Social Work Intervention with a Multiple Sclerosis Population

Correspondence to Dr. G. J. Welch, Department of Social Work, University of Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa. Summary The paper describes a successful social work intervention programmeaimed at stress reduction and increased self-acceptance formembers of a multiple sclerosis self-help group. The clinicalprogramme is described in detail and both statistical and graphedoutcome results are reported.     

Measures of backtracking and bi-directional flow in one dimensional machine location problems

In many modern manufacturing settings, management simplifies the workflow of jobs to the greatest extent possible by avoiding a job-shop structure in favour of a generalized flow line (GFL) in which all jobs flow in a single direction (Conway et al., 1967, Theory of Scheduling (Addison-Wcsley)). Heuristics may be used to assign machines to appropriate locations in the attempt to achieve a GFL. Materials that must be transported upstream in a production line are said to ‘backtrack’. Since no backtracking occurs in a GFL, the relative amount of backtracking that does occur is an indication of the degree to which the ideal (and most productive) case is achieved. Several measures of the backtracking of materials are developed in this paper to assess the degree to which a configuration approaches the GFL. The measure for backtracking is extended to bi-directional flow problems which may occur when a GFL is not achievable because of the job routing.     

AGENCY GROWTH, SALARIES AND THE PROTECTED BUREAUCRAT

In contrast to numerous assertions in the literature on bureaucratic behavior that government employees seek to promote the growth of their agencies to increase their salaries, this paper offers empirical evidence indicating the absence of a significant positive relationship between agency growth and salaries. The impact of agency growth on salaries is estimated using a random sample of individual federal white-collar employees. Inspection of civil service rules reveals that most federal employees are highly insulated from fluctuations in agency staffing or budget appropriations. The existence of a highly protected bureaucracy raises questions about the control and performance of federal workers.     

Interviewing Changes Attitudes--Sometimes

To examine the effects of interviewing respondents were questionedabout either cancer or burglary prevention in an interview,and later they received either relevant information or no information.Changes in attitudes were measured in a second interview, andthe results showed that asking questions about cancer changedrespondents' attitudes toward cancer, but interviewing aboutburglary prevention did not change attitudes toward crime. Theevidence suggests that interview effects will occur when therespondent's attitudes and information are unfocused or ambiguousand the topic is important. Theoretically, this can be attributedto competence motivation and a postulated desire to maintainself-esteem in the interview situation     

From Inclusive Policy to the Exclusive Real World: an international review

The characteristics of policy in special education are examined in a number of international settings via an analysis of policy documents and commentaries on policy implementation. Through a constant comparative method a number of 'ideal types' are identified which characterise policy and exemplify the problems involved in the realisation of policy, particularly when that policy is progressive and especially when it promotes inclusive principles. Tensions particularly emerge between the interests of administrative and professional groups on the one side and the deprofessionalising, devolutionary pressures inherent in inclusion on the other. The types are used to analyse specific policy initiatives in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.     

Taking a Position: A Reinterpretation of the Theory of Planned Behaviour

This paper examines methodological issues associated with the theory of planned behaviour and explains that an alternative account of data used to support this theory can be provided by positioning theory. A case is presented that shows tests of the theory of planned behaviour fail to eliminate the possibility of alternative explanations for co-variation in its data. An agency or person-centered alternative shows how a causal interpretation can be reinterpreted as evidence of the actions of a person. Unlike the conceptualisation of the individual as behaving in keeping with postulated underlying cognitive laws or rules we assume that the person has, through socialisation, acquired the skills necessary to initiate and manage their own actions. Unlike the interest in TPB data as a causal explanation of action we draw attention to the interpretation of patterns in these data as an aggregate of each person using a common mode of explanation to justify and explain their intentions.     

PAYOFF DOMINANCE VS. COGNITIVE TRANSPARENCY IN DECISION MAKING

This paper reports on three laboratory experiments designed to investigate the roles of decision costs and rewards on the accuracy of economic decisions. The experimental vehicle is a purchase decision employing the Becker-DeGroot-Marshak (BDM) mechanism. The first experiment verifies the incentive-compatibility of the BDM in a pure induced-value setting; the second tests its performance under different information regimes and payoff schedules; the third addresses the role of feedback information. Steep payoff schedules are found to be necessary to optimizing behavior only in cases where subjects must search out an optimal strategy rather than being able to deduce it from information provided. (JEL C91, D83)