THE EFFECTS OF PRESTIGE NAMES IN QUESTION WORDING

Although survey researchers are often warned against using prestigenames in questions (e.g., identifying Contra aid as "PresidentReagan's policy"), prestige names are still commonly used. Tolearn more about the effects of using prestige names, we analyzetwo sets of experiments—on judicial confirmation electionsand on an initiative on tax indexing. The results indicate thatprestige names do more than shift responses in one direction—they eliminate the effect of education on DKs and provide moreof a political basis for the responses.     

HOLDING FAST: THE PERSISTENCE AND DOMINANCE OF GENDER STEREOTYPES

This paper investigates the persistence of gender stereotyping in the forecasting of risk attitudes. Subjects predict the gamble choice of target subjects in one of two treatments. First, based only on visual clues and then based on visual clues plus two responses by the target from a risk‐preference survey. Second in reverse order: first, based only on the two responses, then on the two responses plus visual clues. In isolation the gender stereotype and survey responses both inform predictions about others' risk attitudes. In conjunction with one another, however, the stereotype persists and dominates the survey response information. (JEL C91, D8, J16)     

Are Irrational Beliefs and Depressive Mood More Common Among Problem Gamblers than Non-Gamblers? A Survey Study of Swedish Problem Gamblers and Controls

This study tests the hypothesis that problem gamblers are more prone to have irrational beliefs and depressed mood than non-gamblers. Irrational beliefs refer to fallacious opinions about probabilities. Gamblers like to believe that chance games (i.e., roulette and lottery) can be controlled and that the outcome of such games is dependent on the patterns of previous outcomes. The empirical material consists of responses to a survey that 302 individuals have answered. Half of the respondents were deemed to be problem gamblers. The results showed that compared to the controls, the problem gamblers were more inclined to show illusion of control due to their skill and reported more depressive mood. The results are discussed in terms of difficulties to know the “hen and the egg” regarding depressive mood, and in terms of intermittent reinforcement to continue gambling.     

LITTLE WHITE LIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCE MODELS CORRELATED RESPONSE ERRORS IN A PANEL STUDY OF VOTING

One interpretation for the common survey finding that the backgroundcharacteristics of vote overreporters resemble those of actualvoters is that misreporters usually vote. This hypothesis—thatmisreporters regularly voted in earlier elections—is testedwith data from the 1972–74–76 Michigan ElectionPanel. It receives no support: the 1972 and 1974 validated turnoutof the 1976 misreporters was very low. Moreover, misreportingwas a fairly stable respondent characteristic: misreportingabout an election in one interview was correlated with misreportingabout the remaining elections in each of the other two interviews.A comparison of regressions predicting turnout using the validatedreports versus the self-reports shows that the respondent errorscan distort conclusions about the correlates of voting. Forexample, controlling for three other variables, education wasrelated to self-reported voting but not to validated voting.Here, as well as in surveys of other socially desirable or undesirableissues, respondent self-reports may bias survey data in favorof commonsense models of the world.     

Speaking of the Future: Contentious Narration During the Cuban Missile Crisis

People tell stories about not only the past, but also the future, particularly when contemplating difficult decisions. When such stories are constructed aloud, in conversation, the potential for disagreement is pervasive because no one can claim to have witnessed the future and thus no one can claim the sole right to narrate it. Consequently, storytelling procedures need to be broadened to accommodate a diversity of opinions about causes and consequences. This article argues that those procedures are based on an expanded notion of narrative relevance, and illustrates their operation in the deliberations of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council during the Cuban missile crisis. These storytelling procedures provided scaffolding for the deliberations about possible U.S. responses after the discovery of Soviet missiles; they delimited the “moving front” for skirmishes around possible scenarios and outcomes; and they were partly constitutive of the discursive grounds for Kennedy’s decisions.     

The Influence of Graphical and Symbolic Language Manipulations on Responses to Self-Administered Questions

This article reports results from 14 experimental comparisonsdesigned to test 7 hypotheses about the effects of two typesof nonverbal languages (symbols and graphics) on responses toself-administered questionnaires. The experiments were includedin a survey of 1,042 university students. Significant differenceswere observed for most comparisons, providing support for allseven hypotheses. These results support the view that respondents’answers to questions in self-administered surveys are influencedby more than words. Thus, the visual presentation of questionsmust be taken into consideration when designing such surveysand, especially, when comparing results across surveys in whichthe visual presentation of questions is varied.     

Internet Gamblers: A Latent Class Analysis of Their Behaviours and Health Experiences

In order to learn about the behaviours and health experiences of people who gamble on the Internet, we conducted an international online survey with respondents recruited via gambling and gambling-related websites. The mean (SD) age of the 4,125 respondents completing the survey was 35.5 (11.8) years, with 79.1% being male and 68.8% UK residents. Respondents provided demographic details and completed validated psychometric screening instruments for problem gambling, mood disturbances, as well as alcohol and substance misuse, and history of deliberate self harm. We applied latent class analysis to respondents’ patterns of regular online gambling activities, and identified subgroups of individuals who used the Internet to gamble in different ways (L ² = 44.27, bootstrap P = 0.07). We termed the characteristic profiles as ‘non-to-minimal gamblers’; ‘sports bettors’; ‘casino & sports gamblers’; ‘lottery players’; and ‘multi-activity gamblers’. Furthermore, these subgroups of respondents differed on other demographic and psychological dimensions, with significant inter-cluster differences in proportion of individuals scoring above threshold for problem gambling, mood disorders and substance misuse, and history of deliberate self harm (all Χ ²s > 23.4, all P-values <0.001). The ‘casino & sports’ and ‘multi-activity-gamblers’ clusters had the highest prevalence of mental disorder. Internet gamblers appear to be heterogeneous but composed of several subgroups, differing markedly on both demographic and clinical characteristics.     

Research Synthesis: The Practice of Cognitive Interviewing

Cognitive interviewing has emerged as one of the more prominentmethods for identifying and correcting problems with surveyquestions. We define cognitive interviewing as the administrationof draft survey questions while collecting additional verbalinformation about the survey responses, which is used to evaluatethe quality of the response or to help determine whether thequestion is generating the information that its author intends.But beyond this general categorization, cognitive interviewingpotentially includes a variety of activities that may be basedon different assumptions about the type of data that are beingcollected and the role of the interviewer in that process. Thissynthesis reviews the range of current cognitive interviewingpractices, focusing on three considerations: (1) what are thedominant paradigms of cognitive interviewing—what is producedunder each, and what are their apparent advantages; (2) whatkey decisions about cognitive interview study design need tobe made once the general approach is selected (e.g., who shouldbe interviewed, how many interviews should be conducted, andhow should probes be selected), and what bases exist for makingthese decisions; and (3) how cognitive interviewing data shouldbe evaluated, and what standards of evidence exist for makingquestionnaire design decisions based on study findings. In consideringthese issues, we highlight where standards for best practicesare not clearly defined, and suggest broad areas worthy of additionalmethodological research.     

VIETNAM RECONSIDERED: AN ATTITUDINAL SURVEY OF U.S. ARMY GENERAL OFFICERS

The 173 individuals who held U.S. Army general officer commandpositions in Vietnam during the period 1965–1972 weresurveyed in September 1974 about various aspects of that conflict.Their responses reflected a general dissatisfaction with Washingtonmanagement of the war. Perceptions of media coverage of thewar were very negative. A striking absence of consensus wasapparent in many areas of the survey     

The organizational shaping of collective identity: The case of lesbian and gay film festivals in New York

Using information gathered during fieldwork on New York lesbian and gay film festival organizations, this paper argues that scholarship on identity has not paid sufficient attention to the organizational mediation of collective identity. The shape of collective identity—how internal instabilities and diversities are accommodated, in this case—depends not only on the emergent characteristics of the “collective,” but also on the resolution of challenges particular to organizational fields. Two very differently conceived lesbian and gay festival organizations, sites at which decision making about collective identity is ongoing and self-conscious, are examined. The analysis traces how each responds to two related tasks: maintaining community legitimacy, which requires racial diversification, and surviving within an altered institutional environment. Rather than imposition from “above” or construction from “below,” the adaptive responses by organizations (to changes in both community expectations and the resource environment) transform the collective identity formulations reaching public visibility. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the Colloquium Series of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies, City University of New York, 1995, and at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Washington, DC, 1995.     

I would if I could: precarious employment and childbearing intentions in Italy

This paper carries out an investigation into the socio-economic determinants of childbearing decisions made by couples in Italy. The analysis accounts for the characteristics of both possible parents. Our results do not support established theoretical predictions according to which the increase in the opportunity cost of motherhood connected to higher female labour participation is responsible for the fall in fertility. On the contrary, the instability of women’s work status (i.e. having occasional, precarious, and low-paid positions) is revealed as a significant dissuasive factor in the decision to have children. Couples in which there is an unemployed woman are less likely to plan childbearing as well. Other relevant explanatory variables are women’s age, men’s work status and education, women’s citizenship, marital status and perceived economic well-being.     

Construct Validity and Error Components of Survey Measures: A Structural Modeling Approach

Measurement errors can have profound effects on statisticalrelationships, and better information on the quality of measuresseems needed. This study uses a new technology—structuralmodeling of data from special supplements to regular surveys—togenerate estimates of construct validity, method effects (amajor source of correlated error), and residual error (mainlyrandom error) for a broad set of measures obtained from fivenational surveys and an organizational survey (total respondents= 7,706). Analysis of these estimates suggested that a typicalsurvey item, when administered by a respected survey organizationto a general population sample, can be expected to yield 50–83percent valid variance, 0–7 percent method effects variance,and 14–48 percent residual variance. Multivariate analysisshowed that over two-thirds of the variation in measurementquality could be explained by 13 survey design characteristics;characteristics of respondents explained a small additionalportion. Results provide: (a) information on design conditionsassociated with better (or worse) measurement quality, (b) empiricallybased suggestions for improving measurement quality in futuresurveys, and (c) a set of coefficients for predicting the qualityof measures not studied here.     

AN EXPERIMENTAL TEST OF THE PERSISTENCE OF GENDER‐BASED STEREOTYPES

This paper experimentally investigates the role of gender‐based stereotypes in the forecasting of risk attitudes. Subjects predict the gamble choice of target subjects in one of three treatments: (1) Visual—the predictor can only observe the target; (2) Information—the predictor has individuating information about the targets' response to two statements from a risk‐preference survey; and (3) Combined—the predictor both observes the targets and has the targets' two responses to the risk‐preference survey. Our results suggest that stereotypes play a considerable role in forming predictions about others' risk attitudes and that these stereotypes persist even when individuating information is available. (JEL C91, D8, J16)     

Comparing Thistles and Roses: The Application of Governmental–Voluntary Sector Relations Theory to Scotland and England

Typologies of government–voluntary sector relations mostly categorize nation-level situations, and omit consideration of intra-national differences. They are also rarely subject to empirical testing and subsequent theoretical development. This paper reports on research to apply Kuhnle and Selle's (2002) relational typology, which characterizes the experience of “Britain,” to a study of Scottish and English voluntary organizations' relations with government. Contrary to Kuhnle and Selle, the paper demonstrates — through survey data — a divergence between Scotland and England, within the “British” context, and advances the case for further testing of such conceptual typologies. The methodological challenges in moving from a theoretical framework to a research design capable of field application, using survey methods, are illustrated and discussed. Further directions for theoretically led work are suggested.     

At the Eve of Convergence? Transformations of Social Service Provision in Denmark, Germany, and the United States

Increasing societal heterogeneity, changing demographics, and increasing public debt and fiscal constraints have recently challenged traditional “regime” approaches to welfare state development. Some scholars argue, against this background, that welfare states might plausibly move out of their “regime container” by opting in favor of similar solutions and responses. This potential trend toward “convergence” might, furthermore, be facilitated by the widespread use of new public management ideas and techniques for “reinventing government” by adopting market solutions to public problems. This article investigates whether such trends of convergence can be identified by comparing three different countries each traditionally looked upon as belonging to different welfare state regimes: Denmark, Germany, and the United States. More specifically the article looks at one important segment of welfare state activity, namely social services and related health care. To further focus the analysis, special attention is devoted to the changing role played by the third sector in delivering services. The research design, thus, differs from most comparative welfare state research. Instead of analyzing a broad set of quantitative indicators in a large number of countries, it is scrutinized how some of the same problem pressures and policy ideas are being interpreted and implemented in a small number of countries within one policy area. The analysis reveals that trends of convergence—conceptualized along four dimensions: ideas, regulation, mix of providers, and revenue mix—can be identified across the three cases, though this does not mean that the market share of nonprofit providers becomes the same. The study also reveals that fundamental aspects of state–nonprofit relations persist despite trends of convergence.     

A general equilibrium analysis of the Laffer argument

This paper examines the Laffer argument (i.e., the possibility that an increase in a tax rate may reduce tax revenues, and vice versa) in a general equilibrium model and using tax reform techniques. Our methodology allows us to examine the Laffer argument in a very general setting. Despite the high level of generality, we are able to reach some clear conclusions that happen to provide some support for the intuition that the Laffer effect requires: (1) a “ high” labour-income tax rate, and (2) a “ large” labour supply response to wage changes. However, the notions of “high” and “large” in our framework are quite different to the interpretations given them in conventional wisdom about the Laffer argument. The analysis also provides indirect support for the intuition that it is not optimal for a government to operate on the downward-sloping segment of the Laffer curve.     

Qualitative data analysis with hypertext: A case of New York City crack dealers

Ethnography has become a useful method in procuring sensitive information from the ‘hidden population’ who may not be accessed with quantitative survey techniques. Researchers are generating huge amounts of qualitative/textual data. Qualitative data require careful planning in storage, coding, retrieval, and analysis. Personal computers have solved data management problems, but data analysis remains problematic. The paper describes some qualitative data management and analytic problems faced by a team of ethnographers engaged in a longitudinal epidemiological study of cocaine and crack distribution/abuse in New York City. Ethnographic data was collected through multi-session open-ended interviews with more than one hundred cocaine/crack dealers and extensive field-notes were kept. Compared to other programs, a hypertext software — Folio Views — was more useful in solving (a) data management and (b) analytical problems. Authors used this software to handle more than twenty-five thousand pages of texts; search and sort the database by any words or codes; and retrieve relevant textual materials needed to complete comparative and thematic analysis. Authors analyzed the data from outsiders’ point of view (etic) as well as from the viewpoint of the subject populations (emic).     

The “Other” Effects of Psychotropic Medication: Social Workers’ Perspectives on the Psychosocial Effects of Medication Treatment on Adolescent Clients

This study explores social workers’ perspectives on the psychosocial effects of psychotropic drug treatment of their adolescent clients. Using a mail survey, we asked a national sample of experienced clinical social workers to answer questions about their perceptions of the effects of such treatment on the sense of self and social well-being of an adolescent client. The survey questions also explored associations between perceived psychosocial medication effects and characteristics of the client and the treatment. The findings suggested that social workers viewed medication treatment as having greater beneficial than harmful psychosocial effects on their adolescent clients, but that both effects existed simultaneously. The most important factors associated with the perceived effects of medication that emerged from social workers’ reports included the etiology of the disorder, the type of drug treatment and its effectiveness in addressing symptoms, the client’s “competence,” and the quality of the relationship between the client and the treating social worker. This study provides direction for future research on a neglected but important question. It would be helpful to broaden the scope of professional discourse on the advantages and disadvantages of psychopharmacologic treatment for youth beyond the effectiveness or safety of the treatment to include questions concerning clinicians’ perceptions of the effects of drug treatment on youths’ sense of self and social well-being.     

Beliefs about unions and what they should do: A survey of employed canadians

I use IR theory to identify five roles that have been associated with unions in North America and then report the findings from a 1995 survey of employed Canadians, asking them their beliefs about the amount of effort unions place on each of twenty-four activities associated with these roles, the amount of effort unions should place on each, and the amount of success unions have on each. Basically, Canadians want unions to continue to perform their traditional activities, and they view unions as having an important conflict role, but they also want unions to place more effort into more consensual workplace democratization and participation activities. These results are consistent with the notion of “adversary participation,” and are interpreted as suggesting a new “model” of unions, one which enables workers to have greater control over their working lives. Jack Fiorito, Joe Rose, and Corliss Olson made valuable comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Toni Ostroman was primarily responsible for the data collection.