How does the DerSimonian and Laird procedure for random effects meta-analysis compare with its more efficient but harder to compute counterparts?

The procedure suggested by DerSimonian and Laird is the simplest and most commonly used method for fitting the random effects model for meta-analysis. Here it is shown that, unless all studies are of similar size, this is inefficient when estimating the between-study variance, but is remarkably efficient when estimating the treatment effect. If formal inference is restricted to statements about the treatment effect, and the sample size is large, there is little point in implementing more sophisticated methodology. However, it is further demonstrated, for a simple special case, that use of the profile likelihood results in actual coverage probabilities for 95% confidence intervals that are closer to nominal levels for smaller sample sizes. Alternative methods for making inferences for the treatment effect may therefore be preferable if the sample size is small, but the DerSimonian and Laird procedure retains its usefulness for larger samples.     

Bringing the “Moral Charge” Home: Fair Trade within the North and within the South*

Abstract Fair trade is typically understood as an alternative market system that aims to right historically inequitable terms of trade between the geopolitical North and South and foster more direct producer/consumer linkages. We suggest that a more expansive application of the term “fair trade” to encompass agro‐food initiatives within the North and South has considerable analytic and practical utility. We profile five such initiatives in the United States and two in Mexico. The U.S. undertakings are best understood as “proto‐” fair trade projects that frame their work principally as an effort to preserve “family farming” rather than as an exercise to achieve fairness in the marketplace. The Mexican initiatives more explicitly embrace the certification‐criteria‐labeling model of international fair trade. Both, we conclude, hold potential to harness fair trade's “moral charge” to improve conditions for small producers and laborers in North and South experiencing most directly the negative effects of economic globalization.     

From the new left to the new enlightenment: the methodological implications of public attention on private lives

Research on Rajneeshpuram was partially supported by the Center for the Study of Women in Society and a Summer Research Grant from University of Oregon. Research on the fate of Santa Barbara activists was partially supported by grants from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues and the Graduate Division of the University of California at Santa Barbara.     

Unionism and changing employee views toward work

Using data from the 1977 Quality of Employment Survey and the 1984 Union Image Survey, this paper examines the changing importance of satisfaction with job elements that are not traditionally the focus of union activity (e.g., advancement, autonomy, interesting work) in the decision to unionize. The results provide modest evidence of an increase in the importance of satisfaction with these job elements as a determinant of union voting intent. Unions may achieve greater organizing success by giving more attention to such themes. We thank Charles McDonald of the AFL-CIO and James L. Medoff of Harvard University for making available the Union Image Survey data.