Some issues related to the topological aggregation of preferences: addendum

 The purpose of this addendum is to correct some results published in our paper “Some issues related to the topological aggregation of preferences” (SCW (1992) 9: 213–227). Received: 28 November 1992/Accepted: 22 April 1996     

The Catalonia survey: Personality and intelligence structure in a sample of compulsive gamblers

A sample of fifty-seven pathological gamblers and one hundred and fifteen controls (two per pathological gambler, matched as regards age and sex) was investigated. This sample received a complex battery of psychometric tests designed to evaluate two different axes: psychopathology and intelligence. The results obtained show that pathological gamblers have an unstable family and work background, that pathological gambling correlates with other addictions (alcohol, illness prone behavior, absenteeism, risk working, living alone and bereavement), that all the general and specific psychopathology vectors were significant in the addicts, and that the pathological gamblers' intelligence has characteristic factors.We thank Ricardo Cayuela (Line Staff, Barcelona) for his help in collecting the sample; Jordi Daura for data processing work; Mercedes Lemonier, psychologist, for her help in administering and correcting the tests; Consol Marina and Teresa Ruiz for their secretarial assistance and contact with the 172 study subjects.     

Motivational factors and physician advice for physical activity in older urban adults

This study aimed to ascertain by means of a new scale older adults' motives for engaging in physical activity, in a probability and representative sample of an older urban population. The sample size was 630 older adults, ranging from 65 to 94 years in age, randomly selected using multistage sampling. The participants completed a 17-item questionnaire, as well as answering questions on demographic variables, type of demand for physical activity, and physician's recommendation. A principal-component analysis was performed. The relationships among the four factors (physical health, social relationships, competence, and physician's advice) show a clearly motivational structure. Significant relationships have also been found between physician's recommendation and type of demand. The findings suggest that programs promoting physical activity in older adults should have different characteristics from those aimed at general adult populations.     

Cooperative learning: we can also do it without task structure

The present study focuses on the use of a cooperative methodology with university students during the last year of their degree programme. The task structure could be freely chosen, and there were no restraints on group decisions to deal with the classroom work. All the elements of cooperation were based on a reward structure. The results show that internal group cohesion can be achieved through an inter‐group competitive reward system and positive interdependence can be reached with an extreme cooperative reward structure, grounded on individual assessments of the students. The results also point to the importance of a reward structure, based on grades, when using a cooperative methodology in the university classroom.

Este estudio supone la utilización de una metodología cooperativa con alumnos universitarios en el último curso de la carrera. La estructura de tarea es siempre libre y no hay ninguna restricción a las decisiones del grupo para abordar el trabajo de aula. Todos los elementos de la cooperación se abordan desde la estructura de recompensa: la cohesión interna de los grupos se consigue mediante un sistema de recompensa competitiva intergrupal y la interdependencia positiva se logra mediante una estructura de recompensa cooperativa extrema, basada en las evaluaciones individuales de los alumnos. Los resultados demuestran la importancia que tiene una estructura de recompensa, basada en las calificaciones, para la aplicación de una metodología cooperativa al aula universitaria.     

Estimating the stability of census-based racial/ethnic classifications: the case of Brazil

This study presents a method of estimating the degree to which people change their racial/ethnic identity from one census enumeration to another. The technique is applied to the classification of skin colour in Brazil (white, black, brown, yellow). For the period 1950-80, the findings show a deficit of 38 per cent in the black category and a gain of 34 per cent in the brown category, suggesting that a large proportion of individuals who declared themselves black in 1950 reclassified themselves as brown in 1980. Estimates for 1980-90, adjusted for the effects of international migration, reveal a similar pattern, although the magnitude of colour reclassification may have declined somewhat during the 1980s. Procedures to determine the stability of racial/ethnic identity produce data useful to recent policy initiatives that rely on demographic censuses to measure changes in the status of minority groups in less developed countries.     

The resurgence of poverty and the struggle against exclusion: A new challenge for social security in Europe?

This article overviews the important ships that have taken place during recent decades in scientific thinking with respect to poverty and social exclusion, and social security in Europe. Starting from this it points to the basic aims, achievements and shortcomings of social security policies in the fight against social exclusion. As the lack of labour demand presents itself as the ultimate challenge for social security, the need for a European perspective is addressed, together with the inadequacy of existing policy-making structures.