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Benefit finding (BF) may be a coping strategy that positively influences outcomes after a stressful event, but previous studies provide an inconsistent pattern of results across several different patient populations. This study aimed to reconcile these inconsistencies by testing whether positive affect related to a cardiac event (PA) mediates the relationship between BF and healthy dietary behaviors, and whether this mediating relationship is stronger for participants high in disease severity. Participants were patients with cardiovascular disease in a cardiac rehabilitation program. Results supported partial mediation, but the interaction was not as predicted: participants low in disease severity showed a stronger relationship between BF and PA than their counterparts high in disease severity. Additionally, the PA/healthy dietary behaviors relationship was negative. Health providers may encourage patients in CR to engage in BF, but also to make thoughtful food decisions when in a positive mood, especially for patients low in disease severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A non-traditional methodology of polling in small areas, called bellwethers, improves the accuracy of forecasts drawn from a large area. Bellwether areas are small government units (such as cities or counties) which exhibit voting patterns close to actual election outcomes in the larger areas of which they are a part (such as states). The bellwether methodology of one polling organization is described in detail using data from the 2012 US Senate election in Massachusetts. An overview of the performance of the bellwether methodology is provided. In use at Suffolk University Political Research Center since 2003, bellwethers combined with state polls correctly forecast election outcomes in 97% of trials where a clear winner could be determined (i.e., no ties). The contribution of this work is to offer an open-source methodology for improving accuracy in election forecasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student engagement is regarded as a critical educational outcome. However, it has proven to be elusive to educators within technical domains, such as marketing research and analytics, which has inspired the exploration of experiential course design elements. Client-sponsored projects (CSPs) have become a popular tactic to meet this objective in such courses. The authors utilize a mixed-methods design to examine CSPs and their effectiveness in marketing research and analytics courses. In Study 1, qualitative research yields student insights regarding the desired characteristics of a CSP. Study 2 illustrates that CSPs boost student engagement through perceptions of course relevance. However, students' subjective interest in the client represented a boundary condition for this effect. That is, CSPs did not offer value to students who lacked inherent interest in the client. In Study 3, a discrete choice model analysis outlined what attributes make clients interesting for students. Finally, Study 4 utilizes a field experiment to identify project-framing tactics that increase student interest through enhanced client familiarity. A series of recommendations are provided to maximize the efficacy of CSPs to marketing research and analytics courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the authors document a new pre-election polling method that combines traditional probability sampling in statewide polls with sampling of bellwether districts. Against the backdrop of the 2008 presidential primary in New Hampshire, the authors explain how the Suffolk University/WHDH predictions, using additional bellwether tests, were closer than most other polls in correctly calling the Democratic primary race. Thus, the contributions in this article are twofold. The authors offer information that provides advances to the field of opinion research by describing the nature of electoral bellwether districts, a topic of recurring interest to public opinion scholars and practitioners. Second, they describe a process for selecting electoral bellwether districts. The authors explore the validity of their ideas by comparing pre-election poll data with bellwether tests to election outcomes for additional races in the state primaries and general election. They offer conclusions about the value and use of bellwether tests in the spirit of an open-source methodology to the opinion research community. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many school districts in the United States allow parents to choose which school their child attends ('school choice' or 'magnet schools') while other school districts require students to attend their nearest ('neighborhood') school. Such policies influence children's transportation. We survey elementary-school parents in St. Paul and Roseville, Minnesota, to discover how children travel to school and underlying factors influencing parent's choice of their child's travel mode. From this information we develop a statistical model of travel mode choice. We find that children's commute mode and parental attitudes towards school selection differ by school type (magnet versus neighborhood), income, and race. Relative to neighborhood schools, magnet schools draw from broader geographic regions, have lower rates of walking, bicycling, and commuting by automobile, and higher busing rates. Parent attitudes towards transportation also differ by race and school type. For example, parents of nonwhite and magnet school students placed greater-than-average importance on bus service and quality. This paper highlights the potentially unintended influence of school district policy on school commute mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to calls from both business practitioners and educators, this research explores the extent to which undergraduate marketing education is delivered with a cross-functional perspective. Given that marketing is often recognized as a boundary-spanning role within companies, marketing department chairs were asked to report on cross-functional teaching and learning activities within their departments and schools. While it appears that cross-functional teaching and learning does take place in the marketing classroom, it does not appear to be widespread among marketing departments within undergraduate business programs in the United States, and what is done tends to be accomplished within traditional pedagogical formats. These exploratory results point to several considerations for the implementation of cross-functional teaching and learning initiatives, as well as provide provocative material for stimulating marketing faculty discussions on the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]