A step-by-step guide to the identification of an appropriate computer-aided production management system

The increasing dissatisfaction of users with their Computer-aided production management (CAPM) systems has been widely reported. This dissatisfaction led the UK's Science and Engineering Research Council to initiate a major study to improve CAPM systems use. The research results presented here form part of the overall initiative and focus on the development of a set of guiding principles for companies seeking to implement appropriate CAPM systems. The research team have identified three key elements that must be considered when implementing a CAPM system. First, that CAPM implementation can be eased if the overall manufacturing-system is first simplified. Second, we recognize that even then most companies will still require a computerized solution thus any methodology must include a software specification. Third, the overall performance of the system may be enhanced by changes to the infrastructure that supports the software. In attempting to meet these requirements the research team developed a four-stage methodology. The first two stages of the methodology deal primarily with the strategic context for CAPM, i.e. the simplification. The last two stages develop a software specification and present guidelines for the development of appropriate infrastructure configurations.     

The Effectiveness of Behaviour Modification with Families

Summary The literature would have us believe that behavioural procedurescan be applied extremely effectively to a wide range of familyproblems. As with any other therapeutic approach there are,however, a wide range of specific and non-specific factors whichwill determine whether or not a behavioural approach is successful.This paper sets out to examine some of these and also attemptsto draw a few conclusions about the effectiveness of behaviourmodification with families, especially when it is practisedin a routine clinical setting.     

The reactions of English Canadians and French Québécois to native Indian protest*

Utilisant les données d'une étude ménee à travers le Canada en 1976, les deux sous-échantillons cités dans le titre sont comparés en termes de leur conscience des protestations de la part des Amérindiens, et du degré d'approbation envers leurs tactiques spécifiques de protestation. Des niveaux très bas de conscience caractérisent les deux sous-échantillons, et en particulier, celui des francophones. Alors que ni l'un ni l'autre des sous-échantillons ne démontre une attitude réactionnaire envers les protestations amérindiennes, les anglo-phones ressortent avec beaucoup moins d'approbation que les francophones envers l'affirmation protestataire des Amérindiens. Un schéma classificatoire est développé afin de raffiner les concept de réaction (‘back-lash’). Using data from a 1976 nation-wide survey, the two subsamples cited in the title are compared in terms of awareness of native Indian protest and degree of (dis)approval of specific protest tactics used by Indians. Low levels of awareness characterize both subsamples, particularly that of the francophones. While neither subsample exhibits an atti-tudinal backlash to Indian protest, anglophones are significantly less approving of Indian protest assertiveness than are francophones. A classificatory schema is developed to refine the concept of backlash.     

MEASURING HAPPINESS IN SURVEYS: A TEST OF THE SUBTRACTION HYPOTHESIS

Responses to an item on general happiness can change when thatitem follows one on marital happiness. Asking about maritalhappiness first sometimes reduces reported levels of overallhappiness. This reduction may result from a change in the interpretationof the general happiness item. According to this hypothesis,when the general item follows the item on marital happiness,respondents take the item to ask about aspects of their livesother than their marriages-in effect, the respondents subtracttheir (mostly happy) marriages in answering the general item.The study reported here tests this subtraction hypothesis byasking versions of the general happiness item that correspondto the different interpretations. A version of the general itemthat asked about general happiness "aside from your marriage"yielded responses that were quite similar to those given tothe standard item when it followed the item on marital happiness.Another version that asked about general happiness "includingyour marriage" elicited responses quite similar to those elicitedby the standard item when it preceded the marital happinessitem. However, reanalysis of the studies that originally demonstratedthe impact of the order of the two happiness items casts doubton the subtraction hypothesis and related models as explanationsof the earlier findings.     

A PARADOX IN THE THEORY OF SECOND BEST

This paper first develops a political model rationalizing conventional second-best constraints on the controllability of certain sectors despite the perfect governmental information assumptions underlying conventional second-best policy intervention. It then shows that such intervention implies a logical paradox (i. e. an inconsistency with the underlying political model) that can be removed only by making sufficient additional sectors uncontrollable that classical optimality conditions apply to the remaining, controllable sectors. Classical, piecemeal policy criteria therefore hold even under the extreme informational perfections underlying conventional second-best theory. A brief application of the general model helps us understand and evaluate recent U. S. energy policy.     

The Problems of Managing the Family Contacts of Children in Residential Care

Summary The study explores the problems of managing the family contactsof children in residential care. It focuses on the family linksexperienced by two children undergoing a two month long periodof observation and assessment. It is seen that the family linksof these children take a low priority, particularly as socialwork plans change and the informal world of the institutionbecomes pervasive. The outcomes of the two cases are charted.     

Prisoners' children and politics: an aetiology of victimisation

SUMMARY. Very little attention has been paid to the needs of prisoners' children, in spite of the large numbers involved. Whilst to some extent this is due to the hidden nature of the problem, it is also influenced significantly by the fact that the justice system - based on concepts of acquitting the innocent and punishing the guilty - cannot afford to accept publicly that many tens of thousands of children are punished more by the sentence than is their imprisoned parent. Often the prisoner's child may also suffer more than the victim of the parent's crime. Media attention to the sentencing of a mother by Judge Pickles brought into the open a subject which is mostly hidden or ignored. This article explores the issues and argues for a new approach     

CARRYOVER EFFECTS IN ATTITUDE SURVEYS

Answers to attitude questions in surveys can vary markedly dependingon the preceding items in the questionnaire. This study concernssuch context effects. More than 1,100 respondents were askedabout six target issues in a telephone survey. Before answeringthe target questions, most of the respondents had been askedabout one of two sets of related issues; the remainder receivedunrelated, "neutral" context items. For five of the six targetissues, the two groups receiving different sets of context itemsdiffered significantly in their answers to the target questions.However, only one of the substantive context groups differedsignificantly from the group that received the neutral contextitems. Additional results indicated that context effects werelarger when respondents reported that their beliefs about thetarget issue were both mixed and important. Coding of openendedresponses to follow-up questions suggested that the contextitems may have changed how respondents thought about the targetissues.