Toward a grounded theory of lesbians' recovery from addiction

This article presents the results of a qualitative study on lesbians' recovery from addiction. The study involved semi-structured interviews with 20 lesbians in recovery from addiction and was analyzed using grounded theory method. The central theme that emerged was self-acceptance, both as a lesbian and as a recovering alcoholic/addict, with considerable interaction between the two. Categories that contributed to this theme were learning to recover, relationships with other people, and relationship with something bigger than self. The discussion addresses how this information can be used to assist lesbians trying to recover from addiction.     

A random-effect regression model for medical follow-up studies

In medical follow-up studies, it is often the case that patients under study are required to visit a clinical centre at prespecified times and the observed information consists only of the numbers of events of interest that have occurred between visits. A major difficulty arising in the analysis of these studies is that actual observation times among the patients are usually different. To deal with this difficulty, observation times are usually assumed to be fixed and grouping techniques are commonly employed. It is well known that analyses which are based on grouping methods may yield conclusions which depend crucially on the actual choice of grouping intervals. Loss to follow-up is another problem that usually occurs in such studies. In this paper we consider a situation in which the different observation times arise from some random effect. A regression-based method for the analysis of the event counts is presented. One of the principal advantages of this approach is the complete absence of any grouping. The merits of this regression-based methodology are illustrated through an analysis of the occurrence rates of nausea in the National Cooperative Gallstone Study.     

EIS—A guide for executives

Although the use of executive information systems (EIS) is increasing, many senior executives have such mixed feelings about them that there is an ‘EIS paradox’. Information managers and software suppliers believe this is because senior executives are intimidated by information technology, but this does not hold up to scrunity. The EIS paradox occurs because of failure to explain coherently how EIS fit with other aspects of the organizational database and what EIS can and cannot do for a senior executive and his or her organization. This article is designed to close the ‘information gap’ about EIS specifically for senior executives. The change in terminology from ‘data processing’ to ‘information technology’ is symptomatic of a change in the way in which computers are used. Rather than being the mere province of the data professional, information technology as exemplified by EIS can be applied to tasks where judgement and selectivity are required. The crucial point about EIS is, however, that computing can complement and increase managerial qualities of imagination and intelligence but not replace them.     

Ethnographic boundaries: Culture,class, and sexuality in Tokyo

For those engaged in participant-observation, the first few months in the field are usually extremely difficult. By taking a reflexive turn, however, the events recorded during entrée are invaluable for revealing the social and cultural dimensions of the new life a researcher creates for him or herself. The following is an account of one researcher's attempt to enter a community in contemporary Tokyo. This account reveals the boundaries of culture, class and sexuality between the researcher and the community. The complex set of highly personal ramifications resulting from crossing those boundaries are also discussed.Many people have read various versions of this paper, but I would especially like to thank the following for taking the time to provide me with thought provoking comments: Beverly Eliasoph, Steven Brint, Deborah Davis-Friedmann, Ezra Vogel, Robert J. Smith, Shulamit Reinharz, and Lee Rainwater. I am especially indebted to Dorinne Kondo, whose insights and warm support proved to be invaluable. Of course, all of the usual disclaimers apply.     

Health education evaluation and beliefs and practices in rural Tamil Nadu. 2. Family planning and antenatal care

This paper, which reports on the effect of health services in Kanniambadi block, is a continuation of a previous paper on knowledge, attitude and practice surveys in 3 blocks in North Arcot District, Tamil Nadu. It was found that knowledge of family planning is poor, especially for temporary methods, even in the service area. However, both attitudes and practice showed a definite improvement in the service area. Knowledge of antenatal care was also poor, with only slight improvement in the service area. The influence of different factors on family planning and implications for health education are discussed. More use of group methods, and more education about temporary methods is recommended, as well as close linkage between health and development programs.     

The FACES Project: an academic-community partnership to improve end-of-life care for families

This article reports on a research partnership between a community-based hospice and a graduate school of social work. The purpose of the collaboration was to design and test a tool for assessing caregiver strain and resources in families caring for older adults receiving hospice home care services. Eighteen hospice home care social workers interviewed 162 caregivers for the study and provided their own assessment of the tool's clinical utility. Both strengths and challenges of the collaboration are evaluated and implications are discussed for social work practice and research, particularly academic-community research partnerships.