Exploring the relationship between employment-based social capital, job stress, burnout, and intent to leave among child protection workers: An age-based path analysis model

Research suggests that age and organizational factors are consistently linked with job stress, burnout, and intent to leave among child protection workers. However, no study has contextualized how age matters with regards to these adverse employee outcomes. We conducted a theory driven path analysis that identifies sources of employment-based social capital, job stress, burnout, and intent to leave among two age groups. We used a statewide purposive sample of 209 respondents from a public child welfare organization in a New England state in the United States. Results suggest that the paths to job stress, burnout and intent to leave differed by age group. Social capital dimensions were more influential in safeguarding against job stress for older workers compared to younger workers. Our results justify creating workplace interventions for younger workers that target areas of the organization where relational support could enhance the quality of social interactions within the organization. Organizations may need to establish intervention efforts aimed at younger workers by creating different structures of support that can assist them to better deal with the pressures and demands of child protection work.     

Perceived barriers to accessing health services among people with disabilities in rural northern Namibia

People living with disabilities (PWD) face unique problems in dealing with conventional healthcare facilities. We investigate the experiences of PWD as they access healthcare facilities in rural Namibia. More specifically, we investigate structural–environmental and process barriers to accessing health facilities. The study relied on semi-structured interviews and purposive sampling. The results showed PWD find it difficult to walk to health centers for treatment due to lack of transport, money to pay for treatment and toilet facilities and the distance is too far for people with lower-limb disabilities. There is a need to consider the unique issues affecting access to healthcare for people living with disabilities to achieve equitable access to healthcare services.     

Inclusive schooling: fostering citizenship among immigrant students in Europe

Growing ethnic and cultural diversity within Europe has brought increased attention to the impact and inclusion of immigrant populations and has also presented societies with valuable opportunities for intercultural learning between diverse groups. Using the International Civic and Citizenship Study data from 24 European education systems, in this paper we explore whether fostering an atmosphere of inclusion in schools relates to select attitudes and behaviours typically associated with an inclusive society, particularly among immigrant students. Our study is able to tease out some of the differences related to social class among immigrant students, opening up important avenues for discussion and future research. According to our findings, first generation immigrant students from higher socio-economic status backgrounds tended to have significantly more negative attitudes toward their resident country. Findings also collectively suggest that local-level practices, such as improving immigrant student participation in schools and positive relations between immigrant students and teachers, could be significant factors in fostering an inclusive society. Based on these results, we describe several education policies and practices that can promote greater inclusion, such as encouraging increased civic participation within the school and community, and providing a forum where students can contribute to school governance.     

‘It’s better if someone can see me for who I am’: stories of (in)visibility for students with a visual impairment within South African Universities

Issues of visibility, invisibility and the non-disabled gaze are very relevant to the lives of many disabled persons. With this article we tentatively show that, despite the physical ‘over’-visibility of disabled bodies, many intricate parts of their personhood remain obscured and invisible. Interviews with 23 students with a visual impairment revealed that they sometimes experienced stares and averted gazes from their sighted counterparts. In response, they often hid their entire impairment, or parts thereof, in an effort to conform and gain acceptance and to earn membership to a non-disabled peer group. Acceptance was often found in companionship with fellow disabled peers. Since these stories told of continuing exclusion for disabled students on tertiary grounds, further participatory research is recommended.     

Auditing biochemical research data: A case study

There is little documentation in the literature of how to conduct a data audit of laboratory research. The purpose of such an audit is to verify the extent to which the published data agree with the corresponding laboratory notebook data and whether the data thus examined appear to be sufficient to justify the published conclusions. A case study is presented, which demonstrates a step by step approach towards conducting a data audit of a published research study.     

Some efficient random imputation methods

Imputation methods that assign a selection of respondents’ values for missing i tern nonresponses give rise to an addd,tional source of sampling variation, which we term imputation varLance , We examine the effect of imputation variance on the precision of the mean, and propose four procedures for sampling the rEespondents that reduce this additional variance. Two of the procedures employ improved sample designs through selection of respc,ndents by sampling without replacement and by stratified sampl;lng. The other two increase the sample base by the use of multiple imputations.     

Potential Selective Responding in a Parent Questionnaire Study of Post-Institutionalized Children

This study assesses selective responding in a single wave of data collection and a four-wave study. Participants were 121 parents of post-institutionalized children, identified as “never responders,” “previous responders,” or “wave 4 responders.” Parents evaluated their adopted child's family, school, peer, and behavioral adjustment. Children (47% male) were 2 to 20 years old (M = 10.79, SD = 4.59) and adopted between 5 and 54 months of age (M = 15.49, SD = 9.94). Within a single wave of data collection, no evidence suggested that selective responding contributes much bias. Over a multi-wave study, however, results may under-represent adjustment difficulties.