A Manual On The Planning And Integration Of Archaeological Methods Into Outdoor Forensic Search Investigations, Jonathan Robert Garcia

Anthropology Department: Theses

As archaeology and its applications into forensic contexts develop into the growing discipline of forensic archaeology, an increasing amount of literature has resulted stemming from research on the integration of common archaeological methods. However, much of this literature is intended for professional archaeologists or forensic anthropologists who are well experienced in their respective disciplines. Emerging literature generally does not consider those who leads efforts at forensic scenes in the outdoors such as law enforcement officers who often lack a background in archaeology or forensic anthropology. This thesis seeks to resolve this dilemma by creating a new and accessible manual. The …

Housing Discrimination And Negative Attitudes Towards Ex-Offender Parents, Julie Wertheimer-Meier

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

While the Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination because of race, gender, religion, sex, disability, family status, and national origin, it allows housing providers to discriminate on the basis of criminal history. Prior research shows that housing providers disproportionately deny housing to ex-offender applicants and single parent applicants with young children. An ex-offender parent’s inability to acquire safe and affordable housing decreases the potential for reunification with their children and increases the risk of lost custody or parental rights termination. This dissertation consisted of two experiments that examined the effects of negative attitudes towards ex-offender parents on those parents’ ability …

Patterns Of Classroom Organization In Classrooms Where Children Exhibit Higher And Lower Language Gains, Laura Cutler, Rachel E. Schachter, Clariebelle Gabas, Shayne B. Piasta, Kelly M. Purtell, Nathan P. Helsabeck

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Previous research suggests that the ways in which early childhood classrooms are organized may facilitate children’s language learning. However, different measures of classroom organization often yield inconsistent findings regarding child outcomes. In this study, we investigated multiple aspects of classroom organization across two time points in classrooms where children made varying language gains. Using a purposeful sample of 60 early childhood classrooms, 30 in which children made higher language gains and 30 in which children made lower language gains, we explored the organization of the physical classroom literacy environment, classroom management, classroom time, and classroom activities. Research Findings: Results indicated …

Unemployment And Opioid-Related Mortality Rates In U.S. Counties: Investigating Social Capital And Social Isolation–Smoking Pathways, Tse-Chuan Yang, Seulki Kim, Stephen A. Matthews

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

We examine two mechanisms—social capital and sociobehavior—potentially linking unemployment rates to opioid-related mortality and investigate whether the mechanisms differ geographically by the pace of the opioid crisis. Applying path analysis techniques to 2015–2017 opioid-related mortality in U.S. counties (N = 2,648), we find that (1) high unemployment rates are not directly associated with opioid-related mortality rates; (2) high unemployment rates are negatively associated with social capital, and low social capital contributes to high opioid-related mortality; (3) high unemployment rates increase social isolation and the prevalence of smoking, which is positively related to opioid-related mortality; and (4) the pathways are stronger …

Making Mistakes: Children’S Errors As Opportunities For Emergent Literacy Learning In Early Childhood, Clariebelle Gabas, Laura Cutler, Rachel E. Schachter

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Errors are a natural part of children’s knowledge building and learning experiences in early childhood (EC). Importantly, errors can be a powerful tool for tailoring instruction to children’s specific needs and supporting learning processes (Seifried & Wuttke, 2010). The leveraging of errors to support children’s emergent literacy learning became apparent to us when we examined data from a recent observational study of teachers’ practices in EC classrooms with children 3–5 years old. In our study of 400 classrooms, we identified the 30 classrooms in which children demonstrated the highest language gains and the 30 classrooms in which children demonstrated the …

Appreciating And Promoting Resilience In Families, John W. Eagle, Susan M. Sheridan

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Families comprise the primary context for a child’s development. As the composition of the family system continues to change, the adult caregivers’ role has become increasingly important in fostering healthy developmental trajectories for their children. Family relationships and interaction styles are central to developing competence and promoting adaptive educational, social, emotional, and behavioral functioning. Families give children an informal education (Turnbull et al., 2015), which is a prerequisite to successful experiences in the classroom (Adams & Christenson, 2000). Whereas the school environment sets up developmental tasks for students, the family serves as an important resource for the acquisition of these …

Training Packages For The Use Of Child Development Tools In Low/Middle-Income Countries: A Review, Maria Neocleous, Katelyn Hepworth, Vanessa Cavallera, Melissa Gladstone

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Background We are now moving beyond the focus of ’child survival’ to an era which promotes children thriving and developing rather than simply ’surviving’. In doing so, we are becoming more aware of the large variation of child development screening tools available globally, but in particular, those in low/middle-income countries (LMICs).

Methods This narrative review identifies 24 child development tools used in LMICs. We aimed to identify information on training accessibility and training design, assessment methods and cost of training. For those tools with no training information identified or for any tools identified as providing online training, the tool author …

The Development Of Social Competence In Children With Disabilities, Soo-Young Hong, Elizabeth A. Steed, Lori E. Meyer, İbrahim H. Acar

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Children with disabilities experience unique challenges in developing social skills critical to achieve their social goals. Although there are individual differences, children with delays and disabilities may struggle to communicate with others, understand gestures, and take other people’s viewpoints. These differences may prevent children with disabilities from initiating and sustaining social interactions and, in turn, from developing high levels of social competence (Hebbeler & Spiker, 2016).

To support social development of children with disabilities, it is important to promote positive relationships within the family system as well as the teaching of social skills in inclusive early learning environments (Mahoney et …

Comparing Readability Measures And Computer-Assisted Question Evaluation Tools For Self-Administered Survey Questions, Rachel Stenger, Kristen Olson, Jolene Smyth

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Questionnaire designers use readability measures to ensure that questions can be understood by the target population. The most common measure is the Flesch-Kincaid Grade level, but other formulas exist. This article compares six different readability measures across 150 questions in a self-administered questionnaire, finding notable variation in calculated readability across measures. Some question formats, including those that are part of a battery, require important decisions that have large effects on the estimated readability of survey items. Other question evaluation tools, such as the Question Understanding Aid (QUAID) and the Survey Quality Predictor (SQP), may identify similar problems in questions, making …

Editorial: Children’S Competencies Development In The Home Learning Environment, Frank Niklas, Caroline Cohrssen, Simone Lehrl, Amy R. Napoli

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Understanding Perceptions Of Quality Among Early Childhood Education Stakeholders In Tanzania And Lesotho: A Multiple Qualitative Case Study, Dawn Davis, Debra Miller, Dorothy Mrema, Moikabi Matsoai, Ntsoaki Mapetla, Abbie Raikes, Anna Burton

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Recent global efforts around early childhood education (ECE) have led to increased investments and access, especially in low- and middle-income countries (UNESCO, 2019). As access grows, focus has shifted from enrollment to quality (Gove, 2017). This paper explores how ECE stakeholders in Tanzania and Lesotho define ECE quality. Findings show that stakeholders define quality in similar ways, highlighting the importance of trained teachers who implement specific teaching practices, strong partnerships with families and the community, critical infrastructure, and government support. However, review of the country contexts found that current conditions and support for these quality indicators were lacking.

Lgbt Employment Nondiscrimination: Debating Sexuality And Citizenship, Kelsy Burke, Emily Kazyak, Alice Millermacphee

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Introduction — Nebraska is 1 of 26 states that did not protect LGBT people from employment discrimination prior to Bostock vs. Clayton County. This article examines debates in Nebraska about LGBT employment nondiscrimination as a window into how citizenship is defined in relation to sexuality and gender identity.

Methods — We performed qualitative analyses on (1) the 2018 Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey of 902 respondents who shared their opinions on employment nondiscrimination legislation for LGBT individuals in close- and open-ended questions and (2) transcripts of the 2017 Nebraska state legislature debate of a bill that would have added …

Using The Very Short Form Of The Children’S Behavior Questionnaire For Spanish-Speaking Populations In Low- And Middle-Income Countries: A Psychometric Analysis Of Dichotomized Variables, Elsa Lucia Escalante-Barrios, Sonia Suarez Enciso, Samuel P. Putnam, Helen Raikes, Sergi Fàbregues

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

While the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Very Short Form of the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ-VSF) have been assessed in the US and Europe in samples composed of middle- and high-income parents with high levels of education, no studies have tested the instrument in low-income Spanish-speaking populations living in low- and middle- income countries. To fill this gap, our cross-sectional study assessed the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the CBQ-VSF version in a sample of 315 low-income and low-educated parents with preschool children living in the Caribbean Region of Colombia. While our findings revealed problems …

Child-Parent Interactions In American And Turkish Families: Examining Measurement Invariance Analysis Of Child-Parent Relationship Scale, Elsa Lucia Escalante-Barrios, Sonia Mariel Suarez-Enciso, Helen Raikes, Dawn Davis, Aileen Garcia, Mubeccel Gonen, Mefharet Veziroglu-Celik, Ramle Gul Hazar

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The parent-child relationship is a cornerstone of early childhood development and one-way early childhood programs can have a positive influence on early development is to adopt programmatic features to enhance this relationship. Research supports these conclusions in both U.S. and cross-cultural contexts, even though assumptions about parenting and the parent-child relationship may differ across cultures. However, for true understanding of cultural differences, it is important to have comparable measures across cultures. The purpose of the study is to assess measurement invariance of the two constructs of the Child-parent Relationship Scale using data gathered in programs serving low-income preschool children in …

How Do Interviewers And Respondents Navigate Sexual Identity Questions In A Cati Survey?, Jerry Timbrook, Jolene Smyth, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Survey-based research has demonstrated that sexual minority individuals experience unique outcomes in areas such as physical and mental health (Boehmer et al. 2007; Hatzenbuehler 2014, 2017), crime (Herek 2009), public education (Kosciw et al. 2015), same-sex romantic relationships and family (Powell and Downey 1997; Umberson et al. 2015), and economics (Black et al. 2007). Having a reliable and valid measure of sexual identity (i.e., the way in which an individual self-describes their sexual orientation) (Gagnon and Simon 1973) is essential for conducting research on sexual minorities. Indeed, many national surveys such as the General Social Survey, the National Health Interview …

What Do Interviewers Learn?: Changes In Interview Length And Interviewer Behaviors Over The Field Period, Kristen M. Olson, Jolene Smyth

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Interviewers are important actors in telephone surveys. By setting the pace for an interview, interviewers communicate the amount of time and cognitive effort respondents should put into their task. It is well-established that interviewers vary widely in the time they spend administering a survey, and that this time changes over the course of the data collection period as interviewers gain experience (Bohme and Stohr 2014; Kirchner and Olson 2017; Loosveldt and Beullens 2013a, 2013b; Olson and Bilgen 2011; Olson and Peytchev 2007). In particular, interviewers get faster as they gain experience over the field period of a survey.

The within-survey …

The Effect Of Question Characteristics On Question Reading Behaviors In Telephone Surveys, Kristen M. Olson, Jolene Smyth, Antje Kirchner

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Asking questions fluently, exactly as worded, and at a reasonable pace is a fundamental part of a survey interviewer’s role. Doing so allows the question to be asked as intended by the researcher and may decrease the risk of measurement error and contribute to rapport. Despite the central importance placed on reading questions exactly as worded, interviewers commonly misread questions, and it is not always clear why. Thus, understanding the risk of measurement error requires understanding how different interviewers, respondents, and question features may trigger question reading problems. In this article, we evaluate the effects of question features on question …

The Tradition Of Cassava Rice Eating: Communication Patterns Of Sunda Wiwitan Indigenous Families In Cultural Heritage In Cireundeu Village, Cimahi City, West Java, Nanda Utaridah, Antar Venus, Atwar Bajari, Dadang Suganda

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

The people of Cireundeu Village are known to hold firm Sundanese wiwitan customs and traditions of ancestral heritage that contain local wisdom. The tradition of eating cassava rice has been carried out by indigenous peoples for a hundred years since 1918 for generations. The process of introducing and applying the tradition of eating cassava rice was started by this traditional family in carrying out the inheritance of giving culture to the village of Cireundeu.

This research uses a qualitative method with a case study approach to three indigenous families in Cireundeu village who have different beliefs and birthplaces. As …

Longitudinal And Geographic Trends In Family Engagement During The Pre-Kindergarten To Kindergarten Transition, Susan M. Sheridan, Natalie A. Koziol, Amanda Witte, Iheoma Iruka, Lisa Knoche

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The transition to kindergarten is foundational for children’s future school performance and families’ relationships with the educational system. Despite its well-documented benefits, few studies have explored family engagement across the pre- Kindergarten (pre-K) to kindergarten transition nor considered the role of geographic context during this period. This study examined trajectories of family engagement across the pre-K to kindergarten transition, and identified whether engagement differs for families in rural versus urban settings. Participants were 248 parents of children who participated in publicly funded pre-K programs and transitioned 1 year later into kindergarten. Home-based involvement increased from pre-K through kindergarten. School-based involvement …

Drawing On Lgb Identity To Encourage Participation And Disclosure Of Sexual Orientation In Surveys, Mathew Stange, Jolene D. Smyth, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This paper reports an experiment that tested how three survey cover designs—images of traditional families and individuals displaying themselves in typical gender ways; images of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) and heterosexual individuals and families; and no cover images—affected LGB people’s participation and disclosure of LGB identity and non-LGB people’s participation. Analyses showed the LGB-inclusive cover led to significantly more LGB respondents than the other designs, without significantly affecting the demographic, political, and religious makeup of the completed sample. We discuss what these findings mean for addressing two challenges: getting LGB people to respond to surveys and to disclose their …

Gender And Age Of Migration Differences In Mortality Among Older Mexican Americans, Adriana M. Reyes, Marc A. Garcia

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: Using a gendered life course perspective, we examine whether the relationship between age of migration and mortality is moderated by gender among a cohort of older Mexican-Americans.

Methods: Data from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiological Study of the Elderly and recently matched mortality data are used to estimate Cox proportional hazard models.

Results: Our findings indicate the relationship between age of migration and mortality is moderated by gender suggesting a more nuanced perspective of the immigrant mortality paradox. Among men, midlife migrants exhibit an 18 percent lower risk of mortality compared to their U.S.-born …

Grup Ortamlarindaki̇ Oyunun Değerlendi̇ri̇lmesi̇ (Good) Gözlem Formunun Geçerli̇k Ve Güveni̇rli̇k Çalişmasi / Validity And Reliability Study Of The Play Assessment For Group Settings (Pags), Emine Ahmetoğlu, Manolya Aşik Öztürk, İbrahim Hakkı Acar

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Amaç: Bu araştırmanın amacı Lautamo (2012) tarafından geliştirilen "PAGS; Play Assessment for Group Settings (GOOD-Grup Ortamlarındaki Oyunun Değerlendirilmesi)" Gözlem Formunun Türkçeye uyarlanması, geçerlik ve güvenirlik analizlerinin yapılmasıdır. Gereç-Yöntem: İki-sekiz yaş arasındaki çocukların doğal grup ortamlarındaki oyun performanslarını ölçmek amacı ile tasarlanan GOOD Gözlem Formu dörtlü Likert tipinde puanlanan 38 maddeden oluşmaktadır. Araştırma verileri Edirne İl Merkezinde bulunan 13 okul öncesi kurumda görev yapan 46 öğretmen ve yaşları 36 ile 73 ay arasında değişen (M=54,6 ay, SS=0.99) toplam 149 çocuktan toplanmıştır. Araştırmada veri toplama aracı olarak araştırmacılar tarafından geliştirilen Genel Bilgi Formu, GOOD Gözlem Formu ve öğretmenlerin sınıflarındaki çocukların duygusal durumu …

Mexican-Origin Parents’ Stress And Satisfaction: The Role Of Emotional Support, Tierney K. Popp, Melissa Y. Delgado, Lorey Wheeler

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Guided by a process model of parenting and the integrative model, this study examined sources of emotional support (i.e., partner, maternal, paternal) as related to stress and satisfaction resulting from the parenting role in a sample of Mexican-origin young adult parents who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) during Wave IV. Participants were male and female parents (26–35 years of age; 59% female; N = 737) who had children and a partner. Results from structural equation modeling revealed support from mothers as salient; high levels of maternal support were associated with high levels …

Life Expectancies With Depression By Age Of Migration And Gender Among Older Mexican Americans, Catherine García, Marc A. Garcia, Chi-Tsun Chiu, Fernando I. Rivera, Mukaila Raji

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Background and Objectives: Prior studies examining depression among older Mexican Americans suggest both women and immigrants are at higher risk of depressive symptomatology than males and U.S.-born Mexican Americans. We use data from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly to examine whether life expectancy with depression and without depression varies by nativity, age of migration, and gender.

Research Design and Methods: Sullivan-based life tables were used to estimate depression life expectancies among Mexican Americans aged 65 years and older residing in the Southwestern United States. Depression is based on the 20-item Center for Epidemiological Studies …

Item Location, The Interviewer–Respondent Interaction, And Responses To Battery Questions In Telephone Surveys, Kristen Olson, Jolene Smyth, Beth Cochran

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Survey researchers often ask a series of attitudinal questions with a common question stem and response options, known as battery questions. Interviewers have substantial latitude in deciding how to administer these items, including whether to reread the common question stem on items after the first one or to probe respondents’ answers. Despite the ubiquity of use of these items, there is virtually no research on whether respondent and interviewer behaviors on battery questions differ over items in a battery or whether interview behaviors are associated with answers to these questions. This article uses a nationally representative telephone survey with audio-recorded …

Age Of Migration Differentials In Life Expectancy With Cognitive Impairment: 20-Year Findings From The Hispanic-Epese, Marc A. Garcia, Joseph L. Saenz, Brian Downer, Chi-Tsun Chiu, Sunshine Rote, Rebeca Wong

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Background and Objectives To examine differences in life expectancy with cognitive impairment among older Mexican adults according to nativity (U.S.-born/foreign-born) and among immigrants, age of migration to the United States.

Research Design and Methods This study employs 20 years of data from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly to estimate the proportion of life spent cognitively healthy and cognitively impaired prior to death among older Mexican adults residing in the southwestern United States. We combine age-specific mortality rates with age-specific prevalence of cognitive impairment, defined as a Mini-Mental Status Exam score of less than 21 …

Do Listeners Perceive Interviewers’ Attributes From Their Voices And Do Perceptions Differ By Question Type?, Nuttirudee Charoenruk, Kristen Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

As an aural mode, an interviewer’s voice is an important part of telephone surveys. A speaker’s voice can convey information about his or her trustworthiness and confidence, among other attributes. Consequently, respondents may perceive attributes of interviewers from their voices. We evaluated how five perceived attributes of interviewers (expertise, confidence, reliability, trustworthiness, and easiness to understand) are associated with interviewer voice characteristics (pitch, intonation, speech rate, and disfluencies) and whether this varies by types of question and interviewer characteristics. Overall, listeners perceived interviewers’ attributes from their voices. Interviewers with higher pitched voices, moderate intonation, a faster pace, and fewer disfluencies …

Depressive Symptoms In Mexican-Origin Adolescents: Interrelations Between School And Family Contexts, Prerna G. Arora, Lorey Wheeler

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

This study, as guided by cultural-ecological frameworks, examined multiple contextual stressors, including subjective economic hardship, acculturation, discrimination, and negative perceptions of school safety, as simultaneously linked to adolescents’ depressive symptoms, as well as the role of gender, familism values, family cohesion, and school connectedness on these associations. Data come from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (Portes and Rumbaut 2012) that included second-generation 8th- and 9th-grade children of foreign-born parents from the Mexican-origin subsample (n = 755; 52% male; time 1 M age = 14.20 years). Adolescents were either born in (60%) or immigrated prior to age 5 to …

Identifying Domain-General And Domain-Specific Predictors Of Low Mathematics Performance: A Classification And Regression Tree Analysis, David J. Purpura, Elizabeth Day, Amy R. Napoli, Sara A. Hart

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Many children struggle to successfully acquire early mathematics skills. Theoretical and empirical evidence has pointed to deficits in domain-specific skills (e.g., non-symbolic mathematics skills) or domain-general skills (e.g., executive functioning and language) as underlying low mathematical performance. In the current study, we assessed a sample of 113 three- to five-year old preschool children on a battery of domain-specific and domain-general factors in the fall and spring of their preschool year to identify Time 1 (fall) factors associated with low performance in mathematics knowledge at Time 2 (spring). We used the exploratory approach of classification and regression tree analyses, a strategy …

Structure And Service Delivery Approach Of The Children’S Bureau’S Resource Centers And Implementation Centers, Tammy Richards, Michelle Graef, Kathy Deserly, Peter Watson, Mark Ells

Center on Children, Families, and the Law: Faculty Publications

The Children’s Bureau (CB) provides a system of training and technical assistance (T/TA) to build the capacity of state and tribal child welfare systems, with the goal of improving outcomes for children and families. During the time period of 2008-2014, this infrastructure included ten National Child Welfare Resource Centers (NRCs), five Child Welfare Implementation Centers (ICs), and a Training and Technical Assistance Coordination Center (TTACC). Individual ICs and NRCs differed in structure and content expertise, yet they served the same jurisdictions and at times provided services concurrently. To increase cohesion and consistency, the NRCs, ICs, TTACC, and CB worked together …