Informal Support Networks of Low-Income Senior Women Living Alone: Evidence from Fort St. John,BC

Within the context of an aging Canadian rural and small-town landscape, there is a growing trend of low-income senior women living alone. While there is a perception that rural seniors have well-developed social networks to meet their daily needs, some research suggests that economic and social restructuring processes have impacted the stability of seniors' support networks in small places. While much of the research on seniors' informal networks focuses upon small towns in decline, booming resource economies can also produce challenges for low-income senior women living alone due to both a higher cost of living and the retrenchment of government and service supports. Under such circumstances, an absence of informal supports can impact seniors' health and quality of life and may lead to premature institutionalization. Drawing upon a household survey in Fort St. John, British Columbia, we explore informal supports used by low-income senior women living alone in this different context of the Canadian landscape. Our findings indicate that these women not only have a support network that is comparable to other groups, but that they are also more likely to draw upon such supports to meet their independent-living needs. These women rely heavily on family support, however, and greater efforts are needed to diversify both their formal and informal sources of support as small family networks can quickly become overwhelmed.     

There Goes the Neighborhood: How Racial Threat Shapes the Formation of Integrated and Segregated Neighborhoods

Neighborhoods in the United States are highly segregated by race. Black–white segregation is particularly acute. Although racial segregation has been declining in recent years, it remains extremely high—especially in the largest metropolitan areas. The historical pattern has been that as African Americans move into a neighborhood, whites move out and thus the neighborhood (gradually or rapidly) transitions from predominantly white to predominantly black. A seemingly contradictory pattern has recently been observed: integrated neighborhoods are becoming more common. Why do some neighborhoods transition from white to black and others become integrated? We use racial competition theory to answer this question. We examine the characteristics of stable, integrated neighborhoods and contrast them with segregated predominantly white, predominantly black, and rapidly transitioning neighborhoods in six large metropolitan areas. We find that the location of black neighborhoods is a key factor in whether an integrated neighborhood remains integrated. Specifically, we find integrated neighborhoods are spatially distant from majority black neighborhoods while transitioning neighborhoods are adjacent to them. Our findings support the “sense of threat” hypothesis of racial competition theory.     

Assessing the Quality of Household Panel Data: The Case of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics

Evidence from a number of methodological studies are used to assess the overall quality of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). Despite substantial cumulative non-response over the nearly two decades spanned by the study, the sample is found to maintain its representation of the nonimmigrant population of the United States. The most important reasons for this result are that the study's following rules insure that the sample replaces itself in the same manner as the population (through the formation of new families by the offspring of old) and that nonresponse is largely unsystematic. Nonresponse also appears to be largely random with respect to parameters in a number of behavioral models. The accuracy of measures is assessed by comparing survey measures with national aggregates and with highly accurate individual validating data. PSID reports of transfer income appear to compare more favorably with program aggregates than do reports from other large-scale surveys such as the Current Population Survey. Finally, although PSID survey measures generally are unbiased when compared to validating data, they contain amounts of measurement-error variance that range from trivially small to very large.     

Rethinking Risk Attitude: Aspiration as Pure Risk

There exists no completely satisfactory theory of risk attitude in current normative decision theories. Existing notions confound attitudes to pure risk with unrelated psychological factors such as strength of preference for certain outcomes, and probability weighting. In addition traditional measures of risk attitude frequently cannot be applied to non-numerical consequences, and are not psychologically intuitive. I develop Pure Risk theory which resolves these problems – it is consistent with existing normative theories, and both internalises and generalises the intuitive notion of risk being related to the probability of not achieving one’s aspirations. Existing models which ignore pure risk attitudes may be misspecified, and effects hitherto modelled as loss aversion or utility curvature may be due instead to Pure Risk attitudes.     

The social inclusion policy agenda in Australia: a case of old wine,new bottles?

The election of an Australian Labor Government in Australia in 2007 saw ‘social inclusion’ emerge as the official and overarching social policy agenda. Being ‘included’ was subsequently defined by the ALP Government as being able to ‘have the resources, opportunities and capabilities needed to learn, work, engage and have a voice‘. Various researchers in Australia demonstrated an interest in social inclusion, as it enabled them to construct a multi‐dimensional framework for measuring disadvantage. This research program resulted in various forms of statistical modelling based on some agreement about what it means to be included in society. The multi‐dimensional approach taken by academic researchers, however, did not necessarily translate to a new model of social policy development or implementation. We argue that, similar to the experience of the UK, Australia's social inclusion policy agenda was for the most part narrowly and individually defined by politicians and policy makers, particularly in terms of equating being employed with being included. We conclude with discussion about the need to strengthen the social inclusion framework by adopting an understanding of social inequality and social justice that is more relational and less categorical.     

ORGANIZATIONAL CHOICE AND SOME CORRELATES OF INDIVIDUALS' EXPECTANCIES1

This study uses expectancy theory to predict the sorority choices of 121 undergraduate students. Results show that the complete, multiplicative expectancy model is only a slightly better predictor of choice behavior than other versions of the model. Several personal and situational correlates of individuals' expectancies of entering sororities also are examined. Results show significant relationships between expectancy and subjects' self-esteem, perception of value similarity with sorority members, and number of perceived friendships with sorority members.