This volume examines the urban underclass from theoretical, empirical and policy perspectives. Focusing strongly on policy, contributors explore such topics as demographic and industrial transitions, family patterns, sexual behaviour, immigration and homelessness. A new introduction updates recent work in the field since publication of the first edition.
This volume explores the impact of social, cultural, structural, network and dynamic transactional processes on the conduct of relationships. In so doing, it makes a compelling case for research to be directed away from over-application of individual perspectives and towards inclusion of contextual factors. Confronting the practical realities against which individuals may struggle to manage relationships, contributors focus on such issues as: limits on opportunity and freedom; coercive family norms; responsibilities; poverty; and prejudice.
This volume explores the impact of social, cultural, structural, network and dynamic transactional processes on the conduct of relationships. In so doing, it makes a compelling case for research to be directed away from over-application of individual perspectives and towards inclusion of contextual factors. Confronting the practical realities against which individuals may struggle to manage relationships, contributors focus on such issues as: limits on opportunity and freedom; coercive family norms; responsibilities; poverty; and prejudice.
In this volume the underlying logic and practice of maximum likelihood (ML) estimation is made clear by providing a general modelling framework that utilizes the tools of ML methods. This framework offers readers a flexible modelling strategy since it accommodates cases from the simplest linear models to the most complex nonlinear models that link a system of endogenous and exogenous variables with non-normal distributions. Using examples to illustrate the techniques of finding ML estimators and estimates, Eliason discusses: what properties are desirable in an estimator; basic techniques for finding ML solutions; the general form of the covariance matrix for ML estimates; the sampling distribution of ML estimators; the application of ML in the normal distribution as well as in other useful distributions; and some helpful illustrations of likelihoods.
Bootstrapping, a computational nonparametric technique for `re-sampling', enables researchers to draw a conclusion about the characteristics of a population strictly from the existing sample rather than by making parametric assumptions about the estimator. Using real data examples from per capita personal income to median preference differences between legislative committee members and the entire legislature, Mooney and Duval discuss how to apply bootstrapping when the underlying sampling distribution of the statistics cannot be assumed normal, as well as when the sampling distribution has no analytic solution. In addition, they show the advantages and limitations of four bootstrap confidence interval methods: normal approximation, percentile, bias-corrected percentile, and percentile-t. The authors conclude with a convenient summary of how to apply this computer-intensive methodology using various available software packages.
Non-linear analysis of categorical variables, that is, a variable that can sort objects into a limited number of distinct groups called `categories', is a useful technique for social scientists, particularly those who do survey research. This book introduces the reader to the application of a particular approach to categorical analysis, the GIFI system, or multiple correspondence analysis. Using illustrative examples from a variety of disciplines, van de Geer shows how to perform these techniques using standard computer programs, such as SPSS. The book explains when to use particular programs, what conditions need to be met for effective use of each program, and how to interpret the results based on the use of each of these programs. Detailed examples are used throughout the book to enable the reader to comprehend what is `going on behind' the computer program.
Until recently, race relations research has been an understudied and stigmatized area of the social sciences. This volume traces its emergence as a central topic, highlighting the major milestones that established it as a legitimate research domain. The contributors, key figures in the post-war development of United States race research, relate their own experiences with race and racism and the developing interest in the understanding of race as a social force, giving the reader an insider's view of the field.
What quality control methods can be used most effectively to structure and monitor interviews and convert refusals? What telephone numbers should be used in random digit dialling? How can eligible respondents be chosen and their cooperation secured? Addressing these and other survey issues, this book offers researchers a guide to thinking about and executing telephone surveys from generating phone numbers to structuring the work of interviewers and supervisors. New to this edition are a focus on the total survey error concept, a comparison of CATI (computer-assisted telephone interviews) with PAPI (paper and pencil inventory) procedures, mixed-mode surveys and new telecommunication technologies. In addition, the book covers such topics as how to control the sampling pool, how to identify appropriate respondents and how to improve on-the-job training of interviewers.
While there is an evident trend towards increasing legal responses to wife assault in North America, any change that has occurred has met with controversy, and the challenge remains to improve the circumstances of battered women. This book offers in-depth coverage of four major themes that address this issue: the historical framework of legal responses to wife assault; police attitudes and action; prosecution, mediation and treatment within the court system; and victims as defendants and participants in the legal system. Each chapter examines past and present policies of a specific branch of the legal system, and discusses their merits and demerits.
