Reaching a consensus

This paper explores some aspects of the relation between aggregation and deliberation as ways of achieving a consensus amongst a group of indviduals on some set of issues. I argue firstly that the framing of an aggregation problem itself generates information about the judgements of others that individuals are rationally obliged to take into account. And secondly that the constraints which aggregation theories typically place on consensual or collective judgements need not be consistent with the outcomes of rational deliberative processes driven by individuals’ attempts to update on this information. The paper focuses on the particular case of allocation problems, for which there are established results both in aggregation theory and deliberation theory, to make this claim.     

Professional Temporary Agencies, Women and Professional Discretion: Implications for Organizations and Management

There are a disproportionate number of professional women working through temporary agencies. We develop a theory wherein this gender skewness in temporary-agency employment results from the differences in perceptions of control at work between men and women working through large traditional organizations. Our theory suggests that if control is perceived to be less for women than for men in large organizations, then women will tend to populate other work arrangements, like temporary agencies, in order to enhance their control. Propositions are tested via a unique data set comparing the responses of employees from both a London temporary accountancy agency and a large London accountancy firm. Our results are consistent with a lack of control driving professional women from large firms to temporary agencies, and neither rely on preference differences nor familial obligations.     

Rank-based test procedures for interaction in the two-way layout with one observation per cell

New aligned-rank test procedures for the composite null hypothesis of no interaction effects (without placing restrictions on the two main effects) against appropriate composite general alternatives are developed for the standard two-way layout with a single observation per cell. Relative power performances of the two new aligned-rank procedures and existing tests due to Tukey (1949) and to de Kroon & van der Laan (1981) are examined via Monte Carlo simulation. Extensive power studies conducted on the 5 × 6 and 5 × 9 two-way layouts with one observation per cell show superior performance of the new procedures for a variety of interaction effects. Simulated critical values for the new procedures are provided in settings where the number of levels for each of the factors is between 3 and 9, inclusive.     

Examining the Absence of a Gender Effect on Abortion Attitudes: Is There Really No Difference?

Earlier research on attitudes toward abortion has found little or no difference between men and women. To the limited extent that there is any gender effect, men are slightly more inclined than women to be prochoice (e.g., Cook, Jelen, and Wilcox 1992). Women, however, have been found to regard the issue as more important (Scott and Schuman 1988). The present study uses General Social Survey data from 1972 through 1994 to further explore gender and attitudes toward abortion. We find that within three marital statuses–single, married, widowed–men are somewhat more supportive of abortion rights but that women consider the issue to be more important and have clearer but not necessarily stronger attitudes than men. When differences in workforce participation are controlled, the sex effect is reversed, with women being more prochoice than men. Although significantly related to abortion attitudes, race, marital status, and religious identity are not relevant to this reversal in the sex effect.     

Nano Risk Analysis: Advancing the Science for Nanomaterials Risk Management

Scientists, activists, industry, and governments have raised concerns about health and environmental risks of nanoscale materials. The Society for Risk Analysis convened experts in September 2008 in Washington, DC to deliberate on issues relating to the unique attributes of nanoscale materials that raise novel concerns about health risks. This article reports on the overall themes and findings of the workshop, uncovering the underlying issues for each of these topics that become recurring themes. The attributes of nanoscale particles and other nanomaterials that present novel issues for risk analysis are evaluated in a risk analysis framework, identifying challenges and opportunities for risk analysts and others seeking to assess and manage the risks from emerging nanoscale materials and nanotechnologies. Workshop deliberations and recommendations for advancing the risk analysis and management of nanotechnologies are presented.     

Contradictory Behavior During Genocides1

In all large‐scale genocides, rescuing occurs alongside killing. Some members of the aggressors’ ethnic group even risk their own lives to save members of the targeted group. Killing and rescuing occur closely together, and even the same persons may engage in both behaviors—killing on one occasion and rescuing on another. This article examines such cases—where the same individuals kill and rescue—and discusses their relevance to the explanation of genocide. Both collectivistic and individualistic theories of killing and rescuing—which explain these behaviors with the properties of groups or persons—are inadequate in accounting for those who do both. Using Donald Black’s (1995, 2000) strategy of pure sociology and my theory of genocide ( Campbell, 2009 ), I offer an explanation of contradictory behavior by individuals during genocide. The behaviors themselves occur in different structures—killing where there is social distance and rescuing where there is social closeness. Individuals who exhibit contradictory behavior thus kill those who are distant and save those who are close. One feature of this analysis is its demonstration of the explanatory power of pure sociology, which is uniquely capable of explaining extreme variations in individual behavior.     

SOVA: Design of a Stakeholder Informed Social Media Website for Depressed Adolescents and Their Parents

Two moderated social media websites were designed for increasing likelihood for mental health treatment engagement for depressed adolescents (sova.pitt.edu) and for parents (wisesova.pitt.edu). This article describes iterative stakeholder interviews conducted with adolescents, young adults, parents, advocates, and clinicians and use of human computer interaction techniques to inform major design changes which: (a) underscored the role of online interaction to provide emotional support and information, (b) importance of anonymity, (c) desire to share positive media, and (d) need for frequent moderation. Future studies will examine acceptability and effectiveness of revised websites in helping depressed adolescents and their parents engage with treatment.     

Bayesian modeling of temporal properties of infectious disease in a college student population

A Bayesian statistical model is developed for analysis of the time-evolving properties of infectious disease, with a particular focus on viruses. The model employs a latent semi-Markovian state process, and the state-transition statistics are driven by three terms: (i) a general time-evolving trend of the overall population, (ii) a semi-periodic term that accounts for effects caused by the days of the week, and (iii) a regression term that relates the probability of infection to covariates (here, specifically, to the Google Flu Trends data). Computations are performed using Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling. Results are presented using a novel data set: daily self-reported symptom scores from hundreds of Duke University undergraduate students, collected over three academic years. The illnesses associated with these students are (imperfectly) labeled using real-time (RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for several viruses, and gene-expression data were also analyzed. The statistical analysis is performed on the daily, self-reported symptom scores, and the RT PCR and gene-expression data are employed for analysis and interpretation of the model results.     

An Exploration of Congruence in the Community Service Use Attitudes of Older Spousal Caregiver–Care Recipient Dyads

ABSTRACT

This study explored within-dyadic congruence in community service use attitudes of older spousal caregiver–care recipient couples. Primary data collection consisted of in-person, standardized survey interviews with 30 caregiver–care recipient pairs. The study employed the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to examine within-dyadic similarities on caregivers' and care recipients' responses to 29 items from the Community Service Attitude Inventory (CSAI). To measure the degree of match between caregiver and care recipient pairs, ICCs were calculated for each dyad (n = 30) and ranged from ?.26 to .84, indicating variation in the degree to which caregivers and care recipients displayed congruence on community service use attitude scores. The distribution of the Index of Dyadic Similarity was highly negatively skewed (skewness = ?2.159), indicating overall patterns of similarity at the dyadic level of analysis. Service use preferences and values across the seven attitudinal domains (confidence in service system, wait-and-see attitude, concern for opinion of others, pride in family independence, rejection of government assistance, worry and fear about outside help, and preference for informal care) were similar between dyadically related individuals. Although the overall trend of dyadic similarity was notable in this sample, variation in the Index of Dyadic Similarity suggests the need for future dyadic-level research to better understand within-dyadic congruence on specific attitude constructs and in relationship to service use outcomes. Specific methodological challenges relevant to conducting dyadic-level primary research with older spousal couples are discussed.