Family Functioning and Socioeconomic Status in South African Families: A Test of the Social Causation Hypothesis

Optimal family relationships are central to individual well-being. The focus of this paper is on family functioning and how socioeconomic status (SES) explains family functioning. Ecological theory states that a family’s socioeconomic context is determined by macro-systemic factors, thereby influencing individuals’ perceptions of family functioning. Within this context, the social causation hypothesis asserts that social conditions influence family functioning. This paper uses the Family Attachment and Changeability Index as measure of family functioning. SES is viewed as multidimensional and individual-, household-, and subjective SES indices are developed using multiple correspondence analysis. Multivariate regression models suggest that household- and subjective SES are associated with higher levels of perceived flexibility in the family. There is no association between SES and family members’ attachment to each other. In general, the findings support the social causation hypothesis.     

用“三关爱”的新理念开创人口计生事业的崭新局面

“三关爱”不仅是对计划生育工作基本经验的总结,是一种服务思想、服务理念上的开拓、创新和升华,而且对我们丰富和发展计划生育管理理论,树立科学发展观,也是一次有意义的探索和尝试。     

Family life quality: Theory and assessment in economically stressed farm families

The purposes of this paper are to (a) describe a resource exchange theory which outlines the dimensions of life quality (Foa and Foa, 1974), (b) present a multidimensional measure of personal evaluations of family life quality based on this theory, and (c) report the results of a two-stage study in which the scale was used. The scale includes items representing love, status, services, information, goods, and money resources received from the family. Respondents evaluated the degree to which the receipt of these resources satisfied personal needs for: (a) love and affection, (b) respect and esteem, (c) comfort and assistance, (d) shared meaning, (e) personal things, and (f) money for personal use. Reliability, correlation, covariance, cluster, and factor analyses on data from 592 subjects provided information for reducing the number of items. A reduced version of the scale was administered to 331 of the same subjects one year later. The two stages provided evidence of construct validity and reliability for the scale.Research was supported by the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station: Projects 52-054, 52-055, 52-058 Paper # 18,277 and the Minnesota Extension Service.     

Exploring Multidimensional Well-Being in Switzerland: Comparing Three Synthesizing Approaches

Well-being is increasingly conceptualized and measured from a multidimensional perspective in order to provide policy makers and the general public with the necessary tools for monitoring social change. Synthetic measures of multidimensional concepts such as well-being are, therefore, needed. This paper provides a systematic comparison of three methodological approaches applicable in a top-down perspective to construct a synthetic multidimensional measure of well-being using the same theoretical framework and the same data. The three methodologies used are the confirmatory factor analysis, the Alkire and Foster counting approach and the posetic approach. The first two methodologies belong to the family of composite indicators, the most common way to synthetize multidimensional information. The third was developed in order to deal with the construction of composite indicators’ two major issues, namely weighting and aggregating. The main contribution of this paper is methodological; it aims at discussing the advantages and drawbacks of the three methodologies, and at identifying their similarities and specificities.     

Family Demography,Social Theory,and Investment in Social Capital

The analytic models used by family demographers would be strengthened by the concept of social capital, placed in the context of social exchange theory. Using that concept to designate resources that emerge from social ties, the authors advance five propositions: 1) social capital is a multidimensional attribute of an individual; 2) the dimensions of social capital are the number of relationships a person has, their quality (strength), and the resources available through those relationships; 3) group membership and interaction facilitate the development of social capital; 4) the structural properties of groups influence the development of social capital; and 5) the acquisition and maintenance of social capital is a major motivator of human behavior. The formation of sexual partnerships, the birth and rearing of children, and both intragenerational and intergenerational transfers constitute major forms of investment in social capital in virtually all societies.     

Two years later: assimilation process of children of immigrants in Italy

Using two-wave panel data drawn from the Itagen2 Survey, we analyse the assimilation process of a sample of 11–13-year-old children of immigrants enrolled in Italian junior high schools, comparing them to children whose parents are both Italian. In seeking to adapt the traditional segmented assimilation theory to the Italian context, and using a dynamic and multidimensional approach, we consider four aspects: linguistic preferences, scholastic performance, friendship with peers, and sense of belonging in Italy. We synthesize a crude index of assimilation level, analyse its changes in a 2-year period and define its main determinants. The results demonstrate that generation status (place of birth of the children and of their parents, and length of stay) and the family’s socio-economic condition are closely related to assimilation level. These findings provide information useful for a better understanding of these children and their way of life.     

计划生育政策调整对我国人口数量、结构及其影响的研究--以深圳市为例

针对二胎政策问题,本文收集全国人口普查数据,建立实时动态人口预测模型,通过差分方程的建模和分析,有效预测人口年龄变化趋势,验证了人口新政策的提出是时代发展的趋势。本文运用灰色系统理论分析法,通过关联分析和构建模型分析人口的性别比数据,从而进行人口相关的预测和决策。根据威布尔分布理论预测我国未来几十年的生育率,并进一步预测青年、少年、老年人口比重的变化趋势。最后以深圳市为例,通过“单独二胎”以及延迟退休年龄、城镇化发展等方案的实施,讨论调整计划生育政策后,未来深圳市人口规模、人口结构以及劳动力市场就业和养老方面的变化。     

对中国人口转变的再思考

论文作者通过对数十年来中国人口婚育行为模式、家庭结构与类型、死因构成模式转变的简要描述,指出仅在传统和最基本的人口动态、即人口出生、死亡和增长的角度来理解和认识人口转变、包括中国的人口转变,已远远不够,难以适应时代和人口发展的要求。提出人口转变是一个多维的动态历史过程,是一系列特定人口转变的集合。其中人口出生率、死亡率和自然增长率的变动仅仅是人口转变的表象和外壳,其内核则是通过制度、文化和技术等承载的人口行为及其动力机制,由此引致的变化才代表了人口的内在转变,强调关注人口的内在转变是理解中国特色人口转变道路的重要视角和基础。在对人口转变内涵探索的前提下,借助于对国内人口学界近些年有代表性的人口转变理论研究成果的介绍和分析,作者初步探讨了人口转变理论研究的拓展和创新问题。     

Polymorphous Prejudice: Liberating the Measurement of Heterosexuals' Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men

A multidimensional measure of sexual prejudice was developed to assess the increasing complexity of heterosexuals' attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed a valid and reliable 7-factor measure that assessed: 1) traditional heterosexism; 2) tendency to deny anti-gay discrimination continues; 3) aversion toward gay men; 4) aversion to lesbians; 5) judgments regarding the value of the gay and lesbian movement; 6) resistance to heteronormative expectations; and 7) endorsement of positive beliefs about gay people. A modern heterosexism theory was supported and queer/liberationist notions of anti-heteronormativity and positive beliefs were found to be related to pro-homosexual attitudes.     

Construct Validation and Application of a Common Measure of Social Cohesion in 33 European Countries

The aim of the paper is to assess the construct validation of a multidimensional measure of social cohesion which is well theoretically grounded and has an equivalent/comparable interpretation across all European countries. Up-to-now published research on social cohesion is deficient in either one or both of these important aspects. This paper attempts to cover this gap. The task is accomplished in two steps. In the first step, we conceptualize social cohesion, flowing mainly from Bernard and Chan’s definitions of social cohesion. Based on this theoretical framework we operationalize social cohesion and derive a set of intermediate indicators in the data. By return we verify whether these indicators empirically reflect/corroborate the multidimensional structure of the concept proposed by the theory. In the second step, we examine whether the obtained intermediate indicators of social cohesion form the same constructs across countries and whether they can yield a cross country equivalent measure of social cohesion. To test the validity of the theory we use multidimensional scaling and confirmatory factor analysis. Both models are able to verify the equivalence of the structural results between groups (i.e. countries). Confirmatory factor analysis produces further meaningful measures of these constructs. The analyses are based on the data from the 1999 European Values Study (EVS). The outcomes of the analyses reveal that, firstly, the existence of the multifaceted construct of social cohesion suggested by the theory has been corroborated by empirical analysis of the EVS data (i.e. social cohesion consists of components of formal and substantial relationships and political and socio-cultural domains). Secondly, the proposed constructs measuring social cohesion are equivalent across all analysed countries and thus allow the calculation of internationally comparable national scores of social cohesion. Application of the aggregate measures at the country level will illustrate the interest of the approach for further research.     

城市老年人选择养老院养老的影响因素研究--基于扎根理论的分析

随着社会组织形态和家庭结构的改变,养老院养老模式成为解决现代社会养老问题的必然选择。在对烟台市的42名老人进行深度访谈的基础上,运用扎根理论的开放式登录、关联式登录和核心式登录的三级编码技术,构建城市老年人选择养老院养老的影响因素模型。研究结果表明,影响城市老年人选择养老院养老的因素主要包括老人、子女和养老院因素三个方面,并据此给出了提升城市老年人选择养老院养老的对策建议。     

A consistency algorithm based on information theory

"This paper provides a geometric-mean solution to the consistency problem of multidimensional demographic projection models, based on the constrained minimization of an entropy function. A comparison with the existing harmonic-mean solution yields many similarities and almost no differences....However, one major advantage of the geometric mean is that its corresponding distance function is firmly based on (information) theory." (SUMMARY IN FRE)     

小区域家庭户预测的理论、方法与应用

小区域人口和家庭户预测越来越受到学界和社会各界的重视 ,但该领域的研究受方法论和数据可得性等的限制 ,还存在许多没有解决的问题。而且发展中国家的综合家庭户和人口预测更是少见。本文应用近年来有关家庭人口学、区域人口学、小区域人口估计的理论和方法的最新成果 ,采用多维动态宏观家庭户预测模型ProFamy,对中国两个区域泰和县和深圳特区的人口和家庭户进行了同时、一致的预测。通过实际应用 ,提出了小区域家庭户预测的理论、方法和应用的一些思考     

Demography and gender regimes: The case of Italians and ethnic traditions

In proposing measures that might improve adverse projected population futures, many demographers have endorsed feminist demands for family-friendly social policies and gender equity in the home. This paper provides a constructive critique of some versions of this argument. Without presenting new empirical data, it makes a case for the use of alternative conceptual tools in study design. It does so by focusing on three underpinnings of claims that fertility is lowest in countries with the greatest disparity between public and private patriarchy. Using Italy and Italians as an example, the paper discusses empirical measurements of the domestic division of labour, depictions of Italian family traditions and theorizations of family dynamics more generally, and wider understandings of modernity and tradition, both on the canvas of grand theory and within ethnographies of Italian families. The paper concludes with examples of studies that use the suggested conceptual framework.     

老年安全:一个需要重视的问题

老年安全是老龄社会中的一个重要问题。老年安全是对老年经济、医疗、思想、权益等保障的整体性表述 ,也是对老年群体社会价值与功能的深层次研究。老年安全理论阐释了老年安全与社会发展之间的关系 ,具体体现为老年安全对社会稳定、老年产业、老年人生活质量等方面的影响。实现老年安全的重要步骤是完善多维的养老助老保障系统和促进老年群体的再社会化。     

The Multidimensional Gender Inequalities Index (MGII): A Descriptive Analysis of Gender Inequalities Using MCA

This paper constructs a weighted measure of the multidimensional concept of gender inequality: the Multidimensional Gender Inequality Index (MGII). Multiple Correspondence Analysis is used to rank the separate forms in which gender inequality appears in developed and developing countries respectively. Eight dimensions were identified as relevant for economic purposes: identity, physical integrity, intra-family laws, political activity, education, health, access to economic resources, and economic activity. In the 109 developing countries considered, gender inequality in the identity and family dimensions are particularly severe for women: these dimensions hence have greater weight in the MGII. However, in OECD countries gender inequality occurs mainly in the political and family dimensions. Nevertheless, the family sphere remains particularly important for gender inequality, whatever the level of development. The MGII is a non-linear weighted composite indicator of gender inequality which yields a country ranking. The South-Asian region is calculated to be the most unequal.     

Addictive Substances,Users’ Health,and the Government’s Perceived Responsibility: French People’s Perspective

This paper uses a semiparametric latent variable transformation model for multiple outcomes to examine the effect of education and maternal education on female multidimensional well-being and proposes a procedure to build a well-being index that is less susceptible to functional form misspecification. We model multidimensional well-being as an unobserved common factor underlying the observed well-being outcomes. The semiparametric methodology allows us to alleviate misspecification bias by combining multiple indicators into a latent construct in an unspecified, data-driven way. Using data from female participants of the 1974–2010 waves of the US General Social Survey, we find that education, intelligence, and maternal education contribute positively to multidimensional well-being. However, the effects of education and maternal education on female multidimensional well-being declined steadily between the mid-1970s and the 1990s, and have not rebounded since.     

Construction, Validation and Application of the Measurement of Social Cohesion in 47 European Countries and Regions

This paper aims to present a theoretically based, multidimensional and comparable measurement of social cohesion, applicable in 47 European countries/regions using the most recent micro-level data of the European Value Study (EVS) from 2008 that build upon the previous research conducted on the EVS data from 1999 covering 33 countries. The analysis is conducted in five steps. In the first part, we create a set of measurable intermediate indicators that correspond to the social cohesion dimensions suggested by the theory. In the second part, we verify whether these indicators empirically corroborate the multidimensional structure of the concept proposed by the theory. The third part examines whether the obtained intermediate indicators of social cohesion form the same constructs across countries and whether they can yield a cross-country equivalent measure of social cohesion. In the fourth step, composite scores of all dimensions of social cohesion are calculated for all analysed countries/regions. The last step shows a practical application of the obtained indices and compares levels of social cohesion in six broader geographical regions of Europe to demonstrate the applicability of the measurement in comparative research.     

Explanations of the fertility crisis in modern societies: A search for commonalities

Near‐global fertility decline began in the 1960s, and from the 1980s an increasing number of European countries and some Asian ones achieved very low fertility (total fertility below 1.5) with little likelihood of completed cohort fertility reaching replacement level. Earlier theory aiming at explaining this phenomenon stressed the incompatibility between post‐industrial society and behaviour necessary for population replacement. Recent theory has been more specific, often concentrating on the current Italian or Spanish situations or on the contrast between them and the situation in either Scandinavia or the English‐speaking countries, or both. Such an approach ignores important evidence, especially that from German‐speaking populations. The models available concentrate on welfare systems and family expenses, omitting circumstances that may be unique to individual countries or longer‐term factors that may be common to all.