The quality of life in large American cities: Objective and subjective social indicators

The concept of ‘quality of life’ as a tool of comparative social indicators research is analyzed. Inter-city comparisons of objective and subjective measures of well being are presented and the distinctiveness of these two dimensions of the quality of life is documented. The paper concludes with some observations on the implications that this distinctiveness has for the use of the concept ‘quality of life’ in future social indicators research.     

Ballot theorem and lattice path crossings

We consider lattice paths which cross the diagonal exactly r times, and by a simple method determine the number of such paths when the endpoint is given. Then as a byproduct we easily obtain Feller's (1968, p.84) result for crossings when the length is given.     

Towards a typology of female entrepreneurs

This paper reviews some of the employment problems faced by women and examines how these difficulties might be overcome through entrepreneurship. However, recent empirical work by Goffee and Scase suggests that it is inappropriate to speak of ‘the’ female entrepreneur: there are different types of female business proprietors. Based on an empirical study of 34 aspiring female proprietors, the authors investigate the validity of Goffee and Scase's assertions. Results suggest that there are indeed different types of female entrepreneur, and that while there are some similarities between the typology developed in this paper and that presented by Goffee and Scase, there are also significant differences between them. Possible policy implications of the findings are discussed.     

Stability over time in the distribution of population forecast errors

A number of studies in recent years have investigated empirical approaches to the production of confidence intervals for population projections. The critical assumption underlying these approaches is that the distribution of forecast errors remains stable over time. In this article, we evaluate this assumption by making population projections for states for a number of time periods during the 20th century, comparing these projections with census enumerations to determine forecast errors, and analyzing the stability of the resulting error distributions over time. These data are then used to construct and test empirical confidence limits. We find that in this sample the distribution of absolute percentage errors remained relatively stable over time and data on past forecast errors provided very useful predictions of future forecast errors.     

Development and identity issues in adolescent homosexuality

This paper argues that homosexual emergence in adolescence must be viewed from a developmentally non-pejorative perspective. In attempting to respond to the special stresses in adolescents who are developing gay or lesbian identities, helping professionals need to develop a familiarity with the unique developmental tasks of gay and lesbian youth, as well as the sexual identity formation literature generally. A review of developmental issues for gay and lesbian youth leads to some thoughts regarding the development of services.To the doctor, you were sick; to the lawyer, you were a criminal; to the minister, you were wicked.This paper is one of several reviews and research reports produced is part of the Sexual Orientation and Youth Project, a project examining the issues regarding service delivery to gay youth. The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of the Ministry of Community and Social Services.     

SLOF: a behavioral rating scale for assessing the mentally ill

Rating scales for assessing the mentally ill usually focus on the role functioning of clients and their psychiatric symptomatology. This article introduces a rating scale to measure more directly observable behavioral functioning and daily living skills of clients in mental hospitals and in the community. Results are presented from a series of studies designed to test the instrument's psychometric properties.     

Effects of Career Education Interventions: A Meta-Analysis

Twelve studies published between 1983 and 1996 that met the definitions for admissible studies established by Baker and Popowicz (1983) for a meta-analytic review of the effects of career education interventions were submitted to a similar meta-analytic integration. Effect sizes based on Glass's (1976) formula were determined for the current sample and were combined with the Baker and Popowicz (1983) sample, providing a sample of 30 studies and an overall effect size of 0.39.