Establishing verbal repertoires: Toward the application of general case analysis and programming

A great deal of clinical and experimental work in past decades has focused on establishing functional verbal repertoires that are used across various settings and situations by persons with moderate and severe disabilities. Such work has not always involved a careful analysis and programming approach for structuring training to achieve the desired range of stimulus control relationships. General case analysis and programming procedures, which are based on behavior analytic and Direct Instruction principles and techniques, have proven effective in recent years for teaching a variety of community-based skills to learners with moderate and severe disabilities. This paper outlines the general case process and discusses its application to establish verbal repertoires.

     

The influence of sexual orientation on career decision-making: a research note

This study investigates differences between heterosexuals and homosexuals of both sexes with regard to several variables in the career decision-making process: anxiety about making a career choice, indecisiveness about the choice, need to acquire information about the career of choice, uncertainty about the choice, and career choice dissatisfaction. Significant interactions are found on choice uncertainty (gay men having the highest level of uncertainty and lesbian women the lowest) and choice dissatisfaction (heterosexual women and gay men showing more dissatisfaction than the other two groups).     

Funding large-scale qualitative sociology

Myrna Silverman, Edward Mulvey, and Barry Glassner helped us with thoughtful critiques of earlier drafts.     

Fertility and Culture in Eastern Europe: A Case Study of Riga, Latvia, 1867–1881

Recent research on the secular decline of fertility in historical Europe has focused on cultural explanations in the wake of the European Fertility Project's failure to confirm demographic transition theory. Using the city of Riga in present-day Latvia as a case study, the essay provides initial estimates of nuptiality and fertility for resident language and religious groups in 1867 and 1881, and reviews the prospects of future work. Despite obstacles, Eastern Europe offers researchers an exceptional opportunity to test major cultural and economic hypotheses about the fertility decline because sustained ethnic diversity coexisted with economic development.     

The value of the second income to two-earner families with children

An increasing number and percentage of families in the United States endeavor to improve family income by placing two adults in the paid work force. This study examines the impact of the second earner on family income for 1,624 married-couple families with children, including 871 one-earner and 753 two-earner families. After-tax income is regressed on one- or two-earner status as well as covariates which confound the income-earner relationship for families of various income levels. The actual after-tax income differential of $7,172 is reduced to $6,076 in the regression analysis. Further, income for each family type is estimated by applying the regression coefficients from one-earner households to the characteristics of two-earner households and the regression coefficients from two-earner households to one-earner household characteristics. Actual incomes for two-earner families are found to be higher than those of one-earner families. However, income differences are reduced from 34% higher actual before-tax income to an estimated 14% lower after-tax income. The findings have important implications for families selecting two earners solely for the purpose of increasing after-tax income.This study received funding from the Graduate School Fund at Northern Illinois University. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Family Economics/Home Management Conference, Indianapolis, IN, June 1987.Mary Pritchard is an Assistant Professor, Department of Human and Family Resources, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115. She received her Ph.D. from Purdue University and includes family economic well-being, family income and expenditures, and spending patterns of adolescents among her research interests.     

The human development spectrum: Sub-spectra and social indicators for use in development project planning,design, and implementation

A spectrum of human development has been observed which has application in international development project planning, design, and implementation. Based on experience with privately funded development projects in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, seven components or sub-spectra of the human development spectrum which are vital to effective development projects are identified: need, resources, technology, social conscience, integrity, attitude, and problem solving. Their implications for the development process are explained, and indicators for each sub-spectrum are described.     

Why we need a revolution in strategic planning

The author uses a metaphorical concept of Newtonian planning in an Einsteinian environment to express the predicament facing planners in an environment subject to sudden and unpredictable change. The conventional ‘Newtonian’ approach assumes a sense of order and control whereas the current environment is turbulent, disordered and potentially out of control. He makes recomendations for strategic planners that accept the limitations of existing and foreseeable analytical techniques.