ASSERTION VERSUS INTERROGATION FORMAT IN OPINION SURVEYS QUESTIONS ENHANCE THOUGHTFUL RESPONDING

Two surveys on ostensibly new consumer products were administeredin order to assess the impact of presenting opinion items inan interrogation versus an assertion format. In addition tomanipulating the format of the opinion item, the back groundinformation about the product was varied so that it presentedeither a strong or a weak product attribute. In both surveys,opinions in response to the interrogation items were more polarizedthan those in response to the assertion items. These resultssuggest that the interrogation opinion format elicits more thoughtfulresponses than the assertion format.     

Labour surplus and local labour markets in the Nova Scotia fish processing industry

Nous Ctudions ici la relation capitalhravail dans l'industrie de traitement dPoisson, bas6e sur la taille des entreprises: nous distinguons entre Gtablissements petits, competitifs, et grands, ainsi que les situations de travail la piece. Et nous montrons en quoi cette typologie est utile a la comprChension des chaines de production et des patterns de mise en marche. Deuxikmement, nous examinons les effets des rGgimes de travail sur le proces de travail lui-mime, sur la division du travail, et sur la nature des activitCs syndicales. Nous soulignons tout particulierement l'influence profonde du sexe sur les programmes de production saisonniers, a forte composante de main d'oeuvre. Troisiemement, nous montrons qu'en Nouvelle Ecosse I'industrie de traitement du Poisson est constituie de trois marches du travail sous-rkgionaux, en interaction complexe avec la taille de I'Ctablissement, la prCsence de syndicats et le sexe; la structure salariale de l'industrie est le produit de ces interactions. Nous suggerons aussi que les differences entre march& du travail sous-rCgionaux contribuent B expliquer la variabilite de la propension isous-contracter et engager des travailleurs/euses a la piece. operations found among small, competitive, and large establishments, as well as in piecework situations. We then show how this typology informs our understanding of production lines and marketing patterns. Second, we discuss the effects of labour systems on the work process itself, the division of labour, and the nature of union activity. In particular, we emphasize the pervasive influence of gender differences on labour intensive, seasonal production schedules. Third, we describe the Nova Scotian fish processing industry as having three distinct sub-regional labour markets which interact in complex ways with plant type, union presence, and gender to account for wage structures. We also indicate that contrasts among sub-regional labour markets can be important in explaining how plants contract work out to feeder plants or to pieceworkers.uPoisson en Nouvelle-Ecosse. Nous Ctablissons d'abord une typologie des usines de traitement du This paper examines the interrelationship between capital and labour in the Nova Scotia fish processing industry. We first develop a fish plant typology based on the scale of     

Occupational status attainments of university graduates: individual attributes and labour market effects compared

Ce document analyse le processus de realisation d'un statut professionnel pour cinq cohortes de diplômés d'université, hommes et femmes, durant la période s'étendant de 1960 à 1976. Après avoir reçu leurs diplômés, les hommes, comparés à leurs homologues féminins, sont parvenus, en general, à un statut professionnel plus élevé, réparti sur une échelle plus large. Les conséquences des differences socio-économiques sur la réalisation d'un statut professionnel se sont avèrées minimes ou insignifiantes pour les deux sexes. Les effets des différences de l'enseignement reçu sur le statut professionnel sont plus grands. Les rendements pour l'étudiant avec une moyenne académique élevée sont les mêmes pour les hommes que pour les femmes. Les hommes qui ont poursuivi de hautes études supérieures ont éprouvé un meilleur rendement de méme que les femmes qui se sont spécialisées en sciences. La condition du marché du travail au moment ou ces étudiants ont obtenu leurs diplômes s'est avérée le facteur le plus déterminant dans la réalisation d'un statut professionnel. L'on maintient que la recherche sur la réalisation d'un statut professionnel a largement négligé les facteurs structurels tels que les conséquences du marché du travail, et sa concentration sur le prestige professionnel a entretenu le déguisement des differences entre les sexes dans la réalisation d'un statut professionnel. This paper analyzes the occupational status attainment process for five cohorts of male and female university graduates spanning the time period 1960 to 1976. When compared to their female counterparts, males on the whole achieve higher occupational status after graduation and experience a wider distribution of status. The effect of socioeconomic variables on occupational attainment are found to be either small or insignificant for both sexes. The effects of educational variables on occupational attainment are greater. The returns to a high undergraduate academic average are similar for males and females; males experience a higher return to graduate study while females experience a larger return to majoring in science. The state of the labour market at time of graduation is found to have the largest effect on occupational status attainment. It is argued that occupational status attainment research has largely neglected such structural factors as labour market effects, and its focus on occupational prestige has tended to mask sex differences in occupational status attainment.     

Canadian Subarctic Athapaskans in the literature to 1965*

Reports on communities of Northern Athapaskan speakers began to appear with the earliest exploration of the American Subarctic. Some early publications include astute and penetrating observations. However, professional ethnography of these peoples has developed only in recent decades and much has yet to be learned on this level. For this and other reasons, theoretical discussion arising from Northern Athapaskan material has not been lively. There are many opportunities for work on Northern Athapaskan society and culture; some are pointed out in this article.     

MARKET STRUCTURE, DURABILITY, AND QUALITY: A SELECTIVE SURVEY

This essay provides an expository survey of that branch of the theoretical literature on product quality determination which assumes that quality can be represented by a scalar. The bulk of the work discussed associates that scalar with durability. Peter Swan's result that market structure has no impact on quality is derived in a straightforward way, and the assumptions on which it rests are identified and discussed. The consequences of relaxing these assumptions, as revealed by the subsequent literature, are described. The general implications of the durability literature are summarized .