Sorting by Height: Education and Economic Outcomes of Women in Less-Developed Countries

Taller height is commonly found to correlate with educational and economic outcomes. Most studies focus on a relationship to earnings, and consider samples from individual countries. This paper takes a broader view by evaluating the associations between height, education, and economic outcomes in a pooled sample of women from 63 less-developed countries. Height is shown to have a generalised association to school participation, years of schooling, type of occupation, and relative household wealth. Women in countries with shorter average heights, greater urbanisation, and higher GDP per capita exhibit stronger height associations to education and wealth. These characteristics are generally reflective of Latin American and South/Southeast Asian countries relative to sub-Saharan Africa. The results are discussed in the context of early-childhood circumstances that affect both physical and cognitive development, which have lasting influences on adult outcomes.     

Traditional Cleavages or a New World: Does Online Social Networking Bridge the Political Participation Divide?

There is a growing literature that examines the effects of the Internet on political participation. We seek to contribute to this literature by exploring how online social networking may stimulate online political participation. Using survey data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, we confirm a strong positive relationship and show that this effect is driven by the level of political exchange within networks. Further, we explore the potential for the Internet to dissipate traditional cleavages in participation that tend to mirror the inequalities in the availability and use of technology. The findings suggest that while many of the “have-nots” do engage in online networking at higher rates than their counterparts, they are less likely to be exposed to political exchanges within their networks. As a result, the effect of online networking on participation is more pronounced for the “haves.” We discuss the implications of these findings.     

Issue-Related Learning in a Gubernatorial Campaign: A Panel Study

This study is based on data from a three-wave telephone panel survey conducted during the 1998 governor's race in Florida. The evidence suggests that a considerable amount of issue-related learning (having to do with candidate policy stands and group endorsements) took place over the course of the general election campaign, though substantial differences were observed from one issue area to the next. Further analysis indicates that learning was especially likely to occur among voters (a) who were more knowledgeable about political affairs to start with (confirming that the so-called “knowledge gap” may be exacerbated during campaigns), (b) who scored high on a measure of advertising negativity (for one candidate but not the other), and (c) who early in the campaign, read their local newspaper less frequently. Consistent with prior research, TV news appears to have done little or nothing to boost issue-based learning among the electorate.     

Subprime catalyst: Financial regulatory reform and the strengthening of US carbon market governance

The 2008 financial crisis has had an important, but neglected, impact on carbon market governance in the United States. It acted as a catalyst for the emergence of a domestic coalition that drew upon the crisis experience to demand stronger regulation over carbon markets. The influence of this coalition was seen first in the changing content of draft climate change bills between 2008 and 2010. But the coalition's more lasting legacy was its role in shaping the content of, and supporting, the passage of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd–Frank bill) in July 2010. Although that bill was aimed primarily at bolstering financial stability, its derivatives provisions strengthened carbon market regulation in significant ways. This policy episode demonstrates new patterns of coalition building in carbon market politics as well as the growing links between climate governance and financial regulatory politics. At the same time, the significance of these developments should not be overstated because of various limitations in the content and implementation of the Dodd–Frank bill, as well as the waning support for carbon markets more generally within the US since the bill's passage.     

Run-specific limits of detection and quantitation for STR-based DNA testing

STR-based DNA profiling is an exceptionally sensitive analytical technique that is often used to obtain results at the very limits of its sensitivity. The challenge of reliably distinguishing between signal and noise in such situations is one that has been rigorously addressed in numerous other analytical disciplines. However, an inability to determine accurately the height of electropherogram baselines has caused forensic DNA profiling laboratories to utilize alternative approaches. Minimum thresholds established during laboratory validation studies have become the de facto standard for distinguishing between reliable signal and noise/technical artifacts. These minimum peak height thresholds generally fail to consider variability in the sensitivity of instruments, reagents, and the skill of human analysts involved in the DNA profiling process over the course of time. Software (BatchExtract) made publicly available by the National Center for Biotechnology Information now provides an alternative means of establishing limits of detection and quantitation that is more consistent with those used in other analytical disciplines. We have used that software to determine the height of each data collection point for each dye along a control sample's electropherogram trace. These values were then used to determine a limit of detection (the average amount of background noise plus three standard deviations) and a limit of quantitation (the average amount of background noise plus 10 standard deviations) for each control sample. Analyses of the electropherogram data associated with the positive, negative, and reagent blank controls included in 50 different capillary electrophoresis runs validate that this approach could be used to determine run-specific thresholds objectively for use in forensic DNA casework.     

An Evaluation of Malingering Screens with Competency to Stand Trial Patients: A Known-Groups Comparison

The assessment of malingering is a fundamental component of forensic evaluations that should be considered with each referral. In systematizing the evaluation of malingering, one option is the standardized administration of screens as an initial step. The current study assessed the effectiveness of three common screening measures: the Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test (M-FAST; Miller, 2001), the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS; Widows & Smith, 2004), and the Evaluation of Competency to Stand Trial-Revised Atypical Presentation Scale (ECST-R ATP; Rogers, Tillbrook, & Sewell, 2004). Using the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS) as the external criterion, 100 patients involved in competency to stand trial evaluations were categorized as either probable malingerers (n=21) or nonmalingerers (n=79). Each malingering scale produced robust effect sizes in this known-groups comparison. Results are discussed in relation to the comprehensive assessment of malingering within a forensic context.     

Symptom Patterns among Youth Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence

Children and adolescents exposed to intimate partner violence display a broad range of symptoms. We sought to differentiate symptom patterns and predictors of these patterns using a person-oriented approach. Previous cluster analysis research of exposed youth was extended to include youth PTSD symptoms and trauma history. Participants were 74 mothers who had received a police call for domestic violence, and who had a child between 2 and 17 years old. Cluster analysis was used to identify four symptom patterns among exposed youth: Typical, Asymptomatic, General Distress, and Acute PTSD. These patterns were replicated in separate cluster analyses with younger and older participants. Symptom patterns were differentiated by maternal distress, maternal aggression, and youth trauma history, but not by male partner aggression. Implications for assessment and treatment of youth exposed to intimate partner violence, and suggestions for further research, are discussed.     

Public perceptions of white-collar crime and punishment

Although financial losses from white-collar crime continue to exceed those of street crime, the criminal justice system has traditionally focused on the latter. Past research suggested that citizens are more likely to support punitive sanctions for street offenders than white-collar offenders. Recent corporate scandals have increased public awareness of white-collar crime, but whether public attitudes have been altered remains to be determined. Using a 2005 national sample of 402 telephone survey participants, the current study examined citizen perceptions of white-collar and street crime, as well as attitudes regarding apprehension and punishment. This research extended prior studies by also considering the influence of sociodemographic characteristics as well as perceptions of white-collar crime and punishment on the public's support for increasing resource allocation. Implications for future research and development of more effective white-collar crime control policy are discussed.