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 Importance of Context in Explaining Human Capital Formation and Labor Force Participation of American Indians in Rosebud County,Montana

Abstract In response to recent recommendations to incorporate social, political, and cultural contexts into employment and poverty analyses for minority populations, this paper draws on several sources and types of data to examine the human capital and labor force participation patterns of Northern Cheyenne Indians and non-Indians in Rosebud County, Montana. Discussions utilizing human capital and economic organization data contribute to clarifying differences in poverty levels of the two populations. However, the "embeddedness" approach utilizes ethnographic data and recent analyses of schooling to illuminate the social and cultural relations affecting Northern Cheyenne employment patterns as well as the methods by which individuals, families, and communities adapt to the recent declines in economic opportunity and wages on the reservation. Such discussions suggest the need to reconsider policies designed to address American Indian human capital formation and economic development needs.     

The Relationship between Bullying Roles and Children's Everyday Dyadic Interactions

This study investigated the behaviour and communication of seven‐ to eight‐year‐old children during a dyadic computer task. The children participating were identified by peers as: (1) initiators of bullying (‘bullies’); (2) defenders of those victimised (‘defenders’); and (3) those who generally do not take on a consistent role in relation to bullying (‘non‐role’ children). Children were videotaped during the task and the interaction was coded, 34 dyads participated. Defenders used significantly higher levels of supportive communication such as explanation and guidance than bullies. The task performance of dyads consisting of defenders with non‐role children was significantly superior to that of dyads comprising bullies plus non‐role children. The behaviour of the non‐role children was influenced according to whether they were working with a bully, a defender or another non‐role child. The study suggests that the roles that children adopt in relation to bullying influence their behaviour in other, non‐bullying contexts.     

Multifunctional agriculture in policy and practice? A comparative analysis of Norway and Australia

Ideals of productivist agriculture in the Western world have faded as the unintended consequences of intensive agriculture and pastoralism have contributed to rural decline and environmental problems. In Norway and Australia, there has been an increasing acceptance of the equal importance of social and environmental sustainability as well as economic sustainability. Alongside this shift is a belief that primary production needs to move away from an intensive, productivist-based agriculture to one that may be defined as post-productivist. In this paper, we argue that the dualism of productivism and post-productivism as concepts on agricultural policy regimes are too simplistic and discuss whether multifunctional agriculture is a better concept for a comparison of rural primary production at two extreme points of the scale, the market-oriented, liberalistic Australian agriculture and the market-protected small-scale Norwegian agriculture. We argue that multifunctionality in Australia rates relatively weakly as an ideology or policy and even less as a discourse or practice and hence is situated toward a ‘weak’ end of a continuum of a level of multifunctional agriculture. In Norwegian agriculture, multifunctional agriculture has thrived within a protectionist setting with the support of the public, the state and agricultural actors. In this sense it is very clearly a policy, practice and discourse that aims to preserve and conserve rural spaces, the cultural landscape, the farming way of life and food safety. Norway is as such situated toward a ‘strong’ end of a continuum of a level of multifunctional agriculture.     

Generalizations of the δ-Corrected Kolmogorov-Smirnov Goodness-of-Fit Test

This paper generalizes the δ-corrected Kolmogorov–Smirnov (K–S) test into a family of tests, and investigates the behaviour of some of the members of the family, comparing them with the usual K–S test, as well as the δ-corrected K–S tests suggested by Harter et al . (1984) and Khamis (1990, 1992, 1993). These investigations and power studies suggest which tests are most powerful for which alternative hypotheses.     

Gender Differences in the Perception of Genetic Engineering Applied to Human Reproduction

A questionnaire-survey of public perception of the desirability, risks, and benefits associated with current and potential applications of genetic engineering techniques to manipulate the outcome of human reproduction was conducted on 111 male and 135 female respondents. The proportion (63%) of male respondents who hold a positive impression that genetic engineering is a socially beneficial field of scientific research was significantly higher than the corresponding proportion (46%) of female respondents (p = 0.008). Similarly, in comparing somatic (non-reproductive cells) and germ-line (reproductive cells) gene therapy, most males (58%) foresaw no detrimental impacts of somatic cell gene therapy, but most females (60%, including 49% who opted for case-by-case evaluation) disapprove of even this form of therapy (p = 0.04). Most people remain fearful of germ-line therapy, but significantly more men (23%) than women (16%) support the development of genetic engineering for manipulating human germ-line cells (p = 0.04). There are no significant differences between male and female respondents with respect to genetic manipulation to correct inborn errors of metabolism or fetal deformity. The results of this study support the view that women tend to be more cautious than men with respect to acceptance of novel genetically-based procedures aimed at altering pregnancy outcome and offspring phenotype. Gender-based educational programs regarding the human genome project and human genetic engineering may be warranted to promote concordant decision-making in family planning and counseling.     

Contraceptive use in South Africa under apartheid

In this paper, patterns of contraceptive use among black South African women in the late 1980s are examined. Multilevel logit models are used to evaluate the extent to which segregation of the African population into homelands gave rise to uneven patterns of contraceptive use; how this pattern was shaped by variations in family-planning acceptability; and the way in which the system of male labor migration and social and economic inequities across communities affected women's use of contraceptives. Results show that variation in contraceptive use across homeland areas diminished with the addition of community controls for development and migration. Controlling for unobserved heterogeneity indicated that localized conditions could offset the advantages or disadvantages of living in a former homeland.