Timber,Minerals, and Social Change: An Exploratory Test of Two Resource-Dependent Communities1

Abstract There are few empirical tests of the relationship between local resource production and community social systems. This paper reports the results of research on two communities in northern Idaho: one timber-dependent, the other mining-dependent. Data were collected for 13 indicators of resource production and 15 indicators of social change for periods up to 65 years. Regression analysis was used to test if community social change is associated with the production level of local resource systems. The final models support the hypothesis in both communities. The form, lag condition, and strength of the relationship is complex and may vary with the dependent indicator. The original causal image—the rural community with a social order that directly responds to changes in local resource production—is blurred. Suggestions are made for future research.     

Sociology out to lunch: Grad students’ treat

This collective effort (the order of authors is purely alphabetical) explores our particular sociological perspective, explains the harriers we are encountering in developing that perspective, and describes the strategies we are employing to create a participatory educational environment. Our paper concludes that our alienation has decreased as our participation has increased. Now, three months after the paper went to the printer, developments in our department have to some extent reversed the sense of community and participation we discuss below. Our task is larger than we first thought, though we still hope to succeed. The “Minnesota Collective” consists of the following students at the University of Minnesota: Gayle Gordon Bouzard, a fourth-year student who currently is conducting research on the professional socialization of women in academe; Kristin Jonasdottir, a third-year student who currently is conducting historical research on the National Organization for Women; Michael E. O’Neal, a fifth-year student who is planning a dissertation on welfare state systems in the U.S. and Europe; and Randy Stoecker, a fourth-year student who is writing a dissertation on the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood movement in Minneapolis.     

The Organizational Role of Clinical Practice Models in Interdisciplinary Collaborative Practice

This paper presents a method for using different practice models as the basis for organizing interdisciplinary clinical teams. The different dimensions of multidimensional practice models are used for selecting the various professionals involved in these teams. The Neuman Systems Model (Neuman & Young, 1972; Neuman, 1995) is used to illustrate how this process works by structuring interdisciplinary teams along its five overarching and interrelated dimensions of human experience—psychological, physiological, sociocultural, spiritual and developmental. By extrapolating these five areas to their respective disciplines, a protocol is developed for selecting the necessary professionals while establishing the parameters of each professional's involvement. By specifically addressing the relevant clinical dimensions of a particular model, interdisciplinary teams can formulate a more theoretical, holistic, and comprehensive assessment and treatment plan. This approach also allows multiple client problems to be addressed simultaneously in a more systemic and efficient manner than could be accomplished by any one profession alone. A case study demonstrating the approach is included.     

Visions of development: faith-based initiatives

As someone who fears all religions, reviewing a book on faith-baseddevelopment is a particular challenge for me. I am among thosewhom the editor of this book charges with seeing religion ‘aspart of the problem rather than as part of the solution.’(p. 167). So I ventured into this book with trepidation. My more basic fears were laid to rest, however. Among the storiestold from across the developing world, and from religions suchas Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Mayan, the Bahá'ífaith, and various versions of animism, is a great deal of honesty.The stories     

High Performance Work Practices and Firm Performance: A Longitudinal Case Study

Accumulating research suggests that the adoption of high performance work practices (HPWPs) is related to organizations' performance. The evidence base is limited by its reliance on retrospective survey reports. This study uses an intervention, including longitudinal interview and survey reports, of the implementation and outcomes of the introduction of HPWPs alongside time series data of objective performance metrics recorded before and after the intervention. The results showed that the implementation of HPWPs was associated with subsequent and sustained increases in productivity and safety performance. The study suggests that a specifically designed intervention involving HPWPs can have beneficial effects both on productivity and safety, but other intermediary variables associated with the implementation process may be critical in mitigating potentially detrimental worker welfare effects arising from work intensification.     

Variance estimation for the finite population distribution function with complete auxiliary information

The authors develop jackknife and analytical variance estimators for the estimator of Chambers & Dunstan (1986) and Rao, Kovar & Mantel (1990) of the finite population distribution function, using complete auxiliary information. They also describe the associated model and show the design consistency of the variance estimators, whose small‐sample performance is examined through a limited simulation study. They highlight the operational advantages of the jackknife in the model‐based setting of Chambers & Dunstan (1986) and its better conditional performance in the design‐based setting of Rao, Kovar & Mantel (1990).     

Pride in task completion and organizational citizenship behaviour: Evidence from the ethnographic literature

Pride in task completion has been observed to be consistently important to workers, although these self-conscious emotions have received little attention as a construct worthy of investigation in the workplace. Organizational ethnographies provide a unique opportunity for an in-depth look at pride and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB), An analysis of the existing set of published book-length workplace ethnographies (n = 108) reveals that both job satisfaction and pride in task completion are significantly associated with OCB. Associations between pride and OCB appear to be stronger than associations between job satisfaction and OCB. Workers' characteristic mood states, such as the pleasurable emotions created by pride in work and unpleasant feelings of shame from perceptions of chronic failure, appear to be highly relevant to the promotion of desirable outcomes for organizations. The results of this study illustrate the value of ethnographic data in the study of workplace emotions, cognitions, and their potential behavioural sequelae     

Cost-cautious designs for confirmatory bioassay

Confirmatory bioassay experiments take place in late stages of the drug discovery process when a small number of compounds have to be compared with respect to their properties. As the cost of the observations may differ considerably, the design problem is well specified by the cost of compound used rather than by the number of observations. We show that cost-efficient designs can be constructed using useful properties of the minimum support designs. These designs are particularly suited for studies where the parameters of the model to be estimated are known with high accuracy prior to the experiment, although they prove to be robust against typical inaccuracies of these values. When the parameters of the model can only be specified with ranges of values or by a probability distribution, we use a Bayesian criterion of optimality to construct the required designs. Typically, the number of their support points depends on the prior knowledge for the model parameters. In all cases we recommend identifying a set of designs with good statistical properties but different potential costs to choose from.     

Demography or respect?: work group demography versus organizational dynamics as determinants of meaning and satisfaction at work*

This article tests two competing models of meaning and satisfaction at work. First, meaning and satisfaction at work can be influenced by the demographic composition of work groups, especially their racial and gender compositions. Second, meaning and satisfaction can be influenced by management behaviour, especially by leadership in maintaining a productive environment and by respect for workers' rights. We evaluate these determinants, along with more traditional determinants that focus on socio-technical characteristics, using a unique data set derived from content analysing the reports provided by book-length organizational ethnographies (N = 108). Work group composition is found to have only a minor and selective influence on meaning at work. In contrast, management leadership and respect for workers' rights are found to have much stronger and more widespread effects. The well established role of socio-technical factors such as job autonomy as foundations for meaning and satisfaction in work is also replicated in the analysis. When contrasted with both work group demography and traditional job and organizational characteristics, a well run organization is found to be the single most important underpinning for a meaningful and satisfying work life. In the concluding section we develop the implication of these findings for organizational analysis.