Using an Online Support Site to Extend the Learning to a Graduate Field Practicum in the United States

An online support site was constructed for graduate social work students at San Diego State University in California during their first‐year field practicum. A study was conducted to explore and describe the attitudes of these students toward the usefulness of the site's online features. Students participated in the site through the Blackboard Software Platform by adding discussion threads to asynchronous forums on an online discussion board, receiving information through online announcements, accessing field‐related materials through the site, and engaging in an online network. The most useful forum was related to the learning plan that students were required to complete in planning and organizing their field practicum experience. Students reported that the most useful feature of the site was the ability to access timely information through the online announcements from the Field Education Program.     

Some aspects of mating and fertility in the West Indies

This paper deals with certain problems in fertility analysis in the West Indies that have their origin in two characteristics of the populations involved: the diversity of family forms and the imbalance between the sexes. Considerations of the main features of these family types, in terms of a fourfold classification as well as in terms of the threefold classification adopted at recent censuses (single, common law and married), show that many techniques relied on in the study of fertility among European populations are inapplicable to West Indian populations.

The limited data available permit only rough estimates of the rates of formation of different types of unions: but these emphasise that formal marriage usually takes place late in the childbearing period, generally after the couple has had one-or more children, that the formation of keeper unions begins considerably earlier and that the common law type is a transitional state between the looser keeper union and the state of formal marriage.

There seems to be no chance of studying fertility differentials among the several family types in terms of reproduction rates. Census data however provide three measures for this purpose, all of which show that fertility is highest for the married type and lowest for the single or keeper union. These differentials seem to run counter to the more usual pattern of fertility differentials which show fertility lowest among groups of high socio-economic standing.

Imbalance between the sexes is of importance primarily in the problem of arriving at satisfactory indices of fertility, though it may also have contributed somewhat to the establishment of the pattern of low marriage rates. Wide discrepancies between rates based on males and rates based on females appear, both in respect of fertility levels at given points of time and in respect of fertility trends. These discrepancies seem closely related to the imbalance between the sexes in. the reproductive age span. Under these conditions the use of joint G.R.B's clearly offers a more realistic measure of fertility than rates based on either sex.     

Disparities in Academic Achievement: Assessing the Role of Habitus and Practice

Bourdieu’s theory of cultural and social reproduction—with its core concepts cultural capital, habitus, practice and field—is a leading account of the intergenerational persistence of educational inequality. Although numerous studies examine the relationship between class, cultural capital and academic outcomes, and some focus on gender differences in cultural capital, few attempt to operationalize Bourdieu’s accompanying concepts of habitus and practice, and to consider gender differences along these dimensions. The present study addresses these gaps by examining a “structure-disposition-practice” model of the relationships between family socioeconomic status (SES), sex, habitus, academic practices, and academic achievement using multilevel Canadian data. Findings of SES and gender differences in the model offer qualified support for the potential of Bourdieu’s framework to help increase our understanding of class and gender disparities in educational outcomes. Results suggest that habitus, practice and the “structure-disposition-practice” model are not only theoretically sophisticated, but also empirically sustainable and that future efforts to more precisely measure the model’s concepts and relationships are warranted.     

Stakeholder value disclosures: anchoring on primacy and importance of financial and nonfinancial performance measures

In the growing debate about stakeholder values, there has been little discussion about information overload or whether the requested disclosures can be effectively used. Stakeholder advocates call for complicated and massive environmental and related social disclosures while not considering how information overload might affect the discourse about corporate performance. Stakeholders, including shareholders, plead for more transparency in financial statements, management discussion and analysis (MDA), and other corporate disclosures. As we know, shareholders and boards of directors are most concerned with the ‘Holy Trinity’ of earnings per share, dividends and market value changes. We believe that managers and stakeholders involved in performance evaluations have multiple interests that extend beyond traditional shareholder value measures. We note that the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) was developed as one tool to reflect and communicate these multiple measures. We test how managers use (or ignore) multiple performance measures and we posit that stakeholders will face many of the same constraints when using and processing multiple disclosures including Corporate Social Reports (CSR), environmental, or similar disclosures. While we do not directly test a wide variety of stakeholder disclosures, we examine eight (four for a single subject) shareholder values (financial measures) and four stakeholder values (nonfinancial measures). The eight measures included in our research instruments serve as proxies for the multiple concerns that might be of interest to many stakeholders. Note that stakeholders are likely to be extremely interested in nonfinancial performance measures, while many shareholders will likely concentrate on financial performance measures. Field research has reported managers tend to favor financial measures while discounting or ignoring nonfinancial measures when evaluating subordinates, making it difficult to align performance evaluations and incentives with corporate strategies (Ittner et al. Account Rev 78:725–758, 2003). In this study, we find the relative weights managers place on financial and nonfinancial performance measures are influenced by both (1) presentation order and (2) the relative importance of specific measures. When financial measures are presented first, the manager who performs better on financial measures is rated higher than the manager who performs better on nonfinancial measures. However, when nonfinancial measures are presented first, managers who excel on nonfinancial measures are rated higher. Reports that include financial measures that are relatively more (less) important also produce higher (lower) ratings for the manager who excels on financial measures. Thus, the relative weights that superiors place on financial and nonfinancial measures in evaluating corporate managers’ performance are substantially anchored both by the order in which measures are presented as well as by the importance of the specific performance measures employed. Other stakeholder disclosures are likely to be similarly anchored, perhaps biased, by primacy and a priori importance rankings.     

Social networking and HRD

Social networking websites (SNSs) are becoming an increasingly predominant part of people’s daily lives, including working lives. Yet, very little academic research has been conducted on this influential social phenomenon from en employment perspective. This exploratory study examines the impact of SNSs on human resourcing (HR) through interviews with eight employees and three HR professionals to gain their views and experiences of SNS in the workplace. Key findings include how potential applicants are suspicious of the legitimacy of job advertisements seen on SNSs; managing the use of SNSs is increasingly difficult for organisations due to SNSs being widely available on mobile phones; disciplinary action is being brought against employees who are using SNSs inappropriately; and training sessions for employees regarding the use of SNSs significantly reduce inappropriate use of SNSs. Implications for further research and practice are considered.     

Payday lenders and economically distressed communities: A spatial analysis of financial predation

The payday lending industry has grown considerably in recent years, reflecting both widespread economic insecurity and market neglect by the traditional banking sector. Outlets are now commonplace in many communities across America. Accused by many of predatory practices, payday lenders can be viewed as financial hazards in already economically distressed communities. Using a Geographic Information System (GIS) and associated statistical analyses, this paper examines the social ecology of payday lending along the Front Range communities of Colorado. Comparison of means and logistic regression results reveal how communities’ composition by class, occupation, race/ethnicity, nativity, age, and military affiliation affect their likelihood of hosting payday lending.     

Markov Chains and De-initializing Processes

We define a notion of de-initializing Markov chains. We prove that to analyse convergence of Markov chains to stationarity, it suffices to analyse convergence of a de-initializing chain. Applications are given to Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms and to convergence diagnostics.     

The parameters of prejudice: knowledge of ethics and age bias

This study examined two matters pertinent to social work practice: professional ethics and age bias among practicing social workers. Because social work ethics demand competent practice within one's area of proficiency, and because bias toward any segment of social work clientele impedes competent practice, prejudicial attitudes toward older people are problematic. This study found that age bias exists among practicing social workers (N = 367), with no discernible association between knowledge of professional ethical standards and age bias. The findings suggest a subtle and pervasive bias associated with work with older people. Positive bias was more prevalent than negative bias.