Maximizing both external and internal validity in longitudinal true experiments with voluntary treatments: The “combined modified” design

Human services interventions are most rigorously evaluated with true experimental designs in longitudinal experimental field trials (LEFTs). However, differential self-selection or attrition often pose a serious threat to the LEFTs internal validity. This threat can be largely overcome by describing all conditions in advance to prospective subjects and securing their agreement to participate in and complete whichever condition is selected at random by a Lottery. This solution, however, in turn then poses the external validity problem that the program's effects on those who would participate in a Lottery may well be different than its effects on those who would participate in any single condition. In the present paper, we describe a new design, termed the Combined Modified Design, which assesses and overcomes this problem. This new design, in which a modified version of the Randomized Invitation Design (in which only one condition, assigned at random, is described to a potential subject, but outcome measures are obtained on everyone) is combined with the Lottery LEFT, is illustrated with a hypothetical example.     

Survivor of Suicide Loss Support Group Facilitators: Do Peers and Professionals Differ?

ABSTRACT

Suicide is a major public health issue affecting countless people each year worldwide. Support groups are one of the few resources available to survivors of suicide loss to aid the healing journey. This study examined differences among support group facilitators based on status as a peer, professional, or peer/professional. Differences emerged among the facilitator types, particularly on attitudes of group effectiveness, the role of sharing stories in the group, when loss survivors should attend, and who should facilitate groups. The results provide important insights about group facilitation differences, though further research is necessary to understand effective approaches. A degree in social work was the most common educational background for facilitators who identified as professionals. As social workers often facilitate groups or work alongside peers in the provision of support groups across a variety of areas, the findings provide insights regarding facilitation differences to which social workers may need to attend.     

The Creation of Criminal Russia

A sentence of exile was a regular feature of the Russian revolutionary’s underground career. In order to survive this punishment and continue their struggle against Tsarism, revolutionaries relied on help from their fellow exiles, their party, the Political Red Cross and, often, their families. Historians have rarely acknowledged the role of kin in supporting the revolutionary movement and very few studies have noted the attempts by families to mitigate the worst aspects of a sentence of exile. This article explores the ways in which spouses and siblings, parents and children obtained concessions from the Tsarist authorities regarding their loved ones’ sentences of exile, helped off-set the poverty to which many exiles were reduced, and, above all, combated the sense of loneliness and depression to which those in exile were exposed. This article argues that such familial support had a collective and positive impact on revolutionaries’ experience of exile. More broadly it provides an illuminating case study of the blurred space between public and private which the revolutionary occupied and highlights the way in which the movement depended on help from sympathizers and family members in order to function effectively on a daily basis.     

Contraceptive counselor's dilemma: Safety or effectiveness?

Thirty family planning counselors were studied to see if they experience conflict in having to choose between safety and effectiveness of the contraceptives they recommend to their clients. Three variables were measured: (1) knowledge about the adverse effects of the pill and the IUD, (2) the degree to which counselors perceive their own influence in the contraceptive decision‐making process, and (3) counselor conflict. Low levels of perceived influence and conflict were found, as well as a moderate level of knowledge‐ability. A significant inverse correlation between knowledge and conflict was found.     

The Coming Failure of Mission-Oriented Social Research

Abstract

An effort has been made to examine systematically the effects of various types of status inconsistencies and perceived stress on support for radical political parties within various class and age categories in order to clarify ambiguities in previous research. In general, two broad hypotheses have been suggested: that stressful life situations are more likely to lead to radical support among young people since they are less committed to the political system and traditional political parties and are more open to change; and that stressful life situations are more likely to lead to radical political support among older people since they have less hope for their situation to improve. To test these hypotheses, we examine support for the separatist Parti Quebecois using a 1970 survey with 1587 francophone respondents from the province of Quebec. Findings from multiple regression suggest the following: political alienation is more likely to PQ lead to support among those under 35; status inconsistency is more likely to lead to PQ support among those in mid-life (36–59); and worry about financial future is the strongest predictor of support among those over 60. The findings confirm expectations about age differences in the effects of status concerns on radical political support.     

Multi-goal optimization in managerial science

A number of modern economists have accepted alternatives to the basic hypothesis of neo-classical economics that the overriding objective of any firm is to maximize the owner's (shareholder's) welfare. However, with one or two outstanding exceptions, these alternatives have been ignored by managerial scientists, whose economics related models continue to be formulated in terms of the neo-classical hypothesis. This paper treats the implications of those alternatives which deny that corporate management is trying to optimize any single goal—let alone shareholder welfare. More specifically, this paper discusses management science models involving the allocation of scarce resources to satisfy several goals. The resulting multi-goal “optimization” problem is identified as a vector “maximization” problem and is formulated in terms of the efficient point concept.     

Attitudes toward Poverty during Undergraduate Education

Abstract

The commitment of social workers to serving economically disadvantaged clients has been questioned in an era of growing political conservatism. This empirical study examines perceptions of the causes of poverty of three groups of undergraduate social work students. Results confirm that students appear to develop beliefs about poverty that are consistent with desired professional values. Beginning, intermediate, and advanced BSW students rated structural explanations as the most salient and accorded the least importance to factors related to personal client deficiencies. However, a rise in fatalistic interpretations of poverty along with an increasingly external locus of control orientation characterized students who had completed their social welfare policy course. Strategies for enhancing curricula are suggested.     

Individual Reactions to Organizational Conflict and Change*

When familiar organizational relationships are drastically changed, it is important to know what factors influence individuals in their attempts to re-establish stable work associations for themselves. In the situation described here, an organizational division (which was not administratively planned) made it necessary for individuals to decide whether to remain in their original jobs, move to a similar new organization created by a splinter group, or leave altogether. Eight hypotheses are tested which examine the effects of three sets of influences on individual decisions: psychological influences (job satisfaction, job tension); relational influences (social rewards, social costs, status consistency); and extra-organizational influences (marital status, professional committment, community involvement). Of the variables examined, the strongest influence is attributed to attempts by individuals to preserve their rewarding social exchanges with other members. The implications of these findings for social exchange theory are emphasized.