A Risk Assessment for Occupational Acrylonitrile Exposure Using Epidemiology Data

The extensive data from the Blair et al.((1)) epidemiology study of occupational acrylonitrile exposure among 25460 workers in eight plants in the United States provide an excellent opportunity to update quantitative risk assessments for this widely used commodity chemical. We employ the semiparametric Cox relative risk (RR) regression model with a cumulative exposure metric to model cause-specific mortality from lung cancer and all other causes. The separately estimated cause-specific cumulative hazards are then combined to provide an overall estimate of age-specific mortality risk. Age-specific estimates of the additional risk of lung cancer mortality associated with several plausible occupational exposure scenarios are obtained. For age 70, these estimates are all markedly lower than those generated with the cancer potency estimate provided in the USEPA acrylonitrile risk assessment.((2)) This result is consistent with the failure of recent occupational studies to confirm elevated lung cancer mortality among acrylonitrile-exposed workers as was originally reported by O'Berg,((3)) and it calls attention to the importance of using high-quality epidemiology data in the risk assessment process.     

The good,the bad and the unnatural: a study of coroners' decisions in Northern Ireland

This paper is concerned with an examination of the investigatory resources and explanatory principles which surround the dead. The central focus is upon the distinctions which are drawn between natural and unnatural death, and the paper has two main aims. First, it attempts to measure the direction and flow of investigatory and observatory power which emanates from the coroners’ court. Second, it attempts to unravel the connotations embodied in the concept of unnatural death. It is argued that the characteristics of the natural and the unnatural are not to be found within the anatomy or physiology of the corpse, but rather in the principles of an aetiological framework which seeks to decontextualise death and disease from their social base, and which consequently distorts our vision of the human condition at death. The data on which the arguments are based are drawn from studies of those deemed to have died unnaturally in Belfast at various periods during the twentieth century.     

Experiments in Producing Nonresponse Bias

While nonresponse rates in household surveys are increasingin most industrialized nations, the increasing rates do notalways produce nonresponse bias in survey estimates. The linkagebetween nonresponse rates and nonresponse bias arises from thepresence of a covariance between response propensity and thesurvey variables of interest. To understand the covariance term,researchers must think about the common influences on responsepropensity and the survey variable. Three variables appear tobe especially relevant in this regard: interest in the surveytopic, reactions to the survey sponsor, and the use of incentives.A set of randomized experiments tests whether those likely tobe interested in the stated survey topic participate at higherrates and whether nonresponse bias on estimates involving variablescentral to the survey topic is affected by this. The experimentsalso test whether incentives disproportionately increase theparticipation of those less interested in the topic. The experimentsshow mixed results in support of these key hypotheses.     

The non-profit sector in a national accounts framework

This paper first reviews the measurement and presentation of non-profit institutions in the US national income and product accounts. For the most part in these accounts, transactions of non-profit institutions serving individuals are consolidated with those of the individuals served and recorded in the personal income and outlay account, a treatment that a majority of users have never found satisfactory. The paper next details the recommendations for these institutions proposed for the 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA). The paper then offers some suggestions on how the treatment of non-profit institutions in the US national income and product accounts might be modified in the light of the 1993 SNA recommendations.This paper was originally prepared forImproving Economic Statistics: Measurement of the Nonprofit Sector and Its Presentation in Federal Statistics, a workshop sponsored by The Committee on National Statistics, National Research Council, May 21–22, 1992, at the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC.The author wishes to acknowledge the helpful comments of colleagues at the Bureau of Economic Analysis and other participants in the Workshop, as well as those of two anonymous reviewers. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Bureau of Economic Analysis or the Department of Commerce.     

POLITICAL MODELS OF THE BUSINESS CYCLE SHOULD BE REVIVED

Political models of the business cycle have typically been ignored because they appear inconsistent with rational behavior and because empirical evidence is inconclusive. This paper addresses the second issue, demonstrating for U.S. real GNP, unemployment, and inflation that electoral cycles (persistent patterns across electoral terms) are significant, but apparently only for Republican incumbents, and that partisan cycles (persistent differences between parties) are also significant. These findings are consistent with the conjecture that a minority party is more constrained by electoral concerns, whereas a majority party is freer to pursue partisan objectives.     

Community-based Arts Program for Youth in Low-Income Communities: A Multi-Method Evaluation

This article reports on a multi-method evaluation of a national arts program conducted over 3 years in five sites across Canada. Statistical analysis involve growth curve modeling of five waves of data and interviews with participating youth and parents. The results indicate that high-quality arts programs have a significant effect on children’s in-program behavior and emotional problems. The findings from the qualitative interviews suggest that active recruitment, removing barriers to participation, and high parental involvement enhanced youth engagement. Perceived youth gains included increased confidence, enhanced art skills, improved prosocial skills, and improved conflict resolution skills.     

Political attitudes, social participation and social mobility: a longitudinal analysis

It is often suggested that the political attitudes and social participation which have underpinned the welfare-state democracies have depended on large amounts of upward social mobility. The demographic heterogeneity of the service class, according to this view, induced in them a willingness to lead a common political project seeking to establish a common social citizenship. As the amount of upward mobility stagnates or even begins to fall, it has then further been claimed that there might emerge a degree of ideological closure in the service class that might erode their commitment to civic values. The 1958 British birth cohort study is used to investigate this question. Longitudinal data are invaluable here because they allow us to distinguish between two hypotheses: that upward mobility as such has induced in the service class certain attitudes and propensities to participate, or that the more important influence is the early socialization through which upwardly mobile people went. The conclusion of the analysis is that, although the civic values of the service class have not depended on upward mobility, this is much more true of cognitively able people than of others, and so is dependent on the somewhat meritocratic basis of selection into the salariat.     

Patient Compliance and the Role of the Expert

The failure of patients to follow recommendations made to them by health experts usually represents a hazard to the patient's health, a waste of health resources, and a source of frustration to the health expert. Many studies of such failure lead to the conclusion that every patient should be considered as potentially "non-compliant." The most promising site for intervention is in the expert-patient interaction. Viewing compliance as a property of the transaction between expert and client, it is appropriate to see the responsibility for establishing compliance as shared between expert and client. From this viewpoint, several models of the expert-client relationship are reviewed. Three areas of responsibility can be assigned to experts—exploring the individual patient's situation fully; anticipating the patient's difficulties in following recommendations; and communicating information in a way that will maximize its effectiveness. Recognition of these responsibilities will have numerous consequences for those who teach health professionals and for psychologists engaged in the study of communication processes.     

Teaching Note—Incorporating Journal Clubs Into Social Work Education: An Exploratory Model

This article outlines the implementation of a journal club for master's and doctoral social work students interested in mental health practice. It defines educational journal clubs and discusses the history of journal clubs in medical education and the applicability of the model to social work education. The feasibility of implementing journal clubs in a school of social welfare is highlighted. The journal club received high ratings on student evaluations indicating participants thought it was a valuable addition to their education. Journal clubs align with the program mission and goals of the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) set forth by the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE), and they can be an affordable, easily implemented, and sustainable supplement to traditional research curricula.