Life Course,Gender, and Participation in Voluntary Organizations in Italy

This article investigates the gender differences in participation in voluntary organizations across the life course in Italy. It shows that three forms of engagement in voluntary organizations—donating money, attending meetings, and doing unpaid work—may depend on some stages of the life course—leaving the parental home, forming a union, and becoming a parent—as it is plausible that they may change personal resources and pose constraints or provide opportunities for involvement. Using the household survey “ISTAT Multipurpose Survey—Aspects of daily life”, the article finds that while leaving the parental home is positively associated with both men’s and women’s involvement, forming a union, and being a parent is detrimental for women’s involvement and not for men’s. This pattern indicates that gender roles may constrain more women’s than men’s probability of participation in voluntary organizations.     

Reviews

Theory and Decision -     

An Apathetic Generation? Cohorts’ Patterns of Political Participation in Italy

This article assesses the patterns of political participation of different cohorts in two forms of conventional political participation, attending political parties meetings and donating money to political parties, and in two forms of unconventional political participation, attending meetings of environmental, peace and civil rights associations and attending demonstrations, in Italy. To test the claim that the younger cohorts are less politically involved the article uses Bayesian cross-classified mixed models and repeated survey data collected by the Italian National Institute of Statistics between 1993 and 2012. It is found that the conventional forms of participation are more widespread among “baby-boomers” than among the younger cohorts. Conversely, unconventional forms are increasingly popular in the cohorts born after the 1950s, particularly in the younger ones. The results show that the idea of the Italian younger cohorts as being apathetic and detached from the political sphere may be incorrect.     

Balanced k-nearest neighbour imputation

Random imputation is an interesting class of imputation methods to handle item nonresponse because it tends to preserve the distribution of the imputed variable. However, such methods amplify the total variance of the estimators because values are imputed at random. This increase in variance is called imputation variance. In this paper, we propose a new random hot-deck imputation method that is based on the k-nearest neighbour methodology. It replaces the missing value of a unit with the observed value of a similar unit. Calibration and balanced sampling are applied to minimize the imputation variance. Moreover, our proposed method provides triple protection against nonresponse bias. This means that if at least one out of three specified models holds, then the resulting total estimator is unbiased. Finally, our approach allows the user to perform consistency edits and to impute simultaneously.     

A qualitative information system for data management

This article traces the path which led to the adaptation of the Information System approach to data management and the use of a Relational Data Base Management System in the Vitrine 2001 project, a research project looking at children's learning activities with computers using qualitative research techniques. The principles which guided the selection and design of the data base, consideration of its advantages, as well as guidelines to help others who may wish to use a similar instrument are also presented.     

Unemployment insurance: Theoretical approaches and empirical evidence

This article analyses the principal theoretical approaches to the effects on the labour market when an unemployment insurance scheme is introduced. The article also reviews the international data derived from such insurance schemes already in use in some European and American economies. The principal conclusion of this study is that an unemployment scheme does not necessarily affect employment decisions adversely, nor does it encourage long-term unemployment. Furthermore, to the extent that this analysis goes beyond the traditional limits of the employment-unemployment relationship and considers the institutional aspects, which can be at least as important as the individual benefits, the effects on employment and on the allocation of resources in the economy can be positive. Finally, the study identifies some criteria to be considered when designing the scheme, such as the level of benefits, the period for which they are granted, the type of beneficiary covered, the type of financing and its relationship to the quality of the information and its complementary role in the process of adapting the labour force to new demands.     

Patterns of Nonverbal Behavior and Sensivity in the Context of Attachment Relations

Nonverbal behavior and sensitivity to a relationship partner’s nonverbal behavior importantly influence the quality of interpersonal interactions and relationships, including attachment relationships. The abilities to encode, or express, and to decode, or understand, nonverbal cues are crucial to effective communication of emotions and are associated with social adjustment and relationship satisfaction. One important social context for the development and use of nonverbal encodingand decoding abilities is what Bowlby (1969/1982, Attachment and loss: Vol.1.Attachment (2nd ed.). New York: Basic Books) called attachment relationships—interpersonal relationships in which one person’s emotional security depends on another person’s sensitive, responsive caregiving and support. In this paper, we present theoretical ideas, review relevant research, and propose new avenues of research dealing with associations between attachment-related processes and patterns of nonverbal behavior and sensitivity in adulthood, two domains of research that have not previously been adequately connected.