Reflective Listening in Heraclitus

To provide authentic language use situations for classroom activities, videotaped materials have been introduced in teaching and learning settings. In language testing, these materials raise our expectations about the potential usefulness to measure academic listening ability of non-native speakers of English. In spite of this apparent superior authenticity of a videotape formatted listening test (VFLT), much more theoretical justification and experimental research are needed to support the usefulness of VFLTs. The purpose of this study was to investigate validity evidence for the VFLT usefulness as a measure of academic lecture listening ability. Validity evidence was assessed with 83 ESL students enrolled at a midwestern university. Concurrent validity evidence, empirical item analysis, and experimental manipulation were tested. Analysis of the test results provided convincing support of the validity evidence of the VFLT. Moreover, the strong relationship between test performance and aspects of authentic and interactive tasks in the VFLT provides a justification for revision of test method facets in conventional ESL listening tests.     

(Re)Envisioning Human Service Labor: Worker-Owned Cooperative Possibilities

This article explores the viability of worker-owned cooperatives as a promising human service delivery model that prioritizes the well-being of both care recipients and providers. In so doing, the current labor conditions of those providing direct care services are presented, followed by a review of cooperatives as a promising countertrend within human service delivery. Three case examples of worker-owned, direct-care cooperatives are presented, concluding with a discussion of the challenges and possibilities of this model and suggested next steps as we continue to (re)imagine modes of care provision premised on worker sovereignty, economic equality, and social justice.     

Estimation in Regressive Logistic Regression Analyses of Familial Data with Missing Outcomes

This paper examines a number of methods of handling missing outcomes in regressive logistic regression modelling of familial binary data, and compares them with an EM algorithm approach via a simulation study. The results indicate that a strategy based on imputation of missing values leads to biased estimates, and that a strategy of excluding incomplete families has a substantial effect on the variability of the parameter estimates. Recommendations are made which depend, amongst other factors, on the amount of missing data and on the availability of software.     

Absenteeism in Health Care: Using Interlocking Behavioral Contingency Feedback to Increase Attendance With Certified Nursing Assistants

This research used an ABA multiple baseline design across hospitals to evaluate a behavioral intervention designed to reduce absenteeism among 64 certified nursing assistants (CNA) in a rural health care organization. Pre-baseline assessments suggested that when CNAs were absent from work, other employees had to work unscheduled shifts. Because of this metacontingency, employees reported that they skipped work themselves to make up for the extra shifts they had to cover. This cycle created more unscheduled shifts and potentially caused the high absenteeism prevalent at the organization. An intervention with normative and metacontingency feedback significantly decreased the total number of days CNAs were absent per week across the three hospitals from a baseline mean of 0.24 (SD?=?0.19) days per week (7.74% of their scheduled hours) to a mean of 0.13 (SD?=?0.17) days per week (3.81% of their scheduled hours) during the intervention. In a return to baseline the total number of days CNAs were absent per week across the three hospitals increased to a mean of 0.24 (SD?=?0.20) days per week (7.47% of their scheduled hours).     

Support Networks of Gay Male and Lesbian Youth

The support networks of 90 self-identified urban gay male and lesbian youth (ages 14 to 21 years) are examined. The youth, who are predominantly black and Latino/a, indicated an average of eight persons in their support networks, most of whom were close friends. Other significant groups included were parents, siblings, other relatives, and lovers or partners. A large majority of the support network members knew that the youth were gay or lesbian. Youth were moderately to very satisfied with the support they received from the network members—being more satisfied with the support provided by those who knew of their homosexuality compared to those who suspected or were unaware. Nonetheless, most youth felt that they did not have enough friends, and that they often to seldom felt lonely. These two feelings correlated positively with suicide ideation and attempts; and feeling lonely also correlated positively with drug use.     

Interaction Between Autocorrelation and Conditional Heteroscedasticity: A Random-Coefficient Approach

In applied econometrics, we tend to tackle specification problems one at a time rather than considering them jointly. This has serious consequences for statistical inference. One example of this is considering autocorrelation and autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (ARCH) separately. In this article we consider a linear regression model with random coefficient autoregressive disturbances that provides a convenient framework to analyze autocorrelation and ARCH simultaneously. Our stationarity conditions and testing results reveal the strong interaction between ARCH and autocorrelation. An empirical example of testing the unbiasedness of experts' expectations of inflation demonstrates that neglecting conditional heteroscedasticity or misspecifying the autocorrelation structure might result in unreliable inference.     

Operational Models of Infrastructure Resilience

We propose a definition of infrastructure resilience that is tied to the operation (or function) of an infrastructure as a system of interacting components and that can be objectively evaluated using quantitative models. Specifically, for any particular system, we use quantitative models of system operation to represent the decisions of an infrastructure operator who guides the behavior of the system as a whole, even in the presence of disruptions. Modeling infrastructure operation in this way makes it possible to systematically evaluate the consequences associated with the loss of infrastructure components, and leads to a precise notion of “operational resilience” that facilitates model verification, validation, and reproducible results. Using a simple example of a notional infrastructure, we demonstrate how to use these models for (1) assessing the operational resilience of an infrastructure system, (2) identifying critical vulnerabilities that threaten its continued function, and (3) advising policymakers on investments to improve resilience.     

Temporal Ordering of Intimate Relationship Efficacy and Conflict

Drawing from social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) and data from 1,640 couples who remained together over the first 4 waves of the German Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics (Pairfam) project, the authors examined the temporal ordering between each partner's relationship efficacy and conflict (constructive behaviors and frequency of negative exchanges) assessed at the dyadic and individual levels. The results revealed that each partner's constructive conflict behaviors and negatively valenced conflict frequency at the couple level temporally preceded relationship efficacy for male and female partners. There was no support for the reverse order or bidirectional linkages over time. These results challenge the prevailing theoretical and empirical suppositions regarding associations between relationship efficacy and couple interactions. The discussion theorizes a more complex efficacy process in couple relations, whereas specific efficacy beliefs shape behaviors in that domain, which subsequently inform each partner's global relationship efficacy over time.     

Blame It on the Alcohol: The Influence of Alcohol Consumption During Adolescence,the Transition to Adulthood,and Young Adulthood on One-Time Sexual Hookups

Using public-use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 3,733) and the life-span developmental perspective, the current study sought to determine whether global reports of alcohol use, binge drinking, and drunkenness are best represented as indicators of a latent alcohol consumption construct during adolescence, the transition to adulthood, and young adulthood. We also examined the predictive power of alcohol consumption during each developmental period on the total number of one-time sexual hookups reported in young adulthood. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed alcohol use, binge drinking, and drunkenness are consistent indicators of a latent alcohol consumption variable over time, although the mean levels of the indicators were significantly lower during adolescence. Structural equation modeling analyses found alcohol consumption during the transition to adulthood and young adulthood predicted one-time sexual hookups in young adulthood, but alcohol consumption during the transition to adulthood exhibited the strongest association with hooking up. Implications for research, theory, and practice are discussed.