Voters and Values in the 2004 Election

A poorly devised exit poll question undermined meaningful analysisof voters’ concerns in the 2004 presidential election.Twenty-two percent of voters picked "moral values" from a listof "issues" describing what mattered most in their vote, morethan selected any other item. Various commentators have misinterpretedthis single data point to conclude that moral values are anascendant political issue and to credit conservative Christiangroups with turning George W. Bush’s popular vote defeatin 2000 into his three million–vote margin of victoryin 2004. We suggest, rather, that while morals and values arecritical in informing political judgments, they represent personalcharacteristics and ill-defined policy preferences far morethan any discrete political issue. First by conflating moralsand values and then by further conflating characteristics andissues, the exit poll’s "issues" list distorted our understandingof the 2004 election. In this article, we examine the flawsin the 2004 National Election Pool exit poll’s "most importantissue" question and explore the presumed rising electoral importanceof moral values and the conservative Christians who overwhelminglyselected this item. Using national exit poll data from 1980through 2004 and other national surveys, we find that the moralvalues item on the issues list cannot properly be viewed asa discrete issue or set of closely related issues; that itsimportance to voters has not grown over time; and that whencontrolled for other variables, it ranks low on the issues listin predicting 2004 vote choices. The aggregated exit poll dataalso show that the voting behavior of conservative Christiansis relatively stable over time, and these voters were not primarilyresponsible for Bush’s improvement in 2004 over 2000.     

Declining inequality? The changing impact of socio‐economic background and ability on education in Australia

The paper addresses several debates surrounding the reproduction of socio-economic inequality: (i) the persistent inequality thesis, which maintains that despite the increases in educational participation socio-economic inequalities in education have not declined; (ii) the related thesis of maximally maintained inequality, which proposes that socio-economic inequalities decline only when participation levels for the most privileged socio-economic group approach saturation levels; (iii) the meritocracy debate on the importance of ability vis-à-vis socio-economic background and changes in its influence over time; and (iv) the effect of policy changes on socio-economic inequalities in education. These issues are addressed using data from six Australian youth cohorts born between 1961 and the mid-1980s.     

Effectiveness of addiction science presentations to treatment professionals,using a modified Solomon study design

OBJECTIVES: Knowledge of addiction research findings is critical for healthcare professionals who treat addicted patients. However, there is little information available about the instructional effectiveness of lecture-slide presentations in changing knowledge vs. beliefs of such professionals. DESIGN: A modified Solomon four-group experimental design was used to assess the instructional effectiveness (knowledge gain vs. belief changes) of three-hour addiction science workshops presented to health-care professionals by neurobiologically-trained academic researchers. Effectiveness of the workshops was assessed by a 28-item questionnaire on participant versus control group knowledge/beliefs on addiction. Six-month follow-up questionnaires measured "retention" of knowledge and belief changes. RESULTS: The workshop participants showed significant knowledge gain and belief changes, whereas the two control groups showed no change in knowledge or beliefs. After six months, knowledge gains decreased, but were still higher than pre-test scores. In contrast, belief changes on three subscales persisted over six months in 40 to 52 percent of the subjects. CONCLUSIONS: These results illustrate a successful continuing education model by which academic researchers who are skilled teachers present a three-hour lecture-slide workshop with extensive question-and-answer sessions on addictions. We conclude that motivated health-care professionals can experience important knowledge gains and belief changes by participating in such workshops. In contrast to the transient retention of knowledge, belief changes persisted surprisingly well for at least six months in about half the subjects. These results suggest that long-term changes in the professional orientation of these health-care workers are possible.     

Trichotillomania. An overview and guide to understanding

Tichotillomania presents challenges to clinicians in various areas including assessment, treatment, and research. Characterized by an irresistible urge to pull out one's hair, which is preceded by tension and followed by relief or pleasure, trichotillomania can cause significant impairment and distress to those who suffer from it. Possible hypothesized causes include a biological basis for hair-pulling, as well as pulling in response to stressors in life. Several assessment techniques to measure the severity of trichotillomania exist, each of which has advantages and disadvantages in establishing a diagnosis. Because it is still a relatively poorly understood disorder, treatment options for patients reporting these behaviors are limited and generally are confined to pharmacological therapy and habit-reversal behavior therapy. Mansueto, Stemberger, Thomas, and Golomb have published a compelling comprehensive behavioral model that attempts to explain the various cues and factors in trichotillomania. It is useful to consider trichotillomania a biological, psychological, and social phenomenon requiring further research regarding the interaction of these variables in advancing the understanding of the disorder.     

Black/White Differences in Job Shift Behavior: A Dynamic Analysis*

This study investigates one mechanism through which black/white differences in returns to resources occur through time—job shifts. The results show that whites change jobs more often than blacks, move upward more often than blacks, and compete for higher levels of rewards more often than blacks. Whites are more likely to move within firms and across firms than blacks. However, the results show that whites do not always receive greater returns to resources as determinants of job shifts. Whites do receive greater returns to education in interfirm shifts in prestige than blacks. However, blacks receive equal or greater returns to education and firm-specific resources in intrafirm shifts in prestige and wage than whites.     

Using phenomenology in clinical social work: A poetic pilgrimage

This article demonstrates how phenomenological theory from sociology can be applied to clinical social work practice through the use of poetic self-analysis. Areas on phenomenological theory that provide support for the use of poetry in clinical social work are identified and described. Examples of the use of poetic self-analysis are presented. The authors, citing research from phenomenologica theory, raise some questions with respect to the limitations of traditional clinical settings and processes. The legitimacy of some new directions in clinical social work based upon phenomenological theory are also presented.     

The state of the unions: United States and Canada

This study demonstrates that the Canadian labor movement has outperformed its American counterpart in terms of union growth, union density, and certification outcomes. Labor and product market factors do not appear to be major contributing factors. Public policy and increased employer resistance have played a critical role, particularly in the decline of unionization in the United States. Union-related variables — militancy, structure, and the desire and ability to organize — are also important in explaining the divergent union trends in the two countries.