CONCERN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: A CROSS-NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Data from the International Social Survey Program indicate considerablevariation in the desire of respondents for increased spendingon the environment in Australia, Austria, Great Britain, theUnited States, and West Germany. This paper explores this variationwith the following objectives: (1) to determine the extent towhich the social bases of environmental concern are consistentacross nations; (2) to determine how the issue of the environmenthas been politicized in the five industrialized nations, focusingon the association of Old Leftist concerns and environmentalconcern; and (3) to determine the extent to which the socialbases of environmental concern can explain the cross-nationalvariation. The study usesa regression analysis, testing variablesrepresenting the social bases of environmental concern frompast research in the United States, a scale representing commitmentto the platform of the Old Left, and dummy variables for eachcountry. The results show that the social bases of environmentalconcern are the same in the five countries studied, includinga consistent positive association of Old Leftism with environmentalconcern. However, substantial variation between countries inthe overall level of concern remains. Potential sources of theremaining variation are examined.     

East Meets West in Assessment Development: Western Technical Assistance to Eastern Needs. Part III. Reform of an Examination System: Shoulder to Shoulder in the Polish SMART Project

This is Part III of a three part series describing the consultancy and training demands that are encountered in technical assistance projects in Central and Eastern Europe. Part I dealt with strategic issues for a successful delivery of "Western Technical Assistance to Eastern Needs." Part II highlighted project management and co-operation aspects in delivering support to the Romanian Assessment and Examination Service. In this part, we address training of Polish subject experts who were preparing to take on responsibility for a decentralized and strongly innovative final exam, the Matura.     

Morphological proportionality in elite age group North American divers.

The purpose of this investigation was to describe the morphological parameters that characterize elite age group divers. Comparisons are made to normative age group data from the Coquitlam Growth Study and the constancy of important characteristics from age group to age group is examined. Data were collected on 27 male and 28 female elite divers who participated in the 1990 North American Age Group Diving Championships. Body build, body composition and skinfold corrected diameters were determined from 36 anthropometric parameters and analysed by ANOVA, t-test and Phantom z-scores procedures. All age groups except the 14- to 15-year-old males were significantly (P < or = 0.05) shorter than their norms but recorded higher androgyny index values. The estimated relative muscle mass increased significantly (P < or = 0.05) with age for males at all ages (40.8-46.3%). The 16- to 18-year-old females had a significantly (P < or = 0.05) larger relative muscle component compared to the younger age groups (40.1-38.4%). When normalized for height, active tissue development of the extremities was comparable between the sexes except in the forearm. The results indicate that at all age levels short stature is an important characteristic for divers. Analysis of regional active tissue development provides further insight into sport-specific prerequisites for success at elite levels.     

From the Editor

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability -     

青年男子排球运动员弹跳力模型

弹跳力是排球运动员的一项最重要的专项素质,为了探索发展青年男子排球运动员弹跳力的有效途径,以四川、重庆青年男子排球运动员为研究对象,对他们有关弹跳力的多种因素进行了相关、多元分析,进而制定出发展弹跳力的回归模型,为青年男子排球运动员弹跳力提供一个模型标准和参考.