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Objectives. We tested telephone-based disease surveillance systems in local health departments to identify system characteristics associated with consistent and timely responses to urgent case reports. Methods. We identified a stratified random sample of 74 health departments and conducted a series of unannounced tests of their telephone-based surveillance systems. We used regression analyses to identify system characteristics that predicted fast connection with an action officer (an appropriate public health professional). Results. Optimal performance in consistently connecting callers with an action officer in 30 minutes or less was achieved by 31% of participating health departments. Reaching a live person upon dialing, regardless of who that person was, was the strongest predictor of optimal performance both in being connected with an action officer and in consistency of connection times. Conclusions. Health departments can achieve optimal performance in consistently connecting a caller with an action officer in 30 minutes or less and may improve performance by using a telephone-based disease surveillance system in which the phone is answered by a live person at all times.

A report on a telephonic interview-based survey on Americans views on supporting front runners for presidential candidates is presented. The four include Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

A report on a telephonic interview-based survey on the chances of Rudy Giuliani and Fred D. Thompson among others as Republican nominees for presidential elections is presented.

A report of a telephonic interview based survey on the views of Americans on the influence of personal characteristics of presidential candidates on their voting is presented.

The report of a telephonic interview based survey on the popularity of Republican Mitt Romney, who is contesting in Republican primaries for presidential elections, is presented.

The report of a telephonic interview based survey on the views of Americans on a Mormon standing as a presidential candidate is presented.

Background: The existing literature on community attitudes towards people with severe mental illness (SMI) tends to be rather general and impressionistic, with apparently conflicting findings which have yet to be adequately understood. Aims: This article undertakes to examine the community's level of tolerance towards discriminatory practice against people with SMI in three domains: family relations, employment and health care. Methods: Structured interviews with a representative sample of 507 citizens were carried out using the computer-assisted telephone interview system (CATI). Results: Our survey reveals some expected common misunderstandings about mental illness, with the older age group showing the greatest toleration towards discrimination. However, respondents showed a strong objection to discriminatory behaviour which people with SMI commonly face in health care and employment, whereas greater toleration towards discrimination was found in the family domain. Conclusions: The coexistence of misunderstandings about mental illness and public rejection of discriminatory practice against people with SMI suggests that community attitudes are multi-dimensional and more amendable than expected. The findings of this study call for target-specific educational strategies for community education, as well as accompanying policy initiatives to end discriminatory practice, if people with SMI are to be truly taken as our fellow citizens. Key words: citizenship, discrimination, public attitude

The views of the Americans, on the benefit of owning guns to protect their lives and property from criminals, are presented.

The occurrence of Iraq at the top of the Americans' list of problems is discussed.

The demographic aspects of the voting patterns, observed during Congressional elections in the different American states, are discussed.

The views of the American voters, on the prospects of the election of a female president, are presented. The prospects of the acceptance of an atheist or a gay president, by the American people, are discussed.

Results of telephone interviews on economic issues before Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. are presented.

Results of telephone interviews on President George W. Bush's job approval ratings are presented.

Many states rely on telephone surveys to produce estimates of uninsurance. However such surveys are not accurate as the surveys fail to cover health insurance information from households that do not have telephone facilities.

This article examines social and demographic variables associated with attitudinal acceptance of domestic violence. Results from a telephone survey indicate that young, non-white males who are recent victims of violence, who have low income and education levels, and who are not in marital relationships are more accepting of violent behavior.

This article examines the responses of individuals in urban areas who suspect a neighbor of physically abusing their child. Findings indicate that very few survey respondents were aware of any abuse and that the majority of neighbors who witnessed child abuse reported the incident to authorities.

Improving the care of persons at the end of their lives is a major priority of medical associations and patient advocacy groups. Central to this effort is the need to better prepare health care surrogates so that they will be able to respect the dying person's wishes if that person loses decision making capacity. But efforts to facilitate communication between dying persons, their surrogates, and health care providers have not been fully successful. We conducted a telephone survey of 174 randomly selected adults from a mid-sized university community to determine whom people wanted to function as their surrogate, to test the hypothesis that overconfidence in the surrogate's ability may impede communication, and to examine gender differences in communication preferences with surrogates. Spouses were the most frequently selected surrogate, followed by an adult child. Women were more likely to be selected than men were. As expected, persons overestimated their surrogates' abilities to represent their interests. Two other predictions were not confirmed. Interactions between gender and whether the person was responding as a patient or surrogate were observed. These results confirm the value of applying uncertainty management theories to health issues and lead to recommendations for improving communication between patients and their surrogate decision makers.

There is growing interest in the extent of informal economic activity as a form of income generating or subsistence activity within first world economies, but little agreement exists in the literature as to what constitutes informal work, what activities in addition to monetary exchanges make up the informal economy, and where these activities are located. The lack of consensus on the proper definition of the activities that make up the informal economy is reflected in the lack of systematic data available to investigate these forms of work. This paper investigates using telephone survey research techniques to develop inexpensive and efficient data sources to answer questions about the forms, prevalence, and location of informal work. The research uncovers problems associated with developing survey based measures of informal activity, but it also demonstrates the viability of this approach as well as the generally high level of participation in both rural and urban places.

Data from a telephone survey conducted by the Survey Research Center of the University of Maryland were used to determine the factors affecting women's attitudes toward housework. The result indicated that women's attitudes toward household chores remained the same, with substantial increases in fulfilment related to house cleaning and recognized importance of a well-maintained home. Moreover, the youngest group surveyed gives more effort and energy into household work compared to their counterparts in 1975.

A report on a telephonic interview-based survey on Americans' views about the performance of President George W. Bush is presented.

A report on a telephonic interview based survey on the views of the Americans about the influence of Bill Clinton's image on Hillary Clinton's campaign for presidential elections is presented.

A report on a telephonic interview-based survey on the views of Americans about peace in Iraq following increase in troop deployment is discussed.

A report on a telephonic interview based survey on the investigation into firings by attorney general Alberto Gonzales and action to be taken against him is presented.

A report on a telephonic interview based survey on public concern over environmental pollution and social security among other issues is presented.

A report on a telephonic interview based survey on the preference of women aged between 18 and 49 to the nomination of Hillary Clinton as Democratic nominee for presidential elections is presented.

A report on a telephonic interview based survey on Americans' views about environmental protection and energy production is presented.

A report of a telephonic interview based survey on Americans' views on the impact of Hollywood movies on global warming - on public concern about environmental protection, is presented.