UNDERSTANDING MAIL SURVEY RESPONSE BEHAVIOR A META-ANALYSIS

A meta-analysis of prior studies of techniques designed to inducemail survey response rates was conducted. Research encompassing184 effects (study outcomes) in 115 studies (articles) for 17predictors of response rate was examined. The average effectsize across all manipulations was r=.065, indicating an averageincrease of about 6.5 percent in response rates for manipulations.Effect sizes for specific predictors and two potential moderatorsof effects were examined. Results indicated that repeated contactsin the form of preliminary notification and follow-ups, appeals,inclusion of a return envelope, postage, and monetary incentives,were effective in increasing survey response rates. Significanteffect sizes for the predictors ranged from an increase in responseof 2 percent to 31 percent. Implications of the results forthe conduct of mail surveys and future research on mail surveyresponse behavior are discussed.     

Traceability in global governance

An increasingly important challenge in global governance, which in some issue areas has been labelled ‘traceability’, has been to track the cross‐border travels of objects that are associated with positive or negative effects. However, the common properties and identifiable patterns of variation of traceability across issue areas or industries have been insufficiently explored. We identify key properties of traceability systems, including the variation and interactions between the physical properties of the traced object, the positive or negative effects with which it is associated, the monitoring technology, and the institutionalized power relations that activate and constrain traceability systems. We examine and compare traceability systems for food safety, conflict minerals, pharmaceuticals, carbon emissions, money laundering and financial transactions. Understanding traceability in this way is important not only for these cases, but also for understanding interactions between objects, infrastructures, as well as monitoring and political mechanisms in global governance more generally.     

Provisioning Responsibilities: How Relationships Shape the Work that Women Do

Cette étude documente le travail d'approvisionnement que les femmes effectuent pour elles‐mêmes et pour les autres, tout en enregistrant les contours de ce travail et en analysant les responsabilités qui y sont associées. Le concept d'approvisionnement a orienté les interviews réalisées auprès de 100 femmes. La diversité et l'étendue du travail des femmes se sont manifestées par le choix des femmes provenant de six groupes communautaires marginalisés par le revenu, la race ou l'âge dans deux provinces canadiennes. Les résultats résument les types d'activités et de stratégies d'approvisionnement que les femmes utilisent pour assumer leurs responsabilités. Parce que celles‐ci font partie des avenues de leurs relations, négocier les limites de leurs responsabilités d'approvisionnement modèle le travail quotidien des femmes et leurs possibilités de s'engager dans la société civile. This study documents the work women do to provision for themselves and others. It charts the contours of this work and examines associated responsibilities. The concept of provisioning informed interviews with 100 women. The diversity and range of women's work were surfaced by selecting women from six community groups, marginalized by income, race, and age, in two Canadian provinces. Findings summarize the types of provisioning activities and strategies women use to meet their responsibilities. Because the latter flow through pathways of relationships, negotiating the boundaries of their provisioning responsibilities shapes women's daily work and possibilities for engaging in civil society.     

THE SPECIAL INTEREST AUTO AS AN APPRECIATING ASSET

This paper examines the price behavior over time of a particular make of special interest automobile. A model is developed to explain both interyear and intrayear behavior of this auto's used price.     

Primary care teams

SUMMARY. Northern Ireland has a health and social services structure which should lead to the easier establishment of effective primary care teams. Following an analysis of constraints on interprofessional collaboration, various models of practice in Northern Ireland and in England and Wales are discussed to demonstrate potential solutions. Child abuse in particular is used to identify both problems and ways forward, especially concerning the general practitioner's key role in the primary care team     

Which Children are Registered at Case Conferences?

Correspondence to Terry Fisher, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of York, Heslington, York YO1 5DD. Summary A postal questionnaire to social workers was used to describethe characteristics of situations where children were the subjectsof child protection case conferences, to identify factors distinguishingthose registered from those not registered and to describe theaccounts given by social workers of the reasons for registration.The paper reports and analyses this information and raises somebasic issues about the relative importance in registration decisionsof evidence of physical or sexual abuse, characteristics ofthe adults involved, and a child's feelings and emotional state.     

Sustainability and Business in a Complex World

Sustainability is a topic of growing importance today in all aspects of organizational life. Businesses and managers are increasingly considering ways to incorporate a balance among economic, ecological, social, and cultural value creation into their business models. At the same time, the world is becoming exponentially more complex. Indeed, complexity theory and thinking are now apparent in academic and practice accounts of sustainability in business, as scholars and practitioners recognize the limitations of traditional reductionist approaches to systemic problems. To date, however, a more theoretical framing of sustainability lags behind accumulating practical evidence. The purpose of this article is to address this gap by developing a complexity‐based framework for understanding and managing sustainability in complex adaptive systems. We aim for simplicity, wholeness, and practicality in our approach, taking a qualitative rather than quantitative perspective on complex systems. Using several contemporary case examples, the article describes the important qualities of complex systems and develops them into a working framework that integrates principles and parameters of sustainability. In doing so, we create an approach to sustainability issues and dilemmas called “sustainability thinking.” The article concludes with more generalized sustainability action strategies for managers and recommendations for future researchers.