The Christian difference: Surviving postmodernism

Abstract

Drawing on the work of Nicholas Boyle, this paper argues that postmodernism represents the intellectual style we should expect as part of developing global capitalist regimes. Accordingly, I argue that postmodernism is not a friend but an enemy to Christianity just to the extent the former tempts us to lose our history. In that respect, the challenge of postmodernism is no different than the challenge of modernity. It becomes the Christian task now to narrate modernity and postmodernity on our own terms rather than those offered by the postmodernists. But for Christianity to be capable of such narration, it must rediscover in its own life the significance of the church which is capable of surviving in a world which is in many ways quite accurately described as postmodern.     

The Role of Topic Interest in Survey Participation Decisions

While a low survey response rate may indicate that the riskof nonresponse error is high, we know little about when nonresponsecauses such error and when nonresponse is ignorable. Leverage-saliencetheory of survey participation suggests that when the surveytopic is a factor in the decision to participate, noncooperationwill cause nonresponse error. We test three hypotheses derivedfrom the theory: (1) those faced with a survey request on atopic of interest to them cooperate at higher rates than dothose less interested in the topic; (2) this tendency for the"interested" to cooperate more readily is diminished when monetaryincentives are offered; and (3) the impact of interest on cooperationhas nonignorability implications for key statistics. The datacome from a three-factor experiment examining the impact oncooperation with surveys on (a) five different topics, using(b) samples from five different populations that have knownattributes related to the topics, with (c) two different incentiveconditions.     

Evaluating Population Forecast Accuracy: A Regression Approach Using County Data

Many studies have evaluated the impact of differences in population size and growth rate on population forecast accuracy. Virtually all these studies have been based on aggregate data; that is, they focused on average errors for places with particular size or growth rate characteristics. In this study, we take a different approach by investigating forecast accuracy using regression models based on data for individual places. Using decennial census data from 1900 to 2000 for 2,482 counties in the US, we construct a large number of county population forecasts and calculate forecast errors for 10- and 20-year horizons. Then, we develop and evaluate several alternative functional forms of regression models relating population size and growth rate to forecast accuracy; investigate the impact of adding several other explanatory variables; and estimate the relative contributions of each variable to the discriminatory power of the models. Our results confirm several findings reported in previous studies but uncover several new findings as well. We believe regression models based on data for individual places provide powerful but under-utilized tools for investigating the determinants of population forecast accuracy.     

Structural Adjustment and Poverty—Blunting the Criticisms

Book reviewed in this article: Adjustment and Poverty: Options and Choices. By Frances Stewart Structural Adjustment and the Working Poor in Zimbabwe: Studies on Labom Women Informal Sector Workers and Health. Edited by Peter Gibbon Structural Adjustment and Ethnicity in Nigeria. By Eghosa Osaghae The Social Impact of Adjustment Operations. By the Operations Evaluations Department, World Bank     

A Place for Technology in Parent Education: An Exploratory Study of Parent Perceptions

The current study sought to identify what parents would perceive to be helpful in terms of including technology topics in parent education programs, rather than assuming what would be best for parents. Parents were recruited for participation from a western state in the United States between 2012 and 2013. A qualitative approach was used to analyze parental responses (N?=?168) regarding what topics/areas would be beneficial if they attended an educational offering relating to teens and technology. Parents indicated they wanted specific direction and skills relating to the practice of implementing parental mediation, and information about staying current with the technology trends. Other findings focused on the difficulty of getting parents to commit to such education.     

Communicating mixed messages about religion through internet memes

This article investigates the dominant messages Internet memes communicate about religion. Internet memes about religion are defined as, ‘memes circulated on the Internet whose images and texts focus on a variety of religious themes and/or religious traditions’ (Bellar et al., 2013). By drawing on meme genres identified by Shifman (2012) and analyzing techniques used to frame ideas concerning religion in memes, this study identifies common genres found amongst religious Internet meme and core frames used to present messages and assumptions about religion online. This article further draws attention to the importance of studying religion in digital contexts, as it highlights trends, recognized by scholars toward ‘Lived Religion’ within digital culture (Campbell, 2012). Lived Religion argues that contemporary media and digital culture provide important resources for presenting popular beliefs about religion. This study also suggests that studying Internet memes about religion provides a useful lens for understanding popular conceptions about religion within mainstream culture.     

Correlates of caregiving burden in schizophrenia:A cross-sectional,comparative analysis from India

Schizophrenia is a global mental health issue that has serious implications not only for the person with the diagnosis, but for caregivers as well. In Asian societies, the family tends to be the “natural” caregiver in such situations and the caregiving function is usually shouldered by parents or the spouse. Asian communities tend to be more closely knit, and it would be expected that more social support would be available to those facing distressing circumstances such as managing the demands of a person with mental illness. This study seeks to explore the perceived burden in family caregivers of persons diagnosed with schizophrenia, the coping strategies that come into play, as well as the extent of social support available to them. Standardized instruments were administered to collect data at a teaching cum treatment facility in south India. A quantitative methodology was used to analyze cross-sectional data from 75 primary caregivers of people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and a reference group of caregivers of patients with general medical ailments. Results indicate higher levels of burden, low social support, and poor coping in the caregivers of people with schizophrenia than the reference group. Implications for intervention with caregivers are also discussed in this article.