THE EVOLUTION OF A FREE BANKING SYSTEM

The institutional features of models of unregulated monetary systems have often been arbitrarily and implausibly assumed. This paper instead provides realistic grounding for important features by constructing a logical evolutionary account of free banking. Sophisticated and orderly arrangements are shown to emerge from competition and the pursuit of less costly methods of payment. The emergence of standardized commodity money is followed by the development, in turn, of basic money-transfer banking, easily transferable bank liubilities, and clearinghouses. The features of an evolved free banking system differ from those assumed in recent models of competitive payments systems.     

The Role of Plurality and Context in Social Values

The study of social values has its origins in the study of both cross cultural and within cultural differences in latent or manifest definitions of the right social order to achieve the good life. To this extent, the social scientific literature is replete with references to them. Yet, researchers either use the term values Social values are often used interchangeably with that of attitudes or treated as a post‐hoc explanatory concept. When values are the focal research point, such endeavours predominantly depart from universal and reductionist understandings of their functions, meanings and structures. Through tracing the roots of key theoretical and empirical investigations in values, originating in the work of Charles Morris, Gordon Allport, Florence Kluckhohn and Fred Strodtbeck, Milton Rokeach and Shalom Schwartz, we reveal the common as well as the different tenets underpinning their work. It will be shown that these accounts have lost sight of the importance of plurality and context. We claim that a renewed program of research in values is needed, which should be characterised by methodological pluralism in order to investigate a) value plurality, b) value specificity and c) values as properties and as processes.     

Social Work for Social Fitness

Summary Social work has lost the perspective of social relationshipsas ends in themselves, and has become predominantly an impersonal,individualistic technology. Several interpersonal dimensionsare outlined to help fill this social value vacuum, and it issuggested that these can be held together by the concept ofsocial fitness. This is defined as the mutual development ofthe individual and his total network to a fullness of identitywhich is an end in itself and does not depend on the achievementof any other objectives. The kind of power produced by thisfitness is distinguished from power of the impersonal kind,and its meaning for social workers is discussed in relationto material need. Finally, the future development of socialwork is considered briefly in terms of promoting social fitnessthrough work with various kinds of social networks.     

The Influence of Socio-Economic Variables on Family Size in Wentworth County, Ontario, 1871: A Statistical Analysis of Historical Micro-Data

Les techniques de l'analyse régressive transversale sont appliquées aux microdonnées du recensement historique du Canada. On a soutiré systématiquement des documents microfilmés un échantillon de 1100 families "normales" résidant dans le comté de Wentworth, de la province d'Ontario, en 1871. On a tenté de determiner l'influence de l'âge, du lieu de naissance, de la religion, de l'origine ethnique, de l'occupation, de la résidence dans un milieu rural ou urbain, et de toutes les autres variables disponibles sur la grandeur de la famille. On utilisa dans l'analyse regressive sur une vaste échelle des variables d'emprunt ("dummy variables"). Les variables démographiques et celles associées au milieu de résidence s'avérèrent très significatives. On découvrit, cependant, que les influences socio-économiques, en autant qu'elles sont reflétées par la profession, la religion, le lieu de naissance, et l'origine ethnique, exercent une faible influence sur la composition de la famille.
Techniques of cross-section regression analysis are applied to historical census of Canada micro-data. A sample of 1100 "normal" families in Wentworth County, Ontario, was drawn systematically from microfilm records of the 1871 census. An attempt was made to determine the influence on family size of age, birthplace, religion, ethnic origin, occupation, urban and rural residence, and other variables for which the census provided information. Extensive use was made of dummy variables in the regression analysis. "Demographic" and urban-rural factors were found to be highly significant. However, socio-economic influences, as represented by occupation, religion, birthplace, and ethnic origin, were found generally to be weak.     

INTENSIFIERS IN BEHAVIORAL FREQUENCY QUESTIONS

Intensifiers, words such as "very" and "extremely", are usedto magnify the meaning of the phrases to which they are applied.In a series of studies we investigate how intensifiers in questionstems affect response patterns in social surveys. Our researchindicates that even apparently important differences in questionwording may in some situations have little or no impact; addingan intensifier to a root did not create a response shift forseveral intensifier/root combinations in large-scale surveys.Using both field and laboratory techniques we explore the situationsin which shifts do occur and go some lengths toward describingwhy this happens. Response shifts were observed for two situations.First, when "extreme" was applied to "physical pain" there wasa substantial and significant response shift. Second, when respondentswere asked a question without an intensifier and then had thequestion repeated immediately afterward with an intensifier,a response shift was produced. In addition to the practicalsignificance for survey methodologists, these results are importantto cognitive psychologists interested in word meaning.     

SURVEY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FREQUENCY OF VAGUELY DEFINED EVENTS: THE EFFECTS OF RESPONSE ALTERNATIVES

Experimental research has shown that the choice of responsealternatives can influence responses to questions about thefrequency of vaguely defined target events (e.g., feeling annoyed);the set of response alternatives is treated as information thatcontributes to the interpretation of the question. In a seriesof split ballot experiments we investigate whether such effectsoccur in a large-scale survey context for sets of response alternativesthat might be used interchangeably by survey researchers. Thepredicted response shifts were found in our field experiments.Those presented with response alternatives discriminating atlow frequencies reported fewer of the target episodes than thosepresented with higher-frequency response alternatives. However,the size of the observed shifts varied from zero to 13 percentand depended on a number of characteristics of the survey, forexample, the presence of "priming" questions and the orientationof the response scales. Response alternatives are not neutraland therefore must be carefully considered when constructinga survey question.