What's in a Name?: Preference for "Black" versus "African-American" among Americans of African Descent

This research note examines the preferences of Americans ofAfrican descent for the label "black" versus "African-American."Racial labels have long been associated with majority-groupattitudes toward minority-group members, and minorities themselveshave changed their preferred terminology over time. We tracethe evolution of racial labels from "Negro" to "black" to "African-American"and examine predictors of terminological preference among anational sample of Americans of African descent. Our respondentsare nearly equally divided in their preference for the label"black" versus "African-American." Significant correlates orpredictors of terminological preference include the racial compositionof the grammar school that respondents attended, respondents’degree of racial group consciousness, and age, region, and sizeof city of residence.     

Does "Yes or No" on the Telephone Mean the Same as "Check-All-That-Apply" on the Web?

Recent experimental research has shown that respondents to forced-choicequestions endorse significantly more options than respondentsto check-all questions. This research has challenged the commonassumption that these two question formats can be used interchangeablybut has been limited to comparisons within a single survey mode.In this paper we use data from a 2004 random sample survey ofuniversity students to compare the forced-choice and check-allquestion formats across web self-administered and telephoneinterviewer-administered surveys as they are commonly used insurvey practice. We find that the within-mode question formateffects revealed by previous research and reaffirmed in thecurrent study appear to persist across modes as well; the telephoneforced-choice format produces higher endorsement than the webcheck-all format. These results provide further support forthe argument that the check-all and forced-choice question formatsdo not produce comparable results and are not interchangeableformats. Additional comparisons show that the forced-choiceformat performs similarly across telephone and web modes.     

"Don't Know": Item Ambiguity or Respondent Uncertainty?

What to do with "Don't Know" responses in survey data is dependentupon a prior understanding of their causes. A proximity analysisof the "Don't Know" responses alone yields the same scale asdoes a scalogram analysis of the definite responses alone indicatingresponse uncertainty as one source of the response. The qualityof the scales is improved by eliminating ambiguous items, indicatingstimulus ambiguity as another source. The data used are responsesto items on attitude toward abortion obtained in an island-widesurvey of Taiwan.     

Actualizing the "Democratic Family"? Swedish Policy Rhetoric versus Family Practices

In this article, we examine empirically a key element of individualizationtheory—the democratic family. We do so using the "acidtest" of family policy, and family practice, in Sweden. First,we review the progress of family policy in Sweden since the1960s, which has expressly promoted an agenda of gender equalityand democracy in families, with individual autonomy for bothadults and children as one key element. We then turn to familypractice, looking particularly at negotiation and adult equality,lifelong parenting after separation, and children's autonomy.While Swedish policy makers and shapers seem to have developedthe idea of the democratic family long before the sociologistAnthony Giddens, the results in practice have been more ambivalent.While there has been change, there is more adaptation to pre-existinggender and generational norms.     

"Roots: The Next Generation"--Who Watched and with What Effect?

Questions about who watched "Roots: The Next Generation," andwith what effect, were addressed through pre- and posttest surveysof two eastern Washington cities. Evidence was obtained suggestingselectivity in the viewership of Roots II: Multivariate analysisrevealed that a general dimension of egalitarianism distinguishedRoots II viewers from nonviewers, even when various personaland demographic variables were controlled. However, tests forinteractions between level of viewing and pretest-posttest providedno evidence to suggest that Roots II had significantly affectedegalitarianism.     

巧填34

请把1——16的数字填入下列空格内，使横直或斜角线的数字的和都等于34。     

Les groupements d'employeurs : la sécurité dans la flexibilité ?

An employer pool is an association that, formed under a French act of 1901, hires wage-earners who share their time between two or even three employers who are members of the association. The objectives of these pools are: to turn contingent or part-time jobs into steady, full-time occupations covered by permanent employment contracts; and to make the employer's need for economic flexibility compatible with the individual's need for security. The results of a survey conducted in two employer pools are used to examine actual practices by inquiring into the meaning of a "shared worktime" for wage-earners and by observing the various uses that these employers make of this work force and the new social forms that thus arise. Employees' intermittent presence in the firms and the triangular features of their employment relationship lead to socially distributed sets of constraints and resources, as well as a stronger individualization of work relations.     

A Chef for 34 Years

FOREIGNERS who have been to Beijing are probably familiar with the Beijing International Hotel near the main railway station. It's the four-star hotel where I work as a chief cook. My job is to manage nine kitchens—both Chinese and Western. I have been a chef for 34 years. After graduated from school in 1964, I studied Chinese cuisine for three years. I believed that it was a job worth doing. In the past, people looked down on this occupation; they thought it was a low-class job because cooks were always serving other people. I, however, found the job very interesting. After all, I reasoned, everyone needs to eat. If we could make eating into a kind of art or a science, eating could become an act of culture. People engaged in the food industry treat the act of eating with a respect that most people cooking at home do not feel. But for those of us who work in prestigious hotels whose guests come from all over the world and have different customs and tastes, it is our job to put the Chinese cooking cultu     

益·语·箴·言

那天,几位老友,没话找话,忽然聊起在哪地儿、哪事儿变老的话题。 话题是由我说的一件事引起的。那年,我带女儿去北京,还不到50岁,只是头上有了些白发,在公共汽车上,有时还给别人让座。可是,那天上了车,一个小女孩站了起来说：“请老爷爷坐。”有人叫你爷爷,又给你让座,还不是说：你老了。     

心·灵·慧·语

1．沈从文说：“我一生从不相信权力，只相信智慧。”黄永玉说：“跟智慧越近，离权力越远。”但更多的时候，权力不仅被等同于智慧，更被等同于思想。在这么简单的常识面前，我们已经一错再错。     

马勺·笊篱·瓢

我出生在河北献县的农村中，地名南宫村，有前、后二村，我家在前村。后村之北，约一里多处，有“北宫村”。年深日久，此二地究是何时、何人之“宫”，已不可考，连传说都没有了。     

电视·电脑·车祸

自从电视进入现代家庭以后，汽车司机看完电视立即开车所发生的车祸越来越多，这已经引起有关专家和学者们的注意。