Making agreements with oneself: Prelude to social behavior

Self-promises, implicitly-articulated self-agreements, and self-bargains seem to be widespread and important sociopsychological phenomena that have been little studied. As aspects of a problem-solving orientation, possibly inherent in social conduct, they may be significant as a way in which social control operates internally. The purposes, commitments, disclosures and rewards of self-agreements are viewed as mechanisms used to deal with the problematical. Individuals' testimony indicates that awareness of processes involved in articulating self-agreements vary from little to highly active internal negotiating. Findings from an open-ended questionnaire given to 313 respondents are discussed.     

Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) and the Role of its 5 Pillars

Computer crime is a matter of increasing concern, and worldwide action is required if the proper responses to it are to be found. One of the tools that can be deployed here is the Global cybersecurity index (GCI), a control and feedback mechanism based on a composite indicator. The GCI is based on a hierarchy of sub-indicators. The indicators used for the final aggregation of the CGI are called pillars. Five pillars are applied to rank the eleven countries that are top of the rankings in a worldwide study. In this paper, our ranking is based on these pillars, and their role is investigated using partial order methodology. It turns out that the pillars “Technical (aspects)”, “Capacity building”, and “Cooperation” are of particular importance. In conclusion, a strategy is suggested for an “individualized ranking” that may be helpful for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or other institutions. Here, we apply the procedure for the project “Awareness Laboratory SME (ALARM) information security” and put our ideas up for discussion. In particular, the mathematical method will be transferred to SMEs as a means to support the effectiveness of awareness-raising measures and to improve the security behaviour of company employees.

     

Guns,Hollywood, and School Safety: Defining the School‐Shooting Problem Across Public Arenas*

Objective. Research in agenda setting has demonstrated that dramatic news events can drive particular issues to the top of the media and governmental agendas. The objective of this study is to analyze how different aspects of an event‐driven problem compete for attention in those arenas. Methods. The method is content analysis of media coverage and congressional legislative activity following the 1999 Columbine High School shootings. Results. The results show that while both agendas converged on the gun‐control aspect of the problem, they substantially diverged on other understandings of what kind of problem the Columbine shooting represented and how to address it. Conclusions. We conclude that the differing institutional structure and incentives of the news media and Congress can create or inhibit interinstitutional positive feedback in the problem‐defining process. Agenda divergences are amplified when prominent politicians cue the media to follow particular story lines that depart from actual legislative activity.     

Anglo Voting on Nativist Ballot Initiatives: The Partisan Impact of Spatial Proximity to the U.S.‐Mexico Border*

Objective. In this study, we examine how contextual factors influence voting behavior on nativist ballot initiatives using California's Propositions 187 and 227. We argue that spatial proximity to the border is associated with voting behavior on nativist initiatives. Methods. To examine the influence of environmental factors on Anglo voting behavior on nativist ballot initiatives, we utilize California Field Polls, U.S. Census data, and spatially referenced data generated using GIS software. Results. The results indicate that spatial proximity to the border is an important component in individual‐level voting on nativist initiatives and that the impact of proximity to the border on the vote for Propositions 187 and 227 varies as a function of individual‐level partisan affiliation. Conclusions. These findings hold implications for future research regarding the influence of geospatial boundaries and political behavior.     

The Future of Serials Cataloging,CONSER and the ISSN: Conversations from the Field

What does the future hold for the shape of serials to come and for cataloging these and other continuing resources? How should cataloging change to cope with still-unknown types of continuing resources? Will there still be a need for cataloging? For CONSER? For ISSN? How can libraries position themselves to partner with nonlibrary metadata creators in a future linked data environment? Four serials experts discuss these and other questions in a free-ranging conversation about the future of serials cataloging.     

Residential location and youth unemployment: The economic geography of school-to-work transitions

In response to increased international policy attention to youth unemployment this study investigates post-secondary school transitions of school leavers. Multinomial logit models are estimated for male and female German youth. The models control for individual, parent, and household characteristics, for those of the youth's region of residence and local labor markets. The findings suggest that immigrant youth has particularly low participation rates in continued education, and that youth unemployment is centered in high unemployment states and metropolitan areas. More generous academic benefit policies seem to be correlated with increased academic enrollment, and men's transitions to the military do reflect recent changes in defense policies. Received: 30 November 1999/Accepted: 3 August 2000     

Attitude towards gender norms in Ghana: understanding the dynamics among men and women in intimate relationships

Journal of Population Research - Despite the growing interest in issues relating to gender norms, few studies have targeted men and women in intimate relationships. Using the Gender Equitable Men...     

Accounting for animal density gradients using independent information in distance sampling surveys

Distance sampling is extensively used for estimating animal density or abundance. Conventional methods assume that location of line or point transects is random with respect to the animal population, yet transects are often placed along linear features such as roads, rivers or shorelines that do not randomly sample the study region, resulting in biased estimates of abundance. If it is possible to collect additional data that allow an animal density gradient with respect to the transects to be modelled, we show how to extend the conventional distance sampling likelihood to give asymptotically unbiased estimates of density for the covered area. We illustrate the proposed methods using data for a kangaroo population surveyed by line transects laid along tracks, for which the true density is known from an independent source, and the density gradient with respect to the tracks is estimated from a sample of GPS collared animals. For this example, density of animals increases with distance from the tracks, so that detection probability is overestimated and density underestimated if the non-random location of transects is ignored. When we account for the density gradient, there is no evidence of bias in the abundance estimate. We end with a list of practical recommendations to investigators conducting distance sampling surveys where density gradients could be an issue.