A Factor Analytic Study of Four Listening Tests

This paper describes the nature and assessment of an interactive videodisc instructional program on listening. The program is available to other educational institutions seeking to expand cost-effective listening instruction to students. Formative evaluations indicate that students enjoyed the Level III interactive multimedia instruction (IMI). Results of a dummy variable regression analysis indicate that students receiving IMI in listening achieved significantly higher immediate cognitive test scores and listening gain scores than did students in the control group. Regression analysis indicated no significant effect of reported GPA, year in school, previous listening instruction, or time-on-task on listening test gain scores of the IMI treatment group. However, significant effects on cognitive test scores were found for reported GPA, previous listening instruction, time-on-task, and senior versus non-senior standing.     

Ethnographic Film as Exchange

This paper discusses how film impacts on the relationship between researchers/filmmakers and their collaborators in the field. Film can function as a gift that strengthens reciprocal relationships and it is a medium that facilitates dialogue and intercultural exchange. The author argues that film has great potential for eliciting cultural differences and enhancing intercultural communication as people relate to the same visual material from their different perspectives more easily than in the case of written text. Through ‘feedback’ and the ‘parallax effect’ film contributes to a reflective space both for the researchers and their local collaborators. Local collaborators often have different stakes in the film and the filmmakers may find themselves in the role of circumstantial activists with only limited control over the film's use and impact once it is produced.     

Difficulty in seeking information about health care quality and costs: The field of dreams fallacy

While government agencies and health organizations have increased efforts to provide online information about health care quality and costs, we know little about whether individuals seek out or understand this information. Using results from a Louisiana telephone survey (N = 1030), we examine intent to use a website devoted to information about health care quality and costs and self-reported difficulty in finding this information. Intent to use a website is driven primarily by prior Internet use while difficulty in learning about health care quality is associated with greater choice in health care providers and dissatisfaction with current care.     

Microcredit Self-Help Groups for Widowed and Abandoned Women in South India: Do They Help?

ABSTRACT

Results are presented from a study on a microcredit program with self-help groups implemented for widowed and abandoned women in Tamil Nadu shortly after the Indian Ocean Tsunami. Data were collected from 109 participants measuring the women's investment patterns, loan amounts, demographics, and overall well-being (psychological, economic, communal, and familial). Results indicate that loan amounts and investment patterns were not significantly related to the women's well-being. Length of group participation and having children were negatively related to the women's well-being. These findings are discussed in relation to social and cultural contexts. Suggestions for programs for this population of vulnerable women and other marginalized groups are proposed.     

Psychological factors and the sexuality of pregnant and postpartum women

This study examined the influence of role quality, relationship satisfaction, fatigue, and depression on women's sexuality during pregnancy and after childbirth. Questionnaire data were obtained from 138 women pregnant with their first child, of whom 104 responded at 12 weeks postpartum, and 70 responded at 6 months postpartum. Women reported significant reductions in sexuality during pregnancy and postpartum. Relationship satisfaction explained levels of sexual satisfaction during pregnancy, and was a predictor of sexual desire in the postpartum. Depression was an important predictor of reduced sexual desire and sexual satisfaction during pregnancy, and of reduced frequency of intercourse at 12 weeks postpartum. At 6 months postpartum, the quality of the mother role strongly related to measures of sexuality. Throughout the perinatal period, fatigue impacted on measures of sexuality, either directly or/and indirectly. The implications of these results in terms of the impact of pregnancy and childbirth on relationships and sexuality are discussed.     

Intermarriage and Social Support Among Canadians in Middle and Later Life

Despite widespread attention to population aging and contemporary increases in racial intermarriage, little is known regarding their joint implications for social support in middle and later life. Drawing on data from the 2007 General Social Survey conducted by Statistics Canada on intermarried and endogamously married adults age 45 and over (N = 13,238), this study examined the effects of intermarriage on instrumental and emotional support. The results revealed that intermarriage was accompanied by a reduced likelihood of instrumental support with transportation from others outside the household but that it had no impact on the receipt of help with household tasks or in caring for family members and a positive impact on emotional support. These findings suggest that intermarriage is not uniformly positive, neutral, or negative in its implications for social support. Future theoretical and empirical work will need to address the complexities of these relationships in order to enhance our understanding of these emergent family structures.     

The “Booty Call”: A Compromise Between Men's and Women's Ideal Mating Strategies

Traditionally, research on romantic and sexual relationships has focused on one-night stands and monogamous pairs. However, as the result of men and women pursuing their ideal relationship types, various compromise relationships may emerge. One such compromise is explored here: the “booty call.” The results of an act-nomination and frequency study of college students provided an initial definition and exploration of this type of relationship. Booty calls tend to utilize various communication mediums to facilitate sexual contact among friends who, for men, may represent low-investment, attractive sexual partners and, for women, may represent attractive test-mates. The relationship is discussed as a compromise between men's and women's ideal mating strategies that allows men greater sexual access and women an ongoing opportunity to evaluate potential long-term mates.     

The sexuality scale: An instrument to measure sexual‐esteem,sexual‐depression,and sexual‐preoccupation

This article describes the development of the Sexuality Scale, an instrument designed to measure three aspects of human sexuality: sexual‐esteem, defined as positive regard for and confidence in the capacity to experience one's sexuality in a satisfying and enjoyable way; sexual‐depression, defined as the experience of feelings of depression regarding one's sex life; and sexual‐preoccupation, defined as the tendency to think about sex to an excessive degree. The procedure involved (a) item construction, selection and subsequent validation through item analysis; and (b) a factor analysis of the items on the Sexuality Scale and the establishment of factorial validity. The results indicated that the three subscales were psychometrically sound, that males reported more sexual‐preoccupation than did females, and that the three subscales have unique intercorrelation patterns. The exploratory nature of these findings are discussed.     

Evaluation Research System,Functions, Future

Abstract

The authors focus on evaluation research as a social phenomenon. After identifying the system of actors for whom this phenomenon has meaning, they trace the changing functions and dysfunctions of evaluation research for these actors over time. They find that: (1) there was initially a consensus among actors on the scientific utility of evaluation research; (2) this consensus has broken down as actors realize the various economic, political and value implications of evaluation research for their own interests, and as they struggle to control the process. Because of this interaction of interests and perceptions of function, the authors predict that evaluation research will be, increasingly, the activity of the “for profit” research organizations, rather than of university based social scientists.'