Social activity, social isolation and ethnicity

This paper explores the extent to which social activity in England and Wales varies by ethnic group and whether risks of social isolation are higher for some groups than others. It aims to enhance our understanding of social deprivation as a particular dimension of poverty and its variation by ethnicity. It also provides empirical evidence that informs discussions of social capital formation which focus on informal measures of participation, and amplifies our understanding of ethnic capital within groups. Estimating the characteristics associated with four measures of social activity together, using a multivariate probit model, the analysis identifies the extent to which ethnic group is associated with low participation on any given measure. Cross-equation correlations between observables within the model can additionally indicate an underlying propensity to social isolation. The paper concludes that there are distinctive patterns of social activity across ethnic groups, that social isolation is not coterminous with material deprivation, and that greater attention should be paid to social isolation as a particular dimension of deprivation that is unevenly distributed.     

Generalizing from social media data: a formal theory approach

ABSTRACT

Researchers increasingly draw on social media data to answer big questions about social patterns and dynamics. However, as with any data source, social media data present both opportunities and significant challenges. One major critique of social media data is that the data are not generalizable outside of the platforms from which the data originate. Problems of generalizability stem from non-universal participation rates on various platforms, demographically biased samples, as well as limited access to data based on infrastructural constraints and/or user privacy practices. We suggest that instead of empirical generalizability, social media data are theoretically generalizable in the formal theory tradition. Through a case example in which we use YouTube comments to test and extend a key tenet of identity theory, we show how social media data can instantiate theoretical variables and thus generalize to theoretical propositions. Mediated through formal theory, social media data maintain the capacity to address broad social questions while upholding methodological integrity.     

Implications of nested designs in school-based mental health services research

Evaluating school-based mental health services for children and youth with emotional disturbance (ED) has been a challenge for researchers. One particular challenge is the study design of using the student as the statistical unit of analysis, which in certain cases may lead to a violation of the "independence of error" assumption. However, the alternative to this nested design, including fewer students and more schools, can be costly and administratively complex. This study examines data from two national studies including 314 students with ED and served in special education programs and their caregivers from 24 schools in the US to identify the extent to which nesting or design effects occur in this population. The results show that variables focusing on psychopathology are less affected by nesting but school-related variables such as academic functioning are more affected. Design effects varied by grade level, suggesting that grade should be considered when designing such evaluations.     

Die Sch?tzung von kausalen Effekten: überlegungen zu Methoden der Kausalanalyse anhand von Kontexteffekten in der Schule

This article discusses the problem of causal inference based on contextual peer effects in education. For this purpose, I first introduce the counterfactual approach to causality and the fundamental problem of causal inference. Subsequently, experiments and a number of statistical methods are discussed as possible approaches to estimate causal effects. In particular, conditioning on observables using common linear regression models as well as matching procedures (such as propensity score matching), fixed-effects models, the difference-in-difference approach, instrumental variables, and the regression discontinuity design are discussed. The introduction of these methods is neither focused on the mathematical background nor on the estimation procedure but rather on the general logic and the assumptions connected with a causal interpretation of the estimated effects. The paper closes with an analysis of compositional peer effects in German elementary schools to illustrate the adequate treatment of selection processes.     

A research design for generalizing from multiple case studies

Many evaluations would be more useful to decision makers if their results were both explanatory and generalizable. In view of the limitations of traditional methods in meeting both these goals at the same time, the authors describe a research design explicitly intended for generalizing about the range of applicability of “explanatory patterns” (within a designated “target” population of cases). The paper presents an overview of the main features of a “multiple case study design,” shorthand for a multiple site, structured case study design. It then discusses the nature of explanatory patterns, how case study investigators pursue and recognize valid patterns, and how an analyst can apply the same logic to cross-site analysis in order to make valid inferences about the limiting conditions under which particular explanatory patterns apply to particular populations.     

Who Shall Decide? The Relevance of Theory and Research to Decision-making by People with an Intellectual Disability

In the context of normalisation and rights recognition, capacity for decision-making by people with an intellectual disability has emerged as an important but potentially contentious issue. Although increased community integration has opened up many new options, opportunities for greater autonomy are still unnecessarily constrained. Perceptions of limited competence, the issue of who has control over choices, and organisational structures are some of the factors which influence the extent to which clients are able to make decisions. This paper argues that, in order to resolve these issues, decision-making by people with an intellectual disability should be studied within the broader context of psychological theories of decision-making and human behaviour. Theoretical findings are reviewed and areas identified in which decision-making behaviour may break down. The relevance of theoretical research to issues of competence and empowerment, and to the small body of research on decision-making and choice by people with an intellectual disability is discussed. It is concluded that future research should focus on contextual variables, including the nature of the decision to be made, which affect decision-making competence in people with an intellectual disability.     

Is Sexual Well-Being Part of Subjective Well-Being? An Empirical Analysis of Belgian (Flemish) Survey Data Using an Extended Well-Being Scale

Most conventionally used subjective well-being scales do not include any measurement of sexual well-being, despite the fact that most available research and theories indicate that sexuality is to be considered an important and integral part of human well-being. This article proposes a five-item subjective well-being scale that includes sexual well-being. A representative pilot survey in Belgium (n = 2,080) indicated that item non-response on the sexual item was limited. The new scale is strongly one-dimensional and internally coherent. A multivariate analysis demonstrated that including sexual well-being allows for a better understanding of subjective well-being, highlighting the importance of age and having a partner, and the interaction between both variables. This article concludes that the positive impact of having a partner on subjective well-being significantly increases with age. It is argued that sexual well-being should be included in subjective well-being measurements that are routinely being used in population surveys.     

Deconstructing the defense for quantification in social science: A content analysis of journal articles on the parametric strategy

This paper examines 16 methodological papers concerned with the adequacy of the parametric strategy. The parametric strategy is a core procedure in quantitative social science. It transforms ordinal variables into interval variables thereby permitting use of sophisticated statistics including regression analysis. Parametric strategy papers address general problems in the use of quantitative methods. A content analysis reveals that parametric strategy papers use strategies of “next stepping,” the creation of literary lacunae and tensions, and recontextualization to create the appearance of resolving the problems inherent in the parametric strategy. Since the problems are not actually resolved, this content analysis provides further evidence for the argument that ‘the variable’ must be abandoned as the primary object of social science.     

Grievance initiation: A literature survey and suggestions for future research

The correlates of grievance initiation are described within the context of categories of relevant factors suggested by the literature. The categories include environmental, management, union, union-management interaction, and employee factors. In the environmental category, the literature indicates that technology effects provide substantial promise for the explanation of grievances. Several important correlates of grievance activity are described in each of the other categories. Suggested methodological improvements for future research include expanded sets of control variables, multiple industry data sets, greater attention to grievance types, and the use of causal analytical techniques in longitudinal studies. Future research should provide a better understanding of the effects of several variables, including technology, methods of grievance resolution, workgroup cohesion, and fair representation requirements. It should also identify relationships that are specific to different issues. The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of Jack Fiorito, I. B. Helburn, Tim Keaveny, R. Dennis Middlemist, Robert C. Rodgers, and anonymous reviewers.     

Accuracy in communication. A contextual approach to child behavior assessment

This article analyzes the problem of accuracy of communication in clinical settings and argues that clinical language is replete with theoretical constructs that may not have shared meaning among speakers and listeners in mental health settings. It is suggested that mental health providers be trained in a contextually based data language. The value of such a data language employed in behavioral assessment is emphasized. The authors contend that events and behavior are products of the contextual environment; contextual variables are more accurately identified and agreed on; and the use of contextual variables in treatment intervention increases consequential validity. A developmental ecological approach, coupled with applied behavior analysis, are discussed and offered as a foundation on which clinical interventions should be planned and assessed. Using objective methods that yield demonstrable and meaningful outcomes can help improve children's mental health service delivery and the lives of children.     

Roadmap for a communication maturity index for organizations—Theorizing,analyzing and developing communication value

This study employed a constitutive (CCO) communication approach to advance the dynamic concept of communication maturity for the purpose of theorizing, analyzing, and developing communication value on an organizational level. A literature review resulted in six theoretical areas related to communication maturity: understanding, function, organization, prerequisites, competence and practices including assessments of communication. These were analyzed in a qualitative comparative case study including 85 key stakeholders from eleven organizations. Findings illustrated the relevance of the theoretical areas to stakeholders’ perceptions of their respective organizations’ communication maturity. A first version of a Communication Maturity Index including four levels of maturity; immature, emerging, established, and mature is proposed. Based on the qualitative analysis, organizations’ communication maturity levels varied from emerging to mature. Findings of this study are limited to participating organizations and interviewed stakeholders. The CMI can be further developed in quantitative studies to investigate the constitutive role of communication in organizations and to be used in practice to develop higher levels of communication maturity.     

Engaged or Disengaged? Examining the Relationship Between Electoral Ambivalence and Indicators of Political Engagement in the 2012 U.S. Election

This study uses uncertainty theories to examine the relationship between presidential electoral ambivalence and three political belief variables: internal efficacy, skepticism, and apathy. We propose that the relationship between ambivalence, which is an indicator of uncertainty, and information-seeking intentions should be mediated by our political belief variables. Our proposed model suggests that presidential electoral ambivalence is characteristic of a disengaged citizenry, with ambivalence correlating with lower levels of internal efficacy and skepticism in a cross-sectional analysis. We also found ambivalence associated with higher levels of apathy in this same analysis. Moreover, we found an over-time indirect effect of ambivalence on information seeking through internal efficacy.     

Experience Rating and Work-Related Health and Safety

In the area of Workers Compensation Insurance schemes, experience rating (ER) is a common incentive tool, in many countries. Premiums paid by firms are experience rated, which should encourage them to improve working conditions and reduce work-related injuries and disabilities. Using sectorial data for industry and construction sectors in 2005, this article provides empirical insights into the influence of ER on work-related health and safety in the context of the French jurisdiction. We examine the relationship between firm premium rate variations and adverse working conditions indicators, controlling for observables, assuming the hypothesis of an asymmetric firm response to premium increases and decreases. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that ER is a lever to improve working conditions and reduce work-related injury rates. Further investigation is needed to understand the influence of ER on firm behavior.     

The decline effect in evaluations of the impact of the Strengthening Families Program for Youth 10-14 (SFP 10-14) on adolescent substance use

The decline effect refers to the situation whereby an initially positive set of research findings concerning a phenomenon fail to be replicated in subsequent studies. One explanation for the occurrence of the decline effect is that the initial positive results reported in publications from a single research team are the product of the use of flexible data analysis practices and selective reporting. The present paper reviews evaluations of the Strengthening Families Program for Youth 10-14 (SFP 10-14) conducted by the research group who developed the program and five independent replication studies. The focus is on the effects reported for adolescent substance use. It is argued that the isolated statistically significant results reported in the original studies were produced through the use of flexible data analysis practices such as changing outcome variables across publications and post hoc alterations in study design. In light of this, it is unsurprising that the five independent evaluations have failed to replicate these results. A strength of three of the independent evaluations is that they were registered in a clinical trials registry and had published their study protocols. Both of these procedures limit the opportunity to conduct flexible data analysis. It is recommended that future evaluations of the SFP 10-14 should employ these procedures as well as utilizing the registered reports publication process, making their data and methods openly available to other researchers, and including a skeptic in their research team.     

Attitudes and Values of Scottish Farmers: “Yeoman” and “Entrepreneur” as Factors,Not Distinct Types1

Abstract We investigate the validity of the classification of farmers into two or more distinct types on the basis of attitudes, objectives, and values. Factor analysis of data from a survey of farm pluriactivity in Scotland (N=472) shows that attributes ascribed to “yeoman” and “entrepreneur” types emerge as separate factors rather than as a single bipolar factor. No clustering of the factor scores corresponding to distinct types is found. We also present correlations of the factor scores with attitudes to on- and off-farm pluriactivity and with observables such as age and off-farm employment. The desirability of analyzing survey data by methods which do not make assumptions about typology is discussed.     

Controllable superstition and its relationship with enduring and behavioural involvement in gambling

Superstition is a salient belief given the desire of individuals to control outcomes in daily life, particularly in the context of gambling. This study contributes to the literature by distinguishing controllable superstition from uncontrollable superstition. Furthermore, their relationships with enduring involvement and, subsequently, behavioural involvement, including gambling frequency and variety, are examined. Using partial least squares structural equation modelling, the analysis of data collected from 496 casino gamblers indicates that uncontrollable superstition has two sub-dimensions, which include impersonal outcome and personal state. Controllable superstition positively predicts gambling frequency and variety via enduring involvement, whereas uncontrollable superstition has no effect on enduring involvement. The findings indicate that superstition should not be treated as a unidimensional construct, as controllable and uncontrollable superstitions have different effects on consequential variables. Practical implications are provided for gambling regulators and casino operators.     

Hidden contradictions and conditionality: conceptualisations of inclusive education in international human rights law

The nature of education that children with disabilities should receive has been subject to much debate. This article critically assesses the ways in which the international human rights framework has conceptualised ‘inclusive education’. It argues that the right to education for children with disabilities in international law is constitutive of hidden contradictions and conditionality. This is most evident with respect to conceptualisations of ‘inclusion’ and ‘support’, and their respective emphases upon the extent of individual impairment or ‘deficit’ rather than upon the extent of institutional or structural deficit. It is vital that the new Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities pays close attention to the utilisation of these concepts lest the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities further legitimises the ‘special needs’ educational discourse to which children with disabilities have been subject.     

Modelling Community Work:

This paper argues that the most useful aspect of Rothman's development of his models for community practice back in 1968 was his specification of the variables which he used to differentiate between ''three important orientations to deliberate or purposive community change in contemporary American communities, both urban and rural, and overseas'' (Rothman, 1970, p. 21). While Rothman referred to these three orientations as Models A, B, and C, my contention has been that they would be described more accurately as approaches to practice which are adopted as the outcome of modelling activity using the variables Rothman identified. Indeed it is to the point that Rothman now refers to these as ''modes.'' Yet, ironically, this core feature of Rothman's work on modelling community practice is largely overlooked in subsequent literature on models even though it is this aspect which is an invaluable tool for practice, especially for students embarking on placement or on their first job. This paper starts from the premise that a model is a simplification of reality that is intended to order and clarify our perception of that reality while still encapsulating its essential characteristics. To have analytical value a model should specify key variables to be considered in assessing a situation in order to develop and evaluate possible action plans. Thus a model should enable prediction of likely outcomes if a particular plan of action is pursued. The paper starts, therefore, by refining the variables identified by Rothman in order to frame them as a model that can hold Rothman's Three Core Modes of Community Intervention. It is proposed that, with some refinement to take account of the insights from further theoretical and practice developments, this can also serve as a simple diagnostic tool to enable analysis by contemporary community workers. The outcome such analysis seeks is the specification of a basic orientation to practice and thus to the clarification of the strategies, roles and skills that are likely to be most useful given the particular approach chosen. The paper indicates how different theoretical perspectives, as well as approaches and strategies that have been identified since Rothman's original work, inform or fit into the proposed four-square model. In short the paper illustrates how an approach analogous to that employed by Rothman is still essential for reflexive community work.     

MULTIPLE IMPUTATION OF INCOMPLETE CATEGORICAL DATA USING LATENT CLASS ANALYSIS

We propose using latent class analysis as an alternative to log-linear analysis for the multiple imputation of incomplete categorical data. Similar to log-linear models, latent class models can be used to describe complex association structures between the variables used in the imputation model. However, unlike log-linear models, latent class models can be used to build large imputation models containing more than a few categorical variables. To obtain imputations reflecting uncertainty about the unknown model parameters, we use a nonparametric bootstrap procedure as an alternative to the more common full Bayesian approach. The proposed multiple imputation method, which is implemented in Latent GOLD software for latent class analysis, is illustrated with two examples. In a simulated data example, we compare the new method to well-established methods such as maximum likelihood estimation with incomplete data and multiple imputation using a saturated log-linear model. This example shows that the proposed method yields unbiased parameter estimates and standard errors. The second example concerns an application using a typical social sciences data set. It contains 79 variables that are all included in the imputation model. The proposed method is especially useful for such large data sets because standard methods for dealing with missing data in categorical variables break down when the number of variables is so large.