Alternatives and options in computer content analysis

First developed in the early 1960s, computer content analysis methods stimulated renewed interest in the quantitative analysis of verbal materials. Continued research and development of such methods produced a range of current alternatives and options. Investigators can choose between advanced systems varying widely in amount of theoretical prestructuring required and complexity of units of analysis, or they can devise less complex systems built upon basic work processing programs.     

Bringing the cops back in: A study of efforts to make the criminal justice system more responsive to incidents of family violence

This paper examines the ways in which the criminal justice system typically responds to incidents of violence between adult members of the same household and then using a three equation, nonrecursive time series model considers the impact of efforts in one locale to improve law enforcement practices. Three questions are addressed: (a) can the apparent underreporting of domestic violence by police be improved; (b) can the quality of information funneled from police to the District Attorney's office be enhanced; and (c) can the number of offenders held accountable for their actions be increased?     

中英请求言语行为策略选择之比较

文章参照Ervin-Tripp所总结出的英语中常用请求言语行为策略,对汉语中的请求言语行为的运用情况进行了调查分析.在汉英两种语言中,请求言语行为基本策略的运用具有相似性,且都受到社会关系的影响,只是这种影响在汉语中更为突出;由于两种不同的礼貌文化观,这些策略在两种语言中的运用范围、频率以及具体形式上存在一定的差异.     

Attitudes of mental health professionals about changing ages of legal majority

Questionnaires were sent to mental health professionals surveying their attitudes toward legal age limits which govern the rights of the young to make decisions for themselves. Inquiries were also made about respondents' opinions of the impact that increasing those rights might have on their professional interactions with young people. Responses were received from 69 predominantly young professionals and reflected a fairly libertarian outlook toward the rights of minors. Discussion emphasized the value of consulting with mental health professionals who work with children when shaping and interpreting new standards of autonomous decision making.     

Improving inference for social research and social policy: The Bayesian paradigm

This paper reviews briefly some data interpretation difficulties associated with many social research projects, difficulties which damage efforts to synthesize the results from different studies or to use such results in the formulation of social policy. It is argued that these difficulties are traceable in large part to three causes: (1) the circuitous and nonintuitive logic of inference used customarily in social statistical analysis; (2) the lack of agreement (usually latent and implicit) about the substantive and technical premises adopted in the research argument; and (3) the frequent weakness (low diagnosticity) of social research data for distinguishing among alternative models of a phenomenon. The Bayesian paradigm of statistical inference, especially a broadly conceived version of that paradigm, offers a number of advantages for overcoming these difficulties. A principal advantage is that the Bayesian inference approach lends itself especially well to the systematic cumulation of evidence from a series of related studies. Another advantage of the Bayesian perspective is that it deals well with contingency and with uncertain knowledge. In view of these and other advantages, the Bayesian inference paradigm is proposed as a highly promising vehicle through which social researchers and policy makers may work and communicate more effectively, not only with each other, but also among themselves.     

White,black, and Hispanic male youths in central city labor markets

Data from the 1% 1980 Census Public Use Sample are used to estimate the determinants of employment and wage rates for out-of-school male youths residing in central cities. Separate calculations are undertaken for white, black, and Hispanic youths. Independent variables include individual, family background, and local labor market characteristics. Three basic findings emerge. First, racial inequality persists, with whites showing the best outcomes, Hispanics second, and blacks at the bottom. Second, underlying these unequal outcomes are rather different patterns of effect for personal and family characteristics by race. Note-worthy here is the Hispanic pattern of low reliance on schooling and high reliance on family. Finally, net of these effects, intercity differences are interesting and important. These include negative effects of city size and race composition effects which show white gains where blacks and Hispanics are a larger share of the population.     

The subjective well-being of mental patients in nursing homes.

This article reports a survey of self-reports of well-being by chronic mental patients in nursing homes. Patients reported lower levels of well-being than the general population, but not lower than other socially disadvantaged groups including urban renewal blacks. Nursing home mental patients reported levels of well-being that were generally similar to mental patients in other settings, including day hospital patients, participants in an innovative community care program, and patients receiving traditional hospital and follow-up care. These reports were mostly unrelated to levels of symptomatology or social integration, but were strongly related to patient perceptions of the quality of the environment. Results have important implications concerning the justifications for community care goals like noninstitutional care, reduction of symptomatology, and the fostering of social integration.