An Examination of the Demand for Life Insurance

For almost 50 years researchers have sought to explain consumer behavior concerning the purchase of life insurance. This study examines the literature relating to specific demographic and economic factors that may be identifiable as traits influencing the demand for life insurance, and discusses general environmental issues that may relate to life insurance demand. By organizing the wealth of literature in a useful and systematic format, noting consistencies and contradictions, this examination seeks to provide a better understanding of how and why life insurance purchases are made.     

The program-length commercial: A study of the effects of television/toy tie-ins on imaginative play

A study was done examining the impact of toy-based television programs and program-related toys on children. One hundred and ten first- and second-grade children participated in an experiment which focused on imaginative play. The results indicated that, in general, the combination of watching a toy-based cartoon, followed by playing with a set of cartoon-related toys, produced stories that were more imitative of the immediately preceding experience, whereas watching the cartoon alone or playing with the cartoon-related toys alone led to more imaginative productions from other sources. However, for certain aspects of imagination at a more advanced cognitive level, the cartoon, especially when combined with cartoon-related toys, actually stimulated the imaginative processes of the younger children, thus serving as a learning tool at a transitional stage of cognitive development.     

Social marketing in action—geodemographics,alcoholic liver disease and heavy episodic drinking in Great Britain

• This paper explores the use of geodemographic population classifications to identify and predict ‘hotspots’ of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) prone to greater than expected alcoholic liver disease. MOSAIC geodemographic codes were overlaid onto Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) for Great Britain. The HES data included gender, MOSAIC Type, MOSAIC Code, postal and local authority district, month and year of birth, ethnic origin, Primary Care Trust and GP code. Analysis demonstrated that some geodemographic classifications of the population were over-represented for alcoholic liver disease episodes. These groups had low socio-economic and socio-cultural status, lived in areas of high deprivation and disadvantage. Manchester followed by Liverpool and Hull had the highest estimated patient group size in England and Hart, Surrey Heath and Wokingham the three lowest (indicating low expected levels of alcoholic liver disease compared with average). Analysis of the same data was also carried out at postcode level for Manchester indicating ‘hotspots’ for alcoholic level disease at street level. This analysis exemplifies the ways in which geodemographic data might be usefully applied to routine health service data to enhance service planning, delivery and improved targeting of information in harder to reach populations.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Uncovering evidence on community-based injury prevention: A review of programme effectiveness and factors influencing effectiveness

This study examines systematic reviews of community-based injury prevention programmes to obtain an overview of the evidence base on the effectiveness of these programmes and to analyse how effectiveness is measured and the extent to which factors contributing to achieving programme effectiveness are examined in these reviews. Thirteen systematic reviews were found, encompassing a total of 121 programmes. The results reinforced the well-documented point that the evidence regarding the effectiveness of community-based injury prevention programmes is inconsistent. Some of the programmes targeting specific injury categories, e.g. specific injury types and/or age groups, were successful, whilst more broadly targeted programmes demonstrated less convincing results. Effectiveness was predominantly measured as injury rate reductions. Only one of the reviews identified contextual factors that could have impacted on programme effectiveness. To advance the field, researchers and systematic reviews need to include evidence on factors that may explain how the effects were achieved.     

How does qualitative data collection modality affect disclosure of sensitive information and participant experience? Findings from a quasi-experimental study

Quality & Quantity - Focus groups (FGs) and individual interviews (IDIs) can be conducted in-person or in several different online contexts. We conducted a quasi-experimental study and assessed...     

DO STATE EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION LAWS AFFECT JOB TURNOVER?

State laws requiring employers to verify workers' employment eligibility may reduce employment and earnings among unauthorized workers and make it difficult for them to switch jobs. Using data from the 2005–2014 Quarterly Workforce Indicators, we find evidence of a reduction in employment and job turnover among Hispanics as a whole in states that require all employers to verify employment eligibility. These adverse effects become larger as the share of likely unauthorized Hispanic workers falls. The drop in job turnover may be due to the laws trapping some Hispanic workers in their jobs. There is little effect on employment or job turnover among non‐Hispanic whites or blacks. There is no effect on average pay for all groups of workers. (JEL J15, J61, J68)