While it is an established fact that participation in voluntary organizations varies directly with social status, the more complex issue of the relationship between the pattern of individuals' rank positions in several status hierarchies and participation still remains unsettled. The purpose of this study is to reexamine Lenski's proposition that status inconsistency is an obstacle to participation in voluntary organizations. The reasoning behind this proposition is that people who have inconsistent, or unequally evaluated, statuses are often exposed to disturbing experiences in social interaction. They react to those experiences with a tendency to avoid or withdraw from certain forms of social intercourse, such as participation in voluntary organizations. It is therefore hypothesized that persons with inconsistent statuses have fewer memberships and are less likely to hold office in voluntary organizations than individuals whose statuses are consistent. The hypotheses are tested in a secondary analysis of survey data for samples of employed adults in two Canadian cities. The status dimensions are education, occupation, and income. Several status inconsistency variables are used, each defined in terms of different combinations of ranks on a pair of status dimensions. The analysis is guided by the assumption that a status inconsistency effect may be conceived as due to statistical interaction between the constituent status variables. Such effects might be present when an additive model of the relationships between two status variables and a given participation variable proves to fit the data inadequately. The analyses, using a dummy-variable multiple regression format, reveal that differences between observed values on the participation variables and the values predicted by a model of additive status effects are generally small and do not show the patterns expected under the hypotheses. Moreover, a nonadditive model, which includes a status inconsistency variable in addition to the two status variables from which it is formed, fails to explain even a moderate amount more variance in the dependent variables than the corresponding additive model. These results suggest that inconsistency between achieved socioeconomic statuses has no appreciable effect on membership or office-holding, over and above the effects of the status variables themselves. The conclusion is that the proposition of a negative association between status inconsistency and participation in voluntary organizations is not supported by the data of this research. It is suggested that these negative findings may be explained in part by dubious assumptions in the status inconsistency argument so far as it relates to participation and by methodological problems associated with identifying status inconsistency effects. However, the idea that frustrating and unpleasant social experiences may adversely affect participation in voluntary organizations is^ sensible and deserves further investigation. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

The problem of this investigation is to make a comparative study of a group of second grade children to determine, if possible, whether the child who attends kindergarten has any advantage over one who does not attend. Three phases of development are dealt with: behavior and social adjustment to second grade, mental maturity, and scholastic achievement in the second grade.

BACKGROUND: Currently there is no system with high reliability to classify pediatric patients prior to surgery based on their physical status. The American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status (ASA-PS) classification system focuses on adult definitions and examples which exhibit high subjectivity along with low effectiveness for the pediatric patient population. The goal of this study was to optimize the ASA–PS system for pediatric populations by measuring interrater agreement of a pediatric adapted ASA–PS system with the collaboration from national and international perspectives. METHODS: A mixed–methods, prospective study of 197 pediatric anesthesiologists from 13 hospitals in the U.S., Europe and Australia were surveyed in May and July of 2019. Participants were given 15 pediatric cases with a mix of acute and chronic health conditions undergoing a myriad of surgical and nonsurgical procedures. The participants were instructed to assign ASA–PS scores (I to V) using the previously published pediatric adapted definitions of the ASA–PS system, which were provided. Using a two-way mixed effects model to account for multiple readers assigning scores for the same set of cases, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of the ASA–PS scores among survey participants and their hospitals was estimated. The survey allowed for qualitative feedback on the pediatric adapted ASA–PS system via a free-text comments section which was analyzed using line–by–line assessment. RESULTS: Out of 197 participants there were 165 responses to the survey which gave a response rate of 83.8%. Across all 15 clinical cases the ICC agreement among all respondents to the ASA–PS scoring survey was 0.58 (95% CI: 0.42, 0.77). There was no significant variance in ICC based on years of anesthesiology practice. ICC was variable across all hospitals with a range from 0.34 to 0.79. The lowest level of agreement occurred in cases where ASA–PS scores of II and III were assigned; cases assigned ASA–PS scores of I, IV and V had the highest level of the agreement. Qualitatively, clarification on level of control with respect to a chronic condition and scoring in the setting of an acute illness were the two most common themes suggested in order to increase the validity of the pediatric-adapted ASA–PS definitions. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to past literature the pediatric–adapted ASA–PS scoring system resulted in an increased interrater reliability when dealing with pediatric specific cases. Overall, the pediatric – adapted ASA– PS system had moderate interrater reliability among the pediatric anesthesiologists surveyed in this study, suggesting further refinement is needed. Specifically, the lower reliability of scoring for cases assigned ASA-PS scores II and III support the necessity for optimization of a pediatric specific ASA–PS system.

Public school finance and school accountability are highly contentious subjects. This correlational study illustrates campus level instructional spending efficiency by examining various input and output variables. The study utilizes data envelopment analysis of selected variables to compare elementary campuses and create instructional spending efficiency measures within purposively selected metropolitan educational service regions in Texas. The study analyzes elementary school instructional spending and student classification as economically disadvantaged compared to student achievement in English language arts. The study finds a direct relationship between instructional spending efficiency and student achievement. The relationship between the socioeconomic variable of economically disadvantaged status is inverse. This finding suggests that in depth examinations of highly inefficient, but relatively high academic performing cases, may uncover effective instructional or operational practices tailored to the needs of the sub-populations.

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This document only includes an excerpt of the corresponding thesis or dissertation. To request a digital scan of the full text, please contact the Ruth Lilly Medical Library's Interlibrary Loan Department (rlmlill@iu.edu).

This document only includes an excerpt of the corresponding thesis or dissertation. To request a digital scan of the full text, please contact the Ruth Lilly Medical Library's Interlibrary Loan Department (rlmlill@iu.edu).

Social psychological processes underlying intergroup behaviour should be placed in their sociostructural contexts. Previous experimental studies have usually created groups that do not differ on sociostructural dimensions such as group numbers, power, and status. The impact of these factors on intergroup behaviour constituted the major aim of the present research. Predictions were formulated assuming that individuals are motivated to achieve a positive social identity (Tajfel & Variants of the "minimal group" paradigm see Tajfel & Turner, 1979) were used, first, to replicate previous minimal group results, and second, to assess the independent and combined effects of power, status, and group as in previous studies, allocation matrices developed by Tajfel and his colleagues were the main dependent measures. Unlike previous studies, these were supplemented with extensive possession questionnaire items that included items on social identifications and various intergroup perceptions. First, the classic minimal group discrimination effect, replicated under conditions of equal group numbers, power, and status, was eliminated when group members had little or no power (study 2). Categorization per se was net sufficient for intergroup discrimination. Without usable power, minimal group members did net discriminate. However, categorization per se was sufficient in eliciting prejudice. Second, results of this research clearly shewed that increases in group status and group power led to concomitant increases in matrix discrimination. Membership in minority groups polarised these patterns of behaviour (and perceptions) more than membership in majority groups. Status was the best predictor of social identification (and related perceptions), while power best predicted actual behaviour. In conclusion, evidence from these studies indicated that group numbers, power, and status, independently and in combination, have a strong impact on intergroup behaviour and perceptions. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Objective: Residential outcomes of adults with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) and substance use disorders were studied over 18-months, during which participants received integrated concurrent disorders services from two models of community-based intensive case management programs. Of primary interest in this analysis were the risks associated with co-occurring addictions on housing quality and stability, and the relative effectiveness of assertive community treatment (ACT) and intensive case management (ICM) on housing outcomes. Methods: Data for this secondary analysis was drawn from one of six projects organized under the Community Mental Health Evaluation Initiative. Clients who were diagnosed as having SPMI with and without co-morbid substance dependence (N=80) were randomly assigned to two case management programs in Toronto, Canada. All clients with concurrent disorders received integrated mental health and substance abuse treatment, but half were provided more fully integrated services from ACT. Housing was classified in one of three categories to describe the quality and consistency of residential tenure: stable housing, unstable accommodation defined by number of address changes, or homeless. Results: Participants with concurrent disorders were much more likely to be homeless or living in unstable, substandard housing than subjects without substance dependence. ICM clients with co-morbid disorders showed greater improvement on housing outcomes, but both case management groups showed strong gains on subjective measures of community adjustment, including empowerment, social support, and symptom distress. Housing stability was mediated by intensity of service contacts. Conclusion: Integrated treatment is a recent innovation in service delivery for persons with concurrent disorders. The favourable outcomes found for ICM in this study raise questions about the relative effectiveness of different implementation strategies to achieve integrated treatment within individual case management programs. The results provide strong support for the hypothesis that service intensity is a critical component promoting community tenure for this at-risk population. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)