A (macro) sociology of fear?

A proper sociological approach to fear is of both empirical and theoretical significance in understanding late modern society. Normally fear has been explored psychologically, as one of the emotions, but recently a sociology of emotions has begun to emerge. Furthermore, there have also been attempts to examine fear macro‐scopically, arguing for the existence of a distinctive ‘culture of fear’ in contemporary societies. Furedi's argument to this effect is explored here, suggesting the need for a more systematic theorising of fear in its social contexts. Via an analysis of the elementary characteristics of fear, a model is constructed of the ‘parameters of fear’. This model serves as a guide to the classes of phenomena within which fear is constituted and negotiated. It is also used to further examine the virtues and failings of ‘culture of fear’ approaches to fearfulness in modern societies.     

Regulating Land Development: Local Market Structures and Structured Markets

Current rounds of economic restructuring together with the changing priorities accorded to agricultural production are leading to significant shifts in rural property and tenure relations. This paper analyzes these processes with reference to rural Britain; it reports on empirical evidence collected in the county of Buckinghamshire in southeast England. Two significant types of new rural land development are considered—small-scale industrial units arising out of the conversion of agricultural buildings and golf course developments and their ancillary leisure-based activities. Post-war productionist forms of regulation and particularly established types of agricultural tenure are now being modified by farmers and nonagricultural interests committed to the development of rural land. New demands and market structures are requiring more diversity and flexibility by which land is owned, occupied, and used. These emergent, more flexible macro tenures are based on new sets of social and political alliances between farmers, developers, and local planning systems. Agricultural land is increasingly being viewed as a capital rather than as a productive asset associated with more volatile and regionally defined markets whose regulation is formative.     

Mapping water quality by local scoring

The mean density of bacteria in a water body is commonly monitored using quantal assay. This paper describes the use of local scoring in estimating the spatial distribution of mean density from quantal assay results at a set of point locations. An application to estimating the mean density of fecal conform bacteria in a coastal pond is presented. Model diagnostics based on a parametric bootstrap are also presented.     

The context of correctness: A comment on rushton

According to Philippe Rushton, the equalitarian fiction, a scientific hoax that races are genetically equal in cognitive ability, underlies the politically correct objections to his research on racial differences. He maintains that there is a taboo against race unequaled by the Inquisition. I show that while Rushton has been publicly harassed, he has had continuous opportunities to present his findings in diverse, widely available, respectable journals, and no general suppression within academic psychology is evident. Similarly, Henry Garrett and his associates in the LAAEE, dedicated to preserving segregation and preventing race suicide, disseminated their ideas widely, although Garrett complained of the equalitarian fiction in 1961. Examination of the intertwined history ofMankind Quarterly, German Rassenhygiene, far right politics, and the work of Roger Pearson suggests that some cries of political correctness must be viewed with great caution.Preparation of this paper was not supported by any grant, foundation, political, or religious organization.specializing in the history of psychology and psychological aesthetics.     

Stress and dress: investigating the relationship between social anxiety and appearance management among gay and straight men

This research project explores the relationship between social anxiety and appearance management behaviors (AMB), including both routine and non-routine, among gay and straight men and women. Prior research had found links between AMB and stress (Reilly & Rudd, 2002), stress and (perceived) discrimination (Lee, 1997; Savin-Williams, 1994), and sexual orientation and weight (Brand, Rothblum, & Solom, 1992). An argument is made that links stress with AMB using the foundation of Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1954) as a guide. Research questions investigated were: (1) Is there a correlation between stress and AMB; (2) Is there a significant difference between body mass indices of men and women of differing sexual orientations; (3) How do AMB differ between those with gay and straight orientations; and (4) How do AMB differ between men and women? Using a survey design, a questionnaire was posted on the Internet. Measures included the Rudd/Lennon Appearance Management Scale of Routine and Risky Behaviors and the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale. A total of 365 usable forms were completed. Results show that social anxiety is positively correlated with non-routine AMB, or behaviors that carry some risk. Gay and straight participants differed on the routine AMB they practiced. Men and women differed on the non-routine or risky AMB they practiced or would consider practicing. Implications are discussed and further research is suggested.     

Reconstructing the size of the African American population by age and sex, 1930–1990

We estimate the size of the African American population in five-year age groups at census dates from 1930 to 1990 using a three-part strategy. For cohorts born after 1935, we follow the U.S. Census Bureau in using classical demographic analysis. To estimate the size of cohorts born before 1895, we use extinct-generation estimates. For remaining cohorts, we implement an age/period/cohort model of census counts. All approaches are applied to a data set in which the age distribution of deaths has been corrected for age misreporting. Results provide strong confirmation of the basic validity of Census Bureau estimates of census undercounts for African Americans while extending estimates to new cohorts and periods. Our estimates are less consistent with an historical series prepared by Coale and Rives (1973).     

Assessing the accuracy of Australia’s small-area population estimates

The Australian Bureau of Statistics provides population estimates of Statistical Local Areas annually. The accuracy of these estimates can be assessed after population estimates are rebased after each quinquennial Census of Population and Housing, however there appears to be no straightforward method of assessing these estimates. Errors that occur with population estimates can be attributed to several factors, both broad and specific to individual areas. These factors include inherent characteristics of the region, such as population size and growth rate; changes in the geographic boundaries; quality of input data; estimation method; and adjustments to control totals (state populations).     

Rail safety and rail privatization

Privatisation of the state-owned British railway system was completed in 1997. The following 6 years saw four serious fatal train accidents, leading to 49 deaths. These were the train collisions at Southall in 1997 and Ladbroke Grove in 1999, each caused by trains passing red signals, and the derailments at Hatfield in 2000 and Potters Bar in 2002, each caused by defective track. Has safety been compromised by the sell-off of the railways? Andrew Evans looks at the evidence and asks has privatisation led to more accidents?     

Evaluation of multilevel decision trees

The evaluation of decision trees under uncertainty is difficult because of the required nested operations of maximizing and averaging. Pure maximizing (for deterministic decision trees) or pure averaging (for probability trees) are both relatively simple because the maximum of a maximum is a maximum, and the average of an average is an average. But when the two operators are mixed, no simplification is possible, and one must evaluate the maximization and averaging operations in a nested fashion, following the structure of the tree. Nested evaluation requires large sample sizes (for data collection) or long computation times (for simulations).