"In My Opinion . . .": Justices' Opinion Writing in the U.S. Supreme Court, 1946–1997

Objectives . We develop hypotheses to explain the opinion writing by justices on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1946–1997. Methods . We use data from the U.S. Supreme Court Database, Phases I and II, to examine the proportion of cases in which a justice writes an opinion each term as well as the differences between writing majority, dissenting, and concurring opinions. OLS regression with robust standard errors is the estimation procedure. Results . We find that a justice's position as Chief Justice, professional and education background, reputation ranking, and tenure on the Court can explain a justice's opinion writing. At the same time, we discover that particular variables have different affects on writing majority, dissenting, or concurring opinions. Conclusions . This study demonstrates the importance of both structural and personal background variables in explaining judicial behavior. It also shows the importance of analyzing different kinds of judicial opinions when explaining the justices' opinion writing.     

Variations of Sexual Scripts Relating to Concurrency by Race,Class, and Gender in South Africa

It is unclear whether higher rates of sexual partner concurrency in Black South Africans are due to socioeconomic or cultural factors. We used a nationally representative sample of 9,728 individuals aged 16 to 55 from a study conducted in 2009 to examine how the norms pertaining to concurrency and the practice of concurrency vary by race, class, and gender. The percentage of men reporting point concurrency was 14%, 6.5%, and 2.5% in Blacks, coloreds, and Whites, respectively (p < 0.001). These percentages increased to 45.7%, 24.7%, and 11.7%, respectively, for those reporting lifetime concurrency (p < 0.001). In all the racial groups, men exhibited more favorable attitudes toward concurrency than women did. For a range of indicators, White men and women had less favorable attitudes toward concurrency than Black men and women. These differences remained after controlling for a range of confounding variables. In the adjusted logistic regression model, reported concurrency in men was associated with a younger age, Black race, being in the lowest income tertile, not being in a stable relationship, and expressing various positive attitudes toward concurrency.     

Recommendations on the statistical analysis of the Comet assay

In 2010, the Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry (PSI) Toxicology Special Interest Group met to discuss the design and analysis of the Comet assay. The Comet assay is one potential component of the package of safety studies required by regulatory bodies. As these studies usually involve a three-way nested experimental design and as the distribution of the measured response is usually either lognormal or lognormal plus a point mass at zero, the analysis is not straightforward. This has led to many different types of analysis being proposed in the literature, with several different methods applied within the pharmaceutical industry itself. This article summarises the PSI Toxicology Group's discussions and recommendations around these issues.     

The importance of involving midwives before and during the implementation of an antenatal pertussis vaccination program in New South Wales,Australia

Problem

Typically there is limited opportunity for stakeholder engagement to determine service delivery gaps when implementing an outbreak or supplementary vaccination program.

Unions as value-adding networks: Possibilities for the future of U.S. unionism

VII. Conclusions The decline in private sector union density in the U.S. coincided with increased innovation at the local level. One trend in particular, value-adding unionism, may offer some hope for those who believe that workers, the economy, and the nation benefit from strong, independent trade union movement. Unions that can add value to firm performance while at the same time fulfilling their responsibilities to represent the collective and individual interests of their membership have greater appeal to potential union members seeking opportunities for both representation and participation. Since they add economic value to firms, they may also reduce the level of managerial resistance that we have seen in recent history. Farber and Western (2001) argue that the overall U.S. decline in union density is almost entirely due to falling employment in unionized firms and increases in nonunion firms. This value-adding approach offers one strategy to preserve and expand union employment in firms where it is already established, thus slowing or reversing the decline. Moreover, as structural changes in the economy have led to shifts away from sectors with high levels of union density, they have at the same time put a premium on the ability of firms to respond quickly to changes in the marketplace and the competitive environment. Value-adding unions can provide the infrastructure for organizational networks that facilitate the communication and coordination necessary to adjust to such changes. Thus, new forms of representation that provide unions and their members with greater opportunities in decision making, management, and governance can add value to both management and labor. I thank Charles Heckscher and Bruce Kaufman for comments on earlier drafts of the paper and the National Science Foundation, Rutgers University, and MIT for financial support.     

Assessing the Barriers to Achieving Genuine Housing Choice for Adults with a Learning Disability: The Views of Family Carers and Professionals

It has been reported that the capability of adults with a learningdisability to choose their housing is too often impeded by theviews and actions of their family carers and involved professionals(McGlaughlin and Gorfin, with Saul, in press). This study furtherexplores these apparent barriers to providing genuine housingchoice for adults with learning disabilities. It discusses findingsfrom a series of focus groups which explored family and professionalviews about housing and choice. The views expressed indicatethat risk is a fundamental concern for both professionals andfamilies when considering more independent housing for thisgroup. Although opportunities for choice were generally supported,many argued for the need to assess the ability to make informeddecisions. There were also examples of problematic relationshipsbetween professionals and carers, creating a barrier to choice.Carers need involvement, information and support during thedevelopment of housing plans if the needs of the primary serviceusersare to be met. The barriers identified have to be removed ifservice-users are to truly become the focus of decisions andbe enabled to make genuine informed choices.