The relationship between the professionalization of public relations,societal social capital and democracy: Evidence from a cross-national study

What does public relations contribute to society? This research study examined how public relations professionalism is related to social capital and democracy. The relationships between public relations professionalization, social capital and democracy were studied through the public relations professionalization index (PRPI). The PRPI examined a cross-national dataset that pools information from 36 countries and the results of the regression analyses suggest that the PRPI is a reliable measure of public relations professionalization. Overall, the analyses suggest that public relations contributes to societies by building relationships that create social capital and enhance the development of democracy. The findings inform a model that begins to explain the relationship between the professionalization of public relations, social capital and democracy.     

Mothers' experiences, resources and needs: The context for reunification

This paper extends prior scholarship regarding the characteristics of mothers involved with the child welfare system. In-person interviews were conducted with a statewide sample of 747 mothers, 318 with children remaining in home and 429 with children in care, to examine their socio-demographic and psychosocial characteristics as well as service needs. Mothers were mostly impoverished, struggling to meet basic needs, and coping with early trauma, mental health problems, substance abuse and domestic violence. Almost half reported an annual income of less than $10,000 and 70% were unemployed, but few received public benefits with the exception of food stamps. Mothers with children in care experienced greater economic hardship than mothers whose children remained in home. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

Gender Differences in Self-Regulation Patterns and Attitudes Toward Driving Among Older Adults

ABSTRACT

The automobile is essential for many older adults to fulfill their daily needs, especially since many live where they lack access to public transit or other acceptable modes of transportation. Increased self-regulation is one way older drivers continue to drive safely and maintain mobility. This research considers whether self-regulation attitudes and patterns differ by gender. Results indicate that women and men report distinct patterns of self-regulation behaviors. Age, health status, and household status also interact with gender, influencing the extent of self-regulation. The results also show that women report lower levels of confidence in their driving skills than men, although the difference varies based on whether or not a woman lives alone. Implications of these results are considered for an aging population—particularly women—that over the coming decades will be more reliant on the automobile for transportation than ever before.     

Preferences for life saving programs: how the public discounts time and age

In surveys of 3,000 households, we have found that people attach less importance to saving lives in the future than to saving lives today, and less importance to saving older persons than to saving younger persons. For the median respondent, saving six people in 25 years is equivalent to saving one person today, while for a horizon of 100 years, 45 persons must be saved for every person saved today. The age of those saved also matters; however, respondents do not weight lives saved by number of life-years remaining: For the median respondent, saving one 20-year-old is equivalent to saving seven 60-year-olds.     

Comparison of exercise attitudes and behaviors of urban older adults with AARP's national sample results

This study assessed perceptions about exercise among a convenience sample of low-income, urban, older adult patients at a publicly operated ambulatory primary-care clinic, and results were then compared with the findings of a national study. Although it was expected that the predominantly minority and economically disadvantaged participants in this study would trail significantly behind their White counterparts in their perceptions and behavior regarding exercise, findings demonstrated otherwise. Specifically, when physicians encourage moderate exercise, when patients believe that they can overcome barriers to exercise, and when the environment supports moderate exercise through the availability of community exercise classes, inequities in health behaviors can be reduced. Interventions designed to increase exercise for this population should be developed with an understanding of the many barriers that they will have to overcome, a focus on building confidence, and communicating the many benefits of this behavior.     

Centralized and non-centralized ethics review: a five nation study

The research ethics review process is now an inherent part of conducting research and a topic of much discussion. On the negative side it has been presented as cumbersome, expensive, time consuming, and potentially a system that does not adequately deal with the concerns it was set up to address. One common, but often controversial, proposal to address some of these concerns has been the institutionalization of centralized systems of review. This paper uses data on the review systems in place in five countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the USA and the U.K.), some with and some without versions of centralized review, to explore issues related to centralization of the review process. It suggests that there are at least three types of systems (fully centralized, dual, and decentralized or multicommittee) in place; all are made up of two, interrelated components (the administrative and ethics review). We suggest that both components need to be considered in discussions about centralized review. Serious consideration of centralization of the administrative component may address many concerns. Centralization of the ethics review may provide a context that deals with other issues and may encourage reviews that more effectively focus on the ethical issues involved.     

A value of information framework for assessing the trade-offs associated with uncertainty,duration, and cost of chemical toxicity testing

A number of investigators have explored the use of value of information (VOI) analysis to evaluate alternative information collection procedures in diverse decision-making contexts. This paper presents an analytic framework for determining the value of toxicity information used in risk-based decision making. The framework is specifically designed to explore the trade-offs between cost, timeliness, and uncertainty reduction associated with different toxicity-testing methodologies. The use of the proposed framework is demonstrated by two illustrative applications which, although based on simplified assumptions, show the insights that can be obtained through the use of VOI analysis. Specifically, these results suggest that timeliness of information collection has a significant impact on estimates of the VOI of chemical toxicity tests, even in the presence of smaller reductions in uncertainty. The framework introduces the concept of the expected value of delayed sample information, as an extension to the usual expected value of sample information, to accommodate the reductions in value resulting from delayed decision making. Our analysis also suggests that lower cost and higher throughput testing also may be beneficial in terms of public health benefits by increasing the number of substances that can be evaluated within a given budget. When the relative value is expressed in terms of return-on-investment per testing strategy, the differences can be substantial.