State Government Funding of Research on Science and Technology: A Report on Michigan

Abstract

The question of this paper is: what factors explain the decisions of state governments to fund research on science and technology? The theoretical problem underlying the research question is patronage in the classical sense, that is, the support by one person or group for the activities of another person or group. Three models of explanation are proposed: “budget incrementalism,” a “rational” model, and a power model. The models are evaluated with information from a case study of a state government program in Michigan. The rational model best explains the state's selection of some proposals out of all the proposals submitted by each state university for funding. The power model best explains the overall allocation of program funds among Michigan's public universities. The budget incrementalism model helps explain the considerable stability from year to year in funding both for the entire program and for each university's share.     

Techniques for nonlinear least squares and robust regression

Recently, the authors and others have made considerable progress in developing algorithms for solving certain large-residual nonlinear least-squares problems where Gauss-Newton (GN) methods can be expected to perform poorly. These methods take account of the term in the Hessian ignored by the GN methods and use quasi-Newton procedures to update this term explicitly. This paper reviews these new approaches and discusses how they can be modified to give good performance on nonlinear models with robust loss functions where lack of scale invariance causes several new problems to arise.     

Unemployment and Political Partisanship: Support for the Null Hypothesis

Abstract

Analysis of survey data from faculty at fifteen colleges and universities in a large Midwestern metropolitan area supports earlier speculations that certain attributes unique to academia are predictive of differential participation in several aspects of socio-political life. Scholarly commitments and working in a field that studies socio-political issues per se are associated with liberal attitudes, casting votes for liberal candidates, and overt involvement in radical political activities. Tendencies for these associations were observed in both secular and church-related schools. Contrary to critics of the recent Ladd and Lipset studies, there is a clear tendency for faculty with liberal covert attitudes to translate them into overt participation in liberal and radical political activities.     

Women,crimes, and judicial dispositions: A comparative examination of the female offender

Utilizing records from the Seattle Police Department, we explored questions of a new “masculinized” female offender and a “chivalrous” criminal justice system. Crime‐specific arrest statistics provided a means to study both questions. Arrest statistics were recoded three separate ways: according to traditional views of the “masculinity” of an offense; legalistic crime categories; and seriousness ratings. These three categories were compared by sex across a four‐year period. Comparisons of final dispositions provided the basis of a final look at the “chivalry” issue. The findings suggest that females are not making great inroads into either traditionally masculine crimes or crime in general, and while there is little in the data to suggest prejudicial treatment based on sex, chivalry is supported by certain arrest and disposition rates.     

Accurate probabilities for the sign test

Limitations in currently available methods for producing significance probabilities for the sign test are discussed. Two simple modifications to the continuity corrected normal approximation are derived and presented in a simple form. These modifications are shown to markedly reduce the relative error in approximating exact probabilities. The relative simplicity of these modifications and the importance of accurate p values suggest that one or both modifications could be useful improvements.     

Senate confirmation of cabinet appointments: Congress-centered,presidency-centered,and nominee-centered explanations

Recent presidents find greater proportions of their executive nominations encountering substantial opposition in the Senate. What accounts for failed nominations to senior-level executive positions? We address this question by examining 297 cabinet and other senior-level nominations between 1969 and 2012, testing multivariate models of the effects of the partisan and ideological composition of the Senate, the president's public approval and electoral mandate, and characteristics of the nominee. The analysis demonstrates that allegations of illegal or unethical behavior by the nominee and concerns over policy preferences best explain the Senate's response to executive nominations. It is clear that, unlike legislative outcomes, confirmation outcomes are the products of nominee-centered factors with presidency-centered factors and Congress-centered factors having little impact on Senate decisions.     

PARTICIPANT NARRATIVES AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITY IN A METAPHYSICAL MOVEMENT

In this article we explore social movement solidarity through an examination of narratives offered by participants in a metaphysical movement. Drawing from contemporary social movement theory, we focus on how members develop a carefully built collective identity that perpetuates movement goals and ideology. Data for this project are drawn from in-depth interviews with local psychics, participant observation in various metaphysical fairs, and document analysis. We find that the movement's collective identity is centered around several narratives that help establish boundaries, identify antagonists, and create a collective consciousness. Together these narratives form a web of belief that binds members to the movement. The data we present in this article have implications for understanding other expressive movements, as well as for social movement theory in general.     

American Military Government after Two Wars

Researchers have argued for increased collaboration between teachers and museum educators to improve the outcomes of museum education on students; however, significant gaps in understanding between the two remain impediments to effective collaboration. We surveyed fifty-one museum educators, conducted in-depth interviews with ten of these respondents, and analyzed the data with use of an inductive lens. In this article we use a composite dialogue between a museum educator and a teacher to present a series of questions teachers should ask of, and information they should provide to, museum educators. Such questions and information can be used to initiate more effective collaborative relationships that may ultimately improve the quality of museum education for our students. We argue that gaps in museum educators’ understanding about teachers’ needs, objectives, and concerns about museum visits could be bridged if teachers knew what questions to ask and what information to volunteer to museum educators before arranging a museum visit.