The problem of multiple causation in population analysis, with particular reference to the poplygamy-fertility hypothesis

The hypothesis that polygyny is associated with higher fertility than monogamy was evaluated. An assessment of previous studies and of the results of a 1966-1967 study comparing the fertility levels of polygynously and monogamously married women in a rural and an urban population in Nigeria lead to the conclusion that the hypothesis was useless. The hypothesis was judged to be useless because 1) fertility rates are the product of multiple influences; 2) it is too difficult to separate out these multiple influences, given the variability involved in polygynous practices and the inadequates of the data; and 3) the influence of polygyny on fertility is too slight to take into account. In the Nigerian study, the fertility of 2742 monogamously married women was compared with the fertility of 1261 polygynously married women. Preliminary analysis revealed that the fertility rate was higher for polygynously married women; however, when marriage duration was controlled, there was no significant differences between the fertility rates observed for the polygynously and monogamously married women living in rural areas nor those living in urban area.     

Contractors and their Psychological Contracts

It is commonly assumed that contractors are largely calculative, instrumental and self-interested in their relationship with organizations and interface with them accordingly (e.g. low corporate interest and emotional investment). This paper describes a survey involving 117 contractors (62 on 'permanent' agency contracts and 55 on 'temporary' agency contracts) and a comparable (age, job level/grade, years of work experience) group of 86 direct employees (on fixed-term contracts). The survey comprised measures of the psychological contract, of organizational identification, social (corporate) attraction, team spirit and intention to leave. The findings show that contractors are not inevitably 'emotionally' detached from their place of work, in some cases investing in it as much as direct company employees. While transactional (e.g. financial gain, instrumentality) exchange considerations were more salient among contractors than employees, this did not appear to preclude the development of a relational (e.g. corporate integration and long-term investment) contractual orientation. 'Team spirit' and 'organizational identification' predicted the development of relational contracts over and above contractual status. The findings and their management implications are discussed in terms of 'strategic partnership'.     

THE SOLUTION-ORIENTED GENOGRAM: A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH

Developed primarily by Bowenian intergenerational therapists, genograms have evolved into largely atheoretical tools used by many therapists. Given that constructivist-based therapies have become the most popular genre of contemporary family therapies (Sprenkle & Piercy, 1992), the author examines how genograms can be used to augment a solution-oriented approach. Specific interventions, case examples, and potential problems associated with such an approach are discussed, along with potential implications for family-of-origin work.     

Employment-based health benefits: analysis of the April 1993 Current Population Survey

The April 1993 CPS differs from the March 1993 CPS in a number of respects. The April 1993 CPS supplement surveys only workers, whereas the March CPS examines the noncash benefits received by all Americans. The April CPS asks workers about health coverage in the week in which the questions were fielded, whereas the March CPS asks about coverage in the preceding year. In April 1993, there were 112.5 million civilian American workers between the ages of 18 and 64 with jobs. Eighty-two million (73 percent) of them worked for an employer that sponsored a health insurance plan, and 65 million (58 percent of all workers) participated in their employer's health plan. About one-third of workers at firms with fewer than 10 employees had employers who offer health benefits; about one-quarter of all of the workers in these firms participated in their employer's plan. Conversely, 94 percent of workers at firms with more than 1,000 employees had an employer who sponsored health benefits, and over 77 percent of these workers participated in their employer's plan. There are 16.5 million American workers whose employers sponsored health benefits but who did not participate in these benefits. Over one-half of these workers (8.5 million) chose not to be covered. Another 36 percent of these workers (5.9 million) did not participate because they were ineligible or denied coverage. Over 66 percent of the ineligible workers did not participate because they were part-time, contract, or temporary workers. Another 26 percent had not yet completed a probationary period. Among the reasons that those who chose not to participate in their employer's coverage, the vast majority (75 percent) stated they were covered by another health care plan. Twenty-nine percent stated that they chose not to purchase coverage because it was too costly or that they did not need or want the coverage. In 1993, there were 16.7 million workers with no health insurance coverage. The vast majority of these workers (95 percent) were employed by private employers. Sixty-six percent of the workers with no health insurance coverage were self-employed or worked for firms with fewer than 100 employees.     

School-level policies and the efficiency and equity trade-off in education

This paper identifies the relationship between pupils’ Family Background, their mathematics scores, and school-level policies, using the 2012 Programme of International Student Assessment for Italy and multilevel modelling. School-level policies have played a leading role in recent school reforms in many countries, but there is no straightforward empirical evidence for how they affect pupils’ outcomes and the equality of educational outcomes. Our findings show that that only some school policies intensify the Family Background Effect – (educational equity) and affect student outcomes (educational efficiency) simultaneously. We find that competitive schools are able to screen students by selecting higher socio-economic status parents, which mainly harms equity without having much effect on efficiency. There are some policies which allow some trade-off between aforementioned objectives, mainly policies related to management schools.