A Preliminary Investigation of a Telephone Administration of the Quality of Marriage Index

Follow‐up data collection presents many challenges for longitudinal research. Validating paper‐and‐pencil assessments for use via telephone may alleviate these issues. This study evaluates psychometric properties of the Quality of Marriage Index (QMI; Norton, 1983, Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45, 141) when administered by telephone and compares scores with the paper‐and‐pencil version. Participants included women with major depressive disorder and dyadic discord and their male spouses (n = 24 couples). Results suggest excellent scale reliability for the verbal QMI. However, a significant mean difference was found: participants scored on average 3 points higher on the telephone‐administered QMI than on the written QMI. Recommendations for future research and clinical implications are discussed.     

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) History and Conceptual Overview

The concept of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) is a system that enables the production of safe meat and poultry products through the thorough analysis of production processes, identification of all hazards that are likely to occur in the production establishment, the identification of critical points in the process at which these hazards may be introduced into product and therefore should be controlled, the establishment of critical limits for control at those points, the verification of these prescribed steps, and the methods by which the processing establishment and the regulatory authority can monitor how well process control through the HACCP plan is working. The history of the development of HACCP is reviewed, and examples of practical applications of HACCP are described.     

Children In Poverty: The Fundamental Issue

According to the Census Bureau, 21.9 percent of children in the United States in 1992 were poor (25 percent if one considers only those under six). Those 14.6 million children comprise 40 percent of the total population living below the poverty line. This essay documents their plight, examines the secondary effects of poverty upon the person and community, analyzes why the current “subsidy” approach has been ineffective, seeks a holistic explanation for poverty, and proposes a universal approach based on “supplementation” and “empowerment.” Due to the present budget deficit, the program is designed to be revenue neutral; it should not require any additional taxes.     

A manpower planning model for organizational effectiveness

In this article the author argues that micro-manpower planning is finally beginning to emerge as a process for helping individuals and firms to play an active role in developing integrated approaches and facilitating interrelationships within an organization. Additionally, that it is in a unique position where it can relate many of the foundations formulated by many segments of organizational theory and mathematical modeling into a cohesive and practical application format for practicing administrators.Naturally, the developed Markovian model is a stable process and assumes stable probabilities of movement with the system. Additionally, it assumes that movements between the states are dependent solely upon the previous state of location which is usually false in a business organization where movement is also dependent upon length of time in state, previous states occupied, and personal variables. But, the Markovian process can be viewed as a relevant modeling technique even with these constraints.These factors are combined to examine and discuss the organization's effectiveness and its bargaining position in terms of manpower resources. Additionally, policy decisions which would be made based upon the interrelationships of the personnel and industrial relations departments and the firm's technical core are discussed.     

Lifestyles and identity maintenance among gay Japanese-American males

An exploratory study of thirteen Japanese-American gay men residing in the Los Angeles area found that those men who had disclosed their sexual orientation to family members were more likely to express more positive attitudes concerning a variety of issues. Detailed personal accounts of these patterns are presented along with discussions of how Asian homosexuals maintain their “double-minority” identities as both Japanese and gay.     

The Functional Substitutability of Blacks and Females in the Labor Market: a Closer Look*

The interrelationship between labor market discrimination against black males and white females—as reflected in the respective size distributions of their full-time income—is examined for states in the U. S. Employing previously used data, conclusions opposite those of other researchers are reached. The hypothesis of a simple negative association between the two forms of discrimination is rejected, along with the implication of that association that blacks and females are functional substitutes in a capitalist economy. More adequate measurement and analysis shows that the presumed relationship is largely spurious, and caused primarily by the sexual specificity of labor demand as well as supply.     

Developmental differences in baserate estimates of social behaviors and attitudes

This study examined the development of baserate estimation skills for everyday social events and attitudes. Subjects in grades one, three, and six responded to questions concerning their own rates of behavior and attitudes, and their estimates of baserates of behaviors and attitudes for their classmates. The findings indicate a general increase in accuracy for the estimation of baserates throughout the elementary school years. In addition, younger subjects were less likely to make similar estimates for themselves and their classmates than were older respondents. Developmental changes in estimation accuracy are discussed in relation to task content, use of the response scale, correspondence between self-reports and estimates, and sample variability.     

Public transit wage rates: Pre-Reagan and Reagan-Bush eras

This paper examines the earnings of public transit bus drivers for both the pre-Reagan and Reagan-Bush eras using Current Population Survey data. The findings show that union drivers were consistently paid a significant wage premium over nonunion drivers, a premium which also exceeded that for unionized private nontransport operatives — suggesting that special institutional features of the public transit industry have collectively conferred market power on unionized public transit workers. During the Reagan years, the earnings of public transit drivers, union and nonunion alike, rose relative to those of private and public nontransport operatives in spite of federally-spearheaded cost containment policies. In 1990, these earnings fell relative to those of private and public nontransport operatives, suggesting that the effects of these policies may be beginning to be felt. Helpful comments were provided by Don Bellante and an anonymous referee     

Analysis of the reliability of a new scale for housing quality

This article reports the results of a variance components investigation of the reliability of a new scale of measurement of the quality of a dwelling unit. A balanced incomplete block design was utilized. A method for selecting among competing unbiased estimators of the variance components is presented. These components furnish a measure of the stability of the new dwelling quality scale. The validity of this new scale was investigated by comparison with experienced housing inspectors' reports.