Micro-level Determinants Research Articles

Micro-Level Determinants of Lecture Attendance and Additional Study-Hours

This paper uses novel measures of individual differences that produce new insights about student inputs into the (higher) education production function. The inputs examined are lecture attendance and additional study-hours. The data were collected through a web-survey that the authors designed. The analysis includes novel measures of individual differences including willingness to take risks, consideration of future consequences and non-cognitive ability traits. Besides age, gender and year of study, the main determinants of lecture attendance and additional study-hours are attitude to risk, future-orientation and conscientiousness. In addition, future-orientation, and in particular conscientiousness, determine lecture attendance to a greater extent than they determine additional study. Finally, we show that family income and financial transfers (from both parents and the state) do not determine any educational input. This study suggests that non-cognitive abilities may be more important than financial constraints in the determination of inputs related to educational production functions.

Patterns of Gun Acquisition, Carrying, and Use Among Juvenile and Adult Arrestees: Evidence from a High‐Crime City

Researchers continue to examine the macrolevel trends of gun crime but little consensus exists regarding the microlevel determinants of gun behaviors. Moreover, little is known if patterns of gun behavior vary between adults and juveniles. This research examines patterns of gun possession, carrying, and use across adult and juvenile arrestees. This research moves beyond descriptive studies of aggregate gun patterns and explores the demographic and perceptual correlates that may inhibit or facilitate gun behaviors. Current results illustrate the prevalence of gun‐involved behaviors among adults and juveniles, though juveniles were more likely to carry and fire a gun. Results also suggest that gun behaviors among juveniles are largely driven by gang membership, while ready access to guns, fear of the street, and the risks of arrest influence adult behaviors. Present findings have implications for gun policy, particularly as it relates the role of deterrence‐based programming and demand‐side initiatives.

A process for developing an implementation intervention: QUERI Series

BackgroundThis article describes the process used by the authors in developing an implementation intervention to assist VA substance use disorder clinics in adopting guideline-based practices for treating depression. This article is one in a Series of articles documenting implementation science frameworks and tools developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI).MethodsThe process involves two steps: 1) diagnosis of site-specific implementation needs, barriers, and facilitators (i.e., formative evaluation); and 2) the use of multi-disciplinary teams of local staff, implementation experts, and clinical experts to interpret diagnostic data and develop site-specific interventions. In the current project, data were collected via observations of program activities and key informant interviews with clinic staff and patients. The assessment investigated a wide range of macro- and micro-level determinants of organizational and provider behavior.ConclusionThe implementation development process described here is presented as an optional method (or series of steps) to consider when designing a small scale, multi-site implementation study. The process grew from an evidence-based quality improvement strategy developed for – and proven efficacious in – primary care settings. The authors are currently studying the efficacy of the process across a spectrum of specialty care treatment settings.

Sensitive bromatometric methods for the determination of salbutamol sulphate in pharmaceuticals

The proposed methods allow semimicro and microlevel determination of SBS in authentic samples and in dosage forms. The spectrophotometric method is much more sensitive than most of the procedures known for the determination of SBS. The titrimetric method takes less than 15 min for analysis. All the procedures are simple and do not need elaborate treatment or tedious extractions. One titrimetric and two spectrophotometric methods are described for the assay of sulbutamol sulphate (SBS) in bulk drugs and in tablets using bromate-bromide mixture and two dyes, rhodamine B and methylene blue, as reagents. In titrimetry, an aqueous solution of SBS is treated with a measured excess of bromate-bromide mixture in a HCl medium, followed by iodometric determination of unreacted bromine. Spectrophotometric methods involve the addition of a known excess of bromate-bromide mixture to SBS in an acid medium, followed by the determination of residual bromine by reacting with either a fixed amount of rhodamine-B and measuring the absorbance at 555 nm (method A) or methylene blue and measuring the absorbance at 665 nm (method B). In all methods, the amount of in situ generated bromine reacted corresponds to the amount of SBS. The titrimetric method is applicable over the 3.0–8.0 mg range and the reaction stoichiometry is found to be 1: 2 (SBS: KBrO3). In spectrophotometric methods, the absorbance is found to increase linearly with the concentration of SBS which is corroborated by the correlation coefficient of 0.9978 and 0.9991 for method A and method B, respectively. The systems obey Beer’s law for 0.25–2.5 μg/mL (method A) and 0.75–7.5 μg/mL (method B). The calculated apparent molar absorptivity values are found to be 8.96 × 104 and 4.67 × 104 L mol−1 cm−1, for method A and method B, respectively, and the corresponding Sandell sensitivity values are 6.43 and 12.34 ng/cm2. The limits of detection and quantification are also reported for both spectrophotometric methods. Intraday and interday precision and accuracy of the methods were evaluated. The methods were successfully applied to the assay of SBS in tablet and capsule preparations and the results were compared with those of a reference method by applying Student’s t-and F-tests. No interference was observed from common pharmaceutical ajuvants.

Microlevel determinants of blood pressure among women of two ethnic groups in a periurban area of Kolkata city, India

Blood pressure (BP) trends vary cross-culturally, and studies on the risk factors associated with hypertension are limited in periurban regions of India. This study was conducted to examine the effect of socioeconomic factors (income, expenditure, activity time) and anthropometric measurements (skinfolds of biceps, triceps, subscapular, supra iliac, and body mass index) on 102 Munda (tribe) and 135 Pod (caste) women of childbearing age in a periurban area of Kolkata city. Results indicate that Munda women had significantly higher diastolic BP in the 30+ age group. However, no difference in the systolic and diastolic BP was observed between the two groups, when the socioanthropometric factors were controlled as covariates. Also, according to the JNC (JNC, 2004, The JNC 7 Report NIH Publication No. 04-5230) classification of hypertension, no significant difference in hypertension was noted between the women of the two social groups. But the risk factors associated with hypertension varied between the two ethnic groups. Expenditure on alcohol and activity time was associated with hypertension among the Munda, while body mass index was significantly associated with hypertension among the Pod women. Alcohol consumption is a rare phenomenon among Indian women. Yet, Munda women in this transitional periurban environment, in spite of high poverty were more inclined to spent their earnings in alcohol consumption (due to their cultural preferences), increasing the risk of hypertension in their childbearing age.

High Fertility or Childlessness: Micro-Level Determinants of Reproductive Behaviour in Italy

Les estimations recentes de la fecondite des generations italiennes nees apres 1960 revelent une forte augmentation de la proportion de femmes sans enfant et une proportion elevee de meres ayant un seul enfant. Le groupe des femmes dont la parite est la plus basse (0 ou 1 enfant) est donc desormais plus nombreux que celui des meres de deux enfants. L’objectif de cet article est de degager le profil des femmes qui n’ont pas reproduit la norme dominante de la famille de deux enfants. Les auteurs prennent en consideration les caracteristiques individuelles de la femme, celles de son conjoint, ainsi que celles du couple durant les premieres annees de la vie commune. L’article analyse les motifs invoques par les femmes pour expliquer pourquoi elles n’ont pas d’enfant ou pourquoi elles n’en ont pas davantage, et la maniere dont elles pourraient reagir a certaines mesures de politique familiale. Les auteurs ont exploite les donnees d’une enquete realisee en 2002 dans cinq zones urbaines italiennes. Les resultats montrent que c’est le groupe des femmes sans enfant qui differe le plus de la categorie modale des meres de deux enfants. Les facteurs associes a une faible fecondite ou a une fecondite qui s’ecarte du standard – entre autres, un niveau d’instruction superieur et l’absence de pratique religieuse – restent pertinents pour caracteriser le comportement reproductif des generations feminines nees vers les annees 1960. Il semble que le groupe des meres d’un enfant unique soit le plus susceptible de se laisser influencer par certaines mesures de politique familiale.

The employer's perspective on collective bargaining centralization: an analytical framework

Despite the continuing debates about the performance implications of different degrees of collective bargaining centralization, our understanding of the determinants of bargaining structures is still limited. While recent research has largely focused on macro-level factors, the role of micro-level determinants has still not been systematically scrutinized. This article develops a multi-disciplinary framework for analysing the employer's perspective on collective bargaining centralization and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of different forms and levels of collective bargaining from the perspective of management, the main focus being on the comparison between single-employer and multi-employer collective bargaining. This framework can be used for qualitative and quantitative empirical research as well as for discussions of the costs and benefits of different levels of collective bargaining.

Becoming an Adult in Europe: A Macro(/Micro)-Demographic Perspective

Extreme cases in demography are important challenges for researchers, and the still important heterogeneity of European societies is a blessing for scholars interested in studying the importance of cultural and institutional factors. In the transition to adulthood the latest-late pattern of Southern Europe cohabits with its opposite earliest-early pattern of the Nordic countries. In this paper, I discuss multifaceted approaches to the explanation of why becoming an adult in Europe appears so diverse. I use secondary data analyses and present cross-country correlations: welfare state and institutional arrangements, historical and deeply rooted cultural differences, as well as economic and policy factors, and ideational change. Moreover, micro-level determinants play different roles in different societies. Future research on the transition to adulthood in Europe needs to be multilevel, comparative and interdisciplinary, and to consider the potential implication of persistent differences in patterns.

The contribution of primary care systems to health outcomes within Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, 1970-1998.

To assess the contribution of primary care systems to a variety of health outcomes in 18 wealthy Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries over three decades. Data were primarily derived from OECD Health Data 2001 and from published literature. The unit of analysis is each of 18 wealthy OECD countries from 1970 to 1998 (total n = 504). Pooled, cross-sectional, time-series analysis of secondary data using fixed effects regression. Secondary analysis of public-use datasets. Primary care system characteristics were assessed using a common set of indicators derived from secondary datasets, published literature, technical documents, and consultation with in-country experts. The strength of a country's primary care system was negatively associated with (a) all-cause mortality, (b) all-cause premature mortality, and (c) cause-specific premature mortality from asthma and bronchitis, emphysema and pneumonia, cardiovascular disease, and heart disease (p<0.05 in fixed effects, multivariate regression analyses). This relationship was significant, albeit reduced in magnitude, even while controlling for macro-level (GDP per capita, total physicians per one thousand population, percent of elderly) and micro-level (average number of ambulatory care visits, per capita income, alcohol and tobacco consumption) determinants of population health. (1) Strong primary care system and practice characteristics such as geographic regulation, longitudinality, coordination, and community orientation were associated with improved population health. (2) Despite health reform efforts, few OECD countries have improved essential features of their primary care systems as assessed by the scale used here. (3) The proposed scale can also be used to monitor health reform efforts intended to improve primary care.

Colorimetric Determination of Seleniumin Various Environmental Samples

AbstractA new reagent system using rhodamine‐B dye for the determination of selenium is described. The method is based on the reaction of selenium with acidified potassium iodide to liberate iodine. The liberated iodine bleaches the pink colour rhodamine‐B, which is measured at 555 nm. Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration range of 1–10 μg of selenium final solution volume of 25 mL (0.04–0.4 ppm) and the apparent molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity was found to be 1.96× 105 l mol−1 cm−1 and 0.0004 μg cm−2, respectively. The method is simple, sensitive, and selective and is satisfactorily applied to micro‐level determination of selenium in various environmental and cosmetic samples.

Migration Decision Making: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Microlevel Studies in Developed and Developing Countries

This book focuses on the study of migration at the individual microlevel. This approach emphasizes the process of migration decision making. The book addresses the need for a systematic evaluation of microlevel theories and models of migration decision making in the work of demographers economists geographers planners anthropologists and psychologists. Several trends indicate the rising significance of migration in population studies: 1) there is a slowdown in the rate of natural increase which results in the dynamics of internal population growth patterns shifting to migration 2) the enlarged size of rural-urban population movement in developing countries excerbate serious problems of unemployment housing and education 3) there is the emergence of a population deconcentration trend through metropolitan-nonmetropolitan area migration in developing countries and 4) there is increasing attention to migration policy in developing countries. The microlevel determinants of internal migration are predicated on the knowledge that transfers of population will be internal and not international. The concept of decision making is used in its most general form to refer to the formation of an intuition or disposition towards migration behavior. 3 themes are addressed by the authors: 1) systematic review and evaluation of microlevel frameworks and models of the migration decision 2) applicability of microlevel migration models and frameworks to developing and developed countries and 3) general policy implications of microlevel migration models. One of the more fundamental arguments in this book is that all noncoercive migration-related policies must respond to individual and/or household-level migration decisions. Commonalities in the authors migration decision analysis are: 1) emphasis on microlevel decisions 2) an assumption that the decision makers are rational 3) the emphasis on the motivations of migration information and actualizing decisions to move 4) the design of research on microlevel aspects of migration and 5) explanation of the decision to move or stay and different types of movement.

Field test for microlevel determination of cationic surfactants in aqueous solution

Field test for microlevel determination of cationic surfactants in aqueous solution