Understanding the link between the economy and teenage sexual behavior and fertility outcomes

We use individual-level data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and state unemployment rates to examine how the economy affects fertility and its proximate determinants for several groups based on gender, age (15–17 and 18–20 groups), and race/ethnicity. We find that, for 15- to 17-year-old females, several behaviors leading to pregnancies and pregnancies themselves are higher when the unemployment rate is higher, which is consistent with the counter-cyclical fertility patterns for this group. For 18- to 20-year-old males, the results suggested counter-cyclical patterns of fertility behaviors/outcomes for whites, but pro-cyclical patterns for blacks. This research was funded by grant R03HD47407 from the National Institute on Child and Health Development.     

The Woking Mosque Muslims: British Islam in the Early Twentieth Century

This paper discusses the views and social character of the group of British Muslims, centred round the Woking Mosque in the period immediately following the First World War. It argues that this group had four distinctive characteristics. First, it formed its own cultural community, rather than joining a pre-existing ethnic community. Second, it espoused an orthodox but modernistic Islam, influenced by—while not sharing the distinctive doctrines of—the Lahore Ahmadiyya. Third, it faced a leadership problem. Other than Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din (who played a key role in the group's early days, and who was a leading member of the Lahore Ahmadiyya, but had been given a specific brief not to spread their distinctive doctrines), the group was in many ways thrown upon its own resources. Here, Marmaduke Pickthall—subsequently the author of The Meaning of the Glorious Quran—played a major role. But while he had good colloquial and subsequently classical Arabic, his knowledge of Islam was largely self-taught. A final problem here was posed by the fact that the group attracted some converts—including Lord Headley—who exercised considerable influence because of their social standing, but whose knowledge of Islam was limited.     

Spending Today or Saving for Tomorrow: The Influence of Family Financial Socialization on Financial Preparation for Retirement

Many of the factors that motivate individuals occur within the context of the family, and can be influenced through family socialization processes. To better understand the influence family socialization processes may have on financial capabilities and financial behaviors, 334 married couples were sampled. Structural equation modeling was used to examine both direct and indirect associations. Findings indicated direct relationships between materialism and financial strain, between religiosity and determination of needs, and between financial strain and saving for retirement. Indirect relationships were found between materialism and saving for retirement through financial strain. Our study found evidence to support the Family Financial Socialization theoretical framework. Financial counselors may benefit by understanding how couples socialize each other as they prepare for retirement.     

Leadership theory and research in the new millennium: Current theoretical trends and changing perspectives

Scholarly research on the topic of leadership has witnessed a dramatic increase over the last decade, resulting in the development of diverse leadership theories. To take stock of established and developing theories since the beginning of the new millennium, we conducted an extensive qualitative review of leadership theory across 10 top-tier academic publishing outlets that included The Leadership Quarterly, Administrative Science Quarterly, American Psychologist, Journal of Management, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Organizational Science, and Personnel Psychology. We then combined two existing frameworks (Gardner, Lowe, Moss, Mahoney, & Cogliser, 2010; Lord & Dinh, 2012) to provide a process-oriented framework that emphasizes both forms of emergence and levels of analysis as a means to integrate diverse leadership theories. We then describe the implications of the findings for future leadership research and theory.     

Three Dimensions of Change in School Segregation: A Grade-Period-Cohort Analysis

This study uses the first age-period-cohort (APC) analysis of segregation to examine changes in U.S. public school segregation from 1999–2000 to 2013–2014. APC analyses disentangle distinct sources of change in segregation, and they account for grade effects that could distort temporal trends if grade distributions change over time. Findings indicate that grade effects are substantial, drastically reducing segregation at the transition to middle school and further at the transition to high school. These grade effects do not substantially distort the analysis of recent trends, however, because grade distributions were sufficiently stable. Black-white segregation was stagnant overall, while Hispanic-white segregation declined modestly. In both cases, declines across periods were offset by increases across cohorts. Further analyses reveal variation in these trends across metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, regions, and areas with different histories of desegregation policy.     

Improving the Numerical Performance of Static and Dynamic Aggregate Discrete Choice Random Coefficients Demand Estimation

The widely used estimator of Berry, Levinsohn, and Pakes (1995) produces estimates of consumer preferences from a discrete‐choice demand model with random coefficients, market‐level demand shocks, and endogenous prices. We derive numerical theory results characterizing the properties of the nested fixed point algorithm used to evaluate the objective function of BLP's estimator. We discuss problems with typical implementations, including cases that can lead to incorrect parameter estimates. As a solution, we recast estimation as a mathematical program with equilibrium constraints, which can be faster and which avoids the numerical issues associated with nested inner loops. The advantages are even more pronounced for forward‐looking demand models where the Bellman equation must also be solved repeatedly. Several Monte Carlo and real‐data experiments support our numerical concerns about the nested fixed point approach and the advantages of constrained optimization. For static BLP, the constrained optimization approach can be as much as ten to forty times faster for large‐dimensional problems with many markets.     

Predicting STEM Major and Career Intentions With the Theory of Planned Behavior

This investigation predicted ACT‐tested 11th‐ and 12th‐grade students’ intentions to choose science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) college majors and STEM careers using a measure of mathematics beliefs and attitudes based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991). The TPB states that the best predictor of behavior is the intention to perform that behavior, and intention is influenced by attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Students (N = 1,958) from 11th grade (48%) or 12th grade (52%) completed the measure and also indicated their intended college major and career. Results revealed that TPB predicted STEM major and career choice incrementally over a host of additional variables. More specifically, attitude and intention were the most predictive components. Although results were similar for male and female participants, attitudes and interests were somewhat more predictive for female than for male participants. Intervention possibilities and implications for future research were discussed.     

A Reply to Theodori,Luloff, Brennan,and Bridger

Theodori et al. (2016) take issue with our presentation of the interactional field theory of community, asserting that, according to interactional field theory, (1) community does not equate with community field; (2) community does not emerge out of the community‐oriented actions of individuals; as well as making various other charges. In our reply, we refute their points, and demonstrate how Theodori et al., themselves, often provide the best evidence against their own arguments.     

Rupture Resistance: An Archaeology of Pedophilia Crisis Communication

The national attention brought to high-profile sex crimes such as the Penn State scandal of 2011 and the Catholic Church scandal of 2002 has elevated public awareness of what can be appropriately referred to as pedophilia. Perceived as a public health threat, pedophilia has become a priority news item for its lascivious and predatory characteristics that instill fear within a widespread audience. This article conveys three ideas essential to pedophilia crisis communication. First, a brief introduction of pedophilia is offered as a social construct and catalyst for moral panic within organizations and their communities. Second, a review of modern and postmodern crisis frameworks is offered to examine an organizational approach to pedophilia and its Foucauldian conception as a rupturing, discursive formation. Third, a call for organizations to embrace ruptures in their pedophilia crisis response is advanced to align their activities with the prevailing historical moment rather than within metaphysical traditions.     

Advantages of a wholly Bayesian approach to assessing efficacy in early drug development: a case study

This paper illustrates how the design and statistical analysis of the primary endpoint of a proof‐of‐concept study can be formulated within a Bayesian framework and is motivated by and illustrated with a Pfizer case study in chronic kidney disease. It is shown how decision criteria for success can be formulated, and how the study design can be assessed in relation to these, both using the traditional approach of probability of success conditional on the true treatment difference and also using Bayesian assurance and pre‐posterior probabilities. The case study illustrates how an informative prior on placebo response can have a dramatic effect in reducing sample size, saving time and resource, and we argue that in some cases, it can be considered unethical not to include relevant literature data in this way. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.