Screening Experiments with Many Factors

A new procedure is introduced for conducting screening experiments to find a small number of influential factors from among a large number of factors with negligible effects. It is intended for experiments in which the factors are easily controlled, as in simulation models. It adds observations sequentially after conducting a small initial experiment. The performance of the procedure is investigated using simulation, and evidence is presented that this and other procedures scale as the logarithm of the total number of factors if the number of influential factors is fixed. An investigation of the new procedure for 1–3 active factors shows that it compares favorably with competing methods, particularly when the size of the nonzero effects is 1–2 times the standard deviation. A limited look at the procedure for up to 6 active factors is also presented.     

International Dimensions of Post-1980 Internal Migration in the United States: The Role of Sustenance Specialization and Dominance

Post-1980 internal migration patterns were unanticipated, and prevailing explanations of them fail to account for the effects of new international relationships. A human ecological theory is developed which suggests an explanation based on the sphere of sustenance activities in ecosystems and relative dominance in these activities. Larger net migration was expected for counties specialized in activities that operate in international ecosystems in which the United States is dominant and less in other types of counties. The results for post-1980 migration in United States counties support these expectations and the utility of an expanded human ecological perspective.     

The impact of negative affectivity on stressor-strain relations: A replication and extension

The present study was a replication and extension of the results of Brief et al. (1988), who found that partialling out negative affectivity reduced the magnitude of stressor-strain correlations considerably. The effect of both trait anxiety and dispositional optimism was partialled out from stressor-strain correlations. Unlike Brief et al. (1988), however, work stress was measured with specific stressor scales rather than life events. Results from two samples of university employees showed that partialling out trait anxiety, dispositional optimism, or both, reduced the magnitude of stressor-strain correlations very little. Thus, it does not appear that stressor-strain correlations can be attributed to negative affectivity. The possibility that the results of the study by Brief et al. (1988) may have been due to problems with the life events approach used to measure work stress is discussed. Future research on the impact of dispositions is suggested.     

From Communities to Neighbourhoods-I

Increasing confusion and dissatisfaction with so-called 'care in the community' and 'community care' initiatives has prompted a search for greater clarity and accuracy in human services. An attempt has been made to specify some of the means and ends required to establish local comprehensive services for a range of client groups. The first of two papers describes some of the skills required by workers for successful involvement and examines methods of developing individual neighbourhoods. Tensions between clients, users, residents, planners and workers are examined within the context of integrative neighbourhood services. A subsequent paper describes the means by which this transition to local neighbourhood services is planned, recorded and evaluated.     

Locus of control of unemployed people and its relationship to psychological and physical well-being

This study examines the relationship between locus of control (general and work) and the psychologcal and physical well-being of 190 unemployed people. Results indicate that an internal locus of control was associated with lower levels of anxiety and depression, and higher levels of self-esteem and life satisfaction than externals. Intenals also tended to report fewer physical symptoms not requiring medical attention. There was no relationship between either measure of locus of control and physical symptoms requiring medical attention. Future research on unemployment is suggested.     

Nonmetropolitan Residential Segregation Revisited

Abstract Nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) residential segregation in 1990 and change in the preceding decade have received insufficient attention. A set of empirical hypotheses are derived and assessed using nonmetro and metropolitan (metro) counties in Texas. Places in nonmetro counties were more segregated than places in metro counties in 1990 as in 1980. Substantial declines in segregation occurred in both nonmetro and metro places but were largest in growing places in nonmetro counties. An analysis controlling for other determinants of segregation supports the premise that population change was a major determinant of 1980–1990 change in segregation. Implications for nonmetro areas in the 1990s are discussed.     

Response to Pennsylvania's Agricultural Preservation Programs1

Abstract Agriculture is the leading industry in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. At the same time, encroaching development has pressured prime agricultural land to change uses, a change usually considered irreversible. Some regions of Pennsylvania have used zoning to control and plan for the development of agricultural land, but these decisions have not always been agreed on. In response to conflicts over zoning and calls for more effective restrictions of development of prime agricultural soils, the state government implemented agricultural preservation programs designed to ensure the future viability of Pennsylvania's agriculture. While response has been reported as favorable, most reviews relied on voters' support of a state referendum to fund agricultural preservation programs. Few have examined local responses to the implementation of these programs. This paper explores local community responses to agricultural preservation and the state's programs in three regions of Pennsylvania which differ in levels of urban presence and pressure. Using secondary sources, qualitative data, and general population surveys, this analysis provides implications about strategies of agricultural preservation in a state which leads in such efforts.     

Lessons from the healthy cities movement for social indicator development

The author investigates emerging developments of social indicators through the experience of a health planning initiative begun in 1986 under the coordination of the World Health Organization (Europe). By 1993 over 400 municipalities in first world countries had voluntarily committed themselves to participation. The paper results from interviews and reviews of some participants' programs and materials, with significant reliance upon material from Canada and the coordinating WHO office. The author divides indicator development into political and technical components, stressing the former. He makes nine principal conclusions relating to indicators' success: (1) three stages of indicator development are understanding, consensus and commitment; (2) indicators must be grounded in target population's reality; (3) indicators are historical artifacts; (4) programs must be in place that make indicator need apparent; (5) process is product; (6) new skills must be supplied; (7) indicators are client-driven; (8) good process protects indicators' integrity from inappropriate influence; and (9) quality is a culturally-derived value defying aggregation.     

Militants and the margins: British political Protestantism

While only some sections of the major British denominations have become open advocates of ecumenism, all the mainstream Protestant churches have reacted to the fragmentation of Protestantism into a large number of competing organisations by accepting religious pluralism and by endorsing religious toleration. This is reflected in the absence of mainstream Protestant church support for political Protestant movements in modern Britain. This paper presents evidence for the claim that almost all modern militant Protestant leaders have been either Baptists or independent evangelicals and offers suggestions in terms of class support, the structure of the mainstream denominations, and their socialisation procedures to explain this phenomenon.