Some new techniques for applying the housing unit method of local population estimation

The housing unit method of population estimation is often characterized as being imprecise and having an upward bias. We believe that the method itself cannot properly be characterized by a particular level of precision or direction of bias. Only specific techniques of applying the method can have such characteristics. In this paper we discuss several new techniques we have developed for estimating households and the average number of persons per household. Estimates produced by these techniques are compared to estimates produced by several other techniques. Special census results from Florida provide preliminary evidence that the new techniques produce more precise, less biased estimates than the other techniques.     

Comparison of household-survey estimates with projections of mortality and orphan numbers in sub-Saharan Africa in the era of HIV/AIDS

The United Nations publishes estimates of HIV prevalence, AIDS mortality, and orphan numbers for all countries of the world. It is important to assess the validity of these model-based estimates since they underpin much policy concerned with care and prevention. Household surveys that ask questions about the survival of children's parents (orphanhood) offer an independent source of data with which these estimates can be compared. Survey estimates of maternal and paternal orphans are significantly lower than model estimates for 40 surveys in 36 countries of sub-Saharan Africa (p < 0.001, p = 0.002). This is probably because adult mortality from causes other than AIDS is lower than assumed in the models, although under-reporting of orphanhood in surveys may also play a role. Reducing adult mortality from causes other than AIDS brings the model estimates into close agreement with the surveys. This suggests that the fraction of orphans attributable to AIDS is greater than estimated previously.     

The contraceptive prevalence survey project: content and status

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) selected Westinghouse Health Systems to carry out contraceptive surveys. The primary objectives of the Contraceptive Prevalence Surveys (CPS) are to determine periodically the levels of contraceptive use in the country; to examine the correlates of and differentials in these levels in order to assess the impact of various types of governmental and nongovernmental programs; to identify factors that will facilitate an increase in contraceptive use, particularly factors involved in program planning activities; and to institutionalize in each country the capability to design and implement studies of contraceptive prevalence, to be undertaken at regular intervals by an in-country agency. Each CPS generally collects data on the basic demographic background of the country concerned, knowledge of contraceptive methods, prior contraceptive experience and current method used, past fertility behavior and future fertility intentions, present utilization of various types of service delivery systems, perceived accessibility of contraceptives, and reasons for nonacceptance of contraception. In the CPS project, data collection and field operations have been strongly stressed. Efforts have recently been made to expand the extent and sophistication of CPS data analysis. For example, 2 countries are currently using a series of mathematical techniques called synthetic estimators to estimate subnational levels of contraceptive use by merging CPS and census data. Westinghouse, in cooperation with the University of Michigan, is currently working to develop community characteristics module for inclusion in future CPS projects.     

Direct democracy and minority rights: same-sex marriage bans in the U.S

Objectives. A common critique of direct democracy posits that minority rights are endangered by citizen legislative institutions. By allowing citizens to directly create public policy, these institutions avoid the filtering mechanisms of representative democracy that provide a check on the power of the majority. Empirical research, however, has produced conflicting results that leave the question of direct democracy's effect on minority rights open to debate. This article seeks to empirically test this critique using a comparative, dynamic approach.Methods. I examine the diffusion of same-sex marriage bans in the United States using event-history analysis, comparing direct-democracy states to non-direct-democracy states.Results. The results show that direct-democracy states are significantly more likely than other states to adopt same-sex marriage bans.Conclusion. The findings support the majoritarian critique of direct democracy, suggesting that the rights of minority groups are at relatively higher risk under systems with direct democracy.     

Body of knowledge: Black queer feminist pedagogy, praxis, and embodied text

This article examines the "body as text" in the Black women's studies classroom. I transparently name this method of teaching "Black queer feminist pedagogy," an ordered and practical teaching method that relies on both the teaching of realities and teaching through interdisciplinary practices, while recognizing the body as a site of learning and knowledge. Illustrated by autoethnographic narratives drawn from classroom experiences, I discuss how the body inspires teachable moments, and consider how embodiment and subjectivity function as "equipment" for teaching and learning.     

Rationalists, Fatalists, and the Modern Superstitious: Test-Taking in Introductory Sociology

As sociologists we are guided by a rational approach to understanding the social world. This rational approach is also evident in the way we test students. But do students approach tests from the same orientation that we take in creating them, or are they influenced by such nonrational orientations as superstitions? To explore this question the authors created and administered the Luck and Superstition Questionnaire to 426 students taking Introduction to Sociology. We found that nearly 70 percent of students indicate some level of test‐related superstitious practice. However, we also found that superstitious practice was largely unrelated to religious belief and practice, gender and race, educational performance and grade expectations, and end‐of‐semester pressures. These results are entirely consistent with Colin Campbell's theory of modern superstition. Superstitious practice in modern society is self‐sustaining–not integrated into social institutions or systems of belief–and only “half‐believed” by the very practitioners of modern superstition.     

Individualism—Collectivism and the Vocational Behavior of Majority Culture College Students

This study examined whether variation on the cultural constructs of individualism–collectivism in a sample of predominantly majority culture (i.e., Anglo American) college students accounts for significant amounts of variance in their occupational choices, career plans, and work values. Participants (135 women, 55 men) responded to the “I am” sentence completion method (Kuhn & McPartland, 1954), the Occupational Plans Questionnaire (Hershenson, 1967), and the Work Values Inventory (Super, 1970). Overall, results indicated no significant relationships between level of collectivism and the career-related variables.     

Mixture designs for five components in orthogonal blocks

The methods developed by John and Draper et al. of partitioning the blends (runs) of four mixture components into two or more orthogonal blocks when fitting quadratic models are extended to mixtures of five components. The characteristics of Latin squares of side five are used to derive rules for reliably and quickly obtaining designs with specific properties. The designs also produce orthogonal blocks when higher order models are fitted.