The cooperative “family”

Health staus is of primary importance in determining the lifestyle of older persons, in contrast to other periods of life, in which socio-economic status is of major significance. Research is presented on an alternative living arrangement in Florida for the slightly dependent elderly, in which older persons share living facilities and other aspects of a common lifestyle. This comprises one set of realistic alternatives which can be workable, economical, energy-conserving, and fulfilling in terms of the quality of life.     

Theoretical progress in consumer psychology: The contribution of a behavioural analysis of choice

The dominant paradigm for consumer research in the context of marketing is cognitive information processing. Its fundamental assumption is that observable behaviour is preceded by intrapersonal mental events which also serve to explain that behaviour. Radical behaviourism has been misinterpreted and misrepresented by consumer researchers who have adopted a cognitively-based mode of explanation to the exclusion of all others. This article asks how scientific progress is possible in consumer psychology, given the preeminence of this explanatory mode. It argues that prevailing explanations should be subjected to a rigorous critique based upon contrasting assumptions about the causes of behaviour found in alternative perspectives. Attention is drawn to the contribution which radical behaviourism can make and its role is illustrated by reference to the explanation of consumer innovativeness.     

Detecting the interaction of quantity and quality: A study of Fisher's analysis

In Sections 49 and 50 of the Design of Experiments, Fisher discusses an experiment designed to compare the effects of several types of manure on yield. Each type of manure is applied at three dosage levels: zero, single, and double doses. Fisher points out that the usual contrasts constructed for a factorial experiment are unsatisfactory in this setting. In particular, since the response curves necessarily meet at the zero dose, the usual notion of interaction as a lack of parallelism cannot apply. Fisher then gives an appropriate definition for interaction in this setting. This paper is concerned with a class of orthogonal polynomials that can be used as an aid in the detection of this modified definition of interaction.     

Commissioned analysis of surgical performance using routine data: lessons from the Bristol inquiry

The public inquiry into paediatric cardiac surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary commissioned the authors to design and conduct analyses of routine data sources to compare surgical outcomes between centres. Such analyses are necessarily complex in this context but were further hampered by the inherent inconsistencies and mediocre quality of the various sources of data. Three levels of analysis of increasing sophistication were carried out. The reasonable consistency of the results arising from different sources of data, together with a number of sensitivity analyses, led us to conclude that there had been excess mortality in Bristol in open heart operations on children under 1 year of age. We consider criticisms of our analysis and discuss the role of statisticians in this inquiry and their contribution to the final report of the inquiry. The potential statistical role in future programmes for monitoring clinical performance is highlighted.     

Consensual partnering in the more developed countries

An especially spectacular demographic trend in the more developed countries since the mid-1960s has been the increasing frequency with which couples have cohabited without being formally married. This paper summarizes evidence that exists for the emergence of this phenomenon in different countries, and reviews the substantial literature it has generated. The latter part of the paper is organized under the following headings: ‘The international nature of the phenomenon’; ‘Reasons for the rise in consensual partnering’; ‘Who cohabits?’; ‘‘The nature of consensual unions’; ‘Union conversion to marriage and dissolution’; ‘The rise of consensual partnering and the retreat from marriage’; ‘The impact of premarital cohabitation on marital stability’; ‘Childbearing in consensual unions’; and ‘Consensual partnering following marital breakdown’. The view is expressed that research to date often has avoided confronting the diversity of meanings consensual unions have for those who live in them.     

Media and agenda setting: effects on the public, interest group leaders, policy makers, and policy

Using an experimental design built around a single media event, the authors explored the impact of the media upon the general public, policy makers, interest group leaders, and public policy. The results suggested that the media influenced views about issue importance among the general public and government policy makers. The study suggests, however, that it was not this change in public opinion which led to subsequent policy changes. Instead, policy change resulted from collaboration between journalists and government staff members.