Numbers and words revisited: Being “shamelessly eclectic”

Despite the growing acknowledgement that complex social phenomena can be usefully understood through multiple methods of inquiry, there are few sound examples of mixed-methods research. This paper offers concrete examples from recent policy research in the United States about how qualitative and quantitative methods can be combined to better address complex research questions. Using a conceptual framework developed in 1985 and recently elaborated, we describe how, in both the design and analysis phases of research, combing methods can enhance the research purposes ofcorroborating, elaborating, developing, andinitiating understandings of social phenomena.A previous version of this paper was presented at the annual meetings of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, 1991.     

Comparisons between small business data base (USEEM) and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment data: 1978–1986

Summary and conclusion The BLS versus USEEM comparison generally points out some major classification differences in the data sets particularly in the classification and growth of larger establishments. USEEM and BLS data generally agree as to the direction of employment growth over the 1978 to 1986 period. Differences occur in 7 of the 63 comparisons of employment growth — but BLS attributes a greater proportion of growth to larger reporting units, USEEM to smaller establishments. BLS and USEEM data have concurring positive or negative growth rates for all size classes in the construction, wholesale trade, services, and finance, insurance, and real estate industries.The fundamental question — in which size classes or units did employment growth primarily occur between 1978 and 1986 — has only indirectly been answered. Some industries — such as construction — produced similar results. Other sectors — such as wholesale trade — produced differences by size category. Clearly some combination of industry restructuring and different classification and collection procedures have affected the results.Researchers, once aware of procedural differences between the data sets, can cite USEEM data for a variety of dynamic uses, particularly in light of these new comparative tabulations available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For comparative static analysis, the BLS dataset is more comprehensive and better maintained.     

Law commentary: discrimination in union influenced employment recruitment

This article examines union influenced employers’ recruitment practices in the light of a recent Court of Appeal case. It argues that unions need to acknowledge traditional practices can, even unintentionally, be racist and sexist and that in order to defend union influence, those practices must change.     

Tariff‐jumping FDI and domestic firms' profits

Abstract.  Studies of trade policy welfare effects often ignore the potential for tariff‐jumping foreign direct investment (FDI) to mitigate positive gains to domestic producers. Using event study methodology we find that affirmative U.S. antidumping decisions are associated with average abnormal gains of over 3% to a firm in the petitioning industry in the absence of tariff‐jumping FDI, but much smaller and statistically insignificant abnormal gains if there is tariff‐jumping FDI. We also find evidence that tariff jumping in the form of new plants or plant expansion has significantly larger negative effects on U.S. domestic firms' profits than other types of tariff‐jumping FDI. JEL Classification: F13, F23, L11     

A Diagnostic Tool for Assessing the Relative Importance of Information in Impression Formation: Application in Order Effects

This paper describes a diagnostic tool for assessing relative impact weights of time-dependent information on an impression or judgment and illustrates its use in the area of order effects. A novel and somewhat counterintuitive finding, based on applying this tool, is that the bit of information associated with the greatest impact weight is not necessarily the bit of information associated with the greatest relative impact weight. At the heart of this tool is the ability to compute precisely the relative impact weights associated with each piece of information, which are, in general, different from the actual impact weights associated with each piece of information. This provides the opportunity to determine relative impact weights under various assumptions about, and theories of, or related to, impression formation. In turn, this diagnostic information may be used to deepen understanding of a particular theory or, perhaps, to propose or define new theory.     

Service marketing and franchising: A practical business marriage

Service businesses and franchising both have shown steady growth in the last 15 years, and the authors say that's no accident. In fact, they claim, the two are made for each other.     

Small subcontractors in UK engineering: Competitiveness,dependence and problems

This paper reports the results of a new survey of small subcontractors in UK engineering. We are able to characterise the main source of competitive advantage as being experience with a particular technology. Labour flexibility, but not cheap labour, is also a necessary condition for success. There is a clear trend towards limited concentration of one third of all output with the single most important customer. More negatively, there is evidence for substantial avoidance of ideal, relationship specific investments, and for lack of communication and trust. This is despite the fact that most subcontractors are located close to their customers and have been serving them for many years.     

Charging for local telephone calls: How household characteristics affect the distribution of calls in the GTE Illinois experiment

When the billing of local telephone service is changed from flat rate to measured service, the distribution of monthly calling rates is altered. This paper models the distribution of flat-rate telephone use in terms of demographic variables and stochastic components; the shift to measured service affects both the systematic and stochastic parameters. The model is fitted by maximum likelihood to data for interviewed households participating in General Telephone's local-measured-service experiment in Illinois. Households tend to make more calls if they are larger (more people), older, or include teenagers. They tend to reduce calling proportionately more in response to usage charges if they average many calls under flat rate for any of the above reasons or for other, unexplained reasons. There is substantial variation in telephone use by households with similar demographic characteristics. Consequently, the benefits and costs of local measured service will tend to be diffused across demographic groups.