A Meta‐Analysis of Campaign Contributions' Impact on Roll Call Voting*

Objectives. Conventional wisdom about the link between campaign contributions and roll call votes is that contributions rarely matter because groups tend to give to like‐minded legislators. This meta‐analysis examines the conventional wisdom by analyzing published research on this topic. Methods. More than 30 studies are pooled to produce more than 350 individual tests of the contributions‐roll call link. Extending meta‐regression ( Stanley and Jarrell, 1989 ), a logit meta‐analysis is conducted to summarize the literature and assess the importance of various modeling choices. Results. We find that some, but not all, model specifications have an impact on whether significant results are present. Models that control for friendly giving by including a measure of legislators' ideology and that include more than one contributions variable are less likely to produce significant results. Conclusions. After considering the impact of model choice on study results, we conclude that one‐third of roll call votes exhibit the impact of campaign contributions.     

Brief admission program. An alliance of inpatient care and outpatient case management

1. Brief planned and crisis admissions to an inpatient psychiatric unit are presented as a component supportive of outpatient care and case management for chronically mentally ill patients. 2. Typical patients admitted to this inpatient short-term program are those experiencing a life stress or temporary crisis; chronically mentally ill patients who cycle and experience exacerbations of their illness; and those who need to make the transition from an acute inpatient unit to community living. 3. The Brief Admission Program treats the individual's response to and the consequences of a lifelong illness and enables the patient to return to his previous level of functioning and continue necessary outpatient treatment.     

How Fortune 500 companies used the Web for philanthropic and crisis communication following Hurricane Katrina

This study examined how Fortune 500 companies used their Web sites to provide philanthropic and crisis communication response following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Results showed that companies tended to use traditional means of communication versus new media tactics to disseminate information related to the disaster. Companies with holdings in Louisiana and Mississippi tended to use slightly more types of information than companies without a substantive presence in those two states.     

An Observational Study of Early Heterosexual Interaction at Middle School Dances

In this longitudinal, observational study of heterosexual interaction at middle school dances we examined the degree to which boys' and girls' groups became more gender integrated over time. The results show groups became more integrated over time with the pattern differing by gender. Boys had a relatively low level of contact with girls over the early months with an accelerated increase in the latter months. Girls had an increase in contact with boys over the early months but then a decrease in contact over the latter months. Further, changes in the dynamic covariate, aggression, were associated with changes in integration, and the static covariate, initial physical attractiveness, was predictive of integration trajectories. Physical attractiveness and aggression did relate to gender integration, but counter to our hypotheses, each strategy did not vary by gender, as predicted by sexual selection theory. Results are discussed in terms of different methods in assessing the roles of aggression and physical attractiveness in gender integration.     

Pathways between Parent–Child Interactions and Peer Acceptance: The Role of Children's Social Information Processing

This study examined the links among parents' interaction styles, their children's social information processing, and peer acceptance. Fourth‐grade children (N = 159) and their parents were observed during family discussions. One year later peer acceptance and children's information processing choices (goals, strategies, and attributions) in response to social dilemmas involving their parents and peers were assessed. Fathers' interaction styles with their children predicted both girls' and boys' information processing in regard to their fathers and peers, which, in turn, were related to peer acceptance. Mothers' interactive styles with their children predicted children's social information processing in regard to parents and peers and peer acceptance in similar ways, but only for girls. This study provided evidence that parent–child interaction is linked to children's information processing concerning their relationships with parents and peers and in turn with children being liked by peers. The implications of a social information processing approach for understanding family–peer links are emphasized.     

TALKING ABOUT SEX: Religion and Patterns of Parent–Child Communication about Sex and Contraception

Despite the association between religiousness and conservative sexual attitudes, links between religion and patterns of parent–child communication about sex and birth control are largely undocumented. This study examines these relationships using two nationally representative data sets of parents and adolescents. I evaluated a conceptual model of religious influence on the sexual socialization of adolescents. Results suggest that parental public religiosity curbs the frequency of conversations about sex and birth control, and after accounting for conversations about sexual morality, so does parental religious salience. Despite notable relationships with religious affiliation, age, race, and gender still shape parental communication patterns most consistently.     

A cross-national study of a method for researching non-profit organisational effectiveness

Are there criteria that define non-profit organisation effectiveness? If the criteria can be identified, is it possible to use them in a comparative study to assess whether and in what way the use of the criteria may vary between nations? This study addresses both questions. The study uses the factorial survey method and is based on the social constructionist conception that effectiveness is created as an ongoing and sometimes contested outcome of a social judgement process. We illustrate the method with samples from the US and UK and compare the results. The results establish the value of the factorial survey method. Analyses show that both US and UK respondents use percentage expenditures on fund-raising, advocacy emphasis, change in financial surplus and unit cost of services as effectiveness criteria. There is evidence that voluntarism is a more important criterion in the US and that advocacy is more important in the UK.     

Multistage Models of Carcinogenesis: An Approximation for the Size and Number Distribution of Late-Stage Clones

Multistage models have become the basic paradigm for modeling carcinogenesis. One model, the two-stage model of carcinogenesis, is now routinely used in the analysis of cancer risks from exposure to environmental chemicals. In its most general form, this model has two states, an initiated state and a neoplastic state, which allow for growth of cells via a simple linear birth-death process. In all analyses done with this model, researchers have assumed that tumor incidence is equivalent to the formation of a single neoplastic cell and the growth kinetics in the neoplastic state have been ignored. Some researchers have discussed the impact of this assumption on their analyses, but no formal methods were available for a more rigorous application of the birth-death process. In this paper, an approximation is introduced which allows for the application of growth kinetics in the neoplastic state. The adequacy of the approximation against simulated data is evaluated and methods are developed for implementing the approximation using data on the number and size of neoplastic clones.     

Pathological gambling: A review of the literature (prepared for the American Psychiatric Association task force on DSM-IV committee on disorders of impulse control not elsewhere classified)

This is a review of the literature on pathological gambling prepared for the work group on disorders of impulse control, not elsewhere classified of the American Psychiatric Association. It introduces the new DSM-IV criteria as well as outlines the phases of the career of the pathological gambler. Research discussed includes that on pathological gambling and psychiatric disorders, substance abuse, family issues, children, finances, and crime. Psychoanalytic, personality, behavioral, sociological, psychologically based addiction theories, and physiological research are also summarized. Finally, treatment outcome studies are outlined.This article is dedicated to the memory of Robert L. Custer, MD whose inspiration and encouragement stimulated much of the research discussed herein.