Margins for Survival : Edward Wenk,Jr., Pergamon Press,Elmsford, New York, 1979.

Anticipating decision makers' attitudes (and behavior) in new decision situations (DS) is an essential prerequisite for realistic forecasting, but surprisingly enough there are still few methodological tools available for this purpose. Our aim is to describe a presumably new approach by using extensions of the so-called Hurwicz optimism-pessimism index criterion [9] for dynamic decision-making processes. Such a combination of searching, learning and subjective evaluative, and judgmental aspects of decision-making seems to offer a realistic framework for anticipating the intuitive attitudes of decision makers when faced with complex tasks in an unstable environment.     

Improving Public High Schools: Evidence from New York

This study examined why differing public high schools have widely varying levels of student success. Two outcomes, namely the dropout and the college attendance rates, were analyzed using data for suburban schools just outside of New York City. While the dropout and college attendance rates proved most sensitive to community economic differences, they also responded to the way high schools were managed. Schools with smaller classes and less crime employing more experienced and qualified teachers enjoyed better outcomes. Teacher pay, however, was not a significant factor determining student success.      

The marketability of nurse practitioners in New York City

Until recently nurse practitioners (NPs) in independent practices have almost exclusively served Medicaid populations, and, most NP care has been provided by NP employees in physicians' offices or HMOs. The author explores the willingness of affluent or insured private pay patients to choose NPs as their primary care providers by using both focus groups and telephone interviews of adults between 25 and 50 years of age. Findings included the common perception that physicians were best prepared by education at diagnosing illness and valued for their overall expertise and likelihood to treat patients with respect. Nurses were most liked for their "compassion and caring," their willingness to listen to client concerns, and focus on disease management and health promotion. Nurses were least liked for having "bad attitudes" and being overworked. Only 23% of the survey participants were familiar with the term "advanced practice nurse" while 76% had heard of NPs.