The Association of Survey Setting and Mode with Self-Reported Health Risk Behaviors among High School Students

This study examined whether the prevalence of self-reportedhealth risk behaviors among high school students varied by surveysetting (school versus home) and mode of administration (paperand pencil versus computer). Students in grades 9 and 11 wereassigned randomly to one of four conditions—school paper-and-pencilinstrument (PAPI), school computer-assisted self-interview (CASI),home PAPI, and home CASI. During the spring of 2004, 4,506 studentscompleted identically worded questionnaires based on the YouthRisk Behavior Survey questionnaire. Logistic regression analysescontrolling for sex, grade, and race/ethnicity revealed thatsetting was associated significantly with the reporting of 30of the 55 risk behaviors examined, and mode was associated significantlywith the reporting of 7 of the 55 behaviors. For all behaviorswith a significant setting main effect, the odds of reportingthe behavior were greater among students who completed questionnairesat school than among students who completed questionnaires athome. For all behaviors with a significant mode main effect,PAPI mode students had lower odds of reporting the behaviorthan CASI mode students. Because social measurement researchassumes that higher prevalence estimates are more valid thanlower estimates, methodological factors shown to increase estimates,such as setting and mode, should be considered when planningsurveys.     

Risk Assessment for Invasive Species

Although estimates vary, there is a broad agreement that invasive species impose major costs on the U.S. economy, as well as posing risks to nonmarket environmental goods and services and to public health. The domestic effort to manage risks associated with invasive species is coordinated by the National Invasive Species Council (NISC), which is charged with developing a science-based process to evaluate risks associated with the introduction and spread of invasive species. Various international agreements have also elevated invasive species issues onto the international policy agenda. The World Trade Organization (WTO) Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement establishes rights and obligations to adhere to the discipline of scientific risk assessment to ensure that SPS measures are applied only to the extent required to protect human, animal, and plant health, and do not constitute arbitrary or unjustifiable technical barriers to trade. Currently, however, the field of risk assessment for invasive species is in its infancy. Therefore, there is a pressing need to formulate scientifically sound methods and approaches in this emerging field, while acknowledging that the demand for situation-specific empirical evidence is likely to persistently outstrip supply. To begin addressing this need, the Society for Risk Analysis Ecological Risk Assessment Specialty Group and the Ecological Society of America Theoretical Ecology Section convened a joint workshop to provide independent scientific input into the formulation of methods and processes for risk assessment of invasive species to ensure that the analytic processes used domestically and internationally will be firmly rooted in sound scientific principles.     

Laplace-normal mixtures fitted to wind shear data

A mixture model with Laplace and normal components is fitted to wind shear data available in grouped form. A set of equations is presented for iteratively estimating the parameters of the model using an application of the EM algorithm. Twenty-four sets of data are examined with this technique, and the model is found to give a good fit to the data. Some hypotheses about the parameters in the model are discussed in light of the estimates obtained.     

Integrated marked Poisson processes with application to image correlation spectroscopy

Image correlation spectroscopy (ICS) is an experimental technique used in the study of cell tissue, specifically to obtain information about protein aggregates. This paper discusses a filtered Poisson process model of ICS, and uses this to obtain the sampling distribution of an estimator of interest, using spectral methods. Integrals of third- and fourth-order spectra are involved, and methods proposed in the literature are studied numerically. They are found to be infeasible methods, requiring months of computing time. An alternative method is proposed and is illustrated on some actual ICS experiments. A novel feature in this study is the use of a SIMD-class parallel computer, a MasPar MP-2 machine, to obtain some statistical properties of the estimation method.     

Fieldwork in forbidden terrain: the state,privatization and human subjects regulations

In this paper we explore the intersection of the modern-state and fieldwork practices within the social sciences. Our contention is that during the past decade or so there has been an expansion in forbidden or restricted research terrain that threatens the present and future conduct of social research. We argue that this restriction has been engendered by two related developments: privatization and human subjects regulations. The social and political implications of these trends are considered. Her most recent books areMadwives: Schizophrenic Women in the 1950s (Rutgers University Press, 1987) andGender Issues in Field Research (Sage, 1988). He is the author ofCastles of Our Conscience: Social Control and the American State, 1800–1985 (Forthcoming, Polity Press, Cambridge, U.K.)     

The value of green belt land

This paper estimates the value of green belt land by assessing its output: agricultural; amenity; recreational; and savings in costs, by restricting the size of urban areas. These outputs are valued in social terms by the application of welfare economics. Some types of agriculture are shown to impose net social cost rather than benefits. Hedonic price models and contingent valuation are used to assess amenity benefits which are revealed as the most important justification for green belts. These benefits are set against the opportunity cost of the land in terms of foregone housing and industrial development. Uncertainty and irreversibility of a land-use change, from green belt, suggests that the benefits of housing or industry should substantially exceed the value of green belt land before a land-use change is sanctioned.     

Older Workers: Who are the working poor in the U.S.?

With data from the 2000 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), the purpose of this study was to provide a profile of older workers who live poverty, and to compare the demographic, financial, employment, and health attributes of such individuals to similar persons not living in poverty. This study found that 3.5% of employed individuals between the ages of 51 and 61 belonged to the class of working poor. The results of the multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that the older working poor were more likely to be non-White, less educated, non-married, and had lower levels of net worth than the working non-poor. They were more likely to be employed part time and were less likely to be covered by employee-sponsored health insurance.