Changes in Telephone Survey Nonresponse over the Past Quarter Century

We correct, update, and elaborate Curtin, Presser, and Singer’s(2000) report that the University of Michigan’s Surveyof Consumer Attitudes (SCA) experienced only a small responserate decline between 1979 and 1996, contrary to the widespreadperception of plunging response rates. Our aims are to (1) correcterrors in the SCA response rate data that affected Curtin, Presser,and Singer’s (2000) result, (2) examine the trend in SCAresponse rates after 1996, when caller identification technologybecame widespread, and (3) describe the roles played by thevarious sources of SCA nonresponse over time. The results showthat the response rate decline from 1979 to 1996 was largerthan described by Curtin, Presser, and Singer (2000); the responserate drop was significantly steeper from 1996 to 2003 than from1979 to 1996; and the 1979 to 2003 trends differed substantiallyfor refusals and noncontacts.     

A Measure of the Ability to Identify Emotion in Children's Tone of Voice

This paper introduces a test of the ability to decode emotion of varying intensity in the voices of children. Construction of the measure, the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy Child Paralanguage (DANVA2-CP), is described. An initial study using elementary-school-aged children found that accuracy scores increased with age, were internally consistent, and were correlated, as expected, with indices of personality and social competence. Data from 20 additional studies, using participants from across the age range, provided further evidence of construct validity for the DANVA2-CP. Based on the results, it was concluded that the DANVA2-CP may be an appropriate measure of the ability to identify emotion in children's paralinguistic presentations.     

Private placements in social work education: Opportunity or oppression?

This article examines the issues arising from student placements in the private or commercial sector. It focuses on private residential care for adults, as the most developed area of private provision in the UK, and explores the background to this form of provision. The article then considers the private sector placement from the viewpoints of the student, the private sector agency and the educational institution. A checklist for social work educators considering placements in the private sector draws together some of the key issues. The article ends with a discussion of the pragmatic, moral, logistic and educational perspectives which influence attitudes towards the private sector.     

Dan O'Meara's Afrikaner nationalism

Volkskapitalisme: Class, Capital and Ideology in the Development of Afrikaner Nationalism, 1934–1948 by Dan O'Meara, Johannesburg, Ravan Press, 1983 xvi+ 281 pp, bibliography.     

Licensure as a Dilemma for Social Work Education: Findings of a National Study

Abstract

This paper reports on the first national survey to study the perceptions of MSW social work faculty of the relationship between licensing examinations and social work education. A non-random sample of 242 faculty from 39 systematically selected accredited schools from all states with licensure responded. The questionnaire focused on the impact of the national licensure examination on teaching, curriculum, and students. Among the major findings was that students are perceived as regarding the licensure exam as important to the profession and significant to their future. Faculty, however, only take the examination into consideration in the advisement process. Generally, they are unfamiliar with the examination's content, and they disregard it in curriculum development and in teaching.