|
| ||
|
|
||
Census
Kinds of Census Terms modified by Census Selected AbstractsEXTENDING SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION THEORY: A MULTILEVEL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF VIOLENCE AMONG PERSONS WITH MENTAL ILLNESSES,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 4 2000ERIC SILVER Prior studies of violence among individuals with mental illnesses have focused almost exclusively on individual-level characteristics. In this study, I examine whether the structural correlates of neighborhood social disorganization also explain variation in violence. I use data on 270 psychiatric patients who were treated and discharged from an acute inpatient facility combined with tract-level data from the 1990 U.S. Census. I find that living in a socially disorganized neighborhood increased the probability of violence among the sample, an effect that was not mediated by self-reported social supports. Implications for future research in the areas of violence and mental illness are discussed. [source] Prevalence and characteristics of autistic spectrum disorders in the ALSPAC cohortDEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 9 2008Emma Williams MSc PhD The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) within a large representative population sample: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Cases of ASD were identified from the clinical notes of children in the ALSPAC with a suspected developmental disorder and from the Pupil Level Annual Schools Census (PLASC) for England in 2003. Seventy-one cases of ASD diagnosed after a multidisciplinary assessment were identified from health records. There were an additional 15 cases from PLASC data in which ASD was mentioned as a principal difficulty, thus giving a total of 86 children diagnosed by the age of 11 years. Prevalence of ASD per 10 000 population at 11 years was 51.1 for those with a multi-professional diagnosis, and 61.9 if cases from education were included, made up of 21.6 for childhood autism, 10.8 for atypical autism, 16.6 for Asperger syndrome, and 13.0 for unspecified ASD. The male:female ratio was 6.8:1. Median age at diagnosis ranged from 45 months in childhood autism to 116 months in Asperger syndrome. A comorbid developmental disorder was recorded in 33.8% of cases, including learning disability, in 14.7%, epilepsy in 10.3%, and mixed developmental disorder in 4.4%. We conclude that the prevalence of ASD diagnosed at 11 years in a UK representative population-based sample is at least 51.1/10 000. [source] Comparison of missing value imputation methods for crop yield dataENVIRONMETRICS, Issue 4 2006Ravindra S. Lokupitiya Abstract Most ecological data sets contain missing values, a fact which can cause problems in the analysis and limit the utility of resulting inference. However, ecological data also tend to be spatially correlated, which can aid in estimating and imputing missing values. We compared four existing methods of estimating missing values: regression, kernel smoothing, universal kriging, and multiple imputation. Data on crop yields from the National Agricultural Statistical Survey (NASS) and the Census of Agriculture (Ag Census) were the basis for our analysis. Our goal was to find the best method to impute missing values in the NASS datasets. For this comparison, we selected the NASS data for barley crop yield in 1997 as our reference dataset. We found in this case that multiple imputation and regression were superior to methods based on spatial correlation. Universal kriging was found to be the third best method. Kernel smoothing seemed to perform very poorly. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Quality of Life and the Migration of the College-Educated: A Life-Course ApproachGROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2008RONALD L. WHISLER ABSTRACT This paper examines how the college-educated population,segmented into selective demographic groups, from young adults to the elderly,differentially values quality-of-life (QOL) indicators of metropolitan areas in the United States. Using data from the 2000 Census and the 1997 Places Rated Almanac, out-migration patterns are shown to depend jointly upon stage in the life course, the spatial-demographic setting, and QOL characteristics. An abundance of cultural and recreational amenities lowers out-migration rates of young college-educated. For the older college-educated population, the revealed preferences shift toward concerns for safety and a strong preference for milder climates. The study also finds significantly lower out-migration rates for metropolitan areas with growing human capital. In light of shifting age distributions and rising educational attainment levels, the results have important implications for the emergence of new migration patterns and the concentration of human capital. [source] The New Retail Economy of ShanghaiGROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2005SHUGUANG WANG ABSTRACT As Shanghai strives to build itself into an international center of finance, trade, and commerce, a new retail economy has evolved accordingly. In the past two decades, its retail sector has been transformed from a simple and inefficient distribution system to a much more complex and highly competitive market-oriented economy. The new retail economy in many ways resembles the contemporary capitalist retail economy in the Western cities, but it also exhibits significant differences with Chinese characteristics. While the affluent consumer market is the necessary condition for sustained retail growth, it is the retail deregulation that has been the fundamental driving force for the structural changes in Shanghai's retail sector. Its liberal policies attracted major international retailers to either choose Shanghai as the gateway city to enter the China market, or locate their China headquarters offices in Shanghai to command their operations throughout the country. Indeed, the retail transformation in post-reform Shanghai is a clear testimony of the Economic Transition Model. The main data sources for this empirical study are the 1999 Census of Commercial Activity in Shanghai and the Shanghai Statistical Yearbook. They are supplemented by data collected from reputable Web sites and through field work in Shanghai. [source] Cities, Skills, and InequalityGROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2005CHRISTOPHER H. WHEELER ABSTRACT The surge in U.S. wage inequality over the past several decades is now commonly attributed to an increase in the returns paid to skill. Although theories differ with respect to why, specifically, this increase has come about, many agree that it is strongly tied to the increase in the relative supply of skilled (i.e., highly educated) workers in the U.S. labor market. A greater supply of skilled labor, for example, may have induced skill-biased technological change or generated greater stratification of workers by skill across firms or jobs. Given that metropolitan areas in the U.S. have long possessed more educated populations than non-metropolitan areas, these theories suggest that the rise in both the returns to skill and wage inequality should have been particularly pronounced in cities. Evidence from the U.S. Census over the period of 1950 to 1990 supports both implications. [source] Community and Individual Race/Ethnicity and Home Health Care Use among Elderly Persons in the United StatesHEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, Issue 5p1 2010James B. Kirby Objective. To investigate whether the interaction between individual race/ethnicity and community racial/ethnic composition is associated with health-related home care use among elderly persons in the United States. Data Sources. A nationally representative sample of community-dwelling elders aged 65+ from the 2000 to 2006 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (N=23,792) linked to block group-level racial/ethnic information from the 2000 Decennial Census. Design. We estimated the likelihood of informal and formal home health care use for four racial/ethnic elderly groups (non-Hispanic [NH] whites, NH-blacks, NH-Asians, and Hispanics) living in communities with different racial/ethnic compositions. Principal Findings. NH-Asian and Hispanic elders living in block groups with ,25 percent of residents being NH-Asian or Hispanic, respectively, were more likely to use informal home health care than their counterparts in other block groups. No such effect was apparent for formal home health care. Conclusions. NH-Asian and Hispanic elders are more likely to use informal home care if they live in communities with a higher proportion of residents who share their race/ethnicity. A better understanding of how informal care is provided in different communities may inform policy makers concerned with promoting informal home care, supporting informal caregivers, or providing formal home care as a substitute or supplement to informal care. [source] The Relationship between Hospital Volume and Mortality in Mechanical Ventilation: An Instrumental Variable AnalysisHEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, Issue 3 2009Jeremy M. Kahn Objective. To examine the relationship between hospital volume and mortality for nonsurgical patients receiving mechanical ventilation. Data Sources. Pennsylvania state discharge records from July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2006, linked to the Pennsylvania Department of Health death records and the 2000 United States Census. Study Design. We categorized all general acute care hospitals in Pennsylvania (n=169) by the annual number of nonsurgical, mechanically ventilated discharges according to previous criteria. To estimate the relationship between annual volume and 30-day mortality, we fit linear probability models using administrative risk adjustment, clinical risk adjustment, and an instrumental variable approach. Principle Findings. Using a clinical measure of risk adjustment, we observed a significant reduction in the probability of 30-day mortality at higher volume hospitals (,300 admissions per year) compared with lower volume hospitals (<300 patients per year; absolute risk reduction: 3.4%, p=.04). No significant volume,outcome relationship was observed using only administrative risk adjustment. Using the distance from the patient's home to the nearest higher volume hospital as an instrument, the volume,outcome relationship was greater than observed using clinical risk adjustment (absolute risk reduction: 7.0%, p=.01). Conclusions. Care in higher volume hospitals is independently associated with a reduction in mortality for patients receiving mechanical ventilation. Adequate risk adjustment is essential in order to obtained unbiased estimates of the volume,outcome relationship. [source] The Effects of Health Sector Market Factors and Vulnerable Group Membership on Access to Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health CareHEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, Issue 3p1 2007Susan E. Stockdale Objective. This study adapts Andersen's Behavioral Model to determine if health sector market conditions affect vulnerable subgroups' use of alcohol, drug, and mental health services (ADM) differently than the general population, focusing specifically on community-level predisposing and enabling characteristics. Data Sources. Wave 2 data (2000,2001) from the Health Care for Communities study, supplemented with cases from wave 1 (1997,1998), were merged with area characteristics taken from Census, Area Resource File (ARF), and other data sources. Study Design. The study used four-level hierarchical logistic regression to examine access to ADM care from any provider and specialty ADM access. Interactions between community-level predisposing and enabling vulnerability characteristics with individual race/ethnicity, age, income category, and insurance type were explored. Principal Findings. Nonwhites, the poor, uninsured, and elderly had lower likelihoods of service use, but interactions between race/ethnicity, income, age and insurance status with community-level vulnerability factors were not statistically significant for any service use. For ADM specialty care, those with Medicare, Medicaid, private fully managed, and private partially managed insurance, the likelihood of utilization was higher in areas with higher HMO penetration. However, for those with other insurance or no insurance plan, the likelihood of utilization was lower in areas with higher HMO penetration. Conclusions. Community-level enabling factors explain part of the effect of disadvantaged status but, with the exception of the effect of HMO penetration on the relationship between insurance and specialty care use, do not modify any of the residual individual-level effects of disadvantage. Interventions targeting both structural and individual levels may be necessary to address the problem of health disparities. More research with longitudinal data is necessary to sort out the causal direction of social context and ADM access outcomes, and whether policy interventions to change health sector market conditions can shift ADM treatment utilization. [source] County-Level Income Inequality and Depression among Older AmericansHEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, Issue 6p2 2003Naoko Muramatsu Objectives. To examine (1) whether county-level income inequality is associated with depression among Americans aged 70 and older, taking into consideration county-level mean household income and individual-level socioeconomic status (SES), demographic characteristics, and physical health, and (2) whether income inequality effects are stronger among people with lower SES and physical health. Data Sources. The individual-level data from the first wave of the Assets and Health Dynamics among the Oldest Old survey (1993,1994) were linked with the county-level income inequality and mean household income data from the 1990 Census. Study Design. Multilevel analysis was conducted to examine the association between income inequality (the Gini coefficient) and depression. Principal Findings. Income inequality was significantly associated with depression among older Americans. Those living in counties with higher income inequality were more depressed, independent of their demographic characteristics, SES, and physical health. The association was stronger among those with more illnesses. Conclusions. While previous empirical research on income inequality and physical health is equivocal, evidence for income inequality effects on mental health seems to be strong. [source] Previous Marriage and the Lesbian Wage PremiumINDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 3 2009NASSER DANESHVARY This paper provides insight into the wage gap between partnered lesbians and other groups of women. Using data from the 2000 Decennial Census, we find that wages of never-married lesbians are significantly higher than wages of previously married lesbians and other groups of women. Results indicate that controlling for previous marriage reduces the estimated lesbian wage premium by approximately 20 percent. Our research also reveals that wage patterns of previously married lesbians mirror those of cohabiting heterosexual women. Overall, our results are consistent with the notion that the lesbian wage premium is driven, in part, by differences in the labor-market commitment of lesbians and heterosexual women. [source] Health Care and Pension Benefits for Construction Workers: TheRole of Prevailing Wage Laws Health Care and Pension Benefits for Construction WorkersINDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 2 2000Jeffrey S. Petersen This article examines the affect of state prevailing wage laws (PWLs) on the amount and mix of wages and benefits paid to construction workers. PWLs require contractors who win bids on state-financed construction projects to pay compensation rates equivalent to those prevailing in local construction markets. During 1982-1992, 6 states repealed their PWLs, 9 states who never had a PWL did not enact one, and 32 states kept their PWLs. Data from the Form 5500 series, the Census of Construction Industries, the Current Employment Statistics, and the Current Population Survey are combined to evaluate the effects of PWL repeals on compensation. When comparing the experiences of different states, PWLs enhance both wages and benefits, with the largest percentage increase going toward employer pension contributions. PWLs appear to create an incentive for both employers to pay and workers to accept a larger percentage of their total compensation in the form of benefits. [source] Educational level and occupation as risk factors for inflammatory bowel diseases: A nationwide study based on hospitalizations in SwedenINFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASES, Issue 4 2009Xinjun Li MD Abstract Background: The aim of this study was to investigate possible associations between educational level, occupation, and hospitalization for inflammatory bowel disease. Methods: A nationwide database was constructed by linking the Swedish Census to the Hospital Discharge Register in order to obtain data on all first hospitalizations for Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) in Sweden during the study period (1970,2004). Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by educational level and occupation for men and women ,30 years. Three cohorts were defined based on occupational titles recorded in the Swedish census data in 1970 and 1980. Results: Significantly decreased SIRs for CD were observed for both men and women who had an educational level of >12 years. Among men, significantly increased SIRs for CD were present in all 3 cohorts among "drivers." Male "religious, juridical, and other social-science-related workers," "textile workers," and "glass, ceramic, and tile workers," and female "clerical workers," "mechanics and iron and metalware workers," and "printers and related workers" had a significantly increased SIR for CD that was present in 1 of the 3 cohorts. For UC, male "postal and communication workers," "smelters and metal foundry workers," and "chemical process workers," and female "wood workers" had a significantly increased SIR for UC that was present in at least 1 of the 3 cohorts. Conclusions: Educational level and occupation seem to have a minor effect on the population's likelihood of hospitalization for CD and UC. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2008) [source] Elderly suicide and the 2003 SARS epidemic in Hong KongINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 2 2006Sau Man Sandra Chan Abstract Background Hong Kong was struck by the community outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003. In the same year, the elderly suicide rate in Hong Kong showed a sharp upturn from a previous downward trend. Methods Secondary analyses using Poisson Regression Models on the suicide statistics from the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Government were performed. Results In a Poisson Regression Model on the annual suicide rates in elders aged 65 and over in years 1986,2003, 2002 served as the reference year. Suicide rates in 1986,1997 were significantly higher than the reference year, with an Incident Rate Ratio (IRR) of 1.34 to 1.61. However, rates in 1998,2001 did not differ from the reference year significantly, representing stabilization of suicide rates for 4 years after 1997. The elderly suicide rate increased to 37.46/100,000 in 2003, with an IRR of 1.32 (p,=,0.0019) relative to 2002. Such trend is preserved when female elderly suicide rates in 1993,2003 were analyzed, while suicide rates in elderly men and younger age groups did not follow this pattern. Discussions Mechanistic factors such as breakdown of social network and limited access to health care might account for the findings. These factors could have potentiated biopsychosocial risk factors for suicide at individual levels, particularly in elderly. Female elders, by way of their previous readiness to utilize social and health services instituted in the past decade, are thus more susceptible to the effects of temporary suspension of these services during the SARS epidemic. Conclusions The SARS epidemic was associated with increased risk of completed suicide in female elders, but not in male elders or the population under 65 years of age. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The first Australian nurse practitioner census: A protocol to guide standardized collection of information about an emergent professional groupINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NURSING PRACTICE, Issue 5 2010Sandy Middleton RN PhD Middleton S, Gardner G, Gardner A, Della P, Gibb M, Millar L. International Journal of Nursing Practice 2010; 16: 517,524 The first Australian nurse practitioner census: A protocol to guide standardized collection of information about an emergent professional group Internationally, collection of reliable data on new and evolving health-care roles is crucial. We describe a protocol for design and administration of a national census of an emergent health-care role, namely nurse practitioners in Australia using databases held by regulatory authorities. A questionnaire was developed to obtain data on the role and scope of practice of Australian nurse practitioners. Our tool comprised five sections and included a total of 56 questions, using 28existing items from the National Nursing and Midwifery Labour Force Census and nine items recommended in the Nurse Practitioner Workforce Planning Minimum Data Set. Australian Nurse Registering Authorities (n = 6) distributed the survey on our behalf. This paper outlines our instrument and methods. The survey was administered to 238 authorized Australian nurse practitioners (85% response rate). Rigorous collection of standardized items will ensure health policy is informed by reliable and valid data. We will re-administer the survey 2 years following the first survey to measure change over time. [source] Migration Policy and Industrial Structure: The Case of SwitzerlandINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 2 2008Leonhard Becker ABSTRACT Structural change in OECD countries, emphasizing knowledge-based sectors, has led to an increasing demand for highly skilled labour. One means of meeting this demand has been to implement a selective immigration policy. Such policies, however, have been criticized for channelling labour into low-producing sectors and occupations, hampering structural change. Proponents of such criticism point to Switzerland's former policy of channelling immigrants into so-called seasonal sectors, a practice abandoned in the early 1990s, as having contributed to Switzerland's low growth rates. To assess this, we here analyse the amended migration policy's effects on skill structure and sectoral distribution of immigration flows using data from the Swiss Census of 1990 and 2000 to determine whether the new policy has led to an immigrant inflow more adapted to the processes of structural change. We find that the share of highly skilled immigrants has increased notably under the new migration policy. Our analysis also shows an important change in the sectoral focus of the new arrival inflow. Not only have fewer immigrants been entering declining sectors, but the majority of migrants arriving under the new policy regime have been absorbed into growing and knowledge-based sectors, meaning they are employed primarily in service and knowledge-intensive sectors. Overall, the analysis provides ample evidence that the current admission policy as ositively contributed to tructural change in Switzerland. [source] The Socio-economic Integration of the Ethiopian Community in IsraelINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 3 2004Shira Offer ABSTRACT Using data from the 1995 Israeli Census of Population, this study examines the demographic, human capital, and labour force characteristics of the Ethiopian community in Israel and its determinants of employment. The results provide strong evidence for the overall disadvantaged socio-economic status of the Ethiopian community and reveal substantial gaps in educational and occupational attainment between Ethiopian Israelis and members of other ethnic groups in Israeli society. Ethiopian Israelis have substantially lower levels of education, lower employment rates, and are more likely to have low-skilled occupations. However, multivariate analyses show that the determinants of employment of Ethiopian Israelis are relatively similar to those of other ethnic groups. Education and veteran status are found to be especially important factors associated with increased odds of employment. Although the rates of return from education are lower among Israelis of Ethiopian origin compared to other ethnic groups, this study suggests that education constitutes the major avenue for upward mobility in the Ethiopian community. Nevertheless, considering their current disadvantaged position, the question of whether Ethiopian immigrants will manage in the long run to climb up the socio-economic ladder and significantly improve their status, or whether they run the risk of becoming a marginalized ethnic group in Israeli society, remains a major concern. Implications for the formation of a new cleavage in Israeli society and the emergence of a stratification system based on race are discussed. [source] Socio-economic Development and International Migration: A Turkish StudyINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 4 2001Ahmet Icduygu The root causes of international migration have been the subject of many studies, a vast majority of which are based on development theories dominated by economy-oriented perspectives. An underlying assumption is that poverty breeds migration. The results, and the conclusions drawn from these studies, differ widely. For instance, whether emigration increases when poverty becomes more extreme, or less extreme, or why it reaches certain levels, are issues on which research still offers a mixed answer. This article investigates the relationship between economic development and migration by taking into consideration the degrees of economic development that form thresholds for migration. It focuses on recent evidence on the development-emigration relationship in Turkey which reflects a dimension of the dynamics and mechanisms facilitating or restricting migratory flows from the country. Using data from the 1995 District-level Socio-economic Development Index of Turkey (DSDI) and the 1990 Census, the principal aim of the article is to provide an analytical base which identifies degrees of local level of development in Turkey, relate these to international migration flows, and examine patterns of the development-migration relationship. [source] The Effect of Linguistic Distance and Country of Origin on Immigrant Language Skills: Application to IsraelINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 3 2001Michael Beenstock This article is concerned with identifying, for the first time, the separate effects of linguistic distance (language of origin) and country of origin on the destination language proficiency of immigrants. The determinants of Hebrew language proficiency (fluency and literacy) among immigrants in Israel are studied using the 1972 Census of Israel and the Immigration Absorption (panel) Surveys conducted in the 1970s. Country of origin and language of origin matter for proficiency in Hebrew, especially in the longer term. By country of origin, those from North Africa are the least proficient. By language of origin, Arabic speakers are the most proficient, suggesting a small linguistic distance from Hebrew. Immigrants from English-speaking origins are the least proficient in Hebrew. This may reflect a large linguistic distance or, more likely, the unique role of English as the international language, which reduces incentives for investments in Hebrew. Immigrants from dual-language countries of origin are more proficient in Hebrew than those from single language origins. [source] Does Selective Migration Matter?INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION REVIEW, Issue 4 2005Explaining Ethnic Disparities in Educational Attainment among Immigrants'Children Understanding why some national-origin groups excel in school while others do not is an enduring sociological puzzle. This paper examines whether the degree of immigrants'educational selectivity - that is, how immigrants differ educationally from non-migrants in the home country - influences educational outcomes among groups of immigrants'children. This study uses published international data and U. S. Census and Current Population Survey data on 32 immigrant groups to show that as immigrants'educational selectivity increases, the college attainment of the second generation also increases. Moreover, the more positive selection of Asian immigrants helps explain their second generations'higher college attendance rates as compared to Europeans, Afro-Caribbeans, and Latinos. Thus, the findings suggest that inequalities in relative pre-migration educational attainments among immigrants are often reproduced among the next generation in the United States. [source] Cultural Influences on Immigrant Women's Labor Force Participation: The Arab-American Case,INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION REVIEW, Issue 1 2004Jen'nan Ghazal Read Research on the economic activity of immigrant women has flourished in recent years. The current study extends this literature to examine the labor force activity of Arab-American women, a group whose labor market experiences provide an exception to hitherto accepted theoretical explanations. The employment rates of Arab immigrant women rank among the lowest of any immigrant group, while the rates of native-born Arab-American women resemble those of U.S.-born white women. This study examines potential explanations for these differences using data from the U.S. Census and a national mail survey of Arab-American women. Contrary to findings for other immigrant groups, differences among Arab-American women cannot be explained by their human capital characteristics or family resources, but are almost entirely due to traditional cultural norms that prioritize women's family obligations over their economic activity, and to ethnic and religious social networks that encourage the maintenance of traditional gender roles. This study concludes by underscoring the need for additional research on the impact of culture on immigrant women's employment. [source] Religious Affiliation, Ethnicity, and Child Mortality in Chiapas, MéxicoJOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION, Issue 3 2009Eunice D. Vargas Valle We investigate whether there is a relationship between religious affiliation and child mortality among indigenous and nonindigenous groups in Chiapas, México. Our analysis relies on Brass-type estimates of child mortality by ethnicity and religious affiliation and multivariate analyses that adjust for various socioeconomic and demographic factors. The data are from the 2000 Mexican Census 10 percent sample. Among indigenous people, Presbyterians have lower rates of child mortality than Catholics. However, no significant differentials are found in child mortality by religious affiliation among nonindigenous people. The indigenous health ministry of the Presbyterian Church and the social and cultural transformations that tend to accompany religious conversion may have an impact on child survival among disadvantaged populations such as the indigenous people in Chiapas. [source] The Religious Institutional Base and Violent Crime in Rural AreasJOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION, Issue 3 2006MATTHEW R. LEE Research on the relationship between religion and crime has typically focused on individual religiosity and delinquency, or moral communities and crime at the macro level. This study extends prior research by delineating the sociological implications of a strong religious institutional base, and investigating the ties between the religious institutional base and violent crime across rural communities. Multivariate regression analysis of Uniform Crime Report data on violent crime, Census of Churches and Church membership data, and U.S. Census data circa 2000 reveal that rural violent crime rates on average are consistently lower where there are more churches per capita. This relationship holds net of the overall adherence rates, the presence of civically engaged religious adherents, and the presence of conservative Protestant adherents. Moreover, regional variations are evident, with the South and the Midwest,two highly religious regions of the country,sustaining most of the observed institutional effects. [source] Can neighborhood associations be allies in health policy efforts?JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2002Political activity among neighborhood associations We examined organizational characteristics and types of political actions of neighborhood associations, and factors influencing the amount of political activity among the associations. We hypothesized that four neighborhood characteristics (population size, income, educational level, and percentage of owner-occupied households) and six organizational characteristics (budget, number of staff, size of board, newsletter publication, coalition involvement, and resident involvement) would influence the amount of political activity of the associations. We obtained data from the 1990 U.S. Census and a survey of neighborhood associations (n = 84) in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. We found that neighborhood associations engaged in numerous and diverse political activities. Results from multiple regression analyses revealed that median household income was negatively associated with amount of political activity. Population size of the neighborhood and intensity of involvement in multi-organization coalitions were both positively associated with political activity (all significant at p < .05). We conclude that neighborhood associations, particularly those in larger and poorer neighborhoods, can be key allies in health and social policy efforts. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [source] Mergers and acquisitions, employment, wages, and plant closures in the U.S. meat product industries,AGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 1 2009Sang V. Nguyen The purpose of this article is to evaluate the impact of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on wages, employment, and plant closures in the meat packing, prepared meat products, and poultry slaughter and processing industries during two merger periods, 1977,1987 and 1982,1992. The analysis relies on two balanced panel datasets of all plants owned by meat and poultry firms that existed in the 1977 Census of Manufacturing and survived until 1987 and another dataset of plants that existed in 1982 and survived until 1992. We find that (a) M&As are positively associated with wages in the meat packing and prepared meat products industries during 1977,1987, but not during 1982,1992; (b) changes in employment are positively related to M&As in all three meat and poultry industries during 1977,1987, but only in the poultry industry during 1982,1992; and (c) M&As are generally negatively associated with plant closures [EconLit. Citations: J630]. © 2009 wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Staying Out of Trouble: Community Resources and Problem Behavior Among High-Risk AdolescentsJOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 2 2000Lori Kowaleski-Jones This research considers how community resources affect adolescent risk-taking attitudes and problem behavior. Data from the 1990 United States Census and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Merged Mother,Child files are merged to form a sample of 860 adolescents age 14 to 18 in 1994. Among these high-risk adolescents, selected community resources have significant associations with adolescent outcomes. Residential stability decreases both adolescent risk-taking attitudes and aggressive behavior, regardless of the level of disadvantage present within the community. Higher quality schools, as perceived by mothers, are environments in which adolescents are less likely to get into trouble, even controlling for attributes of the adolescent's family situation. [source] Job sprawl, spatial mismatch, and black employment disadvantageJOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2006Michael A. StollArticle first published online: 6 SEP 200 This paper examines the relationship between job sprawl and the spatial mismatch between blacks and jobs. Using data from a variety of sources, including the 1990 and 2000 U.S. Census and U.S. Department of Commerce's ZIP Code Business Patterns, I control extensively for metropolitan area characteristics and other factors. In addition, I use metropolitan area physical geography characteristics as instruments for job sprawl to address the problem of simultaneity bias. I find a significant and positive effect of job sprawl on mismatch conditions faced by blacks that remains evident in the twostage least squares models but not in first difference change regressions. The crosssectional effect is particularly important in the Midwest and West, and in metropolitan areas where blacks' share of the population is large and where blacks' population growth rate is relatively low. Among others, the results also reveal that the measures of mismatch and job sprawl used in this analysis are highly correlated with blacks' employment outcomes in the expected direction. © 2006 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management [source] Using Insurance Claims and Demographic Data for Surveillance of Children's Oral HealthJOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH DENTISTRY, Issue 1 2004Keith E. Heller DDS ABSTRACT Objectives: This paper examines the utility of using private insurance and Medicaid dental claims as well as demographic data for assessing the oral health of children aged 5,12 years in Genesee County, Michigan, communities. Methods: Dental insurance claims data from Delta Plan of Michigan and Michigan Medicaid, plus demographic data from the 1990 US Census (percent poverty) and from the 1995 National Center for Educational Statistics (percent free or reduced lunch eligibility), were compared to findings from two school-based oral health surveys. These surveys were the 1995 Genesee County Oral Health Survey and the 1998,2001 Mott Children's Health Center oral health screenings. Data were analyzed using zip codes, representing communities, as the comparison unit. Statistical comparisons using correlation coefficients were used to compare the findings from the six data sets. Results: Using the insurance claims and school-based data, some communities consistently demonstrated high levels of dental caries or treatment for the primary dentition. The demographic measures were significantly associated with many of the primary dentition survey measures. The demographic data were more useful in identifying communities with high levels of dental disease, particularly in the primary teeth, than the insurance claims data. Conclusions: When screening is not practical, readily available demographic data may provide valuable oral health surveillance information for identification of high-risk communities, but these data do not identify high-risk individuals. In these analyses, demographic data were more useful than dental insurance claims data for oral health surveillance purposes. [source] Black Residential Segregation in the City and Suburbs of Detroit: Does Socioeconomic Status Matter?JOURNAL OF URBAN AFFAIRS, Issue 1 2000Joe T. Darden According to ecological theory, the socioeconomic status of a minority group is inversely related to the group's level of residential segregation from the majority group. This article determines whether the level of black socioeconomic status is related to the level of black residential segregation in the city of Detroit and Detroit's suburbs. Data were obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Census, 1990 Summary Tape Files 4-A. The methods employed to measure residential segregation were the indexes of dissimilarity D and isolation P*. Indexes were computed by census tract to measure segregation and isolation between blacks and whites at the same level of occupation, income, or education. The results revealed that residential segregation between blacks and whites remained high (i.e., above 50%) in both the city and the suburbs despite comparable socioeconomic status. Blacks in the suburbs were more segregated and isolated than blacks in the city at each socioeconomic level. [source] Hepatitis C in ethnic minority populations in EnglandJOURNAL OF VIRAL HEPATITIS, Issue 6 2008A. G. Mann Summary., The aim of the study was to investigate the differing epidemiology of hepatitis C-related end-stage liver disease in ethnic minorities in England. We used Hospital Episode Statistics from 1997/98 to 2004/05 to directly age-standardize numbers of episodes and deaths from hepatitis C-related end-stage liver disease in ethnic groups using the white English population as standard and the age-structured population by ethnic group from the 2001 Census. We estimated the odds of having a diagnosis of end-stage liver disease amongst hepatitis C-infected individuals in each ethnic group compared with whites using logistic regression. The main outcome measures were age-standardized morbidity and mortality ratios and morbidity and mortality odds ratios. Standardized ratios (95% confidence interval) for hepatitis C-related end-stage liver disease ranged from 73 (38,140) in Chinese people to 1063 (952,1186) for those from an ,Other' ethnic group. Amongst individuals with a diagnosis of hepatitis C infection, the odds ratios (95% CI) of severe liver disease were 1.42 (1.13,1.79), 1.57 (1.36,1.81), 2.44 (1.85,3.22), 1.73 (1.36,2.19) and 1.83 (1.08,3.10) comparing individuals of Black African, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian and Chinese origin with whites, respectively. Ethnic minority populations in England are more likely than whites to experience an admission or to die from severe liver disease as a result of hepatitis C infection. Ethnic minority populations may have a higher prevalence of hepatitis C or they may experience a poorer prognosis because of differential access to health services, longer duration of infection or the prevalence of co-morbidities. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||