Self-Perceived Physical Attractiveness,Self-Esteem,Race, and Gender

Abstract

African American self-perceptions of physical attractiveness are found to be higher than white self-perceptions, while there is no difference by race in the correlation between self-perceived attractiveness and self-esteem. Controlling for self-perceived attractiveness, African Americans have lower self-esteem than whites, suggesting that African American perceptions of physical attractiveness, mirrored in the slogan “Black is Beautiful,” may have contributed to the disappearance over the past forty years of the gap between African American and white self-esteem. Self-esteem is more strongly related to self-perceived physical attractiveness for females than males, particularly among whites.     

Supply and demand: A study of labour market trends and the employment of new social work graduates in victoria

Abstract

At a time of significant restructuring in the community services labour market, it is particularly pertinent to analyse the current labour market opportunities available to new social work graduates. In 1995, using a small RMIT-funded (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) research grant, five schools of social work in Victoria collaborated to pilot a survey of the employment paths of the previous year's social work graduates. The survey was repeated in 1996. A complementary project which analysed the job advertisements for social work and social work-related positions during six months in both 1995 and 1996 provided further insight into the employment opportunities being advertised. Survey results showed a high rate of employment among new graduates with a decreasing number of graduates being employed in designated “social work” positions. This trend was reflected in the requirements for the positions advertised. The implications of this diversity of jobs and the decrease in designated “social work” positions are discussed, particularly in terms of broader changes in the world of work.     

Violence Against Homeless Women: Safety and Social Policy

Abstract

Over the past 20 years there has been increasing understanding of the gendered nature of homelessness in Australia. Most significantly, this gendering has occurred through the acknowledgement of the links between domestic violence and homelessness and this has played out in Australian social policy through the funding of specialist domestic violence services. However, not all women are assisted by these specialist services—either because they are not homeless due to domestic violence, or because they fall through the gaps in the service system. Homelessness exposes these women to heightened vulnerability to violence. This article considers homeless women's experiences of violence and their implications for homelessness policy. Framed by Australian and Victorian social policy and drawing on a qualitative study of 29 women, all of whom had experienced violence during homelessness, the article argues that greater policy attention needs to be paid to ensuring homeless women's safety.     

Improving response to an establishment survey through the use of web-push data collection methods

ABSTRACT

The web-push method has been shown to increase web response rates in general public surveys. Response rates from two waves of the Emergency Medical Services for Children Program’s Performance Measures Survey, a state-administered establishment survey, were compared to determine if the second wave's revised, centralized implementation strategy improved response rates and consistency across states. The centralized strategy included the web-push design; a carefully timed contacts; and a three-month timeline. The results of the centralized web-push method included a higher overall response rate for a three-month period (81.0% compared to 56.6%) as well as greater consistency in results across states.     

A Multiple-community Overlap Measure Based on a Probabilistic Approach

Species diversity indices are designed to measure the species diversity of a community and to compare the species distribution structure of two communities. The Shannon and Simpson indices are for describing one community, and the Jaccard and Morisita indices are for comparing two communities. Only a few indices allow the simultaneous comparison of three or more communities. In this study, we propose a multiple-community similarity index based on a probabilistic approach, and compare it with other multiple-community indices. Empirical examples are considered as a demonstration of the proposed similarity indices.     

A Simplified Treatment of the Estimation of Parameters and Tests of Hypotheses in Constrained Design Models with Unbalanced Data

A simple approach to the least squares estimation of parameters in the linear design model is given. An algebraically tractable example for unbalanced data is used to illustrate the approach.     

在中国科技大学的日子

1991年,我和我的妻子Alison第一次来到中国,开始了一段不平凡的经历。初次踏上这片遥远的、极具异国情调的土地,兴奋中更多的却是陌生。然而,十几年过去,我们已经逐渐适应并越来越热爱这里的生活与工作。我应聘的单位是中国科学技术大学,主要工作是指导博士生如何用英语来展示他们的科研成果,这是一项非常有意义的工作,能够经常接触到科研领域中许多令人着迷的最新成果。来中国之前,我一直在加拿大的滑铁卢大学教授计算机科学课程,每每想到因指导博士生而不能对自己从事的科研领域投入太多的时间,总会有一丝淡淡的怅惘涌上心头。然而,每当…