YOUR LANGUAGE OR MINE? THE NONCOMMUNICATIVE BENEFITS OF LANGUAGE SKILLS

Do languages matter beyond their communicative benefits? We explore the potential role of preferences over the language of use, theoretically and empirically. We focus on Catalonia, a bilingual society where everyone is fully proficient in Spanish, to isolate linguistic preferences from communicative benefits. Moreover, we exploit the language‐in‐education reform of 1983 to identify the causal effects of language skills. Results indicate that the policy change has improved the Catalan proficiency of native Spanish speakers, which in turn increased their propensity to find Catalan‐speaking partners. Hence, the acquisition of apparently redundant language skills has reduced endogamy. (JEL C26, C78, I28, J12, J15, Z13)     

Frequentist and Bayesian approaches for interval-censored data

Interval censoring appears when the event of interest is only known to have occurred within a random time interval. Estimation and hypothesis testing procedures for interval-censored data are surveyed. We distinguish between frequentist and Bayesian approaches. Computational aspects for every proposed method are described and solutions with S-Plus, whenever are feasible, are mentioned. Three real data sets are analyzed.     

‘Racism’, intersectionality and migration studies: framing some theoretical reflections

The concept of ‘racism’ has faced many difficulties in migration studies. Depending on definitions, islamophobia is a form either of religious discrimination or of racism. The same is true in contemporary debates in Europe about xenophobia against immigrants from the Global South. This article provides an alternative way of thinking about racism and its relationship with questions of intersectionality and discusses the relationship of these issues to migration theory. In the first part, we discuss intersectionality in relation to Fanon’s definition of racism. Then, we establish a dialogue between the work of de Sousa Santos and Fanon that could enrich our understanding of intersectionality in the framework of modernity and the capitalist/imperial/patriarchal/racial colonial world-system. Finally, we analyse this discussion’s implications for migration theory, highlighting how migration studies tend to reproduce a northern-centric social science view of the world that comes from the experience of others in the zone of being.     

Gender and the Public Sphere: Alternative Forms of Integration in Nineteenth-Century America

This paper intends to evaluate two competing models of multicultural integration in stratified societies: the "multiple publics" model of Nancy Fraser and the "fragmented public sphere" model of Jeffrey Alexander. Fraser and Alexander disagree on whether or not claims to a general "common good" or "common humanity" are democratically legitimate in light of systemic inequality. Fraser rejects the idea that cultural integration can be democratic in conditions of social inequality, while Alexander accepts it and tries to explain how it may be realized. In order to address this debate, I analyze the cultural foundations of the female-led, maternally themed social movements of nineteenth-century America. The language of these movements supports Alexander's position over Fraser's, though it also suggests that Alexander is mistaken in the specifics of his cultural theory of a general and democratic "common good." While Alexander's model of integration is structured uniquely by what he and Philip Smith have called "the discourse of civil society," the evidence suggests a distinctly alternative, equally democratic code at play in this case, which I have labeled a discourse of affection and compassion.     

Perfect value and outlier detection in logistic binary choice models

Tins paper discussed some diagnostic tools for logistics binary choice models using techniques based on perfect values. The concept of perfect value fit is defined for logistic models in an analogous approach used when dealing with non ignorable non-iespouse in contingency tables. Performance ol outlier diagnostics based on perfect values is illustrated on a set of data on incidents in pre-Challenger launches.     

Inside Nazi Germany and PR war films in America

This article analyses Jack Glenn and Louis de Rochemont's Inside Nazi Germany (1938), a screen magazine from The March of Time. The aim of this paper is to analyze Inside Nazi Germany as a public relations war effort of the 20th century. Arising from the informative and propagandistic strategy of late 1930s newsreels, this documentary was made using very appropriate narrative techniques to award it the dimension of objectivity and truthfulness characteristic of public relations messages, without losing sight of its educational and persuasive function. From this standpoint, Inside Nazi Germany constituted one of the clearest precedents of public relations war films in America.     

The third place

This article examines the benefits that accrue from the utilization and personalization of places outside the workplace and the home. It is argued that participation in these third places provides people with a large measure of their sense of wholeness and distinctiveness. Third places are characterized in terms of sociability and nondiscursive symbolism. The benefits of third place involvement are discussed with reference to diversity and novelty, emotional expressiveness, color, and perspective.     

Effects of instructions and verbal modeling in a survey interview setting

The effects of two interviewing procedures, Instructions and Verbal Modeling, on the reporting of health information in a survey interview setting were evaluated. The theoretical basis for selecting these procedures was derived from a conceptualization of the cognitive requirements for effective reporting. Two main dependent variables were used: number of health conditions reported, and number of ideas reported. An experimental sample design was employed, with the sample restricted to white females aged 18–64 yr, living in several towns and cities of a large metropolitan area.Results indicate various mediating effects of educational level and subjective health rating; and implications of the study for research on interviewing methodology, as well as on the cognitive and motivational aspects of reporting performance, are discussed.     

Predictors of Health Information Needs among U.S. Mainland and Puerto Rican Caregivers

Stroke caregivers often do not have the information necessary to adequately manage the stroke recovery process at home. We explore how the educational needs of stroke caregivers vary by race, ethnicity, and place, and their association with caregiver characteristics. We surveyed 276 stroke caregivers living on the U.S. Mainland and in Puerto Rico to assess their educational needs related to stroke recovery. Caregivers report a high overall need for educational materials with Puerto Rican stroke caregivers having greater needs compared to whites and African Americans on the Mainland. Increased caregiver educational needs are associated with greater desire to institutionalize, less positive appraisals of caregiving, greater use of coping strategies, and greater burden. All caregivers can benefit from educational materials, but special attention to island-dwelling Puerto Rican caregivers may provide additional benefit. Future research and interventions should focus on tailoring educational materials for race, culture, and other caregiver characteristics.     

Young adolescents, tobacco advertising, and smoking

BACKGROUND: In adolescents aged 12-14, we measured attitudes to tobacco advertising. Our purpose is to understand the relation of these attitudes to tobacco use and identify the groups most influenced by the advertising. METHODS: Survey of adolescents on Gran Canaria Island, Spain, about aspects of family, school, peers, tobacco consumption, and tobacco advertising. The subjects of the double-stratified cluster sample were 1910 students at the same grade level in 33 schools; 86.6% were 13 or 14 years old, and 51.2% were boys. We generated measures for attitudes to tobacco advertising from replies to seven questions with ordinal scales by an analysis of categorical principal components. To relate attitude to tobacco advertising and the profiles of these adolescents, we used multiple regression and logistic regression models. RESULTS: Attitudes to tobacco advertising are related to some home and school factors, but most significantly to tobacco and alcohol consumption, to amount of time at home without adults, and to peer influence. CONCLUSIONS: It is possible to draw up profiles of the students most vulnerable to tobacco advertising, and to cluster them in two groups, the "vitalists" and the "credulous." The effect of cigarette ads is different between these groups. This study can help to orientate smoking prevention.