Exploring types of interference between work and non-work: using a diary study approach

Studies of work and family issues have used predominately between-subject cross-sectional designs. While some researchers have called for more longitudinal studies, others have suggested that a more strategic way forward for the field is the use of daily diary studies (Frone, Russell, & Cooper, 1992). This study explores different types of interference between work and non-work domains, using a diary study methodology. This study consisted of a two-week diary study among 12 Irish employees. Analysis involved a two-step procedure involving both content analysis and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Results indicated that while individuals reported strain-based and time-based interference, evidence was also found of interference concerning persistent and intrusive thoughts. Despite some limitations to the study, this paper demonstrates that diary studies represent an opportunity for researchers to explore work and non-work experiences in a sensitive and ecologically valid way.     

A note on Rescher's ‘Semantic Foundations for the Logic of Preference’

In ‘Semantic Foundations for the Logic of Preference’ (Rescher, ed.,The Logic of Decision and Action, University Press, Pittsburgh, 1967), Nicholas Rescher claims that, on the semantics developed in that paper, a certain principle - call it ‘Q’ turns out to be ‘unacceptable’. I argue, however, that, given certain assumptions that Rescher invokes in that same paper,Q can in fact be shown to be a ‘preference-tautology’, and henceQ should be classified as ‘acceptable’ on Rescher's theory.     

Sociology’s Sacred Victims and the Politics of Knowledge: Moral Foundations Theory and Disciplinary Controversies

The field of sociology has long been subject to critique for alleged ideological bias and left-wing groupthink linked to its social justice mission. Critics contend that the construction of “sacred victims” by progressive intellectuals hinders their ability to objectively appraise the circumstances of such vulnerable groups. To address this criticism, we survey 479 sociologists in national universities and colleges in the U.S. regarding three sensitive controversies: urban poverty in the black community; gendered differences in occupational choices; and immigration. We find significant patterns in the data. Commitment to the field’s “moral mission,” preferred research paradigm, gender, and especially political orientation are all significant predictors of sociologists’ views. The results, we suggest, can be understood by conceptualizing the field of sociology as an “emotive community.” In doing so, we draw upon current social psychological research on moral foundations theory developed by Jonathan Haidt and colleagues.     

Spell incidence, spell duration and the measurement of unemployment

The proportion of the population out of work is an unsatisfactory measure of unemployment because it is indifferent to the way in which a given amount of unemployment time is distributed across the population. This paper offers a new way of measuring unemployment which takes account of both the frequency and duration of unemployment spells. The proposed unemployment index may be interpreted as the ‘welfare equivalent’ period of unemployment, and decomposes into the product of three components: a spell incidence factor, a duration factor, and the average unemployment rate.     

Good to Pet and Eat: The Keeping and Consuming of Dogs and Cats in South Korea

Over the past few decades, there has been mounting criticism, mainly from Western societies, of the practice of consuming dogs and cats in South Korea. In the current study, I researched historical, cultural, and demographic details on, and South Korean people's attitudes to, this practice. Data were collected in two ways. Firstly, relevant information on the history and current status of dog and cat use, including consumption, was sourced from the academic literature, newspaper reports, websites, and animal welfare organizations. Secondly, in 2004, the polling agency Market & Opinion Research International (MORI) was contracted to survey 1,000 adults (15 years and above) in South Korea on their attitudes to keeping cats and dogs as pets and to the consumption of these species. The consumption of dogs has a long history in South Korea while the consumption of cats is more recent. Pet ownership is a more recent phenomenon and is growing steadily. Banning the eating of dogs was not supported in the survey. Unlike cat consumption, dog consumption is strongly linked to national identity in South Korea, and it seems that calls from the West to ban the practice are viewed by South Koreans as an attack on their culture.     

Placeholders and Changemakers: Women Farmland Owners Navigating Gendered Expectations

Gendered expectations are central to the continuation of agricultural land tenure systems that concentrate land and power in the control of men. These expectations about how land should be used and by whom are communicated through cultural narratives and maintained through social interactions. Through analysis of qualitative data collected through in‐depth interviews with women farmland owners in Iowa, this article identifies a pivotal person without whom the success of these stories is in jeopardy: the “placeholder.” In this article, I identify how cultural narratives place two gendered expectations on women in the placeholder position: (1) that women landowners maintain farmland through the continuance of its use and preexisting land agreements with tenants or co‐owners, and (2) that women landowners defer their authority as landowners to men. Further, I identify the “changemaker” as an emerging character within cultural narratives—one who refuses to fit the expectations of placeholder and whose behavior may or may not be accepted by the community. Finally, I find that alternative social networks provide enabling environments for changemakers as sites of potential narrative revisions or shifts.     

Improving Risk-Based Decision Making for Terrorism Applications

How can we best allocate limited defensive resources to reduce terrorism risks? Dillon et al.'s Antiterrorism Risk-Based Decision Aid (ARDA) system provides a useful point of departure for addressing this crucial question by exhibiting a real-world system that calculates risk reduction scores for different portfolios of risk-reducing countermeasures and using them to rank-order different possible risk mitigation alternatives for Navy facilities. This comment points out some potential limitations of any scoring system that does not take into account risk externalities, interdependencies among threats, uncertainties that are correlated across targets, and attacker responses to alternative allocations of defensive resources. In at least some simple situations, allocations based on risk reduction scores and comparisons can inadvertently increase risks by providing intelligent attackers with valuable information, or they can fail to reduce risks as effectively as nonscoring, optimization-based approaches. These limitations of present scoring methods present exciting technical challenges and opportunities for risk analysts to develop improved methods for protecting facilities and infrastructure against terrorist threats.     

The systems' approach and social work methods

Many social work courses are now using ‘system theory’, or as I prefer to call it, ‘a systems' approach’, in teaching social work method on a unitary basis. Most social work techers recognise that the systems' approach is not enough on its own and that traditional methods have a place in practice. What is not clear is how these methods relate to the systems' approach.

In this article the relationship between the systems' approach and various methods and theories of intervention is explored in a number of different ways. Firstly, there is an examination of the relationship of various client, target and action systems. Secondly. Lippitt's analysis of the ‘diagnostic orientations’ of change agents is discussed and related to strategies aimed at changing the goals and the power structures of target systems. Then certain counselling and casework methods are considered in relation to Lippitt's analysis, leading on to a brief comment on methods of intervention based on systems' theory. Finally, an educational strategy for presenting this approach is discussed.     

Unwanted sexual experiences and sexual risks in gay and bisexual men: Associations among revictimization,substance use,and psychiatric symptoms

The data set of 2,182 gay/bisexual men's month‐long sexual diaries collected by the United Kingdom Socio‐sexual Investigations of Gay Men and Aids (Project SIGMA) was used to analyse the extent to which acts of anal intercourse (AI) are distributed among gay men, using the Lorenz/Gini methodology for measuring concentration. Most individuals (60%) who engage in AI do so only once or twice a month, but there is a long tail of those who do it much more. In terms of the amount of AI acts, one tenth of the individuals are performing half of the acts of AI. The Gini coefficient of concentration is high (0.55). Factors most affecting rates and concentration of risk behaviour include relationship status, HIV sero‐status and concordant/discordant partner status.