all ages were not likely to report mental limitations, and those who did were not likely to utilize workplace accommodations, with the exception of some memory strategies. For those with hearing loss, younger workers used sign language more frequently, while pre-retirement and retirement age workers used more hearing aids. Working age adults with vision impairments used electronic documents, Braille, and CCTVs more than pre-retirement or retirement age workers. Regardless of age, workers reporting functional limitations often received no workplace accommodations.     

Defining,Excusing, and Justifying Deviance: Teen Mothers' Accounts for Statutory Rape

This article examines the excuses and justifications used by teenage mothers to account for their involvement with older boyfriends. Data were gathered during a three-year participant-observation study of mothers enrolled in a high school program for adolescent parents. The teens who used justifications argued that their consent made their relationships non-deviant, and felt that they should not be construed as statutory rape offenses. The teens who used excuses perceived themselves as victims of their older boyfriends, and believed that statutory rape laws should be enforced with more regularity. As their relationships ended, the women who initially used justifications often shifted to excuses, directing the blame away from themselves and toward their boyfriends.     

Culture instead of politics: negotiating ‘Otherness’ in intercultural educational activity

Programmes based on intercultural encounters with the ‘Other’ place culture and cultural difference at their centre. ‘Cultural discourse’ has even been defined as a new epistemology and praxis that plays a key role in the process of recognition. In the light of these assumptions, this study used ethnographic field work to examine the ways culture was employed by Palestinian and Jewish students who took part in an intercultural programme in a large academic institution in Israel (2006–2010). The findings reveal two major discursive practices that were used during the meetings: individuation and collectivisation of culture. Individuation was used mostly by the Jewish group and served to emphasise the particularity of the participants. Collectivisation was used mostly by the Palestinian group and served to emphasise the particularity of the group. The different ways both practices used culture served to position majority–minority rhetoric outside national political contexts. Thus, by revealing the way power relations were discursively re-produced by the use of culture, these findings problematise the role and authority given to culture in encounters with the ‘Other’.     

Multi-method analysis of transparency in social media practices: Survey,interviews and content analysis

With the decline of public trust in corporate America, organizations must consider ways to improve their relationships with key publics. One of the best strategies to build trust is through engaging in transparent communication (Rawlins, 2009). The increase in the popularity of social media has brought both challenges and opportunities for organizational transparency. This study used multiple methods to explore whether public relations professionals believe they are using social media to communicate transparently, to investigate how social media can be used to improve transparency along with its benefits and challenges, and to identify how transparency is used in social media campaigns.     

Effects of screen filter on visibility of alphanumeric presentation on CRT and LCD monitors

In this paper, a research that deals with the problem of determining of the visibility of the alphanumeric presentation on CRT and LCD screens is presented, in conditions when the screen filters are used, and when they are not used. A methodology that can be used for determination of the visibility of alphanumeric symbols on VDT screens is presented. It is determined the existence of differences in visibility of alphanumeric presentations when screen filters are used, compared to conditions when they are not used. This difference was statistically significant, while the visibility of the presented alphanumeric symbols on CRT and LCD screens that use screen filters is lower than when they are not used. For this reason, the use of protective screen filter is recommended in circumstances where a very high level of glare exists, when the visual fatigue is common appearance and when a user performs a task that does not depend on the detection of stimuli whose RGB values are low.     

Nothing is as Practical as a Good Theory: Bowen Theory and the Workplace — a Personal Application

Bowen Family Systems Theory is most commonly used to understand and predict family process. It is also applied to other potentially intense relationship systems, especially the workplace. It has been used by workplace consultants and by individuals to understand, and to manage, their own workplace functioning. This paper will draw from several key Bowen concepts to analyse common workplace dilemmas and to suggest responses that may assist the functioning of the individual and the system. The author's own experience as a manager in a child and adolescent mental health programme will be used as the case study to illustrate the theory's application.     

The great automobile race of 1908 as a public relations phenomenon: Lessons from the past

The 1908 Great Race from New York to Paris captured the imagination of the world as intrepid competitors endured the hardships of the around the world race. The New York Times, its co-sponsor and source of the publicity, was in a unique position to practice media relations. Framing research was used to examine how the New York Times used strategic communication to build interest in the race to sell more newspapers and to allow automobile manufactures to broaden their markets. Media frames used to generate interest provide insight into strategies for influencing behavior through a controlled form of media relations.     

Ethnic appeal: A self-defense tool for Kenyan politicians

So far, analyses of apologetic rhetoric strategies as used by individuals or organizations to respond to accusations of wrongdoing have been concentrated in the West. An analysis of political apologia in an African setting – in this case Kenya – reveals that while Kenyan politicians have used denial, victimization, mortification, and counterattacking among other self-defense strategies, one particular strategy emerges as the most commonly used by Kenyan politicians – ethnic appeal.     

Applying the use of activity in the assessment of malingering: A case illustration

The assessment of malingering has predominantly been considered within the domains of neuropsychologists and psychiatrists, who use consistency of performance criteria similar to those used in functional capacity evaluations (FCE). The use of activity has traditionally been used in occupational therapy as an assessment and treatment modality with goals not always considered obvious and which could easily be used for diversional reasons. The appropriate use of activity adds an additional dimension to a layered approach of using multiple data sources and methods as recommended by FCE practitioners and neuropsychologists alike. The case illustration aims to explain the above using a layered model.     

“God Just Brought Me Through It”: Spiritual Coping Strategies for Resilience Among Intimate Partner Violence Survivors

This study highlights the spiritual coping processes for surviving and healing used by Christian women in a conservative faith community who experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). Using data from 42 in-depth qualitative interviews of survivors of IPV, the findings reveal a pattern of spiritually-based survival and resilience strategies women used while coping with and eventually escaping their traumatic lives. The analysis notes the central role of spirituality as a means women used to move from coping for survival to resilient self-efficacy and healing. These findings assist clinical social workers with identifying and accessing spiritual strengths as a springboard to wellbeing.     

A Politicization Paradigm: the Case of Yugoslavia*

This study uses data gathered in Yugoslavia to develop a predictive technique used to determine a person's combined degree of political participation and supporting political attitudes. The primary analytic variables used in the model were the following: (1) urbanness, (2) socioeconomic status, (3) atheism, (4) political consciousness–as determined by a five item index. The data are used to combine these variables into a predictive table which displays smooth linearity from high to low degree of politicization. in accord with the embryonic theory advanced.     

Farming and environmental discourses: A study of the depiction of environmental issues in a German farming newspaper

Maintaining the natural environment is increasingly seen as an essential aspect of agriculture in Europe, and conservation is promoted as an element of the farmer's role. It is therefore important to understand how farmers are reacting to this. In this study, the discourses relating to environmental issues used in a regional German farming newspaper are examined. The aim was to consider the arguments to which individual farmers are exposed when they read the newspaper and at the same time to examine the discourses used by the farming union in their promotion of farmers' interests. It was found that there were many interwoven arguments, which included traditional agricultural discourses as well as the newer environmental ones. It was clear that different aspects of agricultural and environmental issues were highlighted where they appeared to be beneficial to farmers' interests. Furthermore, it was found that in the promotion of the use of renewable resources, which was portrayed as being in the interest of farmers, the discourses used contrasted with those being used to defend farmers from accusations of environmental neglect or damage.