Cross-cultural comparison of attitudes toward welfare-state programs: Path analysis with log-linear models

Many studies to date regarding public support for welfare-state programs do not have an adequate theoretical model and fail to consider differences in public support for contributory vs. means-tested programs. Moreover, these studies seldom take into account cross-cultural variations. This study presents and tests the validity of a three-tier model in which socio-economic variables influence social ideologies which, in turn, differentially affect support for contributory and means-tested programs. Using comparable data from two countries — Israel and the United States — a path analysis with log-linear models is applied, indicating that, while important cross-cultural differences exist, the model is generally confirmed.     

Youth and Religion: The Gameboy Generation Goes to “Church”

Using the secularization theory and the Marxistnotion of religion as masking class conscienceone would expect the importance of religion andreligious involvement today to wane and belimited to lower class members. To challenge thisexpectation, using a representative nationaltelephone survey of 2004 youth (ages 11–18) andtheir parents, we attempt to answer thefollowing two questions: How religious areteenagers, and what may explain variation inreligious perception and involvement amongteens. Findings suggest that religion remainsperceived as very important by most teenagersand parents report that about two-thirds ofteenagers attended a place of worship at leastmonthly and that two out of five attended asocial group sponsored by a religiousorganization. These findings do not support thesecularization theory. As expected, parentalattendance of religious worship, teen's age,and teen's ethnicity and gender weresignificantly associated with three variablesof religious behavior and attendance. Incontrast to the Marxist notion of religion,measures of socio-economic status indicatethat, in the contemporary United States,religious participation, but not beliefs, islargely the domain of the middle-upper classes.     

Bitter strawberries: the construction of differences in a multicultural school: a case study

This paper presents the results of a case study looking at the views of teachers and other educational professionals pertaining to the academic progress and general integration of immigrant schoolchildren in multicultural schools in the province of Huelva (Andalusia, Spain). It is organised into three sections: first, the geographical and social context of the study is described, focusing in particular on the impact on schools of migratory trends within the province associated with strawberry cultivation. This is followed by a presentation of the results of a field study into the educational panorama of immigrant pupils from various countries, drawing on verbal reports by teachers and school administrators. Finally, some conclusions are suggested for possible categories of analysis with a view to opening new lines of research in the future.     

Bayesian space-time modeling of malaria incidence in Sucre state, Venezuela

Malaria is a parasitic infectious tropical disease that causes high mortality rates in the tropical belt. In Venezuela, Sucre state is considered the third state with most disease prevalence. This paper presents a hierarchical regression log-Poisson space-time model within a Bayesian approach to represent the incidence of malaria in Sucre state, Venezuela, during the period 1990–2002 in 15 municipalities of the state. Several additive models for the logarithm of the relative risk of the disease for each district were considered. These models differ in their structure by including different combinations of social-economic and climatic covariates in a multiple regression term. A random effect that captures the spatial heterogeneity in the study region, and a CAR (Conditionally Autoregressive) component that recognizes the effect of nearby municipalities in the transmission of the disease each year, are also included in the model. A simpler version without including the CAR component was also fitted to the data. Model estimation and predictive inference was carried out through the implementation of a computer code in the WinBUGS software, which makes use of Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. For model selection the criterion of minimum posterior predictive loss (D) was used. The Moran I statistic was calculated to test the independence of the residuals of the resulting model. Finally, we verify the model fit by using the Bayesian p-value, and in most cases the selected model captures the spatial structure of the relative risks among the neighboring municipalities each year. For years with a poor model fit, the t-Student distribution is used as an alternative model for the spatial local random effect with better fit to the tail behavior of the data probability distribution.     

How does the combination of R&D and types of knowledge matter for patent propensity?

This paper examines whether the combined effects of R&D efforts and the types of knowledge obtained from the invention process determine patent propensity. With this aim, we investigate a unique, manually collected sample of firms and the Spanish and European Patent Offices to analyze how the combination of R&D and knowledge codifiability, observability and simplicity influence the patent decision. Our results contribute to the literature and assist R&D managers by showing that codified knowledge has a positive impact on patent propensity. Furthermore, we find that knowledge observability and simplicity only influence patent propensity when they are combined with internal R&D expenditures.     

Correction to: Blurring the Lines Between Civil Society,Volunteering and Social Movements. A Reflection on Redrawing Boundaries Inspired by the Spanish Case

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This paper should have appeared in the special issue presented here, but was previously published.     

Politics in Spain: A Case of Monitory Democracy

Analysing the current political context in Spain is a major challenge to political theory. Spain is experiencing the accumulation of trends that in recent years have focused the attention of most theorists and political scientists: discrediting of the major parties, falling numbers of party members, disaffection, etc. In parallel, this trend has been accompanied by citizen mobilisations that, since 15 May 2011, are manifest in numerous channels and strategies. The aim of this paper was to analyse the complex Spanish context from the monitory democracy proposal. The results show how in recent years processes of public scrutiny have been consolidated through a range of citizen initiatives. The study offers an in-depth analysis of the main characteristics of the most notable cases and monitoring initiatives, and also reflects on their democratising potential.     

Underground storage tanks (UST): A closer investigation statistical implications to changing the shape of a UST

ABSTRACT

Gasoline service stations that use underground storage tanks (UST) assume that the manufactured tank is an ideal cylindrical shape. This cross-sectional shape plays a crucial role in determining a functional form for the volume of liquid that remains inside the tank. In industry, these formulas are used to compute strapping charts. But realistically, the manufacture, assembly, and installation of a tank may have deviation from the actual tank design (for which strapping charts had been developed). A theoretical volume function (based on tank dimensions) is used alongside of statistical methodology to reconcile volume differences in gasoline dispensed at the pump meters versus that displaced inside the tank. Statistical inventory reconciliation of this nature falls within the family of leak detection methods approved by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and the California Water Resources Board. This methodology can also be used to assess deformation of the cross-sectional shape of the tank. We consider a deformation to an ellipse. Through simulation, we estimate the tank dimensions based on a nonlinear model with normal errors. The use of normal errors naturally facilitates a likelihood ratio test. Through this exploration, an approximation function is developed to help improve the power of the likelihood ratio test.     

Informal social networks in Korea: Covering the cost of major life events

This article investigates an informal voluntary social arrangement for financial assistance with discrete major life events known in Korea as Sang-Ho-Bu-Jo. This informal voluntary arrangement is neither public nor private, but is based on social networks that produce a unique form of civic society. Sang-Ho-Bu-Jo covers people's transitional one-time needs. This study explores the practice of Sang-Ho-Bu-Jo and its origins and provides the first systematic empirical study of this social phenomenon. Three large databases are used to analyze the scope and level of participation, as well as what variables correlate with such involvement. The study finds a high rate of participation, over 80% of households, and an average investment of 2–4% of household expenditure. Sang-Ho-Bu-Jo can help scholars and policy makers worldwide in understanding the role of socialization, social networks, and social capital in explaining innovative informal methods of social care.