The three R's: Residence,religion, and reproduction

Survey research data collected in Rhode Island over a three year interval are used to test six propositions: 1) Suburbanites have higher family size than central city residents. 2) Any differences in family size between Catholics and non-Catholics are larger in central city than in suburban areas. 3) Within religious categories, suburbanites attend church more regularly. 4) Among Catholics, suburban residence is associated with less frequent Communion reception. 5) Among Catholics, church attendance frequency is positively associated with family size. Among non-Catholics no relationship exists. 6) The frequency with which Catholics receive Communion is more strongly associated positively with family size than is church attendance frequency. Propositions 1, 2 and 5 are rejected. Propositions 4 and 6 are accepted. Proposition 3 is accepted for non-Catholics only.     

Population change in Meso-America: The Tip of the demographic Iceberg

This paper examines the demographic situation in Mexico and Central America (Meso-America) and looks at the momentum for growth implied by recent population shifts. Despite successes in reducing fertility levels in many Meso-American countries, the dramatic declines in mortality among infants and children have given rise to a "death dearth" that is contributing to a new "baby boom" in these countries; thus our subtitle, "The Tip of the Iceberg."The impacts of such population growth on education, the economy and migration are considered in some detail. The anticipated inability of country economies to provide jobs for the thousands of young adults entering the labor force in future years could result in significant increases in the number seeking to migrate in a northerly direction. Thus, the United States is also vitally interested in the demographic shifts taking place south of its border.The need for a more unified regional approach to some of the social and economic problems facing these nations is pointed out as is the need for a more rational immigration policy on the part of the United States in light of the potential increase in immigration in future years.     

The effects of labor market segmentation on economic resources in retirement

Longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics are used to explore the determinants of economic resource levels among recently retired workers. Three income determination models are used to examine significant predictors of economic status using a broad measure of economic well being that includes both retirement income and wealth. Findings indicate that variables used in status attainment, human capital, and labor market segmentation models explain substantial amounts of variance. Applying these models to the longitudinal data provide suggestive information about the crucial life-span characteristics and circumstances that determine economic status as workers enter retirement.     

Utilizing a Required Documentation Course to Improve the Recording Skills of Undergraduate Social Work Students

ABSTRACT

Baccalaureate social workers respond to documentation and record-keeping demands of regulatory organizations that oversee or fund social service agencies. Learning to accurately document client needs, progress, and service delivery outcomes is important in ensuring that clients are receiving effective services. Despite the importance of documentation skills, many undergraduate social work programs do not provide sufficient curriculum content on client record keeping. The authors report the results of a study that examined changes in baccalaureate social work students’ perceptions of their documentation skills after completing a required documentation course. The sample size included 101 students at pretest and 97 students completing the post-test. Statistically significant findings show students perceived an increase in knowledge in three areas of documentation: 1) formats, 2) content, and 3) writing skills. The authors discuss implications for social work education and practice.     

Modelling the Inverse Association between Breastfeeding and Contraceptive Use

Previous studies of the inverse association between breastfeeding and contraceptive use have relied on current status data on at least one of the variables. In this paper we suggest a new way of modelling the joint temporal association of the adoption of contraception and the termination of breastfeeding over the course of a birth interval. The approach is implemented with survey data from rural Mexico. It involves first estimating a competing-risks model in which both hazards are considered simultaneous, together with a set of relevant covariates. Conditional analyses are then carried out to estimate the hazards of each event conditional on the timing of the other. By comparing the covariates, we gauge the extent to which the occurrence of one event raises or lowers the hazard of the other. The results show that, in rural Mexico, the timing of the termination of breastfeeding and that of starting contraceptive use are closely related, and that there exists a surprisingly neat interval of 120 days in which the action takes place.     

A Numerical Likelihood-Based Approach to Combining Correlation Matrices

Numerical approaches to developing accurate and efficient approximations to combined likelihoods of population correlation matrices in meta-analysis under normality assumptions for the data are studied. The likelihood is expressed as a multiple integral over the unit cube in (p ? 1)-dimensional space, where p is the row and column dimensionality of the correlation matrix. Three types of computation are proposed as ways to calculate the likelihood for any population correlation matrix P. As an application, inference is explored concerning intercorrelations among math, spatial and verbal scores in a SAT exam. Comparisons are made with conventional methods.