Artificial Experiments on Society: Comte, G.C. Lewis and Mill

The success of the experimental physical sciences in mid-Victorian Britain brought to prominence the question whether artificial social experiments—as distinct from those offered by the ordinary course of social life—were feasible. Influenced in part by Comte's writings, such authoritative figures as J.S. Mill and C.G. Lewis argued that social issues were not subject to experimental investigation. Their arguments are examined here in order to raise, for further discussion, the problem why social experimentation in general was so often firmly resisted during the period.     

Social Cognitive Approach to Career Development: An Overview

This article provides an overview of a social cognitive framework for understanding career interest, choice, and performance processes. Derived primarily from Bandura's (1986) general social cognitive theory, the framework features several variables (self-efficacy, outcome expectations, personal goals) through which people help to guide their own career development. It also includes a discussion of how these variables interrelate with other aspects of persons (e.g., gender) and their environments (e.g., supports, barriers) within the process of career development. The framework is intended as a base both for unifying existing career theories and for conceptualizing developmental and remedial career interventions.     

The Social Networks of Leaders in More and Less Viable Rural Communities1

Abstract The relationship between the social networks of leaders and community viability is examined in a comparative study of leaders (N = 75) in five rural communities (population range, 1,000 to 2,500). The analysis looks at leaders' connections to organizations outside of their communities and at different kinds of linkages between leaders within their respective communities. Leaders in more and less viable communities do not differ much in characteristics such as age, education, and occupations, but the presence of women in leadership positions is associated with community viability. In addition, there is some support for the expectation that leaders in more viable communities are more likely to have formal linkages to statewide and national networks. The most important finding, however, is that the way in which leaders relate to each other in instrumental tasks within their respective communities is associated with community viability.     

Post‐Socialist Restructuring and Population Redistribution in Hungary*

Abstract This research focuses on pathways by which national level macro‐social transformations are transmitted to local communities. Our case is Hungary where we examine the relationship between post‐socialist economic restructuring, widespread industrial dislocations, and urban‐rural migration. Using secondary data from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) and survey data from a study of 49 villages in 4 distinct rural regions, we demonstrate that post‐socialist population deconcentration involved both suburbanization and net movement to villages, especially villages that are located relatively close to cities. Contrary to our expectations, movement to villages was from nearby settlements, not from large industrial centers. Moreover, migrants to villages were substantially better off than longer term village residents in terms of their human capital and attachment to the labor force. Consequently, post‐socialist population deconcentration is not contributing to rural poverty as feared by some scholars.     

Comparison of the Cancer Risk of Methylene Chloride Predicted from Animal Bioassay Data with the Epidemiologic Evidence

Methylene chloride has been shown to be a lung and liver carcinogen in the mouse; yet, the current epidemiologic data show no adverse health effects associated with chronic exposure to this compound. Hearne et al. have compared the results of a large mortality study on occupational exposure to methylene chloride to the human risk predictions based on the rodent bioassay to point out the inconsistency between the animal toxicologic and human epidemiologic data. The maximum number of lung and liver cancers predicted due to methylene chloride exposure based on the rodent bioassay data was 24 compared to 14 deaths from these cancers actually observed in the Hearne et al. epidemiology study. We assess the minimum risk detectable by the human study in order to calculate the upperbound potency of methylene chloride and compare it to the potency derived from the bioassay data. Results from the epidemiology study imply an upperbound potency of 1.5 x 10(-2) per ppm, compared to 1.4 x 10(-2) per ppm calculated using the most conservative analysis of the animal data. We conclude that the negative epidemiology study of Hearne et al. is not sufficiently powerful to show that the risk is inconsistent with the human risk estimated by modeling the rodent bioassay data. Specifically, the doses to which the workers were exposed, the population studied, and the latency period were not adequate to determine that the risks are outside the bounds of the risk estimates predicted by low-dose modeling of the animal data.     

MULTISTAGE SAMPLING FOR RAW WOOL CHARACTERISTICS

The problem of evaluating the sampling variance of a mean when units are subsampled from a multistage sample is discussed. In particular, a specific problem arising in the sampling of wool where information on the identity of subsampled units is not available is dealt with by introducing a simple model to account for the variability in the unobserved numbers of observations within the multistage categories. Estimation aspects of the wool example are also dealt with.     

Do videotapes improve knowledge and attitudes about AIDS?

Three popular videotapes were assessed for their effectiveness in improving knowledge and attitudes about acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). One hundred forty-four university students completed knowledge and attitude questionnaires and then watched either an AIDS or a control tape. Half the students completed posttest questionnaires immediately after seeing the tape, and half were tested 1 month later. Students who viewed an AIDS tape showed increased knowledge at immediate and 1-month posttesting (p less than .01); the amount of increase declined over the month, however (p = .012). Students who saw two of the AIDS tapes showed an increase in compassion toward people with AIDS when tested immediately after the tape (p less than .01); but 1 month later, only those students who had viewed a third AIDS tape showed an increase in compassion (p less than .01). The AIDS tapes failed to bring about improvements in attitudes toward preventive behavior. The authors concluded that tapes about AIDS can lead to modest changes in knowledge and perhaps in attitudes; more significant changes, however, probably depend on multimedia interventions that include guided discussions as well as audiovisual and other components.     

Stories of Wreck Bay

This is the first plenary address by an Aboriginal woman at an Australian Family Therapy Conference. The author reminisces about her early life and highlights changes in her community, giving many vignettes of her own work with Aboriginal people. A recurrent theme is the Aboriginal experience of Government control, and the impact of the dreaded Aboriginal Protection Board, which for decades by deliberate policy removed Aboriginal children to institutions and non-Aboriginal foster families. (Editor)