The Advent of Internet Surveys for Political Research: A Comparison of Telephone and Internet Samples

The Internet offers a number of advantages as a survey mode:low marginal cost per completed response, capabilities for providingrespondents with large quantities of information, speed, andelimination of interviewer bias. Those seeking these advantagesconfront the problem of representativeness both in terms ofcoverage of the population and capabilities for drawing randomsamples. Two major strategies have been pursued commerciallyto develop the Internet as a survey mode. One strategy, usedby Harris Interactive, involves assembling a large panel ofwilling respondents who can be sampled. Another strategy, usedby Knowledge Networks, involves using random digit dialing (RDD)telephone methods to recruit households to a panel of Web-TVenabled respondents. Do these panels adequately deal with theproblem of representativeness to be useful in political scienceresearch? The authors address this question with results fromparallel surveys on global climate change and the Kyoto Protocoladministered by telephone to a national probability sample andby Internet to samples of the Harris Interactive and KnowledgeNetworks panels. Knowledge and opinion questions generally showstatistically significant but substantively modest differenceacross the modes. With inclusion of standard demographic controls,typical relational models of interest to political scientistsproduce similar estimates of parameters across modes. It thusappears that, with appropriate weighting, samples from thesepanels are sufficiently representative of the U.S. populationto be reasonable alternatives in many applications to samplesgathered through RDD telephone surveys.     

Results of the GEP-ISFG collaborative study on two Y-STRs tetraplexes: GEPY I (DYS461, GATA C4, DYS437 and DYS438) and GEPY II (DYS460, GATA A10, GATA H4 and DYS439)

A collaborative exercise was carried out by the Spanish and Portuguese ISFG Working Group (GEP-ISFG) in order to evaluate the performance of two Y-chromosome STR PCR tetraplexes, which include the loci DYS461, GATA C4, DYS437 and DYS438 (GEPY I), and DYS460, GATA A10, GATA H4 and DYS439 (GEPY II). The participating laboratories were asked to type three samples for the eight markers, using a specific amplification protocol. In addition, two control samples, with known haplotypes, were provided. The results obtained by the 13 different participating laboratories were identical, except for two laboratories that failed to type correctly the same two samples for GATA C4. By sequence analyses, two different GATA C4 allele structures were found. One control sample (allele 21) and two questioned samples (allele 22, correctly typed by all the laboratories, and allele 25) presented the following repeat structure: (TCTA)4(TGTA)2(TCTA)2(TGTA)2(TCTA)n, but different from the one found for allele 26 in one sample included in this exercise, as well as in the second control sample (allele 23), namely (TCTA)4(TGTA)2(TCTA)2(TGTA)2(TCTA)2(TGTA)2(TCTA)n. The collaborative exercise results proved that both Y-tetraplexes produce good amplification results, with the advantage of being efficiently typed using different separation and detection methodologies. However, since GATA C4 repeat presents a complex structure, with alleles differing in sequence structure, efficient denaturing conditions should be followed in order to avoid typing errors due to sizing problems.     

A comparison of respiratory symptoms and inflammation in sudden infant death syndrome and in accidental or inflicted infant death

Upper respiratory infection and pulmonary inflammation are common in sudden infant death syndrome, but their role in the cause of death remains controversial. Controlled studies comparing clinical upper respiratory infection and inflammation in sudden infant death syndrome with sudden infant deaths caused by accidents and inflicted injuries (controls) are unavailable. Our aim was to compare respiratory inflammation and upper respiratory infection within 48 hours of death and postmortem culture results in these two groups. A retrospective analysis of upper respiratory infection and pathologic variables in the trachea and lung of 155 infants dying of sudden infant death syndrome and 33 control infants was undertaken. Upper respiratory infection was present in 39% of sudden infant death syndrome cases and 40% of control cases. Upper respiratory infection was more likely to have occurred in association with more severe lymphocytic interstitial pneumonitis when sudden infant death syndrome cases and control cases were combined ( P=.04). Proximal and distal tracheal lymphocytic infiltration was more severe in control cases than in sudden infant death syndrome cases ( P=.01 and.01, respectively). Lymphocytic infiltrations of the bronchi, bronchioles, and pulmonary interstitium were similar between groups. Bronchial associated lymphoid tissue was more prominent in control cases ( P=.04). Cultures were positive in 80% of sudden infant death syndrome cases, 78% of which were polymicrobial. Among control cases, 89% were positive, with 94% being polymicrobial. This study confirms that microscopic inflammatory infiltrates in sudden infant death syndrome are not lethal.     

Genetic data on 12 STRs (F13A01, F13B,FESFPS, LPL,CSF1PO,TPOX, TH01, vWA,D16S539, D7S820, D13S317, D5S818) from four ethnic groups of São Paulo,Brazil

Allelic frequencies for 12 short tandem repeats (STRs) (F13A01, F13B, FESFPS, LPL, CSF1PO, TPOX, TH01, vWA, D16S539, D7S820, D13S317 and D5S818) were estimated, also as forensic parameters, from a sample of 916 unrelated Brazilian subjects classified into four ethnic groups: European-derived, African-derived, Brazilian Mulattos and Asian-derived.     

Neuroleptic-induced akathisia and violence: a review

Surprisingly, the association of neuroleptic-induced akathisia and aggressive behavior was not formally recognized until nearly two and one-half decades of antipsychotic prescribing had passed. Using a search of the anglophonic literature, this phenomenon is reviewed. Advances in psychopharmacology have reduced neuroleptic-induced akathisia and hold promise to eliminate it altogether. Nonetheless, important clinical and forensic aspects of neuroleptic-induced akathisia and aggression remain and are explored.     

The American Nurses' Association's Code for Nurses: purposes, content, and enforceability

Using Levy's criteria of appraisal for a code of professional ethics, this article assesses the 1976 American Nurses' Association's Code for Nurses with Interpretive Statements in terms of purposes, specificity, inclusiveness, and enforceability. The assessment shows that the Code for Nurses meets generally accepted purposes for a code, contains enough specificity and inclusiveness to serve as a useful guide to professional conduct, and describes initial and follow-up action nurses can take when they witness questionable or inappropriate conduct that may adversely affect the patients' health care or safety. However, limited data are available regarding how the professional body has applied sanctions for violations of the Code. Further study on this matter is indicated and, fortunately, is forthcoming by ANA in an ongoing, planned survey.     

Leader Effects and Voting for the Populist Radical Right in Western Europe

Charismatic leaders are often assumed to drive the electoral success of populist radical right parties. Yet, little attention is given to how voter evaluations of leaders influence individual voting behavior. To our knowledge, no systematic and comparative tests of this empirical question exist. In this paper, we test to what extent voters’ support for populist radical right parties is fueled by leaders' appreciation. In order to examine leader effects on the populist radical right vote, we rely on an original dataset pooling 29 National Election Studies from ten established West European parliamentary democracies (1985‐2018). Our analysis finds that: (1) voters’ evaluation of party leaders is significantly associated with voting for populist radical right parties; (2) leader evaluations are more important than left‐right self‐placement when it comes to voting for the populist radical right, and (3) leader effects are more important for populist radical right voters than for other voters.     

Average,normal, and beautiful: representations of bodies in Brazilian biotypology (1930-1940)

Th present article deals with the visual culture present in the books and textbooks on biotypology in Brazil, in the 1930s and 1940s. It analyses the representations of bodies in images, all of which were employed to guide people on the reasoning and practices of bodily measurement and classification according to the main biotypology approaches. Images herein discussed expressed the following scientific modus operandi of biotypology in Brazil: anthropometry, biometry and the construction of an average body; categorisation of biotypes, physical culture and classic aesthetic; and the link between normality, beauty and moral conceptions applied to women’s body features. This analysis also seeks to shed light on some of the ways in which biotypology strayed from and was consistent with eugenic discourse in Brazil. The representation of bodies in Brazilian biotypology showed the efforts to construct normal and deviant bodies defined according to ideals of national and racial identity, perfection, symmetry, harmony, goodness, fairness, femininity and beauty.     

National in Form,Putinist in Content: Minority Institutions ‘Outside Politics’

Abstract

Over the past three decades, Russia has developed a set of institutions for the management of ethno-linguistic diversity based on the principle of ‘national cultural autonomy’. This article examines the positioning of these institutions within Russian society, arguing that while state-endorsed discourses locate them within the culture sphere—treated as distinct from political processes—there is in fact an interpenetration of ‘politics’ and ‘culture’. The article identifies why these institutions position themselves within the ‘cultural sphere’ while also supporting the country’s meta-narratives on inter-ethnic tolerance and, effectively, the political status quo. Soviet legacies of inter-ethnic relations continue to be socially embedded, yet within this framework some dissenting voices are also discerned.