scholarly journals Unobtrusive measures of prejudice: Estimating percentages of public beliefs and behaviours

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0260042
Author(s):  
Adrian Furnham ◽  
Jan Ketil Arnulf ◽  
Charlotte Robinson

This study was concerned with how accurate people are in their knowledge of population norms and statistics concerning such things as the economic, health and religious status of a nation and how those estimates are related to their own demography (e.g age, sex), ideology (political and religious beliefs) and intelligence. Just over 600 adults were asked to make 25 population estimates for Great Britain, including religious (church/mosque attendance) and economic (income, state benefits, car/house ownership) factors as well as estimates like the number of gay people, immigrants, smokers etc. They were reasonably accurate for things like car ownership, criminal record, vegetarianism and voting but seriously overestimated numbers related to minorities such as the prevalence of gay people, muslims and people not born in the UK. Conversely there was a significant underestimation of people receiving state benefits, having a criminal record or a private health insurance. Correlations between select variables and magnitude and absolute accuracy showed religiousness and IQ most significant correlates. Religious people were less, and intelligent people more, accurate in their estimates. A factor analysis of the estimates revealed five interpretable factors. Regressions were calculated onto these factors and showed how these individual differences accounted for as much as 14% of the variance. Implications and limitations are acknowledged.

2021 ◽  
pp. 136754942110060
Author(s):  
Beth Johnson ◽  
Alison Peirse

This article draws on the 2018 Writers Guild of Great Britain report ‘Gender Inequality and Screenwriters’, and original interviews with female screenwriters, to assess how the experience of genre plays out in the UK television industry. The report focuses on the experience of women, as a single category, but we aim to reveal a more intersectional understanding of their experiences. Our aim is to better understand the ways in which women are, according to the report, consistently ‘pigeonholed by genre and are unable to move from continuing drama or children’s programming to prime-time drama, comedy or light-entertainment’. Considering the cultural value of genre in relation to screenwriting labour and career progression, we analyse how genre shapes career trajectory, arguing that social mobility for female screenwriters is inherently different and unequal to that of their male counterparts.


2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (11) ◽  
pp. 1394-1398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon W. J. Gould ◽  
Jess Rollason ◽  
Anthony C. Hilton ◽  
Paul Cuschieri ◽  
Laura McAuliffe ◽  
...  

Since 1999, the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (EARSS) has monitored the rise in infection due to a number of organisms, including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The EARSS reported that MRSA infections within intensive care units account for 25–50 % of infections in many central and southern European countries, these included France, Spain, Great Britain, Malta, Greece and Italy. Each country has defined epidemic MRSA (EMRSA) strains; however, the method of spread of these strains from one country to another is unknown. In this current study, DNA profiles of 473 isolates of MRSA collected from the UK and Malta were determined by PFGE. Analysis of the data showed that two countries separated by a large geographical distance had a similar DNA profile pattern. Additionally it was demonstrated that strains of EMRSA normally found in the UK were also found in the Maltese cohort (EMRSA 15 and 16). A distinct DNA profile was found in the Maltese cohort, which may be a local EMRSA, and accounted for 14.4 % of all Maltese isolates. The appearance of the same MRSA and EMRSA profiles in two separate countries suggests that MRSA can be transferred out of their country of origin and potentially establish in a new locality or country.


2002 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Froud ◽  
Sukhdev Johal ◽  
Adam Leaver ◽  
Karel Williams

This paper helps to develop the social aspect of a new agenda for automobile research through focusing on motoring expenditure in the UK by poor households. It moves the social exclusion debate on by going back to Rowntree's 1901 survey, which established that poverty entailed not having enough resources to meet the needs of the household. Rowntree's analysis of primary and secondary poverty is updated here through the focus on the resources and choices of poor households, which incur significant motoring costs as the price of participation. Statistical sources and interviews in Inner and Outer London are used to explore these issues and the analysis shows that the story is one of constraint, sacrifice and precariousness. Car ownership imposes large costs on poor households, which limit other consumption opportunities. Labour market participation may depend on such sacrifices where public transport and local employment opportunities are limited. This locks poor households into a precarious cycle whereby the car is necessary to get to work and the job is necessary to keep the car on the road. Using Rowntree by analogy, the paper argues that, as well as improving public transport provision policy makers must also recognise the problem of poverty.


2020 ◽  
Vol 187 (8) ◽  
pp. e64-e64
Author(s):  
Rebecca Marie Southwell ◽  
Kenneth Sherlock ◽  
Matthew Baylis

BackgroundSchmallenberg virus (SBV) is an orthobunyavirus, carried by Culicoides biting midges, that causes reproductive problems in adult ruminants when infected during their gestation period. SBV was first detected in ruminants in the UK in 2011/2012 and then again in 2016. The reason behind the 2016 re-emergence of SBV is unknown, but one possibility is that it can be maintained in wildlife, such as deer. SBV has been detected at high seroprevalence in deer in a number of European countries, but only once in the UK in a single region.MethodsThe purpose of this study was to survey wild deer across Great Britain for recent evidence of SBV. Deer hunters were recruited for the purpose of providing postmortem blood samples to be tested for SBV antibodies.ResultsThe seroprevalence of SBV in the British wild deer population was 13.8 per cent; found in red, roe, muntjac and fallow deer species, with more in deer further south.ConclusionThese results support the growing concern that SBV is now endemic in Great Britain and highlight the need to know the role of wildlife in SBV transmission.


Author(s):  
Bob Smale

This chapter explores geographical union identity which is projected by unions with membership territories other than those of Great Britain or the UK. These unions project three forms of geographical identity, namely, ‘subnational union identity’, where unions such as SSTA organise an area within Great Britain, ‘binational union identity’ where unions including NUJ are based in two countries, or ‘multinational union identity’ where unions operate in multiple countries as represented by Nautilus, which was formed by cross-border mergers. The analysis recognises that four Northern Irish unions are certified separately and that some Irish unions also organise there. The chapter explores the observable characteristics of geographical union identity together with the impact of mergers, membership benefits, affiliations and political alignment. The work identifies the potentialities for union responses to any reconfiguration of the UK following either Scottish independence and/or the reunification of Ireland and for the formation of multinational unions in order to provide a more effective challenge to multinational capitalism.


2008 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 310-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Mullerat ◽  
K Cooper ◽  
B Box ◽  
B Soin

INTRODUCTION This observational study was carried out to establish how surgeons performing laparoscopic cholecystectomy currently deal with the issue of spilled gallstones. MATERIALS AND METHODS A questionnaire was circulated amongst laparoscopic surgeons attending the annual conference of the Association of Laparoscopic Surgery of Great Britain and Ireland in November 2006. RESULTS Eighty-two surgeons completed the questionnaire. Only half of surgeons inform patients when gallstones are spilled. Less than 30% of surgeons inform general practitioners (GPs) of this complication, when it occurs. Less than a quarter of surgeons include this information in the consent literature provided to patients. CONCLUSIONS We recommend that trusts review their policy towards spilled stones either by local audit or adopt the guidance given by the UK Healthcare Commission. While some surgeons feel informing patients and GPs may unnecessarily heighten anxiety from an uncommon complication, our review of the literature suggests this position is not tenable in the current medicolegal climate.


2009 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
AG Edwards ◽  
S Baynham ◽  
T Lees ◽  
DC Mitchell

INTRODUCTION In 1999, a survey was published detailing the management of varicose veins by members of the then Vascular Surgical Society (VSS). Since then, newer methods for treating varicose veins have been developed and far more explicit rationing has been introduced in the NHS. SUBJECTS AND METHODS In order to examine whether there had been a significant change in established practice in the UK, a questionnaire was sent to all Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland (VSGBI) members in the 2004 yearbook by E-mail or post. RESULTS Of the 426 questionnaires distributed, a 69% response rate was achieved. Of respondents, 97% treated varicose veins in their NHS practice, whilst 88% did so in private practice. Some 73% used hand-held Doppler assessment in the clinic and 96% used duplex ultrasound assessment selectively. Despite UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines, only 68% said that their primary care trusts funded treatment of symptomatic varicose veins, while 93% did so for complications. In either NHS or private practice, respectively, 83% or 72% of responders offered surgery as preferred treatment for primary varicose veins, while 14% or 20% preferred endovascular treatments (endovascular laser treatment, radiofrequency ablation and foam sclerotherapy). Of responders, 17% did not follow-up patients after treatment. CONCLUSIONS This survey suggests that there is rationing of access to care for symptomatic varicose veins. Despite publicity for endovenous techniques, surgery remains the preferred treatment for varicose veins in the UK.


Gut ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin J Monahan ◽  
Nicola Bradshaw ◽  
Sunil Dolwani ◽  
Bianca Desouza ◽  
Malcolm G Dunlop ◽  
...  

Heritable factors account for approximately 35% of colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, and almost 30% of the population in the UK have a family history of CRC. The quantification of an individual’s lifetime risk of gastrointestinal cancer may incorporate clinical and molecular data, and depends on accurate phenotypic assessment and genetic diagnosis. In turn this may facilitate targeted risk-reducing interventions, including endoscopic surveillance, preventative surgery and chemoprophylaxis, which provide opportunities for cancer prevention. This guideline is an update from the 2010 British Society of Gastroenterology/Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland (BSG/ACPGBI) guidelines for colorectal screening and surveillance in moderate and high-risk groups; however, this guideline is concerned specifically with people who have increased lifetime risk of CRC due to hereditary factors, including those with Lynch syndrome, polyposis or a family history of CRC. On this occasion we invited the UK Cancer Genetics Group (UKCGG), a subgroup within the British Society of Genetic Medicine (BSGM), as a partner to BSG and ACPGBI in the multidisciplinary guideline development process. We also invited external review through the Delphi process by members of the public as well as the steering committees of the European Hereditary Tumour Group (EHTG) and the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE). A systematic review of 10 189 publications was undertaken to develop 67 evidence and expert opinion-based recommendations for the management of hereditary CRC risk. Ten research recommendations are also prioritised to inform clinical management of people at hereditary CRC risk.


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