RESPONSE RATES AND RESPONSE CONTENT IN MAIL VERSUS FACE-TO-FACE SURVEYS

Two surveys were administered based on the same area probabilitysampling frame and with some of the same questions: one samplewas used for hour-long face-to-face interviewing in the 1992Detroit Area Study; the other sample received a much shorterquestionnaire in the mail for sell-administration. The samplesegments had previously been stratified in terms of the percentagethat was black. For the predominantly white stratum, there wasonly a small difference in response rates due to mode of administration.For the predominantly black stratum, the mail survey obtaineda considerably lower response rate then the face-to-face survey.Within the predominantly white stratum, there were no cleardifferences between results for the two modes of administrationin demographic variables or in gross housing characteristics.However, the mail survey respondents expressed more negativeattitudes toward racial integration and affirmative action thandid the face-to-face respondents. Because the mail sample ofthe predominantly black stratum was small, it was not possibleto carry out similar analyses of demographic or attitudinaldifferences, or to determine whether its lower response ratewas due mainly to race, to correlates of race such as incomeor education, or even to problems with mail delivery in centralcities.     

A CUSUM SCHEME BASED ON THE EXPONENTIAL DISTRIBUTION FOR SURVEDLLANCE OF RARE CONGENITAL MALFORMATIONS

A method of monitoring the incidence of malformations is described. It is suitable for systems where the number of births between successive malformations is known or can be estimated with reasonable accuracy. The method utilises a cusum technique based on the exponential distribution to detect an increase in the incidence of malformations above a baseline level. Adequate information to enable the implementation of the method is presented. The proposed method compares favourably with others such as the Poisson cusum and the modified sets technique.     

“It's the Money,Honey”: The Economy of Sex Work in the Maritimes*

Cet article se fonde sur une série d'interviews menés auprès de 60 travailleurs du sexe dans trois villes des Provinces maritimes. Nous avons trouvé que ces travailleurs prenaient souvent des décisions prudentes entre les choix économiques, notamment le travail a salaire minimal ou le bien‐être social, ou entre le travail sexuel de maison ou de rue. Les interviews révélaient des modèles de résistance à l'endroit des structures économiques dominantes comparables aux modèles d'autres travailleurs des Maritimes. Comprendre les travailleurs du sexe comme travailleurs resistants nous permet de voir que beaucoup de leurs soucis tournent autour du maintien et/ou de l'augmentation de leur indépendance comme travailleurs, de leur capacité de maîtriser le rythme et le prix de leur travail, et de leurs conditions de travail. This paper is based on interviews with 60 sex workers in three Maritime cities. We found that sex workers often made careful decisions between the economic choices–including minimum‐wage work or welfare–and between indoor or street‐based sex work. Patterns of resistance to dominant economic structures that are comparable to other workers in the Maritimes emerged from the interviews. Understanding sex workers as resistant workers allows us to see that many of their concerns revolve around maintaining and/or increasing their independence as workers, their control over the pace and price of their labour, and the conditions of their work.     

Prison Welfare and Voluntary After Care

Summary Some findings of a survey into the experiences of men releasedfrom prison are reported, where they relate to their use ofprison welfare and after care services. These are discussedin the context of issues such as through-care, rate of take-up,and the factors which may be influential in determining whethera man makes use of after care on release from prison. It isproposed that for more isolated men the probation service shouldadopt a ‘reaching-out’ strategy.     

Social Workers and Supervision Orders: A Case of Occupational Uncertainty

Summary A distinctive feature of the supervision order is that it canbe administered either by the Probation Service or by the LocalAuthority Social Services Department. An examination of the case files on a large sample of boys (N=971)aged 14–16 placed on supervision orders for criminal offencesreveals a number of differences between the way in which workersin the two agencies approach the task of supervision. The findingssuggest that social workers are in some respects less professionallysecure and certain as to their purpose in performing their supervisorytask than are probation officers. This is accounted for by locatingtheir practice in a number of intersecting contexts, includingan occupational ambivalence over the exercise of authority anda lack of clarity in relation to the role of welfare in thecontext of juridical requirements     

Motherhood under twenty: prevailing ideologies and research

SUMMARY. Women who become mothers under the age of 20 are usually thought to he at greater risk of health and social problems. The authors argue that such a prevailing view has become institutionalised in the approaches of practitioners and researchers. They examine the ideological and factual bases of such an attitude towards teenage mothers and conclude that ideology is dominant. Suggestions are made as to how this might be overcome to allow a more balanced approach to research about young motherhood.     

SELF-INTEREST AND PUBLIC OPINION TOWARD SMOKING RESTRICTIONS AND CIGARETTE TAXES

A burgeoning literature suggests that self-interest has littleinfluence on policy preferences. In sharp contrast are the findingsdiscussed in this paper: we show that self-interest plays adecisive role in shaping attitudes toward smoking restrictionsand cigarette taxes. Data from two random samples of Californiaadults collected by the Field Institute in April 1987 and February1984 indicate that nonsmokers are far more enthusiastic abouttightening smoking restrictions and increasing cigarette taxesthan smokers, particularly heavy smokers. We conclude by discussingseveral explanations for the apparent discrepancy between theseresults and the pattern of null findings characteristic of theself-interest literature.