Sex and Gender Issues

Beere has written another useful reference book. This latest is actually a continuation of Gender Roles: A Handbook of Tests and Measures (Greenwood Press, 1990). . . . [This book] identifies 197 tests on many different topics including sexuality, pregnancy and childbirth, contraception and abortion, and eating disorders. . . . Students and faculty will find Sex and Gender Issues worthwhile and easy to use. Highly recommended for four-year college and university libraries. Choice This handbook is a companion volume to Beere's Gender Roles: A Handbook of Tests and Measures, which describes 211 measures pertaining to gender roles and attitudes toward gender-related issues. Sex and Gender Issues extends the Gender Roles' coverage, describing 197 scales usable in research and applied settings. The measures relate to the following topics: heterosocial relations, sexuality, contraception and abortion, pregnancy and childbirth, somatic issues, homosexuality, rape and sexual coercion, family violence, body image and appearance, eating disorders, and other scales. In preparing these handbooks, Beere thoroughly searched the literature in psychology, sociology, education, and related disciplines and identified 1,450 measures. For this handbook, she selected 197 measures that are relevant, have evidence of reliability or validity, and were used in more than one published article or ERIC document. If a scale did not satisfy these criteria, but its development is the focus of an article or ERIC document, it is included. Unusual scales and those pertaining to a topic that would otherwise receive inadequate coverage are included as well. The scale descriptions follow a standard format that includes information such as title, author or authors listed in the earliest publication mentioning the scale, earliest date that the scale was mentioned in a publication, variable measured, type of instrument, description, sample items, previous subjects and appropriate subjects, information regarding reliability and validity, and a listing of published studies that used the measure. Sex and Gender Issues is the most up-to-date compendium of these tests and measures and will be welcomed by social science researchers, students, and teachers. It is a necessary addition to university libraries, research centers, and to the private collection of researchers in relevant areas.

CAROLE A. BEERE is Associate Dean for Graduate Study Research at Central Michigan University. She is the author of Women and Women's Issues and Gender Roles: A Handbook of Tests and Measures (Greenwood Press, 1990). She has also contributed articles to Sex Roles and Psychology in the Schools.