Whiteness and national identity: teacher discourses in Australian primary schools

The study examines how white teachers talked to children about national identity and cultural diversity by drawing on qualitative research with eight- to 12-year-old students and their teachers from four Australian primary schools with different racial, ethnic and cultural demographics. Despite a range of explicit and implicit approaches that fostered different levels of critique among students, teachers often communicated Australian national identity as commensurate to white racial and Anglo-Australian cultural identity. We identified three main approaches teachers used to talk about national identity and cultural diversity: cultural essentialism, race elision and a quasi-critical approach. We conclude that the wider education system needs to develop a more formal curriculum structure that guides teachers in developing a better awareness of the power of white normativity, and to critically and explicitly counter discourse and practice that centres whiteness as foundational to dominant conceptualisations of national identity.     

The importance of demographic analyses in state- and local-level policy evaluations: A case study analysis of property taxes in Texas,USA

The reluctance of policy-makers to incorporate detailed demographic analyses in policy analyses often means that population composition is ignored in state and local policy evaluations. This article uses standard demographic projection, standardization and rate decomposition techniques to examine the implications of changing population composition for the property tax revenue base of Texas. The authors find that if current socioeconomic differentials persist into the future, projected compositional changes in the household population of Texas will significantly impact property tax revenues. Thus revenue projections based on aggregate growth and current average property value would seriously overestimate future property tax revenues in Texas because changes in the composition of the population lead to disproportionate growth in households likely to live in lower valued housing unite. The results indicate that the continuing focus of state and local policy-makers on changes in population size alone may be ill-advised and demonstrate the increasing importance of local- and state-level demographic analysis in a period of increasing Federal devolution of service provision.     

A pseudo-marginal sequential Monte Carlo algorithm for random effects models in Bayesian sequential design

Motivated by the need to sequentially design experiments for the collection of data in batches or blocks, a new pseudo-marginal sequential Monte Carlo algorithm is proposed for random effects models where the likelihood is not analytic, and has to be approximated. This new algorithm is an extension of the idealised sequential Monte Carlo algorithm where we propose to unbiasedly approximate the likelihood to yield an efficient exact-approximate algorithm to perform inference and make decisions within Bayesian sequential design. We propose four approaches to unbiasedly approximate the likelihood: standard Monte Carlo integration; randomised quasi-Monte Carlo integration, Laplace importance sampling and a combination of Laplace importance sampling and randomised quasi-Monte Carlo. These four methods are compared in terms of the estimates of likelihood weights and in the selection of the optimal sequential designs in an important pharmacological study related to the treatment of critically ill patients. As the approaches considered to approximate the likelihood can be computationally expensive, we exploit parallel computational architectures to ensure designs are derived in a timely manner.     

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN AWARENESS OF AGING AMONG MARRIED ADULTS AGES 20 TO 60

Using national data from 1,508 married men and women between the ages of 20 and 60, this article addresses the question of how men and women differ in their perception of aging and whether their senses of aging are affected differently by life course, socioeconomic status, or quality of life. Results show more similarities than differences in the ways in which men and women come to perceive themselves as aging. Those differences that exist appear to be rooted more in differential health than in differential vanity. The chief finding of this research is the strong association between awareness of aging and quality of social relationships.     

Delayed-payment contracts as a means of discouraging unionization

Delayed-payment, self-enforcing implicit contracts are a viable means of discouraging unionization. A contract which would be terminated if employees unionize would reduce the expected gains from unionization for employees, because the firm would not be required to make the delayed payment. These contracts thus reduce the likelihood of unionization and are equivalent to requiring employees to post performance bonds that are forfeited to the firm if the workers unionize. Such contracts would benefit workers as well as the firm, and thus be viable, if unionization would impose deadweight losses (most likely as a result of discouraging specialized investment) and the firm’s promises are credible. Delayed-payment contracts designed for other purposes, such as discouraging shirking, would also discourage unionization if unionization increased the likelihood that the contract would be terminated. I am grateful to the anonymous referee for helpful comments on two drafts of the paper, particularly the suggestion on organization.     

Problem behaviors,substance abuse and sexual abuse in psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents with bulimia nervosa

Twenty-eight adolescent bulimics were compared to 201 psychiatrically hospitalized non-eating disordered patients. Non-eating disordered patients were found to be reliably more aggressive, delinquent, and under-controlled than patients with bulimia nervosa. Sexual abuse was found to be less prevalent among bulimic adolescents than comparison adolescents. No significant between group differences were achieved on any measure of alcohol/drug abuse. The behavioral profiles of substance abusing bulimics were highly similar to those of non-eating disordered patients. Three months follow-up of bulimic patients found that they were less depressed, had less somatization, and were less overcontrolled; however, they showed no reliable improvements in eating attitudes/behaviours or drug/alcohol use.     

National recording systems and the measurement of international migration in Canada: an assessment

This article provides a critical assessment of the adequacy of Canada's statistical sources on immigration and emigration for both scientific study and policy needs. These data collection systems are discussed: 1) registration systems, 2) the census, and 3) administrative records and surveys. The authors conclude that Canadian migration data systems have both strengths and weaknesses. The following are some of these strengths. 1) The census is a unique source of consistent, up-to-date information on the immigrant stock. 2) Surveys provide insights on attitudes towards immigrants. 3) Citizenship data tell how many immigrants have acquired Canadian citizenship. 4) When data gaps were noticed, special efforts were made to fill them. The following are some of the data systems' weaknesses. 1) The most significant weakness is the absence of data on the characteristics of emigrants and their destination. 2) Information on returning residents is limited. 3) Undocumented immigrants defy documentation and very little is known on this group. 4) There are only skimpy data on refugee claimants. 5) There are few analyses of the differential fertility, mortality, and nuptiality patterns of the immigrants and the Canadian born. 6) The rate of return of immigrants is unknown. 7) The number of Canadian students abroad and their field of study is unknown. 8) Information on change of status and enforcement is limited. 9) The de facto population of Canada is unknown since Statistics Canada enumerates and estimates only the de jure population. 10) Lack of coordination among the multiple agencies that collect data is a major weakness; data are often unavailable in the form in which, or time when, it is required.