Evaluating utility conservation programs: The BPA plan

This paper summarizes a detailed plan for evaluation of the residential energy conservation programs offered by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). The major purpose of the evaluation is to determine the energy savings attributable to the programs and to identify differences between program participants and nonparticipants. The focus of this paper is on the sampling issues associated with reliable estimates of energy savings. The methodology attempts to correct for the self-selection bias likely to occur in conservation program evaluation by using intentional nonrandom sampling. In addition, the paper suggests a variety of analytical approaches to analyzing the data with respect to energy savings.The proposed design, using four different groups to estimate program effects, is a comprehensive endeavor. This is appropriate for BPA because of the substantial investment it is making in conservation. However, the design is flexible and allows for use offewer groups to reduce evaluation costs.     

Laughter,the Best Mediation: Humor as Emotion Management in Interaction

Recent work in emotions and emotion management suggests that humor is a social phenomenon and serves an important purpose in interaction. That is, humor can be viewed as interpersonal emotion management, whose purpose is to manage the emotions of others as well as of the self. This article offers the following definition as an analytical tool: humor as emotion management is an expert cultural performance; which strengthens or restores the feeling norms of the situation and creates amusement in the self and others; generating positive sentiments among members of an interacting group by bonding them and/or reducing an external threat; often at the expense of some excluded person(s), event(s), or object(s).     

Corporate social responsibility: the organizational view

Designing strategies for corporate social responsibility (CSR)-practice nowadays has become essential for organizations. Notwithstanding, how organizations appear internally in a socially responsible context toward their employees has been insufficiently investigated. This study aims at ascertaining how Internal CSR can be conceptualized as well as how it affects employees’ commitment. To do so, the manifestations of Internal CSR are discussed based on social identity theory and further literature, while the developed research model is checked for suitability through a survey generating 2081 employee responses from an international pharmaceutical company. As one result, it can be stated that the factors proposed to constitute Internal CSR are confirmed. Further, the findings entail the following conclusions: Internal CSR has a notable influence on employees’ Affective Organizational Commitment whilst relatively moderate impacting Normative Organizational Commitment. Additionally, Affective Organizational Commitment adopts a mediating function regarding Normative Organizational Commitment.     

Hormesis: A Highly Generalizable and Reproducible Phenomenon With Important Implications for Risk Assessment

From a comprehensive search of the literature, the hormesis phenomenon was found to occur over a wide range of chemicals, taxonomic groups, and endpoints. By use of computer searches and extensive cross-referencing, nearly 3000 potentially relevant articles were identified. Evidence of chemical and radiation hormesis was judged to have occurred in approximately 1000 of these by use of a priori criteria. These criteria included study design features (e.g., number of doses, dose range), dose–response relationship, statistical analysis, and reproducibility of results. Numerous biological endpoints were assessed, with growth responses the most prevalent, followed by metabolic effects, reproductive responses, longevity, and cancer. Hormetic responses were generally observed to be of limited magnitude with an average maximum stimulation of 30 to 60 percent over that of the controls. This maximum usually occurred 4- to 5-fold below the NOAEL for a particular endpoint. The present analysis suggests that hormesis is a reproducible and generalizable biological phenomenon and is a fundamental component of many, if not most, dose–response relationships. The relatively infrequent observation of hormesis in the literature is believed to be due primarily to experimental design considerations, especially with respect to the number and range of doses and endpoint selection. Because of regulatory considerations, most toxicologic studies have been carried out at high doses above the low-dose region where the hormesis phenomenon occurs.     

Fitting disposition codes to mobile phone surveys: experiences from studies in Finland, Slovenia and the USA

Summary.  Using mobile phones to conduct survey interviews has gathered momentum recently. However, using mobile telephones in surveys poses many new challenges. One important challenge involves properly classifying final case dispositions to understand response rates and non-response error and to implement responsive survey designs. Both purposes demand accurate assessments of the outcomes of individual call attempts. By looking at actual practices across three countries, we suggest how the disposition codes of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, which have been developed for telephone surveys, can be modified to fit mobile phones. Adding an international dimension to these standard definitions will improve survey methods by making systematic comparisons across different contexts possible.     

Integrating Educational Careers in Work and Family

Educational careers are shaped by both work and family roles. This study compares middle-class dual-earner couples in which wives were currently returned to school (N = 124) with couples in which the wives had never returned to school (N = 866). These data are combined with additional in-depth interviews with 24 women who returned to school. Our life course perspective highlights why working women return to school, the resistance they experience in redefining family roles, and outcomes on family and marital satisfaction. Gendered family adaptive strategies, made earlier in the life course, are associated with the decisions to return to school and the negative impact this decision has on family life quality.