A cost-benefit analysis of a smoking cessation program

Smoking cessation programs are usually evaluated in terms of the percentage of participants who have stopped smoking at least 6 months after the program's completion. This paper shows how a relatively low rate of behavior change may actually result in a high ratio of benefits to costs. Cost-benefit analysis is done for a specific program but the procedures and cost estimates are generalizable to other smoking cessation programs. Benefits to the firm included reduced costs of insurance and the savings due to employee absenteeism and disability. Costs included the program costs as well as the opportunity costs of the participants. Data from the literature and from the specific program are combined to form conclusions about the effectiveness of the program.     

Gender‐Related Effects of Information Technology Implementation

In investigating gender‐related effects of information technology implementation the contextual factors (e.g. job design, implementation management, external workload) need to be taken into account. In the Vienna Implementation Studies the effects of technology implementation on users' stress levels and satisfaction were investigated in longitudinal research designs. In our previous study, the 1st Vienna Implementation Study, negative effects of the technology implementations were shown in more women than men. It was argued that women due to their lower qualified jobs and due to the lack of participation, also experienced more negative consequences. In the 2nd Vienna Implementation Study effects of ‘continuous’ implementation of information technology on 212 clerical workers (n women: 142; n men: 70) were investigated. No gender‐related effects of information technology implementation were found, nor did women and men differ in job characteristics and in participation in the implementation process. It can be concluded from the two studies that potential differences between women and men are caused by differences in the contextual factors of job design and participation. Further, it emerged from our studies that women — at least in the field of clerical jobs — have benefited from the introduction of technology.     

What America's Leaders Read

The mass media are widely read by the leaders of American politicaland economic institutions and are regarded as valuable sourcesof information in their activities on national issues. Thisstudy draws comparisons with an earlier Quarterly article onwhat intellectuals read.     

The Ideology, Policy and Practice of Adult Probation Service in Israel

Summary This paper presents the findings of a study that sought to identifythe dominant characteristics of the Adult probation servicein Israel. An examination of the professional ideology of probationofficers, the policy and the practice of the service indicatedthat the probation service in Israel tends to emphasize theintra-psychic treatment model. According to this model, crimeis rooted in psychological causes and thus the goal of probationis to generate intra-psychic change in the offender. As such,probation officers are primarily engaged in therapy aimed atidentifying the individual pathology of the probationeer andat treating it. This model of probation differs significantlyfrom that which characterizes probation services in the UK andthe USA. Various explanations are offered for this.     

Strategies Used by Gay and Bisexual Young Men to Cope with Heterosexism

Although the pervasiveness of heterosexism in the lives of gay and bisexual youth is well established, little is known about the strategies these youth use to cope with stigma and discrimination based on their sexual minority status. In this qualitative study, the authors present findings and implications for clinical practice based on interviews with 43 gay and bisexual young men. Respondents' coping strategies are discussed in relation to current theory and research on coping with stigma, as well as the emerging field of emotion regulation. The narratives from the current study suggest that the emotion regulation paradigm is well suited to understanding the functions of strategies for coping with heterosexism and similar types of stigma.