A multiple-objective planning methodology for information service managers

The problem of allocation of scarce resources in an organization is frequently complicated by the presence of multiple, often conflicting, managerial objectives and a high degree of ambiguity in the definition of the organization's purpose. This is particularly true within the operating environment of many public and privately operated information centers and special libraries. In recent years, the managers of such centers have been pressed by both the funders and the users of their services to improve the efficiency of their operations. Although techniques are available for determining and evaluating various measures of the performance of these centers, relatively little has been accomplished with respect to the more fundamental decision making problem of allocating resources in order to optimize the achievement level of the various objectives of the decision maker. The problem addressed in this research is the extension of existing techniques to more adequately deal with the resource allocation problem in an ambiguous environment. The technique known as goal programming is extended and a new methodology, termed goal-range programming, is presented. The goal-range programming methodology is related to the information center planning environment through examples derived from the interaction of the authors with several centers.     

Reliability of interviewers using the Seven-Day Physical Activity Recall

The Seven-Day Physical Activity Recall interview is commonly used in epidemiologic research, but the methods of training and certifying interviewers have not been studied or standardized. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability of the Seven-Day Physical Activity Recall interviews after a structured training program. Twenty-one volunteer interviewers participated in a five-session group training program that targeted standardized interview techniques and scoring procedures. Interviewers scored eight videotaped interviews on two occasions to assess scoring skills. Across all videotapes and interviewers, the test-retest reliability was .99. Two interviewers independently interviewed the same person on the same day, and the reliability of kilocalorie expenditure across interviewers was .86. It was concluded that naive individuals can be taught to reliably conduct and score the Seven-Day Physical Activity Recall interview in a brief training program.     

The natural sciences: Trouble ahead? Yes

This essay expands a talk given by Professor Gross at the annual meeting of the American Academy for Liberal Education, held at St. John’s College, Santa Fe, New Mexico, October 29–30, 1993.     

Helping,Sharing, and Comforting in Young Children: Links to Individual Differences in Attachment

Although attachment theory has long posited a link between early experiences of care and children's prosocial behavior, investigations of this association have not embraced the multifaceted nature of prosociality. This study is the first to assess associations between child attachment and independent observations of helping, sharing, and comforting. Attachment quality in 3- to 5-year-old children (N = 137) was linked to all three prosocial behaviors. Additionally, bifactor analyses revealed distinct associations between attachment and children's general prosocial dispositions and their specific abilities to meet the unique challenges of helping and, marginally, comforting. These findings underscore the importance of considering multiple explanations for links between attachment and prosocial behavior and provide novel insights into sources of variation in children's prosociality.