131st Annual Meeting Joint Statistical Meetings of the American Statistical Association,The Blometrlc Society,Enar and Wnar,The Institute of Mathematical Statistics

(We are attempting to inaugurate a different type of questions and answers page in this issue of the American Statistician. Our purpose is to stimulate an interest in conceptual and measurement problems which arise in the course of statistical work and which require discussion apart from purely mathematical considerations. It is hoped that our readers will find this approach of interest and value. We are inviting questions of this type.)     

Consumer store choice behavior: A new approach

The consumer store-choice process has historically been examined via the semantic differential scale technique. It is the purpose of this investigation to determine if the methodological shortcomings of this technique may be overcome through the use of nonmetric multidimensional scaling.     

Perceived benefits and psychosocial outcomes of a brief existential family intervention for cancer patients/survivors

This study assessed a range of benefits from participation in a brief existential intervention consisting of a semi-structured videotaped interview with cancer patients and their families designed to illuminate a life legacy for the family (the Life Tape Project [LTP]). Results indicated the majority reported intervention-specific benefits, especially in the areas of symbolic immortality (passing on personal values and philosophy), self-reflection and growth, and improved family cohesion and communication. Participants, particularly those who had perceived their cancer as a threat of death, serious injury, or threat to their physical integrity, and responded with intense fear or helplessness, also reported more general reductions in mood disturbance, improvements in aspects of well-being (including overall quality of life), satisfaction with the understanding they received, and enhanced cancer-related posttraumatic growth. In short, the LTP is a brief, inexpensive, existential intervention that can yield broad positive psychosocial changes for a majority of participants.     

The accommodation and support needs of people with a mental illness: A process and framework for action

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a consumer-focused assessment of the accommodation and support needs of people with a mental illness living in a regional city. The study utilises a 'pathway to stability' approach to assess the phase-contingent accommodation and support needs of mental health consumers through interviews and focus groups with consumers, carers and service providers. The study identifies five broad phases of the life course impacted by mental illness—beginnings, long-term needs become clearer, instability as needs evolve, finding stability and ongoing. Five key issues—information, self-competence, comorbidity, coordination and flexibility were expanded upon in focus groups. Principles for planning future service delivery are identified. The implications of the findings and research methodology for social work practice and research are discussed.     

Formal volunteering as a protector of health in the context of social losses

This study aims to examine the effect of the death of a family member or friend on psychological well-being, specifically the moderating effects of first-time volunteering and social network. With the sample of 354 volunteers from the Experience Corps® (EC) programs, Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) estimated the differences in psychological well-being. Among volunteers who had experienced the death of a family member or friend, new volunteers showed significant improvement in positive affect compared to experienced volunteers. EC members gained additional social contacts through volunteering. Formal volunteering has a salutatory effect on older adults' health after the loss of family members.     

The Purposes of Undergraduate Education for Social Welfare

This paper discusses efforts to introduce fundraising courses into the curriculum of graduate social work schools. It suggests that such courses are inadequate to meet the growing need for social workers capable of coping with the economic facts of agency life. It proposes the concept of resource development as a viable alternative. Continued grounding in basic social work skills, values, and knowledge for personnel engaged in resource development is stressed. Questions are raised about the orientation toward money in social work education. The paper also explores the mutual benefits of cooperation between social work and the fundraising field.     

Pollinating animals in the urban environment

Urban environments contain habitats for flowering plants and their pollinating animal species. It is, however, unclear how the urban matrix influences plant-pollinator processes. We recorded plant diversity, floral abundance, flower visitor diversity and plot visits at 89 plant patches within the city of Zürich. The urban matrix surrounding each site was analyzed for the landscape metrics edge density and the extent of green area up to 200 m radius. The correlation between edge density and bee diversity and visitation frequency varied over the entire spatial range, while the correlation for syrphid diversity and visitation frequency levelled off at 80 m radius. In contrast, the correlations with green area were more consistent, with bee diversity levelling off after 100 m, while syrphid diversity and visits continued to increase. The variation in the correlation of bee visits was partly accounted for by the large contribution of honeybees. Plant diversity significantly affected bee diversity and visits, and syrphid visits. Floral abundance had a positive effect on bee visits and bee diversity. Syrphid diversity had a negative interaction with floral abundance and green area. The extent of green area increased bee diversity and visits, and syrphid visits, while edge density reduced visitation by bees. This study showed that plant diversity and floral abundance in urban environments promote pollinating flower visitors. The extent of green area and edge density are important urban mosaic attributes that affect pollinator abundance and visitation frequency at multiple scales.     

Whether Professional Training Matters: Attitudinal Antecedents to the Turnover Intentions of Social Workers in Guangzhou,China

This study aims to identify whether the professional training of social workers has an effect on the attitudinal antecedents of turnover intention. This study investigated 395 trained and 353 non-trained social workers from the Integrated Family Service Centers in Guangzhou, China. It was found that professional education did not significantly alter the attitudinal antecedents to turnover intention. In both groups, a higher feeling of burnout or a lower level of organizational commitment produced a higher intention of turnover. Furthermore, the significant influences of burnout and organizational commitment were found to be respectively mediated by job satisfaction with professional association or job satisfaction with organizational environment. This study not only provides insights into the stabilization of the emerging workforce of Chinese social workers, but also poses serious questions about social work education.     

Approach/avoidance: Communists and women in East Germany, 1945-9

This article explores the shifting strategies of the German Communist party (KPD, later SED) towards the woman question in the Soviet zone of occupation. In the fluid post-war situation, the KPD/SED had to resort to heterodox experiments as it attempted, initially, to mobilize electoral support among women and, later, to organize women on the shopfloor. Women Communists played a prominent role in these efforts which included the creation of a women's league. In consequence, they enjoyed more influence in the young SED than ever before (or after) in the German Communist movement. As they proceeded, activists stumbled, however, not only against the hostility of women towards the Communist message but also against the resistance of male comrades and trade union leaders to apolitical, proto-feminist appeals. To break internal impasses, women relied on the support of the top leadership and, especially, Soviet command. If the centralization of power initially helped their cause, the tightening of the Stalinist vice in 1948-9 knocked out its foundations. Electoral politics counted for little, while women's integration in the workforce slid down the ladder of priorities. Its separatist tendencies quashed, the women's league continued only as a transmission belt of the party line to housewives.