University Influence on Student Opinion*

L'influence du contexte universitaire sur le liberalisme-conservatisme de l'etudiant est examine en utilisant un questionnaire qui fut administre aux etudiants de premiere et de troisieme annee. Une proportion plus importante d'etudiants de troisieme annee possedent une mentalite liberale par rapport a ceux premiere annee. Cette relation demeure constante lorsque l'ensemble des facteurs sous-jacents au liberalisme sont determines par des techniques empi-riques et tenus constants par des tableaux a double entree. Dans une large mesure les hypotheses reliees a l'engagement dans les affaires universitaires de meme que le processus par lequel on acquiert une mentalite liberale a l'uni-versite sont mis a l'essai et verifies. C'est ainsi qu'on suggere un cadre conceptuel rajeuni afin d'orienter les nouvelles recherches dans ce domaine.
University influence on student liberalism-conservatism is studied by means of questionnaires distributed to first- and third-year students. A larger percentage of third-year students are found to be relatively liberal and this relationship persists when the set of background factors most closely related to liberalism is empirically selected and held constant by cross tabulation. Hypotheses related to university involvement and the process of acquiring a more liberal attitude at university are tested and confirmed for the most part. A revised theoretical framework is presented as a possible basis for further research.     

Optimising the queuing system for an ear,nose and throat outpatient clinic

Several authors have considered the problem of the efficient running of hospital outpatient clinics. The first solution was probably by Welch & Bailey (1952). More recent authors include Fetter & Thompson (1966), Vissers (1979), Stafford & Aggarwal (1979). The Ear, Nose and Throat outpatient clinic presents a special case due to the complex queuing structure involved, which is described in the next section. A simulation of this special clinic was undertaken, any useful theoretical results being impossible to obtain.     

Demographic Correlates and Judicial Determinations of Child Sexual Abuse Offenses

This study involved an in-depth evaluation of court records and various investigation reports of 532 alleged child sex offenders as well as their interactions with the typical societal intervention mechanism. The major results indicated that offenders significantly differed from the general population in various background characteristics. Generally, alleged offenders were more likely to be from certain demographic groups such as male, minorities, the poorly educated, labor workers, and the unemployed. Comparisons between subgroups defined by prior mental health, substance abuse, and childhood experiences indicated that negative background characteristics were further associated with the severity and judicial outcome of the charges. These results suggest the complexity of determining the etiology, correlates, and criminal and judicial dispositions of child sexual victimization. Finally, this study questions the sufficiency of the current quarantine approach, which segregates perpetrators through the mandatory registration and general distribution of the identities of convicted offenders. Implications were made regarding the need for integrating various academic disciplines and for coordinating the services of societal intervention units.     

A new test for the presence of a normal mixture distribution based on the posterior Bayes factor

We present a new test for the presence of a normal mixture distribution, based on the posterior Bayes factor of Aitkin (1991). The new test has slightly lower power than the likelihood ratio test. It does not require the computation of the MLEs of the parameters or a search for multiple maxima, but requires computations based on classification likelihood assignments of observations to mixture components.     

Surviving as a qualitative sociologist: Recollections from the diary of a state worker

In this paper I describe my experience as a qualitative sociologist on the research staff of a government policymaking agency. Using specific examples from my experience, strategies for survival as a qualitative sociologist in a quantitatively-oriented setting are presented. It is proposed that: 1) qualitative methods need to be promoted as a credible and valuable approach to research and the individual researcher must sell him or herself as competent in the use of such methods; 2) social support networks with similarly inclined co-workers and sociologists outside of the workplace need to be developed and maintained and used to enhance the status of qualitative methods and qualitative sociologists; and 3) as is true for all researchers working in a policymaking or applied setting, it is necessary to recognize the reticular nature of social research and to demonstrate how qualitative methods generate information that is useful to policy or other applied purposes. By application of this approach in my own workplace, qualitative research methods have become an acceptable and even desirable part of many research projects of the agency and I have been able to continue to practice and to maintain my identity as a qualitative sociologist.Thanks to Vincent D. Manti and two anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Thanks also to Robert K. Merton for assuring me that the application of sociology is important and for giving me the word reticular. Nonetheless, opinions and points of view expressed herein are my own and do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of any reader nor of the State of New York or any of its Divisions and no official endorsement should be inferred.