Patricia Garrett

HAVING A BABY: Some Predictions of Maternal Employment Around Childbirth

This analysis tests the influence of personal, job, and family status characteristics on maternal employment. We use the Merged Child/Mother File from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine employment patterns of mothers who gave birth between 1979 and 1986. Logistic regression is used to estimate the probabilities; proportional hazards techniques are used to estimate rates of leaving and return to employment after childbirth. We find that family status factors and the proportion of the family income the mother earns are consistently important in predicting maternal employment. Human capital factors are more significant in predicting employment exits and the rate of exit than the rate of return or employment status one year after a birth.

The Social Construction of the 'At-risk' Child

Abstract The ‘at‐risk’ child has become a topic of increasing concern to American educators. It has been estimated that fully one‐third of all school‐age children are currently at risk for academic failure, and a recent report on pre‐school‐age children suggests that all are at risk to some degree. This article explores contemporary constructions and constructions over time in an effort to deconstruct the notion of the ‘at‐risk’ child and to examine how meaning is produced and to what end. The theoretical and historical material provide a framework in which data from a statewide survey of school administrators, regarding their preferences for pre‐kindergarten programs, are interpreted.

Evaluating the Dimensional Structure of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment-Short form

This study explores the dimensional structure of the Home Observation for the Measurement of the Environment-Short Form (HOME-SF). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate three hypothesized factor structures. Data pertain to 1,250 children up to 2 years old, assessed by the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). All models were found to be unsatisfactory. The global fit indexes were low, solutions were inadmissible, and many of the estimated factor loadings were small. This study indicates that the features of the home environment cannot be thought of as composing a single dimension, nor can they be thought of as composing dimensions corresponding to the NLSY scales or the original HOME scales. Hence further research is warranted to determine more precisely the character of what the HOME-SF measures.

Differentiation and survival among North Carolina smallholders: An empirical perspective on the Lenin‐Chayanov debate

This article addresses theoretical issues concerning differentiation and class formation using North American data. It explores how socio‐economic characteristics vary and impact survival in agriculture. The study is based on panel data collected from a sample of smallholders in three Piedmont North Carolina counties. Factor analysis reveals five major dimensions of differentiation: scale, household labour, off‐farm family labour and income, demographic characteristics, and land tenure. An index of propensity to survive in agriculture, constructed from three waves of panel data is regressed upon five indices measuring the underlying dimensions of differentiation. Land tenure manifests a statistically significant net effect on survival in agriculture. These empirical results support theoretical arguments in favour of integrating analyses of socio‐economic and demographic differentiation in the study of agricultural enterprises.

Cause Indicator Models for the Cognitive Component of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment-Short Form:

A form of criterion keying was used to examine alternative scales for cognitive development facilitation. Two cause indicator models linking the items of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment-Short Form (HOME-SF) to the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) were hypothesized. The first model was based on all of the HOME-SF items, and the second was based on the HOME-SF items comprising the Cognitive Stimulation scale of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Evaluation proceeded with data from two waves of children, under 3 years of age, assessed in the NLSY. The two proposed models were evaluated on the first wave of data using structural equation modeling. A third model was then empirically developed by making modifications to improve model fit. The three models were reevaluated on the second wave of data. The model developed empirically fit the second wave of data relatively well.

Cluster analysis and typology construction; the case of small‐scale tobacco farmers: A research note

Many studies have sought to describe the complexity and diversity among small‐scale farms by means of typologies. Now appropriate methodological techniques must be identified or developed to complement theoretical concerns about heterogeneity among small‐scale farmers. Using data from a panel study on small‐scale tobacco producers from the Piedmont area of North Carolina, an empirically based typology is generated via cluster analysis. Senior agriculturalist, full‐time, and part‐time smallholders are the descriptive names given to the types identified. The value of cluster analysis for typology creation is demonstrated through an analysis of which farm operators left agriculture during the drought and low‐farm‐income crisis of 1981 to 1983. The results show that part‐time farmers are less likely than either senior agriculturist or full‐time farmers to continue as active farm operators.

The relevance of gender in farming systems research: Experiences in Ecuador☆

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to share the experiences of one national agricultural research institution in the incorporation of gender into farming systems research. The reported incorporation is partial and unsystematic, because gender is far from institutionalized in Ecuador. Nevertheless, field experience suggests that gender is an important variable to be considered in the development and dissemination of agricultural technologies. The Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIAP) is the state agency responsible for applied agricultural research, and it has worked with different client groups. This paper organizes INIAPs diverse experiences by considering how gender is relevant to different phases of farming systems research. It also invites people with field experience to reconsider how gender is relevant to programming in their area of expertise.