Response Effects in the Electronic Survey

This report examines the electronic survey as a research tool.In an electronic survey, respondents use a text processing programto self-administer a computer-based questionnaire. As more peoplehave access to computers, electronic surveys may become widespread.The electronic survey can reduce processing costs because itautomates the transformation of raw data into computer-readableform. It can combine advantages of interviews (e.g., prompts,complex branching) with those of paper mail surveys (e.g., standardization,anonymity). An important issue is how the electronic surveyaffects the responses of people who use it. We conducted anexperimental sample survey on health attitudes, behaviors, andpersonal traits using two forms of administration: electronicand paper mail. Closed-end responses in the electronic surveywere less socially desirable and tended to be more extreme thanwere responses in the paper survey. Open-ended responses thatcould be edited by respondents were relatively long and disclosing.These findings are consistent with other research on computer-mediatedcommunication, raising general issues about using computersto collect self-report data.     

The Influence of Recruiter Characteristics and Organizational Recruitment Support on Perceived Recruiter Effectiveness: Views from Applicants and Recruiters

There is very limited information availableabout whether organizational recruitment practicesinfluence the impressions made by recruiters on jobapplicants. In response to the scarcity of two-sidedinformation about recruitment processes, the present studyobtained data directly from 1571 applicants and 216matched recruiters who interviewed them. Results suggestthat, similar to previous research, a large proportion of variance in applicants overall impressionsof recruiters could be explained as a function of theirimpressions about more specific recruitercharacteristics and behaviors, particularly perceivedconcern for the applicant and information given toapplicants, and enthusiasm regarding the job vacancy. Inaddition, recruiters self-perceptions of overalleffectiveness were also highly predictable on the basis of more specific self-perceptions, particularlyself-perceived interpersonal effectiveness. However,applicants' perceptions of recruiter effectiveness werenot well predicted by recruiters' self-perceptions of behavior, or by reported organizationalrecruitment support. Implications for future researchand practice are discussed.     

Professions and Powerlessness: Female marginality in the learned occupations

This paper argues that the existing sociological literature on the learned professions and on scientific occupations has developed in ways that are now theoretically unproductive. One sympton of this dead-end is the failure of sociologists of the professions to include research on scientists in their discussions and vice versa. A second symptom is the lack of attention to the implications of the work of Jamous, Peloille. and Bourdieu in both the sociology of scientists and of professions. The third symptom of the malaise is the failure to generate sociologically plausible explanations for the marginalisation of female entrants to science and the professions. The paper argues that a novel direction for sociological argument can be derived by remedying the three symptoms simultaneously.     

Age and subcultural differences on personal and general beliefs about memory

This study examined age and cultural differences on both personal and general beliefs about memory by comparing three age groups within two subcultures belonging to the same country: Milanese and Sardinian. Two innovative instruments on general and personal beliefs with graphic-rating-scale format (General Beliefs about Memory Instrument and Personal Beliefs about Memory Instrument) and a memory task (recall of 40 words) were administrated to participants. Sardinians held more positive attitudes about the effects of aging on memory reporting a later onset of declining memory ability and control over memory across the life span. They were also more optimistic in rating their global memory efficacy, control, and retrospective change. The two subcultural groups differed in terms of memory performance, with Sardinian individuals outperforming the Milanese. Findings are discussed in relation to the view of aging in different subcultural contexts.     

Biopower and Reproductive Loss

Extensive research indicates that mothers in particular grieve a variety of losses – miscarriage, stillbirth, ectopic pregnancy, induced abortions, newborn deaths – at all gestational stages, yet often find their grief invalidated. In turn, the lack of support or affirmation of these grief responses can be experienced as an exacerbation of the initial impact of death. This painful social silence that parents have expressed as part of their reproductive loss serves as the foundation for this paper, which explores both the strategic silences and discourses in the network of knowledges constituting reproductive loss in an era of biopower. The first section of the paper outlines the (bio)medicalization of the pregnant-unborn body, tracing this process through the deployment of sexuality that socialized fertility and the female body in the early eighteenth century. The second section discusses the responsibilization of the pregnant-unborn body through the technology of risk. Here I show how death infuses the discourse of state intervention in mortality rates, but as a strategic silence mobilizing the ethics of responsibility while never revealing the limits of biopower or the state's promise to foster, protect and enhance life. The third section turns to two discursive strategies tying the pregnant body and the foetal body in relation of responsibility: antenatal care and the reduction of perinatal mortality in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Western societies. These serve as more specific illustrations of how reproductive loss is taken up in politics of risk that remains in the biomedical understanding of pregnancy and childbirth today. I conclude with some reflections on the intercorporeality of becoming-unborn and becoming-death, connecting the struggle of parents bereaved by reproductive loss with a broader struggle to move beyond the biomedical control of life and death in an era of biopower.     

Estimation of symmetric disagreement using a uniform association model for ordinal agreement data

The Cohen kappa is probably the most widely used measure of agreement. Measuring the degree of agreement or disagreement in square contingency tables by two raters is mostly of interest. Modeling the agreement provides more information on the pattern of the agreement rather than summarizing the agreement by kappa coefficient. Additionally, the disagreement models in the literature they mentioned are proposed for the nominal scales. Disagreement and uniform association models are aggregated as a new model for the ordinal scale agreement data, thus in this paper, symmetric disagreement plus uniform association model that aims separating the association from the disagreement is proposed. Proposed model is applied to real uterine cancer data.     

Servant leaders inspire servant followers: Antecedents and outcomes for employees and the organization

Despite widespread adoption of servant leadership, we are only beginning to understand its true utility across multiple organizational levels. Our purpose was to test the relationship between personality, servant leadership, and critical follower and organizational outcomes. Using a social influence framework, we proposed that leader agreeableness and extraversion affect follower perceptions of servant leadership. In turn, servant leaders ignite a cycle of service by role-modeling servant behavior that is then mirrored through coworker helping behavior and high-quality customer service, as well as reciprocated through decreased withdrawal. Using a multilevel, multi-source model, we surveyed 224 stores of a U.S. retail organization, including 425 followers, 110 store managers, and 40 regional managers. Leader agreeableness was positively and extraversion was negatively related to servant leadership, which was associated with decreased follower turnover intentions and disengagement. At the group-level, service climate mediated the effects of servant leadership on follower turnover intentions, helping and sales behavior.     

Examination of a Psychoeducational Intervention and a Respite Grant in Relieving Psychosocial Stressors Associated with Being an Alzheimer's Caregiver

Alzheimer's disease can be particularly devastating to those who are caring for their loved one with the condition. There have been recent calls for the tailoring of caregiving interventions to examine outcome differences between groups of caregivers and the reporting of effectiveness via longitudinal and specific outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine 3 interventions (psychoeducational training, a respite voucher-type grant, or their combination) while looking for possible group differences. A total of 367 caregivers participated in the study. Participants completed surveys and questionnaires before the intervention and at a 6-month follow-up. Positive outcomes were found, including lower depression scores, increased support service use, and increased support group usage. Possible effectiveness of the 3 types of interventions and variation among caregiver characteristics are discussed along with implications for future research.