Perception of Environmental Hazards in Hong Kong Chinese

A public sample of Hong Kong Chinese (N = 167) rated the levels of threat of 25 environmental hazards and gave quantitative judgments to six risk characteristics for each hazard. It was found that women, older participants, and less educated individuals found the hazards to be more threatening to the environment than did men, younger participants, and more educated individuals, respectively. A new spatial model emerged from a principal component analysis carried out on responses to six risk characteristics. Instead of replicating the well-documented factors of unknown risk versus dread risk, we found a structure defined by a known and dread risk factor and a controllable risk factor. Findings were discussed in light of potential influences of the Confucian heritage on the perception of risks among Hong Kong Chinese.     

Developing strategic thinking

This paper looks at the problem of getting managers to contribute effectively to strategic planning, and focuses on the role of management development approaches in ensuring that this happens. A number of formal, and less formal, management development techniques are discussed in the light of their relevance for developing strategic awareness. The importance of providing exposure to strategic issues at an early stage in managers' careers is stressed, and also the need to encourage managers to take initiatives in obtaining their own development. Some of the most fruitful techniques involve taking full advantage of the ‘natural learning’ that takes place on the job, and those which provide a close integration between management development and the planning process—such as projects and ‘task forces’. Finally the role of senior managers in helping to create and maintain a climate in which strategic abilities can develop is discussed.     

Ethical considerations when conducting ethnographic research in a nursing home setting

In this article I provide an overview of ethical concerns when conducting ethnographic research in nursing home settings where participants are vulnerable and submissive to authority, and I consider how particular research methodologies may benefit the participants. The focus of the article is primarily on the issues of privacy and autonomy and the relationship between the researcher and the participant. My own experiences of doing research in a nursing home will be woven throughout the article, as will the accounts of other researchers who have studied life in nursing homes. In reflecting on my work as a researcher I have come to a deeper understanding of the ethical issues involved in doing research in a nursing home and of the importance of ethically sound research.     

Frequency Domain Log-linear Models; Air Pollution and Mortality

Motivated by a study of the association between counts of daily mortality and air pollution, we present a frequency domain estimation approach for log-linear models that accounts for both overdispersion and autocorrelation. The methods also allow for the discounting or downweighting of information at particular frequencies at which, for example, confounding variables are likely to have greatest influence. This allows flexible sensitivity analyses to be carried out to assess the possible effect of confounders on the estimated effect. We apply the methods to estimate the association between counts of mortality and the concentration of airborne particles in Philadelphia, USA, for the years 1974–1988. We obtain an estimated effect of particulate air pollution on mortality that is significantly greater than zero but less than that obtained by a standard log-linear analysis.     

Young and Older Caregivers at Homeless Animal and Human Shelters: Selfish and Selfless Motives in Helping Others

In the present study, young (n = 34) and older(n = 70) adult volunteers at either animal (n= 48) or human (n = 56) homeless shelters were asked to complete measures of caregiver stress/satisfaction, volunteer motives, and social desirability. Young compared to older volunteers assisting animals, but not humans, reported a significantly higher caseload and spending significantly more time per visit with their clients. In addition, young volunteers reported significantly higher levels of caregiver stress with humans more than animals. Also, volunteers at human (but not animal) homeless shelters claimed the need for meeting social expectations as a motive for community service. Furthermore, younger compared to older volunteers reported gaining relevant career experience, obtaining a knowledge of the plight of others, relieving aversive emotions, and meeting normative expectations as significant motives for volunteering. These results may have important implications for recruitment and training of community volunteers at homeless shelters.     

一位欧洲女人在中国

在回顾中国改革30年成果的基础上,本文试图以重访中国的一位欧洲女人的观点,总结中国经验的历史意义及其思想文化基础,同时也对中欧思想文化的特点进行比较.     

Becoming involved in raising a relative's child: reasons, caregiver motivations and pathways to informal kinship care

Interviews with 207 informal kinship caregivers describe a dynamic process that influences how children come to live with a relative other than their parent. This process involves three overlapping and often simultaneously occurring factors: (1) the reasons the children's parents were unable to care for them; (2) the caregiver's motivation for assuming responsibility for the child; and (3) the pathways or routes that children took to the caregiver's home. Understanding these factors and their mutual and simultaneous influence is important as we shape policies, programs and interventions to support families as they consider whether to care for a relative's child and once they assume this responsibility.     

Die Dynamik von Führung, Vertrauen und Konflikt in virtuellen Teams

The importance of virtual teams for collaboration of globally networked organizations has long been debated. But although this new form of division of labor appears in nearly all companies, which poses special challenges to managers and team members, scientific findings and recommendations have not sufficiently been integrated into practice so far. This article discusses on the one hand the challenges and opportunities of virtual teams, on the other hand wants by the presenting of scientific findings both provide food for thought, as well as concrete recommendations for implementation in practice.