A call for the development of “good research practices” (GRP) guidelines

It is proposed that the scientific community develop and implement “Good Research Practices”; (GRP) guidelines in order to improve the quality of research, reduce the incidence of scientific misconduct, and save large sums of monies from being wasted.     

The Effects of Participation Rate on the Internal Reliability of Peer Nomination Measures

Although low participation rates have historically been considered problematic in peer nomination research, some researchers have recently argued that small proportions of participants can, in fact, provide adequate sociometric data. The current study used a classical measurement perspective to investigate the internal reliability (Cronbach's α) of peer nomination measures of acceptance, popularity, friendship, prosocial behavior, and overt aggression. Data from 642 participants attending 10 schools were resampled at different participation rates ranging from 5 percent to 100 percent of the original samples. Results indicated that (1) the association between participation rate and Cronbach's α was curvilinear across schools and variables; (2) collecting more data for a given variable (by using unlimited vs. limited nominations, or two vs. one items) was significantly related to higher internal reliability; and (3) certain variables (overt aggression, popularity) were more reliable than others (acceptance, friendship). Implications for future research were discussed.     

Social Competence in Preschool Children: Replication of Results and Clarification of a Hierarchical Measurement Model

This study tested assumptions and conclusions reached in an earlier confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) study of the social competence (SC) construct for preschool children. Two samples (total N = 408; a new Portuguese sample and one from US samples that had participated in the original study) contributed data. Seven SC indicators were tested for mean differences across age, sex, and sample. Significant sex differences were found for peer acceptance (favoring girls) and for initiating affectively neutral interactions (boys had higher rates), and the sex by sample interaction also was significant for initiating interactions (i.e., effect significant only in the Portuguese sample). In CFAs, the hypothesized structure of SC fits the data and was invariant across sample and age within sample in both measurement and structural tests. The model was invariant at the measurement level for sex within sample tests, but not at the structural level. The results replicate and extend understandings of SC reported in the original study.     

Adoption and Antisocial Personality: Genetic and Environmental Factors Associated with Antisocial Outcomes

The present review critically evaluates evidence from adoption studies on the heritability of antisocial personality, interactions between genetic predispositions and the characteristics of adoptive mothers and fathers, and both the methodological and diagnostic shortcomings of existing studies. The article concludes with directions and suggestions for future research and practice.     

Governance in Public-Private Community Health Partnerships: A Survey of the Community Care Network SM Demonstration Sites

This review of the governance practices of twenty-five public-private partnerships involved in addressing a broad range of community health needs shows that governance in public-private community partnerships departs significantly from traditional notions of institutional governance. Governance structures and degrees of progress toward governance goals vary widely and appear to be systematically related to the organization, composition, location, and activity of each partnership.     

THE ANIMAL TEXT:

We studied the dominant messages about animals in television commercials and the ways these messages might be subject to alternative readings. Six primary themes captured the portrayal of animals in the advertisements: animals as loved ones (e.g., a member of a family), as symbols (representation of logos or ideas), as tools (using animals for human use or consumption), as allegories, as nuisances, and animals in nature. Many of the commercials had multiple themes, indicating the varied, multilayered messages about animals in advertising and the different value and use categories that humans assign to different nonhuman animal species, upholding the ideology of the U.S. political economy. Finally, most of the animal portrayals were not anthropomorphized; those that were given human characteristics were typically part of a multithemed message that portrayed animals as allegories. Many of the animal images reinforced human gender and racial boundaries. This research establishes the importance of incorporating the study of nonhuman animals in sociological theory and research, particularly the animal image in popular culture and its connection to the portrayal of other outgroups, such as women and racial minorities.     

Employee involvement programs: Should unions get involved?

We test the mediated effects of participation in employee involvement (EI) programs on employee desires for union involvement in the future development and diffusion of EI and the perceived durability of an EI program as a possible moderator of these effects. Results indicate that participants developed more positive attitudes toward the EI program than nonparticipants and, in turn, these attitudes were related to higher desires for union involvement in EI. Additionally, volunteers developed more positive attitudes toward the EI program than nonvolunteers and, in turn, these attitudes were related to higher desires for union involvement in EI. However, the relationship between attitudes toward EI and desires for union involvement in EI was significantly less positive for participants who viewed the EI program as durable.     

Household Headship Among Married Women: The Roles of Economic Power, Education, and Convention

Household headship historically has been equated with being the main economic provider of the household, a position usually occupied by men. This paper uses a change in the United States Census definition of household headship to examine whether headship for married women is associated with being the primary breadwinner in a marriage versus other non-economic explanations. According to microdata from the 1990 United States Census, women who are the main income providers in a marriage are much more likely to be household heads than women in co-provider marriages. There also is support for an egalitarian ideology explanation; that is, when both spouses are highly educated, the wife is more likely than the husband to be household head net of her relative economic independence in that marriage. Yet the force of convention remains strong given the low prevalence of headship among married women. The new census definition was meant partly to reflect the changing economic status of women. However, the reality is that conventional gender behaviors persist in household headship.     

Employee exposure to coworker substance use and negative consequences: the moderating effects of work group membership.

The current study assesses: (1) whether the relationship between individual exposure to coworker substance use and negative consequences resulting from exposure depends on work group membership, and (2) whether group-level characteristics moderate the relationship between exposure and consequences. At the group-level, we assessed occupations involving safety risk or high mobility and social factors of drinking climate and group cohesiveness. We conducted Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) across two samples of municipal employees (ns = 650, 878; n of groups = 50, 49). Our results revealed that groups with higher proportions of jobs involving risk (e.g., machine work) and, to a lesser extent, groups with a higher level of drinking climate were those most vulnerable to consequences under conditions of exposure. Importantly, our findings controlled for individual risk factors (e.g., personal drinking, job stress). Our discussion examines the implications of this study for theory and policy related to workplace substance abuse.