American Indian household structure and income

We use the 1980 Public-Use Microdata Sample to consider the relationship between household structure and economic well-being among American Indians. We focus on the total U.S. Indian population and on the residents of 19 "Indian states" where there has been relatively little growth in the Indian population by means of changes in racial self-identification. Using Sweet's (1984) scheme of household types, we find that the prevalence among Indians of female-headed households with children is intermediate between that among blacks and whites, but the prevalence of couple-headed households with children is highest among Indians. Racial differences in the distribution of household types and differences in average household size are important determinants of black-white and Indian-white differences in average household income.     

Air pollution and depressive symptomatology: Exploratory analyses of intervening psychosocial factors

Exploratory modelling revealed associations of individual perceptions, social factors, and physical components of air pollution with depressive symptomatology. Residents of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area who have experienced a recent, undesirable life event and who perceive poor air quality in their neighborhood have greater symptoms of depression. These effects control for socioeconomic status and prior psychological status. In addition we show that perceived air quality is a function of both toxic components of ambient air as well as individual psychosocial experiences.This research was supported by the National Institute for Mental Health (MH 28924-10A1) and the Southern California Edison Health Effects Research Laboratory (J-1909902). We thank Jean Ospital, Len Edwards, and Julian Foon for their assistance. Reprint requests should be sent to Gary Evans, Program in Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92717.     

Consideration of future consequences and unprotected anal intercourse among men who have sex with men

This study of men who have sex with men (MSM) examined whether tendencies to consider the future consequences of one's actions were associated with sexual behaviors that place oneself at risk for HIV infection. A total of 339 HIV-negative MSM responded to the Consideration of Future Consequences Scale (CFC; Strathman et al., 1994) and to questions about their anal intercourse practices in the past year. In bivariate analyses, men with a stronger future orientation were less likely to engage in anal intercourse unprotected by a condom (p < .05). Multivariate analyses revealed that CFC accounted for significant variance in three of four measures of unprotected anal sex after statistically controlling for demographic covariates (education, income, ethnicity, age). CFC was a better predictor of sexual behavior and accounted for more unique variance than any of the demographic factors. Additional research is needed to confirm that CFC is an antecedent of behavior and to examine the feasibility and efficacy of focusing on CFC in HIV prevention interventions.     

知识产权保护对经济增长的作用研究

实证研究加强知识产权保护是否会促进经济增长。论述知识产权保护与R&D活动以及国际贸易的交互作用,分析其在国家经济增长中发挥的作用,并确定采用R&D知识存量作为R&D活动的代理变量,采用进出口总额占GDP的比重作为国际贸易的代理变量,基于柯布道-格拉斯生产函数构建理论模型,基于影响因素分析推导并建立实证回归模型;依据传统的永续盘存法分别测算固定资本存量和R&D知识存量,利用1980年至2005年27个发达国家和22个发展中国家的面板数据,采用固定效应与随机效应相结合的方法,检验知识产权保护对经济增长的影响效果。实证研究结果表明,加强知识产权保护对经济增长有正向的促进作用,加强知识产权保护和扩大国际贸易对经济增长的促进作用显著,加强知识产权保护和R&D活动对经济增长的促进作用不显著。     

How Too Little Can Give You a Little Too Much: Determining the Number of Household Phone Lines in RDD Surveys

Accurately assessing the number of household phone lines inrandom-digit dialed (RDD) surveys for use in weighting has becomemore complicated over time. This study evaluates phone lineweighting by asking an in-depth battery of seven questions designedto measure the number of available land lines in the home moreprecisely. The results show that this weighting correction isnot so simple, and that inadequately parsing the type and useof household phone numbers produces an inaccurate weight. Failingexplicitly to remove irrelevant phone numbers, especially cellphones, produces a larger-than-appropriate weighting adjustment.Potentially more important on a practical level is that, whendone correctly, and even when "overdone," phone line weightinghad little impact across a diverse set of opinion and demographicvariables.     

Convivial Quarantines: Cultivating Co-presence at a Distance

Qualitative Sociology - Sociology’s focus on sociality and co-presence has long oriented studies of commensality—the social dimension of eating together. This literature commonly...     

Research Note: US Census Same-Sex Couple Data: Adjustments to Reduce Measurement Error and Empirical Implications

US Census same-sex couple data represent one of the richest and most frequently used data resources for studying the LGBT population. Recently, the Census Bureau conducted an analysis of a serious measurement problem in these data, finding that as many as 40 % of same-sex couples tabulated in Census 2000 and 28 % of those tabulated in Census 2010 were likely misclassified different-sex couples (O’Connell and Feliz, Bureau of the Census, 2011). As a result, the Census Bureau released new state-level “preferred” estimates for the number of same-sex couples in these years, as well as previously unavailable information regarding the error rate of sex misclassification among different-sex married and unmarried couples by state and year. Researchers can use this information to adjust same-sex couple tabulations for geographic areas below the state level. Using these resources, this study: (1) considers in greater detail how the properties of the same-sex couple error might affect statistical inference, (2) offers a method for developing sub-state estimates of same-sex couples, and (3) demonstrates how using adjusted estimates can improve inference in analyses that rely on understanding the distribution of same-sex couples. In order to accomplish the third task, we replicate an analysis by McVeigh and Diaz (American Sociological Review 74: 891–915, 2009) that used county level Census 2000 unadjusted same-sex couple data, substitute our adjusted same-sex couple estimate, and examine the way in which this substitution affects findings. Our results demonstrate the improved accuracy of the adjusted measure and provide the formula that researchers can use to adjust the same-sex couple distribution in future analyses.     

Individual and group decision making under risk: An experimental study of Bayesian updating and violations of first-order stochastic dominance

This paper reports the results of experiments designed to test whether individuals and groups abide by monotonicity with respect to first-order stochastic dominance and Bayesian updating when making decisions under risk. The results indicate a significant number of violations of both principles. The violation rate when groups make decisions is substantially lower, and decreasing with group size, suggesting that social interaction improves the decision-making process. Greater transparency of the decision task reduces the violation rate, suggesting that these violations are due to judgment errors rather than the preference structure. In one treatment, however, less complex decisions result in a higher error rates.

Preference reversals and the measurement of environmental values

Numerous studies have demonstrated that theoretically equivalent measures of preference, such as choices and prices, can lead to systematically different preference orderings, known as preference reversals. Two major causes of preference reversals are the compatibility effect and the prominence effect. The present studies demonstrate that the combined effects of prominence and compatibility lead to predictable preference reversals in settings where improvements in air quality are compared with improvements in consumer commodities by two methods-willingness to pay for each improvement and choice (For which of the two improvements would you pay more? Which improvement is more valuable to you?). Willingness to pay leads to relatively greater preference for improved commodities; choice leads to relatively greater preference for improved air quality. These results extend the domain of preference reversals and pose a challenge to traditional theories of preference. At the applied level, these findings indicate the need to develop new methods for valuing environmental resources.     

Poverty, Housing Niches, and Health in the United States

Drawing on psychological, health, and social science literature, a housing niche model is developed that focuses on (a) housing markets and other societal processes that constrain residential choice, (b) effects of residential environments on health and access to human and social capital, and (c) family dynamic effects on health and the intergenerational consequences of particular housing niches for future health and housing choices. The model requires the examination of cumulative risks, mediating and moderating processes, and the use of multilevel statistical models. The health consequences of existing housing policies are explored and future directions for research and policy suggested .