Prevention of placement: critical factors in program success

Initial studies of home-based family counseling programs have demonstrated success in keeping children out of institutional placements: little is known, however, about the characteristics of families or children or service utilization that might predict program success. This study of families where placement was avoided and families where a child ended up in placement throws light on the issue.     

Analytic approaches to problems of a middle-sized defence department

The application of operational research to the problems of Canadian defence was very similar to that in Great Britain and the United States during World War II and through the 1950s. But because of the rapidly increasing costs of major weapon systems, since the 1960s systems analysis has been very thoroughly applied to the study of the large procurement programs, including far-reaching examination of their economic impact on the nation. Other problems of special interest to Canada which received analytical attention included peacekeeping and military involvement in activities such as maritime surveillance and search and rescue. Analytical studies have been extended into examination of logistics and manpower, and into economic, sociological, and strategic problems of concern to the Canadian defence department, including arms control. This type of research represents a considerable excursion from the original operational research, but is needed in the Canadian Department of National Defence.     

On comparing two methods for approximate conditional inference

Approximate conditional inference for a real parameter in the presence of nuisance parameters was examined from a sample-space differential viewpoint in Fraser and Reid (1988) and a conditional inference procedure was proposed. Conditional likelihood-based inference in the same setting was discussed in Cox and Reid (1987), where emphasis was placed on orthogonalizing the nuisance parameter to the parameter of interest. In this paper the sample-space partitions of the two methods are examined for the case that the minimal sufficient statistic has the same dimension as the parameter space. The methods are identical if observed and expected information gives the same orthogonality; an example indicates how they can differ more generally. A specially chosen reparameterization provides some geometrical insight to the methods and allows a comparison in terms of score functions and locally defined orthogonal parameters.     

Exploring the Association Between Dispositional Cancer Worry,Perceived Risk,and Physical Activity Among College Women

Abstract

Objective: In this study, the authors explored the association between dispositional cancer worry (DCW), risk perceptions (RP), and physical activity (PA) among college females. Participants: Four hundred fifty-one females from a midwestern university completed an online survey in September/October 2012. Methods: DCW severity, DCW frequency, RP, and PA were measured along with qualitative data about PA as cancer prevention. Results: Sixty-nine percent of participants did not meet PA recommendations. DCW severity was a significant predictor of meeting PA recommendations (odds ratio = 1.2, 95% confidence interval [1.00, 1.38]; p = .05). Qualitative data revealed a lack of knowledge about breast cancer risk and PA as cancer prevention. Conclusions: College women do not engage in enough PA nor feel at risk for developing breast cancer. A lack of knowledge exists about the cancer prevention benefit of PA. Results indicate a need for PA interventions that both educate breast cancer risk and motivate health protective behaviors.     

The television archive: A source for the sociological study of culture

In this essay the George Foster Peabody Collection and the WSB Atlanta Television News Archive are described. A discussion of the form, structure and content of the collections reveal that each are ideally suited to visual sociological investigation. In all, the textual body of visual imagery found in the Peabody collection is an important source for the study of culture. The collection offers access to fifty years of award winning audio and video recordings, spanning news, documentary, international, entertainment, public service and childrens program submissions, the WSB collection contains a rich array of materials that service to elaborate on a cultural and historic framework of the new and old south. Hard news stories along with documentaries reveal a variety of public and social rituals of historic importance, the WSB and Peabody collections can be accessed to fulfil a number of scholarly endeavors. Visual sociologists, anthropologists and communication scholars are encouraged to further explore the use of these two electronic media archives.     

Negotiating Partnerships in Research on Poverty With Community-Based Agencies

This article argues that researchers must negotiate true partnerships with poor women, maintain mutual support systems, and build mutual respect, if they are to have success in challenging poverty through research. The experience of establishing partnerships with community-based agencies is discussed and the rationale for including poor women in partnerships is considered in terms of the benefits and the challenges for researchers. Among the critical issues are problems of difference, including ethnicity, social class, and gender and relationships between researchers and participants. These issues are highlighted using two examples. A negative outcome from noncollaboration is represented by the case of an after-school program in an inner-city school. The failure to establish collaboration leads to disappointing results. A successful case is described by the cooperative efforts between researchers and poor women in a program for substance abuse. Several strategies and recommendations are offered in conclusion.     

Poverty and Material Hardship in Grandparent‐Headed Households

Using the 2001 Survey of Income and Program Participation, the current study examines poverty and material hardship among children living in 3‐generation (n = 486), skipped‐generation (n = 238), single‐parent (n = 2,076), and 2‐parent (n = 6,061) households. Multinomial and logistic regression models indicated that children living in grandparent‐headed households experience elevated risk of health insecurity (as measured by receipt of public insurance and uninsurance)—a disproportionate risk given rates of poverty within those households. Children living with single parents did not share this substantial risk. Risk of food and housing insecurity did not differ significantly from 2‐parent households once characteristics of the household and caregivers were taken into account.     

Influencing alcohol control policies and practices at community festivals

The goal of this study was to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of two interventions aimed at reducing alcohol-related risks at community festivals--a training program for festival planners and a community organizing campaign. We randomly selected four festivals for each intervention and had 24 comparison festivals. Our assessment included process evaluation to track and evaluate types of alcohol policies resulting from each of the interventions, pre and post telephone surveys of key festival planners and law enforcement agencies, and pre and post pseudo-underage and pseudo-intoxicated purchase attempts. Analyses showed that both interventions were feasible and were successful in influencing adoption of written policies and improving alcohol-related practices. However, neither intervention appeared to decrease propensity for illegal alcohol sales at these events, likely due, in part, to the short time frame of the interventions. Future research should assess effects of the interventions on alcohol-related problems and effects of enforcement interventions.