Government Survey Research Articles

Bilingualism in the Health System: the Catalan Case

Catalan-speaking citizens living in Catalonia have full, formal rights to use their language with all of their region’s administrations. Nevertheless, the available information on the knowledge and use of Catalan by civil servants shows that health care is a weak spot for regional administrations, due to the difficulty in covering all medical specialties. Plataforma per la Llengua has undertaken research in the form of a survey with a sample of 1,600 Catalan inhabitants, to ascertain the level of satisfaction with the enforcement of linguistic rights in public health and determine the scope of a potential language promotion policy that would have health care staff initiate conversations in Catalan. Results of government surveys suggest that language use (by both patients and providers) in the health care system, compared with language use in other areas of public administration, demonstrates the limits of the current regional language promotion policies in Catalonia.

The Gender Conservatism of Pro-life Activists

ABSTRACT Feminists often see abortion restrictions as a way to remove female control over their labor, sexual practices, and reproductive decisions. Pro-life advocates often deny such motives, arguing that they only care about stopping the murder of “unborn humans” and the trauma associated with having an abortion. This study addresses these concerns by studying the role of gender attitudes in anti-abortion activism. By using the 2010–2012 Evaluations of Government and Society Study ANES Surveys (n = 3,860) to determine who joins pro-life social movements, this study concludes that pro-life activism is connected to beliefs about stay-at-home mothers, perceptions of sexism in society, being married, and exposure to political conversations in political groups, religious institutions, and families.

Situation nutritionnelle du Burkina Faso : une revue narrative

Introduction: Burkina Faso is a landlocked West African country, where livelihoods are heavily dependent on subsistence agriculture, and the humanitarian crisis has increased the populations’ vulnerability to malnutrition. Aim: This article presents an update of the food and nutrition situation. Methodology: Documents from government surveys and reports, peer-reviewed articles and other reliable sources were retrieved and analyzed. Results: According to the 2019 National Nutrition Survey, 25.4% of children under 5 years old are stunted and 8.1% are wasted. These rates exceed the WHO critical thresholds suggesting that child malnutrition is still a public health problem in Burkina although trend analysis suggests continuous improvement over the past ten years. Childhood overweight fluctuates between 1% and 2% while childhood obesity remains below 1% since 2014. Poor infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices are key drivers of child stunting. In fact, 59% of infants are exclusively breastfed while only 17% of 6 – 23-month children receive a minimally acceptable diet. Children and pregnant and lactating women are deeply affected by micronutrient deficiencies including vitamin A and iron. Adult overweight is on the rise and high blood pressure and diabetes levels have reached 18% and 5% respectively in adults aged 25 to 64 years with huge disparities between men and women. Conclusion: While the country had made important progress in reducing child malnutrition, it is still facing a double burden of malnutrition namely undernutrition comprised of stunting, wasting and micronutrient deficiencies and overweight/obesity, hence the need to embrace a double duty approach to policy response to simultaneously reduce both undernutrition and overweight/obesity. Keywords: Nutritional status, micronutrient, food security, non-communicable disease, Burkina Faso.

Types of coastlines and the evacuees’ mental health: A repeated cross-sectional study in Northeast Japan

Although the health risks and benefits of coastal areas have long been researched, these effects of the different types of coastlines have rarely been explored on the evacuees living near the coast, in a post-disaster context. Thus, this study aimed to explore, with the passing of years after a disaster, what kind of coastline is a useful public health resource as a post-disaster reconstruction approach in coastal environments that have suffered significantly from the tsunami disaster in northeast Japan in 2011. This study compared the evacuees' mental health based on proximity to the coast and the types of coastlines (artificial, semi-natural, and natural). Data were drawn from the Miyagi Prefectural Government surveys, which targeted almost all evacuees of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquakes and Tsunami (n = 96,203). We applied a pooled Poisson regression model to a repeated cross-sectional dataset of evacuees' mental health between 2012 and 2016. Moderate psychological distress, measured via the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) score, was the dependent variable, while proximity to the coast and type of coastline were the independent variables. The estimated main effects of type of coastline indicated that overall associations between K6 ≥5 and all types of coastlines within a 1.6 km buffer of participants' residential space were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). However, among types of coastlines, the interaction terms of semi-natural coastline × year (2015 and 2016) were significantly associated with lower incidence rate ratios (IRR), which decreased in 2015 and 2016 (IRR: 0.88, 95%CI: 0.79–0.98; IRR: 0.78, 95%CI: 0.68–0.90, respectively). Further, we computed the marginal effects of coastline types for each year to observe differences in the impact on moderate psychological distress depending on different accessible coastline types within a distance of 1.6 km from the participants’ living space. We found that, after the revision of the coastal act in 2014, the moderate mental stress of participants who lived around semi-natural coastlines significantly tended to be low (dy/dx: −0.04, 95%CI: −0.08–0.01 in 2015; dy/dx: −0.07, 95%CI: −0.11–0.04 in 2016). This finding can encourage policymakers to manage coastal areas with green infrastructure in the post-disaster reconstruction sustainably.

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies Among 925 Staff Members in an Urban Hospital Accepting COVID-19 Patients in Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Background: The subclinical severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection rate in hospitalsremains unclear. To evaluate the effectiveness of our hospital's nosocomial infection control, we conducted a serological survey of anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G (IgG) among staff at our hospital, which is treating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.Methods: The study design was cross-sectional. We measured anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG using a laboratory-based quantitative test (Abbott immunoassay), which has a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 99.6%, respectively. To investigate factors associated with seropositivity, we obtained additional information from participants via an anonymous questionnaire.Findings: We invited 1133 staff members in our hospital, and 925 (82%) participated. The mean age of participants was 40.0±11.8 years, and most were women (80.0%). According to job title, there were 149 medical doctors or dentists (16.0%), 489 nurses (52.9%), 140 medical technologists (14.2%), 49 healthcare providers (5.3%), and 98 administrative staff (10.5%). The overall seroprevalence for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG was 0.43% (4/925), which was similar to the seroprevalence of 0.54% (16/2970) in the general population in Osaka during the same period according to a government survey conducted with the same assay. Seropositive rates did not significantly differ according to job title, exposure to suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients, or any other investigated factors.Interpretation: The subclinical SARS-CoV-2 infection rate in our hospital was similar to that in the general population under our nosocomial infection control measures.Funding: Unrestricted research funds from the Department of Gastroenterology and Department of Internal Medicine, Diabetes Center, Toyonaka Municipal Hospital.Declaration of Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.Ethics Approval Statement: The present study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of Toyonaka Municipal Hospital (No. 2020-05-08). We obtained written informed consent from participants prior to the study.

New starts at New Start: Recovery and the work of hikikomori.

Defined by psychologist Tamaki Saito as a period of social isolation in the absence of any other clear mental health issues for a period of six months or longer, hikikomori (social withdrawal) emerged as a condition among Japanese youth in the late 1980s. Used as both a noun to identify those afflicted, as well as describe their condition, the word immediately captured the attention of the Japanese and international public. According to various government and third-party surveys, hikikomori number from approximately 500,000 to two million people. Thus, while hikikomori are understood to struggle with long bouts of loneliness and isolation from their peers and parents, due to constant anxiety over their inability to perform among Japan's competitive capitalist-oriented social expectations, both academics and professionals continue to struggle to comprehend exactly who hikikomori are and how to help them. Based on fieldwork at New Start, a non-profit organization located just outside the city limits of Tokyo that helps hikikomori recover, this article examines the ways residents at New Start navigate this uncertainty and gain moral agency. Drawing from over a dozen interviews with parents, clients, and staff conducted while working as a volunteer at New Start, I focus on three representative trajectories that demonstrate how residents navigate the competing discourses surrounding the clinical and social categories of hikikomori and NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training), through which they embark on a journey from economically unproductive recluses, to productive capitalist citizens pursuing their own version of a "nearly normal" life. I argue that the various accomplishments of hikikomori, as individuals and as a social category, which both support existing social relations and provide an alternative mode of fitting within them, is "the work of hikikomori."

Impact of 2018 Kerala Floods on Soil Erosion: Need for Post-Disaster Soil Management

Extreme precipitation events lead to flash floods, which can trigger soil erosion and landslides. While damages to infrastructure and livelihoods are rapidly assessed on economic terms, damages to natural resources are not estimated due to limited observation record. This study conducted an analysis using remote sensing data to estimate changes in soil erosion rates before, during and after the Kerala 2018 floods, based on the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). The USLE was driven by multiple data including: in situ rainfall data from Indian Meteorological Department (to estimate rainfall erosive factor), soil maps prepared by Food and Agriculture Organization (to estimate the soil erodibility factor from the properties of soil that consists of the percentage of clay, loam and silt), digital elevation model (to estimate topographic slope and length) from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and multispectral imagery (to estimate cover management factor and conservation practice factor) from Landsat-8 satellite. Data from these sources were analysed using a Geographic Information System (GIS) platform. Results indicate a state-wise average increase of 80% (31–56 metric tons ha−1 year−1) in soil erosion rate during the floods. Of the districts, Idukki showed the highest increase, of 220% and more susceptibility to soil erosion, which is in comparison with government survey records. Results show that the floods and associated erosion were not only due to the rainfall event but also due to the rapid change in land use and land cover, from natural to human settlements. Therefore, government agencies need to protect land cover and reduce unsustainable development in ecologically sensitive environments, which if managed properly can act as a buffer for soil erosion extremes in Kerala.

Continuing to Explore the Relation between Economic and Political Factors and Government Survey Refusal Rates: 1960–2015

In the United States, government surveys’ refusal rates have been increasing at an alarming rate, despite traditional measures for mitigating nonresponse. Given this phenomenon, now is a good time to revisit the work of Harris-Kojetin and Tucker (1999). In that study, the authors explored the relation between economic and political conditions on Current Population Survey (CPS) refusal rates over the period 1960–1988. They found evidence that economic and political factors are associated with survey refusals and acknowledged the need to extend this work as more data became available. In this study, our aim was to continue their analysis. First, we replicated their findings. Next, we ran the assumed underlying model on an extended time-period (1960–2015). Last, since we found that the model was not an ideal fit for the extended period, we revised it using available time series and incorporating information about the CPS sample design. In the extended, refined model, presidential approval, census year, number of jobs and not-in-labor-force rate were all significant predictors of survey refusal.

Spatial-Temporal Characteristics of Primary and Secondary Educational Resources for Relocated Children of Migrant Workers: The Case of Liaoning Province

Appropriate spatial distribution of primary and secondary schools for relocated children of migrant workers (RCMW) is extremely valuable to ensure the fair education of special groups and improve the quality of their education. This study used concentration analysis, kernel density estimation (KDE), and coefficient of variation (CV) to measure the spatial agglomeration of these children and their primary and secondary schools in the districts and counties of Liaoning Province from 2008 to 2017 based on government surveys. The results showed that the number of RCMW children in primary and secondary schools increased during the research period and the growth rate of children in primary schools was higher than that of children in junior high schools. The number of primary and secondary schools has changed very little, while the number of secondary schools has dropped sharply. The spatial distribution of RCMW and that of their primary and secondary schools were characterized by a “dual-core” distribution and a three-level (county, city, and provincial capital) gradient aggregation. In addition, kernel density evolved from a balanced distribution to polar nucleus-shaped, clustered, and discretized distributions, respectively. Specifically, the “large” and “super-large” schools were mainly concentrated in cities, showing a clustered pattern. “Medium-sized” and “small” schools were mainly distributed in counties, presenting a discretized pattern. In addition, when the CV of the number of RCMW increased, the imbalanced distribution of schools became more significant. Furthermore, the spatial differentiation of primary and secondary schools for RCMW appeared to be affected by economic development, population size, and related policies in the region.

Resisting by workarounds: Unraveling the barriers of implementing open government data policy

All public values (transparency, accountability, civic participation, and collaboration) of open government could be difficult to achieve without administrators' good implementation. This paper raises concern that perceived risks to OGD accountability lead to undesired strategic resistance. Using a nation-wide government survey data of Taiwanese public servants, this study empirically tests for differences in OGD behaviors between two types of perceived risks (individual accountability vs. organizational accountability). Results find the existence of perceived risks to accountability in the process of data release and positive effects on inducing strategic workaround when implementing OGD policies. These findings shed light on the understanding of practices of open government and contributes to knowledge of administrative behavior.

Are Foreign Residents of Japan Happy? Clues from a Local Government Survey

Since April 2019, Japan has recognized manual labor as a “specified skill” in new immigration policy. According to OECD statistics on the annual inflow of foreign population by country, Japan ranks fourth among OECD member states. In fact, Japan is a major immigrant destination, with 2.84 million foreign nationals living within its borders. Internationally, the level of happiness among immigrants is considered an important issue, and indeed the World Happiness Report has published a special feature on the topic. However, in Japan, no such surveys have been conducted, with the exception of studies on happiness among international students. The current study examines the level of happiness among immigrants to Japan and was conducted using micro data from the Foreign Nationals’ Opinion Survey conducted by City “T” in Japan. These data were used because no nationwide surveys of happiness among foreign residents in Japan have been conducted. Results of the regression analysis indicated that the ability to speak Japanese had a significantly positive effect on the level of happiness. They also indicate that those who had experienced the negative aspects of life in Japan—such as working for companies that violate labor laws (e.g., not paying overtime) and who had an unpleasant experience in their daily lives—had a low level of happiness. These results suggest the possibility that the image foreign nationals have of Japanese society may worsen, which in turn would lower their level of happiness and lead to their separation from Japanese society. Japan’s immigration policy thus requires an examination of happiness.

Performance, Satisfaction, or Loss Aversion? A Meso–Micro Assessment of Local Commitments to Sustainability Programs

Abstract A normative assumption of government reform efforts such as New Public Management is that fostering a more innovative, proactive, and risk-taking organizational culture—developing what has been described as an “entrepreneurial orientation” (EO)—improves performance. But in arenas like urban sustainability, performance can be an ambiguous, multifaceted concept. Managers’ assessments of their own nimbleness, innovative thinking, and risk culture are also likely to influence how they interpret the risk-reward balance of opportunities to enhance organizational performance. This study examines how meso-level organizational decisions impact managers’ individual risk-assessments of sustainability initiatives. We do so through a combination of Bayesian structural equation modeling of US local government survey data collected over two time periods, and an artifactual survey experiment with empaneled local government employees. This multimethod design allows us to examine the role of organizational performance and EO—meso-level learning heuristics—in shaping the micro-foundations of managerial risk assessment. The organization-level observational results indicate that local governments engage in risk-seeking behavior in order to minimize their potential for losses of prior effort. Experimental results confirm local government administrators are loss-averse when asked to evaluate the merits of initiating a hypothetical sustainability program.

Opportunities and Challenges for Developing Syndromic Surveillance Systems for the Detection of Social Epidemics.

This commentary explores the potential and challenges of developing syndromic surveillance systems with the ability to more rapidly detect epidemics of addiction, poverty, housing instability, food insecurity, social isolation and other social determinants of health (SDoH). Epidemiologists tracking SDoH heavily rely on expensive government surveys released annually, delaying for months if not years the timely detection of social epidemics, defined as sudden, rapid or unexpected changes in social determinants of population health. Conversely, infectious disease syndromic surveillance is an effective early warning tool for epidemic diseases using various types of non-traditional epidemiological data from emergency room chief complaints to search query data. Based on such experience, novel social syndromic surveillance systems for early detection of social epidemics with health implications are not only possible but necessary. Challenges to their widespread implementation include incorporating disparate proprietary data sources and database integration. Significantly more resources are critically needed to address these barriers to allow for accessing, integrating and rapidly analyzing appropriate data streams to make syndromic surveillance for social determinants of health widely available to public health professionals.

The toxic effects of subjective wellbeing and potential tonics

The paper offers a provocation to the geographies of health in relation to one of our governing concepts, that of wellbeing. The paper brings together government survey data from the United Kingdom with other published research into a critical argument that the dominant ways of conceptualising and practising subjective wellbeing have become toxic and harmful to wellbeing outcomes. The paper argues that a ‘hyper-individualised and thwarted self’ and ‘supermarket model’ of social resources for individual wellbeing underpins the contemporary dominant understanding of subjective wellbeing. This approach neglects wider spatial and temporal considerations such as inequality, inter-generationality and sustainability, and the rise of wellbeing as a technology of soft capitalism. The paper discusses the potential for relational approaches from the social sciences to provide a more ‘wholesome tonic’ to current understandings of subjective wellbeing that might rehabilitate its capability to do helpful rather than harmful work and argues for an ethical obligation to sustain critical engagement.

Toward the Roux: Explaining the Adoption of Inclusionary Practices in Local Governments

Local governments are turning to a set of practices designed to support a more inclusive workforce. Yet, less is known as to why localities opt to provide such services. Recognizing this gap, this paper examines the adoption of three inclusionary practices: offering cultural competency training, providing documents in multiple languages, and prioritizing language skills in hiring. To do so, this paper employs a dataset that combines International City/County Management’s (ICMA) Local Government and Immigrant Communities Survey with Census data and other measures. Results suggest that local needs and the presence of a professional administrator are associated with more inclusive practices.

How and Why Do Managers Use Public Forecasts to Guide the Market?

We compare public managerial forecasts with internal forecasts collected by a large-scale government survey. Although both forecasts are mandatory, predict corporate investment, and are overoptimistic on average relative to realizations, public forecasts tend to be pessimistic relative to internal forecasts. Managers under more shareholder pressure and with higher pay-performance sensitivity are more publicly pessimistic. The relative pessimism predicts higher stock returns, positive earnings surprises, and more executive compensation. However, managers decrease pessimism when issuing secondary equity offerings and become publicly optimistic when they are financially constrained, consistent with an inter-temporal trade-off between beating managerial targets versus maintaining financial flexibility.

Exploring local government fiscal slack in a political-budgetary-managerial framework

ABSTRACT This research examines U.S. local governments’ fiscal slack in a framework involving the political, budgetary, and managerial dimensions, each of which is operationalized by an indicator. We use an unbalanced panel of Massachusetts municipalities as the research sample and collect data from the state government and through five rounds of local government surveys. We find that voters’ pro-spending preferences negatively affect the size of local government fiscal slack and that governments’ budgetary gaps exert a positive impact. Moreover, the effects of voters’ pro-spending preferences and governments’ budgetary gaps are moderated by a professional managerial structure inside government.

Calculation of Unit Cost School Information System Development using ABC (Activity Based Costing) Method

In developing an information system the school must determine a strategy in its development. Look for managers who are reliable in making decisions that are oriented to reliable development. One of the proper management concepts is cost accuracy. Accuracy of charging costs on cost objects is very important for users of cost information. Beside the accuracy, it is also needed to find out the cost per unit needed in the information system. This is intended to have a price benchmark for the development of information systems in the future. In this study the unit cost calculation uses the ABC (Activity Based Costing) method which emphasizes the cost calculation for the activities involved. The allocation of costs is based on salary data from trusted institutions, namely the Pedoman Standard Minimal 2019 by INKINDO. The results of this study get a total cost value of 18.407.082,00while the cost of each complexity is 5,301.00 with the standard cost of procurement of goods and services issued by the government and several survey institutions.

After Empire Comes Home: Economic Experiences of Japanese Civilian Repatriates, 1945–56

The economic impact of large influxes of population is a complex topic. This research contributes to this field by examining one of the most significant, but least researched, examples of postwar migration – the repatriation of more than six million (including three million civilians and demobilised soldiers each) to Japan after the Second World War. One pervasive image of Japanese civilian repatriates is that of the immigrant farmer of Manchuria who settled as a part of Japan’s Manchurian policies and had difficult repatriation experiences under the hostility of local people. However, many returned from other regions as well, including Korea and Sakhalin, and repatriates consisted of not only farmers but also colonial government officials, employees of public and private corporations, and small business owners, amongst others. This paper specifically focuses on civilian repatriates in selected prefectures (Ibaraki, Hiroshima, Kanagawa and Osaka) in 1956 and their occupational changes during the time of economic transition. Whilst it is evident that for many repatriates the postwar transition was not entirely smooth, the data presented in this research suggests that in contrast to prevailing notions, repatriates’ postwar resettlement was facilitated by a) employment in family farming and the tertiary sector, b) employment at government agencies or c) the transferability of repatriates’ skills in industry and retail and services. The information from the 1956 government survey into repatriates’ postwar lives shows that approximately 60 per cent of repatriates fell in these categories, while the other 40 per cent found employment in new areas or became unemployed. As a result, despite the scale of the repatriation, the settlement was broadly successful. It can be argued that this type of transition helped to bring political and economic stability, which became a foundation of Japan’s postwar growth.

The effect of distance on tourist behavior: A study based on social media data

Previous studies have mostly used government statistics and survey data to examine the effect of travel distance on tourist behavior. In this study, we used data obtained from Sina Weibo to analyze the travel patterns of tourists who visited Suzhou, China from April 2012 to October 2013. We divided tourists into three groups according to their origin: long-haul, short-haul, and local. A comparison of the three groups' spatial patterns, preferred attractions, restaurants, and hotels, and expenditure levels showed diverse behavioral and consumption patterns of the three groups. We further found a divergent effect of distance on hotel and restaurant expenditure, and the effect of distance on expenditure is less salient than income level and the sites they visited.