A monte carlo evaluation of response surface analysis based on paired-comparison data

The use of the logit transformation on paired-comparison data in the weighted least squares analysis of response surfaces for aesthetic qualities of products is discussed. Monte Carlo simulations are employed to investigate the small sample properties of the estimators and test statistics. A secondary objective of the Monte Carlo simulations is the comparison of two transformation procedures. The simulations are of standard-item paired-compar-ison experiments in which ties are not allowed.     

The Contextual Experiences of Rural Custodial Grandparents and Opportunities for Social Work

Rural custodial grandparents have been understudied. As the grandparent caregiving population increases, more attention is needed to understand custodial grandparents in rural settings. This article explores the state of knowledge of the experiences of rural grandparents. A systematic review of the caregiving literature is conducted to understand the issues affecting this caregiving population. The results suggest that rural grandparents often are minority grandmothers with limited resources who provide care to older grandchildren in isolated environments. Attention is given to the social ecological framework as one model that can help to inform how social workers intervene with this population. Recommendations are offered for social work research, practice, and policy.     

Self-Care Practice in Social Work Education: A Systematic Review of Interventions

Social work is a demanding profession as practitioners routinely face difficult situations that affect their well-being. The National Association of Social Workers strongly supports self-care practice as an approved mechanism to offset these challenges, yet practitioners report not learning techniques necessary to perform self-care. In this study, a systematic review compliant with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses standards was conducted to identify evidence-based interventions used to improve student self-care practice in social work education. In the four studies meeting inclusion criteria, mindfulness practice was the only empirically evaluated self-care strategy reported—and with mixed results. Mindfulness activities enable social workers to sustain their well-being and is critical to modeling and providing effective service delivery to clients. Areas for further research are indicated.     

Self-Identified Traditional,Moderate, and Liberal Catholics: Movement-Based Identities or Something Else?

Through qualitative analyses of 50 in-depth interviews with Catholics in three Midwestern cities, I investigate the role of religious movement organizations in the formation of Catholic identities. I find that movement organizations and elites tend to have little direct impact on the formation of Catholic parishioners’ identities in my sample. While movements’ disruptions and interactions with media are useful for generating debate and wider recognition of religious disagreements, my respondents are not usually socialized by nor do they identify with familiar movements when they call themselves traditional, moderate, and liberal. Most are uninterested in and unacquainted with movement organizations and publications. Instead, their religious identification is a form of religious mapping, which reflects their self-understood position vis-à-vis recognized cultural conflicts within the larger religious community. While movements play a limited role, I argue that we should be wary of conceptualizing Catholic identities as products of movement groups or parachurch networks since most Catholic identity-work occurs within families and parishes, as opposed to movements or parachurch organizations.

Parents’ awareness of lesbian,gay, and bisexual youths’ sexual orientation

This study used a sample of 293 lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth to examine factors that differentiated youth whose parents knew of their sexual orientation from youth whose parents did not know. Earlier awareness and disclosure of same‐gender attractions, greater childhood gender atypicality, and less internalized homophobia were characteristic of youth whose parents were aware of youths’ sexual orientation. Youth with aware parents reported more past verbal victimization on the basis of sexual orientation from parents, yet more current family support and less fear of future parental victimization on the basis of their sexual orientation.     

Insuring September 11th: Market Recovery and Transparency

The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center caused unprecedented economic and structural ramifications in the insurance markets, resulting in considerable uncertainty and informational asymmetry. We test several theoretical models of how markets respond to and recover from extreme capital shocks. Using the capacity constraint, post-loss investment and implicit insurance contract models, we develop testable hypotheses predicting the temporal and cross sectional variation in insurance company stock prices following September 11th. We find evidence consistent with the models' predictions, in particular, the predictions regarding relations between net losses and leverage and stock price performance after the shock.     

THE NEW ECONOMY AND THE AMERICAN DREAM:

Recent decades have seen major changes in economic conditions in the United States, including large-scale layoffs and downsizing, erosion of job quality for some workers, and increased reliance on nonstandard workers. Researchers have investigated the objective contours of this new economy, but few have investigated the consequences of these changes for popular attitudes about economic opportunity. Using data from the 1998 Indiana Survey of Workers in a Polarized Economy (N = 853), I investigate this new economic landscape and its effects on people's views about economic opportunity. I find that job deterioration and experiences with layoffs and job threats are creating pessimism about the American Dream among Indiana workers.     

IMAGES OF FAMILY LIFE OVER THE FAMILY LIFECYCLE

Based on an analysis of 20 family photo albums, this study investigates how the family's depiction of its geographical boundaries as well as of its kin and friendship networks varies over the lifecycle. Results indicate that the geographical boundaries of the family system expand and contract over the lifecycle and are most constricted during the childrearing years. Kin and friends are most likely to be included in the family album during the pre-parental stage and when school age children are present. A more exclusively kin-oriented image of family life emerges during the pre-school years and at late stages of the lifecycle. Theoretical and methodological implications of these findings are discussed.     

Exploring the Family Album: Social Class Differences in Images of Family Life*

Based on an analysis of twenty family albums, this study investigates how social class affects the family's portrayal of kin and friendship networks as well as its geographical boundaries. The results suggest the visual collections of middle-class families are more likely to present a kin oriented image of family life, include friends, and portray the family as a system with broad geographical boundaries than those of the working-class. Theoretical and methodological implications of these findings are discussed.