A Review of: “Producing Sperm Sperm Counts: Overcome by Man's Most Precious Fluid. By Lisa Jean Moore.”

This paper offers a preliminary conceptualization of the psychological structure of AIDS‐related attitudes among American adults and describes some of the social and psychological factors that affect those attitudes. Data were collected first from participants in focus groups in five U.S. cities and then from respondents in a national telephone survey. Two major psychological dimensions of attitudes were observed consistently. The first dimension, labeled COERCION/COMPASSION, includes judgments about the extent to which AIDS is viewed as highly contagious and requiring containment, through coercion if necessary. It also includes attributions of blame to people with AIDS. The second dimension, PRAGMATISM/MORALISM, includes judgments about the extent to which AIDS is viewed as controllable through research, public education and governmental sponsorship of behavior‐change programs. The two attitude dimensions are not highly correlated. Regression analyses suggest that the two dimensions have different social and psychological antecedents and that these antecedents differ between White and Black Americans. Using the two factors, a tentative typology of responses to the AIDS epidemic is presented. Implications for AIDS education and policy are discussed.     

The personal factor in evaluation use : A case study of a steering committee's use of a conservation tillage survey

In 1985 a statewide farmer survey about conservation tillage was conducted. It provided baseline data for a major energy conservation project. The data were used for 2 years, at which time a case study was undertaken to identify factors which influenced the tillage survey's use. The influence of the personal factor on evaluation use had been identified prior to planning the tillage survey. Therefore, the process used for conducting the tillage survey capitalized on the personal factor by using a team approach. The case study identified ways intended users actually used the tillage survey results, associated these findings with the team strategy, and generated important factors contributing to evaluation use when the personal factor was accounted for. Factors supporting the personal factor which appear to have influenced use were timeliness, intended users' ownership of the information, interaction among decision makers and the evaluator, methodological appropriateness and quality, and planning for use of the results.     

QUESTIONNAIRE VALIDATION BY CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS: AN IMPROVEMENT OVER MULTITRAIT-MULTIMETHOD MATRICES*

The Campbell and Fiske criteria for assessing the construct validity of multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) matrices has had a long history of use. While various statistical techniques, including ANOVA, have attempted to provide rigor to the MTMM matrix design, numerous problems still remain unsolved. Part of the problem in using an MTMM matrix is the assumption of measurement independence. This study attempts to illustrate the misleading inferences that often occur from MTMM analysis when method variance overlap is not accurately assessed. Three questionnaires were designed that were not method independent. Traditional procedures for assessing MTMM matrices suggested the three scaling formats used were not burdened with unusual method variance. A reanalysis of the MTMM matrix employing a Confirmatory Factor Analysis technique illustrated that method variance was a problem. Finally, the need for studies that concentrate on the nature of method variance, its causes and effects, is discussed.     

Asymptotic normality of linear combinations of functions of the concomitant order statistics

In this note we derive asymptotic normality for a class of linear combinations of functions of concomitant order statistics by exploiting the relation between these statistics and rank statistics for testing independence. The proof can at once be obtained from the proof of the asymptotic normality (under fixed alternatives) of the statistics of the latter type by a slight modification which is in fact a simplification. The score function is allowed to have a finite number of discontinuities (so that one- or two- sided trimmed means are included) and need not be bounded. In this way we prove results similar to those in Yang (1981b) in a different and simple manner.     

Effects of Interaction Experiences and Undergraduate Coursework on Attitudes Toward Gay and Lesbian Issues

College experiences can expand knowledge, decrease negative stereotypes, and increase acceptance toward diversity, especially regarding gay and lesbian issues. This study found that the more interaction undergraduate students have with gay and lesbian people on campus, the more accepting their attitudes are regarding (1) same-sex, consensual sex, (2) same-sex relations between adults is not unnatural, (3) vote for a gay presidential candidate, (4) friends with a feminine man, (5) friends with a masculine woman, (6) knowledge of GL issues important for future career, and (7) comfortable with GL roommate. Furthermore, the more undergraduate students are exposed to coursework addressing gay and lesbian issues, the more positive their attitudes are regarding the importance of knowledge of gay/lesbian issues for future career and comfort with a gay/lesbian roommate. Discussion explores possible long-term implications of systematic interaction experiences and coursework at all levels within the educational system to prevent negative attitude formation.     

PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN GOODS AND SERVICES ACROSS THE HETEROGENEOUS STATES OF AMERICA

In this study, we examine the importance of multifactor productivity (MFP) growth in goods and services for U.S. States during 1980–2007 by applying the dual growth accounting framework. We find that MFP growth was relatively high and converged in the goods sector, but was low and did not converge in services. Although low growth in MFP in services was due to declining real user cost, particularly in real estate services, the lack of convergence itself was due to variation in wage growth. We also document that while the gap between productivity and wage growth was higher in goods, the two series were more strongly correlated in services. Finally, states with higher initial human capital experienced higher growth in both sectors. (JEL O47, R11)     

Some comments on sample quantiles for dependent observations

Sample quantiles obtained from a linear process are examined and their asymptotic properties are derived by using simple elementary arguments.