CRACKING THE CORNFIELDS: Recruiting Illicit Stimulant Drug Users in Rural Ohio

This article describes the process of recruiting research subjects for a natural history study of illicit stimulant use in rural Ohio using respondent-driven sampling and ethnographic methods. Participant observation, qualitative interviews, and focus groups were used to establish the project and to evaluate and modify the sampling process as it unfolded. We outline the steps taken in several different rural counties, using ethnographic data to illustrate local differences and obstacles that were faced. The article concludes that respondent-driven sampling is a promising method for identifying and recruiting members of hidden populations in rural areas. However, adequate time must be allotted to establish ethnographic footholds and to reach various networks in separate communities.     

Definitions of conflict and the legitimation of resources: The case of environmental risk

This paper examines the social construction of conflict over environmental health and safety issues (i.e., environmental risk). Four explanations for such conflict are commonly offered in the environmental policy literature. We examine the interests served by each. We hypothesize that environmental policy professionals hold definitions of conflict consistent with the values and interests of the organizations for which they work and the professions of which they are members. These definitions enhance the legitimacy of the resources those groups possess in relative abundance. Data from a survey of risk professionals are generally consistent with these hypotheses. We conclude by generalizing beyond environmental conflict to identify ways in which disputes about the nature of a social problem or conflict are often at the same time struggles to determine the value of the resources available to social movements and their opponents.An earlier version of the paper was presented at the 1984 annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of George Mason University, George Washington University, or the National Research Council or any of its constituent units.     

Gender differences in the use of high-variance strategies in tournament competition

We report on a series of experiments in which participants first completed a simple game of chance and then competed in a tournament based on a multiple cue probability learning task. The results show that men made riskier choices in the simple game of chance, but women adopted the high-variance strategy more frequently in the tournament. However, after controlling for differences in forecasting skill, we find no significant differences in the rates at which men and women adopted a high-variance strategy. Although altering the difficulty of the forecasting task produces differences in the rate at which participants selected the high-variance strategy, it did not produce a significant difference in the rate at which men and women selected the strategy. Thus, this paper suggests that although women are more risk-averse than men, women are no less likely to adopt a high-variance strategy in a tournament competition.     

Strategy and Human Resource Management Integration in Fast Growth Versus Other Mid-sized Firms1

The nature and integration of strategy and human resource management practices, and the effects of such integration on firm performance were examined in two groups of mid-sized flrms: fast-growth firms and a random sample of similar sized mature firms. The results indicated that the fast-growth firms emphasized fewer human resource activities and experienced a lower degree of strategy-human resource integration than the mature firms. Some evidence was found that the relation between the level of integration and firm performance was moderated by the organization's stage of development.     

An Archi-texture of Learning Disability Services: the use of Michel Foucault

The work of Michel Foucault has been widely used in the social sciences to explore relationships of power and knowledge. This paper utilises Foucault's methods in an initial formation of discourse in the problem of care of people with learning disabilities in the twentieth century, and focuses on the problematisation of people with learning disabilities and their care needs. Little has been published regarding the contingencies of past and current practices in any form of systematic way within learning disability services. Neither has literature on disablism been utilised to support these contingencies. In order to establish a basis for the establishment of this discussion, the work and methodologies of Foucault have been utilised to develop ideas and a textual framework, and links are made with disablist literature. This paper is split into two halves; first classification and support structures, and secondly an architexture of learning disability services.     

Perfectionism,Coping, and Quality of Intimate Relationships

The present study examined the associations among perfectionism, marital coping, and marital functioning in a community sample of 76 couples. A theoretical model was tested in which maladaptive coping mediates the relationship between trait perfectionism and poorer marital functioning. As predicted, one of the interpersonal dimensions of perfectionism, socially prescribed perfectionism, was associated with maladaptive marital coping and poorer marital adjustment for both the self and the partner, even after controlling for depression and neuroticism. Finally, the use of negative coping strategies mediated the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and poorer marital functioning for both the self and the partner. Overall, this study highlights the importance of spouse‐specific forms of perfectionism in marital adjustment.     

Appropriation et régulation des innovations biotechnologiques : pour une comparaison transatlantique

This article analyzes two biotechnological innovations — the tests of tracking the genetic risks of diseases and the transgenic organisms — and explores the controversies concerning the status of these new knowledges and the ways there are applied. It shows how these innovations were received in a different way in the United States and in France. The market regulation, which is strong in the USA is problematic in France. It is marginalized by the professional regulation in the case of the genetic tests. And in the other case it is limited by the control of the state, which constitutes some resources for the mobilization of the civil society against transgenic organisms. Finally the comparison consolidates the hypothesis of the emergence of a new regime of production of the knowledge, specified by the tension between a “market” regulation and a “consumerist-civic” regulation.