New tests for stochastic order with application to case control studies

It is shown that if a binary regression function is increasing then retrospective sampling induces a stochastic ordering of the covariate distributions among the responders, which we call cases, and the non-responders, which we call controls. We also show that if the covariate distributions are stochastically ordered then the regression function must be increasing. This means that testing whether the regression function is monotone is equivalent to testing whether the covariate distributions are stochastically ordered. Capitalizing on these new probabilistic observations we proceed to develop two new non-parametric tests for stochastic order. The new tests are based on either the maximally selected, or integrated, chi-bar statistic of order one. The tests are easy to compute and interpret and their large sampling distributions are easily found. Numerical comparisons show that they compare favorably with existing methods in both small and large samples. We emphasize that the new tests are applicable to any testing problem involving two stochastically ordered distributions.     

The fate of the sexually abused child

This article emphasizes the importance of understanding the specific meaning of sexual abuse to the particular child in his/her particular developmental stage. A critique of the research is presented, along with discussion of the psychodynamic impact of sexual abuse on the developing ego of the child. The primary means of adaptation following the trauma are (1) identification with the aggressor and (2) the repetition compulsion. It is also suggested that Freud's seduction theory can coexist with his later fantasy theory. Two case vignettes are presented to highlight the theoretical discussion.     

Occupational pursuits of free women in early America: An examination of eighteenth-century newspapers

The revival of social and family history during the past two decades has resulted in major revisions of conventional explanations of the processes of social change. Scholarship concerning the status, roles, and contributions of early American women has been especially important in this respect. This paper is based on original findings from a systematic survey of the occupational pursuits of early American women (N=2,572) and a stratified sample (N=1,949), both derived from eighteenth-century newspaper advertisements. Our findings focus on the distribution of occupations available to women, important trends during the period, and factors contributing to changes in the occupational structure of early America.     

Exploring the link between service quality and outcomes. Parents' assessments of family support programs

Relationships among consumer-generated quality factors, satisfaction, and outcome measures were examined for family support services provided by Michigan's public mental health system. Parents focused on structural and procedural aspects of program accessibility and attended less to program administration issues. Parents who gave the services the highest quality ratings also were the most satisfied with services, saw the services as more effective, had fewer family problems, and rated their time and child-related resources as more adequate. Implications for evaluation practice are discussed.     

Aldrin and Dieldrin: A Reevaluation of the Cancer and Noncancer Dose‐Response Assessments

The dose‐response analyses of cancer and noncancer health effects of aldrin and dieldrin were evaluated using current methodology, including benchmark dose analysis and the current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) guidance on body weight scaling and uncertainty factors. A literature review was performed to determine the most appropriate adverse effect endpoints. Using current methodology and information, the estimated reference dose values were 0.0001 and 0.00008 mg/kg‐day for aldrin and dieldrin, respectively. The estimated cancer slope factors for aldrin and dieldrin were 3.4 and 7.0 (mg/kg‐day)^?1, respectively (i.e., about 5‐ and 2.3‐fold lower risk than the 1987 U.S. EPA assessments). Because aldrin and dieldrin are no longer used as pesticides in the United States, they are presumed to be a low priority for additional review by the U.S. EPA. However, because they are persistent and still detected in environmental samples, quantitative risk assessments based on the best available methods are required. Recent epidemiologic studies do not demonstrate a causal association between aldrin and dieldrin and human cancer risk. The proposed reevaluations suggest that these two compounds pose a lower human health risk than currently reported by the U.S. EPA.     

Advancing nonprofit organizational effectiveness research and theory: Nine theses

Drawing on the general literature on organizational effectiveness, the specialized literature on nonprofit organizational effectiveness, and recent research in the field, this article advances nine theses, or conclusions, about the effectiveness of public benefit charitable, nonprofit organizations (NPOs). NPO effectiveness is (1) always comparative, (2) multidimensional, (3) related to board effectiveness (but how is not clear), (4) related to the use of correct management practices but not in any simple “best practices” way, and (5) a social construction. Furthermore, (6) it is unlikely that there are any universally applicable best practices that can be prescribed for all NPO boards and management, (7) organizational responsiveness is a useful organizational‐level effectiveness measure, (8) distinguishing among types of NPOs is important and useful, and (9) level of analysis makes a difference in researching and understanding effectiveness. The article concludes by considering implications for organizational practice, boards and governance practices, program evaluation, including program outcomes assessment, and capacity building and capacity builders.     

Growth and Development: Critique of a Credo

With so much academic prestige and business and government experience represented on the Commission that produced the World Bank's Growth Report, issued in 2008, the reader comes to it with hopeful expectations. Unfortunately the Report is largely an apologia for globalization, the World Bank, and GDP idolatry. The Report's major failures and fallacies are identified and examined.     

The meanings of citizenship: media use and democracy in South Africa

In 1994, South Africans embarked on a project to create new meanings of citizenship in order to transcend the disenfranchisement and divisions created by apartheid. This article examines the context in which new forms of citizenship are evolving in South Africa and how South African citizens use the media to give meaning to concepts such as “an active public sphere,” “civic agency” and “participatory politics.” The objective of the research is to provide information about the way in which the media contribute to the quality of democracy in South Africa through mediating citizenship in a way that improves prospects for citizens to exert influence over public decisions. As has been the case in other post-authoritarian and postcolonial settings, the continuation of existing unequal relationships to government persists even when new democratic spaces have opened up. This article interrogates the assumption that media are central to citizens’ political and civic engagements in a transitional society marked by persisting inequalities. This interrogation draws on empirical research with citizens to investigate the question that the media are central to constructions of citizenship and participation and engagement with democratic processes. Our research finds that young South Africans interviewed are disengaged from politics and find that the media does not speak to or connect with their everyday lives. They view the state on both national and local levels as not being prepared to listen to their experiences, ideas or conditions of life. While the respondents trust the media as credible institutions, they do not experience the media as being relevant to their lives. The perceived disinterest of the state and the lack of relevance of the media, work together to create a sense of powerlessness and inability to influence policy-making among the young people interviewed. For the media to intervene in this state of affairs, it would have to create more opportunities for young people to participate directly in meaning production through the media, starting by listening more closely to their experiences in order to respond to their concerns in a relevant way.     

Women Scientists and Engineers in European Companies: Putting Motherhood under the Microscope

Unlike the rise in women's participation in other professional sectors, women still form a minority of professional scientists and engineers, especially in multinational companies. Moreover, embedded gendered cultures in the science, engineering and technology (SET) sectors continue to affect the career progression of professional women, with few women reaching senior management positions and many leaving and failing to return. This article examines the experiences of women SET professionals in three European companies based in France, The Netherlands and Italy and illustrates how the careers of SET professionals in industry are shaped not only by corporate cultures and practices but also by the specific national contexts in which they live and work. In particular, we look at how motherhood rather than gender alone is constructed as problematic and propose a model of strategies that women adopt in doing motherhood and SET, including assimilation, cul‐de‐sac, breaking the mould and lying low.     

Integrating political activism and a professional career

Psychodynaniic theories, once an essential part of social work education but recently neglected, have been reinvigorated in recent years through contributions from social constructionism, infant research, and intersub‐jectivity. These theories, with their emphasis on multiple perspectives, context, and collaborative relationships allow for important considerations of diversity as well as clients’ strengths and resilience, and can serve as formats for the broadest forms of change. In its contemporary form, psychodynamic theory offers a complex and rich understanding of human behavior and a direction for practice that is utterly consistent with social work values and interests.