Longitudinal Analysis: An Introduction to the Special Issue

Introduction

Longitudinal Analysis: An Introduction to the Special Issue     

Federalism, Political Structure, and Public Policy in the United States and Canada

Two of the three large countries on the North American continent—the United States and Canada—share a number of similarities that often make it difficult for the untrained observer to differentiate between the two nations. On the surface, the two are structured similarly as federal systems that, by definition, exhibit shared power between the national government and provincial or state political entities.Although there are other important social and economic characteristics of the two countries that help explain differences in policy processes and outcomes, it is the contention of this article that one gets the clearest sense of what Elazar has called thinking federal by utilizing an analytical approach that joins questions related to federalism with some conceptual frameworks of the public policy field. Two frameworks undergird the argument in this article—the Lowi typology of different types of policies and Deil Wright's typology of different models that describe the American inter-governmental system.In both countries, policies must be sensitive to the greater interdependencies between units of government as well as to linkages between policy areas. The mechanisms or instrumentalities for dealing with policy issues are intrinsically complex. It is also clear that the intergovernmental networks that exist in both the U.S. and Canada are composed of an array of actors. The differing political structures of the systems do impact the types of intergovernmental policies that have emerged in the two countries. The executive dominance so imbedded in Canadian governments has contributed to their ability to adopt and implement certain controversial redistributive policies, such as a national health insurance program. By contrast, the fragmentation of the U.S. system makes redistributive policies more difficult.     

Evaluation of sieving polymers for fast, reproducible electrophoretic analysis of short tandem repeats (STR) in capillaries

Efficient capillary electrophoretic STR analysis requires rapid, reproducible and robust separation of DNA fragments with reasonable capillary longevity--this is currently accomplished using proprietary commercial polymeric sieving matrices specifically developed for this separation. These matrices, while effective, are costly and do not provide adequate resolution of STR DNA fragments in capillaries with shorter effective separation lengths, increasing the time required to accomplish the separation and minimizing the potential extrapolation to other miniaturized platforms. As the forensic community looks toward next generation microchip technology as a means of processing casework more rapidly, new sieving polymers need to be evaluated for utilization in this platform. The research presented here describes the assessment of commercially-available polymeric sieving matrices for STR analysis, with consideration given to feasibility of incorporation into a microdevice. Polymer composition, molecular weight, and concentration were evaluated, along with an assessment of the effects of buffer composition, separation temperature, and capillary length. These variables were evaluated individually or collectively on the ability to resolve STR DNA fragments and the reproducibility of the separations and the results compared to a proprietary commercial product. A 600,000 Da MW poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) solution at a 3% (w/v) concentration was determined to be the most suitable matrix for these separations. This polymer, in coated capillaries, provided highly robust and reproducible separations, with near baseline resolution of fragments having single base differences. Reductions in the temperature of the separation, from 60 degrees C to 40 degrees C, and the urea concentration of the buffer, from 7 M to 3.5 M, provided increased longevity of the PEO polymer for repeated separations. Comparison of this polymer with currently specified commercial products used for STR analysis showed that the optimized PEO matrix provided superior separations under all conditions tested. In addition, PEO could be utilized in shorter capillary systems, with a concurrent decrease in analysis time, highlighting its potential for use in shortened capillary or microdevice systems.     

Self-esteem and delinquency

Cross-lagged panel correlation technique is used to examine whether self-esteem has a greater effect on delinquency than delinquency has on self-esteem. Analysis of a nationwide study of tenth-grade boys shows that self-esteem is the more powerful causal factor, even when initial levels of delinquency are held constant. This result, however, is found to be stronger in the lower class than in the upper class. These data are interpreted as lending greater support to Kaplan's theory of the self-enhancing nature of delinquent behavior than to the idea of reflected appraisals.The research reported in this article was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH27747), which is gratefully acknowledged. The data and tabulations utilized in this article were made available (in part) by the Institute for Social Research Social Science Archive. The data were originally collected by Dr. Jerald G. Bachman, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan. Neither the original collector of the data nor the archive bears any responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented here.This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society, Philadelphia, April 2, 1978.Received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland and is interested particularly in the social influence on the self-concept.Received his Ph.D. from Columbia University and is interested in the structure and development of the self-concept.Received her Ph.D. from Stanford University. Current research interests are related to a longitudinal study of personality development.     

A MODEL FOR TELEPHONE MEDIATION

A unique mediation service using the telephone to help parents resolve conflicts over visitation ("access") is described. The program presented special advantages of low cost and high responsiveness to parents and their children and was designed to particularly benefit families that lacked the mobility or financial resources to participate in traditional face-to-face mediation. Because the service featured highly educated and experienced mediators and a child-focused, principle-based mediation approach, family members received reframing, refocusing, informative, and empathic assistance in understanding and dealing with their parenting disputes. Some 700 families and nearly 900 mediation cases were handled during the service's 19 months of operation, and some features of the families and the cases are described. Recommendations and directions for future research are included.