Explorations in immediacy: The nonverbal system and its relationship to affective and situational factors

Male college students interacted with a male confederate while the context of the interaction, gaze behaviors of the confederate and the perceived source of the subject's arousal were manipulated. The dependent variables included nonverbal behaviors, affective reactions and perceptions of and liking for the confederate. The study was conducted to provide more information about the relationship among the nonverbal immediacy behaviors and the relevance of several situational variables to each of these behaviors. In addition, there was an examination of Patterson's 1976 contention that the evaluation of the individual's state of arousal determines the reciprocation or compensation of nonverbal intimacy. The data analysis revealed a system of weakly related immediacy behaviors strongly related to the subjects' affective states. A general dominance factor emerged that was related to several nonverbal behaviors and it was confirmed that arousal was related to both nonverbal behavior and interpersonal attraction. It seemed doubtful, however, that this relationship was as straightforward as Patterson's model predicted. The results are discussed in light of problems specific to this area of research.This experiment was based on a portion of a doctoral dissertation carried out by the first author at the University of Maine at Orono.The authors would like to acknowledge the help of the following people who served as observers and/or confederates: Charlotte Bailey, Vicki Choate, Gail Deabay, Mark Himelfarb, Maryjo McAndrew, Brad Peters and Tom Waite.     

Comparing products using data envelopment analysis

Using an application of linear programming known as Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a method is described to compare products which vary in excellence along a number of dimensions, and for each of which there might be a number of associated “costs”. The method is illustrated by comparing published benchmarks of 37 computer printers. Potential uses of a DEA analysis of products might be: to assist corporate buyers who may need to reconcile a diversity of present and future uses in one standardised purchase; in competitor analysis; in determining unexplored market niches; and as a normative model of product excellence against which product purchasing behaviour could be compared.     

Serious and fatal injuries to infants with discrepant parental explanations: some assessment and case management issues

The objective of this study was to examine the challenges faced by child protection systems in assessment and case management where babies and infants have received serious and fatal physical injuries in the context of discrepant parent/carer explanations. Thirty‐eight case files or review records of children under the age of 2 with serious or fatal physical injuries were examined. Qualitative methods were employed to identify issues relating to types of parent/carer explanations, factors of concern in addition to the injuries and child protection system responses to the families. Findings indicate that the initial safety response by child protection systems to babies with serious injuries with discrepant explanations can be inadequate. Assessment of further risks could be inconsistent, especially in cases where there are few other factors of concern apart from the injury. There is a need for the development in the UK of more systematic decision‐making processes to achieve more consistent standards of assessment and case management of high‐risk infants and to minimize false‐negative and false‐positive predictions of further risk. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimating survival rates from recoveries of birds ringed as young: A case study

Models for analysis of survival rates from recoveries of birds ringed as young were evaluated for lesser snow geese ringed on the breeding grounds at La Perouse Bay, Manitoba from 1970 to 1992. Analyses of birds ringed as adults and young indicate recovery rates were lower for young than for older birds and varied independently in the two age classes. Adult survival increased over the study, while that of immatures decreased. Using only recoveries of birds ringed as young, models incorporating observed variation in recovery rates were not identifiable. Many sets of constraints could be selected to make the model identifiable, but there was no objective way to distinguish among them, and each could lead to different conclusions. The observed changes in survival rates could not be estimated. Previous analyses have shown that models for birds ringed as young can be used to test even complex variation in survival rates, provided that recovery rates do not vary with age. Unfortunately, as shown by the geese, this assumption may often be violated and can only be tested with additional data, preferably from birds recaptured or ringed as sub-adults or adults.     

Risk Perception and Social Acceptability of Technologies: The French Case

The authors present results of a February 1987 survey on judged frequency of mortality causes and risk perception of technologies in a representative sample of the French population. Although the French context is very different, and the impact of public controversies have been very limited on technological choices such as the nuclear energy program, strong similarities in risk perception of technologies are observed with results from U.S. surveys. Results, which could be worthwhile for other countries, suggest that risk perception is influenced by two different types of components. The first influence is the global feeling of "security" that society procures to its members. Such feeling depends on the individual's socioeconomic status, subjective state of health, and personal discomfort in daily life, and explains individual aversion to risk independently of the mortality causes or technologies involved. The second influence is the degree of perceived social legitimization of the activities involving risks. Risks of medical and transportation activities are strongly opposed to illegitimate risky behaviors (smoking, drugs, alcohol); technologies which have been an object of public debate (nuclear plants, the chemical industry, lead in gasoline) have an intermediate position reflecting the remaining uncertainties of public opinion about their risk–benefit balancing. Tentative conclusions for risk communication are proposed.     

Strategic development as a means of organizational change: Four case histories

This article summarizes the work which is being undertaken in strategic decision making by the Management Advisory Unit of the Chemical and Allied Products Industry Training Board. It sets out the process used, the scope of the unit's activity—including four outline case histories, and a view of some general findings of ‘the state of the art’ in the chemical industry based on industry sector and in-company projects, research and experience.     

What to do while things are changing

No longer able to support an entitlement culture, the business of health care is rapidly giving way to a culture of marketability. However, effective career management within a changing professional landscape doesn't have to be nightmare. Physician executives can learn to work with the dynamics and principles of change management to significantly reduce their error rate and increase their chances for success. Using change management strategies and tools effectively is the best way to transform any sense of urgency you may feel into energy, information, and action. This is the optimal time to create a better work environment for yourself, and become a better resource for the community you serve.     

Migrant adjustment in Seoul,Korea: employment and housing

To examine the role of the migrants in the job and housing markets, a sample survey of 1000 households in Seoul, Korea was conducted. For each sample household chosen, in an area probability sample based on the city registration lists, 1 household member, aged 15-45, was interviewed about employment, housing, migration and family histories, and the social and psychological adjustment in Seoul City of the respondent and his family members. Interveiws were completed for 978 cases in 2 rounds in 1974-75. An important feature of the sample was the inclusion of the control group of lifetime urban residents who were used as the standard by which migrants' adjustment was examined. This group comprised 27% of the sample. Additionally, the migrant group was subdivided according to length of residence in Seoul City. Those who resided there for fewer than 5 years were classified as recent migrants and comprised 20% of the sample. Longterm migrants, those with residence greater than 5 years, comprised 53% of the sample. Recent migrants were concentrated in the blue collar occupations, but there was virtually no difference between the occupational distributions of longterm migrants and lifetime urban residents. Lifetime urban residents showed higher unemployment rates and higher educational enrollment rates than either the recent or longterm migrants groups. There was a 10% differential favoring employment in modern industries (secondary and tertiary) among the lifetime urban residents; fewer than 40% of the recent migrants fell into the modern categories compared to 44% for longterm migrants, and over 50% for lifetime urban residents. Lifetime urban residents were significantly less likely to be employed in traditional service occupations than were recent migrants. Longer term migrants were intermediate for the tertiary traditional sector, but they were significantly less likely to be employed in the manufacturing or secondary sector, especially the modern secondary sector, possibly reflecting the job market upon their arrival in Seoul. Younger respondents were concentrated in blue collar occupations, but for those 25 years old and older more than half were employed in white collar occupations. The quality of dwellings for migrants and natives was measured in 3 areas: housing quality; neighborhood quality, and tenure status. To a certain extent migrants were in lower quality housing compared to urban natives, but this appeared to be due not to recency of migration itself but to other characteristics of the migrants. The relative position of recent, versus longterm migrants, was opposite to the expected pattern. The quality of the neighborhood of residence differed somewhat more for migrants and nonmigrants. The relative positions were as hypothesized: neighborhood quality increased with duration of residence. The range of differences was narrowed considerably when the effects of age, education, and income were removed. Owning or not owning one's house seemed related much more closely to the formation of attachments in the urban area, that is, commitment. Migrants through time do come to approximate the economic and housing patterns of lifetime urban residents.