Using local areas data to improve the lives of disadvantaged children and families

Because economic and social opportunities are unevenly distributed across England, the places in which children and young people are born and grow up can have significant influences on both their current well‐being and their future life chances. Data now available confirms the expected finding that the level of child well‐being found in an area tends to reflect its overall level of disadvantage. However, there are a number of exceptions to this general rule – local areas where child well‐being is either significantly better or worse than would be expected given the levels of advantage which exist there. Some of the possible explanations for these exceptions are considered, using additional data available from the mapping of children's services, particularly in relation to the provision of child and adolescent mental health services. It is argued that continued analysis of these different streams of data as they develop and mature over the coming years had an important role to play in assisting policy‐makers, service providers and local people, working collaboratively, to promote the well‐being of disadvantaged children and young people.     

Economic reform of China: Cause and effects

Despite the early success in mobilizing the people after seizing power in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) soon faced difficult bottlenecks. After the disastrous Great Leap Forward, compounded by the Three Bitter Years of natural calamities, reformists instituted a series of changes moving towards more market oriented rewards. This was short lived as Mao Zedong mobilized the Little Reds Guards to launch the Cultural Revolution and regain power. China's economy stagnated till the death of Mao. When Deng Dehuai reemerged as the leader, he reinstituted the reforms he had initiated a decade and a half ago. There is, however, a difference. The first time was a tacit move, but the Comprehensive Economic Reform (CER) started in 1978 represented a change in paradigm and a shift in ideology. True to the historical and cultural traits of China, the early stages of the reform were experimental, limited, and somewhat timid. It started in the rural agricultural production with the Household Responsibility System. With its success, the reform was extended to urban industrial sectors, but the Tianmen student demonstration in 1989 brought the momentum to a halt. It was not until Deng's Southern Tour in 1992 did the CER formally become the fundamental directive that “cannot be altered for a hundred years”. The CER is true to its name, comprehensive. The reform encompassed many aspects, with few exceptions (e.g., the insistence of the CCP one-party rule). We discuss the reform actions in four facets: property rights, factor income, macro controls, and global integration. China's economic success is evident, as it has sustained an average of more than 8% growth for more than three decades, but what is the prognosis for the future? Bumpy, but promising.     

Robustness of a multiple ranking procedure: a monte carlo experiment illustrating design and analysis techniques

This case study demonstrates statistical design and analysis techniques applicable to any Monte Carlo or simulation experiment, namely a 2^7?3 experimental design, antithetic variates, sample size determination, analysis of variance, regression analysis, and simultaneous inference. The example is a Monte Carlo investigation of the robustness of Bechhofer and Blumenthal’s multiple ranking procedure (MRP). The investigation shows that their procedure works often, but not always. Factors that make it break down, are identified.     

Review of random and group-screening designs

Experiments with real systems, but especially with simulated systems, may involve hundreds of factors. However, only a few factors are really important. Detecting these Important factors requires special designs such as random and group-screening de-signs. Random designs are simple, but they yield biased esti-mators. Group-screening is based on aggregation. The assumptions of group-screening are discussed in detail, and seem not very restrictive. References to applications of both design types are given.     

People Will Know We Are in Love: Evidence of Differences Between Vocal Samples Directed Toward Lovers and Friends

Research has documented the tendency for individuals to change their voices as a function of different emotional and motivational states, but little attention has been devoted to examining voice modulation in romantic relationships. The present research was conducted to determine (1) the way in which individuals alter their voices when speaking to romantic partners versus friends and (2) if independent raters perceive these differences. Independent raters (N = 80) listened to vocal clips obtained from telephone calls directed toward close same-sex friends and romantic partners. For several clips, raters were able to identify conversational partner (romantic versus friend) with greater than chance accuracy, and this accuracy was positively correlated with vocal pitch and perceived romantic interest. In addition, raters who listened to content-filtered clips judged callers less favorably when talking to their romantic partners than their friends. Results are interpreted in light of the “longing” but vulnerable condition of intense romantic love, and integrated into affection exchange theory and communication accommodation theory.     

Using the emancipatory communitarian approach to increase LGBTQI advocacy

Prilleltensky’s emancipatory communitarian approach (ECA) is proposed as a theoretical framework for American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model school counseling. The ECA emphasizes self-determination, compassion, collaboration and democracy, human diversity, and distributive justice. The ECA may benefit marginalized communities such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) students, within the auspices of school counseling practices, supports, and programming. We discuss commonalities of ECA with the ASCA Model, methods in which ECA principles can be taken up, and implementation at the confluence of ECA and the ASCA Model in a case study.     

Dog-park soils: Concentration and distribution of urine-borne constituents

Off-leash dog parks are very popular locations that allow pets to freely exercise and eliminate wastes in a controlled environment. Although dog park rules require that solid waste be removed by the pet’s owner, urine-borne constituents in dog-park soils have received little attention. This study focused on the soils within two small-dog, off-leash dog parks in Fargo, North Dakota (USA) with the objective to better understand the concentration and distribution of extractable NH₄-N, NO₃-N, PO₄, soluble salts, and pH values in surface soils (0–10 cm) within these two dog parks. Concentrations of soil variables varied widely within each park and were distributed as both gradient and ‘hot-spots.’ The geospatial model types for each soil parameter were more dependent on park than on the constituents themselves. Flow accumulation was correlated with both nitrate-N and P but due to the lack of topography at these parks the flow accumulation was not helpful in describing most of the soil constituents. The results from this project indicate that location of parks, daily/annual use of parks, flow accumulation, and location of park entries may all influence the concentration and distribution of urine-borne constituents.     

A Comparative Evaluation of Error and Bias in Census Tract-Level Age/Sex-Specific Population Estimates: Component I (Net-Migration) vs Component III (Hamilton–Perry)

While the housing-unit method continues to be the preferred method nationwide for producing small-area population estimates, this procedures lacks a method for making age/sex-specific estimates. This paper reports evaluation research on implementation of component-based methods for estimating census tract populations with age/sex detail. Two alternatives are explored: (1) the Component I method relying upon estimates of births, deaths, and net-migration and (2) the Component III method relying solely upon 1990 and 2000 Census counts. From an April 1, 2000 base, each method is used to make estimates moving forward to an April 1, 2010 estimate that is compared to the results of the 2010 Census. The two methods are compared in terms of accuracy and bias using both absolute and algebraic mean and median percentage errors. Results are reviewed and discussed in light of their implications for applied demographers tasked with making small-area demographic estimates.     

Development of the Carers’ Alert Thermometer for Young Carers (CAT-YC) to Identify and Screen the Support Needs of Young Carers: A Mixed Method Consensus Study

Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal - This paper reports on a multi-phased, mixed-method consensus-based study conducted with young carers in the UK aged 11–18, and health, social care...