Drawing the lines—By the numbers: The statistical foundations of the electoral process

The Constitution establishes that the apportionment of the U.S. House of Representatives shall be based upon an enumeration of the population. Every 10 years, the Bureau of the Census conducts that enumeration, and using the Method of Equal Proportions designated by the Congress, furnishes to the President the number of Representatives to which each state is entitled. “Rules of residence” have been developed to determine who should be counted and where persons should be counted in the census.Following the 1970 census, because of the Supreme Court's decisions requiring population equality in districts used for electoral purposes, census data became vital to the redistricting processes carried out by the individual states. The Congress enacted Public Law 94–171 which authorized the Bureau of the Census to make special preparations for the provision of redistricting data needed by the 50 states. The 1980 program established by the Census Bureau enabled state redistricting to be accomplished far more smoothly than in the 1970s. The Census Bureau is already working with the states on its 1990 program, an essential element of which is based upon its plan to provide block data for the entire country.     

Gender differences in reading motivation: does sex or gender identity provide a better account?

This study examined sex differences in reading skill and reading motivation, investigating whether these differences could be better accounted for by sex, or by gender identity. One hundred and eighty‐two primary school children (98 males) aged 8–11 completed a reading comprehension assessment, reading motivation questionnaire and a gender role questionnaire. While there were no sex differences in reading skill or extrinsic reading motivation, girls had significantly higher intrinsic reading motivation. However, responses to intrinsic motivation were better explained by gender identity than sex. In addition, a feminine identity was more closely associated with many different aspects of reading motivation than a masculine identity. Implications for our understanding of sex differences in reading are discussed.