Fundamentals of Polling & Analyzing Polls

These sections on the Roper Center site provide definitions, examples and explanations of public opinion polling and interpreting poll data.


Sections include Teaching resources, and glossary of terms and Analyzing Polls.

Source: Roper Center, UConn

Link to Polling 101 | Link to Analyzing Polls




Related: American Research Group Margin of Error calculator

"Alfred Chandler and the Sociology of Organizations"

"In this essay, I take up the task of considering Chandler's contributions to the sociology of organizations. In order to do that, I need to consider what constituted the sociology of organizations in the 1960s and Chandler's critique of those theories.
Chandler’s implicit critiques of existing organizational theories played an important role in the subsequent development of organizational theory. But, while Chandler raised lots of important questions, his view of corporations was almost immediately under assault from several quarters of the sociology of organizations. The subsequent developments in the sociology of organizations offered critiques of Chandler’s perspective and evidence that his "heroic" managers were not the whole story. Chandler's work still offers insight into the larger questions, but his take on the ultimate role of the corporation in the economy is more in doubt from the perspective of the sociology of organizations. "

Source: Neil Fligstein (CASBS fellow 1995), "Alfred Chandler and the Sociology of Organizations" (February 25, 2008). Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. Institute for Research on Labor and Employment Working Paper Series. Paper iirwps-161-07.

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Online “Predators” and Their Victims: Myths, Realities, and Implications for Prevention and Treatment

"Contrary to stereotype, most Internet sex offenders are not adults who target young children by posing as another youth, luring children to meetings, and then abducting or forcibly raping them, according to researchers at the University of New Hampshire who have studied the nature of Internet-initiated sex crimes.

Rather, most online sex offenders are young adults who target teens and seduce victims into sexual relationships. They take time to develop the trust and confidence of victims, so that the youth see these relationships as romances or sexual adventures. The youth most vulnerable to online sex offenders have histories of sexual or physical abuse, family problems, and tendencies to take risks both on- and offline, according to the researchers at the UNH Crimes against Children Research Center." Source: American Psychologist

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Children’s Rights: International and National Laws and Practices

"The major global and regional legal instruments of the twentieth and twenty-first century are included in The Law Library of Congress’ Children’s Rights: International and National Laws and Practices, a superior and comprehensive analysis of the significant children’s rights laws. Each domestic and international is summarized; relevant clauses and language are defined and highlighted; and the effects of each are described." Source: Law Library of Congress

Link to Law Library of Congress to download reports for each country

Too Many Things to Do: How to Deal with the Dysfunctions of Multiple-Goal Agencies

Abstract:
All federal agencies must cope with the challenges of trying to achieve success on the multiple goals laid out for them by Congress, the President, or the public-at-large, with varying degrees of success. Recent economics and political science literature has laid out a theoretical framework that helps us understand why agencies might succeed in achieving some goals and fail in achieving other goals: Agencies will systematically underperform on goals that are hard to measure and that conflict with the achievement of other more measurable goals. The lack of information about these hard-to-measure goals means that there will be fewer rewards to agencies for any success on those goals. While agencies in theory might be able to overcome this lack of information problem through technological and organizational innovation (where feasible), in many cases agency missions, historical inertia, and the professional orientation of agency staff will interfere with innovation, as shown by a case study of the U.S. Forest Service. Having diagnosed the source of the problem, the paper then examines various options that principals (such as Congress) might have to address it.

Source: UC Berkeley Public Law Research Paper No. 1090313

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UN Data: Searchable Statistics

"The new UN data access system (UNdata) will improve the dissemination of statistics by UNSD to the widest possible audience. An easy to use data access system was developed that meets UNSD’s vision of providing an integrated information resource with current, relevant and reliable statistics free of charge to the global community.

Subsequent stages of the development of the UN data access system will extend to UN system data as well as to data of national statistical offices - providing the user with a simple single-entry point to global statistics." Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

Link to database search

Putting Young People Into National Poverty Reduction Strategies

A Guide to Statistics on Young People in Poverty

"Many national poverty reduction strategies overlook the needs of young people. Even where national strategies do have a youth focus, the analysis of their situation is limited because little or no reference is made to readily available data. For those advocating on behalf of young people in poverty, considerable scope exists to make use of simple but reputable statistics to mount a strong case for Governments and civil society to allocate more resources for addressing poverty among this major population group.

The purpose of this step-by-step guide is to show how relevant statistics on young people in poverty can be easily sourced for use in developing national poverty reduction strategies. The guide shows how to use accessible databases on the Internet to provide individual countries with sophisticated statistical profile of young people in poverty.

The available data can provide a profile at three levels of young people in poverty. At the broadest level, it is possible to show how significant young people, defined as a specific age group, are in a country's basic demographic structure now and in the future. The second level focuses in on the incidence of young people in poverty, using, for example, national averages based on Millennium Development Goals indicators. A third level of data offers a more differentiated picture of young people in poverty. This involves presenting detailed data, taking into account young people's differences by gender, rural/urban location, where the data is available, household poverty status."

Source: United Nations Population Fund

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The Hispanic Vote in the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primaries

"As the Democratic presidential nomination contest heads for a showdown in Texas and Ohio on March 4, Hispanics have emerged as a potentially pivotal constituency in the battle between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. This report examines the turnout, demographic characteristics, opinions and voting patterns of the Hispanic electorate in Democratic primaries and caucuses held so far in 2008. Where possible, it draws comparisons and contrasts between Latino, black and white voting patterns. It also compares Latino turnout in 2008 with turnout in 2004. The report is based on an analysis of Super Tuesday exit polling data about Hispanics that the Pew Hispanic Center received on a contractual basis from Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International, the firm that conducts exit poll surveys for the National Election Pool, a national consortium of media organizations." Source: Pew Hispanic Center

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Baseball, Steroids and Business Ethics: How Breaches of Trust Can Change the Game

"The day after former Senator George Mitchell released his damning report on performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball last December, President George Bush, a former baseball-team owner himself, seemed to speak for many disgusted fans when he pronounced, 'Steroids have sullied the game.'" Source: Knowledge@Wharton University of Pennsylvania

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Islam: Portability and Exportability

"This paper is the outcome of a collaborative effort between the UCLA Centers for Near Eastern Studies and European and Eurasian Studies to combine an annual seminar with a public lecture series. The program was funded by the U.S. Department of Education and supported by the UCLA International Institute and other research units and organizations in Southern California. The objective was to explore some of the issues facing Muslim communities in Europe and North America and to examine the ways in which such issues contribute to the (re)construction of (new) diasporic Muslim identities. There was a felt need to pursue inquiries and areas of research with descriptive and comparative nature. A second type of inquiry was concerned with broader international developments and their impact on diasporic identities. A third category of inquiries dealt with future paradigms as the technological and post-Enlightenment age continues to unfold in the coming decades. In this paper, 17 scholars present summaries of their lectures. The paper includes a Preface, Conclusions, and a Selected Bibliography." Source: G E von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies, UCLA

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Current Population Reports, Living Arrangements of Children: 2004

"This report provides a detailed overview of children's living arrangements in the United States in 2004. Data in the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) that allow the identification of detailed relationships among all household members show a variety of living arrangements for children by their race and Hispanic origin, by the number of parents with whom they live, and other characteristics."
Source: U.S. Census Bureau

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Which California School Districts Have the Most Dropouts?

"A study released... indicates that a relatively small group of California schools account for a significant number of high school dropouts. Based on data from the California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS), the study conducted by the California Dropout Research Project (CDRP) shows that just 100 high schools--out of 2,462 high schools in California--account for more than 40 percent of the state’s dropouts."

Source: California Dropout Research Project, U.C. Santa Barbara

Download pdf publication | Sortable list of schools and counties

Presidential Fundraising in 2007 Doubles 2003

"The presidential candidates raised a combined total of nearly $552 million in 2007 for the 2008 primaries, according to year-end reports filed with the Federal Election Commission on January 31. This more than doubles the previous off-year record of $273 million that the 2004 candidates raised in 2003.

* Democrats in 2007 raised $292 million for the primaries, with $253 million coming from individuals and most of the rest from candidates’ Senate campaign committees and loans.

* Republicans in 2007 raised $260 million for the primaries, with $208 million coming from individuals and most of the rest from Senate campaign committees and from self-financing.

* After starting the year slowly, Republicans raised more from individuals in the fourth quarter ($65 million, including $20 million by Ron Paul) than the Democrats ($58 million)."

Source: Campaign Finance Institute

Download detailed tables:
Table 1: Presidential Candidates Fundraising Activity in the 4th Quarter, 2007

Table 2: Presidential Candidates Fundraising Activity Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2007

Table 3: Historical Presidential Elections, Odd Years, 1995-2007

Link to summary tables

Mental Exercising Through Simple Socializing: Social Interaction Promotes General Cognitive Functioning

"Social interaction is a central feature of people's life and engages a variety of cognitive resources. Thus, social interaction should facilitate general cognitive functioning. Previous studies suggest such a link, but they used special populations (e.g., elderly with cognitive impairment), measured social interaction indirectly (e.g., via marital status), and only assessed effects of extended interaction in correlational designs. Here the relation between mental functioning and direct indicators of social interaction was examined in a younger and healthier population. Study 1 using survey methodology found a positive relationship between social interaction, assessed via amount of actual social contact, and cognitive functioning in people from three age groups including younger adults. Study 2 using an experimental design found that a small amount of social interaction (10 min) can facilitate cognitive performance. The findings are discussed in the context of the benefits social relationships have for so many aspects of people's lives." Source: Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 34, No. 2, 248-259 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167207310454

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The Work-Family Conflict: An Essay on Employers, Men and Responsibility

"This paper, prepared for a symposium held at the University of St. Thomas Law School, explores an issue that has been largely neglected in the work-family debate, namely why the burden should be on employers to change their practices rather than on men to change theirs. Many of the policy proposals designed to facilitate the balancing of work and family demands require employers to alter their practices by creating part-time work, providing paid leave, or devising ways to limit the penalties women face for taking extended leave. At the same time, the reluctance of men to change their behavior, which could go a significant way to altering the dynamics of work-family issues, has been largely ignored. This essay first explores the rationales for focusing on employers, including what is now defined as the business case for work-life benefits. The paper then critiques the various excuses that are typically raised for why men do not take more responsibility for work-family balance issues, including that (1) they are penalized to a greater extent than woman, that (2) it is economically rational for the burden to fall on women and that (3) men's behavior has changed significantly, none of which is empirically supported in the literature. Finally, I suggest that it is important to have a more theoretically targeted policy focus that is premised on workplace equality rather than trying to support all choices for all women." Source: Social Science Resource Network (SSRN)

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Lifetime Medical Costs of Obesity: Prevention No Cure for Increasing Health Expenditure

"Obesity is a major cause of morbidity and mortality and is associated with high medical expenditures. It has been suggested that obesity prevention could result in cost savings. The objective of this study was to estimate the annual and lifetime medical costs attributable to obesity, to compare those to similar costs attributable to smoking, and to discuss the implications for prevention." Source: Public Library of Science

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Lady Madonna, Children at Your Feet: The Criminal Justice System's Romanticization of the Parent-Child Relationship

Abstract:
"This Article is an attempt to begin a conversation about the way children who have been victimized by their parents are treated by the criminal justice system. I suggest that even though as a society we are obsessed with our children, that obsession has not translated into criminal justice policies that adequately protect them. Parental offenders are systematically treated better by the criminal justice system than are extrafamilial offenders, and we need to grapple with whether that preferential treatment is appropriate. I suggest that in many instances it is not, and I therefore propose some principles that I hope provide some guidance for the future formulation of criminal justice policy. The Article unfolds in five Parts. Part I describes the romanticization phenomenon, drawing on sources both from law and from popular culture to demonstrate how we idealize the parent-child bond. As a result, we have come to believe that we can ordinarily rely upon the strength of that bond, without messy interference from the criminal justice system, to protect our children from harm. In other words, the belief that love, not law, is sufficient to protect our children permeates our approach to family violence. Part II gives concrete examples of the adverse consequences of this phenomenon and demonstrates how this phenomenon has harmed children. I have chosen in this Part to focus on the most serious crimes that parents can commit against their children: the crimes of murder and rape. These crimes are the focus of the Article because the conduct at issue without question can be characterized as criminal; indeed, these crimes receive our greatest wrath outside the realm of the family. Unfortunately, the romanticization phenomenon affects the criminal justice system's treatment of even these most serious of crimes. This Part also includes a discussion of the parental discipline defense, both because defendants often raise that issue in child homicide cases and because I believe that our continued willingness to endorse the use of corporal punishment against children is contributing to the larger problems discussed in this Article. Part III addresses some of the objections raised to using the criminal justice system more vigorously to protect children from parental violence. For example, perhaps parental offenders simply are less dangerous than stranger offenders. Other objections include the idea that we do not need the incentives of the criminal law to protect children because the fear of losing a child is incentive enough to induce appropriate parental behavior, or that parents who have lost a child are suffering enough and the infliction of additional punishment through the criminal justice system is simply gratuitous and cruel. This Part also grapples with the very real harms that greater use of the criminal justice system could potentially create, such as disruption of families or a disproportionate impact on families of color. Part IV sets forth some principles that hopefully can better guide policymakers and practitioners in the future as they grapple with how best to protect our children from harm. This Part argues that if we are serious about protecting children as a class from physical injury, we must reorient our thinking about criminal justice policy toward the home, rather than away from it. This Part also addresses some of the particular issues related to motherhood and child abuse. Finally, Part V offers some brief concluding thoughts." Iowa Law Review, Vol. 93, No. 1, 2007 Available at SSRN (Social Science Research Network)


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Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0

"The building blocks provided by the Open Educational Resources movement, along with e-Science and e-Humanities and the resources of the Web 2.0, are creating the conditions for the emergence of new kinds of open participatory learning ecosystems that will support active, passion-based learning: Learning 2.0." Source: Educause Review

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Educause: 2008 Horizon Report

The New Media Consortium (NMC) and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) jointly produced Horizon Report describes six areas of emerging technology that will have significant impact on higher education within three adoption horizons over the next one to five years. The 2008 report focuses on the following topics;

* Grassroots Video
* Collaboration Webs
* Mobile Broadband
* Data Mashups
* Collective Intelligence
* Social Operating Systems

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Ghana: Background and U.S. Relations

"This short report, which will be updated as events warrant, provides background information on current developments in Ghana and U.S. bilateral relations with Ghana. Introduction. In mid-February 2008, President and Mrs. Bush are slated to travel to five African countries, including the West African country of Ghana, which in 2006 signed a $547 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact. They are to "review firsthand" U.S. AIDS and healthcare assistance and to "discuss how the United States can continue to partner with African countries to support continued democratic reform, respect for human rights, free trade, open investment regimes, and economic opportunity" in Africa.1 The Bushes are visiting Ghana, in part, because it is widely seen as a key U.S. partner and as an African "success story." " Source: Congressional Research Service

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How Large is China's Economy? Does it Matter?

"China's rapid economic growth since 1979 has transformed it into a major economic power. Over the past few years, many analysts have contended that China could soon overtake the United States to become the world's largest economy, based on estimates of China's economy on a "purchasing power parity" (PPP) basis, which attempts to factor in price differences across countries when estimating the size of a foreign economy in U.S. dollars. However, in December 2007, the World Bank issued a study that lowered its previous 2005 PPP estimate of the size of China's economy by 40%. If these new estimates are accurate, it will likely be many years before China's economy reaches U.S. levels. The new PPP data could also have an impact on U.S. and international perceptions over other aspects of China's economy, including its living standards, poverty levels, and government expenditures, such as on the military. This report will not be updated." Source: Congressional Research Service

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Obama Inspiring But Inexperienced, Clinton Prepared to Lead But "Hard To Like"

"Barack Obama is seen by most Democrats as inspiring and as most likely to bring about change. Hillary Clinton is widely viewed as prepared to lead the country, but also hard to like. These are some of the major themes in campaign news coverage – identified by the Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) – which are registering with the public." Source: Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism

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U.S. Population Projections: 2005-2050

"If current trends continue, the population of the United States will rise to 438 million in 2050, from 296 million in 2005, and 82% of the increase will be due to immigrants arriving from 2005 to 2050 and their U.S.-born descendants, according to new projections developed by the Pew Research Center." Source: Pew Hispanic Center

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U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF): Background and Issues for Congress

"Special Operations Forces (SOF) play a significant role in U.S. military operations and the Administration has given U.S. SOF greater responsibility for planning and conducting worldwide counterterrorism operations. Potential increased SOF involvement in Pakistan and achieving the proper balance between direct and indirect SOF missions might be issues for congressional consideration. This report will be updated as events warrant." Source: Congressional Research Service

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Economic Stimulus Proposals for 2008: An Analysis

"In response to fears of an economic downturn, legislators and the President have proposed economic stimulus packages. After negotiations with the Administration, the Recovery Rebates and Economic Stimulus for the American People Act of 2008 (H.R. 5140) was introduced and passed by the House on January 29. On January 30, the Senate Committee on Finance reported the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, which contains provisions not included in the House bill, as well as elements that are similar. The Senate committee bill is set for consideration on the Senate floor. The estimated budget cost of the House bill is $145.9 billion for FY2008 and $14.8 billion for FY2009, and $117.2 billion over 10 years. The Senate Finance Committee bill's estimated budget cost is $158.1 billion for FY2008 -- about 8% higher than H.R. 5140 -- and $155.7 billion over 10 years. The largest provisions in both bills (in terms of budgetary cost) are a tax rebate for individuals and business tax provisions. Both bills contain these provisions, but differ in their details." Source: Congressional Research Service

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Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler

"In 1943, the Allied forces wanted to understand Hitler's psychological makeup in order to predict, to the extent possible, his behavior as the Allies continued their prosecution of the war and to anticipate his response to Germany's defeat. The Allies were also seeking to understand the German national psyche to gain an understanding of how to convert them into a "peace-loving nation." This report was written for the OSS by Dr. Henry A. Murray, pre-war Director of the Harvard Psychological Clinic. Dr. Murray obviously was forced by circumstances to psychoanalyze his subject from a distance. He gathered information from a variety of second-hand sources, such as Hitler's genealogy; school and military records; public reports of events in print and on film; OSS information; Hitler's own writings; Hitler biographies; and "Hitler the Man - Notes for a Case History," an article written by W.H.D. Vernon under Dr. Murray's supervision. From these resources and his "needs theory" of personality, Dr. Murray created a psychological profile that correctly predicted the Nazi leader's suicide in the face of Germany's defeat." Cornell Law Library (part of their Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection)
Downloadable in Sections - Link to download site

The Discourse on the Digital Divide: Are We Being Co-opted?

"This paper strives to reconstruct the digital divide discourse from a Gramscian perspective in relation to educators’ role in cultural force in the process of hegemonic dominance. Educators either serve the interest of ruling elites and help the maintenance of ideological hegemony or counter-serve hegemonic forces by breaking the cycle of dehumanization and oppression. In essence, the digital divide discourse and its popularization were perceived as a product of ideological hegemony. In order to analyze the digital divide discourse, this paper looked at the current literature related to digital divide, and then examined technology’s historical relations with the hegemonic power structure. The contemporary United States society and its dominant discourse on the digital divide and how other social determinants related to the class structure are being ignored in the process of approaching this social problem are also analyzed. Finally the paper discussed how educators need to deal with and challenge educational inequities in the new alteration process of hegemonic structure that has a strong dialectical relation with the new technological advancement. This discussion is one attempt to participate in its rearrangement." Source: InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies.[via eScholarship Repository]

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Information Economy Report 2007-2008

From the Press Release:

"The open character of the way knowledge is spread over the Internet, and the way electronic communications make distance and national borders much less relevant in carrying out business and related financial transactions, holds promise for economic progress in poor countries, a new UNCTAD report says.

Information and communication technology (ICT) can deliver such vital efficiency gains that it is changing the basic patterns by which businesses operate and economies grow, the Information Economy Report 2007-2008(1) concludes. ICT allows new modes of organization of production and consumption through wireless communication largely independent of distance, resulting in more flexibility, less-expensive transactions, and faster and more accurate communication between economic agents." Source: United Nations

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Many Democrats Say Media Tougher on Clinton than Obama

"Majorities of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say news organizations have been fair in the way they have treated both Barack Obama (71% fair) and Hillary Clinton (53% fair). However, nearly a third (31%) say the press has been too tough on Clinton; just 8% believe the press has been too tough on Obama. Roughly equal numbers of Democrats say that the press has gone too easy on Obama (15%) and Clinton(12%)." Source: Pew Research Center for People and the Press

Download full pdf report | Download topline questionnaire | Link to online Summary

At the Tipping Point: The Mortgage Meltdown and Its Implications for California and the Nation

"California, including the Bay, has bounced back since the tech bust and continues to grow faster than the U.S. overall. This faster growth has occurred despite claims that the state has lost its competitive edge due to high business costs. Yet even as recovery has been achieved, an old issue has emerged as a substantial threat – housing. As far as real estate bubbles go, this past cycle has no precedent even in California’s turbulent housing history." Source: UCLA School of Public Affairs. California Policy Options.

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The State of Black California

"In 2007, the State of California’s Legislative Black Caucus sponsored a report on the status of black Californians. The report was intended to be used as an information source to develop a public policy agenda, including legislative and non­legislative act ions, to address the lingering racial and ethnic disparities in key social, economic, and health outcomes. This chapter summarizes the main findings of the State of Black California and offers some policy proposals to close racial and ethnic disparities in key outcomes." Source: Steven Raphael and Michael Stoll, UCLA School of Public Affairs. California Policy Options.

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Playing Catch-Up: The Labor Movement in Los Angeles and San Francisco, 1985-2005

"Social commentators have often counter­posed Los Angeles with San Francisco, no more so than in the area of working class history. Besides being a “fragmented metropolis” with no tradition of working class protest, Los Angeles has traditionally been seen as an “open shop” town where unions are weak and the civic culture parochial and conservative San Francisco, on the other hand – with its powerful building trades council and its militant Longshoremen’s Union – is usually described as an open, class­conscious, and politically liberal city" Source: UCLA School of Public Affairs

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On the Morality of Immigration

Abstract: "My goal here is twofold: First, I wish to make a plea for the relevance of moral considerations in debates about immigration. Too often, immigration debates are conducted solely from the standpoint of “what is good for us,” without regard for the justifiability of immigration policies to those excluded. Second, I wish to offer a standpoint that demonstrates why one should think of immigration as a moral problem that must be considered in the context of global justice. More specifically, I will argue that the earth belongs to humanity in common and that this matters for assessing immigration policy. The case I will be particularly interested in is immigration into the United States, where immigration policy continues to be a hotly debated topic. The approach of this paper implies that illegal immigrants should be naturalized and more widespread immigration should be permitted. However, that discussion takes the form of a case study: the relevant considerations apply generally." Source: Mathias Risse
Working Paper Number:RWP08-007 Kennedy School of Government Harvard.

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Learning Unethical Practices from a Co-worker: The Peer Effect of Jose Canseco

"This paper examines the issue of whether workers learn productive skills from their co-workers, even if those skills are unethical. Specifically, we estimate whether Jose Canseco, one of the best baseball players in the last few decades, affected the performance of his teammates. In his autobiography, Canseco claims that he improved the productivity of his teammates by introducing them to steroids. Using panel data on baseball players, we show that a player’s performance increases significantly after they played with Jose Canseco. After checking 30 comparable players from the same era, we find that no other baseball player produced a similar effect. Clearly, Jose Canseco had an unusual influence on the productivity of his peers. These results are consistent with Canseco’s controversial claims, and suggest that workers not only learn productive skills from their co-workers, but sometimes those skills may derive from unethical practices. These findings may be relevant to many workplaces where competitive pressures create incentives to adopt unethical means to boost productivity and profits" Source: Institute for the study of Labor

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Medical School Expansion: Challenges and Strategies

"As of 2006, 93 of the nation's 126 medical schools increased or were planning to increase enrollment over 2002 levels. Several U.S. medical schools are increasing their class size by 10 percent or more in response to the AAMC's call for a 30 percent increase in enrollment by 2015 to address an anticipated national physician shortage. Six of these institutions were selected for this study, which was conducted through site visits, focus groups, and extensive interviews with medical school and university officials, staff, and faculty; community leaders; and medical students. The six participating institutions were: Boston University School of Medicine; Michigan State University College of Human Medicine; Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine; Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine; University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine; and University of Texas Medical School at Houston." Source: Association of American Medical Colleges

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Globalization of Innovation: The Personal Computing Industry

"In order to assure continued leadership in innovation for U.S. companies, and a vital role for U.S. workers in the innovation process, industry executives and educators should identify skills needed for the dynamic, high value design and engineering work that is now done in the U.S. and take action to develop them. The key to innovation capacity lies in creating and developing talented individuals in areas such as concept design, system architecture, industrial design, and product management. For technology workers specifically, there is a great need for people who can work at the interface of engineering with computer science, or in functional terms, at the interface of hardware and software. There is also a need for people comfortable working in teams, across disciplines, and in a global environment. Training of such talented people is initially the responsibility of universities, colleges, and even earlier levels of education, whereas their ongoing development depends on industry. Given the offshore shift of lower skilled knowledge jobs, both academia and industry need to develop new ways for young people to gain experience and move up the career ladder." Source: Personal Computing Industry Center. Paper 392. U.C. Irvine

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United Nations Treaty Collection

Online Database containing:
* All multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary- General of the United Nations and those formerly deposited with the League of Nations - their latest status and a link to the full texts.

* Bilateral and multilateral treaties registered with and published by the United Nations Secretariat in accordance with Article 102 up to a certain date - Detailed treaty references and full texts in all authentic language(s).

* Recently Deposited Multilateral Treaties that have been deposited but not yet published - available for viewing and downloading in some or all of their authentic languages.

Link to UN Treaty Collection

How Crime in the United States Is Measured

"Crime data collected through the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) are used by Congress to inform policy decisions and allocate federal criminal justice funding to states. As such, it is important to understand how each program collects and reports crime data, and the limitations associated with the data. This report reviews (1) the history of the UCR, the NIBRS, and the NCVS; (2) the methods each program uses to collect crime data; and (3) the limitations of the data collected by each program. The report then compares the similarities and differences of UCR and NCVS data. It concludes by reviewing issues related to the NIBRS and the NCVS." Source: Congressional Research Service

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Does the Army Need a Full-Spectrum Force or Specialized Units? Background and Issues for Congress

"This report is intended to provide information that might be of interest to Congress on the current debate surrounding the creation of special U.S. Army units and organizations, which some believe are needed to address current and future security requirements. While the Army has recently changed from a division-based force to a brigade-centric force, it has resisted the creation of special units to deal with counterinsurgency, stabilization, and training/advisory operations. In contrast, there have been a number of proposals to create new units and organizations better suited to address the challenges of these mission areas. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates's recent challenge to the Army to organize and prepare for asymmetric warfare and advising and training foreign armies could renew and elevate this debate. The Army began reorganizing to a brigade-based, full-spectrum force in 2003 primarily to provide a larger pool of deployable units. Based on lessons learned from Afghanistan and Iraq, the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Army have initiated significant changes in doctrine, education, and training, focusing on counterinsurgency, stabilization, and training/advising foreign militaries." Source: Congressional Research Service

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What is a Recession, Who Decides When It Starts, and When Do They Decide?

"A recession is one of several discrete phases in the overall business cycle. The term may often be used loosely to describe an economy that is slowing down or characterized by weakness in at least one major sector like the housing market. When used by economists, "recession" means a significant decline in overall economic activity that lasts more than a few months. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) business cycle dating committee is the generally recognized arbiter of the dates of the beginnings and ends of recessions. As with all statistics, it takes some time to compile the data, which means they are only available after the events they describe. Moreover, because it takes time to discern changes in trends given the usual month-to-month volatility in economic indicators, and because the data are subject to revision, it takes some time before the dating committee can agree that a recession began at a certain date. It can be a year or more after the fact that the dating committee announces the date of the beginning of a recession." Source: Congressional Research Service

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The Impact Of "Cell-Onlys" On Public Opinion Polling

The proportion of Americans who rely solely on a cell phone for their telephone service continues to grow, as does the share who still have a landline phone but do most of their calling on their cell phone. With these changes, there is an increased concern that polls conducted only on landline telephones may not accurately measure public opinion. A new Pew Research Center study finds that, while different demographically, Americans who mostly or exclusively rely on cell phones are not substantially different from the landline population in their basic political attitudes and preferences. Source: Pew Research Center for People and the Press

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Hispanics in the 2008 Election

"The Hispanics in the 2008 Election fact sheets contain data on the size and social and economic characteristics of the Hispanic and non-Hispanic eligible voter populations. These fact sheets are based on the Center's tabulations of the Census Bureau's 2006 American Community Survey. The eight fact sheets include those states that will be holding primaries or caucuses on "Super Tuesday" and that have a relatively high concentration of Latino voters: Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico and New York." Source: Pew Hispanic Center

Link to State fact sheets and online summaries