STRUCTURED OBSERVATION OF THE DECISION-MAKING ENVIRONMENT: A RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY ASSESSMENT

Information analysts gather and interpret information regarding organizational decision making. One source of information is the physical environment of the decision maker. A system for structured observation of the environment (STROBE) was developed and was used to gather information on administrators and medical directors of regional blood service organizations in the United States and Canada. Our results suggest that the reliability of STROBE is high and validity is acceptable, suggesting that STROBE may be useful in gathering data usually obtained through interviewing or observing behavior of decision makers.     

Decentering constructs predict experience and tolerance of pain: evidence from a cold pressor study / Constructos relacionados con el descentramiento predicen la experiencia y la tolerancia al dolor: evidencia obtenida mediante la prueba del frío

Abstract

Decentering is a detached, observer perspective on one’s current mental contents. Recent work has identified two potential aspects of decentering, Observer Perspective (OP) and Reduced Struggle (RS), that independently predict the effects of decentering. Specifically, both OP and RS predict reduced psychological distress in response to negative affect, with some variability in predictive utility across outcomes. In this study, we sought to extend previous work by examining OP and RS as predictors of responses to an external source of distress, a painful stimulus. Participants completed measures of decentering, followed by a cold pressor task for up to four minutes. We recorded time that participants were able to withstand the cold-water bath and the intensity of the pain experienced. We found that both OP and RS predicted partiacipants’ pain tolerance and pain intensity, but that only RS did so uniquely. Results are discussed with respect to theory on decentering.     

Bodies of Knowledge for Research in Behavioral Operations

Whenever intrepid researchers venture into new terrain, they find that they require knowledge outside of their formal training. This paper reviews bodies of knowledge for operations management (OM) researchers interested in the new area of Behavioral Operations. We highlight theoretical constructs and empirical phenomena from cognitive psychology, social psychology, group dynamics, and system dynamics. We also provide a guide for where to go to learn more about each body of knowledge. Our overall goal is to lower the startup costs for new researchers in Behavioral Operations.     

The Recalled Childhood Gender Questionnaire-Revised: a psychometric analysis in a sample of women with congenital adrenal hyperplasia

We administered the 18-item Recalled Childhood Gender Questionnaire-Revised (RCGQ-R), female version, to 147 adult women with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) representing three different degrees of prenatal androgenization due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency and to non-CAH controls. A principal components analysis generated three components accounting for 46%, 9%, and 6% of the variance, respectively. Corresponding unit-weighted scales (high scores = feminine) were labeled Gender Role (13 items; Cronbach alpha = .91), Physical Activity (3 items; alpha = .64), and Cross-Gender Desire (2 items; alpha = .47). Discriminant validity was demonstrated in terms of highly significant comparisons across the four groups. We conclude that the first 2 RCGQ-R scales show good psychometric qualities, but that the third scale needs to be further evaluated in a sample that includes women with gender identity disorder.     

Applications of Community Informatics for Building Community and Enhancing Civic Society

Community informatics provides new ways of approaching old problems of community development and enhancing civic society. Building on a theoretical analysis, this article discusses research in the area of the efforts of community networks in the USA to achieve outcomes in these two areas using the tools of community telecommunications and networking. The analysis matches the theoretical arguments for how community building and civic society are achieved against the practice of community networks trying to implement the new communications technologies. The analysis shows that achieving these goals is difficult for community information networks and that a full understanding of the nature of community information infrastructures could likely be very helpful in this task.     

A Reaction to Mark Pope's (2000) “A Brief History of Career Counseling in the United States”

The author acknowledges the significance of the 6 steps presented by M. Pope (2000) in his article “A Brief History of Career Counseling in the United States.” It is proposed that the historical stages for each kind of career counselor are most appropriately organized around federal legislation that affects it. Alternative “stages,” which the author believes are appropriate in tracing the history of the school counselor movement, are presented as an example of this approach.     

Social Context of Smoking Hookah Among College Students: Scale Development and Validation

Abstract

Objective: To develop an instrument that measures the social context of hookah use among college students. Participants: A pool of 50 potential items, based on 44 in-depth interviews with regular college hookah smokers, was administered to a sample of 274 hookah users between October and December 2011. Methods: Participants were approached in hookah bars and asked to complete the survey. Results: A principle components analysis revealed 3 reliable factors: social facilitation, family/cultural influence, and alternative to smoking cigarettes and drinking. These were examined across different categories of hookah use: Weekly hookah users were more likely to smoke in a context of social facilitation than the other 2 groups. Similar effects were observed for family/cultural influence. Asians were more likely to smoke in a context of family and cultural influence than non-Asians. Conclusions: This scale has potential for identifying situation-specific contexts of hookah use that may help in designing effective interventions for college students.     

The Social Policy Indicators (SPIN) database

The Social Policy Indicators (SPIN) database provides the foundations for new comparative and longitudinal research on the causes behind, and the consequences of, welfare states and social citizenship rights. The SPIN database is oriented towards analyses of institutions as manifested in social policy legislation. To date, SPIN covers 40 countries, of which several have data on core social policy programmes from 1930. There are currently six data modules in SPIN, covering different social policy areas. The following research note describes the theoretical and conceptual basis of the SPIN project, as well as the data it contains.