On the mode of administering a questionnaire and responses to open-ended items

Concurrently administered personal and telephone surveys are compared to measure differences between the modes for identical questions. Speed of questioning is found to be greater in telephone interviews than personal interviews. The faster pace of telephone interviews is linked to shorter answers to open-ended items on the telephone. The tendency to reduce such responses is disproportionately exhibited by younger, affluent respondents who tend to provide detailed responses in personal interviews.     

The goal-oriented approach to evaluation: Critique and case study from drug abuse treatment

The specification and measurement of program goals remains central to most evaluation research strategies, yet procedures for implementing this approach are not well-articulated. It is the purpose of this discussion to describe a stepwise procedure for programmatic goal setting and monitoring used in a demonstration drug treatment program for women. Three implementation steps are described: (a) goal setting, (b) checking for consistency, (c) monitoring and feedback. The advantages and limitations of this approach are discussed and useful complementary measurement strategies are suggested.     

Differences in white-nonwhite community mental health center service utilization patterns

Routinely collected computerized data were used to study the process of service delivery in terms of admission patterns, type and quantity of services rendered, and status at termination for whites and nonwhites in two community mental health centers. Social area analysis techniques were employed to control for socio-economic status, ethnicity and life style variables, and an epidemiologic model was used to analyze admission and service delivery rate differences. It was found that nonwhite admission rates were at least twice as great as white rates. Service delivery rates to the population at large were considerably greater for nonwhites than for whites. Delivery of direct services within the centers differed for whites and nonwhites, but no consistent trends emerged when types and amounts of services rendered were analyzed, controlling for sex, ethnicity, age, diagnosis and social area. Disruption of care indices were greater for nonwhites than for whites. Highlighted were some of the complexities involved in interpreting results of utilization studies.     

Quality of life indicators and program evaluation

Social indicators and program evaluation research have much in common. Quality of life work specifically raises the question of objective versus subjective variables, aggregate data versus distributional and individual issues, and the reference standards used in judgment and evaluation decisions. This article presents perspectives on these issues from the orientation of quality of life research and proposes that these approaches have relevance for program evaluation work.     

植树节与孙中山崇拜

民国时期,国民党将孙中山逝世纪念日定为植树节,这是植树与纪念孙中山、宣传国民党意识形态相结合的产物,是仪式与实践共同构成的象征符号。设立植树节的目的就是通过植树仪式与植树实践,将孙中山精神与树木的生命特性相结合,并赋予植树活动继承、弘扬总理遗教的政治象征意义,让人们在实践中形成对孙中山的集体记忆,接受国民党意识形态教化。国民党利用纪念日来塑造孙中山形象,使孙中山形象传入民间,体现出政治统治技术上娴熟、隐蔽的特征。植树节在推广孙中山崇拜中发挥了重要的功能,使植树造林成为全国性运动,而孙中山符号也在植树运动中得到广泛传播。     

商业化：英国普通大学国际教育的基本特点——以英国阿伯瑞斯特维斯大学为例

阿伯瑞斯特维斯大学是英国的一所普通大学,它国际教育的理念、模式、合作关系和产品设计都是以商业化为指导,在英国普通大学中有一定的代表性。可以说,商业化是目前英国普通大学国际教育的基本特点,是经济全球化,英国政府的鼓励引导,各国广阔的市场和大学自身努力共同作用的结果,这对我国普通大学开展国际教育工作有较大的启示。     

Ethnic and class factors affecting mental health clinic service

Service delivery by a mental health clinic to clients from an older suburban catchment area containing both lower and middle class blacks and whites was studied. The epidemiologic method was employed, relating service delivery to the characteristics of the various population groups within the catchment. The findings indicate that low service rates for blacks were not related to ethnicity alone, but to the combination of black ethnicity and low social status; however, middle class blacks and middle class whites who entered treatment received similar service. Poor blacks had higher admission rates than poor whites with similar need indicators. In continued treatment, poor blacks received lowest service rates while minority status poor whites living in a predominantly black area received highest service rates. Social class mediated black service utilization. Severity of illness, interacting with social class and minority status mediated white service utilization. Outreach is suggested not only for poor blacks but also for poor whites, especially those living in areas in which they represent an ethnic minority.     

An expectational view of consumer spending prospects

While the path of the economy clearly depends on a lot more than the behavior of consumers, the latter is surely one of the key influences on the former. After all, consumer spending counts for about two-thirds of the total (more if consumer investments in owner-occupied housing are included), and postwar business cycle movements in the U.S. have typically been foreshadowed by significant changes in consumer spending, particularly for automobiles and houses. Thus, whether the economy will be proceeding along at reasonably satisfactory growth rates, sliding into recession, or accelerating into renewed expansion will be heavily influenced by what consumers do.